The Nightmare Before Christmas... Lives UP!

 

Screaming at Christmas is the best.

In my family, we sarcastically yell "You ruined Christmas!" at each other for the almost any infraction. 

• Maybe someone showed up half an hour late. 
• Maybe someone sucks at wrapping. 
• Maybe someone left a festive candle too close to peeling wallpaper. 
• Maybe an overwhelmed family member drinks too much and yells at everyone (also as seen in The Bear!). 
• Maybe someone's spouse voted for a presidential candidate that leaves the rest of us counting the  advent calendar days until the world ends instead of enjoying the chocolate. Again. 

There's so many things that can ruin Christmas.

So behold! Here's a movie about a skeleton having a mid-life crisis and ruining Christmas. My family hasn't experienced this holiday fail firsthand. Kudos for novelty. 

Tim Burton movies must have a cute dog.

We reviewed The Nightmare Before Christmas and thought that -even though we don't love some of the songs- this movie lives up. It looks stunning. Digital effects can't touch the craft of this movie's elaborate stop motion animation. It's an elegantly spooky world. 

It also has that Tim Burton mise-en-scene even though he didn't direct The Nightmare Before Christmas: gnarled trees, a scientist-father figure living in industrial steampunk mansion, characters wearing black and white stripes. Bonus for the creepy clown with the "tear-away face"... Tim Burton loves himself some creepy clowns (as discussed in our Pee-Wee episode). 

This film is great... but Jack, you ruined Christmas!

Listen to our review of The Nightmare Before Christmas here, on YouTube, or on your favorite podcast streaming service. 

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