Happy Holidays!

Tis the season to put away the books for a few days and watch holiday themed movies with your family. A favourite is The Hockey Sweater for many reasons.

Hockey, some argue, is an important part of the Canadian lifestyle. Like this short film portrays, many Canadians fondly remember playing pick-up games of hockey on a frozen pond with other kids in the neighbourhood. Watching hockey, especially on Saturday nights, is a tradition for many families as well. The National Hockey League decided to combine this fondness for playing outdoor hockey and watching NHL games on television by hosting the Winter Classic, an outdoor regular season hockey game that usually takes place on New Years Day, this year between the Chicago Blackkawks and the Detroit Red Wings.

However, the most important aspect of hockey history that The Hockey Sweater illustrates is the tension, and sometimes hatred, that exists between Toronto Maple Leaf and Montreal Canadiens fans. My father can relate to the boy situation in the film, he is also a huge Habs fan. One Christmas, when my father was younger, one of his uncle's had the audacity to give him a Maple Leafs jersey, although I'm not sure if it was ordered from the Eaton's catalogue. It wouldn't not surprise me if this has also happened to other hockey fans over the years.

The Hockey Sweater is a classic Canadian film that incorporates many historical elements and figures, like the importance of the Eaton's catelogue in rural Canada, and Maurice "The Rocket" Richard. And the great rivalry that still exists, and probably always will, between the Habs and the Leafs (which could be interpreted as a metaphor for the tension between French and English Canada, but it's the holidays, so let's try not to do too much critical thinking and enjoy another glass of egg nog). So enjoy the film and Happy Holidays!

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An evening with Bing and Fred

I came home for the weekend for a little R&R after a tough semester. While my parents went to a Christmas party, I kept the home fires burning (real wood fireplaces are the only way to go) and settled down to watch a festive movie. I looked through my family's wide selection and settled on the recently re-released Holiday Inn starring my good friends Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. When I opened the case I was faced with 3 different discs, one a CD and two DVDS. I naturally assumed that one disc contained the feature presentation, while the other had the bonus features. But I was wrong. One disc was the Black and White version, and the other was a colour version of the film. A COLOUR VERSION?

In my opinion, films that were released as black and white should remain so, colour should not arbitrarily be imposed. Black and white films have a sense of timelessness and it helps to justify them as "classics" that can be watched over and over again. Adding colour completely changed the tone and atmosphere of a movie. Most movie musicals made in the "Golden Age of Hollywood" had a certain amount of "cheese" and I think adding colour digitally just enhances the cheese factor. To be fair, I haven't watched the colour version of the movie yet to prove this point, but I don't think I will. I like black and white movies.

Just imagine if someone decided it would be a good idea to add colour to Casablanca", which was released in the same year as Holiday Inn, 1942. In an effort to attract the youth of today, they make Bogart's tux powder blue, and his classic trench coat leopard print, this would absolutely ruin the movie.

Consider another favourite B&W movie of mine, Roman Holiday. Just imagine what digitally adding colour could do to this classic film! "Audrey is looking a little pale, let's give her more of tan! And Bogart's leopard print trench was so popular, let's give her a neon green skirt!" The same costume designer created the dresses for Holiday Inn and Roman Holiday, Edith Head, who is, in my opinion, one of the most successful women in the film industry. Knowing that the dresses would be in B&W films, she probably specifically designed dresses so that they would stand out without needing to be in technicolour. In my opinion the dresses are even more elegant in black, white, and shades of grey. Head also used a lot of sparkly fabrics, and who doesn't love sparkly things?

All in all, Holiday Inn was a pretty good holiday movie. There was singing, dancing, a love triangle, and a fairly accurate portrayal of farm life. The nod to the American army, air force, and naval forces was a nice touch for the troops fighting in World War II, but the scene celebrating Lincoln was a little disturbing and very politically incorrect for the 21st century. I just hope that digitally adding colour to B&W movies doesn't become a new trend for studios looking to make a little more money.

*pictures courtesy of imdb.com