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 Peter Billingsley as Ralphie asks Santa for a Red Ryder 200-shot BB gun in A Christmas Story. |
In both the secular and religious sense, Christmas generates more movies and TV specials than any other holiday.
After all, how many working-man movies do you watch on Labour Day? How many Thanksgiving turkeys need to be stuffed on-screen?
Christmas lends itself to family bonding, the joys of friendship, acts of selflessness and, for many, spiritual contemplation. These themes have been explored -- for better and for worse -- in hundreds of Christmas entertainments over the past century.
A few have either debuted on DVD recently or been recycled in fresh editions. Let's sort through the pile. This is not a Top 10 list so don't expect reviews of classics such as Scrooge and It's a Wonderful Life because they did not get new editions this year.
A Christmas Story: Ultimate Collector's Edition: The same wondrous, fully loaded, two-disc special edition of 2006 is back. This time it is repackaged in a beauty tin box with collectibles, including cookie cutters and a recipe book (the Blu-ray box uniquely offers leg-lamp Christmas lights). The late Bob Clark's wonderful 1983 movie, a Canada-U.S. co-production, remains one of those quirky, funny, bittersweet experiences that brings joy. But I'm still worried about Ralphie: He could shoot his eye out with that Red Ryder BB gun.
Black Christmas: Bob Clark's Yuletide horror movie from 1974 is back, digitally remastered in widescreen and trimmed with new extras. Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder and John Saxon co-star in an old-fashioned, bloody scare.
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The Nightmare Before Christmas: Collector's Edition: This savagely brilliant collaboration between visionary Tim Burton and stop-action animation director Henry Selick is a 1993 classic from the dark side. The widescreen movie has been remastered and refreshed in a superb three-disc set with Jack's face in relief on the cover and loads of bonus materials inside, including a digital copy.
Shrek the Halls: The Shrek franchise looked dead with the awful Shrek 3. But credit is due. This 22-minute Christmas short is tons of sweet, sassy fun. The only hangup is price: A short, even with extras, should be deeply discounted.
Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas): French director Christian Carion's profoundly affecting movie brings sombre reflection to the season. Inspired by true stories, it tells how soldiers on both sides in First World War trench warfare suspended hostilities to celebrate Christmas together. Plays in English, French and German in widescreen. Good extras over two discs expand this rich experience.
Sesame Street: Elmo's Christmas Countdown: New in 2007 and now fab on fullscreen DVD! Guest stars Ben Stiller, Jennifer Hudson & friends work with Muppets Elmo and Abby Cadabby to save Christmas from calamity. The short is long at a perfect 44 minutes -- but there are no extras.
The Private Life of a Masterpiece: Christmas Masterpieces: For serious art and history lovers! Working at a high intellectual level, but making it visually stimulating and accessible for all, this BBC series examines the life of famous works of art. In this special Christmas-themed DVD, experts focus on the fascinating tales behind van Eyck's The Annunciation, Gauguin's God's Child and Bruegel's The Census at Bethlehem.
Holiday Inn: Collector's Set: In writing about this 1942 Bing Crosby & Fred Astaire musical yesterday, I praised it as a perennial favourite. But a word of caution is necessary. In one sequence, Crosby leads the odious blackface number Abraham at the Inn (and it looks even more offensive in the new colourized version). While I don't recommend censoring this sequence, parents should explain to younger viewers about racial stereotyping and exploitation. It should also be noted that, despite this creepy scene, Crosby campaigned for equal rights for African-Americans.
Holiday Treat: Special DVD Collection, TV Sets: From the great to the frivolous, this collection has themed episodes from eight TV shows, 1955 through 1993. Recent shows, such as Family Ties, are too cornball. Best here is the brilliant, poignant Christmas Eve episode of The Honeymooners in 1955, with Jackie Gleason lighting up Audrey Meadows' life.
The New Christmas Classics: 4 Holiday Favourites: Talk about false advertising. This cartoon collection, ranging from old Gumby to new George of the Jungle, is just creepy Christmas crap.
The Perfect Holiday: Morris Chestnut and Gabrielle Union co-star with Queen Latifah in this lightweight romantic comedy from 2007. The widescreen DVD has making-of extras.
Snow/Snowglobe/Holiday in Handcuffs: These three ABC-TV family movies are new to fullscreen DVD. Each is a separate release, all have extras, and every one takes the cute route to deliver romantic comedy at Christmas.