Your Christmas Movies! Whatcha' Watchin' this Christmas season?

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by MrBarlow

A Chrstmas Story.

A timeless classic that never gets old ans still brings laughs and Darren McGavin bringing new words to the table when angry or fighting with the furnace. I'm sure we all want one present that we can associate with the film...a leg lamp that's Fra..Gee...Leh, a pink bunny rabbit outfit or something you can shoot your eye our with. A great film to watch in the morning while it's snowing outside

[MrBarlow]

A Christmas Story Christmas.

Ralphie now a adult with a family of his own and trying to be a successful writer, takes his family back to his childhood home after the death of his old man and meets up with his old friends and trying to show everyone what a great Christmas is but nothing seems to go right. A sequel that was done right but with a bit more drama and plenty of laughs, Ralphie had his bully and the street is being tormented by bullies that the kids plan the perfect revenge. Flick and Schwartz return with their triple dog dare game that encourages other adults to find their inner child. A good snowball fight that lands someone in hospital that shouldn't be comical but it is. Its not on the same par as its predecessor but still entertaining.

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[Stephen@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by MrBarlow

A Christmas Story Christmas.

Ralphie now a adult with a family of his own and trying to be a successful writer, takes his family back to his childhood home after the death of his old man and meets up with his old friends and trying to show everyone what a great Christmas is but nothing seems to go right. A sequel that was done right but with a bit more drama and plenty of laughs, Ralphie had his bully and the street is being tormented by bullies that the kids plan the perfect revenge. Flick and Schwartz return with their triple dog dare game that encourages other adults to find their inner child. A good snowball fight that lands someone in hospital that shouldn't be comical but it is. Its not on the same par as its predecessor but still entertaining.

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Watched this one last Christmas when it was released (has it really been a year already?! &#129763. It was pretty good. As good as Julie Haggerty is, I wish they had been able to coax Mellnda Dillon out of retirement to play Ralphie's mother again, especially as she passed away not long after it was released.

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by Stephen@Cult Labs

Watched this one last Christmas when it was released (has it really been a year already?! &#129763. It was pretty good. As good as Julie Haggerty is, I wish they had been able to coax Mellnda Dillon out of retirement to play Ralphie's mother again, especially as she passed away not long after it was released.

I agree, Julie Hagerty is a good actress but can't compare to Melinda Dillon who made the character memorable and comical.

[MrBarlow]

Scrooge. 1951.

Brian Desmond Hurst directs a fine cast, headed by Alastair Sim as the old miser who os visited by old friend Jacob Marley plaued by Michael Horden who tells Scrooge he will be vosited by three ghosts who will show him the past, present and future in order to help change his ways.

Strengths of this production include the opening out of events of the past into a linear narrative and George Cole plays young Scrooge and shows his career as a accountant to having his own business amd greed for money. The production quality is the same as in one of the contemporary Ealing classics. The film is full of sentiment without ever being sentimental, and Scrooge's character arc keeps you fully invested in the story. The supernatural aspects are kept to a minimum and are well handled in the classic tradition rather than being dated or cheesy.

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[MrBarlow]

Batman Returns. 1992.

Darker and more violent than the first movie, the sense of Gothic pathos reaches a new high. Michael Keaton returns as Bruce Wayne, he displayed the right balance of weirdo loner and cool crime fighter. Michelle Pfieffer is amazing as Sekina Kyle/Catwoman. DeVito is so convincing as the Penguin that his scenes become a little disturbing to watch. Christopher Walken, who is brilliant as the business tycoon Max Shreck who can manipulate those around him.

Tim Burton re-joins Keaton with Michael Gough as the loyal family butler and never steals the limelight even though the two bounce off each other with quick remarks that can cause a snigger or two especially with food and Bruce asking for antiseptic ointment then asking if he is in pain just after pulling out one of Catwoman's claws from his side. The make-up for Penguin is how you would expect from Burton, hideous and scary with dark piercing eyes, it does go well with the Gothic style scenery of Gotham City.

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[MrBarlow]

Black Christmas. 1974.

The simplicity of the production is what makes it so endearing. There are no overly bloody death sequences or unlikely, comic-book style events; the viewer is just presented with an unnerving tale which could easily have a strong basis in reality. Inventive camerawork and POV shots as well as a superlative use of lighting are the elements that combine to achieve the desired results. The claustrophobic environment of the sorority house, from where the vast majority of events occur, offers the perfect, vulnerable and unguarded location susceptible to intrusion and thus attributes to the continual foreboding atmosphere.

Bob Clark was not afraid to take time building both the story and characterisation as well as introduce the viewer to the aspects that he would use to build the suspense. Rhe aspects that he would use to build the suspense. This is prepared before plunging the viewer into a seemingly uncontrolled nightmare that one experiences along with the protagonists sorority sisters being tormented at first by a loud breather on the phone then murder.

Black Christmas' is also complimented wonderfully by strong acting performances from Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, John Saxon and a highly pleasant and amusing turn from Marian Waldman. Despite the tiny budget, this is a highly polished horror film that genuinely belongs among the elite of the genre of slashers.

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[MrBarlow]

Silent Night Deadly Night. 1984.

It isn't hard to see why this movie offended so many people. I mean, it's a slasher movie about Christmas and it actually has Santa as the killer. Jolly Old St. Nick ain't so jolly in this as it shows how a traumatic time can have a impact on someone and a Mother Superior using any means to torment a young boy. You can watch this over a few times and change about what was your favourite death scene, impalment on antlers, a sledge killing or a copper killing the wrong Santa. This isn't the best slasher out there but for some reason it ain't that boring either, low budget 80s film that still delivers on entertainment.

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[iank]

Kicked off my festive movie season last night by watching It's a Wonderful Knife on Shudder. A teenage girl, Winnie, and her brother are attacked on Xmas Eve by the masked killer stalking her small town who has already murdered her best friend. In the ensuing fight Winnie manages to kill the killer, who turns out to be a sleazy local real estate mogul (Justin Long), who's been trying to buy up half the town. But a year later Winnie's life seems to be going downhill - she's still not over the loss of her best friend, has failed to get into her dream college and her boyfriend has cheated on her and dumped her for another of her friends - and in a moment of self-pity she wishes she were never born... only to find herself instantly flung into a nightmare parallel reality where no one knows her, her brother is dead and her family fracturing, the killer is still killing and Long now owns almost the entire town and is even Mayor.

This fun 2023 festive slasher flick does for It's a Wonderful Life what Happy Death Day did for Groundhog Day. This has got mixed reviews but I had fun with it. It even has the same trope as Happy Death Day of a virtual stranger being the only one to believe the lead girl and becoming her main ally/confidante/potential romantic interest, only here it's a girl, Bernie, a lonely and isolated girl who's been outcast and declared a weirdo by her school for no particular reason. The relationship between the two girls gives the movie a bit more heart than I was expecting, even when I wasn't entirely sure I wasn't reading too much into it (I do see lesbians everywhere ) but, as it turned out, I wasn't. (There was just something about Winnie's utterly blase physical affection and Bernie's awkwardly nervous reaction to it that gave me a bit of a Sky and Lana vibe lol) and this carries the movie through some of its flaws (like the weird bit in the climax that out-of-nowhere implies Long has supernatural powers over the townsfolk). It's a feel good festive slasher lol and I enjoyed it for that. If it gets a Blu I will probably buy it.

[MrBarlow]

1Silent Night Deadly Night Part 2.

After his killing spree had ended, Billy who is now dead and his young brother Ricky goes on a killing spree. The film opens in a psychiatric hospital with Eric Freeman explaining the events of the first film from the bad Santa killing his parents then Billy flipping his lid and going on a massacre. The the next 30-40 mins is basically the main character doing the same with some really bad acting and quirky comments that you can only laugh at if not you will cry with the time wasted on watching this sequel.

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