Merry Christmas!

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary. the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" 

Top 10 Christmas Movie List

I must say, creating a Christmas movie list was inspired by Adrian Martinez. There are quite a few Christmas movie classics that people would expect to be on any list that won't be on mine, most likely because I haven't seen them. Nonetheless, this is what I came up with:

10. Die Hard

No one brings the Christmas spirit with more fury and violence than John McClane does. I love it!  

9. It's A Wonderful Life

My conscious got the better of me; since I have seen this Christmas classic, I felt compelled to put it somewhere on the list.

8. Ernest Saves Christmas

Ernest is probably one of the most endearing characters of all time. He needs a statue of some kind, preferably a very large one made of some kind of precious metal. R.I.P. Ernest.

7. Joyeax Noel

A German film set in the trenches of World War I, this movie poignantly portrays how the spirit of Christmas can render war completely absurd. A very powerful movie. 

6. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the 1966 original animated version)

Dr. Seuss was a genius. To witness one of the most maniacal villains of Christmas that I knew of as a child be transformed into a quintessential Christmas icon in a matter of only 26 minutes is hope engendering, indeed. 

5. The Muppet Christmas Carol

Jim Henson, who was born on the same day as me, was also a genius. His rendition of "The Christmas Carol" falls nothing short of that. 

4. Home Alone

On his Christmas movie list, Adrian Martinez included Home Alone 2 instead of the original. I don't know what he was thinking. Clearly, the first is superior, even if it's slight. I think for quite a long time, it was a dream of mine to be home alone for christmas, left to fend for myself against some pesky robbers with some narly and totally awesome homemade booby traps. 

3. Elf

This movie pretty much has it all: an overly-sized elf played by Will Ferrell at the peak of his career; talking animated animals; spaghetti eaten with every sweet ingredient imaginable; a two-liter coke bottle downed in less than 15 seconds; a snowball fight to end all snowball fights; Santa's sleigh powered by jet engines; and, of course, Zooey Deschanel and her beautiful voice sealing this movie as a Christmas classic; and much more. 

2. A Charlie Brown Christmas

I don't think I really need to defend this one. As eternal as temporal characters and music can be.

1. The Nightmare Before Christmas

Dark, sinister, morbid and ultimately beautiful. Probably one of the most imaginative movies conceptually I can think of. Sometimes I feel I would prefer Jack Skelington's Christmas over the conventional, somewhat stale, version of Christmas we've all come to know. Not to mention the hauntingly stellar music and the unparalleled clay animation. I can't think of a movie that brings me more delight in the weirdest way, and for that reason it is my #1 pick. 

What Happened?

this is a long time coming, i know. i don't know exactly what happened; but somewhere down the line i lost my ambition for blogging, and now it's been over two months since my last post. crickey! i would like to thank adrian martinez, however, for faithfully checking for updates, despite my unproductiveness, and for gently harassing me to return to the world of blogging on many occasions. this one's for you. 

i don't really have much to say. i thought i would at least take the first step in the right direction by putting something down. i sound like a recovering alcoholic. and to be honest, i'm craving a guinness.  anyway, to ease my way back into this, i thought it'd be good to mention my reading list.  currently, i am reading a phenomenal book by g.k. chesterton entitled, the everlasting man. in short, the book combats the idea that "christ stands side by side with other myths, and his religion side by side with other religions." it is the first book i have endeavored to read of his. so far, it has been a fascinating and faith-strengthening read. mr. chesterton is a superb and sensitive writer. he reminds me somewhat of c.s. lewis. here are a couple of my favorite excerpts of what i've read so far:

"it is the simple truth that man does differ from the brutes in kind and not in degree; and the proof of it is here; that it sounds like a truism to say that the most primitive man drew a picture of a monkey and that it sounds like a joke to say that the most intelligent monkey drew a picture of a man. something of division and disproportion has appeared; and it is unique. Art is the signature of man."

"who does not find dreams mysterious, and feel that they lie on the dark borderland of being? who does not feel the death and resurrection of the growing things of the earth as something near to the secret of the universe?"

"indeed it is only too easy to forget that there is a thrill in [mono]theism. a novel in which a number of separate characters all turned out to be the same character would certainly be a sensational novel. it is so with the idea that sun and tree and river are all the disguises of one god and not of many."

"nobody understands it who has not had what can only be called the ache of the artist to find some sense and some story in the beautiful things he sees; his hunger for secrets and his anger at any tower or tree escaping with its tale untold. he feels that nothing is perfect unless it is personal...the point is that the personality perfects the water with significance. father christmas is not an allegory of snow and holly; he is not merely the stuff called snow afterwards artificially given a human form, like a snow man. he is something that gives a new meaning to the white world and the evergreens; so that snow itself seems to be warm rather than cold...every true artist does feel, consciously or unconsciously, that he is touching transcendental truths; that his images are shadows of things seen through the veil. in other words, the natural mystic does know that there is something there; something behind the clouds or within the trees; but he believes that the pursuit of beauty is the way to find it; that imagination is a sort of incantation that can call it up...but we do not know what these things mean, simply because we do not know what we ourselves mean when we are moved by them."