Christians in Cinema

Saturday afternoon I had a couple of projects to work on and I was in the mood to have a Christmas movie playing in the background. But when I went channel-surfing, I couldn’t find any. Bummer!

So I thought about my favorite movies - if I had to name them, what would they be? So here is my list, not in any kind of order. Add to it, and let’s see if maybe we can find some news favorites!

1. The Preacher’s Wife - Whitney Houston, Denzel Washington and Courtney B. Vance star in this film from Penny Marshall and Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. Wonderful soundtrack! (It’s in my car’s CD player right now)
2. The Christmas Child - Stephen Curtis Chapman and William R. Moses in a story about a mysterious nativity scene. In his first acting role, Chapman does a good job as the pastor of a small-town church. Based on a short story by Max Lucado.
3. The Christmas Shoes - Rob Lowe and Kimberly Williams lead a strong cast in the story of a boy’s gift to his mother. Includes an interview with author Donna VanLiere and music by New Song. Be sure to get the sequel The Christmas Blessing.
4. White Christmas - Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney lead a fun cast in this comic and musical tale of sisters teaming up with another act to save a lovely Vermont Inn.
5. Miracle on 34th Street - Both the 1994 and 1947 versions tell the tale of a department-store Santa Claus who, believing he really is Santa, is put on trial for insanity.
6. My Christmas Soldier - German soldiers being interred in Georgia have a Christmas Eve encounter with local townspeople at a train station.
7. A Christms Carol - As a child I was scared of the ghosts. As an adult, I’m scared that sometimes I’m more like Scrooge than Tiny Tim.
8. The Nativity Story - Director Catherine Hardwicke’s vision of the Christmas story wonderfully captures the time and culture into which our Savior was born.

I know there are others; it’s hard to narrow down the list. Please add your favorites so we can buy, rent, or watch them this holiday season.