It's Christmas Time at the Movies

Rating:
Summary: A lot of Fun
Review: A collection of short pieces on every Christmas movie you can think of, and then some that you didn't think of.

Each selection includes a plot summary, cast/credit list and behind the scenes goodies the gang at Midnight Marquee is famous for providing in their magazine (Midnight Marquee).

My family and I had a great time with this collection, and I think you will too!

Rating:
Summary: Good topic, poor execution
Review: I have yet to see a really good book about the ways in which movies treat the theme of Christmas. This one had potential, but as if often the case with Midnight Marquee books, the result is shoddy. In addition to the publisher's usual problems of poor proofreading and lackluster production values, the book is really nothing more than hundreds of pages of plot summaries, with very little space devoted to any kind of thoughtful analysis. In this day and age of near-instant access to movies of almost all eras, such incredibly detailed plot summaries should not be necessary. Analysis and interpretation wind up getting short shrift in almost all cases. The authors have managed to include practically every major movie with a Christmas theme; it's nice to see often-overlooked movies like The Holly and the Ivy mentioned next to It's a Wonderful Life and Holiday Inn. Overall, however, I felt very disappointed that such an intriguing idea was turned into an such an underdeveloped and carelessly produced book.

Rating:
Summary: Good source for Christmas movies
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It contains all of my favorite Christmas movies. Plus, it contained some movies I had never heard of. Based on the reviews, I have been checking out these unheard of movies (at least for me). I found 2 movies and were able to see them on TCM or AMC. They were Christmas in Connecticut with Barbara Stanwyck (she was wonderful) and Bachelor Mother with Ginger Rogers (she didn't need Fred) and David Niven. These were truly delightful movies and I would never have thought to watch them without the book. I pull out the book around Thanksgiving (I guess I'll have to pull it out even earlier now that Christmas promotions are starting in September!) and check the TCM and AMC website to see if any of the movies I'm interested in are playing. If you want a good reference source for your holiday viewing, this book is for you. It has great pictures, too!

Rating:
Summary: Good source for Christmas movies
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It contains all of my favorite Christmas movies. Plus, it contained some movies I had never heard of. Based on the reviews, I have been checking out these unheard of movies (at least for me). I found 2 movies and were able to see them on TCM or AMC. They were Christmas in Connecticut with Barbara Stanwyck (she was wonderful) and Bachelor Mother with Ginger Rogers (she didn't need Fred) and David Niven. These were truly delightful movies and I would never have thought to watch them without the book. I pull out the book around Thanksgiving (I guess I'll have to pull it out even earlier now that Christmas promotions are starting in September!) and check the TCM and AMC website to see if any of the movies I'm interested in are playing. If you want a good reference source for your holiday viewing, this book is for you. It has great pictures, too!

Rating:
Summary: A Heartfelt Endeavor
Review: In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I've contributed a scattered word or two to "It's Christmas Time at the Movies." So have a good many other writers, all of whom drop all highfalutin' film-critic baggage for the occasion and revel wholeheartedly in the opportunity to reminisce about many favorite (and some not-so-favorite) Yuletide pictures.

That's the beauty of the book, which at once attempts a near-comprehensive inventory and then encourages its commentators to write from the heart.

In December of 2001, I turned over one of our Fort Worth Film Festival auditoriums to a resurrection of the 1954 "White Christmas," which is arguably the centerpiece of "It's Christmas Time at the Movies." The showing sold out some 300 seats, and everybody seemed thoroughly well attuned to the film's message of common decency, camaraderie and good humor in the face of disappointment. Several of the audience members brought along copies of "It's Christmas Time at the Movies," if only to demonstrate their devotion to the main attraction.

Just goes to show you how profoundly many of these season-specific movies have touched the Heartland Audience, and how this savvy book's refusal to reduce Christmas-movie commentary to eggheaded Cultural Analysis has established it as a treasure among the only audience that matters. The entire point is to take Film Appreciation down from the Ivory Tower and make it accessible to the mass audience -- something that Midnight Marquee Press has managed to accomplish across the board, with a lengthy track record and a hefty résumé of titles to prove it.

Rating:
Summary: A Heartfelt Endeavor
Review: In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I've contributed a scattered word or two to "It's Christmas Time at the Movies." So have a good many other writers, all of whom drop all highfalutin' film-critic baggage for the occasion and revel wholeheartedly in the opportunity to reminisce about many favorite (and some not-so-favorite) Yuletide pictures.

That's the beauty of the book, which at once attempts a near-comprehensive inventory and then encourages its commentators to write from the heart.

In December of 2001, I turned over one of our Fort Worth Film Festival auditoriums to a resurrection of the 1954 "White Christmas," which is arguably the centerpiece of "It's Christmas Time at the Movies." The showing sold out some 300 seats, and everybody seemed thoroughly well attuned to the film's message of common decency, camaraderie and good humor in the face of disappointment. Several of the audience members brought along copies of "It's Christmas Time at the Movies," if only to demonstrate their devotion to the main attraction.

Just goes to show you how profoundly many of these season-specific movies have touched the Heartland Audience, and how this savvy book's refusal to reduce Christmas-movie commentary to eggheaded Cultural Analysis has established it as a treasure among the only audience that matters. The entire point is to take Film Appreciation down from the Ivory Tower and make it accessible to the mass audience -- something that Midnight Marquee Press has managed to accomplish across the board, with a lengthy track record and a hefty r?sum? of titles to prove it.

Rating:
Summary: Passionate but Lacking
Review: Santa only knows, someone should write a decent overview of holiday movies, but this tome isn't it. Awkwardly arranged, filled with typos, poorly written (and seemingly not edited at all) and, perhaps worst of all, very narrow minded, this book is a huge disappointment. The authors reveal not only a sensibility so mainstream as to accept poor films because they "work," but there is an obvious moral compass applied to their criticism (allusions to sex or any profanity automatically make a film bad).
The Svehlas go into ridiculously superfluous detail in delineating the plots of these movies (while giving barely any historical background), then tack on ham handed critiques at the end. They obviously have a great deal of affection for the holidays and Hollywood, but passion isn't enough to make this a good book.