tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post8446400780803507842..comments2024-03-22T14:48:09.697-04:00Comments on Dell on Movies: Thursday Movie Picks: Holiday/Vacation MoviesDellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-6194651377038992632015-12-30T16:03:16.082-05:002015-12-30T16:03:16.082-05:00The Star Wars Holiday Special is completely insane...The Star Wars Holiday Special is completely insane. Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-92231293560667019442015-12-30T15:32:48.736-05:002015-12-30T15:32:48.736-05:00I haven't seen any of this...not really into t...I haven't seen any of this...not really into the holiday sort of flicks.<br />Haha...I've seen The Star Wars Holiday Special being mentioned on Twitter and how terrible it is and reading your summary it sounds crazy.Wandererhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02942463921185187112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-72585845353564909022015-12-28T16:48:48.239-05:002015-12-28T16:48:48.239-05:00And a son. Chewy has a son. Sigh.And a son. Chewy has a son. Sigh.Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-32344297872985784362015-12-28T15:56:33.845-05:002015-12-28T15:56:33.845-05:00I've heard quite a bit about the Star Wars Hol...I've heard quite a bit about the Star Wars Holiday special, Chewy has a wife!? I suppose he can, no harm. Funnyily enough I've heard of the picks but not seen them. I think I need to see Santa Claus Conquers the Martians though.Katie Hoganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01176992567322682222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-82643123191754856842015-12-27T23:40:31.468-05:002015-12-27T23:40:31.468-05:00I also have the DVD of Santa Claus Conquers the Ma...I also have the DVD of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Mine is a crappy copy that doesn't have any cartoons or commercials on it, though. I would love if it did. Yeah, skip the others unless you're just in the mood for crappy Christmas cinema. Thanks!Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-78297430430641332532015-12-27T19:24:30.798-05:002015-12-27T19:24:30.798-05:00I recall watching the Star Wars Christmas crap whe...I recall watching the Star Wars Christmas crap when it first came out and scratching my head wondering what on earth they were all doing in this awful thing. I have to see it again since it has been almost 40 yrs. Love Santa Claus conquers the martians-it is truly bad. I actually have the DVD with some great cartoons on it and old commercials. I have not seen the others and will skip it but I do like the suit of the murderous Claus. Merry Christmas!!Birgithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09439720285857050428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-80897063415392755052015-12-26T10:33:37.223-05:002015-12-26T10:33:37.223-05:00No worries. I'm sure had I seen it back then, ...No worries. I'm sure had I seen it back then, and I'm not entirely sure I didn't, I would have loved it, too. Now, viewing it as an adult? Wow.Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-72482047312911597092015-12-26T09:54:59.144-05:002015-12-26T09:54:59.144-05:00My brother and I actually watched (and liked!) the...My brother and I actually watched (and liked!) the Star Wars Christmas special when it came on TV. In our defense we were very young. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-66767643113602331232015-12-24T19:11:47.373-05:002015-12-24T19:11:47.373-05:00I have not seen The Strange Love... so I will defi...I have not seen The Strange Love... so I will definitely seek that one out. And love that background info. I could so see Wilder using psychology on Stanwyck. Thanks!Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-15782469603210086682015-12-24T17:11:06.930-05:002015-12-24T17:11:06.930-05:00I love Double Indemnity too!
It's not my fav...I love Double Indemnity too! <br /><br />It's not my favorite, that's a tight race between The Big Heat and In a Lonely Place, but such a prototype of the genre. Both Stanwyck and MacMurray were hesitant to accept their respective roles because of the darkness of the material. MacMurray up to this point was best known as a comic leading man and Missy Stanwyck while having played hard-hearted, callous women, like Baby Face, was mostly the nice leading lady and hadn't dug into the sort of venality required for Phyllis. Wilder convinced MacMurray that Stanwyck was interested if he was and when she voiced her concerns to him Wilder commented that he thought she was an actress, if she was merely a star he would look elsewhere which of course was like waving a red flag in front of a bull and she signed on. She has another terrific noir to her credit "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" it's worth checking out if you haven't seen it. I think some of her breeziness in Christmas in Connecticut, which I just finished watching-it was on TCM this afternoon!-is her decompressing from the heavy dramatics of Indemnity.<br /><br />Christmas Holiday is certainly worth finding...if you can, it's on the elusive side, but while Gene Kelly is an interesting choice the whole time I was watching I kept thinking that the role just cried out for John Garfield. That one choice would have bumped it into the classic class.joel65913https://www.blogger.com/profile/14526657073681774683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-20135385609775595892015-12-24T10:23:29.943-05:002015-12-24T10:23:29.943-05:00Keep avoiding that Christmas special. If it gets t...Keep avoiding that Christmas special. If it gets tough to resist, use the force.Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-58975035187847100842015-12-24T10:22:47.305-05:002015-12-24T10:22:47.305-05:00Never heard of that first one, but man that's ...Never heard of that first one, but man that's the worst title for a movie, ever. It also sounds too goofy to be true. Then again, I see Jonathan Winters is in it, so that's par for the course. <br /><br />I'm not a big fan of Deliverance. I know everyone else loves it, but it just doesn't work for me as a complete film. The Dueling Banjos is iconic and so is the infamous "Squeal like a piggy" scene. I thought the rest of it was kind of "meh." I will agree that the performances were great from Reynolds and Beatty, though...and the hillbillies.<br /><br />I've been aware of Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation for just about all of my life, but I never watched it. Always looked way too cheesy for me to bother with.<br /><br />Thanks for all the suggestions, Joel!Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-21912739834997810582015-12-24T10:15:06.016-05:002015-12-24T10:15:06.016-05:00No worries. I don't blame you one bit for skip...No worries. I don't blame you one bit for skipping the ones you haven't already seen.<br /><br />I haven't heard of your first choice. That sounds interesting, though. Nor have I seen the last one which seems right up my alley since I do love film noir. I have seen the Stanwyck, but I was a kid last time I did and don't really remember much about it. Since we're talking about her, and you mentioned it, I will say that Double Indemnity is one of my all-time faves. Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-85412927510945940032015-12-24T09:51:07.133-05:002015-12-24T09:51:07.133-05:00Oh, fuck Goldberg lol. These all sound so wonderfu...Oh, fuck Goldberg lol. These all sound so wonderfully campy minus the Star Wars Christmas special with I've always avoided.Brittani Burnhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07975067259283007280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-3287388745442980052015-12-24T08:40:24.398-05:002015-12-24T08:40:24.398-05:00Holiday:
Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung You in th...Holiday:<br /><br />Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feelin’ So Sad (1967)-Madame Rosepettle (Rosalind Russell) arrives at a Caribbean resort for a vacation with quite a menagerie, her 24 year old son (Robert Morse) who acts like a 5 year old, his stamp collection and telescope, a pair of Venus Flytraps, her tank of pet piranhas and her dead husband (Jonathan Winters-who serves as narrator) who she’s had stuffed and travels with them in his coffin that she keeps in the closet. While they’re there the hotel’s babysitter Rosalie (Barbara Harris) falls for the infantile young man while Madame is pursued by a crazy ship captain, Commodore Roseabove. Got that? Its theatre of the absurd and the kind of whack-a-doodle thing that could only be produced in the 60’s.<br /><br />Deliverance (1972)-Four friends, all city bred, decide to take a vacation trip down a river in backwoods Georgia before a dam is constructed that will wipe it out and flood the surrounding area. Only one of them is really knowledgeable about canoeing but the trip starts well and even has a highlight or two, the famous Dueling Banjos being the most memorable, until they have an ill-fated encounter with some hillbilly moonshiners. Things go about as wrong as possible and their big adventure becomes an endurance test of survival. Raw and vivid with a career best performance by Burt Reynolds.<br /><br />Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962)-Mr. Hobbs wants to take a nice quiet vacation to the beach for the summer but Mrs. Hobbs insists on taking the whole family, daughters, son-in-law, grandchildren, cook and various drop ins, with them. There goes his peaceful trip. The kind of role that Jimmy Stewart could play in his sleep but he and Maureen O’Hara manage to make the material better than it should be. <br /><br />Merry Christmas!!joel65913https://www.blogger.com/profile/14526657073681774683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-20864154486342035112015-12-24T08:39:27.636-05:002015-12-24T08:39:27.636-05:00Well that's some collection! The only two I...Well that's some collection! The only two I've seen are Santa Conquers the Martians, abysmal, and the Star Wars Holiday Special which I sought out because it was infamously bad...and it was! I sat there thinking "Didn't they look at this before they released it?" No wonder it was withdrawn for decades after its initial showing!<br /><br />As far as the other two, while they sound like unique viewing experiences I think I'm going to forgo them. But thanks for the variety of choices.<br /><br />I found myself in a quandary with the theme being split between holiday and vacation movies I couldn’t seem to choose which way to go and since I was only able to winnow down to three of each I decided to separate them into the two categories and have an entry for each.<br /><br />Christmas:<br /><br />Make the Yuletide Gay (2009)-Olaf “Gunn” Gunnunderson is headed to the Midwest home of his parents for the holidays. The thing is Gunn has a secret, at college he’s an out and proud gay man but at home he plays it straight fearing that his stoner dad and effusive, holiday loving mom will reject him if they know the truth. Soon after he arrives so does his boyfriend whose parents have decided to take a cruise rather than spend Christmas with him. Gunn passes him off as his roommate while his parents try to fix Gunn up with the girl next door. Can they make it through the holidays without his parents finding out and should they? Little known holiday fare with a game cast, including Alison Arngrim (Nellie Olsen from Little House on the Prairie) as the hot pants mom next door.<br /><br />Christmas in Connecticut (1945)-Barbara Stanwyck, that most versatile of all the great female Hollywood stars coming fresh off of Double Indemnity, is Elizabeth Lane-the Martha Stewart of her day who writes an advice column in Smart Housekeeping detailing her idyllic life on her Connecticut farm with her husband and baby. One day her publisher (Sydney Greenstreet) concocts a scheme to boost circulation, invite a war hero to her farm for the holidays and the publisher is coming along too. The problem? She lives in a New York walk up, has no husband nor baby and she can’t cook! What to do? She agrees to marry the man whose home she’s been using for a model and heads to the country taking the friend who provides her the recipes she uses along. All seems well…until the very attractive soldier arrives. Breezy comedy with the holiday spirit but not swamped with all the trimmings.<br /><br />Christmas Holiday (1944)-This Robert Siodmak directed adaptation of a Somerset Maugham story is one dark, despairing noir. On Christmas leave a young officer receives a Dear John letter. Depressed he wanders into a roadside joint and meets Deanna Durbin, a “dance hall hostess” and she tells him the story of her fall. As a naïve young girl on her own she entered into a hasty marriage to a slick charming man, Gene Kelly, who turns out to be a mother dominated psychotic maniac. When he commits murder she somehow feels responsible, goes into hiding and punishes herself by sliding into a life of squalor. Loaded with and quite explicit (for a 40’s release) in its themes of sexual manipulation, prostitution, incest, self-punishment and very twisted emotional ideas. Deanna sings but her songbird isn’t singled out as anyone special, she’s better than most roadside canaries but her style is beaten down and the patrons hardly break from what they’re doing when she takes the bandstand. A million miles away from the typical Durbin or Kelly vehicles.<br />joel65913https://www.blogger.com/profile/14526657073681774683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-30765699782747203822015-12-24T02:53:28.634-05:002015-12-24T02:53:28.634-05:00I know, I know. Curiosity got the best of me. What...I know, I know. Curiosity got the best of me. What crap!Dellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634519605152190304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227751790693713235.post-88511933983200469722015-12-24T00:43:42.151-05:002015-12-24T00:43:42.151-05:00I told you not to go see the Star Wars Holiday Spe...I told you not to go see <i>the Star Wars Holiday Special</i>!!! Now you'll wish it never existed. It was a chore watching that. <i>Santa's Slay</i> was terrible while <i>Santa with Muscles</i> is just hilarious in a bad way because of Hogan. I also noticed that the guy who plays Bob Pinciotti in <i>That 70s Show</i> is also in the film with future co-star Mila Kunis. thevoid99https://www.blogger.com/profile/03055459287396592446noreply@blogger.com