Some films

Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray made a good team in Remember the Night, which is basically a Christmas movie about a pair of cynical sorts with a soft underbelly. 

Its compact package might have made Christmas in Connecticut, WWI era corn -- though Stanwyck alone requires at least some spark -- somewhat better.  You knew where it was going, which is fine for a genre flick, especially at the holidays, but really -- it DRAGGED.  I had to shut the thing off half-way out of pure boredom.  It had a few charms, other than the female lead.  Looked good -- down to the city walk-up or whatever "Elizabeth Lane" was really living in. The joke arising from wartime daycare had a feminist touch.  And, the black bit players were not treated like moronic comic relief as in the first film. 

Skipping to the present, though if you want another pretty good Christmas movie check out Die Hard, Wild with Reese Witherspoon was very good too.  A few didn't think she really sold the part -- still looked like a movie star and all (unlike the actresses playing her friend and mom) -- but I think she did overall.  She looks appropriately worn down and regular basically.  It's basically part of a few films recently made where she shows more than her "Ellie Woods" from Legally Blonde persona.  I wouldn't be surprised if she is nominated for an Academy Award here. 

The film mixes her long wilderness check with the life she used it to move on from well too. Not a classic or anything, but it is something that is worth even full price (but I found it at $6!), which is a good selling point. And, don't know how much a double was used, but we see a decent bit of her. As noted by one comment, we also see how a single woman alone sees things at times -- each guy she meets in "the wild" is a potential threat. 

To toss it in, Hot Shots! Part Deux has been on a few times in recent days. It is one of those films that work well on television and without any explicit sex or language, works on basic cable too.  It is impressive how much was thrown in here -- the gag refrigerator items in the opening scene alone took some doing. Hasn't been this quality "everything and the kitchen sink" comic ribbing of genre flicks for a while though various people tried,. This shows why -- it's not easy.