Funny films are favorites in poll

When it comes to holiday movies, nothing beats a funny flick.
That's the consensus of The Vindicator's recent reader poll about favorite seasonal movies.
Seventy-five percent of those who voted by e-mail chose comedies over movies with more serious themes.
Top vote-getter was "A Christmas Story," the wry, nostalgic story of an Indiana boy who badly wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. Coming in a close second was "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," starring Chevy Chase as a dimwitted Dad whose family's holiday is one disaster after another.
"A Christmas Story" deserves the nod "because it rings so true, and the cast is great," wrote Garland S. Bradshaw.
"Got to be 'A Christmas Story,'" wrote Mike Stefano Sr. of New Castle, Pa. "Little Ralphie and family are classic and remind me of a simpler day when I was that age, growing up in the '50s."
Other favorites
The humorous take on the holidays overshadowed more serious films such as "It's A Wonderful Life," starring Jimmy Stewart, and versions of the Charles Dickens story "A Christmas Carol." Both follow story lines about men who find redemption in their lives.
Also nominated by readers was "Scrooge," the musical version of "A Christmas Carol."
For those who seek an alternative to classic Christmas cinema, another voter made a passionate case for "A Child's Christmas in Wales," which is based on a poem by Dylan Thomas.
"I defy most people to watch this sensational and heart-warming movie and not see a single scene or remembrance from their past," that reader wrote, "... especially when they themselves were children."