Customer Reviews

The Junky's Christmas [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have a ritual between Thanksgiving and Christmas, where I wait for a really cold evening or afternoon, when all is toasty inside, and put "The Junky's Christmas" on my DVD player. I've had a bootleg of it for years and I'm thrilled that it's finally available for the general public. I first caught it when it ran on VH1, for one night only, back on Christmas Eve of 1993. I remember not having any interest in it the first two times it aired that evening, but luckily, with nothing else on, I forced myself to get through an entire showing, and it stuck with me for the many years that followed. Every year I would check listings on Christmas Eve in hopes that it would resurface, to no avail.
What makes "The Junk's Christmas" so special is the details. Although the characters are claymation and the sets miniatures, it captures a wintry Christmas day in New York City more vividly than any live action film ever could. And Burrough's writing and narration is perfection.
To all the people involved in the creation of this special - THANK YOU! I know a lot of people share my sentiment, and I'm hopeful that in time it will find it's audience.

this is my all time favorite holiday story.
it is on the list with 'it's a wonderful life', 'emmett otter's jugband christmas', and 'mr. mcgoo's a christmas carol'.

ok, ok, so i am a sap. i love that touchy feely stuff.

i like the raw edge to this one that is entirely missing from the others.

and that curmudgeonly voice, like a chainsaw being started, of burroughs is absolutely perfect...even though he reads without modulation or inflection, which normally is death to a read-aloud story...somehow perfectly reflects the emotional landscape of the junky life.

the ending makes me cry every time. (yeah? so what doesn't!!)

so glad this is now available on dvd.

This is of course for fans William S. Burroughs only, a claymation short starring a warm-hearted junkie. Familiar Burroughs lines will have viewers cracking up during this little heart-warming vignette from the seedier side.

Burroughs narrates his odd little gem himself, initially on-camera. The other shorts are quite good as well, quite different from the first, and all from each other.

You love William Burroghs (or you wouldn't have searched this.) Or you love Francis Ford Coppola. In this Reeses Peanut Butter Cup sort of mix you get them both together and it works fantastically. I watch this DVD every christmas, drawing on a tradition in my family for reading this story. Yes, I have a bit of a messed up family. All the same this is one of Burrough's best stories wonderfully put together with claymation. The sad squished paranoid faces created in the clay fit wonderfully with the feel of the story. Every Burroughs fan should get a copy of this to watch with the family once a year, and to be able to understand the real meaning of christmas; the immaculate fix.

Something that's not mainstream and really makes you think about the film. I absolutely loved them and the soundtrack.

This telling of William S Burroughs classic short story may have been claymation, but it tells the story so perfectly you don't notice that it's not real. Coppola's production pulls every bit of pain and beauty from the story, and Wilner's soundtrack is perfect. This isn't your traditional family story, but perhaps it should be.

The movie "The Junky's Christmas" is great clocking in at only 20 mins. It is a must have for any Burroughs fan. Anyone considering purchasing this should be fairly warned that you only get 20 minutes or Burroughsy goodness for your $17.99 (amazon price at time of writing). The other two shorts are not Burroughs related and are horrid. To sum it all up, if you are like me and like filling your entire house with dvds you'll only watch once then by all means buy this. Otherwise don't.

First let me say I am a huge fan of good claymation, and the claymation here is pretty damn cool. It has a gritty noir feel that not only suites the story but is interesting in its own right. But that's not to say it's purely a noir exercise in 'grittt for gritty's sake"; the mood isn't oppressive or ridiculously bleak but finds the right balance between down-and-out blues and solemn observation and curiosity. It's imaginatively rendered and has some nice moments.

Now on to the not so good: the film is narrated by William Burroughs, but not in a way that at all lends itself to the visuals. He simply reads his short story word for word, and since there are no sound effects or voices to accompany the claymation it really distracts the viewer from the visuals. It's pretty pointless, as he is reading descriptions of things as we are seeing them. Nothing he reads couldn't have been conveyed with sound effects or dialogue, or even some creative inner-dialogue. It would have been far more interesting to follow the main character in this way, but with the narration it didn't let the story unfold, and it wouldn't let the animation tell the story visually (if you're at all familiar with how an animated movie can be effective you know this is a huge problem).

The claymation would have been that much more vivid if it had been matched to some sound effects, or even some good music, but that's yet another point of contention: the music for the most part is jingly christmas music, which doesn't fit the animation AT ALL. If anything it could be seen as an ironic choice, but it's used too seriously and for much too long; even a cliched beatnik jazz soundtrack would have been an improvement.

All in all I was pretty impressed with the animation, but the use of soundtrack really marred this little movie for me.

this is for those that never had the chance to see this masterpiece. you tell me what you think. i can only wish the master had given hunter s. a speaking role.