I've never seen Caddyshack, but it's intrigued me for a while now. I might check that one out as well.
Well, first things first. Let's get a few family-related Christmas movies out of the way:The Santa Clause and The Family Stone (both of which I watched with the folks over Christmas). However crappy the sequels got, the original The Santa Clause is a holiday favorite of mine. It's cheesy and a bit campy, but juuuuust to the right amount so it comes off as sincere and charming (especially with how well the music is used in certain sequences). It's also an original Christmas story with an interesting concept, something that seems rather rare with these kind of movies. It's just an enjoyable, (dare I say) "magical" and harmless family movie that you can sit down and watch with whole family. It's a pity that Disney ruined it all with the two horrible sequels.
As for The Family Stone, it's a movie with some serious problems that I felt was merely ok. The ensemble cast seems very well-cast, but most of the characters don't really have anything to do in the story. And the main male lead is a jerk that I never empathized with, no matter how hard the movie tried to make me. The movie overall is like watching a less-crude version of Meet the Parents, and on that level it's alright. It's certainly not a Christmas classic IMO, though.
The big movie I want to talk about, though, is one that I've been wanting to see for the better part of a month now. Yep, it only took my evil sister from L.A. nearly destroying the family Christmas, but I finally managed to get the family out to see The Muppets. Does it live up to the hype? Oh hell yes. I loved this movie. It's a strong contender for my favorite movie I've seen this year.
I really only have two big problems with it: the first 5 minutes or so of the movie are very hard to get into, because it demands the audience to invest themselves in a bunch of characters new to the Muppet universe, and it relies WAY too much on the nostalgia of the original Muppet Show TV series. Thankfully, the ice gets successfully broken 5 minutes into the movie after an increasingly cheesy (but good!) music number immediately ends with a well-timed 4th Wall Joke, and the movie never sags after that. My other problem is that although I really liked the girlfriend character and thought she was really good in her song and dance numbers, she really didn't have a whole lot to do in this movie. She just appears every now and then and kicks off an impromptu musical number.
Those minor issues, though, pale in comparison to what this movie gets right. There is probably more sheer energy in the pacing, presentation, and acting of this movie than any movie I've seen in a long time. The script is unapologetic in its pure joy, its love/respect for the Muppets (and Muppet history) and the golden age of Hollywood musicals. The performances are excellent, the songs are great (if a bit random at times), the jokes are great if not altogether hilarious, and the way the scenes are staged feels so big and epic. It's a movie that never feels like it's compromising or talking down to its audience. It is very much aimed at older fans of the characters while still being very inviting to newcomers, which is very refreshing and frankly very bold of both the creative team behind it and Disney themselves.
The Muppets is a movie that knows its story is stupid and a bit silly with a strong influence by 1950s-style big-budget musicals, but it really doesn't care. The movie feels very heartfelt in its message to not forget these Muppet characters, and it does so with obvious love for the franchise that doesn't come off like it's mainly concerned about the commercial implications of that. There are few movies I would say are based on pure joy and enthusiasm, but this is one of them. It may not appeal to you if you don't have some love for this franchise since it does play to nostalgia so strongly, but I don't see how anyone can walk out of this movie not happy. Highly recommended, and I'd better be seeing some Academy Award love for this film come February.