A Christmas Carol
Last night I began watching 'A Christmas Carol' with Alistair Sim. Apart from the dated acting by the supporting cast caused by the additional bad dialogue written in the 1951's, it is a stellar movie. Especially to see Sim's portrayal of Scrooge. I still remember the scene where he sees the light coming in from under his door and the fear before he meets the 3 ghosts.
There have been very few and far between remakes of 'A Christmas Carol' worth mentioning. However some of them are excellent twists on the original Charles Dickens' work (Twist... get it???? As In Oliver....Sheesh). Some of them are horrible. For some reason, I just cannot stand Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) as Scrooge, even though it was given great reviews. Nor did Henry Winkler's version really interest me. I did like a number of the cartoon verions such as Bugs Bunny and Mr Magoo.
Of course my all time fave remake must be "Scrooged" with Bill Murray and the rest of a great cast especially Carol Kane! Everything about it is funny and whimsical. It also brings me back to Christmas in Japan when PaulE trudged ALL the way to the US base to bring back 2 huge turkeys! I have never forgotten the willingness. Nor the nuttiness that went on when we found out that the turkeys were frozen solid and Mary A tried to thaw it out in my bathtub(?!?!?). Or my neighbours' Hamilton and Mitsuko allowing us to use their oven (probably the only one in the neighbourhood) so that we could have a turkey dinner.
Then there is "A BlackAdder Christmas" where Rowan Atkinson plays Ebenezer BlackAdder, a generous and kind Victorian gentleman who is visited by 3 Ghosts who-using scenes from the other BlackAdder series'-show Ebenezer what a foul line he comes from... I wont tell you the ending but if you can, find it and watch it.
I have to include the WKRP version too. In fact a few times, TV has done versions of 'A Christmas Carol' and I have liked them. Not always. I think with tv, when you have a show you like and they do a homage to something like 'A Christmas Carol', the uniqueness factor makes it work.
Anyways, if you're not in the mood for Christmas but want to be, see Scrooged!
There have been very few and far between remakes of 'A Christmas Carol' worth mentioning. However some of them are excellent twists on the original Charles Dickens' work (Twist... get it???? As In Oliver....Sheesh). Some of them are horrible. For some reason, I just cannot stand Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) as Scrooge, even though it was given great reviews. Nor did Henry Winkler's version really interest me. I did like a number of the cartoon verions such as Bugs Bunny and Mr Magoo.
Of course my all time fave remake must be "Scrooged" with Bill Murray and the rest of a great cast especially Carol Kane! Everything about it is funny and whimsical. It also brings me back to Christmas in Japan when PaulE trudged ALL the way to the US base to bring back 2 huge turkeys! I have never forgotten the willingness. Nor the nuttiness that went on when we found out that the turkeys were frozen solid and Mary A tried to thaw it out in my bathtub(?!?!?). Or my neighbours' Hamilton and Mitsuko allowing us to use their oven (probably the only one in the neighbourhood) so that we could have a turkey dinner.
Then there is "A BlackAdder Christmas" where Rowan Atkinson plays Ebenezer BlackAdder, a generous and kind Victorian gentleman who is visited by 3 Ghosts who-using scenes from the other BlackAdder series'-show Ebenezer what a foul line he comes from... I wont tell you the ending but if you can, find it and watch it.
I have to include the WKRP version too. In fact a few times, TV has done versions of 'A Christmas Carol' and I have liked them. Not always. I think with tv, when you have a show you like and they do a homage to something like 'A Christmas Carol', the uniqueness factor makes it work.
Anyways, if you're not in the mood for Christmas but want to be, see Scrooged!