A Christmas Yuleblog

This was a Christmas present given to me by my son Alex. In the past, Alex chose several Christmas albums ( Oh Santa (Yep Roc) , Gene Autry ) to give to my on December 25th but instead chose a DVD on my Santa list. My Santa list contained several DVD titles and several that I asked for were under the Christmas tree. I'm attempting to lose weight as a New Year's resolution (40 lbs. by my 40th birthday in June) and these will be used while exercising on the stationary bike or treadmill. Back in September, I discovered this DVD would be hitting shelves in October. At first, I was pretty psyched. A full DVD full of vintage Christmas clips from the Mighty Carson Art Players and Johnny himself, I thought. Last December, I posted a YouTube video that had a clip from his 15th Anniversary show that contained a pretty hilarious Christmas clip. My friend Stubbyfears informed in the comments that he had seen the DVD and wished there were more clips like the one I had posted. ...

My friend Scott Marks has been gracious to lend me several of his Christmas movie reviews from his amazing website Emulsion Compulsion . If you haven't visited his site for some thoroughly honest movie reviews, commentary, and image vaults to die for (including a bunch of Christmas related stuff), take a moment to head over this his site and surf - you'll be there for at least 20 minutes max. For his final review, Scott chose a movie that was being shown in 3-D at the time and is one of my personal... umm... let me just post the review and let my opinion fall by the wayside: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) Directed by : Henry Selick Written by : Tim Burton & Michael McDowell Cast : Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Paul Reubens, Ken Page, Edward Ivory, Susan McBride, Debi Durst, Greg Proops, Kerry Katz, Randy Crenshaw, Sherwood Ball, Carmen Twillie Aspect Ratio : 1.66 : 1 Running Time : 76 min. Rating : ...

We've had many people clamoring for another movie review from our friend Scott Marks ... a few people... okay, two people... and one of those was Scott... and the other was me. What's your point? I've always seen the first 30 minutes or so of this particular movie and chicken out. Maybe Scott's honest opinion will make me want to see the film from beginning to end. On your Marks, get set, go: The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) Directed by: Leo McCarey Written by: Dudley Nichols from a story by Leo McCarey Starring: Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, Henry Travers, Joan Carroll & Rhys Williams Running Time: 126 min. Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 When people ask if a sequel has ever surpassed its original, " The Godfather II " and "The Bells of St. Mary's" are always the first that come to mind. (" Gremlins II " runs a close third.) Long before the second installment of the Corleone family trilogy, Bell's had the disti...

Several months ago, I asked Scott Marks , my former film school professor turned San Diego film critic and keeper of one of the most diverse collections of vintage Hollywood memorabilia, for some reviews of Christmas movies to post here at the yuleblog. Scott is fearlessly honest and doesn't pull punches when it comes to movies. He doesn't write puff pieces (like I do) and share his "one-man's opinion" (stole that term from Irv Kupcinet) for all to share. Without further ado, here is his review of the TV remake of "A Christmas Carol" from 1984. Over to you Scott... A Christmas Carol (1984) Directed by Clive Donner Written by Roger O. Hisron from a short story by Charles Dickens Starring : George C. Scott, David Warner, Susannah York, Roger Rees, Frank Finlay, Edward Woodward, Michael Gough, Joanne Whalley and Introducing Anthony Walters as "Tiny Tim" Photographed by Tony Imi in Tele-Vision Rating : You know Alis-tair an...

Okay... technically, this is NOT a Christmas CD... but I did receive it for Christmas and wanted to share some of the treasures that lie inside. In the 1970s, the Second City Comedy troupe based in Chicago and Toronto was a breeding ground for the next wave of great comedians: John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, and Bill Murray. While these four went off to immortality at "Saturday Night Live", the other members of Second City banded together and created their own TV show in Canada. "Second City TV" was seen throughout Canada (and in syndication in the USA) between 1976 and 1980. Joining this cast were John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short, and Dave Thomas. In 1981, NBC needed a summer replacement for its music program "The Midnight Special". They brought SCTV in, gave them a 90 minutes to fill, and "SCTV Network 90" was born. This ran from 1981 to 1983 - winning two...