One tradition I love most this time of year is watching Christmas movies—some I have watched every year since I was a child.

My favorites are the older movies: It’s A Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34^th Street (1947 version), The Bishop’s Wife (Cary Grant version), A Christmas Carol (George C. Scott version), White Christmas and Holiday Inn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also enjoy some of the newer offerings like National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey version) and The Polar Express.

 

And, I would be remiss if I did not mention the animated classics: Frosty the Snowman and A Charlie Brown Christmas. Yes, I confess I even like to watch the cartoons.

While considering the movies which had left an indelible impression on me all these years, however, I began to wonder if those were the same movies that had impressed the majority of people. Therefore I googled lists of the top ten Christmas movies and, boy, was I in for a shock! These are not your grandparents’ favorites, or likely your mother’s and father’s, either.

Forbes list of the Ten Best Christmas Movies (feature films, not animated) included Die Hard (Can you believe it was #1?) and they had two others I had never heard of—Brazil and 1941. I suppose I am just too old-fashioned (or maybe just too old), but I never dreamed Die Hard would go down in history (with apologies to Rudolph!) as a Christmas classic.

Thinking this had to be an aberration, I looked for additional top ten Christmas movie lists and found some were worse than Forbes’, in my opinion. Many included Gremlins, Home Alone, Batman Returns, Edward Scissorhands and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (I was afraid to look that one up to see what it was about) in their top ten. Are any of those movies your Christmas favorites?

I was beginning to worry I was the only one out of step when I found this list from AMC.com and felt somewhat vindicated:

1. Elf
2. It’s A Wonderful Life
3. Home Alone
4. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
5. How The Grinch Stole Christmas
6. A Charlie Brown Christmas
7. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
8. Miracle On 34^th Street
9. A Christmas Story
10. Frosty The Snowman

So tell me. What movies do you associate with Christmas? If you absolutely love Die Hard, I apologize for disparaging it. Still, I would love to know your top three favorites and see if anyone is as old-fashioned as I am.

Since it is Christmas, I am giving away two prizes: A lovely 2016 JAFF Calendar from JT Originals (http://www.jt-originals.com/2016-calendar.html) to the first name picked in a random drawing and a pair of Darcy and Elizabeth Christmas Tree Ornaments to the second. Just comment before Friday at midnight CST and your name will be included in the drawing.

And, because I am incapable of leaving you with “vision of sugar plums” dancing in your heads, I am leaving you with pictures of Chatsworth (Pemberley in my heart) as it looks when decorated for Christmas.  And, as Tiny Tim said, “A Merry Christmas to us all. God bless us, every one!“