Day 131: The Best Movies You've Never Heard Of: Part 4 - Christmas Edition!

We've all seen the classic Home Alone, as well as The Grinch, but this Christmas I tried to expand my horizons by watching movies that I had never seen, and most of them, had never heard of. I put them in the order I watched them, some of them you might recognize, but I can guarantee there's at least one you've never heard of.

Jack Frost: I'm sure a lot of people have heard of this one, but I had never seen it. I watched it on Thanksgiving, because I wasn't sure if it was a Christmas movie, or just a winter movie. It is your typical 90's dramedy. Kid loses one of his parents, parent comes back as a magical creature, parent gets a second chance to make things right. There's a reason this theme is popular in movies, it usually doesn't fail to touch the heart. Also, it has Michael Keaton and Hanson songs. Welcome to the 90's, speaking of which...

 

All I Want For Christmas: I know there are a lot of movies out there with this title, this is the one that features a very young Thora Birch. Another tried and true movie recipe that would make Mrs. Doubtfire proud. Two kids plot to ask Santa to have their parents get back together, but have to take matters into their own hands, surprise. This is a good family one, not a lot of thought, and everything works out in the end.

I'll Be Home For Christmas: This is the movie that Jonathon Taylor Thomas did shortly after leaving Home Improvement. He has to learn the true meaning of Christmas after being estranged from his family after (surprise) his mom died. His girlfriend, who happens to be Jessica Biel in this movie, is so fed up with him she leaves him in the middle of Wisconsin in the snow. Ouch. Of course we all know how this ends, no spoiler alert needed, that's what makes Christmas movies predictable, they usually work out in the end.

Carried Away: Once you get past the hokey acting, this movie is actually pretty good. A young man comes home for the holidays and finds his grandma has been put away in a nursing home by his dad. So he steals her away to live with him in LA, figuring she will have a better life there. This one basically has the same plot as Rain Man, except that grandma is full of spunk and life that makes you smile.

The Heart of Christmas: This one is based on the true events of Dax Shephard, a young boy who died of leukemia at the age of three. Make sure you have a box of tissues. It is told through a blog site discovered by someone who has lost the true meaning of family, which happens to be Candace Cameron in one of the first roles I've seen her in since Full House. Since the boy probably won't make it to Christmas, they decided to celebrate in October. You will cry the last five minutes, and if you don't, you are a machine.

I plan to watch a couple more nontraditional Christmas movies, but these were the ones I have watched so far, and I think my favorite, as in the one that I will be watching next year would probably be The Heart of Christmas and I'll Be Home For Christmas. I can't decide, but I like comedy as well as drama. What is your favorite nontraditional Christmas movie?