My number one pick as my favorite Christmas movie of all time and one of my favorite movies of all time.  Period.  It had everything: a burnt out suicidal cop living in a trailer on the beach, Vietnam veterans, Phoenix Program (though they call it “project” in the movie), Shadow Company, Special Forces tattoos, mercury switches, snipers, 9mm Berettas, Alfred, Dixie, General Peter McAllister, Michael Hunsacker, Amanda Hunsacker, Mr. Joshua, Burbank the Cat, and is the first movie to incorporate Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu into a fight scene.  This movie hit at a very formative time in my youth and certainly did nothing to dissuade me from answering the call to serve my country in special operations.  Be sure and carve out a little time for Riggs and Murtaugh this holiday season.

The movie that introduced the world to John McClane and cemented the Beretta 92F into every adolescent boy’s mind as the pistol to use when fighting an onslaught of terrorists.  Along with Lethal Weapon, it influenced a generation of authors who, for the most part, equipped their protagonists with Berettas just like John McClane and Martin Riggs.  This Christmas movie was a staple of the holiday season in my house growing up.

I’m just glad Rocky fought Ivan Drago on December 25^th so I could include this on my list.  I think we saw this movie as a family about the same time we tied our Christmas tree to the top of the Wagoneer in 1985.  For a twelve year old kid, it didn’t get much better than Rocky going to Russia to beat the commies in their own backyard… on Christmas.  The Soviet Union would fall just six years later.  Coincidence?  I think not.  This is also the movie that invented Crossfit before Crossfit invented itself.

Who can forget Ralphie and his Red Ryder BB gun, Little Orphan Annie, Higbee’s, Lifebuoy Soap, triple dog dares, “Fudge,” the Bumpus’ hounds, Ovaltine, and the leg lamp.  A classic.

Fun for the entire family.  Chevy Chase reprises his role as Clark Griswold but it’s Cousin Eddie who steals the show.

Based on the short story The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern and starring the legendary Jimmy Stewart, this film truly is one of the greatest movies ever made.  If you have not seen this classic film, settle in to watch it this holiday season.  Join George Bailey as his guardian angel 2^nd class, Clarence, grants his wish of experiencing a world in which he’d never been born.  This movie gets me every year.  The fact that its lead actor served in World War II and remained in the military rising to the rank of Brigadier General in the Air Force Reserve doesn’t hurt my love of the movie either.  As part of its fascinating history, the film was investigated by the FBI for communist subversion.  The surveillance state was hard at work even in 1947.