After much deliberation, this 1988 updating of the classic A CHRISTMAS CAROL won out as the Xmas trailer of the day. SNL alumni came together with producer/director Richard Donner, and pulled off quite the hat trick in creating a "new" (then, at least) holiday film that would indeed endure.
This time our Scrooge is an asshole TV executive who is putting on a live television version of the story this film is based on (yes, A Christmas Carol) and in doing so is making his underlings work on Christmas Eve, It's a simple set up, with the parallels to the original tale of course running through the entire film.
One of the things that makes it so darned enjoyable is the amazing casting. Bill Murray in the lead, still hot as all get out from GHOSTBUSTERS (which SCROOGED referenced in it's ad campaign with the tagline "Bill Murray is back among the ghosts, only this time, it's three against one."), Karen Allen, and Bobcat Goldthwait, Alfre Woodard, John Forsythe, Carol Kane, John Houseman, and Robert Mitchum in supporting roles. Even Murray's three brothers, Brian, John, and Joel, all pop up to share in the festivities.
Factor in a screenplay co-written by the acerbic pair of Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue, channeling Frank Capra to no small degree, and which is somehow all at once scathing, raucous, celebratory, and loving, and SCROOGED wins out as a major wintertime classic.
So que this baby up, gather the friends and family around, and give it a watch today while you unwrap presente and get schnockered on "Uncle Sean's Special Egg Nog". while remembering to have a very Merry Christmas. Cheers, from all of us here at THE BONUS MATERIAL!
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