Category: Film

A Christmas Story centers around the story of a young boy looking to convince anyone and everyone that the best Christmas gift for him would be the Red Ryder BB gun, including his parents, Santa, and his teacher at school. As Christmas looms closer, he experiences all sorts of mishaps that would befall a kid in the 1980s, and we are swept along in the comedy and merriment of it all.

As a first time watcher of this classic movie, I feel like I have a more unique perspective, especially on some things that a young child watching this movie may not have picked up on. First, the subtle (and maybe not so subtle) sexism of the time period, shown in the “dictator father” and “housekeeping mother” stereotypes. Also, it was a terrible influence on children to regard a gun so highly! This influence probably gave many kids the idea that having a gun for themselves is a good idea and made them want one. However, despite its flaws, the movie was funny, heartwarming, silly, and a fun watch.

I really enjoyed that the movie was from Ralphie’s perspective, and that we got to hear his inner thoughts and daydreams. I think that there are not many movies today that are in this style, and it made for a very interesting and entertaining watch. When Ralphie imagined something as much more exaggerated than it was, like him being blind and his parents crying that they were sorry, it was a very realistic dream that a kid might have. And the fact that he thought his writing and ideas were amazing was also a funny addition that is certainly a trait all kids have. To hear everything from his perspective appealed to both a child, who could relate to his problems, as well as to an adult, who could laugh at the embellishment of it all.

The story was also humorous, in some ways that it was supposed to be, and some just because the time period was so different. It was intriguing to watch a movie from almost 40 years ago, as so much of what they considered normal would be so strange now. One example is that the children’s lifestyles were so different from what it is like today. The kids went places by themselves, even the little brother, and the teachers and parents let them roam around and play at such a young age. But it was also humorous because of the silly things that kids do, like dare each other to lick a cold lamppost, and believe very much in the power of Santa.

 

Also, just as a side note, I did not realize until watching this movie where that iconic leg lamp was from! I have seen it before, and I never knew its origins. I loved how much the dad loved the lamp, even though it was so ugly, and that Ralphie kept caressing it when they first received it.

Despite its flaws, I think this was a wonderful movie and a delightful story, that can be shared with a loved one or the whole family. Enjoy your holiday season!

Honey Boy is a film about a coming of age amidst fame. As much as the phrase “coming of age” may cause one to recoil from the assumed avalanche of clichés to come, this movie’s screenplay is by Shia LaBeouf and is slightly autobiographical. I think that alone is enough to engage people critical of the tired structure it confronts due to LaBeouf’s uneven and highly publicized trajectory post-Disney. The high acclaim I’ve been seeing from critics both in the newspaper and in social media doesn’t hurt your reasons to go, either.

 

Honey Boy is showing at the State Theater, so grab an $8.50 student ticket and try to forget about the insanity of finals season!!

“You’re tearing me apart, Lisa!”

“Why, Lisa, why, why?!”

“Everyone betrayed me! I’m fed up with this world.”

“They betrayed me, they didn’t keep their promise, they tricked me, and I don’t care anymore.”

 

Tommy Wiseau’s cries of anguish in cult classic The Room never get old, at least not for the loyal crowd that came out last Thursday. I found this to be one of the best The Room experiences I’ve had, as the crowd was clearly full of long-time fans and therefore not participating at the deafening pitch of the full house of virgins at Rocky at the Michigan Theater. The excited shouts of “Water!!” when a stock shot of bodies of water in San Francisco appeared, the encouraging “Go, go, go!” when the panning shots never seemed to end, and other beloved call outs (now including the offhand, “Ok, Boomer,” when Lisa’s mother is giving her advice) made for a really interactive and chaotic experience.

 

The film itself honestly can’t really be summed up via text. I can tell you that it’s poorly written, produced, and acted and thus one of the best cultural works in recent history, but that doesn’t really capture the specific disjointed and slightly baffling nature of this film.

 

Finally, the spoons. I have to talk about the spoons. To spoil one tradition of this movie experience, there is a specific framed photo of a spoon on the set that gets the most screen time in the film. Every time one spots said photo, it’s necessary to shout “SPOONS!” and (plastic) spoons are thrown in the air in celebration. This viewing had so many spoons and enthusiasm that between sightings people would reach down and into the aisles to gather spoons to throw at any triumphant moment for Tommy in the movie. At the end, people jumped on stage to throw the immeasurable amount of utensils back at the audience. The spoon obsession is simply the oddest and most enjoyable part of seeing The Room.

 

All this being said, this movie is also an amazing look into unfiltered male ego, misogyny, and conservatism. The tone deaf nature of this film broadcasts this uncomfortable mindset, but in such a poorly executed way that it feels made to be ironically consumed. There’s no guilt in booing Lisa, the classic “woman as temptress” archetype, because she’s so cartoonishly evil that there’s no way to not be in on the joke.

 

Next time you see The Room making the rounds, whether that’s in Ann Arbor, Royal Oak, or elsewhere, grab an unsuspecting friend and enjoy bemoaning the betrayal of the pseudo-Christ himself, Tommy Wiseau (er, “Johnny”).

Welcome to the holiday season! A Christmas Story is playing for free this Sunday December 8th at 1:30 in the Michigan Theater screening room. A holiday classic, the story centers around a young boy named Ralphie Parker, who lives in 1940’s Ohio. Throughout the movie, he doges bullies, visits Santa, witnesses his dad win a major award, and most importantly attempts to convince everyone that a Red Ryder BB gun really is the perfect Christmas gift. A movie for the whole family!

Here is a link to the page on the Michigan Theater website: https://www.michtheater.org/show/a-christmas-story/

The show is free so make sure to arrive early to guarantee a seat!

The cult classic, The Room will be showing Thursday, December 5th at 10pm this week. It’s the same protocol as Rocky: don’t read a synopsis, don’t look up the show rituals, just come and be prepared to get pelted with spoons.

 

For the spoiler-prone folks, The Room is one of those, so-good-it’s-bad type deals where the ego of man is given a shoestring budget and a movie set. The film is rich with discontinuities, uncomfortable intimate scenes, and acting so bad it almost feels like an ironic, auteur-driven choice like that of The Lobster and other cerebral movies of the past decade. The Room is the ultimate oppositional viewing experience, so grab a student ticket for $8.50 and join the celebration of a masterpiece.