Thursday, December 21----The Museum of Modern Art, usually known for its rather highbrow offerings, presents a family-friendly series of Holiday Classics during the busy Christmas/New Year holiday season. Movies for the Holidays, a series of favorites from MoMA’s extensive film collection, will feature screenings in MoMA’s Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters from December 19 through January 2, 2007.

Films to be featured in the series include: ELF (2003), directed by Jon Favreau and starring Wil Ferrell as a man-child adopted by elf parents in the North Pole, who comes to New York to find his real father and spread some holiday cheer among the hard-as-nails locals; BIG (1988), directed by Penny Marshall, stars Tom Hanks as a thirteen-year-old kid from New Jersey, who makes a wish and wakes up to find he’s become a full-grown man; THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938), a Technicolor feast from Hollywood's Golden Age, starring the dashing Errol Flynn in his signature role as the swashbuckling robber of the rich; and SHREK (2001), the animation sensation, featuring the voice of Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy.

Also included in the holiday classics series are: WALLACE AND GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT (2005), the Oscar-winning animation film directed by Nick Park and Steve Box, and featuring the vocal gymnastics of Peter Sallis and Ralph Fiennes; BABE (1995), the international fantasy sensation that details the story of a little pig who thinks he is a sheep dog; MADAGASCAR (2005), last year's animation treat about a zebra who escapes from the Central Park Zoo, featuring the vocal stylings of Chris Rock and Ben Stiller; and GHOSTBUSTERS (1984), the fantasy extravaganza directed by Ivan Reitman, and featuring the hilarious trio of Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis and Bill Murray as ghost fighters in contemporary Manhattan.

On New Year's Day, MoMA presents a rare screening of the 1942 children's classic MR. BUG GOES TO TOWN, the story of a lovable grasshopper named Hoppity who returns to Bugville, a community endangered by trespassing humans, to rescue his love Honey the bee. The series concludes with one of America's most beloved classics, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944), starring the wonderful Judy Garland in her heyday, and featuring such showstopping musical numbers as The Trolley Song, The Boy Next Door and the Yuletide classic Have Yourself A Very Merry Christmas. Children and children at heart have much to celebrate at this annual MoMA event.

For a complete schedule of films and other information, log on to the official MoMA website: Museum of Modern Art

Sandy Mandelberger
Film New York Editor