I’m sometimes accused of being a “grinch” during the holiday season due to my aversion to certain Christmas songs and films. I protest the “grinch” label, because I don’t hate Christmas-themed films. I just hate over-the-top sentimentality. If you make a great film, I don’t care what holiday it celebrates. If you make a movie based on that manipulative “Christmas Shoes” song, then you deserve all the scorn thrown your way.

So, in the spirit of the holidays, here are some “Christmas” films I really enjoy!

A Christmas Story
Despite the 24-hour marathon every year, I actually didn’t see A Christmas Story until three years ago. I know, I can’t believe it either.

Love Actually
It’s a sweet film, but not overtly so. Plus, it has Bill Nighly as an aging rock star who releases a Christmas song in a blatant attempt to get a #1 hit.

The Muppet Christmas Carol
Because it’s the Muppets.

Elf
Will Ferrell man-child shtick works perfectly here.

I know that it’s a common strategy to re-release a film for the Oscar season…but it’s amusing to see a studio blatantly admit it.

HALLELUJAH!

At the very least, it can’t be any worse than the last Transformers flick, right?

By now, you’ve all probably heard about “Qwikster.”

OK, here’s the thing – I wasn’t too upset about the price increases. I thought Netflix still gave me a good deal. I still think that – all the DVDs and streaming you want for under the cost of a 3D movie ticket is a pretty good deal.

But what is the point of TWO separate websites? For customers who want streaming and DVD, that is two separate websites to manage and takes away from the “ease of use” of Netflix. Now you have to manage two accounts and two websites?

Who on earth in the Marketing department thought that this was a good idea?

And how the heck do you remember how “Qwikster” is spelled?

I’m not a business expert, and I’m not going to pretend to be one. And while I have a Netflix account, this change won’t affect me for a while, as I have a gift subscription. I think it’s safe to safe that Netflix may be taking a risk here. I think that if they had a discounted DVD and streaming option – more than what they currently charge, but less than it would be by adding the DVD/streaming separately – there may have been less of an outcry. Still, I have a feeling that Netflix will emerge from this more or less unscathed.

Is there really a discounted online movie service that has the same name-recognition as Netflix? Apparently Blockbuster has an online rental service, but I had not a clue. Amazon and Hulu Plus both have streaming services, but I’m not sure how many casual consumers would consider them. As for Redbox, the vending machine rental company that I’ve seen several angry Netflix subscribers say they will switch to? Well, I don’t know about the Redbox’s in other cities, but the one in front of my local CVS has a pretty limited selection.

I think in the end Netflix decided that they had the name-recognition and film/television library to make the change and take the heat. It’s kind of like iTunes – Apple may implement a change we don’t like, and we’ll complain, but will stick with the service because there isn’t a viable alternative.

As for me, once my gift subscription ends (and if I decide I want to stick with Netflix), I’ll be going DVD only. I prefer to watch movies on my TV rather than my computer.

I haven’t seen The King’s Speech yet, but now I’ve decided to wait until DVD. I get that film studios exist to make money, but this move seems even more blatantly calculated than usual. It just makes me annoyed. I’m not sure that this strategy will earn Weinstein Company that much more money either.

The ironic thing about all this is that after my parents’ saw The King’s Speech and I told them it was rated R, their response was, “What? But why?”

Now, before you gasp in horror, hear me out.

First, I don’t buy the argument that that it’s impossible to find 10 films worthy of recognition. Plenty of film critics release their “Top Ten” lists at the end of the year. Plenty of associations, such as the National Board of Review recognize 10 films. Should it really be that hard for Oscar voters to do the same?

Second, people are simply dreaming that only five nominees means no controversal nominations. Remember the huffing and puffing when Chocolat got a Best Picture nod? How about Atonement and The Reader? For goodness sake, The Towering Inferno got a Best Picture nomination!

Third, I’m in favor of anything that forces voters to get out of their comfort zone. Remember when Moulin Rouge, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and In the Bedroom were all nominated for Best Picture? All great films, right? Here’s what people don’t remember – that year, there were complaints that voters wouldn’t find any films to nominate because the expected “Oscar bait” films were bombs. Voters had to look elsewhere and thought, hey, you know what, that fantasy film with the hobbits was one of the best pictures this year.

So embrace the 10 nominees! Enjoy the Oscars everyone!