Blogmas #21: The Hateful Puzzle, also Holiday Movies
Today is a lazy day. I haven’t done a single thing. Well, that’s a lie.
I’ve done some work on the family Christmas puzzle that we bought two years
ago, but have never finished. We give up around New Years and it goes back in
the box. This one is particularly awful because it isn’t even festive themed.
It’s just a lobster dinner. We can’t get a new hateful Christmas puzzle until
this immensely frustrating one is done. I’ve been working on it for three days,
and still have not finished. All of the lobsters look the same, and there is so
much indistinguishable white background. Sigh. We have to finish it this year.
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| Mother working on the hateful puzzle. |
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| What the hateful should look like. |
The hateful puzzle got me to thinking. There are a lot of Christmas
traditions that my family observes. My favourite of which is settling in on
Christmas Day after the presents are opened and the third or fourth cup of
coffee has been made to watch some festive movie. Here are my personal
favourites in holiday movies.
The Santa Clause
(1994)
I hate Tim Allan. Hate might seem like a strong word, but I can count
the number of movies he has been in that I have liked on one hand. This just
happens to be one of them. It’s the essential Christmas movie. It’s one of the
first movies I can remember from when I was very small, and I don’t think
Christmas is complete without it.
Miracle on 34th
Street (1947)
If you’re going for this one, definitely check out the original if you
haven’t already. In my opinion it’s considerably better than the remake. It’s
Santa in a court case. It’s great, and has a proper happy ending.
Home Alone (1990)
You can probably find this running on just about any channel as the
holidays roll in. I liked this so much that I used to have the Super Nintendo
game. I was one cool kid. Plus it’s a combination of everyone’s best/worst
childhood dreams. You get your big awesome house all to yourself, but then
there’s a break-in. Shenanigans ensue.
Elf (2003)
I feel like this one doesn’t need much explanation. You get to see Will Ferrell
being the most hilarious he has ever been, and you can’t do much better than
that.
It’s a Wonderful
Life (1946)
In my Christmas tag, I mentioned that this was my favourite Christmas
movie. It really is. It’s just so good. It’s sad, but so great. You’re really missing
out. George Bailey wishes that he had never been born, so his guardian angel Clarence
shows him what the world would be like if he didn’t exist. It’s a Frank Capra
classic that will really melt your heart.
Nativity! (2009)
The newest movie on my list, this one is more of a hilarious time than a
heart-warming time. It’s about Paul Maddens, a crappy primary school teacher,
who is in charge of the school’s nativity play. His teaching assistant Mr.
Poppy is a buffoon and the production ends up getting bigger and bigger. It’s
kind of musical, and the kids in it are really great.
Rudolph the Red
Nosed Reindeer (1964)
This wonderful thing. Oh goodness. Between Burl Ives and the delightful stop motion puppets, this is one that I cannot miss every year.
A Christmas Story
(1983)
Everyone’s favourite campy movie. It’s ridiculous, and that’s why it’s
so great. No parent really decks their kid out in a pink bunny suit, or buys a
garish leg lamp, but this family does, and it’s great. Also, this kid asked for
a gun for Christmas. What could go wrong?
The Muppet
Christmas Carol (1992)
There are a thousand different versions of A Christmas Carol, but this
one is my favourite by a landslide. You take a classic story, and then you add
Kermit the Frog and everything gets better.
Dr. Seuss' How
the Grinch Stole Christmas!
I’m not a big
fan of the remake, but the original is pretty excellent. Plus, because the
whole thing rhymes, but the fifteenth run through, you know the whole thing by
heart.
In today’s
advent calendar, I received a Coralista Ultra Plush Lip Gloss.
So far, the lip
glosses I’ve gotten have not really impressed me, and this one isn’t much
different. It matches the Coralista blush that I received on the first day, but
it isn’t particularly pigmented or moisturising. I am not enticed to purchase
more of these, or the full sized glosses.
What’s your favourite holiday movie?