Scrooged

Scrooged
Originally uploaded by Uncinefilo

In this modern day interpretation of A Christmas Carol Frank Cross is the youngest television president in history and it has gone to his head. As he plans the worlds largest live broadcast on Christmas Eve he is visited by the ghost of his old boss and warned he is being given a chance to change his ways and will be visited on Christmas Eve by three ghosts. Cross spends the next day being ferried through his past, present and future by ghosts and leading everyone in his life to start thinking the Christmas Eve broadcast has finally made him lose it.

Scrooged is hands down one of my favorite Christmas films, and a movie so funny that like Elf I can watch it any time of year. What makes this film so memorable is that it takes a story we all know so well and manages to combine that with what Bill Murray does best – bizarre comedy.

Frank Cross is a horrible man. He sends the people on his Christmas gift list either a towel or a VCR depending on if he likes them or not. He refuses to give his secretary a bonus. He fires an executive the day before Christmas Eve for disagreeing with him. He’s excited when an old woman has a heart attack from watching his Scrooged promo and it gets published by the media. Cross doesn’t care about anyone and everyone knows it. The slogan posted around his office is “Cross: a thing you nail people to”. Bill Murray is the perfect person to play Frank Cross because he can take all of the self-involved horribleness of Frank Cross and make them almost endearing. You still think Frank Cross is awful, but you laugh at him and get excited when he changes. And there is nothing like watching Murray do his thing on screen, he’s amazing.

You also have to love the ghosts in this film, the most memorable one for most people I talk to is the ghost of Christmas present played by Carol Kane. Kane is a SNL alum like Murray, and their comedy styles mesh very well, but that’s not what makes her character memorable. What makes Kane’s ghost memorable is that she is a hyper fairy in a tutu that beats the crud out of Frank. I don’t mean metaphorically, or emotionally, I mean that at one point she literally hits him with a toaster – and that’s just one thing she hits him with. Kane’s character and Cross spend most of their segment arguing like an old divorced couple and each argument culminates in violence to get Frank magically transported to the next scene he needs to see.

I know the holiday season is wrapping to a close and you may not feel like watching a Dicken’s tale during the march to Valentine’s Day, but I do hope that at some point before Christmas Day rolls around again you will find this film and watch it if you haven’t seen it before.

Director: Richard Donner
Writers: Mitch Glazer & Michael O’Donoghue
Frank Cross: Bill Murray
Claire Phillips: Karen Allen
Lew Hayward: John Forsythe
Brice Cummings: John Golver
Eliot Loudermilk: Bobcat Goldwait
Ghost of Christmas Past: David Johansen
Ghost of Christmas Present: Carol Kane
Preston Rhinelander: Robert Mitchum
Grace: Alfre Woodard
Scrooge: Buddy Hackett

Frank Cross: Do you think I'm way off-base here?
Elliot: Yes. You're, well, you're a tad off-base, sir. That thing looked like The Manson Family Christmas Special.

Superman

Superman
Originally uploaded by m3lbatoast

Clark Kent comes to the big city from his small town life, is intimidated by his job at the bustling Daily Planet, and crushes on star reporter Lois Lane but can’t figure out how to even flirt with her without humiliating himself. In stark contrast Superman blows onto the scene rescuing Lois from a accidental death and smooth talking her about the safest way to travel, he catches jewel thieves with a nod & a wink, and has Lois Lane crushing on him. But of course the road to being the worlds savior is not easy, it must have a villain – in this case it’s the real estate obsessed, over the top Lex Luthor who plans to exploit California’s fault lines and create a new west coast.

Superman the movie is very exaggerated – beyond exaggerated in fact as at one point Superman flies around the world and reverses its rotation to turn back time. But that said, I still love this movie with all it’s bumps and flaws.

I’ve had an obsession with Superman my entire life and this movie is part of that obsession; while Richard Donner did not create the perfect version of Superman, he did manage to bring the hero to the screen in an epic and monumental way. Donner has defined the way the man of steel has been used in movies and TV for the past few decades. Even Bryan Singer in Superman Returns directly tried to follow the Superman world set up in the first two Superman movies.

One thing that has always driven me nuts about this movie is the interview Superman give Lois. In a classic information dump Superman sits down and proceeds to tell Lois all of his strengths and every single one of his weaknesses, plus his entire origin…thus painting a target on his cape. What I noticed this time that is even more absurd is at the beginning of this interview Lois asks Supes how old he is and when he gives a coy answer she states she realizes he needs anonymity for protection…then they devolve into the aforementioned interview. Also, how does Luthor immediately jump to kryptonite being Superman’s achilles heel?

All that being said, Superman is a movie that I love, and it will remain part of my viewing library for many years to come. At this point, it is still one of my favorite Superman films.

Director: Richard Donner
Writers: Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman & Robert Mankiewicz
Clark Kent/Superman: Christopher Reeve
Lois Lane: Margot Kidder
Jor-El: Marlon Brando
Lex Luthor: Gene Hackman

Perry White: Now look. The Post: "It Flies." The News: "Look, Ma, No Wires." The Times: "Blue Bomb Buzzes Metropolis." The Planet. We're sitting on top of the story of the century here! I want the name of this flying whatchamacallit to go with the Daily Planet like bacon and eggs, franks and beans, death and taxes, politics and corruption.