DVD Recommendations

I went to the dollar movies (it cost $2.00) and saw Julie and Julia. This is the story of Julia Childs and a young Queens wife who sets out to make each of Julia's 524 recipies in her cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" while blogging about it. Not an emotionally significant movie but it was fun.

That got me thinking about what movies I would put in the same category. Those movies that have a message but aren't what you call an epic, ones you can watch over and over because they have substance but not crass or even intense. These movies have quoteable lines and are void of objectionable subject matter that you wouldn't mind showing your grand parents or grand kids.

Here are some of my favorite movies, one for each of the 12 days of Christmas:

1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) - Jimmy Stewart at his best in this story about Christmas and a man who thinks he doesn't have friends. Its a classic (B&W) .

2. Family Man (2000) - Nicholas Cage and Tia Leone. An updated version of It's a Wonderful Life.

3. Bruce Almighty (2003) - Jim Carrey surrounded by Bible lessons. Oh yea, Jennifer Aniston is also in it.

4. Princess Bride (1987) - Billy Crystal has a cameo.

5. 50 First Dates (2004) - Adam Sandler is not that goofy and Drew Barrymore is.

6. Elf (2003) - Will Ferrell is pure joy to watch.

7. Toy Story (1995) - Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are so good you forget you are watching an animated movie.

8. Ground Hog Day (1993) - Bill Murray is really funny without being gross.

9. Back to the Future (1985) - It has a flying Delorean and Christopher Lloyd.

10. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - If you don't believe in Christmas you need to watch it. Besides it has a positive protrayal of a lawyer, even if it was more than 60 years ago.

11. The Russians Are Coming (1966) - Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint and Alan Arkin. This is just funny. It also is a wonderful depiction of life in a simpler time. You can also see Martha's Vinyeard before it was taken over by the uber rich.

12. Oceans 11 (1960) - This is the coolest movie I know of. I'm not talking about the 2001 remake with George Clooney. I'm talking about the original with the Rat Pack - Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Cesar Romero, Joey Bishop and many other big names in the 60's. This is a great portrait of the original cool guys in a very different Las Vegas.

Enjoy and let me know what you think or if you have favorites that I didn't include. By the way for that person who has my name for the book exchange, I don't have a copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".