Fan Video of the Week: Supernatural Reflections “Merry Christmas!”
Dean: Right, first things first. Merry Christmas, Sam.
Sam: Where’d you get these?
Dean: Someplace special. The gas mart down the street. Open them up.
Sam: Well, great minds think alike, Dean.
Dean: Really?
Sam: There you go.
Dean: Come on.
Sam opens his first gift, which is two porn magazines.
Sam: Skin mags! and… Shaving cream.
Dean: You like?
Sam: Yeah. Yeah.
Dean: Look at this. Fuel for me and fuel for my baby. These are awesome. Thanks.
Sam: Good.
Dean: Merry Christmas, bro.
Sam: Yeah. Yeah. Here, Merry Christmas.
Choosing this episode and fan video was a no brainer for me this week. First, I love the episode 3.08 A Very Supernatural Christmas a lot. Second, the video is great with Jensen Ackles singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” as background to seeing their friends and family that have passed. Remembering them catches the holiday spirit well. I am glad we have this little treat as an episode on the show. I recommend the whole CD where our beloved actors sing Christmas songs. I already mentioned Jensen but the singers also include Jared, Misha, Richard and Jason among others.
As a personal treat I want to offer you some Christmas movies to watch, but with a twist. Like the episode in Supernatural, these are a little bit different than those normal Christmas movies you see, but that is what makes them perfect movies for holiday time. We are actually watching a lot of them this Christmas with hubby and friends. Maybe these will give you something new to watch during the holidays.
Enjoy!
Die Hard (1988)
Cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) was hoping for a quiet Christmas, but sinister kidnapper Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) has other ideas. ‘Die Hard’ made an action star out of TV actor Bruce Willis, and made many subsequent holidays just as challenging for our hero.
Die Hard 2 (1990)
Yes, Christmas Eve is yet again the worst day of John McClane’s year as he is forced to tackle airborne terrorists who’ve hijacked the plane his wife is on. As in ‘Die Hard’, festive favourites (‘Let It Snow’) are used to ironic yet cheery effect.
Lethal Weapon (1987)
Opening with ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ and ending with a family gathering around the Christmas tree, ‘Lethal Weapon’ has a Christmassy start and finish, book-ending a story of drug busts, suicide and torture. There’s a shootout in a Christmas tree lot, mind you.
Groundhog Day (1993)
American fantasy comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, starring Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, and Chris Elliott. It was written by Ramis and Danny Rubin, based on a story by Rubin. Murray plays Phil Connors, an arrogant Pittsburgh TV weatherman who, during an assignment covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, finds himself in a time loop, repeating the same day again and again. After indulging in hedonism and committing suicide numerous times, he begins to re-examine his life and priorities. In 2006, the film was added to the United States National Film Registry as being deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
Ghostbusters II (1989)
The holiday season sees an influx of spirits to New York City, so who you gonna call? This sequel may not have wowed like its predecessor but it reunited the charming cast in a suitably festive setting. Who can resist the Ghostbusters charging around in Santa hats, eh?
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Leave it to Tim Burton to give Christmas a dark edge, although this stop-motion animation still has plenty of heart, too. Jack Skellington is the anti-hero who decides he’s had enough of Halloween and wants to stand in for Santa. Terrific fun.
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
Another terrific alternative to your traditional Christmas movie, this action thriller sees soccer mom Geena Davis suddenly recalling her past as a trained assassin and racing away from (or should that be towards?) danger with private investigator Samuel L Jackson – all against a snowy festive backdrop.
The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
A cosy, child-friendly Christmas treat, this faithful adaptation of CS Lewis’s novel sees its young kids entering an eternally snowy Narnia through the wardrobe, and encountering Father Christmas – while the villainous White Queen (Tilda Swinton) is lurking with evil intent.
Scrooged (1988)
It’s unlikely that Bill Murray could ever have got through his career without playing a version of Scrooge. His deadpan delivery was made for this comic take on Dickens’ festive moral tale, in which his TV exec oversees a broadcast of ‘A Christmas Carol’.
Batman Returns (1992)
Tim Burton’s foray into the Batman franchise is a crisp, darkly comic classic with a striking turn from Michelle Pfeiffer as a slinky Catwoman. Christopher Walken and Danny DeVito are chief villains for Michael Keaton’s caped crusader, while Gotham just wants to have a normal Christmas. Some hope.
Edward Scissorhands
Christmas is a time of both joy and fear for Edward (Johnny Depp) after he and his new host family are ostracised from the community. It’s a typically bittersweet story from Tim Burton which, with Danny Elfman’s score, has a magical festive feel: just picture Winona Ryder dancing around that ice sculpture.
Home Alone (1990) & Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (1992)
Gremlins (1984)
Fancy something festive but naughty, cute but deadly? This 1980s Christmas classic can oblige. Gizmo the mogwai looks like the kind of harmless pet you’d give your kid for Christmas – but you don’t want to get him breeding. Tremendous fun.
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” a song written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, was introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis. Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics. In 2007, ASCAP ranked “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” the third most performed Christmas song, during the preceding five years, that had been written by ASCAP members. In 2004 it finished at #76 in AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs rankings of the top tunes in American cinema.
Some of the original lyrics that were penned by Martin were rejected before filming began. They were: “Have yourself a merry little Christmas / It may be your last/ Next year we may all be living in the past / Have yourself a merry little Christmas / Pop that champagne cork / Next year we may all be living in New York.” When presented with the original draft lyric, Garland, her co-star Tom Drake and director Vincente Minnelli criticized the song as depressing, and asked Martin to change the lyrics. Though he initially resisted, Martin made several changes to make the song more upbeat. For example, the lines “It may be your last / Next year we may all be living in the past” became “Let your heart be light / Next year all our troubles will be out of sight”. Garland’s version of the song, which was also released as a single by Decca Records, became popular among United States troops serving in World War II; her performance at the Hollywood Canteen brought many soldiers to tears.
Quotes:
Dean: What could you possibly say that sounds crazy to me?
Sam: Um… evil Santa.
Dean: …Yeah, that’s crazy.
Sam: Yeah… I mean, I’m just saying that there’s some version of the anti-Claus in every culture. You got Belsnickel, Krampus, Black Peter. Whatever you want to call it, there’s all sorts of lore.
Dean: Christmas is Jesus’s birthday.
Sam: No, Jesus’s birthday was probably in the fall. It was actually the winter solstice festival that was co-opted by the Church and renamed ‘Christmas.’ But I mean, the Yule log, the tree, even Santa’s red suit – that’s all remnants of pagan worship.
Dean: How do you know that? What are you gonna tell me next? Easter bunny’s Jewish? So you think we’re gonna dealing with a pagan God?
Minutiae:
In a con panel discussion found here, Jared and Jensen talked about the fact that as a prank, Jared had heavily spiked the eggnog that Sam gives Dean, and that the face that Dean makes after his first sip is really Jensen’s first reaction to the rum-laden holiday drink. His facial expression worked so well that they decided to keep it in the episode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClZpqxzwAII
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Joyous Good Year! From me to all of you. See you next year.
References:
azlyrics.com
en.wikipedia.org
supernaturalwiki.com
timeout.com/the-50-best-christmas-movies
You can buy the whole Christmas with Friends CD here. jasonmanns.com
Cover art by: FIGHT THE FAIRIES! @Alice_Mars_Mann en.wikipedia.org
Die Hard, Lethal Weapon and Nightmare Before Christmas are go to staples for my Christmas day!
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas and I love your movie choices. We have watched Scrooged, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Die Hard already. Merry Xmas! 🙂
– Lilah
Jason Manns’ Christmas with Friends album is awesome. Jared’s full version of Dreaming of a White Christmas is outstanding, but Rob Benendict’s song with Jason Manns, the last cut of the album, is so pure and quiet – it might make you cry. Of course, Richard and Misha do nice work and we already heard Jensen’s song last year, but it never goes stale. Worth the listen if you are a fan of this holiday and the show.
True, it is a nice seasonal CD even without connecting the actors of the show to it but it makes it perfect for us. Merry Xmas! 🙂
– Lilah