Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer (1964)

Our hero Rudolph is born and his father is embarrassed because he has such a shiny nose. When he begins his reindeer training, his father covers up his nose because he doesn't want Santa to see his "defect". He befriends a young doe named Clarice who thinks that he is 'cuuuuuuuuuute". During his training his nose is discovered and he is ostracized. He meets a misfit elf named Hermey who wants to be a dentist. They decide to run away and on their journeys meet Yukon the prospector who is searching for peppermint, some misfit toys, and an abominable snowman called a Bumble. Rudolph's mother and Clarice decide to look for him and end up getting cornered by the Bumble. Rudolph tries to protect them, but gets knocked out. Hermey and Yukon end up removing the Bumble's teeth and Yukon pushes the Bumble into a hole and falls in after him. He ends up showing up later as "Bumbles bounce!" and he was able to get out of the hole. Everyone finds their way home and Rudolph becomes the hero as Santa needs his "nose that shines so bright" to light the way for his sleigh to make his Christmas Eve deliveries. The good news continues as Hermey gets his dentist shop and the Misfit Toys get rescued and become gifts for girls and boys.

Rudolph was first created in 1939 by an employee of Montgomery Ward. The song from the story was first recorded in 1948, but it did not become popular until 1949 when Gene Autry recorded it for commercial distribution. This stop motion animation special is the longest running special today and it has great memories for me!

Not Rated. 60 Minutes. I give this movie THREE AND ONE HALF STARS.

Holiday Inn (1942)

"Holiday Inn" begins as Jim (Bing Crosby) and Lila (Virginia Dale) are finishing their last song and dance show with Ted (Fred Astaire) before they retire to a farm in Vermont. Lila decides that she wants to keep working, dumps Jim and gets together with Ted. Jim goes to the country, and finding that he can't hack the country farm life, check himself into a sanatorium. While there he comes up with the idea of turning his farm into an inn that is only open on national holidays. On those holidays, they offer dinner and elaborately themed song and dance numbers according to which holiday it is. He pitches this to Ted, where he finds out that Lila dumped Ted for a millionaire, and they set it up. Before they get started, Jim meets a woman named Linda(Marjorie Reynolds)who ends up getting a job at the Inn. Ted tries to take her away at the Independence Day celebration and she goes with him to Hollywood to make a movie about the Holiday Inn. Jim is depressed about this and at he goes to Hollywood, confronts Ted and gets Linda back. Ted also gets back together with Lila as her rich boyfriend seems to have some tax problems.

This film has some great entertainment. Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby do a fine job singing and dancing. With it being an Irving Berlin movie, there are many of these song and dance numbers. The clothes that the ladies wear are absolutely beautiful! The set at the Inn is the same set for the Inn in "White Christmas". This movie is considered a Christmas movie although the only "Christmasy" part about it happens at the beginning and the end.

This movie is the first in which the song "White Christmas" is introduced. Today some of broadcasts of this movie have cut out the politically incorrect "Abraham" musical number because of it's depiction of a black face mistral show. Turner Classic Movies retains this part because of the historical value as well as the fact that they only show uncut versions of their movies. Interesting fact: The Holiday Inn's of today are named after the film.

101 Minutes. Not Rated. Black and White. I give this movie THREE STARS.

Jingle All The Way (1996)

This movie begins with the well-used premise that workaholic Dad Howard Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger)has missed yet another Karate event in which his son Jamie (Jake Lloyd) would receive his latest belt. To make up for it, he promises Jamie that he will make sure that he gets whatever he wants for Christmas. This gift turns out to be the Turbo-Man(the Cabbage Patch Doll of the season) that he had also previously promised his wife Liz (Rita Wilson) that he would pick up weeks ago. He, of course, says that he picked it up earlier and his wife says great because Turbo-Man is sold out all over town.

The rest of the movie is of Howard desperately trying to find this doll for his son all the while trying to hold off another father, Myron (Sinbad), who is also in the same situation. Along the way he has several run-ins with a cop (Robert Conrad awesome in the old T.V. show "Baa Baa Black Sheep") and also has to keep his divorced next door neighbor (Phil Hartman perfect in this role) from making the moves on Liz. Howard is not able to secure a doll, but by strange events becomes Turbo-Man in the Christmas parade and holds off Turbo-Man's arch nemesis Dementor (Sinbad) and finally gets a special edition doll for his son. His son, after hearing Myron's sad story about his own son, gives Myron the doll after declaring that he doesn't need the doll when he has Turbo-Man at home. Awwww!

Filmed in the Twin Cities, this movie is not quite as bad as most of the critics say it is. Don't get me wrong, this is not a great movie, but it is not as unwatchable as it has been made out to be. There were a couple of funny parts including one in which Howard and Myron as well as about a hundred other people try to get lottery balls to be in a drawing for a late shipment of Turbo-Man dolls. With lottery balls flying and people biting and crawling around to get them all perfectly timed to the song "It's the most wonderful time of the year" made me laugh out loud. Sinbad was good, but Arnold's acting is as awful as usual (he should stick to mainly non-speaking roles such as Terminator I). This movie, like "A Christmas Story" was put on FX for 24 continuous hours in 2004, please note that this did not continue. Kids would like this movie.

89 Minutes. Rated PG. I give this movie TWO AND THREE QUARTER STARS.

White Christmas (1954)

This is a magnificent film that is about two men who meet in Europe during WWII in 1944. Captain Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Private Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) are entertaining the troops on Christmas Eve with Wallace, who is a successful Broadway entertainer in his regular life, singing "White Christmas" as Davis works the record player. Their commander, General Waverly (Dean Jagger) arrives and as it is his last day in command, the soldiers all give him a grand send off by singing "The Old Man". After the General leaves, the men come under attack and Davis saves Wallace's life injuring himself in the process. Feeling guilty, Wallace gives in when Davis suggests that they work together when they get home.

Soon they become "Wallace and Davis" the darlings of Broadway with their variety show. They get a letter from an old army buddy asking them to take a look at an act that his sisters, Judy(Vera-Ellen) and Betty(Rosemary Clooney), put on. The four of them meet and when the girls have to escape a landlord who is trying to say that they skipped out without paying, the men help them out and put on a funny routine to buy the girls some time to get away by doing a very funny turn to the girls' "Sisters" number. The men meet up with the ladies on the train going north and decide to join them at their next show at the Columbia Inn in Vermont. When they arrive, they are told by the housekeeper Emma (Mary Wickes)that since there is no show and therefore no guests, that their act isn't needed. They also find out that Bob and Phil's former commander, General Waverly, owns the inn and has sunk his savings and pension into the Inn. To help him out, Bob and Phil decide to have their whole show come up and rehearse at the Inn. Later they come up with the idea to have as many former soldiers that had been under the command of General Waverly come up to Vermont as a surprise for the General on Christmas Eve.

Throughout the film there are misunderstandings, ploys to get couples together, many song and dance numbers and much more.

The dancing and singing in this movie is top notch and is in my top 5 Christmas movies! Plus Cathy and I like to drive Jean nuts with our exemplary rendition of "Sisters". I am also looking forward to a Christmas tradition in which Cathy, Brittany and sometimes Bret put up and decorate Cathy's tree while I recline under a blanket, drink and watch this wonderful movie! I was surprised to see that a lot of critics rated "Holiday Inn" over "White Christmas", they don't know what they are talking about!!

I found out some interesting facts on Wikipedia regarding this movie. Fred Astaire was offered the part of Bob Wallace but turned it down and Danny Kaye ended up with the part. Vera-Ellen's costumes all have a high neck as she was battling Anorexia (you can see how thin she was) and her neck looked rather old. Rosemary Clooney actually sung both parts of the "Sisters" number, although she was not on the soundtrack for the movie because she was under contract with another company. The set for the Columbia Inn is indeed an exact replica of the Inn in "Holiday Inn". The choreography for the dance numbers was done by the famous Bob Fosse.

120 Minutes. Not Rated. I give this movie FOUR AND ONE HALF STARS!

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)

In this installment of the "Twilight" series, adapted from the book written by Stephenie Meyer, Bella (Kristen Stewart) must deal with the fact that she may never again see her beloved Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).

The film begins as Bella realizes that although her love Edward, a vampire who will always stay 17, will not age, SHE will. The fact that this is her 18th birthday does not help matters. This disturbs her and she wants Edward to turn her into a vampire to prevent this. At her birthday party at Edward's family's house, she cuts her finger and one of his family members tries to attack her because of the blood. The Cullen's decide that they must move away so they won't put Bella in danger. We don't see much of Edward until the last part of the movie. Unhappy Bella mopes around for months until she goes out with a girlfriend with prompting from her caring father. While out with her friend, she realizes that when she puts herself into a dangerous situation, that the ghostly specter of Edward appears to warn her not to proceed.

This seems to pull her out of her funk and she runs over to her friend Jacob Black's (Taylor Lautner) to have him rebuild her a couple of motorcycles that seem to have appeared in the back of her truck. He, just like Edward, is enamored of her. They spend a lot of time together until he begins to act strangely. Bella discovers that Jacob as well as some of his fellow Quileute tribe members are actually werewolves (by an inherited gene) whose purpose is to kill vampires. He tells her that a vampire is hanging around and that they are trying to catch her. The vampire is Victoria who has made it clear that she wants to kill Bella. Bella wigs out and decides that she is going to have some "fun" and go cliff jumping into the ocean and is pulled out of the water by Jacob. Edward is led to believe that Bella is dead (he can somehow see this) and therefore decides that he can't live without her and is going to Italy to ask the Volturi (kind of like the royalty/vampire jury of the vampire nation) to kill him. They refuse because of his talents as a vampire. He decides that he is going to break the cardinal vampire rule and expose himself to the public (he likes to sparkle) which results in certain death by the Volturi. Bella meanwhile speeds to Italy with Edward's sister Alice (Ashley Green) to stop him. She manages to get there in time, but the Volturi want to see her. Aro (Michael Sheen and the "head" vampire) is amazed to discover that Bella is immune to their vampire powers of mind reading and pain inducing and decides not to kill her as she can be useful later when they are assured that she will be turned into a vampire by the Cullen's.

I know that most people loved this movie, and I did thing it was pretty good, but not great. It's not that I don't like the romance, but it was a bit over the top. Don't get me wrong, this 40 something body is still housing a 17 year old mind and I still remember what it was like to be devastated by a failed romance that was supposed to last FOREVER!!!! But come on! I did like the parts with the werewolves but thought that there wasn't enough of that action. I was also looking forward to the part where Jane (Dakota) and the Volturi interact with Edward and Bella, but this part was much more interesting in the book. Dakota Fanning's Jane did not have nearly the impact and presence that she had in the book, the part was very small here. I thought that Kristin Stewart's acting was pretty bad and exaggerated but Michael Sheen's too brief portrayal of Aro was great. The best part was that when Jacob pulled off his shirt to dab the tablespoon of blood on Bella's forehead after her motorcycle accident, there was an audible gasp in the theater by ladies of all ages quickly followed by groaning by the men. Hilarious! The forest scenes in the movie were beautifully photographed.

130 Minutes. Rated PG13. I give this movie THREE STARS.

The Blind Side (2009)

Based on the book written by Michael Lewis, "The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game", "The Blind Side" is an inspirational film.

Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) is admitted to Briarcrest Christian school by a coach hopeful that he will be able to contribute to his sports program. Michael is basically illiterate at this point, he has a GPA of almost 0, but he is not unintelligent. A teacher discovers that he does well when he is given his tests orally. She meets resistance from the other teachers initially, but they come around.

Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock), an interior designer, first notices Michael when he sees her son S.J. (Jae Head) speaking to him at school, she is told that he is known as "Big Mike". When she sees him walking along the road in the freezing cold, she and her husband Sean (Tim McGraw) pick him up and set him up on the couch in their palatial home (her husband owns a large amount of fast food restaurants). Most of the rest of the movie is about how he began to live with the Tuohy's and became a member of their family (they eventually became his legal guardians). He brings up his GPA thanks to a tutor, Miss Sue (played humorously by Kathy Bates) and begins to play football. He has a hard time at first, but picks it up fairly quickly with a little help from Leigh Anne and S.J. Michael does so well, that he is recruited by colleges and ultimately makes it to the NFL.

Along the way they face the expected resistance from friends and family. They made a special point of the fact that a large African-American male was living in the same house as their teenage daughter Collins (Lily Collins). A large part of the movie shows that although the Tuohy family helped to change Michael's life, it highlights the fact that he changed theirs as well.

This film kept me interested, made me laugh and yes, made me teary. Sandra Bullock delivers a great performance here and Tim McGraw as Leigh Anne's husband does well as her patient, fast food magnate husband. Jae Head steals the show as the perpetually spunky S.J. This is one of the most uplifting movies that I have seen in quite some time.

During the college recruitment scenes, there are appearances by several current big name coaches such as Nick Saban and Lou Holtz. Michael played at Ole Miss and was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens where he is currently spending his rookie year as an offensive lineman. Make sure that you stay for the credits and watch the pictures from Michael's real life with his family!

130 Minutes. Rated PG13. I give this movie FOUR AND ONE QUARTER STARS!

2012 (2009)

This film begins as geologist Dr. Adrian Helmsley (Chimetel Ejiofor) goes to India in 2009 to see evidence that the earth's core is heating up at an alarming rate. He runs back to the U.S. and explains his findings to a presidential aide, Carl Anheuser (Oliver Platt) who then reports it to the President (Danny Glover with a really bad lisp. Did he get new teeth or something?).

Several years later, Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) a one time published author and limo driver, is taking his kids camping in Yellowstone despite the fact that many earthquakes are occurring. He is separated from his wife (Amanda Peet) who is living with her plastic surgeon boyfriend Gordon (Tom McCarthy) who, it seems, his son prefers. While in Yellowstone, they enter a restricted area and are whisked off to a military/scientific base where Dr. Helmsley recognizes Jackson from his book which, by the way, predicts a global catastrophe. What are the odds? Jackson and kids head back to their campsite where they run into a whacko (Woody Harrelson in a role tailor made for him) that runs a pirate radio station out of his R.V. that predicts the end of the world. He tells Jackson about what he thinks is going on with the government and the end of the world and tells Jackson that he has a map of where the government is building "spaceships" to survive.

Jackson takes the kids home and later that day is when the world begins to fall apart. When things start to crumble, he drives to get the kids, his wife and her boyfriend. He then drives like a crazy man as the world is literally collapsing all around them to the airport where he has reserved a plane that Gordon flies (he is taking flying lessons)to Yellowstone so that Jackson can acquire a map from the wacko that tells them where the "spaceships are located. The so-called "spaceships" actually turn out to be Arks complete with animals that were available for the low low price of a billion dollars for those that could afford it (they had to finance the building of the Arks somehow. What?...the government would pay for it?). They are obviously expecting the flooding by the tsunami's that come with geological events that are so powerful that the continents and the Poles move (the South Pole ends up in Wisconson. Really!).

A couple of parts, such as the part where Jackson is making his mad dash for the airport, are so unbelievable they would be funny if not for the fact that people are being killed all over the place. There is a scene where they had to land a plane in a snow covered area in China in the middle of nowhere and a truck just happens to drop by and pick them up. Again, what are the odds?

The film, directed by Roland Emmerich who seems to be the king of the end of the world as his other movies "Independence Day" and "The Day After Tomorrow" both deal with apocalyptic type events, is not horrible as long as you don't take it seriously. If you look at it for what it is, a silly, slightly entertaining way to pass the time, then you might enjoy iT. The effects are good and may best be viewed at the theater.

180 Minutes. Rated PG13. I give this movie TWO STARS.