Scrooged [Blu-Ray]

It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story can go and take a running jump. Everyone with any sense knows that the ultimate Christmas film is Scrooged. Directed by Richard Donner, during that period where he was basically incredible (this film came right after Lethal Weapon), and Bill Murray, during one of those periods where he was, well, Bill Murray (he hadn't starred in anything in the four years since The Razor's Edge bombed), Scrooged is one of those films that feels like it should have dated, but just hasn't. Murray kills it as a cynical TV executive who lives through his own version of A Christmas Carol, and the film plays fast and loose enough with the source material that it feels utterly fresh, adding a "lost love" subplot with Karen Allen that never feels forced (and is pretty much the heart of the film, to be honest). Behind the scenes though, Donner and Murray didn't get on and Murray was disappointed with the final product (word is he expected something darker, which makes his gleeful fourth-wall breaking at the end of the film a master class of putting a brave face on it), which is most likely the reason that this release doesn't even have a hint of special features. A "Yule Love It" DVD release with plenty of special features was promised at one point, but never materialized, supposedly due to Murray's lack of interest in offering his approval, and so this Blu-Ray release, with a lovely transfer and nice 5.1 sound, is the best release of the film you're going to get your hands on for a long time to come. And you're going to want to watch this at least once a year for the rest of your life, so…