Christmas Happenings- A Holiday Meme, Week Three

'Christmas Happenings' is a meme designed to let you readers in on what makes Christmas special to me. It will be a weekly installment here on the blog until Christmas comes to town! (Which is in five days if you didn't know!)


I'll be making the theme of this years 'Holiday Happenings' a visual one and will be showcasing the holiday specials that share the season with me year after year. You never know, maybe you'll remember a few!

Christmas Happenings meme -- Week Three(ish)

You've seen clips from my favorite Christmas special and the corniest Christmas special. Now it's time for a twist in the format-- Holiday movies. I'm sure you have holiday themed movies you watch every year and (surprise surprise) I have some to! Here are a few movies that I think you need to check out this year!


White Christmas (1954)
Premise: Army buddies and popular song and dance men Wallace and Davis try to save their old generals Vermont inn when the lack of snow causes money to become a big problem. Along the way, their lives get entangled with the Haynes Sisters. What follows is filled with fun, laughs, and tons of great song and dance numbers!

My Thoughts: If you haven't seen White Christmas, go rent it right now. Seriously. It's a classic.


Holiday Inn (1942)
Premise: Crooner Jim Hardy is ready to give up show business and settle down in the country. When his fiancée expectingly leaves him for dance partner Ted Hanover, plans change. Convinced he can make it on his own in the country, he continues on. When country life turns into a nightmare, Jim has a smashing idea-- to open an Inn that is only open for business on holidays. He hires Linda Mason, up and coming dancer/singer, and from there, hijinks, music, and dancing ensue. Holiday Inn is filled with fantastic holiday themed songs, fantastic sets, some sweet dancing with fire crackers, and tons of fun.

My Thoughts: I love this movie. I believe I saw it for the first time seven or eight years ago and from then was hooked. The songs are fantastic and very catchy. And the fire cracker dance number that Fred Astaire does? Fan-Tas-Tic! It's so well done. If anything YT that number.. Or maybe I'll embed it for you. :-)





Since this was made in 1942, be warned that is has a black face number celebrating Lincolns birthday. My own personal opinion of it is that there is no harm done in this number because it was made in a time where people still remembered or had performed in vaudeville and black face was something you saw in those days. 


Miracle on 34th Street (1947/1994) 
Premise: Susan doesn't believe in Santa. But when a man who looks the part comes to work at her mothers dept. store, she begins to wonder...

My Thoughts:  I think we've all seen this movie, so I felt I could keep this premise short and sweet! Both versions are wonderful. I like how each version has a different ending.  It keeps it the same, yet fresh.  And both Santa's are completely believable-- heck, if I saw them I'd probably believe they were Santa, too!


Jingle All The Way (1996) 
Premise: A harried father decides to dream the impossible dream, to get that year's hot toy for his son just before Christmas Day. (Taken from IMDB)

My Thoughts: This is actually a really cute holiday movie. It's a bit corny, yes, but who can't related to wanting to find a hard to find item during the holidays. *cough*Monster High*cough* It's worth taking a look at. Plus, the Gov. of California has always been an entertaining actor to watch.


I'll Be Home For Christmas (1998) 
Premise: A college student experiences difficulty in getting home for Christmas after being hazed by his friends. While struggling to get home in time for Christmas, he learns quite a bit about himself and the true meaning of the holiday. (Taken from IMDB)

My Thoughts: Yes, this movie stars JTT (have I just dated myself calling him JTT and not Jonathan Taylor Thomas?). And yes, it also has Seventh Heaven star Jessica Biel. But it also has a fun script and is an entertaining holiday movie. It's something you might want to check out if you haven't!


There you go-- Five Christmas movie I watch at home during the holidays.  Do you like any of these?  What are you favorite Holiday movies?