The Wizard Of Oz, from 1939, is my joint/favourite film (with Devil’s Arithmetic) and one that I’ve adored since childhood.
It’s such a powerful film from an emotional perspective and the song ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ is a real classic.
Dorothy (Judy Garland), is transported from Kansas to Oz during a tornado and thus begins the journey where she follows the yellow brick road.
Along the way, she gathers the tin man, scarecrow and lion as her travelling companions.
Toto the dog is also another central character.
Back To Christmas (2014) is the story of Ali (Kelly Overton) who meets her guardian angel, Ginny (Jennifer Elise Cox).
She has the opportunity to go back in time and correct the decision she made to finish with her boyfriend.
When she does though, she falls for a neighbour that she knew at college.
In the end, she gets together with him, and being transported back to the future, they are living happily ever after.
She made the right decision this time.
Christmas Incorporated (2015) stars Riley Vance (played by Sheana Grimes) and William Young (played by Steve Lund).
Riley is given a job, as her cv is mixed up with someone else who has the same name.
Her first task is to accompany her boss, William, to Dover where they rescue a failing toy manufacturer, which is part of his business empire.
Over time they fall for each other, as you would expect with a Christmas movie, and it’s a happy ending.
Christmas Bells Are Ringing (2018) starts with freelance photographer, Samantha (Emilie Ullerup), going back to Cape Cod for her father’s wedding on Christmas Eve.
She enlists a childhood friend Mike (Josh Kelly) to take her round the area, as she needs images because she’s being considered for a staff job in Boston.
She gets the position and meanwhile Mike is offered a job in London.
Following the wedding, they realise they want each other, so the jobs are declined and they start a new life in Cape Cod together.
A Very Vintage Christmas (2019) starts with Dodie (Tia Mowry) opening an antiques shop in Mountain View.
She finds a box hidden in a wardrobe that contains mementos from a relationship between Carl and Ginger from decades before.
With the help of her new friend, Ed (Jesse Hutch), she sets out to find the couple.
She finds Carl and then discovers that Ginger is Ed’s mom.
The two finally get together, as do Dodie and Ed.
A Christmas Hero, from 2020, features Tom (Marcus Rosner), his new love, Jenny (Anna Hutchison) and his ex-wife, Mary (Anita Brown).
His daughter (Sadie) with Mary becomes a tug of war in their battle but in the end, like all good Christmas movies, it ends happy ever after.
His wife accepts it’s over between them and he plans to marry Jenny.
Fixing Up Christmas (2021) starts when Holly (Natalie Dreyfuss) is assigned to a project as party planner.
Working very closely with the boss’ son, Theo (Marshall Williams), after starting well, there’s a dip, but then it all comes good when they get together right at the end.
Another predictable Christmas movie, where I actually enjoy the well-worn path that they follow.
The Magical Christmas Tree (2021) is an LGBTQ propaganda film, which I didn’t realise until I started watching it.
It’s the story of a non-binary person who meets another non-binary person and they fall in love.
When meeting a park ranger, he asks ‘Good morning, what pronouns do you go by?’ or words to that effect.
It’s not very good acting and the storyline is weak, at least it was just one hour long.
Christmas In The Caribbean (2022) stars Elizabeth Hurley as Rachel.
After being stood up on her wedding day, she goes to the Caribbean anyway but takes her two friends instead of her new husband.
While there, she meets Alessandro (Edoardo Costa) and they fall in love.
One of her friends decides to go travelling, but the other also meets a man and stays on the island with Rachel.
Elf Me is an Amazon movie released in 2023.
Made in Italy, with Italian actors, it’s dubbed into English.
Trip is an Elf from the North Pole, who meets Elia, a small boy from Italy.
Together, the two of them defeat an evil businessman and save Christmas.
It has touches of Elf, E.T. and Gremlins.