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What I Watched In… November 2013
In the interest of full disclosure (and to generate a little content here) I thought I’d present a regular tally of what movies I managed to see in the previous month. Some of them I’ve written about, most of them I haven’t. This list includes movies I saw for the first time, movies I’ve seen a thousand times, movies I saw in the theater, movies I watched at home, direct-to-DVD, made-for-TV and anything else that qualifies as a movie. Feel free to discuss or ask about any of them!
(Sharp-witted readers may notice the vast majority of these came in the last week, when school was out for Thanksgiving. The first few weeks of November were busy as hell for me. I’ve been trying to make up for lost time.)
1. Ender’s Game (2013), B+
2. Supersonic Man (1979), F; RiffTrax Riff, B+
3. Doctor Who (1996), B-
4. Thor: The Dark World (2013), B+
5. An Adventure in Space and Time (2013), A-
6. Necessary Evil: The Super-Villains of DC Comics (2013), B
7. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), B+
8. The Wizard of Oz (1939), A
9. Jack the Giant Slayer (2013), C-
10. Side Effects (2013), B-
11. Europa Report (2013), B
12. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973), B+
13. The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), F; RiffTrax Riff, B+
14. Garfield’s Thanksgiving (1989), A-
15. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1948), B; RiffTrax Riff, B+
16. Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977), B; RiffTrax Riff, B
17. Get a Horse! (2013), A
18. Frozen (2013), A
19. Scrooge (1935), C+
20. The Polar Bears (2013), B-
21. A Christmas Carol (1954), B-
22. A Christmas Carol (1951), A-
23. Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962), B+
24. Rise of the Guardians (2012), B
Next week is EBENEZER SCROOGE… MONTH?
You may be asking yourself, “Blake, as the humble Reel to Reel host, what’s the stupidest thing you could possibly do this holiday season?” And I would think to myself, “Well… I guess that would be to attempt to watch and review as many different versions of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol as possible.” And you might say, “Well why don’t you do that, then?” And I would reply, “…okay.”
I’m such a sucker.
You see, friends, when I first conceived of the Icons project, I intended to give Scrooge his week in the sun, same as Batman, as Dorothy Gale, as Dracula… you know, the other characters he has so much in common with. But the thing is, as I started to pluck out my five chosen versions of Scrooge, I saw so many others being left on the shelf. Great ones. Mediocre ones. Versions best remembered mostly for their hilarity. And I just could not, in good conscience, allow them to wallow.
So instead, I found myself pulling every version of A Christmas Carol I own from the DVD shelf — minus any TV episodes that covered this ground, because December is still only one month long — and stacking them up, and counting them. And lo and behold, I have 17. (I have seventeen versions of A Christmas Carol. What is wrong with me?) And it just so happens, this year, there are 17 weekdays in December before Christmas. It’s like fate, guys. Kismet. Insanity.
So, strap yourself in, because I’m gonna try to hit you with my reviews of every version of Dickens’s classic tale that I have. Now keep in mind, even this will not come close to being a comprehensive list. This is merely a list based on the versions I already own. A quick glance at Amazon.com confirms that I could easily find enough versions to do this again next Christmas without any duplicates! (Note to readers that I happen to be marrying in June of 2014: I promise not to do this again next Christmas.)
But this year, guys, you’re going to get the full force of my insanity as I slam you with Scrooge after Scrooge after Scrooge. Also characters that aren’t technically Scrooge, but are filling his role in different versions of the story. And also other fictional characters playing Ebenezer Scrooge. And this time, I’m not even gonna tell you who’s on the list. I’ll let you wonder.
So who is Ebenezer Scrooge, anyway? Well…
The Character: Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserly owner of a counting house, ruthlessly squeezing money from his clients and mercilessly foreclosing on those who cannot pay. Although once a good, kind man, life has turned Scrooge cold and cruel. On one fateful Christmas Eve, it will be the task of three spirits to show him the error of his ways before it’s too late.
And if you want some pre-December goodness or suggestions for your own DVD player this holiday season, I invite you to check out last year’s Reel to Reel project, The Christmas Special, in which I gave the R2R treatment to 25 of the greatest Christmas TV specials ever made!
Reel to Reel 