Let it SNOW!!

The next see-for-free Christmas flick? 

SNOW

For the next week you can check out this movie at ABC Family's website for their 25 Days of Christmas Celebration. Cheesy? Yeah, but not without it's delightful little holiday moments. It's nothing we haven't seen before but it's worth a look. 

Synopsis 

In a modern retelling of the Santa Claus legend, Nick Snowden reluctantly takes over the family business. As if that wasn't pressure enough, with only three days before the big night, one of Nick's young reindeer is captured and taken to a zoo. Not only must Nick rescue Buddy-the-reindeer in time to complete his Christmas deliveries, he has to do it before the young buck learns to fly and the zoo realizes what its got. In the course of his adventures, Nick touches the lives of those at a boarding house including Sandy and eight-year-old-Hector. As only a true innocent can do, Nick tries to bring back the spirit of Christmas they lost long ago. Nick rescues Buddy, brings holiday hope to the boarding house residents, and in the process, finds his true love.

Design

For this movie I'm going to focus on the set design and special effects design. There are several parts of the movie that call for visual effects, flying reindeer for one. In this version of the santa legend santa doesn't travel by chimney, he travels by mirror. This was done mostly through camera tricks, but when the visual effects were used, they weren't bad. They weren't necessarily good, but this is a see-for-free movie. 

Most of the sets looked incredibly underdone, but I had my favorites. The best design was the main character, Sandy's, room. The subtle use of red and green was pleasant. I'm the super-fan of using great wall paper to spice up a set and I often think the right wall paper can raise the production value of a film. This was clearly the thinking of Marion Pon, the Art Director. I felt a kindred spirit in the design and for that I make this another Tell movie! 

Santa Claus Conquers the Martins!

So, for this See-for-free holiday movie blog I found a B-movie gem that is sure to get a reaction (what that reaction is depends heavily on your love or hate for movies of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 kind)

 I've been waiting to reveal weather the designs of these movies are Kitsch or Tell, until I've given a little insight into why I feel the way I do... but I don't think it's hard to guess that this movie is Kitsch. So, if you're into this science-fiction genre and want a little holiday cheer, this movie can be watched here totally free of charge. 

Classic
Even though there are hundreds of B-movies that cross genres, the kung-fu/horror, the sci-fi/western, or the mockumentary... I think this film took the genre blending a little too literally, and I'm shocked to say that it was a full two hours in running time. Directed by Nicholas Webster, this film takes you into two worlds that have been explored many different times... Mars and The North Pole. Santa doesn't actually conquer the Martians, but like the true American he is, he does set up Christmas for Martians to enjoy every year.

Design
Maurice Gordon was the Art Director, and he had his hands full with this jolly flick. Gordon had a very brief career in the sixties (he art directed only one other television episode after this) but who's to say this guy isn't a one hit wonder of film? Well, I think I might. This little picture to the right shows you just

about everything you'll get out of this film. His martians harken back to one of my all time favorite B-movies, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T, but fall short after you have a look at them for more than a minute or two.
I wanted to love this design, because I am a huge fan of movies like this and I think the aesthetic of said films are lost on a modern audience and therefor don't get made by a money hungry film industry. I have to say though, that there was one amazing moment in the piece and it was the archival footage they used! (I'm pretty sure it was the footage used in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. 
Check It Out!
If you don't have time to watch the whole movie... you should defiantly check out this review... it says everything you'll need to know about Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.  

Benji's Very Own Christmas Story

This movie is featured on Hulu for the Holidays. Made in 1978, this short film was nominated for a Primetime Emmy. I was never a Benji fan and I wasn't sure if I wanted to give this little short a chance to make the list. Two minutes in - I knew I'd be watching the whole movie. This version of Santa ended up being something I never could have imagined. There is a crazy musical number " Multiplicity: I am what people think of me" that is a movie oddity I won't be able to forget any time soon.

Also one of my favorite actor's of all time Deep Roy makes a brief appearance as an elf and it was incredible! This movie is a bizarre little nugget of history nestled away in web 2.0.

Synopsis 
This TV special was directed by long-time Benji entrepreneur Joe Camp. When Benji leads her human pals on a journey to the North Pole, loveable old Santa shows them how different cultures celebrate Christmas. And yes, they discuss the "True Meaning" of the Holiday. - Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide 


Design 

Harlan Wright was the production designer for the project. Wright worked on several Benji short films, but never worked on any other shows. There is only a limited amount of information available about this movie considering it's limited significance and the fact that it was shot over thirty years ago. I found the design to be refreshing for a short and I thought that the interesting ideas of the film were well supported by the design. This Santa was a Kris Kringle/Santa Claus combination character and throughout the movie he adorned different culture's wardrobes. 

In the scene to the left his two wardrobe elves needles and pins bring out my favorite prop of the film: a huge book with all of Santa's cultural stylings. It's a strange moment in the film, but the book is fantastic. I thought the scene in the CEPAC center was also incredibly original. The design was futuristic for the late seventies, but feels so dated now. I think those designs are fabulous. They make a comment about the time period they were made in without consciously meaning to. That's what I liked most about this entire design. There were so

many dated yet really original ideas. 
Multiplicity 
Santa's wardrobe global wardrobe changes were the most stereotypical parts of the film and most of them took place during the Multiplicity song and dance scene. This scene actually had a few truly terrifying moments but justified why itself in terms of why they were showing these different sides of Santa... 

Kitsch or Tell? 


This film made an educational statement that I respect. The design was well thought out and incredibly telling of the time it was made. I think the scenes were all quirky and fun. Despite a few terrifying moments out of Kris Kringle, I think the charm of the piece could be found in the design. This is my first Tell movie of the Christmas season!!