|
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. yes and no the late-40s setting is definitely establishing a very specific time and place but it's not one that your childhood has to share for you to enjoy the movie or get what they're going for. i mean, there were plenty of people around in 1983 who remembered the period it's trying to evoke - not so much now, but it's a lot more popular now than it was then. i know a lot of people don't care for a christmas story but it's one of those movies that improves on every single rewatch. you notice more and more tiny details and how much effort the actors put into the roles - darren mcgavin steals the show, obviously, and every single one of his scenes is filled with so much body language and facial expression. he's the absolutely pitch-perfect dad character that you should judge every other comedic cinema dad by, imo. but all of the others are putting a lot of subtle stuff into their performances, even the kids.
|
#
?
Dec 26, 2021 06:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 04:53 |
|
|
NOTAHFINGAH!
|
|
#
?
Dec 26, 2021 06:46
|
|
|
I've watched A Christmas Story many many times in my life(though it's been probably a good 5 to 10 years since I last watched it) and I've never been very fond of it, always just got a nasty vibe off of the movie, a lack of joy that I feel is an essential aspect for any good Holiday Movie especially for one about Christmas, the fact that it heavily uses "cringe humor" which I've always hated doesn't help it Basically the same reason I've never liked the National Lampoon Vacation movies for that matter
|
|
#
?
Dec 26, 2021 07:21
|
|
|
drrockso20 posted:I've watched A Christmas Story many many times in my life(though it's been probably a good 5 to 10 years since I last watched it) and I've never been very fond of it, always just got a nasty vibe off of the movie, a lack of joy that I feel is an essential aspect for any good Holiday Movie especially for one about Christmas, the fact that it heavily uses "cringe humor" which I've always hated doesn't help it but...there's a lot of joy in the movie? it's just normal familial christmas happiness rather than Holiday Movie Happiness, and i have to admit i prefer the more low-key take on the spirit of christmas. and i don't even understand what you mean by "cringe humor" in this case, honestly. the humor isn't in bad things happening to people or embarassment, it's in the characters reacting to each other and to the stuff that happens to them, both mundane and surreal. i'm not saying any of this to say your opinion is wrong, but i do honestly feel like we've watched two different movies
|
|
#
?
Dec 26, 2021 07:29
|
|
|
Jazerus posted:but...there's a lot of joy in the movie? it's just normal familial christmas happiness rather than Holiday Movie Happiness, and i have to admit i prefer the more low-key take on the spirit of christmas. and i don't even understand what you mean by "cringe humor" in this case, honestly. the humor isn't in bad things happening to people or embarassment, it's in the characters reacting to each other and to the stuff that happens to them, both mundane and surreal. Admittedly the approximate decade or so since I last watched it might just be making me only remember the parts I didn't like but I'm in no rush to rewatch it anytime soon
|
|
#
?
Dec 26, 2021 07:34
|
|
|
Darth TNT posted:Home Alone My partner and I watched both of them on Xmas. Agree that they're a great time. I will say that a lot of the second feels a bit too rehashy in parts (snow shovel man/pigeon lady, making the booby trap sequence in a house again instead of one of the other locations we spent time in) and having both the villainous hotel staff and the wet bandits feels like a bit too much. The booby trap sequence also leans a bit more into cartoonish/this would definitely kill them than the first which I enjoy less. Having said that, I'm surprised at how poorly it was reviewed as it's a well-made movie and still a lot of fun.
|
|
#
?
Dec 26, 2021 12:17
|
|
|
I've come to the conclusion that a lot of professional reviewers don't know what they're talking about.. I watched the Siskel and Ebert where they reviewed big trouble in little China and they didn't like it because it had too many special effects..
|
|
#
?
Dec 26, 2021 16:58
|
|
|
PeterCat posted:I've come to the conclusion that a lot of professional reviewers don't know what they're talking about.. You're missing the context around the review, it's a context nobody but film critics in the mid 80s would share. It was 7 years after Star Wars and the industry was moving from New Hollywood style dramas to effects-driven blockbusters. That's not the kind of thing they got into the business to review. edit: For the record, I think criticizing BTILC for too many effects is moronic, but I can see why they said that. Megaman's Jockstrap fucked around with this message at 21:02 on Dec 26, 2021 |
|
#
?
Dec 26, 2021 20:36
|
|
|
The thing about Ebert's reviews--and good reviewers in general--is that you can get a lot of his reviews even if you disagree with them. There is stuff like the North review where Ebert is is dunking on something so relentlessly that it's him just flexing over a pretty nothing film to the point of the review not being particularly meaningful although it's funny. But even his notorious Armageddon review pretty much tells you exactly the sort of movie that Armageddon is. The guy was pretty honest at least later in life that the thumbs up or even stars systems were pretty flawed and that even if you disagreed with him, people could get value out of his actual reviews.
|
|
#
?
Dec 26, 2021 23:09
|
|
|
PTizzle posted:My partner and I watched both of them on Xmas. Agree that they're a great time. I will say that a lot of the second feels a bit too rehashy in parts (snow shovel man/pigeon lady, making the booby trap sequence in a house again instead of one of the other locations we spent time in) and having both the villainous hotel staff and the wet bandits feels like a bit too much. The booby trap sequence also leans a bit more into cartoonish/this would definitely kill them than the first which I enjoy less. Yes, it’s very rehashy. Which is why I didn’t waste many words on it. I mean It’s still good, but I think what it misses is part of the emotional core and instead just tries to hit everything that the previous movie had. Like the pigeon lady vs the old man. In the first movie one of the older kids points out you can’t expect anything from Kevin because he’s even scared to go into the basement. We’re then introduced to the old guy doing some weird poo poo in the dumpster while we’re told he’s a “killer”. Later on Kevin is indeed scared out of the basement by the heater. He encounters the man, who doesn’t do anything or seem threatening but still runs away. A little later Kevin shuts up the heater while doing his laundry. But he still runs away from the old man when they encounter eachother in the store. The old man meanwhile is framed less like a bad guy and comes a across as more worried/interested in Kevin. Finally they meet in church, Kevin is say beside him and the man introduces himself. They end up talking about fears and the old man doesn’t want to be alone but is scared of calling his son. Kevin meanwhile is scared of the wet bandits, but he shares his experience with the cellar with the old man. While doing so he discovers the courage to take on the bad guys and the old man seems to reconsider calling his son. He also saves Kevin at the climax, but that’s not actually important to their “fears” plot. And in the final scene we see him hugging his granddaughter, he did call them.  Which is actually a really nice subplot. We see Kevin grow and share his experience actually allowing another character to grow as well. Contrast the pigeon lady. We see her feeding pigeons and Kevin runs off screaming because she looks scary. We’re told Central Park at night is a bad place. Which (I’m told) it actually indeed is and we’re presented no proof of otherwise, but then he encounters her and she’s just a nice if crazy old lady. He tells her to stop dressing in clothes covered in bird poo poo and actually talk to people while he decides to take on the sticky bandits. There no real connection between the message to the old lady and Kevin’s actual actions. She then shows up at the climax to save Kevin with pigeons and then disappears from the movie. I guess she learned something? Maybe she’s now fighting crime with pigeon powers? In clean clothes? Unless I’m missing something, the arc just is not really there. Instead she just appears to be there because the previous movie which was a success had a scary old man. I wouldn’t say the hotel staff was villainess, as more both incompetent and observant/competent at the same time. They’re a bit odd, even if (I feel) their actions mostly make sense in context. Still I’d say that Home Alone2 at least had the balls to leave the home. Thereby being a lot more than just a rehash. It’s unfortunate that the story parts don’t quite come together. But Marv and Harry are just such good fun and seeing Kevin screw around in New York is just great. The first movie didn’t have him screwing around nearly as much. It’s just an entertaining movie.
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2021 01:05
|
|
|
Darth TNT posted:Unless I’m missing something, the arc just is not really there. Instead [the pidgeon lady] just appears to be there because the previous movie which was a success had a scary old man. The pidgeon lady's arc is that she had her heart broken and then felt like she couldn't trust anyone, to the point that she became mute and withdrew from society entirely, and has resigned herself to being forgotten by everyone she loves. Kevin helps her overcome all of this, and when he gives her the turtle dove, it shows that he will never forget her, thus setting her on the path to love again and reintegrate with society. IMO it's a much weaker plot line than the snow shovel guy in the first movie (especially because you need a lot more than one kid's faith in you to overcome homelessness), but that's the general idea with her arc.
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2021 02:56
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 04:53 |
|
|
VikingofRock posted:The pidgeon lady's arc is that she had her heart broken and then felt like she couldn't trust anyone, to the point that she became mute and withdrew from society entirely, and has resigned herself to being forgotten by everyone she loves. Kevin helps her overcome all of this, and when he gives her the turtle dove, it shows that he will never forget her, thus setting her on the path to love again and reintegrate with society. IMO it's a much weaker plot line than the snow shovel guy in the first movie (especially because you need a lot more than one kid's faith in you to overcome homelessness), but that's the general idea with her arc. Oh yeah. The doves. I forgot about them. Yeah that never made much sense to me either. It made much more sense to me that one would go to the mom. It just doesn’t quite work, for me at least. 
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2021 09:43
|
|