The Moviefone Blog

The Best and Worst Prequels Ever

Alonso Duralde — 2011-06-01T12:00:00+00:00

Let's face it -- prequels, for the most part, suck. They tend to be even lamer than sequels, which, though often repetitive and pointless, at least get to launch from the previous film's endpoint. Prequels, on the other hand, are forced to operate within the universe of the original movie and can't stray far from the established order of the story that they're leading up to.

So, with 'X-Men: First Class' going back to the JFK years to show how Professor Xavier and Magneto originally pulled the whole mutant funky bunch together, let's look back at the best and worst that the prequel genre has to offer:

THE BEST

'The Godfather Part II'
Admittedly, this is both prequel and sequel to the landmark gangster flick 'The Godfather' -- half of the movie stars Robert De Niro as a younger version of Marlon Brando's Don Vito Corleone, emigrating to America as a child and learning the ropes of organized crime, while the other half picks up where the first film left off, with Al Pacino's Michael Corleone following somewhat uneasily in his father's footsteps.

'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'
Set a few years before the action of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', this adventure follows a slightly younger Indy (Harrison Ford) on an adventure that often mirrors the highlights of one of director Steven Spielberg's childhood faves, 'Gunga Din'. The film's mix of over-the-top action, hilarious gross-outs (that dinner party!) and Spielberg's future wife Kate Capshaw belting "Anything Goes" in Cantonese make it one of the greats.

'The Hobbit'
OK, this one's sort of cheating, but there are so few good prequels that we had to go out on a limb a bit. This animated feature was directed by Rankin/Bass decades before Peter Jackson sunk his teeth into the live-action 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, but until Jackson finishes his own 'Hobbit' prequels, it is (by default) the best screen adaptation of the Tolkien story about how Bilbo Baggins got that ring in the first place.

THE WORST

'Butch and Sundance: The Early Days'
Some talented actors (Tom Berenger, William Katt) and filmmakers (director Richard Lester, cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs) labored on this one, but perhaps Roger Ebert put it best: "If events of crucial interest had really happened to Butch and Sundance in the early days, either (a) they would have been included in the original movie, or (b) the present film would not have waited so easily for ten years to be made."

'Hannibal Rising'
Did we really need to learn that Hannibal Lecter became a cannibal and serial killer because he had a traumatic childhood and wanted to avenge the death of his sister at the hand of Nazis? A noxious blend of historical drama and martial-arts-training movie, with occasional beefcake shots of its shirtless "hero" (played blandly by Gaspard Ulliel).

'Star Wars Episodes I-III'
You know, the movies where we find out that The Force can actually be measured as microscopic blood organisms. And where young Darth Vader built C-3PO, but nobody remembers it later. And where Luke and Leia get conceived in one of cinema history's worst love scenes ever. And Jar Jar Binks.

What are your favorite and least favorite prequels?

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The Best (and Worst) Celebrity-Voiced Animals in Cartoons

Alonso Duralde — 2011-05-28T12:30:00+00:00

Animated voice-over roles used to go almost exclusively to performers like the great June Foray, who voiced Rocky the Squirrel and gajillions of other characters in film and TV cartoons over the years. But the success of 'Shrek' suddenly meant that you couldn't sell an animated feature without filling your movie with A-listers like Jack Black and Angelina Jolie, who play two of the key roles in this weekend's new release 'Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom.'

And while those actors -- as well as co-stars like Dustin Hoffman, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross and Michelle Yeoh -- do exceptional work in the film, casting well-known stars isn't a guarantee that they're going to do justice to talking-animal characters. (Note to producers: The animal characters in 'Tangled' were the best thing in the movie. And they didn't speak.)

Here's a look at some of our favorite -- and least favorite -- anthropomorphic work from celebrities in the recording booth.

THE BEST

Ellen DeGeneres in 'Finding Nemo'
No one has yet received an Oscar nomination for voice-over work, but if anyone deserved one, it was DeGeneres. As a Blue Tang fish named Dory, who has serious short-term memory issues, the comedian made us not only laugh but also empathize with and root for this hilarious sidekick. Her exasperating forgetfulness and goofy energy meshed perfectly with Albert Brooks' slow burn as Marlin.

George Sanders in 'The Jungle Book'
One of the first Disney movies to employ well-known actors for its voice cast, the 1967 adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling stories was full of unforgettable performances, from Phil Harris's friendly Baloo to Sebastian Cabot's stern but loving Bagheera to Louis Prima's off-the-wall ape king. But it's Sanders who steals the show, putting his condescending, autocratic purr to perfect use as the sinister tiger Shere Khan.

Julia Roberts in 'Charlotte's Web'
The original, 2D animated version of the beloved E.B. White novel gave us an overly unctuous Debbie Reynolds as Charlotte -- although Paul Lynde nailed it as Templeton the rat -- but the 2006 CGI remake gets the title character just right, with Roberts giving the spider just the right maternal mix of no-nonsense taskmaster and warm, loving kindness.

THE WORST

Jesse Eisenberg in 'Rio'
Eisenberg's a fine actor, and in his relatively brief career to date he's played an interesting mix of roles, from a drug-smuggling Hasidic Jew ('Holy Rollers') to an Internet-controlling supernerd ('The Social Network'). But while his uniquely neurotic style of delivery lends itself to an eclectic mix of live-action characters, it's all wrong for an animated blue macaw. There's never a moment where you stop thinking, That's Jesse Eisenberg's voice, and lose yourself in the performance. (See also: Ben Stiller in 'Madagascar.')

Queen Latifah in the 'Ice Age' movies
Again, she's a terrific performer in live-action films, but her work in this dreadful-but-somehow-popular franchise feels like she's phoning it in. When she records the voice of Ellie the mammoth, it feels like she's looking at a note card that reads "WARM AND MATERNAL." The result is a gooey, simpering performance that sounds like she's narrating a commercial for a chain of family-style restaurants.

Robert De Niro in 'Shark Tale'
OK, so the idea of casting De Niro as a mobster who's literally a shark could have been an opportunity for some hilarious self-parody, but the acclaimed actor lazily spoofs himself in a turn so uninspired that it makes 'Analyze That' look like a nugget of comedic genius. Fuhgeddaboutit.

Check out reviews for 'Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom'

Check Out Moviefone's Summer Movie Guides:

Action | Comedies |

Chick Flicks and Rom-Coms | Family and Kids | Independents

Summer's Sexiest Women of 2011: Penelope Cruz

Alonso Duralde — 2011-05-18T19:00:00+00:00

About to slash up screens everywhere this weekend as a saucy buccaneer in 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,' Penélope Cruz has, in just 20 years, gone from being a promising newcomer in Spanish cinema to raising temperatures around the globe as one of the sexiest women in the world.

Perhaps no performer since Sophia Loren (who co-starred with Cruz in the musical 'Nine') has won over audiences with equal parts acting chops and va-va-voomery. And now that she's nailed the whole bilingual thing, Cruz gets raves for English-language movies like 'Vicky Christina Barcelona' (which won her an Oscar) and 'Elegy' while still returning home to Spain to work with her close friend and mentor, Pedro Almodóvar.

But whether she's acting in Spanish or in English, Cruz suffuses almost every role with a palpable sexuality that has made her one of this generation's hottest international stars. Keep reading to find out more about just a few of Cruz's hottest moments on the big screen.

'Jamon, Jamon' (1992)

Cruz's international breakthrough movie paired her with another sexy Spaniard who would later become her husband, Javier Bardem. Bardem plays a stud who's been hired to seduce Cruz away from her rich boyfriend, although the two wind up falling for each other. They have sex under one of those giant bull-shaped billboards that dot the Spanish countryside, and at one point the two have a conversation about whether or not her breasts taste like ham. (Trust us -- it's sexy in context.)

(NSFW)

'Woman on Top' (2000)

Speaking of food and sex, Cruz combines the two in this delightfully silly comedy as a woman whose extreme motion sickness forces her to always be on top when coupling with her somewhat dissatisfied husband, played by Murilo Benício. When the two of them finally make up by cooking a special dish together, romantic and gastronomic fireworks ensue.

'Volver' (2006)

Cruz received her first Oscar nomination for playing a wronged housewife facing her family's darkest secrets. It's a stunning performance, and while there are no actual sex scenes in the film, Cruz glows -- she's not only vivacious, she's voluptuous, thanks to some posterior padding provided to her by Almodóvar, giving Cruz an earthy sexuality along the lines of the great Italian actress Anna Magnani. (Cruz later said that she was sad to give up the rump-enhancing prosthetics after shooting had ended.)

'Vicky Christina Barcelona' (2008)

Re-teamed with Bardem -- these two are the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers of the horizontal mambo -- the two Spaniards engage in an extremely steamy threeway with Scarlett Johansson, playing an American tourist who gets involved with Bardem's artist character and, eventually, Cruz as Bardem's volatile ex. It's arguably the most pulse-pounding sex scene in director Woody Allen's entire oeuvre.

'Nine' (2009)

Who knew phone sex, lingerie and show tunes were such a potent combination? A barely-clad Cruz delivers choreographed writhing and an irresistible come-on with "A Call From the Vatican," a heavy-breathing musical number sung to director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) by his hot-to-trot mistress.

Which of Penélope Cruz's sexiest moments are your favorite?

Review: James Franco and Anne Hathaway As Oscar Hosts -- Bring Back David Letterman!

Alonso Duralde — 2011-02-28T00:27:00+00:00

One of the zillion tweets posted during this year's Academy Awards said it best: "Tonight's show finally answers the whole 'What can't James Franco do?' thing." The famous multi-tasker may draw acclaim as an actor, a graduate student, a filmmaker and creator of art installations, but Franco flopped as co-host of the Academy Awards. Throughout the evening, his teleprompter readings seemed drab and forced, and as the show plodded along, he seemed more resigned to the fact that it just wasn't working.

Anne Hathaway, for her part, smiled gamely and carried on. After firing off an early gag about how demographic-minded a show this was going to be -- she and Franco were clearly hired as hosts in a desperate attempt to get younger audiences to tune in to a three-and-a-half-hour tribute to 'The King's Speech' -- she kept her energy levels aloft and actually seemed to be having a good time.

Watch the 2011 Oscars Cold Open

Granted, there's plenty wrong with the Oscar show that has nothing to do with the hosts. For one thing, great gobs of time are spent either navel-gazing over the history of Hollywood (or the Academy Awards themselves) or explaining what various categories actually mean. Do we really have to go over Sound Mixing or Editing every year? When's the last time the Grammys stopped to explain what jazz is?

Still, when Billy Crystal got a rapturous standing ovation, it definitely seemed like the crowd was fondly remembering his stints as a host, and wishing that he was up there instead of Hathaway and Franco. Crystal wound up being there to introduce yet another historical bit, this one about the first televised Oscar ceremony, that included some creepy holograms of Bob Hope saying "Thanks, Billy," and introducing Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law.

I'm not old enough to remember Hope's hosting gigs at the Oscars, but I do fondly recall another funny man's stint as the master of ceremonies: Johnny Carson. Carson wound up being the perfect guy for the gig in many respects; not only was he hilarious and capable of coming up with great extemporaneous running gags (with the help of the writers backstage, of course), but since he wasn't in the movie business himself, he didn't have to bow and scrape to the award-winners and givers.

Crystal was great too, although his shtick ran thin after a while. (His opening number was originally a parody of overblown opening numbers before becoming overblown themselves over time.) Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Jon Stewart -- and even the much-maligned David Letterman -- brought a lot of laughs to an evening that can get deadly dull and way too self-serious. (Of course, you can't get too harsh with the famous folks, apparently, lest you receive the pillorying that Ricky Gervais endured after his acridly hilarious hosting job at the Golden Globes.)

To be fair, Hathaway did seem capable of firing off the occasional one-liner, but Franco came off as a tad bewildered, as though he were working on a term paper during the commercial breaks. Don't be surprised if their hosting gig gets mentioned in the same breath as such immortal Oscar disasters as "Rob Lowe dances with Snow White" and "that musical number featuring Telly Savalas, Teri Garr, and Pat Morita."

David Letterman's Oscar work suddenly looks a whole lot better. Come to think of it, so does choreographer Debbie Allen's.

See James Franco Onstage in Drag

Op-Ed: Why Were the Oscars So Boring?
TV Squad Review: This Year's Ceremony Works Despite Mismatched Hosts

More on the 2011 Oscars

10 Children's Movies That Won't Bore Adults

Alonso Duralde — 2011-02-17T10:00:00+00:00

While some parents may use DVDs as a way to park their kids in front of the TV for 90 minutes of peace and quiet, there are plenty of moms and dads out there who consider movie time with the kids to be an opportunity to hang out and enjoy something together.

These parents probably know that, once you've worked your way through the Pixar and classic Disney animated catalogs, it can be tricky to find something that will both entertain the rugrats and allow the grown-ups to maintain consciousness.

Here are 10 solid movie choices that are fun for all ages:

'Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein' (1948)
While this comedy classic is ostensibly a vehicle for the famous titular duo, it's also an all-star extravaganza of the classic Universal horror stable. In addition to Frankenstein's monster (played here by Glenn Strange), we also get Bela Lugosi reprising his role as Count Dracula and Lon Chaney Jr. once again playing the Wolf Man. It's just the right amount of scary for even the littlest kids, and Abbott and Costello's shtick remains hilarious to new generations of viewers.

'The Black Stallion' (1979)
As we learned from the first third of 'WALL-E,' dialogue is overrated when you've got a really talented filmmaker telling the story. This sweeping tale of a shipwrecked boy and horse who become friends on a desert island -- and who team up to win races after they're returned to civilization -- is stirring and exciting. This is a gorgeous movie to look at (fun fact: the cinematography is by the great Caleb Deschanel, father of Zooey and Emily) and the film's young hero is one whom kid viewers will totally identify with.

'Destroy All Monsters!' (1968)
Speaking of all-star casts, Japanese studio Toho hauled out practically its entire army of zipper-backed monsters for this lollapalooza about Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan and the rest of the gang escaping from Monster Island and wreaking havoc on the planet. It turns out our fire-breathing friends are being mind-controlled by aliens bent on taking over Earth, so naturally all of this leads to a kaiju-versus-flying-saucers finale that will have you at the edge of your sofa. If you want to introduce your kids to the wonder that is vintage Godzilla -- and if you don't, what the heck is your problem? -- there's no better place to start.

'Duck Soup' (1933)
Yes, granted, your children will have to be of a certain age to get the wild wordplay and tongue-in-cheek anti-war satire that the Marx Brothers bring to this comedy masterpiece, but there's enough crazy slapstick on display here to delight the littlest movie-watchers. Whether it's Harpo and Chico tormenting a street vendor (at one point, Harpo rolls up his pants legs and dangles his feet in the man's lemonade tank), Groucho sliding down a fireman's pole to attend his presidential inauguration, or the classic "mirror gag" (later reprised by Lucille Ball and practically every other physical comedian), 'Duck Soup' is course after course of hilarity.

'The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T' (1953)
The closest that live-action cinema has ever come to recreating the wildly colorful, My-First-Surrealism style of Dr. Seuss would have to be this twisted kids' adventure -- probably because Theodore Geisel, the good doctor himself, co-wrote the screenplay. The film tells the story of Bartholomew Collins, a kid who would rather be doing anything else than practicing the piano for his stentorian teacher Dr. Terwilliker (Hans Conried). Bartholomew dozes off and imagines that he and 499 other boys have been kidnapped to play the Dr.'s mile-long, double-decker piano -- and that Dr. T has nefarious intentions toward Bartholomew's mother. Too twisted for the 1950s, this outrageous and oddball film has only recently gotten the respect it deserves.

'Fly Away Home' (1996)
Somewhere between 'The Piano' and 'True Blood,' Anna Paquin starred in this beloved story about a young girl -- distraught over her mother's death and is unhappy about having to go live with her estranged father (Jeff Daniels) -- who rescues a gaggle of wild geese eggs when a construction crew destroys their nesting area. To save the young birds from having their wings clipped by game warden, the girl must lead the geese to the skies in a light aircraft and teach them how to migrate south for the winter. Another riveting and moving tale of kids and nature from director Carroll Ballard ('The Black Stallion').

'The Parent Trap' (1998) | 'Freaky Friday' (2003)
Use Lindsay Lohan's recent years as a cautionary tale if you must, but there's no denying that before things turned, she was as charming and ebullient as comedic child stars come. Her performances as twins (one British, one American) in 'The Parent Trap' and as a teen girl who switches bodies with her mom (Jamie Lee Curtis) in 'Freaky Friday' were pitch-perfect -- which is why so many of us hope she's not beyond making a comeback. Also worth checking out are the original versions of both movies: Hayley Mills' turn in the first 'Parent Trap' (1961) is one for the ages, as is young Jodie Foster's in the original 'Freaky Friday' (1976).

'The Secret Garden' (1993)
If there's a running theme through most of these movies, it's stories about children who find themselves in situations where they must become empowered to improve their current situation. And one of the best examples of this kind of storytelling is Agnieszka Holland's extraordinary 1993 adaptation of the beloved novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. A young British girl is orphaned after an earthquake in India and sent back to England to live with her uncle, who is consumed with grief following the death of his wife. With the help of a servant boy and a young invalid, the girl discovers a garden that will change all of their lives. It's a movie that never fails to move kids and adults alike.

'20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' (1954)
Long before you could create clone armies and transforming robots on a laptop, special effects were just a little more, well, special. And old-school effects rarely come any better than in this exciting story about sailors, madmen, and sea monsters. After dozens of ships disappear, a crew goes out in search of an undersea beast, only to find that the creature is actually a prototypical submarine. (The film is set in the 1860s.) Based on the novel by Jules Verne and starring Kirk Douglas, James Mason and Peter Lorre, this is one of those grand adventures that has aged marvelously, making it a perfect movie for parents to share with their children for generations.

'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory' (1971)
As with 'The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T,' here's another movie that was ahead of its time. Both dark and darkly funny -- and featuring some unforgettable songs -- this adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel treats us to every kid's fantasy: a tour of the world's greatest chocolate factory. But, as Wonka (the incomparable Gene Wilder) warns early on, there are "little surprises around every corner," many of them designed to appeal to the worst instincts of the bratty kids taking the tour. Will Charlie (Peter Ostrum) and his Grandpa Joe (Jack Albertson) make it out of this confectionary funhouse in one piece? Adults and kids will find themselves wanting to take the journey with them again and again. Even if you didn't like Tim Burton's 2005 remake, you should still give the original a shot.

1. 'It's a Wonderful Life': Best Christmas Scenes of All Time

Alonso Duralde — 2010-12-10T11:00:00+00:00

1. 'It's a Wonderful Life' (1946)
Poor George Bailey (played unforgettably by James Stewart). It's Christmas Eve, and he's at the end of his rope, about to lose the family business to which he's devoted his life. But after an angelic intervention shows George how his absence would have profoundly affected all the people in his life, George chooses to stay alive and face the music. As Stewart runs through his beloved Bedford Falls ("Merry Christmas, movie house!"), returns to his beloved wife and children, and sees the extent of the devotion of his friends ... well, I'm getting misty-eyed just writing this, so go figure. The final sequence of "It's a Wonderful Life" still ranks among the most powerful movie moments - let alone Christmas movie moments - ever, even after more than 60 years.

Full List: 10 Best Christmas Scenes of All Time

Alonso Duralde is the author of 'Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas' (Limelight Editions).

2. 'A Christmas Story': Best Christmas Scenes of All Time

Alonso Duralde — 2010-12-09T12:00:00+00:00

2. 'A Christmas Story' (1983)
One of the reasons this nostalgic comedy about Jean Shepherd's childhood Christmas in the 1940s has become such a favorite with audiences is that it so deftly balances the joys and the horrors of being a kid. The latter category definitely includes those visits to see Santa at a department store - who among us didn't freeze up or burst into tears at some point in our youth when placed on the lap of a red-suited stranger? Our hero Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) has come to ask St. Nick for a Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle, but he can't get the words out. On his way down the slide, he finally finds his voice and makes his request to Santa, only to hear the same dispiriting sentence that every adult in Ralphie's life has uttered upon hearing his holiday wish list: "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."

Full List: 10 Best Christmas Scenes of All Time

Alonso Duralde is the author of 'Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas' (Limelight Editions).

3. 'Elf': Best Christmas Scenes of All Time

Alonso Duralde — 2010-12-08T16:10:00+00:00

3. 'Elf' (2003)
Pretty much every moment in this deliriously entertaining comedy - which stars Will Ferrell as Buddy, a North Pole elf who sets out to find his father after learning that he's really a human being - delights and amuses. But Buddy's stint at the department store ranks among the highlights. (Gimbels, incidentally, closed in 1987, but it's perfect for this movie, since the store was the big rival of Macy's in 'Miracle on 34th Street.') Buddy uses his elf skills to redecorate the toy department, begins a tentative courtship of his co-worker Jovie (Zooey Deschanel), and gets really excited about the arrival of Santa - until he realizes that the store has hired an impostor, at which point all cotton-headed-ninny-muggins heck breaks loose.

Full List: 10 Best Christmas Scenes of All Time

Alonso Duralde is the author of 'Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas' (Limelight Editions).

4. 'The Nightmare Before Christmas': Best Christmas Scenes of All Time

Alonso Duralde — 2010-12-07T13:30:00+00:00

4. 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' (1993)
Jack Skellington, also known as the Pumpkin King, is the reigning scare-meister of Halloween Town, bringing eerie chills to everyone in the world each October 31. But he craves something new, something different. So when he accidentally wanders into Christmas Town, he's bombarded with sights and sounds that he can't begin to understand, from snow to candy canes to The Man in Red himself. This sequence takes all the brightly-colored, sparkling-light, tinsel-strewn magic of the holiday and distills it into one musical number ("What's This?").

Full List: 10 Best Christmas Scenes of All Time

Alonso Duralde is the author of 'Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas' (Limelight Editions).

5. 'Miracle on 34th Street': Best Christmas Scenes of All Time

Alonso Duralde — 2010-12-06T15:00:00+00:00

5. 'Miracle on 34th Street' (1947)
Does the term "spoiler" apply when discussing a 63-year-old movie? Let's keep it a little vague just in case. Young Natalie Wood plays Susan, a little girl who's been raised to be logical and down-to-earth, so of course she doesn't believe in Santa Claus, even when Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) comes to work at Macy's and convinces a whole lot of people that he's the real Saint Nick.

Suffice it to say that by the time Christmas rolls around, Susan's heart -- much like the Grinch's -- has grown three sizes.

Full List: 10 Best Christmas Scenes of All Time

Alonso Duralde is the author of 'Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas' (Limelight Editions).

Christmas Scenes: The 10 Best of All Time

Alonso Duralde — 2010-12-06T10:30:00+00:00

'Tis the season and all that, but there's a staggering amount of Christmas movies you could be watching. Who's got the time for all of them? Between holiday parties, shopping, wrapping gifts, hanging lights, and addressing cards, your holiday time -- not to mention energy -- is at a premium.

Because you might not have the strength to kick back with a nice mug of cocoa and some of your favorite holiday classics on DVD, we've asked critic Alonso Duralde -- the author of the recent compendium 'Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas' -- to give us the top 10 finest moments from holiday-related films.

Since we're sure you have your own faves, be sure to tell us all about them in the comments section.

10. 'Scrooge' (1970)
A reformed Scrooge sings and dances his way through the streets of London on Christmas morning.

9. 'Gremlins' (1984)
Mrs. Peltzer battles nasty Mogwais in the kitchen using blenders and microwaves.

8. 'Die Hard' (1988)
John McClane finds a clever use for holiday giftwrap.

7. 'Meet Me in St. Louis' (1944)
Esther -- played by Judy Garland -- sings "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

6. 'Fanny and Alexander' (1982)
Ingmar Bergman's overtly autobiographical film delivers a joyous Christmas celebration before things get bleak.

5. 'Miracle on 34th Street' (1947)
Does the term "spoiler" apply when discussing a 63-year-old movie? Let's keep it a little vague just in case. Young Natalie Wood plays Susan, a little girl who's been raised to be logical and down-to-earth, so of course she doesn't believe in Santa Claus, even when Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) comes to work at Macy's and convinces a whole lot of people that he's the real Saint Nick. Suffice it to say that by the time Christmas rolls around, Susan's heart -- much like the Grinch's -- has grown three sizes.

4. 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' (1993)
Jack Skellington, also known as the Pumpkin King, is the reigning scare-meister of Halloween Town, bringing eerie chills to everyone in the world each October 31. But he craves something new, something different. So when he accidentally wanders into Christmas Town, he's bombarded with sights and sounds that he can't begin to understand, from snow to candy canes to The Man in Red himself. This sequence takes all the brightly-colored, sparkling-light, tinsel-strewn magic of the holiday and distills it into one musical number ("What's This?").

3. 'Elf' (2003)
Pretty much every moment in this deliriously entertaining comedy - which stars Will Ferrell as Buddy, a North Pole elf who sets out to find his father after learning that he's really a human being - delights and amuses. But Buddy's stint at the department store ranks among the highlights. (Gimbels, incidentally, closed in 1987, but it's perfect for this movie, since the store was the big rival of Macy's in 'Miracle on 34th Street.') Buddy uses his elf skills to redecorate the toy department, begins a tentative courtship of his co-worker Jovie (Zooey Deschanel), and gets really excited about the arrival of Santa - until he realizes that the store has hired an impostor, at which point all cotton-headed-ninny-muggins heck breaks loose.

2. 'A Christmas Story' (1983)
One of the reasons this nostalgic comedy about Jean Shepherd's childhood Christmas in the 1940s has become such a favorite with audiences is that it so deftly balances the joys and the horrors of being a kid. The latter category definitely includes those visits to see Santa at a department store - who among us didn't freeze up or burst into tears at some point in our youth when placed on the lap of a red-suited stranger? Our hero Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) has come to ask St. Nick for a Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle, but he can't get the words out. On his way down the slide, he finally finds his voice and makes his request to Santa, only to hear the same dispiriting sentence that every adult in Ralphie's life has uttered upon hearing his holiday wish list: "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."

1. 'It's a Wonderful Life' (1946)
Poor George Bailey (played unforgettably by James Stewart). It's Christmas Eve, and he's at the end of his rope, about to lose the family business to which he's devoted his life. But after an angelic intervention shows George how his absence would have profoundly affected all the people in his life, George chooses to stay alive and face the music. As Stewart runs through his beloved Bedford Falls ("Merry Christmas, movie house!"), returns to his beloved wife and children, and sees the extent of the devotion of his friends ... well, I'm getting misty-eyed just writing this, so go figure. The final sequence of "It's a Wonderful Life" still ranks among the most powerful movie moments - let alone Christmas movie moments - ever, even after more than 60 years.

Alonso Duralde is the author of 'Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas' (Limelight Editions).

10 Beloved Movies That Started as Box-Office Disappointments

Alonso Duralde — 2010-08-31T16:55:00+00:00

Poor 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World': Critics and audiences have loved the unique way that it grafts comic-book and video-game storytelling onto moviemaking, and it's the kind of movie that's destined to garner great word of mouth (and sell lots of DVDs) in the years to come.

Right now, unfortunately, there aren't enough enthusiastic audiences out there to rescue the movie from being one of the big money-losers of the summer of 2010. But buck up, Mr. Pilgrim -- the history of movies is dotted with films that died in theaters but eventually become popular classics anyway. With any luck, you'll join this list.

rescue the movie from being one of the big money-losers of the summer of 2010. But buck up, Mr. Pilgrim -- the history of movies is dotted with films that died in theaters but eventually become popular classics anyway. With any luck, you'll join this list.

'Fight Club'
Nowadays, people quote this movie constantly, and other films and TV shows make references to it, and we all know the shocking plot twist. (There were even real-life fight clubs inspired by the film.) Alas, in its original 1999 release, all those pictures of a shirtless, scruffy Brad Pitt couldn't get moviegoers interested to find out "Who Is Tyler Durden?" David Fincher's adaptation of the Chuck Palahniuk novel did big biz overseas, but in the U.S., 'Fight Club' rustled up a mere $37 million, meaning it got out-earned by movies with much less staying power. (When's the last time you popped 'Blue Streak' or 'Bicentennial Man' into your DVD player?)

'Donnie Darko'
It's the movie that launched Jake Gyllenhaal's career, made writer-director Richard Kelly a cult-film icon and embedded "Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion" into the popular vocabulary. And audiences certainly snapped up this quirky teen-angst/time-travel tale on DVD, making it popular enough to spawn a Director's Cut reissue. Impossible as it may seem now, however, 'Donnie Darko' was merely a blip on the landscape during its theatrical run, raking in only $517,735. (The extended reissue didn't do much better, with a total of $753,147.) It was an offbeat movie aimed at teens that played with cinematic language and rewarded multiple viewings -- that sound familiar, 'Scott Pilgrim' fans?

'It's a Wonderful Life'
Oh yes, your Christmas wouldn't be complete without an annual visit to Bedford Falls and the redemption of hard-working, kind-hearted George Bailey (James Stewart), the assistance of guardian angel Clarence (Henry Travers), Zuzu's petals and 'Buffalo Gals' and everything else. But the holiday story that doesn't often get told is that 'Wonderful' was anything but at the box office, laying an egg so huge that it pretty much single-handedly destroyed director Frank Capra's fledgling production company Liberty Films. It wasn't until the film lapsed into the public domain in the 1970s and started wallpapering TV during the month of December that audiences discovered what a gem it was -- which, in a weird way, affirms the movie's good-karma message.

'Office Space'
It's the movie that taught us all what "flair" is -- and it inspired Swingline to introduce a red stapler -- but even though this satirical workplace comedy from animator Mike Judge went on to garner a huge following on DVD, a crappy marketing campaign sank the film's theatrical chances, winding up with a mere $10.8 million. (Even a Fox studio head later admitted the ads were all wrong.) The weird postscript to all this is that Judge made another sharp, satirical comedy for the same studio -- which made even less money, because Fox basically buried 'Idiocracy' in a handful of cities with no promotion whatsoever before shuttling it off to DVD. (That movie, too, found its following on home video.)

'Xanadu'
This roller-disco musical wasn't just a box-office disappointment; hitting theaters around the time that "Disco Sucks" bumper stickers were popping up everywhere, this silly, entertaining fantasy film almost instantly became the butt of jokes in every corner of pop culture. But 'Xanadu' got the last laugh -- the soundtrack of Olivia Newton-John and ELO hits turned into a perennial, the movie became the basis for a popular and critically acclaimed Broadway musical and the film itself is about to celebrate its 30th anniversary with big-screen revival presentations around the country. So put THAT in your legwarmers, hater.

'Showgirls'
Another film that found itself roundly mocked upon its original release was Paul Verhoeven's melodramatic tale of Las Vegas topless dancers and their ruthless climb to the top. But while the film temporarily hobbled Elizabeth Berkley's post-'Saved by the Bell' career -- and pretty much put the kibosh on the commercial viability of the NC-17 rating -- this campy and purple-prose-packed hoot became catnip for drag queens and other gay fans of overdone cinema. While the original take was just $20 million (on an alleged budget of $45 million), years and years of midnight screenings and DVD special editions have transformed this ugly duckling into a swan that lays golden eggs.

'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'
Speaking of midnight movies, perhaps no other film in the history of the medium owes its success to the late-late show as much as this polymorphously perverse musical. Originally released in the fall of 1975, the movie flopped in eight cities and then in a reissued double bill with 'Phantom of the Paradise.' The 'Rocky' phenomenon didn't really take off until the following spring, when it began running at midnight in New York City. In no time, the film became a nationwide sensation, with audience members dressing like the characters, yelling back at the screen, tossing rice and toast at each other and, of course, doing 'The Time Warp' in the aisles. Still technically considered to be in limited release after 35 years, 'Rocky Horror' remains the cult sensation by which all others are measured.

'Tron'
1982 was a big summer for sci-fi/fantasy -- if your movie's title was 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.' That year also saw the release of Disney's ambitious tale of a video-game creator (Jeff Bridges) who winds up trapped in a world of his own design. But while the computer effects were state-of-the-art, the story didn't grab audiences ... at first, anyway. 'Tron' went from punchline to touchstone, as subsequent generations of nerds were entranced and excited by the film's life-inside-the-computer premise. And now this one-time embarrassment has become the launchpad for one of 2010's most anticipated releases, the reboot/sequel 'TRON: Legacy,' which the studio has been marketing to hard-core fanboys for more than a year now.

'The Stunt Man'
Despite acclaim at film festivals and rapturous reviews (including one from the notoriously tough-to-please Pauline Kael), 'The Stunt Man' never got the backing it needed from 20th Century Fox, which chucked the movie into a few cities and basically ignored it. (As Peter O'Toole later observed on the DVD, "The film wasn't released -- it escaped.") Nonetheless, the film went on to snag a well-deserved Oscar nomination for O'Toole (who plays a dictatorial filmmaker who helps a fugitive hide out by hiring him as a stuntman), and the 1980 film has gone on to be considered an American classic, and one of the best films ever made about moviemaking (and the blurry line between cinema and reality).

'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'
Here's a movie that became a classic around the time the film's original audience (anyone aged 4-8 in 1971) went to college, but the film's dark and twisted sense of humor made audiences of the time feel skittish about touring Wonka's factory. The failure of 'Wonka' was something of a double-whammy -- not only did the movie do disappointing numbers, but Quaker Oats (who financed the movie) lost its shirt on an equally unsuccessful line of candy tie-ins. But there's a sweet ending: The movie is now considered to be one of the great kid films of all time, and there's a new line of Wonka brand deluxe chocolate bars (that was launched, appropriately enough, with a "golden ticket" giveaway).