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Jenniferinfl t1_ix5k7ji wrote

I thought it was adorable.

I mean, most Christmas movies aren't super great critically speaking. I really enjoyed this one though, it will likely join my regular holiday rotation. I'm a sucker for musicals, so this one was perfect for me and what I'm looking for in a Christmas movie.

My current must-watch Christmas movies are Elf, Home Alone, Nightmare Before Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, Noelle (cheesy, but, I loved it anyways), Klaus and now also Spirited.

I have my must watch list, but, I usually fill it out with some others I don't need to see every year, like The Santa Clause, Peanuts Christmas, Scrooged, Muppet Christmas and so on.

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MUSCULAR_WALRUS t1_ix9l6or wrote

That fact that I never see “it’s a wonderful life” on lists anymore is so depressing to me.

To me, it encapsulates the spirit Christmas and the human condition.

It is THE quintessential Christmas movie.

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Jenniferinfl t1_ixgz1zp wrote

So we watched it last night. I think I get why it's not on many lists. You have to know something about history to be able to understand what's going on. My spouse kept pausing it to ask why things were happening. He didn't understand that banks could just demand a loan be paid immediately. He didn't know what a 'run on a bank' was. He didn't understand that Powell triggered it on purpose by closing the bank and calling in their loan.

When I was a kid I didn't get it either. As an adult I've had to take classes that covered that history and the modern banking regulation that it triggered.

I mean, you can watch the movie without knowing those things, but then you don't know why he had to skip the honeymoon and so on. It feels more like a choice he made rather than the only reasonable option.

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MUSCULAR_WALRUS t1_ixhnx1r wrote

I’m not so sure I agree, my wife’s from the Dominican Republic and doesn’t know the first thing about anything before 1990, and she’s able to follow the story completely fine. I don’t think I ever had to pause it and explain it, I just asked her if she gets everything about the bank and she does.

I want to clarify I’m not tying to insult your husband, but even with that I don’t think it detracts from the message at all

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Silestra t1_ixkjq0s wrote

I’ll just add that I can see it both ways. Not knowing all about banking regulations, but knowing that during the Great Depression times were really tough was enough historical context for me to feel a great emotional impact from the movie. I do think it belongs near the top of a Christmas must-watch list.

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Jenniferinfl t1_ixhv5gd wrote

My spouse is just about exactly average with an IQ around 100. He doesn't catch inference very well.

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Jenniferinfl t1_ix9nocw wrote

I've seen it probably 20 times. I'm burned out on it. I do need to watch it as my spouse and kid have never seen it. It was always on TV when I was growing up and we didn't have cable, same with Frosty and Rudolph.

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BeefLilly t1_ix8ltvs wrote

You need to add Christmas Vacation to that yearly list

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Jenniferinfl t1_ix8n0gl wrote

I watched that one for the first time last year, it's on my every other year rotation. It almost made the every year list, but my 11 year old used her one veto for it.

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Simple-Account-2490 t1_iy1dq8o wrote

Loved it too. Just about the struggles of being a human in a Christmas musical, needed this in my life.

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mksens000 t1_ixpausz wrote

turned it off after 20 min.

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Jenniferinfl t1_ixpuv8s wrote

Well, good afternoon to you.. lol

Which is a joke you probably didn't make it to...

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