a christmas story Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Well, it's that time of the year again -- time to wait until the very last minute to buy presents for your loved ones in order to solidify the fact that you'll be waiting on insanely long lines next to people who don't shower and like to scream at their misbehaving kids about once every 10 seconds. Or at least that's what I'll be doing this year. One thing I always look forward to, though, is heading out on a cold winter's night to purchase a way-too-expensive Christmas tree for my living room ... and then decorating it while consuming some nice tasty beverages that may or may not be of the alcoholic variety.

But when you're a movie geek like me, you want to decorate that tree with tons of really random movie references so that your family can come over and be all like, "Um, is that the car from Ghostbusters hanging on your tree?" Luckily, for nuts like us, there's Hallmark -- who this year have unleashed a pretty cool collection of nerdy movie-related ornaments tied to Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, Ghostbusters, The Corpse Bride, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, A Christmas Story, Bolt, Cars, Toy Story, Shrek, Harry Potter and more.

And in case you're wondering which ornament I'll be purchasing for my tree this year, look no further than the right of your screen. I shouldn't have to tell you which movie and scene that ornament references. Check out a few of my personal favorites below and the rest over at Hallmark.



[via Topless Robot]

The good news for Peter Billingsley is that we should (hopefully) move past all the Ralphie/Christmas Story references once the guy makes his second film, but since Couples Retreat marks the actor-turned-producer-turned-director's debut behind the camera, he'll have to hang in there a little while longer while folks like myself use the iconic Christmas movie as a segue to his new ensemble comedy set in the unbelievably beautiful Bora Bora.

Moviefone sat down with the director in Bora Bora, where some lucky bloke was sent to interview the stars of the film (and no, it wasn't me or else you would've heard about it continually while I was soaking up the rays with Malin Akerman on one arm and Kristen Bell on the other). That said, Billingsley did talk a bit about the film, about how hard it is to actually shoot in a place as remote as Bora Bora and what it was like to star opposite Jason Bateman on an episode of Little House on the Prairie (a career highlight for Billingsley, or so he says).

You can watch the interview after the jump, and all of Moviefone's interviews with the entire cast right over here. Couples Retreat hits theaters this weekend.

With all the different holidays in December, I'm sure a good majority of you received at least one gift at some point in the last week or so. And seeing as most of the folks who read this blog are serious movie nerds, we're guessing your gift(s) were related to movies in some way, shape or form. Perhaps you took our advice and purchased something from our should-be-award-winning Holiday Movie Junk series (which, due to its popularity, will continue into the new year under the title Movie Junk), or maybe you did your own research and smoked out a tasty little movie-related treat so random and so absurd that you're just dying to share it with someone else.

Me? I didn't get much. The only movie-related thing I really asked for was A Christmas Story on Blu-ray, which I received, but haven't watched yet. Like most of you, we kept our spending to a minimum this year. But I'm curious to hear what cool movie-related gear you all received. Let us know in the comments section below -- and try to tell us where it's from if it isn't obvious.

(This month we're bringing back some of our favorite holiday-related posts, as well as sharing some new ones. Happy Holidays!)

By: Erik Davis (reprinted from December 24th, 2006)

There's only one rule in my house come Christmas Day: I don't care who's coming over, how many gifts there are to open, what kind of food is being prepared or whether there's indeed any snow to shovel. Nope. I could care less. And look, there are tons of wonderful Christmas-related flicks that exist today -- some more memorable than others -- that people enjoy and attempt to watch as the magical holiday draws near.

Me? I don't watch Miracle on 34th Street or It's a Wonderful Life. Nope, on Christmas there's only one film that's allowed on my television -- a film that must remain on my boob tube for 24 hours straight ... or else someone gets punched: A Christmas Story. This is my film. I own it for one day. Sure, my family might think I'm a bit nuts ... at first, but by the eighth or ninth time it's on, there's a crowd. People are laughing, spitting out quotes and remembering past Christmas events -- loved ones who have passed on and memories that are only sparked because of this film. Because of this odd rule I force everyone around me to follow. And so it goes. Here are 24 reasons to watch all 24 hours of A Christmas Story on Christmas Day ...

The movie A Christmas Story turns 25 this year. I remember seeing it in a theater when it opened in 1983 -- I was a fan of Jean Shepherd's essays -- and now it's considered a holiday classic. I know people who have been watching it every year since they were old enough to remember Christmas. It's right up there in popularity with Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life, and has surpassed White Christmas and Holiday Inn, with the younger set at least. You now can buy a replica of the leg lamp from the film, either as an actual lamp or as a Christmas tree ornament, and there are few people who see the leg lamp and don't get the reference. Peter Billingsley, who played Ralphie, is now a movie producer who appears in amusing cameos in his films, like Four Christmases and Iron Man. (He's especially funny during a "guest appearance" in Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show.)

When I spent Christmas at my parents' house in recent years, we never watched A Christmas Story completely from start to finish -- we saw bits and pieces as it aired on TV, just as we used to do with It's a Wonderful Life when it was in the public domain and every station possible aired it all through December. Both are excellent background movies to wrap presents by. I wonder how other people watch A Christmas Story ... and I'd like to offer the following seven suggestions if you're thinking about the best way to enjoy this perennial holiday favorite this year. In the comments, let us know your favorite traditions for watching the film.

"You'll shoot your eye out!"

When I was writing about that list of 12 (not 10) things you might not know about A Christmas Story, I did a bit of surfing around the Christmas Story Official House website where I found all sorts of goodies related to the film. Not only did I learn about an auction where you could bid on and win a chance to sleep in the Christmas Story house on Christmas Eve (winning bid was somewhere around five grand), but they also have a shop with stuff to purchase. Like, um, an actual Red Ryder BB gun. Sweet!

To celebrate the film's 25th Anniversary, they're selling this limited edition A Christmas Dream BB gun. From the site: "For the 25th Anniversary of "A Christmas Story" that very same design "A Christmas Dream" can be yours. Packaged in a retro Red Ryder box with a custom sticker and certificate of authenticity, all of the graphics are engraved. A compass, marked with a brushed silver-tone metal rim, is recessed next to the engraved sundial. A silver band around the stock commemorates the Silver Anniversary of "A Christmas Story." On the right side of the stock, the Red Ryder logo includes the Fred Harman signature and the forearm is marked with the edition number, from 1 to 1500."

Some states do not allow the sale of BB guns or air guns, so you'll have to stop by the site to see whether you're legally allowed to purchase one. If not, there's tons of other merch -- like the famous leg lamp, a decoder ring and more. Check out the entire collection over here.

I'm sure it's a tradition in your family to watch A Christmas Story at least once during the holiday season. As the film has grown in popularity over the years, folks have gone out of their way to cherish it -- like that dude who bought the original house in Cleveland and turned it into a museum. There was an actual Christmas Story fan convention this year, too, and I'm sure more than a few kids will try to stick their tongues to something cold this winter ... just to see if it really sticks. (Warning: Yes, kids, it will really stick.)

Over at Mental Floss, they put together a list of 10 things you might not know about A Christmas Story. And as someone who thought he knew everything there was to know about this flick, I was pleasantly surprised to find some very cool tidbits in there. Like, for example, I did not know Jack Nicholson was originally up to play the part of the father. Yup. And, while I knew about one cruddy sequel, there were actually two! And one starred Jerry O'Connell as Ralphie! What about this: Did you know The Wonder Years was inspired by A Christmas Story? Not only that, but in one of the episodes, Peter Billingsley (Ralphie) plays one of Kevin Arnold's roommates. Very cool.

Check out the entire list over here. What's your favorite part of A Christmas Story? (Ahem, I like the Tin Man ...)

Clockwise from top left: Get Smart, Transsiberian, Kung Fu Panda, Budd Boetticher Box Set, Planet of the Apes 40th Anniversary Collection.

Welcome to this week's edition of Spin-ematical, chock full of alternatives to election coverage!

Kung Fu Panda
Though some of the celebrity voices were useless, Jack Black is great, and the film itself is pleasant, good-natured, and respectful of Asian culture. Available in at least seven editions, including widescreen, full-screen, Spanish, a Christmas gift set, with and without Secrets of the Furious Five (a 20-minute short), and on Blu-ray; oddly, this doesn't release until Sunday. Buy it.

Transsiberian
Traveling by train in the dead of winter from Beijing to Moscow should be much more restful than what happens to Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer in this adventure / suspense / thriller; Ben Kingsley plays a menacing Russian detective. I'm recommending this one sight unseen because Brad Anderson (Session 9, The Machinist) directed. Includes a 34-minute "making of"; also available on Blu-ray. Replays are inevitable. Buy it.

Get Smart
The bumbling Maxwell Smart as a generic action hero? (*sigh*) Steve Carell makes the character his own by repeating the old catchphrases without enthusiasm and proving to be far too adept for his own -- or the movie's -- good. Anne Hathaway is a very sexy spy, but Dwayne Johnson is miscast and even Alan Arkin struggles. The TV series never took itself too seriously; if only the movie had done the same. Available in widescreen and full-screen editions, as well as a two-disk version and on Blu-ray; a plethora of bonus scenes are included, notably a 5-minute "vomit reel." Ugh. Skip it.

After the jump ... Indies on DVD, more Blu-ray debuts, and Collector's Corner.

...and by SEs I mean big, fat, loaded mega-special editions of the studio's most popular stuff. And when WB delivers a Special Edition, they generally don't mess around. (Unlike some home video distributors *koff Universal* who throw the SE term around willy-nilly.) Just a quick scan through my mega-awesome DVD collection reveals WB SEs like Goodfellas, Dirty Harry, Amadeus, The Shawshank Redemption, Blade Runner, Superman, and a whole bunch more. If there's a catalog title you love, you should pray it gets the WB 2-disc SE treatment.

And a bunch more are on the way! According to Video Business, WB plans to double its SE output moving forward, and while we don't have any specs just yet, we do know that the following titles will be available (in fancy form) later this year: 300 (yes already, even though I thought the first 2-discer was pretty damn excellent), Casablanca (also again, but if any film deserves it...), A Christmas Story (cool!), JFK (a movie I need to see again), and I Am Legend. Come to think of it, all five of these movies already have Special Edition releases! These new discs better be pretty dang impressive.

Also on the way: The Peanuts Complete Holiday Collection. Which I definitely will own.

In Drillbit Taylor (which opens tomorrow), three kids hire a low-budget bodyguard (Owen Wilson) to help protect them from the school's bully. This got us thinking: What are some of the great on-screen bullies? Those kids you just love to root against because they're written extremely well, offer up top-notch performances and/or remind you of someone from your past. A bully is different from your average movie villain -- they don't tend to carry lethal weapons, or run with a group of deadly terrorists. These are just regular kids with a little too much power thrown their way. Your run-of-the-mill Hollywood bully usually hangs with a group of about two of three of the same sex; guys or girls who don't have many lines, and serve only to make the main bully appear tougher.

Ideally, a great movie bully should have one or more of the following: 1) At least three classic lines. 2) A memorable downfall. 3) Hottie girlfriend or boyfriend. 4.) A name that just says it all.

We put our heads together and came up with seven of the greatest bullies on film. Check them out after the jump ...