Classic 80s Movie: “Scrooged”
Today’s Classic 80s Movie guest post comes from Barbara Thomas.
Movie Title: Scrooged
Year: 1988
Writers: Mitch Glazer, Michael O’ Donoghhue (suggested by the novel by Charles Dickens)
Lead Actors: Bill Murray, Karen Allen
Director: Richard Donner
Plot Summary: A cynically selfish TV executive gets haunted by three spirits bearing lessons on Christmas Eve.
Why I Think This Is A Classic 80s Movies: It ticks all the 80’s boxes: Plot you can easily summarize in one sentence, starring a guaranteed box office draw and showing off the newest special effects, a remixed classic pop song on the soundtrack- everything designed and packaged for mass appeal.
My Favorite Moment In The Movie: Actually my favorite moment was sitting in the theater watching the movie. I picked this film because I have a sentimental attachment to it. I was a bit of an odd duck in high school and didn’t have many friends. I expected to spend the winter break the way I always did — alone, reading a book. But my chemistry lab partner called me over the break and invited me to see this movie with him and a bunch of his friends — who went on to become my friends not just for the rest of our school days but to this day. That’s the awesome power of movies — they aren’t just entertainment, they are a shared experience.
My favorite moment in the film itself is when the network underlings show their boss, IBC network head Frank Cross (Bill Murray), the commercial their upcoming All Star version of A Christmas Carol with Buddy Hackett, Jamie Farr, the Solid Gold Dancers and Mary Lou Retton as Tiny Tim. It’s so ridiculously over the top cheesy — and thus so dead on as a satire of TV holiday specials. Cross’s reaction — “I’m going to have to kill all of you.”
My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie: Nothing sums up Frank Cross better than:
James Cross: You know what they say about people who treat other people bad on the way up?
Frank Cross: Yeah, you get to treat ’em bad on the way back down, too. It’s great, you get two chances to rough ’em up.
Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: Cameos galore (although if you are under 40, you probably won’t recognize most of them). You can also spot Keith Haring’s “Free South Africa” poster in several scenes.
Thanks, Barbara! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!
Tomorrow: Another Classic 80s Movie!
I’m still looking for people to write guest posts in this series. Please email me with the movie you’d like to cover. Here is a template you should use:
Movie Title
Year
Writers (both screenwriters and any authors whose books were used as the basis for adaptation)
Lead Actors (Just the main ones)
Director
IMDB Plot Summary (You can find that directly under the Your Rating box. If you don’t feel the summary does the story justice, feel free to write up a logline of your own.)
Why I Think This Is A Classic 80s Movies (Feel free to write as much as you’d like up to a half-page or so.)
My Favorite Moment In The Movie
My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie (IMDB has a Quotes section for almost every movie, so you can find key dialogue in your movie’s site.)
Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie
Please use this exact template to help me in the editing process.
If you can find a YouTube clip from the film or its trailer, include that URL.
When you are done with your guest post, you may simply copy and paste the content into an email to me.
I will run the posts in the order I receive them.
And if you emailed me about doing a specific movie, but haven’t sent in your guest post, now’s the time!
Thanks, everyone!
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