First up was Jim Carrey in Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It had been quite a while since I’d seen this one and it was one of the DVDs I ordered through my Columbia House promotion so I was really looking forward to watching it. This is a holiday classic for sure. I think Ron Howard did a great job in expanding on the story of the Grinch and the Whos while still keeping to Dr. Seuss’ original storyline. Jim Carrey ensures there are plenty of great laughs – this is one of those roles he was born to play.
Next up was Will Farrell as Buddy in one of my new Christmas favourites, Elf. Considering some of the roles that Will Farrell has played in the past (Anchorman, Old School, Zoolander) it’s nice to see him in a comedy that is still suitable for the whole family. There are a lot of laughs in this film, as well as a great Christmas story that ends the way any good holiday classic should end, happily. I think everyone enjoyed this film, even the grumpy guy (I won’t mention any names, but his initials are Scott Fallows) who thought the film got too “Christmasy” toward the end. That’s ok though. We’ve always known Scott was a cotton-headed ninny-muggins.
Since I have such a loving and devoted wife, we were able to finish our evening with Chevy Chase in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, the DVD that had just been purchased several hours earlier. While Elf is a great family classic, Christmas Vacation is probably better for families that don’t include children under the age of 10 or 11. It is National Lampoon after all. But no Christmas would be complete without Clark Griswold and his obsession with having a big, traditional family Christmas. For some of us it was a chance to point and laugh, for others it was a disturbing reminder of their own childhood. Ah, good times.Maybe next year I’ll have a bigger house and can invite all my friends for Christmas Movie Fest 2006. As it is, I don’t think I could have squeezed any more people into my basement. So many thanks to Shauna, Dave, Barbara, Scott, Laura, Vince, Brian, Anne, Chris and Amber! I had a blast and hope you did too!
Merry Christmas
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2 comments:
Movie days are a great way to spend time with friends and celebrate the season. May I suggest a Christmas Classic movie day? I always like the classics best at this rather nostalgic time of year. Particular films like "It's a Wonderful Life", and the classic of classics, Alistair Sim in "A Christmas Carol" could be prefaced with Burl Ive's "Rudolph" and the animated Grinch or Charlie Brown, celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. In the most Victorian sense possible, Happy Christmas!
A class Christmas movie day would certainly be something I'd enjoy. Alistair Sim's is definitely a nostalgic one for me, and especially for Shauna. Rudolph and the animated Grinch are probably top of my list though. I'm certain I watched those every year as a kid.
I think I need more time off at Christmas just so I can watch more movies. Actually, I think I need more time off in general so I can watch more movies.
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