Christmas Movie List

Just for fun, and to avoid actually doing anything constructive, I've made a list of "Christmas Movies" as suggested by.. the internet. Next year, I promise to bring in a "made-for-TV movie' expert, but for now, I'm sticking with box-office productions,
(However...check out my links below!)

The oldies (yes, these were oldies when I was a kid): 

A Christmas Carol 1951, starring Alistair Sim
Christmas in Connecticut 1945, a comedy with Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan
White Christmas 1954, a musical with Bing Crosby. Rosemary Clooney and Danny Kaye
Holiday Inn 1942, a musical with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire
Shop Around The Corner 1940, a romance with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan
The Bishop's Wife 1947, a comedy with Cary Grant and Loretta Young
Miracle on 34th Street 1947  (and again in 1992), with Maureen O'Hara
It's a Wonderful Life 1946,  with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed

And some consider these 'Christmas' tales:

The Apartment 1960, a comedy with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine
Meet Me in St. Louis 1944, a musical with Judy Garland

"More recently" we have:

A Christmas Tale 2008, a dark drama with Catherine Deneuve
Nightmare Before Christmas 1993, a Tim Burton animated movie
Arthur Christmas 2011, animated
Mickey's Christmas Carol 1983, animated
Ernest Saves Christmas 1988, goofball comedy
Prancer 1989, family tale
Elf 2003, comedy with Will Ferrell
Home Alone 1990, comedy with McCauley Culkin
A Christmas Story 1983, with Peter Billingsley and Darrin McGavin
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 1989, comedy with Chevy Chase
Love Actually 2003, adult comedy with Hugh Grant and ensemble cast
Bad Santa 2003, adult comedy with Billy Bob Thornton
Scrooge 1970, with Albert Finney and Alec Guinness
Polar Express 2004, family animated movie
The Santa Clause 1994, comedy with Tim Allen
Fred Claus 2007, comedy with Vince Vaughn
Muppet Christmas Carol 1992, family animated movie
How the Grinch Stole Christmas 1967, family animated movie
Jingle All the Way 1996, comedy with Arnold Schwarzeneggar
Christmas with the Kranks 2004, comedy with Tim Allen
The Holiday 2006, adult comedy-drama

And who can forget these ?classic Christmas stories:

Batman Returns 1992, with Michael Keaton
Die Hard 1988 with Bruce Willis
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 2005, adult drama with Robert Downey, Jr.
Edward Scissorhands 1990, with Johnny Depp
Gremlins 1984

My favorites are in the first list, and I'll admit to taking my kids to see Home Alone 1 and Ernest Saves Christmas. Thanks to cable tv in the 90s, I've seen plenty of the others, but not all.

What did I forget? What movies will you watch this year? Which movies from the list would you like to see this holiday season and why?

Just for fun, I'm adding links to more Christmas movies that you'll ever need! Go check them out and then come back and Thank Me. Yes, You're Welcome!

Willow and Thatch's List of Ten Victorian Family Christmas Movies

Dr. Casey Wilson's Definitive List of Hallmark Christmas Movies  (a 2016 post).

and lastly, Hallmark's 2017 Christmas Movies

Buy Desert Duet for 99cents or Free on KU

Merry Christmas from Humbug. Wish You Were Here!

It’s 1933 in the good old US of A. In the midst of drought, the Depression, and gangsters on the lam, America finds solace in Hollywood's Golden Age. 

Ex-pilot Eugene Tanner, determined to pen the lyrics for the movie industry's first "Best Song" award, books a rushed December stay at the remote Humbug Creek Guest Ranch (A Gold Mine of a Getaway!) Where better to find inspiration for an epic Western, than amid all that trail dust and burnt coffee? 

Thea Knight gives up her short holiday break from the studio’s costume department to play cowgirl hostess at her family’s struggling guest ranch. But instead of helping their witty and handsome guest, she becomes his biggest distraction. Old flames and past regrets take a backseat when the pair become embroiled in a ghost town mystery marring Humbug, Arizona’s rustic Christmas. Thankfully, the cowgirl is as fast with her Winchester as she is with her comebacks.

Follow my Amazon page for all the new releases in 2018!

Chesapeake Shores Features Lending Library Box

by Anita Mae Draper

Do you watch the Chesapeake Shores TV series on the Hallmark Channel? It's based on the book series, Chesapeake Shores by well-known author, Sheryl Woods. Up here in Canada we watch it on the W Network months after it's aired in the U.S., but considering the broadcast issues, we're blessed to see it at all.

Although the series is set in Chesapeake Shores, Maryland, it's filmed at Parksville and Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The Hallmark TV series, Cedar Cove, had a similar setup where it was set in Washington State and filmed in British Columbia as well.

What makes Chesapeake Shores special to me is that it's centered around a multi-generational family where one of the daughters, Bree, is a writer. And a very good writer apparently, from the accolades she received from a successful screenplay. But as the series starts, she's suffering writer's block and can't seem to latch onto the key of that first success.

Without going into episode detail, I'd like to say that what endeared me to Bree's character is when she asks country music singer, Trace, to build her a lending library box in the Season 1 episode, Georgia on My Mind.

Image courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/ChesapeakeShores/

I'm not going to tell you which episodes, but every once in awhile the Chesapeake Shores action is set at the show's lending library box location.

Furthermore, because of the Bree character, scenes are also set in the local book store. I really like this series as it integrates Bree's love of books and her writer's life into daily family life. The frustrations and battles she faces in her decisions to make it as a writer are no more or no less important than those any other member of her family faces in their respective careers.

Although the Chesapeake Shores episode guide calls it a "lending library box", the concept is fashioned with the same idea as Little Free Library.

Library #6315, Traverse City, Michigan

A Little Free Library can be found in any country, any community, on any street. Anyone with a willingness to share can set one up on the edge of their property where people can take a book and leave one for someone else to read.

Library #6357, Sandy Springs, Georgia

The Little Free Library website even has 20 different design plans to build your own. They can be found at https://littlefreelibrary.org/build/.

Pinterest has some unique, practical, and whimsical images of current library boxes to check over at http://www.pinterest.com/ltlfreelibrary/.


Today's questions for discussion:
Do you watch Chesapeake Shores? Any thoughts on it?
Have you seen one of these little library boxes? Care to share where? Have you used one?

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Anita Mae Draper's historical romances are written under the western skies of the Saskatchewan prairie where her love of research and genealogy yield fascinating truths that layer her stories with rich historical details.  Anita's short story, Here We Come A-Wassailing, was a finalist for the Word Guild's 2015 Word Awards. Her novellas are included in Austen in Austin Volume 1, The American Heiress Brides Collection, and The Secret Admirer Romance Collection. Readers can check out Anita's Pinterest boards for a visual idea of her stories to enrich their reading experience.  Discover more at: Website - www.anitamaedraper.com

Pinterest - www.pinterest.com/anitamaedraper/