Michael May's Blog, page 76

The Christmas Carol Project | “I Was a Boy Here!”

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, which means that it's also time to get back to our annual look at everyone's favorite Christmas/ghost story, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. If you're new to this, the idea is to pay attention to the way Scrooge's story has been interpreted and adapted to other media over the years. I’ve broken the story into scenes (or sometimes parts of scenes) in order to look at their translation to 19 different films, TV shows, and comics.

Here's the list of adaptations in the order I'll take them:

• Classics Illustrated #53 (1948)
• Marvel Classics Comics #36 (Marvel; 1978)
• A Christmas Carol: The Graphic Novel (Classical Comics; 2008)
• A Christmas Carol (Campfire; 2010)
• "A Christmas Carol" in  Graphic Classics, Vol. 19: Christmas Classics  (Eureka; 2010)
• Teen Titans #13 (DC; 1968)
• A Christmas Carol cartoon (1971) starring Alastair Sim
• The Stingiest Man in Town (1978) starring Walter Matthau
• Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983) starring Scrooge McDuck
• A Christmas Carol (2009) starring Jim Carrey
• A Christmas Carol (1910) starring Marc McDermott
• Scrooge (1935) starring Seymour Hicks
• A Christmas Carol (1938) starring Reginald Owen
• Scrooge (1951) starring Alastair Sim
• "A Christmas Carol" episode of Shower of Stars (1954) starring Fredric March
• Scrooge (1970) starring Albert Finney
• A Christmas Carol (1984) starring George C. Scott
• The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) starring Michael Caine
• A Christmas Carol (1999) starring Patrick Stewart

Annual Disclaimer: This obviously isn’t an exhaustive list. I started with my favorites, added some that people have recommended over the years, and then threw in some others that just caught my attention. We can talk about the ones I left out, but I will say that the reason Mr Magoo’s Christmas Carol isn’t here is because I hate it with a passion. It’s neither a good Christmas Carol nor a good Mister Magoo cartoon. There’s also no Scrooged or An American Christmas Carol or Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. When I first started this, I tried to stick to more or less faithful adaptations, but even though I've since added Teen Titans to the list, I'd rather that be a fun exception and not have to figure out where I'm going to draw the line.

This is going to take years. Every December we'll look at one scene, starting with Dickens' version, then exploring individual adaptations of that scene in the days leading up to Christmas. In this year's scene the Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge to the first stop on their trip: Scrooge's boyhood school. It's an easy scene to drop for the shorter adaptations, but when it does show up, I always love the opening images of children playing in snowy countryside.

Sleigh Bell Cinema | White Christmas (1954)

I'm joined by my wife, Diane, to talk about a holiday tradition for our family, the Michael Curtiz classic starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. We talk about our favorite characters, music, and dance numbers as well as a few things that don't quite work or hold up.

Hellbent for Letterbox | The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)

Pax and I talk about the unique Paul Newman western, written by John Milius and directed by John Huston. There's also lots of Pony Express and I talk about playing the first chapter of Red Dead Redemption 2.

Greystoked | Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943)

Noel and I are joined by Paxton Holley ( Nerd Lunch , Cult Film Club , Hellbent for Letterbox , I Read Movies ) to talk about Tarzan and Boy's spy adventure in the Sahara. It's an atypical Tarzan film and Pax - who's relatively fresh to the series - has lots of questions.

Sleigh Bell Cinema | Bad Santa (2003)

Special guest Dan Taylor ( Planetary Union Network , 2 MAN Podcast ) makes Santa's censors work overtime to avoid the Explicit tag on this episode as we cover Terry Zwigoff's irreverent comedy about an ill-tempered safecracker who poses as a mall Santa to rob department stores. Starring Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Lauren Graham, Bernie Mac, and John Ritter.

Sleigh Bell CInema | Mixed Nuts (1994)

I'm joined by my friend (and Greystoked and Thundarr Road co-host) Noel Thingvall to talk about Nora Ephron's Christmas comedy starring Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Rita Wilson, Juliette Lewis, Liev Schreiber, Adam Sandler, and so many more people.

In the process of discussing the film, Noel and I also get into a general discussion of bedroom farces and screwball comedies, talking about what does and doesn't work for us in those genres. Screwball comedy is a shaky genre for me and Noel helps me figure out why that is. Podcasting can be therapeutic, ya'll.

Hellbent for Letterbox | Riders of the Whistling Skull (1937) / The Night Riders (1939)

Pax and I explore the Three Mesquiteers. We talk about the history of the long-running series, then take a look at Riders of the Whistling Skull, in which Robert Livingstone, Ray Corrigan, and Max Terhune help a woman find her missing father and some lost treasure. Then in The Night Riders, Livingstone is replaced by John Wayne who leads the trio as masked vigilantes fighting an evil land baron.

It's '30s Saturday matinee pulp, but is it any good? We find out.

Also: Lots of Pony Express and I talk briefly about Western comics Manifest Destiny and Perdy.

Dragonfly Ripple | Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

David and I discuss the second Avengers movie and whether it lives up to the promise of the first one. We also talk about Brutasha, compare Quicksilvers, and decide how we'd like to see the X-Men introduced to the MCU.

Sleigh Bell Cinema | The Thin Man (1934)

I'm joined by Kay from the Hyperspace Theories podcast, FanGirlBlog , and Geek Fashion Galaxy to talk about one of our favorite movies. What makes Nick and Nora Charles so great? Is The Thin Man a good mystery? And how does it capture the Christmas experience in a way that many bona fide Christmas movies don't?

Dragonfly Ripple | Daredevil: Season 1

David and Michael discuss the first season of Netflix's Daredevil and why it's so brutally violent.