I often here people bemoan, especially at this time of year, that there are no modern classic Christmas films, with Elf and Love, Actually, both released in 2003, being the ones brought up as the last "good" ones. Whenever this occurs, Arthur Christmas is my go-to response. If you're not familiar, it's Aardman's 2011 computer-animated release centring on the family lineage of the Santas and how they function in a modern world. Jim Broadbent voices the current Santa, Imelda Staunton is his wife, Bill Nighy is his retired father Grand-Santa and his two sons are ambitious, career-hungry Steve (Hugh Laurie) and clumsy yet enthusiastic and endearing Arthur (James McAvoy). When Steve's military-style technology loses track of one present at the end of Christmas Eve, Arthur takes it upon himself - with the help of Grand-Santa, a single reindeer and an elf from the wrapping division (Ashley Jenson) - to return the gift before its intended recipient wakes up.
There are many scenes I could highlight here - the African exploits, the family board game, the climactic Cornwall-set chase - but instead I'm picking the film's opening scene, which really introduces us to the world and exactly how Santa and his team of elves manage to pull off the seemingly-impossible mission of delivering so many presents to so many children in such a short amount of time. Take a look:
To date this is Aardman's only fully computer-generated animation, whereas previously they worked within the stop-motion realm, painstakingly modelling endless figures and scenes, and imbuing them with life through the arduous animation process. Trying out this more digital approach does definitely lose something - the style is a little less charming, feels a little more processed - but it also allows for far greater scope and scale, and that's no more evident than in this opening, with hundreds of elves descending from Santa's mile-wide ship to deliver thousands of presents simultaneously. There's so much going on so quickly in every frame here that I honestly don't blame them for eschewing the more limited stop-motion format.
The intro answers a lot of questions as to how Santa might work in the modern world, tackling such issues as children in hospitals, sleeping in vans, apartment blocks and houses that don't have traditional fireplaces. Of course there's a lot of nonsense here with regards to the wrapped presents - for some reason the fully-functioning yet entirely encased slinky bothers me more than the inflating bouncy castle - and I love the homage to possibly the greatest scene from the greatest feature Aardman released, the train chase in The Wrong Trousers. Oh and for some reason the sleeping dog being left a gift-wrapped bone warms my heart to no end.
What's your favorite modern Christmas movie moment?
Sometimes the hardest part of these Favorite Scene Friday posts is actually tracking down a clip of the scene you want to discuss. When Robert suggested writing about a festive-themed film for the month of December, my mind initially went in a few directions, but eventually settled on a childhood fave of mine, Home Alone, and more specifically the scene which features my top quote from the franchise, Daniel Stern's Marv yelling "Suck brick, kid!" as he throws a brick at Macauley Culkin's Kevin after an evening's torture and humiliation, which included a fair few bricks thrown in Marv's direction. Alas other than that one sound-bite I couldn't find a video of the scene, and what began as a quest through YouTube evolved into me essentially falling into a pit of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York clips, which was a mighty enjoyable way to spend some time, I can tell you. As such I've not picked one scene to discuss today, instead I've gathered a bunch for your viewing pleasure. These all take place in the second half of the film, otherwise known as "the part you're looking forward to".
If you're unfamiliar, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York sees Kevin McAllister alone in the Big Apple after an airport mix-up when he gets on the wrong plane as the rest of his family head to Florida. There he encounters his former foes Harry (Joe Pesci) and the aforementioned Marv, who attempt to burgle a toy store. Kevin bungles their plan and leads them to his aunt and uncle's house, which they have left for renovations, and Kevin has rigged with a heap of traps. Whilst I love the first film, I prefer this sequel as it raises the game in terms of the traps Kevin sets, and has a little more fun in the build-up half as well. Plus. in this film Kevin becomes even more pragmatic, going out of his way to catch the thieves instead of just defending his home from them. Anyway, just like the film you don't want to read my rambling much more, you'd rather see the carnage:
This first scene is the precursor to the later brick-based moment, and it seems stone projectiles are just something I enjoy seeing being thrown in peoples' faces. Kevin is on the roof, and he wants to anger Harry and Marv enough so they'll break into the house and try to catch him. He has evidence of them committing a robbery, and is trying to keep them occupied for long enough for the police to catch them. This is how he riles them up:
It's unknown how many times I can watch Daniel Stern get hit in the face with a brick before it stops being hilarious, but that number is at least four. He has such an expressive face, and plays the increasingly dazed pain so well. Pesci's goading is great too, but this moment is all about Stern's unintelligible blubbering. After this encounter, the pair take their usual tactic of splitting up and trying to work their way into the building via separate routes:
Marv versus the staplegun. By this point you have to understand that what you're watching is a live-action cartoon. Of course most of this wouldn't work for various reasons, mostly involving physics and biology (namely how many times the antagonists would be killed), but Marv getting stapled in the arse is just utter nonsense, but it's a lot of fun. I love the bluff that you think it'll staple his foot when he braces it against the door, only for him to exacerbate the situation with his backside, then his groin, and finally his nose. If anything Pesci gets off comparatively lightly, especially given he's been spared the multiple bricks to the face, here suffering only a short fall from a greased up ladder. It's OK those, because things will soon be getting worse for him. Also, this is the point where Pesci solidifies the cartoon nature of the film by becoming the human embodiment of Muttley. Once they finally get inside the house, they soon wish they hadn't:
Easily two of the most hilarious and ridiculous traps occur adjacent to one another, and really show off Kevin's ability to predict human nature. After Marv enters and gets covered in paint and a bookcase, it's understandable that he'll want to clean himself off at the nearby sink. Alas, the taps don't dispense cool, cleansing water, but a skeleton-inducing amount of power, causing Marv's hair to frizz out and his flesh to literally disappear from his entire body, if only momentarily. Meanwhile, upstairs, Harry gingerly tests the light pulls, all too aware of the iron-to-the-face Marv received last time they encountered Kevin. Here his fate is ultimately worse, as a pull causes a blowtorch to set his hat alight (again! It seems in these films, where Marv has a tendency to get hit in the face, Harry is more likely to fall over and get burned). Once again Kevin predicts the sink will be the first destination, but that's not working either, and the bowl of what appears to be water in the toilet looks very tempting to the aflame Harry, who executes a perfect handstand on the bowl, and realises perhaps a little too late that it's actually full of kerosene. Obviously he'd be several kinds of dead in real life, but here he just receives the classic soot-caked face and teeth.
The final clip is a classic, and the most call-back-heavy of these, as it directly references the paint can swings from the first film, but plays with it by making our villains feint being hit, only to be taken out by a giant, heavy bollard-type object, twice. It's not as entertaining as the others, sure, but damn it's gotta hurt. The scene I'd been really looking forward to though was when the crooks finally make it to the roof (after being apprehended by, amongst other things, a tool chest rolling down the stairs) and see Kevin down below. Marv, hungry for vengeance, makes the obvious move to pick up a brick and throw it at his foe, yelling the immortal line:
I love it. And when the two start to climb down the rope and get about halfway, Kevin sets it on fire so they climb back up, but not quick enough, so they fall back down, land on a big seesaw catapult that fires a load of paint cans into the air, which fall upon them once again. It's like The Bricklayer's Lament, but far, far sillier. It's a very silly film, that also at other times is very touching, but I watch it for the ridiculous cartoon violence, the ingenuity of Kevin, and mainly for the reaction shots of Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.
What's your favorite scene from a Christmas movie? Does it involve grown men throwing bricks at children? Why not?
So we're here, readers, and here is the Friday after Christmas. Two full days after Christmas, in fact. But we can't really move on that quickly, right? Why pass up the opportunity to feature a Christmas movie for this week's Favorite Scene Friday? How about we compromise with a great scene from the greatest "best-Christmas-movie-that-isn't-really-a-Christmas-movie" movie?
And, hey, Christmas may be over, but soon it'll be time to party again for New Year's Eve, and Die Hard is one big party if you think about it.
This week's scene is great, because it's where the film goes from crazy to "Bruce-Willis-throwing-bodies-out-of-skyscrapers" insane. You see, up until this point, cop-defending-a-highrise-full-of-people John McClane (man I'm doing that hyphenating thing a lot in this post) was essentially the only good guy in the fight. The local authorities had no idea that the Nakatomi Plaza had been taken over by terrorists lead by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman). As soon as the body of a terrorist crashes into Sgt. Powell's (Reginald VelJohnson) car, the movie is in full swing.
Not only is Die Hard a great Christmas movie (and action movie, duh) it's a great '80s movie. They don't make 'em like this anymore, despite Sly Stallone's best efforts with The Expendables flicks. There was something fun about '80s action movies and Die Hard in particular. In this week's scene, McClane throws a dead body out a window and that should be horrific, (for Sgt. Powell it is) but he's able to spit out a classic quip. "Welcome to the party, pal!" Welcome indeed. Happy New Year, everybody!
I was pretty late to the A Christmas Story party, only watching it for the first time in recent years (it airs on TBS on Christmas Eve for 24 HOURS so it's kind of hard to avoid). The film follows Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley), a young boy who really just wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. But he has to go through a heck of a lot to get it.
Case in point with this week's scene*. Ralphie and his little brother are at the mall to visit "Santa". After making it through an incredibly long line, Ralphie gets to Santa's lap but...freezes. Have a look.
I don't remember seeing any mall Santas growing up and it's probably just as well. How about that trippy first person part of the scene where Santa looks like a mass murderer? I also love the way Ralphie just goes blank and goes for that football (even though he forgets what it is). He snaps back to reality as he's sliding down the exit chute but to no avail - "Santa" tells him he'll shoot his eye out - and shoves his boot in Ralphie's face.
My absolute favorite aspect of this scene - and really the whole movie - is Darren McGavin as Ralphie's dad. He's that classic 1940s dad that really doesn't exist anymore. Hard working, cantankerous, but really just worried about his family. Apparently Jack Nicholson was interested in playing the role of Mr. Parker but they wound up going with McGavin.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, everybody! AVOID MALL SANTAS.
*I couldn't really pick the flagpole scene because I'd have to talk about how that kid grew up to become a porn star. Yikes.
This week's Favorite Scene Friday was written by honorary EH Team member Lindsay Street from French Toast Sunday.
It’s very possible that most of you reading this haven’t even heard of the 2005 comedy Just Friends. It holds a measly 42% Rotten Tomatoes score and it didn’t even rank in the top five films at the box office the weekend it opened. Although my love for the film is strong, I hesitated to suggest it to Robert for a Favorite Scene Friday. That turned out to be a dumb call on my part though, because as I should have known, my movie twin responded back promptly with “That would be awesome! I love that movie.” Our bond grows stronger every day.
Just Friends stars a few notable names including Amy Smart, Anna Faris, Chris Klein, and Ryan Reynolds in the lead role. You remember early career, post-Van Wilder Reynolds, right? Where his roles were tailor made for his boyish charm and deadpan hilarious comedic timing. Well maybe audiences had grown tired of his shtick by the time Just Friends had rolled around and the actor himself certainly seemed turned off by it (Friends marked his last starring comedy role aside from The Proposal and The Change Up.) - but I never experienced such an aversion. And while I continue to think double R is an impressive actor that winds up in shitty movies, I still yearn for the day when he will pop up, if only for a moment, as the former sardonic funnyman.
I had no intention of writing that much about Ryan Reynolds. Moving on then…
Okay, so the movie starts off following a chubby high schooler named Chris Brander (Ryan Reynolds…yes…) that is stuck in friend zone hell with his best bud Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart). After an embarrassing post-graduation falling out, he abandons Jamie and moves to LA. Over the years, Brander sheds the extra pounds, works hard to gain a shiny career as a record producer and transforms his nice guy image into desirable womanizer. Now present day, Chris is tasked with traveling and watching over “star” talent Samantha James (Anna Faris), an overproduced, over sexualized, completely vapid pop star. He reluctantly does so but things are further complicated when the duo’s plane is forced to land in his New Jersey home town. While reconnecting with his family and eventually Jamie, Chris soon falls back into his old ways and learns that he may not have changed very much after all.
There are a lot of parts that I find downright hysterical in Just Friends. Most are moments or lines coming from Faris’ Samantha character but I also get a kick out of Reynolds chemistry with his younger brother Mike, played by Christopher Maquette. So when I picked a scene from the film, I skipped over my actual favorite favorite scene (a scene at a small town bar where Faris is so over the top funny I can’t handle it) for a scene that features the best of both assets. Also, the YouTuber that posted the video kind of nailed it with his title.
Setting the scene: Young bro Mike was supposed to be escorting Samantha around town when she accidentally falls over a second story banister at a mall (yes, it’s that kind of flick.) This is what Chris comes home to:
I don’t know how well the scene works out of context, but I find everyone here just too damn enjoyable. Anna Faris is completely zonked out and stupid-stupendous. Did you see the way she delivered that blueberry line? Classic. Moreover, you get to see one of my favorite interactions between the brothers. The sibling rivalry continues throughout the film to similar results but some of the noises Maquette utters during the wrestling never fails to give me the giggles. Really any time he screams during the movie, I’m on the ground.
With Just Friends, it’s not so much the jokes written on the page as much as it’s the actors performing them. It might sit with you, it might not - but for what it’s worth, I think the movie could make for a passable substitution for the overplayed Christmas movies you might find surrounding you this holiday season. Give it a chance if you’re looking for something new.
