It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
–Look at you. You used to be so cocky. You were going to go out and conquer the world. You once called me “a warped, frustrated, old man!” What are you but a warped, frustrated young man? A miserable little clerk crawling in here on your hands and knees and begging [...]
Archive for December, 2008
It’s a Wonderful Life
Posted in Reviews, tagged Frank Capra, James Stewart on December 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Posted in Reviews, tagged Henry Selick, Tim Burton on December 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
–Jack, please, I’m only an elected official here, I can’t make decisions by myself!
Tim Burton once watched Halloween decorations being unceremoniously removed in order to make room for Christmas ornaments. The contrast between the two holidays caught his fancy and he wrote a poem about it called “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” [...]
The Man Who Came to Dinner
Posted in Reviews, tagged Ann Sheridan, Bette Davis, Billy Burke, Jimmy Durante, Mary Wickes, Monty Woolley on December 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)
–My great aunt Jennifer ate a whole box of candy every day of her life. She lived to be 102, and when she had been dead three days, she looked better than you do now.
I’m in love with good dialogue, snappy banter and snarky one-liners. The Man Who Came [...]
Joyeux Noel
Posted in Uncategorized on December 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Joyeux Noel (2005)
–I heard last night about your wife. If you like, I can get a letter through to her.
–Why would you do that? If you got caught…
–One letter won’t stop us winning the war. And anyhow, when we’ll have taken Paris and it’s over you can invite us for a drink in Rue Vavin.
–You [...]
Lethal Weapon
Posted in Reviews, tagged Danny Glover, Mel Gibson, Richard Donner on December 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Lethal Weapon (1987)
–Do you really wanna jump? Do you wanna? Well, that’s fine with me. Come on, I wanna do it, I wanna do it.
Well, it’s Monday again, and time once more for the next on my list of anti-Christmas classics. I mean movies that are set at Christmas time but are distinctly different from [...]
The Bishop’s Wife
Posted in Reviews, tagged Cary Grant, David Niven, Elsa Lanchester, James Gleason, Loretta Young, Monty Woolley on December 12, 2008 | 2 Comments »
The Bishop’s Wife (1947)
–The main trouble is there are too many people who don’t know where they’re going and they want to get there too fast!
My family has had a tradition that we’ve followed nearly every year since I was about 14. On Christmas Eve, usually after Mom has put the turkey in the oven, [...]
The Polar Express
Posted in Reviews, tagged Tom Hanks on December 11, 2008 | 2 Comments »
The Polar Express (2004)
–Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can’t see.
Dedicated to Timmy who believes
I was too old to appreciate Chris Van Allsburg’s book when it came out in the mid-80s, and I’m really too old now to be the proper audience for this delightful [...]
A Christmas Story
Posted in Reviews, tagged Darren McGavin, Jean Shepherd, Melinda Dillon, Peter Billingsley on December 10, 2008 | 1 Comment »
A Christmas Story (1983)
–Over the years I got to be quite a connoisseur of soap. Though my personal preference was for Lux, I found that Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor – heavy, but with a touch of mellow smoothness. Life Buoy, on the other hand… Yuck!
A Christmas Story turns 25 this year. It [...]
Die Hard
Posted in Reviews, tagged Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov, Bonnie Bedelia, Bruce Willis, Reginald Veljohnson on December 8, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Die Hard (1988)
–”Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho.”
Once again, this Monday, I am reviewing a movie set at Christmas that doesn’t fall into the normal Christmas category. Instead of Kris Kringle, guardian angels, or Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas,” Die Hard provides thrills, chills and explosions, not to mention plenty of snappy [...]
