This movie about Ralphie and his quest for a Red Rider BB Gun seems to be as inevitable as crowded malls this time of year. I’ve found it to be one of those movies that people either adore or loathe, sort of the cinematic equivalent of Marshmallow Peeps.
Me, I hate it. I can’t really put my finger on why because I have no intention of sitting through it to figure it out but I hated it the first time I saw it as a kid and I still hate it 25+ years later.
My friend Marty, on the other hand, proudly names it as his favorite movie of all time. Every Christmas he puts his “major award” in the middle of his bay window and is all too happy to invite folks in to take a better look at it.
So I present the question to the SDMB: love it, hate it, or somewhere in between?
Love it. One of the funniest movies ever, and one that strikes a remarkable balance by being warm and nostalgic without being mawkish, and at the same time gently cynical/satirical without being nasty.
Love it. It’s immensely quotable (probably second only to The Princess Bride. It’s funny and cozy and warm.
After my dad died and I moved away, my mother started going with her sister to a Chinese restaurant on Christmas day. Every time she’d tell me what she did on Christmas, I’d start singing “Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra, ra-ra-ra-ra!” I think the movie is ingrained my brain at this point.
Oh OP, I thought I was the only one! I don’t mind the leg lamp because I think it’s rather cool looking, but I can’t stand the film. And the yearly 24 hour marathon of it the rest of the family loves makes me want to shoot my eyes out, and my ears too.
We should start a support group or something, coffinjumper
It is kind of funny that this thread is currently right under the thread “Deck the hars with bars of horry fa ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra” in the Cafe Society menu.
I adore it. I would, left to my own devices, happily sit in front of the tube and watch it for 24 hours instead of the horrors of the day I will have to wade through this year. It’s everything MY Christmas isn’t, and I’m old enough I DO remember certain things from that time. Plus it just gives me a good warm feeling, and it’s witty and hilarious in spots.
I saw it when it came out and I thought it was okay, but nothing special. I’ve tried to watch it a couple of times since, thinking I must be missing something because people love it so much…but it just doesn’t do anything for me.
Loved the book when I read it years ago, and when it was made into a movie I thought it was an instant classic. In fact…my home holiday outfit this year is the red tee shirt with Ralphie’s pic and the words, “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out Kid!” (And the bottoms are a soft white, black and red Betty Boop loungers. Yep, love me some Betty Boop, too.)
I had to select “other” because I’ve never seen more than bits and pieces of it. What I saw looked kind of funny and sorta heartwarming but not enough to actually sit down and watch from beginning to end.
Just the other day my wife received a package marker: “Fragile” (Fra-jil-a, it’s French for something) and I had to ask her if she had won a major award.
I don’t hate it, but I voted so because I do kinda dislike it. I was turned off on it as a kid, because the trailers showed his dream sequence, “Come and see Santa” “You’ll poke your eyes out.” It is a charming bit of nostalgia, and its a cute story based around a kid’s perception of the world, and the humor is well integrated throughout, so its a well made film. And I’ll sit though it, and laugh at the lamp subplot, the blue balls gag, Chinese dinner because the dogs have stolen the turkey, etc.
But, for me, just like the TV show The Wonder Years, that adult voice over the young kid actor’s expressions, that only works, for me, for about 5 minutes. Then the film/TV show is just milking the theme. Now The Wonder Years, that I hate, because it milked the theme for years.
Voted other, and I actually had this conversation last night. I think the movie is wonderful but thanks to TNT’s yearly marathons, I believe I’ve watched A Christmas Story more times than any other film ever. And I am just completely sick of it.
It doesn’t make it a bad film (so I can’t say I ‘hate’ it), I just never want to see it ever again.
but I hated it the first time I saw it as a kid and I still hate it 25+ years later.