MasterChugs Theater: “It’s a Wonderful Life”

Every year around Christmas, there are two stories guaranteed to show up somewhere, sometime on television: A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life. After its copyright was inexplicably not renewed in 1974 and the film tumbled into the public domain, the film could be found on the air literally dozens of times every holiday season, with versions as varied as crisp, black- and-white prints to murky, colorized bastardizations. Only when NBC obtained exclusive rights to the film, has the Christmastime tide of broadcasts been stemmed.

There’s no doubt that It’s a Wonderful Life is one of today’s most popular Christmas films, easily surpassing other favorites such as A Miracle on 34th Street and the aforementioned A Christmas Carol/Scrooge. Contrary to common belief, it was not an immediate hit, nor was it a complete critical and popular failure. Back in 1946-47, It’s a Wonderful Life received mixed reviews, and although nominated for five Academy Awards, the movie was shut out at the ceremony. And, despite Frank Capra’s popularity at the box office, it barely made back its cost.

In fact, it was the expiration of It’s a Wonderful Life‘s copyright that transformed it into a Christmas staple. Once the film began showing with such frequency during the month of December, a whole new generation of movie-lovers discovered (and fell in love with) the previously-obscure release. Critics of the ’70s and ’80s took a look at the movie, and the reviews were almost unanimously positive. It’s a Wonderful Life achieved its deserved recognition, albeit four decades after it was first released.

So it’s got that going for it. Continue reading MasterChugs Theater: “It’s a Wonderful Life”

MasterChugs Theater: ‘A Christmas Story’

Congratulations. If you’ve made it this far, you’re now reading about what is my absolute favorite Christmas movie of all time. And speaking of reading, let’s get on with the review.

For the uninitiated, A Christmas Story ranks as the best holiday movie ever, better than Scrooged, better than A Christmas Carol (pick a variety), better even than It’s a Wonderful Life. Based on the book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd, it’s a period piece set in roughly 1940, telling a series of vignettes about a young boy that’s 9 years old in the weeks leading up to Christmas. He faces down bullies, witnesses a dare match over whether a tongue will stick to a frozen metal pole, gets his mouth washed out with soap, and sees the holiday turkey devoured by dogs… and all he wants is a BB gun! But as everyone tells him, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!”

And with that line, the movie went down into the annals of pop culture. But, there’s more to the film than just quotable dialogue. What makes this film so good? Hit the jump to find out why.  Continue reading MasterChugs Theater: ‘A Christmas Story’