Home Alone 2: Behind the Scenes.
Knocked a few items off of my traditional Must Do Before Christmas list:
1) Went to Toys “R” Us, which is no big deal usually, but I always try to get there at least once when it’s all Christmassy and insane. It’s even nicer when I have no intention of buying anything, because then I don’t have to deal with the lines, or worse, trying to push a cart through the crowded store.
Course, I’ll need to get back there one more time, because no Christmas season is complete until I’ve been at TRU during its late night holiday hours. (I think they’re open until midnight now? If not, they will be soon.)
2) Earlier tonight we went on our first official “Get Starbucks & Drive Around Looking at Christmas Lights” drive, which has become one of my favorite traditions.
My hometown isn’t so great for a lot of things, but the people around here sure know how to decorate for Christmas. Despite the many houses with a thousand bucks’ worth of lights and animatronics, I’m more moved by the families that just throw a few strands of obviously ancient lights up and call it a day. Those houses always feel so oddly sincere.
Have you done anything holidayish yet? I get the feeling that this is kind of a “whatever” year for lots of folks, but man, I’m determined to not let it get too whatever. Pretty soon it’ll be January, and January sucks, y’know?
Tonight’s video choice was inspired by my buddy Chad, who just randomly found the VHS version while hunting at thrift stores. Imagine my surprise to find Home Alone 2: Behind the Scenes on YouTube!
It’s exactly what it sounds like: A BTS look at Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, a movie that I saw in theaters and still adore today. I guess it doesn’t hold a candle to the original if we’re judging them objectively, but the sequel is just a damn fun movie. Every time I see it, I want pizza, Tim Curry and big cookies, in that order.
(And yes, I of course consider Home Alone 2 a Christmas movie. Turtle doves are a major plot point, for Christ’s sake.)
A Garfield Christmas!
Before you settle in for tonight’s video, make sure you’ve checked out the super enormous new article on the main page, which uses an old home movie to examine my family’s 1986 Christmas party. I don’t get to cover such meaty topics very often.
(Or maybe you should save it until you’re more awake, since it’s like ten bazillion words long? Your call.)
It’s the final minutes of December 1st as I sit here. Writing that giant post reminded me of how the literal entirety of my Decembers used to be all about Christmas. I’d think about it constantly and do Christmassy things constantly. I routinely messed up in school during December, because I just couldn’t be bothered with anything that had no tangential tie to Santa.
Doing these Christmassy countdowns on X-E and Dino Drac for so many years has been my way to keep the season meaningful for me. If it makes yours a little more meaningful in the process, that’s a great bonus.
Make time for the season, if you can. It can be pretty therapeutic once you get past the bullshit parts.
Maybe start by setting aside 22 minutes for A Garfield Christmas, which is by far my favorite of Garfield’s holiday specials. It’s so good, guys.
The Thanksgiving special is just kind of there, and as much as I love Garfield’s Halloween Adventure, watching it now is mostly for nostalgia’s sake. This one, though… this one still holds up.
The touching moments still touch me, and the sorta funny moments still seem sorta funny. Like I could totally see this still being an annual network television thing irrespective of Garfield’s current pop status. This stupid cat cartoon transcends, man.
When you’re done watching it, you might also enjoy this old post, in which I tried to name every single gift Garfield wished for at the start of the special. It was hard to do.
A Charlie Brown Christmas!
Guys, it’s here! DECEMBER! Augh!
TIME MOVES TOO FAST.
I’m in the middle of building a Christmastastic post to kick off Dino Drac’s big month, but I didn’t want to leave you hanging. Let’s start December with a true classic. Here’s A Charlie Brown Christmas:
Okay yeah, it’ll be on television, and it’ll probably be on television more than once, but I don’t think an extra viewing will hurt you!
Dated? Maybe, but I can’t imagine the Christmas season without it. (Not hyperbole, either. I honestly cannot remember a single Christmas season that slid by without me watching this at least once. Everything from the jingle of Lucy’s coins to the reveal of the “refurbished” tree still gets to me.)
Enjoy!
Sonic Christmas Blast!
Here’s Sonic Christmas Blast, from 1996:
If I’m reading things right, the special served as a coda for the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon series. Expect lots of yelling and bright colors. Enjoy!
