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With Christmas a week away I thought it was a good time to reflect on some of my favorite TV/movie Christmas moments, and being the generous blogger I am, I decided to share those moments with you. The traditional elements required of any good Christmas story are love, family, friendship, a heartwarming lesson and a tree that looks like it was decorated by Martha Stewart. Several of my picks epitomize those solid Christmas traditions, but some of my choices are more, shall we say...offbeat. Here they are in alphabetical order.
Christmas On Television
A Charlie Brown Christmas: There's a reason this one is at the top of almost everyone's Christmas favorites list each year. It's because it's perfect. My favorite moment: What else? Linus on stage telling the story of the birth of Christ. Blanket or no blanket, I 'heart' Linus.
Blackadder's Christmas Carol: This bawdy holiday romp is a delicious spin on the classic story by Charles Dickens. Starring Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Miranda Richardson and Hugh Laurie, this 1988 Britcom special uses the characters from the Blackadder series and tells the tale of Ebenezer Blackadder...the nicest man in England. Yeah, that's right, the nicest. Until......My favorite moment: When Ebenezer discovers in the end that "bad guys have all the fun!"
Check out this clip (it's number one of five):
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer: This special was made at the height of the television claymation boom and I'll trade all your animatronic characters for one talking, claymation jack-in-the-box. My favorite moment: When Santa picks up the toys from the Island of Misfit Toys to find them homes on Christmas Eve. Most heartbreaking moment: Before Santa gets there when the toys think they're stranded for another year. Every time that little rag doll starts to cry, I blubber like a baby. So sue me.
Shrek The Halls: It's the newest on my list, it just came out last year, but it's quite sweet and includes all our favorites: Shrek, Fiona, Donkey and the gingerbread man. My favorite moment: the opening shot where it looks like it's winter and snowing on two hilltops, before pulling back to reveal it's really summer and the "snow" is really baby powder Shrek is sprinkling on his baby's butt.
The Nutcracker: This 1977 version was produced for television and stars Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland in their absolute prime. The staging is reworked for TV and to showcase the prowess of its stars. My favorite moment: I can't really pick one, the dancing is that wonderful.
The West Wing "In Excelsis Deo:" This was an episode from when "The West Wing" was still an excellent show and hadn't yet turned into Aaron Sorkin's personal stream of conscientiousness with actors. Set at Christmas, Toby Ziegler becomes obsessed with a homeless veteran who's found dead on park bench. The episode follows Toby's efforts to find the man's brother, who's also homeless and to arrange a full military funeral for the deceased vet. My favorite moment: the ending montage of the man's funeral, attended by Toby, Mrs. Landingham and the man's brother and the beautiful Christmas celebrations at the White House as "The Little Drummer Boy" is sung by a children's choir in the background. Lovely and powerful.
Christmas In The Movies
A Christmas Story: I might take some heat for this, but I think this movie's overrated. I thought it was cute when I saw it the first time, but on repeat viewing, for me it doesn't hold up. I do however have a favorite moment from the movie: When the family goes out to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. I identify with that scene because I remember as a kid how special and exotic it felt to go out to a Chinese restaurant for dinner.
All That Heaven Allows: Complete with sweeping melodramatic music, this 1955 movie starring Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman tells the timeless love story of a rich widow who falls in love with her much younger, hot and hunky, free-spirited, nature boy, gardener. When word of their love gets around in their small New England town, scandal erupts. The woman's friends snub her, her children disown her and as a result she breaks off the romance. My favorite moment: Now here's where Christmas comes in.
