A Christmas Story (1983)

I've seen people throughout my entire life go on and on about how this is the greatest Christmas movie ever. People quote it, people watch it for 24-hours on Christmas Eve. You talk about cult classics? This is the Jonestown of Cult movies. Does the film hold up all these years later? In some ways, yes. I get why this film is so beloved. It's the same reason why I find it so weird. It's uniquely anecdotal. Largely based on Jean Shepherd's radio stories, A Christmas Story is a series of awkward holiday mishaps, strung around a story of one kid's dream of getting a BB Gun for Christmas. Don't get me wrong, the stories themselves are great. Many of the gags really stick the landing, and that's this film's biggest asset. They are all iconic. The tongue scene, the department store Santa, The leg Lamp, the bunny costume scene.. and so on. Bob Clark is the director, and this was his first family feature. He typically made horror movies before hand. Unfortunately, that shows here. The weirdness of the stories are amplified by Bob Clark's nightmarish direction. It's a Christmas fever dream. Maybe that was the point. 3 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars.