Christmas stuff 2k20! - Merry Christmas!

Steamboat_Bill said:
Sorry for double posting but have any of you ever seen this?


You know you want to see Christopher Lee in The Nutcracker.

Also, this is one of the best Rankin-Bass specials:

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Rudolph is kinda fucked up. Santa is clearly pissed at Rudolph's father for siring a freak, Herbie rips the teeth out of the monster's jaws and then Yukon Cornelious drags him around with a leather strap around his neck, and then there's the doll on the Island of Misfit Toys that doesn't appear to have anything wrong
wiki said:
The special's producer, Arthur Rankin Jr., said that her problem was in fact psychological, caused from being rejected/abandoned by her mistress and suffering depression from being unloved.
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In recent years, I've found that it's become popular to hate on A Christmas Story. I mean, I get it a little bit: Over the past 15 years or so, the movie has absolutely become oversaturated in terms of exposure and marketing. Once marketing crosses a certain line, it then becomes popular to hate the popular thing. It happened with A Christmas Story, and I'm slowly but surely seeing the same thing happen with Christmas Vacation. Last year, I remember the channel Freeform airing Christmas Vacation every night in December-- oh so very close to being exactly like the 24-hour Christmas Day marathons of A Christmas Story. Heaven forbid I see the day where it becomes popular to hate on that movie, too. 💔

I remember watching A Christmas Story with my family when the movie was still this hidden gem. I felt like my family and I were in on this awesome secret because so many people didn't know about this movie. Then, the early-mid 2000's happened, and the movie absolutely blew up. Understandably so-- I still think the movie is great.

Darren McGavin as the Old Man is one of my favorite comedic performances ever. The mom and the dad completely steal the movie for me. And, every so often when it catches me at the right moment, the scene where Ralphie opens up the Red Ryder makes me tear up just a little bit. The Dad showcasing so much pride in his kid while he's opening his gift is just so happy to watch. Fantastic acting. While I "get" the recent backlash against A Christmas Story, I also don't "get it" at the same time, because I do love the film so much.

Dom Cruise said:
I watched Christmas Vacation for the first time recently.

I've been a fan of the original Vacation since I was a little kid and I've seen European Vacation and Vegas Vacation, but somehow Christmas Vacation always slipped by me all these years, until now.

And it was worth the wait because wow, what a hilarious, awesome movie that is.
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Christmas Vacation is hilarious-- one of my favorite comedies period, let alone one of my favorite Christmas movies.

I showed the movie to some of my in-laws last year. They ... Did not enjoy it. I was so disappointed in them, lol.

The first words that come out of my mouth this December 25th are going to be "Merry Christmas 2020: Shitter was full!"
 
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StarkRavingMad said:
In recent years, I've found that it's become popular to hate on A Christmas Story. I mean, I get it a little bit: Over the past 15 years or so, the movie has absolutely become oversaturated in terms of exposure and marketing. Once marketing crosses a certain line, it then becomes popular to hate the popular thing. It happened with A Christmas Story, and I'm slowly but surely seeing the same thing happen with Christmas Vacation. Last year, I remember the channel Freeform airing Christmas Vacation every night in December-- oh so very close to being exactly like the 24-hour Christmas Day marathons of A Christmas Story. Heaven forbid I see the day where it becomes popular to hate on that movie, too. 💔

I remember watching A Christmas Story with my family when the movie was still this hidden gem. I felt like my family and I were in on this awesome secret because so many people didn't know about this movie. Then, the early-mid 2000's happened, and the movie absolutely blew up. Understandably so-- I still think the movie is great.

Darren McGavin as the Old Man is one of my favorite comedic performances ever. The mom and the dad completely steal the movie for me. And, every so often when it catches me at the right moment, the scene where Ralphie opens up the Red Ryder makes me tear up just a little bit. The Dad showcasing so much pride in his kid while he's opening his gift is just so happy to watch. Fantastic acting. While I "get" the recent backlash against A Christmas Story, I also don't "get it" at the same time, because I do love the film so much.



Christmas Vacation is hilarious-- one of my favorite comedies period, let alone one of my favorite Christmas movies.

I showed the movie to some of my in-laws last year. They ... Did not enjoy it. I was so disappointed in them, lol.

The first words that come out of my mouth this December 25th are going to be "Merry Christmas 2020: Shitter was full!"
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Yeah by the second time TNT ran A Christmas Story all day I was basically sick of it, then the merch barrage totally killed it for me.
 
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I love A Christmas Story because it captures what it was like to be a kid and think like a kid. How everything seemed so epic and important because you were a 9 year old and to YOU, the world really WAS this new and epic place. You hadn't had time for things to become dull and routine yet. (Also, you're an entitled sociopath because, well, you're a kid. You'll develop a conscience later on, but for now, all you care about is toys and fun and avoiding responsibility.) I think my favorite scene of all was the moment right after Ralphie wakes up on Christmas Morning. He looks out the window and sees the entire world covered with snow and frost as an etheral harp plays. It's an amazing scene - Ralphie sees his mundane world transformed into a magic wonderland and is so breathtaken that he even forgets about Christmas morning for a second. Those were the great moments of childhood - the ones you remember. It's rare that any movie can capture that sort of moment, much less a kids movie.


Fun fact: my parents grew up during the late 40s when A Christmas Story is set, and they said the set design was fairly accurate. people DID leave their old cars and garage trash lying around as there were no landfills back then...
 
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Pokemonquistador2 said:
the world really WAS this new and epic place. You hadn't had time for things to become dull and routine yet. Ralphie sees his mundane world transformed into a magic wonderland and is so breathtaken that he even forgets about Christmas morning for a second. Those were the great moments of childhood
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I suppose that fits with "and then when it's all day year after year, and then there's all the stupid plastic shit of it they want you to buy then it becomes annoying and mostly shit"
 
Pokemonquistador2 said:
I love A Christmas Story because it captures what it was like to be a kid and think like a kid. How everything seemed so epic and important because you were a 9 year old and to YOU, the world really WAS this new and epic place. You hadn't had time for things to become dull and routine yet. (Also, you're an entitled sociopath because, well, you're a kid. You'll develop a conscience later on, but for now, all you care about is toys and fun and avoiding responsibility.) I think my favorite scene of all was the moment right after Ralphie wakes up on Christmas Morning. He looks out the window and sees the entire world covered with snow and frost as an etheral harp plays. It's an amazing scene - Ralphie sees his mundane world transformed into a magic wonderland and is so breathtaken that he even forgets about Christmas morning for a second. Those were the great moments of childhood - the ones you remember. It's rare that any movie can capture that sort of moment, much less a kids movie.


Fun fact: my parents grew up during the late 40s when A Christmas Story is set, and they said the set design was fairly accurate. people DID leave their old cars and garage trash lying around as there were no landfills back then...
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I completely agree. The movie captures childhood more perfectly than almost any other movie, really.

And I love how this movie doesn't paint Ralphie as this angelic kid either. Nobody was a perfect angelic kid, after all.

One joke in particular that always tickles me is when Ralphie checks the mailbox for his decoder pen-- both times. First time he checks it, it isn't in the mailbox. Ralphie then proceeds to leave the rest of the mail in the mailbox instead of bringing it in. Then, when he finally gets the decoder, he only brings that piece of mail into the house without bothering to bring the rest in. I do believe that Ralphie doesn't even bother to close the mailbox both times either. It's a little joke that perfectly sums up how kids behave and think sometimes.

A Christmas Story is a movie with a lot a little details, and those details, in my opinion, just plain elevate the movie.
 
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I don't hate A Christmas Story, nor do I think it's a bad film...I just find it stale at this point, personally. It's the oversaturation coupled with the fact that while I liked it, I didn't as much as I liked other films. Same thing with Polar Express.

Anyway, here is Scrooge (1951) a.k.a. A Christmas Carol with Alastar Sim as Ebenezer.
 
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Clockwork_PurBle said:
I don't hate A Christmas Story, nor do I think it's a bad film...I just find it stale at this point, personally. It's the oversaturation coupled with the fact that while I liked it, I didn't as much as I liked other films. Same thing with Polar Express.

Anyway, here is Scrooge (1951) a.k.a. A Christmas Carol with Alastar Sim as Ebenezer.
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The Christmas Carol with Alastar Sim is still easily one of the best.

The George C. Scott version is another favorite of mine.
 
I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole and discovered that there's a bunch of Dean Martin Christmas specials (in really good quality!) that have been posted.

I've been enjoying the hell out of them.
 
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XYZpdq said:
Twas The Night Before Christmas!
Rankin/Bass with another holiday special and another exercise in dickitry.
Some twerp nerd atheist mouse writes how Santa isn't real so Santa forsakes the enitre town.
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When I was young my parents recorded that special for me to watch later. Or rather, they only recorded the first half because my dad didn't bother to check how much space was left on the tape. So I saw the clock broke and the human and mouse families starving and distraught about how sad their situation had become before it suddenly cut off and stopped. This was long before the 25 Days of Christmas movie and special marathon was ever a thing, and at this time it was very rarely shown on TV. So a great many years passed before I finally saw the entire thing, particularly since I didn't recall the name of it.

Truthfully I like it better than the Rudolph and Frosty sequels, though this predated both so that's probably why. And speaking of those:
The Mass Shooter Ron Soye said:
Jack Frost (1979) is a fable about two incels of opposite varieties who fight each other while a Chad snatches their Stacy. Also, there is a groundhog in it for no reason at all.
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Jack Frost actually first appeared as the antagonist in the Frosty sequel, Frosty's Winter Wonderland. In that one he's jealous of the attention Frosty receives and wants him to turn back into a lifeless snowman, until Frosty asks him to be a part of his wedding because Frosty is really forgiving.
 
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MysticMisty said:
Jack Frost actually first appeared as the antagonist in the Frosty sequel, Frosty's Winter Wonderland. In that one he's jealous of the attention Frosty receives and wants him to turn back into a lifeless snowman, until Frosty asks him to be a part of his wedding because Frosty is really forgiving.
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How do you feel about Frosty Returns?
 
StarkRavingMad said:
In recent years, I've found that it's become popular to hate on A Christmas Story. I mean, I get it a little bit: Over the past 15 years or so, the movie has absolutely become oversaturated in terms of exposure and marketing. Once marketing crosses a certain line, it then becomes popular to hate the popular thing. It happened with A Christmas Story, and I'm slowly but surely seeing the same thing happen with Christmas Vacation. Last year, I remember the channel Freeform airing Christmas Vacation every night in December-- oh so very close to being exactly like the 24-hour Christmas Day marathons of A Christmas Story. Heaven forbid I see the day where it becomes popular to hate on that movie, too. 💔

I remember watching A Christmas Story with my family when the movie was still this hidden gem. I felt like my family and I were in on this awesome secret because so many people didn't know about this movie. Then, the early-mid 2000's happened, and the movie absolutely blew up. Understandably so-- I still think the movie is great.

Darren McGavin as the Old Man is one of my favorite comedic performances ever. The mom and the dad completely steal the movie for me. And, every so often when it catches me at the right moment, the scene where Ralphie opens up the Red Ryder makes me tear up just a little bit. The Dad showcasing so much pride in his kid while he's opening his gift is just so happy to watch. Fantastic acting. While I "get" the recent backlash against A Christmas Story, I also don't "get it" at the same time, because I do love the film so much.



Christmas Vacation is hilarious-- one of my favorite comedies period, let alone one of my favorite Christmas movies.

I showed the movie to some of my in-laws last year. They ... Did not enjoy it. I was so disappointed in them, lol.

The first words that come out of my mouth this December 25th are going to be "Merry Christmas 2020: Shitter was full!"
Click to expand...
Yeah, despite the overexposure A Christmas Story is still a great movie, I still remember the first time I saw it, it was Christmas of 1997 I think, at my grandmother's house alongside a bunch of aunts, uncles and cousins and we all had a great time watching it.

One thing that's always confused me about the movie though is Jean Shepard would have been Ralphie's age in 1931, so why is the movie set in 1940 if it's supposed to be based on Jean's experiences?
 
Dom Cruise said:
One thing that's always confused me about the movie though is Jean Shepard would have been Ralphie's age in 1931, so why is the movie set in 1940 if it's supposed to be based on Jean's experiences?
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iirc the Shepard books aren't meant to be a memoir, just fiction inspired by the author's experiences
 
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XYZpdq said:
iirc the Shepard books aren't meant to be a memoir, just fiction inspired by the author's experiences
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Shep really did know people named Flick and Schwartz as a kid, and his brother's name really was Randy, but otherwise the stories are entirely fictional.

(And the book takes place at the same time as the film, since the stories are adapted faithfully and many talk about things that didn't exist when he was a kid.)
 
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