Showbits

Tis the season to believe in the Force. Star Wars: The Force Awakens arrived in theaters last week and smashed all opening weekend box office records. I knew it was a cultural phenomenon, but it was a small thing that made me realize how deeply it had penetrated into our awareness: this sign on my state's highway.

Young Luke Skywalker wore his seat belt. Be a safe Jedi like Luke. #StarWars pic.twitter.com/UGdASHlCZh

— Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) December 17, 2015

The Force Awakens is a fantastic movie that made me have all the feels: I was exuberant, joyful, angry, anguished, and excited. I loved every moment I spent watching it. After having some time to absorb and reflect on the experience, I am a little disappointed in the direction they took the script. But that does nothing to diminish what a stellar film it is, and it leaves me eager to see if those decisions are followed through in the pending sequels.

Episode VII is the first Star Wars movie to be released in a month other than May. Does that make it a Christmas movie? Probably not, but certainly it's a holiday season movie, with families gathering to enjoy time away from work and school at the movie theater.

But the characters of Star Wars aren't necessarily people you want to be with on Christmas morning. In fact, I might rather a visit from Krampus than Darth Vader:

By the time of Episode VII, Darth Vader is well and truly dead — but true villainy is timeless, and no matter what comes of this new trilogy, we'll always remember our first Sith.

(Full disclosure: I support Corridor Digital on Patreon.)

Happy holidays from Showbits! It's been a full year since the most recent Muppets movie, but our favorite characters from Jim Henson are alive, well, and here to wish you a Merry Christmas in this holiday music video:

"All I Need Is Love" features not only CeeLo Green and Craig Robinson, but also Walter, the newest Muppet introduced in last year's film — a nice touch of continuity! Might we see these characters reunited in another feature film? We can only hope!

Until then, happy holidays — and mahna mahna!

(Hat tip to Annie Lynsen)

Happy holidays from Showbits! As is tradition, I would like to celebrate the season in classic, comedic style with the residents of the Satellite of Love. This collection of MST3K performances has three skits, but I've limited it to the most passionate and my favorite:

This is Showbits' fifth annual Christmas greeting from MST3K and harkens back to the first, when the site was less than two weeks young and run by someone who was recently out of a text-based environment and still unsure how to use multimedia.

May our holidays be rich with humor and cheer!

I was at a Martina McBride concert last night, shortly after being in the closing performance of A Charles Dickens Christmas. Take this as you will, but my favorite part of the concert was intended only to distract us from the scene change, when they showed a video montage of my favorite holiday films: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, It's a Wonderful Life, and others (though not National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation). It made me realize there are several other films in the holiday genre I've not yet experienced — among them, Irving Berlin's White Christmas and Bob Newhart's Elf (which, oh yeah, I think also has Will Ferrell).

Since there's not yet snow on the ground here, I need some help getting into the holiday spirit. What are your favorite Christmastime movies, and why?