Tis the Season*

Just another Yuletide lineup!!!!!!!!! Hohoho!!!

Before getting to this evening’s Yuletide line-up, I did want to mention that I watched what I thought was a nice, little Pixar movie from 2008 with voicework from John Travolta as a little white dog named Bolt, manipulated by Hollywood into thinking he’s some super pooch always in need of protecting his master, a girl named Penny (voice by Miley Cyrus), always pursued by a villainous mastermind (voiced by Malcolm McDowell), with hi-tech weaponry, numerous armed men, and speedy, maneuverable vehicles out to discover Penny’s father’s scientific secrets. Bolt finds himself across the country with a cat (voiced Susie Essman) and hamster in a protective ball (voiced by Mark Walton) needing to return to his owner. Meanwhile, Penny’s money-conscious, unflappable agent (voiced by Greg Germann) plans to replace Bolt with a similar-looking dog because the “show must go on”. Penny misses her dog and Bolt is gradually made to realize by his traveling companion cat, Mittens (Essman), that he doesn’t have superpowers (such as a supersonic bark, the ability to hangtime in the air, or stop moving motorvehicles with his head), while his giddy, fanboy hamster, Rhino, is a source of encouragement and motivation. I really enjoyed how the opening takes us into a comic book superhero movie where the dog is the star protecting his master as the enemy attempts to kidnap the scientist’s daughter so they can get him to give away his secrets. Then this film-within-the-film is revealed and Bolt is recognized as a duped doggie with no understanding that in order to get authenticity in his “performance” he had to be tricked into believing Penny was always in danger by the director. Penny’s agent is always focused on getting the pictures made so he can keep his job and clients working. Ultimately making sure Bolt is in the dark regarding Penny (keeping them apart when the camera isn’t rolling) is the main goal of all behind the superhero movies featuring them. The remainder of the film is “animal road adventure” with a particularly exciting involvement of a train as Mittens, for a while anyway, attempts to get away from Bolt, persistent in returning to Penny. The trio of animals (their talking to humans is animal sounds like barking, meowing, and chirping) make for a cute, delightful gang. There are others like pigeons that talk with Bolt as he accidentally finds himself further and further away from the set. Great animation, fun voicework, good pacing, clever premise, and nifty use of Hollywood behind-the-scenes make for a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. Bolt’s discovering the limitations of being just a regular dog is also quite well done…like when the bolt mark fades and Mittens’ going off about being abandoned, trying to talk sense into him about accepting freedom and not returning to the way his life was before. ***½

Night of the Meek is a second season Twilight Zone episode that gives Art Carney the ideal character to work his magic as his boozing department store Santa is emboldened by forces he doesn’t quite understand (but his happy to attain just the same) to give to the poor, both young and old alike. Seeing a tragic drunkard Carney slurring his speech and stumbling about after several shots in a bar, confronted by small-statured John Fiedler (voice of Piglet on Winnie the Pooh) in the toy store (where an incredible train set is built and operational) is really tough, but as we know all too well, the Twilight Zone has a way of offering those down on their luck the chance to better their lot in life. For Carney’s Henry Corwin, he’s granted a “magic bag” that gives just the right kind of presents to those in his presence, whether it is a pipe and smoking jacket for Burt Mustin, different toys for the neighboring kids often going without, a bottle of wine for Fiedler, a cane, sweater, and canned goods to those in need. Carney’s monologue, heart-felt and heartbreaking, in the store after Fiedler fires him, is a standout scene as is his “visit” to a police station when the bag’s offerings are considered suspect by a mission’s church lady and police officer. The bag yielding old cans when it appears Carney might be in trouble, only to once again give what is desired when asked is hilarious and wondrous in equal measure. Carney granted his gift to be Santa every year as an elf, sled, and reindeer awaits is what TZ does best. Although the videotape liability placed on the show to save money is a burden, the performance of Carney and whimsy of his story on Christmas Eve more than compensate. ****

Max Fleischer produced and directed Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1948, his final cartoon, and while perhaps considered a weathered relic of an era of animation many consider “perfected” more and more in our digital age, I find my heart very receptive of this. This can be found on YouTube, but I have it as a special feature on a VCI DVD release of the 1951 Alistair Sim, Christmas Carol (which had both color and B&W versions). Back in 2010, I watched this with my late uncle during his final full year on this earth. ***

I wrote these user comments on it:

This one is a bit different than what you are accustomed to seeing in that the village of the cartoon is occupied by reindeer instead of people(well, except for Santa). Rudolph, who of course is self conscious of his bright and shining nose, becomes Santa's most prize reindeer in that he provides the light which allows old Saint Nick to see. There's even an unusual coliseum celebration in Rudolph's honor. The reason to see this is because it contains the old Max Fleischer touch and is a look back to the way animation used to be, simple and rough around the edges but endearing and in rich color. It was kind of unusual seeing Santa delivering presents to reindeer, but even that gives this particular cartoon(only a mere 8 minutes)a charm.

It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown (1992) is perfect Christmas fun for me because I grew up with the comic strip in the local newspaper. Schulz and Melendez essentially give us a series of vignettes tied to the season, and pretty much all of time amused me. Charlie trying (and failing) to sell wreaths door to door, with even lying sister, Sally, unable to do so. Charlie wanting badly to buy a pair of gloves for his crush, and after selling his comic books and buying them, she reveals to him she bought her a pair! Sally, Marcie, and Peppermint Patty are in the Christmas play, as an angel, Virgin Mary, and a sheep respectively. Patty hates that she didn’t get the Mary part, lamenting her minor role as a “Baaing” sheep, ruining her friend’s performance through annoying interruption, while Sally cries out, “Hockey stick!” instead of “Hark!”—thanks to brother, Chuck carrying around a hockey stick while she was practicing. Snoopy is portraying Santa on a street corner and as Lucy always does, she criticizes the pooch. Snoopy just honks his horn at her as the Woodstock siblings pass by (and later performing an orchestral score under the top hat of a snowman). Lucy balking at Linus for crashing on the beanbag in front of the television, Sally going on and on about the agony of buying gifts (earlier obsessed with getting gifts while Chuck tries to talk “giving instead of getting” into her skull but it has no effect) while Linus tries to read from the Word to her with little of the message heard, and Peppermint Patty never paying much attention to Marcie are additional vignettes featured. I think if you like Peanuts, the comic strips in the funnies, and Christmas specials in general, this should be a treat. I found it quite rewarding, but I’m a Peanuts mark so take it for what it's worth. ****

The Rankin/Bass presentation, Twas The Night Before Christmas (1974), uses the children’s poem as inspiration for a simple story about Santa’s disenchantment with a village after a nerdy mouse sends him a letter calling him a fake and fraud (!), leaving the locals disillusioned and brokenhearted, especially the kids who truly believe in him. The nerdy mouse’s father (voiced by George Gobel who co-narrates) has to set his know-it-all son straight about the detrimental reaction to his letter, encouraging him to understand the ramifications and possibly rectify his actions by helping to fix a clocktower built to sing to Santa by clockmaker, Joshua Trundle (Joel Grey; Cabaret (1972)). Three songs in the span of 24 minutes and alternating reaction between the Trundle family and the mice family that lives in Joshua’s home with the recognizable voice of John McGiver (the business owner father in Period of Adjustment (1968)) as the mayor is the result of this animated special once shown on network television. Like The Stingiest Man in Town, Twas The Night Before Christmas is featured in the Classic Christmas Favorites set you can easily find accessibly available at different stores. It is a prize Christmas collection of different Rankin/Bass presentations, many of which you might find during the holiday season. Fans who grew up with this will probably treasure this more than perhaps those spoiled by Pixar, but I think there is much to enjoy, and each special isn’t all that long either. ***

Last year it seems Monte Hellman’s Silent Night, Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out (1989) went down a lot better than this year. I dusted off a VHS copy I purchased cheap on Amazon around 2010 which I thought was lost only to discover it under the bed. This year was the first time I watched it without the VHS blemishes, tracking ripples, and audio fading (sometimes going out and coming back). Funnily enough, StarzEncore’s Suspense channel showed it during the summer, along with the fourth and fifth films in the SNDN series. I recorded the three films on a blank DVD for this very month. However, I had went ahead and watched the fifth film one night, so I’m not sure if I will give it a second viewing this year or not. Hellman is rather proud of Better Watch Out considering the short time frame and difficult screenplay processes that put the film together rather quickly. I have read from many who consider the score quite generic and lacking, but I felt tonight it was one of the bright spots in a rather difficult experience. I just found it to be such a slog compared to last year. I reviewed this third film for the blog last year. Review here   For better or worse, Culp really helped me enjoy a bit of it. He just doesn't take the film seriously at all, talking about a car phone's capabilities, until he slips into "cop mode" on occasion when need-be. But it once again felt eternally long. And the protagonist is just off-putting, irksome to me more this go-around than in years-past. And just the preposterous idea that Ricky could get to Grandma’s before Laura, Chris, and Jerri left me rolling my eyes. I get that he needed to so that Ricky is waiting on them, as slashers often have that formula about them. Still, Ricky with the open skull dome helmet and slow zombie pace shouldn’t be any match for healthy, strong Chris. And how could Dr. Newbury be so stupid as to walk up to Ricky while he’s standing over a fallen body with a scalpel in his hand?!?! I found the novelty of the psychic blind Laura (this popped in my head tonight: psychic pursued by psychotic…), with a unique power (her “mind connection” with Ricky “awakens” him from a coma) tonight rather malnourished…it feels as if one slasher movie within a SNDN series is not quite the fit for such a concept seemingly worthy of a more complex franchise and genre. The pacing for this film is such a liability…it needed to really have something special to hold our attention, functioning in such a glacial manner. If you read the countless user comments on the IMDb, it is quite a similar thread of discontent. **