Holiday Favorites 2012: Stephanie Puts a Little 'Scrooged' Love in Her Heart

Welcome to Holiday Favorites, a series in which Slackerwood contributors and our friends talk about the movies we watch during the holiday season, holiday-related or otherwise.

I've watched Bill Murray in the 1988 classic Scrooged every year since its release. Directed by Richard Donner (known for a few other favorites of mine: The Toy, The Goonies, Ladyhawke and Radio Flyer), Scrooged holds a special place in my heart for many reasons.

For one, the movie has quintessential late 80s New York City charm. I had never visited NYC before moving there from small-town West Texas, and I lived there for 12 years. When I arrived off the turnip truck, the only images I had in my head were from childhood movies and TV shows. Scrooged was one of them, along with Sesame Street, Baby Boom, When Harry Met Sally, Wall Street, etc. It turns out Scrooged was closer to the truth, but in a good way.

This movie is loaded with strange characters my family loves to quote, like the foul-mouthed taxi driver, Ghost of Christmas Past, played by hilarious David Johansen (aka. Buster Poindexter); or Eliot Loudermild, the fired, down-and-out employee, portrayed by Bobcat Goldthwait. However, I think my favorite scene is in the homeless shelter managed by Claire Phillips (Karen Allen; former gal pal to Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Last Ark). Frank Cross (Murray) is mistaken for movie star Richard Burton. Murray's terrible and overly exaggerated impersonation of "Dick" from Cleopatra, plus the swooning and applause from the shelter audience, cracks me up. I'm also just a huge fan of Bill Murray.

I guess the biggest reason why I love Scrooged is because it reminds me that Christmas is the one of the few times a year when people are a little nicer and kinder. Like Scrooge or Frank Cross, I need to remember that it only comes once a year, so enjoy it. Work and everyday stresses can wait. It's the time to, as they sing at the perfectly 80s ending: "Put a Little Love in Your Heart!"

Where to watch? Scrooged is available on Blu-ray and DVD. Vulcan Video has the DVD to rent at its north location. You can also rent it streaming on Amazon.

Stephanie Baker is the Director of Marketing at Austin Film Society.