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I say that because for several summers when I would be in Thailand back in the day, there was a video store in what was -- at the time -- the largest mall in Southeast Asia where they had this video playing in the storefront window, and the Thais, without hearing the sound, would flock and stand in front watching this video. Every day, day after day.
This is funny, this movie just came up on another thread.
I have never seen it, and until City-Data, I never even heard of it.
That's very strange. I don't like the movie, and I don't go out of my way to avoid it, but there are some channels that play A Christmas Story 24/7 around the holiday. People quote it incessantly. There are kitschy gifts related to it in many stores. If you're not Amish, it'd be difficult to completely be innocent of its existence.
This article draws similarities between the two movies.
In my life, those who shake their head not getting the appeal of Christmas Story, also don't understand the appeal of Napoleon. It seems for the most part, that's been borne out in this thread.
As for the film world, A Christmas Story helped (in part) usher in the quirky realism of, say, Bottle Rocket and, later, Napoleon Dynamite. American audiences in the 1980s and 1990s and beyond grew to crave the sort of entertainment media that matched the complicated weirdness of real life.
I don't recall Napoleon Dynamite being all that realistic. Quirky, yes (too for my liking) but I don't remember it being realistic. Just because one writer think a it is, don't make it so. Male up your own opinion...
That's very strange. I don't like the movie, and I don't go out of my way to avoid it, but there are some channels that play A Christmas Story 24/7 around the holiday. People quote it incessantly. There are kitschy gifts related to it in many stores. If you're not Amish, it'd be difficult to completely be innocent of its existence.
LMAO. I'm not Amish, but sometimes I go for weeks without turning on the television. When I actually do, it's usually to get on the couch with snacks and watch Investigation Discovery for hours.
I'm not much of a shopper, either, so I probably missed the kitschy gifts, too!
When I'm at my S.O.'s the TV is on every day, and that's why it came up recently. He's a movie person, and in the 2+ years since we started seeing each other, I think I've seen more movies than I had in the previous 20.
Hold on to your hat--I've also never watched It's a Wonderful Life, although I knew that one existed. I just have always had a really hard time stomaching Jimmy Stewart's voice, although--again with the S.O.--I got through both Harvey and Little Shop Around The Corner on a James Stewart Day on AMC a few months ago. They were pretty good, actually.
In my observation, I've found that people who say they don't get the appeal of A Christmas Story also don't get the appeal of Napoleon Dynamite.
They're kind of similar, in my observation. Same kind of humor.
I love A Christmas Story but absolutely hated Napoleon Dynamite. Christmas Story is just a fun movie that takes you back to your childhood. I thought Napoleon Dynamite was awful and don't understand what anyone saw in it.
All I know is, it's a movie that struck a chord with me. But, I can't for the life of me see the similarities between A Christmas Story and Napoleon Dynamite. But, I did think there was some resemblance with South Park.
As an 80's kid (a poor one in a farm town in the upper midwest), you have to remember we didn't have tons of options. You were lucky to get the Farmer 5 TV channels, and we lived in town. I got a tiny used black and white tv for my room at a garage sale around 1988 and thought I was a king!
Half the shows we watched after school were black and white anyway. Andy Griffith, Leave it to Beaver etc. My cousins had this crazy thing called an Atari. But their dad was a banker.
The other two Christmas movies always on were that stupid goddamn claymation thing about Rudolph, and I think a Charlie Brown movie. Still hate Peanuts.
I knew kids that got the soap, an ass kicking was more common though. My uncle really did get a lump of coal in his stocking back in the 60's, neighborhood bullied, dares. To a small town 80's kid, that movie was and is directly RELATABLE.
I don't know what's there to 'get', it's a funny little tale playing on the themes of childhood and Christmas time as a child. Pretty easy to relate to if you were a child and Christmas played a role in your childhood.
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