A CHRISTMAS STORY

 

A Christmas Story is an early-eighties "holiday" flick that has since gone on to be one of the most popular Christmas flicks of all-time. To be honest, and I know I might incur the wrath of those that seemingly worship this flick by saying this, I'm not too big a fan of this particular Christmas flick. But, then again, I'm not too big of a fan of Christmas flicks in general (Scrooge a.k.a. A Christmas Carol and Santa's Slay notwithstanding!). Anyway, for those few of you who haven't caught the 24-hour-a-day reruns of A Christmas Story on cable on Christmas Eve and/or Christmas, the movie is about a young boy named "Ralphie" and his rather eccentric family around Christmastime who desperately wants a certain BB gun from Santa Claus. Of course, Ralphie is bummed when everyone tells him, including the store Santa he encounters in one of the film's most famous scenes, he can't have said BB gun since he'll poke his eye out if he gets his coveted BB gun (which--spoiler alert!--happens when he does in fact get his beloved BB gun on Christmas morning from his dear old dad). That's pretty much the film, though, for some reason, there are those who have really latched onto this particular Christmas flick (like, for instance, I read a story about one guy who was apparently so smitten with this flick that he actually bought the actual house where the film was actually filmed). Again, I can't see what the big deal is about this particular film. I mean, it's an entertaining little film (my own personal favorite scene is when the father receives that rather kinky-looking "leg lamp" that seemingly attracts the attention of the entire neighborhood when he lights it up much to the obvious chagrin of his wife) but that's about all I really think about it. Actually, when this flick came out, it was a minor box office hit at best. It wasn't until years later thanks to constant reruns and/or home video the movie has taken on a life of its own and has been included a number of top ten favorite Christmas flicks of all-time lists sort of like that other "favorite" Christmas flick the Jimmy Stewart "classic" It's A Wonderful Life which was also a box office dud when it was released until it later became a "holiday classic" thanks to TV reruns and/or home vid. And, just so you know, if I had to choose between the two films, I'd pick A Christmas Story over It's A Wonderful flippin' Life anytime (and, again, I know I might incur the wrath of people who "love" IAWF, but, screw it, this is MY movie review blog!). I tell ya, I tried watching THAT flick and I felt like jumping off a damned bridge! A sidenote: The creators of South Park--who, as you probably know, I've taken a swipe or two at in this blog (reread my review of their cinematic crap-fest of a flick BASEketball)--once stated how much they were "influenced" by this flick in their creation of their popular show South Park. I'll let you decide if that a good thing or a bad thing, alright?