OK gang! Settle down and listen up. It’s time to turn out the lights – leave the Christmas tree lights on – turn on the TV, grab your snacks, and get comfortable. Glad to see that some of you have put on your pajamas and slippers. Some of you might want to grab a blanket and a pillow as the seating arrangements can’t accommodate all of us.

Our Arts and Entertainment Editor Lisa Kristoff has invited all of you to the Boothbay Register/Wiscasset Newspaper’s first ever “Favorite Christmas Movies” marathon – a night to enjoy the spirit of the season. She has asked all of you to choose your favorite Christmas movie and explain why you enjoy watching it.

So here we go …

Kevin Burnham, editor

I’m in it for the long haul. I agreed to this gathering, thought it would be a good bonding event. I don’t think some of you read the full staff email thread where I suggested that it could be one favorite movie or a Top 5 or 10 listing. I can’t choose just one – there are so many. I have several vacation days to use up so I am going to sit here and enjoy watching these movies until, heck, Christmas. I always enjoyed watching David Letterman’s Top 10 list so here goes. Mine are listed from 1 to 10, not in keeping with Letterman’s 10 to 1. Does it mean my favorite is number 1? Not really. I just enjoy watching these movies year after year.

1. “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”

2. “Home Alone”

3. “It’s A Wonderful Life”

4. “Elf”

5. “A Christmas Story”

6. “A Charlie Brown Christmas”

7. “A Christmas Carol”

8. “The Polar Express”

9. “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”

10. “Miracle on 34th Street”

Lisa Kristoff, arts and entertainment editor

“It’s A Wonderful Life.” The movie is so iconic you know it with just these five words "... every time a bell rings …" The one and only Jimmy Stewart and the charming Donna Reed star in "It's A Wonderful Life" - the perfect movie to lose yourself in during the crazed December holiday season. I must add that it's the perfect movie in its original B & W format, that is. I refuse to watch this film, or any other cinematic treasure, that has been or is being colorized. Bah, humbug! I adore this story of love - familial and romantic; of power and support of community; trust, strength, doubt, fear, desperation ... and in the end, joy and gratitude for every blessing experienced - and yet to come. A favorite scene: George is walking Mary home after "Charleston-ing" their way off the dance floor and into the pool at the school dance. They are singing "Buffalo Gals" and then George asks Mary what she wants. "Do you want the moon, Mary? I'll give you the moon - I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down." There are so many scenes and quotes ... Yep, this is at least a half box of tissues event. You cry because you're happy for characters, you cry because you are sad or afraid for them, but mostly you cry because it's about love. It's about love and, frankly, it's just not the Yuletide season without "It's A Wonderful Life" to remind you of just that.

Sarah Morley, operations manager/sales

One of my fondest memories with my parents is grabbing the TV Guide, starting the month before Christmas, and finding the Christmas movie schedule. “Rudolph," “Frosty,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” were staple movies to watch in our family but they were only on once (and streaming didn't exist). We planned our week around them. We watched as a family and it was how the Christmas season kicked off in the Brewer household. Now when the movies are on, it is nostalgic to me and I almost miss the crackling TV screen.

Isabelle Curtis, reporter

“The Muppet Christmas Carol” (1992): What makes a perfect Muppet movie? An actor who will commit to the bit, and, boy, did Michael Caine deliver when he donned the mantel of the infamous humbug opposite Kermit and the gang. The movie has been a holiday staple in my household since before I was born and was foundational in establishing my love for Jim Henson’s creations (including Sesame Street, of course). When returning to this film year after year, it's been surprising to discover how much of Dickens’ prose is retained; hearing Gonzo call Scrooge a “covetous old sinner” is truly an experience that can’t be beat.

Fritz Freudenberger, reporter

“The Muppet Christmas Carol” takes the classic Dickens work and transforms it into something unique. Led by the lovable buddy-duo Rizzo the Rat and Gonzo (the alien?), the audience is whisked away into a re-imagined Victorian holiday world brimming with charm. Catchy musical numbers, vaudevillian shticks, and hidden bits in every scene juxtapose touching characters with more heart than could ever be sewn into their fuzzy Muppet bodies. It’s hard to believe that glorified teddy bears, animated by unseen sticks and hands, could elicit the range of emotions this adaptation conjures. But, for me, no Christmas viewing comes close.

Bill Pearson, reporter

My favorite Christmas movie or show is the 1966 cartoon version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” Boris Karloff’s voice is the perfect fit for the story. I enjoy how the Grinch's pet dog is loving and devoted to the Grinch. I especially love the fake antlers the dog wears. But the true spirit of Christmas is shown in the end. The Grinch steals all the presents but the Whovillians still celebrate because the day and holiday are about the birth of Jesus Christ.

Susan Johns, assistant editor

“It’s a Wonderful Life” has my favorite actor, Jimmy Stewart; and the message, every life impacts other ones and so, if only for this, we should value ours, even when it is hardest to. When George learns the brother he saved from drowning never went on to save those men in the war because he died as a youth — for, since George never existed, the brother drowned — that said it all. Not a cakewalk of a movie, but class all the way, and in black and white!

Robin Ford, business services

“The Polar Express” or the “Santa Clause” movies with Tim "the Toolman" Taylor.

Steven Edwards, production  

I think growing up and as a kid, I enjoyed all the classics year after year, "Rudolph," "Frosty the Snowman," "The Grinch," "Charlie Brown's Christmas," and of course the "Muppets." Now as an adult and being a parent, seems like we have Christmas multiple times a year. So where the year goes by quicker the older I get, I have to say "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" is something I can relate to. I must say I laugh throughout the whole movie and realize that Christmas as an adult isn't half bad when you look onto the Griswold family in "Christmas Vacation." From finding the perfect tree and frostbite, to stringing up the lights and not having them work, to the expectation of that Christmas bonus that you didn't receive to finding that squirrel in your Christmas tree that is now in your house.