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A Christmas Story – 1983 Bob Clark
- The film brilliantly blends five things: It’s cynical and nostalgic at the same time which is incredibly hard to pull off. Jean Shepherd’s deft wordplay (the voice over- which he also does the voice of) is perfectly accompanied by Bob Clark skill with visual gags (horror, broader comedy). The last element worthy of a lot of praise here is the period detail in the world Clark’s created here
- All of these elements, along with the skilled actors and comedians, make for an incredibly rewatchable Christmas season classic
- A string of vignettes perfectly connected by the character, time and place
- Just when it’s getting too cynical there’s a scene of sweetness and vice versa
- “tapestry of obscenity still hanging over Lake Michigan”
- Constant radio on in the background in the house is truly authentic of the era
- No filler or fluff in 94 tight minutes—no bad skits
- Darren McGavin (a stretch as the dad of an 8 and 5 year old at age 61) is the standout though the entire cast is great
- Playful editing choices—mainly the iris in and out almost give it a serial comic sort of feel
- Period details- Florsheim shoe store in town
- Interlaced with the narrative is the surrealism scenes of Ralphie’s imagination. This is very well done.
- Great use of POV close-up during the Santa scene
- Fringe top 10 of the year quality- Highly Recommend
Drake2017-12-27T21:02:19+00:00
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I’d put this as a must see. It was also on Roger Ebert’s Great Movie list
@ Bobby— appreciate the comment- I adore “A Christmas Story”- watch it every year. It’s incredibly well-written. I typically like to see a little more visually from my Must-See films that’s really all I can say against it
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