I love the Christmas classic movies and watch as many as I can every year.  But there are many great Christmas films that don’t get mentioned as often and I like to remind families that these are worth making time for as well.

1.  The Nativity Story  This sincere and respectful story is a good way to remember that Christmas is about more than presents and parties.  “Whale Rider’s” Keisha Castle-Hughes has a shy but dignified and resolute air and she glows believably as the very young woman who is selected as the mother of Jesus. And Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) effectively conveys tenderness, doubt, courage, and transcendence as Joseph.

2. A Christmas Memory Truman Capote’s bittersweet memory of his childhood Christmas making fruitcakes with his elderly cousin, the only relative who cared about him, is beautifully filmed with the magnificent Geraldine Page as the fruitcake-baking cousin and Capote himself reading the narration.

3. Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas The California Raisins guys put together this Christmas special, with the highlight the funniest-ever performance of “Carol of the Bells.”

4. Come to the Stable Loretta Young and Celeste Holm are French nuns trying to raise money to build a hospital.  Their faith and goodness transform those they meet.

5. Little Women “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents” is the first line of this classic novel based on the loving if sometimes tumultuous family of author Louisa May Alcott.  All of the lovely versions open with an important Christmas lesson about the joy of giving.

6. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Based on the classic book, this stars Judy Greer as a mother trying to cope with six rambunctious kids who insist on playing the lead roles in the church pageant. There’s an earlier version with Loretta Swit. 

7. This Christmas I love this movie about a family with five adult children who return home to celebrate Christmas with their mother and youngest brother.  The all-star cast includes Regina King, Idris Elba, Loretta Devine, and Chris Brown.  Be sure to watch through the credits to see a great dance number.

8. Desk Set Before Google, companies had human beings to track down information. Katherine Hepburn plays the head of the all-female research department for a television network and Spencer Tracy is the engineer who is installing the company’s first computer, which takes up a whole wall and uses punch cards and vacuum tubes. Sparks fly — and not just in the equipment.

9. Die Hard Bruce Willis plays a cop visiting his estranged wife at her office Christmas party when the building is taken over by bad guys led by Alan Rickman in this action-movie classic, and yes, it is a Christmas movie.

10. The Polar Express Tom Hanks stars in this animated story based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg about a magical train ride to the North Pole.

11. Home Alone This comedy smash hit stars Macauley Culkin as a little boy who is accidentally left home when his family goes away for the holidays and has to take care of himself and guard the house from a couple of inept thieves.  The slapstick is over the top but the message of Christmas is surprisingly touching.

12. Annie The story of the plucky orphan from the comic pages became one of the biggest Broadway musicals of all time and one of its highlights is Christmas with Daddy Warbucks. There are at least three versions, all good!

13. The Holiday Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz swap houses and find love with Jack Black and Jude Law in one of Nancy Meyers’ most endearing romances. 

14. The Man Who Invented Christmas Dan Stevens stars as Charles Dickens, who is under enormous family and financial pressure to produce a new book that will sell. It is a delight to  see how the story of “The Christmas Carol” comes together.  

15. Klaus (Netflix) In this absolutely gorgeous animated film, the father of a spoiled young man punishes him by sending him to a remote snow-covered village and putting him to work. The young man ends up inventing some of the most beloved Christmas traditions.

“Moana 2” is colorful and exciting, often beautiful to watch, with some catchy songs. But the storyline is overcomplicated and it does not have the heart (or the Lin-Manuel Miranda bangers) of the first film. It is episodic, with a complicated array of different places, characters, and stakes, evidence of its original version as a series for Disney+. The mid-credit scene is a cliffhanger that makes the entire film seem like a teaser for what comes next, most likely a series that keeps the story going.

At the end of the first film, Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) came home in triumph having — with the help of demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) — restored the balance of the universe by returning the heart of Te Fiti and removing the curse that was blighting her island. You don’t need to worry about whether you’ve seen the first one or not; there’s a recap.

Three years later, Moana has grown up a lot. She has the same adventuresome spirit and is proud of being a “way finder,” but has more confidence and skill, as we see her maneuver her boat, handling the ropes and sails like a seasoned salt. She adores her little sister, Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda) and her loving parents are very proud of her vision and leadership.

As in the first film, Moana sets off on a journey. The first journey was to reconnect with the history of her people and remove the curse on her people. This time, she is in search of other people from other places and cultures. She assembles a crew. Moni (Hualalai Chung) is a Maui fanboy, a storyteller tied to the legends of the community, and very enthusiastic. Loto (Rose Matafeo) is the gear-head everyone needs on a voyage, filled with ideas about how to make everything work more smoothly. But her most valuable assets are her unquenchable enthusiasm, quick problem-solving, and her ability to turn disastrous damage into something that will still get the group where they need to go. The most unexpected addition to the crew is Kele (David Fane), a grumpy elder whose speciality — farming — and lack of enthusiasm seem like impediments, at least at first.

Of course no Moana journey would be complete without her animal sidekicks, the scrawny rooster Heihei (Alan Tudyk) and the little pig Pua (left behind in the first film but along for the ride this time).

Moana and the crew land on an island of the Kakamora, cute but fierce coconut creatures (think the Ewoks except they are either wearing or made of coconuts). They have paralyzing darts (children will enjoy where the toxic gel comes from) but they also have the antidote, a large, green, jello-like creature. One of them joins the voyage.

They also have an encounter with a mysterious woman whose song has an unusual message for a wayfarer. Her name is Matangi (Awhimai Fraser) and her advice is to “get lost, cut loose, and lose your way.” She is friends with bats. She captured Maui. And she seems to be a captive herself, all of which should make Moana (and us) a suspicious. Is Matangi trying to help Moana and her crew or is she trying to help herself? Moana takes it as permission to worry less about finding the right way and allow herself to enjoy the freedom of not knowing exactly where she is going. And once Maui is on board (literally), giving him a chance to spit some rhymes in the lickity-split fast “Can I Get A Chee Hoo” you can expect to hear children rapping non-stop.

The visuals are as Disney-sublime. Water wishes it could be as water-ish as the water in this movie. Songwriters Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear created good, singable songs that help tell the story. The mechanics and rigging are superbly imagined in the musical numbers and the action sequences with characters and pieces of the boat flying in every direction. The new characters are welcome additions, especially Loto, but they are thinly imagined and we do not get enough time with them to form a connection. So much was happening and the mythology underlying it was so complicated, I kept wishing for a better balance between story and action. Also, it takes much too long to reunite Maui and Moana. Johnson, who also produced, should have made sure his energy was boosting the first third of the film.

So, this is not top-level Disney, but Moana remains an appealing character and if she gets a bit lost in this chapter, we will wait for her to find her way.

Note: stay for a mid-credit sequence that sets the stage for the next chapter

Parents should know that this movie has some scary monsters and some gross-out humor. Characters are in peril. Moana has contact with her ancestors, including her late grandmother.

Family discussion: How do you learn who you’re meant to be? What do you think Matangi will do next? What would you like to ask your ancestors?

If you like this, try: “Moana” and “Lilo and Stitch”

There are some great Thanksgiving movies for adults. And here are some for the whole family to share.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving This is the one with the famous episode about Charlie Brown trying to kick the football Lucy keeps snatching away from him. And Peppermint Patty invites herself to Charlie Brown’s house for Thanksgiving and he is too kind-hearted to tell her that he won’t be there because his family is going to his grandmother’s. When the Peanuts gang comes over for a feast prepared by Charlie Brown himself, Patty gets angry at being served toast and jelly beans. But when she realizes how hard her friend tried to be hospitable, she learns what gratitude really means.

Miracle on 34th Street is a Christmas movie, but it begins with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and it is a great family movie (for those who are comfortable with questions about Santa’s being real. The original is a classic with an adorable Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn won an Oscar for playing Kris Kringle. But the remake is nice, too.

Dora’s Thanksgiving Parade Dora the Explorer has to save the day when the parade float gets lost.

Squanto and the First Thanksgiving , Native American actor Graham Greene and musician Paul McCandless tell the story of Squanto’s extraordinary generosity and leadership in reaching out to the Pilgrims after he had been sold into slavery by earlier European arrivals in the New World.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Okay, I have to admit I don’t love this movie the way so many other people do. Parts of it seem mean-spirited to me. But we can all identify with the frustrations of holiday travel and with the unexpected connections we sometimes are lucky enough to find along the way.

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving Jacqueline Bisset stars in this warm-hearted tale, based on a short story by Louisa May Alcott (Little Women).

My favorite Thanksgiving movies are “What’s Cooking?” with four families preparing for the holiday and “Pieces of April,” about a family, including a terminally ill mother, driving to an estranged daughter for Thanksgiving. Both are funny, touching, and wise. Wishing all of you a Thanksgiving filled with gratitude for being together, even the crazy parts.

I feel confident that “Wicked,” this movie musical set in Oz is going to be POP-ular. It is, of course, adapted from the long-running, award-winning Broadway play, which was adapted from the book by Gregory Maguire, which was itself inspired by The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and the family classic MGM movie it inspired, starring Judy Garland, plus the funkified The Wiz, another musical play and movie. But this is not just some IP brand extension; it is as much an exploration of the nature of good and evil as it is a backstory about some of the world’s most iconic characters. It is also a lot–part one is nearly three hours long, with every minute a cornucopia of visuals, music, dancing, and ideas. Some will be overwhelmed, but many will find it dazzling and worth many repeat viewings.

The movie begins with the report that the Wicked Witch of the West has melted due to “a bucket of water thrown by a child.” Glinda the Good Witch arrives via bubble in Munchkin Country to confirm the news. This parallels Judy Garland’s arrival in the MGM film, her tornado-tossed house landing on the Wicked Witch of the East, and then Glinda arrives by bubble to ask Dorothy if she is a good witch or a bad witch. We will glimpse a few other references to the classic film, including a cute animal peeking out of a basket on the back of a bicycle, a shot of the four classic characters, plus Toto, walking through the poppy fields, and the first stop in the Emerald City a makeover musical number in a fantasy beauty salon. We also see the origins of some familiar elements, including the witch’s broom and Glinda’s name. As in the Baum book, the magical slippers are silver, not ruby.

One of the Munchkins asks a questions humans have been pondering since pondering began: Are people born wicked or do they become wicked, and if so, why? That is the theme of this version of the story.

Ariana Grande, appearing under the name on her birth certificate, Ariana Grande-Butera, plays Galinda (yes, that’s her name), a pampered princess who arrives at Oz’s most prestigious institute of higher learning, Shiz University. Think Hogwarts, because though the students are adults, it feels more like a boarding school. It is set in a fabulous compound that feels like a dream project (in both senses of the word) for brilliant production designer Nathan Crowley that is part Victorian, part Edmund Dulac fairy tale, with curves and curlicues everywhere inspired by Art Nouveau, and a sprinkle here and there of steampunk.

Also arriving are two sisters, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), with bright green skin, and her sister, Nessarose (played by Marissa Bode, who, like her character, does not have green skin and uses a wheelchair. Galinda is so confident she expects everyone to adore her and is so careless about mistakes that she often uses malapropisms that sort of sound like real words but are not. Elphaba is tentative and shy, but has internal strength of character and a sense of responsibility. She was the result of her late mother’s affair. The only father she has ever known, her mother’s husband, barely acknowledges her, except to order her to take care of Nessarose.

Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) immediately recognizes that Elphaba is gifted with extraordinary magical powers and takes her on for special tutoring. She also decides that the two young women should share a room. At first they dislike and mostly ignore one another, and Galinda pranks Elphaba by giving her an ugly hat to wear to a party. But when the other students laugh at Elphaba, who responds defiantly by dancing by herself, Galinda experiences her first spark of genuine empathy. Instead of claiming to be kind, she shows real kindness by joining Elphaba on the dance floor, and her unquestioned role as the arbiter of status soon has the rest of the crowd joining them in the dance.

Also at the party are Nessarose with Boq (Ethan Slater), who has a crush on Galinda but invited Nessarose because Galinda told him to, and the extremely handsome and charming Prince Fiyero (“Bridgerton’s” Jonathan Bailey). He was a late arrival at Shiz, after being kick out of other schools. At first he seems to be a perfect match for Galinda (she certainly thinks so). They are both gorgeous but superficial and incurious. Then, in the movie’s most significant scene, Fiyero is the only one who helps Elphaba rescue a caged lion cub, and she is the only one who realizes that his constant pursuit of pleasure is not making him happy.

Director Jon M. Chu (“Crazy Rich Asians,”) brings a lot of energy to the movie. Though he does not have the luxury of his “Step Up” and “In the Heights” acting leads’ extensive dance training and skill, the musical numbers, especially the big dance numbers, are creatively and dynamically staged. I especially liked “One Short Day,” as Glinda (she’s changed her name by then) and Elphaba first arrive in the Emerald City. Keep an eye out for the original Broadway Glinda and Elphaba, Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, in a stage show about Oz history, or rather the Wizard’s preferred version of it.

Bailey has a sinuous charm that conveys Fiyero’s charisma but hints at his feeling lost and struggling with aimlessness beneath the surface. Goldblum’s quirky energy is just right as the Wizard who began as a carny from the midwest. Erivo is the heart of the film, always magnetic and compelling as Elphaba. The bright green makeup does not mask the extraordinary expressiveness of her face, always thoughtful, present, authentic, and grounded, despite the distracting details of the ultra-fantasy world around her. And like Grande, she has a once-to-a generation voice.

The splendor and imagination of the setting and costumes and even the huge musical numbers surround and mostly support real and meaningful questions about bad people doing good things, good people doing bad things, and everyone struggling to find a place somewhere on the continuum between being good and being wicked. Galinda (we learn how she became Glinda) is considered good because she is pretty and smiles a lot. But she is arrogant and selfish. Elphaba is considered if not bad at least weird because she does not smile or conform (note that neither wears the school uniform) but she is devoted to her sister. She is looking for the love she has never received but has no interest in changing anything about herself to try to get it. She knows that would not be real. Other characters surprise us by not being what we expect on the good/wicked scale.

This is a sumptuous and unsubtle treat grounded in Erivo’s graceful and subtle performance. When she defies gravity, she lifts us with her, and we lean forward to the next chapter.

Parents should know that like the MGM movie version, this story features fantasy action and peril with some scary and disturbing images, along with issues of bigotry and cruel treatment. A child is the result of an affair, causing grief and shame.

Family discussion: Why did Elphaba tell Flyero he was not happy? Why did the Wizard want to cage the animals? Are these characters good or wicked or both: Elphaba, Galinda, Madame Morrible? Are any of the characters like someone you know?

If you like this, try: the original Wizard of Oz book and its sequels (great for reading aloud) and the many other versions of the story

“Gladiator II” looks magnificent. Denzel Washington effortlessly steals every scene he is in and all but winks at us to show how much he is enjoying it. But the script is weak and too repetitive , the movie is too long, and the fight scenes, no matter how staged, just get numbing after a while. When I saw it, the audience was so disconnected from the storyline that they laughed at an admittedly corny reveal that was clearly a turning point that puts one of the main characters in danger.

For those who still remember the details of 2000’s Oscar-winning “Gladiator,” starring Russell Crowe, this film takes place a generation later, with only one returning main character aside from a couple of brief flashbacks and Derek Jacobi in a few scenes as a member of the political elite.

Connie Nelson is back as Lucilla, the royal daughter of the idealistic Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who was murdered by his son and her brother in the first film. She is now married to Rome’s top soldier, Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal).

We get a few minutes of blissful farm life in a remote village before the Roman navy arrives to take it over and the farmer and his beautiful and beloved wife have to suit up as soldiers. We know what happens to peaceful farmers and beautiful, beloved wives in these kinds of movies. Indeed, this is pretty much a replay of the first “Gladiator,” except this time the beautiful wife is also a fierce soldier. No big difference, though, because she gets killed off to fuel what we will later hear is the farmer’s biggest asset as an arena fighter, not strength or skill but rage.

That assessment of the farmer (Mescal) comes from Macrinus (Washington), who runs the gladiator program, wears only the finest glam. He is a trusted purveyor of news and rumors to everyone in Rome, especially Geta (Joseph Quinn of “Stranger Things”) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger of “Thelma”), the decadent young emperor-brothers who whine and lounge around in white face make-up except when they are enjoying the bloody battles in the colosseum. When the farmer-turned fighter says what he wants is a chance to cut off Acacius’ head, Macrinus tells him he will have it, and his freedom, too, if he succeeds in the arena.

Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal are two of the most charismatic, versatile, and talented actors in movies. Mescal can make a smile convey more than a page of dialogue or 15 minutes of backstory. Pascal has unmatchable comic timing. The one-dimensional characters they play do not give them a chance to show us their best. Instead, they have distractingly bulked up, like Popeye after the spinach. They look great in those Roman skirts, especially in the fight scenes, but even they cannot make the wooden dialogue and awkward plot twists work.

So much for the plot. Some people may want to make parallels between the fall of Rome and some of today’s headlines, but it won’t get you very far. I’m not going to give away the not-much-of-a-twist, which is in the trailer, so if you don’t want to know, don’t peek. In fact, you might do better to watch the without sound (you’d miss the score but you’d also miss the sounds of bones crunching and blood spurting). The dialogue is clunky and the storyline is hackneyed. The fans who come for the spectacle and pageantry will do fine, though, as director Ridley Scott and production designer Arthur Max make all of the long shots very impressive. Those who are there for the fight scenes will appreciate the variety — swords, of course, and attacks by crazed monkeys, sharks, and a rhino.

For me, though, it started to feel more like a game than a story and much too long.

Parents should know that this film has extended, very graphic violence with many characters injured and killed and many, many disturbing bloody images and sounds including decapitation. Characters drink alcohol and use drugs. A character essentially commits suicide. There is a reference to venereal disease.

Family discussion: Was rage the gladiator’s most valuable quality? How were the gladiator and the general alike?

If you like this, try: “Gladiator” with Russell Crowe