Homeschool Fiction

This was a hard one to narrow down to ten. In no particular order, these are the top 10 Christmas movies we like:

1. Christmas In The Clouds; Only peripherally Christmas. We just watched it and I said, “Wow, that was a great movie.” My husband said, “It was only an hour and a half? Seemed like a lot more happened in this movie than most, but in a good way.” My older daughter is still laughing at the obscure Star Trek reference. Me? I love the chef the most; if you’re the first to fill out my form on the right and tell me why, I’ll send your virtual Webkinz pet a present. This is one of those movies, like Danny Deckchair, that never became popular, but should have. I love hidden gems.
2. Serendipity; I love romantic comedies and this one is perfect. Every time I watch it, I want to go out and buy the book Love in the Time of Cholera. I think I’ll actually read it this time.
3. Eloise at Christmastime; On December 23rd of the past several years, we’ve hosted a “Christmas Eve Eve” Party. This phrase is pure Eloise. In this movie, Eloise talks about Christmas Eve Eve so much that it made us want everyone to celebrate it. Eloise is a sweet and independent 6 year old that has won our hearts over. At our party, we always watch Eloise at the Plaza first. Many of the characters are the same. BTW, Sofia Vassilieva (the girl who plays Eloise) has grown up nicely into the character of the oldest daughter on Medium (definitely not a television show for kids). I also have to mention that she’s a vegetarian in real life! I’d love to see another Eloise movie someday with her all grown up.
4. Jingle All the Way; This movie is proof positive that Christmas is overcommercialized. Even so, I love seeing just how far the father is willing to go to get his son what he wants.
5. It’s a Wonderful Life; This Christmas classic is one many children haven’t seen. While it always makes me cry, it’s such a big part of pop culture I think everyone should be aware of the storyline. My husband doesn’t feel like it is Christmastime until he watches this movie every year.
6. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and Miracle on 34th Street (1994); I couldn’t decide which I like best, so they are a tie.
7. The Santa Clause, The Santa Clause 2, The Santa Clause 3 — The Escape Clause; The first one is by far the best, but honestly, I liked them all. The whole freaky robotic Santa in the second one was a bit weird and scary, but the rest of the movie made up for it.
8. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation; The whole scene with Chevy Chase and lighting up his house is one I think of every year as we put up our own holiday decorations.
9. Christmas with the Kranks; Based on the very funny John Grisham “Skipping Christmas” novel, this movie adaptation is one of the cutest, yet not over the top, Christmas comedies that we’ve seen. Need a new Christmas CD? This soundtrack is nice.
10. While You Were Sleeping; I debated between this one and Love Actually. While the soundtrack from Love Actually is superb, this movie has a much happier ending (and I’m a sucker for happy endings).
11. BONUS one for my Dad: The Die Hard Collection; Not a family friendly movie, but who can resist Bruce Willis’s manly holiday greeting to the bad guys? And, of course I have to mention the new Live Free or Die Hard, since he highly recommends it!

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By: Lisa