Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

Well... you also have a very strong bias for just about anything based on "A Christmas Carol." In spite of that, I took your advice and purchased a copy of the version with Patrick Stewart. I'm planning to watch it by Sunday...

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

Yeah, I’m a sucker for any version, homage, or even nod to the story. Considering a separate shelf for all the discs, which will open up tracking down the dozens, probably hundreds, of versions I don’t own.

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

And... I forgot to wish Trevor and Jen "Happy 11th Anniversary!" last month... I'm guessing Trevor didn't forget as he's still posting... :D

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

Thanks Bob! I didn’t post much last month, so your steel trap memory can be forgiven. Makes me ashamed of my horrible memory. Love you all and dvdtalk is family, but I never remember details like that. Luckily I picked 11/11/11 as a wedding date to make sure I don’t forget our anniversary!

Connecting this to the holidays, Jen and I just got back from our slightly delayed anniversary trip, We went to our now usual vacation spot I think, Cape May. Delayed our trip a couple weeks because it’s a big Christmas town. Lots of the old Victorian homes decorated up nicely, multiple Christmas Tree lightings, breakfasts with Santa, it was a great trip and a lovely old beach town.

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

And I watched the Patrick Stewart version of A Christmas Carol. Trevor is right - this is a very good rendition of the story. Well told, well acted, and the visual effects are quite well done. I'd put it in the top 5 versions produced. If you remotely like the story and have never seen this version you should seek it out.

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

Just got back from the "horror" version of the Grinch, titled The Mean One (2022). To say it was bad would be an insult to bad movies. It was terrible. I don't know who did the casting, but the acting was awful. Krystle Martin is a discount Ronda Rousey, whom she must have watched to emulate her facial expressions to look like she was always grinding her jaw muscles and may have been constipated. Her training montage as she prepares to fight the "mean one" was awful as she teaches herself how to fight (very poorly) and to fire a weapon. Then you had Chase Mullins, who is a discount Robert Redford. He basically shows up after Cindy's dad is murdered and is immediately in love the main character for no apparent reason other than the script says so... The only guy who showed any acting chops was John Bigham as Doctor Zeus (get it?), but even he wasn't great. The CGI blood was more comical than gory. The script was awful. Geez, I can't even think of one positive thing to say about this. Ugh.

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

Watched two takes on Christmas Carol today: family ties and wkrp. Checking off most of the sitcom boxes. Got to the first Bob Hope Special watch of the season. 1990 Christmas from Bermuda with joan van ark, dixie carter and loni anderson. The 1969 one had the theme of "Mission: Ridiculous" as Bob was looking for the missing Santa.

Gonna hit Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Pittsburgh area native Perry Como.

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

If you're looking for some offbeat Yuletide horror, check out Adult Swim Yule Log on HBOMax.

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

Amazon has the Die Hard BR on sale for $6 and in spite of not really caring for it, based on a single viewing when it came out, I went ahead and picked up a copy.

So... it has a special O-Ring (aka slip sleeve) which supposedly proves that it *is* a Christmas movie (and I'd still argue that it is *not* any more a Christmas movie than is Trading Spaces or On Her Majesty's Secret Service - they all just happen to take place during the Christmas holiday season):
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...5d698a0afc.jpg

Under the O-Ring is the standard BR packaging/label:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...819799c8c4.jpg

I watched it last night and was surprised to find that I liked it better than I remembered. I can see myself watching it as part of my annual Christmas movie viewings.

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

I just watched it again myself!

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

Thanks for the head's up on THE MEAN ONE. The movie I'd really like to see is VIOLENT NIGHT, but I doubt I'll get to the theaters before Christmas. We have a new puppy coming in a few days and it'll be chaos for a while.

I watched DIE HARD again for the first time in years last Christmas--and loved it. It's a great movie that's really held up well. I watched one of the sequels too and even that was good. Probably DIE HARD 2.

I just topped 50 for this challenge. I've been watching mostly new stuff. Believe it or not, Hallmark's quality has really gone up this year. The scripts are well-written and not all the same "city girl goes home to save family inn/bakery/farm" stories. They had their first movie featuring a gay couple, THE HOLIDAY SITTER, which was terrific. I'm glad to see them kicking it up a notch. By comparison, the Lifetime Christnas movies and the GAC Christmas movies have been pretty stale.

I'd recommend THIS IS CHRISTMAS (a Sky UK movie) on Amazon Prime as a good, general, feel-good Christmas movie. It's about a guy who decides that all the people on his normal morning commuter train should get to know each other and he wants to throw a Christmas party. Very British (which is a good thing).

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

Funny, last year Sky's Christmas movie was Last Train to Christmas (2021) with Michael Sheen and Cary Elwes; haven't seen it but I surmise from what I've read that the similarities end at the train.

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

Yeah, sounds like it's not too similar. I'd lvoe to see LAST TRAIN TO CHRISTMAS, but it's not streaming anywhere. Boo.

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

There seems to be a copy on youtube. Don't know how long it will remain, though.

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

So I thought I mentioned this already, but I guess it was in another thread.

Watched an interesting version of Rudolph the other day. It was on BD-R of obscure Christmas animation and I’m not quite sure this one was legal for them to sell. But anyway it was unique in two ways. One, it was in B&W, had never seen it that way before. Two, it included several ads built into the story/animation. I know this was common back in the day, but I rarely see these original broadcast versions on disc.

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

I'm really slowing down. The past few days we watched non-holiday stuff like Glass Onion, See How They Run, Ancient Apocalypse, etc. My hubs is really over the Hallmark stuff. I might get a few more in before Jan 2, but not much. It's been a good challenge for me this year. Thanks to the organizers!

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

I've watched just about all of my qualifying titles - only a few remain that may not get viewed. Watching The Lemon Drop Kid at the moment - new Kino BR that just arrived. Have The Apartment (one of those non-Christmas Christmas type movies) in the wings - don't know if I'll watch it or not. Plus The Man who Invented Christmas, Jesus of Nazareth, Home for the Holidays, Polar Express, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service (another non-Christmas movie that qualifies) as the last of the few. I have the time (I'm off until Monday) - it's just getting motivated.

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

Yeah, I petered out on Christmas Day. Currently, I'm watching Wednesday and am going to start Yellowstone by day's end. Plus, I need to catch up on Doctor Who.

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

Productive challenge for me. Significant new views for me were Spirited and GOTG Holiday Special, both of which I enjoyed. Likely not annual watches, though.

I’ve watched all but one of this year’s new Hallmarks (not sure I’ll be able to sneak it in before the end of the challenge) plus some others from GAC, Lifetime, and CBS. Feel free to join us in the dedicated thread in TV Talk! :)

Re: 18the Annual Holiday Challenge DISCUSSION THREAD
 

Before the challenge ended I actually got in all of the true Christmas movies I still had in the queue, only leaving out The Apartment, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and Jesus of Nazareth. Overall, it was a good year for me and watching all my old favorites, which is something I've not done in a few years. And I actually added a movie to my collection - Die Hard, which I still don't consider to be a Christmas/Holiday movie (like all of those that count simply because they take place during the holiday season). OK... Yes, I also added the Patrick Steward version of A Christmas Carol, but that one was purchased months ago... It was very good and will be added to my annual viewings making it and Scrooged the two versions of Dicken's story that I'll absolutely watch every year.