Scrooge
 

It's that time of year for me to rewatch the 1951 Alistair Sim classic (released as "A Christmas Carol" in the US), and his acting again leaves me speechless. I have trouble imagining a heart so hard that it is not reduced to tears by this story, but I do not want to be around anyone who isn't moved. This is a movie that affects me just as Avatar does - not in the same way, but as greatly or nearly so. I just wish that more people who need to take its message to heart - as so many do, these days - would see it and let it touch them. I know it leaves me praying that I can be better, do better, and focus more on what is really important than the "business" I so often get caught up in. In terms of the power to change a viewer, Sim's is surely the greatest performance in history.

I failed to rent (not for a lack of trying) the 1951 Christmas Carol for my father from Netflix. Luckily, I will be able to DVR it for him on Monday evening on TCM. However, and I'm a little concerned given the last part of the quote, it's never moved me in the fashion that something like Avatar has.

I've seen so many versions of A Christmas Carol so many times, it feels kind of worn out for me and I can hardly remember what I thought about it before that.
If there is any Christmasy thing I am deeply moved by, it's this. It's a variation on The Nutcracker, which I have never seen in its original form (I now feel like the original could never compare to this, don't even really know what the original consists of). My mom mostly only did hair and wigs for Broadway, but she did some for this as well, which is probably the only reason I know about it.

http://markmorrisdancegroup.org/syst...s_postcard.jpg

As far as Christmas-y stuff goes, my favorites would be

1. Epicly lit houses. I mean people who go REALLY all out. I mean to the point where people driving by will stop, park or double park their car, and just stare at the incredibleness of it. I have experienced this twice. I see it and it's just beautiful. If they have boxes set up for charities, I donate happily.

2. The Trans-siberian orchestra. There was a time when I had really got irritated with pretty much all Christmas music. Then I discovered the trans-siberian orchestra.

Edited: And so it passed.