A Christmas Story Live (2017)

Title: A Christmas Story Live
Year of Release: 2017
Available On: Hulu – December 2017
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Jingle Bells

I was so primed to love this Christmas special. For one, I love Maya Rudolf and I love Matthew Broderick. I also love musicals. I love remakes. I love nostalgia, too, and A Christmas Story is nothing if not nostalgic. I love the set of this movie. The wallpaper! The wallpaper. Have I mentioned that I love Maya Rudolf? But this thing is a who’s who of goodness: Jane Krakowski, David Alan Grier, Fred Armisen, Ken Jeong, Ana Gasteyer?! I’m dead. I turned it on with a giant smile on my face. And the singing.

Maybe I didn’t know this story (ok, I didn’t know, take it up with me in the comments), but it’s really sad that we breed this kind of violence into our sons. I’d be hella sad if the #1 thing my son wanted was an instrument of death. Spoken like a true urban leftie, I suppose. But this is a classic! Also I am not patently anti-gun, I just wish that there were more options for young men – men of all ages – to express their masculinity. But what can we expect from a boy whose only role model is Old Man Parker (as played by Chris Diamantopoulos) who is dismissive of his wife’s role in the home and let’s loose with curses and anger any time the world puts the tiniest bump in his road?

Oh Ralphie, you’ll shoot your eye out! – Momma Parker

The iconic line persists.

Hands down best performance of this live show is Chris Diamantopolous – he was made for the stage and is clearly very experienced. Everyone else is great, too, but he really shines in this. Like, he stands out as someone who is just phenomenal.

Go! Watch this! What are you waiting for?

P.S. It’s very, very long… even for me.