Category: tis the season cinema

‘Tis the Season Cinema: Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas and Charlie Brown’s Christmas

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn tis the season cinema5 Comments

Wow, here we are. The last week of ‘Tis the Season Cinema! Lisa and I started this all the way back in November, Katja joined us, and we have watched some really good movies the past two months. When we started Christmas felt so far away – and now we are mere days from Christmas Eve.

We watched my all time favorite holiday movie this week – Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas. This movie came out in 1977 and I was just 2. (Please don’t do the math. Lol.) Anyway, I remember, very vaguely, that my cousin Melissa and I were so excited to watch it. I remember sitting on the living room floor, next to her, just watching quietly.

Watching now is pure nostalgia. I love the story, the songs, the memories it invokes, both from my childhood, from my marriage and watching over the years with just Billy, and now with Wyatt, who sometimes watches and sometimes sleeps. There are lines that have made their way into our everyday, like when the character Chuck is hungry, and roars “No, I’m not hungry, I’m Huuunnnnggrrryy” so his little group of friends (the River Bottom Gang) get the point, that he is not just hungry, he is super duper times ten hungry. And so now of course, when we are having a hungry moment, one of us will quote Chuck.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you about this movie, which is a muppety puppety version of The Gift of the Magi in case you have never seen it.

Emmet and his mom Alice live a simple little life, filled with love and music and memories, but not much money. The two do odd jobs to try to make ends meet but they still don’t have much. But they have each other and their stories of Pa and they seem happy. As long as there “ain’t no hole in the washtub” which Ma uses to make money by taking in laundry.

Like I said though, this is a twist on the Magi story, so this very important item becomes a central player in the story – especially after a guitar with mother-of-pearl inlay catches Emmet’s eye in a store window and he tells his Ma that that is what she can get him for Christmas. This guitar is $40 though. How can Ma make Emmet’s Christmas wish come true?

When word reaches them, independently of course, of a talent contest with a prize of $50 they both secretly decide to enter to try to win that prize money to buy a special gift for the other. Emmet and his little group of woodland friends form a jug-band, while Ma plans on singing. However, in order to perform to win the prize, each needs to make a sacrifice.

And of course in the background of this movie is the villainous group of hooligans, the River Bottom Gang. They are bullies, race around the town in their fancy car, trash stores, mock Emmet and his friends.. they are just a nightmare. They also want to win the money, so they enter the contest as the River Bottom Nightmare Band. Who will win?

The music, the story, the love and the hope in this movie always fill me with happiness and make my heart warm. This is how life should be, caring about others, helping each other, enjoying what we have and the people in our lives. It may be a children’s movie, but it is one we can all learn from and enjoy (and sing along to while drinking hot chocolate with our families).

This movie can be found on Amazon for those wanting to watch, and is also based on the children’s book of the same name if you want to read it as well.

The next movie we watched is just as heart-warming and nostalgic – A Charlie Brown’s Christmas.

I love this movie too. How can you not love it, really?

This movie was on television every year while I was growing up, and we watched it as a family every single year. Do you all remember that, getting excited because it was going to be on television, on a certain day and time, so you would get all excited in anticipation? That is what we did with this one. I would be snuggled up with my parents or brother and dancing along to the music. Incidentally, this is still Billy and I’s favorite Christmas music album. There is just something about it – we play it during drives through the snow, decorating the tree, opening gifts. It has become the soundtrack of all of our Christmases. Vince Guaraldi Trio, you did good.

I love this movie and it’s theme of fighting the commercialization and materialism of Christmas, the idea of making a perfect holiday, where you have to do all the things, have all the things. Charlie Brown is his usual melancholy self, but he also has the right idea while everyone around him competes and is focused on the things that are just not as important. Charlie gets elected director of the Christmas play, and he become increasingly frustrated with his peers and their attitudes. Things reach a head when Charlie and Linus bring back a little sad, forlorn tree. Charlie is mocked relentlessly for his choice, and he wonders out loud if anyone knows what Christmas is really about. Linus in all his sweet seriousness, says that he does, and everything is still and quiet as he strolls to center stage and recites the annunciation to the shepherds, and says to Charlie, that THAT is what Christmas is about. Charlie Brown leaves feeling full of hope and purpose, that he won’t let these attitudes change his Christmas, and he hangs a little bulb on the tree which pulls it over. Charlie, ever hard on himself, believes he has killed it.

In the meantime his friends realize they were really mean to Charlie and follow him to make it up to him. They find his little tree, steal the decorations off of Snoopy’s award winning decorated doghouse, and elevate the tree to a shining glorious tree. Charlie rejoins them all and they all sing together. And by then I am probably teary.

This movie is also available on Amazon.

I am so glad that we ended our little movie series with these two movies. Both make me feel so full of the Christmas spirit, and remind me of the wonder and magic of the season, that spark that was there when I was a child, reminding me not to get to get caught up in the madness but to just enjoy. They just give me the warm and fuzzies.

Thanks for reading and watching along with us!! I have enjoyed reading everyone’s comments and thoughts on the movies, and learning your favorites as well. It was also nice to meet a new to me blogger, Katja!

For Lisa’s thoughts click here. For Katja’s click over here.

‘Tis the Season Cinema: It’s A Wonderful Life

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn tis the season cinema12 Comments

“Look Daddy, teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.”

Wow, I can’t believe we are one week from Christmas! Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I started this in early November and it still feels like time just flew by. And I am late posting today but better late than never!

Let’s just dive in shall we?

It’s a Wonderful Life is another Christmas classic. Yet instead of showy musical numbers and lighthearted moments, this movie has its share of sadness and despair, which seems odd when paired with a Christmas classic. But it is the light that shines from the darkness in this movie that make it the classic that it is today. (Let me say classic one more time – classic)

Young George Bailey (James Stewart) has dreams. Dreams of a world tour, not running his family’s business, the Bailey Brother’s Building and Loan. Yet when his father dies, it is George who bends his knee to family duty, keeping the place running so that it doesn’t get dissolved by the mean Scrooge-like Mr. Potter. He gives his money to his brother Harry, with the understanding that when his brother comes back home from school, Harry will run the business, freeing George to pursue his put-aside plans.

However, that doesn’t happen. George’s life ends up going down roads he had never planned for himself, a life given over to doing what is expected rather than what he wants. He marries Mary, has a family, and keeps on going, being that trustworthy fellow that he has always been. Then, one Christmas Eve, all the sacrifices George has made over the years are at risk, and he feels helpless to stop the downward spiral that spells criminal charges and scandal and ruination.

These feelings of helplessness, despair, worthlessness, lead George down a very dark road, one where he feels he would be better off dead than alive. Or, that he had never been born. The prayers of the whole town reach heaven’s gates, and an angel name Clarence is dispatched to Earth to help poor George – and earn his wings. When George is about to throw himself off a bridge, Clarence instead falls in and George ends up rescuing him instead. Clarence shows George what life would have been like had he not been born, and this is when things get wild.

George learns that he has touched and changed the lives of so many people in his life – his brother would have died had George not saved him from drowning, Mr. Gower the pharmacist would have poisoned the prescription, and maybe worst of all, Mary would be a spinster LIBRARIAN!! Ok, sorry, I shouldn’t make light but that always cracks me up. Anyway, George is shown that he did so much good in his life, and that things would be terrible had he not been there to do them. That he is loved. That he has friends, and that people care, and that he is in fact, “the richest man in town”. And Clarence gets his wings!

The ending gets me every single time.

That hasn’t always been the case though. I didn’t appreciate this movie as much as I should have when I was younger. I couldn’t understand some of the feelings George had. I was young, I still had my big dreams ahead of me. And while I didn’t accomplish a lot of these dreams (looking at you, skipping college to move out west and write a book of poetry), I made new dreams. George doesn’t realize that dreams can change, you can wind up living the life you were meant. And that is ok, he had Clarence to show him, that he indeed had a wonderful life.

I think this movie hits hard this time of year. December is a tough month for some people. The holidays can make people feel more alone, stressed out. Desperate. And they may not have a community like Bedford Falls to help them through. I didn’t intend to really talk about this but, it is important. Especially in light of the news of tWitch‘s death yesterday. Seemingly happy to the world, but struggling with his own inner demons. This sounds so trite and cliche, but, let’s be nice to each other. Reach out in friendship. If you are struggling and need help, please call 988. Everyone’s life is important, everyone matters.

Ok, let’s bring the mood back up.

One of my favorite scenes:

It is so ridiculously romantic to me.

And then this, where I am 100% sobbing every time.

Next week is our last week, and we are watching Emmet Otter and Charlie Brown. I mean, I already watched them because I had the wrong movies written down mistakenly, but maybe I will watch them again!

For Lisa’s post, click on over here! To read Katja’s post, click here!

‘Tis the Season Cinema: The Muppets Christmas Carol

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn movies, tis the season cinema13 Comments

“Come in, and know me better man!”

This month Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I, along with newcomer Katja from Breath of Hallelujah who is joining in, are having fun watching the same Christmas movies and then posting our thoughts. This week we watched one of my very favorites, The Muppet Christmas Carol. It’s not my absolute favorite, that is and forever will be Emmett Otter, but it is high up there!

Wyatt hasn’t been a part of many of these Christmas movie nights but for this one, of course he was. He was very excited, and snuggled down between us in bed with a giant bowl of popcorn for us all to share. Miso was also part of the group, purring away at the end of the bed. However, both Wyatt and Miso were asleep within 30 minutes. So, Billy and I watched it just the two of us, with our little slumbering companions scattered around us.

This movie never ever fails to make me smile and put me in a warm and happy mood. I always feel so full of the Christmas spirit afterwards, it is just so full of love. It follows the Christmas Carol storyline we are all familiar with, but with 99% of the characters played by muppets and their puppeteers. Kermit is Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy his wife, Fozzie Bear plays Scrooge’s first boss, and Statler and Waldorf play Marley and Marley. The esteemed Michael Caine plays Scrooge, and to this day and all of the versions I have watched of A Christmas Carol, Caine is still my favorite Scrooge. He is so believable in the beginning, cold and hardhearted, and by the end, you truly believe he has undergone a transformation into a loving, caring human, full of the Christmas spirit.

And the music in this movie! I love them all but the best in my opinion is It Feels Like Christmas, sung by the Ghost of Christmas Present (also my favorite ghost). This song perfectly sums up almost every feeling that I have about Christmas.

Billy told me that Michael Caine was in his fifties when he made this movie, and that he wanted to be in it because he had a 7 year old daughter at the time who hadn’t been able to watch him in anything. So he played Scrooge in this movie so that she could see him act. And Caine loved it. His joy is obvious. I also love that his singing is…average. I think it is appropriate to his character – I mean, I couldn’t see Scrooge busting out in perfect harmony. Apparently this was also the first movie he ever sang in (sung? why am I having a problem with this today?)

It also has this scene, which the phrase “It’s the British way” has made its way into the things Billy and I say to each often. We often refer to things as being done “the British way”. It never fails to amuse us.

This movie is just a fun, music filled, cozy, warm, lovey dovey, joyous version of a Christmas Carol, and one I highly recommend!

Check out Lisa’s post here!

Check out Katja’s post here!

If anyone else wants to join in, that would be fun! I will add your links to my posts every week as well. Next up is Holiday Inn and posts go up Thursdays.

‘Tis the Season Cinema: The Man Who Invented Christmas

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn movies, tis the season cinema15 Comments

It’s the holiday season!! And after a September and October filled with ghosts and other scary things, I am so ready for heartwarming, hopeful, and cozy.- although this was a bit of a ghost story too.. Lucky for me, our first movie of the season checked all of those boxes!

Where should I begin? Last night was my very first viewing of this movie, although I had heard about it. My good friend Jill is a mega Dan Stevens fan and so his work is always on my radar through her. It also is exactly the type of movie I am drawn to, so it was weird that I didn’t see it when it first came out. However, maybe then it wouldn’t have held the same magic for us as it did last night. Because last night, Billy and I were enchanted. It’s been a rough few weeks around here, and this week Billy has worked late every night, which means long days for me as well. When we flopped into bed to watch this, we were both feeling a little worn out and worn down. The world has been too much with us, you know what I mean?

We settled in, and were totally wowed. We were reminded of the magic and love and hope in the world. That people can be kind, that we need to let the spirit of Christmas and generosity and peace be with us all year.

Dan Stevens plays Charles Dickens, who quite frankly I didn’t know much about other than being familiar with his work. The movie begins with Dickens in a bit of a financial pickle, after having written three unsuccessful books in a row (which was unbelievable to me too). He is up to his eyeballs in debt, with his large new home, his growing family, and in addition he supports his father and mother. He’s a bit stressed to say the least, and tries very hard to not let the stress change who he is at heart. But who is he?

We learn through flashbacks that his father went to debtors prison and he himself went to work long, 12 hour days at a shoeshine factory as a young boy of 11. This has long hung over him, and over his opinion of himself, his work, and his relationship with his father.

All of this is going on in the background of his life as he writes his new book, about what some characters in the movie referred to a minor holiday – Christmas. And oh, the scenes of him writing the book is so clever and brilliant. The characters bounding to life, hounding him, haunting him, taunting him, leading him as he writes their stories. At times he is frustrated with them as they won’t do what he wants, and Stevens portrayal of Dickens in his frustration and desperation made me feel frustrated as well, it was so well acted. The movie is so clever, as I said. The characters are with him, there but not there, real to him in his mind at all times as he goes about his days and nights. His wife accuses him of caring more about his characters than his flesh and blood family, and the viewer has to wonder a little bit how much truth is in that statement. We see a wild, whimsical, sometimes reckless Dickens struggle with the part of him that has a bit of darkness, the demons from childhood that hover around him like ghosts, the parts that make up bits and pieces of Scrooge. Stevens is able to convey all of these emotions and I believe that this was his best role ever. I would give him an Oscar for it even.

It’s a race against time for Dickens – will he finish the book by the deadline? Will it get printed? Can he overcome his demons to write a masterpiece? Will his family be ok? And will Tiny Tim live??

This movie was fantastic. Billy and I just looked at each other when it was over, me wiping tears from my eyes at the beauty and love of it all. I had goosebumps. It is an absolutely wonderful movie, and if you have not seen it yet, I 100% recommend it for your holiday movie watching this season.

For Lisa’s rundown, click here!