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sapienBob t1_j4skbpb wrote

now it's a Christmastime staple. and the sequel was way better than I was expecting. usually when it's something comes out that long after the original it's trash. I was pleasantly surprised.

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dewpacs t1_j4skq6u wrote

Growing up in Idaho my brother and I were huge Braves fans b/c every game was broadcast on TBS

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GiantIrish_Elk t1_j4sl1dq wrote

TBS and now TNT airing it 24hrs has made it a staple of Christmas it wasn't that overlooked as it made almost $21 million at the box office and was huge on video and being televised at Christmas time.

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Sugarysam t1_j4smhol wrote

I sorta feel like this movie was crammed down my throat. I know I didn’t care about it until I had family demanding to watch the marathons.

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VividLifeToday t1_j4snj2v wrote

Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss is still overlooked

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molotovzav t1_j4snmyq wrote

I'm like one of the few people I know who doesn't give a shit about this movie. I've seen it multiple times over the decades I've been alive and I just don't care. Cue Xmas time and everyone talks about it so fondly and I just don't feel the same way at all lol.

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Merv71 t1_j4sqvl1 wrote

No. Wikipedia is not a reliable source.

Instead, ask anyone around at the time and you'll hear how the movie did pretty well in theaters (ran for months at my local theaters) and was a video rental staple/classic before Ted went on his coke-fueled buying spree in 80's

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roughbuff t1_j4sqzn9 wrote

This is my favorite Christmas movie, but I think I prefer "A Summer Story".

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bolanrox t1_j4ss2qu wrote

I watched it in catholic school of all things the first year it was on VHS.

We also watched the worst witch every Halloween come to think of it

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speedball811 t1_j4st6qy wrote

24 hours of A Christmas Story in TNT was what I looked forward to the most.

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IMTrick t1_j4sto4p wrote

Replying to Merv71 (#1,390,979)

You kind of beat me to it. I went to the theater to see this when it came out, as did a whole lot of other people I knew. $19.3M wasn't the same thing in 1983 as it is now, and while it wasn't a huge blockbuster or anything, I'd hardly say it was "overlooked." A lot of movies you've probably seen from 1983 didn't do that well.

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thosmanus t1_j4sty1h wrote

It should have stayed overlooked. Terrible movie.

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Syllogism19 t1_j4surbe wrote

Me and some of my friends were Jean Shepherd fans from repackaged reruns of some of his radio stories which played on KERA public radio in Dallas. I saw the movie right when it came out and was very disappointed that it wasn't a big hit. I wanted everybody to love his work as much as I did.

One of the first things I searched when I got the internet was for Jean Shepherd. But before that I bought all his books and somewhere found some cassettes which were mostly of him reading his books and articles.

Today you can hear tons of his radio shows free.

He was a remarkable performer.

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Traditional_Entry183 t1_j4sv2m3 wrote

My parents started watching it on VHS in the mid 80s. I hated it as a kid then, and I hate umit now. I've never understood the obsession.

−4

wzl46 t1_j4sw7ru wrote

I have probably seen every second of this movie a couple hundred times over the years. I have not seen the movie from start to end. It's always on TV for its 24 hours in my house, but I'm always doing something other than sitting to watch it for 2 hours straight.

4 or 5 years ago, my wife and I were sitting on the couch watching it and she let me know that I had been sitting there since the movie started, and there was only about 5 minutes left. I got up, went into another room, and came back when it started again.

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danikween t1_j4sz0st wrote

When this movie was at the theaters, it was reviewed by Siskel and Ebert. They loved it. I remember them saying it was going to be a Christmas classic.

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Maccus_D t1_j4szmbw wrote

I saw it theatres. The “mean Santa” caused a negative campaign against it if memory serves me right

−1

sapienBob t1_j4t522m wrote

Replying to ThePhiff (#1,391,771)

I think it was the fact they were able to keep 90% of the original cast. that really sold it for me seeing those kids all grown up. it's a shame they couldn't get the mom to come back though

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FeistyAgency9994 t1_j4t5v6q wrote

If you get to Cleveland, go to The Christmas story house for a tour. 15 bucks. Well worth it. Lots of behind the scenes and information you're not going to get elsewhere.

Maybe 5 minutes from downtown

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stench_montana t1_j4t6he5 wrote

Replying to jason_abacabb (#1,391,211)

There were a couple attempts at sequels. The best was the one from this year with a lot of the original actors - A Christmas Story Christmas. Wasn't a perfect movie, but as others have pointed out was much better than to be expected. Thought the 2nd half was particularly good.

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Ok-Adhesiveness1000 t1_j4tebpz wrote

Exaggeration. It was plenty popular on pay cable (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax) before it ever showed up on Turner channels.

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weaselmaster t1_j4tfg36 wrote

Replying to sapienBob (#1,390,577)

I dunno.

I saw “A Christmas Story” once a couple of years ago, and thought it was a solid 4 out of 10.

Do we really need ‘Christmas’ movies in the first place? Shouldn’t they stand on their own?

−15

wedgebert t1_j4tkcom wrote

I think it was overlooked because it was only an okay movie.

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namvet67 t1_j4tm6f1 wrote

Took a tour of the house about 10-12 year ago maybe 25 others in the tour. The guide asked if anyone saw it in a theater when it came out, my wife and l were the only ones to raise our hands. It blew my mind l always thought it was a huge hit.

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gdtimmy t1_j4tvtco wrote

Our family watched every year before that happened and we were sooooooo happy the rest of the world appreciated the movie. My favorite part Is Ralphie spitting tobacco after plugging some crooks.

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mind_the_umlaut t1_j4u1le3 wrote

And I'm perfectly content to keep on overlooking it.

−1

GotMoFans t1_j4us0af wrote

Christmas Story was already a classic and that’s why TBS/TNT began airing it for 24 hours on Christmas Day.

It wasn’t a big hit when it came out in 83, but it became a cult classic in the 80s when it was syndicated for television. I remember first watching it on my local independent channel in the late 80s. Turner took ownership when MGM was bought around 1986. It wasn’t until 1996 or 1997 when the movie was aired all day on Christmas Day.

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HAMforPastry t1_j4ut783 wrote

The glass came well packed, you get three little boxes each contained bubble glass, each one wrapped in bubble wrap. A solid way to double up your tank capacity as 2ml is definitely not enough (at least in my opinion), unless filling up every five minutes is enjoyable in some way for you. My vape is juice

1

spaghoni t1_j4utcxb wrote

It was an instant classic for me in 1983 as soon as I saw the trailer. I got a VHS copy for Xmas as soon as it was released sometime in the late 80s or early 90s.

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Denadiss t1_j4uuchu wrote

Didn't something similar happen with Its A Wonderful Life?

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taterspa1960 t1_j4v269y wrote

I remember seeing the movie when it first came out. The theater was packed. Great time.

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TravoBasic t1_j4v5sjv wrote

I actually saw this in the theaters. What a fun surprise.

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metsurf t1_j4vbydo wrote

Replying to Syllogism19 (#1,391,208)

I was a kid in the mid to late 60s my father turned me on to Jean Shepard on WOR 710 AM. Every night Mon-Fri at 10:15. 45 minutes of him talking and storytelling about life in the depression, a stint in the army, kazoo playing, and just general politics. It was just him talking into the mike. The guy was a brilliant storyteller, Garrison Keeler certainly was influenced by him. I would sit with my little AM radio up on my pillow in my room. Mom wasn't happy that I was still awake and dad would say leave him alone its educational.

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bolanrox t1_j4vd0vs wrote

Replying to metsurf (#1,395,724)

i never watched it. I know than Daniel Stern was the old man? and ralphie had a crush on one of the Bumpis daughters? or something like that?

I think it was another story that they tried to shoehorn into A Christmas Story Sequel.

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metsurf t1_j4vkf3v wrote

Replying to bolanrox (#1,395,878)

Sounds like something out of Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories Collection. They made a PBS film out of the title story and called it Phantom of The Open Hearth Furnace.
Jean Shepard wrote in parenthetical statements often where a character speaks and then their thoughts are expressed. One of my favorite of his lines is relative to a post-prom gathering at a local watering hole. I ordered a bourbon I said "Make it a triple" I had heard the old man order this I thought it was a brand name.

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kick4h4 t1_j4vm7er wrote

Replying to Syllogism19 (#1,391,208)

I was a real-time Jean Shepherd fan growing up, listened to him every night for years. I went to his live concert at Princeton University 4 or 5 times.

Little known fact: In Disney World, the narrator on the Carousel of Progress is Shep. I ride every time I visit, and tear up a bit from nostalgia.

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Draano t1_j4vqcda wrote

Old geezer checking in. Jean Shepard had a radio show on WOR-710 AM radio when I was a kid. My parents used to listen while going to sleep. I picked it up when I was probably 7 or 8 when I found out that a good friend also was listening at night - he was always going on about the ornithopter that Jean Shepard was hawking on his show. But the way he would spin a yarn, talking about Flick & Wanda and a whole cast of characters that he grew up with was really vivid and funny and heart-warming.

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Draano t1_j4vr9rk wrote

Replying to metsurf (#1,395,820)

I had forgotten how late it was on. A few years later, I read Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories (and other disasters). Jean was a master storyteller. It was so great that he narrated A Christmas Story. Nobody could have told his stories the way he did.

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forgedinbeerkegs t1_j4vumue wrote

I wasn't familiar with this movie when it came out. Fast forward 25 years, I get married, and my wife's family watched it religiously. That's how I got to know it.

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QuarterCultured t1_j4xvv56 wrote

It's a great movie. I loved the "Wonder Years" style "older narrator reminiscing about their childhood" style of the narration.

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DaFugYouSay t1_j4yr9u8 wrote

I don't like it, have seen it only once in its entirety.

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