Movie & TV Series Reviews

Time to once again, start the Christmas Countdown. Let's begin with Christmas Countdown III, with the first movie to be reviewed for this year's segment: A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! (2008.). It is an hilarious movie, and it fits as a great tribute to the recently ended The Colbert Report.

The plot is that Stephen Colbert, while heading to the film studio to shoot his Christmas special with Elvis Costello, becomes trapped in a cabin in "bear country" (upstate New York or Vermont) when he hears a bear prowling outside. A number of his friends stop by the cabin to sing Christmas songs with him as Stephen tries to find ways to escape the cabin and make his Christmas as special as possible. The ending is hilarious as well, but I will not spoil it for you.

 

The guests are well, ok. They are the main points of this special, but some of them are good, and some of them are a waste of time.

Elvis Costello's song is ok. Toby Keith's song "Have I Got a Present for You," is pretty nice, and catchy. Willie Nelson's song "Little Dealer Boy," is HILARIOUS, mostly due to Colbert's backup singing. Jon Stewart's song with Stephen "Can I Interest You in Hannukah?," is also very hilarious. But, then it all falls into a sloooooow decline in pace. John Legend and Colbert's song "Nutmeg," is funny, but not a catchy, or good song to listen to. And Feist's song "Please Be Patient," is just plain boring. I've never heard of her, and her song didn't help much either. Luckily, the ending song "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" where every cast member joins together to sing a funny Christmas song is hilarious, and definitely picks up the pace.

Also, I forget where in the special these 2 songs come up, but Colbert's own Christmas songs are the funniest songs in this special. They are both very funny, fit the tone well, and are very catchy. "Jingle Man And Christmas Boy," and "Another Christmas Song." Especially the 2nd song. It has a fun, upbeat, swinging' Christmas and jazz tone to it. They are the best parts of this special.

The directing by Jim Hoskinson is, well, pretty good. Again, most of the special is freakin' hilarious, especially whenever Stephen Colbert is on screen, but let's far it, half his guests are kinda unnecessary, and could have had better guests or songs. But, the special is still very enjoyable to watch every year, and now that The Colbert Report is over, watching this adds to the nostalgia factor. Overall, VERY funny and hilarious, but could have been a little bit better. I'm giving this special an 8.2 out of 10.

 

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