The Holly Leaf

A Night at the Movies on TCM: Merry Christmas, 8pm – Clip show about classic holiday films featuring Chevy Chase, Margaret O’Brien, Chaz Palminteri, Zack Ward, and Brian Henson.

12 Men of Christmas on Lifetime Movie Network, 8pm – Sappy holiday flick with cute and awesome Kristin Chenoweth as the star

The Nightmare Before Christmas on Disney, 8:30pm – When Halloween gets a little jealous of Christmas

Home Alone 2 on ABC Family, 8:30pm – For people who don’t learn their lessons the first time.

A Christmas Story on TCM, 9pm – Don’t shoot your eye out!

New Christmas Books for 2011 (Updated 12/6/2011)

admin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:00:28 +0000

Children’s

The Night Before Christmas – Clement C. Moore

The Twelve Days of Christmas – Parragon Books Ltd & Caroline Pedler

A Christmas Carol – Parragon Books Ltd & Caroline Pedler

Fiction & Literature

The Christmas Wedding – James Patterson & Richard DiLallo

Lost December – Richard Paul Evans

Mystery & Thriller

A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Stories – Charles Dickens

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus – L. Baum

Personal Growth

The Don’t Sweat Guide to Holidays – Editors Of Don’t Sweat Press

Christmas TV Picks for the Evening of December 5, 2011

admin — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:58:19 +0000

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys on ABC Family, 7pm - When all of Santa’s toys are stolen just 3 days before Christmas, it’s Rudolph to the rescue.

Charlie Brown Christmas on ABC, 8pm – It’s a Christmas classic. You can never go wrong with Snoopy and the gang.

A Christmas Carol on AMC, 8pm – The 1984 version with George C. Scott as Ebenenezer Scrooge.

The Best Thing I Ever Ate on Food Network, 8pm – Celebrity chefs talk about their favorite holiday foods.

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause on Disney Channel, 8:30pm – Jack Frost attempts to steal the role of Santa away from Scott Calvin, played by Tim Allen.

The Polar Express on ABC Family, 8:30pm – An 8 year old boy is whisked away on a train to the North Pole.

A Christmas Carol on TCM, 9:45pm – 1938 version with Reginald Owen as Ebenezer Scrooge

New Design: Santa Suit Ornament

admin — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 03:40:35 +0000

What Santa wears when he’s delivering presents in the tropics:

Buy the Santa Suit Ornament in The Holly Leaf shop on Zazzle for just $14.95.

Christmas DVD Releases 2010

admin — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 13:00:22 +0000

Peanuts Deluxe Holiday Collection (Ultimate Collector’s Edition) [Blu-ray]

Disney’s A Christmas Carol – Starring Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, and Steve Valentine

A Christmas Carol [Blu-ray] – Starring George C. Scott, Frank Finlay, Edward Woodward

Holiday Classics Collection [Blu-ray] Starring George C. Scott and Frank Finlay (Includes A Christmas Carol and Miracle on 34th Street)

Samantha: An American Girl Holiday – Starring Mia Farrow, AnnaSophia Robb, Olivia Ballantyne, et al.

The Polar Express (Single Disc Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray Combo) – This has been out on DVD for years, but here’s a new version for Blu-ray/3d fans.

Bing Crosby: The Television Specials Volume 2 – The Christmas Specials Deluxe Edition 2DVD + bonus CD – Starring Bing Crosby, Kathryn Crosby, Bob Hope, and Robert Goulet

Bing Crosby: The Television Specials Volume 2- The Christmas Specials – Starring Bing Crosby, Bobe Hope, David Bowie, and Robert Goulet

The Honeymooners Christmas Special - Starring Jackie Gleason and Art Carney

12 Men of Christmas – Starring Kristin Chenoweth, Josh Hopkins, and Stephen Huszar

Mrs. Miracle – Starring Doris Roberts, James Van Der Beek, Erin Karpluk

Lifetime Christmas Bundle DVD – Includes Comfort and Joy (Nancy McKeon, Dixie Carter), Holiday Switch (Nicole Eggert), Recipe for a Perfect Christmas (Christine Baranski, Bobby Cannavale), Road to Christmas (Jennifer Grey), and Home by Christmas (Linda Hamilton).

The Christmas Collection (Home Alone 2: Lost in New York / A Christmas Carol / Miracle on 34th Street / Jingle All the Way) [Blu-ray] – Starring George C. Scott and Frank Finlay

Mr Magoo’s Christmas Carol [Blu-ray]

Christmas in Wonderland with Bonus DVD: A Hobo’s Christmas – Starring Patrick Swayze, Matthew Knight, Tim Curry

A Nanny for Christmas – Starring Emmanuelle Vaugier, Dean Cain, Richard Ruccolo

The Christmas Blessing – Starring Rebecca Gayheart and Neil Patrick Harris

The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation – Starring Dean Cain, Mario Lopez, and Paris Hilton

The Search for Santa Paws – Starring Zachary Gordon, Richard Riehle, and Danny Woodburn

Top 5 Christmas Movies: Kids (Live Action)

admin — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:30:12 +0000

This post is part of a series on the best Christmas movies of all time.

Home Alone – The youngest of five siblings is accidentally left at home when the family leaves for a Christmas vacation in Paris. As the family scrambles to get home after realizing their mistake, the boy (Macaulay Culkin) must defend the home from thieves.

Santa Claus: The Movie – The movie starts in the 14th century exploring the roots of Santa Clause. By the 20th century, a booming world population has made Santa’s job easier, and it doesn’t help that a toy company executive is trying to make a profit off of cheap toys. Meanwhile, the exec’s niece befriends a homeless boy. The two kids aid in saving Christmas.

The Santa Clause Trilogy - Tim Allen is an advertising executive who must save Christmas after Santa Clause suffers a fatal accident at his house. The “clause” states that whoever puts on Santa’s suit is the next Santa. In the second movie, the “clause” is that Santa must find a Mrs. Clause. In the third movie, Jack Frost tricks Santa into using the “Escape Clause” which gets him out of running things at the North Pole.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) – Jim Carrey brought his zany antics to the role of Grinch in this live action version.

Prancer – An 8 year old girl discovers the injured reindeer and is determined to nurse him back to health. Her rigid father isn’t happy to see a reindeer living in the barn and sells it to a business owner. After reconciling with her dad, the girl works to set Prancer free to join Santa on Christmas.

Related:

Top 5 Christmas Movies: Comedies

admin — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 15:30:17 +0000

This post is the first in a series of the best Christmas movies of all time.

Elf – Will Ferrell plays a Buddy, a man who was raised by elves. After his giant size causes too much chaos at the North Pole, Buddy heads to New York City to find his real father, who does not know he was born.

Due to his elfish ways, Buddy struggles to connect with his own kind, save for Jovie (Zooey Deschanel), who works as a seasonal elf at the Gimbel’s department store. When the real Santa has a crisis on Christmas Eve, Buddy is called on for his unique hybrid skillset.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – When the Griswolds “cut” down their oversized Christmas tree by pulling it from the roots with their car, it’s just the beginning of an insane Christmas experience. Patriarch Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) goes overboard on planning a “good, old-fashioned family Christmas,” but life reacts by going overboard on him, too. Unwanted relatives show up, he accidentally gets trapped in the attack, Christmas dinner is ruined, the Christmas bonus is late, and his house is destroyed. All the mishaps push Clark past the point of anger and exhaustion to acceptance and surrender that Christmas can bring joy in unexpected ways.

A Christmas Story – Ralphie steals your heart as he wishes for a BB gun while his mother is vehemently opposed and his father seems to pre-occupied to notice. Meanwhile, all the imperfections of the holiday season (and American culture) raise their ugly heads: crazy lines to see Santa Claus, bullies, swearing, getting in trouble for swearing, tacky lamps, Christmas dinner getting ruined, eating Christmas dinner at a Chinese restaurant. In the end, nothing truly ruins Christmas, and Ralphie falls asleep holding the best Christmas present he would ever receive.

Fred Claus – Vince Vaughn plays the older, underachieving, con-artist brother of Nick, a modern Santa that lives at the North Pole. When Fred needs a large sum of money as a down payment for a commercial property, he calls his Nick (played by Paul Giamatti) for help. Nick agrees but only if Fred works at the North Pole during Christmas.

Fred screws many things up, and it’s not really the best year to goof off. An efficiency expert is auditing the operations and will determine if the North Pole will be shut down. Despite the sabotage attempts by the expert, Fred is able to save the day by giving one present to every child – despite being classified as naughty or nice.

Scrooged – Bill Murray is heartless tv executive Frank Cross in this adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. After visited by the three ghosts (Christmas Past, Present and Future), Cross realizes how empty and bitter his life has and will become. The slapstick comedy and Murray’s infusion of sarcasm in Cross’ character are what separates Scrooged from the rest of the A Christmas Carol films.

Movies in Theaters on Christmas 2010

admin — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 17:00:57 +0000

Christmas Day is traditionally known as a day when new movies are released in theaters. But with Christmas on Saturday this year, Hollywood studios don’t want to miss out on getting a whole weekend of profits. So this year’s Christmas movies will actually be released on December 22, making them a Wednesday open and hoping to capture an extended 5 day audience.

Here’s what theater-goers have to look forward to:

Little Fockers – The third in Ben Stiller’s hilarious movies about finding love and marrying into a crazy family, it’s time to meet the third generation of wacky relatives. Poor kids.

True Grit – This remake of the 1969 adaptation of Charles Portis novel is helmed by the Coen brothers, who were responsible for Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou? and No Country for Old Men. 2010′s True Grit stars Matt Damon and Jeff Bridges.

Gulliver’s Travels - Jack Black stars in this modern adaptation of the classic book. Supporting cast includes Emily Blunt, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly and Catherine Tate.

Country Strong (Limited Release, nationwide release January 7) – Gwyneth Paltrow stars as a country singer trying to make a comeback. Supporting cast includes Tim McGraw and Leighton Meester.