since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny fucking Kaye

[cosmolinguist]

I have never seen It's a Wonderful Life.

Not once. Not even a little bit.

I have never seen A Christmas Story.

Not only that, but I don't know the whole plot and several quotes, as I do with It's a Wonderful Life.

This is the first year I have seen any version of A Christmas Carol other than Mickey's.*

I loved that one when I was very little, and when I later read Dickens's story and saw other film versions, I couldn't help but think That was the giant. That was Donald Duck.

As you surely know, gentle reader, I complain a lot about my family. But one thing I have always liked about them is that our traditional Christmas movie is not any of these. It's not A Miracle on 34th Street, which we have but make Mom watch by herself most of the time because no one else can stand it.

It's not White Christmas, which I have to watch by myself.

It's not Jingle All the Way or Home Alone or The Santa Clause, though it could be any of them as we own them all ... and The Santa Clause 2, which my parents like better than the original.

It's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

I know that one by heart. Not only that, but when I watched it in college I realized (to my amazement and amusement) that I also know exactly which comments my parents will make at which points in the movie. Watching it without them makes me lonely; I'm missing out on some vital part of the experience.

Dad will say that surely you'd check the lights to make sure they were plugged in. Mom will say that the turkey would never look perfectly golden brown if it was really so overcooked. They'll point out that you don't put staples in the shingles like that.

They're weird but they're mine and I love them.

---

* The Alistair Sim one, with my dad. That was fun.

Comments

[davmoo.livejournal.com]

The Ultimate and Perfect Christmas Movie, as I have pointed out before, is A Charlie Brown Christmas. Anyone who says otherwise is obviously an unwashed pagan, and their opinion does not count.

As for A Christmas Carol, you should check out the version staring Patrick Stewart (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0216621/). He is an amazing actor with many good works beyond his Star Trek appearances.

[stealthmunchkin.livejournal.com]

Patrick Stewart is great, and he's a Transmetropolitan fan which means he can do no wrong with me, but Alistair Sim is the *only* person who should ever be allowed to play Scrooge.

[dragonfly1867.livejournal.com]

I am sort of obligated to watch A Christmas Story every year, since it was filmed in my city. Although I haven't actually watched it yet this year. There's still time--I think they do a marathon of 24 hours of the movie on Christmas day.

[morphogenesis.livejournal.com]

Actually, A Christmas Story is more or less adapted from a chapter or two of Jean Shepard's In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash. The movie is well done and true to the book, but I'm not convinced it's the funniest chapter in the book; Leonard Doppler and the Great Orpheum Gravy Boat Riot and Hairy Gertz and the Forty-Seven Crappies are just as good.

[bernmarx.livejournal.com]

Cliff's Notes versions of the first two:
http://www.angryalien.com/1204/wonderful_lifebuns.asp
http://www.starz.com/features/christmasstory/

merry christmas movie house!!!

[iblis-kukl.livejournal.com]

[stealthmunchkin.livejournal.com]

I'll force you to watch It's A Wonderful Life when you're back over here. It's a lot darker and nastier and generally great than you'd think from its image in popular culture. And it's Lister's favourite film in Red Dwarf...