The Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede

The Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede is an interesting addition to the  fantasy genre. It takes place in an alternate version of the Wild West where magic is practiced by many people. Our main character, Eff, was born a thirteenth child. To many of her extended family, this means that she is a curse upon them all and her parents were told that everyone would be better off if she was killed at birth. Although Eff knows she has the love of her immediate family, this pressure from her extended family affects her life, naturally. Through others she learns of a different form of magic, a form of magic that could possibly raise her above her family's concerns. It is a great story of a young girl coming into her own, but still unsure if her "thirteenth child" heritage will ruin everything.

Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

In a documentary about monster movies, there was a clip of Tom Hanks from a tribute that he did for Ray Harryhausen, the genius behind the special effects of Jason and the Argonauts. In this clip, Hanks told the audience that his favorite movie was Jason and the Argonauts. It has become a cinematic legend even being mentioned in Rick Riordan's Sea of Monsters. It remains one of my favorite movies, due mainly to the effects of Harryhausen especially considering that he did it all with claymation. For the time, his special effects were brilliant.

Jason and the Argonauts tells the age old story of Jason and his quest for the Golden Fleece. It features Medea as his love interest and the beautiful Honor Blackman as the immortal Hera who looks after Jason on his quest. In interesting plot device is the idea that Hera and Zeus are playing a game of chess (of sorts) with the characters in the movie. Their fate lies in who plays the game. Of course in this version it ends happily with Jason and Medea sailing into the sunset with the Golden Fleece and those that remain of the Argonauts.  

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer 1964

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is another classic Rankin/Bass cartoon. It tells the story of Rudolph, a little reindeer, that is born with a shiny red nose that glows in the dark. All the other reindeer laugh at him so he runs away with Hermie, an elf who actually wants to be a dentist. After many adventures they return to Christmas Town to learn that there may be a place for them after all. The narrator in this story is a snowman who looks exactly like Burl Ives, who voices the snowman. Here is a clip of him singing the song the story is based off of. 

Christmas Mail (2010)

Christmas Mail stars AJ Buckley as a disillusioned postal worker, Matt Sanders, who has the custody of his young orphaned niece. If you have ever seen CSI New York, you may recognize Buckley as Adam from that show. One day he meets Kristi North, a mysterious woman who shows up at the post office to answer Santa's mail.  Sanders' boss is convinced that she is up to something and appoints Sanders to spy on her. The two manage to fall in love. One thing I like about this movie is that the magic is subtle. It is implied that North is the daughter of Santa Claus, but this is never explicitly said. A wonderful movie for the holidays.

A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement Moore

A Visit From St. Nicholas was first written in 1823, although its author did not acknowledge the poem until 1837. It is sometimes called The Night Before Christmas or Twas the Night Before Christmas, based on the first line of the poem. This poem has shaped many of America's modern ideas about Santa Claus. It gives us his reindeers' names, and the concept of Santa coming up and down the chimney. It is a true Christmas classic with countless illustrators taking up their pens to give us new drawings. I love this story.

The Bishop's Wife (1947)

So how can you go wrong with David Niven and Cary Grant? The answer is you can't, at least not in this movie.  Niven plays Bishop Henry Brougham, who prayed to God for the money for a new cathedral and is neglecting his family in his pursuit of a bigger better cathedral. So God sends Dudley (Grant) in order to teach Brougham a little Christmas spirit. The two of them instantly clash especially since Dudley starts to fall a little bit in love with Brougham's wife Julia. The story is a great one and was actually remade in 1996 as the Preacher's Wife. One interesting fact is that originally Grant was cast as Brougham and Niven was the angel, but Grant asked that the roles be switched. The result is pure magic.