First time I saw it, I fell asleep. Second time hasn't happened yet.

Anyone seen the DTV sequel that's out?

I found it pretty funny when I was in my early teens, before I developed taste.

Did you get your smell, touch, sight, and hearing yet?

Love it

Nah, this thread suffices for me.

Usually in your early teen years you start masturb ... wait ... your sense of taste developed instead? Ewwwwwhhhhh!

I think it's okay. I've seen it all the way through only once, although I do watch bits of it during the yearly marathon. If I were to compile a list of my favorite Christmas movies, it probably wouldn't make the top 30.

I think its has some funny parts, but I will never understand the total love for this by many of my friends.

It's pretty bad. Not disgustingly awful but bad.

Count me in as hating the fuck outta this piece of shit.

Nostalgia and the holiday spirit, bottled up in what's essentially an in-motion, exaggerated Norman Rockwell painting. I do think it has funny moments, though the laughs are long-gone after seeing it countless times, but those are the things that make it a yearly tradition for our family.

It t'was soap... poisoning. *everyone moans*

Over the years I got to be quite a connoisseur of soap. My personal preference was for Lux, but I found Palmolive had a nice, piquant after-dinner flavor -- heady, but with just a touch of mellow smoothness. Life Buoy, on the other hand...
YECCHH!

You have a point there. If it was in black-and-white and Jimmy Stewart or Spencer Tracy played the father, I'm sure I'd have no problem with it--even if it had been made with the exact same script!

Why do you hate TBS? Just don't watch it

I don't know about other people, but my reason for loving the movie is simple. My parents grew up in Indiana in the 30s-40s, the basic time period and location of the movie, and Ralphie's childhood experiences mirrored theirs "to a T".

In short, it is a very real slice-of-life story, and although there is some grandiose narration, even that is very much in keeping with the way a typical young boy would have told a story in those days.

This was a favorite on mine when I was a kid but admittedly I haven't seen it in years. Apparently I'm better at avoiding TBS than most people.

I like the film very much. Many memorable scenes.

I think what's interesting to note is how this film’s trajectory is so similar to It's a Wonderful Life.

Both films were box office disappointments that only began to be appreciated around 10 year after they were made. It's a Wonderful Life due to reappraisal of Capra's oeuvre and Christmas Story due to home video and occasional television broadcasts. Then followed periods where both films were lavished upon the public to a ridiculous degree. It's a Wonderful Life fell into the public domain and aired endlessly on every channel for many years while A Christmas Story's cult popularity resulted in these "marathons". A Chrismas Story is now suffering from a backlash. What was a cult film is now loathed for being too over-exposed just as It's a Wonderful Life became reviled because of its overexposure. Now that the public domain issue has been settled people can enjoy it for the great film that it is. Things need to be similarly dialed down for A Christmas Story. People are getting too much of it.

I like it. The last scene in the Chinese restaurant is horrific though.

I get the sense that some of you find this movie cheesy or somehow over-earnest. I think it's actually a fairly clear-eyed movie, certainly when compared to other holiday fare. In fact, I think the movie ultimately succeeds because it's self-depricating. It's told from a kid's prespective and takes his pronouncements on the seriousness of his situation at face value while at the same time knowingly winking at the audience. It's nostalgic but never cloyingly sweet. It's charming and genuinely funny. Lastly, the production design, costumes and sets are flawless in evoking the midwest of 1939ish. Not sure what there is to dislike.

Don't love it, don't hate it, but have always wondered what all the affection was for. I'm assuming that it's because it reminds many of their own childhoods/families...but beyond that I'm not sure. Then again, there's also a group that loves CHRISTMAS VACATION, which is really just a so-so film - although I'll confess to liking it more than A CHRISTMAS STORY.

As for myself, LOVE ACTUALLY is the Christmas movie that makes me laugh over and over.

Yep. The movie just feels real. The actors, the situations, the comedy, the production design and photography are all just right. None of it feels forced or contrived. It's a movie that makes me glad that it's around.

Strangely enough my wife loves A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation.

Love Actually is great because nudity.