Monthly Archives: December 2015
For some reason, the definitive version for me as a child was the 1984 George C. Scott version. Scott plays Scrooge as someone who seems to enjoy being mean to people. He likes dancing on other people’s joy and belittling their situations. Scott’s Scrooge is bitter and proud, and a bit spiteful. But I think what always made the movie for me was the Marley sequence. It was terrifying. It still is…. Read More
In 1988, Richard Donner and Bill Murray brought us a totally reinvented the tale in a modern setting. They kept the main idea, but found a new way to express it. Scrooged focuses on Frank Cross, a self centered, egotistical, power hungry uh…narcissist. He has no concern for his hard working assistant, his long suffering but loving brother or his earnest employees. It’s all about power and ratings. When he airs a… Read More
So, we are a few days into the release of the Force Awakens and those…less impressed…have gone out to offer their challenging questions. So, this is all spoilers. If you have not seen the film and are avoiding spoilers? Do not read this. I have seen people talk about the major plot holes, but have not seen them presented. Most of what I see is people saying “This new mystery has come… Read More
In 1992, the Muppet team took a crack at the classic tale. With out a doubt, they did a strong job, making this one of the best of the Muppet films and a nice addition to the collection of films based on Dickens’s great tale. Obviously, being for children, the themes are greatly simplified, though the song lyrics still reference the core ideas of A Christmas Carol. The story opens with The… Read More
Today, I am writing about the 1999 TNT television movie starring Captain Pickard, er Professor X…um…Patrick Stewart. The film opens slightly differently than the others. It opens on the day of Marley’s death. Scrooge is rather dispassionate, simply signing off on Marley’s death in the Church ledger as the only guest. He then walks the foggy streets of London. He reaches his store front, enters and we see the passage of time… Read More
Truth be told, I was not anticipating much with this film. It was motion capture and seemed like a vanity project for Carrey to show off. And yet, the motion capture was not as distracting as I expected. The character designs had an old storybook look. And yes, it is an opportunity for Carrey to show off, but this film works in his favor. Carrey provides the voice of Scrooge and all… Read More
This version of a Christmas Carol stars Reginald Owen as Ebeneezer Scrooge. It follows the story quite faithfully, and features fine performances. In fact, the film has one of my favorite portrayals of Scrooge’s nephew Fred. Barry MacKay portrays him with a wonderful exuberance. His kindness is overflowing. One of the more interesting aspects to me is that the Christmas spirits win Scrooge over quite early. He is in love with Christmas… Read More
And so, here it it is. The fans started skeptical when new films were announced, yet as we grew closer, folks started to get more and more excited. And as long as they were better than the prequels, these new films would be loved. But now I have seen J.J. Abram’s film. For me? This was an exhilarating rush. I felt a genuine joy watching the film. The characters we know are… Read More
This odd little telefilm from 1949 mainly has one interesting point. It is hosted by Vincent Price. But truthfully, clocking in at 25 minutes? It causes the film to fail in pretty much every way. The ghosts are not remotely unnerving. They only show Scrooge one aspect of his past, present and future (actually they show two for the Future) which makes it impossible to buy into Scrooge’s horror and his eventual… Read More
In 1979 this TV movie was released starring Henry Winkler as Benedict Slade. Set a few years into the Great Depression, Benedict Slade is running the savings and loan. He runs a hardship and the town has fallen on hard times. The early stories focusing on Benedict and his employees collecting from people who own debts to the savings and loan. On Christmas eve, after taking many people’s things, his employee Thatcher… Read More
