Real Christmas

The world wide media clamoring for Disney’s new release of “A Christmas Carol” is marketing for a movie like few of us have ever seen. Not only has the train been criss-crossing North America for six months but now they have hijacked the flip switching of London’s Christmas lights as well. Seriously, Disney has a lot riding on this movie.

What’s to worry about?

Disney is, afterall, the king of movie messaging. Hardly a tale is told without some kind of family-friendly point. Forget the fact that nearly every princess or family depicted in every Disney story comes from some sort of dysfunction (Snow White lives alone with 7 little men? Where is Ariel’s mother? Goofy has a son but no wife? Think of every Disney movie and you’ll see things amiss).

They are billing this new Christmas movie as Disney’s Christmas Carol.

And that, my friends, is the worry.

A Christmas Carol is a beloved tale. It is a tale of redemption. It is a Christmas story full of ghosts and absent of much of the flash of the season. It is pure Christmas.

Disney can do purity but sacred ground isn’t exactly their strong suit. After all, it was Disney who gave us Song of the South.

Can they capture the essence of Dickens? Can they avoid the commercial that was the Santa Clause trilogy, the hollowness and coldness of The Polar Express or the crassness of Fred Claus?

A Christmas Carol has been done before and done well. If folks don’t like the new telling by Disney, they have plenty of stand-bys to turn to in years to come.

Yes, Disney has a lot riding on this movie. Where there is great revenue potential there is great responsibility. They cannot make this movie a joke.

The question then becomes — can you watch it objectively? Will you buy into the hype? Will it be sold to you?

A Christmas Carol isn’t a tale to trifle with. I’m watching with a wary eye. I’m not sure they’ll get it right. And judging from some early reviews I fear my skepticism is justified.

It’s a movie and what’s worse — it’s a movie that has been made and remade probably more than any other movie in history. But that isn’t stopping Disney from hyping their new 3-D instant classic A Christmas Carol. They have paid off three premiere London neighborhoods to coordinate their Christmas lighting ceremonies to coincide with the launch of the movie next week. But wait– there’s more:

Jim Carrey — playing five roles in the film (budget cuts?) — turns on the lights at the Oxford Circus. Colin Firth (also in the film, doncha know), flips the switch on Regent Street, and Bob Hoskins draws the honor at St. Paul’s Cathedral (no mention of Jessica Rabbit being there). The St. Paul Cathedral Choir will join Andrea Boccelli — conveniently hyping his first Christmas CD this year — in Leicester Square in what is dubbed the world’s largest Christmas carol singalong. From outer space, astronauts from the International Space station will use the the Hubble telescope to beam back images from the Christmas star.

Ok, so we’re kidding about the space station. Still, the hype on this thing is unbelievable.

For all the sordid details (such as where to point your satellite dish if you just have to be in on the live televised proceedings), please visit their breathlessly worded press release at this link.

Our friends at Clausnet had this and I just had to share it:

Actor/country singer Billy Ray Cyrus will be starring in the upcoming Hallmark Channel holiday film, entitled “Christmas in Canaan.”

According to an article on HollywoodReporter.com, “The telefilm, slated to air in December, is based on a novel co-written by another country star/actor, Kenny Rogers, and Donald Davenport.”

The movie is set in 1960s Texas and its plot revolves around the unlikely friendship that evolves between two boys, one who is white and the other who is black, as they bond over their mutual concern for an injured puppy.

Zak Ludwig, who starred in the 2007 John Cusack drama, “Martian Child,” plays DJ, the white boy, and Jaishon Fisher, who starred in the 2008 Samuel L. Jackson thriller, “Lakeview Terrace,” plays Rodney, the black boy.

The HollywoodReporter.com article goes on to say, “Cyrus plays DJ’s dad, who, with Rodney’s grandmother, concocts the puppy plan after the boys get into a schoolyard tussle.”

While Davenport wrote the script, the story was a product of Rogers. Neill Fearnley is directing the project. Fearnley previously directed several episodes of “1-800-Missing,” the Lifetime drama series, which aired between 2003 and 2006 and starred ex-“ER” cast member Gloria Reuben.

Shooting on “Christmas in Canaan” has already begun in Vancouver.

Gene Simmons is starring in an upcoming holiday film, titled The Christmas Movie.

The movie is about a young, well-to-do Mary living in modern times, who gets pregnant and ends up in a trailer park. The KISS bass player plays Mary’s Jewish truck-driver father.

Other actors to star in the film include Elliott Gould, Linda Gray, Lainie Kazan, Cloris Leachman, Della Reese, Oleysa Rulin, Cybill Shepherd, and Fred Willard.

The Christmas Movie was written and directed by Dan Gordon, who is probably known for writing the script for The Hurricane.

No release date has been announced, but the Internet movie database at IMDB.com indicates the film is in post production.

Warner Brothers is looking to revive their animated features franchise with the release of several new episodes featuring Marvin the Martian. Marvin’s new adventures will be a mix of classic animation and computer animation the likes of Polar Express.

Not surprisingly, one of the first projects in the new series will feature Marvin trying to destroy Christmas.

‘A Christmas Story’ is coming to Blu-ray — again.

A new perennial classic (the film routinely shows for 24 hours straight every holiday on TBS), ‘A Christmas Story’ was first issued on Blu-ray and HD DVD back in late 2006 as a relatively bare bones edition. Reaction to the release was generally mixed, however, with most fans and critics giving the disc’s video, audio, and supplements average marks.

Hoping the second time’s the charm, Warner has now confirmed that it will bring ‘A Christmas Story’ back to Blu-ray on November 4, in a new ‘Ultimate Collector’s Edition’ featuring all-new deluxe packaging and other surprises.

The full supplements have yet to be revealed, but among the new goodies are a “Holiday Starter Kit” set to include cookie cutters, a holiday cookbook, and a chef’s apron.

Warner hasn’t revealed tech specs, or whether the film’s video and audio have been newly remastered. More details should be coming in soon.

Whatever happened to the cast of A Christmas Story?

Ralphie Parker.
Actor: Peter Billingsley.
Best line: The obscenity substitute: “Oooooh … fuuuuuudge!”
Bio: The fair-haired, bespectacled boy was Messy Marvin in the 1980s Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup commercials and went on to be a producer of the TV celebrity-talk series “Dinner for Five.” He also takes occasional acting roles, and played the helper-elf who manages Will Ferrell in “Elf.” His return to holiday moviemaking “felt good … just like riding a bike,” Billingsley said.

The Old Man
Actor: Darren McGavin.
Best line: Mispronouncing the word “fragile” on a big, wooden box: “Frah-JEE-Lay … It must be Italian!”
Bio: The veteran of stage, screen and television is best known as the supernatural investigator in TV’s “Kolchak: The Night Stalker,” and had a recurring role on “Murphy Brown” as Candice Bergen’s father. He played a bookie in “The Natural,” and was a drug dealer opposite Frank Sinatra in “The Man With the Golden Arm.” McGavin passed away in 2007.

Mother
Actor: Melinda Dillon.
Best line: The classic mother-BB gun block — “No, you’ll shoot your eye out.”
Bio: She has a long history of playing worried moms in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Harry and the Hendersons,” and “Magnolia.” She played a matriarch this year as Gran Chandler in “A Painted House,” the TV movie based on author John Grisham’s novel.

Randy, Ralphie’s little brother
Actor: Ian Petrella
Best line: After mother bundles him in a too-thick snowsuit: “I can’t put my arms down!”
Bio: Petrella quit acting after a small role in 1984’s “Crimes of Passion” and a brief guest role on the TV sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes” in 1986. He now lives in San Francisco, where he works in local theater as a puppeteer. As for “A Christmas Story,” he remembers the three days it took to film the dinner scene where he had to eat “like a piggie.” “That was a lot of mashed potatoes … I think I got sick afterward.”

Flick, Ralphie’s friend
Actor: Scott Schwartz.
Best line: With increasing panic — “Thtuck. Thtuck! THTUCK!! AAAaaaaii!!”
Bio: The kid who got his tongue stuck on a pole left mainstream acting for porn films in the late 1990s. “I did what I did,” he said of his X-rated past. “Now I’m married and gonna work on a family soon. Did I break any laws? Did I go to jail? Nothing.” He currently works with his father at Baseball Cards and Movie Collectibles Etc., in suburban Los Angeles. He said he’s still very proud of “A Christmas Story.” “People say, ‘If you could trade, would you make, like, “E.T.” or would you still make “A Christmas Story”?’ I’ll take ’A Christmas Story.”’

Schwarz
Actor: R.D. Robb.
Best line: “I TRIPLE dog-dare you!”
Bio: Robb has had small roles as Marcia’s boyfriend in the spoof “The Brady Bunch Movie” and the 1996 kiddie-flick “Matilda.” He directed a movie, 2001’s “Don’s Plumb,” that featured Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio. The stars agreed to appear in the improvised, black-and-white film as a favor, then balked when he tried to release it and successfully sued to block its distribution in the United States. Robb recently served as a producer on the upcoming sci-fi thriller “One Point O.”

Scot Farkus
Actor: Zack Ward.
Best line: Taunting Ralphie before getting his comeuppance, “Come on, crybaby, cry for me!”
Bio: Ward played the trouble-prone brother on the sitcom “Titus” and had roles in “Almost Famous,” “Freddy vs. Jason,” the upcoming “Resident Evil: Apocalypse.” Now full of pride over “A Christmas Story,” he once found it embarrassing when his career was struggling. “I hated it,” he said. “A fan would say, ‘We love you, we watch it every single year …’ And I’d have to say, ’Thanks … Would you like french fries or salad with your burger?”

CHESTER, Vt.—It might be spring, but it looks a lot like Christmas in Chester.

The Hallmark Channel has transformed the town into “Santaville” for the two-week filming of a television movie “Moonlight and Mistletoe.”

The film, produced by Edgewood Studios of Rutland, features Tom Arnold as the character Nick who operates a Christmas theme park that is threatened by a real estate developer.

On Friday, 200 extras showed up with their winter coats to appear in the movie, despite the warm weather.

Crews sprayed pine trees with white foam and rolled out white snow blankets over the grass.

Sheri Goldberg, director of network program publicity for the Hallmark Channel, says plans were to film this winter but the script was delayed because of the writers’ strike.

It seems like only yesterday that we lost Jimmy Stewart. For those of us who love Christmas, Mr. Stewart is frozen in time as George Bailey, in It’s a Wonderful Life. (Click here to read how he remembers It’s a Wonderful Life). Though he left us in 1997 his hometown is remembering him this week on what would have been his 100th birthday.

When he returned home from World War II, Hollywood icon James Stewart was featured on the cover of Life magazine in front of the Indiana County courthouse.

“In New York, Stewart refused a hero’s welcome,” the text read. “Instead, he drove to Indiana, Pa., 50 miles from Pittsburgh. There, in his parents’ comfortable red-brick house overlooking the town, he slept late, played the piano and joked with his family about the old days.”

Just plain folks. That was the Jimmy Stewart legend. It also appears to have been much of the reality.

Starting with a community church service today, Indiana will celebrate the centennial of Stewart’s birth on May 20, 1908, with events titled “100 Years of America’s Hometown Hero” scattered over the next week.

As Stewart slowly fades from popular culture – while still finding new audiences with the Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life – Indiana’s 14,000 residents cling ever more proudly to a native son who seemed to embody all that was right and good about living a small-town life.

Stewart, in the Sept. 24, 1945, issue of Life, was pictured shaking hands and signing autographs for the home folks on Philadelphia Street in the downtown business district, where his family owned a hardware store for generations.

One evening last week, at the exact spot where the rail-thin, 6-foot-3 Stewart had stood in his Army Air Forces uniform, head and shoulders above the throng, Harry Spielman, 57, was playing with his 13-month-old granddaughter, Stella.

A half-block down the brick-trimmed sidewalk, the Indiana theater was showing Made of Honor, which, despite a relatively tame PG-13 rating, would likely have made a 1945 audience blush.

“I’ve never heard anything bad about Jimmy Stewart,” Spielman said. “He was never in the headlines for the wrong reason.”

He said Stewart, in real life, seemed to have been the same role model he often portrayed on screen, most memorably as George Bailey, the dutiful son, husband and brother who sacrifices his dream of going out into the big world, but discovers in the end that he’s had a wonderful life right at home.

Spielman, who has made his life as proprietor of H.B. Culpeppers, a restaurant and tavern on Philadelphia Street, said he loved to watch the old Stewart films on Turner Classic Movies. In addition to It’s a Wonderful Life, his favorites are Harvey and The Spirit of St. Louis.

Though other Hollywood stars also portrayed the decent common man, said Kevin Hagopian, a film-studies scholar at Pennsylvania State University, Stewart represented “something like the American character . . . self-deprecating humor, a can-do spirit, integrity in being a person of one’s word . . . generous in spirit, a person of deeds rather than words.” Hagopian called Stewart “the most capable American actor.”

While many other Hollywood stars spent the war years on publicity tours and bond drives, Stewart commanded a bomber squadron on 20 missions over Nazi-occupied Europe. Back in California, he was on the fund-raising committee for his Presbyterian church in Brentwood. He was married to the same woman for 44 years, and when his beloved Gloria died, he soon followed – at age 89 in 1997.

Spielman, among others in Indiana, said he understood that scrutiny of celebrities during Stewart’s film heyday – from the ’30s well into the ’70s – wasn’t nearly as intense as it is today.

But even today, Spielman suspects, Stewart’s clean image would hold up.

“He seems just like he was” on screen, he said.

All over town, other Indianans proudly said the same thing.

“Because of who he was, he is very easy to rally around. If you’re going to follow a Hollywood idol, Jimmy Stewart is about as good as it gets because of the lifestyle he represented,” said Michael J. Donnelly, publisher of the Indiana Gazette.

“We are fortunate to have a personality like Mr. Stewart to promote as a favorite son,” said Timothy Harley, who administers the town’s star tourist attraction: the Jimmy Stewart Museum, which features Stewart movie posters and loads of personal memorabilia.

For more about this event and the hometown of Jimmy Stewart, please see this link at Philly.com