My Favorite Christmas Movies & Specials

Now that Thanksgiving is over (and all of those "Black Friday" commercials have mercifully ceased) I can get into the spirit of the Christmas season! I am a serious Christmas lover in every way. I love the music, I love the shopping, I love Santa, and of course, I love Jesus! One of the things that helps gt the Jones family in the holiday spirit each year is our collection of Christmas movies and specials on DVD and blu ray. So today I thought I would share with you my list of "must-see" Christmas movies and specials. Ready? Here we go:

• Four Christmases-There is nothing so funny as other people's families at the holidays...
• Jingle All the Way- A Christmas movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger- what could be cooler that than? Includes the classic Arnold line, "Put that cookie down!"  Awesome!
• The Lighting of the Tree at Rockefeller Center- The show is really pretty hit and miss, but it's a Jones family tradition to watch!
• Christmas With the Kranks- One of the those rare movies that I liked better than the book it was based on, John Grisham's Skipping Christmas. Tim Allen is the king of Christmas movies. Free Frosty, Free Frosty!!!
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer- The classic original! It's a great story with great music and Yukon Cornelius and The Bumble- what else could you ask for!
• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York-I like this sequel even better than the original (which for some reason we do not own.  This must change.). Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern as the "Sticky Bandits" are my favorite part of both movies.
• The Nightmare Before Christmas- Tim Burton's classic look at what happens when you try to "do" Christmas without "getting Christmas. Yay, Sandy Claws!
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas- The animated version with Boris Karloff narrating is amazing, but we also like Jim Carrey's live action Grinch as well.
• Elf- We're just walking around the house saying today saying, "Buddy the Elf- what's your favorite color?" There is also a great message about believing when those around you do not...
• The Santa Claus- I actually liked all three of these, but the first one is still my favorite. You gotta' love the elves!
• Saturday Night Live Christmas- There are actually 2 of these specials now, but we own the older one of DVD and watch it every year. So many great skits, including the all-time classics A Dysfunctional Family Christmas, Schweddy Balls & The Night Hanukkah Harry Saved Christmas. "On Herschel, on Moshe, on Schlomo!!!"
• Scrooged- Bill Murray is great, Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present just cracks me up, and the story is timeless. A very underrated movie.
• Christmas Vacation- I feel a certain connection with Clark W. Griswald. We both manage to screw up most everything, but we mean well! And the lights-  ohhh the lights!
• It's A Wonderful Life- Well, DUH!!!
• The Toy That Saved Christmas- The first and best of the Veggietale Christmas stories. The Veggie's learn the true meaning of Christmas from Buzzsaw Louie. And after a sledding accident Bob the Tomato gets to utter these great lines: "Mousetrap.  I wanted to play Mousetrap. You roll your dice, you move your mice- nobody gets hurt!"
• A Charlie Brown Christmas- More people have heard the Christmas story as told in the Gospel of Luke from Linus than from any other single media source in history. Think about that...
• A Muppet Christmas Carol- Easily number one for all of my family. The music is awesome, the story is terrific, and it has Muppets. What else do you want? We own the VHS, the DVD, and the CD of the music. "After all there's only one more sleep 'til Christmas..." And BTW- we're seeing the new Muppet Movie this afternoon!  I can't wait!

So there's my list. I know many of you would include A Christmas Story but I don't share your love of that one. What else would you add? Let me hear from you. Enjoy your favorites, but don't let the reason for the season slip away from you. Listen to Linus- the little dude with the blanket knows what he is talking about!

Because of Jesus,