Christmas Movies - A Christmas Carol

This movie definitely tops our list of Christmas movies! You'll love the scenes on Christmas day when Ebenezer Scrooge realized his mistakes. The Christmas Day scene was taken in snow-covered streets. We've actually watched the movie on a cold Christmas morning and we enjoyed the simplicity of the Cratchit Family's Christmas celebration. It reminds us to always be thankful in few or in plenty, whoa!

Here's the short summary, thanks to Wikipedia!


A Christmas Carol is a 1999 television film adaptation of Charles Dickens's famous novel A Christmas Carol. It was directed by David Hugh Jones and stars Patrick Stewart as Ebenezer Scrooge and Richard E. Grant as Bob Cratchit. The film was produced after Patrick Stewart performed a series of successful theatrical readings of "A Christmas Carol" on Broadway and in London. In the Victorian period, Ebenezer Scrooge is a skinflint businessman who loathes the Christmas season and begrudges having to give time off to his best employee, Bob Cratchit. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his late friend and business partner, Jacob Marley, who in the afterlife has come to see the errors of his ways. Marley arranges for Scrooge to be visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come in hopes of teaching Scrooge of the importance of embracing the joy of the holiday season. Scrooge reforms, learning to keep the spirit of Christmas alive in his heart, ultimately becoming a well-loved and respected man.
 

Christmas Movies - Christmas In Wonderland

Christmas in Wonderland is a 2007 comedy film about three children who move with their father from Los Angeles to Edmonton, Alberta, where they catch a group of counterfeiters while Christmas shopping. The film was directed by James Orr, and stars Patrick Swayze, Matthew Knight, Preston Lacy, Chris Kattan, Tim Curry and Carmen Electra.

Christmas in Wonderland was exhibited theatrically in Canada in 2007, but in the United States it premiered on television in 2008 as part of ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas programming block.

The film is largely set in, and was mostly filmed at, West Edmonton Mall. Secrecy before the film was announced led many Edmontonians to wonder why Christmas decorations in the mall were still in place long after the Christmas season had passed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_in_Wonderland

Christmas Movies - The Santa Clause

The Santa Clause 1994, ahh, we surely loved this one! I remember this movie was shown in Baguio City theaters around February, yet the Christmas feeling still remained with us, thanks too for the cool Baguio climate that reminds us always of winters of the North.




Scott Calvin is a 38-year-old divorced father and advertising executive for a toy company in the fictional city of Lakeside, Illinois with a young son, Charlie. On Christmas Eve, Charlie comes over to spend the night with Scott before going to his mother and stepfather's for Christmas Day. Scott attempts to assure Charlie of Santa Claus' existence, while in full disbelief himself. That night, they are awakened by a clatter on the roof. Going outside to investigate, they can see someone on there. Scott yells at the trespasser, "Hey, you!", which causes him to lose his balance and fall off. He appears to be Santa Claus.
After he lands he magically disappears, but his suit remains. They find a business card in a pocket stating that if something should happen to him, someone should put on the suit, and the reindeer will know what to do. They find his sleigh and eight reindeer perched on the roof. While trying to figure out how to explain all of this to people, Scott bumps his head on a ladder leading up to the roof. Scott puts on the suit to please Charlie, and begins delivering toys from house to house.
Their final stop is the North Pole where the head elf, Bernard, shows him a tiny inscription on the card which says that upon the disappearance of the previous occupant, whoever wears the suit immediately assumes the identity of Santa Claus and all the responsibilities that go with it. This is the "Santa Clause," as stated by Bernard: "You put on the suit and you're the big guy!" He also gives Charlie a snow globe as a gift. He then tells Scott that he only has eleven months, until Thanksgiving, to get his affairs in order before becoming Santa Claus full-time, which he tries to refuse. He and Charlie spend the night at the factory. The next morning they awaken back in Scott's house, where the only indication of their previous night's adventure is his new silk pajamas with "SC" monogrammed on them. He dismisses it all as a dream.
Soon, however, Scott starts gaining weight and he interjects a presentation on the company's new toy by complaining about Santa not being represented with his sleigh and they should simplify their toy designs. He develops a ravenous, strange taste for Christmas treats, like cookies, hot cocoa, chocolates and Christmas Cakes. Scott grows facial hair practically overnight, and shaving it off has no effect as it regrows instantly. His hair turns gray then white, despite all attempts to dye it. He somehow knows who has been "naughty" and "nice". Scott also starts wearing clothes with red and green, and his heart even beats Jingle Bells. Children (who somehow know he is Santa despite Scott not dressing like him) approach him with gift requests. His rapid transformation worries his ex-wife Laura and her new husband, psychiatrist Dr. Neil Miller, who tries to terminate his visitation rights to Charlie. They question his mental stability, and believe that his changes are attempts at getting his son to like him.
Eventually, Scott's visitation rights to Charlie are suspended. Depressed and discouraged, he begins to lose some of his certainty about his job as Santa. While visiting Charlie on Thanksgiving, Charlie's insistence that Scott is Santa reawakens his magic and he, with Bernard's help, whisks him away to the North Pole. Laura and Neil, who think he has kidnapped him against his will, call the police, who start a massive investigation.
Meanwhile, at the North Pole, Charlie helps Scott and the head elves perfect a new sleigh and communication devices. He calls his mother, but this only reinforces their belief that he is being held against his will. Nevertheless, Scott, as Santa Claus, goes on with his Christmas Eve trip, but is arrested while delivering presents to the Miller house, and is accused of kidnapping Charlie. They try to test his sanity, but when Scott still says he is Santa they sentence him a couple hours in a jail cell. Scott waits very impatiently on the roof, the elves don't hear Santa/Scott's responses and send out A team of rescue elves called the ELFS (Effective Liberating Flight Squad) to free Scott from jail by tying up the front desk guard and using tinsel to break through the bars (which Scott is very impressed by). The ELFS then fly him and Charlie home to Laura and Neil, to whom Scott/Santa gives the presents they always wanted since childhood but never got. (It was because they did not get these that they became convinced Santa did not exist.) Neil receives an Oscar Meyer weenie whistle, Laura receives a mystery date game, and Charlie gets a soccer ball. In the meantime a couple of kids in the crowd rush back to their houses in time to get sleep before Santa/Scott would visit them.
Laura, finally realizing that Scott really is the new Santa, tosses the custody papers into the fireplace and welcomes him to visit Charlie any time that he desires. Neil, both amazed and joyful, realizes that one does not have to see something to believe in it. Bernard tells Charlie that the snow globe is magical. Anytime he wants his father to visit, all he has to do is shake it. Then the police arrive to arrest Scott for escaping prison, but they are also amazed when Scott flies away with his reindeer and sleigh. After ten minutes, Charlie shakes the snow globe and Scott comes back, saying he was on his way to Cleveland, and takes Charlie with him to deliver the rest of the presents,Laura requests that they don't go overseas though.

Christmas Movies - White Christmas 1954

White Christmas 1954


The story is about two World War II U.S. Army buddies, one a Broadway entertainer, Bob Wallace (Crosby), the other a would-be entertainer, Phil Davis (Kaye). It begins on Christmas Eve, 1944, somewhere in Europe. In a forward area, Capt. Wallace is giving a show to the troops of the 151st Division with the help of Pvt. Davis ("White Christmas"). But the mood is somber: word has come down that their beloved commanding officer, Major General Thomas F. Waverly, is being relieved of command. He arrives for the end of the show and delivers an emotional farewell. The men give him a rousing send-off ("The Old Man"). An enemy artillery barrage ensues, and Davis saves Wallace's life by carrying him out of the way of a toppling wall, wounding his own arm slightly in the process. Using his "wounded" arm and telling Bob he doesn't expect any "special obligation", Phil convinces Bob to join forces as an entertainment duo when the war is over. Phil using his wound to get Bob to do what he wants becomes a running gag throughout the movie.

After the war, the pair make it big in nightclubs, radio and then on Broadway. Becoming successful producers, they eventually mount their newest hit musical entitled Playing Around. Phil is increasingly concerned that his pal Bob has not met a woman with whom he can settle down and several clumsy attempts to set him up with showgirls fail.

In mid-December, after two years on Broadway, the show is in Miami, and while performing at the Florida Theatre, they receive a letter from "Freckle-Faced Haynes, the dog-faced boy", a mess sergeant with whom they'd been acquanted back in the war, asking them to audition his two sisters. When they go to the club to audition the act ("Sisters"), Phil notices that Bob is smitten with Betty, while Phil has eyes for her sister, Judy.
Following their number, the girls join Bob and Phil at their table, and believing he may have found the right girl for Bob, Phil brings Judy on to the dance floor so that Bob and Betty can get to know each other better. Phil and Judy hit it off ("The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing"), and Judy tells Phil that she and her sister are headed for the Columbia Inn in Pine Tree, Vermont, where they are booked to perform over the holidays. Back at the table, Betty reveals to Bob that Judy herself, not her brother, sent them the letter. The two get into a brittle argument, and the prospects for a romance seem doubtful.
When the girls' corrupt landlord claims the sisters burned a $200 rug and is trying to have them arrested, Phil hears the news and helps them escape out the window, giving the girls their own sleeping-room accommodations aboard the train to Vermont.
To give the girls time to make it to the train, Phil convinces Bob to don the girls' forgotten costumes and lip-sync "Sisters" from a record after which the boys arrive on the same train two hours later. The girls are all over Bob in appreciation for giving up their sleeping accommodations and Phil uses "his arm" once again to convince Bob to travel with the girls to Vermont for the holidays ("Snow").
When everybody arrives to put on the show at the Pine Tree Ski Lodge, there's not a flake in sight and the weather is so unseasonably warm, chances of it falling appear dim. The boys discover that the inn is run by their former commanding officer, Gen. Waverly, who has invested all his savings and pension into the lodge, and it's in danger of failing because of the lack of snow and consequent lack of patrons.
Deciding to help out and bring business up to the inn, Wallace and Davis bring the entire cast and crew of their new musical Playing Around, and add in Betty and Judy where they can. At the same time, Bob and Betty's relationship starts to bloom ("Count Your Blessings") and they begin to spend a good deal of time together. Meanwhile, Bob discovers the General's rejected attempt at rejoining the army, and decides to prove to the General that he isn't forgotten.
Bob calls Ed Harrison, an old army buddy, now the host of a successful variety show (intentionally similar to that of variety show pioneer Ed Sullivan). Bob tells Ed that he wants to make a televised pitch to all the men formerly under the command of the General, asking them to come to the inn on Christmas Eve as a surprise.
In response, Harrison suggests they go all out and put the show on national television, playing up the whole "schmaltz" angle of the situation and generating lots of free advertising for Wallace and Davis in the process. What Bob doesn't know is that nosy housekeeper Emma Allen has been listening in to the phone conversation on the extension but has only heard about the whole schmaltz suggestion, hanging up before Bob rejects the idea.
Mistakenly believing that her beloved boss will be presented as a pitiable figure on a primetime coast to coast broadcast, Emma reveals what she heard to a shocked Betty who is originally loath to believe Bob would pull such a stunt for his own gain, but mistakenly comes to believe he would indeed stoop to such depths.
The misunderstanding causes a now-disillusioned Betty to grow suddenly frigid to an equally-baffled Bob. Unaware of the real reason for her sudden change of behavior, Judy becomes convinced that Betty, ever-protective of her little sister, will never take on a serious relationship until Judy is engaged or married. She pressures an extremely reluctant Phil to announce a phony engagement, but the plan backfires when Betty abruptly departs for New York City, having received a job offer.
Distraught, Phil and Judy reveal to Bob that the engagement announcement was phony, and Bob, still unaware of the real reason behind Betty's annoyance, heads to New York to explain. Bob goes to see Betty's new act ("Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me") and reveals the truth about the engagement, but is called away by Ed Harrison before he can find out what is really bothering her. Meanwhile, back at the Inn, Phil fakes an injury to distract Gen. Waverly so he won't see the broadcast or Bob's announcement.
On the broadcast, Bob proceeds to ask the veterans of the 151st Division to come to Pine Tree, Vermont, on Christmas Eve ("What Can You Do With A General"). When Betty is backstage in the greenroom between performances, she catches Bob's pitch on a television set and realizes she was mistaken. All is set right, and she returns to Pine Tree just in time for the show on Christmas Eve. Emma convinces Gen. Waverly that all his suits were sent to the cleaners, and suggests he wear his old uniform to the opening of the show. Initially reluctant, he agrees. When the General enters the lodge where the show is to take place, he is greeted by his former division, who sing a rousing chorus of "The Old Man". Just as the song ends, he is notified that snow is finally falling.
In the finale, Bob and Betty declare their love for one another, as do Phil and Judy. The background of the set is removed to show the snow falling, everyone raises a glass, and toasts, "May your days be merry and bright; and may all your Christmases be white."

Christmas Movies - Miracle on 34th Street

Miracle On 34th Street


Kris Kringle is indignant to find that the person (Percy Helton) assigned to play Santa in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is intoxicated. When he complains to event director Doris Walker, she persuades Kris to take his place. He does such a fine job that he is hired to be the Santa for Macy's flagship New York City store on 34th Street.

Ignoring instructions to steer parents to goods that Macy's sells, Kris directs one shopper to another store for a fire engine for her son that Macy's does not have. She is so impressed, she tells Julian Shellhammer, head of the toy department, that she will become a loyal customer. Kris later informs another mother that archrival Gimbels has better skates for her daughter.

Fred Gailey, an attorney and neighbor of Doris, is babysitting the young divorcee's six-year-old daughter Susan and takes her to see Kris. In a touching scene, Susan observes as Kris speaks in perfect Dutch with an orphaned immigrant girl who does not know English. When Doris finds out, she asks Kris to tell Susan that he is not really Santa Claus, but Kris surprises her by insisting he is.

Doris decides to fire him, worried that he is delusional and might harm someone. However, Kris has generated so much good publicity and customer goodwill for Macy's that a delighted R.H. Macy promises Doris and Julian generous bonuses. To alleviate Doris's misgivings, Julian has Granville Sawyer give Kris a "psychological evaluation". Kris easily passes the test but antagonizes Sawyer by questioning Sawyer's own psychological health.

The store expands on the marketing concept. Anxious to avoid looking greedy by comparison, Gimbels implements the same referral policy throughout its entire chain, forcing Macy's and other stores to respond in kind. Eventually, Kris accomplishes the impossible: Mr. Macy shaking hands with Mr. Gimbel

Pierce, the doctor at Kris's nursing home, assures Doris and Julian that Kris's delusion is harmless. Meanwhile, Fred offers to let Kris stay with him so he can be closer to work. Kris makes a deal with Fred – he will work on Susan's cynicism while Fred does the same with disillusioned Doris, still unhappy about her failed marriage. During one visit with Susan, Kris learns that the child's Christmas wish is to live in a beautiful house with a swing in the back yard, based on a drawing that she shares with him. Despite a moment of uncertainty, Kris promises Susan that he will do his best to fulfill her wish.

Kris learns that Sawyer has convinced a young, impressionable employee, Alfred, that he is mentally ill simply because he is generous and kind-hearted (Alfred plays Santa Claus at his neighborhood YMCA).
 Kris confronts Sawyer and raps him on the head with the handle of an umbrella. Doris and Julian only see the aftermath; Sawyer exaggerates his injury in order to have Kris confined to Bellevue Mental Hospital.

Tricked into cooperating and believing Doris to be part of the deception, a discouraged Kris deliberately fails his mental examination and is recommended for permanent commitment. However, Fred persuades Kris not to give up.

To secure his release, Fred gets a formal hearing before Judge Henry X. Harper of the New York Supreme Court. Ordered by Mr. Macy (who is determined to stand behind Kris "even if he failed twenty examinations") to get the matter dropped, Sawyer pleads with Fred not to seek publicity. To Sawyer's dismay, Fred thanks him for the idea. As a result, Judge Harper is put in an awkward spot – even his own grandchildren are against him for putting Santa Claus on trial (when it was actually a hearing) for lunacy.
Fred quits his job at a prestigious law firm to defend Kris and has a falling out with Doris, who calls his resignation an "idealistic binge" over some "lovely intangibles." He replies that one day she might discover that they are the only worthwhile things.

At the hearing, DA Thomas Mara, whose wife accused him of "persecuting" (rather than prosecuting) Santa Claus, gets Kris to assert that he is in fact Santa Claus and rests his case, believing he has prima facie proven his point. Fred stuns the court by arguing that Kris is not insane because he actually is Santa Claus – and Fred will prove it. Mara requests the judge rule that Santa Claus does not exist. Harper is warned privately in chambers by his political adviser, Charlie Halloran, that doing so would be disastrous for his upcoming reelection bid. The judge buys time by deciding to hear evidence before ruling.

Fred calls R.H. Macy as a witness. Mara pointedly asks if he really believes Kris to be Santa Claus. Macy starts to equivocate, but when Mara asks him point-blank, Macy remembers the expressions on the faces of small children upon seeing Kris and firmly states, "I do!" On leaving the stand, Macy questions Sawyer whether he got his psychology degree from a correspondence school, then fires him. Fred then calls Mara's own young son to the stand. Thomas Mara, Jr. testifies that his father had told him that Santa was real and that "My daddy wouldn't tell me anything that wasn't so. Would you, daddy?" Outmaneuvered, Mara concedes the point.

Mara then demands that Fred prove that Kris is "the one and only" Santa Claus on the basis of some competent authority. While Fred searches frantically, Susan, by now a firm believer in Kris, writes him a letter to cheer him up, which Doris also signs. A mail sorter sees that Susan's letter is addressed to the New York County Court House and realizes that the post office could clear out the many letters to Santa taking up space in its dead letter office by delivering them to Kris.

Kris is uplifted by Susan's letter. Fred learns that Kris has received over 50,000 pieces of mail. He presents Judge Harper with three letters addressed to "Santa Claus", which the post office has just delivered to Kris. Fred asserts that the post office qualifies as a competent authority and that by delivering the letters to Kris is acknowledging that he is in fact the Santa Claus. Mara challenges Fred by recalling the post office's dead letter office, which normally would contain thousands of such letters at that time of the year. When Harper demands that Fred produce "further exhibits", the judge finds his bench inundated with 21 bags of letters, all presumably from the dead letter office. Declining to dispute the Post Office's "legal recognition" of Kris as Santa Claus, Harper dismisses the case. Afterwards, Doris invites Kris to dinner, but he reminds her that "It's Christmas Eve!"

On Christmas morning, Susan is disillusioned because Kris was apparently unable to get her what she told him she wanted most. As they are about to leave, Kris gives Fred and Doris a route home that avoids traffic. Along the way, Susan is overjoyed to see the house of her dreams (exactly matching the drawing she had given Kris earlier) with a For Sale sign in the front yard. Fred learns that Doris had encouraged Susan to have faith, and suggests they get married and purchase the house. He then boasts that he must be a great lawyer, since he managed to do the seemingly impossible. However, when they notice a cane leaning against the fireplace that looks just like the one Kris used, he wonders aloud to Doris, "Maybe I didn't do such a wonderful thing after all."

Source: Wikipedia

Christmas Movies - Babes In Toyland 1986

Lisa Piper, an eleven-year-old girl from Cincinnati, Ohio, takes care of her siblings and cooks for her family. She has no time for toys, and refuses to be treated as a child. During a blizzard on Christmas Eve, Lisa is transported to Toyland. She arrives just before Mary Contrary is to be wedded to the unpleasant Barnaby Barnacle, although Mary loves Barnaby's nephew, Jack Nimble. Lisa stops the wedding and, with her new friends, finds out that Barnaby plans to take over Toyland. Lisa, Mary, Jack, and Georgie Porgie (Googy Gress) go to the kindly Toymaster  for help, but he can only help them if Lisa really believes in toys. Barnaby confronts them and the Toymaster, finally showing his true colors, and steals a flask containing distilled evil that the Toymaster had been collecting, before leaving Lisa and company to be eaten by Troller, a vulture-like monster with a single enchanted eye that Barnaby uses to spy on his enemies. They escape by blinding Troller with paint and locking him in a chest, but are captured and imprisoned one by one in Barnaby's hidden fortress.

Barnaby reveals that he had been creating an army of trolls to take over Toyland, and then attempts to corrupt his captives into being his servants with the contents of the flask, stating he would replace Troller with Lisa and make Mary his Troll Princess. Lisa, however, proves to be immune to the evil, and manages to reverse the effects on her friends. After escaping from Barnaby's stronghold, they return to the Toymaster. When Barnaby unleashes his army of trolls upon Toyland, Lisa's newfound belief animates an army of life-sized toy soldiers that the Toymaster had created, and they drive Barnaby into the Forest of the Night. Barnaby, having lost control of his creatures and having failed at making Lisa his new Troller, is then banished from Toyland. Jack and Mary are then married. Lisa is taken home by the Toymaster - who is revealed to be Santa Claus - in a sleigh with wooden reindeer. They travel across the Milky Way until she wakes up at home, as though it had all been a dream.