Vonia A Christmas Story (1983) Director: Bob Clark 7/10 First watched as adult, Finally get references! Disliked narration, Don't recall my Christmases Being this cute or zany. Tanka, literally "short poem", is a form of poetry consisting of five lines, unrhymed, with the 5-7-5-7-7 syllable format. #Tanka #PoemReview

areatw While dozens of Christmas films roll off the production line every year, very few manage to capture the festive season, and the audience's hearts, quite like 'A Christmas Story'. This 80s classic is a real crowd-pleaser, a film that can be enjoyed by anyone regardless of age or film taste, which explains its continued popularity with TV networks.Ralphie is a character we can all relate to, because we were all that kid a Christmas once. The film gets his character spot on and the events that take place in the film will bring back a lot of memories for the average viewer. For such a shallow storyline the film provides so much enjoyment and, although there are other films I would rather watch over the festive season than this one, it remains a classic to this day and will always be up there as one of the Christmas greats.

derlaninktown This film was probably the last time anyone's made a decent Christmas movie, although The Ref might have a decent claim to that. Since A Christmas Story, there hasn't been anything that even comes close to comparing to the overall sweetness or it's message of Christmas cheer.Perhaps the funniest sequence was the dinner in the Chinese restaurant towards the end. When I first watched it I couldn't figure out if the mother was laughing or crying, but her reactions to the duck were priceless. Other highlights are the gibberish that was supposed to represent profanity (my sisters and I still laugh ourselves into hernias watching that part since it's exactly like our father), Ralphie's everyday interactions with family, friends, bullies, and school, the actual Christmas Day hilarity (the bunny suit!)...oh, why beat around the bush? It's all great fun to watch.Obviously set in the mid 20th century, it may appear dated but the messages and situations are actually timeless. Peter Billingsley played the part of Ralphie to perfection. Darrin McGavin and Melinda Dillon were perfectly cast as his parents. There isn't a wasted performance in the film. If you only see one Christmas film a year, A Christmas Story is not one anyone would ever blame you for choosing. It's a sweet, timeless classic that belongs in anyone's collection.

guy_in_oxford I would have given this 10 stars but deducted one for the combination of stealth homophobia and gender rigidity (pink nightmare and electric sex heterosexuality assumption). Yes, in 1983 everyone making mainstream films made these assumptions (that everyone is hetero) but the complete absence of gay people is something that doesn't impress me as a gay person. Imagine if your people were consistently erased from film and television and you grew up, watching "family" entertainment that erased you from existence? The closest thing to a gay character is the bit part with the boy in line who likes the Tin Man and the Wizard of Oz. We're used as extremely tiny bit parts, as weirdos, and that's it.(Let's not pretend that Hollywood didn't know gay people exist. The entire underlying plot of All About Eve is about how gayness is evil and heterosexuality (heterosexual marriages in which women abandon their careers) is pure. The Children's Hour was about how sad, but necessary, it is for gay people to kill themselves. One of the very earliest American films, prior to homophobic censorship codes, showed two men dancing with a violinist playing. So, no, just because it was 1983 isn't enough of an excuse. We exist whenever someone wants someone to kick in the eye.)* That said, this film is just breathtakingly great from start to finish. The casting is perfect. The acting is flawless. The writing is fantastic.If you haven't seen the film you need to. It's nostalgic, funny, and heartwarming.*The opposite of this is seen in current television, where banal stereotyped gay characters are pretty common as more than bit parts. In this film, would it have ruined it for the Ralphie to have a second brother, one who is gay? No. It wouldn't have ruined the film. It would have made gay kids like me feel a lot happier when watching it with the family every year, growing up. I would have felt like I was valued and didn't have to lie about myself in shame, which I did at the time because everything told me that was the expectation.