list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around The Santa Clause on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/The_Santa_Clause/91312/default.aspx Title: The Santa Clause
Year: 1994
Director: Bill Elvin, John Pasquin
Plot: Television sitcom star Tim Allen made his big screen debut with this light, family-friendly holiday comedy. Allen stars as Scott Calvin, the divorced dad of Charlie (Eric Lloyd). Scott is distressed to learn that his ex-wife Laura (Wendy Crewson) and Charlie's psychiatrist stepfather Neal (Judge Reinhold) have informed his son that there is no Santa Claus. While a sullen Charlie visits his dad on Christmas Eve, a noise on the roof brings them outside, where Scott startles the intruder, who tumbles from the roof. It turns out that there is a Santa after all, and Scott has just accidentally killed him. Because of a legal technicality known as "the Santa clause," Scott inherits the jolly old elf's job. As the next year passes, Scott rapidly gains weight, grows a white beard and meets the elf Bernard (David Krumholtz) -- who is the one who really runs the North Pole -- while Charlie regains his Christmas spirit. However, Neal becomes concerned about Scott's sudden change in appearance and insistence that he's Santa, and he forces him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Director John Pasquin previously directed Allen in the TV series Home Improvement and would team with him again for Jungle 2 Jungle (1997). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 34
Number of Lists: 30
Number of blog posts: 3
SpoutRating: 2
]]>Mon, 11 May 2009 01:18:49 GMTThe Santa Clause1994Bill Elvin, John PasquinTelevision sitcom star <a href="/players/P___194994/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Tim Allen</a> made his big screen debut with this light, family-friendly holiday comedy. Allen stars as Scott Calvin, the divorced dad of Charlie (Eric Lloyd). Scott is distressed to learn that his ex-wife Laura (<a href="/players/P____15759/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Wendy Crewson</a>) and Charlie's psychiatrist stepfather Neal (<a href="/players/P___107897/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Judge Reinhold</a>) have informed his son that there is no Santa Claus. While a sullen Charlie visits his dad on Christmas Eve, a noise on the roof brings them outside, where Scott startles the intruder, who tumbles from the roof. It turns out that there is a Santa after all, and Scott has just accidentally killed him. Because of a legal technicality known as "the Santa clause," Scott inherits the jolly old elf's job. As the next year passes, Scott rapidly gains weight, grows a white beard and meets the elf Bernard (<a href="/players/P____39484/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>David Krumholtz</a>) -- who is the one who <I>really</I> runs the North Pole -- while Charlie regains his Christmas spirit. However, Neal becomes concerned about Scott's sudden change in appearance and insistence that he's Santa, and he forces him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Director John Pasquin previously directed Allen in the TV series <a href=/films/320309/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Home Improvement</a> and would team with him again for <a href=/films/110785/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Jungle 2 Jungle</a> (1997). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide34Tag Target (>10)3032http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t41952fmait.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/The_Santa_Clause/91312/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/11/12/37255.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 11/12/2008 3:00:44 PM
Body: I saw Christmas decorations in a storefront Sunday, so I guess it’s already time to break out the holiday movies. And it’s evidently time for distributors to release holiday fare to theaters, even if Desplechin’s A Christmas Tale (Un conte de Noël), which hits theaters this Friday, isn’t exactly the latest crowd-pleasing installment of the Santa Clause franchise. In fact, with such ingredients as estrangement, mental illness, alcoholism and cancer, it doesn’t seem like a very happy holidays kind of film. Even if it is actually a comedy. But then how many holiday movies are completely void of depressing themes and scenes? I’m sure to have grown up thinking more about the homeless, suicide and family dysfunction from films set at Christmas and Thanksgiving than I did thinking about the happiness that comes with these holidays. One of the most tearjerking moments for me as a kid was certainly seeing Mickey Mouse crying over his dead son in Mickey’s Christmas Carol. It’s no wonder so many people get sad this time of year. Movies are influential, and for every bit of slapstick we see this season, there’s potentially room for thoughts of abandoned children to go along with it. Worse for our tearducts are the films that aren’t necessarily thought of as “holiday movies,” which are typically more honest about how much of a bummer holidays can truly be. So get out your hanky and check out our list of ten most depressing holidays in movies: Movie: Planes, Trains and Automobiles Depressing holiday: Thanksgiving It’s likely that John Hughes is a real drag on holidays. His scripts feature kids forgotten at Christmastime (Home Alone and its sequels), poor teens who get cartons of cigarettes as presents (The Breakfast Club) and yuletide kidnappings (Christmas Vacation). Thanksgiving seems to be the most melancholy for him, though, as is clear from the bittersweet road trip movies Dutch and Planes, Trains and Automobiles, the latter of which is up there with the saddest “comedies” ever made. Sure, it ultimately has a happy ending, but those last few minutes leave you bawling as you watch the montage and subsequent scene revealing John Candy’s true living situation. Film: The Apartment Depressing Holiday: Christmas It’s sad enough to be a lonely bachelor on Christmas Eve. It’s even sadder to be loaning out your home as a lover’s hideaway on such a night. Saddest of all, though, has to be returning to said apartment to find a half-dead woman in your bed who has attempted suicide with your sleeping pills (bonus points for her being your crush). The Apartment also has one of the more depressing New Year’s Eves on film, even if it does kind of figure into a “happy” ending. Film: Lethal Weapon Depressing Holiday: Christmas Sgt. Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) is also a lonely man on Christmas Eve dealing with suicide, but here it’s the contemplation of his own. While watching Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Carol on TV and thinking about his dead wife, he loads up his gun and wrestles with his demons. It’s one of the most heart-wrenching scenes to ever be included in an action movie. Film: The War at Home Depressing Holiday: Thanksgiving Like Martin Riggs, Jeremy Collier (Emilio Estevez) is a Vietnam vet, and also like Riggs, he has trouble putting his gun away during the holidays. Unlike Riggs, though, Jeremy’s weapon is directed at his father (Martin Sheen) rather than himself, and that leads to a less-depressing but no less disheartening situation. Film: A Midnight Clear Depressing Holiday: Christmas One of the most bittersweet war films ever made, A Midnight Clear is set during Christmas, 1944, in the middle of WWII and involves an intended holiday truce between American and German troops. Unfortunately, things go wrong. Not only does the film remind us currently that so many soldiers are away from home and potentially fighting on Christmas, it also displays some depressing truths about humanity and war that are saddening regardless of the season. Film: The Ice Storm Depressing Holiday: Thanksgiving This movie (which could also qualify for yesterday’s list of best dysfunctional families) reminds us of how sad Thanksgiving can be on an historical level thanks to the sardonic pre-dinne grace said by Wendy (Christina Ricci) regarding both America’s tradition of killing and robbing the Indians and its gluttonous disregard for the starving people around the world (didn’t we all go through that holiday protest phase?). Oh, and it features one of the most unsettling death-by-electrocution scenes ever. Film: Gremlins Depressing Holiday: Christmas The present holiday of this horror comedy classic is pretty sad considering all the death and destruction being caused by little green monsters, but the real depressing Christmas is the one from the past that Kate (Phoebe Cates) tells about. You know, the one where her father broke his neck and died on Christmas Eve while playing Santa Claus. And by recalling the details so slowly and in depth (she could have just simply said that her dad died on Christmas), she makes it even more somber a story than is welcome at such an already fearsome occasion. Film: Critters 2: The Main Course Depressing Holiday: Easter Obviously taking a cue from Gremlins, this sequel similarly involves little creatures terrorizing a small town during a holiday. And while not quite as gloomy for a young viewer as the earlier, better film, Critters 2 does feature a relatively upsetting scene in which “the Easter Bunny” is attacked by Crites and then crashes through a church window, ultimately bleeding from the mouth, dead. Film: Groundhog Day Depressing Holiday: Groundhog Day Not that anyone really celebrates this “holiday” (neither school nor post office is closed), but whatever. Though treated as black comedy, there is something quite depressing about all those suicide attempts made by Phil Connors (Bill Murray). It’s enough to cast a shadow (yuk yuk) on all the happiness that otherwise would come from Groundhog Day if it actually involved celebratory activities. Film: Roger & Me Depressing Holiday: Christmas Documentaries have the ability to make for the most depressing holidays, because they feature real life events — like a family being evicted from their home on Christmas day. This one is especially grim this year, as it’s possible that with the economy and mortgage crisis what they are that some families across America will be experiencing such a fate this December 25. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:00:44 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com11/12/2008 3:00:44 PMI saw Christmas decorations in a storefront Sunday, so I guess it’s already time to break out the holiday movies. And it’s evidently time for distributors to release holiday fare to theaters, even if Desplechin’s A Christmas Tale (Un conte de Noël), which hits theaters this Friday, isn’t exactly the latest crowd-pleasing installment of the Santa Clause franchise. In fact, with such ingredients as estrangement, mental illness, alcoholism and cancer, it doesn’t seem like a very happy holidays kind of film. Even if it is actually a comedy. But then how many holiday movies are completely void of depressing themes and scenes? I’m sure to have grown up thinking more about the homeless, suicide and family dysfunction from films set at Christmas and Thanksgiving than I did thinking about the happiness that comes with these holidays. One of the most tearjerking moments for me as a kid was certainly seeing Mickey Mouse crying over his dead son in Mickey’s Christmas Carol. It’s no wonder so many people get sad this time of year. Movies are influential, and for every bit of slapstick we see this season, there’s potentially room for thoughts of abandoned children to go along with it. Worse for our tearducts are the films that aren’t necessarily thought of as “holiday movies,” which are typically more honest about how much of a bummer holidays can truly be. So get out your hanky and check out our list of ten most depressing holidays in movies: Movie: Planes, Trains and Automobiles Depressing holiday: Thanksgiving It’s likely that John Hughes is a real drag on holidays. His scripts feature kids forgotten at Christmastime (Home Alone and its sequels), poor teens who get cartons of cigarettes as presents (The Breakfast Club) and yuletide kidnappings (Christmas Vacation). Thanksgiving seems to be the most melancholy for him, though, as is clear from the bittersweet road trip movies Dutch and Planes, Trains and Automobiles, the latter of which is up there with the saddest “comedies” ever made. Sure, it ultimately has a happy ending, but those last few minutes leave you bawling as you watch the montage and subsequent scene revealing John Candy’s true living situation. Film: The Apartment Depressing Holiday: Christmas It’s sad enough to be a lonely bachelor on Christmas Eve. It’s even sadder to be loaning out your home as a lover’s hideaway on such a night. Saddest of all, though, has to be returning to said apartment to find a half-dead woman in your bed who has attempted suicide with your sleeping pills (bonus points for her being your crush). The Apartment also has one of the more depressing New Year’s Eves on film, even if it does kind of figure into a “happy” ending. Film: Lethal Weapon Depressing Holiday: Christmas Sgt. Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) is also a lonely man on Christmas Eve dealing with suicide, but here it’s the contemplation of his own. While watching Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Carol on TV and thinking about his dead wife, he loads up his gun and wrestles with his demons. It’s one of the most heart-wrenching scenes to ever be included in an action movie. Film: The War at Home Depressing Holiday: Thanksgiving Like Martin Riggs, Jeremy Collier (Emilio Estevez) is a Vietnam vet, and also like Riggs, he has trouble putting his gun away during the holidays. Unlike Riggs, though, Jeremy’s weapon is directed at his father (Martin Sheen) rather than himself, and that leads to a less-depressing but no less disheartening situation. Film: A Midnight Clear Depressing Holiday: Christmas One of the most bittersweet war films ever made, A Midnight Clear is set during Christmas, 1944, in the middle of WWII and involves an intended holiday truce between American and German troops. Unfortunately, things go wrong. Not only does the film remind us currently that so many soldiers are away from home and potentially fighting on Christmas, it also displays some depressing truths about humanity and war that are saddening regardless of the season. Film: The Ice Storm Depressing Holiday: Thanksgiving This movie (which could also qualify for yesterday’s list of best dysfunctional families) reminds us of how sad Thanksgiving can be on an historical level thanks to the sardonic pre-dinne grace said by Wendy (Christina Ricci) regarding both America’s tradition of killing and robbing the Indians and its gluttonous disregard for the starving people around the world (didn’t we all go through that holiday protest phase?). Oh, and it features one of the most unsettling death-by-electrocution scenes ever. Film: Gremlins Depressing Holiday: Christmas The present holiday of this horror comedy classic is pretty sad considering all the death and destruction being caused by little green monsters, but the real depressing Christmas is the one from the past that Kate (Phoebe Cates) tells about. You know, the one where her father broke his neck and died on Christmas Eve while playing Santa Claus. And by recalling the details so slowly and in depth (she could have just simply said that her dad died on Christmas), she makes it even more somber a story than is welcome at such an already fearsome occasion. Film: Critters 2: The Main Course Depressing Holiday: Easter Obviously taking a cue from Gremlins, this sequel similarly involves little creatures terrorizing a small town during a holiday. And while not quite as gloomy for a young viewer as the earlier, better film, Critters 2 does feature a relatively upsetting scene in which “the Easter Bunny” is attacked by Crites and then crashes through a church window, ultimately bleeding from the mouth, dead. Film: Groundhog Day Depressing Holiday: Groundhog Day Not that anyone really celebrates this “holiday” (neither school nor post office is closed), but whatever. Though treated as black comedy, there is something quite depressing about all those suicide attempts made by Phil Connors (Bill Murray). It’s enough to cast a shadow (yuk yuk) on all the happiness that otherwise would come from Groundhog Day if it actually involved celebratory activities. Film: Roger & Me Depressing Holiday: Christmas Documentaries have the ability to make for the most depressing holidays, because they feature real life events — like a family being evicted from their home on Christmas day. This one is especially grim this year, as it’s possible that with the economy and mortgage crisis what they are that some families across America will be experiencing such a fate this December 25. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/pratchettfan/archive/2008/2/1/24612.aspx Post By: pratchettfan
Post To: pratchettfan Blog
Post Date: 2/1/2008 12:31:04 PM
Body: When I was a child we had several traditions for Christmas Eve (the day the presents are unpacked in Switzerland). First, we went to church at 5pm. Second, we ate canapé for dinner while watching Santa Claus. As I remember it, it was the perfect family Christmas movie with a nice happy end and of course, lots of presents. Unfortunately, television stations replaced this movie with The Santa Clause, which I admit is very funny and cool as well, but still it just ain’t the same ;).
]]>Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:31:04 GMTpratchettfanpratchettfan Blog2/1/2008 12:31:04 PMWhen I was a child we had several traditions for Christmas Eve (the day the presents are unpacked in Switzerland). First, we went to church at 5pm. Second, we ate canap&eacute; for dinner while watching Santa Claus. As I remember it, it was the perfect family Christmas movie with a nice happy end and of course, lots of presents. Unfortunately, television stations replaced this movie with The Santa Clause, which I admit is very funny and cool as well, but still it just ain&rsquo;t the same ;). http://www.spout.com/blogs/qflw/archive/2007/5/9/8462.aspx Post By: QFLW
Post To: QFLW Blog
Post Date: 5/9/2007 1:00:14 PM
Body: While I get really tired of the stance taken in Disney films that grownups are either mean & bad or good but clueless, that kids know everything and should always get their way lest they be the least bit unhappy for even a moment, I do enjoy this film a lot. It's fun (despite the whiny Charlie who isn't all that cute) and inventive (up to a point); the North Pole workshop is lovely (I especially love Santa's big sleigh bed); I like Bernard the elf and Tim Allen's turn in the central role. In fact it's Allen who makes this movie worth watching, his humor saving it from being just another of Disney's ridiculous annoyances.
]]>Wed, 09 May 2007 17:00:14 GMTQFLWQFLW Blog5/9/2007 1:00:14 PMWhile I get really tired of the stance taken in Disney films that grownups are either mean &amp; bad or good but clueless, that kids know everything and should always get their way lest they be the least bit unhappy for even a moment, I do enjoy this film a lot. It&#39;s fun (despite the whiny Charlie who isn&#39;t all that cute) and inventive (up to a point); the North Pole workshop is lovely (I especially love Santa&#39;s big sleigh bed); I like Bernard the elf and Tim Allen&#39;s turn in the central role. In fact it&#39;s Allen who makes this movie worth watching, his humor saving it from being just another of Disney&#39;s ridiculous annoyances. http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/love/MemberTagFilms.aspxlove
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