Had it with The Nutcracker? So over A Christmas Carol?

Here's somethinga little different for the holdiays. The guys from Rifftrax, formerly of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame, will be riffing on the deeply weird and wonderful stop-action tradition Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in a live performance December 16th, broadcast to theaters around the country.

It's another of those live events from the people at Fathom, who have a very interesting business model. They've done other live Rifftrax events, and sports, concerts, operas and classic movie anniversarys showings, like Wizard of Oz.

I hope this is working out for them, because a lot of what they're doing is great fun. (I'll pass on Glenn Beck's Christmas Sweater and opera, though. Each just plain crazy in its own way.)

Oh, I hope I can get to this.

In April, Turner Classic Movies is headed for Hollywood and its first annual classic film festival. They're kicking it off with a newly-restored version of A Star is Born, the 1954 George Cukor version with Judy Garland and James Mason.

They're also screening the newly restored version of Fritz Lang's silent sci-fi masterpiece, Metropolis. This is the version they discovered in Buenos Aires last year, with 30 minutes of footage that hasn't been seen in decades.

Tickets are already on sale -- a touch pricey, but it looks like a great event.

With a ton of Hollywood royalty in attendance, legendary Lauren Bacall has finally received her Oscar - four months before the annual televised Academy Awards program to be sure, but many, many years overdue.

With Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Norman Jewison, Warren Beatty, George Lucas, Quentin Tarantino and many more paying homage, Bacall took home her statuette from the Governor's Award ceremony. B-movie prince Roger Corman, producer John Calley and genius cinematographer Gordon Willis were also honored.

IIn one way, it's too bad. There were probably genuine, emotional moments here that would probably have served the academy better than some of the lame schtick and over-produced musical numbers the show usually comes up with.

Nevertheless, I have high hopes for this year's show. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will co-host. The two men who are constantly battling for the title of "Hosted More Saturday Night Live Shows than that Other Guy" award are funny, intelligent, accomplished performers. If they can't make it funny and good, no one can.

Of course, that's what I said about Jon Stewart....

Bacall at the ceremony, by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

On Friday, look for Turner Classic Movies to air The Great White Hope, the moving story of the bias that faces a victorious black boxer and his white mistress. Depressing but excellent with James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander.

Saturday, there's a jackpot of good stuff, with Burt Lancaster as a no-account drifter turned faux preacher in Elmer Gantry; the rollicking British film Tom Jones, with Albert Finney and Susannah York (a surprise Best Picture winner in 1963), and A Man for All Seasons, with Paul Scofield's acclaimed performance as Sir Thomas More

TiVo alert for early Sunday (4:45 a.m. Eastern) when They Shoot Horses, Don't They? airs, a gritty look at the dance marathon craze of the Depression era with Jane Fonda. Brighten things up later Sunday with the original Parent Trap, with Hayley Mills playing a dual role in one of her Disney outings; and polish it off with Member of the Wedding, a fine adapation of the Carson McCullers novel.