Planes Trains and Automobiles

I bemoaned on Facebook perhaps two weeks ago that I wasn’t ready for Christmas. More specifically, that it still seemed too early for department stores to be decked out in Christmas-y color. A 30-foot artificial Christmas tree in a shopping mall atrium next to a real, year-round palm tree…and Halloween (at the time my comment was posted) was barely two weeks old?! Shudder.

But temperatures have been getting cold – a few days last week were Chicago-esque, almost. I called my parents a week ago and heard my dad listening to Christmas music in the background. The weather – and dad’s “muzak” choices – cold-cocked me into reality: Christmas is less than a month away. And for that matter, Thanksgiving is tomorrow! The next four weeks will seemingly pass in the blink of an eye, but it is a given that even down here, at least one of those weekends will be spent re-watching one of the same old holiday movies that I’ve no doubt seen two dozen times already.

Here, Loyal Reader, for curiosity and for what I hope will prompt a fun discussion, are my top ten favorite holiday movies.

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I mentioned in my Sidebar: Summer Movies 2013 blog entry that I would follow-up that critique of the season’s summer films with some potpourri about travel-themed movies. As I see it, there are two kinds: The Classic Road Trip Misadventure, and The Fish out of Water Tale. On my honor, I’ll keep this short. No, really. 🙂

The Classic Road Trip Misadventure

This sub-genre of travel cinema usually makes for a fun time at the movies. Here, the protagonist is sent on his/her way for a reason – often a family emergency – and he/she (I’ll just say “he,” “him,” or “his” going forward) is forced to share his bumpy journey with someone very unlike himself. The two will ultimately find some common ground by film’s end, and if they aren’t good friends by then they’ve at least garnered some sort of mutual respect. These films were huge in the 1980’s.

Examples: “Midnight Run,” “Planes, Trains & Automobiles,” “Rain Man,” “Twins.”

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