Best time of year for Christmas movies
- Thread starter USSLair
- Start date
Watching Christmas Vacation right now.
Watched The Night Before, stumbled across it on Hulu, sort of a Christmas movie, funny as hell though
WildcatfaninOhio
All-American
If course Die Hard is a Christmas movie. It takes place at a Christmas party.
Not just a Christmas party, but a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Tower -- and what's more Christmasy than a Nintendo-esque Japanese tech firm?
This classic will get you in the mood for Christmas...
Die Hard is one of the best Christmas movies ever.
Best - 1951 version of A Christmas Carol.
Worst - A Bad Mom's Christmas. Got roped into watching this rancid turd at a friend-of-my-wife's gathering. Amazingly, some of the women there (not my wife) thought it was gasping-for-air funny. Go figure. Here's a test. If you think it is laugh-til-you-cry hilarious to hear an 8-year-old girl repeatedly dropping the F-bomb like an AIDs-infected porn star, you'll like this movie.
Worst - A Bad Mom's Christmas. Got roped into watching this rancid turd at a friend-of-my-wife's gathering. Amazingly, some of the women there (not my wife) thought it was gasping-for-air funny. Go figure. Here's a test. If you think it is laugh-til-you-cry hilarious to hear an 8-year-old girl repeatedly dropping the F-bomb like an AIDs-infected porn star, you'll like this movie.
Looks like we got a Scrooge over here. You can't question Die Hard being a Christmas movie unless you hate Christmas. Let's look at the evidence.
Here is McClane arriving at the Christmas party.
Here is a Christmas greeting with a festive hat.
Here is McClane talking about the Christmas party.
Here he is welcoming a fellow police officer to the Christmas party.
Last but not least, here is some Christmas music in the movie.
Die Hard 2 might be an even bigger (not better) Christmas movie than the first.
The GCS version has a much more authentic Victorian feel.
It is less cartoonish and has a more realistic atmosphere throughout. Scott brings nuance and dimension to his portrayal of Scrooge. So, why not as good? Scott, to me, feels TOO committed to making Scrooge a human instead of the caricature he'd become in the 150 years since the tale was published. And in doing so, some of the emotion that Dickens infused into what he called "a simple little ghost story" is leeched away. Dickens wasn't going for verisimilitude. He was, as always, manipulating the feelings of his readers in the service of his social philosophy. Alistar Sims' Scrooge captures that intent more effectively than George C. Scott's, at least for me.
BTW, none of you rubes have mentioned THE greatest Christmas movie ever...Rocky IV. Rock beat The Siberian Express on Christmas Day, yo.
I really like Albert Finney in Scrooge. Third best to me.
Finney's good. Don't overlook Mr. Magoo. The 1962 animated version - with musical score by Broadway Hall of Famers Jules Styne and Bob Merrill -- is damn entertaining. And no, I'm not kidding.
There were two cartoons from the early seventies, one with ABC and one with CBS, they were both very good but CBS was much longer and better.
I do like the Magoo one.
Here's a sympathetic review of the Magoo version on its 50th anniversary from the New York Times. I agree with much of what the writer says, though he goes out on a limb by suggesting it is the ONE version of a Christmas Carol to watch if you can only watch one. But the songs really hold up.
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/arts/television/mr-magoos-christmas-carol-back-in-prime-time.html
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This boy looks like he needs an ass whippin'. I don't like the way he squints his eyes. Somebody beat the hell out him
No love for the 1938 version with Reginald Owen? It strays from the book but the changes are enjoyable. I agree though that the 1951 version is the best. If you get a chance watch the 1933 version. The actors look like they pulled bums off the street to play the roles.
The best version of A Christmas Carol.
Can you name this one?
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One of the greats for me.This classic will get you in the mood for Christmas...
Muppet's Christmas Carol is one of my favorites.
BTW, none of you rubes have mentioned THE greatest Christmas movie ever...Rocky IV. Rock beat The Siberian Express on Christmas Day, yo.
And single handedly end the Cold War.
WildcatfaninOhio
All-American
I prefer the Muppet Christmas Carol. It's funny, entertaining, and Michael Caine plays Scrooge perfectly.
Hell no, no way in the world would my parents be so cruel to raise me in Gary, Indiana or Chicago. My blood is too thin for cold weather. If it gets less than 80 degrees I go into deep depression.
I saw a good one last night on Amazon Prime called The Christmas Lodge. It probably would not appeal to most people because it was a faith based film with no idiots, cursing or sex but a lot of families would enjoy it. It had beautiful scenery from the Pacific Northwest. But nobody got cut up with an ax or raped so it was kinda out of the main stream.
There are a lot good ones out there but I still favor the classics.
There are a lot good ones out there but I still favor the classics.
