fab
TI Forumite
strange days
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Post by fab on Dec 22, 2017 23:58:09 GMT -5
so I'm watching a delightfully ridiculous Christmas movie, and now I'm curious as to what everyone's annual preferences are!
I'm watching "Jingle All the Way" for the first time since I was a kid, and let me tell you: the script is everything I wanted it to be and more.
shoutout to A Christmas Story, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and It's A Wonderful Life.
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Crash Test Dumbass
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Post by Crash Test Dumbass on Dec 23, 2017 7:48:06 GMT -5
While I enjoy Christmas music, I've never been the biggest fan of Christmas movies for whatever reason. When I was married we would watch White Christmas, but I really only like parts of it.
Therefore, I will throw my hat in the ring for Trading Places, which is more Christmassy than Die Hard.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2017 10:33:17 GMT -5
Die Hard
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Post by Incense on Dec 23, 2017 14:50:37 GMT -5
While it's not my favorite, one I record every year and watch a couple of times before deleting is Bell, Book and Candle.
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Post by MarkInTexas on Dec 23, 2017 20:12:06 GMT -5
It's going to feel pretty weird watching it from now on (which is why I'm not watching it this year), but I've always loved The Ref.
Like many others, I can quote large chunks of Christmas Vacation verbatim.
I'm not crazy about the ending, but most of Elf is pretty terrific.
The Polar Express is the one Zemeckis motion-capture film I think worked.
And my favorite Christmas Carol adaption is The Muppet Christmas Carol.
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Post by Lord Lucan on Dec 23, 2017 23:19:33 GMT -5
Scrooge, above all. Sim’s performative regeneration is such a joy to behold. Never saccharine, the scene of his outpouring of desperate, futile contrition before the unhearing eidolon of his sister for betraying the trust she tenderly reposed in him to care for her son, and that of his later trepidatious entry into the drawing room of the same, to be met only with a noble gratitude and lack of enmity, are always moving.
Also, Fanny and Alexander and, out of habit for whatever reason in recent years, Olivier’s Richard III.
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Dec 24, 2017 15:38:23 GMT -5
Muppet Christmas Carol is probably it, but is carried bu a heavy dose of nostalgia for me. As an adult, I do make a point to watch It’s A Wonderful LIfe and White Christmas every year. As noted though, there are parts that could be cut out and massively improve White Christmas.
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Post by Jean-Luc Lemur on Dec 24, 2017 18:37:26 GMT -5
To this day I sing “Sleigh Bells” with “Fozzy Bear” rather than “Farmer Grey.”
ETA: Oops, reference to A Muppet Family Christmas, which is nonetheless the best TV Christmas special ever (especially for someone who first saw it in nursery school, when Fraggle Rock was still showing on TV and hadn’t outgrown Sesame Street). A Muppet Christmas Carol is also an amazing and loyal adaptation of the book (dialogue lifted from the page, often, and the more obvious non-Dickensian stuff is left to muppet side characters), which is pretty incredible given that they mixed it with the (very funny!) Rizzo slapstick and songs (and thankfully the DVD has cut that one slow song with young Scrooge and his wife). Actors often use to “doing it for my kids/grandkids” as an excuse for cheap, quick kids film paychecks—this might be one of the few examples where it turned out great.
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Dec 24, 2017 19:21:33 GMT -5
To this day I sing “Sleigh Bells” with “Fozzy Bear” rather than “Farmer Grey.” ETA: Oops, reference to A Muppet Family Christmas, which is nonetheless the best TV Christmas special ever (especially for someone who first saw it in nursery school, when Fraggle Rock was still showing on TV and hadn’t outgrown Sesame Street). A Muppet Christmas Carol is also an amazing and loyal adaptation of the book (dialogue lifted from the page, often, and the more obvious non-Dickensian stuff is left to muppet side characters), which is pretty incredible given that they mixed it with the (very funny!) Rizzo slapstick and songs (and thankfully the DVD has cut that one slow song with young Scrooge and his wife). Actors often use to “doing it for my kids/grandkids” as an excuse for cheap, quick kids film paychecks—this might be one of the few examples where it turned out great. Funny story about that song: I brought the VHS to college one year and a friend who wasn’t quite paying attention said, “what a pretty song. I want to play that at my wedding” |
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Post by Floyd Dinnertime Barber on Dec 25, 2017 14:07:56 GMT -5
The Sims version of Christmas Carol is my all time favorite, for all the reasons Lord Lucan mentioned. I watched it yesterday, and I caught myself getting misty at those scenes, as well as a few others. Sims absolutely nails it. It's closest rival for Scrooge characters is George C. Scott. I haven't seen it this year, but I always enjoy his version greatly. Another of my favorite Christmas movies is "Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale". It's wonderful and totally insane. You don't want this Santa Clause coming to town, and it's up to a young Finnish boy , his reindeer hunter father, and a few friends to save the children, and Christmas. Played totally straight, it's as dark a Christmas comedy as I've ever seen, with some genuine thrills and scares, all totally earned. Their hardscrabble life near the Finland-Russia border gives it an almost Old Western-like quality that adds to it's charm. I started to watch a copy of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" I had DVR'ed off ABC TV several years ago, but after about 5 minutes I found myself becoming violently enraged. It took me that long to realize that the voices were all wrong. I watched it when it debuted in '65. I remember all the Dolly Madison commercials that were incorporated to the show, and I damn well know Charlie Brown's voice in it. I thought about it a few minutes, and realized that in 1965 there were maybe 2/3 of the commercials in a half hour show than there are today. The corporate scumbags at ABC had sped up the show to allow more commercials to be inserted in these more mercenary shopping days. It was completely unwatchable. I was lucky enough to find an unmolested version on some oddball Roku channel. Another favorite of mine is "The President's Analyst" with James Coburn. It's a top notch 60's spy spoof that has a Christmas scene shoehorned in at the end, and it's wonderful. Coming up: New Years Eve with "The Poseidon Adventure"! |
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Post by Jimmy James on Dec 25, 2017 15:18:11 GMT -5
Funny story about that song: I brought the VHS to college one year and a friend who wasn’t quite paying attention said, “what a pretty song. I want to play that at my wedding” I thought "When Love is Gone" was a slog the first time I saw Muppet Christmas Carol, but I find it doesn't last as long as it seemed to the first time. It's also necessary to make "The Love We Found" reprise at the end work. As a break-up song, it'd be an odd choice for a wedding, though. |
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Post by chalkdevil 😈 on Dec 26, 2017 17:04:03 GMT -5
One of my favorites is Scrooged, starring Bill Murray's mullet and Carol Kane.
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Post by Jean-Luc Lemur on Dec 27, 2017 15:01:21 GMT -5
Casting coincidence—ended up a New England-themed Christmas Eve movie day at my house, with Mary Wickes appearing in the most New English role in both: in White Christmas as the housekeeper and Little Women as Aunt March.
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Post by Desert Dweller on Dec 28, 2017 2:16:29 GMT -5
I usually go with the Sims, George C Scott and Muppet versions of A Christmas Carol. I also try to fit in It's a Wonderful Life and A Charlie Brown Christmas. I do also really like Elf.
This year I bought my niece "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and read it to her. We then watched the movie, which she liked.
I usually try to catch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, but I didn't get to that one this year.
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Post by William T. Goat, Esq. on Dec 29, 2017 15:46:15 GMT -5
I have my standard jokey responses to this question: Brazil, Die Hard, Gremlins. But I'd like to put in a good word for Blizzard, directed by Levar Burton. The story is pretty emotionally manipulative, as a girl from a poor family is worried that she'll lose her friends and have to give up ice skating when her family is forced to move to a new city. But I have to tip my hat to one of the very few live-action Christmas movies featuring talking, flying reindeer, and not playing it for laughs. When Blizzard, the reindeer voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, meets Katie, the first thing they do is go ice skating together, the reindeer levitating alongside the girl as she skates. Most Christmas movies which take place in the real world tend to save the magical/supernatural element as a last-minute hokey plot twist. This movie normalizes it, then proceeds from there.
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Post by Superb Owl 🦉 on Dec 29, 2017 16:25:38 GMT -5
I have my standard jokey responses to this question: Brazil, Die Hard, Gremlins. But I'd like to put in a good word for Blizzard, directed by Levar Burton. The story is pretty emotionally manipulative, as a girl from a poor family is worried that she'll lose her friends and have to give up ice skating when her family is forced to move to a new city. But I have to tip my hat to one of the very few live-action Christmas movies featuring talking, flying reindeer, and not playing it for laughs. When Blizzard, the reindeer voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, meets Katie, the first thing they do is go ice skating together, the reindeer levitating alongside the girl as she skates. Most Christmas movies which take place in the real world tend to save the magical/supernatural element as a last-minute hokey plot twist. This movie normalizes it, then proceeds from there. Whoopi...LeVar...exactly what percentage of this production were TNG alumni? |
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fab
TI Forumite
strange days
Posts: 1,617
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Post by fab on Dec 29, 2017 16:34:36 GMT -5
I started to watch a copy of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" I had DVR'ed off ABC TV several years ago, but after about 5 minutes I found myself becoming violently enraged. It took me that long to realize that the voices were all wrong. I watched it when it debuted in '65. I remember all the Dolly Madison commercials that were incorporated to the show, and I damn well know Charlie Brown's voice in it. I thought about it a few minutes, and realized that in 1965 there were maybe 2/3 of the commercials in a half hour show than there are today. The corporate scumbags at ABC had sped up the show to allow more commercials to be inserted in these more mercenary shopping days. It was completely unwatchable. I was lucky enough to find an unmolested version on some oddball Roku channel. urge to kill... rising... holy shit. I wonder if rights holders have started to include clauses that you have to show their content at the correct speed and without arbitrary bullshit cuts / edits. that's infuriating. as if I didn't already find commercials grating enough... |
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Post by William T. Goat, Esq. on Dec 29, 2017 16:54:28 GMT -5
I have my standard jokey responses to this question: Brazil, Die Hard, Gremlins. But I'd like to put in a good word for Blizzard, directed by Levar Burton. The story is pretty emotionally manipulative, as a girl from a poor family is worried that she'll lose her friends and have to give up ice skating when her family is forced to move to a new city. But I have to tip my hat to one of the very few live-action Christmas movies featuring talking, flying reindeer, and not playing it for laughs. When Blizzard, the reindeer voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, meets Katie, the first thing they do is go ice skating together, the reindeer levitating alongside the girl as she skates. Most Christmas movies which take place in the real world tend to save the magical/supernatural element as a last-minute hokey plot twist. This movie normalizes it, then proceeds from there. Whoopi...LeVar...exactly what percentage of this production were TNG alumni? Those were the only two TNG names that jumped out at me, but Christopher Plummer from Star Trek VI plays Santa Claus. |
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