Letterboxd — Your life in film

"Scrooged" doesn't manage to be as uproarious throughout as it is in its first act, and it wears out its welcome by the end. Casting Buddy Hackett as Scrooge is a stroke of genius though. It should really get five stars just for that.

Any time a sequel is a paint-by-numbers retread of the original, I've added the subheading "Lost in New York" to it as a tribute to this film. "Home Alone 2" gives you a big budget New York Christmas spectacle, more traps, more cartoon violence, and yet, the same plot, right down to "It's a Wonderful Life" with foreign dubbing and "Angels with EVEN FILTHIER Souls"! It's a cash-in, but a fun way to shake it up when revisiting "Home Alone" for Christmas. The John Williams score never gets old here either.

A serial killer movie that mostly eschews gruesome shocks in favor of the effect the crimes have on the family of the narcissist behind them. Zac Efron captures Bundy's charm, adding to the film's dramatic tension. Everyone knows the monster Bundy truly was, yet his disarmingly deadly charisma is what continues to fascinate and ultimately repulse. It's hard to believe this is the same filmmaker who directed "Blair Witch 2", but Joe Berlinger has made it apparent through his documentary work that true crime is where he shines.

The last great Muppet movie. Michael Caine is a terrific Scrooge, and the Muppet cast fits well into this story. I never realized Paul Williams did the songs.

Some gripes about the DVD release: I don't understand why the "When Love is Gone" song is cut from the widescreen version on the DVD, but you can watch it on the fullscreen presentation. Either way, you're watching a truncated version of the film. Confounding.

The John Williams soundtrack is Christmas magic. The movie's family friendly mix of "Ferris Bueller", Looney Tunes, and "Straw Dogs" still plays well today. The Netflix episode of "The Movies That Made Us" on this film has a lot of interesting information on the making of the film, like how Fox scooped Warner Bros., and that Dan Roebuck almost played Daniel Stern's part.

A moving depiction of the friendship and creative partnership between Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Laurel & Hardy are a blind spot in my movie-watching, which is something I need to change. Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly seem to have nailed their subjects, which speaks to their own talents as comedic performers.

A documentary that looks at a lot of symptoms, and says "Gee, aren't these symptoms annoying," while never looking at what causes them.

Movies are rarely this fun from the very first shot. "A Hard Day's Night" holds up better than the later Beatles efforts at the cinema. This one was made before the sixties got weird, before the acid hit and everything got cheap-looking and stupid.

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.