The Man Who Invented Christmas delivers a meaningful Christmas spirit

Movie Title:  The Man Who Invented Christmas

Grade:  A-

Rating:  PG, 104 minutes

In a Nutshell:   I admit it.  I loved this movie, because I'm an author.  

I have a particular fondness for movies that peel back the curtains on the life of a successful author and reveal the painful writing process, including writer’s block, muses, and taking notes of people’s names (I do all that too.)  In this case, Charles Dickens is the author and the book that he struggles to write in less than 6 weeks is the famous, beloved A Christmas Carol: Original illustrations by John Leech.

I love that he was inspired by life around him.  Charles Dickens’ father warns, “We must not disturb the poet when the divine frenzy is upon him.”  True THAT!  When I’m writing and “in the zone”, it makes me crazy when I get interrupted, so I got a kick out of watching Charles Dickens deal with the constant knocking at his door.

Based on the book, this family friendly film is perfect for almost all ages and will leave you with the desire to do something kind for someone this Christmas season.  In fact, after A Christmas Carol: Original illustrations by John Leech was released in 1843, charitable giving immediately surged.  I hope this movie gets the same reaction.

 

Uplifting theme: 

• “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of another.” –
• “Christmas…the hope that our better natures will prevail.” - John
• Are you fettered by chains that you have made in life?  Jacob asked, “Do you know the link of the chain you bear yourself?”
• Poor vs. rich

Things I liked:

• Dan Stevens and those blue eyes!  If you wanted to see more of him since you first discovered him in Beauty and the Beast (2017) (Theatrical Version), you’ll love watching him star in this movie as Charles Dickens.
• Christopher Plummer was perfect as Ebenezer Scrooge. 
• The set pieces, furniture, and costume designs are really great.  I loved the details like the oil lamps for street lights.  Speaking of sets, some of the pieces from the TV series Penny Dreadful: Season One were used to make this film.  Despite the fact that you really feel like you’re in 19^th Century London, most of the filming was done in Ireland.
• Some well-placed humor.
• The audience laughed when Charles Dickens’ publisher said, “There’s not much of a market for Christmas.”
• While A Christmas Carol addresses the spirit of Christmas more than particular Christian beliefs, Charles Dickens’ book The Life of Our Lord: Written for His Children During the Years 1846 to 1849 where he bears testimony of the Savior of the world and shares his Christian beliefs.
• We don’t often see PG live action movies, so this was refreshing to see playing in theaters.
• I love how the characters in Charles’ books come to life for him and through him and are a part of the cast in the film.  In fact, Charles explains, “Get the name right and the character will appear.”  I write non-fiction and have always been fascinated with how the writing process works for fiction authors who create characters and worlds.
• There are several references to Shakespeare and, in fact, most of the cast in the film are trained Shakespearean actors.  In real life, Charles Dickens adored “The Bard” and acted in some of his plays.  Many of them had also previously worked on other adaptations of A Christmas Carol.

Things I didn’t like:

• It’s a little slow moving.
• Neither the title of the movie nor the original book are properly explained during the movie.
• Some of the flashbacks were shown at odd times and might be a bit confusing for children.
• While a biopic of sorts, some of the story is fiction.  We honestly don’t know as much about Charles Dickens’ writing process as we would like to!

Interesting quotes:

• “Debt is an ogre.  If you’re not careful, it can eat you up.” – Charles Dickens
• “People will believe anything if you’re finely dressed.” – John Dickens (Jonathan Pryce) 

Funny lines:

• “I’m the author here!” – Charles Dickens

“Allegedly.” - Scrooge

Tips for parents: 

• If your kids have never heard or read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, then you’ll want them to become familiar with it first.
• Kids will be surprised to learn that Christmas wasn’t always so commercial as it is now.
• Kids also won’t know about “debtors’ prison” in England, where people were sent when they couldn't pay their bills.  That always seemed strange to me, because there would be no possibly way for them to earn the money they owed while in prison!
• Work houses in England are also mentioned several times.  Poor and destitute people were encouraged to go to work houses to live and earn money.  The conditions and stigma were so terrible that people would rather die than go there.
• I heard profanity twice. One of those times was the British swear word “bloody.”
• Some words your kids may not know are “nappies” (British word for “diaper”) and “necromancer” (conjurer).

@trinaboice 

Night at the Museum nods a fond farewell to fans, Robin Williams, and Mickey Rooney

Movie:  Night at the Museum 3

PG, 1 hour 30 minutes

Grade: B

In a Nutshell:  If you’re a fan of this edutainment franchise, you’ll enjoy seeing some of your favorite characters again, as well as meeting a few new ones, including a Neanderthal that looks like Larry Daley (Ben Stiller)  and Sir Lancelot (Dan Stevens from Downton Abbey Season 1-3 ).  We get to visit the famous British Museum while slapsticking our way through calculated goofy moments and funny lines.

The door is always open for another sequel, but it also feels like the dust may settle on this one as an appropriate and fond farewell.  There are a few touching moments and enough humorous ones to keep the entire family entertained.

Uplifting Theme:

·         Be careful or the magic might die.  (Is that a lesson that the new writers learned while writing this?)

   *  Family is who you surround yourself with.

   *  Enjoy every moment of life.

·          

Things I liked:

·         It was wonderful seeing Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt again.  We miss you.  Before the credits rolled at the end, the screen displayed the words “In loving memory of Mickey Rooney and Robin Williams.  Magic never dies.”  Sweet.

·         I also loved seeing Dick Van Dyke.  He’s still got moves!

·         Hugh Jackman makes a cameo performance, playing himself.  Ben Stiller's character runs past him and says “I just want to say, you’re the whole package.”

·         The star constellation performance was super cool.   "Of course they're special effects!  How could they not be special effects?"   (Dr. McPhee)

·         Capuchin on silks.  Ha ha

·         I thought the research librarian was hilarious.   “Oo la la.”

·         Great aerial views of London.  I’m going there next June with the fam!

·         Ricky Gervais does a great job playing the quirky Dr. McPhee.  The comedic timing during his awkward moments scene with Larry was fantastic.

·         Nick Daley is almost all grown up now. Skyler Gisondo has natural talent.  You might have seen him in The Amazing Spider-Man ; The Amazing Spider-Man 2 , as well asHalloween .  I'd like to see more of him.

  .    Rebel Wilson as Tilly the British Museum security guard was hilarious and should have been used more.

·          

Things I didn’t like:

·         Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and Octavius (Steve Coogan) don’t have the same magical spark they did in the first installment of this trilogy, but they were still cute.

      I would have liked to see more exhibits and characters in the British museum come to life.  There were so many more ways the movie could have poked fun at our beloved Britts.

·          

Funny lines:

·         “Who would have ever thought…I’m wax and she’s polyurethane, but it works.” – Teddy Roosevelt

·         “Summon the apparatus!” – Octavius

·         “I don’t know what’s come over me, but I like it.” – Jedediah

·         “You’ll rue the day you mocked us with your hypnotic blue eyes.” – Octavius

·         “Keep the scrunchies.”  - Tilly

·         “You can’t catch light.  It’s as evasive as human happiness.”  - Jedediah as he watches YouTube videos of kittens chase a flashlight.

·         “My boyfriend says he doesn’t like the way I do my hair.  He says it looks like a golden poo.” – Tilly

·         “With their size, they’ll bake like tiny, little scarabs in the Egyptian desert.  Too dark?” –  Rami Malek

Interesting things:

·         The investor guy with glasses in the beginning of the movie looked like the bad guy in Indiana Jones' Raiders of the Lost Ark. He says “I can’t help but feeling we’re making a terrible mistake.”   The Indiana Jones character in this movie then says “We’re not making a mistake; we’re making history.”

·         You don’t need to stay until the end of the credits.  There are a few clips of the crew dancing, but nothing else shows once the credits begin rolling.

·          

Tips for Parents:

·         Octavius makes several odd homosexual innuendos about Sir Lancelot.

In case you missed the first 2 installments, check them out here for cheap!