[My Movie of the Week] A Christmas Story (1983) - So, for our final film selection of Christmas Movie Overload Month, well be highlighting an annual favorite A Christmas Story. A simple story about a boy who wants a BB gun for Christmas, this film is beloved by many as an example of holiday Americana . A Christmas Story is a 1983 American Christmas comedy film based on the short stories and semi-fictional anecdotes of author and raconteur Jean Shepherd, based on his book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, with some elements derived from Wanda Hickeys Night of Golden Memories. It was directed by Bob Clark. The film has since become a holiday classic and is shown numerous times on television during the Christmas season on the American network TBS, often in a 24-hour marathon. The film earned director Clark two Genie Awards. In 2012, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant Initially overlooked as a sleeper film, A Christmas Story was released a week before Thanksgiving 1983 to moderate success, earning about $2 million in its first weekend. Vincent Canbys mostly negative New York Times review echoed the more common response. Roger Ebert suggested the film had only modest success because holiday-themed films were not popular at the time. The film would go on to win two Genie Awards, for Bob Clarks screenplay and direction. By Christmas 1983, however, the film was no longer playing at most venues, but remained in about a hundred theaters until January 1984. Gross earnings were just over $19.2 million. In the years since, due to television airings and home video release, A Christmas Story has become widely popular and is now an annual Christmas special. The film was originally released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The rights to the film were acquired by Turner Entertainment Co. after Ted Turners purchase of MGMs pre-1986 film library. Subsequently, Time Warner purchased Turner Entertainment, and currently holds rights to the film. Over the years, the films critical reputation has grown considerably and it is considered by many to be one of the best films of 1983. Based on 52 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating from critics of 88%, with an average score of 8.5/10. The sites consensus reads: Both warmly nostalgic and darkly humorous, A Christmas Story deserves its status as a holiday perennial. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 77 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews. On December 24, 2007, AOL ranked the film their #1 Christmas movie of all time. IGN ranked the film the top holiday-themed movie of all time. In 2012, a Marist Poll named the film the most favorite holiday film in the U.S In November 2012, A Christmas Story: The Musical, based on the film, opened on Broadway. Written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (music and lyrics) and Joseph Robinette (book), the musical opened to positive reviews. The run ended December 30, 2012. The musical was directed by John Rando with choreography by Warren Carlyle and featured Dan Lauria as Jean Shepherd. The musical received Tony Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (Robinette), and Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre. Source: Wikipedia / IMDb --------------------------------------------- Be sure to check back all week long as we share fun and interesting content from the new MotW. What are your thoughts / impressions of the film A Christmas Story?
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 18:15:54 +0000
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