Reading through post's of "Christmas Vacation" were fantastic. The only Christmas Movie I have seen more than that one is of course "A Christmas Story." I have always loved this movie and it has absolutely stood the test of time. Post your favorite scenes, also post anything that may have happened to the cast. (I think the Dad is dead) and I don't know if it's a rumor or not but Flick did porn? My favorite line is when the "major award" is delivered. Fra-gi-le why it must be italian!!! There was also a kid in my neighborhood with red hair and freckles that we called "Scut" he still has that nickname today.
My favourite part is when Santa tells him, "you'll shoot your eye out, kid", and then sticks his boot in his face and pushes him down the slide. The blank look on his face as he's laying, almost catatonic at the bottom, is priceless.
When the dad got the leg lamp and was placing it in the front window so the whole block could see his "Major award". When Ralphie had to suck on the bar of soap for cursing. Pink bunny pajamas Here is the website where you can buy the Red Rider Leg Lamp and other cool movie stuff: http://www.redriderleglamps.com/
By far my favorite Christmas movie. My step mom and little brother went to a big event at the house/museum in Cleveland where it was filmed. They got to meet most of the cast. This was a couple years ago. I'm going to go visit the house, which is on the near west side of Cleveland, when I'm up there next week. http://www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/ "Oooooohhhhhhhh Fuuuuuuuuuuddddddggggggeeeeee." Only I didn't say fudge. I said the word, the big one, the queen mother of dirty words, the F dash dash dash." "Fra-gee-lay. That must be Italian." "Only one thing in the world could've dragged me away from the soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window." Classic
The closing scene at the restaurant. It's brilliantly done, like there's no real ending to the movie at all. Of course, the sequel Summer Story fucking sucks.
I like when he finally snaps on the bully and beats him to a pulp while swearing like a sailor. On a side not there was a sequel that I think stands on its own as a good movie, It Runs In the Family.
My parents have a Christmas Ornament of the leg lamp. They plug it into the light strand, and it glows on the tree. Awesome. Personally, I laugh every time the Bumpus hounds show up. The music cues, the voice over, all perfect. I also crack up when the chinese restaurant guy chops the head off the duck at the end of the movie, and the mom freaks a bit. Personally, though, my favorite scene is when his mom has to call Schwartz's mom, and tell her that Ralphie heard the swear word from Schwartz. Then all you hear is screaming and the mom beating the shit out of the kid, who is just yelling in confusion. For some reason, that scene ALWAYS makes me laugh. The kid who played Ralphie apparently directed "Couples Retreat," which just came out recently, but I don't know about anyone else in the cast. Finally, I grew up about 10 miles south of where the movie takes place, so it always hits a little closer to home for me. In fact, my parents grew up WHERE the movie takes place, so they especially love it. It is definitely my favorite Christmas movie, with Christmas Vacation in a second.
I love this movie, everything about it. It's not the actual content in it that I love (though that is good too), it's just the nostalgia it makes me feel. There is fucking nothing that can bring me back to when I was young (growing up about 20 minutes away from the Christmas Story house), sitting around with my family in the weeks leading up to Christmas, playing in the snow, and then Christmas morning. Honestly, that shit can bring a tear to my eye. Before they started playing it for 24 hours in a row on tv Christmas eve, we owned the vhs tape and would do that shit anyways. In fact, when I was young I even looked a hell of a lot like Ralphie, without the glasses. Just thinking about it makes me feel so grateful that I am going home for Christmas this year. I haven't seen the snow or had a good family Christmas for years. favorite line: Ralphie: ....'twas.... Parents: Yes yes tell us, please Ralphie. Ralphie: ...Soap...POISONING! Parents: aaaooooooohhhoohooooo!!!!
"We plunged into the cornucopia quivering with desire and the ecstasy of unbridled avarice." The whole Christmas morning scene is awesome, pretty much what I think Christmas is like in most homes today, the kids going apeshit, the old man barely alive and the wife trying to strike a balance between the two. Someone mentioned nostalgia a couple posts back, and since I missed the fifties about twenty years, I can't be sure, but I have a feeling that's EXACTLY what Christmas would have been like growing up then. I'm a sucker for all things nostalgic and love the movie because of that.
I can't believe not one post about the triple dog dare! Flick sticking his tongue to the pole is one of the most memorable scenes in the movie. "Walphie come back....Walphie don't leave me ...come back!!!" Ok Black Bart now you get yours..........
2 favorite quotes: "The soft glow of electric sex..." "In the heat of battle my father wove a tapestry of obscenities that as far as we know is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan."
Darrin McGavin was perfect as the dad in that movie. My two favorite lines: "Dagummit Blah!" "Not a fingah!"
Does anyone know how long TBS has been running the marathon? I first watched it with my dad about ten years ago. Since then I've always caught at least one of the 12 showings. My favorite aspect of the movie is Ralphie trying to bypass his parents by trying to get the BB gun they won't give him. I used to be able to relate to him before I found out Santa was a fraud. Also, does the marathon start at 8 P.M. everywhere or is that just the east coast?
My favorite line is when Ralphie "shoots his eye out" and steps on his glasses while looking for them: "Oh no. Pulverized."
I only caught the last half of the movie this year, but I found my new favorite scene. During christmas, when Ralphie's mom puts the bowling ball into his dad's lap, you see him wince like he just took a bowling ball to the boys. When he responds "thanks dear" (or whatever he says), it reminds me so much of the scene in Blazing Saddles when Gene Wilder and the Sheriff are smoking a joint and Gene's voice gets extremely high pitched after he tokes.
My brother-in-law, who's Irish, was not big on sitting down to watch this movie. I went to spend Christmas in Baltimore with him and my sister and at one point after opening presents, my sister and I blurted out something about the marathon, and we had to make him sit down to watch it (in his defense, there was (american) football on that day, which he absolutely loves). Within five minutes, he was laughing and wincing and anticipating the lines and the jokes in the movie, loving every second of it right until it ended. And this guy grew up in Dublin, for Christ's sake. Forget nostalgia or Americana or growing up in the midwest (like my sis and I did), this movie is great on so many fronts - the 'it's always better not to get caught' bit with the firepole/tongue scene, beating the crap out of the bully, that weird kid in line to see Santa, the jokes are everywhere. It truly is one of the best films in American cinema, granted usually only by Christmas time, but I really think it's so much more than just a American Christmas/holiday movie.