Okay, so it's not really a Christmas movie in the traditional sense. It's more like a light horror comedy that takes place around Christmas. It's less in the tradition of 'White Christmas' and more in the tradition of... actually this is the first Christmas horror comedy I can think of. And being that it was rated PG, I saw it probably way earlier than I should have. But with that said, 'Gremlins' represents some of my first toe-dips into horror. It was kinda great at the time (I think I was around 5 or 6 when I first watched it). It had the cuteness of Gizmo (Howie Mandel), the kindness of Billy (Zach Galligan), the prettiness of Kate (Phoebe Cates), and that seemed to give a good balance to the otherwise scary premise. The story centers on Billy, whose father (Hoyt Axton) brings him home a Mogwai from Chinatown while trying to sell his latest invention. The Mogwai, Gizmo, comes with a set of rules - don't get it wet, keep it away from light, and whatever you do, don't feed it after midnight (which is obscure, but we kinda roll with it). Eventually we learn that water makes them multiply, light is just plain bad for them (sunlight could kill them), and feeding them after midnight causes them to cocoon and eventually turn into Gremlins. Gremlins, in this case, are mischief making, violent, and hilarious. But they're just frightening enough that when watching this as a kid, you kinda fear one may be lurking under your bed. These Gremlins wreak havoc on the town, and it's up up Billy, Gizmo and Kate to stop them, even if they do end up sidetracked by horrific stories about the harsh realities of Santa Claus - something this film has since become famous for to such an extent that they make fun of it in 'Gremlins 2'. Of course, anyone familiar with this movie realizes that the Gremlins, in a way, are villains we kinda route for. When we see them causing mischief. But the biggest villain of this movie isn't any of the Gremlins, not even Stripe (Frank Welker), who's pretty much the Gremlin's leader. It's Mrs Deagel (Polly Holliday). Her biggest claim to fame is her desire to slowly murder Billy's dog. So yeah, we really wanna see her meet John Wick one day. But don't worry, she's also a reason to route for these crazy critters. Surprisingly enough, though the Mogwais and Gremlins don't say a whole hell of a lot, the cast of voice actors is impressive. Aside from the two I've already mentioned, Peter Cullen (the one and only Optimus Prime), Michael Winslow (the sound effect guy from 'Police Academy'), Mark Dodson (Salacious Crumb from 'Return of the Jedi'), Bob Bergen (No Face and the Frog from 'Spirited Away' are among a few of the more well-known. That's an interesting tidbit I actually only just learned. The film is considered a classic of an 80s monster movie, and it really fits in with its era. As time has passed, it hasn't aged incredibly well, but we still hold it close to or hearts as an important piece of nostalgia. Even though I say that, a newcomer could watch this and still have a lot of fun with it. I really don't think it was ever meant to be taken that seriously to begin with. It's still one I hold close to my heart. 4/5
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I know I may seem like a bit of a Christmas Grinch with my first bit of Christmas reviewing, but fear not, for it is time to switch gears. I decided to do a bit of a nostalgia trip with this one, which I haven't actually watched since its initial video release in late 1995, making me 13 at the time. I was just starting to lose some of that Christmas magic, but this movie came along and reinvigorated the spirit within. I remember loving it at the time, feeling like a kid again (as far as that can go at 13), and even going so far as to imagine how lucky the kid in this was to have Santa as his Dad and be able to visit the North Pole etc. I may have been the age I was, but I could still appreciate what Christmas magic was to a younger kid. What's truly heartwarming to see is that this film, since its release, has become a Christmas classic in its own right. At the time of its release, friends and I avoided seeing it in theaters based on it getting pretty terrible reviews. And though the film is by no means perfect, such reviews were a little too harsh for this one, based on what it was trying to be - a simple, heartwarming story, mostly aimed at kids with a few adult gags to keep an adult audience captivated. From my perspective, it sorta bridged a gap between childhood and adulthood, and I still say it's a great, harmless family flick. The story, for those who may not have seen it, involves toy maker and businessman Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) who has been separated from his wife Laura (Wendy Crewson). He still manages to spend time with his son, Charlie (Eric Lloyd), but also has to deal with Laura's new man in her life, Neal (Judge Reinhold), who we all love to hate. Neal feels that Charlie is too old to believe in Santa, and seems to want to take the illusion away. He's also a child psychologist, so that makes absolutely no sense to me, and makes me hate him so much more. And oh yes, Scott interjects enough to mention that a kid having an imagination is a great thing. On Christmas Eve, while Charlie is visiting his Dad, he hears a clatter on the roof and wakes his Dad up. Scott goes to check it out, finds Santa, scares him, and causes him to fall off the roof to his death. As a result, Scott must now take Santa's place, as part of the "Santa Clause". Somehow or another he manages to finish Santa's work that night (I think?) and makes it to the North Pole where he meets head elf Bernard (David Krumholtz). He wakes up Christmas morning believing it all to be a dream, but as the next year unfolds leading up to Christmas, Scott transforms both in physical body and spirit, becoming the next Santa Claus. Going back and watching this as an adult, it's a little more difficult to get through, and some of it feels dated, especially when it comes to the early CG effects. But with that said, I'm thankful to say that I could look past anything kinda bad about this movie, and realize that is has some great heart to it. It's more about two things here, Charlie's chance to have a normal childhood in believing in Santa, and giving Scott a chance to grow as not only a human being, but a loving father. It's a film that goes to show that there's absolutely nothing wrong with believing in the magic of Christmas, whether you're a kid or adult. It's not without a few issues, but I feel like the heart of this movie overshadows any problems it may have, and it has since become one of the more spiritual Christmas movies out there today. I see several people adding it to their Christmas list of annual movie binging, and I'll probably revisit it a few times more now. Even if it doesn't make my list of regulars, it's a nice reminder of what Christmas is about when you're a kid, and so much of it is about the only mysterious, bearded man you'd ever actually want breaking into your house. I had lots of fun watching this again for the first time in about twenty-four years. 4/5 Sometimes a good romantic Christmas comedy is nice and manages to fill a sort of missing piece to my marathons ('Love Actually' is thus far my personal favourite). They may not usually be my cup of tea, but they don't generally bother me either. They are often nice, heartwarming stories, especially when centered on the Christmas season, as so much of it has to do with the simple theme of love. This though... sorry to its fans, but I thought it was mostly just painful, with but ONE redeeming quality (which I'll get to in a second). Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon) are a kinda out-there couple, who perpetually lie to their families in order to avoid them on the Christmas holidays. Instead, they take vacations far away from home for some peace, quiet, and maybe a bit of romance along the way. However, this year, their trip to Fiji is botched when all flights are cancelled, and they're caught on live TV, pretending to take a trip to help the less fortunate. As a result of the flight being cancelled, they begrudgingly face their stressful family Christmases - four separate ones in just one day. They agree to use the word "mistletoe" as their "escape word" for when they really need to get away from their horrible families. What follows is a star-studded cast representing their families, the best of which has to be Jon Favreau as Brad's UFC fighting brother. He provided pretty much the only real laughs I got from this, and his character is a far cry from the MCU's Happy Hogan. This cast also features some great names like Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek as Brad's parents, John Voight and Mary Steenburgen as Kate's parents, Dwight Yoakam, Tim McGraw, and perhaps a few more. However this great cast isn't quite enough to save it from just being a little too over the top silly with a seemingly very forced issue to overcome. During their visits, Brad and Kate end up bickering more and more, leading them to realize that maybe they're not as in love with each other as they might think. But this is a romantic comedy Christmas movie, so the whole thing turns out too predictable. The real heart of this movie comes from showing us the all too familiar disfunctional family at Christmas. Brad's Dad's side is a bunch of psycho, rough and tumble brothers, Kate's Mom and her sister are a bunch of hot-for-Brad Golden Girl types, and things get pretty extreme in this case. But its all been done before and done much better, 'Christmas Vacation' being the peak of the dysfunctional family Christmas movie. For me, this just seemed a little too slapped together and rushed to provide audiences with some sort of Christmas comedy for the year, 2008, which was not a big year for Christmas movies at all. Fans tend to sort of meet this one in the middle, and I can see it being remotely enjoyable for a toss-your-brain-out-the-door Christmas comedy. But I just can't do that with this. I felt that even 'Bad Santa' had more actual heart in it than this. This was just a little too typical as far as the love story side of things go. To each their own, but it's not one I'll be revisiting any time soon. 1/5 Stumbling on this one in my search, I decided to check it out so that maybe I could take a peak at what a Japanese anime film's take on a Christmas story might be like. After last year's Ghibli marathon, I've gained a bit of an interest in the culture's way of expressing themselves through film. What's so interesting to me, however, is that even for a Christmas film, this is a culture that is not afraid to get dark. 'Tokyo Godfathers' takes place around the Christmas - New Year holiday, and the season is used as much more of a backdrop than anything. I wouldn't fully consider this a "Christmas movie" in the traditional sense, so much as a story about homelessness and abandonment. That's not to say it's bad, it's actually a great story, But so help me, I just don't get "Christmas" from this one, despite covering themes about acts of kindness, humanity, and valuable lessons learned along the way. We meet three very different homeless people, who have made themselves a sort of family. Gin (Tôru Emori) is your average, middle-aged homeless man with a bit of a drinking/anger problem; Hana (Yoshiaki Umegaki) is a former drag queen who dreams of one day being a mother; and Miyuki (Aya Okamoto) is a young runaway girl, having no place to turn to after wounding her father. We pretty much immediately click with this group, Gin being the glass half empty, Hana being the glass half full, and Miyuki is caught in the middle. One day, while rummaging through some trash, they find an abandoned baby. Hana, with her motherly desires, wants to try to take care of the baby and have her dreams come true. But being the realist, Gin insists that they just drop it off at the police station and let them take care of the situation. They sleep on it, and then decide the thing to do is to find this child's real parents, and set out to do just that. Along the way, they each end up revealing a lot about their pasts and how they became homeless, each of them a pretty sad story. That's more or less where the movie gets dark in its atmosphere (I mean, other than finding a baby among a heap of garbage), with this trio wanting whats best for this baby, and not to be in the same situation as them. And speaking of dark, it gets even darker when it gets to the climax, and you really end up feeling the utmost empathy for this poor baby through the whole movie. You want nothing more than for this kid to be safe. So as far as recommending it, it's a tough one. As far as it falling into my traditional Christmas movie list, it really doesn't stand a chance. However, as a dark anime about tough but important themes that carries a mild sense of humor with it, it's actually great. Somehow this movie balances the dark and cold of the winter with a bunch heartwarming moments. Atmospherically, I'd almost compare it to 'A Christmas Carol', but certainly not by theme. If you're an anime fan who likes a good story, if you can find it, check it out. Just be forewarned, an English dub of the film is damn near impossible to find. 3/5 I had every intention of catching this in theaters in order to review it for my 'Now Playing' page for Christmas of 2017. Alas, I missed out, and I haven't bothered to check it out until this year. I'm happy to say that I've actually found a new Christmas movie I like enough to try to spread the word about. To me, this has become a hidden gem among Christmas movies over the past couple of years. People don't seem to talk much about it, but let me tell you, its execution is something that's right up my alley. Taking place in 1843, this is the story of a struggling Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens). After the release of 'Oliver Twist', Dickens writes a couple of other stories that become critical flops, and turn him into his own worst enemy. He's pretty well convinced that if his next story doesn't shine, he may have to give up trying. But, of course, since we all know who Charles Dickens is, we know that sure as hell doesn't happen. In fact, his next story ends up being 'A Christmas Carol', which, upon its release, quite literally did change the world, and the holiday, for the better. But what I really took away from this one was that as the story unfolds, we find out how he was inspired to write about almost every detail of the story. Some of this inspiration comes from his personal relationships with people, and we find that the character of Ebeneezer Scrooge (Christopher Plummer - who does a fantastic job here) is a sort of ghost of a muse for him, seemingly based on his dark and doubtful side. Scrooge is that voice inside any aspiring writer who says "no, that's not good enough" or "wait, why would this happen?", but at the same time, Dickens find the strength within himself to oppose this figure, and eventually finish the book with a very tight deadline. In many ways, this is sort of a retelling of the classic tale, putting Dickens in Scrooge's place. The ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future all come to him separately as he looks at his own life, and many of the similarities he, himself, has to both Scrooge and Bob Cratchet. So its not right on the money, where the spirits show him what he needs to see in a literal sense, but they end up presenting more of a metaphorical view, inspiring Dickens to write what he knows from his own past, present, and potential future. The film is executed as a sort of dramedy, and we get to really check out the darker side of Dickens. It kind of paints him as a bit of an eccentric, crazy person with a short temper, and it's even mentioned how hard it is to be his friend. But at the same time, when we see him hard at work, we can't help but admire how he manages to come up with certain things, especially when things he puts to paper delve into his own life, getting inspiration from so many different angles. I really have no idea how this goes as far as accuracy goes, because I have never really studied the history of Charles Dickens in any sense. I've listened to 'Christmas Carol' on audiobook once, and that's about as far as my knowledge goes. So to some purists, this may very well not hold up as well as it did for me. I liked the way Dickens was portrayed here, as it showed him as being very human and vulnerable as opposed to just a writing hero. It's also interesting to think that he may have single-handedly breathed new life into Christmas with his story. Let's face it, it probably is the single most popular Christmas story in existence, with about 30+ movie adaptations over the years, so it wouldn't really surprise me. This one is a good length, doesn't go overboard on its storytelling, and all in all, it's actually pretty inspirational for anyone wanting to get into writing. It lets us know full well that even legendary authors get stuck, and it further tells us to listen to our friends and families criticisms on how we execute our stories. For example, Tiny Tim was originally supposed to die. Could you imagine?? Anwyay, if you can find it, it's well worth checking out as a sort of new adaptation of 'Christmas Carol', but at the same time, a neat glimpse into the life of the one and only Charles Dickens. 5/5 Kicking off this wonderful month of Christmas movies that I've chosen completely at random is a title that not a whole hell of a lot of people talk about anymore. Interestingly enough, I still remember seeing the first trailer for this air a whole year before its release, teasing something that held some promise of being very funny, so long as it was executed right. It wasn't much, just two brothers having a casual chat on the couch, and one of them was Santa. It gave way to what could have been a very well done comedy, showing Santa in a much more casual light, perhaps behind the scenes of everything. However, come 2007, we all got something a little different. The film starts a long time ago, when we see Mother and Papa Claus (Kathy Bates and Trevor Peacock, respectively) having the baby who would grow to become Santa, though here just named Nicholas (Theo Stevenson/Paul Giamatti). His big brother, Frederick (Liam James/Vince Vaughn) promises to be the best big brother he can be, but Nicolas ends up casting quite a shadow over him with everything he does, which ultimately leads him to become a saint and we all know the rest. In present day, while Nick is being Santa, Fred has become a repo man who likes to steal what he repossesses. He's arrested, but calls Nick to bail him out. Nick agrees, but only under the condition that Fred comes to visit the North Pole and work off the amount of debt he finds himself in. Fred reluctantly agrees, with no real way out, but ends up causing more trouble than help. Meanwhile, an auditor named Clyde (Kevin Spacey) comes to the North Pole to check things out, and with Fred on the cusp of ruining everything due to his antics, things aren't exactly looking great for Santa, the North Pole, or even Christmas as a whole. As one might predict, it all comes down to another plot about the unlikely hero having to save Christmas at the last minute. I had seen this before, but I honestly remember liking it more than I did this time around. I think I was able to just have fun with its off the wall silliness the first time around. But this time, I didn't see it as much more than two bickering brothers the whole time, with Giamatti as one of the worst Santas I've seen portrayed. As mentioned before, the teaser trailer for this gave me a different idea of how Santa was gonna be executed, and it could have worked in a certain way. But to see a Santa lose his temper in such a goofy way, or even deliver some of his dialogue as a run down, tired old man, it just didn't work for me. Although this manages to squeeze in some of that Christmas spirit, and give us a little more of that true meaning of the holiday, it's just not enough to save what is otherwise nothing but dated slapstick and rough CG superimposing on some of the elves (though I guess for 2007 it's moderately passable). Elizabeth Banks also makes an appearance as an eye candy elf, and not given much to do, other than be the object of a secondary character's affection. The idea of an auditor at the North Pole makes no damn sense to me either. All it does is take the magic away completely, and we learnt hat this guy is out to ruin every holiday figure, and thus, childhood for everyone. It's a bit much, and it makes for a lot of guess work as to who this is really for. On one hand, it's very much a silly, over the top, slapstick kids movie. But on the other hand, there's too many grown-up themes going on, and they aren't exactly subtle. I suppose it can be kinda fun if you're willing to check your brain at the door, but all in all, it's just another movie about an unlikely character saving the holiday from not happening. It's been done before, it's been done better, and there are a lot more movie Santas to choose from that are more convincing. To me, it's not really a surprise that this one doesn't exactly get talked about. 2/5 |