Christmas Cinema

Seeing as we are running down the final week of the Christmas gauntlet, I wanted to talk for a bit about the cinema of Christmas. Now I am not Siskel or Ebert, and I know I have a skewed sense of humor when it comes to film--just ask my mom who still, two decades later, doesn't see the humor I do in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but I digress.

I think the holiday movies fall into a couple of categories: Family Fare and For Kids Only. You know the difference. One you can all sit down with grandparents and the kiddies and chuckle a bit and feel all warm and fuzzy, and the other you have to leave the room to the munchkins alone and find a big pile of treats from the neighbors to try to drown out the insipid music that won't leave your mind until Easter.

Now I realize that for a time I was a kiddie and some of the For Kids Only batch still holds a little piece of my heart, but once a year is all it takes for those songs to become lodged in my head until spring breaks.

Which Christmas movies are you talking about? you may be asking. Well, I'll tell you.

One that I loved as a child and still have a little love for is The Year with a Santa Claus. The story itself if pretty lame but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Heat Miser. I think I am his long lost cousin, in fact. Come on, you can sing it with me..."I'm Mister Heat Miser, I'm Mister Sun....I'm Mister Green Christmas, I'm Mister 101. Friends call me heat miser, whatever I touch, starts to melt in my clutch...I'm too much!"



The other song that sticks in my head is from a show I can't put my finger on this moment, but the song says, "Put one foot in front of the other...and soon you'll be walking out the doo--oo--oor!" I believe it is a Rudolph story. But it is another Rakin Bass stop motion animation production from about the early 70s.

See? You can't stop singing the songs either, can you?

As far as the Family Fare films at Christmas time, I don't think you can get any better than A Christmas Story. You know, Ralphie's quest for the red-rider BB gun and his mom's ultimate denial telling him he'll "shoot his eye out". Too many classic moments to share, but you know when you've met another aficionado when lines can be quoted across the Christmas dinner table. I love that one.



In the past month, however, I was reminded of the fabulous portrayal of Scrooge from George C. Scott. What a masterpiece of Dickens that version of A Christmas Carol is. Fro several weeks now I have watched that with Dear Friend Tammy. Mr. Scott is fantastic and the story is so profound. Though, on a side note, the Muppet's version with musical stylings is pretty cute too.

Genius Golfer's favorite is, certainly, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. How would it not be, as I have to stop myself from calling him Clark or Sparky this time of year?! 'Griswolding' is code for putting up his Christmas light show.



For the purist in your family, have you seen The Nativity? Pretty well done, all things considered. We saw this a few years back in the theater with my extended family. It was sweet and a good reminder to keep the season in perspective.

What about you? Does your family have some "must watch" shows this time of year? Naughty or nice, there is something out there for everyone. So put your fuzzy slippers on, throw back some 'nog and snuggle down for a nice long movie weekend.