It’s A WonderfulLife. White Christmas. Die Hard. Home Alone. There certainly isn’t a shortage of classic holiday films to enjoy this time of year. Though Hollywood tends to shy away from the real Reason for the Season, they have produced a plethora of delightful Christmas-centric entertainment thru the decades. One reliable source that moviemakers have returned to over & over again is Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. Y’all know the gist of the story so I won’t bore you with a recap. Suffice to say that it has been adapted into countless movies. Some stick pretty close to the book, while others take the plot and twist it in all sorts of ways. It isn’t easy to choose just a few of these for a weekend of viewing, but hopefully we’ve accomplished the task well.
Friday Night
Scrooged
Bill Murray doesn’t portray elderly miser Ebenezer Scrooge, but his cynical television executive Frank Cross is the perfect 20th century embodiment of the character. An eclectic supporting cast that includes Bobcat Goldthwait, Robert Mitchum, Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton, Jamie Farr, and Lee Majors is inspired fun. If you enjoy dark comedy it hits all the right notes, and might have the best ending of any adaptation of A Christmas Carol.
Saturday Matinee
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Kids of all ages can enjoy a version of A Christmas Carol by The Muppets. Two things need to be noted. First is the performance by Michael Caine as Scrooge. Though all of his co-stars are…obviously…puppets, the Academy Award winning actor made the brilliant choice to “play this movie like I’m working with the Royal Shakespeare Company” and “portray Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role”. Secondly, it’s actually rather faithful to the source material, all things considered.
Saturday Night
A Christmas Carol (1951)
It is generally considered to be the best adaptation of the book, and Scottish actor Alastair Sim is always ranked among the greatest portrayers of Ebenezer Scrooge. It departs from the source material by adding a subplot about a malevolent businessman who lures young Scrooge to the dark side, and makes changes to the backstories of Scrooge’s sister & fiancee. I have mixed feelings about filmmakers taking such creative liberties. That’s one advantage modern society has…today there would be a plethora of interviews online & on TV with the director explaining those choices.
Sunday Matinee
A Christmas Carol (1938)
At the time the movie was made MGM had already produced a number of film adaptations of literary classics…A Tale of Two Cities, Romeo & Juliet, Anna Karenina, David Copperfield…and they preferred the movies be lighthearted & family friendly. Therefore this is a rather sanitized version of A Christmas Carol. No wailing phantoms. No starving children. No thieves stealing Scrooge’s stuff. His fiancee Belle is nowhere to be seen. The tone is pretty cheerful given the subject matter. However, within those odd parameters it works. When I was a kid it was shown on television almost as much as It’s A Wonderful Life.
Sunday Night
Disney’s A Christmas Carol
Am I weird?? I adore this version, but many people seem to dislike it. I’m not really a Jim Carrey guy, but utilizing his unique talents to portray multiple characters in an animated film is perfect. I’m also a big fan of motion capture, which isn’t necessarily a consensus opinion. It might be one of the most faithful adaptations of the book, which seems to be more important to me than the average moviegoer. Are some of the special effects a bit over-the-top?? Yes, but I’m okay with that. The tone is dark, but anyone complaining about that hasn’t read Dickens’ story. We’ve been conditioned thru the years to accept diluted stories that borrow the broad strokes of Dickens but reduce the impact for various reasons. Director Robert Zemeckis mostly avoids those pitfalls in this case, so kudos to him for that.
Thanksgiving is drawing near, so it feels like the perfect time to give some love to John Candy. I first encountered Candy on SCTV, a Canadian alternative to Saturday Night Live presented as a fictitious television network with all sorts of wacky content. It aired after The Tonight Show on Friday nights here in The States for a few years in the early 80s and launched the careers of Eugene Levy, Harold Ramis, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Rick Moranis, and Candy. Even while that show was still goingCandy had small but memorably amusing roles in films like The Blues Brothers, Stripes, & National Lampoon’s Vacation. Unfortunately Hollywood’s obsession with tall, dark, & handsome (and thin) precluded him from becoming a classic leading man, but he left behind a solid and very funny filmography that I’m happy to explore.
Friday Night
Uncle Buck
It’s probably the first movie you think of when someone mentions John Candy, which is appropriate since he almost singlehandedly carries the whole thing as unkempt & unemployed Buck Russell, a middle aged, feckless, cigar smoking ne’er-do-well who spends most of his days drinking and betting on horse races. He is called upon to babysit his brother & sister-in-law’s three children while the parents tend to a family emergency. It is a unique amalgamation of the buddy comedy & fish-out-of-water formulas because Buck is definitely out of his depth. The two little kids (portrayed by Gaby Hoffman & MacCauley Culkin just one year before he stumbled into superstardom) think their uncle is weird, but get along with him just fine. Conversely, their teenage sister is in a rebellious phase and clashes with him. Hilarity ensues. My definition of a good movie has always focused on whether or not we still enjoy watching it decades later on a lazy vegg day spent on the couch, and Uncle Buck definitely qualifies. It is quintessential John Hughes and classic John Candy.
Saturday Matinee
Only the Lonely
If you haven’t seen it you really should. Writer/producer/director Chris Columbus is essentially John Hughes 2.0, having been responsible in one way or another for classics like The Goonies, Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, two Harry Potter films, and Christmas with the Kranks. Columbus wrote & directed this dramedy about a middle-aged Chicago cop whose relationship with a shy funeral home beautician is complicated by his domineering mother. The cast, which includes Candy, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Quinn, and Jim Belushi, is delightful, but it’s the inclusion of screen legend Maureen O’Hara that gives the movie gravitas. O’Hara, best remembered as the mother in Miracle on 34th Street and for co-starring in several John Wayne westerns, had been retired for two decades and living in The Virgin Islands, but Columbus successfully wooed her back to Hollywood for one final big screen role.
Saturday Night
Planes, Trains, & Automobiles
Soon enough many of us will spend much of our downtime consuming Christmas movies that we’ve all seen a thousand times, which is perfectly valid. Hell, a lot of you might’ve already started your holiday film binge last month. At any rate, as much as I love Christmas I always lament the fact that Thanksgiving tends to get the shaft in the process. However, there are a few Thanksgiving-centric entertainments, and this is the best among them in my opinion. Weather & other catastrophes wreak havoc on a Chicago ad exec’s efforts to make it home from New York in time for Turkey Day, but his chief annoyance is a well-meaning yet irritating salesman making the same trek. Written, produced, and directed by John Hughes, it has become an important part of my holiday tradition. I usually watch it the night before Thanksgiving, or perhaps on the actual holiday if circumstances allow. There have been rumors of a remake in recent years, and I get it, but I hope it is done respectfully, as an homage or even an unofficial sequel using the same framework with different characters. Perhaps they could even throw in a Steve Martin cameo.
Sunday Matinee
Summer Rental
A stressed out Atlanta air traffic controller is forced to take some time off, so he treats his family to an extended vacation in a popular Florida resort town. Unfortunately the trip isn’t as relaxing as he’d prefer, as a number of things go awry. This was John Candy’s first starring role, and the cast includes Rip Torn in a kind of beta version of the character he’d play in Dodgeball two decades later. The movie itself is reminiscent of a discount rendition of National Lampoon’s Vacation, which had been released a couple of years earlier. There’s a dash of Caddyshack tossed into the mix as well. It’s not a great film, but Candy’s affable charm makes it fun.
Sunday Night
The Great Outdoors
I guess one vacation-from-hell movie wasn’t enough, so a few years later Candy teamed up with Dan Aykroyd for another one, written by the incomparable John Hughes. Candy once again takes his family on vacation, this time to a quiet cabin in the woods of Wisconsin. When his affluent, snooty brother-in-law crashes the party hilarity ensues. This is probably a better film than Summer Rental simply because of the addition of Aykroyd and the script by Hughes. There has been talk of a reboot and/or sequel in recent years, although I don’t know how the latter would work without Candy. I suppose it’ll happen eventually. Not even great movies are sacred in Hollywood, and truthfully this isn’t a great movie.
Could our next weekend marathon BE any more obvious?? I don’t often comment on the passing of a celebrity except for the RIP tribute of the annual Sammy Awards. However, there have been exceptions in the past, and so there shall be once again.
When Friends premiered on NBC in 1994 I was a 21 year old college student. The show became a touchstone for Generation X, and despite some people in our current society determined to ruin literally everything fun who now define it as “problematic”, it is undoubtedly one of the best sitcoms of all time. The popularity of Friends made pop culture icons of the six cast members, who all went on to have mostly inconsequential film careers afterward. Having said that, there have been a few highlights, and in the wake of the tragic & untimely demise of Matthew Perry I feel that it is appropriate to give some love to his much too brief big screen library.
Friday Night
The Whole Nine Yards
In its decade of dominance Friends led to some odd combos…Aniston & Pitt, Cox & Arquette, Joey Tribbiani & spinoffs. However, I’m not sure anything could be more unexpectedly delightful than Bruce Willis starring in an action comedy with Matthew Perry. An unhappy dentist has an opportunity to solve his financial problems by ratting out an incognito mobster. There are lots of bullets & violence so it’s not your traditional rom-com, but in the nimble hands of Perry & Willis it is actually a pretty fun ride.
Saturday Matinee
Three to Tango
Courtney Cox isn’t the only Friends star to share the silver screen with Neve Campbell. Perry portrays an architect who stands to solidify his career & make bank working for a business tycoon who mistakenly believes he is gay. Not only is he straight, but he instantly falls for the wealthy man’s girlfriend. As is standard for that kind of plot confusion, dishonesty, & misunderstandings all lead to a big reveal and an obvious conclusion. There’s no way such a film would be produced nowadays, and even in the late 90’s it received a lukewarm response, but the cast is affable enough.
Saturday Night
Fools Rush In
I don’t care that Rotten Tomatoes only gives it a 34% Rotten score, I’ve always liked this movie. After an impromptu hookup between a spunky Latino photographer & a tightly wound businessman leads to a surprise pregnancy the duo decide to actually become romantically involved. Cultures clash, families insert themselves into the mess, and hilarity ensues. It is a pleasantly charming distraction with engaging leads, a terrific Vegas backdrop, and a deceptively strong supporting cast.
Sunday Matinee
17 Again
Formulaic?? Obviously. The whole trope of magically transforming into one’s younger self, having the opportunity to go back in time and fix past mistakes, has been done multiple times. However, I submit that formulas become so for a reason…they work. Some stories do it better than others, but the idea addresses a fundamental human yearning for a do over, which of course isn’t a thing in the real world. Anyhow, a likable cast that includes Perry, Zac Ephron, & Leslie Mann gives us something mildly entertaining yet ultimately forgettable.
Sunday Night
The Whole Ten Yards
When The Whole Nine Yards made $100 million+ a sequel became inevitable. A few years later an angry mob boss whose son was killed by the mobster in the first film is out for revenge. More bullets & violence follow, but it’s not as fresh & fun as the first film. Hindsight being 20/20, this is one sequel that probably shouldn’t have been greenlit, however fans of Bruce Willis & Matthew Perry will enjoy it.
Can y’all believe it’s been nearly a year since we’ve done a Weekend Movie Marathon?!?!?? I won’t make excuses, except to say that I’ve been in one of my infamous funks for quite awhile and have been a neglectful steward of this site. At any rate, poet Robert Frost famously opined that “the best way out is thru”, so that’s what we’re going to do, and I can think of no better way to accomplish the goal than to discuss one of my favorite actors of all time.
Jimmy Stewart hailed from Indiana, PA, which is about 45 miles north of Pittsburgh, which in turn is just a couple of hours from my home in northcentral West Virginia. There is actually a Jimmy Stewart Museum in Indiana that I’d love to visit but likely never will for various reasons. At any rate, I’ve been a big Stewart fan since I was a teenager, an obsession that probably began with my affection for all things Christmas related. That being said, we’re not discussing THAT movie today. Stewart starred in about eighty films during a career that spanned nearly six decades, and he did a little bit of everything…comedy, suspense, westerns, biopics, rom-coms. He was a versatile performer whose charm & humanity made him feel…accessible, not like an aloof movie star who’d likely scoff at you if you dared to say hello. He’s the only actor, strictly speaking, in my Hall of Influence, since I perceive Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra as singers who happened to do movies occasionally. What is presented here doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of Jimmy Stewart’s legendary career, but it showcases what I appreciate about him within the parameters of my particular entertainment palate.
Friday Night
The Philadelphia Story
It’s hard to imagine that Stewart only won one Academy Award. He was nominated five times, but took home the statue for Best Actor in 1941, overcoming competition from his good friend Henry Fonda, Charlie Chaplin, and Laurence Olivier. The Philadelphia Story is a romantic comedy in which he stars as a reporter covering the big wedding of a socialite (portrayed by Katherine Hepburn), which is complicated by the presence of her ex-husband (portrayed by Cary Grant). The film has a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and illustrates Stewart’s ability to represent the “regular guy” while standing shoulder-to-shoulder with more glamorous colleagues.
Saturday Matinee
The Greatest Show on Earth
It’s an odd film and probably one of Stewart’s most under-the-radar performances. Four years before director Cecil B. DeMille gave us Charlton Heston as Moses in Biblical epic The Ten Commandments he & Heston teamed up for an ostentatious ode to the circus, which even as recently as my childhood was a significant piece of the American entertainment zeitgeist. Stewart has a supporting role as Buttons, a mysterious clown with a secret who no one has ever seen without makeup. The movie was a controversial winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture, beating out High Noon & Singin’ in the Rain (which wasn’t even nominated).
Saturday Night
Rear Window
Stewart collaborated with director Alfred Hitchcock on four movies and this one is my favorite. I appreciate restraint & minimalism, and there’s no better example than a film that mostly takes place thru the eyes of a man in a wheelchair confined to his own apartment (a circumstance to which I can relate…IYKYK). Jeff Jefferies is a renowned photographer recovering from a broken leg. Since this was decades before The Internet & social media his only human interaction is with girlfriend Lisa (portrayed by the future ill-fated Princess Grace of Monaco) and home health nurse Stella (you may remember the actress from a key scene in Miracle on 34th St.). Fortunately (or not 👀) Jeff lives in a courtyard apartment and spends his convalescence scrutinizing neighbors that he apparently doesn’t know at all, giving them nicknames like Miss Lonelyhearts & Miss Hearing Aid. The plot thickens when he becomes convinced that a man across the yard murdered his wife, with Lisa & Stella getting roped into helping him investigate.
Sunday Matinee
The Glenn Miller Story
Glenn Miller was a successful big band leader in the 1930s & 40s whose life was cut tragically short. Jimmy Stewart just happened to be a Miller doppelgänger, so he was an obvious choice to portray the music man in a 1954 biopic. It’s an entertaining flick with great supporting performances from June Allyson & Harry Morgan (15 years before he’d become a TV star on Dragnet & two decades prior to starring in MASH) and cameos from many real life musicians, including Louis Armstrong. I was probably a teenager the first time I watched The Glenn Miller Story, and it began a lifelong appreciation of big band music.
Sunday Night
Harvey
Harvey is a unique film. Actually, it began as a Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway play which has had multiple revivals. Stewart portrays Elwood P. Dowd, an eccentric middle-aged man who is known to imbibe adult beverages with some regularity. Elwood’s quirkiness is quite singular because he claims his best buddy is a six foot tall rabbit, which concerns the man’s spinster sister tremendously. She decides to have her brother committed to the nuthouse and slapstick hilarity ensues. Actress Josephine Hull won both the Golden Globe & Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, while Stewart was nominated for Best Actor at both shows but won neither.
Not long ago I was channel surfing on a particularly boring Saturday night and was quite pleased to happen upon Field of Dreams just as it was beginning. Sometimes I wish life was a little more exciting, but mostly I’ve come to embrace solitude & the banality of my existence. I am so thankful that I enjoy movies, music, & books. I might not ever travel the world or achieve greatness on any level, but I have the ability to amuse myself and mostly avoid drama & meaningless turmoil. There’s something to be said for contentment & simplicity.
At any rate, I was 16 years old when Field of Dreams first hit theaters, and thru the years it has become one of my favorite movies. An uneventful July weekend is the perfect time to watch, and I realized something during my most recent viewing: the way I understand it at 49 years of age has evolved compared to how I saw it three decades ago. That seems like a pretty obvious conclusion, but I had not previously pondered the idea, and a few things dawned on me.
First, there’s a scene near the beginning when Ray Kinsella is plowing a large portion of his cornfield to build the baseball field, and several of his neighbors watch in astonishment, calling him a damn fool for what he is doing. Not long afterward his brother-in-law, who is some sort of financier or bank official, warns Ray that he’s going to lose his farm. Now, I still fully embrace the whimsy of Field of Dreams, but I also see the perspective of the naysayers & pragmatists who think Ray Kinsella is crazy, because he is indeed absolutely nuts. Idealism doesn’t pay the bills…something that a teenager doesn’t get, but a more season adult certainly does.
Secondly, let’s talk about Annie, Ray’s wife. Any man would be fortunate to have such a wife. My loneliness hadn’t bothered me until the past few years, but now I deeply regret not being married or having children. One of the ways I soothe myself on the matter is to look at a lot of young/youngish women (let’s say 20-something to 40-something) these days and realize that I may have dodged a bullet. I love & respect the ladies, but let’s just say they don’t make ‘em like they used to and leave it at that. Of course, while I stand by my assessment, I also realize it is a rationalization…a coping mechanism. There are Annies out there. Tough & strong-willed. Supportive. Honest without being harsh. Understanding. Willing to sacrifice, but also not afraid to put her foot down. Smart. Practical, but open to a little eccentricity. I just never found my Annie, or more accurately, haven’t been good enough for one to choose me.
There’s another scene, set at a school board meeting, that seems a lot more true to life than I previously realized. I don’t have kids and haven’t attended many school board meetings, but I keep up with current events. While book burning is the issue in Field of Dreams, such gatherings are more likely to erupt while debating things like Covid protocols, identity politics, student safety, or sexual impropriety nowadays. Same idea though. It’s funny how Annie is portrayed as an open minded, free spirited, literature loving liberal while the school board & all the uptight parents in the audience are painted as “Nazis”. I guess even one of my favorite films isn’t immune to Hollywood indoctrination. I never noticed that thirty years ago.
One thing I understand less now than I did back in the 80’s is Kinsella’s relationship with his Dad. He is 36 years old & afraid he’s turning into his father. What does that mean?? Why is it an issue?? My Dad & I have a really good relationship. Neither of us are perfect, but no one is, right?? I can think of alot worse things than turning into my father. In many ways I already have. Okay, okay…I get it to a degree. Though it’s not stated outright, Ray Kinsella feels like his father never did anything significant with his life. The old guy just worked, paid bills, and died. Building the baseball field is Ray’s way of making his mark…making an impact that he feels his father didn’t. I probably felt the same way when I was younger, but now a) I’ve led an even less impactful life than my father so I’m in no position to criticize, and b) Kinsella Sr. worked hard & raised his son, and I appreciate that contribution. If Ray had never built the baseball field – if all he ever achieved was being a good husband, father, & farmer – then that’d be a good life. Not everyone will live lives of prominence, grandeur, & prosperity, and that’s okay.
On a more shallow level…..
According to my research the price of gasoline in 1989 was $1.06/gallon, which explains why the already financially strapped Kinsella doesn’t hesitate to drive from Iowa to Boston to Minnesota and back to Iowa. There’s no way anyone would do that nowadays.
By far my favorite portion of the movie are the scenes involving Moonlight Graham. Not only is time travel cool, but it’s not something you’d expect to see in an alleged sports film. I couldn’t name another Burt Lancaster performance if my life depended on it, but he is fantastic in Field of Dreams (it was his final big screen role). This part of the movie briefly touches on the infamous butterfly effect, posing the question “What would’ve happened if Moonlight had gotten a hit in his one big league game??”. Perhaps he would never have become a doctor, which would have changed the lives of countless people. I’m a sucker for philosophical ponderings like that.
One of the things that I’ve always said about Field of Dreams is that it isn’t so much about baseball as it is a metaphor about regret, redemption, family, & the true meaning of happiness. And now I realize it’s also a story about having a mid-life crisis, but instead of buying a sports car or having sex with a 20 year old Ray Kinsella allows a mysterious voice to persuade him to build a baseball field & bring the ghosts of dead ball players back to play so at the end of the day he can introduce his Dad to his wife & daughter, which is actually a smarter choice than the car or the side chick.
The first thing we need to do is define a few terms. First, a movie director “controls a film’s artistic & dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay while guiding actors & the crew in the fulfilment of that vision”. A cinematographer or director of photography (the two terms are interchangeable) is “the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video, or other live action piece and is chief of the camera & light crew working on such projects, responsible for making artistic & technical decisions and for selecting cameras, film, lenses, filters, etc”. Today’s subject has achieved success doing both jobs, having a hand in creating some very memorable films.
Friday Night
All the Right Moves
When you look at de Bont’s filmography you see that one of the earliest movies he worked on that you’ve actually heard of is this overlooked 1983 gem about high school football in the kind of small, economically depressed town that many people are either trapped in or dream of escaping (oftentimes both). You may have wondered why we didn’t include it in the Tom Cruiseweekend marathon since it might be one of his best performances, and now you know. Several years ago I ranked it as my 6th Favorite Sports Film, and, while my appreciation for Rebecca DeMornay on the El train in Risky Business has been duly noted I must opine that there is a scene in this movie with the lovely Leah Thompson that pre-pubescent Me liked even better.
Saturday Matinee
Basic Instinct
I’m sensing a theme. Okay, I’m lonely…sue me. Basic Instinct is one of those “so bad it’s good” kind of things, like Cabbage Patch Dolls, the 1960’s Batman TV show, or disco. It made Sharon Stone a star, and was the sixth highest grossing film of 1992, besting more deserving fare like Aladdin, A League of Their Own, White Men Can’t Jump, My Cousin Vinny, & Father of the Bride. Sex sells & life isn’t fair. Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Ellen Barkin, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathleen Turner, & Geena Davis all turned down the role that eventually went to Stone. Perhaps they didn’t want the world to see their cooter. As the cinematographer I guess we have Jan de Bont to thank for that famous scene.
Saturday Night
Die Hard
One of the best Christmas movies of all time!! Okay okay…I couldn’t resist. I feel like I have praised it effusively thru the years, and I’m quite sure that most have an understanding of the plot & other factoids. Whether or not you agree with my assessment of Die Hard as a holiday classic I think we can all agree that it’s one of the best action films of all time, highly regarded as a genre altering work of art.
Sunday Matinee
Twister
After achieving success in the 1980s & early 90s as a cinematographer de Bont moved into the director’s chair and hit a couple of early home runs. I’m not usually into disaster flicks, but there’s something about Twister that suckers me in every time it’s on television almost three decades later. Perhaps it’s the cast…Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, Jami Gertz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck. Not big movie stars individually, but an ensemble of good, charming actors. You may be surprised to learn that Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, & James Cameron were all in the running to direct, but somehow de Bont jumped the line. I’d love to know more details about how that happened.
Sunday Night
Speed
Although I’m sure there’s more to the story, one of the reasons de Bont landed the Twister gig was that his directorial debut was such a rousing success, and he got the chance to direct Speed because the director of Die Hard recommended him. John McTiernan didn’t want to do something that he perceived as too similar to Die Hard, so he passed & suggested de Bont. I believe Shakespeare referred to such situations as the slings & arrows of outrageous fortune. Even more interesting, the lead role eventually played by Keanu Reeves was almost given to Stephen Baldwin, Tom Hanks, Wesley Snipes, Tom Cruise, or Woody Harrelson. Of those, I can only see Cruise as possibly being as good as Reeves ended up being. As for the role that made Sandra Bullock a household name, she was almost portrayed by Halle Berry, Meryl Streep, Kim Basinger, or Ellen DeGeneres. Wow…could you imagine a world in which Speed had made Ellen a movie star while Bullock’s career stalled after Demolition Man?!?!?? And speaking of stalled (to put it kindly), the sequel Speed 2 didn’t seem to affect Bullock & Reeves didn’t even participate, but de Bont has only directed two movies in the ensuing 25 years and most fans wouldn’t be able to name them if their life depended on it. Speed 2 is widely regarded as the worst sequel of all time, but that shouldn’t tarnish one’s regard for the original.
In anticipation of Top Gun: Maverick coming soon to a theater near you it seems appropriate to enjoy a Weekend Movie Marathon featuring one of the biggest box office draws of my youth in the 1980s. To opine that Tom Cruise in “real life” seems a bit enigmatic would be an understatement, but I have become pretty good at separating the person from the entertainer, and one cannot deny that he is the textbook definition of a movie star (whether one considers that positive or negative is a matter of personal preference). Perusing Cruise’s filmography of over fifty movies I can confidently say that there are atleast a dozen that I have enjoyed on some level, and as many that aren’t my cup o’ tea but are generally considered pretty good by the masses. That’s a batting average any baseball player would envy. So, while my taste may not align with yours, I believe what is presented here would be a rather entertaining weekend for most.
Friday Night
Risky Business
Imagine the pitch…”high school kid runs a brothel out of his house while his parents are away on vacation”. I feel like that would’ve only been greenlit in the 80s. Cruise had been a supporting player in a few notable films (Taps, Losin’ It, The Outsiders), but this was the movie that made him a star. The iconic scene when he makes us all reminisce about the days of old with Bob Seger’s Old Time Rock n’ Roll is still parodied four decades later, and I’d sacrifice a limb to ride the El train with Rebecca DeMornay (that scene is seared into the memory of many men my age). Risky Business was the eighth highest grossing film of 1983 (behind Return of the Jedi & Trading Places but ahead of National Lampoon’s Vacation & ET: The Extra-Terrestrial), and it has a 92% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In other words, it appeals on some level to nearly everyone.
Saturday Matinee
Rock of Ages
Large ensemble casts are tricky. While most films tend to provide a spotlight for one or occasionally two big stars, every once in awhile a movie will come along with such a stacked lineup of well known performers that we’re immediately intrigued before we even step into the theater, but that doesn’t guarantee quality. Rock of Ages was actually a Broadway play that premiered in 2005 before being adapted for the big screen seven years later. Is it a good movie?? Not really. The cast includes Dancing with the Stars alum Julianne Hough, goofball Russell Brand, highly underrated Paul Giamatti, lovely Catherine Zeta-Jones, 90s hip-hop legend Mary J. Blige, controversial Alec Baldwin, SNL alum Will Forte, Bryan Cranston before he became famous, and of course our guy Tom Cruise, none of whom, despite being an intriguing potpourri of actors, would prompt me to watch. No, for me it’s the music…covers of a plethora of 80s hits from the likes of Journey, Foreigner, Guns N’ Roses, Bon Jovi, REO Speedwagon, and many more. The plot is dumb & the performances are cheesy, but that’s not even important. Aside from the music the best part of Rock of Ages is Cruise’s scene chewing Axl Rose/Jim Morrison cosplay. If you love 80s music you won’t hate this movie.
Saturday Night
Top Gun
Well, it is the reason we’re here, right?? It remains to be seen if making a sequel more than three decades later was a wise decision, but the original is inarguably legendary. Somewhere on this site I believe I once called Top Gun an 80s time capsule movie, and I stand by that assessment. I recently watched it again for the first time in many years, and was still entertained.
Sunday Matinee
The Firm
The book is better, as is usually the case. However, an adaptation starring the likes of Cruise, Gene Hackman, Holly Hunter, Ed Harris, & Hal Holbrook stands pretty good on its own merits (plus, where else have we ever seen Wilford Brimley & Gary Busey in the same place??). I seem to recall that there was a bit of controversy because the ending of the film differs from that of the book. I usually get pretty riled up about such things, but in this case I am willing to overlook it.
Sunday Night
Cocktail
I feel like Cocktail is vastly underappreciated. The love story is pretty formulaic, but that’s not a deal breaker. There’s a fun supporting performance from Aussie Brian Brown (who is rather amusing in Along Came Polly as well), and Elisabeth Shue as Cruise’s love interest is at peak loveliness. “Flair bartending” is the term for what you see in the film, and I guess it’s a real thing. I don’t know…I don’t get out much. At any rate, Cocktail is a really interesting story for a couple of reasons. It won the 1988 Golden Raspberry for Worst Film, while that same year Rain Man (also starring Cruise) took home the Academy Award for Best Picture (there’s a reason that movie isn’t featured here). Also, while Rotten Tomatoes scores Cocktail at 7% (which, despite being atrocious, doesn’t even land it on the site’s list of 100 lowest rated films), it was the 9th highest grossing film of the year, ahead of great stuff like Beetlejuce, Scrooged, Bull Durham, and the aforementioned Oscar winning Rain Man. The dichotomy is fascinating & hard to explain. All I know is the cast is cool & the music (especially Kokomo by The Beach Boys) is delightful. Popcorn cinema doesn’t always need to be great.
“I’m retiring…probably. I have enough. I’ve done enough. I am enough.” That is what Jim Carrey said in a recent interview. Do I believe him?? Of course not. Much like boxers, pro wrestlers, & aging rock stars I don’t think actors ever really retire. They can always be coaxed into a “comeback” to enjoy the spotlight “one last time”. Carrey hasn’t been a hot commodity in Hollywood in several years, so I’m not sure anyone would notice if he really did quit altogether, but I feel quite confident in predicting that he’ll continue to make movies here & there. However, his “retirement” proclamation seems like a great excuse to enjoy a Weekend Movie Marathon, much like we’ve already done with Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman, and Ivan Reitman.
Friday Night
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
This stupid film is what made Jim Carrey a superstar. I say “stupid” with all due respect, because I have no problem with goofy, mindless, foolish entertainment that exists for no significant reason other than to make people laugh. No life lessons, no deep philosophies, no connection to real life whatsoever…just belly laughs, because laughter really is the best medicine. Since he never won a Super Bowl his supporting role in Ace Ventura may be Dan Marino’s greatest contribution to pop culture, and I’d love to shake the hand of the casting director who listened to Wild Thing & Funky Cold Medina and decided Tone Loc would make a good cop. Ace Ventura has a 49% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is expected. Actually, I’m surprised it’s that high given the austere disposition of most critics. Conversely, it was the 16th highest grossing film of 1994, making more money at the box office than Pulp Fiction & Tombstone amongst others. A sequel was released a year later, but the lightning had escaped the bottle.
Saturday Matinee
Man on the Moon
I’m all about biopics. I vaguely recall comedian Andy Kaufman from his supporting role on Taxi & his infamous altercation with pro wrestler Jerry “The King” Lawler on LateNight with David Letterman in 1982, and at first I thought Carrey was an odd choice to portray him in a movie. The strange thing is that Carrey’s casting turned out to be the best decision amongst a host of poor choices made by the filmmakers, including having the actual cast of Taxi appear as themselves in scenes set nearly two decades earlier. Carrey should’ve been nominated for an Oscar, but had to settle for a Golden Globe.
Saturday Night
The Truman Show
Reality TV was barely a thing in 1998, making The Truman Show seem quite prescient in hindsight. Carrey stars as a man whose entire life has been a reality show, only he has no idea. It’s a dramedy, which is my wheelhouse, and the performances are terrific. This was the first time that Carrey was robbed of an Academy Award nomination, although Ed Harris was nominated for Best Supporting Actor (he lost). There is a scene near the end of the film when the whole world seems to be glued to their televisions to see what will happen with Truman. When the show suddenly goes dark (if you’ve seen the movie you know why) crowds of people are shown in a brief moment of confusion before simply changing the channel, quickly moving on & resuming their lives. It’s a fleeting yet powerful moment that serves as accurately cynical commentary on our society.
Sunday Matinee
A Christmas Carol
I’ve written extensively about A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella that has been adapted into a decidedly mixed bag of films in the past century. In 2009 director Robert Zemeckis gifted us with a motion capture digital animated version of the story, with Carrey portraying multiple characters (Ebenezer Scrooge, The Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, & Yet to Come). Motion capture seems to be an oddly polarizing technology…some people love it, a lot of folks hate it. Personally, I’m a fan. I also respect movies that remain faithful to the book they’re based on, and this film is a remarkably authentic translation of Dickens’ tale, especially given the fact that it is animated. Critics & moviegoers had a tepid response, but it has become part of my annual Yuletide tradition.
Sunday Night
Liar Liar
This is Jim Carrey at his comedic plateau. Sure, he made Me, Myself, & Irene (not terrible by any means) & Bruce Almighty (you probably like it better than I do, although I don’t hate it) afterward, but certainly his roles started to lean toward the dramatic and/or the completely forgettable as a new century dawned. The premise…an attorney who is unable to lie for 24 hours…is inspired. How we get there is reminiscent of the 80’s Tom Hanks classic Big, but I’m willing to overlook the mystical contrivance since it leads to a comic showcase for Carrey’s unique skills, a more polished rendition of his Ace Ventura persona. Critics & audiences both gave Liar Liar two thumbs up, and it was the third highest grossing film of the year (Titanic was released right before Christmas 1997, so it was the box office champ of 1998…but with just a couple of weeks in theaters it was still the 7th highest grossing film of ‘97).
Let’s call it happenstance. My friend Greg has been trying to get a podcast up & running for awhile, but life keeps getting in the way. With football finished & The Sammy Awards in the rear view mirror I find myself in an all too familiar writing funk, and since it’s my therapy the melancholy compounds itself. But then Ivan Reitman died. Now, with all due respect & total sincerity, I am NOT saying that Reitman’s demise is in any way positive or good, however I do believe in making lemonade out of lemons, so when Greg contacted me with an idea to do an episode of the podcast dedicated to the departed director a couple of decisions were made. First of all, if I am going to intelligently opine I needed a refresher on Ivan Reitman’s work. Secondly, while I am not sure what path we may go down on the podcast, I had always planned on doing a Weekend Movie Marathon focusing on Reitman. So here we are.
Friday Night
No Strings Attached
Ivan Reitman isn’t a name I immediately associate with rom-coms, but he did direct this one about a decade ago. No Strings Attached stars Natalie Portman & Ashton Kutcher and should not be confused with Friends with Benefits, a similarly themed film starring Justin Timberlake & Mila Kunis that was released just six months later. Since Kutcher & Kunis are married I wonder if they’ve ever argued about which movie is better?? Personally I find both mildly pleasant, although critics like Friends with Benefits significantly more. Anyway, you know what you’re getting from the jump…two people who agree to a casual, non-romantic, purely physical relationship catch feelings. It’s nice to see an Academy Award winning actress like Portman have fun and not fall into the trap of thinking she has to stick with tedious, pensive, dramatic roles.
Saturday Matinee
Kindergarten Cop
At some point someone got the idea that action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger should transition into comedy. Perhaps it was Ivan Reitman since he directed three such efforts. To be honest Kindergarten Cop isn’t as much of a straight comedy as it is a lighthearted action drama that utilizes cute kids in supporting roles to make it seem less…actiony. The future Governator plays a cop who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher (hence the title) to apprehend a drug kingpin. There are some vaguely recognizable faces (Angela Bassett shows up as a stewardess just a year or two before she became well-known), and Penelope Ann Miller portrays the protagonist’s love interest. Whatever happened to Miller?? She should’ve been a huge movie star, but really hasn’t done anything notable since the early 90’s.
Saturday Night
Meatballs
One of Bill Murray’s earliest films, and the first of a few collaborations between he & Reitman. Teens at summer camp is a tried & true cinematic formula, and though Meatballs doesn’t really stand out from the crowd (it’s not particularly raunchy or even that hilarious), it is notable as a showcase for Murray’s comedic talents and solidifying the idea that his shtick could migrate from Saturday Night Live to the big screen.
Sunday Matinee
Draft Day
Kevin Costner is known for his sports-centric movies. Bull Durham. Field of Dreams. Tin Cup. American Flyers. For Love of the Game. I’m pretty sure Draft Day wouldn’t crack the Top 3 on that list, but if you’re one of those nerds whose eyes are glued to the television for three days every spring watching guys like Mel Kiper Jr., Todd McShay, & Rich Eisen break down the NFL’s Annual Selection Meeting then you appreciate this underrated gem. I just so happen to be one of those geeks. It’s kind of predictable & the romantic subplot is totally unnecessary, but a supporting cast that includes Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary, Sam Elliott, Chadwick Boseman, & Ellen Burstyn helps make it sufficiently entertaining.
Sunday Night
Twins
The Schwarzenegger comedy experiment came out of the gate strong. The plot involves 4ft.11, 150lb. Danny Devito & 6ft.2, 260lb. Schwarzenegger being long lost fraternal twins as a result of a genetics lab experiment. Of course that kind of amusing visual joke would typically make a funny SNL skit, while turning it into a feature film is tricky. Kudos to the actors & Reitman for pulling it off. Critics offered mixed reviews, but Joe Sixpack made Twins the 16th highest grossing movie of 1988, which isn’t too shabby in a year when the competition included classics like Coming to America, Good Morning Vietnam, Big, Die Hard, Moonstruck, Scrooged, Beetlejuice, & Bull Durham. A long rumored sequel (that waited so long Eddie Murphy’s role allegedly shifted to Tracey Morgan, which is like downgrading from Dom Perignon to Mad Dog 20/20) was set to get off the ground soon, but with Ivan Reitman’s departure from this mortal coil who knows what might happen. Perhaps his son Jason will take on the project.
Yes West Virginia, there is a Santa Claus…or atleast there used to be a long time ago. Saint Nicholas was a 4th century clergyman in Turkey. He is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, & unmarried people, and is well known for his practice of secret gift giving. That very real bishop gave rise to the legend of Santa Claus (aka Kris Kringle, Jolly Old Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Pere Noel, Sinter Klaas, et al). As a central figure in our modern celebration of Christmas he is not without controversy, but unlike some of my Christian brothers & sisters I take no issue with Santa’s role in our merriment. I choose to see him as a friend & servant of Christ, spreading joy, generosity, & good cheer thru his interactions with children of all ages. Pop culture has embraced Santa Claus for centuries, and he ranks right up there with characters like Sherlock Holmes & Dracula in the countless times & ways he has been portrayed. In pondering that very subject I began thinking about all of the great & not so great depictions of Santa thru the years, and decided to present…..
from the home office in Santa Claus, IN…..
The Superfluous 7 Best (And Worst) Fictional Santa Clauses:
7 Worst – Santa Claus (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer)
It is only thru the prism of adulthood that we begin to understand that this Santa is kind of an ass!! While it isn’t surprising that other reindeer bully Rudolph about his…physical deformity…we expect more from Santa, who essentially says the whole red nose thing might prevent Rudolph from making his sleigh team. But then the weather gets bad (as if snowstorms are rare at The North Pole 🤷🏻♂️) and, like so many of us flawed human beings, Santa suddenly warms up to Rudolph when he realizes that red nose just might be advantageous. In other words, Rudolph is disposable until Santa needs to use him, which is pretty disheartening.
Best – Santa Claus (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer)
For those of us of a certain age the Rankin-Bass stop-motion animated holiday specials produced in the 1960s & 70s are quintessential Christmas and represent a huge piece of our childhood. 1964’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was the first of those TV specials and is still shown annually a half century later. While Rudolph, Hermey the Elf, & Yukon Cornelius take center stage, The Jolly Old Elf is there as a supporting character, and, despite his questionable attitude, he is the first Santa many encounter on television as kids. He has the red suit, the full white beard, a deep booming voice, & the requisite “Ho Ho Ho!”.
6 Worst – Nick Claus (Fred Claus)
This one hurts because I freakin’ love Paul Giamatti. From his breakout role in Howard Stern’s Private Parts to the Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon to portraying quirky writer Harvey Pekar in American Splendor to my personal favorite Sideways (a critically acclaimed yet underrated gem), Giamatti quietly became one of the most undervalued actors in Hollywood about two decades ago. It’s not that Giamatti is miscast as Sadsack Santa because vaguely depressed is kind of his wheelhouse, it’s the fact that characterizing Santa that way simply doesn’t feel right. Fred Claus isn’t a good movie to begin with, despite the presence of Vince Vaughn, Giamatti, & Oscar winner Kevin Spacey, but a milquetoast Santa with family drama who gets bullied by a bitter efficiency expert (🤔🤷🏻♂️👀) isn’t the least bit amusing. To top it off, Santa is unable to deliver gifts on Christmas Eve due to a back injury, so it’s up to his slacker brother to get the job done. And I’m supposed to laugh??
Best – The Norelco Santa Claus
From 1961-89 it was an annual tradition for Norelco (a division of electronics conglomerate Philips) to hawk their electric razor with a commercial featuring Santa Claus. This Santa didn’t say anything, he just zoomed thru snow covered hills utilizing an electric shaver head as a sleigh while a voiceover detailed the latest razor on the market that you might want to gift Dad, Grandpa, or any other man on your list. The irony of a full-bearded Santa shilling for a razor never occurred to me back then, and now those commercials (thankfully available on YouTube) provide a healthy dose of nostalgia, which becomes a huge part of the Christmas experience as one grows older.
5 Worst – Higbee’s Santa (A Christmas Story)
“Find a job you enjoy doing and you will never work a day in your life” is a quote I’ve seen attributed to both Mark Twain & Confucius, but the truth is that the vast majority of adults hate their job. We have bills to pay & oftentimes families to support, so you do what you have to do. Nobody embodies this ethos more than the department store Santa in our favorite 1983 holiday classic. In his brief time on screen he moans about possibly having to work overtime, shows utter disdain for the children standing in line to see him, grows impatient with a very nervous Ralphie, and literally kicks the boy in the face. Far from the jolly, kindhearted, magical elf we think of Santa being, this version is just Joe Sixpack anxiously awaiting the end of his shift, probably so he can go home, smoke a bowl, watch some porn, and eat a bologna sandwich with mustard dripping all over his wifebeater.
Best – Kris Kringle (Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town)
I love a good origin story, and this is the best explanation of all things Santa. Another well done Rankin-Bass production, it shows how a baby named Claus is abandoned, then found & raised by a family of toymakers named Kringle. When he grows up Kris volunteers to deliver toys to children in nearby Sombertown, ruled by the malevolent Burgermeister Meisterburger. Kris meets & falls in love with schoolteacher Jessica, who eventually becomes Mrs. Claus. He is forced to go down chimneys & leave toys in stockings after Meisterburger orders a lockdown (must be a Democrat). Jessica asks the Winter Warlock for help in freeing an imprisoned Kris, and he does so by feeding magic corn to reindeer, enabling them to fly. While in hiding Kris grows a beard, marries Jessica, & builds a toy empire at The North Pole. He decides that he’ll deliver gifts on one special night each year…Christmas Eve. It’s quite neat to have questions surrounding the Santa mythos answered, and seeing him grow from a baby to a red haired young man to the white-haired old man in a red suit we all know & love is delightful.
4 Worst – Emo Santa (The Year Without a Santa Claus)
Men are infamous whiners when we fall ill, but this dude takes the cake. Voiced by the legendary Mickey Rooney, this Santa Claus just isn’t feeling the good vibes or appreciation that he expects, so he sends forth the decree that Christmas is cancelled. It is this sort of thing that makes a lot of religious folks dislike Santa, as if he has the ultimate authority to cancel Christmas. Hollywood notoriously avoids focusing on the true Reason for the Season, something I reluctantly made peace with long ago. However, to insinuate that Santa Claus is in charge of the entire holiday is a bit much. And really, the guy isn’t even physically sick. He’s desperately seeking validation & an ego boost, and perhaps suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder. He should ask himself for some Vitamin D pills or a Sunlight Therapy Lamp for Christmas.
Best – The Coca-Cola Santa Claus
Coca-Cola’s signature red & white colors sync perfectly with Santa Claus, right?? However, it wasn’t always that way. If you look at visual depictions of Santa from the early 20th century or before how he looks varies widely. Sometimes he’s tall & thin, other times (in tune with his role as the Jolly Old Elf) he is seen as…well, elf size. He might be wearing the long & flowing robes of a typical bishop, or even military gear. When Coke began using Santa in advertising campaigns in the 1930s they hired illustrator Haddon Sundblom to create a warm & friendly Santa with rosy cheeks, an amiable smile, & that twinkle in his eye. He appears as a full-grown man with an ample mid-section. Sunblom’s Santa became the standard, and his nostalgic drawings can still give one all the feels.
3 Worst – The Santas That Killed Grandma & Kissed Mommy
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (recorded in 1952 by 13 year old Jimmy Boyd) and Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer (recorded by Elmo & Patsy in 1979) are two of the most enduring novelty songs of the holiday season, and I can’t stand them. Despite the title of the song, the kid’s drunken grandmother didn’t technically get killed by reindeer. The lyrics even indicate that the corpse had “incriminating Claus marks on her back” and warns “they should never give a license to a man who drives a sleigh and plays with elves”. Santa should’ve been arrested for vehicular manslaughter!! The other song is only marginally better. No one dies, but a child seeing Mom play tonsil hockey with Santa is likely going to need therapy. He thinks Dad will get a good laugh out of his wife being a skank, but that’s probably way too optimistic.
Best – Scott Calvin (The Santa Clause Trilogy)
I love the origin story of The Santa Clause. Rather than having Santa be one guy who magically lives forever it is depicted as a role that one person takes over when the previous portrayer dies. It makes a lot of logical sense. Scott Calvin is just an Average Joe, a middle-aged divorced Dad navigating associated pitfalls like custody issues & the ex wife’s new boyfriend, all while working 9 to 5 as an executive for a toy manufacturer (convenient). The whole deal with Santa falling off the roof is a little weird, but we soon forget it once Scott & his young son Charlie are transported to The North Pole. When Scott fully embraces his new life and becomes ensconced in the ultimate dream job it is truly magical. It’s a very modern perspective on the Santa Claus mythology, but with just enough notes of enchantment to make it special.
2 Worst – Willie T. Soke (Bad Santa)
Y’all know how much I love Christmas movies. Whether it’s a Santa Claus story, wacky family hijinks, or one of the plethora of adaptations of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, I’m always ready to jump onboard the Holiday Film Train. That being said, while I realize there are folks who absolutely love this “modern classic” from 2003, I’m not one of them. Willie is another mall Santa, but he’s even worse than the guy from A Christmas Story because he & his “elf” sidekick are pulling a long con…working at the mall until right before Christmas, then cleaning out the safe. But wait, there’s more!! Not only is Santa Willie a thief, he’s also a drunken, foul mouthed nymphomaniac who has sex with women in the mall dressing room & parking lot. On top of all that he is befriended by a mentally challenged young boy who he proceeds to take advantage of throughout the film. I’m no prude, and enjoy the occasional dark comedy, but come on man…this movie makes Die Hard look like a rom-com. They actually produced a sequel about five years ago, and it’s less amusing than the original.
Best – St. Nick (A Visit from St. Nicholas)
Published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel newspaper in 1823, it wasn’t until almost fifteen years later that Clement Clark Moore claimed authorship. At the time Moore was a middle-aged professor at a New York City seminary. The poem is very descriptive and solidified the Santa Claus persona, creating the perception most everyone has of him to this day. The idea that he is “jolly”. He rides a flying sleigh pulled by eight reindeer (and he gives us their names!!). He arrives on Christmas Eve and comes down the chimney. The twinkling eyes, jiggly belly, white beard, & rosy cheeks. It’s a beautiful story, one that many parents read to their children on Christmas Eve. I have always opined that anything…books, music, film & TV, etc…that we are still enjoying decades after its initial release deserves respect, and in this case we’re talking about a poem & a vivid interpretation of Santa Claus that has stood the test of time for two centuries.
1 Worst – Billy Chapman (Silent Night Deadly Night)
When I was a teenager our church had an active & tightly knit youth group. We shared some awesome times, one of those being our annual Progressive Dinner during which we’d have appetizers at one house, salad at the next, then go to another place for an entree, and finally end up at the home of our youth leaders for dessert. We’d stay there quite late, eating junk food, playing cards, and watching movies (oh to be a teen again). On one of these delightful evenings we watched a slasher film in which a young boy witnesses his parents get carjacked & murdered by Santa Claus. Billy ends up in an orphanage, grows up with…issues (shocker)…and becomes a murderous Santa himself. Look, I know that there are people who love this kind of thing, but horror films have never been my cup o’ tea, and involving Santa in such craziness, while undeniably creative, just isn’t entertaining. Surprisingly enough the movie birthed four sequels, and I think they’re going to remake the original.
Best – Kris Kringle (Miracle on 34th Street)
The first Christmas movie I watch every year actually begins its story on Thanksgiving, at the Macy’s Parade in NY City. When the man originally hired by the department store to portray Santa Claus is found intoxicated, kindly old Kris Kringle is Johnny On-the-Spot and takes over the gig. Along the way he befriends his world weary boss, her precocious daughter, & a quixotic attorney who is sweet on the single Mom. After claiming to be the REAL Santa the good-natured old man finds himself in a looney bin then on trial. Edmund Gwenn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Kris Kringle, and of all the Santas ever seen on the big screen his is simply the best. He makes you want to believe that Santa Claus could actually be real.
The Manofesto 