It's getting to be that time of the year and you know what that means: Holiday movies. Today's discussion topic is your favorite and least favorite holiday movies. Don't limit yourself. For example, Die Hard was set at a Holiday party.
I suppose this is where I admit that, despite it having been shown 80 bazillion times on television, I have never seen It's a Wonderful Life.
I've never seen It's a Wonderful Life either. What's the point - Bruce Willis is a ghost, right?
ummm... spoiler alert?
Jimmy Stewart is a sled.
I was just about to type that.
So, you spookied the Citizen Kane reference?
I guess I did at that. In my defense, I think I was still a little dazed by the awfulness of today's music video.
That's called winning the thread.
I've never seen It's a Wonderful Life but I've seen Bad Santa more than once. I think that says something about me.
put me down in the 'I've never seen It's A Wonderful Life' column.
My favorite holiday movie.... A Christmas Story
Favorite: Elf. I think that's Will Ferrell's best performance.
I think there are some good old movies that I'm forgetting, too. Haven't seen Miracle on 34th Street (the original) for a long time, I seem to remember liking that when I was a teenager. I remember liking Meet Me in St. Louis but I don't remember why, and I'm not sure if it's a Christmas movie or just has a Christmas scene.
I need to remember looking at the Turner Classic listings this time of year.
I consider Elf a modern day classic already. The ending is a bit labored and contrived, but that's easily overlooked. The casting was superb.
i always liked scrooged when i was younger. watching it again, it didn't age well for me. still some classic lines though.
Least favorite: The Family Stone.
I know the boss has his Bullock rule. I may have a S.J. Parker rule.
I watched this with the in-laws over Christmas the year is was out on DVD. I just noticed that my sister-in-law owns the DVD. She has the absolute worst taste in movies ever. For a long time, her favorite movie was Coyote Ugly.
For a long time, her favorite movie was Coyote Ugly.
How is that even possible? Was she an investor?
There's an entire family in my family that has the worst taste in movies...probably similar to your SIL. If a movie comes out that's poorly executed in every way but even mildly successful at the box office, I guarantee every one of them will own it.
I've also never seen It's a Wonderful Life. Plan to keep my streak alive this year, as well.
Two words (four syllables): Zuzu's petals. It's a Wonderful Life in a walk.
I'm with Bootsy. Classic tear-jerker. I especially love the scene where Jimmy discovers that his wife would have become a glasses-wearing, hair-in-bun old-maid librarian!!!!111one1111!!! (cue spooky sound effects). Way more horror-inducing than any other aspect of Potterville.
But still, the movie is great. (I love Charlie Brown Christmas too; in later years, my grandmother always had a Charlie-like tree).
A Charlie Brown Christmas always seemed enjoyable enough to me.
Topical; Today's IMDB poll
I have never seen It's a Wonderful Life, and not really wishing to.
Put me down for Charlie Brown Christmas, too. Kick-butt soundtrack. RIP, Vince.
I'd have to go with It's a Wonderful Life (Donna Reed was a babe) as my favorite holiday movie, but my favorite Christmas show is How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. The animated TV classic, not that Ron Howard debacle. It first aired in 1966 when I was 7 years old. I walked over to my friend Dan Brown's house so we could watch it together (they had a color TV, we had yet to upgrade). His mom made us hot chocolate (the real stuff, not instant) and popcorn. In the intervening years, I can only remember missing it once because I was in some stupid Christmas pageant at church (those were the dark days long before VCRs). Boris Karloff and Thurl Ravenscroft rule.
oooh, right. The remake is a crime against nature; the original, great art.
in recent years, the show often has been followed by a "making of" bit, which is teh Awesome.
Donna Reed was a babe...
Yes, indeed.
There's a whole generation of GIs who agreed with that assessment.
That's pretty sweet, CH.
As lovely as she is as Mary Bailey, it's her role against type as Lorene in From Here to Eternity that really got to me. Won her an Oscar, too.
Of course, Gloria Grahame was nothing to sneeze at, either...
You old farts are always chasing dames in black
and white... /heh
I have also never seen It's A Wonderful Life.
Favorite: Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas
Least Favorite: Well, I'm a broken record. Jingle All The Way.
Please explain Emmett Otter. Maybe I should look for this as a weekend movie?
An hour-long Jim Henson's Creature Shop TV special. Look for it as a weekend movie.
Wholesome enough for a 4 year-old and 6-year-old?
I would imagine. I don't remember any thing off-color or traumatic, like Bambi. They do reference a death of a loved one, but it's not shown.
Sadly, the opening with Kermit the Frog, which is hilarious, if often left out (except maybe in some TV viewings), because of something to do with copyright.
I've seen IAWL but never in one setting. I've probably seen the whole thing in fits and starts.
A great Christmas movie that is overlooked is Meet John Doe. Gary Cooper. Barbara Stanwyck. Directed by Frank Capra right before our entry into WWII. Classic.
I've always enjoyed The Muppet Christmas Carol. It might be my favorite Christmas Carol version around.
The single worst movie I've ever seen was a version of The Nutcracker starring Macauley Culkin made in the early 90s.
The muppets are my 2nd favorite. I guess I just like Jim Henson Christmases.
My avatar would agree with you.
I have to say I have Elf as my favorite Chrismas movie. With Die Hard being my favorite non-christmas themed christmas movie.
Least favorite? Or at least that other people enjoy. Love, Actually.
I'm a big fan of Love, Actually.
Me too. Excellent cast--loved Bill Nighy in that.
I've avoided, because Hugh Grant is in it.
I can understand the Sandy Bollocks thing, but I rather like Hugh Grant. Have you seen About a Boy, SBG? He's pretty terrific in it.
I'm not as vehement about Hughie, but I'm cautious when I see his name on the marquee. This was the movie that moved him into that category.
It's a huge ensemble cast, so Hugh doesn't get a tremendous amount of screen time to consider it "his" film. I saw a good chunk of it a week ago, and it wasn't bad.
I'm still bitter about Notting Hill. It was sold to me as a chick flick that guys would like. It was terrible. I even have a tolerance for romantic comedies but it was just really, really bad.
The only reason I saw it was because it was the movie offered on a trans-Atlantic flight. I was tired and cranky and this pile of steaming dung was served up to me. And Mr. Grant was terrible. I wanted to turn the plane around, search him out, and punch him.
Imagine what I thought when this came out.
A lawyer decides that
she's used too much like a nanny by hiserboss, soshe walks out on him.You saw a familiar situation that you could relate to and immediately purchased advanced screening tickets?
He was ready to highjack another plane and fly it to the premiere!
I once told a girl in a bar about 25 years ago with whom I was in love that night in response to her professed love for Madonna that I thought she was pretty good, too. I felt absolutely dirty the next morning. I learned an important lesson. There are lines that should not be crossed, no matter what. When my then g/f -- now wife -- suggested that we go see that obvious loser, I was much more mature and figured out a way to gently inform her that there was no effing way I shell out even a single thin dime to see that.
I know I've told this story before, but once in a bar I just turned around and walked away from a girl when she told me her favorite Twin was Jacque Jones.
There's a line in Notting Hill that's on every "Worst Movie Lines Ever" list that I've ever seen:
"I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her."
I mean, shit, dude. Can a screenwriter have some dignity? That's on the level of "Love means never having to say you're sorry."
You had me at hello.
There you go. When there's a truly meaningful and beautiful line in a movie, there's no moment like it. However, when you hear the line and immediately say, "This is the line that the writer wants to become a standard," it's just way too dishonest to be a good line.
I hate Renee Terwilliger, er, Zellwiger.
Way to bring the discussion back to baseball, SBG!
Jerry Maguire was chock full of bad writing. Horrid, horrible stuff. "You complete me." Just... ugh.
The movie sucked hard. Rhys Ifans was hilarious, though.
Bill Nighy's character was the only enjoyable thing about the movie.
Sheenie claims that it is enjoyable to stare at the guy obsessed with Keira Knightley.
I take this back. I also enjoyed the plot involving Liam Neeson and the kid. Probably since that seemed to be the only sincere story.
Huh. I generally liked the movie because I thought nearly every story felt more sincere than most movie romance. In particular I thought the Rickman/Thompson storyline was pretty realistic, as well as Laura Linney's.
Maybe I was just in the right mood when I saw it, but for some reason, I dug it.
A lot of people are divided on this one. I'm a fan.
Likewise. It's a decent film.
Love Actually is my 16 year old daughter's favorite movie.
Love Actually is my 16 year old daughter's favorite movie.
Is that an endorsement of the film or a criticism of it?
I love Love, Actually. Elf is good. And if we're talking about TV Christmas specials, we can't forget about Frosty.
IAWL is far and away my favorite holiday movie. I also really enjoy Elf, Rudolf, and Frosty the Snowman.
Elf is my favorite. We watched it in the van on Sunday driving back from Indiana.
I've never seen It's a Wonderful Life on film, but I did go to a play of it once that my friend was in.
I rest my case
I really enjoyed her singing in the shower...
Because she was naked in there or because she has a beautiful singing voice?
My answer to that would simple be "yes."
A silky singing voice like that can do just as much for me as a naked body, honestly.
That would be a "yes" for me too, but that question was a reference to the line in the movie.
A Christmas Story, unless Die Hard truly counts here. I haven't seen IAWL. Jimmy Stewart bugs me because he's the same in every single movie and every single scene (I've seen no more than six or seven of his movies, but that's enough). I mean yeah, he plays the character very well, but it's still just one character.
My least favorite that I actually had hopes for is Bad Santa. There are a handful of funny lines surrounding a painfully unfunny movie. I haven't seen Jingle All the Way, but I have a friend who was in it and he says that everyone on set (at every level) seemed to know it was going to be horrible.
he's the same in every single movie and every single scene...
Um, good? 5 of his films crack the AFI Top 50. He must've been doing something right.
Even I'm not contrarian enough to knock Jimmy Stewart.
I'm really not trying to be contrarian at all, but maybe I'm not wording this correctly. I do like his performances - love them, even - I just find it a bit tedious that I always know what the performance is going to be like.
Kevin Costner is in a lot of great movies, too (no, I am absolutely not comparing the two, just making a point). Anyway, a movie's greatness hinges on the director far more than the actors, even the leads. The performers in the movies listed are just the icing on the cake.
Besides, a lot of actors make entire careers out of playing the same character forever. I'm not even really making a criticism of Stewart, but actors generally don't become fans of even very good actors if they display very little range.
As it happens, I have Rear Window at home from Netflix right now, so I'll look at him with fresh eyes.
Vertigo nuff said.
The Cheyenne Social Club FTW.
Kevin Costner is in a lot of great movies, too.
No, he isn't. He's been in a couple of good ones, but nothing great. Jimmy Stewart shows more range in the last hour of IAWL than Kevin Costner has mustered in his entire career. Ditto for Vertigo. He did everything from screwball comedy to high drama. I don't know, maybe you have a problem with his voice, but to say he lacked range is way off the mark.
I actually rather like his voice.
Like I said, I've only seen a handful of his movies. Perhaps I've had bad luck (good films, but homogenous performances). This thread has made me decide to revisit him and see what I must be missing, so today is a good day.
And yeah, "Great" for Costner movies was a little generous. He's just a good example because I can't stand him and yet I like a bunch of movies he was in.
I was not impressed with Rear Window. I felt a hundred actors could have played his part; he was fine, but the movie was not about Jimmy.
I've also seen him in Rope and Mr. Smith. I liked him in these a bit more. I'll have to get around to Vertigo.
Now there's a guy who had limited range late in his career...
Ouch. (I feel bad for laughing.) :-)
I'm right there with you buddy.
The numbers seem to agree with you that Jimmy Stewart's range was not that great.
Har har. Now to see about Jim Morrison!
I might argue that Bull Durham was great. And I think that No Way Out and Field of Dreams should be in the Hall of Very Good.
Plus, we can't forget his role in The Big Chill....
Hee hee. His finest role.
JFK approaches great--in spite of his presence. I don't think anything else he's done does.
Moss's favorite joke about Costner: "I loved him in the Big Chill".
Me, I thought he was one-dimensional in it.
(Insert favorite rimshot here.)
I've come to appreciate him more as I've gotten older. Anatomy of a Murder is probably the film of his that I enjoy most, though Harvey will always be a sentimental favorite.
Regardless of his talent as an actor, Jimmy Stewart will always have my admiration for his pluck during WWII. He tried to enlist three times before the Army would accept him due to failing to meet minimum weight standards. He rose from Private to Brigadier General (though he got that star long after the war) and requested to be transferred to a combat unit so he could fly a B-24 on bombing missions over Nazi-occupied Europe. His request was eventually approved, and he flew at least 20 combat missions. He's the freakin' Ted Williams of the film world.
I never knew that about Jimmy Stewart
Neither did I, and it seems like the very sort of thing I'd know from all the actor docs I watch. Wow.
Harvey will always be my sentimental favorite, too. The best role I ever had in community theater was when I got to play Elwood P. Dowd. It was wonderful.
From Jimmy Stewart's wikipage:
They would have fit right in here at the WGOM.
I'd like to go over and see who's who, but I don't want that getting in the way of...
Oh, wait, his name's "Fonda." I know who's who already.
Moss would maintain that at least Rope and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance demonstrate a fair bit of acting range for Mr. Stewart. Prolly Anatomy... too.
In those days, most lead actors were selected because of their consistency, not for versatility. Clark Gable, Cary Grant, and Humphrey Bogart could be accused of the same, but they are all very important actors in the history of American film.
Part of the lack of versatility in those days, too, came from the fact that the studios owned the actors and forced them into around 12 movies a year. When you're doing that many films in a year, there's no time to create a character...only time to fall back on the acting choices that have worked for you in the past.
Very true.
Add John Wayne, possibly the aforementioned Henry Fonda (with the notable exception of Once Upon a Time in the West), etc. etc.
At one point, Once Upon a Time in the West was the only Henry Fonda movie I'd seen. I was stunned when I found out what sort of role he was known for.
Oh man, don't forget Glenn Miller Story. Trombone!
I have to admit that I thought I'd be the only one in this group that hadn't seen IAWL. I thought I had achieved the impossible. Not so much, it turns out.
Never underestimate the cynicism some of us bring to the Christmas season.
I'm one of the biggest scrooges in the Western world. But, I will admit that having a 2 yr. old has made me appreciate her excitement.
Which leads me to a MissSBG story. The other day, I threatened to call Santa because she didn't want to go to sleep and tell him not to bring her any toys. Yesterday at the mall, she informed her mother that she needed to go to Santa's workshop to tell Santa not to bring her any toys. OMG, did my heart sink. She internalized that threat and accepted it as fact that she was a bad girl and didn't deserve any toys. So, I had to tell her today that I called Santa and told him that she was a good girl and that he should bring her toys.
I always said that I wasn't ever going to use Santa as blackmail, but in a moment of weakness, I did it. And the results were disastrous. Pfft.
That's what happens when you bring the big guns out too soon. Gotta save that stuff for the truly serious.
I'm not surprised by that story - either your well-meaning actions or the unintended consequences. I had a strikingly similar (though not Christmas-related) situation, and my guilt did more temporary psychological damage to me than probably any other person could.
Last year my brother called me on Christmas Eve, and I had to pretend to be Santa on the phone and tell my nephew that if he didn't behave himself in church I would have to put him on the naughty list and give his presents to some other little boy. My brother has dirt on me that I don't want getting out, but I felt so used.
I've noticed that I tend to be in the minority on this, but I think Holiday Inn is a superior film to White Christmas, which seems to get all the love due to VistaVision, Technicolor, Rosemary Clooney, and "Snow!". All of those are great by themselves, but I cannot abide Danny Kaye, the songs in Holiday Inn are much more clever, and (at least for me) Fred Astaire > Rosemary Clooney.
I'd have an impossible time deciding which I like more when it comes to A Charlie Brown Christmas vs. How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer gets high marks for Burl Ives as Sam the Snowman and the antics of Yukon Cornelius.
Other Christmastime favorites: Batman Returns, Trading Places (Mrs. CH just saw this for the first time about a week ago), and Edward Scissorhands. It probably says something about me that two of those were directed by Tim Burton and were scored by Danny Elfman.
Put me in the White Christmas camp. Don't forget the performance of Sisters. Danny Kaye cracks up about 3/4 of the way through the song spoof and barely makes it across the finish line.
Looking good, Billy Ray!
Feeling good, Louis!
ClassisT.Classic.
Remember when Eddie Murphy was funny? Yeah, me neither...
A friend of mine is a friend of his and says he's still funny in person...so there's that...
I'm funny in person, too, spooky. It just doesn't translate to the screen...
You think? I find you very funny here, mostly because insult comedy and sarcasm are kinda my thing.
I dunno, my insults are better with the spinning bow-tie and seltzer bottle.
I agree.
Pauley Shore is funny in person. Or at least he was when I saw him.
I saw Eddie on his red leather tour back in the day (opened with The Beasty Boys). He was very funny. Perhaps he had a traumatic brain injury at some point after that?
I think Eddie was funny at one time. Then I think everyone convinced him that his solid excrement had a particularly pleasing odor.
I do, too. "I'm Gumby, dammit." "Kill my landlord." "O-Tay!" 48 HRS, Trading Places, the first Beverly Hills Cop. All funny. And all over 20 years ago.
Don't forget his James Brown send up, "Hot Tub!"
Don't forget Mr. White. I loved that one. "Here. Take the money. Pay it back. Or don't. We don't really care."
Two words, CH. Vera. Ellen.
My youngest daughter loves Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas, both very good Tim Burton flicker shows.
Moving away from Christmas movies.... I had the very unpleasant experience of seeing Ninja Assassin over Thanksgiving weekend. A couple of not quite 17 year boys needed a parent/guardian to get in and I drew the short straw.
No surprise but it was really bad. Not even so bad it's good. Just bad. Unbelievably gory, bad acting, predictable story. There wasn't even any gratuitous nudity in it! It was so bad I had to go to Reconciliation to confess my sins the very next day. Stay away, don't rent it, heck don't even go to movie theaters that are playing it.
Over last weekend, I saw Mr. Fox.
I thought it pretty good, not awesome, but light and entertaining, which is exactly what I was going for on a rare date with my wife (last minute, staying with the in-laws... "Hey can you guys put the kids to bed? Thanks! Bye!").
I really enjoyed mr. Fox, not ground breaking cinema, but a good time indeed. As an adult without children I really enjoyed the "you cursin' at me" scene with badger, hi-larious.
I loved the construction "Clustercuss"