WANM-FM 90.5 The Flava is famously known for keeping everyone locked in and tuned in with the best hits and mixes, so getting the best Christmas movies from its employees made sense. Here are eight staff picks you and your family, friends, or significant others can enjoy for the holidays.
1. The Polar Express
Our first staff pick is “The Polar Express” from Micah Barkley. Barkley is a junior broadcast journalism student and a co-host on the podcast “Off The Rack with Cordell and Micah.”
“I think I watched it when it first came out and watched it every year since. I even remember getting the DVD; I love the cinematography, CGI, and everything that goes into it, and it has a great story,” said Barkley.
2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
“The Grinch” is our second movie, and Gabe “Huncho” Jean-Simons, a physical education student, co-host of the “Saturday Morning Show,” and member of the street team for 90.5, shares how when he was younger, he was scared of this movie but as he got older it grew on him.
“I was scared of the Grinch at first. I used to cry watching the Grinch. I started to watch it some more as a kid, and at the end of the movie, I was like, “Oh no, I’m cool; I don’t have to cry about it.” I feel like just being a young kid that didn’t understand to be able to understand the movie and appreciate the movie for what it is, adds value to the movie for me,” said Jean-Simons.
3. Almost Christmas
“Almost Christmas,” our third staff pick, shared from Cordell Jones, a junior broadcast journalism major and creator and host of “Off The Rack with Cordell and Micah.”
“The comedy in it, to me, is top tier. I love how the whole cast looks like a real, true family from watching it, and it feels very homey. The first time I watched the movie was maybe a year or two after it came out, and I watched it with my parents; we were just cracking up and cackling the whole time,” said Jones.
4. Home Alone
Our fourth staff pick, “Home Alone,” is brought to you by Sean Presley, a junior computer information systems scholar and a member of the graphics designer for the station’s promotions team.
“I like the concept of him protecting his house even though he feels as if he made his family disappear, and when they come back, all the love they show him. It just shows how much unity his family really had, despite everything being so negative at the beginning of the movie,” said Presley.
5. The Santa Claus 1, 2, and 3
Anissa Carby, a junior broadcast journalism student who serves as 90.5 The Flava’s assistant program director/music director, producer for “The Saturday Morning Show,” and an on-air personality “Chynadoll” (Fridays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.) Carby shared why “Santa Claus 1,” “Santa Claus 2,” and “Santa Claus 3” deserved more attention.
“Somebody mentioned a Christmas movie while we were in TV-News, a course at FAMU’s School of Journalism & Graphic Communication, and somebody said they never watched the movie or knew what that movie is. That’s an important movie because that gave us the North Pole vibe and made you want to be in the North Pole as a kid,” said Carby.
6. The Christmas
Staff pick number six, “This Christmas,” was shared by 90.5 The Flava’s promotion manager, Sydney Rencher.
“It just shows the holiday spirit in black culture, especially more modern. Sometimes, things don’t go our way throughout the holidays, but at the end of the day, family is one of the most important things with this holiday. It’s not necessarily focused on the gift aspect; it’s just being surrounded by love, laughter, and all the great things about Christmas,” said Rencher.
7. Love Actually
“Love Actually,” our seventh pick, is a Christmas movie based out of London, and it’s about people falling in love during the holidays. A good, love, romantic, Christmas movie, I think more people should watch in the holiday season,” said Ashton Johnson, a broadcast journalism sophomore, who is the host of “On Air w/ Ash” and a host on “Under the Twin XL” podcast.
8. The Family Stone
Our eighth movie, “The Family Stone,” comes from Tahodja Bond, a senior broadcast journalism scholar and a co-host on the “Millennials in Motion” podcast.
“I actually checked it out at the library in middle school. It explores neurodivergence, and it’s rumored that one of the main characters is on the autism spectrum, so I really like that. It’s just a really reliable movie in situations where you feel like everybody’s laughing, but you don’t get the joke, or you’re laughing, and nobody gets your joke,” said Bond.
9. Home Alone 2
“Home Alone 2,” which is our final movie, is from Janelle Sears, a third-year broadcast-journalism major, who has a radio show and podcast at 90.5 The Flava called “Jam Session with Janelle Ismay” and a podcast called “The Streetlights Podcast.”
“It feels like I have been watching that movie every single Christmas since I can remember. It has all the childish high jinks of Home Alone one, but it also has the atmosphere of Christmas in New York. Ultimate Christmas vibes in New York; it has the snow, the toy store, and him living in the Plaza,” said Sears.
Here are three additional movies shared by the WANM 90.5 The Flava staff for you to watch during the Christmas holiday:
1. It’s a Wonderful Life
2. The Perfect Holiday
3. Friday After Next
4. The Elf
5. The Best Man Holiday
6. Black Nativity
7. Dash and Lily
