by Julian Spivey It’s the most wonderful time of the year where we all gather as families (though, unless they’re already in your bubble we don’t recommend that this year), decorate the house and tree with Christmas lights and ornaments and sit down in front of our television screens with a nice hot cup of cocoa to watch some of our many favorite Christmas movies. This year The Word is celebrating 12 Days of Christmas Movies with our favorites to watch around the happiest time of the year. I hope you enjoy these as much as we do and if you haven’t seen them be sure to seek them out. There are Christmas classics that folks like to bring out every year around the Holidays and then there are hidden gems that not enough people know about … one of those hidden gems is “Remember the Night” from 1940. It’s a cute little romantic-comedy featuring one of my absolutely favorite movie pairings of all-time Barbara Stanwyck, as a shoplifter, and Fred MacMurray, as the prosecutor trying to put her away, but doesn’t have the heart to see her spend Christmas in jail, so in one of those “only in the movies” plots he offers to take her to her home, which is on his way to his own, for Christmas. Stanwyck and MacMurray have such a brilliant chemistry between the two, that would come out to its greatest performance a few years later in Billy Wilder’s wickedly fantastic film noir “Double Indemnity.” Directed by Mitchell Leisen from a script by the great Preston Sturges “Remember the Night” is the kind of lovely Christmas romance that makes you want to curl up on the couch with a blanket and warm cup of cocoa. "Remember the Night" is streaming on Peacock
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by Philip Price Director: Lee Isaac Chung Starring: Steven Yeun, Yeri Han & Yuh-jung Youn Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 1 hour & 55 minutes “Minari” is a film based largely on writer/director Lee Isaac Chung's own experiences of being of Korean descent and moving to middle-of-nowhere Arkansas in the 1980s in order for his family to start anew and his father to start a farm. It is then, obviously, a very personal story and therefore undoubtedly includes what must be several specific details that transport Chung back to what he likely remembers as a very brief, but meaningful time in his life. I say this up front because of how much the red hat the character of the father wears in the film struck me. Nothing is ever said about it, nothing really happens to it or with it, but it's always there; it's as if it is Jacob's (Steven Yeun) safety blanket and a staple of his appearance critical to how his children will always remember and picture him. I have a certain shirt I always associate my own father with and I'm sure this is true for many others as well, but it is the fact Chung's screenplay and eventual film make sure to include this level of detail while never zeroing in on it that really relays why “Minari” is not only a story of the American experience as seen through the lens of Korean heritage, but simply a story of the American experience; maybe even the most American of experiences.
As Jacob along with his wife and children emerge from their vehicles after pulling up to their new house - on their new land - it's not hard to sense the contribution that at least Jacob is ready to make even if the rest of his family aren't sold on the idea yet. Much in the way a character later plants the Korean vegetable minari from which the film takes its name, Jacob is ready to put down his own roots, but unlike the minari Jacob is somewhat hesitant to begin to assume the values, behaviors, and beliefs of his new surroundings. It's in this kind of juxtaposition of Jacob wanting to utilize the land to fulfill his own dreams and his own purposes while expecting the land to take nothing from him in return that a sense of the family dynamic can be observed as well. As much as Jacob wants to fulfill the idea of the American dream that he's been chasing since moving from Korea a decade or so prior he is simultaneously driving away what would make achieving said dream worthwhile. “Minari” is a story of a family assimilating into their new environment, yes, but it's more specifically a story of the adjustment period within their own circle than it is with the one around them. It is due to the specificity in Chung's writing and the gentleness of his direction that the whole of the film is as significant as each individual moment. A masterclass in presenting complex emotions through a simple guise, “Minari” is an exceptional work. by Philip Price Director: Kitty Green Starring: Julia Garner Rated: R Runtime: 1 hour & 27 minutes Smart enough to not focus on the person in question, but the machinery set-up around that person and those on the other side of his always closed door, Kitty Green's “The Assistant” is deliberate to a fault. While a story of power and consent this is also a story of power and consent told by and from the point of view of a woman. There's no gratuitous and/or sensationalized scenes of what happens beyond closed doors, but instead we remain with a lowly clerk who makes copies, gets lunch, and tidies up after meetings. Nothing here feels exploitative for the sake of such despite the subject matter, but rather Green paints a delicate portrait of Julia Garner's Jane whom no one notices, but whose every internal conflict and struggle is all we see. Garner has an amazing presence that translates almost everything we need to know about what the character is feeling without hardly saying a word.
In the similarly themed “Promising Young Woman” the style is more heightened, but the situations aren't - they're very real and regrettably commonplace - and “The Assistant” operates in this same area where everything that occurs feels oddly ordinary, unpleasantly familiar, and certainly possible. Green sets her film within the world of the film industry (a detail I initially thought was the wrong - or maybe too much the obvious - choice), but what saves this for general moviegoers is that Jane doesn't necessarily have to be working for a powerful Hollywood producer as this could easily transfer to any other corporate environment. “The Assistant” is a film made up of small, specific moments that - while not driving toward anything grand or set in stone - analyzes a culture gone awry; lost to the conditions of those in power and where the idea of simple human decency quickly fades away. by Preston Tolliver It’s the most wonderful time of the year where we all gather as families (though, unless they’re already in your bubble we don’t recommend that this year), decorate the house and tree with Christmas lights and ornaments and sit down in front of our television screens with a nice hot cup of cocoa to watch some of our many favorite Christmas movies. This year The Word is celebrating 12 Days of Christmas Movies with our favorites to watch around the happiest time of the year. I hope you enjoy these as much as we do and if you haven’t seen them be sure to seek them out. “Is ‘Die Hard’ a Christmas movie?” It’s a question that’s become as much of a tradition as all the others we ask every Christmas: What will Santa bring me this year? Whose turn is it to buy dad’s gift? Who the hell invited Uncle Jimmy to dinner? At this point, all arguments about the time of year in which John McClane crawls through the air ducts of Nakatomi Plaza to save its drunk and coked up employees from minor league terrorists are moot. It doesn’t matter that it ends with the reunion of estranged husband and wife, who head home as the credits roll to make sweet, sweet Christmas Eve love. It doesn’t matter because by becoming the source of so many debates every year, “Die Hard” has, despite the contents held within its 132-minute run time, transcended the action movie genre and earned its seat at the Christmas table. Much like those recipients of honorary degrees from universities, “Die Hard” didn’t become a Christmas movie by conventional means. But the certificate is real, and “Die Hard” is absolutely a Christmas movie. "Die Hard" is streaming on Hulu, Amazon Prime Video & HBO Max by Philip Price Director: George C. Wolfe Starring: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman & Colman Domingo Rated: R Runtime: 1 hour & 34 minutes August Wilson's 1982 play, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” was one of 10 plays in the writer's "Pittsburgh Cycle" (‘Rainey’ being the only one of the 10 not set in Pittsburgh) that chronicled the twentieth century African-American experience. Like most if not all of Wilson's writing ‘Ma Rainey’ was meant to "raise consciousness through theater". Wilson's writing of the Black experience was something I first encountered my senior year of high school via “Fences.” As a Caucasian who attended a school with a student body that was more or less split right down the middle when it came to racial ratios the African-American experience was something that was present without being particularly regarded as drastically different. Maybe it was simply my naïveté, but in my 15-to-18-year-old mind it was as simple as the fact that slavery, racism and Martin Luther King had happened, what they had to deal with was wrong and terrible, but the actions they took had been worth it and upended those injustices for future generations. We as a society had grown past the ignorance of such things and while that statement in and of itself may now ring of more ignorance than ever, I genuinely believe if one were to ask any of the Black kids, I attended high school with that many would agree they felt the same way. Obviously, this isn't a diatribe against the need to highlight the many injustices that have been inflicted upon African-Americans throughout the twentieth century and into present day, but rather a slice of insight into just how powerful, eye-opening, and - most importantly - how necessary literature documenting the Black experience is. This is all to say that director George C. Wolfe's interpretation of Wilson's material focuses largely on the theme of the burden Black people feel to do something with their time in order to ensure prosperity for future generations. The idea many of these individuals aren't allowed to lead a life where such issues don't impact their day to day drives certain characters present in ‘Ma Rainey’ to purpose while pushing others to the edge. Wilson's exploration of contradiction in this American life through faith versus vindication or expectation versus the truth of the matter transforms the heated racial tension of 1920's Chicago into a pertinent commentary on how a system designed on the promise of possibility grants equal opportunities for repression; all of which is conveyed through the mood of the blues.
“Ma Rainey's Black Bottom” has naturally come to bear some unexpected weight since production wrapped given this will now go down as Chadwick Boseman’s final on-screen performance. As Levee, the unbelievably charismatic and quietly versatile actor is afforded plenty of opportunity to wax poetic about race, religion, and all things in between, but what’s maybe most precious about the fact this will be recorded in the history books the way it will be is that Levee, while quite temperamental, represents a lot of what Boseman stood and fought for in his personal life. While Ma Rainey is a real, historical figure the events of Wilson's story aren't based on any kind of fact or true story, but more the events are inspired by the "The Mother of the Blues." It is 1927 in the Windy City and Ma Rainey has made a special trip north to record a few records for her white management. It would seem Viola Davis' Ma would be more than happy to skip this part of the business and simply continue touring as it's the people who attend her shows that appreciate what she does whereas her management only cares about and tends to her needs because of the money she makes for them. While waiting on Ma to arrive her band, consisting of conductor Cutler (Colman Domingo), pianist Toledo (Glynn Turman), bass player Slow Drag (Michael Potts) and Boseman's younger, hot-headed trumpeter, hang out in the rehearsal space. It is in this space that much of the storytelling, joking, philosophizing, and arguing takes place. Much of the conversations are all in good fun at first, but it's clear tensions begin to rise between Levee and especially Toledo, but also Cutler as Levee is rather obnoxious and feels the need to gain the higher ground in every little interaction to the point it’s a wonder, he ever learned anything in the first place. By the time Ma eventually arrives with her entourage of nephew Sylvester (Dusan Brown) and girlfriend Dussie Mae (Taylour Paige) in tow, recording has fallen behind schedule with Ma making more requests and demands the moment she steps in the room only furthering the irritation of producer Sturdyvant (Jonny Coyne) and completely exasperating her manager, Irvin (Jeremy Shamos). Ma's demands include a Coca-Cola before she sings a note and that the stuttering Sylvester speak the title song's introduction. These requests combined with her already mounting disdain for Levee only fester further as things are delayed even more when Ma and the band have to wait on various technical issues to be resolved. Of course, it is in this downtime that Wilson found opportunity to further his exploration and analysis and thus it is these moments of conversation that direct the emotions and furthermore, the actions of Levee to a set of circumstances that could destroy any possibility of the future he envisioned for himself. It would be easy to essentially go through Levee’s two primary monologues within ‘Ma Rainey’ and quote them line for line in order to relay the heart of Boseman’s character as they both eloquently and sometimes (intentionally) not so eloquently summarize Levee's worldly assertions into digestible anecdotes. To do that would be to give away the edge Boseman wears in his performance though, as well as the writing of Wilson (with an adaptation credit going to Ruben Santiago-Hudson) which so effortlessly seems to echo the poetry of the everyday language of Black America. Rather, in an effort to best outline what defines Levee as a character and as a volatile foil that the viewer still feels a great deal of sympathy for would mean to get to the heart of what Levee is reaching for and like much Troy Maxson in “Fences,” it is this need to feel he matters. Levee wants to hold influence in an area that means something to him - that matters to him - and he feels cheated out of such significance thus far by playing music with no aspiration for an artist he could easily surpass in both quality and popularity given the opportunity. At the risk of doing exactly what I said I wouldn't, it's apparent the character of Levee - while insightful and clearly intelligent - could stand to take a step back and consider his positions from various perspectives rather than filtering the whole of his life experience through a single, albeit traumatic moment that happened to him when he was a child. Rather than considering what he could gain from the more seasoned musicians around him, Levee is poisoning that which he could draw large amounts of inspiration and knowledge from. Levee sees himself as both a victim of circumstance who can't forgive the world for as much as well as one that could break the chain. It is this mentality that leads to Levee's second big speech in which he curses the heavens in order to prove to Cutler his God isn't real and it's in this moment the realization is made that Levee has processed every relationship in his life through the instance with his mother on which his first monologue centered. Levee is a man abandoned. He's seeking the gratification of being both respected and acknowledged for his talent and skill, but as someone of color and the additional prejudices inherent to him because of this the guiding light of Ma Rainey is all he has to hold onto yet his pride won't even allow that promise to prosper. It goes without saying Boseman’s expression of hate and anger toward a God he doesn't feel cares about him carries a little more weight these days. One can perceive the passion in his eyes, but the desperation present is almost too much to bear; some of the inflections and the way his eyes move as he speaks making it a watershed moment in an all too brief, but abundantly impressive career. Of course, this is a two-hander of a film and Davis is nothing short of fantastic here, honestly. As the titular character, Davis is inspired as the strong female lead who is nothing short of an exception for her time and condition. Ma Rainey is the only character in Wilson's "Pittsburgh Cycle" to be based on a real person as well as being the only LGBTQ character as Ma was an out lesbian, who, in her song “Prove It on Me,” proclaims: "Went out last night with a crowd of my friends, must have been women 'cause I don’t like men." Needless to say, Ma was a trailblazer and yet, in the great tradition of the aforementioned paradoxes of life, she was also already being left behind by the time Wilson's story takes place. This is made evident through the direction Levee is keen to take the band in with Ma, a very strong, principled woman who declines to adapt to the times and instead continue to do what she knows is best for her sound and voice. Davis, who's had plenty of experience with Wilson's language, is the natural choice to embody such a character and with all her consistently profuse perspiration and smeared make-up paired with the extravagant period costumes Davis does in fact completely personify this presence that is as equally grand as she is visceral and raw. Like any stage production adapted to film though, ‘Ma Rainey’ has the issue of feeling more contained than it necessarily should and this is especially true of the performance pieces as we crave both more footage of Ma Rainey performing live as well as more of the simmering tension between how Ma wants to perform a song and how Levee insists on playing it. Wolfe doesn't seem to feel the need to change or adapt the lens too much in his feature version though, which isn't necessarily a bad thing as this is clearly intent on being faithful to and honoring the source material, but it’s the fact Wolfe's directing feels timider than his fiery characters do that it doesn't feel as if his direction serves the material as well as it potentially could. The dialogue can certainly stand on its own and with actors like Davis and Boseman delivering such wording it's hard to go wrong, but just because something is obviously of a high quality doesn't also automatically render it infinitely effective. While the inherently powerful material is often enough to overcome the otherwise standard execution it's hard not to imagine what might have been had Wolfe felt more in tune with Wilson's tone. That said, the final sequence of the film is as telling, provocative, and dumbfounding a moment as any in the movie as it does what the rest of Wolfe's film needed in that it exemplifies the discrimination these characters deal with while expressly conveying the anger, we should all feel along with them. Of course, I realize the irony of someone who has no real idea of the Black experience critiquing a film solely based around that subject and so trust that this is all stated with the largest amount of humility. To whatever extent my opinion does matter on the film, the baseline is that “Ma Rainey's Black Bottom” makes no qualms about what it is and exerts that meaning in every piece of dialogue if not in every facet of the production. by Philip Price Director: George Clooney Starring: George Clooney, Felicity Jones & David Oyelowo Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 2 hours & 2 minutes George Clooney's seventh feature directorial effort takes place over what is seemingly only eleven or so hours, but takes us not just to the stars, but the possibilities beyond them. “The Midnight Sky” is the type of film that desires to have layers upon layers of meaning and be cause for deep, existential reflection yet what it brings to the table couldn't feel hollower. It's admirable, the way Clooney - working from a screenplay by Mark L. Smith and based on the book by Lily Brooks-Dalton - keeps the focus of this large scale story on two entities that mostly exist outside the bubble of where the more urgent, genuinely dramatic situations are happening. It's a bold choice to be sure, but we've seen the other movie before. You know, the one where a person or family is racing against the clock to find a safe haven before something catastrophic happens which, in the case of “The Midnight Sky,” is the fact Earth is now completely uninhabitable. So, why not remove the chase and zero in on those that have accepted their fate? The answer to this question should seem obvious in that there is then a complete lack of imperativeness to the proceedings, but Clooney's intent seems to have been not to focus so much on the details - what's happening is happening and can't be helped at this point - and instead on making the material more compelling by extracting the human angle of what brought these individuals who were once considered influential in this crisis to now be on the outside looking in.
Clooney has always seemed to be more comfortable in the director's chair, behind the camera even if his looks and effortless charm have always made him a more effective player in front of it. Unfortunately, at this point - 18 years into his directing career - his work as a filmmaker has been hit or miss at best. The lone exception I haven't seen in Clooney's directorial arsenal is 2002's “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” which I recall receiving generally favorable reviews and while I don't know that I've seen “Good Night, and Good Luck” since my senior year of high school - 2005, the year it was released - I can recall sitting down for each of Clooney's subsequent features in a theater and being excited not only at the prospect of what Clooney might bring to the table, but also about the actual stories he was telling. From “Leatherheads” to “Ides of March” and from “The Monuments Men” to “Suburbicon”, Clooney has directed a new feature every three years since 2002 and yet - despite the intriguing premises, often fascinating characters, and irresistible true stories seemingly begging for a movie to be made around them - there is something in Clooney's execution that allows these stories to wind up with that same hollow feeling I felt in the final minutes of “The Midnight Sky.” Yes, the visual landscape here is maybe the most moving Clooney has achieved and the score from Alexandre Desplat works more to enhance these visuals than it does detract from them, but the narrative missteps and - to an extent - the lack of investment in these character's plights present not necessarily an uglier picture than the one we're seeing on screen, but certainly a less powerful one. Clooney begins his film by playing Chris Stapleton's version of "Tennessee Whiskey" over the opening credits. An honorable way in which to start any film, sure, but given Clooney chooses to play this over a montage of his Augustine Lofthouse going through the motions of remaining as the last human being on earth and drowning his sorrows and regrets in booze means he's either very literal or attempting to elicit a couple difference purposes out of the use of the song. "Tennessee Whiskey," was originally written by country music hit-writer Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove and was meant not as an ode to the drink from which the song takes its name, but instead is about a lover who saves the narrator from alcohol abuse, proving their intentions to be "as smooth as Tennessee Whiskey" and "as sweet as strawberry wine." Now, one could say that Clooney uses the theme of the song both as an ode to what is clearly his character's favorite drink, but also as a kind of foreshadowing "tip of the hat" to someone he loves coming to his rescue. This doesn't work completely as the relationship in that of the song is comparing the lover's affection to that of whisky and wine which, if applied to the dynamic in “The Midnight Sky,” would be rather icky. So, while we've spent much more time discussing a song choice than we have the movie thus far the fact we've reached the conclusion that Clooney (or someone in the music department) simply chose the song because it had whiskey in the title and that's what the character likes, so...why not? It may seem minuscule, but it's the lack of thought in this regard that leads me to thinking there's a reason for the aforementioned hollowness that Clooney's film so often possesses. Though difficult to recollect the specifics of why Clooney's previous endeavors failed to leave a mark it is most noticeable in this, his latest, that much of the detachment comes from not only the fact that we don't feel we really come to know these characters, but that we spend so much time with them and still don't seem to know them very well. Brooks-Dalton's 2016 novel is a science-fiction thriller and Clooney's film largely makes itself comfortable in that genre as well even if Clooney seems to have desired to elevate the material. The story follows the intertwining journeys of Clooney's Lofthouse, an astronomer holed up in an isolated arctic outpost, and Sully (Felicity Jones) an astronaut returning to a planet Earth that isn't responding to any of her attempts at communication. Lofthouse believes he's all alone as one of the first things we see where he is located in Antarctica is what we can assume is happening across the globe as every other person on the planet besides Lofthouse is heading for an aircraft carrier that will presumably, eventually take them to the moon of Jupiter that Lofthouse discovered early in his career as a viable option for sustaining human life. Lofthouse believes he's all alone until he discovers a stowaway hiding in the kitchen in the form of a young girl named Iris (Caoilinn Springall). While Lofthouse begins to form a bond with the young Iris and configure a plan for which he might contact someone who can turn around to rescue her, Sully was never alone. In fact, Sully has another human life not just by her side at all times, but within her as she is coming to the end of a pregnancy. Also on the ship with her is the baby's father, Commander Tom Adewole (David Oyelowo), along with the rest of the crew that includes Mitchell Rembshire (Kyle Chandler), Maya Peters (Tiffany Boone), and Sanchez (Demián Bichir). The crew of the Ether spacecraft were on a mission to explore K23 (the Jupiter moon Lofthouse discovered) with a plan to return to Earth and report on their findings but given the current state of the planet they are now navigating the cosmos with no guidance from home and things are beginning to get tense. To make matters worse, Lofthouse has to leave his outpost and make a hazardous journey across what is now a post-apocalyptic wasteland (with an eight year-old) just so he can contact the Ether and inform them of the situation. As somewhat hinted at in the opening paragraph, Clooney doesn't really travel beyond these borders in terms of the narrative meaning we aren't ever given a grand explanation of what happened on Earth. All we really know is what we're told by text that appears in the opening shots of the movie stating its February of 2049 and that this is taking place "3 weeks after the event". We can deduce that something has caused the air to become toxic as Lofthouse and his young cohort have to wear oxygen masks any time they venture outside, there are birds dropping from the sky at an alarming rate, and because a couple of computer screens provide a hint at how quickly whatever occurred in this event is spreading (hint: it's rapidly). So, in some ways this is still very much a race against the clock-style story, but the pacing lacks the urgency this narrative requires. Clooney instead seems to have so desired making a more meditative film that he zeroes in on the theme rather than remaining plot-centric, but this lack of balance leaves us much like Lofthouse and Iris...out in the cold. This is an unfortunate and an admittedly disappointing turn given the promise of such a story and the scale at which Clooney has been afforded the opportunity to tell it on. Having not read Brooks-Dalton's source material it's impossible to comment on how much of the ideas and themes Mark L. Smith (who also co-wrote “The Revenant”) and Clooney pulled from or missed out on when adapting it, but the idea this comes to be something of a story of catharsis for the Lofthouse character is fine, but it needed more detail, more specificity in the necessary relationships for the emotional impact of what ends up happening to really land. Essentially, the film boils down to this idea that while passionate about his dreams and his career Lofthouse has become obsessive in his focus to the point nothing exists outside of it. Moreover, he's lost focus not on the task at hand, but why he's so driven to discover in the first place or what would ultimately be the benefits of or what the rewards might be if he were to ever actually accomplish his goals. Yes, a character named Jean (Sophie Rundle) spells this out almost word for word to Lofthouse in a flashback, but even this main idea, this thesis statement for the film doesn't take hold of either the movie nor the character of Lofthouse in a fashion that propels us into wanting to see him succeed for the sake of redeeming himself or at least coming to a better understanding of where his importance lies among the infinite stars. Regrettably, this only makes Clooney's choice to have a more meditative than plot-heavy sci-fi thriller all the more cumbersome and drier. It's not that the material isn't here for what Clooney wants to make. For instance, if the parallels between Sully and Lofthouse had begun to be drawn and established sooner this might have allowed more ideas and aspects to be considered from this springboard of having both these characters buck the traditional familial structure in favor of exploring the unknown. “The Midnight Sky” is largely about coming to terms with the decisions one has made in life, but as much as we want to wallow in the impressiveness that is Springall's almost dialogue-free performance or legitimately cool extraneous elements such as the set design of the Ether, the inventive ideas like that of K23's orange-tinged sky being due to the light reflecting off Jupiter's surface, and of course Desplat's score even if it does manage to be intrusive in certain scenes. While obviously impressive on certain fronts though, Clooney's seventh feature film can't match the grandeur of his visuals with his tone or emotional heft. I mean, when the boldest choice in your film is casting someone as a young you instead of going “The Irishman” route and the most impressive thing is that Ethan Peck convincingly pulls off younger Clooney while being directed by older Clooney means there is definitely room for your space movie to improve. "The Midnight Sky" begins streaming on Netflix on December 23. by Alea Jeremiah It’s the most wonderful time of the year where we all gather as families (though, unless they’re already in your bubble we don’t recommend that this year), decorate the house and tree with Christmas lights and ornaments and sit down in front of our television screens with a nice hot cup of cocoa to watch some of our many favorite Christmas movies. This year The Word is celebrating 12 Days of Christmas Movies with our favorites to watch around the happiest time of the year. I hope you enjoy these as much as we do and if you haven’t seen them be sure to seek them out. “Elf” is a one of a kind Christmas classic! Will Ferrell is absolutely wonderful as Buddy, watching him in character is so magical. Buddy, who was raised by elves, is now venturing away from everything he’s known at the North Pole and is headed to New York City to reunite with his biological father. The humor in this movie is unmatched and the heartfelt moments make it so special. The entire cast including Zooey Deschanel, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, and many others do an outstanding job. “Elf” is insanely quotable and perfect for the entire family. "Elf" is streaming on Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and AMC.com by Julian Spivey It’s the most wonderful time of the year where we all gather as families (though, unless they’re already in your bubble we don’t recommend that this year), decorate the house and tree with Christmas lights and ornaments and sit down in front of our television screens with a nice hot cup of cocoa to watch some of our many favorite Christmas movies. This year The Word is celebrating 12 Days of Christmas Movies with our favorites to watch around the happiest time of the year. I hope you enjoy these as much as we do and if you haven’t seen them be sure to seek them out. My personal favorite Christmas classic is Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life,” which one could argue isn’t even really a Christmas movie if they like, as it’s merely set around the holiday – but if “Die Hard” gets to be a Christmas movie than “It’s a Wonderful Life” certainly does. “It’s a Wonderful Life” is also the only film in our 12 Days of Christmas Movies series that is considered one of the 100 Greatest American Films Ever Made by the American Film Institute, ranking at no. 20. The film is essentially a play on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with James Stewart’s George Bailey in the Scrooge role and Henry Travers as guardian angel Clarence Odbody serving as the ghosts from the Dickens tale. Bailey has given up on his dreams and is going to kill himself by jumping off a bridge on Christmas Eve – yeah, it’s heavy for a Christmas movie, but they can’t all be “Elf” – before Clarence shows him how life would’ve changed for the worse had he not been in it. The story of how “It’s a Wonderful Life” became a yearly tradition for many is quite unique. Due to a clerical error in the mid-‘70s, “It’s a Wonderful Life” slipped into the public domain, meaning it could be shown basically anywhere without licensing or royalty fees and television broadcasters everywhere played it essentially on repeat until the movie basically became part of Christmas viewing tradition as a result. "It's a Wonderful Life" can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video. by Brittany Oviedo It’s the most wonderful time of the year where we all gather as families (though, unless they’re already in your bubble we don’t recommend that this year), decorate the house and tree with Christmas lights and ornaments and sit down in front of our television screens with a nice hot cup of cocoa to watch some of our many favorite Christmas movies. This year The Word is celebrating 12 Days of Christmas Movies with our favorites to watch around the happiest time of the year. I hope you enjoy these as much as we do and if you haven’t seen them be sure to seek them out. “A Christmas Story” is a must see Holiday Classic. The film - released in 1983 - focuses on the Parkers, a working class family, in a small home that probably bears resemblance to your grandparents’ home. Complete with an old furnace, doilies and tacky linoleum flooring, “A Christmas Story” gives viewers a nice break from the too perfect families and Hallmark-esque landscapes most other films rub in our faces. “A Christmas Story,” directed by Bob Clark, is perfect because it’s not perfect. There is no sugarcoating, the film is brazenly honest and funny. From mean mall Santas, ruined Christmas dinners, local bullies and noisy neighbor dogs the film has it all. Poor Ralphie - who spends the entire film trying to get his tiny hands on a Red Ryder BB gun is told repeatedly “you’ll shoot your eye out, kid” - does nearly shoot his eye out once he acquires said gun. The film is perfect because it’s easy to watch and isn’t meant to be taken too seriously. There isn’t a dashing lead or grand romantic gesture, (Looking at you, “Love Actually”) and it’s never too heavy (cough, cough “It’s a Wonderful Life”). While both of those films are beautifully made and have definitely earned their keep, sometimes what we need in the already stressful holiday season is just to take a minute to kick up our feet and have a laugh. The movie is accessible to all audiences and should definitely be added to your film queue! Happy Holidays! "A Christmas Story" is streaming on Hulu and TBS.com by Aprille Hanson It’s the most wonderful time of the year where we all gather as families (though, unless they’re already in your bubble we don’t recommend that this year), decorate the house and tree with Christmas lights and ornaments and sit down in front of our television screens with a nice hot cup of cocoa to watch some of our many favorite Christmas movies. This year The Word is celebrating 12 Days of Christmas Movies with our favorites to watch around the happiest time of the year. I hope you enjoy these as much as we do and if you haven’t seen them be sure to seek them out. Whenever I hear someone talk about Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, I can’t help but think of the Muppets. Almost every December, I make it a point to watch the 1992 “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” directed by Brian Henson, and it’s a joy no matter how many times I see it. It stays pretty true to the original dark tale of Mr. Scrooge being visited by three ghosts that ultimately show him the meaning of Christmas and even more, the need to turn his life around. But add in The Great Gonzo as Charles Dickens narrating and Rizzo the Rat accompanying him, along with Kermit as Bob Cratchit and Miss Piggy as Emily Cratchit and almost all of the rest of the characters played by Muppets, there are elements of levity and heart weaved in. It’s still a dark story of course – it’s pretty heartbreaking to see a tiny toad Muppet coughing, with the family knowing that little Tiny Tim Cratchit isn’t long for the world. But what really makes this movie a classic is the performance by Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge. I read once that he went into the role with the same type of mentality as if he were on Broadway or perhaps a more serious adaptation, despite conversing and acting alongside the Muppets. That alone I think has made it so beloved – in the hands of a lesser actor, it wouldn’t have stood the test of time. "A Muppet Christmas Carol" is streaming on Disney+ and can also be rented on Amazon Prime Video for $2.99. |
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