The Life and Times of a Midwestern Movie Addict

I haven't written in several days, mainly because I've been enjoying being off the grid of late.  I wanted to be by myself a lot of the time, and in the evenings maybe I wanted to see a friend or two.  I also got my stomach thing again earlier in the week, and stabbing abdominal pain tends to outweigh the joy of writing.  But I'm back in full form and ready to dish you two fab films from the 80s, both that figure heavily in both New Year's time, and also the career of Dan Aykroyd. The first film I had never heard of until 1996, when Jamie Kennedy spoke about Jamie Lee Curtis in the film, Scream .  Someone asked if in Halloween, you ever got to see Jamie Lee's breasts, and Jamie Kennedy said no...not until she got a legitimate (non horror) role in 1983 where she played a street smart prostitute with a heart of gold and a huge rack.  That film was Trading Places , which while being notable for Mrs. Curtis' ample...eherm...assets is also well known for being one...

...the Sex part always gets in the way.  No, I didn't invent this little bit of wisdom...in fact it wasn't even stated originally in a homosexual setting...rather it was an attempt to address the paradox in male/female heterosexual friendships.  The wisdom states that men and women can never be friends because the sex always gets in the way...regardless of how one feels about the other.  A man always wants to sleep with a woman he finds attractive, ultimately dooming the friendship to failure.  And if a man doesn't find a women friend attractive, you can probably assume that she finds him attractive.  A true paradox, though the same can be applied to gay male friends....one or the other is usually attracted to the other and thus the friendship is doomed to awkwardness and failure.  Who invented something that sounded so unPC, you ask?  Screenwriters Nora Ephron and Rob Reiner, that's who.  They attempted to explore this theme in their critically a...

For our last film of our last of the 25 days of Christmas movies, I wanted to take a look back at one of the classics of the holiday season, as well as a classic in its particular film franchise.  This film premiered on television in 1965 and became a holiday staple on CBS for the next 35 years.  It starred one of America's favorite comic strip characters and tried to help us all discover 'what Christmas is all about' while also featuring one of the saddest looking Christmas trees ever put on animation.  This was what A Charlie Brown Christmas was all about...well, it was about more than that I guess.  Good grief, I can't be witty all the time.  As for the short, it was a wonderfully cute little yarn featuring the kids from "Peanuts" and with a bit of a holiday message to share.  Over the course of the film, Charlie Brown discovers that Christmas isn't about presents, getting cards, winning decorating contests, or even directing Christmas pageants.  It...

I can remember a year in my youth when Mom was seriously considering skipping Christmas...I can't remember precisely when or why...and that may be because it never actually happened...but I still can remember it.  When I think of such an idea, especially now on Christmas Eve, I can't help but have the kneejerk reaction of "what a silly idea"...and then I wonder, what would it be like to skip Christmas for a year.  I'd certainly save money, and I wouldn't need to rush around my holiday break trying to see every family member that I know.  Also, I wouldn't need to burden anyone else with buying gifts for me, so others would save money as well.  As one rationalizes it, it becomes a rather good idea...to at least try once.  Of course, then I'd be missing the family and the fun of Christmas, and that's the real point.  I think that's what John Grisham was thinking when he wrote his light, frothy comedy "Skipping Christmas" as a short novel...

For the day before the day before Christmas, I thought I would focus on yet another film from my childhood, one I don't think I've seen since before I turned 10. This was a film spawned by the popular television appearances made by the late Jim Varney in his most famous character alter-ego, Ernest P. Worrel. This film was to be called Ernest Saves Christmas and it is one of his most popular and humorous film outings in his repetiore.  In this film, Ernest has the good fortune to pick up Santa Claus at the Orlando Airport in his taxi and thus begins a crazy adventure where he must help Santa convince both a cynical teenage girl, and a middle aged nice guy that he does in fact exist.  The man is the important one to convince, as Santa wants him to take over the business so that he can retire, but the girl becomes a factor when she steals Santa's bag for her own use.  Its a cute film, and one that I can't really find too much fault in (unlike the less funny and more sil...

Now I know that there are some of you out there who won't agree with my inclusion of this film as a Christmas movie in my 25 days because it does not seem synonimous with the holiday.  Many of you will even go so far to say that it isn't even about Christmas...and no, it isn't, but it does feature the holiday in both its prologue, third act, and coda and frankly that's good enough for me.  Also, it deals with a very important dramatic question for any Christmas loving child...."where does snow come from"?  And thus, we are launched into the narrative of Edward Scissorhands , one of the most touching and personal films that Tim Burton has ever made. For those of you who don't know the story, it is a modern day fairy tale (that a grandmother tells to her granddaughter in the film no less) that takes place in today's peasant kingdom...suburbia, and how those that live there react to an outsider who is brought into their midst.  Shy Avon lady Peg Boggs (...

I realized the other day, as I was stuck in WV under mounds and mounds of snow that, in all the careful planning and organizing of Christmas movies for each day of this blog, I had nearly forgotten one of the best ones of the darker persuasion.  It is a film that I took to at a very early age, upon its original release in 1993, because I had always enjoyed things of the macabre nature...especially the dark things which this artist constantly seemed to be thinking up.  The film itself wasn't hugely successful as a children's film (mainly due to its macabre nature) but it did manage to be successful enough to be memorable...and would eventually be made more successful after the fact by the goth and emo crowd who seemed to relate to its outcast leads.  The film is, The Nightmare Before Christmas , which began life as a Tim Burton poem (with illustrations) when he worked as an animator at Walt Disney Studios, and was finally given filmic life when he became a household name f...

Here, buried under snow at the old homestead, Mom, Mr. and Miss J, and I revisited a family Christmas classic together on the sofa...it was all very Better Homes and Gardens...if Better Homes and Gardens ever showed a family with grown up children, one of them gay, and a single mother.  Wait?  They did?  Show's how out of the loop I am.  Anyway, the film we watched was Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas, which began its life as a short story and then was made into a HBO Christmas special in 1977.  Its a very touching tale, lovingly rendered on celluloid by Jim Henson and his puppeteers and given musical life with songs by Paul Williams.  It tells the story of river folk, specifically Emmet Otter and his Ma, who are trying to give themselves a nice Christmas despite being poor.  We used to watch it all the time when Miss J and I were kids, and now that its on DVD, we watch it every year...because our old Christmas tape has vanished in the shuffle. One t...

I need to catch up after missing yesterday's post...I was detained.  How so, you ask?  Well, I had to drive to southern WV to visit family for an early Christmas and got stuck in the worst snow storm to hit WV since the 2003 winter wallop.  It began to rain as I was getting close to Charleston, and once I passed Charleston the rain turned to snow.  I had hear that the storm would be bad, but I had high hopes that it wouldn't get BAD bad until I got to the house.  Unfortunately, it began to gunk up the roads quickly and by the time I got to my exit we (the cars on the highway) were all going 35 in a 70 zone...and slowly decreasing speed as it got hard to steer and control.  I got on a main street through town...and was stuck there in stop and go traffic (mainly stop) for two extra hours.  My trip should have taken 3 hours, but it took me 5...mainly taking 2 hours to do the last 15 miles.  But I made it.  I actually kissed the floor of my mothe...

Is there a Christmas story that has been adapted as many times as Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"?  I don't think so.  This month's blog has had two versions of it featured already, and we're about to see a new one tonight...well not new, but more contemporary in release date and setting.  1988 brought us a lot of things...several horror sequels and original work to boot (it was almost as good a year as 1984) and by this point Bill Murray was box office gold.  So when Paramount Pictures decided to produce a modernized version of Carol for the 80s, who better to cast as a Scrooge replacement than Murray, who had already proved that he was a great smarmy bastard in films...and he worked well with ghosts.  Add in some wonderful supporting cast members and spot-on direction by Richard Donner and you get Scrooged , a Christmas Carol that not only reinvents the story to exist in modern day America but also self-reflexively acknowledges that Carol already exist...

That's the message of Richard Curtis' 2003 romantic comedy behemoth, Love Actually , which showcased no less than 13 celebrities in starring and supporting roles and also featured at least 4 or 5 separate romantic storylines that interweave in and out of each other.  Curtis wanted to show that, even in dark times like ours when events like 9/11 can make us doubt that the sun will shine again (yes, I'm being overdramatic for a purpose), love is everywhere if you look for it.  And this film, set in the weeks leading up to Christmas in London, has almost all of it.  Young love, old love, wounded love, lost love, parent/child love, first love, family love, etc.  You name it, its there.  Yes, some of the tales are just so precious you might want to brush your teeth afterwards from all the sweetness, but conversely some of the stories are bittersweet and/or complete failures (such as Laura Linney's thread with her sexy co-worker or Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman's tin...

It seems odd that of all the Christmas stories I experienced as a child, the most magical one wasn't about a flight in a slay, a ride on a donkey, or even a romp with a snowman...it was about a ride on a train called The Polar Express. I remember hearing the story the first time in grade school and being completely enchanted by it. It was a wholly original tale that reinforced my belief in Santa Claus for yet another year and made me completely certain that, if I happened to be awake at the right time on Christmas Eve, that I might get to make a trip to the North Pole. Christmas Fable by Chris Van Alisburg captured the childhood wonder and the mystery of Christmas perfectly and taught us to simply believe...regardless of what people tell us about it. It insists that Christmas is about a feeling, and that its not nearly as magical or fun without that feeling.  I recall having a dream after reading the book that involved me going on the Polar Express myself...it was almost like b...

Tonight's post is going to be a short one, as I have little time and patience tonight. It wasn't a bad day, just long one and I'm glad to be done with it. I just want to make sure that I get a post up before bed. Anyhoo, before Robert Zemeckis used motion capture to capture Dickens' beloved Christmas tale on celluloid, Disney conceived another version of "A Christmas Carol"...this one with its animated stars at the front. Yes friends, tonight I am giving Mickey's Christmas Carol a shout out.  Its classic Christmas, comes straight from my childhood days, and its short which makes it even better.  It was actually the first version of "A Christmas Carol" that I ever saw and it still ranks as one of my favorites (because nostalgia is a sweet, sweet mistress).  Most of us already know the story, but for those who don't (all two of you) I'll summarize: A greedy old man, Scrooge, finds himself haunted by his old business partner and three gh...

Is there a Christmas movie in America that needs less of an introduction than A Christmas Story ?  I mean, its been considered a classic for years, it was ranked as the #1 Christmas movie of all time by AOL, and they even play it for 24 whole hours on TBS at Christmas Eve because of its popularity.  There are some who don't like the film (Miss J for one) of course, like any film, but the majority of the country thinks that it is comic gold.  I myself didn't like this film for a long time, I actually had to get older before I could enjoy it.  Now I watch it every Christmas and never fail to get a few good giggles from it.  No, its not gut-bustingly funny...but it does seem to capture the childhood experience of Christmas in a way that few other films have.  Most of that is due to the very witty writing of author Jean Shepard and his eloquent way of making the trivialities of childhood seem as serious as adult life...because frankly, when you're a kid, it is....

So its come to this...time to examine one of the most controversial and talked about Christmas horror films of all time.  A film so shocking that it was banned from the theaters by the PTA!  A film so horrifying, that it's promotianal materials were banned from theaters!  A film so revolting that Siskel and Ebert initiated a angry-letter-writing campaign to have it erased from all consciousness!  Yes friends, I'm talking about the Santa Claus slasher... Silent Night, Deadly Night ! Ok ok, so maybe the history isn't as spectacular as all that, but it isn't far off either.  The PTA did try to have it banned due to its storyline, Siskel and Ebert read the film's production credits on air and said "shame, shame", and once crowds started to protest the film, Tri-Star pulled all the promotional materials and the film itself after a while.  It wasn't until the film was picked up by an independent distributor, Aquarius Films, that it received another release...

As promised, I plan to discuss Tchaikovsky's  "The Nutcracker"...but wait, I can't discuss it yet...I haven't even gone to the theater to see it yet.  It doesn't actually start until later tonight when the dancers and sets are ready for places.  What is this madness?????  Actually, for those of you who might not be aware, The Nutcracker ballet has been adapted to film numerous times in both theatrical and television versions and if you know me (since I am a movie lover) you know that I've definitely seen at least one of them.  In fact I'm going to be discussing a version called Nutcracker: The Motion Picture which was released theatrically in 1986.  This production was very much a filmed version of a stage production which was produced by the Pacific Northwest Ballet of Seattle, Washington in 1983 and was so popular that it was decided that the production would ban entertaining movie.  This version differs greatly from other versions as it omits the S...

Ok, I won't be talking about the Simon Pegg film of the same name...this is more of a personal post today because I believe I managed to alienate a possible new friend last night online. First, I would like to preface this with my attitude with online conversations. I've learned to be friendly, honest, and blunt/clear in my responses to minimize confusions and misunderstandings that pop up in IM conversation, but I've also learned to be on the defensive as far as opinions go. Lets face it, I do not share the conventional opinions of people of my generation in the particular circles that I travel in. In film circles I'm an outcast because I don't care much for Apocalypse Now and I like both versions of Psycho .  In theater school circles I'm an outcast because I held on to my love of musical theater and popular shows.  In politics, I'm more of a moderate (as opposed to how gay men are supposed to think) and so I don't relate much to the inflammatory one...

Its time for another holiday sequel this evening, featuring our favorite everyman action hero John McClaine.  Yes friends, tonight I'm viewing Die Hard 2 which truly does, though you may not believe it, take place on Christmas Eve.  Yes, yes, I know that this film is yet another example of a sequel that simply repeats the formula of its predecessor almost to the letter...terrorists in an isolated area in total control vs. John McClaine on Christmas Eve with some fat headed obstinate cops thrown in for good measure...oh and Reginald VelJohnson, Bonnie Bedelia, and William Atherton reprise their roles as well.  Talk about convenience right?  Its almost too perfect...the kind of perfect that only the movies can do.  There are a lot of people who really hate Die Hard 2 because it merely repeats its formula and does little that is new or different...they also hate how the writers manage to conveniently reunite characters from the last film in ways that would never ...

...to young and old, far and near.  Oh no....I'm speaking in rhyme!!!!  But seriously folks, its simply not Christmas until one has watched Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas ...the original cartoon anyway.  Oh, I have nothing against Ron Howard's live-action version (in fact, it will probably make it into this film roundup before day 25 is through) but the first Grinch cartoon is so classic and such a part of so many holiday traditions that it simply must be mentioned first.  Plus, after the day I had today...I really could use something short to watch.  It all began last night after I got done watching Black Christmas.  I put a disc of Stargate: SG1 into the player to watch (I got the 1st season from the library) and suddenly the player decides that it cannot play the disc.  I'm not shocked, as the library discs usually look like they've been used as coasters.  So I switched it out for the next disc...still nothing.  Then I switch...

I thought I would write about what I'm GOING to watch tonight rather than about what I've already watched...since by all intents and purposes, I haven't watched it yet this year, but I have watched it before so technically I think that counts. And if by some horrid twist of fate I do NOT get to watch it tonight...you ever watchful bleeders out there can stone me in the street. I swear to you I'll watch it though, mostly for fear of 'Billy' coming after me if I don't. Some of you out there may not know who I'm referring to, but classic horror fans definitely will. What's this you say? Horror?? At Christmas??!! Are you mad!!?? Well, perhaps I am...but we all go a little mad sometimes. And that's what Bob Clark's Canadian chiller Black Christmas (1974) feels like, a Christmas tale gone mad.  It is a simple little yarn about a sorority house besieged by crazed phone calls and strange disappearances over the Christmas holidays and one ...

Just a quick update for today.  Tonight's film was one of the best Muppet movies and at the same time one of the best adaptations of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol ...it always puts me in a Christmasy mood when I watch it.  This film is The Muppet Christmas Carol and features Michael Caine as Scrooge, Gonzo as Charles Dickens, Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchet, Miss Piggy as his wife Emily, and Robin the Frog as Tiny Tim.  Fozzie Bear plays the chipper Fozziewig, and Statler and Waldorf play the dead Marleys.  It really is an inspired production that shows that the Muppets...when the script is good...can do anything.  This film was so popular and successful that it inspired a slew of Muppet adaptations from Muppet Treasure Island to The Muppets Wizard of Oz.   I'm still holding out for The Rocky Horror Muppet Show with the token humans playing Brad and Janet and Kermit the Frog as the Sweet Transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania...but that has noth...

Ok, so I didn't post this weekend but you guys already know I don't blog on the weekends. I've usually got too much to do to think about sitting down at the computer and typing up this and that on a Saturday or a Sunday. For me, blogging is a fun escape during the work week rather than something I do everyday.  I hope everyone was well this week and that you were simply dying to know what I watched Saturday and Sunday.  I managed to get in two late 80s Christmas classics, and both can be summed up in iconic quotes. "Yippie Kay Yay, Motherfucker!" - Those of the immortal words of Detective John McClane...one of action's premiere characters and the star of the surprise hit of 1988, Die Hard .  Most people probably don't think of Die Hard as being too Christmassy, what with the explosions and blood squibs blasting out our surround sound speakers, but the film and its first sequel both take place on Christmas Eve...allowing the film to transcend preconcept...

I sure hope that blog title got you thinking, or perhaps it didn't.  Some would say that Christmas and pain go hand in hand...whether its the pain of anticipation and waiting for the day to come so we can rip into the presents, the pain of lonliness and having no where to go for those with little options, the emotional pain involved with having lots of relatives in the house, or even the simple pain of not being able to figure out the perfect gift for a special person.  I think a lot of people underestimate how much pain goes into the holiday season, as we are socialized to think that December is a time for us all to be generous, loving, and giving and to believe that everyone has someone to spend it with.  We tend to forget (whenever the TV and radio will let us) that there are people out there who are less fortunate than us and don't have someone to spend the big day with or they can't afford what the big day costs (cause Xmas is expensive when you do it right).  O...

 Ok ok, I know this isn't really a Christmas movie per se...but it does start at Christmas and goes through the wintery months to Valentine's Day.  And I did watch it during my month of Christmas movies, so technically I think that counts...and for those of you who don't agree, you can eat me cause I didn't have time to watch anything more Christmasy today.  Oh, I guess I should tell you the movie before I go about insulting anyone out there who reads this (which my counter tells me isn't many).  That movie is Sleepless in Seattle .  Yes, I can hear you shouting foul already, but it does indeed take place at Christmas to start and features some Christmassy things while Meg Ryan visits her family and listens to Tom Hanks on the radio.  There are other Christmas films that are romantic comedies as well, like Love Actually , because afterall...what better time of year is there to fall in love than the season of giving?  I can only hope the same may be tru...

Today it going to be a good day.  I can feel it.  Its not because I have anything really planned for today or something fun to do, its just a mind set that I am trying to have.  I've found something for the students to actually do, rather than something for them to LISTEN to me do. I love when that happens.  They still want to be chatty, but there's not much to be done with that at this age. Today I'm doing a second Santa movie, this one considerably more famous than Santa Claus: The Movie .  In fact, this one spawned 2 sequels and made quite a bit of money for Disney.  I am of course referring to The Santa Clause , a film I saw as a child and which made me believe in Santa Claus again...at least figuratively.  I thought the idea of the film was very clever.  A man, who accidentally causes the real Santa to fall off the roof and die, puts on Santa's suit and delivers the rest of the presents that evening with his son.  He thinks this is a r...

I'd rather not get into how class was today...it seems like I more bitching and less actual happy talk about my job and I think its disproportionate to how I really feel about teaching.  I'll just say that the kids were behaving about as expected after being on a long break.  They'll mellow out in a few days for sure.  Today I'd much rather talk about something I've been looking forward to since I started this blog.  Yes friends, just as some people haul out the tree and decorations and begin to start playing Christmas music ad nausium till December 25th is over, its time for me to start watching Christmas movies again.  I certainly have enough to get through an entire month and I plan to focus on one a day until Christmas is over (and then I'm going to go through one New Year's movie a day until New Year's Day).  Can he do it?  Well if Julie Powell can do 536 recipes in 360 days, I can certainly do 31 movies in 31 days.  Have I mentioned what a f...

Its always facinating to me how we work and work and tell ourselves "Everything will be fine if I can just make it to the holiday break"...and it feels completely true until after the holiday is over and we know that its time to go back to work.  Then we get the 'blahs'.  Its like Sunday night depression, only worse because you've had even more time off and you want even more. You go to bed knowing that the next day is not a holiday, but a dreaded work day, and you force yourself to go to bed earlier after being on a much more erratic sleep schedule so that you can get back into the weekday routine.  Oh, and after Thanksgiving and Christmas...you certainly have to get used to eating normal portions again.  There's nothing quite like stretching one's stomach muscles to capacity in just one day...and having to then drastically cut back on what the stomach has begun to consider the norm.  I wonder what the stomach would say about that if it could speak.  I im...