The Todd Blog

Now, for the blog post you’ve all been eagerly awaiting: the authoritative list of my top five Christmas movies!

5. Christmas Vacation—Though I’ve seen this movie a dozen-plus times, it still makes me giggle. Cousin Eddie is one of the funniest characters ever penned, and Clark’s no-bonus blowup is absolutely golden. This is definitely a good background movie while you’re (or your wife is) setting up your Christmas decorations.

4. It’s a Wonderful Life—I saw this movie for the first time last Christmas (unbelievable, I know). Though it gets a bit slow in parts, the payoff at the end is absolutely worth it. Stewart is brilliant, the little girl (everytime a bell rings…) isn’t. They should really consider showing Stewart’s performance more than hers when they talk about this movie. If you’re one of the few humans alive who haven’t seen this movie, do it.

3. Elf—Classic Will Ferrell. If you like that, you’ll like this movie. If not, you’ll probably still find something to enjoy. The story is funny, heartwarming and appropriately cheesy. It’s a perfect movie for the whole family to watch together.

2. Love Actually—Not only is this on my top Christmas movies list, it ranks in my “top movies of all time list.” If you don’t get the warm fuzzies from Liam Neeson and his son or Colin Firth and his love interest, it may very well be possible that you aren’t a human. Unfortunately, this movie isn’t perfect for the whole family to watch together—there is some unnecessary nudity. Fortunately, even that story ends up being cute.

1. Christmas Story—When you were growing up, did you have a movie that you loved, but you didn’t know anybody else who had even seen it? Princess Bride was one such movie—until I got to Harding, I didn’t know how many people worshiped it. Christmas Story is another such film. I absolutely loved it growing up, but I didn’t know it had mass appeal until TNT started running day-long marathons. The reason this flick is at the top of my list is because when I watch it, I still feel the same as when I was a wee child, exhausted after a morning of present-opening and new-toy-playing, laying on the floor, watching Ralphie and his quest for the official Red Ryder carbine-action 200 shot range model air rifle—and that’s a good feeling.

So, that’s my list. What did I leave out? What did I screw up? What’s yours?

P.S. If you have been trying to visit or leave a comment and have been blocked by Bad Behavior (error 403) I have remedied the situation. Cheers.