Greatest Christmas Movies of All-Time: #2-Scrooged

People can get real uppity when you mess with tradition. Sometimes their bellyaching is justified, like when Coke switched to New Coke, but other times, traditions need to be broken. I’d say slavery was a good one to disregard, but then again, I’m just some Northern Yankee, perhaps people in Mississippi feel differently. That aside, there are many traditions which endure because, there’s no reason to mess with success. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Well, since no one could ever possibly argue there’s anything broken about Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, maybe that’s why critics panned Scrooged when it was originally released back in 1988. Perhaps they felt Bill Murray and Co. were screwing with a good thing. The New York Times critic believed it only worked in “fits and starts” and Roger Ebert gave it one measly star. However, I disagree. The movie is a welcome update to an old classic, with a great performance by Bill Murray, who we find at his caustic best.

Ad Nauseam: He Went to Jared; I’m Going to Vomit

What’s the point of advertising, the aim of a commercial? Most would say the goal is to get people to buy what you’re selling, either by overtly stating reasons why you should buy their product or at least establishing a brand identity which will eventually get you to buy it. Despite the fact I write about commercials, it’s actually very rare one will actually get me to buy something. I’ve enjoyed the Wii Madden, second generation Zune and Ask Coach Coors Light commercials, but I play video games on an Xbox 360, listen to music on my iPod and drink most anything other than Coors Light.

So at first sniff, you may think commercials have no effect on me whatsoever. Well, you thought wrong, sir–ads can have an impact on my spending habits, just not how they intend. I may be alone here, but sometimes there are commercials that are so horrendous they make me vow to never buy anything from the company which airs them. The latest company to join my boycott has followed closely the immutable laws of crappy commercials by producing ads that have a super-annoying catchphrase, idiotic people, terrible acting, saccharine-sweet sentiment and blatantly materialistic women. The company you ask? Jared the Galleria of Jewelry.