The Couch Critic
The Couch Critic is your laid-back guide to movies and TV shows that deserve your attention—or maybe don’t. Nathan dives deep into storytelling, character development, and cinematic style with a sharp eye and a wry sense of humor. Whether it’s a blockbuster hit, a hidden gem, or a cult classic, Nathan’s relatable approach ensures every episode feels like a cozy chat with a friend who just happens to love film. Perfect for casual watchers and cinephiles alike, The Couch Critic brings thoughtful critique without the fluff. Grab your favorite snack, settle in, and let Nathan guide you through the world of screen entertainment.
The Couch Critic
Scrooge's Musical Redemption: A 1970 Christmas Classic Revisited
Dickens' immortal tale of redemption takes center stage as Nathan and Katy dive into the 1970 musical adaptation "Scrooge," starring Albert Finney and Alec Guinness. What unfolds is a fascinating contrast in perspectives that perfectly captures why some Christmas classics resonate differently across audiences.
Nathan lights up with pure theatre-kid enthusiasm for this song-filled spectacle, confessing he'd never actually watched it all the way through before. The musical elements that surprised and delighted him become the cornerstone of his adoration, awarding the film a perfect 5/5 rating. His background in theater and personal connection to performing "A Christmas Carol" lends authentic passion to his defense of this version's charms, despite acknowledging the dated special effects.
Katy brings a more critical perspective, finding the emotional core of Dickens' story somewhat diluted by the musical format. While appreciating the catchy songs and standout performances—particularly the Ghost of Christmas Present who delivers her favorite line, "Come over here, you weird little man"—she laments the limited development of Tiny Tim and the rushed portrayal of Scrooge's backstory. For her, the film earns a respectable but not spectacular 3.5/5.
Behind-the-scenes trivia adds fascinating context: Alec Guinness suffered a double hernia from the wire work required for his ghostly floating scenes as Marley. Meanwhile, film buffs will appreciate knowing this is just one of at least thirteen different adaptations of Dickens' story, with more to come on this podcast's Christmas journey.
Whether you're a musical theater enthusiast or a Dickens purist, this episode offers thoughtful discussion about adaptation choices, character development, and what truly makes a Christmas story resonate across generations. Subscribe now to join our journey through more seasonal classics and to hear our upcoming reviews of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and the live-action "Lilo and Stitch"!
On the couch. We're laughing, crying, feeling it all, Breaking down the big screen, the hits and the flaws. Grab your seat, press play, let's take the pic. Lights, camera action, it's the Couch Critic.
Speaker 2:Hello everybody, welcome to another episode of the Couch Critic. I'm your host, nathan, and on today's episode I am joined once again by my good friend Katie.
Speaker 3:Hi Katie, how are you? Oh, I'm great. I just picked all my boys out so we could record. I do love them. I do love them, but you think I'm loud yes, yes, I do. I do think you're loud anyways, I can't wait to get loud and proud about this movie talking about the 1970 Christmas classic Scrooge, starring Albert Fenney, alec Guinness.
Speaker 2:So if Alec Guinness' name sounds familiar, he is Obi-Wan Kenobi Did not know that and Albert Fenney is Daddy Warbucks from Annie. And this movie also stars Edith Evans and it's a musical retelling of Charles Dickens' classic novel about an old, bitter miser taking on a journey of self-redemption courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions. Because, yes, we're on a Christmas journey and of course, of course, course, at least one version of a christmas carol has to show up. But I'm pretty sure this is one of two, well, actually, no one of three versions of a christmas carol. Oh boy, you're watching on this journey that's interesting to know.
Speaker 3:I did not know we would see it multiple. But to your point, going right into some facts, I looked up, there's at least minimum of 13 different versions of the storytelling of A Christmas Carol, some animated, some not. And this all originates from what many of you already know the story, classic story from Charles Dickens written in 1848, a Christmas Carol. I don't know what the most recent one is, I don't recall, but I do know there was many lists that I looked at of ranking which of them was the best, because I was very curious and Muppet Christmas Carol was ironically hit towards the top and I won't tell you where this one was, yet it was not at the top. I'll tell you, well I, yet it was not at the top.
Speaker 2:I'll tell you. I'll give you some trivia too. Apparently, sir Alec Guinness Obi-Wan Kenobi did not enjoy doing this movie, because it required much more time than he expected, because of the need of wires and harnesses for his floating characters, because he plays Marley's ghost and apparently he suffered a double hernia that required surgery to repair.
Speaker 3:Well, if this was what came out in the 70s, in the 70s, the wire, all the contraptions for filmmaking have been as great technology.
Speaker 2:So let's dive right into what we thought about this movie. So I'll go first, because I think I'm probably going to be the more upbeat of the two of us. If you don't know anything about me, then you've never listened to this show before. I'm a theater person. I've done theater almost my whole life and I've done a lot of musicals. I don't think I'd ever watch this one all the way through. I think I've seen like clips of musicals. I don't think I'd ever watched this one all the way through. I think I've seen clips of it, but I don't think I've ever watched it all the way through.
Speaker 2:So I was actually surprised that it was a musical. I didn't know it was a musical. So when the first song started, I had the biggest smile on my face. I was like, oh my gosh, I'm going to love this movie, and I did. I was like, oh my gosh, I'm going to love this movie, and I did. I did. I don't care if it's from the 1970s.
Speaker 2:We just watched or I just watched the Santa Claus, the movie that was like in the 80s and that was cheesy as crap and it was so random, it was so dumb and I was expecting it to be this magical, whimsical movie. And then I watched Scrooge, which again, I didn't know it was a musical, but I already know I love the story of a Christmas girl and I already know I love Albert Finney. I didn't know Alec Guinness was in it. I thought that was awesome and I just loved every single part of this movie.
Speaker 2:Loved every single part of this movie. It made me smile, it made me laugh. It was just such a cute version of a story that I had seen a bunch of times. I've actually done productions of it myself. I actually directed it at my school that I'm at. So I've seen the story a bunch of times and it's one of those stories that you can see a bunch of times but you still you don't care because it's like watching it's a Wonderful Life. You can watch that movie a bunch of times and still just love it because of how great it is and how classic it is.
Speaker 3:Well, some people can.
Speaker 2:Well I can, and that's how this movie was for me. Some people can. Well I can, and that's how this movie was for me. It was just another version of a story that I know and love already, and it just gave it even more of a reason to know and love it, so I didn't see anything wrong. Okay, I take that back. The only critique I would have is obviously some of the effects and the ghosts and stuff. Their faces look kind of silly, like. Obviously it's the 70s.
Speaker 3:Oh, and, like you said, the wire, like you can tell when they're floating. You're like okay, yes, he's being suspended.
Speaker 2:I couldn't even tell that that Marley's ghost was being suspended from from the air. I couldn't tell that. Obviously with the ghost you could, yeah, and but yeah, that was. My only critique is that obviously the visuals from a 70s movie aren't going to be the best compared to what they could do nowadays with CGI, even though sometimes CGI nowadays still looks stupid too. But overall I just love this movie. So I'm obviously not going to say that much negative, because I'm going to leave that to katie, because before we started recording she kind of hinted what she felt about this movie. So I'm very interested. I'm very, uh, nervous about what she's going to say. But, kate, I'll take it away. What did you think of this classic movie?
Speaker 3:uh, I think, for starters it's a musical, which is what makes you happy and not me. But I would like to start with my positive, which is, although I don't typically like musicals, I actually liked the songs. I liked the numbers, the dancing. I liked that we heard different singers Right, it wasn't just like the one person, like there was lots of different ditties. They kind of got stuck in your head. I like that there's a reprise about being thankful at the end, like the first one's, sort of this ironic moment, because everyone's saying thank you, we're glad scrooge is dead and he doesn't realize that he thinks everyone's just like loved him when they didn't, but then at the end they really are thinking him. So I liked the songs, even the little tiny tim. Little Tiny Tim, just the sound of a little kid singing, that very sweet, innocent high-pitched child voice hitting these notes.
Speaker 3:It's cute, so I liked the songs. But to start off, even looking at the cover, I could not help but liken this man's face to the face of someone who may be called today's Scrooge certain um president of the united states, donald j trump. Am I. Am I crazy to see a visual similarity?
Speaker 3:yes, no I want someone that's listening right now to tell me that there's a little bit. They somewhat favor each other not the like side lip thing that he does, I mean, obviously. But even in like the picture of the movie his eyes look so much to me like younger not not as much recent Donald Trump, but some of his older photos, so it was hard for me to unsee that actually truly like it throughout the movie. But I don't know, nathan, this movie to me was. It didn't pull my heartstrings at all and I was upset about that because this story is meant to. I was like looking forward to Tiny Tim, looking forward to being just like terrified by the Grim Reaper, and it all fell so flat for me, like the Grim Reaper part was so short. He's supposed to be very terrifying. I feel like he wasn't terrifying. And again, my heartstrings were not pulled that much with Tiny Tim. His role was some minor. I don't know. I was not fooled at all by any of the emotions of this movie that really bothered me. A different enough angle with the script to be different from maybe the one that came out right in the 50s before this. But I will say I guess, the positive being the musical part. I guess that sets it apart.
Speaker 3:I want to say my favorite character was the Ghost of Christmas Present. I thought he was very good and he was hysterical and he delivered my favorite line of the whole movie, which was he said come over here, you weird little man. I just come over here, you weird little man. And I was like, oh my gosh, I already love this character so much so I liked him. I don't know, I just wasn't taken away, and it could be that I was watching it on my phone. It could be that I watched it in a few parts, but I just I wanted maybe more closeups. I just felt like I couldn't get the emotions of these people. It felt so airy, like at the top, it felt so shallow and maybe because there was so much music in it, they didn't have the time for the development.
Speaker 3:Okay, give me, give me, let me give, give you an example. There's when you go, and when I go into this man's past, I want to be gut-wrenched. I want to be just like this poor man. What a horrible childhood in life. So sad. They don't explain. The kids are riding a parade, he's sitting in a classroom, not at the parade, and so that's all that's. The sad thing is like they were doing it and you weren't, like they didn't explain why he wasn't going there. It just felt like I don't understand what turned him into a bad person, which is, I thought, what we would get from the past people, even same with his relationship with the girl. It's like they're lovey-dove. We don't see the slow transition of that, like when Anakin becomes evil.
Speaker 2:In any version of the Christmas Carol you never see the slow transition of that. It does explain that when Fan comes in, his sister comes in and says you can come home now. Brother, you can come home now because father's been so gentle and he's so nice. So apparently his father wasn't a very gentle man and didn't allow his son to come home for Christmas. Boom Explanation right there.
Speaker 3:Well, does it even make sense Like why, why not? Why it's never explained?
Speaker 2:Like unless I mean unless, like you dive into the book and maybe it explains a little more. I like you dive into the book and maybe it explains a little more, but I've never seen a version of a christmas girl that dives into the reason why he has to stay by himself at the school okay, that's fine, okay, and my sister explains is that the father was not very nice and didn't allow him to come home does she well see that I wanted her to die.
Speaker 2:I mean she does, because they actually say that because you find out that that's Fred's mother and that's why he's so harsh against him, because he didn't have his sister growing up, because she died, basically at childbirth. That's what they say. Is that he's the reason why she died.
Speaker 3:Oh, ok, that would make one.
Speaker 2:That was like the one good thing in his life was taken away because of fred in a way.
Speaker 3:okay, that's fair. Well, okay, be that as it may, I still didn't like it. I would have liked more backstory. I think my other bigger critique was that tiny tim is such a memorable character for me and again, I haven't watched a christmas car, I don't even remember what version I've seen, but in my mind the Tiny Tim and God bless us everyone Like that's just the part that's so iconic to me. Right, and he says it, but it's just so minor.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's not in there, and that is another critique. I was waiting for that moment and they really I mean, I guess the movie is called Scrooge, so they really made the movie all about like literally all about Scrooge's transformation, which is what the whole story is about anyway, but I do agree, that was one thing. I was like wait, wait, wait, hold on. They're not going to say God blesses everyone, that's like. That's like literally the last line of the story.
Speaker 3:Right. Well, I think they do say I think he says it in the middle of the movie, but it's very offhand and yes, I was expecting it to be bigger and at the end and there'd be the big feast, and he's saying it then. And also, maybe you're right, it's about Scrooge. But I wanted more about telling him like you see him with a crutch, but then there's not a lot of detail. I want him coughing. I want him looking sad, looking ill and sickly. He looks sickly. None, nothing about him looks sickly other than he's walking around with a cane. I need him to be pale and have sunken in eyes and gaunt. I need him to be dealing with the Black Plague Again. This is why I felt like it didn't land for me, like I wasn't like, oh yeah, it's more tiny too, because I'm like oh well, he don't seem that bad to me. He's singing a ballad over here, so he's got at least a few years left him in him. Um, I digress. That's how I felt about the movie.
Speaker 3:I would be curious to see more versions. I'm a little frustrated that your list had this movie rather than others after I was looking at those lists. So this movie was like not even top five in multiple lists. So then I'm like okay, well, if you're going to show me different iterations, I'd rather see one of the top ones. I think the one that was in, I think the one in the 50s or 40s was very well ranked. The 50s or 40s was very well ranked. The muppet one was very well ranked, even the one that was animated with jim carrey was higher ranked than this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's. That's a version we're going to watch and according to my list that I'm looking at right now that you can't see because you're listening to a podcast uh, the bill murray scrooged is the very last movie on my list and that is also another version of A Christmas Carol.
Speaker 3:Well, see, I do in general, like the story. I can't give this movie credit. Charles Dickens from 1848 gets the story credit, but I do appreciate the idea of getting a second chance at life, understanding what's important in life. I mean, you could argue that his motive is I don't want to die. Not, I've changed who I want to be. It's just like still still maybe selfish, Like I just want to know. But I think it's good. It's a good life lesson. It's a little bit, you know religious theme right. He's like you're going to hell because you were a horrible person and he literally like they literally show it.
Speaker 3:And I don't know if they do that in the book seen that like going to hell, like they actually show him going there and like his room. They got like ripped sweaty demon men bringing in his chain for him to wear.
Speaker 2:Wait, that's my quote of the day led by alex ripped sweaty demon men, well, okay, so what are we going to rate this thing? I know what I'm going rate it, but I want to hear what you say first.
Speaker 3:I think for Christmas I'm going to give it a 4.5. It's not perfect 4.5?
Speaker 2:It's a Christmas carol.
Speaker 3:Because he can't get? I don't know Because, if I'm ranking it against the other Christmas carols and I want to say, is this one more Christmassy than the other ones?
Speaker 2:Probably not, but it's definitely a very Christmas, a 4.5. I'm giving it a big old 5.
Speaker 3:Of course it made me feel like Christmas.
Speaker 2:It made me feel like Christmas from the very first time In your heart. I'm like this is, this is, and I feel like this would be. If I was to have like a tradition to watch a version of A Christmas Carol every year, this might actually be it, because of how fun it is and how musical it is, and I love it so much so I'm giving it a five.
Speaker 3:All right, all right. The music was good, I have to acknowledge that, and Scrooge was annoying and Scrooge-y it was Scrooge, so I think that was good. But again, there was some other parts.
Speaker 2:I was like yeah, it's not my favorite version, so I'm gonna give it a 3.5. Oh my gosh, everything's in comparison to bad santa. This is not as good as bad santa, don't even get me started. So that is your thoughts. Well, my thought. As a general movie, I'm giving it a big old five out out of 5. Because I loved it. I think it's great. Again, I love this list because we're taking on movies that we've seen before, but then we're also getting those gems that we may not have ever watched before, and I really think I've never watched this, and I'm really glad I did, because it made my heart happy. Oh and yeah, you can watch it for free. You can't beat Daddy Warbucks playing Scrooge. You just can't, you can't. So I'm giving it a five out of five.
Speaker 3:Donald J.
Speaker 2:That is our thoughts on the 1970 Christmas classic. I'm calling it a classic even though Katie went Scrooge. And so that is the last Tuesday episode of May. It's crazy, it's already the end of May, already in the school year, so first Tuesday in June we're taking on. Actually, this is ironic because I just announced that next year I will be doing this exact show starting in December of 2025, and that is the Lion exact show starting in December of 2025. And that is the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Looking on Aslan and Narnia, not the rumored Greta Gerwig version that may or may not have.
Speaker 3:Greta.
Speaker 2:Gerwig Playing Aslan? Don't even get me started. We're not watching that. We're watching Liam Neeson, whose voice is just chef's kiss as Aslan. We're watching the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Talking about that, and this Saturday, the last Cinema Saturday of May, I'm taking on the live-action Lilo and Stitch. Is it a pointless remake or is it a? No? I'm'm just gonna tell you right now it is a pointless remake, but there are moments that I like, and you'll hear more on this saturday of cinema, saturday on the couch critic, where every movie gets its close-up.
Speaker 1:it's not just a movie, it's a way of life. We'll watch it together, day or night, so settle in close and don't miss a flick. This is the moment For the couch critic.
