Let this wonderful love story take you to a different view about love and Christmas season at the same time. With the four main casts of this wonderful movie about how love provided a different yet great journey for the four of them.

Iris, (played by Kate Winslet) was in love with a man who is meant to marry another woman is having a difficult time on how she could cope with it. She wants to forget how mad she is in love with the guy and would want everything just to go away from him. In another part of the world was Amanda, (played by Cameron Diaz), who happens to have a great life yet worst relationship with her guy. She found out that he was cheating on her despite of the life she gave to him. She just wanted to have a vacation away from everything she had. And in an instant, these women both found their selves searching for a great place in a home exchange website where they can spend their vacation away from the nastiness other people was giving.  Iris was living in an English countryside and Amanda was living 6000 miles apart from her in California. This chance wherein they can switch houses for the holiday gave them the chance to discover many things rather than the things they had back to their houses. Amanda accidentally met Iris’ brother (played by Jude Law) one night when he knocked at Iris’ house not knowing that his sister was not there and surprisingly found Amanda. They fell in love in a really strange and fast way. Amanda was decided already to go back to her place before she met Graham (Jude Law) and then suddenly, changed her mind because she found herself charmed by Graham’s looks. Back to California where Iris was located at that time, found out that Amanda had a great life, wonderful house and great job that everybody would ever want. She met the composer, Miles (Jack Black), one day when he went to Amanda’s place. At first, there was an instant connection but in their case, compared to Amanda and Graham, they took the journey of love in a slow yet memorable way. Iris found out that there is so much about both of them which are common and they should share with each other.

This movie happened on one Christmas Holiday on which everyone wants to have someone to be with them to spend the Christmas together. The four casts ended up together and what made this movie a great one was the possibility it had shown despite the distance of people from each other. This movie showed that love is possible even you are miles and miles apart. A great Christmas comedy movie that can capture your heart this Christmas.

Click here to find more amazing Christmas movies that you definitely want to watch….

Technorati Tags: Christmas Movies, The Holiday

What makes this wonderful film was Tom Hanks played different roles here including the role of Santa Claus. He played each and every role with surprising acts that made this movie something to think about. Every time he appears, there is a question in the boy’s mind. Along the way where the Polar Express went through, there were many obstacles and complications wherein every kids inside had encountered. They had a problem reaching North Pole just before Christmas. Some children lost their tickets while in the road which are all covered with ice that made the train hard to pass through. those tickets are supposed to be the one they will use in order for them to enter North Pole at the same time, receive their Christmas Gift from Santa Claus.

When they in North Pole, Steven was chosen by Santa Claus to receive the “The first gift of Christmas”. He asked Santa Claus a beautiful-sounding silver bell and Santa Claus gave it to him before he took off to bring every kids in the world their gifts. Steven put the bell in his pocket and led back to the train to go home. But he discovered that his coat is broken and he unfortunately lost his bell. He went home sadly but waived a happy goodbye to his friends whom he met on the train. But the next day, his sister found a gift under the tree and it was for him, it was from Santa Claus. The bell was not actually lost, it was accidentally placed on Santa’s sleigh and Santa made a way to give it back to Steven.

The bell stands for something you believe about Christmas. If you believe it is true, you would hear a wonderful sound coming from the bell. And that was what this movie had shown. You have to believe in order for you to appreciate things even the small ones. Let it surprise you more if you decide to watch this fantastic movie. This movie is indeed a great one! Click here for more amazing Christmas Movies.

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Jack Frost is a movie about the love of a father and a son to each other that had gone through magic and life after death. Nothing in the world could be compared to a love of a father to his child which was really seen well in this movie. With this movie, Jack (Michael Keaton) portrayed the father figure very well despite of being a Frost man. With every father-and-son scene in the story, true love was well-defined that made this movie a two thumbs-up movie!

This movie would make you realize that it is not the effects, sounds, views that only make a movie a great one. But it is the story itself. It revealed something which is definitely true about family bonding. And if you are wondering what is the movie all about, then I guess it is the right time for you to watch it yourself. You will then realize that this movie is great. This movie is indeed a heartwarming one!

Technorati Tags: Christmas Movies, Jack Frost, Jackfrost

This quirky tragicomedy stars Catherine Deneuve as the matriarch of the troubled Vouillard family. When she becomes sick and needs a bone marrow transplant she forces the whole family to come together for Christmas. The problem is: all of the children hate each other. A Christmas Tale is the story of a highly dysfuntional family. With two and a half hours this film is pretty long but it never gets boring. But you have to like subtitles. There is no dubbed version of this French holiday drama.

Tom and Jerry: Paws for a Holiday/A Nutcracker Tale

A Nutcracker Tale is pure Tom and Jerry madness. Jerry the mouse tries to stage a holiday-themed extravaganza to the music of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. Thsi really looks great. I myself almost cracked up when Tom climbed through that hole in the sky:

Paws For A Holiday itself collects some of the best holiday-themed Tom And Jerry cartoons.

What’s New Scooby-Doo?, Vol. 4: Merry Scary Holiday/Scooby-Doo: Winter Wonderdog

After cat and mouse comes now one of the most famous cartoon dogs. Merry Scary Holiday has all you beloved Christmas traditions run amok. A headless Frosty the Snowman, Toyland wreaking havoc and a parody on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Winter Wonderdog takes place at a spooky ski lodge. We meet the ghost of Christmas and have another encounter with the nutcracker…but certainly different than the one with Tom and Jerry.

The Year Without a Santa Claus/Richie Rich’s Christmas Wish

Another two disc compilation this week. We already talked about The Year Without A Santa Claus before so let’s concentrate on Richie Rich’s Christmas Wish.  This is a sequel to the infamous Macaulay Culkin Richie Rich movie. It’s about another kid being mean to Richie and he wishes that he’d never been born. His wish is granted and we find ourselves in a situation quite like one of the greatest Christmas DVDs of all time. As you may already guess this movie is nothing special. The actors are unbelievable and I cannot imagine another reason for re-releasing this piece of trash in a bundle with a masterpiece other than milking the cash cow once again.

Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas/A Flintstones Christmas Carol

Another cartoon double feature. Both films do their own take on Charles Dickens‘ Christmas Carol. The Looney Tunes do a faithful adaptation of this holiday classic. And they deliver: Daffy Duck is one of the most greedy and severe Scrooges I’ve ever seen. The Flinstones take the classic tale as a backdrop. Fred has the role of Scrooge for the Bedrock Community Players and thus neglects all his other duties. A wonderful addition to your Scrooge collection.

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Technorati Tags: Christmas, Daffy Duck, DVD, Frosty the Snowman, Looney Tunes, Richie Rich, Santa Claus, Scooby-Doo

A special Christmas episode of the It’s always sunny in Philadelphia sitcom. For those of you who don’t know the series: it is very raunchy. Maybe you have seen this NSFW clip where Danny DeVito emerges naked out of a leather couch.

But this Christmas special is not only about nudity and sex (although there’s a good part of it). There’s an impressive claymation sequence that reminds me of the Rankin/Bass films like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

An Old-Fashioned Christmas

Everybody who grew up in the Sixties can remember the Bell Telephone Hour, a weekly music show that featured the best in classical and Broadway music. Most popular were the yearly Christmas specials with artists like Florence Henderson, Gianna d’Angelo, Phyllis Curtin, Lisa Della Casa, Anita Gillette and Mildred Miller. Here’s the famous Christmas song Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire performed by the show’s host Florence Henderson.

A Christmas Journey To Freedom

This production is an interesting experiment in tying together the history of the famour Underground Railroad and motives of Christian faith. The true-life story revolves  around the slave Joe (acclaimed vocalist Wintley Phipps) who gets saved from slavery by Harriet Tubman, a Moses-life figure who helped hundreds escape to Canada while risking her own life. Besides telling the story of this larger than life heroine the DVD contains insights by historian Dr. Allen Callahan and many Christmas songs like O Holy Night and Sweet Little Jesus Boy.

Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker – featuring the San Francisco Ballet [Blu-ray]

This new production of the classic ballet, choreographed by Helgi Tomasson, is a timeless holiday classic. From the lovely Waltz of the Flowers to the amazing Snowflake Waltz, each scene is breathtaking in its own right. They all bring to life the famous and popular characters with great originality.

Technorati Tags: Bell Telephone Hour, Christmas, Christmas DVDs, DannyDevito, Harriet Tubman, Holidays, its always sunny in philadelphia, San Francisco Ballet, Underground Railroad

Have you ever wondered how Santa Claus got to become Santa? The (somehow foolishly titled) movie Christmas Story reveals the background of Santa.

The story is set in Lapland where young Nikolas loses his family in an accident. To take care of the orphaned boy his village decides that Nikolas can stay at any family for one year. On Christmas Day he has to switch his home. To show his gratitude Nikolas decides to make toys for the children as good bye presents. I guess you can see where this story is heading.

The movie presents a different, more mature take on the whole Santa Claus myth. I even heard of an eleven year old who didn’t believe in Santa any more. After watching Christmas Story however she believes he did exist and that his message and his spirit live on. In my opinion this is much better than giving up believing at all. Even if you enter the realm of “enlightened” adults there is a great advantage in preserving those little moments of magic that you encounter as a child.

The fate of Nicholas and how he handles his situation is simply touching. The story moves along like a slowly falling snow flake. One can not escape it and is drawn deeper and deeper into it. The characters are described very affectionately. It’s Christmas DVDs like this that evoke the magic of Christmas and make you aware of what is really the most important thing for everyone. It is family and friends who help you even in difficult times and who you can trust.

The movie is shot in the gorgeous scenery of Lapland, in the dead of winter with real reindeer. It is this amazing scenery that gets you in the Christmas mood very quickly. Christmas Story was one of the most successful films in Finland for 2007, reaching 270,000 admissions.

Technorati Tags: Christmas, Family Christmas DVDs, Finland, Gift, holiday, Holidays and Special Days, Santa Claus

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here. I tried to maintain this site the whole year through the summer has gotten the better of me. Now that we had the first snow last week (I live in Munich, Germany by the way) I want to try to get back into the Christmas DVDs mood as quickly as possible.

1. Disney fans will love the re-release of Mickey’s Christmas Carol. It is part of Disney Animation Collection series and contains other holiday favorites like Pluto’s Christmas Tree, The Small One and Santa’s Workshop as well.
2. Also Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving is beaing re-released with two additional Pooh adventures and a collectible holiday stocking. Join with Pooh and his dear friends as they learn about friendship and the true meaning of Christmas.
3. There is an extended version out of the Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa show with Whoopi Goldberg and Uma Thurman. Sadly while it originally aired in HD quality it is now only available on regular DVD.
4. The Remastered Deluxe Edition of I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown presents the unique Peanuts character Rerun Ban Pelt, the lovable but ever-skeptical younger brother of Linus and Lucy. The story centers on Reruns quest to get a dog for Christmas. The short move isn’t completely indispensable but the real gem lies in the bonus features. Included is a documentary on the original Charlie Brown Christmas with interviews with cast and filmmakers.
5. More and more stuff is coming out on BluRay these days. How The Grinch Stole Christmas or A Charlie Brown Christmas are just two examples. So if you know that you are getting or giving one of those high definition DVD players for Christmas be sure to add one of those classics.

While buying all these nice releases might be a bit expensive I recommend setting up a Netflix account and adding your favorite Christmas DVDs to your wishlist. Click here to get a free Netflix trial. If you don’t like it you can cancel it immediately. Plus: You owe them nothing for having watched some delightful holiday movies.

Technorati Tags: Blu-ray Disc, Charlie Brown Christmas, Christmas DVDs, DVD, HD DVD, Netflix, Uma Thurman, Whoopi Goldberg, Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving

One of 2004’s commercially most successful Christmas films is Joe Roth’s adaptation of the successful novel Skipping Christmas by author John Grisham. Christmas With The Kranks grossed nearly 73 million US dollars.

The story of Christmas With The Kranks is not too bad, which of course is due to the novel. It revolves around the Krank couple who instead of spending the holidays like everybody else has planned a Caribbean cruise. But who would have thought that the Kranks’ neighbors don’t like this idea at all. And when their daughter also announces her visit over Christmas the chaos is perfect. Overall the plot is typical for the holiday season and is focusing on all the cliches that come with it.

Especially in the first half of the film there are lots of them. It is a pleasure to watch the Kranks trying to get out of the hustle and bustle. Just think of the scene where they try to hide from carol singers. This movie is guaranteed to make even Christmas critics laugh.

The last half hour of the movie finally gives us some holiday spirit and (of course) more chaos. The daughter has announced her visit over Christmas and the house must glow with all the Christmas lights as quickly as possible. Only the last 10 minutes get somewhat annoying. As with every Christmas comedy there has to be some kitsch. While I personally have nothing against the usual Christmas kitsch in this movie it feels somewhat out of place. Unlike Bad Santa or Christmas Vacation the trash does not end ironically. Christmas With The Kranks goes even so far as to let Santa Claus fly over the city and of course everybody loves one another no matter how many arguments they had before. It’s the usual kitsch but somehow out of place.

In terms of production one can really be satisfied, everything is like you would expect from a comedy with no major blunders. And the soundtrack relies on the typical X-Mas Classics which create the right atmosphere easily.

But the largest part of the success of this movie can be attributed to the actors. Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis are simply the best choice. Allen is in his typical, wonderfully silly but never exaggerated style naturally earns the most laughs. Curtis as the mother shows some courage to be ugly.
These are some other familiar faces such as Dan Akroyd and Cheech Marin.

Conclusion: Christmas With The Kranks is a witty and beautiful holiday comedy which, although unlikely to provide surprises, wins my heart with some nice gags and a great cast. Only the finale is too corny for my taste.
Overall this is a fairly entertaining film even if you don’t like Christmas movies. For fans of Christmas DVDs watching it is mandatory!

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Technorati Tags: Christmas, Christmas DVDs, Christmas With The Kranks, Comedy, Comedy Christmas DVDs, Holidays, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Grisham, Santa Claus, Santa Clause, Tim Allen

Blizzard is one of those Christmas DVDs that are at least two stages too corny, but a nicely laid out plot saves it from the worst:
Jessies boyfriend movies in a new town just before Christmas. To comfort her Aunt Millie tells her the following story: Katie loves ice skating witch her coach Otto. When Otto dies and Katie gets badgered at school the magic reindeer Blizzard hears her cries for help and comes to save her.

The film is sugary-sweet, sometimes a bit too much. There are many good ideas like a clever plot and convincing effects with real reindeer (fortunately no dolls). But some characters are portrayed too black-and-white like the evil Erin or Santa’s helper Archimedes. But there is an important message for children: Believe in yourself. And: Disappointments are a part of everyday life. I liked the fact that there was reality that even good wholesome characters make mistakes sometimes and that this doesn’t mean the end of the world; there is forgiveness and second chances. It teaches our kids that we don’t live in a perfect world and there are disappointments and we must learn to deal with them.

The actors in Blizzard, even the young ones do a good job and are not annoying. The soundtrack is vibrant and is therefore quite varied. Christmas atmosphere is also produced by a fabulous cinematography and the story is coherent – a little too much trash for my taste. But who has a problem with a little kitsch during holiday season. It is one of those Christmas DVDs that makes everyone “feel good” on the inside after watching it.

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Technorati Tags: Blizzard, Christmas, Christmas and holiday season, Christmas DVDs, Family Christmas DVDs, holiday, Holidays and Special Days, Kids and Teens, People and Society, Santa Claus