It is. In spite of stresses and late nights poring over textbooks, it’s a wonderful life. This movie from about a man who has given up his dreams to help others but who, on Christmas Eve, contemplates suicide, is – well, wonderful. It has won countless Oscars, and is one of the most Christmas watched movies of all times (well, we’ve watched it some 20 times, so...) It is inspirational, reminding every single one of us that the life of those who love us would be different if we’d never been born.
We like everything original, so we went for the first, the original version of this Christmas classic. It’s got it all, a battle against greed, a love story, a few real tear inducing moments (we all need a good cry during exams), and a happy ending. Kris Kringle, hired to pose as Santa for a Department store, claims to be the one real Santa. Naturally, he’s met with a healthy dose of skepticism, which in our opinion borders on bullying. He’s put on trial to prove his claim and... we won’t give the ending, but it’s satisfyingly cheesy. This movie gives us a reason to believe in Christmas and Santa- at a time when we need to believe.
This is an adaptation from a Charles Dickens novella, so we can comfort ourselves with the thought that we are improving our knowledge of a great author’s work. Ebenezer Scrooge meets the Spirits of Christmas past, present and future and mends the errors of his miserly ways. It’s fairly short, just over an hour, so there is less guilt involved in watching this.
Ralphie tries to persuade his parents, his teacher and Santa that the best present he could receive for Christmas is a Red Ryder gun. This movie might spur pleasant daydreaming about what would be the best Christmas present, or might start a discussion on gun control and the changing of the times. Either way, a great way to distract and procrastinate.