scrooge Tagged Articles at Cinematical
'American Carol' Gets a Little Country
Filed under: Comedy », Music & Musicals », Casting »
With this latest bit of information, I can't say that my hopes are any higher for the indie satire, An American Carol, which seems to now be called, simply, American Carol. In February, I posted about the film that's coming our way from David Zucker and Myrna Sokoloff. I noted that Zucker has classics like Airplane! under his belt, as well as stinkers like some Scary Movie sequels.Kelsey Grammer is starring as a different sort of Scrooge -- one entrenched in current American culture. Now The Hollywood Reporter posts that country star Trace Adkins has signed on to get ghostly in the project, which is also boasting cameos by Jon Voight, Leslie Nielsen, and Dennis Hopper. It's not Trace's involvement that has me unimpressed. It's this description: "The singer will play the Spirit of Christmas Future (aka the Grim Reaper), who uses his musical abilities to help Scrooge avoid a tragic end."
Cinematical Seven: Christmas Movies that Demand 'R' Rated Remakes
Filed under: Classics », Comedy », Drama », Fandom », Home Entertainment », Cinematical Seven », Lists », 12 Days of Cinematicalmas »
Wonderful as the classic family Christmas movies can be, the overwhelming sugary sweetness in most of them can be a little off-putting to adult audiences. I know my friends tend to gravitate more towards the R-rated holiday fare -- Die Hard, Bad Santa, The Ref, etc. Lord knows Hollywood doesn't want to be bothered coming up with original ideas, so I'm proposing seven remakes of Christmas family classics -- souped up for 2008 and aimed at the 17+ crowd. I've set up the plots and even suggested a possible director for each. Enjoy...
Michael Moore's A Christmas Carol
In Michael Moore's return to narrative filmmaking, George W. Bush plays with his shiny new train set, sets out cookies for Santa Claus, and falls asleep in his footie pajamas while watching Power Rangers. He is awoken in the middle of the night by The Ghost of Christmas Past, who takes Georgie through his days of frat parties, draft dodging, drunk driving, and cocaine abuse. Even faced with hard evidence, Bush denies any involvement. The Ghost of Christmas Present takes Bush deep into a post-Katrina New Orleans, where Bush cracks jokes and enjoys some caramel corn. Stunned by Bush's lack of feeling, the ghost takes him to Iraq, where he sees what Christmas is like for U.S. soldiers. Bush yawns. He is sleepy. The Ghost of Christmas Future shows Bush a world ravaged by the effects of global warming and America hated by countries all across the globe. "Not real concerned about my legacy, Future Dude" chuckles Bush, and he falls asleep safe in his bed. Bush wakes up twelve hours later, having learned absolutely nothing. As the movie ends, he runs over a homosexual couple with his truck and kicks a sick orphan in the face.
Retro Review: A Christmas Carol (1951)
Filed under: DVD Reviews », Home Entertainment », 12 Days of Cinematicalmas », Retro Cinema »
Many, many actors have played Ebenezer Scrooge. Not even counting all the various stage productions featuring the likes of Patrick Stewart, the movies and TV alone have brought us dozens, including George C. Scott, Bill Murray, Michael Caine, Albert Finney, Kelsey Grammer, Jack Palance, Jim Backus and Scrooge McDuck. It says a lot, then, that Alastair Sim is widely considered the best Scrooge of them all. And the film that he starred in, Brian Desmond Hurst's Scrooge -- released in 1951 in the U.S. as A Christmas Carol -- is likewise the definitive film adaptation.
Sim is known for this role above all; his only other two roles of note came in Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright (1950) and Peter Medak's The Ruling Class (1972). For one thing, Sim looks like Scrooge as Dickens might have imagined him; he has a kind of sour, pointy mouth and sunken, dagger-like eyes. His body is stovepipe lanky, and his wiry, white hair flies off in frightening angles. For another, he seems to understand Scrooge at some core level. Rather than a being of pure evil, this Scrooge comes from a place of sadness, loss, anger and regret. In one great scene, Scrooge has left the office on Christmas Eve and stops at a tavern for his meal. He orders more bread, but when he finds out that it will cost extra, he decides against it. His expression after the waiter leaves is nearly broken, crushed, as if that bread might have brought him his final bid at happiness.
Another Christmas Carol
Filed under: Drama », Deals », Universal », Newsstand », Remakes and Sequels »
I think there needs to be a commandment in Hollywood that goes something like this: "Thou shalt not remake a movie if there has already been a Muppet version of the story thou want to tell." If that rule had been etched on a tablet long ago, it would have kept Universal from deciding that the world needs another version of A Christmas Carol, which was quite ably done by Kermit and friends almost 15 years ago. But it wasn't, and they did. Universal's version, however will give the story an Exciting Twist!: It will be told through the eyes of Scrooge (ooh, edgy!), so we'll finally get to see what a pain in the ass that Bob Cratchit really is.The one plus in this whole thing is that the film is going to be directed by Lasse Hallström, who at least knows what he's doing. It remains to be seen, of course, whether the screenplay (by Todd Komarnicki, primarily a producer) will give him anything to work with.
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Shelf Life: Fight Club_thumbnail.jpg)
Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
_thumbnail.jpg)
