Fav Film
I side with Ryan on this one… except I might choose The Muppet Christmas Carol here. I DO like the George C. Scott version, though. Scott made for a CONVINCING Scrooge. (Speaking of VINCE-ing)…One version you SHOULD miss is the Vincent Price narrated made-for-tv version. You can’t condense the story into a 20 minute time slot. And the acting was horrid… HOWEVER… I love listening to Vinnie spout Dickens! And as far as the “…Martians,” I could never make it thru the whole movie it was sooo bad (as Randie has indicated)!
Brig, have you seen the Jim Carrey/Gary Oldman version, done all in motion capture? It far exceeded my expectations, and in some ways has become my favorite version–just a shade above George C. Scott’s, which I own and watch annually. It has the added bonus of bringing Cary Elwes and Robin Wright together again, for I believe the first time since The Princess Bride.
I also highly recommend The Bishop’s Wife, with Loretta Young, Cary Grant, & David Niven. Elsa Lanchester (Bride of Frankenstein) steals every scene she’s in, and there are some other familiar faces sprinkled through you’ll no doubt recognize from that other venerable Christmas classic It’s A Wonderful Life.
My favorite Christmas movie is Die Hard. My second-favorite is Die Hard 2.
Is that White Christmas on the laundromat tv?
The original, animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Or maybe A Charlie Brown Christmas
Gotta say that Ryan hit the nail squarely. Definitely one of the best Xmas movies and the hands down best portrayal of old Eb ever. Scrooged is pretty good though, and I like all the Santa Clause flicks.
Happy Holidays to the whole gang.
-R
Bill Murray’s “Scrooged” is a true guilty pleasure; so horrifically bad, it is terrifyingly good.
Go to youtube, look up the promo trailer, watch, listen and laugh.
“Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” is a favorite for a MiSTie like me, although I have to say the absolute best Christmas classic is another MST3K episode, “Santa Claus”. Definitely find and watch this one; with or without Mike and the Bots it’s hilarious.
Goodness… I love the conversation here… Which movie and why is fascinating to me!
EofO… The Bishop’s Wife is a WONDERFUL film! (and I think I mention it in an upcoming post)… the Carey Grant is so handsome and charming and David Niven is so, well… David Niven. An excellent Holiday Film. And I’m impressed you have George C. Scrooge. I find it most interesting that AMC has been playing that version regularly for like the last week or so… I did up this toon 3 weeks ago… weird? yes, I think so.
Kevin… yes… there are a group of you Die-harders… and I can find no fault, except for Bruce Willis, whom I am not terribly fond of. But that’s just silly ol’ me.
Suzii… yes, you are correct… I like Bing and I have a tendency to throw him the toons now and again.
Mary… I always felt soooo bad for Max (the dog) in the Grinch toon. It made it difficult for me to watch. BUT Charlie Brown is SOOOOO the awesome-est. If you have an ipod… check out the Charlie Brown X-mas AP… so worth it!
Rob/stick…. It seems to me that I have only seen pieces of that film… I endeavor this year to see it all! … as I am a Dickens fan and should see ALL versions…
Dada… Love MST3K… and I will hunt that up! And coming from YOU! … a must see!
I rather like Scrooge, starring Albert Finney 🙂
Miracle on 34th Street–oldest is my fav, but i like the newer too.
BTW, love how Randie is matching up the unmatched socks. She’s just so random!
I’ll bet Warner Brothers could have made an animated cartoon that would have done the story in five minutes. After all, if you can do the Ring Cycle, twenty hours of opera, in a three minute cartoon with Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd (as Siegfried), nothing is beyond you.
Astragali… I didn’t know that “Thank you, Very Much” came from that version! Yay!
Ruth… It IS a classic, ain’t it. I wish movies still had that optimism.
EoO…You caught that! Hee hee!
Michael… Heck, it’s been done with Shakespeare… so yer probably right… in fact… that’d be pretty funny!
Ah, traditions….
Alastair Sim’s version of A Christmas Carol.
Mr. Magoo’s version of A Christmas Carol. (The very first Christmas special!)
And, yes, A Muppet Christmas Carol.
Somewhere in there also lurks Santa Claus conquers the Martians…. The entirety is available on You Tube….
The Auld Grump, who can sing along with the Mr. Magoo version….
My favorites:
A Charlie Brown Christmas for meaning.
A Muppet Christmas Carol for pure fun.
A Christmas Story for nostalgia
How the Grinch Stole Christmas</i? for interactive songs and voices. (NOBODY beats Boris Karloff and Thurl Ravenscroft!)
I agree with Auld Grump — the Alistair Sim version of “Christmas Carol” rocks! The Muppet version, with Michael Caine, comes in a very close second.
I didn’t realize there were still other MSTies out there — the show has been off the air for so long. Props to DadaHyena and Brig!! “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” is one of the most amazing schlocky movies of all time, introducing one of the most pathetic actresses ever — Pia Zadora. But you just have to love Droppo!
And the other Christmas offering, “Santa Claus”, was an incomprehensible but of Mexican cinemathat continues to baffle.
“Santa Claus Conquers The Martians”….I have to admit, the only way I’d watch that is as an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, everything is better with snarky one-liners from Joel and the ‘bots! I actually have met Joel Hodgson, Frank Coniff (TV’s Frank), Trace Bealeiu (Dr. Forrester/Crow T. Robot), Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo), and Billy Corbett, and Mary Jo Pehl when the appeared at CONvergence during different years, one of the biggest fan-run conventions in Minnesota.