Christmas Eve Movie Party!~ By Kari Willinger

During the Christmas season, my family and I have a few traditions we like to do. I want to share these traditions and more with you. Traditions can come from all sorts of places, fun stuff for the family. One tradition my family does every year is bake cookies. We bake over 300 cookies in different Christmas flavors and give them all to our neighbors. This is not only a giving tradition but it is crazy and messy, the best combination for fun. Another thing you could do is make your own snowflakes to decorate your tree with, or take a nice nature walk and gather pine cones for decorating and be creative do what you want with the decorations.

 You can also have a movie night. Get about three great Christmas movies and spend the evening watching them. You can also do this with your friends instead of family for a kind of movie party. You can make Christmas treats and hot chocolate for snacks, and we can't forget the smores. Christmas time is a time to get out the best Christmas movies, whether they are cartoon or not. Here are a couple of movies that I think would be perfect for a movie night. I hope you enjoy these movies as much as I have.  

Elf

 

When Buddy (Will Ferrel) was a baby, he lived in an orphanage, until one Christmas eve night he climbed into Santa's sack and rode off to the north pole. When Santa finds Buddy he lets Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) raise him as his son. When Buddy grows into a man, Papa Elf allows Buddy to venture into New York city in order to find his birth father. After many misadventures and laughs, Buddy finds his father. Reluctant at first, Walter (James Caan) proceeds into a relationship with Buddy. When this relationships starts taking a toll on his work, Walter must sort through his priority's and find what is most important to him and what is worth giving away.

 

 

How The Grinch Stole Christmas

 

Jim Carrey (the Grinch) has a way with words, as you can see in this movie. A great story told and with great laughs. This movie is about The Grinch, a nasty creature living on the outskirts of Whoville. The Grinch tries and rids the world of Christmas until he is befriended by a tiny Who of the name Cindy Lou-who. When Cindy befriends the Grinch, he slowly gets his heart back and loves Christmas just as much as everyone else.

 

 

Miracle on 34th Street

 

A wonderful Christmas story, a man saying he really is Santa Claus or is he insane? We go through this story with Kris Kringle in an attempt to save Christmas. One of my favorite things about this movie is that it talks about how you have to have faith on things unseen, you have to believe in them. Even though this is talking about Santa Claus, I like to take it with me through life, a very valuable lesson indeed. Watch as people learn to love Christmas and believe in Santa Claus, through this touching and lovable movie.

 

 

The Santa Clause

 

When Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) accidentally kills Santa, he is magically fitted to take his place. Watch as Scott tries to juggle his job, his son, and being the new Santa Claus. A person favorite to me and I hope to you as well. If you really enjoyed this movie, watch the other two!

 

 

Home Alone

 

As the McAllistar family gets ready to go on a Christmas vacation, they completely forget about Kevin, the youngest. When Kevin gets left behind, he starts to have a great time, until two robbers try and break into the house. Kevin immediately jumps into action, wiring his own house with booby traps. Laugh along with Macaulay Culkin at the absurdity but highly entertaining traps the robbers get flown into.

 

 

Frosty the Snowman 

 

A story about a magic hat, a magician, and a snowman. Watch as Frosty the snowman comes to life but is in danger of melting. As he befriends a little girl, they run to the north pole to save him. Little do they know that they are being followed by a magician who want his hat back. This hat is the very same hat that is giving Frosty life. A wonderful kids story that is funny and cute.

Movie Wish List~ Movies Reviews by Kari Willinger

I can't believe how close we are to Christmas, one of the first things I did this week was write up a Christmas list. If you have written or are writing a Christmas list here are a few Great movies to add. The Karate Kid, How to Train Your Dragon, Romana and Beezus, Charlie St. Cloud, and Alice in Wonderland.

The Karate Kid starts with young Dre (Jaden Smith) and his mom moving to Beijing. When Dre becomes friends with a fellow classmate, the school bully tries and puts a stop to it. After facing humiliation and injuries, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) the maintenance man, comes to his aid, being that he is secretly a master of Kung-fu. Dre starts practicing Kung-fu with the ambition of defeating the school bully. As always the hero prevails, but not after learning a few life lessons along the way. This movie has very little cursing, no more than 10 curse words.

How to Train Your Dragon is a very cute movie. A boy, by the name of Hiccup (Jay Beruchel) learns about his character and strength during a wild ride. After shooting down a dragon, Hiccup finds it the next day but can't bring himself to kill it. After letting the dragon go, Hiccup finds him again and realizes that it can't fly right. So, Hiccup makes a contraption to help it fly. When the village people find out that this dragon knows where the dragon nest is, they take him and get into a fight that they were not prepared for. Hiccup comes riding it with his friends to help save the day, but with a price.

Ramona and Beezus is a movie the whole family can enjoy. From the outside it might look like another little movie about superficial troubles but this is a movie that digs deep and finds gold. When the dad of Ramona and Beezus loses his job the house is in trouble. Romona (Joey King) jumps into action in the hopes of saving her family. When she turns to her family for help with her problems no one has enough time for her, even her Aunt Bea, who is always there, is too busy with her own problems. Can one little girl save her family? I guess you will just have to find out. This movie is very clean, with only one short kiss from Beezus.

Charlie St. Cloud is a movie about life and death. Charlie St. Cloud (Zac Efron) is overcome with grief over his brother, but he has an everlasting relationship with him. Being that he can see and talk to his brother even though he is dead. Charlie makes a promise, to play catch every night with his brother, but when a girl enters his life he has to choose between keeping his promise, or saving the girl he loves. I can promise you a very thought provoking, interesting, and sentimental movie. There are some scenes where Charlie is without a shirt and the leading girl is in her bra. There are also a few curse words.

Alice in Wonderland a wonderful story retold by the awesome director Tim Burton. During Alice's (Mia Wasikowska) engagement party, she starts second guessing herself. To get away from the many people at the party, she runs off into the woods. When she sees a funny rabbit, she starts to follow it and falls into a whole. Landing in a place that she used to have nightmares of as a kid, Alice learns about her destiny at restoring peace in Wonderland and inhabiting the rightful queen in Wonderland. A dangerous journey full of surprises.

I have all of these movies and more on my Christmas list, which ones do you have on yours?

To Save A Life~ Movie Night~ By Kari Willinger

To Save A Life~

This movie is about a teenager finding a way through all of life's struggles in his new walk through faith. Watching this movie encouraged me and my youth group to really get involved. We want to be the Jake Taylor of our youth group.

The beginning of the movie starts with a suicide of a high school boy. Later, you find out that that Jake used to be friends with him. The suicide changed Jake's life because he realized that he could have helped this boy. Jake makes a radical change and starts to help the church into a revival and starts to hang out with a kid from school who is 'emo'. Later, Jake finds out that his ex-girlfriend is pregnant, but he takes the new responsibility, in strife to follow the Lord's path for his life. This movie is an inspirational movie that shows us what real problems teens face today and how, if we stand by God, we can manage to get through it.

There is some profanity in this movie. There is one d-word and a few h-words, but that is the extent of language. I would usually not say that profanity helps a Christian movie, but with this movie, this profanity has a meaning. You also see Jake and Ashley (his ex) start to make out and head for the bed. Jake removes his shirt and then they close the scene.

This is a great movie! You will walk away asking yourself is you are a Jake Taylor or if you are a Danny. I suggest you watch this movie. You will not be disappointed. I give it a 3 out of 5.