Christmas Classics
By Mark J. Lucas |
|
Ah, the holiday season is upon us. The lights, the trees, the retail. As most of us have been partially raised by television sets, it is only appropriate that 614 Magazine address another institution of the Christmas season that resounds with many: the Christmas movie. Here are three classics which have enthralled viewers for years that we believe deserve a particular nod. If you haven't seen one, check it out. If you watch these every year, well - don't feed him after midnight.
Scrooged
This movie is truly one of the gems to come out of the 1980s. It's a modern take on Charles Dickens' classic novel, A Christmas Carol. Sure, Alastair Sim did a fine job as Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1951 black-and-white version, but he doesn't hold a candle to the great Bill Murray, whom veteran director Richard Donner, in his infinite wisdom, cast for the analogous part.
Murray plays Frank Cross, a television executive who's lost himself in his career, and will regain his perspective with the help of the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. Joining Murray in this film is the lovely Karen Allen (of Animal House and Raiders of the Lost Ark), as well as Murray's brothers, Brian and John. You also get a good dose of Bobcat Goldthwait, who plays Murray's disgruntled assistant. The cigar-smoking ghost of Christmas past, David Johansen, better known for his work with the punk-rock outfit The New York Dolls, does an amazing job in this film, whizzing Murray through his formative years in a beat-up taxi.
This film is just a damn masterpiece. From beginning to end, it displays the 1980s' brand of Saturday Night Live-offshoot humor that categorized comedies for an awesome 20 years. The characters are bold and distinct, there's a good mixture of wit and shtick, and the whole thing wraps up with an impassioned speech by Murray on the stroke of midnight, Christmas Day, that nigh brings a tear to your eye. The actors are great, the imagery is vivid, the adaptation is perfect, and it'll make you laugh your ass off. Jim Carrey has his work cut out for him with this year's adaptation.
Gremlins
Of course when you think of Gremlins, you don't automatically think of Christmas. You probably think of a fuzzy little upstart named Gizmo, and the three rules for taking care of him: Don't get him wet, don't expose him to bright light - especially sunlight, because it kills him - and don't . . . under any circumstances . . . let him, or any of his kind, eat after midnight. Now take these rules, break them all, mix in a parade of no-name actors, and you've got yourself a Christmas classic.
The plot is simple. Billy Peltzer (played by Zach Galligan) is given a magical little pet for Christmas by his failed inventor father, who ripped it off from an old Chinese man in New York. The animal, who they name Gizmo, is a mogwai (the Mandarin word for devil). Billy gets Gizmo wet, which causes him to multiply, though his counterparts aren't nearly as nice. Then he leaves them unattended with a bucket of chicken, which they eat after midnight, which they aren't supposed to do, which turns them into slimy green monsters called gremlins. These gremlins run all over the fictional town of Kingston Falls, wreaking havoc on all they encounter, screwing up Christmas. Much cartoon violence ensues.
This movie was a blockbuster smash, a marketing success, and a cult classic. It was written by Chris Columbus (Home Alone) and produced by Steven Spielberg . . . and nobody who was in it went anywhere! The most successful actors in this film were the puppets! Gizmo was voiced by Howie Mandel, Corey Feldman made an appearance, and Judge Reinhold played an asshole banker. That was it. It was a Christmas movie that was released in June. It also got a bad rap with the ratings board, as it was rated PG and contained graphic violence, causing them to change their rating system. Still an all-time favorite.
It's a Wonderful Life
All Christmas movies stand cloaked in a great shadow, at the foot of a giant: It's a Wonderful Life. This is, quite possibly, the greatest Christmas movie ever made. It's a damn Perfect Storm of holiday sentiment. Marqueed right after WWII, it stars two of America's sweethearts, and is genuinely a fantastically well-written film.
You'd be hard-pressed to find someone that doesn't know the plot of this movie, as it is shown literally hundreds of times a year. George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) spends his whole life giving up his dreams to help the people he loves in his home town of Bedford Falls. Then, on Christmas, his Uncle Billy misplaces $8,000 dollars of Bailey's savings-and-loan money, which will place him in financial ruin. So Bailey takes himself to a bridge, as killing himself would allow his $15,000 life insurance policy to save the family business. An angel named Clarence shows him what the town would be like had he never been born, which is, to say the least, terrible. He begs to live again, is granted his wish, the people of the town put up the money to save his business, and everyone watching the movie cries like a baby. The end.
Declared the "most inspiring American movie" by the American Film Institute, It's a Wonderful Life employs a basic formula for hit writing. You take a character, make everyone love him, put him through hell, and have him come out on top in the end. The film does this on such a grand scale that if you didn't feel something stir while watching it, you have no soul.
Originally Published: December 1, 2009
