A Christmas Yuleblog

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...

Back in my film school days at Columbia College in Chicago, I took a class entitled "History Of Cinema" and met a teacher named Scott Marks . Scott was the first teacher who got all my inside jokes, pop-culture references, and shared a love for movies, Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis, Jr., and a certain Chicago newspaper columnist named Irv Kupcinet (don't ask...). Scott gave me a cassette tape (which I still own - it survived the great Toledo fire ) that contained several outtakes of celebrities. For the first time in my life, I heard Barry White (NSFW) trying to record a commercial for Paul Quinn College, Linda McCartney's isolated "Hey Jude" mike from Knebworth in 1990, and an amazing outtake from Martin & Lewis (NSFW) recording a radio commercial for the film "The Caddy". It was raw, uncensored, and excruciatingly funny. I was hooked. I began searching offline and online, trying to find new celeb outtakes, cleaner copies of the outta...

I would be remiss if I didn't mention a major event in some people's homes this weekend. The 43rd Annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon will broadcast for 22 hours live from Las Vegas, Nevada. Watching to see what celebrity shows up on the telethon is a huge draw and helping kids is always a plus. But let's get serious. Most tune in to see what kind of shenanigans Jerry is gonna pull next: My friend Scott Marks runs an amazing blog entitled Emulsion Compulsion - a vast home of movie reviews, rants, and quite possibly one of the most extensive image vaults on the web (yes, including Christmas images!). Scott is probably the biggest Jerry Lewis fan on the planet. He has an extensive collection of Jerry memorabilia including a rare 1976 "CBer's for Jerry" patch that was donated to him by yours truly. He has watched every Jerry movie extensively (no, not " The Day The Clown Cried ") and not only has he interviewed Jerry more than once, he once...

If you're getting bored with Christmas (or already are), here are five places to visit on the web that might shake you up out of the Christmas doldrums: 1.) Jeffco Christmas My Canadian brother Jeff has had albums and podcasts for your listening pleasure all month. If that's not enough, he has just posted his annual Christmas compilation "Christmas Turkeys 10" - a veritable feast of Christmas music that will make you smile, laugh, vomit, have convulsions, whatever. Still not convinced? Jeff's posted some of your favorite Christmas songs sung by the cast of "The Facts of Life"! 2.) FaLaLaLaLa.com This has been the place to be at Christmas for three years running. It's the final weekend over at the King Of Jingaling's palace. There's going to be some incredible surprises in store. Other like minded Christmas music people will be gathering to bask in the glow of Christmas memories via music. If you can't find something to re...