A Definite Must See Christmas With The (television programming) Kranks
No commentsBy Clyde Howell
Based on the best-selling John Grisham novel titled Skipping Christmas, Christmas With The Kranks resembles the book in almost every facet save for the title. Starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis, Christmas With The Kranks is an instant Christmas holiday classic. Although not in the same league of Yule tide comedy gems Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story, this film ranks high on my list of holiday laughers. The supporting cast (led by perpetual funnyman Dan Aykroyd) turns in a superb performance, making Christmas With The Kranks an easy film to relate to and one you’ll want to see many times in the years to come…
When the college-age daughter of the Kranks joins the Peace Corps and flies to South America for Christmas, her mother battles with a case of the empty nest blues. But her father, accountant Luther Krank (Tim Allen), takes advantage of the opportunity to shake things up a bit. Tallying all the money he and his wife Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) spend on Christmas, he determines that if they skip Christmas this year, they can afford to go on a week-long cruise instead and still pocket three thousand dollars in savings at the end of the trip.
But skipping Christmas turns out to be more difficult than they thought - especially when it comes to participating in neighborhood traditions such as the mounting of the roof-bound ‘Frosties’ (giant snowmen all the neighbors plant on their roofs). The neighborhood struggle over the Kranks’ reluctance to put up their Frosty leads to some memorable and quite funny scenes where the couple encounters Vic Frohmeyer (Dan Aykroyd), the de facto leader of the neighborhood Christmas celebration. The Kranks continue to avoid all things Christmas related, and having visiting the tanning salon, they’re prepared to go on their cruise Christmas Eve.
But when their daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) calls with the announcement that she’s getting married, and more importantly, that she’s on a plane bound for home - the Kranks are forced to miss their cruise and recreate all the festivities of Christmas Past for Blair and her fiance. But attempting to do a whole month’s preparation in one evening proves to be a monumental task, and one filled with hilarious pitfalls and obstacles…
Offering hilarious scene after hilarious scene, Christmas With The Kranks is one of the funniest comedies in years, and certainly one of the top ten Christmas comedies of all time. At no time does the humor become outlandish or utterly ridiculous as so many such films tend to do. Overall, one of the more lovable aspects of this film is its ability to relate to so many American families. In fact, you might see a bit of your own family in Christmas With The Kranks… The fact that it’s one of those rare holiday classics with the potential to be seen year after year makes Christmas With The Kranks a definite must-see movie…
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You Need To Watch Casablanca
By Broderick Burns
One of the greatest, and certainly one of the most quoted, films in cinema history, Casablanca contains all the essential elements of a Hollywood blockbuster: adventure, romance, intrigue, suspense, and of course, evil Nazi bad guys (if you doubt this last one as an essential element, then reference the success of the Indiana Jones films). With a director (Michael Curtiz) and cast second to none, Casablanca makes a strong case for consideration as the best movie ever made. And although I loath clichs, it is true that they just don’t make ‘em like this one anymore…
Casablanca unfolds in a place called Rick’s, a popular watering hole in Vichey-controlled Morocco on the outskirts of Nazi dominated Europe. An important travel hub, Casablanca plays host to numerous colorful characters with any number of varying agendas. Arms dealers, spies, and revolutionaries walk side-by-side through streets littered with pickpockets. But at Rick’s, everyone seems to enjoy themselves. Owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) seems content with his life of serving customers and making money, at least until the day she walks in, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), the love of Rick’s life.
Less than two years earlier, as the Nazis moved into Paris, Rick and Ilsa fell in love. But in the act of fleeing the Nazi advance, Ilsa sent Rick a note at the train station informing him that she could not go with him. She offered no explanation. Now, she was appearing in his establishment with her husband, fugitive and Nazi resistance leader Victor Laszlo.
As the hours pass, and the Nazis desperately search for Laszlo in an attempt to cut off his escape, Rick learns the truth about Ilsa and her reason for leaving. For the moment, Laszlo’s fate is in his hands. Since his days in Paris, Rick’s made a habit of being practical, both in his business life and in his personal life… But will Rick use his influence and connections to help himself or Victor Laszlo? Will his idealism prevail over his hardened pragmatism? The Third Reich is closing in, and Rick must make a decision regarding Ilsa and Laszlo before time runs out…
The recipient of widespread critical acclaim in the more than six decades since its release, Casablanca is one of the few films deemed as a “cinema classic” that actually lives up to the mega-hype surrounding it. The set design, costumes, and direction are absolutely flawless. The dialogue is superb. Bogart and Bergman are perfect as the lovers torn apart, and Claude Rains is unforgettable as Captain Renault. If you have an aversion to pre-1980 movies or some other strange reason for missing out on this one, then I highly encourage you to watch Casablanca. You won’t regret it.
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