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| Casper's
Haunted Christmas (2000) |
Since the film debut of "Casper the Friendly Ghost"
in 1945, the Casper franchise, which has been trying to put a happy spin on the
paranormal, has received a mixed bag of reviews. There's no doubt the wide-eyed little
ghost is endearing, but his heyday may have ended with his series in Harvey Comics. In
this direct-to-video animated movie, the haunted world of spooks meets the happy spirit of
Christmas--a faulty premise to begin with. The plot gets even more absurd when Kibosh,
supreme ruler of all ghosts, declares that Casper's "scare quota" is way down.
To avoid serious repercussions, Casper must scare at least one person before Christmas
Day, or he will be banished to the dark side. Talk about a merry holiday tale! To force
the fear factor, Kibosh catapults Casper and the Ghostly Trio to Chrismassachusetts, where
they must find an unsuspecting victim to scare. Kindhearted Casper doesn't have the nerve
to scare anyone, so the Ghostly Trio secretly hires Casper's look-alike cousin, Spooky, to
do the job. There are some redeeming moments of humor, such as when Spooky mistakenly
calls himself "Casper, the Frenzied Ghost," and country singer Randy Travis does
his best to add his musical charms to the score, but overall, Scrooge would be more
welcome under the mistletoe than these bunch of ghouls are. Teens may discover a few
laughs (if the video can keep their attention), but mildly scary scenes, thematic
elements, and irreverent
language suggest parental guidance for the younger set. (Ages 5 and older.) |
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Amazon.com |
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| Charlie
Brown Christmas |
| Cute, funny, traditional. Brings back memories and
creates new ones! This half-hour Christmas show is one of the truly lovable animated
specials in TV history, a status proved by its annual network telecast since 1965. A
Charlie Brown Christmas was the first, and best, of a series of programs based on the
Charles M. Schulz cartoon strip "Peanuts." Hapless hero Charlie Brown finds
himself depressed at Christmastime, searching for the true meaning of the holiday amidst
the glitz and commercialism of the modern age. Appointed director of the school holiday
pageant, Charlie Brown ventures out with Linus to buy "a great, big, shiny aluminum
Christmas tree." Instead they bring back a miserable tree--a real one. A Charlie
Brown Christmas shows off the "Peanuts" gang doing what they do best: Lucy is
bossy, Snoopy is crazy, Linus is sweet, and Pig Pen is, well, filthy. Instead of using
adult actors trying to sound like kids, the production features real children providing
the voices, an endearing effect. The jazz music score, composed by Vince Guaraldi, has
become a classic in its own right; like so much about this program, it's an unexpected but
perfectly right choice. |
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| Christmas
Box |
| This is a wonderful and beautiful movie about a young family
who moves into the large house of a widow who needs help taking care of her home. Maureen
O'Hara plays the widow who is a no-nonsense woman. Richard Thomas plays a young father who
owns a sporting shop. He moves himself and his family into the widow's home and when he is
asleep at night he has dreams of a little girl angel calling to him. He wakes up all in a
sweat and feels like this house is haunted. He hears music coming from the attic and finds
an old music box with a Christmas scene on the outside of it. It is the same music he
heard in his dream. Inside this lovely old Christmas Box he finds a lot of love letters.
It is not until near the end of the movie that he finds out that the love letters are from
the widow to her little girl who died when she was five or six years old. This was a
very good movie and it brought tears to my eyes. There is a sequel to this movie called The
Timepiece, which takes us back in time to when the widow was married and had the
little girl. These two movies are based on books and are great viewing. I would totally
recommend the Christmas Box to everyone. |
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The Christmas Box From Amazon.com |
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| A
Christmas Carol 1951 |
| Dickens' Christmas classic first came to the screen in
1951. An unforgettable performance by Alistair Sim as Scrooge is the highlight of
this tale of a Victorian workaholic who learns, in an extraordinary way, the real meaning
of the spirit of Christmas. The portrayal of characters was brilliant from Alastair
Sims, Kathleen Harrison, Clifford Mollison, all the way to Meryn Douglas. An
enduring favorite for the whole family. |
Order A
Christmas Carol From Amazon.com |
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| A
Christmas Carol 1951 |
| George C. Scott adds just the right amount of laughter
to this story. You can see as the movie progresses that Ebenezer really has a heart,
especially the scene where he and the ghost of Christmas present are at the Crachetts'
home. |
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A Christmas Carol From Amazon.com |
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| A Flintstones Christmas Carol |
| Baste the turkeysaurus and head over to Bloomingshale's for
some last-minute shopping; it's Christmastime in Bedrock. Fred and the gang have more than
the usual festive preparations up their prehistoric sleeves, however, as they are staging
a production of "The Christmas Carol" with Fred in the role of Scrooge. Things
take a frightening turn when--in the classic tradition of method acting--Fred takes his
role to heart and becomes a bit humbuggish himself. So preoccupied with his role is he,
that he forgets to pick up Pebbles from day care, leaves Christmas shopping off his list
of things to do, and belittles the parts played by his friends (such as Barney as Bob
Cratchit). When the Bedrock bug (a flu virus) begins to fell cast members, it provides the
ideal opportunity for costume maker and stage manager Wilma to take on understudy duties
and scare some sense into her self-absorbed husband. And just in time for Christmas Eve.
God bless them, every one. (Ages 2 and older.) |
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A Flintstone's Christmas Carol From Amazon.com |
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| The
Muppet Christmas Carol |
| Brian Henson directs his late father's creations in the
Charles Dickens classic, the best known (and most oft-filmed) Christmas story of all time.
Michael Caine plays the old miser Scrooge with Kermit as his long-suffering but
ever-hopeful employee Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy as Cratchit's wife, and a host of Muppets
(including the Great Gonzo as an unlikely Charles Dickens) taking other primary roles in
this bright, playful adaptation of the somber tale. Or at least it starts brightly
enough--the anarchic humor soon settles into mirthful memories and a sense of melancholy
as the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future take Scrooge on a journey of his
lonely, wasted life. Michael Caine makes a wonderful Scrooge, delightfully rediscovering
the meaning of life as fantastic creations from Henson's Creature Shop (developed
specially for this film) take the reins as the three ghosts. While the odd mix of offbeat
humor and somber drama undercuts the power of Dickens's drama, this kid-friendly retelling
makes an excellent family drama that adults and children alike can enjoy. |
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Buy
The Muppets Christmas Carol From Amazon.com |
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| An
All Dogs Christmas Carol |
| Another straight-to-video sequel of a so-so animated film. The
original 1989 All Dogs Go to Heaven was hardly inspired but contained expert Don Bluth
animation and the amusing voices of Burt Reynolds and his gang. Now Steven Weber voices
the animated mutt Charlie who is still palling around with the same gang through three
movies and an animated series. Here the arch villain, Carface (Ernest Borgnine), gets the
traditional Dickens treatment of being visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve. The
opening number, "When I Hear a Christmas Carol," is a good start, but soon
TV-ish animation and the low humor wears one down. Kids who like the earlier Dog efforts
won't be disappointed, but the entire series can never be defined as great entertainment.
The saving grace is the foolproof Christmas Carol visitations. |
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| Christmas
Comes To Willow Creek |
| Filled with comedy and drama as two feuding brothers make a
trip from California to Alaska to deliver a truckload of toys and fruit. A must see
for fans of The Dukes Of Hazzard as it stars John Schnieder and Tom Wopat. |
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Christmas Comes To Willow Creek From Amazon.com |
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| Christmas
in Connecticut |
| This breezy 1945 film stars Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan,
and Sydney Greenstreet. Stanwyck plays a writer for a women's magazine whose
enormous popularity is based on a lie. Stanwyck is not married, as her readers
believe; she does not live in the country and can barely boil an egg. As a publicity
stunt, Stanwyck's publisher (Greenstreet) invites war hero Morgan for a weekend stay on
"her" farm and Stanwyck must try and be the woman her readers think she
is. No surprise, love soon follows, in spite of the fact that Morgan believes
Stanwyck is married--unusual in a 40's film. Predictable but fun. |
Buy
Christmas in Connecticut From Amazon.com |
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| A
Christmas Story |
| A wonderful 1983 adaptation of Jean Shepherd's classic short
story about a young boy's desperate longing for a Red Ryder BB gun. In addition to
fine performances, what's most special about this charming film is its evocative glimpse
of Christmas circa 1940. Peter Billingsley is wonderful as the boy; Melinda Dillon
and Darren McGavin are delightful as his rather odd-ball mom and dad. Will be loved
by young and old alike. |
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Buy
A Christmas Story From Amazon.com |
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| Christmas
Time for Teddy Bears |
| This is a great one for kids. |
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Christmas Time for Teddy Bears From Amazon.com |
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| The
Christmas Toy |
| Just like Toy Story, this movie takes place in about 1990 and
is about a room full of toys that come to life after the children leave the room.
This movie has real people in it, unlike Toy Story, and is more realistic. Kermit
the Frog as Santa Claus narrates this delightful holiday tale. Rugby the Tiger is Jaime's
favorite Christmas toy from last year. Rugby is convinced that he will be wrapped up and
placed under the tree again this year. When it's Christmas Eve and all the other toys try
to explain to him that that is not going to happen, Rugby decides to take matters into his
own paws and place himself under the tree. He makes the dangerous trip from the playroom
to the living room trying not to be seen, for if a toy's secret of being able to move when
humans aren't around is discovered, it becomes frozen forever. Now all his friends from
the toy room must get him back before it's too late. This sweet story about friendship and
loyalty is delightful. The songs, including "Try the Impossible" and "Old
Friends," are darling. This 50-minute video is great family viewing and an excellent
addition to your Christmas collection. (Ages 3 and older) |
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Buy
The Christmas Toy From Amazon.com |
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| Come
to the Stable |
| This is an older movie in black & white with Loretta
Young. It's a beautiful endearing story. |
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Buy
Come To The Stable From Amazon.com |
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