Wonderful Christmastime

It's Christmas and it's my favorite time of year. Christmas decorations are everywhere, so is Christmas music, and on TV there are plenty of Christmas movies (some of them are actually good movies). Tonight I will continue a tradition of mine and watch It's a Wonderful Life, one of my essential Christmas movies. It may very well be, for me at least, the perfect Christmas movie. It's such a well established classic there's really not much I can say about it hasn't already been said. Dare I say it warms my heart, it really does. It's just not Christmas without my friend George Bailey and his friend Clarence.


And it's not Christmas for me without Love Actually which slipped it's way into my Christmas tradition only a few years ago. I have to admit I am partial to multi-story lined movies and romantic comedies so it may be only natural that I am very fond of this movie. The stories about different kinds of love amongst different people in London, with some help from a wonderful score by Craig Armstrong, are all very endearing (even the ones I don't care for). What I really like about this movie about so many different people in somewhat overlapping circles of friends, families, and coworkers is though there are scenes at the beginning and end with many of them in the same building there's no forced meeting of any of these different stories. There's about 3 different climaxes that happen more or less at the same time. They don't converge to be solved all at once, though there is that nice epilogue at Heathrow Airport. It may be sentimental and mushy but by then I won't care; I'm overwhelmed with good feelings from these characters that were inspired by the kindness and hope and love that really is all around at Christmas.