It wouldn’t be Christmas without syrupy movies.\u00a0 Along with fruitcake and continuous holiday music, nothing says ’tis the season like the Hallmark Channel and Lifetime.\u00a0 With\u00a0a remote and a DVR, it’s time to wallow in sentiment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
My holiday viewing schedule is so packed, I’ve taken to recording all the Christmas shows.\u00a0 Then I scan the plot synopsis offered by the cable company,\u00a0pick a show,\u00a0grab a cup of coffee, sit back and push “play.”\u00a0 None of the plots are complicated, so I can leave and come back, leave and come back without missing a major development.<\/p>\n
I’ll watch just about any Christmas movie, good or bad.\u00a0 But this year there are so many, plus new\u00a0ones arriving at the local theatre, I’ve been\u00a0forced to be\u00a0more selective.\u00a0 I won’t\u00a0\u00a0watch\u00a0movies about\u00a0a real-life earthly member of Santa’s family, whose personal complications may or may not affect the timely delivery of toys.\u00a0 Santa’s family just doesn’t interest me much.\u00a0 I’m also not fond of mean-spirited Christmas movies.\u00a0 Hitting and yelling and blowing up things and drinking and cussing don’t feel uplifting, so I skip those.<\/p>\n
There are at least two seasonal movies that stand out from the rest as memorable, each for different reasons.\u00a0 My current favorite, which I watch every year, is One Special Night<\/strong><\/em> (1999) with Julie Andrews<\/strong> and James Garner<\/strong>.\u00a0 I’ll watch those two\u00a0in anything.\u00a0 I love this movie most for portraying two mature people with full lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n The other standout took me a while to warm up to.\u00a0 It’s Noel<\/strong><\/em> (2004) with a stunning cast, including Susan Sarandon<\/strong>, Alan Arkin<\/strong>, Penelope Cruz<\/strong>, Robin Williams<\/strong>, Chazz Palminteri<\/strong>, and others.\u00a0 It’s an odd story and is very nearly not Christmassy at all, depending on your point of view.\u00a0 But I haven’t been able to forget it, so I’ll try to find it again.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Lest you think a couple of quality offerings make me a discriminating viewer, oh no, no.\u00a0 Those two are the exceptions. Most Christmas movies offer only\u00a0two\u00a0basic plots.\u00a0 The first involves someone whose beloved just passed away.\u00a0 Along comes another someone or a young family missing a spouse and all are united after only a few minor\u00a0glitches.\u00a0\u00a0Summary of plot number one:\u00a0 Completion of the family unit.<\/p>\n The other plot is becoming more\u00a0popular.\u00a0 These stories tell how\u00a0the twin evils of ambition and technology conspire to rob our leading man or woman of their true selves, leaving them incapable of feeling the spirit of Christmas.\u00a0 As these movies get closer to the end, cell phones are thrown\u00a0away, major job promotions are turned down, snow storms create whiteouts that bring commerce to a halt long enough to force our hero\/heroine to slow down and learn some Christmas lessons.\u00a0 Synopsis of plot number two:\u00a0 Dude, mellow out.<\/p>\n One favorite sub-plot involves removing these over-achievers from an urban area and plopping them down in bucolic settings where expensive wardrobes are ruined and hilarity ensues.\u00a0 The movie unfolds in a charming cabin or a country house far away from the workaday grind that’s eating them alive.<\/p>\n There we have my thumbnail description of every movie that’s playing\u00a0between now and the end of the year.\u00a0 Add the every-year Christmas repeats from Charlie Brown and Rudolph and Dr. Seuss and\u00a0Bing and Rosie and the gang at the Inn, and it’s a dash just to keep up.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Of course I know what’s going to happen on TV this season, but that doesn’t mean I’ll quit watching.\u00a0 Predictability is one of the joys of Christmas.\u00a0 Only a Grinch would suggest otherwise.<\/p>\n