Rankin/Bass 9: Year Without a Santa Claus

December 22, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Sorry I have gotten a bit behind on my Rankin/Bass month what with that little thing called Star Wars! Luckily they have a lot of non-Christmas specials so I should be fine stretching it into January where hardly any good movies come out.

One thing I’ve learned about these Rankin/Bass specials is they all have a kooky weirdness to them. I don’t know if you notice it as much when you watch one a year like a normal person. At least it is more noticeable watching them in a block like I have been. I’ve been wondering why some of them are weird and work and others miss the mark? I’m not sure but I think the weirdness is better as an embellishment than the whole story. Like in Jack Frost the story was pretty good and so it made it better to have weird touches.

Anyway, The Year Without a Santa Claus is definitely one of their more successful entries and it is also full of strange elements. Released in 1974 it is a stop motion 48 minute special that tells the story of the year Santa decides to stay at home!

Santa, you see, is in need of a break and his doctor tells him to ‘forget delivering presents to those ungrateful kids who don’t believe in you and stay home!’ (amazing how many people in these specials hate Christmas!). Santa listens and Mrs Claus and the elves Jingle and Jangle are horrified (you think he could just take a day off and not the entire year!).

Jingle and Jangle decide to take a young reindeer named Vixen (they both ride the little reindeer like a horse which looks very strange) to find proof for Santa that someone believes in him.

They are stopped in their quest by the Miser Bros’ who rule the clouds- Heat Miser and Snow Miser who hate each other. I liked these character’s designs and behavior.

They end up in a town called Southtown where they try to find anyone who believes in Santa but Vixen becomes sick and nearly dies. Mrs Claus comes and they meet a boy named Ignatius Thistelwhite who doesn’t believe but his father believes.

Then they must go and find Mother Nature in order to convince Heat Miser and Snow Miser to work together so that the town and Ignatius will believe in Santa.

Santa then comes to save Vixen but before that we get a very melancholy version of Blue Christmas sung by a little girl with lots of stop motion tears. Rankin/Bass loves the stop motion tears!

Santa eventually see’s the error of his ways and makes everything right in the end.

I mean come on- you hear that description it’s pretty creative right? It’s wacky and nutty but very creative. In one 48 minute short we have elves, dying reindeer, Santa playing hooky, Mother Nature, Heat and Snow Miser and a girl singing Blue Christmas. That’s great!

There are also some really nice songs with good performers. I like I Could Be Santa Clause, I Believe in Santa Claus, The Snow Miser and Heat Miser Songs, Blue Christmas and Hear Comes Santa Claus. They are all well sung and some of the best writing from Maury Laws and Jules Bass.

At least to me this is just wacky, weird fun:

I also like Year Without a Santa Claus is a little less heavy-handed in its messaging than some of the other Christmas shorts. It is mostly about Santa with a thin message of believing in things and being kind.

The animation is also a little more seamless than some of the other shorts and I really liked the colors in scenes like at Heat Miser’s castle.

Scenes like this are just so nutty and silly:

It’s certainly one of my favorite of the Rankin/Bass specials. Have you seen it? What did you think?

Talking Holiday Films

December 7, 2015December 8, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

My friend Joe and I got together and talked about our favorite holiday films. It’s more of a podcast format but I think you will really enjoy it.

My favorites I mentioned

6. Arthur Christmas (got to do a longer review of that film one of these days)

5. Home Alone- My longer review go here

4. White Christmas-

3 A Christmas Story (need to do a longer review of this as well)

2. Christmas Carol 1951- My longer review go here

1.It’s a Wonderful Life- My longer review go here

I forgot to mention it on the podcast (so many great holiday films!) but I posted a review today on my channel of Nightmare Before Christmas.

Honorable Mentions I talk about on the broadcast

Elf, Miracle on 34th Street, Muppets Christmas Carol, Die Hard and Mickey’s Christmas Carol

Joe has some great choices on his list including Polar Express and Charlie Brown Christmas Special..

Rankin/Bass 3: The First Christmas Snow

December 4, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

The next entry I’m looking at in my Rankin/Bass month is the 22 minute program The First Christmas: The First Christmas Snow. The rather ungainly title refers to a nativity play put on but really the The First Christmas Snow is more the plot of the special.

The First Christmas Snow unfortunately is one of the weaker entries I’ve seen but that’s not to say it doesn’t have some positive elements. It’s just very syrupy and preachy. More along the lines of something you’d watch as a kid in Sunday School to teach a principle than a real piece of cinema.

It tells the tale of a little blind boy named Lucas who is lost in a storm watching over his sheep and some nuns including Sister Theresa take him in and care for him. Theresa is voiced by Angela Lansbury and I could listen to her all day. Basically little Lucas gets to know the nuns and starts to feel at home with his sheep at the monastery.

But mean old Father Thomas (Cyril Ritchard) doesn’t think it is the right place for a little boy and insists he be taken to the orphanage. But Lucas and his friend Louisa pray for a miracle and they get what they ask for and more. Lucas is also trying to thwart off pranksters who lose his sheep and also trying to find the perfect gift for Sister Theresa.

there’s a Christmas pageant where Lucas and Louisa are our angels (did any of you doubt that would be the case?)

The thing that makes this bit watchable and sweet in its own way is the songs. Angela Lansbury sounds completely lovely singing White Christmas, Christmas Snow is Magic and Save a Little Christmas.

The stop motion is fine but not the best I’ve seen from Rankin/Bass and it’s just so syrupy it is hard to recommend- and that’s coming from an adamant apologist for many Christian films.

If you need to have a sub for Sunday School and want to teach about faith and miracles it would be a fine choice but I can still think of better. Honestly any of the veggietales shorts would be better with a similar message.

So this will definitely be near the bottom of my Rankin/Bass rankings if I do one but luckily it is only 22 minutes and I can stand just about anything for that long.

Rankin/Bass 2: Santa Claus is Comin to Town

December 4, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Let’s talk about our first holiday short in Rankin/Bass month (I’ll try to mix up the holiday and non-holiday). We are talking about Santa Claus is Coming to Town. I have to say from the start this is not one I remember watching as a kid. I remember Rudolph but not this one for some reason. I’m not going to say this was my first watch-through but if I have seen it was a long time ago.

With that said, I will say- this movie is weird. It’s just the oddest assortment of strange story, characters, animation, and everything else. I don’t think that is a bad thing per say but it’s just a bit hard to write about. It’s really a very befuddling movie!

Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town aired on ABC in 1970 and it is basically a Santa Claus origin story. Our narrator is SD Kluger (SD for Special Delivery) voiced by Fred Astaire who isn’t given as much to do as you might think.

Basically there is a villain named Burgermeister Meisterburger (a great name!) who hates everything. One morning a baby is dropped on his doorstep and he sends it away to the ‘orphan asylum’ and then the animals rescue the baby from him and the Winter Warlock and then take him to stay with the Kringle Family who make toys. Who knew St. Nick had such grim beginnings!

But luckily the Kringles are sweet and lovely people and Kris grows up and wants to restore the Kringle family as the official toymakers of the King (who knew the king needed such a thing?). So he sets out to make and deliver toys.

Unfortunately Burgermeister has outlawed all toys and basically any other kind of fun. Everything in Sombertown (the name of Burgermeister’s kingdom) is dark and gray and sad. He not only bans toys but declares they are ‘illegal, immoral and unlawful and that anyone who has a toy will be placed in a dungeon!’. These must have been quite the toys!

So that’s sort of the set-up and I won’t give any more away but it involves the magic of the Winter Warlock and Kris Kringle’s attempts to circumvent Burgermeister’s crazy laws. In the course of the story you find out origins for Santa’s name, his relationship and marriage to Mrs Claus, presents under the tree, Christmas trees, going down chimneys, December 24th for presents, flying reindeer etc.

I could see someone really roasting this movie. It’s just so nutty but I enjoyed watching it. It’s only an hour so it didn’t wear out its welcome and did surprise me with the strange choices. The ending is very odd in that Santa doesn’t really save the people from Burgermeister. His family rules for generation until the townsfolk come to their senses. That’s more than a little disturbing if you really think about it…

The voicework by Fred Astaire, Mickey Rooney, Keenan Wynn and Paul Frees is all fine and fun to hear but nothing too special.

The music is a bit of a letdown with nothing that stood out for me. Songs like ‘No More Toymakers to the King’ and ‘First Toymakers to the King’ weren’t anything special and ‘If You Sit on My Lap Today’ made me a little uncomfortable. It’s just odd for Santa to be asking kids to ‘be prepared to pay’ for sitting on his lap.

So overall it is an odd trippy little film but I enjoyed watching it. Have any of you seen Santa Claus is Coming to Town? Have you watched it recently? Let me know what you think. Thanks!

Rankin/Bass Month Introduction

December 2, 2015December 2, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Hey guys! I just wanted to announce my Christmas series I am doing for my blog. Last year I did Scrooge Month where I reviewed 35 different versions of Christmas Carol. I thought long and hard about what to do for this year and decided it would be fun to talk about the Rankin/Bass animated specials and films, many of which are Christmas related.

Most people will be most familiar with Rankin/Bass stop motion TV specials including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and The Little Drummer Boy.

I love stop motion so I look forward to seeing all of these shorts again especially the one’s I haven’t seen or haven’t seen in a while.

Most of these films are from the 70s so it will be interesting to see how they age.

They also have traditional animation like Frosty the Snowman including a film I have already reviewed called The Stingiest Man in Town. I will not be reviewing that again.

Rankin/Bass Productions was founded by Arthur Rankin Jr and Jules Bass in 1960 in Japan. Many of the starting animators like Toru Hara would go on to work on Studio Ghibli with Hayo Miyazaki.

They were able to keep working with many of the same talent over the years including Maury Laws who did almost all of the music and Romeo Muller who wrote most of the screenplays. Paul Frees was also a frequent voice talent for them.

But over the years they also worked with many great stars including Andy Griffith, Burl Ives, Casey Kasem, Fred Astaire, Art Carney, Red Skelton, Walter Matthau, Danny Kaye and more.

Do you have a Rankin/Bass special that you love to watch around Christmas? I would love to hear about it and I look forward to the series. Like last year I will not be giving grades for this series as it is meant to be a joyful experience and not as critical as I might otherwise be. It’s Christmas for goodness sake!

Love the Coopers Review

November 10, 2015November 11, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Today I had the opportunity to go to an early screening for the new Christmas film Love the Coopers. It’s the kind of movie which is difficult to review because I can’t really defend it yet I didn’t hate it either. I am positive critics will savage this film and perhaps it is just my penchant for cheesy Christmas movies on TV from Hallmark or Lifetime that allows me to say I had an okay time watching this movie.

Love the Coopers is a story we’ve seen a million times in everything from National Lampoons Christmas Vacation to the Family Stone. It’s about a big family with parents (John Goodman, Diane Keaton) trying to host the perfect Christmas for their kids or everything will be ruined. Goodman and Keaton have no chemistry and their story arc isn’t believable at all.

Then you have the eccentric cast of characters that all get into hijinks:

You have:

Ed Helms as a down on his luck divorced Dad looking for a job so he can get the presents for his kids.

Alan Arkin as a sweet man and grandpa who has developed a friendship with a young waitress played by Amanda Seyfried (I liked their scenes until the last 20 minutes or so and then it gets weird). I wonder if his character will have some kind of medical episode that will remind everyone what Christmas is all about?…

Olivia Wilde and Jake Lacy have a meet cute at an airport where she gets him to pretend to be her fiance (groan…) because she doesn’t want to hear grief from her parents on her life choices.

June Squibb is the goofy Aunt Fishy and then several kids with stories of their own.

The worst plotline was with Marisa Tomei as the old maid who attempts to shoplift a piece of jewelry for her sister (Diane Keaton) and she ends up doing psychotherapy on the arresting officer in what seemed like the longest drive to whatever precinct they were going too. It annoys me in films when therapy and especially something as complex as this man is evidently going through is whittled down to a few epitaphs and expressions.

So now it seems like I hated the movie. I didn’t. I can’t even explain why I was moderately entertained by all this ridiculousness. Call it escapist entertainment if you will but I suppose we all have our genres that we will accept a lot of nonsense. Cheesy Christmas movies is mine.

I suppose perhaps part of it is that I see the hijinks that happen in my own family and the drama and I think if that was made into a movie it wouldn’t look that different. There’s just something about the holidays that invites that kind of sentimentality and fluffy storytelling. I mean seriously when was the last great emotional holiday film? I wish this was good a family drama as say Dan in Real Life but I bought most of it.

Steve Martin does the voice-over narration for the film, which I actually liked and I thought a lot of the dialogue wasn’t half bad (except for the Tomei section. That was awful). The performers are all trying and it definitely looks nice.

I took one thing from the script that I have been pondering. I’m not sure who said it but someone says “the problem with the holidays is we try to schedule happiness. That might work for kids but not adults”. I think that is so true. I love the holidays. I love decorating the tree, making treats, buying gifts, being with loved ones. However, I do sometimes leave things feeling a little bit let down. It’s like I am anticipating magic when magic can’t be planned. Last year I spent Christmas mostly by myself, which was a little bit sad. I had family at Christmas Eve and went to a friends for brunch but most of the holiday I was alone. It was hard but in a way it was a relief. None of the pressure of being with family and being single at Christmas. It could just be an ordinary day and I could think about all I have to be thankful for. I don’t know if that makes sense but I liked that thought of the holidays trying to ‘schedule happiness’.

So, Love the Coopers isn’t a good movie but I still had an ok time watching it. It’s as simple as that.

Aside from some very bad teenage kissing (intentionally so for ‘jokes’) there really isn’t anything to offend people. I was a little annoyed how they make the conservative army guy such an outsider. Only insane people believe such things! Sigh…but this is basically a Hallmark movie as far as content goes.

I did like the way it used non-Christmas music in the soundtrack in interesting ways.

It’s basically a Hallmark movie in every way except for higher caliber of actors. So if you like that kind of holiday film than give this a go. If it sounds awful I guarantee you will hate it.

Here’s my youtube review.

Overall Grade- C-

Here’s the trailer which will give you an idea if it is your cup of tea.

Bonus Holiday Review: A Christmas Story

December 25, 2014December 25, 2014 | Rachel's Reviews

Being Christmas and all I just had the chance to watch the annual favorite A Christmas Story (it is on 48 hours non-stop Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on TBS).

Well friends, I think it is worthy of such a marathon. In fact, I think it is one of the best portrayals of childhood ever in the movies. That’s right I will be that bold.

Yes it is funny but it has such heart and I relate to little Ralphie very strongly.

One of the great things about it is it is a couple weeks in the life of an ordinary family in the 30s. When you really think about it they pack a ton of story into one movie. The main plot is of course Ralphie’s desire to have a red ryder carbine action 200-shot range model air rifle for Christmas and all the adults in his life telling him ‘you will shoot your eye out’.

But the subplots surrounding the air rifle are many and varied. We have Flick and the ice, Ralphie and his theme, the snow suit, the decoder pin, Ralphie’s Dad and the furnace and dogs, the Chinese restaurant, the pink bunny suit, the major award, Ralphie f-boming to his old man, I could go on.

But my favorite part is a subplot involving Scut Farkus and Grover Dill, the local bully and toadie. Peter Billingsley, who plays Ralphie, is so good in this scene and as someone who was bullied pretty badly it always gets to me.

It’s a terrific child actor performance and really moving when you think about the kind of trauma such a situation really is for a kid. It is no small thing. I love that Grover says ‘I’m telling my Dad’. That’s such good writing.

I also just LOVE his mother in these scenes played by Melinda Dillion. When she smooths things over with Dad and squeezes his arm it is such a touching moment between mother and son.

Like Home Alone Christmas Story is a movie that takes children seriously. Perhaps it is partly the dry wit yet warm narration that endears us to the story, helps us get inside the head of Ralphie but he is never treated like an idiot for being a kid. In fact, he is often the smartest one in the room.

There’s a real innocence to the picture that I love. I mean who can’t relate to betting your friends to do stupid things or that first time your parents catch you saying a naughty word? Most of us can. Most of us had Mothers who bundled us up too much for the winter and fathers who had their eccentric ways. I feel like a modern movie would put in a lot more silliness and be less grounded. We’d get strange pets and falls into swimming pools (and that slapstick can work as we see in Home Alone so it just depends). But Christmas Story has such heart and it at least rings true for the childhood in me.

It’s so well written too. The narration is done by Jean Shepherd who wrote the book the movie was based on and I have to tell you I’ve read the book and not near as funny or endearing as the movie. But his commentary is very well written and exactly what an adult would say when looking both cynically and nostalgically at his past.

But there are lots of little moments in the script that are brilliant. For instance, Ralphie is approached by The Wicked Witch while waiting to talk to Santa. He looks at her and says ‘go away. I’m thinking’. That is totally the kind of kid I was. I was social. I had friends just like Ralphie but I also had a contemplative, independent streak.

I also love the moment when Randy is upset over the bullying incident and the Mom finds him hiding in the dresser set. That’s just the kind of thing my sister would have done (My Dad was a total softee but if something big like that had happened she would have hidden away). I love that the Mom brings him his milk in the cubbard and let’s him stay there. Perfect.

The major award also totally rings true for me. My Father is a very passionate excitable guy. If he won a major award he would probably be equally excited. It’s those simple things in family life that can be the most humorous when looking back on them and that’s essentially what the narrator is doing. It’s hilarious and just lovely.

The pink bunny suit is also hilarious. How many of us also got that one gift from a distant relative that we didn’t want to wear? I certainly did. It’s a funny well written scene that most of us can empathize with. Love it.

I love it is Father who gets him the air rifle. It shows he is listening all along and shows a tenderness we hadn’t gotten since then. What a lucky kid Ralphie is to have such a wonderful family!

Finally, I love this movie because it is set in Indiana and shows the tough but sweet side of my Hoosier friends. Even Ralphie’s fantasies feel like the kind of daydreaming a kid would actually do. It all just works for me.

I love it. It makes me cry throughout and laugh. It is a wonderful movie and I’m glad it gets seen by so many every Christmas.

Overall Grade- A+ (Great writing, acting, heart, humor. Perfect)

It’s amazing it was directed by Bob Clark who helmed such classics as Baby Geniuses 1 and 2 and the Porky’s movies which are so lame and crass. I guess it’s the 1 hit wonder of directing. Wonderful job!

The abhorrent sequel recently produced one of the Nostalgia Critics best reviews. (language warning)

Bonus Holiday Review: Home Alone

December 23, 2014December 23, 2014 | Rachel's Reviews

Now that I’m finished with Scrooge month I thought I might do a few bonus holiday reviews and tonight I watched Home Alone and boy does it hold up well. Aside from technology changes I think it could be released today. It’s still funny, sweet, sincere and a great family film.

I have a bit of a personal history with this movie. When we were 10 my grandparents would take us on a trip and my trip was to go to Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm and see my cousin in a choral competition with my grandparents. It was pretty great. Before we went down to Southern California we had a night and decided to go see Home Alone at the theater. My parents weren’t big TV/Movie people so my movie indoctrination was fairly sparse- the occasional Disney and my recent obsession with Little Mermaid which was released the year before Home Alone. I certainly hadn’t seen many comedies at that point.

Here I am in 1990 on the trip I saw Home Alone. I flew alone which was kind of brave!

So to the theater we went and I laughed my head off. It is the first movie I remember connecting with and laughing hard at.

The truth is I was a very independent kid so Home Alone was kind of my fantasy. The idea of a kid not only getting by without his parents but defending the house and being smarter than everyone else is so appealing to kids (at least to my kind of kidlike mind). Pretty much if you want to know about me as a child watch Little Mermaid and Home Alone. That’s the kind of independent spirit I was. I hated to be told what to do and wanted to be taken seriously in conversation and life. My parents were wise to give me a pretty long leash.

What makes it funny is very good writing combined with the type of humor usually reserved for animation. Road Runner or Tom and Jerry would have anvils dropped on their heads in cartoons but here is it is real people and all done by a charming little kid.

I like that the movie stays grounded. All of the stunts Kevin pulls off feel like the kind of thing a kid could do even if in reality they are not. It’s not like he’s blowing stuff up or using chemicals a kid wouldn’t know about. He puts ice on the staircase, puts toys and glass ornaments on the ground, makes havoc with a air rifle. I’m sure you could tear apart things like the zipline as not being realistic but for the most part it feels plausible. If anything it feels more grounded in reality than Columbus’ Goonies which is another child-fantasy film with heart and humor (a favorite of mine too).

He also doesn’t totally get away with it. He comes pretty close to being hurt by the Bandits which creates a kind of nervous tension that makes the viewer laugh.

One of my favorite things about the movie is they make Kevin a capable kid. Some of the best scenes are him going to the grocery store, doing laundry, sitting at church, meeting with Santa, and ordering pizza. We sometimes see kids as so helpless but I bet a lot of kids in Kevin’s position would do just fine at all those tasks. They aren’t as stupid as we like to think.

There is also real heart to the movie which especially for a holiday film endears the picture to all of us. So many comedies today feel crass and then try to throw in sentiment at the end (I’m talking to you Adam Sandler). But this maintains that kind of heart all the way through. Even the fight between Kevin and his Mom at the beginning feels authentic to the way a family really talks and deals with one another. Again, it feels like a real family and that gives the whole crazy situation a grounding for the humor.

I love the scenes with Kevin and the scary neighbor. It’s sweet and sincere and reminds you of the fears and earnestness of children. It could have been overly-sentimental but it is played perfectly and you have to give a lot of credit to Macaulay Culkin and Roberts Blossom who plays the old man.

Catherine O’hara is wonderful as the Mother. When she is pleading for help to get back to her son you wish you could help her. You not only feel her panic but her shame and guilt. It’s very good.

I also like that Kevin does not immediately forgive his Mother. He pauses for a second and looks at her. You think maybe he will stomp off and then he smiles. It is a great moment.

John Candy has a lovely cameo as a Polka band member who agrees to give Kate a ride to Chicago. He’s joyful and sweet and wants to help a person in need, and the polka music makes it funny (of all the music I think polka is the funniest for some reason).

John Heard feels authentic and real as Kevin’s father and the rest of the family is kind of generic Hollywood kids but it works. My family reunions are full of chaos and I didn’t get along with my brother so those family scenes ring true for me.

There are a lot of little details I like. Such as Kevin getting his own tree and decorating it or the fact he lights candles over his mac and cheese. It makes this little kid feel like a real person instead of a caricature.

Home Alone could have gone off the rails in so many ways but it straddles that line of slapstick, sentimentality, and a good story just about perfectly.

I give a lot of credit to John Hughes’ writing and Chris Columbus’ directing. They both had (or have in case of Columbus) careers where they respected young people and sought to tell their stories well.

Whether it is Chris Columbus writing Goonies, directing Harry Potter movies or The Gremlins, or John Hughes with Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller they both managed to always portray children and teens as real people with their own thoughts, desires and struggles. We take them seriously because the creators took them seriously.

In the end with Home Alone I think even if you hated all the slapstick violence you could still enjoy the movie. There is enough character development and warmth to enjoy the movie on that level alone. How many comedies can say that?

And let’s not forget John Williams’ wonderful score. He combines traditional carols, band and pop music with his own original pieces in one of the best holiday soundtracks ever. He’s the master!

I hadn’t seen Home Alone for a couple of years and watched it last year and was really charmed by it. So if it has been a while for you give it a watch. Your kids will love it and you will too!

Nostalgia

December 14, 2014December 14, 2014 | Rachel's Reviews

Watching all these Christmas movies has got me thinking about nostalgia. Often especially during the holidays we can get accused of liking something ‘for nostalgia purposes only’. Everyone is guilty of this for one reason or another, but I often find there is more to the story than the accusation would suggest.

What is nostalgia? Well, it is defined as “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations”

So for example I lived for 3 years with 2 roommates in the basement apartment of a house. We had many good times at that house and when I drive by it I am often overwhelmed by nostalgia for that period of my life. Now those friends have married and I don’t see them as much as I would like. It is a time in the past that I miss and look back fondly on.

I’m not a psychology expert. but I think nostalgia is actually healthy as long as it doesn’t make us forget the blessings of the present because we are idealizing the past. I did that once on my mission where I moved to a new area and all I could think about was how life changing the old area was. My companions had to sit me down and say ‘Lafayette was great but we’ve got to work here now in Indy”, which I did and it was awesome!

That said, it is good to be able to look back at our lives and remember the good times. Remember with fondness all the love and happiness we shared, especially if those people have passed on. So nostalgia can be quite powerful and motivating in our lives.

But let’s stick to entertainment. Like experiences, we can also have nostalgia for films. A particular movie meant something to us or is associated with an era or person in our lives, and so we remember it with ‘wistful affection’.

I believe if you enjoy the movie it doesn’t really matter whether it is nostalgia or not. It’s kind of like taking a placebo for depression. If it helps your depression who cares if it is a sugar pill? Better is better. Enjoyment is enjoyment.

The only difference is it is usually impossible to pass on that nostalgia to other people so it can feel frustrating when they do not share your ‘wistful affection’. In fact, it can even seem insulting because the film and the time in your life are so interconnected insulting one, feels like an insult to you and your moment in time.

Here is a funny clip from my favorite show How I Met Your Mother about when people don’t get your nostalgic movies (excuse the bad clip but it will give you the idea)

There is however a distinction I would like to make:

In nostalgia we have 2 kinds of experiences. The first are films that really aren’t good that we have nostalgia for. The second is films that are good and were important to us in the past (probably because they are so good)

For example, many people have nostalgia for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, ET and The Goonies. Those are all legitimately good movies that I remember fondly too. Whereas, say someone has nostalgia for Howard the Duck? That film doesn’t have the same inherent quality of content argument as Star Wars…

Here’s some examples from my life:

Cutting Edge vs Footloose- Both of these films would be considered by me as ‘sleepover movies’. They were the kind of movies my girlfriends and I liked to watch at sleepovers. Other favorites were Dirty Dancing, Fame, Grease, Dance with Me, Bring it On, Save the Last Dance (dancing in general was a popular theme of these sleepovers for some reason). The Cutting Edge is a silly movie that I have nostalgia for. It’s completely predictable and stupid but it’s about the Olympics that I love and skating and there is pretty good chemistry between its stars, but it would definitely be a bad movie I have nostalgia for and enjoy (I have it on blu-ray!).

Footloose on the other hand I also have nostalgia for but I actually think is a good movie. It is well written with an interesting discussion about religion, safety, freedom of choice and some terrific choreography and music. I watched it again not that long ago and was surprised how dark it gets. All that definitely went over my head but I liked it then and I like it now. Definitely a good nostalgia movie.

Beverly Hills 90210 vs Boy Meets World- We were not allowed to watch 90210 when I was a kid because it was considered too adult by my Mom- probably rightfully so. But nevertheless I have a certain nostalgia for it. When I could sneak it I enjoyed it and I enjoy it now even though it is totally soapy and stupid and poorly acted. It went on for like 10 years and especially near the end when I was on my own I really got into it even though I knew it was kind of terrible.

Boy Meets World on the other hand I was allowed to watch and I sincerely think it is a great show. Yes it is extreme cornball but it has such heart, it teaches good messages, has an appealing cast and the acting is not half bad. I love it and I love Girl Meets World, so it’s good nostalgia in my book!

Clueless vs Girls Just Want to Have Fun- We’ve got two more sleepover movies. Girls Just Want to Have Fun is a stupid movie about girls who want to make a dance show (again with the dancing!). But I still enjoy it. It’s charming in its own way and has an appealing cast. Definitely bad but I enjoy it for nostalgia purposes.

Clueless on the other hand is the nostalgia movie of my high school experience, and I think it is one of the best written comedies ever made. It makes me laugh to this day. Things like Cher’s speech on the Haitians and the garden party or the scene where Dion drives on the freeway for the first time crack me up. I have strong nostalgia for it but it is also genuinely a good movie.

Some might claim they can be more objective than those of us who have nostalgia for films or shows, but I don’t think that is the case. If I acknowledge I have the nostalgia and can say if it is good or bad despite my sentimental feelings how is that not the peak of objectivity? I am able to look at it and say ‘I love it but I know it isn’t very good’. That is objective! If I tried to defend it as good when it really isn’t than you’d have a point. If I like something on this blog because of nostalgia I will tell you. Like I admitted upfront I was going to have a hard time reviewing Little Mermaid because I am sooooo attached to it and it meant so much to me as a little girl. I still think I was objective but maybe not as critical as I was on things that didn’t have the same personal value. But that is the exception to the rule. Most films I look at with the same perspective and eyes and can objectively say whether I like it for nostalgia or other reasons.

Just to sum it all up- we all have movies that are nostalgic for us when we watch them. They remind us of eras of our lives, particularly childhood and if we enjoy the experience of watching them than who cares? Enjoy watching them for whatever reason you want. Just don’t expect others to experience the same whimsey and delight. Also, there are films we have nostalgia for that are actually good movies and others that are pretty bad. It’s important to see that difference and not discount something merely because it is a sentimental favorite.

Especially at Christmas many of us have nostalgia for It’s a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, Christmas Story and Christmas Carol etc but those are great movies so watch and remember all the good times you’ve had over the holidays with these wonderful nostalgic movies.

I will add too that Perks of Being a Wallflower is the first movie I’ve seen as an adult that felt really nostalgic for me, so nostalgia doesn’t have to be a movie from our past. It could have been filmed in my high school amongst my friends and I LOVE it so much. I saw it at least 5 times in the theater because I kept taking my friends, twice in one week. It spoke to me and excited me in a way no other movie has in years. I think the writing is great, acting great, and the story is so moving, funny, sad, scary, just perfect. One of my all time favorites. Definite nostalgic but still very good movie!