It's a Much Better Life- Trading Places

When I first saw “It’s a Wonderful Life,” I thought it was the best thing ever. But after the hearing about about the relationship between Angel wings and bells over and over five hundreds of times, it’s gotten a bit stale. So today’s pick provides you a fresh alternative to the “What if my life had been different” theme- John Landis’ 1983 film “Trading Places.”

Educated business man Louise Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) must team up with street hustler Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) to battle the Duke brothers and get his life back while protecting the orange crop futures and saving Christmas all in 118 minutes of film. Set in the iconic Christmas location of New York City, the film not only explores the theme of “would have, could have,” it also touches on one of the most cherished holiday themes- capitalism.

The film also has two heart-warming scenes worth highlighting:

The first involves a drunken Dan Aykroyd stuffing items from an upscale buffet in the Santa suit he is wearing and the second has Jamie Lee Curtis flashing her breasts.  If those scenes don't make you smile, you may have a bit of Scrooge in you.

But what pushes this pick above the lesser "It's a Wonderful Life" is that the ENTIRE movie takes place over the holidays, not just a small portion of it.  Watch this and you get one hundred and five percent holidays wrapped in a bow with great performances and a topless Jamie Lee Curtis.  This is why "Trading Places" is one of my holiday movie picks.

Enjoy

Spending Time With the Family-Die Hard

According to Wal-Mart, the holidays are all about spending time with the family.  And there can be no greater movie example of this than when John travels across the country to spend Christmas with his estranged wife.

John McTiernan's movie "Die Hard," released in 1988, presents us with one shoeless man's struggle to rekindle the romance while battling a group of thieves pretending to be terrorist.

 Spoiler Alert- he gets the girl, but not until a lot of stuff blows up.

The movie has everything you need to check off your Christmas movie list.  Great holiday music like Winter Wonderland" and Run DMC's "Christmas in Hollis." Christmas decorations and presents are also shown in many scenes.

But the biggest holiday bang for you buck with this movie are the themes of hope and redemption as John lays it on the line for love.

That's my recommendation.  Dust off your video cassette tape, plop it in and pour yourself a tall glass of nog.

Side note, do not waste your time on the sequels.