Andriy Shevchenko Best Picture

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It's a Wonderful Life

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Originally uploaded by Pikturz

Though I know it will be on a major television network at least once before Christmas Day I could not resist the opportunity to see It’s a Wonderful Life at a flashback screening. I am glad I did. Having only ever seen the film on television I was reminded how often I don’t truly pay attention to movies on TV. Though I have seen It’s a Wonderful Life at least once a year I cannot recall the last time I sat and watched the film from start to finish.

As usual with any Jimmy Stewart movie I was struck by how fabulous he really is. There is just something about that man that is utterly relatable, the everyman, all while being the perfect embodiment of his characters. This man truly is one of my favorite actors of all time and I believe will deservedly be idolized by actors and cinemaphiles for years to come.

What I never truly appreciated about It’s A Wonderful Life is how truly funny it is. I always appreciated the dramatic elements of the film, the story structure, the tragedy, etc. but I never really paid attention to the great humor. While the movie isn’t a comedy the warmth and natural delivery brought to the script makes the gentle one liners and witticisms standout as endearing and memorable.

I did sit and wonder last night why It’s a Wonderful Life has not been remade. The answer is pretty obvious, other films have been based around the same concept, but if you were to actually remake It’s a Wonderful Life and update the film any studio would have a full fledged outrage on their hands. This movie is truly placed in the very scant “perfect movie” category in Hollywood and I don’t think anyone would risk touching it. The only person I can even think of that I would trust to remake this film is probably Steven Speilberg who is essentially the modern day Capra.

While I know that It’s a Wonderful Life is not a perfect film, it has been caught up in such an idealistic cloud over the past decades that I cannot find any real flaws in the film – every aspect about it just seems to make the movie that much more endearing and timeless.

Director: Frank Capra
Writers: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett & Frank Capra
George Bailey: James Stewart
Mary Bailey: Donna Reed
Potter: Lionel Barrymore
Uncle Billy: Thomas Mitchell
Clarence: Henry Travers

George Bailey: Now, come on, get your clothes on, and we'll stroll up to my car and get... Oh, I'm sorry. I'll stroll. You fly.
Clarence: I can't fly. I haven't got my wings.
George Bailey: You haven't got your wings. Yeah, that's right.

While You Were Sleeping

While You Were Sleeping is a silly little movie but I love it. I think it’s a great combination of holiday movie, romantic and screwball comedies. In a way it reminds me of the cute, light comedies of Hollywood’s golden age and I make sure to watch the movie at least once every holiday season.

If you’ve never seen While You Were Sleeping the plot can be quite confusing on paper. Lucy works at the L and sees Jack every day when he commutes to work. On Christmas Day he is mugged and thrown on the train tracks unconscious, Lucy saves him from an incoming train and accompanies him to the hospital and he lapses into a coma; at the hospital a nurse makes the mistake of thinking she is Peter’s fiancée and informs Peter’s family of such. Having grown distant from Peter his family goes along with the assumption and welcomes Lucy into open arms giving Lucy a family for the first time in years, the only problem is though Peter is Lucy’s dream man his brother Jack is the man that Lucy is finding herself drawn to and she can’t do anything about it as she is supposedly Peter’s fiancée.

What I love most about this movie is Peter’s grandmother Elsie; the woman is opinionated, senile and quirky to the T. Elsie has some of the best lines in the film not only based on her delivery of these lines but on how she is randomly inserted into conversations with no idea what people are talking about. It really is just like that relative we all have that feels the need to be in everybody’s business. The fact that Glynis Johns who plays Elsie was also Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins is another great bonus.

This film is airy and light but it is everything it advertises to be. Unlike the popcorn fluff that usually gets made now a days there is actually enough wit and grace to this film that it is safe for the whole family and can be enjoyed on multiple viewings.

Director: Jon Turteltaub
Writers: Daniel G. Sullivan & Fredric LeBow
Lucy Eleanor Moderatz: Sandra Bullock
Jack Callaghan: Bill Pullman
Peter Callaghan: Peter Gallagher
Ox Callaghan: Peter Boyle
Midge Callaghan: Micole Mercurio
Mary Callaghan: Monica Keena
Saul: Jack Warden
Elsie: Glynis Johns
Joe Fusco, Jr.: Michael Rispoli
Ashley Bartlett Bacon: Ally Walker
Jerry: Jason Bernard

Lucy: If I tell Jack I lied to his family he will *never* speak to me again. And Ox and Midge and Mary and Saul.
Jerry: Saul? Who's Saul?
Lucy: The next door neighbor. But you know what? Actually, he knows.
Jerry: Lucy, you are born into a family. You do not join them like you do the marines.
Lucy: So what should I do?
Jerry: Pull the plug.
Lucy: You're sick.
Jerry: I'm sick? You're cheating on a vegetable.