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| billyweeds |
 Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 7:31 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Starting the holiday season in the usual and best possible way, by popping Miracle on 34th Street into the DVD player. The film begins on Thanksgiving Day and ends on Christmas, and it totally nails the holiday spirit in a way no other movie ever has. This is of course the 1947 version and only the non-colorized edition. Miracle is the best Christmas movie ever, IMO so far outstripping the oversold It's a Wonderful Life that there is absolutely no contest, and even better than its sole competitor, the 1951 Alastair Sim A Christmas Carol.
Directed brilliantly by George Seaton from a beautiful story by Valentine Davies, featuring a great Oscarwinning performance by Edmund Gwenn, stunning support from Natalie Wood, Porter Hall, Gene Lockhart, and the star-making cameo by Thelma Ritter, and charming work from Maureen O'Hara and John Payne as the romantic leads, this is a true and timeless masterpiece.
I roar with laughter, I cheer as though I'm at a baseball game, and OMG do I cry (with joy, of course)!
Avoid all remakes. The best they can do is try to replicate the greatness of this movie. The 1947 black-and-white version is the only way to travel. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 12:44 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Although it isn't my #1 holiday movie. I agree that "Miracle" is up there among the top five. I never understood the appeal of "It's a Wonderful Life" (and I know people who consider it downright depressing). It's actually a pretty good flick until Clarence shows up, though. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 1:02 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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I agree about Wonderful Life being depressing. A man giving up his dreams and sacrificing everything for others....all made worthwhile because everyone appreciates him in the end.....
I bought Home for the Holidays to start my holiday engine running...
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 1:42 pm |
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| I would have been around seven at the time i saw It's A Wonderful Life. It was shown at our Friday night theatre and my friends and I loved it. For us it was a serious drama with a happy ending. I've seen it a few times since then of course, and it holds up very well. I actually saw Miracle on 34th Street in NYC. I think it was at the Rockefeller Movie theatre. Around the same age when I saw IAWL. I liked it a lot, but I still like IAWL more. Mo34th wasn't serious like WL was and serious movies and hilarious movies are usually my favourites. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 1:58 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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My friend who really hated IAWL felt that he'd never done anything that did anyone good, and had probably done some things that made things worse, so the movie made him feel that suicide was a reasonable option. His mother had handed him over to his aunt when he was a kid, because he was diabetic and had other health problems--he resented the fact that his mother hadn't aborted him in utero. Then he ended up having to take care of his mother, living on her Social Security when his health problems made it difficult to find a job. (He died of diabetic complications about ten years ago.) I definitely understood his attitude.
Personally, I love "Scrooged." Except for Carol Kane. She seems gratuitously mean.
P.S. A few days ago I saw "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" on TV--recalling that someone on this forum had mentioned that it was pretty good, though I'd forgotten it was a "Christmas Carol" plot. I wouldn't go out and buy the DVD, but I did enjoy it. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 3:36 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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Well my two favorite Christmas movies are The Apartment and The Lion in Winter. Because nothing says the holidays to me like an attempted suicide on Christmas Eve and a dysfunctional family tearing itself apart during a Christmas reunion.
But the B&W Miracle is wonderful. And I thought I was the only one on the planet who disliked Wonderful Life. But then I generally am at best bivalent about Capra. Glad I am not alone in that view. Especially to see it from billy whose love for Stewart matches or slightly exceeds my own. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 3:37 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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Bivalent? Damn you autocorrect!
I should clam up.... |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 3:47 pm |
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"P.S. A few days ago I saw "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" on TV--recalling that someone on this forum had mentioned that it was pretty good, though I'd forgotten it was a "Christmas Carol" plot. I wouldn't go out and buy the DVD, but I did enjoy it."
Car, I was the one who wrote that it was good. I also reviewed, that the first 20 minutes or so had me considering a walk-out, but then it got much better and I really liked it. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 5:24 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6948
Location: Black Hills
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| GOGP much fun. Hate IAWL. Android enforces terseness. Hhappy tgivng. Enjoy the bivalves. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 9:19 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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whiskeypriest wrote: Well my two favorite Christmas movies are The Apartment and The Lion in Winter.
I actually prefer The Apartment to Miracle on 34th Street, but I don't consider it a Christmas movie. It's more of a New Year's movie, since the money scene happens then. It's my favorite Billy Wilder film and features my two favorite perfs from both Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. They are both simply great, as is Fred MacMurray. What a movie!
Don't remotely like The Lion in Winter, especially the wildly overrated performance by Katharine Hepburn. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 9:34 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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I knew a guy whose favorite Christmas movie was Nashville. Now Nashville is one of my all-time favorite movies. But a Christmas movie it is not.
Once upon a time I would have put A Christmas Story at the top of my list. But I've seen it way too many times to enjoy it anymore, and TBS (is that the right station?) has ruined it by running it nonstop for twenty-four hours every year. No movie can really handle that much exposure.
Maybe Meet Me in St. Louis. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:03 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Agree that "A Christmas Story" is a lovely little movie that has been highly overexposed. There's even a Broadway musical now, and you can buy a leg lamp online. It's the kind of film that's best to find unexpectedly on your own, but that's probably no longer possible. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 7:21 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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| Yeah, I first ran into it completely by accident on cable mid-80's. Then realized that one scene a friend had told me about. I didn't realize it had become such "a thing." I've never seen the Dvd around, so haven't seen it in a long time. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 7:35 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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A Christmas Story has definitely been over-appreciated, but at least it's a movie worthy of the acclaim. I've never felt that It's a Wonderful Life was all that good, so I kinda sorta resent the cult status it's achieved. Life is too short to go ballistic over such a minor deal, but the fact that IAWL has eclipsed the (IMO) far superior Miracle on 34th Street as "go-to Christmas movie" is more than a little annoying to me.
The Apartment trumps them all, but as I say, that is IMO a New Year's movie. As such it's only remotely rivaled by When Harry Met Sally..., which means there is genuinely no competition. The Apartment (sorry, Gary) is simply a great, great film. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 12:40 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12893
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Miracle on 34th Street is probably my favorite Christmas movie and The Apartment for New Years. For Thanksgiving, it's probably Hannah and Her Sisters, though I'm fond of Pieces of April. |
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