That title is a quote from Donnie Brasco. This post, however, is not about Donnie Brasco, though it is about movies. See, years ago, my family began accruing movies that we would all gather around to watch on Christmas Eve. As the years went on, though, it got kind of ridiculous.
We started with some of the old classics. I mean, who doesn’t get a little teary watching Christmas Eve on Sesame Street and It’s a Wonderful Life tucked into the buxom of a loving family mere feet away from the newly decorated Christmas tree and yule log, y’know? Thing is, as time went on, it got to the point where if we watched all the movies we planned to watch as Santa hovered over the house waiting for us to retire for a long winter’s nap, the reindeer would get tired and hungry and we’d be glued to the set until Valentine’s Day. By the time my brother and his wife started having children, the list still had It’s a Wonderful Life and the Sesame Street flick, but had grown to include A Christmas Story, Die Hard, and A Charlie Brown Christmas. The load got a little easier to handle when TNT started their “24 hours of A Christmas Story”, with an added perk because it meant that there was a 1/12 chance you could turn the TV on at any time during the Xmas holiday to find Ralphie beating the crap out of Scut Fargus. Particularly handy when at Nana’s house, the heat blasting at 97 degrees, there’s 30 people in a 2 bedroom house and you’re having ham or brisket for the family dinner for the 486th time.
But my family’s all-time favorite Christmas movie was and probably always will be A Lion in Winter. This one had something for everyone. It’s about King Henry II of England and the Christmas Court in medieval times (history for me and my Da) bickering married couples (Mom and Dad) classic actors and compelling story with Peter O’Toole, Katherine Hepburn and Anthony Hopkins (my brother), plus deception, humor and dogs (me). And one of the greatest scenes that will always live in family lore is this soliloquy given by King Henry (The part that pertains to our business here starts at the beginning and ends around :50 but the whole speech is well worth the listen):
Now, I told you that story to tell you this story. Through the month of December, I’m house/pet-sitting for my parents’ neighbor and their dog Lucky. My first night at the place, I opened my laptop to go wireless using my parents’ hub but I needed the password to connect to the hub:
Because I am my parents’ son, I am instinctively a smartass:
As always, my mother responded in kind and drew from that seminal classic of holiday viewing. And, perhaps sensing there might be a blog post in it for me, she added a twist.
I wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Krazy Kwanzaa friends.
My Zen Brain 