Nitpicking Movies: The Nightmare Before Christmas

Should I be concerned that my favorite holiday movies all involve somebody stealing Christmas?

Based on a poem Tim Burton wrote while with Disney, The Nightmare Before Christmas acts as a twofer holiday film, providing viewing pleasure for both Halloween and Christmas. It features an amazing score by Danny Elfman and is probably the film that best showcases Burton’s visual style despite being directed by Henry Selick. (By all reports, Burton actually had little to do with the film aside from providing some sketches and the original poem; Selick essentially did an impression of Burton’s style and did it better than Burton ever did in his own films.)

Overall, the movie is charming, creative, and the right combination of macabre and heartwarming. Let’s see what sort of nitpicks I can toss at it from the peanut gallery.

Nitpicking Movies: How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

My favorite Christmas movie, without question, is How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The creative team, which included the likes of Chuck Jones, Boris Karloff, and Thurl Ravenscroft, put together an adventure with a gleefully evil villain but still managed to make it one of the most touching Christmas films ever conceived. So, naturally, I’m going to spend some time here picking it apart.

The War on Christmas was Invented by Bigots

As Christmastime takes the United States by storm, the controversy surrounding appropriate season’s greetings rears its ugly head once again. Wish somebody “Happy holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas,” and you risk stumbling into an unexpected controversy. After all, “Happy holidays” is a neutered statement enforced by the gutless politically correct culture we live in, right?

Not by a long shot, actually.