Daily Archives: December 24, 2016

Holiday Scenes That I Love: The Ending of It’s A Wonderful Life

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

At this very moment, NBC is broadcasting the classic 1946 film, It’s A Wonderful Life!  They show it every Christmas Eve and every year, I watch.

Why?

Because I love this movie so much that I could watch it a million times and then a million times more!  There is no movie that makes me happier than It’s A Wonderful Life.  There is no movie that brings tears to my mismatched eyes as quickly as It’s A Wonderful Life.  I love this film so much that I even watch it outside of December.  If I’m depressed, this is the movie that I’m going to watch.

And who can blame me?  The scene below is one that I love but, to be honest, there’s not a single scene in It’s A Wonderful Life that I don’t love.  I even love those scenes with old Sam Wainwright going, “Hee haw!”  Sam may have been a jackass but he was a good guy underneath it all.

(Plus, he made a fortune in plastics!  Money can excuse all sorts of obnoxious behavior!)

As for the scene below, it’s the final ten minutes of It’s A Wonderful Life.  To me, nothing exemplifies the joy of the holidays better than Jimmy Stewart running down the snow-filled streets of Bedford Falls and shouting “Merry Christmas” to everyone, even mean old Mr. Potter.  (“And a happy new year to you — IN JAIL!”)  This is a great scene and wonderfully acted by James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Ward Bond, and everyone else in the film!

And here it is!

(For an alternative take on whether or not Bedford Falls would have been better off if George Bailey had never been born, check out this interview with Mr. Potter himself!)

 

My Christmas Present to You: THE GREAT RUPERT Complete Movie (Eagle-Lion 1950)

Posted on by gary loggins

cracked rear viewer

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THE GREAT RUPERT is one those movies I used to catch frequently on my local public access channel; it seems like it’s been in public domain forever. Producer George Pal uses his Puppetoon magic to animate Rupert, a plucky dancing squirrel who’s “almost human” forced to forage for himself when his trainer is evicted for not paying his rent. A homeless, penniless family of circus performers, the Amendolas, move in by fast-talking landlord Dingle’s son Pete, who falls head-over-heels for daughter Rosalinda.

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The miserly Mr. Dingle keeps his cash stashed in a hole in the wall, which is where Rupert stashes his nuts. When Mrs. Amendola starts praying for a miracle, Rupert starts tossing the worthless (to him) moolah out of his hidey-hole, and she believes it’s “money from heaven”. Soon the town begins to gossip about where the Amendolas are getting all this loot, and the local cops, IRS, and FBI…

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4 Shots From 4 Holiday Films: Bad Santa, Elf, The Polar Express, Four Christmases

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

4 Shots From 4 Holiday Films

Bad Santa (2003, dir by Terry Zwigoff)

Bad Santa (2003, dir by Terry Zwigoff)

Elf (2003, dir by Jon Favreau)

Elf (2003, dir by Jon Favreau)

The Polar Express (2004, dir by Robert Zemeckis)

The Polar Express (2004, dir by Robert Zemeckis)

Four Christmases (2008, dir by Seth Gordon)

Four Christmases (2008, dir by Seth Gordon)

The Florida Film Critics Circle Honors The Lobster!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

lobster

Yesterday, the Florida Film Critics Circle announced their picks for the best of 2016!  And guess what?  While there’s plenty of familiar names on the list of honorees, Florida still went its own way by naming The Lobster as best film of the year!

Here are the winners!

BEST PICTURE

BEST DIRECTOR

BEST ACTOR

  • Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea
  • Runner-Up:  Joel Edgerton – Loving

BEST ACTRESS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

  • Michelle Williams – Manchester by the Sea
  • Runner-Up: Viola Davis – Fences

BEST ENSEMBLE

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

  • The Lobster
  • Runner-Up: Manchester by the Sea

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

BEST ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION

BEST SCORE

BEST DOCUMENTARY

  • Cameraperson
  • Runner-Up: OJ: Made In America

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

  • Elle
  • Runner-Up: The Handmaiden

BEST ANIMATED FILM

BEST FIRST FILM

  • The Edge of Seventeen
  • Runner-Up    The Witch

PAULINE KAEL BREAKOUT AWARD:

GOLDEN ORANGE

A Great Christmas Gift From Joe Hill And Gabriel Rodriguez — “Locke & Key : Small World”

Posted on by Ryan C. (fourcolorapocalypse)

Trash Film Guru

lk-smallworld01-cova

Has it really been three years already?

Yup,  guess it has been that long since Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez locked (sorry) the doors of Keyhouse and concluded their modern long-form horror masterpiece, Locke & Key, and while the time has certainly flown by in many respects, now that we’ve been granted entry into the most mysterious home in Lovecraft, Massachusetts one more time, the truth is that it also feels like it’s been a lot longer than that.  Maybe that’s why it’s good to know, especially right before Christmas, that you (or, in this case, we) actually can go home again.

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Okay, sure, Locke & Key : Small World #1 may be a good, old-fashioned “one-shot” — and it may be set in the past (specifically the early part of the 20th century) and feature a different cast of characters than the one we came to know…

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Music Video of the Day: Miracle by Matisyahu (2010, dir. Mazik)

Posted on by Valerie Troutman

Happy Hanukkah!

“There are so many Christmas songs out there. I wanted to give the Jewish kids something to be proud of. We’ve got Adam Sandler’s song, which is hilarious, but I wanted to try to get across some of the depth and spirituality inherent in the holiday in a fun, celebratory song. My boy Kojak was in town so at the last minute we went into the studio in the spirit of miracles and underdogs and this is what we came up with. Happy Hannukah!” — Matisyahu

It also happens to be one of the craziest holiday music videos I’ve come across–Hanukkah or otherwise. Sure, there is that ridiculous Hall & Oates one and the one done by The Ramones, but this one has a Jew getting knocked over by a guy wearing a Santa hat who then wakes up in a bed with a Roman being fed grapes by a lady standing next to said bed. That’s pretty weird, and only the beginning of it.

I know there is sort of a controversy surrounding Matisyahu. It isn’t even listed under a “controversy” section on Wikipedia. He shaved his beard, dyed his hair, got divorced, and moved on from being so religious. That appears to be all there is to it. I just want people to enjoy this fun music video for the holidays.

There are at least two cast members worth mentioning.

Antiochus is played by Tony Cavalero who has gone on to be in quite a few things including Becoming Santa (2015), which Lisa reviewed last year.

Oh, and the lady standing next to the bed is none other than Jacqui Holland of late night cable fame in an early role. Yes, I know she has done other things, but that’s where I know her from and I’ve reviewed all but one of them on the site. I love spotting her in earlier roles. It’s like spotting Marilyn Monroe in movies before she became famous. I didn’t even recognize her till I saw her name in the credits.

Enjoy!