Surely today's topic is one that needs no introduction – and so I'm going to introduce you to another related topic. Director Bob Clark made his first Christmas movie in 1974 – a bloody little thing entitled Black Christmas
. (It was remade six years ago, but we don't need to talk about that.)
tells the story of a group of girls living in a sorority house who get bizarre and frenetic phone calls wherein a violently hyperactive voice blathers on a bunch of unintelligible sounds and something about “Billy.” The girls are more amused than anything – until they start dying one at a time. Sound cliché? Maybe a little, but it's a fun film, tense and thoroughly entertaining. Also, it pioneered the killer's-eye-view camera trick mistakenly attributed to John Carpenter's
Halloween
, which didn't come out until 1978. My point:
Black Christmas
is my holiday movie recommendation for the week.
Fast-forward to 1983 when Clark released yet another Christmas film – one much more light-hearted and more well-known. I am, of course, referring to the great comedy
. Young Ralphie is bit by the Christmas bug, and all he can think about is his ideal present: a Red Ryder BB gun with a compass in the stock and “this thing which tells time.” He is tenacious in his quest to obtain this, despite being told by his parents, his teacher, and Santa Claus himself that he'll shoot his eye out. Meanwhile, he has to deal with all the trials and tribulations of being a suburban kid.
Cinemark Tinseltown is bestowing a great gift upon us this holiday season by screening A Christmas Story twice today, at 2:00 and 7:00. Tinseltown is located at 4400 Towne Center Drive. Further theater information can be found at the Tinseltown website.
Image: Internet Movie Database
