This year, my first Hanukkah gift to you is to remind you that there is no pressure to buy Hanukkah Seals.
As always, we here at ACME want to help spread hope, peace, joy, and other marketing buzzwords
Hopefully you haven't overeaten this Christmas, but if you have, perhaps you'll get a visit from -
(Remember, it isn't really Christmas until you hear his Hidey Ho.)
Your Christmas gifts are starting to arrive (we'll be keeping a count.)
December 25, 1962 –
Robert Mulligan's adaptation of Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, starring Gregory Peck and Mary Badham opened on this date.
The watch used in the film was a prop, but Harper Lee gave Gregory Peck her father's watch after the film was completed, because he reminded her so much of him.
December 25, 1973 -
George Roy Hill mega-hit of the holiday season, The Sting, starring Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Robert Shaw, opened in US theatres on this date.
Paul Newman had been advised to avoid doing comedy films, because he didn't have the light touch needed to play comedy. Part of the reason Newman wanted to play Henry Gondorff was to prove that he could play comedy as well as drama.
December 25, 1990 -
Francis Ford Coppola's much maligned sequel, The Godfather III starring everyone you would expect (except Robert Duvell, who couldn't come to an agreement about his salary,) went into general release on this date.
Francis Ford Coppola once admitted that he was still unhappy over the final result because of lack of time to write the script. According to him, he had wanted $6 million for the writer, producer, and director fee and 6 months to write the script. Instead, the studio gave him only $1 million in fees and only 6 weeks to work on the script (in order to meet the Christmas 1990 release date). He also regretted that the character of Tom Hagen had to be written out of the script because the studio refused to meet Robert Duvall's financial demands. According to Coppola, with Hagen gone, an essential character and counterpart for Michael Corleone was missing from the movie.
December 25, 1992 -
Richard Attenborough epic bio pix about the the world famous comedian Chaplin, starring Robert Downey Jr., Marisa Tomei, Dan Aykroyd, Penelope Ann Miller, and Kevin Kline went into limited release in the United States (the anniversary of Chaplin's death) on this date.
Geraldine Chaplin recalled that when she first saw Robert Downey, Jr. in full costume, she was so awestruck on how much he resembled her late father that she needed a moment to collect her thoughts to even speak.
December 25, 1999 -
The Sci-Fi parody (of Star Trek), Galaxy Quest, Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, and Daryl Mitchell premiered in the U.S. on this date.
Director Dean Parisot and star Tim Allen have revealed in interviews that the original tone of the film was much darker, with more scenes of violence. After test screenings, the film was recut to emphasize the comedy and obtain a PG rating.
December 25, 2009 -
Guy Ritchie's twist on the iconic Victorian detective, Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law went into general release in the U.S. on this date.
Although Irene Adler plays a large role in the movie (and works of fiction by "Baker Street irregulars"), she only appears in one Arthur Conan Doyle story, A Scandal in Bohemia, briefly referenced in the movie. Holmes retains the portrait of Irene Adler acquired for his services in that story and also once refers to her as "the woman" as he does in the latter story.
December 25, 2013 -
The Martin Scorsese drama The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, and Matthew McConaughey premiered in US theatres on this date.
Matthew McConaughey's scenes were shot on the second week of filming. The chest beating and humming performed by him was improvised and actually a warm-up rite that he performs before acting. When Leonardo DiCaprio saw it while filming, the brief shot of him looking away uneasily from the camera was actually him looking at Martin Scorsese for approval. DiCaprio encouraged them to include it in their scene and later claimed it "set the tone" for the rest of the film.
Once you woke up this morning, you knew where you stood on Santa's list.
Once again, we here at ACME once again want to wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday by sharing this Christmas poem:
Keeping Christmas by Henry Van Dyke
There is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day, and that is, keeping Christmas.
Are you willing… to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you;
to ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe the world;
to put your rights in the background, and your duties in the middle distance, and your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground;
to see that men and women are just as real as you are, and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy;
to own up to the fact that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life;
to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness -
Are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and desires of little children;
to remember the weakness and loneliness of people growing old;
to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough;
to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear in their hearts;
to try to understand what those who live in the same home with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you;
to make a grave for your ugly thoughts, and a garden for your kindly feelings with the gate open -
Are you willing to do these things, even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world - stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death - and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love?
Then you can keep Christmas.
Enjoy the day bunkies!
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