Sit down kids, time to watch Christmas movies

One thing I look forward to about the holiday season is watching Christmas movies.  I don't count "It's a Wonderful Life" because I watch that all year long.  I like the scene in the bar when the angel asks for some weird flaming drink and they get tossed out.

Among my favorites are Scrooged with Bill Murray, The Santa Clause, Elf, and Christmas Vacation.  I finally noticed last year that during scene where Randy Quaid and Chevy Chase are walking through Wal-Mart, Randy Quaid has a really big dildo down his pants.  Of course, now, that's all I look at.

Scott and I have the tradition of watching the Patrick Stewart A Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve after the kids have gone to bed.  We have stilton cheese and port with the fire going, it's a very relaxing but festive event.

A Muppet Christmas Carol gave Scott one of his life philosophies "If you want to know the measure of a man, you simply count his friends."  And Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat are friggin' hilarious.  We watch this multiple times in the month of December.

I've got to include The Twilight Zone episode Night of the Meek when the drunk department store Santa find the magical bag that he can reach into and give people the gift they want or need.  He goes into the poor neighborhoods and gives the kids the toys they ask for and passes out sweaters, canes and coats at the Salvation Army.  Then the manager of the department store and the police chief accuse him of stealing, take his bag and pull out a bunch of garbage.  A few seconds later our Santa gives them a bottle of cherry brandy complete with personalized gift tag.  At the end of the show, he says he'd like to do this every year, make people happy.  Then he comes across the sleigh and reindeer and flies off into the sky. I'm a sucker for this episode and I cry at the end.

The kids also have their faves, they like Elf too even though they find the part with the sleigh a little scary.  The All Dogs Christmas Carol, A Charlie Brown Christmas and some other character driven holiday movies.  I can't remember all of them.  I'm sure there's one involving Hello Kitty.  There are a couple My Little Pony holiday movies, why not Hello Kitty?  How funny would a Monster High Christmas special be?

The classic claymation shows have been airing on TV, on those nights the kids get to stay up to watch.  Zoe especially enjoys these as well as any other claymation shows.  Well, except Davey and Goliath, she doesn't dig that duo so much.

And, I will now confess, that Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, is my #1 favorite holiday movie.  A local station in L.A. used to show it every year when I was a kid.  And the Christmas Scott and I both had the stomach flu, the only holiday programming we could find on after 9 p.m. was Santa Claus Conquers the Martians on channel 56.  It's got this wonderful campy vibe.  All the aliens speak English and look just like humans but with green skin and mask-less football helmets with flexible, metal pipes attached.

The first time I shared this film with my children, Zoe looked at Santa puffing on his pipe and screamed "He's SMOKING! Santa is smoking!"  and I laughed like a loon.

Tonight, we have Elf on the schedule.  Maybe I'll make spaghetti for dinner.

Amanda's beauty tip of the day:  Buy a pair of inexpensive cotton gloves, they can be found at Target, The Body Shop and the dollar store sometimes, put a rich lotion on your hands then put on the gloves when you go to bed.  This will keep your hands soft during the winter months.