Scrooged
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| "I ain't 'fraid of no ghost.... past, present or future!" |
Richard Donner’s dark comedy adaptation of A Christmas Carol is so
wonderfully 80’s with a now young looking Bill Murray playing the Ebenezer
Scrooge inspired Frank Cross. Frank is the heartless, penny pinching head of a
major broadcast network that will step on anybody if it means better ratings
and profits.
This is Bill Murray at his comedic finest as he navigates though
his Dickens-esque night with the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.
The effects may be a bit dated and the tone a little uneven but there is hardly
a dull moment thanks to a great supporting cast and Murray’s deadpan wit.
Scrooged is just fun. For that reason alone it earns its spot on our list.
Bad Santa
Billy Bob Thornton as a drunken, surly mall Santa? Yes, please! Perhaps
the darkest of the Christmas comedies on our list is also one of the very best.
I flat out love this movie. Billy Bob chews up scene after
sarcastic scene and the rest of the cast is right there with him. Tony Cox as
the elfish sidekick, Marcus is outstanding, as is Lauren Graham as a bartender
with a Santa fetish. It’s a little bit of a bummer seeing both Bernie Mac and
John Ritter deliver the goods knowing they were taken from us far too soon. But
their legacies will always live on in this and other fine comedic works. And if
the original release isn’t quite raunchy enough for you there is the unrated Badder
Santa version that is sure to meet your holiday needs.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
I’ve always been a big Tim Burton fan. He gave us Beetlejuice, Edward
Scissorhands and the first great Batman movie just to name a few. The Nightmare
Before Christmas stands tall among his best work. Part gothic fairy tale, part
holiday musical and a complete masterpiece of stop-motion animation. This is
more than a movie. This is a work of art. Sit back and enjoy the tale of The Pumpkin
King, the Lord of Halloweenland, and Jack Skellington as he becomes bored and seeks
out more. When he finds a new land called Christmastown, it appears ripe for
the taking. The Nightmare before Christmas is 75 minutes of pure magic!
A Christmas Story
Say these six words and odds are people will instantly know what
you’re talking about and smile, “You’ll shoot you’re eye out kid”.
For an entire generation I think it’s fair to say that A Christmas
Story has become the default holiday movie of choice. The tale of young Ralphie
and his unrelenting quest for the cherished Red Rider BB Gun just never seems
to get old. So get out your decoder, turn on the leg lamp, put on your pink
bunny pajamas and enjoy. It wouldn’t be the holiday season without it. But
beware of those damn Bumpas hounds!
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
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| "Insert gratuitous booby shot here." |
If you're a fan of the Vacation franchise of movies, odds are
Christmas Vacation is at or near the top of your list. Written by the late John
Hughes, the third installment of the franchise takes the Griswold clan off the
road and back home for a nice family Christmas. What could possibly go wrong?
Pretty much everything and we love it. Chevy Chase wears Clark W. Griswold like
a glove It wouldn’t be a Vacation flick without Randy Quaid once again as the
idiot Cousin Eddie.
Anyone who has had to endure large family Christmas gatherings can
probably find something to relate to here. Christmas Vacation is an hour and a
half of goofy slapstick fun.
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
There aren't a lot of Christmas movies featuring
an intelligent and skeptical child star, but a young Natalie Wood pulled it off
in 1947's Miracle on 34th Street. A department store Santa Claus claims to be
the real Saint Nick, and is subjected to a psychological evaluation. Rival
department store owners of Macy's and Gimble's are shocked to find that Santa's
honesty and kindness actually improve sales.This movie grabbed me as a kid
because it seemed to use logic to prove the existence of Santa where other
films urged me to "just believe." The ending is a bit hokey, but
that's okay. It's still a Christmas classic.
It's a Wonderful Life
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| "George...George...You've had a few too many." |
I only came to appreciate "It's a Wonderul
Life" a few years ago. I had breezed past it as a kid, thinking it was too
old to be any good. It's mostly an agonizing look back on the life of George
Bailey, a man who sacrificed his hopes and dreams in order to run the struggling
family Savings and Loan business. After decades of setbacks and cruel treatment
by his rival Henry F. Potter, (who's one of the most evil characters in film
history), George Bailey has had enough. He's on a bridge, ready to commit
suicide, feeling like the world would be better if he had never been born. An
angel then shows him how wrong he is, taking George on a bleak journey through
his hometown as it would have been without him. We're then treated to an ending
that has been a source of happy tears for viewers since 1946. I also recommend
watching the Saturday Night Live "lost ending" to the movie featuring
Dana Carvey as George Bailey. It's hilarious.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
There has never been a Celebration of Christmas
like the Charlie Brown classic. Charles Schulz was skeptical of making it at
first, worried that his Peanuts characters would come across as cheesy
marketing tools. He then made the brilliant decision to have the voices
performed by children with no acting experience, giving his characters a unique
sense of authenticity. Most cartoon Christmas specials feature a sappy story about
kids trying to save Santa or bring the light of the season back. Charlie
Brown's plight is against depression, commercialization, and a lack of
understanding of what Christmas is all about. Rather than beating us over the
head with all kinds of religious talk and symbolism, Schulz used an
unforgettable scene with Linus telling the story of the birth of Jesus in less
than a minute. I never cared about the religious aspect; it was the beauty of a
friend taking a minute to make another friend feel better that stuck with me. I
still haven't figured out who turned on the spotlight when Linus says
"lights, please?"
Elf
In these modern days of cinema, it’s not too
often that we get a movie that captures the Christmas spirit in such an
outrageous fashion. But, Elf does just that. It’s one of the best holiday
movies of the past few years and captures Will Ferrell doing his best to play
to a more diverse audience. Yet, the best part of the movie is the pairing of
Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel. Her singing voice leads a helping hand to a
hilarious movie that is genuine in spirit as it tells the tale of orphaned human
Buddy and his journey to find his real father. We watch this one with the kids
every year on Christmas eve and actually just picked up the blu ray edition
this week. This is a comedy that the whole family can enjoy over and over
again.
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| "See what happens when you leave me home alone." |
Home Alone
Home Alone is not just a holiday movie but a one
hit wonder of sorts. The youthful Macaulay Culkin stars as Kevin in this Chris
Columbus Christmas miracle of a movie. This is a timeless comedy that my kids
still watch to this day. The antics of Kevin vs. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are
perfectly played as is the message of forgiveness during the holiday season.
The sub story taking place between Kevin and scary Old Man Marley is a touching
one that still resonates to this day.
Home Alone is on constant repeat this time of the year. If you’ve never
seen it, take the time. Macaulay Culkin was a cute little kid that knew how to
manipulate the camera with his facial expressions and mannerisms. Too bad he
started doing heroin…….right around Christmas time.-Brian Rohe
-Tom McDaniel
-Chris George