The summer solstice is coming up, and I always rewatch Midsommar (2019) on that day.
Lord of the Rings during Christmas time.
Extended or theatrical?
I’m extended for Fellowship, theatrical for Two Towers, and extended with scene skips for Return.
I’ve watched them three times. Always spaced out by many years. Just did it a week or two ago actually.
The last two were extended. I don’t even know what the theatrical looks like anymore. I can’t imagine skipping scenes.
Which scenes do you skip? And what are you fine skipping in the two towers?
I just felt like the extendeds often include scenes that rightly belong in “deleted scenes” because they are either momentum killers, background info, or straight-up bad–like they just wanted to have the most complete version for archivists.
What convinced me off extended Two Towers was a very cringe scene between that wild, tramelled thing and the mere ranger (I’m terrrble with names) on the trail to helm’s deep.
Two Towers is a pretty cut-and-dry action story, for the most part. Most of the character development beats happen in 1 and 3.
For Return, I think they just chickened out on the run timev-there’s a few necessary scenes cut from theatrical, but also some cruft–like the romance with Faramir.
Testing out my new normie girlfriend soon, so I’ll be doing the merciful thing and going theatrical for all three. Let’s see what I feel is missing.
Die Hard (1) every Christmas.
I’ve fallen off in recent years but I used to watch V for Vendetta every November 5th
And Groundhog Day on FEB. 2?
The Muppet Christmas Carol ever year on Christmas Eve.
RoboCop is my go-to New Years Eve movie. If you press play at 22:58:25 on the Director’s Cut, you should get within a second or so of synchronizing Clarence Boddicker’s digital hand grenade countdown with midnight.
Not actually a movie, but, like all Germans, Dinner for One on December 31st
Does not count as a movie.
I always thought that nobody in the UK would knew what I was talking about with “Dinner for One”, but in North-East Lincolnshire, namely Grimsby, they know that piece. That’s where Freddy Frinton lived.
New Year’s - Strange Daze
Saint Patrick’s Day - Boondock Saints
Easter - Mallrats; Life of Brian
4th of July - Jaws; Southland Tales
Halloween - Monster Squad
Thanksgiving - Planes, Trains, and Automobiles; My Blue Heaven
Christmas - Die Hard; National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Boondock Saints is probably by all measures an objectively bad movie (which I don’t think is a thing anyway) but goddamn do I love that movie.
It has been a minute since I’ve seen Southland Tales. What a trip! Time for another rewatch.
Stellar list overall too!
I read Hogfather around Christmas every year.
Have you seen the live action version of this?
Think the beeb did it as a two parter years ago
Christmas:
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Muppet Christmas Carol
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Nothing Like the Holidays
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The Snowman
Thanksgiving, not a movie, a song: Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant”
July: Independence Day
I also generally reread at some point in the summer Neal Stephenson’s novel Zodiac
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Samhain: Addams Family / Values, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Perhaps (in rotation) Shaun of the Dead, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Beetlejuice, The Lost Boys, Van Helsing, Corpse Bride, Army of Darkness
Yule: Die Hard, Hogfather (BBC), The Long Kiss Goodnight. Maybe Lethal Weapon, Gremlins, Trading Places.
Addams Family is a Halloween classic at my house. It’s so good.
Halloween: Sleepy Hollow, Halloween 1 & 2
Christmas: Die Hard, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Ronin
Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Prey
4th of July: Independence Day
On November 5th I watch V for Vendetta.
During the week of November 10 (when Kevin Conroy died) I’ll watch many of his Batman animated movies.
I watch the Seven Samurai every year around Christmas because that’s around when Toshiro Mifune died. I did it the year he died and it just became a tradition after that.
I put on childhood Christmas movies while wrapping Christmas presents, lol
