The Film Connoisseur’s Favorite Christmas Movies

A scene from Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)

Well, it’s that time of the year again to spend all our hard earned cash in the name of capitalism. Just kidding folks, I’m no sour puss, I actually love this time of year, not so much because of the gifts or even the Jesus (which most don’t even care about anyways) but more because of the happiness, the parties and the general good vibes everyone emanates. Made up holiday or not, Christmas makes everyone a little bit nicer don’t it? So anyhow, here’s my list of Christmas movies. Now this isn't a list of movies that take place during Christmas but aren't really about Christmas, like say Die Hard (1988), Batman Returns (1992) or Gremlins (1984). Nope, this is a list about straight forward movies that are about Christmas itself. I’ll apologize in advance, I haven’t seen A Christmas Story (1983), Miracle on 34^th Street (1947), Arthur Christmas (2011), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) or A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) yet, so forgive me for not including them. I've included a group of films that I like to revisit during this special time of year; maybe you guys will enjoy them too.

A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas (2011)

Comments: Now here’s an extremely funny Christmas movie, first off, it’s about two pot heads, which immediately makes everything funnier, but it’s also a film that puts Harold and Kumar’s friendship to the test. We've seen them become inseparable best buds (no pun…oh whatever, it was intended) through the past two movies, but on this one they've drifted apart. Harold has become something of a professional and Kumar well, he’s a complete looser who dropped out of college, to make matters worse, he’s just discovered he’s going to be a dad. Can Kumar live up to the responsibility of being a father? Do Harold and Kumar still have anything in common? Will they still be best buds for life? Or will Santa try to bring these two knuckle heads together again? Not gonna lie to ya, this movie aint sweet and pretty or politically correct, in fact it’s the complete opposite of that, so if you can’t take a movie where Santa gets a shotgun blast to the head, don’t even bother. But if on the other hand, you want to laugh your ass off during Christmas, this is the ticket for you.

Quote: “No can do man, I gotta stay here and smoke this weed, or else, I won’t get high.”

Elf (2003)

Comments: So this movie is just nuts, mostly due to the fact that Will Farrell is the star. It’s all a game of contrasts: Farrell is so big and loud and elves are usually the complete opposite of that, small and quiet and well, the contrast is just hilarious. It’s also a fish out of water story in more ways than one. First, Farrell is a human living among elves, which presents its own set of problems because he is just so damn big! Then he ends up going to the real world, to find his human family, so now he is out of place as well because while he is a human, he was brought up by Santa’s elves and so he is always unusually happy and jolly all the time. Funniest part is how all things Christmas make him extremely excited; he gets this crazy rush whenever anything related to Christmas is mentioned, but of course, this all works because it’s Farrell playing the elf. 

Quote: Upon seeing a fake Santa at the mall Buddy the elf gets close to the guy and tells him:  “You sit on a throne of lies!”

Scrooged (1988)

Comments: Directed by the one and only Richard Donner (The Goonies and Lethal Weapon) this modern take on Charles Dickens classic stars Bill Murray as Frank Cross, a Scrooge-like character who is the greediest, most selfish bastard you will ever know. He runs a television station and wants to do a version of Scrooge that has scrooge shooting machine guns and spewing hatred, just so the ratings can go up. Too bad for him he gets visited by the Christmas ghosts and you know how that goes. It’s a modern version of The Christmas Carol, with some of the ghosts looking all scary and frightening. The special effects are pretty nifty on this one, you’ll dig the ghosts! One of them is played by New York Dolls front man David Johansen! On top of this, the film also has this really acid, black comedy to it, the real miracle is that somehow the film manages to have real heart to it; some scenes really get to me. Trust me, by the time the film finishes, you’ll be singing Christmas carols at the top of your longs, with Bill Murray no less.

Quote: “For a couple of hours out of the whole year, we are the people we always hoped we would be!”

Jingle All the Way (1996)

Comments:  Consumerism at its ugliest is not a pretty sight; just ask all those folks who have died while trying to buy their 51 inch flat screen television on the infamous ‘Black Friday’! If you ask me, it’s one of the things I hate the most about Christmas. What Jingle All the Way does is make fun of all that, if you've been out on last minute Christmas shopping, you'll love this one, it will no doubt make you laugh out loud. It’s the story of a father trying to buy that special toy that his son wants for Christmas; problem is that it’s sold out everywhere! And he promised his son this toy for Christmas!  Everything is made more hilarious because the father is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who by the way had a way with comedies. He made me laugh in Twins (1988), The Last Action Hero (1993) and Kindergarten Cop (1990) and yes,  he made me laugh with this Christmas movie as well, especially in that scene where he has to fight a bunch of fake Santa’s,  a funny scene made even better because one of the fake Santas is played by James Belushi! Recommend it because it shows that Christmas shouldn’t be so much about the gifts; it should be more about the quality time we spend with each other. 

 

Quote: “We get one day a year to show we’re not screw ups, and what do we do? We screw it up!”

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966) and (2000)

Comments: Of course the real Christmas classic is the animated version of this movie which I also highly recommend, it was directed by animation legend Chuck Jones and has the Grinch voiced by none other than Boris Karloff, this short film is both magical and weird at the same time, but very Christmassy none the less. Then there’s the Ron Howard directed film, which also has its merits. I like it because of how effectively it brings to life Dr. Seuss’s unique looking characters and the world of Whoville. Visually, it’s amazing and Jim Carrey as The Grinch is perfect.  

Quote: “Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t thought before. Maybe Christmas he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps means a little more!” 

Scrooge (1970)

Comments: This is another Christmas Carol version I love because of its catchy tunes, yes my friends, this is a musical, and it’s a damn good one! This one is my favorite because I have fond memories of watching it on Christmas Eve on a cold winter night in New York City. Me and my brothers, we loved singing the catchy tunes on this film, our favorite always was “Thank You Very Much!” We also get a wonderfully grouchy performance from the great Albert Finney as Scrooge, one of the best Scrooges ever, highly recommend this one! 

Quote: “The thing is to try and do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you’re not here anymore.” 

Rare Exports (2010)

Comments: So here’s an interesting film, it originated with a series of short films directed by Jalmari Helander, which made fun of those Santa’s we see in the mall. He later expanded these shorts into a film called Rare Exports, which kept the same spirit of the short films: criticizing the hell out of Christmas. This unorthodox Christmas film falls in that pantheon of films that show Christmas as one big fat lie. In many ways it’s a huge critique on Santa Claus and what the character symbolizes, a monster of consumerism. In this films case, Santa Claus is an infernal beast hell bent on eating children. See the symbolism here? You teach your children about a jolly fat man coming down a chimney and your basically feeding to the monster of consumerism. But symbolisms aside, this is a cool Christmas horror film that actually shows a part of Christmas that is very true. Of course we can make of Christmas what we will, the idea behind many of the films I’ve mentioned on this post is that Christmas shouldn't be centered around material things alone.

Quote: “The real Santa was totally different; the Coca-Cola Santa was just a hoax.”  

Rankin Bass Christmas Classics: The Little Drummer Boy (1968), Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1970), Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (1964)

Comments: These Rankin Bass Christmas classics are special for me because I grew up watching these on television when I was a kid, they were required viewing during Christmas time, a pity they don’t show them that often anymore. I love them for various reasons, but mainly because they are stop motion animated. I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have A Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) if it wasn't for these Christmas specials. There’s a couple more of these out there in case you guys are interested in seeing them all. They are: The Year Without Santa Claus (1974), Jack Frost (1979), The Leprechauns Christmas Gold (1981), Pinocchio’s Christmas (1980), Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July (1979), Rudolph’s Shinny New Year (1976), The First Christmas (1976) and that’s without counting their holiday specials which were done in traditional animation! Rankin and Bass really milked that Christmas cow for all it’s worth! If you want an old school Christmassy feel for your Christmas watching, then you can’t go wrong with any of these classics.

Quote: “But what would happen if we all tried to be like Santa, and learned to live as only he can give: of ourselves, our talents, our love and our hearts?”

Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)

Comments:  Here’s a Christmas movie from the guys who brought you all those Superman movies from the 80’s (the Salkinds) so you can expect the same kind of cheesy effects you’d find in say Superman III (1983). This movie comes to us from the same director who brought us Jaws (1978) and Supergirl (1984), so take that for what it’s worth. Actually, this is an excellent Christmas movie, it’s an origin tale for Santa Claus, we get to see how he actually became Santa Claus and all that. Then we go into a story about how one of Santa’s elves, the one named Patch (played by the ever entertaining Dudley Moore) goes to the dark side of the force and teams up with an evil toy maker who wants to eliminate Santa Claus so he can corner the toy making market. Production wise this movie is pretty impressive, and dare I say magical, this one has Christmas spirit levels on HIGH! Trust me! You’ll believe in Santa again. I like how they depicted the North Pole and Santa’s toy factory. It’s a fun part of the movie. Bonus: the great John Lithgow plays the evil toy maker.

Quote: “He had a broad face and a little round belly that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly!”

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Comments: I know there are tons of adaptations of Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’, but this one is one of my favorites probably because it feels like a real, true blue Muppet movie. I know Jim Henson had nothing to do with this one; save for having created the Muppets themselves, but somehow, to me this was one of the last Muppet movies to really feel like a Muppet movie. Well, this one and Muppet Treasure Island (1996). These movies still retained that certain magic, that certain I don’t know what that makes up that genuine Muppet feel. That’s probably because these films were directed by Brian Henson, Jim Henson’s kid. So anyhow, that aside, this movie has a real Christmas feel to it as well, it retells A Christmas Carol, but with that Muppet flavor, that muppet sense of humor. From what I hear, it’s actually one of the most faithful adaptations of the book.  

Quote: “And my name is Rizzo the Rat, wait a second! You’re not Charles Dickens!”

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1988)

Comments: This is the one that I always watch on Christmas Eve, no matter what! What I like about a lot of these Christmas movies is how they make fun of the holiday, and this is the one that does it the most. For example, this one makes fun of the craziness that happens in the maelstrom of a household during Christmas Eve, with lots of family coming over to visit. Holy Moly, I always laugh like crazy during the Thanksgiving dinner scene…oh my god! Clark Griswold tries to make everything jolly and proper, trying to follow traditions, trying to achieve perfection in family traditions, yet things always end up in disaster, with hilarious results! The cast has remained the same for years, Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold is beyond funny, I mean we're talking about The Chase here! Beverly D’Angelo is still the sweet, sexy momma; only the kids change from film to film and on this sequel one of the kids is played by Juliette Lewis! So anyhow, this is an all around great Christmas film, actually, this one is my top favorite. 

Quote: “Worse? How could things get worse? Take a look around honey; we’re at the threshold of HELL!”

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM ME, THE FILM CONNOISSEUR! THANKS FOR READING!

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

Title: Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

Director: Jalmari Helander                    

Cast: Onni Tommila, Jorma Tommila, Rauno Juvonen

Review:

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is the kind of film that takes something that many hold sacred and holy and completely profanes it. It’s the kind of film that thrives on its weirdness which of course will probably result in an interesting watch for anyone out there looking for a film with an unusual vibe to it. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is a Finnish film that criticizes Christmas for all its fakeness and all its lies. I’ve always though that Christmas is simply a way to get us to start believing in all the rest of the lies that we’re going to be told through out our lives. Think about it, society gets kids to believe in a fat old man who’s got magical powers and he watches over you making sure you are being good through out the whole year? What’s next? Another magical man up in heaven who can make everything alright, who’s also watching over me making sure I don’t sin? Sure, I bought into the first lie, why not the next? Sad part about Christmas is that it’s aimed at capturing kids’ imaginations from a very young age; the old idea of “getting them while they’re young”, because if you get someone believing in something starting at a very young age, chances are they’ll believe that for the rest of their lives;  funny how that can be applied to religion and the idea of an all knowing all watchful God as well.

So it’s no surprise that Rare Exports tells it’s story from the point of view of a kid who still believes in Santa Claus. He’s this kind of kid who’s really into Christmas; he wears his Christmas sweater, he has his little calendar with which he counts down the days till Christmas. He definitely believes that Santa is coming to town. But same way it happened to many of us, the ideas and conceptions he had of Santa Claus are shot down when his friend lets him in on the whole lie about Father Christmas. That can be a cold day, when you first discover that Santa isn't real. It’s the day you realize you’ve been had all these years; and by your parents no less! I’m sure many of you out there know that the image of Santa Claus as we know him today was popularized by many a marketing campaign funded by COCA COLA during the 1930’s and onward? The idea of an old man who gave gifts to kids has been passed on from civilization to civilization, it's been around for a while now, but that image of the fat man dressed in white and red has been used and commercialized to death by the guys at Coca Cola. It all started with a painter called Haddon Hubbard Sundblom, who was paid by Coca Cola to create a warm, human, friendly image of Santa Claus and so, the jolly, white bearded fat man dressed in red and white garments was born.

It's all part of the show

According to The Coca Cola Company Sundblom was inspired by Clement Clark Moore’s descriptions of Saint Nick in his poem ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ to do these paintings. So powerful is this image and so iconic, that Coca Cola still uses these paintings in their modern Christmas advertisements; in fact, they used Sundblom’s paintings again for last years ad campaigns. If I remember correctly, the campaign had Santa Claus (looking the way Sundblom’s paintings depicted him) as this God like being who controls the world and the way our lives go. In these ads, Planet earth was depicted as a snow globe which Mr. Claus moves around so humans end up together on Christmas Eve so they can drink their Coca Cola together. The song that appears in the commercial was a hit in radio waves during Christmas season and I’m sure a lot of Coca Cola was sold.

But this whole thing about Coca Cola using Santa Claus to sell their soft drinks is actually a good way of showing all of us what Christmas is really all about: selling shit to us, or rather, programming us to go buy stuff. Black Sunday, the day when humans turn into the zombies George Romero talked about in Dawn of the Dead (1979) is one of the darkest days humanity has ever known. I mean, every year, on this day, people trample over other people to buy things! Humans have died trampled on by other humans who want to buy their new HD television set! This is the best example of how the masses can be programmed to buy; I find this so nauseating, and as a human, it’s kind of embarrassing to be a part of a race of beings capable of doing something like that. I’ve never participated in it, but to me, it a truly low point in human history. So when a film that tries to show us this ugly side of Christmas, in a very symbolic way, I appreciate it. In Rare Exports, we meet little Pietari, a kid who loves Christmas but becomes disenchanted with it once he learns it’s all a farce.

This film depicts Santa as an infernal creature with giant horns who feeds on little children, which of course is referencing what the media targets Christmas at: children and the fact that by teaching them about Santa, your basically feeding them to the infernal monster known as consumerism. The kids are the ones who are being lied to from the very beginning of their lives; and don’t give me this excuse about wanting to give the kids this “beautiful illusion”, truth is you’re teaching your kids to lie. Films like Rare Exports do a hell of a lot to break that illusion, which is why an anti-Christmas film like this one will never get wide distribution in theaters and make it big in the United States. Every single film that attacks Christmas has gotten lambasted by critics, and producers and studios will simply not back films like these up, they wont invest the money to promote films like these. Same thing happened to films like David Steiman’s Santa’s Slay (2005) a pretty funny and amusing film that has Santa going around killing people in all sorts of amusing ways with Christmas ornaments cause get this: Santa was a demon before he was Santa and giving toys and happiness is his way of paying off a bet he made with an angel in the past! Same thing happened to Silent Night Deadly Night (1984), a decent enough slasher that was taken off theaters in less then two weeks because parents sent letters to the studio expressing their disgust with the fact that the killer in the film is dressed up as Santa Claus. What it all boils down to is this: society doesn’t like it when you mess with their cash cow. They don’t want the symbol of Santa tarnished, and so films like Rare Exports and many others have suffered the very same fate: they disappear into dvd obscurity and are seen by those who search for them. But does this mean they are bad films?

Hell no. I mean, Rare Exports is extremely far from being bad. In fact, it’s a very well constructed film. The mood it sets from the very beginning is extremely eerie, and it keeps it going all the way to the end. I like the fact that it takes place all the way out in the middle of nowhere, the isolation is not unlike the one felt in Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), in fact, same as The Thing, there’s no women anywhere to be seen on this film. It’s all about a bunch of bearded dudes dealing with a monster in the middle of a snowy nowhere. There’s this scene where they capture this naked old man whom they believe is Santa Claus that is extremely freaking eerie! Something about the music reminded me of the score for The Goonies (1985), which doesn’t surprise me since same as The Goonies, the main character in the film is a kid. It’s the kid who’s the star of the show; it’s the kid who saves the day! And I love that, kids take charge and decide to send Santa Claus to kingdom come. Basically, this film is a big screw you to Christmas! Yeah!

This film comes to us from Finnish director Jalmari Helander, this surprisingly enough was his first feature film! I thought it was an extremely well achieved film for a first timer. Helander had been playing around with the ideas presented in Rare Exports in two short films he’d made previously. The first one was called Rare Exports Inc. (2003) in which they showed these hunters going into the forest to hunt and capture Father Christmases as if Father Christmases lived in the wild, like animals, the whole thing is pretty funny and is presented as if it was a documentary shot for Animal Planet or something. In the short they capture a rabid, bearded, naked fat man (a wild Father Christmas) and  then they train it to become the Santa Claus’s you see in the malls putting children on their laps, this was a hilarious short that was viewed by many people that year. The sequel was inevitable and so a sequel short was produced called The Official Rare Exports Inc. Safety Instructions 2005 (2005) which was a short film that showed you how to behave if you ever came into close proximity of a wild Father Christmas; #1 don’t be naughty or you’ll get your head chomped off! By the way, I urge any of you out there to check out these fine short films before seeing the actual movie, they’ll get you in the right mindset to enjoy the film.  Rare Exports was a fun flick, with an eerie vibe and a mordant sense of humor that I really enjoyed. Highly recommend this fun anti-Christmas flick!

Rating: 4 out of 5

Christmas Evil (1980)

Title: Christmas Evil (1980)

Director: Lewis Jackson

Review:

Christmas Horror films are a misunderstood sub genre. Many people (mostly uptight conservatives) think films that portray Christmas as something evil or scary should never be made because they soil something that they consider holy and sacred and….WHAT EVER!! First off, those conservative douche bags should remember that one of the biggest ideas behind Christmas, that a fat jolly old man comes down your chimney during Christmas Eve and leaves presents for the “good boys and girls” underneath the Christmas tree is a big fat lie! And according to the bible, lies come from The Devil! So put that in your pipe and smoke it you self righteous hypocrites! Now, on with the rest of my review for this excellent Christmas horror film called Christmas Evil.

Story for this film centers around a young boy named Harry. One night, Harry’s parents decide to surprise the kids by having their dad dress up as Santa Claus and visit their home. The kids are delighted by Santa’s visit! After the kids are put to sleep, Santa decides he wants some action, so he begins to give his wife (while still dressed in a Santa suit) some head. That’s right! Mom and Pop decide to go down on each other while dad is still wearing his Santa suit! If that isn’t freaky enough, little Harry decides to take one last peep at Santa and catches his mom and dad going down on each other. Now Harry knows there’s no such thing as Santa Claus! He’d been lied to all these years! Fast forward thirty years into the future and now Harry is a 30 something dude, working in a toy factory. He has never quite recuperated from what he saw that night, and little by little, the events that unfold during the Christmas season start driving him mad! Can Harry keep his madness under wraps? Or will he go out and pass judgment on the little boys and girls of his neighborhood?

So this movie is that kind of film where the quiet introverted person suddenly goes nuts and is tired of being pushed around, so he finally explodes and decides to make all those people that screwed him over pay! “The worm has turned” is a phrase commonly used for films of this nature and it means that even the most humble person will strike back if abused badly enough! And poor old Harry is abused a lot on this film. Harry works as a manager in a toy factory, but he gets no respect from his employees. His brother constantly abuses him verbally and emotionally. His boss gives a younger kid the position that was supposed to be for him. Basically, Harry gets no respect from anybody in this movie…until he cracks under the pressure! That’s when he decides to dress up as Santa Claus and goes out into town being good to the good people and brutally killing whoever pisses him off! In this way, the film is very similar in nature to Silent Night Deadly Night (1984) though Christmas Evil predates it, since it was released in 1980.

Christmas Evil was a small film, with a meager budget and very low production values. Yet I have to tell you naughty boys and girls out there, the low production values help the movie a whole lot! Everything feels dirty, old, dark, shadowy and poor. The proper ingredients for a guy like Harry to loose his marbles in! Speaking of which the actor who plays Harry (Brandon Maggart) did an excellent job of playing the good guy who goes bananas! There are some memorable moments in the film where we can really feel Harry loosing it. There’s this great scene where Harry glues a fake Santa beard to his face with super glue and starts pulling his beard making sure it’s stuck to his face, all the while he looks at himself in the mirror and laughs maniacally. Awesome moment! Just like in that other Santa Claus gone crazy movie called Santa’s Slay (2005), in Christmas Evil Santa uses Christmas ornaments to kill people! One particularly gruesome moment has Santa slitting somebody’s throat with a Christmas Tree Star. But to be honest, the film does not go over the top with the gore. We do get a bit of gore splattered all through out the film, but it’s not the films main focus. This film is more concerned with showing us Harry slow descend into madness, shinning a light on the fakeness of the idea of Santa Claus, and establishing great atmosphere.

Why had I not heard of this movie before? Probably for the same reason why films like Silent Night Deadly Night and Santa’s Slay are not widely known. Because they make Santa Claus look evil. People don’t like for movies to portray Santa as murderous or evil Any film that does so is guaranteed to live a short life at the box office. For example, Silent Night Deadly Night (1984) though an excellent slasher, was pulled from theaters on the very first week of its release because of raving parents! Some don’t even make it to theaters at all and are sent straight to DVD like Santa’s Slay (2005). A fun Christmas horror film if there ever was any! Apparently, you just can’t go around messing with the cash cow known as Santa. Santa has to retain his squeaky clean image, and it has to remain untarnished and clean so that kids across the world will always dream of getting Christmas presents from him on Christmas Eve. In this way businesses all across the world are assured to make millions, and the economy stays strong. Still, thank god for DVD!

I loved how the film makes an effort to show the fakeness of Christmas. In one scene Santa walks into a Christmas party and begins talking to a bunch of little kids. He begins to explain to them how if they are good, he will give them toys every year to reward them, but if their not, he will give them something horrible! I loved that part of the film because its true. Parents use the idea behind Santa to scare kids into being good “or else you wont get any presents”. So kids begin to learn how to act out of interest rather then being good because its really the best thing for them. Theres another great where Santa tries to go down a chimney, but realizes that this is physically impossible, so he gives up! Another scene shows Santa trying to break into a house to leave some gifts, but in reality, he looks like a burglar trying to break into a house.

This is a very low budget film, with low production values and laugh inducing dialog, yet it is entirely watchable in my book. It doesn’t forget that it’s trying to be a parody of Christmas and at the same time it criticizes it. What makes it so watchable for me are the complete zaniness of the ideas it portrays! For example, Harry is so obsessed with Christmas that he literally has books where he writes down little boys and girls names and all the good and bad deeds that they performed all through out the year! So next time you want to watch a funny and enjoyable Christmas horror film, don’t pass up Christmas Evil, it’s a jolly good time.

Rating: 3 out of 5

 

Scrooge (1951)

Title: Scrooge (a.k.a. A Christmas Carol) (1951)

Director: Brian Desmond Hurst

Review:

There are so many film adaptations of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol that it can become a small task to try and differentiate them all. I try and see a different version every year, just because I want to see them all. See what little differences they have between each other, see what that one is missing, see what the other added. In my search for all of these different film adaptations, I discovered that the 1951 version with Alastair Sim playing the titular role of Mr. Scrooge is one of the most beloved film versions of the story. What makes this one so special?

I’m not going to go into a plot description, because I’m sure 99.9% of you out there already know what this story is all about, I mean, who doesn’t right? Instead, I’ll try and describe the film and what makes it one of the best Christmas Carol’s out there. Number one, the movie is in black and white. This being essentially a ghost story, the black and white makes everything darker, creepier. That’s one thing I have always loved about Dicken’s story, it’s a ghost story and as a result, it’s a creepy film. Which kind of contrasts with the whole Christmas thing in the same way that Nightmare Before Christmas did. But really, isn’t that one of the films biggest attractions? It’s spookiness? And this one has lots of it! The black and white nature of the film makes everything grimmer. The art direction helps a lot as well, you get a feeling you are living in the slummiest parts of London. Old buildings, filled with shadowy hallways filled with old clocks, books, chandeliers…everything is spooky and dark.

A Christmas Carol has been adapted to film on many occasions. Old film versions of A Christmas Carol go as far back as 1910! Just this year we had a version of the story directed by Robert Zemeckis, with Jim Carrey playing Mr. Scrooge as well as all of the ghosts. And it was completely computer animated. I still owe it to myself to check it out. But every film version of A Christmas Carol is just a little bit different then the other. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) is one of my favorites because most of the characters in the story are played by different Muppet characters. Michael Caine plays Scrooge. On this one, we get Alastair Sim, playing old Ebenezer. Gotta say I loved his portrayal of Scrooge. And on any Christmas Carol film, what makes or breaks the film is who you put on that role. The actor has got to nail it. Alastair Sim nailed it! You know that part when Scrooge turns all good and happy and suddenly LOVES Christmas? You know, the part where Scrooge goes almost mad with Christmas spirit? Well, I believe this is the happiest and craziest Scrooge on any of the film versions I’ve seen. He really does seem mad with happiness! Also, this film really dives deep into that whole sequence when Scrooge goes “good”. It’s always my favorite part of A Christmas Carol, when Scrooge suddenly warms up to the world. It always makes me want to go out and do good to everybody, which was probably Dicken’s whole point.

I don’t really believe in Christmas the way everybody does. I'm not a religious person myself. I don’t believe Jesus was born on the 25th (in fact I doubt he was even born at all) and I believe that on its surface, Christmas is really an elaborate sham to get people to buy things compulsively. Ever think about how many things Christmas makes you buy? Gifts for everyone, Christmas tree, Christmas decorations, gift wrapping paper, Christmas clothes, Christmas movies, Christmas music, Christmas food…the list goes on and on. I really see it as a way to boom the economy. It’s strange, but in many ways, I can identify with Scrooges hatred of Christmas. I mean, when he says ‘humbug’ he is saying “this is all false, wake up people!” Still, what I like about Charles Dicken’s story is that it focuses a lot on the doing good to others, making other people happy. That part of the story where we learn about giving to others without expecting anything back. Of the films themes, these are the ones I like the most.

I still celebrate Christmas anyways because I like the festivities, I love sharing time with family and friends, and yeah, its fun to give and get gifts. But I don’t know if I agree with the whole thing about lying to kids about Santa Clause coming at night and leaving gifts under your Christmas tree, Id rather tell my kids I bought them those gifts, because I wanted to. Because it’s that time of year when everyone is extra nice to each other, just because we want to. I see Santa Clause as the first lie in a long list of lies that a person will be taught to believe in through life. But hey, don’t take me for a bitter person, cause I’m not. I love this cheerful part of the year anyways; I just see it slightly different then everyone else. I’ve learned not to put so much emphasis on the buying, and a lot more emphasis on the sharing and the love and the being good to others for no reason whatsoever but to feel good while doing it.

Speaking of the whole religious nature of this film, this version is one of the most Christian versions of the story I’ve seen. Most of the modern Christmas Carol movies don’t focus so much on the whole “repent from your sins” angle of things. I’m guessing this is so because filmmakers realize that not everyone who watches their movies in our world is a Christian, so they have kind of dropped that angle from modern takes on the story. But this particular version of A Christmas Carol is all about repenting from your sins, because if you don’t, you’re going to pay in the after life! Constantly, Scrooge is reminded that he has to repent from his sins on this version.

But all in all, a very good version of the film. My favorite is still the one with George C. Scott as Scrooge. There’s just something super evil about George C. Scott’s portrayal of the character. Next year I will try and go even further back in time, see if I can get my hands on the 1938 and 1910 versions of the story. Consequently, I hope you had a happy holiday season, and wish you all a happy new year.

Rating: 5 out of 5