I know this is nothing new, but I am increasingly frustrated by our consumer society forcing the holiday season down our throats as early as they do. I really think there should be some kind of law that says stores need to keep Halloween decorations up at least until 6:00 AM on November 1. I think I went to Target looking for candy to give out on Beggar’s Night two days before Halloween and they were already selling Christmas trees. Slow down, Target!

Robert Zemeckis’s A Christmas Carol is symptomatic of this kind of “FIRE, READY, AIM!” pre-holiday mentality. I think they’ve pretty much acknowledged it in the commercials I’ve been seeing for the movie. I swear I heard the voiceover guy say something along the lines of “Celebrate the holidays early!” Yeah, dude? They’re a month and half away.

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy watching holiday movies AROUND the holidays. Watching a Dickensian classic 6 weeks out isn’t going to put me in the holiday mood any eariler. More than likely, I’m just gonna Scrooge it and forget about it completely.

I mean, I know that Zemeckis’s A Christmas Carol is getting good reviews, but do they really expect it to have the momentum to carry it to December 25. I don’t care how many digital bells and whistles you strap onto the thing, everyone has heard the story a million times. It’s played out!

Frankly, my interest in the film is purely technical. I want to see what kind of improvements Zemeckis has made in the motion-capture animation technology that brought us the dead-eyed automotons from The Polar Express and Beowulf. It doesn’t hurt that it’s in 3D. That’s the cherry on top.

I know it sounds like I’m down on this film. I’m not. Frankly, I hope it does quite well. Because the IMAX theater we have downtown trotts out The Polar Express every year for the kids and every time I see an ad for that movie, I wanna scream. Hopefully Zemeckis’s A Christmas Carol will replace it. Find another cash cow to float you over the holiday season, local IMAX theater!

Humbug?

What about you? Are you excited for A Christmas Carol? Does it look like an improvement over what we’ve seen from Zemeckis so far? Does anyone else find it weird that he is the ONLY proponent for this technology?

Leave your thoughts in the comments below!