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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:I am probably the only person in the world who can honestly say that they have never seen either A Christmas Story or It's A Wonderful Life all the way through. But I've definitely absorbed a lot of those movies by sheer cultural osmosis. Ralphie's story seems like one where you had to have been a kid at a specific time to really appreciate the nostalgia. I didn't grow up in the 60's or the 80's, but have grown up with A Christmas Story as a holiday staple, and I think--minus certain specifics--that all of Ralphie's experiences are universal to most kids: confronting a bully, wanting a present that adults say is inappropriate, excitement over silly novelties like decoder rings, thinking the teacher will declare you a savant for your essay, getting in trouble for swearing, a holiday dinner getting ruined, etc. I think it's probably Bob Clark's most evergreen film, besides Black Christmas. It's not like Porky's, where the viewer will probably have to take some cultural context into consideration (like the inherent racism of 1950's Florida) and also accept it's a portrait of toxic male behavior to get to enjoying the film. I think what makes A Christmas Story work so well are Ralphie's fantasies and daydreams, which solidifies Ralphie as a narrator and storyteller, and sells the perspective of a kid who's only a year or two shy from losing their belief in Santa. The fantasies are also interesting because you can see Clark's history as a horror director in those moments, like the teachers becoming a cackling witch and Santa becoming an intimidating figure. It's one of those movies that I've seen so much, there's no reason for me to ever watch it again. And yet, when I do rewatch it, I'm reminded how good it really is, minus a few insensitive things we've moved past culturally, like the depiction of the Chinese restaurant owners.
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Dec 7, 2020 16:16
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When it comes to A Christmas Story, whatever you do, don't watch that documentary about the filming locations. My dad heard about it somehow, and insisted on putting it on last year, it's extremely amateur, and the obsessed couple who put it all together are just annoying as hell, and I wanted to reach through the TV and strangle them
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Dec 7, 2020 17:15
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Timeless Appeal posted:I liked Happiest Season for what it was. My wife has a dead parent and I haven't come out to my parents yet about being non-binary so we both got to cry! But I think the movie underestimated how much I could just watch my big girl crushes flirt during Christmas time. Like a Before Sunset style movie with Kristen Stewart and Aubrey Plaza would be great. My wife and I watched this, even as straight folk the climax of this movie was an emotional gut punch. Hedrigall posted:Wow, I cannot recommend Netflix's The Holiday Movies that Made Us at all. We also watched this! There's some interesting tidbits in the Elf and Nightmare Before Christmas episodes but yeah the editing is absolutely buck wild.
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Dec 7, 2020 21:12
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This year marks the 20th anniversary of the mostly-forgotten and mostly not good The Family Man, starring Nicholas Cage and Tea Leoni. Has anyone watched this recently? Also it has Don Cheadle in a supporting role as a magical... person.
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Dec 8, 2020 00:34
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Teriyaki Hairpiece posted:This year marks the 20th anniversary of the mostly-forgotten and mostly not good The Family Man, starring Nicholas Cage and Tea Leoni. Has anyone watched this recently? Also it has Don Cheadle in a supporting role as a magical... person. Funny you ask, that’s my movie for tonight. I will report back on what I think
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Dec 8, 2020 01:45
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Hmm The Family Man was... okay, but oof the ending What exactly was Don Cheadle’s character meant to be? An angel or something? Bit of a lovely angel. He loving straight up erased those kids from existence at the end. I’m happy to finally know where the Nicolas Cage “I want that cake” meme comes from https://youtu.be/5PJddmfesaA edit: You know what, I like the interpretation that Don Cheadle's character is a demon Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 12:37 on Dec 8, 2020 |
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Dec 8, 2020 12:23
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Tonight I'm rewatching Anna and the Apocalypse, which only came out in 2017 (2018 where I live) but is rocketing up to be amongst my favourite Christmas movies of all time. It's a Scottish horror comedy zombie Christmas teen musical. It admittedly borrows a lot from Shaun of the Dead, but the musical angle and the younger cast makes it feel so fresh. It's so much drat fun. All of the songs are really good. It doesn't matter that it takes a good 30 minutes for a zombie to even show up, because the songs and these high-schoolers are captivating. There's a handful of great teen yearning ballads, an upbeat cheery number while carnage goes on in the background, a really good spoof of Santa Baby which is probably the horniest Christmas song ever written, and a lot more. The final battle with the non-zombie antagonist is also a song. And the horror aspects are really well done! They don't hold back on the gory effects and blood. There are some really brutal deaths. I'm so pleased to have got the special edition bluray, which is stuffed with features like an extended cut, deleted scenes and songs, a long making of documentary, film festival footage, audio commentary etc. And it even comes with a lyrics booklet! Five stars, will rewatch this every couple of Christmases forever.
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Dec 10, 2020 11:39
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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:I am probably the only person in the world who can honestly say that they have never seen either A Christmas Story or It's A Wonderful Life all the way through. But I've definitely absorbed a lot of those movies by sheer cultural osmosis. Ralphie's story seems like one where you had to have been a kid at a specific time to really appreciate the nostalgia. I've never heard of A Christmas Story, and the only bits of It's A Wonderful Life I've seen are people watching it in other films. I'm not American, maybe that has something to do with it.
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Dec 10, 2020 19:02
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Anna and the Apocalypse just kind of confused me tonally. Like one minute it was song and the dance and the next it was 100% serious melodramatic deaths. But like, when i watched it someone told me that's just how the genre of YA musicals goes so I guess it might have just been unfamiliarity.
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Dec 10, 2020 19:10
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Anna and the Apocalypse was fine, but it did feel too much like High School Musical. I don't remember any of the songs, either. I'd say it's worth a watch, for sure, but I don't have any interest in revisiting it.
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Dec 10, 2020 20:10
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Tarnop posted:I've never heard of A Christmas Story, and the only bits of It's A Wonderful Life I've seen are people watching it in other films. I'm not American, maybe that has something to do with it. Christmas Story is more well known globally now, but when I was a kid I saw it once on Sky Movies in the UK and it took me *years* to finally track down and find out what it was. I remember enjoying it a lot, but not realising how wonderfully batshit insane it is.
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Dec 10, 2020 21:19
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Christmas Vacation has really started to erode for me. It's great Christmas background noise. But I would love to not watch it for twenty years and find it funny again.
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Dec 11, 2020 02:16
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Timeless Appeal posted:Christmas Vacation has really started to erode for me. It's great Christmas background noise. But I would love to not watch it for twenty years and find it funny again.  I'm honestly extremely happy that I'm not visiting my parents this year so that I can not watch the same 3 Christmas movies for the 20th time. I remember it being a laugh riot years ago, but over the last 5 years I've noticed that my family is silent and stone-faced the entire time. The weird part to me is that I remember growing up my dad had a moratorium of 2 years between watches of movies for that very reason. For the record the other two movies are A Christmas Story and Home Alone. I have nothing against the movies, I'm just tired of them, and need a long break.
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Dec 11, 2020 13:45
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I feel that way towards Elf. I recall it being a fine movie, but going through middle school and having that movie put on in basically every class for three years straight before Christmas vacation and I'm pretty happy never watching that movie for the rest of my life.
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Dec 12, 2020 02:43
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Watched Happiest Season with my fiancé. He started off very cynical (as is often the case) but he was won over by the end. We both really enjoyed it. It had some hilarious supporting characters (the gay friend John and the weird sister Jane in particular) and a sweet, touching story. I really liked the ending, and here's why. Yes, Kristen Stewart's character had good chemistry with Aubrey Plaza's character. That happens all the time when you're in a relationship - other people pop up that make you think "what if". But we saw just two nights of them hanging out, after literally just meeting. We didn't see the year (plus) of the two lead characters being in love and having a wonderful relationship. We only saw a few rocky days in their relationship, and it all got sorted out by the end. It would make zero sense for Kristen Stewart to throw that strong bond away to be with the random ex of her gf's that she literally just met and had some good conversations with. The movie ended the right way. John's talk at the end about what it's like to come out for every queer person was absolutely touching. And i just love the plot point of a lovely family realising they all still love each other, and deciding to mend their lovely ways for each other. The renewal of sibling bonds and the recognition and acceptance of Jane (the weird sister) at the end was beautiful. It was a movie about all kinds of love and how they can endure. Great movie.
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Dec 12, 2020 13:53
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Tarnop posted:I've never heard of A Christmas Story, and the only bits of It's A Wonderful Life I've seen are people watching it in other films. I'm not American, maybe that has something to do with it. I had never actually thought about that. Both of those movies are so much a part of holiday "Americana" that the rest of the world may wonder why Americans place so much importance on them. Timeless Appeal posted:Christmas Vacation has really started to erode for me. It's great Christmas background noise. But I would love to not watch it for twenty years and find it funny again. Possibly unpopular opinion: I think 'Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire' actually does a better job of conveying the 'strapped dad trying to give his family a good Christmas' than Christmas Vacation. Clark's a good dad, but his Christmas tends to be more about bougie things: Christmas bonuses, pools, etc. Homer's a working class guy that breaks his back working to even afford presents for his family. I dunno; it's more relatable to me in some ways than the Griswolds.
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Dec 12, 2020 18:11
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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:Possibly unpopular opinion: I think 'Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire' actually does a better job of conveying the 'strapped dad trying to give his family a good Christmas' than Christmas Vacation. Clark's a good dad, but his Christmas tends to be more about bougie things: Christmas bonuses, pools, etc. Homer's a working class guy that breaks his back working to even afford presents for his family. I dunno; it's more relatable to me in some ways than the Griswolds. Thats because the whole bonus and pool element is just a maguffin for Randy Quaid. The movie itself isn't about that, it's about Clark Griswold attempting to host a perfect Christmas and failing hard. It's the same theme as Vacation, except they stayed home instead of going to Wally World.
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Dec 12, 2020 18:29
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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:Possibly unpopular opinion: I think 'Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire' actually does a better job of conveying the 'strapped dad trying to give his family a good Christmas' than Christmas Vacation. Clark's a good dad, but his Christmas tends to be more about bougie things: Christmas bonuses, pools, etc. Homer's a working class guy that breaks his back working to even afford presents for his family. I dunno; it's more relatable to me in some ways than the Griswolds. Yeah, I think I moved into adulthood when Clark went from As a Kid: haha look at this goofy idiot, let's all laugh at him As an Adult: haha look at this goofy.. hey what the gently caress, this guy gets a bonus that's bit enough to install a pool AND fly out his family to come celebrate? Like what the actual gently caress? Like, good on him for doing the best for his family but this guy is a loving bozo and living the life, while I'm scraping together enough cash to pay my phone bill.
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Dec 12, 2020 18:31
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Iron Crowned posted:Thats because the whole bonus and pool element is just a maguffin for Randy Quaid. The movie itself isn't about that, it's about Clark Griswold attempting to host a perfect Christmas and failing hard. Eddie is the moral core of the movie in a lot of ways, despite being a goofy gently caress up.
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Dec 12, 2020 21:58
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F_Shit_Fitzgerald posted:I had never actually thought about that. Both of those movies are so much a part of holiday "Americana" that the rest of the world may wonder why Americans place so much importance on them. I don't watch much broadcast TV but it's always on in my parents' house over Christmas, and the one thing that is guaranteed to be on every year is The Snowman (I live in the UK)
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Dec 12, 2020 22:23
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I just watched Miracle on 34th Street for the first time, and it was really good! I can see why it's such a classic. I thought it was really interesting how mundane everything felt—most Christmas movies have much more magic, or exaggerated shenanigans, or things like that. Another interesting aspect of the movie was its distrust of psychology (which admittedly is a little nuanced, since Kris Kringle says that most psychologists are good). I noticed it because I had just re-watched The Santa Clause earlier this week, and that movie has tons of anti-psychology jokes (presumably as scientology propaganda). But now I'm wondering if this is a theme in Christmas movies, and if so, whether it's anything deeper than "society thinks you'd have to be crazy to believe in Santa Claus" -> "the people who designate people as crazy are villains".
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Dec 12, 2020 22:27
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Another holiday movie I'll probably re-watch this year is Ирония Судьбы, Или С Лёгким Паром! (The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!). It's a Russian New Years classic from the Soviet era, and many Russian families watch it every New Years. Although it's a little slow by modern standards (and over 3 hours long), it's pretty funny and uplifting, and has some fun little jabs at the Soviet state. I first saw it in college when I was learning Russian, and I remember liking it a lot, but I haven't seen it since.
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Dec 12, 2020 22:47
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Is there a reason the finale to Home Alone 2 isn't in the toy store?
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Dec 14, 2020 00:31
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Timeless Appeal posted:Is there a reason the finale to Home Alone 2 isn't in the toy store? Total guess but the Robin Williams movie Toys was in production at the same time and opened like a week before Home Alone 2. Maybe they scripted a big sequence for HA2 with toys being used as traps/weapons but abandoned it because they didn’t want to do anything similar to Toys. Toys bombed big time, by the way. That’s my guess anyway. The toy store in HA2 would have been a much more creative setting for a big showdown. E: oh Toys came out a month after HA2.
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Dec 14, 2020 00:56
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Hedrigall posted:Total guess but the Robin Williams movie Toys was in production at the same time and opened like a week before Home Alone 2. Maybe they scripted a big sequence for HA2 with toys being used as traps/weapons but abandoned it because they didn’t want to do anything similar to Toys. Toys bombed big time, by the way. Instead the explanation of the house is so out of left-field.
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Dec 14, 2020 01:29
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Tarnop posted:I don't watch much broadcast TV but it's always on in my parents' house over Christmas, and the one thing that is guaranteed to be on every year is The Snowman I was hoping this was the murder mystery one.
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Dec 14, 2020 08:44
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Timeless Appeal posted:It's a good guess, but I'm not sure how likely it is. I refuse to believe that the toy store being the setting for things wasn't at least considered as a premise. It's the logical place for the ending to go. Like even using the hotel somehow and having Curry and the bandits converge as antagonists would be sweaty, but at least be something different and flow from the rest of the movie. That Toy Store was the real life FAO Schwarz, who probably had contractual stipulations that would prevent people being injured by their toys in their store.
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Dec 16, 2020 00:13
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wdarkk posted:That Toy Store was the real life FAO Schwarz, who probably had contractual stipulations that would prevent people being injured by their toys in their store.
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Dec 16, 2020 00:56
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wdarkk posted:That Toy Store was the real life FAO Schwarz, who probably had contractual stipulations that would prevent people being injured by their toys in their store. Nah it’s the fictional Duncan’s Toy Chest and was shot in a Chicago building
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Dec 16, 2020 00:58
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Man, Happiest Season messed me up. I was just crying for like the last 30 minutes. It didn't help that Dan Levy is apparently magic and can make me laugh or cry any time he wants. But a really powerful emotional story wrapped up in a very pretty and familiar Christmas movie package. With a stellar comedy support crew even from the throwaway mall cop scene.
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Dec 16, 2020 02:10
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STAC Goat posted:Man, Happiest Season messed me up. I was just crying for like the last 30 minutes. It didn't help that Dan Levy is apparently magic and can make me laugh or cry any time he wants. But a really powerful emotional story wrapped up in a very pretty and familiar Christmas movie package. With a stellar comedy support crew even from the throwaway mall cop scene. Yeah I loved it too ❤️ Does anyone know of other good LGBTQ themed Christmas movies? Tokyo Godfathers is one that comes to mind (hey what happened to the new translation they were doing of that)
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Dec 16, 2020 02:22
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Today I’m watching Scrooge (the 1951 Christmas Carol film with Alastair Sim) and it’s really good. The sound design when Marley’s ghost is clunking up the stairs is legit terrifying
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Dec 16, 2020 03:28
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Scrooge (1970) is the best/worst Christmas Carol. It just goes so far over the top and stretches out the Ghost of Christmas Future parts so far. Scrooge goes to Hell and they bring in cartoonishly gigantic chains for him because of how much worse he is than Marley.
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Dec 16, 2020 03:38
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The Muppet Christmas Carol is of course the best adaptation, but I’m rather partial to 2017’s The Man Who Invented Christmas which is a biographical film about Charles Dickens writing the story, with the characters of the story interacting with Dickens as ghosts of a sort. It’s actually quite creative and tells a wonderful story about Dickens’ issues with his father.
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Dec 16, 2020 03:51
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Diva's Christmas Carol gets an honorable mentions because Behind the Music being the Ghost of Christmas future is a masterstroke.
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Dec 16, 2020 04:21
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Hedrigall posted:Nah it’s the fictional Duncan’s Toy Chest and was shot in a Chicago building Fun little fact: the Home Alone house interiors were shot on a set built in a defunct high school gymnasium. I'm actually watching the first two Home Alone movies this week (gently caress the ones made after that). It always starts with the first film the I just have to watch the sequel. Both are so good and get better as an adult because you start picking up on a lot that went over your head as a kid. Like what exactly did Kevin's parents do for work if they live in a mansion that big.
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Dec 17, 2020 01:44
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I still think the pizza is insanely expensive for 1990 dollars
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Dec 17, 2020 01:58
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Krampus owns
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Dec 17, 2020 02:57
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Hedrigall posted:I still think the pizza is insanely expensive for 1990 dollars $122.50 plus tip for 10 pizzas, that's insane for 1990.
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Dec 17, 2020 03:11
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Justin Godscock posted:$122.50 plus tip for 10 pizzas, that's insane for 1990. $243.90 by today’s standard.
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Dec 17, 2020 03:21
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