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Topic: Christmas with the Kranks


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In the News (Wed 16 Dec 09)

  
  Christmas with the Kranks (2004)   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)
With their daughter away, her parents decide to skip Christmas altogether until she decides to come home, causing an uproar when they have to celebrate the holidays at the last minute.
The shot of Blair Krank saying goodbye to her parents at the airport doesn't have a screen credit over it as it does in the actual film.
Continuity: The cut on Nora Krank's forehead she received while tanning, and the position of her fringe, change and disappear between shots.
www.imdb.com /title/tt0388419   (584 words)

  
  TheMovieBoy Review - Christmas with the Kranks (2004)
In "Christmas with the Kranks," directed by Joe Roth (2001's "America's Sweethearts"), middle-aged Chicago natives Luther (Tim Allen) and Nora Krank (Jamie Lee Curtis) are experiencing heavy bouts of Empty Nest Syndrome.
Sinking "Christmas with the Kranks" to the sub-level of a DOA cinematic dud is the way it offensively embraces materialism, narrow-mindedness, disrespect for humans, and even animal cruelty—a cat is frozen solid at one point but can still blink its eyes—and then expects to turn its woeful meanspiritedness into gold for a last-minute, feel-good conclusion.
"Christmas with the Kranks" is contrived to the nth degree—when Nora leaves her house, the windows on her car are rolled down in the midst of winter for the sole reason of setting up a joke where Vic grabs hold to berate her.
www.themovieboy.com /reviews/c/04_xmaskranks.htm   (1192 words)

  
 Christmas with the Kranks
Christmas with the Kranks, an adaptation of the John Grisham novel Skipping Christmas, follows the general trajectory of a holiday movie; it starts with a Scrooge-like character, has the character do a bunch of stuff that is anti-Christmas, then something happens, and the Scrooge changes, and everything is nice and happy.
The Scrooge here is Luther Krank (Tim Allen, The Santa Clause 2, Big Trouble), who, along with his wife Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis, Freaky Friday, Halloween: Resurrection), is really depressed that their daughter Blair (Julia Gonzalo, A Cinderella Story, Dodgeball) is off to Peru for a year with the Peace Corps.
Christmas is coming up, and it will just not be the same without her.
www.haro-online.com /movies/christmas_kranks.html   (603 words)

  
 The GATE :: Review of 'Christmas With The Kranks' Starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis
Christmas With The Kranks is one of those bland Hollywood movies that are planned, designed and executed for seemingly no other purpose than to cash in on Christmas.
This movie is another of those Hollywood Christmas movies in which no one ever sees their breath in the supposedly freezing cold weather, snow is either little white patches of fake snow or falling in huge flakes of fake snow that cover the shoulders of jackets but never seem to melt even indoors.
Christmas With The Kranks does have a few funny moments and is generally harmless fun.
www.thegate.ca /reviews/christmas-kranks.php   (534 words)

  
 Christmas with the Kranks
Lastly, one then stunts the development of youthful innocence by exposing his or her children to Christmas with the Kranks and immediately explaining to them how the movie is an adult's shallow interpretation of the holidays as a forewarning to never grow up.
Christmas with the Kranks is the film adaptation of author John Grisham's novel "Skipping Christmas" adapted by Chris Columbus (writer of Nine Months), directed by Joe Roth (director of American Sweethearts) and starring Tim Allen (Santa Clause), Jamie Lee Curtis (True Lies) and Dan Aykroyd (Driving Miss Daisy).
This results in the Kranks taking drastic measures to avoid most everyone they know until early December 24th when the doting parents learn that Blair is returning home with her new fiancée for a surprise visit and to experience Christmas with all the opulence the Kranks feverishly worked so hard to avoid.
www.hugereviews.com /Movies/C/christmas_with_the_kranks.htm   (658 words)

  
 Christmas With The Kranks (2004)
This will be the Kranks’ first Christmas sans child in 23 years, and Luther offers a radical proposal: that he and Nora should skip Christmas and take a cruise instead.
Christmas with the Kranks appears in both an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 and in a fullscreen version on this single-sided, double-layered DVD; the widescreen image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions.
Kranks wasn’t ambitious enough to enter “A” territory, but I thought it merited a well-deserved “B+”, which was much higher than I thought it’d deserve.
www.dvdmg.com /christmaswiththekranks.shtml   (1516 words)

  
 "Christmas With the Kranks" - Salon
In Joe Roth's "Christmas With the Kranks," Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis play Luther and Nora Krank, a suburban Chicago couple who, having just seen their daughter off for a stint in the Peace Corps, decide to forgo Christmas for a Caribbean vacation.
Adapted by hellspawn Chris Columbus from John Grisham's "Skipping Christmas," "Christmas With the Kranks" purports to kindle the warm glow of love for humankind in our hearts but reaffirms that the trappings of the holiday season are all that really matter.
"Christmas With the Kranks" even has the audacity to play the old C card: One of the movie's peripheral characters has cancer and, as one tearful neighbor announces, may not live to see another holiday season.
dir.salon.com /story/ent/movies/review/2004/11/24/kranks/index.html   (571 words)

  
 Christmas with the Kranks (2004) - A Hollywood Jesus Movie Review
Skipping Christmas is Grisham-lite, with none of the serious action or drama of his legal thrillers, but a funny poke at the craziness of Christmas.
After faithfully and happily celebrating Christmas their entire lives, and with their daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) in Peru to serve a stint in the Peace Corps, Luther (Tim Allen) and Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) Krank are facing the prospect of a very lonely holiday.
The battle of wits between the Kranks and their neighbors quickly escalates, threatening the harmony of the community and, yes, the spirit of Christmas itself.
www.hollywoodjesus.com /christmas_kranks.htm   (1602 words)

  
 DVD Verdict Review - Christmas With The Kranks
The Kranks are threatened, bullied, and relentlessly pursued by angry members of the community who are horrified they are not decorating this year.
The Kranks become the object of scorn and ridicule for half the movie, and then their daughter unexpectedly decides to come home.
Christmas with the Kranks should have been at least as good as Christmas Vacation or A Christmas Story.
www.dvdverdict.com /reviews/christmaswithkranks.php   (1073 words)

  
 :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews :: Christmas with the Kranks (xhtml)
But no. The reasonable Kranks are pounded down by the neighbors, and then their daughter decides, after having been away only about two weeks, to fly home for Christmas with her new Peruvian fiance.
So the Kranks of course must have their traditional Christmas Eve party after all, and the third act consists of all the neighbors pitching in to decorate the house, prepare the food and decorations, etc., in a display of self-righteous cooperation that is supposed to be merry but frankly is a little scary.
So distant are the spiritual origins of the holiday, indeed, that on Christmas Eve one of the guests at the Kranks' big party is the local priest (Tom Poston), who hangs around gratefully with a benevolent smile.
rogerebert.suntimes.com /apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041123/REVIEWS/41116002/1023   (761 words)

  
 Skip Christmas With The Kranks!
For if we were to depend on films such as Christmas With The Kranks to liven the holiday scene, we would be in for a big bout of depression.
Not to forget that Kranks is based on a non-thriller by John Grisham called Skipping Christmas, a bestseller and was scripted by Chris Columbus (also known for directing two Harry Potter and two Home Alone films).
With all the terrible things going around them, the Kranks get one more problem: their daughter suddenly announces she will be home for the festivities.
www.rediff.com /rss/redirect.php?url=http://www.rediff.com/movies/2004/nov/26kranks.htm   (482 words)

  
 Christmas with the Kranks Movie Review at Hollywood Video
After learning that their daughter won't be able to celebrate Christmas with them, Luther and Nora Krank decide to skip the holiday altogether, despite the fact that they're usually the most fanatical about it.
The Kranks blatantly rips off every holiday movie from Miracle on 34th Street to It's a Wonderful Life to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (tree-light electrocutions are funny once, not five times) to Home Alone, Scrooged, The Ref and even Jingle all the Way.
When the kids launch a crusade to prevent the Kranks from skipping out on tradition, their wretched urchin-ness is understandable (and Malcolm in the Middle's Erik Per Sullivan is actually kind of cute), but watching their parents get into the bullying act is downright embarrassing.
www.hollywoodvideo.com /movies/movie.aspx?MID=118898   (1023 words)

  
 Christmas with the Kranks (2004): Reviews
Christmas with the Kranks is so calculated that it's pathetic, a warm-hearted holiday greeting card with not one scintilla of honest emotion inside.
Kranks is the type of grim holiday movie that reminds you of all that is noxious and insincere about the Christmas season and then chases it down with a sickly-sweet reversal
Kranks is a feel-good movie in which every character is hateful (except, sigh, the cancer lady), and a Christmas movie too chickenhearted to mention Jesus.
www.metacritic.com /video/titles/christmaswiththekranks   (970 words)

  
 Reviews: Christmas with the Kranks - Christianity Today Movies
When the Kranks cancel their Christmas Eve party, and refuse to install their giant illuminated Frosty the Snowman on the roof, hang decorations or donate to the policeman's fund, the neighbors, led by neighborhood "don" Vic Frohmeyer (Dan Akroyd), are put off, to say the least.
Christmas with the Kranks may be filled with silly slapstick and outrageous moments, but it's also delightful and heartwarming, and celebrates what's really important about Christmas.
Christmas with the Kranks is rated PG for brief language and suggestive content.
www.christianitytoday.com /movies/reviews/christmaskranks.html   (1809 words)

  
 Christmas With the Kranks
Christmas With the Kranks is the kind of movie that makes you want to punch a department-store Santa.
You'd think the Kranks were erecting a life-size tribute to Hitler in their front yard instead of not putting up a tacky fake snowman.
For example, the Kranks are religious enough that the priest knows them by name, but they seem to have no spiritual ties to the holiday.
www.azcentral.com /ent/movies/articles/1124kranks24.html   (477 words)

  
 USATODAY.com - Skip 'Christmas With the Kranks'   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)
In Christmas With the Kranks(*), a middle-aged couple (Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis) decide to forgo Christmas festivities and take a Caribbean cruise while their daughter (Julie Gonzalo) is spending the holidays working in the Peace Corps.
It is one of the worst Christmas movies in years, and it is one of the worst movies to emerge from Revolution Studios.
Christmas With the Kranks will only underscore the notion that Hollywood is out of touch with the heartland, as many are saying these days.
www.usatoday.com /life/movies/reviews/2004-11-23-kranks_x.htm   (561 words)

  
 Reeling: The Movie Review Show's review of Christmas with the Kranks
Adapted by Chris Columbus ("Gremlins") from John Grisham's book "Skipping Christmas" and directed by Joe Roth ("America's Sweethearts"), "Christmas with the Kranks" is a stilted, unbearably unfunny commercial plundering of the holiday season.
The Kranks crawl about the floors of their own home to avoid carollers and hide in the basement when the neighbors demand they display their giant Frosty snowman.
The most heinous aspect of "Christmas with the Kranks" is that Jamie Lee Curtis, who received serious Oscar talk for her role in "Freaky Friday" last year, is allowed to deliver a shrill and manic performance by director Roth that paints her character as shallow and idiotic.
www.reelingreviews.com /christmaswiththekranks.htm   (1384 words)

  
 ‘The Kranks’ will make you cranky - AT THE MOVIES - MSNBC.com   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)
As “Christmas With the Kranks” opens, Luther Krank (Tim Allen) and his wife Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) have just seen their daughter Blair off at the airport.
She’s joined the Peace Corps in South America, and for the first time in 23 years the Kranks won’t be spending the holidays with their only child.
And the image of Christmas carolers appearing at the Kranks’ windows like zombies from “Night of the Living Dead” is surprisingly spooky.
www.msnbc.msn.com /id/6503886   (722 words)

  
 IGN: Christmas with the Kranks Review
Christmas with the Kranks is utterly devoid of subtlety.
Given that the Kranks' decision to "skip Christmas" is based solely on an economic consideration over any sense of self discovery (or desire for heartfelt change in their lives), the duo often feels callous, disconnected, superficial, and illogical.
In the end, perhaps Christmas with the Kranks was ultimately foiled by its parentage.
movies.ign.com /articles/565/565529p1.html   (469 words)

  
 Christmas with the Kranks - Rotten Tomatoes
Kranks lacks that basic kernel of credibility that even a goofy farce needs to work.
Christmas with the Kranks wants to toss out the holiday fruitcake but eat it, too.
Here's a film that says Christmas is a sellout, that your neighbors are morons, and that suburbia is a playground of fascist conformity, and then it concludes that anyone who actually believes that is a heartless Scrooge.
www.rottentomatoes.com /m/christmas_with_the_kranks   (845 words)

  
 [No title]   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)
The stars of Christmas with the Kranks have much to say about the film and what it means to them.
Now that their daughter, Blair (Julie Gonzalo), is serving a stint in the Peace Corps, the Kranks are willing to set aside the elaborate decorations that have made them the pride of the whole community.
Once the neighbors hear of it, they waste no time in laying siege to the Krank household with cries of “Free Frosty!” Frank and Nora remain steadfast, but when Blair calls to tell them she’s coming home after all, they entreat their neighbors to help them throw a party as if nothing ever happened.
www.cbn.com /entertainment/screen/Bell_ChristmaswithKranks.aspx   (630 words)

  
 CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS (PG [PG]): CAP Movie Ministry Entertainment Media Analysis Report MAR24104
Christmas is not Christmas without Christ who is the very Reason for the season.
But Christmas with the Kranks, based on the original novel, "Skipping Christmas" by John Grisham, is not without some good warm-n-fuzzy feelings.
Luther (Tim Allen) and Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) Krank discovered their little girl of 23, Blair (Julie Gonzalo) was traipsing off to Peru for the Peace Corps and would be gone for the first time during the Christmas season.
www.capalert.com /capreports/christmaswiththekranks.htm   (2028 words)

  
 Top Box Office Movies - Christmas with the Kranks
As some may imagine, the shift in the Kranks’ Christmas plans is a blasphemous proposal that won’t sit too tight with the locals.
Thanks to the revulsion caused by the Kranks’ refusal to embrace Christmas the way it was meant to be as in previous decorative outings, their friends and neighbors resort to petty tactics in order to “punish” them for their holiday-based defiance.
Evidently, the Kranks aren’t allowed to have a mind of their own and whatever agenda they want to follow has to meet with the approval of the leeches… er…giddy associates that expect them to stay in the stable role of being bombastically accommodating holiday hosts.
www.theworldjournal.com /special/movies/2004/christmaskranks.htm   (1161 words)

  
 Movie DVD for Christmas with the Kranks
Christmas with the Kranks is a misbegotten mishmash of every Christmas movie since It’s a Wonderful Life.
Tim Allen, whose Yule-flick cred is as solid as Aunt Fanny's fruitcake, is cast as Luther Krank, the Scrooge of this unfunny fiasco.
All in all, Christmas with the Kranks is a dumb flick for which John Grisham and the film’s creators appear to share the blame.
www.cinemablend.com /review.php?id=1227   (733 words)

  
 Christmas with the Kranks
Luther Krank (Tim Allen) and wife, Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) are going to spend Christmas without their daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) for the first time in 23 years.
Despite the protests, the Kranks finally settle in on the idea that their dream vacation will take place and nothing is going to stop them.
"Christmas with the Kranks" is full of laughs, sight gags and typical Tim Allen sarcastic humor.
www.parentstv.org /ptc/publications/moviereviews/PTC/2004/thekranks.asp   (763 words)

  
 Movie Review: Christmas with the Kranks
Following in the holiday footsteps of Jingle all the Way, Christmas with the Kranks celebrates the dysfunctional, materialistic American family, while pretending to be a heartfelt ode to the holiday.
The reason is highly plausible; the Kranks' daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) has left for a stint in the Peace Corps and the empty nesters are feeling a bit out of the holiday spirit until Luther convinces Nora to take a much needed cruise as a gift to themselves.
The Kranks are materialists in the worst sense, with all of the Christmas celebration tied to hickory honey hams, decorations, and Christmas cards, not a sense of cheer.
www.boxofficemojo.com /reviews/?id=1574&p=.htm   (474 words)

  
 Christmas With the Kranks Movie Review - Christmas With the Kranks Movie Trailer - The Boston Globe   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)
The poisonous holiday "comedy" "Christmas With the Kranks" is a resolutely minor affair.
Your heart goes out to them, since "Kranks" paints the neighbors as nasty sheep, their children (led by Erik Per Sullivan of "Malcolm in the Middle") as thugs, and the cops (Cheech Marin and Jake Busey) as dumb and dumber.
Remarkably, "Kranks" is a feel-good movie in which every character is hateful (except, sigh, the cancer lady), and a Christmas movie too chickenhearted to mention Jesus.
www.boston.com /movies/display?display=movie&id=5166   (680 words)

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