Willow

I guess I must be feeling the post-Christmas blues. I was contemplating heavily on what to review today. It couldn’t be that I ran out of movies to review because there are so many out there to review. To end the year, I couldn’t think of anything else besides the 1988 fantasy movie, “Willow.”

“Willow” is the much-heralded elfin epic directed by Opie from “The Andy Griffith Show” and Richie Cunningham from “Happy Days,” Ron Howard, but it’s clearly the idea of executive producer George Lucas. Here he shaved one of the Ewoks from “Return of the Jedi” to make a Nelwyn, the Hobbit-sized hero in the title role.

Rita Kempley of the Washington Post commented on her review, “If "magic is the bloodstream of the universe," as "Willow" tells us, Lucas needs gamma goblin. There's little of magic in this anemic, high-tech fantasy, no matter how well-dressed the sets or how splendidly scenic the locale. The big budget can't conceal the fact that this fiction is fallow, more rootbound than spellbound.”

It’s déjà voodoo. Not only does Lucas rework his own mythology but others as well. He borrows from Oz, “Masters of the Universe,” and even the Bible. You heard right. Baby Moses meets the Munchkins meets the medieval Star Wars. Kempley said, “The gnomenclature changes, but the creatures remain the same as a war rages between good and evil.”

Queen Bavmorda, played by Jean Marsh, has ordered that all pregnant women be put behind bars and any child who has “the mark” killed. One midwife saves her daughter Elora (Kate and Ruth Greenfield/Rebecca Bearman) from being killed because Elora has the mark, by putting her in a reed basket and making her sail to the land of the Daikini. Elora washes up on shore in Nelwyn, where she is rescued by a farmer named Willow.

Warwick Davis, a 3-foot-4 actor who played a Ewok, plays Willow who is married to Julie Peters and has two kids with her. Willow, like all fantasy heroes, has this drive for adventure and dreams of becoming a great wizard. It will prove a growth step if only in the emotional sense. Even though he has the powers, he lacks the confidence to try them.

Elora is actually a princess who has her destiny written to overthrow Bavmorda, and Willow and his wife, Kaiya, take her in. Then the village is attacked by Bavmorda’s army, killing a nursing mother in the process. The High Wizard, played by Billy Barty, tells Willow that he should travel to Daikini and give the child to the first big person that he sets eyes on. That person is Madmartigan, played by Val Kilmer, an irresponsible traveler – not the type who would want a baby with him.

After a series of accidents, the two team up to take Elora to the kingdom of Tir Asleen. They are hunted on the way by General Kael, played by Pat Roach, and an army of creatures that look like a mix between “junkyard standard poodles and wart hogs,” according to Kempley. They are aided by Fin Raziel, played by Patricia Hayes. Raziel is a witch who was turned into a possum by Bavmorda. Along the way, they meet a fairy queen, played by Maria Holvöe, who tells two of her Brownies (Kevin Pollak and Rick Overton) to guide them along the way. Now we have four men and a baby.

Kempley describes Elora as “a bonny, burping girl who can melt hearts right through chain mail.” She’s red-headed, and the Greenfield twins who portray her are as cute as the Pound Puppies. Elora isn’t the show-stealer in this film, the Brownies are. Always underfoot or falling into ale buckets, these two are the equivalent of R2D2 and C-3P0. Without their arguments and sass and the hesitant daring-do of Madmartigan, the movie is only in monotone.

Lucas’ story, helped by the dialogue of Bob Dolman’s screenplay, focuses on the coming of age of the title character. He is played by a teenage Davis with dignity, not charisma. Madmartigan is like Inigo Montoya from “The Princess Bride,” the character we want more of, but we don’t get.

He looks like an Arthurian samurai, with his black hair in braids, his swordplay and arrogant stance. Kempley comments, “He is nevertheless in chivalric shell shock, spiritually beaten by the war with Bavmorda.” Mardmartigan changes thanks to Willow’s courage and a love potion which makes him crazy for Bavmorda’s daughter, Sorsha, played by Joanne Whalley.

Kilmer is one of America’s great screen secrets, covered by Tom Cruise in “Top Gun” and Ralph Macchio in “The Karate Kid.” With this performance, a feverishly silly mix of Toshiro Mifune and Harrison Ford, he promises to get himself in the same place as the pantheon of Spunky Guys to Die For.

With ease he walks that hairline between mumbo and jumbo, between child’s epic hero and man-size dilemma. It’s the same line that Han Solo and Indiana Jones walked on, which is also known to other characters like Alice, Babar and Bilbo Baggins alike. T.H. White, Jonathan Swift, Lewis Carroll and Lucas himself have called themselves both the adult and the child. But “Willow” is an empty tale. All of the nice costumes and special effects from Narnia to Oz can’t hide that fact. We are always aware of the man behind the curtain.

In the end, I have to rate this film with a 5. It’s not good, but it’s nowhere near terrible or god-awful. There are far worse films than this. “Willow” just is an adequate film.

Well that ends the year. Hope everyone closes out 2013 positively and here’s hoping for another great year in 2014 for blogging. I will see you all then.

A Charlie Brown Christmas/Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales

For the finale of my 25 film review countdown to Christmas marathon, I thought that I would end off with another beloved classic. Hey, it’s Christmas, so why not? Today, let’s cap this marathon off with the 1965 “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

This special finds the always insecure Charlie Brown, voiced by Peter Robbins, unhappy that it’s Christmastime again. You might be thinking, “Why would he be unhappy? Christmas is everyone’s favorite holiday.” Well, Charlie Brown has not received any Christmas cards. Lucy, voiced by Tracy Stratford, tries to cheer him up by getting him involved in the annual Christmas play by asking him to be the director. Charlie Brown takes on the position with his usual intrusiveness, and everyone thinks the play will fail.

The filmmakers, especially Bill Melendez and Charles Schultz, keep the story innocent and charismatic, which helps children to love this special, but bringing in jazz artist Vince Guaraldi to do the music, they capture the adults’ attention as well. The combination is mouth-watering, and music from the episode went on to become the best-selling soundtrack. Playing that CD of Guaraldi’s music every Christmas should bring holiday cheer in your house.

Lucy thinks the play needs a modern spirit of Christmas and sends out Charlie Brown with the duty to find an aluminum Christmas tree. Instead, Charlie Brown ignores Lucy’s orders and goes out and buys a real Christmas tree instead. The result is emotional and provides an interesting lesson about the true meaning of Christmas. This got the “Peanuts” shows off to a very special start and it holds up to this very day.

Hands down, this special will get a 10+. It’s another one of my absolute favorite Christmas specials ever.

We're not done yet folks, because we are going to look at another Peanuts Christmas Special titled "Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales," released in 2002. This one is about a series of Christmastime vignettes with different Peanuts characters: Snoopy, Linus, Sally, Lucy, and Charlie Brown. Snoopy (Bill Melendez) is having difficulty trying to forge a Christmas song with the vicious cat next door and wants to ice skate with Lucy (Serena Berman), but she doesn't want to do anything with Snoopy. Linus (Corey Padnos) works on his letter to Santa and tries to figure out the girl in his class sitting behind him who always changes her name. Sally (Megan Taylor Harvey) writes a letter to "Samantha Claus" and mortifies herself in class, Lucy tries to be nice to her brothers, and Charlie Brown (Wesley Singerman) tires to prepare for Christmas.

In each of the small stories, you get a vision of what's going on in the characters' heads. Even though this special is inferior compared to "A Charlie Brown Christmas," I believe that "Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales" might be a yearly tradition of Christmas specials to watch around the holiday times. In the end, I would probably give this film an 8.

Thanks for joining in on my 25 film reviews of Christmas specials; Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Peace to everyone. Stay tuned this Friday when I start back up on my regular Friday reviews.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

Alright everyone, the wait is finally over. I have now seen the 2000 version of Dr. Seuss’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” and now you will hear my thoughts. It’s that type of feeling you get when you finally have opened all of your Christmas presents, you want more after five minutes. Even though nothing seems to be missing, you have that indescribable feeling that you want more. There is so much buildup, that even though you are happy by the end, it’s not enough.

Jim Carrey does a tremendous job as the Grinch, hands down. His facial expressions fit the bad ole Grinch perfectly, without stealing the heart of the most evil Dr. Seuss character in all of his books. Carrey proves here that he is man enough to balance two larger-than-life personalities: the Grinch and himself. The mixture that Carrey gives to his fans – giving enough of himself in the role without annihilating the Grinch in the process – is really the crux of his performance.

Overall, the movie stays true to the message of Dr. Seuss’ original 1957 story and the 1966 animated version, although there’s a good deal of stretching required to make this a feature-length film. In this version, from high atop Mt. Crumpit, the Grinch is positively disgusted at all the Whos in Whoville happy with preparations for Christmas. He decides to go incognito in town to mess up a few things, and runs into Cindy Lou Who, played Taylor Momsen, who’s struggling with her own doubts about the true meaning of Christmas. Interested by this encounter, Cindy Lou goes out around town to ask the townspeople about the Grinch. These parts weren’t in the book, and they don’t seem to add much to the story, except the past history.

At this point, the film comes back to the original story, although it has a handful of computer animated effects and a few instances that play to adult humor. Wait that’s not what Dr. Seuss did in his books. With wonderful costumes and sets made for fantasy, this film should make viewers feel warm, but may not do a good job doing so. Aileo Weinmann ended his review by saying, “The only thing you shouldn't expect is to be surprised, which I must admit I was kind of hoping for.”

It’s not a very good Christmas adaptation, but if you love Jim Carrey going all out, like I do, then you should watch this film. However, there are fillers in here that don’t seem appropriate for this family Christmas special that could have worked if they didn’t make the film this long. Maybe somewhere in the 90 minute mark would have been appropriate if they didn’t add all of these scenes that made you feel dirty. I would have to give this film a 5.

Well, tomorrow is Christmas Day. I think it would be appropriate to end my 25 day of Christmas film reviews with a good special. Find out tomorrow to see what I will review.

Jack Frost (1998)

Now we finally make it to the 1998 film, “Jack Frost.” What can I say about this film? It feels like a live action adaptation of Frosty the Snowman. However, instead of it being a snowman who is a friend to every child, here he is the parent who comes back from the dead. You would prefer Frosty over Jack Frost because Frosty is the work of the late Jim Henson, who brought us the loveable Muppet characters. It takes as real as a man in a costume, and it’s going to be tough to wrap your head around.

Jack Frost, played by Michael Keaton, looks like a fun father to have, but like Arnold in “Jingle All the Way,” he’s never around. As a fast-growing rock star, he always misses his son’s hockey games, like Arnold missing Jake Lloyd’s karate tournaments. One year before Christmas, Jack gives his son, Charlie, played by Joseph Cross, a harmonica. Apparently, all Charlie has to do is play the harmonica, and Jack will hear it, regardless of where he is. Then, on Christmas Day, Jack dies in a car accident in the snow. His wife, Gabby, played by Kelly Preston, is devastated, and Charlie is really sunk that he stops all contact with his friends, his grades decline, and he quits the hockey team. A year later, Charlie builds a snowman, and when he plays the harmonica, Jack returns as the snowman. Now Jack has the opportunity to be a good father to Charlie, since he couldn’t when he was alive, and being very awkward as this situation is, he goes to his hockey game and rewrites his wrongs.

James Berardinelli stated in his review, “I suppose the film might hold a degree of appeal for those desperately in search of family-suitable holiday entertainment (it's certainly a step up from the other 1998 film in that category, “I'll Be Home for Christmas”), but the movie doesn't do much on an emotional level, which is where it's supposed to work.” Jack isn’t around that long enough for us to know his character, and the snowman never gets any impression of multidimensionality. The relationship between Charlie and Snowman Jack is hard to wrap your head around. More scenes are needed than simply saying this film is a “fantasy” for an audience to get into the plot.

Then there’s a chase scene that comes right out of nowhere that allows the special effects/costume people to mortify themselves even greater by showing how poor their version of a snowman is. Apparently, these scenes are in the movie to make sure children are awake and involved, because they are superfluous. Throughout the movie, there are occasional comedic scenes, with only a few that are funny. Probably the biggest moment that makes the audiences suffer is when they are forced to hear Henson cover the classic Spencer Davis song, “Gimme Some Lovin’.”

The meat of Michael Keaton’s performance is vocal, and, although he has a couple of nice one-liners, this part will not get him another role in any Disney movie. Joseph Cross is fine as Charlie, although he’s playing a role that we have seen so many times before. Kelly Preston and Mark Addy are both underused. Their part, as Charlie’s mother and Jack’s bandmate, respectively, is mainly to react to Charlie interacting with the Snowman.

The purpose for “Jack Frost” is to make the viewer’s feel the same way with classic films like “It’s A Wonderful Life” or “A Christmas Carol.” I don’t think that will happen to anyone at any age group. Kids might like the look of the snowman, and adults may be mildly amused at some of the stuff that happens, but overall, “Jack Frost” is far too shallow to be loved, and its casual resolution to losing a parent may feel insulting. This is the kind of film that may make people feel empty, or, for lack of a better word, cold.

Overall, I think I will give this film a 5. The look, cinematography, and nice winter colors make the film good, but the acting, writing, directing, story, and characters are what hurt the movie. Besides, this is an insult to Michael Keaton. To go from Mr. Mom to Beetlejuice to Batman and then Jack Frost is really low for a great actor.

Well, I don’t want to ramble on too much about this film. Check in tomorrow for more 25 film review countdown to Christmas.

Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman

I can’t believe this. I just cannot fathom this idea at all. How did Michael Cooney see the idea to make another Jack Frost movie? Was the first one that good that he thought there could be a sequel to it? Well, apparently he made it, and it’s a painful movie to watch. Looks like I have to torture myself with this bad Christmas special. This is the sequel released in 2000, “Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman.”

After being buried for an entire year in numerous gallons of anti-freeze, Jack Frost is dug up by a couple of scientists. Being the little smarties that they are, they decide to run some scientific tests on the anti-freeze. One night, during an accident caused by the janitor, played by Brett A. Boydstun, tipping a cup of coffee into the tank, Jack is resurrected and kills the janitor. Now he is off to the Islands, and is apparently heat-resistant since he can’t melt in the sun. What kind of sense does that make!? There he will find his old nemesis, Sheriff Sam (Christopher Allot) and his wife Anne (Eileen Seeley). Not only are Sam and Anne on the islands so that Sam can recover from the traumatizing experience he went through the previous year, but also they are attending a friend’s wedding (The friends are played by Chip Heller and Marsha Clark). Apparently they believe that the Islands with tropical sun, the sand, and beaches will get Sam’s mind off of the snow and Jack’s memory. What they don’t know is that Jack is on his way at that very moment to seek his vengeance along with some minions of his.

You know what? I’m not even going to talk about the plot anymore. There is really no point because it feels like someone just defecated out this film without putting any effort into it whatsoever. The dialogue is ear-bleeding and the characters and the situations they are in are just plain moronic. Even down to the film’s tagline, “He’s icin…he’s slicing” hurts more than reading the first film’s tagline, “He’s chillin…he’s killin.” Overall, I feel that they were trying to capitalize this film further by trying to rip off “Child’s Play” and “Gremlins.” You will actually feel pain every single minute you watch this eye-soaring Christmas special.

Everything about this movie, from Captain Fun, played by Sean Patrick Murphy, the character that makes you want to throw something at the screen, to its awful ending, makes this sequel unwatchable. If you ever see “Jack Frost 2” anywhere, don’t buy it (even if it’s on sale for a penny), don’t rent it, don’t even look at it. Brandon Valentine said it best: "Jack Frost 2 is one of those films where every copy (in every format) should just be thrown into a burning bonfire." No one should have to lose their sight or hearing by watching this horrendous sequel. You would much rather be put into a corner and stare at a blank wall than watch this piece of horse manure.

Brandon Valentine stated in his blog, "On the upside, there is now a Christmas gift that Santa can give out worse than coal - "Jack Frost 2" on DVD." This film will forever be known as one of the worst sequels ever made. The first one I said was laughably bad, but there is nothing in this film that you should laugh about.

Rating for this film: a big, fat, whopping 0. Never watch this sequel as long as you live. Give me a moment to take a breath of fresh air…that felt better. Look out tomorrow, because I will now look at the other “Jack Frost” movie with Michael Keaton. It’s right for my 25 film reviews countdown to Christmas.

Jack Frost (1997)

For Christmas, let’s switch gears and talk about something horror related. What’s that? Horror is only for Halloween? Well, what would you call “A Christmas Carol?” Is that not horror related? You have a man who hates Christmas and is visited by three ghosts in order for him to change his views on Christmas. Isn’t that scary? Well, enough convincing all of you, let’s start the review.

Today, I will look at Jack Frost. No, not the 1998 film with Michael Keaton, but the 1997 horror film. This was directed by Michael Cooney about a serial killer whose soul gets into a snowman. Scott MacDonald plays Jack Frost, a killer who is about to be executed. On the way to his trail, the car gets into an accident and Jack gets acid poured on him that turns him into a snowman. The idea is very similar to “Child’s Play” where Jack comes back from the dead and continues where he left off as a killer. First stop: Snowmonton.

“Jack Frost” is a B-horror movie. It doesn’t try to deny that fact either. Just take a look at the ground. It’s supposed to be winter, but the only time you see snow is the close-ups and small spots on the ground. Also note how low-budget the film looks. The roofs will show some nice shade of gray, black and brown, similar to summer. The townspeople of Snowmonton are in the middle of their winter festival. Ryan Cracknell speculated in his review of the film, “I guess the lesson of the story is that a budget of nothing limits the amount of fake snow you can produce so live with it and move on.”

The film follows a familiar format of a monster going out on a killing spree in senseless fashion with the surviving citizens congregating in a group to stop the beast. Not before more people are murdered, then a couple more after that. As horrific as it may sound, “Jack Frost” shines when Jack is on his prowl. Aside from saying some god-awful pun dialogue, he comes up with some pretty sick ways to murder his victims. Shannon Elizabeth has her famous scene with Jack when she gets frozen in the bathtub. Nathan Hague is the bully of this film who gets beheaded by a slow-moving sled, which comes out of nowhere and doesn’t make any sense. You might think that this is over-the-top that you find it funny, and if you do, that’s fine.

MacDonald knows that he cannot do everything perfectly that is from the script so he acknowledges to the viewing audience by missing realism. He does this by winking at the camera giving the viewers something to laugh about that would be just painstakingly bad. Even though this may be bad, it’s had a cult following since its release. You could say that this belongs in the “so bad it’s good” department.

In the end, I would probably give this film a 5. The only parts that are worth watching is the MacDonald scenes, so watch it if you want. But how does the sequel turn out? Find out tomorrow in my 25 day of Christmas film reviews.

Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

The late Roger Ebert stated that “Little girls are more sophisticated than they used to be.” When Susan Walker sees a man dressed as Santa Clause inebriated she says it straight out: “Bombed? It’s the pressure.” Susan’s mother, Dorey, is the PR director for Cole’s, a Manhattan department store, and Susan knows the outlooks. “This seems like a pretty pointless exercise,” she says when she is climbing onto Santa’s lap.

For those who have seen the original version will know that her disbelief in Santa Clause will not last long, because she finds herself in the 1994 remake of “Miracle on 34^th Street,” the classic story about a department store Santa who may possibly be Santa. The movie was remade by the late producer John Hughes and director Les Mayfield, who follow the original very closely, but with a quieter, more nostalgic tone. Just like the original version, this remake begins with a charming old gentleman who is hired right on the spot and right away put into costume after the department store’s Santa gets intoxicated, played in this version by Jack McGee, at the start of the annual Thanksgiving Day’s Parade. The old man introduces himself as Kriss Kringle (with two S’s this time around). Like I stated yesterday that he was portrayed by Edmund Gwenn, who actually won an Oscar, which I am not surprised about. In the remake, he is played by the great Richard Attenborough, whose eyes twinkle and beard, which he proves to Susan, is real and cannot be pulled off his face.

Kringle is loved so much at the parade that he gets a full-time job as Cole’s Santa, and is an instant hit by telling children the truth, especially when he sends them off to different stores for cheaper prices at the evil Shopper’s Express store. If you remember in the original when Santa stunned the audience by speaking to a girl in Dutch, similarly he does the same thing here when he starts to do sign language to a deaf girl.

Meanwhile, little Susan, played by 90s child actress Mara Wilson, is beginning to think whether or not there is a Santa Clause. If there is, she wants him to bring her a house, a father, and a brother.

Her dad hasn’t spent any time with her in years, but Bryan, played by Dylan McDermott, a lawyer who lives next door, is in love with her mother, Dorey, played by Elizabeth Perkins. Dorey is a pessimist, once-wounded and twice shy, who doesn’t believe in Santa, or love.

The movie follows the original 1947 version into the courtroom where, after some dappled tricks by the rival department store, an attempt is made to have Kriss Kringle declared insane because of the fact that he truly believes that he “is” Santa Clause. Bryan defends him, with the results just as pleasing as the original, and there is a happy ending, even more pleasing, because Dorey and Bryan get married in the same exact Chicago church where Ebert got married, and Ebert says that “it was not possible to achieve such critical objectivity.”

There will never be a movie to replace the 1947 classic version, nor a performance to replace Edmund Gwenn, but this remake is a sweet, gentle, good-hearted film that stays true to the will of the original and doesn’t try to make everything slick and manipulative. You know it’s a good movie when you start to hum “Joy to the World” after the movie is over.

I give this movie a 9. Now some people may not know, but Mara Wilson is no longer a film star and instead has been writing online. You should check out her website when you get the chance. Also, if Mara ever reads this blog, I would just like to let her know that I personally had nothing against any of the roles that she starred in. I'm not saying that because of what she did to The Nostalgia Critic that I'm scared the same thing may happen to me. No, I'm serious, I never had any negativity towards any of her performances that I saw when she was a child actress.

Now that I have stated that, stay tuned tomorrow when I continue my 25 day countdown to Christmas reviews.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

I think today would be appropriate if I review another all time favorite Christmas classic. Let’s see…How about the 1947 “Miracle on 34^th Street?” That sounds right for today.

Doris Walker, played by the beloved Marueen O’Hara, is stressing out that she needs to replace the Santa she hired, played by Percy Helton, for the Thanksgiving Day Parade after she is told that he is drunk on the float. Lady luck is on her side because a nice old gentleman, played by Edmund Gwenn, with a naturally large beard arrives and she gives him the position. He does the job like he is the real Santa Clause that she asks him to continue this position and be the Santa at Macy’s. Later she regrets having given him the position when she hears that he claims and believes that he is Kris Kringle.

Ever since she got a divorce from her husband, Doris does not want to tell anyone fairy tales, as she teaches her daughter, Susan, played by Natalie Wood, to be as disbelieving. Then her neighbor Fred Gailey, played by John Payne, takes Susan to see Santa to kill time in waiting for Doris to finish her shift. Kris’s charm catches Susan while she is off guard.

Susan is not the only one who is confused on whether Kris really is Santa Clause. The thing is, a little of his magic seems to be affecting almost everyone he talks to. That is, except for Macy’s psychologist, Granville Sawyer, played by Porter Hall, who believes that Kris is mentally unstable and needs to be institutionalized. With the question of whether Kris is sane, he is put on trial, where the New York court will decide if Kris “is” Santa Clause.

With a little bit of hope and a rush of faith, this film leaves you warm and has become a tradition for families to watch around Christmastime. Donna Gustafson says at the end of her review, “But, if you have not yet had to answer those awkward queries regarding the authenticity of that midnight visitor, you may want to wait a few years before sharing it with your little ones.”

Hands down, this film gets a 10+, it’s a beloved Christmas classic. If you haven’t seen this yet, you are missing out. If you want to watch a film that will leave you with a warm feeling after you are done, then make sure to watch this classic.

Believe it or not, they actually remade this film. Want to know how it is? Find out tomorrow in my 25 day countdown to Christmas reviews.

Santa Claus: The Movie

It would make people feel weird about the producers of the Superman movies making a movie about Santa Claus. When you think about it, it does make sense though. Both Superman and Santa are legendary superheroes, able to soothe our pains by using magic. Both of them have the ability to fly. Both have a large supporting cast: Superman has Lois Lane, Perry White, and Jimmy Olson, and Santa has Mrs. Claus, the elves, and of course, his reindeers.

Ilya Salkind, the co-producer of the Superman movies, has completed the circle by making the 1985 “Santa Claus: The Movie” with similarities to a Superman epic. The main part of the lives of all superheroes is their origin story. As we all know, they are rarely born to normal humans. Superman came from Krypton, and Claus, as we learn from this movie, was a middle-aged man who was loved by all the children in his neighborhood because he would ride his sleigh through the snow with a sack full of toys. Near the beginning of the movie, Claus, played by The Big Lebowski himself, David Huddleston, goes out into a dangerous blizzard and freezes. When he wakes up, he finds himself in the North Pole with his wife, Anya Claus, played by Judy Cornwell. There he learns that he will be now named Santa Claus and his duties revolve around Christmas Eve.

The movie does a great job at showing Santa’s workshop, and introducing the workers there. The elves appear to have a sort of craft society. The late and loveable Burgess Meredith, wearing a really long beard, plays the Ancient Elf who tells Santa briefly what he has to do. Dudley Moore plays Patch, the chief elf, who is not as efficient as he should be. There are long shelves of new toys, all made in a strong, old-fashioned way out of wood and nails. There are no plastic or polyurethane anywhere.

Also, Patch gets ideas for speeding up the process and before you know it, the wheels are falling off of children’s wagons worldwide. Patch leaves the North Pole shamefully and soon bumps into a corrupted toy manufacturer, played by John Lithgow from the sitcom “3^rd Rock from the Sun,” who makes hazardous toys. Roger Ebert says, “For me, the high point of the movie was a Senate hearing where a shocked Senate aide emptied out the stuffings of one of Lithgow's toy animals.” What does he stuff them with you ask? With none other than nails and razor blades and shards of glass!

Lithgow is supposed to play the traditional superhero villain, like Gene Hackman played Lex Luthor in “Superman” or all of the strange enemies Batman had to face off with. Lithgow gives a performance where you just hate the guy, but the villain isn’t fleshed out big enough, and he doesn’t really have much to do. The main weakness with this movie is the lack of real conflict. Ebert says that “The movie needs a super-Scrooge, and all it gets is the kind of bad guy Ralph Nader might have invented.” The saddest moment is when a couple of reindeer cry.

The good part of the movie is the special effects. The Salkinds and their team have now figured out how to make somebody look like they’re flying, and when Santa’s sleigh is passing the Brooklyn Bridge, it looks nice. Obviously small children will like it, and they will like most of the movie. The weakness is that older children and parents, represented to guide the small children, are likely to find a lot of the movie thin.

In the end, I give this movie a 5. If you want to check it out, by all means do so.

Check in tomorrow when I continue my 25 day countdown to Christmas reviews. Sorry about posting this late, I was very busy.

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

The magic returns for a third time in the 2006 sequel in the trilogy, “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause.” It’s a charming sequel to this trilogy that has a nice G-rated holiday niche. Tim Allen is at his best in this film, and with comedy legend Martin Short as Jack Frost at his side, it adds to the comedy.

With another Christmas fast approaching, Scott aka Santa is concerned with his pregnant wife missing her parents, played by singer Alan Arkin and Ann-Margaret. When he leaves to escort his in laws, who are now part of his family, to the North Pole, Santa leaves Jack Frost, played by Martin Short, in the care of the elves. Frost, finally seeing his opportunity to take over Christmas, starts with the North Pole, and looks to perform a bit of magic that will remove Scott as Santa, making Frost the new Santa.

Even for entertainment like this trilogy, coming up with a second sequel is hard. Brian Orndorf has commented, “Up to this point, this has been an unexpectedly rewarding franchise; giving up the Christmas spirit with mistletoe ease, and allowing Tim Allen to take the stick out of his behind and act cheerful for once, unburdened by his career-killing, sour-puss sense of humor.”

“Santa Clause 3” at least does some interesting twists with the plot. Instead of rehashing the plot, this sequel actually gets a little serious as it goes along with the holiday slapstick. It doesn’t have that many funny moments, and the times when it is funny involves Short’s innate comedic moments. Orndorf says, “The picture is hardly “Ordinary People,” but it always seems to be breathlessly chasing the knotty plot instead of leaving generous time for elf-village horseplay.” The pogo vibe of the first two films is missing in this sequel, but what lacks in laughs makes up for the steadfast amusement value – a gradually more dying art.

One worthy point about the production is that it doesn’t do as much with it as a “Back to the Future Part 2” or “It’s a Wonderful Life” spin on the story. As Frost and Santa fight for the position of Santa, they travel through the time back to the first film, when Scott first got the Santa position. Using the clip from the first film, it’s a kick to match the pre-fame of Tim Allen with the third film. Orndorf said, “The two sequences provide only minutes of screentime, but I liked the effort to play a little with the history of the franchise.”

Once Frost gets the Santa position, the film has its eyes on Short’s comedy, which Orndorf says, “even clearing room for the actor to channel his Broadway history and belt out “North Pole, North Pole” on stage, complete with elf dancers.” With Short in this movie, it’s much more fun than it should have been, and it was a smart choice to give Allen someone to play off of with their comedy.

The last 15 minutes of the film puts the sentimental moments in, and that’s why this franchise is successful and beloved to this day. To see Allen smile without being scared of a one-liner into your face afterwards is pure genius, as is a Disney-style construction of the holiday classic. “Santa Clause 3” doesn’t match the quality of the past two films, but it has some perfect moments, making this series in the trilogy a treat for the holidays.

In the end, I would give this a 10+, for I find that this film is the best amongst the three. Believe it or not, there is another “Santa Clause” movie, but it came before the Tim Allen trilogy. Find out tomorrow how it is in my 25 day countdown to Christmas reviews.

The Santa Clause 2

Who would have thought that a sequel would be made to “The Santa Clause?” Well, they did make the sequel in 2002. What’s the premise to this film you may ask? Well, how about a last minute telling from Curtis the Elf, played by Spencer Breslin, at the worst possible time. While Santa is supervising the elves and inspecting the toys, Curtis breaks the news to Santa about a loophole that was also on the card Scott got when he put the Santa suit on: if he doesn’t get married in 28 days, he will no longer be Santa.

The de-Santafication process has already taken its toll. Scott is losing weight and his beard is thinning.

In the time between the two films, Scott’s ex-wife, Laura, and her new husband, Neil, have continued to raise Charlie, but now is a troublesome child in high school. He is responsible for a number of the graffiti pranks and the elves are distraught when they inform Scott that Charlie is on the naughty list. Scott does the right thing and flies home to set Charlie right and hopefully find a wife, while they make a doll version of Santa to watch over the North Pole. This Santa decides to turn the North Pole into a military camp by using the toy soldiers as his military coup and turning it into a dictatorship.

Ebert has said, “The Santa Clause 2" is more of the same tinsel-draped malarkey that made the original film into a big hit, but it's more engaging, assured and funny, and I liked it more. The first movie seemed too desperately cheery,” but I liked the first one Mr. Ebert. This film has a nice sharp undertone, even though the romance between Scott and Principal Newman, played by Elizabeth Mitchell, is working, since her experience with the students in high school may come in handy when she supervises the elves.

The movie is not a special effects festivity like “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” so that’s a good thing. It has that charm and silliness than focusing too much on the special effects. The North Pole looks a little more detailed than a department store window, the Clone Santa’s troops look like immigrants from “The March of the Wooden Soldiers,” and Santa’s reindeer, Comet (voiced by Bob Bergen), is not a good example of grace.

One new touch is the Board Meeting of Legendary Characters, which Santa is the head of. The members include: the Sandman (Michael Dorn, who is famous for playing Worf in “Star Trek: The Next Generation"), the Tooth Fairy (Art La Fleur), Cupid (impressionist Kevin Pollak), Mother Nature (Aisha Taylor, the new host of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”), the Easter Bunny (Jay Thomas), and Father Time (Frank Barone from "Everybody Loves Raymond," the late Peter Boyle). Ebert said, “I suppose it makes sense that all of these characters would exist in the same universe, and when the Tooth Fairy saves the day, it is through the film's profound understanding of the rules of Tooth Fairydom.”

Surprisingly, Ebert almost liked the first Santa Clause, but said that “despite its charms, the movie didn't push over the top into true inspiration.” Now the sequel kind of does push over the top, especially with the Santa Clone, and is better than the first one, although Ebert believes “that any universe that includes the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman could easily accommodate, and benefit from, Groucho Marx.”

In the end, I give this film a 10+, and definitely recommend this to anyone who was a fan of the first film. Want to know how the third on the trilogy is? Find out tomorrow in my 25 day countdown to Christmas reviews.

The Santa Clause

Is anyone fans of Tim “The Tool Man” Allen? If you loved his hit sitcom in the 90s, “Home Improvement,” then you will be in for a treat. I know I was a fan of that show, so today I will look at Tim Allen’s film debut, “The Santa Clause,” released in 1994.

In this film, Tim Allen plays Scott Calvin, a divorced executive of a toy company whose son, Charlie (Eric Lloyd) prefers his mom (Wendy Crawson) and psychiatrist stepfather (Judge Reinhold), which makes him feel uneasy when Charlie visits Scott. When Charlie spends the night with Scott on Christmas Eve, Charlie begs his mom to pick him up the next day.

Hilarity ensues when in the middle of the night; Scott walks out and sees Santa on the roof. That puts Santa out of action, passing the torch onto Scott, whose initials coincidentally matches Saint Nicks. This is all because of the card that says whoever puts on the suit is recruited to being Santa Clause.

Scott does not want to be Santa, but decides to take the responsibility after he takes a trip to the North Pole. He has to prepare for next Christmas, and because he is now the new Santa, he is able to get closer to Charlie when the holidays approach. Along the way, he starts to look like Santa, making Allen chubby, which marks comedic resemblance to the other hilarious film, “Mrs. Doubtfire,” which it was inspired from the plot of wanting to get a family back together.

Jeff Shannon of The Seattle Times said, “All of this is polished with formulaic gloss, and one can't help but wonder what happens to all of those decommissioned Santas.” You will notice an excited logic that turns the North Pole elves into equal-opportunity employers. Making his debut to film, director John Pasquin had a good grasp on the material. Although the original, darker screenplay has become light-hearted by Disney, “The Santa Clause” has been made to fit Allen without being boring in the process.

The movie combines fantasy into it from the generous area of Santa’s underground workshop (the set design made very pretty by Carol Spier) to the bossy common sense of the reindeer (especially Comet), but don’t mind a newly designed sleigh that has a vertical takeoff. It's little touches like this that makes all the difference. With comedies that don’t seem to work lately, “The Santa Clause” has enough laughs to make it a fun holiday flick.

My rating for this will have to be a 10, it’s that likable. But how do the sequels hold up? Find out tomorrow in my 25 days of countdown to Christmas reviews.

A Christmas Carol (2009)

Charles Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol” in 1838, and it is one of the timeless novels ever written. Many directors have come along and made their own adaptation in movie form, and each one of them has to be good. Even the ones that may be poor still have some element of good in them. I think the reason why we love this novel so much is because we all met someone who was like Ebenezer Scrooge. He was a man who just couldn’t get into the holidays until three ghosts of Christmas make him get into the holidays. Dickens usually starts with spirited young heroes or heroines and puts them with an entire cast of characters and caricatures. In “A Christmas Carol,” Scrooge is a caricature, never thinner, never more stooped, and never bitterer.

Today I will look at one of the adaptations of the classic Dickens novel. Which one you might ask? Well how about the one from 2009. This was written and directed by the great Robert Zemeckis, the same man who brought us the Back to the Future Trilogy, Forrest Gump, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Death Becomes Her, and Romancing the Stone. Zemeckis proves for a third time that he is one of the few directors who knows how to treat 3D right.

Jim Carrey is in there somewhere underneath the performance-capture animation. You will be able to point him out with his expressive mouth, but normally Zemeckis characters don’t resemble the actors portraying them so much. In “The Polar Express,” you knew it was Tom Hanks doing all of those characters, but in this film you’re not sure of Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, Robin Wright Penn, or Bob Hoskins.

Zemeckis has put these characters in London that twists and stretches its setting to look like the ghoulish mood. When you look at Scrooge’s living room, it’s narrow and tall just like him. The home of his nephew Fred (voiced by Colin Firth), is as wide and warm as his personality. It’s the antithesis of Scrooge, who is voiced by Carrey.

Animation gives you the freedom to show off anything you can think of, and Zemeckis does just that. Once in a while, he even seems to be inducing the ghost of Salvador Dali, like in the sequence when all of the furniture disappears and a large grandfather clock appears over Scrooge and a floor slanting into a distant point of view.

The three ghosts are very well done. Ebert has said, “I like the first, an elfin figure with a head constantly afire and a hat shaped like a candle-snuffer. Sometimes he playfully shakes his flames like a kid tossing the hair out of his eyes.” After another ghost flies out of Scrooge’s window, he runs over to see the whole street packed with floating ghostly figures, each one of them chained to a block.

You could probably go into a lot of in-depth talk about the voices given to these characters. Jim Carrey not only does Scrooge, but also all three of the ghosts. Gary Oldman voices Bob Cratchit, Marley and Tiny Tim.

Ebert says, “I remain unconvinced that 3-D represents the future of the movies, but it tells you something that Zemeckis' three 3-D features (also including "Beowulf") have wrestled from me 11 of a possible 12 stars.”

However, Ebert does like the way Zemeckis does it. Zemeckis seems to have more of a handle on how to use 3D rather than being used by it. If the foreground is occupied by close objects, they’re usually having a scary interior, not out over our heads. Notice the foreground wall that is covered with bells when Scrooge, who is far below that shot, enters his home. When one after another moves, it has a nice little touch to it.

The score done by the great Alan Silvestri manages to include some of the classic Christmas carols, but you have to really listen for them as “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” when its distinctive rhythms turn sinister during a hazardous flight through London.

I also have to give this film a 10. It’s a very good adaptation, but I’m sure there may be better ones, but we’ll see. Make sure to watch this along with other adaptations of “A Christmas Carol.”

Stay tuned tomorrow for my 25 day countdown of Christmas special reviews.

Shrek the Halls

For the next Christmas special, I think I will look at one that I saw not too long ago. The 2007 made for television 22 minute short, “Shrek the Halls.” This one takes place sometime between “Shrek 2” and “Shrek the Third,” and Shrek learns the importance of family (and extended family) during the holidays.

The special starts with Shrek, voiced by the creepy Austin Powers…I mean Mike Myers, talking to his friend Donkey, voiced by one of the funniest comedians, Eddie Murphy, about Christmas. As all Shrek fans know, he was a lone ogre before he met his wife Fiona, voiced by one of the drop dead gorgeous actresses, Cameron Diaz. During that time, he didn’t really feel like celebrating anything. Now that Shrek and Fiona are married and have triplets, Shrek wants to give his family the best Christmas ever. However, just when Shrek feels that he has done a job well done, the other familiar faces of the Shrek cast break into his swamp house and makes a mess.

As everyone knows, the first two Shrek movies were so funny (the second one being the best), and this special falls somewhere along the lines of being just as enjoyable as the first two. One of the things that they did right is that it wasn’t the usual 90 minute mark, so this is short and straight to the point. “Shrek the Halls” only needed to give us the usual laughs and nice feeling for the holidays, which it did. There was no need to add in a villain or nice action sequences for the kids.

Therefore, “Shrek the Halls” relied mainly on gross humor and slapstick to make the special hilarious, and with all of the Shrek cast members (including the three blind mice (voiced by Christopher Knights) the three little Pigs (voiced by Cody Cameron) Gingerbread Man (voiced by Conrad Vernon), Puss-in-Boots (voiced by Antonio Banderas), and Pinocchio (also voiced by Cameron)), it all works out in the end.

Kevin Carr said that the DVD came with special features (which I didn’t see). This includes a “sing-along of “12 Days of Christmas” and “Deck the Halls” featuring the “Madagascar” penguins, a dunking game, the DreamWorks Animation video jukebox and a video game demo.”

“Shrek the Halls” is a lot of fun to watch with your family, and you should make it a tradition to watch this every year around Christmastime. I also give this special a solid 10.

Look out tomorrow when I continue my 25 days of Christmas reviews.

The Snowman and the Snowdog

Yesterday I reviewed the 1982 TV classic, “The Snowman.” Little did I know is that last year, they made a sequel, “The Snowman and the Snowdog.” How is it? Let’s find out:

“The Snowman and the Snowdog” certainly shows how far we have come along. The animation definitely looks a step up from the first one as it looks smoother but it’s still like how Walt Disney has always done. It’s pencil drawn and still looks great for today.

The story this time is about a young boy, his mother, and their dog that moved into the house that the boy from the first one lived in. There isn’t a father in this one, which could be a number of reasons. Seasons go on and then one day, the dog passes away. Next thing you know, the boy’s writing his letter to Santa and stumbles upon a broken board in his bedroom and finds the scarf and hat from the Snowman. When he sees the picture of the kid and Snowman from the first movie, the boy in this film goes out and builds an exact replica of the Snowman with a Snowdog.

Now this is the symbolism here since the Snowman is supposed to be a father figure to the young boy. When you think about it, the Snowman represents the father we never see in the special, and the Snowdog represents the dog that the boy misses.

Just like in the first special, the Snowman and the boy fly off in the sky, which looks fantastic in this one. The song this time is Light the Night by Andy Burrows which is just great and far better than Walking in the Air. The singer isn’t a high pitched boy rolling his Rs like he is from Russia or somewhere (not meaning to be racist). The scene is more eye candy with a handful of other snowmen flying and other lights turn on, which fits the song. Next thing you know, they see an airplane, and they ride the rest of the way on that since the boy loves planes. Don’t worry, they return the plane.

When they get to the North Pole, they see all of the other Snowmen from different nationalities and they all get together for some sort of a circus I think. Then, they meet Father Christmas who gives the kid the gift of life. Watch the special if you want to know what I mean.

The music is still orchestral but much more global with the sound of the acoustic guitar and some backing vocals. It’s a very fitting film for this time around, and gives you a warm feeling by the end.

Overall I also give this special a solid 10. It’s much better than “The Snowman” in my opinion, and I recommend you all look it up. Stay tuned tomorrow when I continue my 25 days of Christmas reviews.

The Snowman

Just to let you know, I won’t be reviewing the remake to “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”…yet. I do intend to review it, but not yet. However, I want to review a 1982 short special, “The Snowman.” I remember watching this film when I was in first grade while we were making gingerbread cookies, and I didn’t quite remember it very well. When I watched it earlier today, it was very heartwarming, but boy did it have a sad ending.

Midnight one Christmas Eve, a young boy finds that the snowman built earlier that day has come to life. The Snowman takes the boy on a journey, flying through the world and arrives at the North Pole where he meets Father Christmas (or Santa Clause as I like to call him).

Raymond Briggs’ children’s book is brought very well on screen in this animated short. Probably it is best known for the Aled Jones song, “Walking in the Air,” this heart-warming short avoids the over-romanticizing which could have ruined it and touches you in a pleasant way. The music perfectly balances the animation, especially during the flying scenes where the scenery clarifies in rolling images like waves. This is animation for everyone, not only because there isn’t a word spoken, but it also has that original message about life and love – and it also features the great Father Christmas.

The content of the film is moving and has an affecting ending which could be upsetting to children. In this sense it is more of an adult film than children’s animation, as adults have the ability to look back and understand what the film is saying and what is lost. But for children it will simply be a story of excitement and friendship. Today children’s entertainment has a lot of violence, but this is a heartwarming short film.

Overall, this short also gets a 10, it’s one of the best and touching special. If you haven’t seen it, just YouTube it and you will be able to see all 26 minutes of it.

Stay tuned tomorrow when I continue my 25 days of Christmas reviews.