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My wife played this on Christmas Eve. I've seen it a million times and just wasn't in the mood. I started mouthing off about how George Bailey is an unrelatable character who has an amazing life but is just ungrateful for it.

About 90 minutes later I was choking back tears, despite knowing the movie line for line, knowing exactly what was coming and when, and looking for any reason to be annoyed at it because I've seen it too many times.

There are very few films that can slice through my anger-based emotional shield. This is definitely one of them.

How did It's a Wonderful Life fall into the public domain when so many other movies of that era haven't? I often wonder how many other buried gems we're missing out on.

At the time it was created, the default copyright term was 28 years, with an additional 28 if renewed. The owners of the rights to the movie neglected to renew it, and it fell into public domain in 1974. Anything not in public domain in 1976 had its term extended by a new copyright act, and then extended again in 1998.

Everybody disgusted by politics should watch"Mr Smith goes to Washington". It may even bring you some hope, it's that good