A brilliant film that helped define a genre

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA.A quaint little town called Stinky Cigars – a secret location hidden only by a name that was chosen to repel tourists – is populated by iconic holiday characters from every culture around the world. It is home to Santa Claus and his workshop full of hard-working elves, and to other holiday figures from the best-known (Cupid, the Easter Bunny, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln) to the most minor and obscure (Arbor Day Aardvark, Labor Day Amos).The story, which is narrated in verse and "cheekily punctuated" by original songs,[1] centers on Edison Elf (Sean Hayes), an optimistic inventor with an unexpectedly hazardous new toy, and Murray Weiner (Jerry Stiller), the cranky owner of the town's diner. Murray's talent for delivering orders makes the unwilling curmudgeon the only person in town who can fill in for an injured Santa (Kevin Michael Richardson) on Christmas Eve.Fun special. There is plenty of holiday material that this cleverly spoofs. What is nice is that the makers of this film do not "Dumb it Down" when I am sure they were tempted.

"How Murray Saved Christmas" was possibly the most famous television Chrstmas special from last year. It scored nominations with the Emmys and Annie Awards. The main character is voiced by Jerry Stiller, father of Ben, and Seinfeld's Jason Alexander should also be known to many. Apart from them, the cast and crew include prolific people from "The Cleveland Show", "Drawn Together", "The Simpsons" and "Futurama", so this should give you a pretty good idea of what the humor in these 42 minutes is going to be like. It's not entirely harmless, sometimes politically incorrect and possibly not worth a watch for the very small ones. But fans of these shows can give it a go. I would not say it was downright funny, but there were some decent moments. I liked the animated Andrew Sisters and my favorite joke was the punchline on being gay during the holiday season, obviously as I love language-related jokes and this meant something entirely different a long time ago. A decent watch all in all and certainly not the worst way to spend an hour when December rings in again.

I've never posted a review here and I admit I am not a fan of the Simpsons, and as I understand, this was written "a-la-the Simpsons..." It is offensive, vulgar, prejudicial, and just pure garbage! But we watched it in the same way you can't look away from a train wreck. I wouldn't let my child or grandchild near this mess, and I believe I will have nightmares myself tonight! I am not sure in which genre to classify this drivel, offensive show, but it certainly does not qualify as entertainment. Too many sexual references, racial profiling remarks, and bathroom humor bits. Made me want to puke.Delete this, if you recorded it, and don't bother to recorded it, if you didn't!Merry Christmas!

The second (after "Olive, the other reindeer) from somewhere inside the greater Simpsons universe, this adaptation of a book is a bit toned- down from the Simpsons, but you'll recognize the sensibility -- and, to a degree, the artists -- behind it. Well into adulthood, admittedly, I found the story, sometimes reaching but clever rhymes and songs to be great fun. Probably aimed more at older kids and their parents, many of the gags will sail by the kids with no harm done.There is no religious significance attached the Christmas here; in fact, Santa's Jewish surrogate winds up delivering gifts to children of several faiths. To me, that's a good thing; families who wish to celebrate Christmas as a religious (and in that, exclusionary) holiday can do that in their own homes and churches.