Certified Movie Buff: The Santa Clause

Hi guys. I guess everyone's pretty busy now that Christmas is coming in less than a week. But if you do have the time to squeeze in a little me or family time, might as well spend it by watching a really cool Christmas movie.

I, no, my family and I have this "thing" for Christmas movies. We've probably watched all the Home Alone movies a hundred times, but this is also one of our favorites: The Santa Clause trilogy. Nope, not a typo. There's def an "e" there, I checked.

This is actually a pretty old movie. The first one was shown late in 1994 and the third one at around 2006. 

So, The Santa Clause tells the tale of Scott Calvin, a divorced businessman who couldn't care less about Christmas. Sort of like Scrooge with a suit on instead of pajamas. When he mistakes Santa Claus, walking on his roof, as a burglar, he accidentally scares him off and sends Santa falling off the roof and virtually dying. I don't know if he actually died or what because he just, well, disappeared. That's when the "clause" comes in. A clause, left as a card on the suit, that says that whoever gets a hold of the Santa suit and wears it has the obligation to be Santa Claus, and of course, Scott just had to try it on. And that's how all hell broke loose, which included growing a white beard despite shaving. Scott now has to learn to love Christmas and be the "big bearded guy" or just end up destroying Christmas for everyone else.

Well, I've spoiled quite enough about the movie. All in all, it's a great family movie. Very Christmas-y with a dash of Disney magic. The second one (the Mrs. Clause one) and the third (the one with Jack Frost as the villain) are great too, but I think the first one is the best. Well, I think in most movie series, the first one is always the best. The Santa Clause embraces every aspect of Christmas that a child always thinks about, with a few good lessons to learn along the way.

What about you? Any fave Christmas movies? Lemme know. Cheerio!

Certified Movie Buff: Christmas With the Kranks

Hi guys. Just a quick post here about my favorite Christmas movie. It's plot is a little unusual, which made it such a good film. Besides, who could pass up a movie with Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Christmas With the Kranks (2004) is actually the movie version of John Grisham's 2001 novel, Skipping Christmas. I read the book after I watched the movie, which I don't always do because I always end up liking the book better.

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Christmas With the Kranks, tells the story of Nora and Luther Krank, who were faced with the fact that they were about to celebrate Christmas without their only daughter Blair, whose Peru trip clashed with the holidays.

When Luther realizes that they spent over 6,000 dollars for last year's Christmas celebration, he came up with the disturbing idea of not celebrating Christmas, and splurging their money on a Carribean cruise on Christmas Day instead, since Christmas won't be the same without their daughter.

Despite Nora's doubts, she goes on with Luther's ridiculous plan, which involved not buying Christmas cards, not taking out Frosty, not putting up lights and the works, much to their neighbors' dismay and being dubbed as Scrooge.

All hell breaks loose when Blair calls on Christmas Eve to say that she was about to come home to celebrate Christmas with her family, bringing her new fiance along. Now, Luther and Nora must come up with the plan to bring the Christmas spirit to their house in a few hours.

Although this movie has received a handful of negative remarks because of its negative message, I actually find the movie quite interesting. The movie isn't entirely about skipping Christmas but also about realizing the meaning of Christmas. Plus, I enjoyed watching Luther and Nora scour for every possible Christmas thing just to decorate their home on Christmas Eve.

This is definitely a must-watch, but I must ask you to keep an open mind as you watch this. =) Cheerio!