A Christmas Story (1983) | Reaction | First Time Watching

[@VerowakReacts]

Merry Christmas everyone!!! I hope you all have great Holidays

[@BrettonFerguson]

This movie is awesome and your reaction was perfect.

[@VerowakReacts]

@@BrettonFerguson Thank you! The movie is just a joy, Ralphie is too adorable and perfect!

[@lawrencewestby9229]

His mother denied him, his teacher denied him, even Santa denied him. In the end it was his dad who got him the Red Ryder, someone Ralphie seemingly didn't even consider.

[@alanflor703]

This movie single-handedly changed the pronunciation of "fragile". I'm sure people all over say it that way and that's where you heard it.

[@VerowakReacts]

It's great finally seeing where that pronunciation originated from!!

[@dogawful]

I worked at UPS for 28 years. That joke never got old.

[@benrast1755]

I think part of the appeal of this movie is its timelessness. Whether you grew up in the 30s and 40s or 80s and 90s, you still identify with many aspects of the movie and can feel the nostalgia. That and the humor.

[@jeffmansfield914]

Absolutely right. This remains one of my very favorite Christmas movies for that reason. My I was around Ralphie’s age in the mid 80s, but the nostalgia feels the same. Honestly, that scene with the parents sitting with soft Christmas music playing in the room lighted only by the tree makes me tear up every time. That’s the warm Christmassy feeling I chase each year.

[@joeblankenship377]

And lots of boys want a BB gun at some point.

[@kayden2119]

Yeah until you get to the awkward chinese scene at the end lmao that maybe did not age too well

[@Nicholasmcmath-cr1xl]

Agree

[@cajunsushi]

@@kayden2119I’m not sure what you mean.

[@MrDevintcoleman]

I like that they use the Peter and the Wolf theme when the bully shows up. Also, “Randy lay there like a slug; it was his only defense,” is one of the funniest lines in anything.

[@randyshoquist7726]

I've watched this movie countless times, and yet I only now noticed something at the Chinese restaurant. The w is out in the neon Bowling sign. The sign on the glass of the door says Bo Ling & sons.

[@VerowakReacts]

The joys of rewatching movies is noticing things that we previously missed!!

[@aresee8208]

I don't know, but my young boy side tells me that any dad would be very sympathetic to a boy having a fight with a bully. I think the first thing out of his mouth would probably be, "did you win.?"

[@EndymionDeVere]

In real life, apparently, the secret messages one would decode from the Little Orphan Annie Radio weren’t commercials but rather clues or hints or small spoilers about what would happen in the next episode so the kid felt privileged to know things ahead of everyone else. Also, the real origin of the leg lamp was as a promotion for Nehi soda which, back then, advertised with visual puns on Nehi sounding like “knee high” w/ ad illustrations of an oversized bottle standing knee high next to a woman’s leg.

[@markpekrul4393]

What a wonderful character actor Darren McGavin was...

[@sammylane21]

My favorite A Christmas Story....."Not a fingah!". 😂

[@douglasostrander5072]

I met Ralph as a kid. He was my mom's best friend's nephew. It was before this movie he was messy Marvin at the time.

[@devernepersonal3636]

i swear this movie is quotable throughout the entire year. this movie is always on my mind. One of my favorites ever. And it also feels like a look back in time because it captures a classic era so well in such a short time. This movie is such a treasure. I dont think you caught it but when she turns off the lamp and says she does not want to waste electricity, every single other light in the house remains on.

[@DaveBukowski]

9:10 this was before Simpsons. This movie is where "Fra-gee-lay" came from for when other shows make fun of it.

[@andreadeamon6419]

As a Cleveland girl - (where a lot of the coming was done) - it's my favorite Christmas movie. Now you need to watch a Christmas story Christmas. It's with the kids all grown up around the early 70s and Ralphie has his own family!

[@mikealvarez2322]

Oh Lord, I forgot that I had a Captain Midnight Decoder. Captain Midnight was a TV program that came on every Saturday.

[@zmarko]

The mother in this (who is wonderful) is played by Melinda Dillon, who also played the mother of the little boy in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and was great in both roles. She passed away earlier this year. RIP.

[@0okamino]

Happy Holidays, and don’t shoot your eye out (or anyone else’s if possible). 😄🎄 “Fra-gee-lay” is one of those jokes that’s so widespread in pop culture, pretty much anyone could be aware of it from a number of sources without realizing it’s actually from this movie. It’s such a silly little joke, and I love that it has gotten so much mileage.

[@WadeWallenstein]

I love this film! Watch it every year when TBS does "24 Hours of A Christmas Story" and it always makes me smile 😊

[@62rowley]

For the tongue stuck to the pole scene they drilled a hole in the pole and ran a hose inside the pole down to an air pump that was pumping air so when he put his tongue on the pole, it actually suctioned it to the pole

[@logann7942]

I love when The Old Man tells Mother that Ralphie said the f-word, and she screams like she saw a murder. 😂😂😂

[@MrGruffteddybear]

Now you should watch A Christmas Story Christmas. It came out a year or two ago and features a grown up Ralphie, his two best friends, his brother, and others using most of the original cast.

[@VirusSI]

Speaking of Jack...have you seen As Good as It Gets? He won an Oscar for that role.

[@donparnell309]

He's won three Academy Awards and none of them were for playing a villain! Reactors always focus on (for good reasons though) The Shining and A Few Good Men.

[@tomw324]

Your reaction to this was just perfect. You got all the jokes and more importantly the theme and spirit of the thing. Good job!

[@Lunarbob19]

It always seems like female reactors get such joy out of the pain the dad gets from his lamp being denied and broken. I stand by that the sex appeal of it was secondary, he was enamored with it because it was an award he won. Really nice reaction, brought many smiles.

[@SJHFoto]

I agree. I don't think the object being a female leg even registered in his mind.

[@dogawful]

A "major" award.

[@michaeldavidfigures9842]

The movie that made me fall in love with Melinda Dillon. Gee, I wish she was my mom. RIP Melinda. Hope to see you again.

[@ericdulyon4601]

One of the best reactions I've ever seen to this movie. So sincere

[@Fast_Eddy_Magic]

You took the leg lamp pretty well. 😂 Btw, I think this was a little before the Simpsons. 😁

[@TerryAllenSwartos]

Replicas (from miniature to full-sized) of the leg lamp are available all over the place. We had a kid next door to us who looked and laughed so much like Farkus. When my family watched the movie for the first time, we all thought the same thing.

[@squadfathercrypto]

It's actually realistic that the family would be the only ones in the restaurant. Everyone else (whose turkey hadn't been reappropriated by the Bumpass hounds) would be having family dinner.

[@3DJapan]

Rather than ratting out his friend Schwartz he should have said the bully, Scut Farkus. Then again his parents would probably praise him.

[@VerowakReacts]

Oh that would have been perfect!!

[@kevinerose]

I think the appeal of this movie is the kids. The kids really did well in this movie with their acting. And the adults were like ancillary characters to the struggles of kid life in a world where kids were largely ignored.

[@kenyattaclay7666]

I’m she same age (the real life age) as these kids & I remember seeing this in the theater during Christmas of 83. This is my all time favorite Christmas movie & it’s hard to believe that’s it’s 40 years old. This movie is supposed to take place in the late 30’s in Hammond IN (just outside of Chicago) however I think the reason why it’s such a classic is because it doesn’t matter what time period or location every kid can relate & every adult can find something to remind them of their childhood.

[@crossbones13]

"Who let them in? Who let the dogs in?!" It was the musical group, The Baha Men, who did that..

[@MattB2603]

I thought they let the dogs out.

[@crossbones13]

@@MattB2603 No, The Baha Men were constantly asking "Who let the dogs out?" throughout their song. They were trying to find out who did that since The Baha Men went through all the trouble of making sure the dogs were safely contained...

[@chadjenkins4876]

who? who? who? who? I was looking for this comment

[@navagate1900]

Trivia; the Lone Ranger's nephews name was Dan Reid, his horse Victor was the son of the Lone Ranger's horse Silver. Hi Ho Silver, away !

[@shawng.1073]

Anyone else find it absolutely hilarious that Bob Clark also directed Black Christmas (1974)?

[@dustywaynemusic6297]

And Porky's lol

[@wolandbegemotazazello]

The Santa scene is partly Ralphie's vivid imagination...Filmed mostly in Toronto by Canadian director Bob Clark...Nicholson also did comedy/satire/parodies such as the original Little Ship of Horrors..

[@krisfrederick5001]

As a personal testament, I had the exact same BB gun as a kid. And both eyes are fine. Merry Christmas internet people 🎄

[@allenjessup6266]

Late to the party but the author of these stories had a great effect on my young life. He was an author, had a radio show on WOR in New York and a TV show on PBS. He was known as America's story teller.

[@VerowakReacts]

It's remarkable how some people have such a big impact on our lives 😊

[@allenjessup6266]

@@VerowakReacts He was also the narrator of the movie. Three more movies were made from his stories.

[@mikealvarez2322]

This movie does take me back to my childhood, especially since I got a BB gun for Christmas one year. I grew up in the 50s.

[@goodshipkaraboudjan]

I grew up in the 2000s in Australia, there is a fine line between domestic terrorism and potato guns. They were push fire into a potato firing a air slug made of potato but the cannons involved PVC pipes and stealing Mum/sisters hair spray and the long BBQ lighter. We could have made a space program as teens in the late 2000s with things that went bang.

[@mikealvarez2322]

​@@goodshipkaraboudjan Sounds like you had more fun than we did.

[@bluebeast440]

Also, 'fragile' as was pronounced was also done by Groucho Marx back in the 1930's in their movies.

[@tedward98]

The movie is based on a series of essays by Jean Shepherd, who does the narration. It amazes me how the wove them together into one story. Another bit of trivia, the leg lamp does not have a power cord until the dad pulls out the shade, that's why he puts it back in the crate, to pull out the one that is a lamp.

[@toukie]

Oh Good lord, this is bringing so many memories. I don't know how many times my brother and I watched it growing up. This movie taught me never to put my tongue on a pole, never to swear in front of my dad and I was gonna shoot my eye out with that.

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

I learned the hard way about tongues sticking to metal one winter, when I was sledding & stuck my tongue on the metal frame of my Flexible Flyer sled. It took off a layer of skin, plus all my tastebuds. This was around 1973-74, so I didn’t have the wisdom of Ralph to teach me not to do stupid shit like that yet🤣

[@flnthrn2]

Randy layed there like a slug. It was his only defense.

[@brianplyter2225]

Growing up in the fifties and early sixties in upstate NY we would get dressed like Randy to go out side in the winter. We would wear a lot of heavy wool. Took for ever to get dressed and would be sweating to death before you got out side. If you fell down in deep lake effect snow it was real tough to get back up. Can really relate to Randy's plight.

[@SJHFoto]

We did too (In Canada in the 80s)

[@TD-mg6cd]

I love the tree lights in the last shot. We had large lights like that. We had cotton pockets to slip over them that made them look like lights covered in snow.

[@sammylane21]

Had the sequel come out a year or two later, it would have been interesting to see Ralphies family deal with the attack on Pearl Harbor a year later after this movie's events. This movie happened in 12/40 as in December, 1940 and Pearl Harbor happened a year later.

[@joeyjojo5986]

nothing like an ocean water slush with nerds added in. (chefs kiss)

[@Icureditwithmybrain]

As a kid I hated christmas morning because my mom would not let us open the gifts until she literally took 100's of pictures first. By the time she would let us open the gifts my excitement was gone.

[@positivelynegative9149]

Great reaction. You're so genuine, and you understand things from a bygone era. A lot of younger people watching older films simply don't get it. 😃👍

[@195511SM]

The author & the narrator also plays the man in line to see Santa, when he tells Ralphie that '''the line begins way back there kid''....There's a company that makes those leg-lamps & they're very popular. And in the past few days, I've stumbled across Peter Billigsley's KZbin channel....in which he does a podcast with others involved in the film industry.

[@Ernwaldo]

Have actually had a small, bed-side version of the leg lamp for about 25 years! LOL 😄 Three position: Top bulb under the shade, top bulb & leg, or just the leg which is a night-light bulb. 🤡 🎄🎅🏻

[@nsasupporter7557]

Oh really? Very informative

[@sjd5750]

Nicholson plays a great wholesome character in "About Schmidt"..Really great movie!..Pull's at the heart strings.

[@sodiumcrush]

The perfect distillation of 20th century America... Set in the late 30s early 40s but universal in its absurdist childhood nostalgia. (Also, great outfit Moosebacca... :)

[@SJHFoto]

I thought it was set in the post WWII Americana (Like the late 40s/early 50s) Maybe I'm wrong

[@variable57]

I’m a Clevelander my entire life, this movie means so much in my family and our area. It’s a classic!!

[@thomasvlaskampiii6850]

You Buckeyes can have the house. Us Hoosiers will keep the story

[@brianquinn8384]

We’ll have the house and share the story with Indiana and Toronto.

[@thomasvlaskampiii6850]

@@brianquinn8384 Toronto? What does Toronto have to do with the story?

[@brianquinn8384]

It's not part of the story, but supposedly some scenes were actually filmed there (the Chinese restaurant, scenes with the bullies, the Christmas tree lot.

[@CaddyJim]

This is a classic in my household it now just plays in the background on Christmas day. But I really enjoyed seeing your true enjoyment from this movie. You were so in tune you started predicting many lines... *(MERRY🎄CHRISTMAS)*

[@donp1964]

I love the choice of music they play every time you see the bullies, "Peter and the Wolf". by Sergei Prokofiev.

[@ThistleAndSea]

Fun one, Verowak. This is such a sweet story. Thanks for sharing this with us. 🙂

[@CrowTRobot-ni7zu]

Looks like another Christmas with no snow in SE Michigan. I can at least enjoy the snow this movie provides. Have a wonderful Christmas, Verowak!

[@michaelmiller6709]

"Who Let The Dogs In?" Great idea for a song.

[@vgalea]

This is an old favorite, especially having grown up in the Midwest about 15-20 years later. I only recently found out that all of the Wizard of Oz references are because the time this movie was set, roughly 1939-1940, is just after the movie came out. A relatively wholesome Jack Nicholson movie, which I also really like, is As Good as it Gets.

[@flashxdoe295]

fun fact: the mother wasnt given the script at the chinease resteraunt so her reaction was legit

[@Nick-vp3uk]

It’s one of my FAVORITE movies of all time and i quote it all the time with my family!! I live in Ohio so it’s a source of pride and you can visit the actual house where the movie was filmed and stay there overnight!!

[@nicholasregan6526]

This movie was one of the inspirations for the tv show the wonder years

[@mikealvarez2322]

MERRY CHRISTMAS Verowak. Hope you have a great NEW YEAR.

[@VerowakReacts]

Happy Holidays to you too!!!

[@geneaikenii1092]

BEAUTIFUL!! WoW! What a nice film to check out anytime, especially around Christmas Eve, Eve. Thanks for this little reminder of our younger days. Liking your style, sista. Be seeing you on the next. Shoutout from this old hippy dude in the mountains of East Tennessee. Merry Christmas one and all, and a Happy New Year, people. Bless you and yours. Go with God. Peace. Later.

[@MichaelRBlair]

Nothing like a good Verowak Moose Suit reaction.

[@kevinmoore2929]

Decoders were a big thing back when radio was the main source for entertainment in the house. Only the big shows(with big corporate sponsors) had them and usually you had to save up labels or box tops(with a minor amount of money) to get one. Once TV started showing up in households, decoders started going by the wayside but you could still get them from certain characters fan clubs.

[@mikealvarez2322]

Have you noticed that the only injuries that can befall a child is breaking his neck or putting his eye out and the only illness is pneumonia.😊

[@0okamino]

Tetanus from anything with so much as the slightest bit of rust on it was another big one I remember. It was almost to the point of making us think it was a risk to even look at something rusty.

[@auntvesuvi3872]

My mother and late-brother loved this one! I've grown to love it, as well. Bob Clark directed. 🦌 Be sure to watch the sequel, A CHRISTMAS STORY CHRISTMAS (2022) someday. ෴ I hope your last days of December and your entire 2024 are merry and bright, Verowak. 🌟 Since you mentioned Charles Dickens' story... my favorite version of that classic is SCROOGE (1951), or that's what it was originally titled in England. It's also billed as A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1951) on this side of the pond. It's the one with *Alastair* *Sim* as the lead role, to avoid confusion. I would absolutely love to see you react to it. 🎁

[@nsasupporter7557]

Some people get this movie confused with Christmas Carol

[@auntvesuvi3872]

@@nsasupporter7557 Yes, Verowak mentioned she confused the titles, as well.

[@nsasupporter7557]

@@auntvesuvi3872 yeah, that’s why I said that lol Merry Christmas

[@tomm2907]

You're amooosing 😂 and your outift is adorable 😊🎉

[@treygonzalez5252]

I recommend you try King Kong (1933), The Invisible Woman (1940), and The Thin Man (1934).

[@m_chupon5131]

"He's got glasses", a friend of mine once got hit with an airsoft pellet, it hit his cheek, bounced off the inside of his glasses, and hit him right in the eye! He was fine, but it was a crazy sequence of events :D

[@barn_ninny]

LOVE the "Shermanator" reference.

[@jukio02]

It's great watching movies like this as an adult, cause when I was a kid I didn't understand that much. Like in the end where they went to a Chinese restaurant. I later learned that it's actually a Jewish tradition to go there during Christmas. Since Jewish people don't celebrate Christmas and the only restaurants open that day are Chinese ones.

[@VerowakReacts]

I didn't know that either, so today I learned about this Jewish tradition!

[@seanbumstead1250]

You should watch a Christmas story Christmas it's a continuation of this movie, some of the original actors are in it,it came out in like 2021-22,but it takes place years later

[@VerowakReacts]

It's one that I just found out about and will have to watch!

[@henrytjernlund]

As always, a fun reaction to a classic movie.

[@Fonny222]

Just as flick did as a kid I stuck my tongue to a post of a metal fence in the winter. But I was 3 and my dad immediately poured warm water over me to get me unstuck. He said I was mad at him for getting me wet.

[@vl4581]

I watch this movie every year, pretty much since I was Ralphy's age. Love this movie, and great reaction.

[@zmarko]

If you want a film where Jack Nicholson plays a wholesome character, there are three I can think of off hand you can check out. Terms of Endearment, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and As Good As It Gets.

[@gawainethefirst]

The Bucket List.

[@jonlate4581]

I don't know how wholesome he was in Cuckoo's Nest, didn't he play a rapist?

[@alexspindler1]

What joy to see good much you enjoyed this! It's so involving with the rich internal monologue and surreal exaggerations of life ending consequences all kids contend with. A Christmas tradition!

[@72tadrian65]

I’ve been watching this movie for 50 years and it is still my favorite Christmas movie!

[@Ernwaldo]

Pretty amazing. Especially since it’s only 40 years old.

[@72tadrian65]

@@Ernwaldo I’m actually 51 years old, may I have your forgiveness for misspeaking?

[@Ernwaldo]

@@72tadrian65 I’m actually 60 years old, and you certainly… wait, what was I talking about? 😉 Figured it was a typo or something. All good. 👍🏻

[@72tadrian65]

@@Ernwaldo 😂

[@72tadrian65]

@@Ernwaldo Oh my God!, you are 60 years old? My dad is 81. What does it mean to me?

[@Tey816]

This film will always be my fav Christmas movie.

[@tgriffin8179]

Merry Christmas 🎄

[@VerowakReacts]

Merry Christmas to you too!

[@redscorpion9411]

That “WHAAT?! WHAAAAT?!?! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!” Dead@$$ made my ears vibrate! ☠️

[@thomasschmidt1836]

Young Ralphie, aka Peter Billingsly later would be in another Christmas Classic movie..."Elf". He played the role of Ming Ming the elf. I will say no more but humbly request you react to it unless you have already seen it

[@michaelpaz5052]

I've watched this movie I don't know how many times. You made it fun again with your wonderful reaction. Thank you so much!

[@NestorCaster]

I love the fact that this has sequels… two of them are pretty good!

[@Ernwaldo]

Lovely! Seeing you watch this is even better than watching it the first time myself! You are so right about the mom, Melinda Dillon, being the MVP. And I really like Nicholson, but can’t imagine anyone but Darren McGavin (who I always loved) as “The Old Man” Parker. Happy holidays, merry Christmas, Joyeux Noel, happy Hanukkah & merry Christmoose! All the best for 2024…

[@NateAZ]

Check out the movie Four Christmases if you want to see an all grown up Ralphie. He played the airline ticket agent at the airport toward the beginning of the movie.

[@donparnell309]

Four Christmases and Elf are my favorite Christmas movies of the 21st Century.

[@marksardakowski4323]

Sorry about my incompetent reaction to your great reaction but I am very happy that I joined your wonderful channel ❤

[@m.hreels9822]

I just found your channel and I absolutely love your energy ❤ bless you for such genuine heartfelt reactions 🙏🏻

[@positivelynegative9149]

_You're_ amoosing, Verowak. 😃👍

[@JCG52577]

0:40 It’s ok it was an honest moosetake!

[@VerowakReacts]

😂

[@joshspencer1]

Merry Christmas! Enjoy the cheese cake!

[@TonyTigerTonyTiger]

26:10 Who let the dogs in. Who, who, who, who. Who let the dogs in. Who, who, who, who

[@VerowakReacts]

😂☺️

[@CaddyJim]

Your trivia reminded me of the movie *(Goonies)* there's a set piece that the cast didn't see until that scene. I don't want to ruin it in case you haven't seen it & we'll explore that when you react to said movie

[@thomaspalumbo6482]

I love this movie and I love watching reactors viewing it for the first time. Your video was so much fun to watch! OMG...you are ADORABLE!

[@ceceliabates1500]

Fun fact:the actress for Ralphies teacher was actually pregnant during filming

[@andrewspam]

Jean Shepherds short stories are wonderful.

[@zaneba7056]

Bravo! Great reaction to a movie I cherish.

[@VerowakReacts]

Thank you! It was a fantastic movie!!

[@aaronsynra6867]

NIcholson in a wholesome role? You need to see "About Schmidt." He's wonderful.