Christmas movies and TV episodes (1 Viewer)

[Tom St Jones]

It's fun riffing on films, both good and bad, with a group of friends but I could never get into the MST3K guys doing it. I enjoyed the segments on the station, remind me of "horror host" type shows which I love, but matting them over the picture just annoys me no end and I find most of their comments/riffs/jokes just fall flat. BUT I love "B" horror/sf films and would watch anything they riff without them getting in the way. I've actually purchased copies of some of their Rifftrax discs just to get "better" copies of the films they're riffing and watch them without the riff track.

MST3K is cool - until you find out a film you personally loved and have taken fairly seriously happens to have been a MST3K episode - i.e. is considered "trashy"/ "campy" etc by a significant majority of the public (or at least a significant majority of critics). Maybe I've no sense of humor, but it just hate it when that happens. :>[

BTW, I happen to love the aforementioned THE CHRISTMAS THAT ALMOST WASN'T. I've always thought it a fine little family Yuletide film - yes, badly-dubbed English and all. I wish the original Italian version were available in the U.S., but alas, no...

 

[AndrewCrossett]

Plenty of movies I like have gotten the MST3K treatment. It shouldn't be taken as an insult. The spinoff show, Rifftrax, has even shown that you can riff on critically acclaimed movies just as well. B-movies are just usually more fun and in keeping with the vibe of the show.

 

[MartinP.]

Please forgive this, as it's not Christmas on Film or TV related, but this painting is so evocative and beautifully rendered, I thought you folks would appreciate it...a striking Christmas illustration by Alex Raymond USMC, for 1951, and right in the middle of the Korean War...Merry Christmas!

^^^

Somewhat related to the above, check out this youtube video of:
The USAF Band WWII Holiday Flashback. Members of the United States
Air Force Band surprised commuters at Union Station here with a World
War II Holiday Flashback, a special holiday musical presentation from
Union Station in Washington, DC celebrating the service and sacrifices
of our nation's military.

I just was made aware of it yesterday and think it's grand!
Hope you do, too!

 

[Ron1973]

This isn't a TV show or movie, but the voice is very familiar to those of us who love classic TV, and it's what I'm presently enjoying!

 

[Vic Pardo]

My Christmas blog post on HOLIDAY AFFAIR (1949):

https://briandanacamp.wordpress.com...air-1949-with-robert-mitchum-and-janet-leigh/

 

[Vic Pardo]

My Christmas blog post on Christmas-related anime:

https://briandanacamp.wordpress.com/2015/12/24/a-very-merry-anime-christmas/

 

[KPmusmag]

If anyone here has any affinity for the 1984 Showtime sit-com Brothers with Robert Walden, there is a sweet Christmas episode to be seen on youtube. A bonus is an early appearance by Andy Garcia. The show seems rather quaint now, what with shows like Will and Grace and others, but it was ahead of its time and the first of its kind in a way. This is a nice Christmas story. In 3 parts, total time is 45 minutes, must have been an hour long episode. It would be great to have this series on DVD.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

 

[Regulus]

I'm watching the 1951 (Alistar Sims) and 1984 (George C. Scott) versions of A Christmas Carol today along with It's a Wonderful Life tonight. Tomorrow I'll go Church hopping, attending five different services (It's fun to see how different denominations celebrate the holidays).

May all of you have a Merry Christmas!

 

[davidmatychuk]

My Christmas blog post on HOLIDAY AFFAIR (1949):

https://briandanacamp.wordpress.com...air-1949-with-robert-mitchum-and-janet-leigh/

Beautiful piece, Brian!

 

[cajunhillbilly]

watching "A Very Merry Pooh Year" (2002)

 

[davidmatychuk]

I just subscribed to a cable channel so that I can record this very intriguing-looking documentary at midnight on Christmas Eve:

http://www.cbc.ca/documentarychannel/docs/dreaming-of-a-jewish-christmas

Looks good, doesn't it?

 

[Ron1973]

I've taken in, besides Christmas music, the 1973 version of Miracle on 34th Street and a few Ozzie and Harriet Christmas episodes so far today.

 

[cajunhillbilly]

watching "The Snow Queen" from 1957 with the voices of Sandra Dee and Tommy Kirk Very good animated show

 

[Vic Pardo]

watching "The Snow Queen" from 1957 with the voices of Sandra Dee and Tommy Kirk Very good animated show

That's a Russian animated feature that got released in the U.S. in an English-language version in 1960, with a filmed introduction by TV host Art Linkletter. It wasn't the first non-Disney animated feature I saw in a theater, but maybe the second, and it had quite an impact on me that the Disney features never did. I believe that my interest in anime dates back to my emotional response as a six-year-old to THE SNOW QUEEN and its melancholic tone and dark, nightmarish imagery and the fervent devotion of one child to another. Only in anime, decades later, did I find that same kind of emotional intensity.

 

[David Weicker]

TCM will be showing The Cheaters tonight - Christmas Eve - at 12:15 am EST (just after Midnight)/11:15 pm CST

 

[Tom St Jones]

Watching A CHRISTMAS WITHOUT SNOW (1980/ Michael Learned, John Houseman) on DVD. Unfortunately, this classic TV film is one of the many in public domain and does not seem to be available in a quality version anywhere. (My copy is the Timeless Media edition).

 

[davidmatychuk]

TCM will be showing The Cheaters tonight - Christmas Eve - at 12:15 am EST (just after Midnight)/11:15 pm CST

That movie is terrific fun. Make sure you record it, because there sure isn't any DVD or Blu-Ray!

 

[MartinP.]

A friend of mine wanted to watch Edward Scissorhands last night. I agreed, but thought it an odd choice. I hadn't seen it in so long...I didn't remember that last 1/2 or 1/3 all takes place at Christmas time.

 

[MartinP.]

My Christmas blog post on HOLIDAY AFFAIR (1949):

https://briandanacamp.wordpress.com/2012/12/22/merry-christmas-holiday-affair-1949-with-robert-mitchum-and-janet-leigh/

Really enjoyed your post! I like Holiday Affair for many reasons that you mentioned and talked about. A simpler reason is that it just feels like a real glimpse of how people from another time period were celebrating Christmas and I can eavesdrop on them for a visit. Janet Leigh's mother-in-law says to her husband, "Oh one remembers more around the holidays." Yes, and very true. Don't each and every one of us have some sadness around the holidays that involve remembering some things or people or situations in the past? The holidays are a kaleidoscope of emotions.

I don't know if the film was "obviously inspired" by Miracle on 34th Street as you suggest, as it was taken from a story called Christmas Gift by John D. Weaver and that could refer both to the train and the tie and the meaning they represent in Connie's dilemma.

You mentioned what a remake might be like. Did you know it was remade as a cable film in 1996 with David James Elliott and Cynthia Gibb? I think it works quite well on it's own, but the period aspect of the 1949 version is what really enhances the other version for me.
Although the 1996 version is now over 20 years old. Does that count as period now, too?

Also enjoyed your relationship to the film because of your personal circumstances. It was very interesting, thank you for linking it here.

 

[Ron1973]

Again, I'm into music this season, but this guy was a fixture in living rooms with his own show in the 60's, then cohosting another variety show until 1986, so it qualifies under the classic TV part: