Tamara's Picks

A great way to help your kids Chill Out as the chaos of the holiday season and the end of the year ramps up? Music for mindfulness!

Check out some of these albums to help (you and) your kiddos be less stressed and more calm:

Everyone Grows: Children's Songs for Mindfulness by Lianne Bassin
Earth: Songs for the Earth and all Beings by Charity and the JAMband
Mindful Moments for Kids by Kira Wiley
Little Box of Happy: 16 Beloved Tracks That Teach Kids the Joy of Yoga and Movement by Bari Koral

And, while not entirely focused on mindfulness, an album that incorporates that practice while also teaching about music in a hip, playful way:

Young Maestros, Vol. 1 by Tracy Bonham

Sarah's Picks

Jack Frost- An often-absent father dies in a car accident around the holidays, and through harmonica magic, he is brought back to life one year later as a snowman. He has one last chance to connect with his son before the snow melts. It's a whacky scenario that only the 90s could produce, with equal parts funny and sentimental. This movie has been recently released on DVD, so you can be one of the first to place a hold on it as we add it to our collection!

You've Got Mail- It's one of those movies that spans the entire cozy season. A book store owner and her rival fall in love online before the times of Google, Instagram, and Facebook. When their identities are finally revealed, will they still feel the same? I come back to this movie every year for the brilliant acting by Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in one of their best films together, among Sleepless In Seattle, and Joe Versus the Volcano.

Looking for some cozy music to chill out to? I highly recommend checking out Lizzy McAlpine on Freegal. For peak Hygge goodness, give Apple Pie from the Wait a Minute album a listen.

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Adrienne's Picks

Have yourself a merry K-Pop Christmas with these wintery tracks from the other side of the globe.
"Christmas EveL” by Stray Kids
“Snow Flower” by V (featuring Peakboy)
"Miracle” by GOT7

A Christmas Gift for You
This 1963 album is always a classic this time of year, with so many holiday gems bursting from the signature Wall of Sound. Seasonal playlists would be incomplete without The Ronettes’ delightful version of “Sleigh Ride” and Darlene Love showing off her powerful pipes on “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”. Available on CD or on Freegal.

Not feeling the cold weather and winter vibes? Relax to Iration’s Backyard Sessions - Malibu Edition for a live performance of their latest and greatest, including the track “Chill Out” from 2020’s Coastin’. Don’t forget to check out their heartwarming Official Fan Edit music video for “Holiday in Paradise”.

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RL's Picks

Webster's dictionary defines cinempath as one who experiences the emotions and mental states of characters in cinema. As a cinempath, I feel what the protagonists feel and these films had me feeling exasperated, vengeful, terrified and very cold!

-A Simple Plan
Three men find millions of dollars with a rotting corpse inside a downed plane in the snowy Minnesota woods.
-In Order of Disappearance
Stellan Skarsgard stars as a man out to avenge the murder of his son. This Norwegian film inspired Cold Pursuit, where Liam Neeson stars as a man out to avenge the murder of his son.
-Cold Comes the Night
A blind criminal takes a mom and her daughter hostage and forces the mom to be his guide and driver as he attempts to find his stolen money.
-The Thing
A research team at a remote Antarctic research station discover an alien buried in the snow. The havoc begins after the alien is unfrozen.
-The Hateful Eight
It's winter in Wyoming and a stagecoach with a bounty hunter and his fugitive must stop at a stagecoach stopover to avoid the coming blizzard.

Don's Picks

I have to check myself for frostbite after experiencing these films.

The Shining-A hotel isolated by severe cold with ghosts and a caretaker who is barely holding on to sanity. Things eventually go very cold in this spooky, icy favorite directed by the great Stanley Kubrick and part of the 2022 Sight and Sound Poll of Greatest films.

March of the Penguins-The Oscar winning documentary about the near miraculous journey of the emperor penguins across the Antarctic wasteland to feed their young. The film is fascinating and filled with incredible images of the amazing birds braving incredibly difficult landscapes and weather to bring food to offspring they've never seen.

Winter's Bone-Director Debra Granik's coming of age mystery set in the Ozarks about a teenager searching for her lost father. Jennifer Lawrence scored an Oscar nomination with her powerful but low key work here.

Fargo-One of my favorite films of all time. This chilly film, set in the deepest coldest part of the winter in the American midwest, is warmed by the transcedence of Frances McDormand's Oscar winning performance as Marge Gunderson, a very pregnant Minnesota police chief investigating a triple homicide. The film also won an Oscar for the sublime screenplay of brothers Joel and Ethan Coen.

Ice Storm-Director Ang Lee turns his eye on family life in the 1970's and sees some problems. A superb cast illuminate this adaptation of Rick Moody's novel of the same name. The film explores the deep dysfunction of family life amid a lethal ice storm and a flurry of experimentation brought on by the sexual revolution. One of the few underrated films in Lee's filmography.