Ed's Review Dot Com

Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright, Cary Elwes

Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) is the miserly old sinner who is haunted by 4 ghosts and learns the lessons of the past, and the present, and the warning of the future to be, and is changed in his heart forever. This imagemovers version was originally shown in IMAX 3-D, and is very accurate word by word to the Dickens novel.

Emmanuel Vaugier, Dean Cain, Richard Ruccolo, Cynthia Gibb, Sierra McCormick, Jared Gilmore, Sarah Thompson, Clyde Kusatsu, John Burke, Caia Coley, Marla Maples, Keith Dobbins

A young ad exec loses her job just before the holidays. She does some research on the competition, and finds the boss of a competitor who is in need of a nanny. She takes the job as a nanny, but mixes it with pretending to be a consultant to the firm. When she meets and an attraction develops with someone from the firm who has no idea who she really is, trouble follows. She can’t balance both the kids and the corporate world, and it’s just a matter of time until she’s found out and busted.

Jay Mohr, Daphne Zuniga, David Millbern, Adrienne Barbeau, Tim Thomerson, Logan Grove, Ruta Lee, Jacob Chambers, Sonia McDancer

Kevin (Jay Mohr) is a screw up. He has a great son and a beautiful ex-wife, Jill (Daphne Zuniga), but he’s still a screw up. He is invited to his in-laws for Christmas one last time. The In-laws are Trudi (Adrienne Barbeau) and Arthur (Tim Thomerson), and of course Granny Conlon (Ruta Lee) who is the only one who can stand Kevin. Jill’s new fiance, Todd (David Millbern) will also be there and he’ planning a Christmas surprise for Jill thta will change everything forever. Kevin forgets a gift, and when he gets to the store late on Christmas Eve to buy a gift for son Ben (Logan Grove) he asks for the hottest present left on the shelves, but it turns out to be an Easy Bake Oven, for a little boy?? This is the kind of screw-up Kevin is. So as things collapse around him and he ruins Christmas for everyone, he decides to go home early, but unfortunately the road is blocked by a giant boulder, and poof, it’s Christmas Day again and Kevin is arriving once again to go through it all again, time after time after time. In one disaster after another, Kevin has to learn the hard way to care about someone else for a change, and to change his life. Only then will he be able to escape Christmas Day.

Jack Sanderson

Jack Sanderson decides to transform himself into Santa Claus. He lives in Los Angeles, and gets into the spirit 100%. He bleaches his hair and beard white, gets custom fitted for a very expensive Santa suit, and then attends Santa school and learns as much about the role as you in several days. Then he starts fulfilling the dream of pleasing kids and adults alike as Santa, riding in a parade, ringing a bell on the street corner in New York City, talking to children and asking them about their wishes for Christmas. In this documentary, we follow Jack step by step as he becomes Santa. Wee get to meet the children, as well as the adults who keep the spirit alive. We learn Jack’s story while we learn the history of Santa and how he got to where he is in our culture today. We meet other Santa enthusiasts and learn why they love it. We get to see Jack’s highs and lows as he works though the season and tries to decide whether to do it again or not.

Simon Callow, Rhys Ifans, Kate Winslet, Nicolas Cage, Jane Horrocks, Michael Gambon, Juliet Stevenson, Robert Llewellyn, Iain Jones, Colin McFarlane, Beth Winslet, Arthur Cox, Keith Wickham

This animated feature begins with a live action segment set in Boston in 1857 when Charles Dickens arrives at the theater to read his short story, A Christmas Carol to a waiting audience. This was a common thing for Mr. Dickens every year at Christmas time. He used to read the story to an excited audience. As Dickens starts to read the story, it turns to an animated version of the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, and four ghosts who visit Ebeneezer, a miserly old skinflint who learns the errors of his ways and finds the spirit of Christmas that he has long forgotten.

There are good voices for the characters, but this is not the greatest version of the story. There are two mice that appear at the reading, and Dickens includes in the story. The animation is very flat and cheesy looking and the story has changed a lot from the actual story. It’s not very true to the original with stuff like Old Scrooge meeting back up with Belle, the girl he lost in his youth, and a return of the ghosts of past and present after the final ghost leaves. Other parts of the story have changed too, and not for any particularly good reason. There are so many wonderful versions of this story, and if you’re up for an animated version, even Mickey Mouse, Mr. Magoo, and the Muppets have done versions that I think are far better than this one.

Still, I was glad to watch it, and I enjoyed the story once again, as I truly love the novel. But I would not recommend this version as there are so many superior choices.