{"id":3488,"date":"2015-12-23T16:50:48","date_gmt":"2015-12-23T16:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/?p=3488"},"modified":"2020-01-10T10:07:17","modified_gmt":"2020-01-10T10:07:17","slug":"my-christmas-movies-for-the-kids-and-for-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparentsocial.com\/my-christmas-movies-for-the-kids-and-for-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Movies, for the Kids and for me!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rolling back the years to when I was seven years old, one of the most anticipated\u00a0parts of Christmas for me was the TV schedule. The publication of the Christmas issues of the Radio Times and TV Times were more important to me than hunting down my presents hidden in, not so hard to find, places such as the top of my mum’s wardrobe. My mum really did get me the best presents at Christmas, lots of little but\u00a0well considered\u00a0gifts\u00a0and then the blockbuster finale such as the below Millennium Falcon.\"5285_l\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Movies, especially blockbuster movies when I was a child were a massive treat. Renting videos from the corner shop on a weekend always filled me with massive excitement; I was definitely the shop owner’s number one customer and he always reserved a copy of the latest releases for me. My elder brother and I would have movie marathon days where we would rent four or five films and watch them back-to-back. \"Hellraiser\"<\/a>As my elder brother has five years on me, this meant I had access to films which I would be denied over the counter, and so my\u00a0love for horror films was born. One marathon day from over 25 years ago was The Evil Dead<\/a> and\u00a0The Evil Dead II<\/a>, Hellraiser<\/a> and The Exorcist 2<\/a>. How could anyone forget seeing Hellrasier for the first time? Big brother, I am\u00a0very\u00a0grateful for\u00a0that experience.<\/p>\n

So, with this background, it is easy to understand why the Christmas TV schedule was so important to me. Just like most children of the 80s, who religiously, every Sunday had fingers poised on\u00a0their tape-to-tape (fully loaded with TDK D90s) radio recorder to record the UK top 40 chart, I would do the same with films as they were shown on TV.<\/p>\n

Imagine the floor with my jaw firmly on it when the Radio Times Christmas cover announced with the largest font size possible: “800 movies, reviewed and rated”! Joy was followed swiftly by panic at the realisation I had four blank JVC cassettes left. The films that made the final cut were:\u00a0<\/strong>Patriot Games, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, a James Bond film (can’t remember which) and Indecent Proposal. However, these are nowhere near worthy of my top five Christmas movies. To be clear, my top five Christmas movies do not have to feature reindeer, snow, the North Pole etc, they are just films that I remember seeing for the first time on TV at Christmas and that I would happily sit and watch any time, again and again. So, in no particular order, here they are:<\/p>\n

Die Hard (1988) Director John McTiernan. Stars Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman<\/a><\/p>\n

Probably the best action movie ever made and arguably the best screen villain performance of all time from Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber. “The circuits that cannot be cut are cut automatically in response to a terrorist incident. You asked for miracles, Theo, I give you the F.B.I.”<\/p>\n