December has arrived and it's a winter wonderland, even if it's only in my mind.
Today was HOT and sunny [again] in L.A. but I can close my eyes and recall the light, fluffy snowflakes and the beauty of the first snowfall of the season. Don't get me wrong though... I certainly don't miss my ice scraper or having to "warm up" my car in the dead of winter. However, as a SoCal girl, I do have to try harder to drum up my holiday spirit when the weather her thinks it's still summertime.
Holiday entertainment does wonders for that. It's only a matter of time before the rush of Christmas specials hit-- including all my classic favorites: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph and Frosty. During Christmastime, I always feel the excitement. It's like I'm seven again-- the only trouble being that I have a December birthday so my *new* real age never ventures too far from my mind. Every year though, I drag out my most favorite holiday movies: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, A Christmas Story [of course], and Elf. I also spend many evenings hunkered down wrapping holiday gifts and curling ribbon. For me, a good holiday movie is the best backdrop to my holiday preparations.
December is also a time for Hollywood to host a jingle bell serenade of their Christmas, but [mostly] Oscar fare.
Four Christmases (starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn) is the first, strictly holiday movie to hit a screen near all of us. It opened here in L.A. late last week. I haven't seen it yet, but I only expect a fun, little holiday movie and not much more. I don't expect amazing performances or an Oscar caliber script. If it brings cheer and a few laughs and makes me feel all warm and gooey like a marshmallow inside, then it's good for me. I feel the same way about Yes Man (Jim Carrey) and Bedtime Stories (Adam Sandler), both being released later this month. We're not talking award movies there, but fun, popcorn flicks... and like a really good, sugary Christmas cookie, we all need movies like that during this time of year.
But for the serious cinephile, it's also never too early to gauge Oscar buzz. During this holiday season, we can sample from leading contenders in films such as: Milk, Australia, and Slumdog Millionaire (all now playing.)
I also look forward to other top contenders such as Doubt (Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman), Che (Benicio Del Toro,) The Wrestler (Mickey Rourke), and Last Chance Harvey (Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson.) With all the goodness of the holidays, take time out from shopping, from stress, from work, and from the world to sample all that Hollywood has to offer before 2008 comes to a close. I know I will !
Copyright 2008
Kliedle
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