General Discussion ***1st Annual(?) Very Merry HTF December Holiday Movie Challenge 2022*** (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

I know we've tried and failed to get one of these going in the past, but I'm feeling festive this year so I figured I'd give it another go.

1. Watch 12 Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanzaa/New Years/Winter themed films now through December 31, 2022 (use your own time zone to set the ending time). Each participant can decide for him or herself whether a movie meets their criteria or not.
2. Theatrically released films and short features count as 1 point each. Running times are irrelevant. TV specials (e.g. "A Charlie Christmas") also count as 1 point each. For episodic TV series, 2 hour-long episodes (e.g. "Northern Exposure") count as 1 point and 3 episodes of 30 minute-long episodes (e.g. "Dash & Lily") count as 1 point.
3. Two of the 12 films, et. al. must be new discoveries, movies you've never seen before. The point of this is to see those few movies you've always meant to see, but never got around to. Please specify new discoveries in your film list by making them bold, adding asterisks, different colors, etc.
4. Come here and talk about 'em.
5. At the end of the challenge, the totals will be added up based on the point system outlined in number 2 above.

Anybody else interested?

 

[Robert Crawford]

I’m out after participating in challenges the previous two months.

 

[Malcolm R]

I know I'll be watching a few even without a challenge, so I'll set a placeholder.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Green - Physical Media
Red - Streaming
Black - Theatrical
Pink - Cable/Broadcast Television

Bold = First Time Viewing

Ratings - Out of a possible 4

2022 Summary (as of 12/22/22)​

#​	Date Watched​	Title	Year Released​	First Ever Viewing?​	Rating​	Points​
01​	12/02/2022​	The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special	2022​	Yes​	2​	1.000​
02​	12/10/2022​	Father Christmas is Back	2021​	Yes​	1​	1.000​
03	12/17/2022​	Little Women	2019​	No​	4​	1.000​
04​	12/22/2022​	The Noel Diary	2022​	Yes​	3​	1.000​
05​	12/24/2022​	The Holiday	2006​	Yes​	3​	1.000​
06​	12/25/2022​	Spirited	2022​	Yes​	3​	1.000​
07​	12/25/2022​	A Charlie Brown Christmas	1965​	No​	4​	1.000​

 

[Wayne_j]

Would a 45 minute musical version of A Christmas Carol that was filmed on stage a year ago and just released on youtube count?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

(See my 2022 Summary for information on color coding and rating categories)

01) 12/02/2022 The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)

When Kraglin shares with Drax and Mantis the tragic backstory of Peter and Christmas, they decide to cheer him up by going to Earth and bringing him back a present.

Shot at the same time as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, this has production values way above and beyond what you'd expect of a made for TV Christmas special, but its ambitions are deliberately limited to the kind of confections you'd expect from those sorts of specials. The plot is bare bones and ridiculous even by Guardians of the Galaxy standards. We get a bit more information about what the Guardians have been up to since the events of Endgame and Love and Thunder.

It's also a loving homage to the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, complete with musical numbers and animated interludes.

Overall, not essential viewing by any stretch of the imagination, but it did leave me with the warm and fuzzies, which is what I want out of a Christmas special.

Would a 45 minute musical version of A Christmas Carol that was filmed on stage a year ago and just released on youtube count?

Absolutely. It's the end of the year, the holidays and imminent, everybody's busy. I want this to be fun and not stressful, so if it feels festive to you it counts!

 

[Wayne_j]

1) Pentatonix: Around The World for the Holidays (2022) Disney+
Acapella group Pentatonix are having a hard time picking out Christmas songs for their new Christmas album when they get stuck in a magical mailroom full of letters addressed to them from around the world.

 

[Doug2000]

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)

I also enjoyed this fun little special. Looked fantastic on my OLED screen.

 

[John Stell]

B - Blu Ray Viewing
D - DVD Viewing
R - DVD-R Viewing
S - Streaming

Bold - Denotes first ever viewing

Rating - Out of a possible 4

01) 12/01/2022 D Home for the Holidays (1972)
02) 12/02/2022 D Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972) 1/2
03) 12/03/2022 B The Thin Man (1934)
04) 12/03/2022 B Tales from the Crypt (1972)
05) 12/04/2022 B Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1972) 1/2
06) 12/05/2022 B Red Christmas (2016)
07) 12/06/2022 D A Holiday Pageant At Home (1901)
08) 12/06/2022 D A Winter Straw Ride (1906)
09) 12/06/2022 D A Trap For Santa (1909)
10) 12/07/2022 B Black Christmas (1974) 1/2
11) 12/08/2022 B Don't Open Till Christmas (1984) 1/2
12) 12/09/2022 B After the Thin Man (1936)
13) 12/10/2022 D Death Dorm (1982) 1/2
14) 12/11/2022 B You Better Watch Out (1980)
15) 12/12/2022 B Ghostkeeper (1981)
16) 12/15/2022 B Gremlins (1984) 1/2
17) 12/18/2022 B The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
18) 12/23/2022 D A Dangerous Summer (1982) 1/2
19) 12/27/2022 B Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
20) 12/27/2022 B Frosty the Snowman (1969)
21) 12/27/2022 B A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
22) 12/27/2022 B How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
23) 12/28/2022 S The Grinch (2018)
24) 12/29/2022 B Jack Frost (1997) 1/2
25) 12/31/2022 B New Year's Evil (1980) 1/2

 

[Wayne_j]

2) VHS Christmas Carol: Live! (2021/2022) Youtube.

Scrooge is visited by 3 spirits who restore the Christmas spirit to his heart. This is a through composed musical that came to be because this theater troupe had nothing to do during the pandemic so they wrote music for this Christmas Carol adaptation which in the original version they just shot themselves against green screen. That original version was made a available by digital purchase. A year later the pandemic eased up enough so that they could perform the show live which is what this version is. People who couldn't make it to the live shows could get a digital ticket and watch it at home. Now a year later the live version has been released on youtube.

A sample of the original green screen version can be seen below.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Bold denotes first time viewing

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special - 11/25/22
2. Frasier - S01E12 - Miracle on Third or Fourth Street - 12/2/22
3. Frasier - S03E09 - Frasier Grinch - 12/3/22
4. Corn Chips (1951) (Disney Animated Cartoon Short) - 12/4/22
5. Toy Tinkers (1949) (Disney Animated Cartoon Short) - 12/4/22
6. Pluto’s Christmas Tree (1952) (Disney Animated Cartoon Short) - 12/4/22
7. Winter (1930) (Disney Animated Cartoon Short) - 12/4/22
8. Frasier - S05E09 - Perspectives On Christmas - 12/5/22
9. Frasier - S06E10 - Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz - 12/6/22
10. Frasier - S07E11 - The Fight Before Christmas - 12/7/22
11. Violent Night - 12/8/22
12. Frasier - S08E07 - Mary Christmas - 12/8/22
13. Frasier - S10E10 - We Two Kings - 12/9/22
14. Frasier - S11E11 - High Holidays - 12/10/22
15. Night Gallery - S02 - The Messiah of Mott Street - 12/11/22
16. Saturday Night Live - S48E08 - Steve Martin & Martin Short - 12/12/22
17. The Honeymooners (Lost Episodes) - Christmas Party (1953 version) - 12/12/22
18. The Addams Family - S02E15 - Christmas with the Addams Family - 12/13/22
19. Cheers - S06E12 - Christmas Cheers - 12/13/22
20. Santa’s Workshop (1932) (Walt Disney Silly Symphony Cartoon Short) - 12/16/22
21. The Night Before Christmas (1933) (Walt Disney Silly Symphony Cartoon Short) - 12/16/22
22. Yodelberg (2013) (Mickey Mouse Cartoon Short) - 12/16/22
23. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) - 12/17/22
24. The Dick Van Dyke Show - S03E13 - The Alan Brady Show Presents - 12/17/22
25. Our Miss Brooks - S01E13 - Christmas Show - 12/18/22
26. The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet - S01E12 - The Boys’ Christmas Money - 12/19/22
27. The French Chef - S02E02 - Cooking Your Goose - 12/20/22
28. The French Chef - S02E03 - Chestnut Cookery - 12/20/22
29. The Jack Benny Program - S08E07 - Christmas Shopping Show - 12/20/22
30. The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet - S05E12 - Ozzie’s Busy Christmas - 12/20/22
31. M*A*S*H - S01E12 - Dear Dad - 12/20/22
32. The French Chef - S03E17 - Buche de Noel (black & white) - 12/21/22
33. The French Chef - S09E08 - Buche de Noel (color) - 12/21/22
34. M*A*S*H - S07E14 - Dear Sis - 12/21/22
35. The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet - S06E11 - The Christmas Tree Lot - 12/21/22
36. Chef! - S01E07 - A Bird in the Hand - 12/21/22
37. Our Miss Brooks - S04E11 - Music Box Revue - 12/21/22
38. Brian Setzer Orchestra: Christmas Rocks! Live (95 minute concert video) - 12/22/22
39. I Love Lucy - S06E11 - Christmas Show - 12/22/22
40. Vicious - S01E07 - Christmas Special - 12/22/22
41. The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet - S09E12 - The Girl in the Emporium - 12/22/22
42. M*A*S*H - S09E05 - Death Takes a Holiday - 12/22/22
43. Girl Meets World - S01E16 - Girl Meets Home For The Holidays - 12/23/22
44. The Andy Griffith Show - S01E11 - Christmas Story - 12/23/22
45. The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet - S09E13 - A Piano for the Fraternity - 12/23/22
46. The Twilight Zone - S02E11 - The Night of the Meek - 12/23/22
47. Alfred Hitchcock Presents - S01E12 - Santa Claus and the Tenth Avenue Kid - 12/23/22
48. Polar Trappers (1938) (Disney Animated Short) - 12/24/22
49. The Art of Skiing (1941) (Disney Animated Short) - 12/24/22
50. The Hockey Champ (1939) (Disney Animated Short) - 12/24/22
51. The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet - S03E10 - The Lost Christmas Gift - 12/24/22
52. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) - 12/24/22
53. The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet - S02E15 - The Miracle - 12/25/22
54. A Christmas Carol (1938) - 12/25/22
55. Our Miss Brooks - S02E12 - The Magic Tree - 12/25/22
56. The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet - S01E13 - Late Christmas Gift - 12/26/22
57. Saturday Night Live - S48E200 - A Saturday Night Live Christmas (2022 compilation) - 12/26/22
58. M*A*S*H - S10E09 - ‘Twas the Day After Christmas - 12/27/22
59. The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet - S05E13 - The Day After Christmas - 12/27/22
60. The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet - S03E11 - The Fruitcake - 12/28/22
61. The French Chef - S02E04 - Bringing in the New Year - 12/31/22
62. The French Chef - S09E09 - Le Cocktail - 12/31/22
63. Frasier - S07E12 - RDWRER - 12/31/22

 

[Josh Steinberg]

@Adam Lenhardt check out the Favorite Holiday Episodes thread linked here - it’s been going for about a decade but each December we essentially do what you’re doing here minus the points. I’ve let our members there know about this challenge should they care to participate in this thread too.

Favorite Christmas Episodes

How about it? What are some of your favorite Christmas-themed TV episodes? I've got a lot of them myself, but I'll limit myself to the more well known in my first post, and then add more as the days progress. These are in no particular order: THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, S1 - "A Christmas Story"...

www.hometheaterforum.com

 

[John Stell]

I'll be the Grinch in the ointment as I had planned on watching a lot of Christmas horror movies this month. I'm sure I'll be watching some traditional films as well but until then...

Rating - Out of a possible 4

01) 12/01/2022 Home for the Holidays (1972)

Walter Brennan summons his four estranged daughters (most of who arrive on Christmas Eve) to his isolated country home because he thinks his second wife Julie Harris is trying to poison him. So, he asks them to kill her first! Then a figure dressed in a yellow slicker and brandishing a pitchfork starts slaying people. This made-for-TV movie was directed by John Llewellyn Moxey (The Night Stalker) and features a fine cast including Jessica Walter and Sally Field. The script was by Joseph Stefano (Psycho, The Outer Limits) and features a complicated backstory involving the suicide of the women's mother, and the fact Harris, with whom Brennan was having an affair, was accused of poisoning her first husband. But the film never rises above the routine, one-by-one story arc perfected years earlier in And Then There Were None. Because of the low budget, rain substitutes for snow, so we get a torrential downpour instead of a blizzard to isolate the family, robbing the film of some potentially effective holiday atmosphere. The inside of the house sure looks Christmassy though. Given the talent involved, however, one expects more than mere competence.

02) 12/02/2022 Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972) 1/2

On Christmas Eve 1950, Wilfred Butler, having been set ablaze, runs screaming from his home. His death is ruled an accident, and the manor is left to his only living relative, a grandson named Jeffrey, who hasn't stepped foot in the place since being sent to California when he was a baby. Twenty years later and again around Christmas, Jeffery's real estate agent John Carter (Patrick O'Neal) shows up offering to sell the home to the town government for $50,000. After word of this makes the newspapers, a mental patient escapes and hides out in the Butler home, making phone calls to various townspeople claiming to be Marianne. Soon after, the murders begin. Perhaps because it's been issued in poor quality versions on countless bargain basement releases, this is a film that doesn't get the acknowledgement it deserves. Creepy phone calls, violent deaths, a mystery killer, point-of-view shots...it's all here, even beating Black Christmas (more on that one later) by a couple of years. Director Theodore Gershuny really knows how to build atmosphere with style, delivering some truly unsettling moments. And the revelations regarding the who, what, and why are really something. Unfortunately, the cast is a mixed bag, some of the editing is haphazard, and the big finale is a bit disappointing. The movie also could have used more exterior Christmas accoutrements such as colorful lights to sell the idea of this taking place during the Holiday season. But Silent Night, Bloody Night nevertheless delivers more than a few chills.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I really enjoyed the new Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney+. It did everything I’d want a new Guardians installment to do and everything I’d want a new Christmas special to do. It really thread that particular needle very well.

In short, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is sad around Christmastime, and his alien teammates try to understand what Christmas is, and come to the conclusion that if they bring Quill something from Earth, he’ll cheer up. They remember that Quill always talked about loving Kevin Bacon movies, and don’t quite realize that Kevin Bacon is an actor and not a real superhero, and so they set off to kidnap Kevin Bacon and deliver him to Quill as a Christmas present.

It’s absurd, lighthearted and frequently hilarious. It honors its place in the continuity of the Marvel films, but isn’t held hostage by it either. I can see myself revisiting this in future holiday seasons.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

@Adam Lenhardt how would you count cartoon shorts, for example, “Pluto’s Christmas Tree” from Disney? They’re about 7 minutes each and most were theatrical releases but they’re not quite films or specials or TV shows. I’ll be showing about a dozen of them to my kids this season. They’ve always been favorites of mine.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

@Adam Lenhardt how would you count cartoon shorts, for example, “Pluto’s Christmas Tree” from Disney? They’re about 7 minutes each and most were theatrical releases but they’re not quite films or specials or TV shows. I’ll be showing about a dozen of them to my kids this season. They’ve always been favorites of mine.

If the half-hour specials count as a point each, maybe half a point each?

Thanks for linking to the Christmas specials thread. I very rarely venture into the TV Shows on DVD forum, so I had no idea it even existed.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It’s really become a tight knit community in that thread especially in recent years as the pandemic temporarily shrunk a lot of holiday plans and we all sought a new way to celebrate. I’ve been turned on to numerous Christmas episodes of shows from before my time that both soothed the soul and delighted the spirit thanks to that group.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I’m out after participating in challenges the previous two months.

It looks like I might be participating in this challenge after all. I watched "Violent Night" this morning in a movie theater. I will be watching "Fatman" in the next couple of days along with that "Guardians of the Galaxy" Christmas special.

1. Violent Night (2022) 4/5 Stars
2. A Christmas Carol (1938) 4/5 Stars
3. Lady in the Lake 4/5 Stars
4. 3 Godfathers 4.5/5 Stars
5. Remember the Night 3.5/5 Stars
6. Christmas in Connecticut 3/5 Stars
7. Fatman (2020) 4/5 Stars
8. Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special 3.5/5 Stars
9. A Charlie Brown Christmas 3.5/5 Stars
10. The Holly and the Ivy 4/5 Stars
11. Holiday Affair 4/5 Stars
12. The Bishop's Wife 4/5 Stars

 

[AlexF]

I start my Xmas movie watching shortly after Remembrance Day each year... So I'm going to list them starting there... mostly for the amusement purposes of what I've watched this year (a lot of "high class trash" really )

Bold indicates first viewing.

Date	Title	Year	Source
Nov 13	Falling for Christmas	2022	Netflix
Nov 14	A Castle for Christmas	2021	Netflix
Nov 16	Let It Snow	2019	Netflix
Nov 17	Christmas with You	2022	Netflix
Nov 18	Spirited	2022	Apple TV+
Nov 18	Last Christmas	2019	Netflix
Nov 21	Christmas Chronicles	2018	Netflix
Nov 21	Falling for Christmas	2022	Netflix
Nov 22	Office Christmas Party	2016	Blu-ray
Nov 24	The Noel Diary	2022	Netflix
Nov 26	The Christmas Inn	2017	Netflix
Nov 26	Christmas With You	2022	Netflix
Nov 28	Dash + Lily (ep 1-4)	2020	Netflix
Nov 29	Dash + Lily (ep 5-8)	2020	Netflix
Dec 1	Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special	2022	Disney+
Dec 1	The Santa Clauses (ep 1)	2022	Disney+
Dec 2	The Santa Clauses (ep 2)	2022	Disney+

 

[Wayne_j]

3) Violent Night (2022) Theatrical
John McClane no, Jim Hopper no, Santa Claus (David Harbour) responds to a message from nice girl Trudy who is being held hostage with her terrible family by naughty home invaders (Led by John Leguisamo). A blood bath ensues.

Trudy's family is truly awful, they remind me of the family in Knives Out.