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mixed lot of movies on a xmas theme. will update as watched:
santa claus conquers the martians: a 1964 classic you haven't seen. really i'm not sure why this doesn't get shown on tv more. ok i'm kidding a bit but if you think a martian movie from 64 is anything like serious you're looking in the wrong direction. you should figure it out before the movie kicks in...the intro music is groov-a-delic! the movie is total camp, outrageous, silly, cheap, and yes fun! the leader of mars realizes his kids and the martian kids are hopelessly devoid of emotion. we see exactly no more kids in the movie than the leaders two, bomar and girmar...aka boy and girl...hahahaha..oh man. but momar...aka mom... and kimar...aka king (i assume) are not happy that their kids are bored and they decide mars needs santa claus...from earth. actually kimar takes the advice of some weird 900 year old mystic in a cave...but its an off moment in this film (if that can be). so kimar assembles his men, and the dofus dropo who stows away on the space ship, to fly to earth and kidnap santa accidentally kidnapping 2 earth kids while they are at it. voldar, one of the men, is the bad guy in the movie. he thinks bringing santa to mars will make mars kids dumb, he wants to kill the earth kids after they gain santa's whereabouts from them, and eventually he'll kidnap santa from the kidnappers...but...well watch and see.
the movie is lighthearted camp. it is fun and it kept my attention enough to watch despite the disk from this amc set being a disastrous copy. its clearly from film which doesn't bother me in the slightest even when it suddenly darkens. but the audio which also varies occasionally is just screwed up on my copy. it waivers and chops, constantly feeling like the tape track has broken or crinkled or something. its harsh to take. can't recommend this copy but the movie itself is recommended especially if you like cheesy 50's and 60's sci-fi or are somewhat obsessive about xmas movies. if both is true then this is a must see!!
rate: 7 movie, 1 amc's dvd transfer.
scrooge, a christmas carol: the box says this is the 1938 version but it is in fact 1935 version. seymore hicks plays scrooge, not (as in the '38 version) reginold owen. there is apparently also 2 different versions of the '35 film with one having edited scenes at the end. i can't say which this one is. i'd guess its the shorter version. there is also colorized versions of this now but i'm not sure why. it was filmed in black and white and is nice to see that way. the story everyone knows; scrooge is a mean old man only concerned about money and his hired help is made to suffer his cruelness. primarily in the story by working on christmas instead of spending it with his family. however scrooge is visited by 4 ghosts. yes four although most call it three. however the first ghost tells scrooge he will be visited by the past,present,future three. so he is and its a clever use of filming too. the ghost of past is a lighted angel like form, the ghost of future is a shadow mostly pointing about, and only the ghost of present is actually shown as a hefty and exuberant man. they show scrooge the wrongs of his ways and what will become of his life and then the finale; a change of heart. even though the film is in rough shape with scratches, flatness, and some haloing, it remains beautiful. the character of it enhances rather than detracts.
i haven't seen the new dvd which offers the color version as the primary copy and a copy of the black and white to watch as well. maybe that copy is better. i can't say. but this was fine for me and totally worth watching. its a classic done very well.
rate: 9
