MMC! eased into holiday screenings with a thoroughly odd, Rankin/Bass-inspired, stop-motion animated feature from Sanrio, Nutcracker Fantasy. A two-headed rat queen, a spectral “Ragman” prowling the streets, an ungrateful princess woken from her slumber, live-action ballet sequences, and bounty of superimpositions and other camera tricks are only a taste of what Nutcracker Fantasy offers. Highest marks among these last ten films we’ve screened go to The Best Years of Our Lives, while the only failing grade falls on Jason X. We’re not mad, Uber Jason; we’re just disappointed.
- Nutcracker Fantasy (Takeo Nakamura, 1979)
- The Velvet Underground (Todd Haynes, 2021)
- Tora-san’s Bluebird Fantasy (Yoji Yamada, 1986)
- Dry Summer (Metin Erksan, 1963)
- The New Testament (Sasha Guitry, 1936)
- Scarecrow (Jerry Schatzberg, 1973)
- Let There Be Light (John Huston, 1946)
- Teenage Yakuza (Seijun Suzuki, 1962)
- The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946)
- Jason X (James Isaac, 2001)
Our next Criterion post is coming, and that’s a promise. MMC! will round out the year with our favourite discoveries of 2021, possibly a treat for Christmas, and maybe even a non-movie list if the mood strikes. Until then, there’s still time to watch A Christmas Story, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, Black Christmas, Tokyo Godfathers, The Ref, Christmas Evil, Rocky IV, ….
Make Mine Criterion! 