Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

Welcome aboard, Mr. Awesome!

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

I hope everyone is having a fun, safe Thanksgiving! Due to the pandemic, I'm spending Thanksgiving alone with my cats and without a post-Thanksgiving weekend trip to see friends. I've got the MST3K Turkey Day marathon streaming to keep me company while I cook up a mini-feast!

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

Welcome, Mr. Awesome!

Unlike many of you I didn't start until today - the *true* start of the holiday season. ;)

I started with the classic Plains, Trains & Automobiles as it's a Thanksgiving movie. We had a late lunch as it's just my wife and me this year and I'm just sitting down to start the traditional Thanksgiving viewing of A Christmas Story. Traditional solely because for years, TCM (IIRC) ran it back-to-back-to-back-etc. all day Thanksgiving Day and we'd turn on the set at my Mother-in-Law's house, lock it on that channel, and watch it all day. After that will be A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving followed by Miracle on 34th Street because it begins with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

Welcome Mr. Awesome! I hope you have a lot of fun.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

There’s a good chance that I will lose my ability to watch some of the holiday specials this year. It’s looking like I will be losing both my CBS and CW channels in the next day or two. The station management is asking for an exorbitant sum for the ability for Dish to air their channels.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

Ugh, frustrating! I hope that the blackout doesn't last too long.

If you have a local library nearby, you may want to try to reserve a few of your favorites or ones you're interested in seeing. Right now, it's all done online with no contact pickup. It's pretty easy to do and I think most libraries have gone that route...

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

I've started picking up my watching pace for a bit at least. I'm furloughed until the 10th, so have a little extra time. I've mainly started with cooking specials/holiday baking shows. I love watching them and they really speak of the holidays for me...all the warmth and coziness of holiday desserts, cookies, pies...yum!

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

Those are some of my favorites as well. I’ve been going through the Dish Guide on a daily basis to look for shows to put on my DVR. Last night I recorded the shows on NBC.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

Most of the ones I've been watching are on the Food Network. I'll have to check out what's on NBC as well.

I did just see another installment in the Christmas in Evergreen movie series on Hallmark that I need to watch. I have the others on my DVR so I do plan on doing a marathon at some point.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

I think I just discovered a new annual watch for this challenge. I was browsing the Dish Guide, looking for holiday content, and came across Christmas In Vermont, on Cozi. I went into it, figuring it was probably a TV movie, but if it is, it managed to wrangle some big names. Chevy Chase, Howard Hesseman, and Morgan Fairchild were all in the cast.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

Yeah Christmas in Vermont has aired on the Ion Channels. Chevy Chase is only really in it at the beginning and the end. It's also free to watch on Youtube. I'm kind of having an off year and just watching movies without making a list this year.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

I just finished a viewing of one of the non-holiday holiday movies (takes place partly during a holiday qualifier stuff) - On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I again lament that George Lazenby only did that one Bond film. I thought he was pretty good in the role.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

This Challenge is always weird for me. From the moment I wake up in the morning, until I go to sleep at night, I have Christmas movies playing on TV. It's been like that since Halloween. I watch more Christmas programming than any other monthly challenge. I've got it on in the background while I'm working, checking emails, cooking meals, and doing all my normal stuff. I watch 30 minutes here, an hour there. I rarely watch a full movie. It's fine because I've seen all these movies over and over again. But compiling a list is impossible. I don't want to put a movie on my list when I only watched half of it.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

I'm still watching movies but I haven't done a list this year. I'm watching Home Alone this morning and the commentary is still one of my favorite commentary tracks ever. Chris Columbus and Macualy Culkin make it very entertaining and informative. It's one of the few commentary track I can listen to the whole way through.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

I would say to do your list however you like. We’re all friends here and won’t monitor what you finish and what you don’t. ;)

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

I normally don't listen to commentary tracks as I'd just rather watch a film again than listen to creators joke around imparting little to no information of value - and historians are often so dry I just can't tolerate listening (just put that info in a nice booklet and I'll *read* it... often in far less time than it takes them to read it to me) - BUT... I've seen Home Alone so many times I can practically recite it from memory. Maybe I should give that one a shot when I watch it later this month...

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

I can recite Home Alone line for line as well but if you've never listened to the commentary I'd say its worth your time.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

Finally got Scrooged on Blu-Ray. The last time I've seen it might have been on CBS in the 90s. I've remembered the 'promos' at the beginning so we'll.

I also got the new blu of 1980's Popeye with Robin Williams. It's a musical about beloved comic strip characters, so wholesome and it's my wildcard. Watched it last about ten years ago on a free trial of one of those starz or encore type channels. The casting is just so spot on, like they stepped out of a Segar Thimble Theater strip.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

Shameless plug for myself as I completed a Christmas movie/special/TV episode tribute. Yes, it really is 12 minutes long, but I had a good time making it. Hope anyone who watches enjoys...if not, I tried.

As for the challenge, I'm not quite as enthusiastic this year as I was last year, but a lot of stuff was new to me last year. Prep & Landing has probably been my most enjoyable first-time viewing, but I have gotten into the Christmas spirit with some repeats. I never tire of Home Alone and some of the other classics out there. I think I've weeded through some bad Hallmark ones, but I did enjoy a few of them along the way. A couple of mainstream movies that have grown on me that I didn't like at first are Surviving Christmas and Fred Claus.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

I started watching The Original Christmas Classics tonight. It's been a while since I've gone through the whole thing, so I thought I'd start on it. Watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Not my favorite, never has been. Santa's kind of a jerk. No, you can't guide my sleigh, your nose is red! Like that makes a difference in how Rudolph flies!

The Cricket on the Hearth is good, but always makes me a bit sad. The whole story is, but it's written by Charles Dickens so probably not that surprising. Had a little bit more time before bed tonight, so switched discs. Started with Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. This one is pretty good though I think I'd get more out of it if I was a Mr. Magoo fan.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

I found out today that I actually get to watch the Virtual TSO concert next Friday. A local radio station has been doing a call in contest since last week giving away codes for the concert, and I just won one. Sunday afternoon I also have a free ticket that The Bach Choir of Bethlehem were giving away for their choral concert.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

Did anyone else watch the Grinch musical? It was pretty bad. I love Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The original one, I mean. Hated the Jim Carrey version, thought the recent cartoon one was watchable. I've even seen bits and pieces of the musical that Universal puts on in their park and thought what I saw was good.

I was semi-excited to see how a full length musical would go. Poorly. That's how it went. Hated the music (and I love musicals!). It was not exciting, couldn't hear half the words and it was so slow... I went with old Max being the narrator and having a different actor play his younger self. Cindy Lou Who was cute. The adult Whos were just odd. Their costumes were very Seussian, I guess, but I just didn't feel like the designs helped sell anything. The Grinch...was just weird. I wouldn't go as far as Twitter has and say he was being super sexual, but it was over-the-top but not in a good way. A few too many pelvis thrusts, included. I don't know, the whole thing just was boring and I lost my enthusiasm for it quickly. In fact, it took me 2 tries to watch as I fell asleep within 30 minutes of starting it the first time.

Unlike the original short, this will not become a yearly tradition for me to watch!

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

Nope. I stick with the original cartoon. I saw the Ron Howard/Jim Carrey version and very much dislike it (it's not Elf bad but almost). The new animated version is almost passable, better than Howard's movie, but not by much. I don't plan to waste time on any future versions.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

It's ridiculous how many versions of Grinch there are between the cartoon special, the live action movie, the animated movie and now the live action musical.

Re: 16th Annual Holiday Challenge 11/20-1/1 Discussion Thread
 

Nah... ridiculous describes the number of adaptations of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." I own at least 6 (toss in the TV show versions I own and it could be a dozen or more) different adaptations of that story which is barely scratching the surface.