Now that we’re really settling into the Christmas month and hitting the final stretch before the big day, you’ll probably be flipping over to the family Christmas channels on your tuner.

No matter how many times you watch classic Christmas movies, they never get old. Every year, these movies are shown countless times across the networks. Maybe you even own a few on DVD.

This week, my top movie pick is It’s a Wonderful Life. If I were to choose a favorite holiday movie, it would win, hands down.

When it was first released to audiences in 1946, It’s a Wonderful Life didn’t take over the box office. The film was directed by Frank Capra and was nominated for five Oscars, but failed to win even one. It is now on the AFI‘s top 100 movies list. ¹

This is the movie I’ll be watching this week. It’s a great movie for the family as well.

What will you watch?

Honestly, I’d like to hear what your favorite Christmas movie is because I’m a sucker for favorite lists. Will you be watching a new movie? Will you stick with the classics? Or, will you just let fate determine it (or your kids)?

One other movie I always find myself watching this time of the year (though not strictly a Christmas movie) is Serendipity with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale.

If you’re not watching anything or haven’t seen It’s a Wonderful Life, then it’s the movie for you this holiday season.

1. Source: It’s a Wonderful Life on Wikipedia.

As we start settling into the month of sleigh bells, reindeer, and eggnog, many of our favorite television series are gearing up for the holidays as well.

We enjoy watching these holiday episodes simply because we’re in a holiday mood. Half of them are too cheesy to be considered good television. The rest are much too over-dramatic.

On occasion, there’s an episode that really stands out.

A Roswell Christmas Carol

Episode 10 of the second season of Roswell was one of those episodes that stood out for me. Some of it was probably too over-dramatic, but I don’t know if another Christmas episode will ever top this one for me.

For those of you unfamiliar with Roswell, I’ll give you the quick version.

Max, Michael, and Isabel are aliens that crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico. They’re always at risk of exposure and running from one secret government unit or another. One of Max’s powers is the ability to heal.

In this episode, Max watches as a man pushes his daughter away from a moving vehicle, saving his daughter but losing his life. Max can’t heal him because he’d risk exposing himself. Throughout the show, he is haunted by this man. To make up for not saving the man, he decides to cure a young girl with cancer (a daughter of another character in the show).

When Max reaches the hospital, the girl is in a room with several other children with cancer. It would be wrong for him to save one and not the others, which leads us to this scene where he saves the children.

There were several other highlights in this episode. We learn that Isabel is the Christmas Nazi, and she wants everything to be perfect for Christmas. She, along with Michael and Maria’s relationship woes, served as the comic relief.

In the end, it was a classic Christmas episode where Max learns that Christmas is all about family.

Roswell may have had some major flaws with the series overall, but this is one episode they got right. Season 3′s Christmas episode was also scripted and acted well.

What’s your favorite?

There have been tons of Christmas episodes of our favorite TV programs, so I know you all must have a favorite or two.

Share with everyone. Feel free to post a link to a video as well.

And for this part of the country where you get zero snow, it sure makes it feel more like Christmas when it’s cold out.

So Christmas usually means two things. Family and traditions.

Now, I’ve gotten to know a lot of you guys this past fall, and everyday it seems like we have someone new stop by and leave us a comment about Journeyman or a multitude of other random things. Now that it’s Christmas time, I’d love to learn a bit more about all of you.

So the question this week is:

How do you usually spend your Christmas each year?

We usually make it a point to visit all our family on Christmas Eve and have at least one good cooked meal. At the end of the day, Jina and I usually do our present opening and save our stockings until Christmas morning.

Okay, that’s not true…we usually WANT to leave them for Christmas morning, but we always open them on Christmas Eve. It’s like being kids without parents telling you to wait and have patience.

Then we just relax on Christmas Day and more than likely catch a movie or two, or even three.

Do you have traditions? Do you go to your inlaws or other family? Do you tend to hit the road and go on vacation instead? Do you eat out at Chinese restaurants like in A Christmas Story?

So now I want to know what your favorite Christmas movie is of all time. Do you watch it every year? Is it something you make sure the whole family sees? Is there a cool tradition surrounding it?

There are so many to choose from out there, so I’m hoping to see a great variety of films here, maybe some very unique ones.

Have at it then:

What’s your favorite Christmas movie?? And why?