Here they come again, those holiday perennials.
How the Grinch StoleChristmas.A Christmas Story.Love Actually.Its a Wonderful Life, of course.A Christmas Carol, ad infinitum.NutcrackerafterNutcrackerafterNutcracker.
That is:Its much easier not to be an editor, especially atThe New York Times.
The Polar ExpressWarner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
To make a long story short, Manohla didnt like the movie.
I mean,reallydidnt like it.
The picture, she wrote, was a grave and disappointing failure.
It was plagued by the eerie listlessness of its characters faces.
The North Pole workshop looked like a munitions factory.
Thats pretty rough stuff.
Critics are entitled to their opinions.
And, frankly, I wasnt crazy about the anatomical reference.
As every bruised publicist knows, you win some, you lose some.
Anyway, I never did attempt to supervise the critics.
Im not that dumb.
For the movie industry, maybe.
For the newspaper business, not at all.
But the incident left me with a certain soft spot forThe Polar Express.
