Elliot Catches Up — A Christmas Story
In perhaps my most timely move yet, I watched A Christmas Story for the first time ON Christmas Day. I’m writing this at 11pm and I will post it before midnight. And I’m posting the blog like five days earlier than I usually do. LOOK AT HOW FAR I’VE COME.
So, this is yet another movie for which I will no doubt get yelled at for having never seen. But here’s my explanation:
Yesterday when I celebrated Christmas with my side of the family, A Christmas Story came up in conversation, as my kids had just watched it with their mom the night before. My mom said, “You know, I have NEVER seen that one all the way through.” So there you have it, folks: this time I can place the blame squarely on my mom for not having shown me A Christmas Story.
Now, could I have watched it at some point by myself before today? Of course, but you see………it’s my mom’s fault. Just let me blame it on her.
The plot — a young, bespectacled boy in the 1940’s really wants a BB gun for Christmas. That’s…kind of it. That’s the whole story.
My daughter Maggie offered her summary of the movie before I watched it: “It’s basically just…a bunch of bad things happening to people.” And she is absolutely correct. A Christmas Story takes a very thin premise and stretches it out to 90 minutes by showing you a series of unfortunate and bizarre events. Children are bullied, children are scolded, adults yell, children get injured, and adults yell some more.
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That sounds like it would be unpleasant, or a yucky relic of days gone by. What’s amazing about A Christmas Story is that it very much is unpleasant and a yucky relic, and yet it somehow manages to wiggle its way into your heart and make you laugh a lot.
I was surprised by how much I was laughing. This movie is much more ridiculous than I expected. It’s almost surreal in the situations it presents. The characters MOSTLY act like human beings, but they kind of also don’t. And that’s somewhat by necessity, as some very insane things happen throughout.
A small thing that made me laugh a lot — when the older bully kid surprises the boys by swinging upside down from a jungle gym. I was dying over that. So good.
I liked this a lot! I don’t think my life would have been like, BETTER having seen it a long time ago, but it’s a really fun, really silly movie and I’m happy to have finally seen it.
My Rating: 7/10
Next YEAR????: That’s right, everyone — in a week it will be 2026. And if you thought I was going to stop doing Elliot Catches Up just because 2025 will be over, THINK AGAIN. This has been a blast, it has given me a project to focus on, and there are still so many movies I need to see.
I am currently undecided as to how I will start January. I will either be watching the first three Star Wars movies (starting with A New Hope), or beginning the completion of the entire Coen Brothers filmography. I have a few days to decide, so I’ll let you know when I do.
If you’ve read even one of these blogs in 2025, I thank you kindly. I’m more or less doing this for myself, but it’s nice to know that a few friends out there enjoy this. Let’s do it all again in 2026. Hopefully with less fascism and misery, but that prospect isn’t looking so good. Oh well! At least movies are cool!
