Tag: movies

A Little Yule Cheer, Day 5: A Primer for A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

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In October of 1843, Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol as a social commentary on the treatment of the poor, especially poor children, in industrialized England. It took him only six weeks to put the story on paper! Because his publishers, Chapman and Hall, were unwilling to risk the investment of publishing another novel after his Martin Chuzzlewit flop, Dickens paid for the production and printing of the novella out of his own pocket. The 6,000 published copies sold out in a week and 15,000 total copies were sold by the end of the year. A Christmas Carol has never been out of print since that time.

I read A Christmas Carol almost every year and always watch at least one movie version as part of my Christmas traditions. For today, I’m sharing some resources and opinions related to this iconic story. If you’re already a fan of this iconic story, I hope this post brings you some joy. If you aren’t very familiar with it, I hope you’ll discover something that makes you curious to dip your toes into one of the greatest Christmas tales of all time (outside of The Christmas Story, which is why we celebrate in the first place).

Introduction

To set the stage, Clickview offers an informative background video on Charles Dickens and A Christmas Carol. It’s brief (about 7 minutes) and adds dimension to the story, whether you are an aficionado or a beginner.

Experiencing the Story

There are many ways to experience A Christmas Carol. As an avid reader, I am always going to recommend reading the book first. It’s a small time investment; most books are under 120 pages. If you aren’t a reader, listening to an audiobook is another possibility. Again, the time investment is small, about 3.5 to 4 hours. Audible has versions narrated by some powerhouse actors including Tim Curry, Hugh Grant, Patrick Stewart, Orson Welles and Lionel Barrymore, and Lawrence Olivier. I also found a Audible Original version with a full cast including Sir Derek Jacobi and Brendan Coyle.

The third, and probably most accessible, way to experience A Christmas Carol is to watch a movie version. At my house, we like the whimsey of A Muppet Christmas Carol and the darkness of A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott. There are so many versions to choose from. To find your own favorite(s,) check out the lists below:

Going Deeper

If you are already a fan of A Christmas Carol and want to try something new but related, here are a few suggestions:

Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva. This as a fictionalized account of the writing of a Christmas Carol. Very little is tied to historical facts but the story is well told with an atmosphere similar to A Christmas Carol. I enjoyed it.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11451071-jacob-t-marley?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=AjxwRrVEDt&rank=1

Jacob T. Marley by R. William Bennett. Jacob Marley is Scrooge’s former business partner and the ghost that warns Scrooge of his likely doom and chance for redemption through the three Christmas spirits. This is his story. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s Goodreads rating is 4.13 stars.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6225520/

The Man Who Invented Christmas. Obviously, this film focuses on the why and how behind Dickens’ masterpiece. I haven’t seen this movie yet but focuses on a Christmas Carol from a fresh perspective and stars Dan Stevens as Charles Dickens so it can’t be too bad.

A Christmas Carol is a beloved story that’s been told and retold for almost two centuries. Scrooge’s powerful redemption experience juxtaposed against the atmospheric backdrop of a Victorian Christmas setting has impacted generations of people. I wonder what Charles Dickens would say about it’s success?

I hope you discover something new to love about A Christmas Carol and find this quote to be true of yourself as it was of Ebenezer Scrooge:

“And it was said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, every one!”

A Little Yule Cheer: Day 6 (Favorite Christmas Movies)

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When Christmas comes around, the need to engage in comforting and celebratory traditions increases exponentially.  My family has a few traditions we hold dear.  Some are very meaningful to our faith and the spiritual experience of the holiday.  Others are strictly for fun and we repeat them because they were an enjoyable experience the first time around and we want to relive the good feelings associated with them again and again.  Watching Christmas movies falls in the that latter category for us; it’s a time to relax and be together during the otherwise nutsy weeks before the Big Day.

The movies we watch every year:

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National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo (1989).  It’s the ultimate dysfunctional family gathering that still makes me belly laugh.  The kids didn’t start watching this movie with us until they were teenagers; language and innuendo are definitely not for little ones.  We watched this movie this evening and we’ll be quoting lines from it for weeks.  Check out IMDb for a full review.

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White Christmas starring Bing Crosby, starring Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen (1954).   Lots of singing, dancing and fancy costumes with a perfectly sentimental and happy ending.  So much nostalgic fun!  We’ll be watching this one closer to Christmas.  IMDb.

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The Muppet Christmas Carol starring Michael Caine and a very large cast of muppets (1992).  A fun and surprisingly moving retelling of the classic Charles Dickens story in a musical format.  The only thing complaint I have is that when the movie was produced in DVD format, one of the songs  was removed (“The Love is Gone”)  Why??  It was a lovely part of the movie and I miss it.  IMDb.

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A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott (1984).  What can I say?  This is our favorite secular Christmas story and, as much as we love the Muppet version, it feels appropriate to watch a realistic interpretation more in line with Dickens’ writing.  Because some scenes can be scary, it’s probably not the best choice for small children or early elementary aged kiddos.  IMDb.

Although we have movies we watch every year,  there are many others we like to watch if we get the chance: Home Alone, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas… The list could go on and on, really.

If you are interested in starting your own Christmas movie traditions or want to know where your favorits fall in the greatest Christmas movies of all time lists, take a look at Fansided, New Media Rockstars,  or Ranker.

What are your favorite Christmas movies?  I’d love to hear about them.

 

Celebrating The 50/50 Reading Challenge

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[ questionable quality photo of fireworks ]

I did it!  I completed The 50/50 Reading Challenge!  Woo Hoo!!!  I actually read 50 books and watched 50 movies in 2012.  Never mind that I crammed the last three books in after Christmas or that I finished watching my last movie at 11:30 pm on New Year’s Eve.  It was all carefully planned out so that I could finish The Challenge in a frenzy of activity and drama.  OK, there was no plan, but it does seem to be how I roll these days and it was an exciting finish.

There’s no doubt it was harder than I thought it would be.  I’ve discovered I don’t like reading on a schedule.  It’s too structured and pushy.  Frankly, I felt rushed with no time for contemplation.  I was also surprised at how much I really struggled to find the chunks of time needed for movie watching, especially toward the end of the year.

Despite the difficulties, (it is called The 50/50 Reading Challenge for a reason) this little endeavor was fun and meaningful.  I became much more purposeful in my reading choices.  I read some excellent books, branched out into genres I wouldn’t normally choose, and discovered some new favorite authors.  I was motivated enough to read through the Bible as one of my books – something I have tried to do several times before without success.  I developed a taste for old movies and found myself seeking them out as the year progressed.  And now I get to bask in the glow of satisfaction that always comes from accomplishing a hard-won goal.  It feels good, really good.

I’m not going to review the six books and seven movies I consumed in December that finally got me to my goal.  That would be as cumbersome to write as it would be to read.  Instead, I’ll just list and rate everything and you’ll just have to take my word for it (or not – whatever).

December Books

  • The Andromeda Strain by Micheal Crichton (3.75/5 stars)
  • The World According to Mr. Rogers: Important Things to Remember by Fred Rogers (4/5 stars)
  • Gathering Blue (book 2 in The Giver series) by Lois Lowry (4.25/5 stars)
  • Messenger (book 3 in The Giver series) by Lois Lowry (4.25/5 stars)
  • Son (book 4 in The Giver series) by Lois Lowry (4.25/5 stars)
  • The Bible (5/5 stars)

December Movies

  • Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) starring Judy Garland and Margaret O’Brien (4.25/5 stars)
  • Life of Pi (2012) starring Suraj Sharma and Irrfan Khan (4/5 stars)
  • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) starring Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, and Richard Armitage (4.5/5 stars)
  • Miracle on 34th Street (1947) starring Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, and Natalie Wood (4.5/5 stars)
  • A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) starring Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, and James Dunn (4/5 stars)
  • Scrooged (1988) starring Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, and Bobcat Goldthwait (3.75/5 stars)
  • Wreck-It Ralph (2012) starring by John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, and Jane Lynch (3.75/5 stars)

The folks who got The 50/50 Reading Challenge ball rolling last year are at it again.  If you are interested in attempting your own challenge for 2013, check out their new website here.  I’ll warn you, it ain’t easy.  But it is definitely worth it.  And if you decide to give it a try, I wish you the very best of luck.

As for me, I think I’m going to take a pass this year.  Because there are a finite numbers of hours in the day (The 50/50 Reading Challenge reminded me of this deep truth, too), I’m choosing to spend my time on other pleasures and travel in the culture consumption slow lane.  The time has come to take the stress out of my favorite forms of relaxation 🙂

Now, will someone please toss me a party hat and a noise maker.  I’ve got some serious celebrating to do!  Scratch that.  Just hand me a good book.  I’d rather read than party any day.

50/50 Reading Challenge Update: November Movies

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November was a so-so movie watching month for me.  I didn’t love any of the films I watched, but I didn’t hate them either. The original plan was to go on real dates with Mr. Whimsey to see new releases like Skyfall, Anna Karinina, and Lincoln. Unfortunately, the ever-present time squeeze that stifles the leisure activities in my life forbade such wanton fantasies as a date night.  Instead I ended the month with a hodge-podge of acceptable vintage stuff that didn’t quite get me to my quota for the 50/50 reading Challenge.  This just means that I’ll be trying to cram seven new movies into December when what I really want to be doing is sipping cocoa and re-watching holiday favorites like White Christmas, A Muppet Christmas Carol, and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

November Movies

Holiday Affair (1949) starring Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey.  Janet Leigh plays a young war widow and mother who decides to marry a man she likes but doesn’t love for security and a stable environment for her son.  Then she meets Robert Mitchum’s character and her plans becomes far less appealing.  The very attractive Mr. Mitchum and the little boy who played Janet Leigh’s son were the best parts of the movie for me. For a classic holiday film, this was satisfactory but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it again.   (3.5/5 stars)

Christmas in Connecticut (1945) starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet.  Barbara Stanwyck’s character makes her living sharing about life on her Connecticut farm with her husband and baby as she writes about the delicious food cooks for them.  In reality, Ms. Stanwyck is a young, single, sophisticated city dweller who doesn’t know the first thing about cooking.  The deceit is harmless until her clueless publisher decides he wants to spend the Christmas holiday with her on her farm.  Joining him will be a war hero whose girlfriend wants him to discover the delights of domesticity.  To save her job, she decides to marry a friend she likes but doesn’t love (recognize a theme here?) who just happens to own a farm in Connecticut.  She never gets around to marrying the friend, ends up falling in love with the young soldier and many uncomfortable and funny situations develop.  My favorite part of the whole movie?  The sleigh ride, of course – what a romantic way to spend a December evening!  (3.5/5 stars)

The Andromeda Strain (1971) starring Arthur Hill, David Wayne, James Olson, and Kate Reid.  An extra-terrestrial micro-organism hitches a ride back to earth on a satellite and almost completely wipes out a small town in Arizona.  Scientists race against time to discover the alien life form and protect the human race from annihilation.  I struggle with older sci-fi movies because everything seems just a little hokey.  It’s not the movie’s fault; it’s the curse of the inevitable progress of technology. But still, I struggled.  Buddy picked this movie because he’d just finished reading the book.  We all thought it was OK.  I’m reading the book now and am finding it to be much more intense (in a good way) than the movie.  (3/5 stars)

Office Space (1999) starring Ron Livingston, Jennifer Anniston, and David Herman.  I don’t watch comedies very often.  I’m always expecting them to be funnier then they really are and then I’m disappointed.  Because this particular movie has reached cult status, I figured I would give it a try.  Office Space pokes fun at the ridiculous culture and practices of corporate America.  Some of the characterizations were just terrific and some of the scenes were hilarious.  I think what makes it appealing to so many people is that we’ve all experienced some of the absurdities the movie highlights.  Very little mental energy is required for viewing and some good belly laughs are involved.  Not bad for a comedy.  (3.5/5 stars)

I am nervous about fitting the last seven movies into December.  It is already the middle of the month, I have so many other things to do, and I haven’t watched one flick that could count toward the 50/50 Reading Challenge.  Yikes!  I think I see a couple of movie marathons looming in my immediate future.  Bring on the popcorn, Coca Cola, and wrapping paper.  I guess it’s time for some intense multi-tasking this Yuletide season if I have any hope whatsoever of getting everything done.

50/50 Reading Challenge Update: October Movies

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Because I struggled so much with reading in October, it may come as a bit of a surprise that adding five more movies to my 50/50 list was a piece of cake.  I think I know why this happens.  October was a mentally challenging month for me with regard to work and just generally stressful in every other area of my existence.  When my life gets like this (which is happening far too frequently lately), I seek ways to completely escape.

As much as I love books as a means of escape, they take mental energy and focus.  My brain has to create the world I’m reading about.  Movies, on the other hand, create the world for me without any effort on my part.  I just absorb what is going on and usually find it very relaxing – unless I’m watching something suspenseful like The Woman in Black.  October was definitely a movie kind of month.  I needed a lot of veggin’ out time to recover from the real world.

October Movies

Dark Shadows (2012) starring Johnny Depp, Michelle Peiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, and Johnny Lee Miller.  Johnny Depp, who plays Barnabas Collins, is turned into a vampire by a scorned love interest/witch and is then buried for almost 200 years.  After being accidentally dug up by some excavators, he returns to his home to find his mansion in disrepair and his family almost destitute.  The rest of the movie follows his attempt to turn things around and chronicles his ongoing battles with the same sexy witch.

I didn’t care for this movie at all.  The plot line was fuzzy with so many secondary (and tertiary) storylines popping in and out that my head was spinning.  As a parent, I felt it was too sexually suggestive for my kids.  And frankly, I really wanted it to be funnier.  I won’t be watching this one again – I barely finished it the first time.  (2/5 stars)

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) starring Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart, and Chris Hemsworth.  I was pleasantly surprised by this creative retelling of the Snow White fairy tale.  Charlize Theron was simply perfect as the beautiful and terrible evil queen.  Chris Hemsworth was exactly what you would expect him to be: the tough-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside, easy-on-the-eyes huntsman who helps Snow White escape the queen’s power.  I admit Kristen Stewart would not be my first choice for the leading role, simply because she doesn’t look at all like the Snow White of my imagination.  Also, her character makes some abrupt personality changes toward the end of the movie that I struggled to reconcile with my ideal.  Finally, the movie was too long.  Despite these small grievances, I thoroughly enjoyed the film.  (3.75/5 stars)

Mad Love (1935) starring Peter Lorre, Francis Drake, and Ted Healy.  About once a month, Mr. Whimsey travels overnight for his job.  It was just this kind of night, while I was feeling especially bored and lonely, that I stumbled upon Mad Love while channel surfing.  IMDb describes the movie like this:

“An insane surgeon’s obsession with an actress leads him to replace her wounded pianist’s hands with the hands of a knife murderer which still have the urge to throw knives.”

The movie was short (only 68 minutes) but adequately disturbing.  Francis Drake is simply lovely to look at and Peter Lorre effortlessly plays the creepy, mad doctor.  Don’t expect anything deep, profound, or truly scary with this film.  It’s just pure entertainment from the Depression Era highlighting one man’s passionate and sinister obsession.  (3/5 stars)

Moonrise Kingdom (2012) starring Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton.  In this wonderfully quirky movie, two 12-year-old friends run away twice to escape their miserable lives in a town somewhere in New England.  I cannot say enough good things about this movie.  It is superbly casted and acted.  It is nuanced and layered with meaning. It is nostalgic without being sickening.  It is visually satisfying.  It examines love, loneliness, and relationships of all kinds without making judgements.  I found it to be sweet, refreshing, and rewarding – a fabulous way to spend 94 minutes.  I’ll be watching this film again!  (4.5/5 stars)

The Woman in Black (2012) starring Daniel Radcliffe and Ciarán Hinds.  Occasionally I enjoy a good ghost story (e.i., The Others and The Sixth Sense).  With its opulently atmospheric and neglected mansion in the middle of a misty marsh, its evil ghost, and its lonely main character solidly played by Daniel Radcliffe, The Woman in Black certainly fits this category.  The main ghost is appropriately wicked and appears throughout the movie, terrorizing the village as well as Daniel while he stays at the mansion.

This is no blood and guts horror flick.  It is just great psychological suspense (or torture as I prefer to call it) and is very scary.  I watched this movie with my daughter (Lovey) who is sixteen and my son (Buddy) who is thirteen.  Lovey screamed so much my husband felt the need to come downstairs to check on us.  I was a sweaty mess by the time the movie ended.  Buddy slept with his light on for two nights afterward because he was sure the Woman in Black was standing in the corner of his room and the mud boy was going to ooze up through his carpet.  I’m happy to report we’ve all recovered and can laugh about our ridiculous behavior but we all agree it was a darn scary flick.  (4.5/5 stars)

Including the month of October, I’ve watched 39 films in 2012.  That means I only have 11 more movies to go until the end of the year.  I have a feeling many of those films will be new releases.  There are so many good ones coming out in the next two months.  Have you seen any good movies lately?  I’d love to hear about them.