celebrating the best of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's
The movie today is a comedy featuring Queen Latifah, LL Cool J and the initimable Gerard Depardieu. It’s a warm, funny movie that explores what we would do if we knew our time on this earth was limited. You can rent this movie on YouTube. I hope it inspires you to live fully and joyfully in the New Year! Enjoy!
In another installment of Christmas movies that aren’t Christmas movie, I bring you About a Boy (2002), the Nick Hornby adaptation starring Hugh Grant and Toni Collette. Trigger alert: themes about human flaws, bullying, depression and suicide appear in this movie. Because the holidays for most us just aren’t like the ones in Hallmark movies. It’s free to watch on Peacock TV.Â
What if you were Christmas shopping in New York and you met the love of your life? It could happen. Let’s watch this 2001 movie starring Jon Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. If you haven’t seen it, I know you will enjoy it. If you want to watch it with me, I’ll be watching this at 8 p.m. Free to watch on YouTube for a limited time. You can also watch it on Amazon Prime Video.
Let’s watch this 1995 movie starring Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman. If you haven’t seen it, I know you will enjoy it. You can rent it on YouTube or Amazon Prime Video. Here is the preview.
Twas the night before Thanksgiving
And all through the house
We all were so grateful
To put our feet up for a bit.
Gee, that didn’t rhyme at all, did it? But, the sentiment is right! This evening, put your feet up and relax a little and watch a movie that takes place on Thanksgiving! On the menu tonight is Miracle on 34th Street. Not the old classic, the remake. The 90s one. The lighting, colors and cinematograpy are beautiful in this 1994 remake. I think you’ll love it!
I have picked a mainstream movie for each Wednesday of the Christmas season. Maybe some of these movies aren’t always the first ones you think of as Christmas movies, but they pack in plenty of Christmas atmosphere.
November 24 – Miracle on 34th Street (1994)Â Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott.Â
December 1 – While You Were Sleeping (1995) Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman
December 8 – Serendipity (2001) Kate Beckinsale, Jon Cusack
December 15 – About a Boy (2002) Toni Colette, Hugh Grant
December 22Â – Last Hoiday (2006) Queen Latifah, LL Cool J
December 29 – Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001) Renee Zelwegger, Colin Firth
I think you will enjoy this 54 year old Christmas special. It features Andy Williams, his family and his French singer wife. Here is a tip: fast forward through the Osmonds’ fever-dream medley involving Rockette-like soldiers and a peppermint factory. That was the low light of the show. But the rest of it was pretty good! Some classic Christmas songs and an adorable segment where he played with his children near the end of the program.
Do you love romantic Christmas movies? So do I! I thought I would pick out a free-to-watch Christmas rom-com for each Friday night in December. If you like, please join me before the movie on Zoom to say hi (7:30 p.m.)
Brrrr! It certainly is feeling frosty today! So, let’s check out an old favorite animated special for Toon Tuesday, Frosty the Snowman. Enjoy!
It’s not Christmas without watching A Charlie Brown Christmas, is it? After Apple TV decided to play Scrooge this year and purchased the rights to Peanuts holiday programming, PBS came to the rescue! Tonight, A Charlie Brown Christmas will air at 7:30 p.m. on PBS and PBS Kids.
But that’s it 😦 So if you are busy or working and can’t schedule this programming but still want to watch the entire Peanuts special, you can see it here.
As mentioned in a previous post, viewing unauthorized content on YouTube is not something I typically endorse. BUT this year, the powers that be pullled this video from Amazon Video and YouTube Movies. AND it’s really hard to find the DVD. And that’s not right. It meant that most people couldn’t watch these specials unless they bought the DVD before this year. Charlie Brown belongs to all of us.
Enjoy and Merry Christmas!
P.S.
Apple TV, I’m giving you fair warning: if you try to come for Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer, it’s war!
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com
So, as you may know, in each Friday of December, I am presenting a free-to-watch holiday romance. And tonight being Hanukkah, I was delighted to find one about Hanukkah AND Christmas! How cool is that? Mistletoe and Menorahs (2019) is a sweet, well-produced movie with an interesting plot and an engaging male lead.
 If you like, please join me before the movie on Zoom to say hi (7:30 p.m.)
Here is the story line:
When a determined toy company executive, Christy (Kelley Jakle), needs to learn all about Hanukkah in a hurry in order to land a big account for her company, she enlists the help of her co-worker’s friend Jonathan (Jake Epstein) who is in desperate need to turn his bachelor pad into a Christmas wonderland to impress his girlfriend’s father. They don’t get along at first but realize they need each other’s holiday expertise in order to accomplish their goals. Christy finds out about the joys of latkes and lighting the menorah while Jonathan becomes a master at making gingerbread houses. As they spend more time together, they discover as much about themselves as they do about the holidays and realize that maybe there is more to their new relationship than meets the eye.
Here for your Friday night viewing enjoyment is Mistletoe and Menorahs (2019). It is completely free to watch anytime you like on Tubi.TV (there will be some commercial breaks). All you need is an an Internet connection. You don’t even have to register on the website to watch it. That is optional. You can watch it on your phone, tablet, laptop, desktop computer or Smart TV. How is that for easy? Here is the preview…Enjoy! Happy Hanukkah! 🙂
Cool Yule 
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