In the light of (or should it be in the shadow of?) the mood of the globe at the moment, we at Discerning Seniors HQ thought it might be time to insert some much needed levity. The holidays may be all kinds of different this year, so we thought how about you share your cheesiest Christmas/Holiday movie? You tell us what your favourite movie is, the one that got you laughing so hard you split your pants, or was that the extra helping of gravy?
There are all kinds of reasons to return to the classic Christmas movies. They remind us of happy childhoods, the magic of Christmas, home from school with relatives visiting and lots of goodies that you’re not allowed during the rest of the year.
For me I had a few films that I watched every Christmas- a favourite is “Holiday Inn” with Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby and the beautiful on-screen singing sister act of Rosemary Clooney and Judy Haynes. It manages to combine glamour (how on earth did Judy Haynes have such a small waist?), music, bittersweet moments (the old colonel retiring- I’m not crying, you’re crying….) and side-splitting laughter gags from Danny Kaye’s slapstick humour. There are the really traditional ones of “Miracle on 34th Street” or “A Christmas Carol” which transport us back to another time. For some bizarre reason in Ireland, “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” is always on during Christmas. It has nothing whatsoever to with Christmas, (Oompa Loompas?) yet everything to do with capturing a kid’s imagination for a long period of time- handy for my mom who was busy cooking and cleaning and didn’t need myself or my brother under her feet. Bill Murray’s reworking of Dickens in “Scrooged” hits all the right sarcastic notes right down to his Rum and Tab- heavy on the rum! Another movie I loved so and sobbed throughout a long-haul flight is, “The Family Stone”. Sarah Jessica Parker plays the NYC girlfriend come to visit the formidable matriarch, Diane Keaton. If you haven’t watched it, do- but have tissues on hand! Fortunately, the flight attendant kept filling up my Chardonnay (there seems to be a theme here with the cocktails!) nodding along with the key scenes, tapping my arm in consolation.
Christmas and holiday movies transport us and while we can’t really travel as much as we want at the moment, maybe some cosy comfort can be found looking at some old favourites, laughing at new ones (Elf- who can’t love Elf?) and recharging the human spirit with some much needed jolly joy. Dig out the Christmas sweater too- you know the one with the antlers and light up Rudolph nose? Yep, that one. Gorgeous.
