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Now honestly, how many times have you seen this movie from beginning to end? Probably not that many times. You've probably seen the 'Leg Lamp' scene, and the 'Tongue stuck to the pole' scene, maybe Santa saying "You'll shoot your eye out, Kid!" scene, so you basically get the general gist of the movie.

TBS is advertising it this Christmas as "The funniest Christmas movie ever." I don't know about the funniest Christmas movie ever, but it definitely has its moments. Yet what makes this movie classic is its originality in choice of narration and tone.

This light-hearted, goofy film features Ralphie, an 8 year old boy who wants a 'Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle' for Christmas, and his need for this particular gift presents the perfect stage for his family to express their very different personalities. Not only is his family refreshingly not like any portrayal of the average American family in 1940, but they have character. There's the father who thinks the "electric sex" lamp is the most wonderful prize in the whole world; the dotting mother who get her son to eat by asking him to show her how "little piggies eat"; the little son who is forced to dress in 100 layers before venturing out into the snow. All the while, the entire film is narrated by an adult Ralphie in present tense. Already this movie has creatively changed the stereotypical expectations of any Christmas film of its time.

Like Citizen Kane giving new meaning to the camera angle and crossfade, or Momento taking linear narration to a new level, A Christmas Story opened up a whole new world of film and television possibilities. The Wonder Years, Look Who's Talking, and Christmas Vacation all pay homage to A Christmas Story in one way or the other; adult thoughts and ideas coming from an obviously younger person or a Christmas movie that portrays the flaws in the family dynamic. You can thank The Christmas Story for those.

This movie may not be your favorite Christmas movie, but how can you not appreciate a "double dog dare" kind of a movie?

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Ferris Bueller is the kind of guy that everyone loves. When he decides to take a day off from school, at least one person from every clique in high school calls him up from the lone school pay phone (you remember that high school pay phone right?) to find out if he's okay. Now that is ultimate popularity. Not only does Ferris have a well-rounded following in high school, but the entire community as well as the viewer seem to fall for Ferris' charisma and charm. "[Ferris,] how did you get to be so sweet?" "Years of practice," Ferris answers.

Today I feel like crap, but I'm at work counting down the minutes to 2pm when our Staff Meeting starts so that I can go in, do my presentation, and go home and sleep. Yet, I can't help but wonder how sick I really am. Is it all in my head? I'm doped up on Dayquil, you'd think that I'd be feeling great by now. Am I just sick of work? Could be, and its only Monday! Oh the humanity . . . . 60 more minutes. If today were Saturday and we were all on our way to an amusement park, would I be feeling this crummy? I wonder . . .

Either way, I know what Ferris would do. Ironicially, he's totally up front and honest with himself about his sickness. He knows that he's lying (Is this a paradox? No, its the Dayquil). He knows that he's cheating the system. I, on the other hand, could by lying to myself. My sneaky brain could be telling my body "No, I don't want to be here, so feel crappy Body! Feel crappy! Jenn won't know the difference!" Apparently, my brain knows that I'm not cool like Ferris Bueller.

On Ferris' day off, he did all sorts of fantastic things. How many of us do that many fantastic things on a day that we legitimately have off? I wouldn't haven't woken up until noon, but Ferris wakes up, showers and shaves, plays his keyboard, makes a few phone calls, picks up his best friend, picks up his girlfriend, drives to NY, takes in a museum, eats at a restaurant, sings in a parade, goes swimming, crashes his best friends car, and runs home all before his parents get home from work. What a guy.

The reason this movie succeeds in capturing audience's attention year after year is because of Ferris' endearing qualities. He is the kind of person we all wish we could be. Daring, sweet, innocent, cunning, and charming. Ferris' best friend, Cameron, wishes it. The audience wishes it. Ferris takes the simple idea of a sick day and transforms it into a fantastic adventure. The options are endless.

So the question is, should I be more like Ferris? Yes! . . . but mind over matter, and my sneaky brain is still booby trapping my body to believe that I really am sick . . . so sick I am. Another day Ferris, another day!

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In college I had this really great film instructor who once showed us a film clip of The Graduate as an example of a film montage. As a side note, his exact words were "watch this when you graduate, and you'll cry like a freaking baby." Apparently that was from his own personal experience.

I did watch that movie, but it was during my senior year. If I had waited just one more year to watch that movie, would I have cried? I think I would have.

What comes to mind now in my post graduated brain, is the montage of Dustin Hoffman, his unfulfilled life, and his affair with Mrs. Robinson. This montage is so meticulously planned that Benjamin is transported into the next scene. It is so effortless and so precise that the viewer can feel how empty Benjamin's life is. The gaps of time that are omitted really tell us that those gaps weren't worth seeing anyway. Nothing is happening to Ben, so Ben keeps waking up every day, having an elicit affair with Mrs. Robinson. He's not even trying to figure out what to do with himself. Each day blends into another; Ben jumps out of the pool, but it becomes Ben jumping onto Mrs. Robinson. Ben sits in a chair, and it becomes him sitting on a bed. In this montage, he's just a zombie walking through time, and that is what it is to be a graduate.

There is a point after graduating from college that you are basically going no where. You just wake up and live each day. Your next goals are so far away that you may not even know what they are anymore. When people ask you what you've been up to these past couple weeks/months, you can't remember anything. Its all a blur.

The Graduate really captures the feelings of post graduation; the depression and the indifference. Thankfully I didn't have to re-experience them when I experienced the film.