I revisited two Christmas classics in the past few days, only one of which I've reviewed here before:
First was National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Watching a Blu-ray projection of this on a small part of the screen at a dome theatre... what an experience.
I have reviewed this twice before; I'll link the newer review here, done only two Decembers ago. I don't want to reiterate that too much so instead I'll note that it is still a quite funny film which present the holidays in a truthful if exaggerated manner. Among all the laughs there's poignant moments that aren't mawkish & a nice message about getting together w/ your family even if at times they can drive you batty. One thing I'll note that was only realized by me during this screening: as Bill Murray gets older, he more and more resembles his brother Brian.
Thus, I'll describe the experience of seeing it at a science center in Wichita. Long story but there will be some alone time w/ the grownups so last night was me, my sister and her beau. After eating at a tasty local pizza joint & having a drink at a hidden Tiki Bar, we attended a sold-out screening of the film. There was the option of cosplay, which we didn't do but plenty did. For all the booze that was present, thank heavens the audience wasn't too irritating. It was nice to be around an audience laughing at a very entertaining comedy.
It was a fun experience so I don't want this to sound like a bellyache yet two things were unexpected. The way they got Miriam Flynn to plug their screenings of the movie: they paid her to do so in a Cameo. Now you know that Miriam Flynn is on Cameo. The proclamation at the beginning where I confidently stated that this was a projection of a Blu-ray they have; if you're wondering why I am so self-assured there: why, the first thing you saw when the movie started playing was the FBI warning, then the Warner Home Video logo!
Second was Mickey's Christmas Carol, the 1983 cartoon that's a little less than a half hour long. It may be nostalgia but I will have to give this a high rating; perhaps it's that or watching this for the first time in at least 25 years, but if I don't see another version of the oft-told Charles Dickens tale, this will fulfill that need. I definitely have seen other versions, but that was long before I even joined Letterboxd almost 9 (!) years ago.
As others have noted, it was a nice feat for the Disney animators to be concise and distill the essence of the Scrooge tale where an ill-tempered old penny-pincher is visited by his late business partner then three ghosts of Christmas and is shown how his cruelty has left its mark in a multitude of ways, including poor old ill child Tiny Tim. It was a nice introduction to the famed tale for those like my nephews that hadn't heard it before; heck, my 3 year old nephew recognized the most famous Disney characters that played role here, such as Mickey and Donald. There is a dark moment (at least by Disney standards) but otherwise this is still charming & even heart-warming at the end.
Important life lessons are learned that were originally based on the drastic differences between social strata in Victorian England but still apply to 21st century life. Not being a greedy avaricious SOB is always swell advice, along with giving to charity, helping those in need, and being happy during the holiday season. I realize not everyone can do the latter because of horrible real life things but the rest can hopefully be learned no matter the age.
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