Belle,this past weekend they just had a big shindig at the house where A Christmas Story was filmed (here in Cleveland). Several of the actors were there, and they were doing tours and dinners and all sorts of activities.
Some guy (I think he was from California) came here a few years ago and bought the house and made it into a museum of sorts. He also manufactures and sells the leg lamp that figured so prominently in the movie.
Here's my teeny tiny claim to almost-fame: I was an extra in the sequel to the movie, called My Summer Story.
It was a blast! The sequel didn't get as much attention, but I think it's hilarious. Mary Steenbergen played the mom in the sequel, and she was really really nice to everyone and seemed so serene and kind. I think Charles Grodin plays the dad in the summer version (not positive--haven't watched it in years). He wasn't in any of the scenes I was, so I never saw him until the movie came out.
I think my favorite Christmas movie is A Christmas Carol--especially the really old versions with the hokey special effects. I also still like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Then there's Holiday Inn and White Christmas.
Oddly enough, I'm kinda sick of It's a Wonderful Life, even though I love Frank Capra's films, and Miracle on 34th Street, too. I guess I've finally reached saturation with those!
I love watching the various versions of A Christmas Carol. The 1951 version with Alistair Sim has the highest critical acclaim but I loved the 1938 version first. Actually.. the version with Henry Winkler (Fonzie from Happy Days) was pretty good, too!! I love seeing Scrooge redeemed.
Last Christmas I sat down with my son who was home from college and my daughter (who was a junior in high school) and watched a bunch of Christmas specials together that I had taped off of TV when they were very young. It was like they were my little kids again. They even got a kick out of watching the TV commercials from the early 90's. My daughter loved those 7 Up commercials with the red dots that would jump off the soda bottles.
#2: A Christmas Carol - like all the versions, but really like the one with George C. Scott as Scrooge.
Love this time of year, Thanksgiving through New Years! So festive and people seem to be more loving and giving towards their fellow man. Course, I really love dressing in my Christmas sweaters and tops and socks and jewelry - as I am the Christmas Carol!
Dooj, please do not read my last comment to Linda.
Belle,this past weekend they just had a big shindig at the house where A Christmas Story was filmed (here in Cleveland). Several of the actors were there, and they were doing tours and dinners and all sorts of activities.
Some guy (I think he was from California) came here a few years ago and bought the house and made it into a museum of sorts. He also manufactures and sells the leg lamp that figured so prominently in the movie.
How kewl! Ya know, I started to buy the string of leg lamp lights from Betty's Attic last year for my Daddy but chickened out.
Here's my teeny tiny claim to almost-fame: I was an extra in the sequel to the movie, called My Summer Story.
It was a blast! The sequel didn't get as much attention, but I think it's hilarious. Mary Steenbergen played the mom in the sequel, and she was really really nice to everyone and seemed so serene and kind. I think Charles Grodin plays the dad in the summer version (not positive--haven't watched it in years). He wasn't in any of the scenes I was, so I never saw him until the movie came out.
I did not know there was a sequel! I am now going to have to go rent that... which scenes are you in? Can we find you if we look real hard?
I think my favorite Christmas movie is A Christmas Carol--especially the really old versions with the hokey special effects. I also still like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Then there's Holiday Inn and White Christmas.
Hokey effects are the best! They were killer when they first came out and now, I think, the nostalgia effect makes them even more special. :)
Oddly enough, I'm kinda sick of It's a Wonderful Life, even though I love Frank Capra's films, and Miracle on 34th Street, too. I guess I've finally reached saturation with those!
I think I'm a wee bit strange in that the sappy Christmas movies like those never really interested me much.
I love watching the various versions of A Christmas Carol. The 1951 version with Alistair Sim has the highest critical acclaim but I loved the 1938 version first. Actually.. the version with Henry Winkler (Fonzie from Happy Days) was pretty good, too!! I love seeing Scrooge redeemed.
sudo
Henry Winkler was in A Christmas Carol???
You're just the keeper of all things trivia, aren't you, Sudo? I had no idea... or my memory really sucks.
I do like all the versions I've seen.... my favorite, of course, is the first one I saw which was B&W with hokey special effects, but I have no idea which version that would be.
Last Christmas I sat down with my son who was home from college and my daughter (who was a junior in high school) and watched a bunch of Christmas specials together that I had taped off of TV when they were very young. It was like they were my little kids again. They even got a kick out of watching the TV commercials from the early 90's. My daughter loved those 7 Up commercials with the red dots that would jump off the soda bottles.
That's the stuff memories are made of, TommyZ!
I loved it when Mama would bake her famous cinnamon raisin bread and popcorn "trash" for us to enjoy while watching the specials together.
#2: A Christmas Carol - like all the versions, but really like the one with George C. Scott as Scrooge.
Love this time of year, Thanksgiving through New Years! So festive and people seem to be more loving and giving towards their fellow man. Course, I really love dressing in my Christmas sweaters and tops and socks and jewelry - as I am the Christmas Carol!
Suda (known off-line as Carol!)
I also love this time of year, Suda. It just does not get cold enough down here, though, for me to get to wear any sweaters.
How special that we have our very own Christmas Carol here at the Cafe! I think we have the best Christmas Carol there is.
My all time favorite, though, is A Christmas Story!
Mine too, Belle. First time we saw it was at the inlaw's house during Ho Ho Relo while in the family corps. It was a great movie anyway, but being tv/movie deprived in residence just made seeing it that much better.
Bump in the Night: 'Twas the Night Before Bumpy,1995
It offers a Christmas themed episode of the claymation cartoon series.
Mr. Bumpy, a monster who eats socks, travels to the north pole with his two best friends, and learns the true meaning of the holiday season after he realizes he could keep all of Santa's toys for himself.
It's A Wonderful Life
Elf
A Christmas Story
White Christmas
The Holiday
Sarah, Plain and Tall- The Winters End
I am sure there are more but I can't remember right now!
Yeah can 'ya believe it? Henry Winkler (the Fonze) as Scrooge? This version was set in America during the Great Depression and instead of Scrooge they called him Benedict Slade.. but look at the make-up work. He was actually quite the actor and very convincing, IMO.
My absolute favorite followed by a close second It's a Wonderful Life. I have always tried to imagine myself in the place of George. Kind of a warm fuzzy Christmas thought...
Then again I just love Scrooge played by anyone...even Donald Duck's uncle Ebenezer McScrooge!
Belle, the only scene where I could find myself when the movie came out on video was the one where the women in the movie theater are throwing gravy boats at the emcee on the stage. When I was at the agency where we signed up to be extras, one of the real actors said, "And if they ask if you can do such and such, say yes, or you'll end up sitting around all day." So when they said, "Can you throw?" I said, "hell yeah!" That's how I ended up getting to be in that scene.
I was in some others--in the crowd walking from the street into the movie theater and in others sitting inside the theater. I was sitting directly behind Mary Steenbergen in one scene as they were filming it, but that scene didn't make the final cut.
No one would be able to spot me in a million years--too far away. I only could because I knew where I was sitting and what I was wearing. Just as well. The 1940s garb I was wearing was none too flattering! If you find the video or a DVD, let me know if you enjoy it.
Back on topic:
I used to love It's a Wonderful Life and watched it over and over. Then one time the scene where Jimmy Stewart is holding his little girl on the stairs and screaming and freaking out really made me sad. From then on I didn't like watching it anymore.
I never saw the version of A Christmas Carol starring the Fonz. I'll have to keep an eye out for it, but I'll always like the old black and white versions best.
Christmas Story - saw that at the theater when it came out in 1983; as I remember, it had virtually no promotion. We went to see it on a whim while we were visiting my folks in NY. I didn't think I would stop laughing when the mother was trying to get Randy to eat his supper. "And how do the little piggies eat?"
March of the Wooden Soldiers (aka Babes in Toyland) with Laurel and Hardy. It was a perennial favorite when I was a kid, although I haven't seen it in a while.
A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim, and Scrooged with Bill Murray - two fine examples of Christmas Chrazy.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas,both versions.
Christmas Vacation, oh yeah! (Hallelujah...Holy $--T! Where's the Tylenol?!) :lol:
Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life are also favorites, although I gave myself a break from them last year. I was just feeling oversaturated a bit (although why I don't feel that way with TBS's Christmas Story marathon, I don't know).
And then, just to add perspective and round things out a bit, Monty Python's Meaning of Life. Just because Christmas tends to be somewhat stressful for me, and Monty Python's always good for a laugh.
(btw, hey TWI, yes, I did say Christmas. And I meant it. :P )
Mine too, Belle. First time we saw it was at the inlaw's house during Ho Ho Relo while in the family corps. It was a great movie anyway, but being tv/movie deprived in residence just made seeing it that much better.
Oh geeze, Tonto, I'll bet in that frame of mind your sides were aching from laughing so hard!
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doojable
It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 33rd St.
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Linda Z
Belle,this past weekend they just had a big shindig at the house where A Christmas Story was filmed (here in Cleveland). Several of the actors were there, and they were doing tours and dinners and all sorts of activities.
Some guy (I think he was from California) came here a few years ago and bought the house and made it into a museum of sorts. He also manufactures and sells the leg lamp that figured so prominently in the movie.
Here's my teeny tiny claim to almost-fame: I was an extra in the sequel to the movie, called My Summer Story.
It was a blast! The sequel didn't get as much attention, but I think it's hilarious. Mary Steenbergen played the mom in the sequel, and she was really really nice to everyone and seemed so serene and kind. I think Charles Grodin plays the dad in the summer version (not positive--haven't watched it in years). He wasn't in any of the scenes I was, so I never saw him until the movie came out.
I think my favorite Christmas movie is A Christmas Carol--especially the really old versions with the hokey special effects. I also still like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Then there's Holiday Inn and White Christmas.
Oddly enough, I'm kinda sick of It's a Wonderful Life, even though I love Frank Capra's films, and Miracle on 34th Street, too. I guess I've finally reached saturation with those!
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Sudo
So many to choose from!!
I love watching the various versions of A Christmas Carol. The 1951 version with Alistair Sim has the highest critical acclaim but I loved the 1938 version first. Actually.. the version with Henry Winkler (Fonzie from Happy Days) was pretty good, too!! I love seeing Scrooge redeemed.
sudo
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TOMMYZ
You can't forget "A Charlie Brown Christmas."
Last Christmas I sat down with my son who was home from college and my daughter (who was a junior in high school) and watched a bunch of Christmas specials together that I had taped off of TV when they were very young. It was like they were my little kids again. They even got a kick out of watching the TV commercials from the early 90's. My daughter loved those 7 Up commercials with the red dots that would jump off the soda bottles.
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Suda
#1 on my list: It's a Wonderful Life
#2: A Christmas Carol - like all the versions, but really like the one with George C. Scott as Scrooge.
Love this time of year, Thanksgiving through New Years! So festive and people seem to be more loving and giving towards their fellow man. Course, I really love dressing in my Christmas sweaters and tops and socks and jewelry - as I am the Christmas Carol!
Suda (known off-line as Carol!)
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Shellon
A Charlie Brown Christmas is my absolute favorite
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Belle
Dooj, please do not read my last comment to Linda.
How kewl! Ya know, I started to buy the string of leg lamp lights from Betty's Attic last year for my Daddy but chickened out.
I did not know there was a sequel! I am now going to have to go rent that... which scenes are you in? Can we find you if we look real hard?
Hokey effects are the best! They were killer when they first came out and now, I think, the nostalgia effect makes them even more special. :)
I think I'm a wee bit strange in that the sappy Christmas movies like those never really interested me much.
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Belle
Henry Winkler was in A Christmas Carol???
You're just the keeper of all things trivia, aren't you, Sudo? I had no idea... or my memory really sucks.
I do like all the versions I've seen.... my favorite, of course, is the first one I saw which was B&W with hokey special effects, but I have no idea which version that would be.
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Belle
That's the stuff memories are made of, TommyZ!
I loved it when Mama would bake her famous cinnamon raisin bread and popcorn "trash" for us to enjoy while watching the specials together.
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Belle
I also love this time of year, Suda. It just does not get cold enough down here, though, for me to get to wear any sweaters.
How special that we have our very own Christmas Carol here at the Cafe!
I think we have the best Christmas Carol there is.
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Belle
Listening to the music from it right now, Shellon. That's a classic must see! :)
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tonto
Mine too, Belle. First time we saw it was at the inlaw's house during Ho Ho Relo while in the family corps. It was a great movie anyway, but being tv/movie deprived in residence just made seeing it that much better.
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Tom Strange
dooj... it's amazing sometimes how close we are in thinking alike!
I also like "It's a Wonderful Life"... but my other favorite is "Miracle on 34th Street"...
...at least we're in the same neighborhood!
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Ca_dreaming
Bump in the Night: 'Twas the Night Before Bumpy,1995
It offers a Christmas themed episode of the claymation cartoon series.
Mr. Bumpy, a monster who eats socks, travels to the north pole with his two best friends, and learns the true meaning of the holiday season after he realizes he could keep all of Santa's toys for himself.
It's A Wonderful Life
Elf
A Christmas Story
White Christmas
The Holiday
Sarah, Plain and Tall- The Winters End
I am sure there are more but I can't remember right now!
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Sudo
Belle,
Yeah can 'ya believe it? Henry Winkler (the Fonze) as Scrooge? This version was set in America during the Great Depression and instead of Scrooge they called him Benedict Slade.. but look at the make-up work. He was actually quite the actor and very convincing, IMO.
sudo
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frank123lol
I like Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase also Srooged with Bill Murray
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Raf
The Year Without a Santa Claus
I could actually see them making a musicl of that one! I'm Mr.Green Christmas I'm Mr. Sun...
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doojable
I like the book better, but Polar Express is also a must see!
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Eyesopen
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
My absolute favorite followed by a close second It's a Wonderful Life. I have always tried to imagine myself in the place of George. Kind of a warm fuzzy Christmas thought...
Then again I just love Scrooge played by anyone...even Donald Duck's uncle Ebenezer McScrooge!
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Linda Z
Belle, the only scene where I could find myself when the movie came out on video was the one where the women in the movie theater are throwing gravy boats at the emcee on the stage. When I was at the agency where we signed up to be extras, one of the real actors said, "And if they ask if you can do such and such, say yes, or you'll end up sitting around all day." So when they said, "Can you throw?" I said, "hell yeah!" That's how I ended up getting to be in that scene.
I was in some others--in the crowd walking from the street into the movie theater and in others sitting inside the theater. I was sitting directly behind Mary Steenbergen in one scene as they were filming it, but that scene didn't make the final cut.
No one would be able to spot me in a million years--too far away. I only could because I knew where I was sitting and what I was wearing. Just as well. The 1940s garb I was wearing was none too flattering! If you find the video or a DVD, let me know if you enjoy it.
Back on topic:
I used to love It's a Wonderful Life and watched it over and over. Then one time the scene where Jimmy Stewart is holding his little girl on the stairs and screaming and freaking out really made me sad. From then on I didn't like watching it anymore.
I never saw the version of A Christmas Carol starring the Fonz. I'll have to keep an eye out for it, but I'll always like the old black and white versions best.
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excathedra
--
i enjoy Albert Finney's Scrooge
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coolchef
there are soooooooooo many to choose from!
history was made the other night with shrek the halls
folks will be watching that after most of us are gone
it was great!!!!!!
but out of them all i would have to opt for the christmass story
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Kevlar2000
Let's see,
Christmas Story - saw that at the theater when it came out in 1983; as I remember, it had virtually no promotion. We went to see it on a whim while we were visiting my folks in NY. I didn't think I would stop laughing when the mother was trying to get Randy to eat his supper. "And how do the little piggies eat?"
March of the Wooden Soldiers (aka Babes in Toyland) with Laurel and Hardy. It was a perennial favorite when I was a kid, although I haven't seen it in a while.
A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim, and Scrooged with Bill Murray - two fine examples of Christmas Chrazy.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas,both versions.
Christmas Vacation, oh yeah! (Hallelujah...Holy $--T! Where's the Tylenol?!) :lol:
Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life are also favorites, although I gave myself a break from them last year. I was just feeling oversaturated a bit (although why I don't feel that way with TBS's Christmas Story marathon, I don't know).
And then, just to add perspective and round things out a bit, Monty Python's Meaning of Life. Just because Christmas tends to be somewhat stressful for me, and Monty Python's always good for a laugh.
(btw, hey TWI, yes, I did say Christmas. And I meant it. :P
)
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Belle
Oh geeze, Tonto, I'll bet in that frame of mind your sides were aching from laughing so hard!
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