The Early Show

DVDs To Enhance Your Holidays

December 13, 2005 / 11:44 AM EST / CBS

If your holiday plans include gathering in front of the TV with family and friends, you have got to have the right movies.

To help assure your picks are enjoyed by all, entertainment contributor Jess Cagle shared a list of his favorites for this time of year on The Early Show Tuesday.

Cagle, who's also a senior editor of People magazine, packed his list with classics, newer films and more. And some aren't even ones you'd necessarily think of as holiday movies.

His recommendations include:

It's A Wonderful Life: Cagle tells The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen this movie is simply "the best. Jimmy Stewart is a guy who's unhappy with his life. An angel comes down and shows him what life would have been like in his little town, had he not lived. It is the most heartwarming movie, and heartwarming in a great way. If somebody in your family or with you over the holidays has not seen this movie, the best gift that you can give them is a viewing of this because nobody dislikes it, really.

"It was considered a flop because I don't think people liked the sort of dark view of small town life. It was at a time when we were supposed to idealize that, and everybody wanted to. Not until the '70s, really, did it become a holiday classic."

Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Cagle isn't referring to the 2000 Jim Carrey remake, which he says "is fine, but it's a copy of the original."

Chuck Jones' animated version of the classic Dr. Seuss book originally aired on television in 1966 and has since become a holiday family favorite. The Grinch is voiced by Boris Karloff, who also narrates.

"The Grinch," Cagle says, "in the 1966 version lives on a mountain. He comes down and tries to steal Christmas. Everything about this movie is great. I mean, the animation, the cute 'whos.' And there's something slightly sinister about it, which I think is why children really respond to it and why adults love it.

"I remember when I was a kid, before DVDs, and I tell the kids about this, we had to actually wait for things to come on TV to see them. We didn't have these things. But I mean, every year, waiting for the Grinch to come on TV. For me, it's got a really special place."

Elf: Cagle says this one involves "Will Ferrell living as a baby in an orphanage, accidentally crawls into Santa's sack, and then he's raised as an elf in North Pole, and they realize something is wrong when he becomes 6 feet tall. The images in this movie, like him in the elf bathroom, him sitting on Bob Newhart's lap … And ya know, Bob Newhart's a small elf. It is fantastic. Then he comes to New York to find his father, who's played by James Caan. And he has a hard time. But ultimately, he finds his place in the world. The holiday spirit is fantastic. It is irreverent, but also very sweet."

Bad Santa: Chen describes this as "the naughty Christmas movie" on Cagle's list.

"There is an unrated version of 'Bad Santa,' " Cagle says. "I can't even imagine how much worse it can get. And that's seven minutes longer."

It's called "Badder Santa."

In both versions, says Cagle, "Billy Bob Thornton plays a very dissolute, hard-drinking department store Santa who has one big heist every year, and he knocks over the department store he's working in as a Santa. But, a little kid comes along and kind of softens his heart. But, don't get me wrong, this is a bad movie. This is a very naughty movie."

Home Alone: This one, Chen says, isn't really a Christmas move, but made Cagle's list nonetheless.

"I love it at Christmas," Cagle says, "because it's about a boy (played by Macaulay Culkin) who is abandoned by his family. His family accidentally leaves him alone at home. He wishes for it. He's unhappy with his family. Then he has to defend against thieves and he grows up a little bit. But it's a child abandoned who then must grow up and become a man. So it's really 'Bambi.' That's really the story of 'Home Alone.' It's very sweet and very fun for kids. It really is fun for the whole family."

Love Actually: "One of the great romantic comedies," says Cagle. "I think it's very underrated. … (There are) a lot of stories going on. Hugh Grant plays the prime minister of Britain, who's in love with his secretary."

Die Hard: "A guy is trying to get home for Christmas," Cagle says, "but he has to kill a lot of people along the way. (It's) 'R'-rated, but for older teens and adults, it's very fun."

Brian Dakss

Brian Dakss is a longtime New York-based editor and writer for CBS News, at the Radio network and with CBSNews.com. He has written and edited for NBC News, Dow Jones and numerous radio stations and been a radio anchor and reporter.

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