Kirk's Top 5 Favorite Christmas Movies!

Greetings and salutations, 

    Hey gang, it's Kirk coming to you from the Hospital Bed of Love, and we're now in December, and that means Christmas. I'm not being disrespectful to those who celebrate other holidays. If a person corrects me, saying 'Happy Hanukkah' or 'Kwanzaa,' then I'll digress and adjust my wishes to reflect the holiday they're celebrating. I'm not out to impose my will on anyone, nor do I expect someone to impose their will on me. I miss the old holiday season. People seemed more cheerful and bright. It was truly a time of giving and compassion. However, somewhere along the way, we lost a step. Perhaps I soured when I worked at a toy store during the holidays and saw how cruel people could be when they ran out of the FREE wrapping paper that they expected to have available for wrapping presents they were too lazy to wrap themselves. I know, let's ask to speak to the Manager, because "I'm a twat who can't understand that someone can know their job and perform it correctly and efficiently." But, I'll digress. Let's get onto the list. 

 

Kirk's Top 5 Favorite Christmas Movies

5) The Ref: Starring Denis Leary, his quick-fire wit is on full display as he plays Gus, a thief who falls victim to a booby trap, and he's stuck taking Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey hostage. The arguing couple drives him nuts, and that's where the laughter ensues. Now, say what you will and feel how you want about Spacey, but I have an animosity towards Leary. I won't go into details, but he did some things on his show "Rescue Me" that I highly disagreed with. However, it took me a long time to watch this movie. I had seen it with an old acquaintance of mine, and it holds a special place in my heart because of that. It's well worth watching as it is pretty funny. 

4) It's a Wonderful Life: The Christmas classic that people got sick of really fast in the late 80s. I believe it was 1988, but EVERY channel on public television had it on. We only had seven channels and the Spanish channel. Not all of them were playing it, but it was on multiple nights. You couldn't even sneeze without it being on. This was the first time I'd watched it and fell in love with the redemption arc. I get depressed during the holidays. I used to get severe beatings during that time, but this story makes me have hope. That, in some small way, I've touched someone's life and made a difference.  

3) Miracle on 34th Street (1947): I've never seen the remake with Mara Wilson; that one might be good, but the original is the original. It's so beautiful in its telling, proving that there's a Santa Claus. I love it when they invite the DA's son to testify that Santa's real and get the father having to say how he'd never told a lie to his son before. It's adorable the way he asks his father the questions, "Isn't that right... Da Dee?"Fred Gwynne is brilliant and believable as Kris, and when I first saw him without the beard, in "The Trouble with Harry," it caught me off guard. 

2) Scrooge (1951): Growing up in Chicago, we were fortunate to have on WGN Channel 9, Family Classics. With that said, I grew up with "A Christmas Carole" starring Reginald Owens as Scrooge. It wasn't until 1993 that I saw Alister Sims in this film. He NAILED the role. I love how they spent more time with the ghosts, and even his interaction as Marley. After seeing this, I will not watch any other movie about the matter, except for the aforementioned Owens movie and Bill Murray's "Scrooged."

1) Christmas in Connecticut (1945): So, this one was ALWAYS played when I put up our tree when I could. It became a tradition because I noticed one day, when my mum was putting her's up, after Thanksgiving, that WGN Channel 9 had it on when we were putting it up. For three consecutive years, I have noticed this. Then, on the day we were putting it up one year later, it wasn't on. It didn't feel right without it, so I put it on. When I moved out, I made it a tradition to play it the day after Thanksgiving, as that was the day I put up our Christmas decorations. It's a love story between a woman who pretends to be the Ultimate housewife and a naval officer who survived the sinking of his ship during World War II. The comedy shows how she's terrible at being a housewife, and the only reason she "knows how to cook" is because of her friend Uncle Felix, who himself is hysterical. It's incredible and I STRONGLY recommend seeing it. 

Until next time, Merry Christmas, 

K