In some perverse way, "Die Hard" and The Fearless Vampire Killers" might be the perfect films to watch during a season celebrating Peace On Earth...Good Will Towards Men. Heck, it's never stopped Hollywood from unloading its typical Shoot-'Em-Ups and Gore Fests during this special season.

A word about my favorite Christmas movie and my favorite Bad Christmas movie:

"A Christmas Story" is, for me, the ultimate Christmas movie. Although the movie is set in the late '40's-early 50's, which is a little before my time, this movie captures for me the joy of a childhood Holiday Season. Thank God it's finally caome out on a decent "Special Edition" DVD.

I always watch "White Christmas" every year even though i have yet to figure out why. Clearly "Holiday Inn" is a far better film, if for nothing else it has Fres Astaire instead of Danny Kaye. A little bit of Mr. Kaye's schtick goes a long, long way. More often than not its the cinematic equivalent of pitachio ice cream in an open tooth cavity. As for the plot...the idea of former servicemen giving up spending Christmas with their families in order to spend it with their former commanding officer...goes beyond incredulous in the the realm of something like science fiction.

Still, I DO enjoy this movie. For one, the movie looks great. The closing scene of Bing, Danny, Rosemary and Vera-Ellen in Santa Claus suits standing around the big Christmas tree with the winter scene behind them and the children at their feet, all singing "White Christmas" is the very picture of the Holidays. Also, Rosemary Clooney's rendition of "Love, You Haven't Done Right By Me" wearing the black strapless evening dress at the night club is one of the sexyist musical numbers in any Hollywood musical. Grrrrrr!

BigCatfish 