The Bridget Jones sequel kind of hacked me off along the same lines as others said, in that it both trivialized imprisonment in a foreign country and seemed to humiliate and punish Bridget for daring to insist on being treated in a kind and respectful manner by her significant other.
I mean yes, Darcy came through for her in a pinch with the Rube Goldberg-style investigative machinations THAT WE WERE TOLD ABOUT BUT NEVER SAW, but I can't help thinking that comforting a scared woman in a very vulnerable situation with a tiny show of kindness might have been a nice touch even if his pride were wounded. Not to mention actually acting as if he cared for her in public rather than treating her with steely indifference before the big breakup.
I also hated how
poor Rebecca's confession of love
was treated--again, trivializing what should have been a more important moment for her, and making it just another "wacky" thing to happen to Bridget.
Just watched The Ref again over at a friend's house this weekend. Definitely my favorite "Christmas movie".
Never saw Bad Santa, but I'm not a fan of crude humor, so I have a feeling I wouldn't care for it. Crude humor will completely ruin something for me even if there is some other genuinely funny stuff involved, unless it's used in extreme moderation. (This being why I can't stand South Park. I'll flip past it, catch something that is funny and then they'll immediately follow it up with something that turns my stomach.)
Just watched The Ref again over at a friend's house this weekend. Definitely my favorite "Christmas movie".
That's definately on my list along with
Scrooged!
Ooh, beathen has a point. How could I have forgotten that one?! Ah, Bill Murray.
Usually, I'd go for cynical over heartwarming any day, but in this case, I have to admit that my favorite Christmas movie is
Meet Me In St. Louis
and I really can't see any movie displacing that off its perch soon.
Damn. Earwormed with the "Trolley Song".
Margaret O'Brien is refreshingly morbid in Meet Me in St. Louis, and her meltdown when she destroys her snow family is heartbreaking.
refreshingly morbid
Two words that should go together more often....
My favorite Christmas movie -- well, show, I guess -- is How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The animated one, not the Ron Howard travesty. The bit at the ending always works for me. "Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas means just a little bit more." I liked The Ref well enough, but not so much that I'd go out of my way to see it again. I burned out on A Christmas Story. Some channel had it on for 24 hours straight over Christmas one year, and my BiL insisted on keeping it on all day long.
I loved Molin Rouge. I also loved La Boheme. For that matter, the English translation of Murger's Scenes de la Vie de Boheme (on which La Boheme was based) is pretty good. If you like short stories with related characters set in 19th century Paris I'd recommend it.
Oooh, must join Vonnie in the Meet Me in St. Louis corner. I must think of it as a Judy Garland movie rather than a Christmas movie, because it didn't even occur to me despite being one of my two all-time favorites.