 | Cat People / The Curse of the Cat People
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $8.96 Sort of a sequel to Cat People, Curse of the Cat People is really the story of an odd little girl with a rich inner life. Through her, we get a glimpse of what its like to live in a world where the lines between fantasy and fact are wonderfully blurred. And if you're going to believe in the spirit of Christmas, you have to look beyond the cold, hard light of the day-to-day.
|
 | The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Buy new: $11.49 / Used from: $5.22 That Sturges managed to get this perversion of the Christmas story past the censors is a miracle all on its own. Betty Hutton's peculiar talents are a perfect fit for this story about greatness thrust upon an unlikely recipient. Its crazy combination of smart banter, simple slapstick and perfect comic timing works miracles with a great supporting cast.
|
 | Christmas in Connecticut
Buy new: $5.79 / Used from: $5.39 Bad direction keeps this movie from being good. But Barbara Stanwyck can never be truly bad. Her presence and a great supporting cast keep me watching this one again and again. And the one-reel extra, A Star in the Night, is pure Christmas schmaltz that will have any true holiday believers bawling on cue. That alone is worth the price of purchase.
|
 | Since You Went Away
Buy new: $11.99 / Used from: $8.35 David O. Selznick and director John Cromwell give epic treatment to this story of the war back on the home front. No one's really great in this one, but somehow it all holds together, taking us through a year in the life of an American family while Dad's away at war and ending, as you might hope, on Christmas Eve.
|
 | Meet Me In St. Louis (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Buy new: $11.99 / Used from: $13.99 If you can give yourself over to the movies message that (once again) there's no place like home, you'll see that this picture is a thing of pure beauty. A wonderful score, the most beautiful use of Technicolor you may ever see, and Judy Garland. Yes, the story's climax takes place on Christmas. But it's the movie's perspective on childhood that makes this an especially good fit for the holidays.
|
 | The Bishop's Wife
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $7.09 An angel comes to visit a bishop for Christmas, to guide him away from material things and toward a higher purpose. There's much room for magic in this movie, but instead we get a heavy dose of cheap special effects. Still, David Niven and Loretta Young bring the story back to its true message. But it's Gladys Cooper who gives this tale the soul it needs.
|
 | A Christmas Carol (Ultimate Collector's Edition)(B/W & Color)
Buy new: $9.49 / Used from: $29.50 The best version of the story there is. The credit goes to Alistair Sim for his Scrooge: wonderfully mean enough for us to enjoy watching him, but heartfelt enough that we want him to find his way out of greed and the damage done by a cruel world. His transformation is not only believable but deeply moving.
|
 | It's a Wonderful Life
Buy used from: $11.99 Capra's meditation on the connections each man builds to those around him is the pure, distilled essence of holiday spirit. In a world that's forever beating us down with reminders of our isolation, this is a bright and shiny rebuttal. Only Stewart could deliver a guy who always does the right thing, but with the darkness necessary to turn that premise into a profound statement of life's purpose.
|
 | Meet John Doe/A Farewell to Arms
Buy new: $9.99 / Used from: $4.75 "Meet John Doe" is more Capra corn, and this time it's a paean to the power of the common people united. It's the way he weaves into his message a host of Christian references that feels both lovely and subversive. Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper are the perfect pair, with Walter Brennan lending his acting genius.
|
 | Miracle on 34th Street (Special Edition)
Buy new: $7.49 / Used from: $6.84 This isn't a great movie, but it's a good one. The very premise -- standing up to common sense at a time of the year when we want so much to believe in the inherent goodness of people -- can get you right where you live if you're willing to give yourself over to it. Edmund Gwenn and (a very young) Natalie Wood help us to do that.
|
 | Dr. Seuss - How the Grinch Stole Christmas/Horton Hears a Who
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $4.56 Dr. Seuss's story of a mean-spirited creature who discovers the true meaning of the holiday was a lovely story to begin with. But director Chuck Jones's contribution made the story truly poignant. Their collaboration produced this seamless blend of heartfelt sentiment refracted through the lens of a Looney-Tunes sensibility. Boris Karloff's brilliant story telling brings it all home.
|
 | Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Buy used from: $3.03 This story of misfits finding their rightful place in the world is just the Christmas tale solitary children the world over need to hear. Its beautiful and subversive message feels all the more heartfelt because we receive it through the delicately hand-wrought images of stop-motion animation: you can feel the artifacts of each person who posed these figures, frame after frame.
|
 | March of the Wooden Soldiers
Buy new: $9.98 / Used from: $4.99 This is a weird one, but I see why people who grew up watching it are so fond of it. Based loosely on a 1903 operetta, the movie tells the tale of the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe and her imminent eviction. Fortunately, most of that story and its music have been reworked as a vehicle for the movie's stars, Laurel and Hardy.
|
Listmania!
