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Black Friday is often held as an example of American consumerism at it’s worse. Some people think it points to a systemic economic and moralistic flaw in our society. Still others say it promotes greediness over sharing and represents the exact opposite of what Christmas is really supposed to be about.

I just find the crowds and traffic annoying and a way to get awesome deals online instead of leaving the house.

No matter what you think of Black Friday, it’s always funny to see photos of crazed shoppers literally hunting for a bargain and that’s what I have for you today: Black Friday in Photos: Top 10 Crazy Crowd Photos.

Whether it’s a super deal on a flat screen HDTV or grabbing the latest hot toy that’s sure to sell out way before Christmas, Black Friday is a national tradition, even a holiday, whether you like it or not. Wait on a line at 3am or stay at home, but you can’t avoid the massive juggernaut known as Black Friday. It has become an unstoppable force all it’s own.

Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly include any other good-looking movies coming out these holidays than I did in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3, I found even more movies of interest.

And I proudly present them to you in what I’d like to call Anthony’s Holiday Movie Picks – Part 4:

Everybody’s Fine

Starring: Robert DeNiro, Kate Beckinsale, Drew Barrymore, Sam Rockwell | Premieres: December 4, 2009

Robert DeNiro plays a father who seeks to reconnect with his grown children after the death of his

PROS: It’s like Meet the Fockers with a an actual moral to the story and without Ben Stiller.

CONS: If the holidays don’t bring back great family memories, than this film is not for you.

Sherlock Holmes

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams | Premieres: December 25, 2009

A mystery-adventure film about the detective who always seemed to rely a little too heavily on his assistant Watson. This version has a good bit of action thrown in as well.

PROS: Downey Jr. as Sherlock and Jude Law as Watson

CONS: Hard to improve upon the original story of Sherlock Holmes

Invictus

Starring: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon | Premieres: December 11, 2009

Based on a true story, this movie is the story of how South African president Nelson Mandela and the captain of the country’s rugby team came together to unite the country after apartheid. Directed by Clint Eastwood.

PROS: Getting to see Morgan Freeman in the role you know he was meant to play.

CONS: Matt Damon trying to make us believe his South African accent.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Starring: Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell | Premieres: December 25, 2009

A fantastical adventure starring Heath Ledger in his final starring performance about a traveling theater troupe who must deal with the consequences of making a deal with the devil.

PROS: Heath Ledger, Think Big Fish fantasy but with a point

CONS: Hard to believe Heath Ledger can make a bigger impression than his Joker role in Dark Knight

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So many movies, so little time, right? Well thanks for checking out some more of my holiday movie picks.

If you get a chance, let me know in the comments which movies you see and what you think about them!

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post about my New York Mets Christmas tree, I proudly present my list of the Top 10 Mets Christmas Ornaments I don’t (yet) have on my tree:

#1 – Mets Nutcrackers [link]: While watching the Nutcracker Suite, I never imagined the Nutcracker prince watching Mets games, but he had to be doing something while hiding around in that giant present.

#2 – Mets Hat: This ornament is cool because it has the actual Mets hat texture. I might just have to pick one of these up.

#3 – Homemade Mets Sweater: Jennifer from Major Knitter knitted up this homemade beauty.

#4 – Mets Christmas Tree with Santa [link]: The best part of this ornament is the Santa putting the Mets star on top of the Christmas tree. Told you Santa was a Mets fan!

#5 – Mets Santa Bear with Mets Santa Hat: No Christmas tree is complete without a Santa bear and no Santa Bear is complete without a Mets Santa hat!

#6 – Mets Snowman with Scarf: There are many Mets snowman ornaments out there, but this one has the large Mets logo and matching orange and blue scarf and hat.

#7 – David Wright and Pedro Martinez team up with Santa: Okay, fine. Pedro isn’t exactly a Met anymore, and we’d rather see a Wright and Santana team up with Santa ornament, but the spirit behind this ornament is in the right place, so it made the list. Not sure which position Santa plays though…

#8 – David Wright: Okay, so if you couldn’t stomach the Pedro part of the last ornament after his turn to the dark side (ahem, Philadelphia), then this David Wright ornament is for you. Too bad none of the player ornaments actually look anything like the players they are supposed to represent.

#9 – Mike Piazza Shiny Christmas: This ornament kicks it old school in a I-didn’t-just-jump-on-the-Mets-bandwagon sort of way. Plus, Piazza is one of my favorite Mets ever… too bad this ornament can only be found in baseball card packs from the 90′s.

#10 – Mets mini stocking: Jennifer from Major Knitter is at it again. Am I happy she uses her knitting skills for good and not Yankees stuff evil.

What other Mets Christmas ornaments have you found that you think should be on this list? If you take a look, there are actually many more around than you would ever think of around the web or on your neighbor’s Christmas tree.

At least they can keep our minds off of the injury debacle of 2009 and allow us to focus on the presents waiting for us in the 2010 season!

I had some free time today so I decided to set up my New York Mets Christmas tree!

The idea for the tree came about on a recent trip to Marshall’s, where I found a Mets logo tree skirt and a dozen Mets ornaments that came in plastic candy cane-shaped packaging.

And from there, a few trips to CVS, Target, and Walmart allowed me to add orange and blue lights, several baseball-themed ornaments, and even Mets candy canes to the tree.

So tonight I set it all up, complete with a real Mets baseball tree topper. What do you think?

As a diehard Mets fan, I’m super excited with how it turned out. I really was able to get creative putting it all together and it’s the perfect off-season tribute to my beloved Metsies!

I don’t know how I can top this next year… unless I decorate a full-size Mets tree! Uh oh… now I really want to!