The Christmas Connection

Three all time favorites..in one fantastic set....for one low price! Ralphie, Clark Griswald and Elf all share the spotlight in this trio of Christmas Stories. Includes A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, and Elf! Certain to become a holiday tradition in your house!

A Christmas Story: Adapted from a memoir by humorist Jean Shepherd (who narrates), the film centers on Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley), a young boy living in 1940s Indiana, desperately yearning for a Red Rider BB gun for Christmas. Despite protests from his mother (Melinda Dillon) that he'll shoot his eye out, Ralphie persists, unsuccessfully trying to enlist the assistance of both his teacher and Santa Claus. All the while, Ralphie finds himself dealing with the constant taunts of a pair of bullies and trying to not get in the middle of a feud between his mother and father (Darren McGavin) regarding a sexy lamp. Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Christmas Vacation: Chevy Chase, star of National Lampoon's Vacation and its sequel, is back as the paterfamilias of the Griswold family (including Beverly D'Angelo as his missus) to skewer the Yuletide season. Chevy mugs, trips, falls, mashes his fingers and stubs his toes as he prepares to invite numerous dysfunctional relatives to his household to celebrate Christmas. Amidst the more outrageous sight gags (including the electrocution of a cat as the Christmas tree is lit) the film betrays a sentimental streak, with old wounds healing and long-estranged relatives reuniting in the Griswold living room. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation was still capable of attracting an audience five years after its release: It was one of the top-rated seasonal TV specials of 1994, outrating even the first network telecast of It's a Wonderful Life. Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Elf: It's not easy to make a Christmas classic. For every A Charlie Brown Christmas and Miracle on 34th Street, there are countless films that put special effects where their hearts ought to be. Elf is a rare exception. With genuine charm and the immense likability of its star, Elf gives holiday cheer a good name. Will Ferrell stars as Buddy, a human raised by elves at the North Pole. But the over-six-foot-tall Buddy literally does not fit in, and he ventures to New York (via the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, the sea of swirly, twirly gum drops, and the Lincoln Tunnel) where he is reunited with Walter, his biological father (James Caan), a children's book editor, who was not aware of Buddy's existence. Clad in yellow tights and a whimsical elfin coat, Buddy's childlike enthusiasm for all things sugar and all things Christmas converts cynics like Walter, melts the heart of Jovie (indie queen Zooey Deschanel), a wary department store clerk, and inspires the faith that is needed to power Santa's sleigh. There are warm and wonderful scenes, including Buddy and Jovie's impromptu duet of "Baby, It's Cold Outside," and Buddy's inevitable tangle with a department store Santa ("You sit on a throne of lies," Buddy tells the imposter). The supporting cast is another of this film's gifts that keeps on giving: Mary Steenburgen as Walter's very understanding wife; Bob Newhart as Walter's adoptive elf father; Ed Asner as Santa; and real-life dwarf Peter Dinklage as an author who doesn't much appreciate Buddy's mistaking him for one of Santa's helpers. Donald Liebenson, Barnes & Noble