Retro Corner

Jingle All the Way is by far my favorite Christmas flick ever. There are just so many great jokes, and Arnold Schwarzenegger does not have a bad role in his career. He just doesn't. Sure, this movie will never top the amazing duo of Arnold and Danny DeVito in both Twins and Junior, but Sinbad is an admirable replacement in Jingle All the Way. The concept is simple, and not unlike many other Christmas movies: the dad messes up and ignores his family, and then he has to go on a ridiculous and hilarious journey to find a cure-all for his neglect. He needs to win back his family's love. Of course, there is also a more perfect dad just next door who hits on the wife, and of course in the end the son doesn't care about his gift-he just wanted his dad back. It's a typical 90's Christmas movie, and that is the best part about it. If you enjoyed movies like Home Alone, The Santa Clause, or National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (although this last choice might top any Christmas movie ever), then you will have a ball watching Jingle All the Way. The frantic battle between Arnold and Sinbad grows to epic proportions as they fight through malls and stores, blow up radio stations, and even wreck a Christmas parade just to show their kids that they actually care about them. And let's be real here, Turbo-Man looks like the coolest toy ever, and I would do anything to get myself one of those. And as always, I have to mention the cute son. Jake Lloyd hits his break-out role, that is, if you ignore his part in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace as Anakin Skywalker. We have not seen Jake Lloyd yet since we found him in Tatooine aspiring to become a pod racer.