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My favorite original Christmas song. Ignore the unfortunately emo sounding freezeframe. The song is actually quite optimistic.

It was an excellent Christmas indeed.

Here’s my DVD haul and, subsequently, a breakdown of what to expect reviews for at some point over the next month or two:

1. Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection (14 movie set: Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, The Birds, Shadow of a Doubt, Family Plot, Frenzy, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Marnie, Rope, Saboteur, Topaz, Torn Curtain, The Trouble with Harry)
2. The Dark Knight (2-Disc)
3. WALL-E (3-Disc)
4. Prince Caspian (3-disc)
5. Hellboy 2 (3-Disc)
6. Sleeping Beauty: Platinum Edition
7. Peter Pan: Platinum Edition
8. Crash (2-disc)
9. The Blair Witch Project
10. Uncle Buck
11. Rain Man
12. National Treasure 2 (2-disc)

Fun bonus fact: Four copies of The Dark Knight were exchanged among my family this year. My dad, both of my brothers, and I all received copies. That’s how awesome that movie is.

And with that, the blog will be back after the New Year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmasfest wasn’t QUITE as exciting as Horrorfest, but I knew that was going to be the case. After all, I’ve watched at least half of these movies nearly every single year for the past ten years or so. Regardless, it was fun. On the plus side, there will most likely be another completely different Christmasfest next year after all since there were several movies that didn’t make it this year and plenty that I didn’t know existed (see: RT’s Top 25).

Here’s the final wrap-up for this year’s Christmasfest:

1. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
2. White Christmas (1954)
3. Black Christmas (1974)
4. I’ll Be Home for Christmas (1998)
5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957)
6. The Grinch (2000)
7. Surviving Christmas (2004)
8. The Family Man (2000)
9. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
10. Anastasia (1997)
11. The Santa Clause (1994)
12. NO MOVIE
13. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
    
14. Elf (2003)
15. The Polar Express (2004)
16. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
17. Scrooged (1988)
18. Home Alone (1990)
19. Love Actually (2003)
20. Christmas Vacation (1989)
21. Gremlins (1984)
22. Jingle All the Way (1996)
23. A Christmas Story (1983)
24. Home Alone 2

My Top Ten:

1. Christmas Vacation (1989)
2. Home Alone (1990) / Home Alone 2 (1992)
3. A Christmas Story (1983)
4. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
5. Love Actually (2003)
6. Gremlins (1984)
7. Scrooged (1988)
8. The Grinch (2000)
9. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
10. Elf (2003)

Christmasfest is a 24 day event counting down to Christmas Day. Further details here.

Home Alone 2 (1992)

Basic plot: Kevin accidentally gets on the wrong airplane due to a mix-up at the airport and ends up alone in New York City.

Lazy Christmas Eve Summary:

Home Alone 2 is almost exactly like Home Alone. It has the same order of events (kid gets lost, kid survives on his own, kid gets lonely, kid meets creepy loner, kid beats up bad guys, kid is saved from bad guys by creepy loner, kid is reunited with family), it has all the original cast back, and even a lot of the jokes are re-played.

And yet… it’s still completely worth re-watching; even back-to-back with the original. The new cast members (mainly the hotel employees) are all awesome, and the traps are just as violent as ever. I love this movie and the original equally.

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Overall: I love it.

Christmasfest is a 24 day event counting down to Christmas Day. Further details here.

A Christmas Story (1983)

Basic plot: A young boy living in the late 1940’s wants a BB Gun for Christmas.

Christmasyness: 8

The movie has a LOT of moments that feel like they’re simply about what it would’ve been like to grow up in the 1940’s, with or without Christmas. However, it also touches heavily on a lot of major Christmastime experiences from trying to get that gift you wanted that might not be so safe, to Christmas parades, to visiting Santa Claus at your local shopping center, to Christmas morning itself. But mostly trying to get that somewhat dangerous present you really want.

Comedy: 10

The movie has a pretty dark sense of humor, but it’s absolutely hilarious. I know some people that hate it for this (my mother, for instance, hates it solely because of the frost/tongue scene), and I could see why it wouldn’t be for everybody, but it’s easily one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time. The fourth grade politics that narrate the story age are surprisingly relatable even to somebody that wasn’t in fourth grade until 1996 (ish?). One of my favorite aspects of the movie has to be Ralphie’s elaborate day dreams. I think every kid has them.

Cheese: 3

Most of the time, the dark comedy is front and center, but if you look for it, there’s some heart here. Ralphie’s family is far from perfect and not necessarily even wholesome, but it’s clear that they’re still loving. They just don’t beat you over the head with these announcements like a lot of Christmas movies tend to. The subtle emotions are in the actions. Quirky as they may be, I think the Parkers are one of the closest, most accurate examples of the American family put to film. This movie rules.

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Overall: I love it.

Christmasfest is a 24 day event counting down to Christmas Day. Further details here.

Jingle All the Way (1996)

Basic plot: A father searches desperately for the big holiday toy on Christmas Eve.

Christmasyness: 10

This movie couldn’t take place at any other time of the year. The entire premise is based on how ridiculously selfish everyone can become because of the need to get their child that one present they really wanted. Christmas music and other themes abound.

Comedy: 8

There are a lot of comedic elements in the movie that I love. I find it incredibly amusing to see Schwarzenegger in such an unusual role and I think the complete absurdity of the situations they present him with is equally entertaining. Rounding out the rest of the film Sinbad and “Ted” (no idea who this actor is) make awesome villains, with Sinbad as the rival shopper and Ted as the sleezy neighbor trying to get with the lead’s wife.

Cheese: 5

One of the movies biggest weaknesses is Jake Lloyd. That’s right: Anakin Skywalker. This kid has never ever been able to act, yet for some reason when he was around eight years old someone thought he’d be a great kid to feed the cheesiest lines imaginable to. It’s not like he even has much to live up to in this movie; NONE of the performances are impressive. He just sucks that much. The rest of the movie keeps me entertained though, so it’s all okay.

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Overall: I really like it.

Christmasfest is a 24 day event counting down to Christmas Day. Further details here.

Gremlins (1984)

Basic plot: A young man is given a new pet as a Christmas present from his father with three very important rules: No bright lights, no water, and no food after midnight. Things go wrong after the rules are broken.

Christmasyness: 4

This could have just as easily been a birthday present and completely cut out everything Christmas related, but the bottom line is that it is Christmas time and as such decorations are everywhere and seasonal music is well used.

Comedy: 9

I would give this a ten because I honestly laughed more during this than any other movie this month (mainly because the majority of them were repeat-repeat viewings. The only thing holding me back is I’m not sure how much of it was supposed to be funny. I think majority of it was intentional humor, but some of the jokes that were a little too obvious and didn’t quite work. All the stuff with the Gremlins being batshit crazy was hilarious though.

Cheese: 1

This movie reminded me a lot of Snakes on a Plane in the sense that it definitely felt like it knew it wasn’t even moderately artsy. It’s just fun. Pure and simple. They took an insane concept and made it as entertaining as possible. This movie is awesome.

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Overall: I loved it.

Christmasfest is a 24 day event counting down to Christmas Day. Further details here.

Christmas Vacation (1989)

Basic plot: The Griswold’s try to enjoy their Christmas break in their own home, but as the visiting extended family grows so do the opportunities for things to go horribly wrong.

Christmasyness: 10

This is a major contender for my favorite Christmas movie of all time. The way it captures how holiday breaks generally go and exaggerates it to maximum proportions is perfect. Christmas is a time for family and they’re all here, from the parents to that cousin you don’t really like. Christmas events include everything from shopping for a tree to putting up lights to sledding and Christmas dinner. I love this movie. It’s the only movie on the list I watched twice this year (it was the first Christmas movie of the year the day after Thanksgiving – before Christmasfest actually started).

Comedy: 10

Everyone on the cast fits their parts perfectly, but most credit goes to Chevy Chase for holding everything together flawlessly as the father that just wants everything to be perfect for his family. A close runner up is scene stealing Cousin Eddie who is hilariously disgusting and completely ignorant of everything around him. The only time I watch this movie each year is during Christmastime, but every single year it makes me laugh out loud. It’s brilliant.

Cheese: 2

Very rarely does the movie try to get serious on you and when it does there are always plenty of jokes peppered in to make sure it doesn’t lose the audience too much. It’s a great balance. You’re watching this movie to laugh and it knows that.

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Overall: I love it.

Christmasfest is a 24 day event counting down to Christmas Day. Further details here.

Love Actually (2003)

Basic plot: Nine miniature love stories intertwine to make one big love story, all centered around Christmastime. With an All-Star cast.

Christmasyness: 5

The movie features a five week countdown to Christmas day and makes use of various random pieces of the season: school plays, caroling, present-shopping, and the battle of an old rock stars come-back attempt through a corny Christmas version of “Love Is All Around Us”. They could have pretty easily made this take place at any time of the year, but I think the Christmas setting helps the feel-goodness of it all without being so strong that you can’t watch the movie whenever you feel like it the rest of the year.

Comedy: 6

It’s a romantic comedy so most of the humor here is either relational or revolves around clever dialgoue exchanges which I love. It doesn’t have a whole lot of “here’s a joke! … here’s another joke!” moments. It all just flows into the story.

Cheese: 10

The movie takes nine love stories, almost all of which could have been stretched into a mediocre feature-length about just that one story, but instead of doing that it maximizes its opportunities by giving you only the best pieces of each. The final result is one of the best feel-good movies I’ve ever seen. I’ve got really mixed feelings about one of the love stories involving a friend that falls in love with his friend’s wife, which bothers me, but overall he seems to know his limits so nothing terrible ever happens. Aside from that, I love every single other story. One of the best ensemble casts I’ve seen, including Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman, Rowan Atkinson, Rodrigo Santoro, and Keira Knightley, ties it together excellently.

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Overall: I love it.

Christmasfest is a 24 day event counting down to Christmas Day. Further details here.

Home Alone (1990)

Basic plot: A young boy is left home alone by accident when his family flies to France for Christmas vacation without him.

Christmasyness: 5

Kevin McAllister loves him some Christmastime, and while the holiday gives the family an excuse to get out of the house and initiate the plot, it’s not terribly necessary. Fortunately, the movie has enough Christmas to it to feel like a solid Christmas movie when the season is around, but not so much that you can’t watch it whenever you’re in the mood the rest of the year.

Comedy: 10

I seriously LOVE this movie. John Hughes writing shines through colorful outlandish exagerations of every family member you know: The cheap-skate uncle, the jerk-off older brother, the spoiled little cousin. It covers all the bases. The way the family acts towards each other in the beginning of the movie is hilariously horrible. Kevin’s older brother makes it abundantly clear that he hates his guts; Kevin’s uncle call him a little jerk; Kevin calls his own mom a “dummy.” It’s all ridiculous and that’s even before Kevin tries living on his own or the hijinks involving the two bumbling idiot thieves starts. I love every minute of this movie.

Cheese: 2

Like I mentioned, everyone in the family seemingly hates each other so you don’t get much in the way of feel-good family love from anyone except the mother character after she realizes she’s a terrible mother. Kevin also has a few lonely moments, but that’s the extent of it except for the ending, which isn’t bad.

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Overall: I love it.

Christmasfest is a 24 day event counting down to Christmas Day. Further details here.

Scrooged (1988)

Basic plot: The grumpy president of a TV station gets visited by the ghost of Christmas Past, Present, and Future in an attempt to change his attitude about the holiday.

Christmasyness: 7

The movie technically has as much Christmas to it as any version of A Christmas Carol, but in this one they don’t really get terribly preachy about it 90% of the time. In fact, the final message during the wrap-up is that you shouldn’t be nice JUST on Christmas because it’s Christmas but that everyone should make an effort to be nicer all the time.

Comedy: 10

This movie is hilarious. I love Bill Murray and these are debatably the best versions of the three ghosts put to film. They’re cartoonishly crazy and a riot to watch. The ghost of Christmas Past is an alcoholic, chain-smoker, the ghost of Christmas present is an unnecessarily violent fairy, and the ghost of Christmas future has screaming souls trapped inside his skeleton. Now, maybe the main reason everything seemed so funny to me was because it was practically new. I hadn’t seen the entire movie in over a decade, even though I’ve caught snippets on TV just about every year. I hate starting movies in the middle, so generally I’d change the channel and go on. Because of this, all the jokes felt fresh to me. I think I laughed out loud more from Scrooged than anything else from Christmasfest so far.

Cheese: 5

Everything up until the last 15 minutes is a mixture of verbal jokes and sight gags, but when it all climaxes you just end up listening to Bill Murray’s character talk about the meaning of Christmas and being nice to other people until the credits roll. It’s still amusing, but it’s pretty damn cheesy. Luckily, this makes for a comparably small piece of the film.

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Overall: I loved it.