Burning the Yule Log

They just aren't cranking out claymation Christmas specials like they used to, which makes this a welcome one. Nicer still, it's got heroin! A mixture of stop motion with a little puppetry and live-action shots of William Burroughs (who may himself have been a Muppet), this tale of a junky scrambling for a Christmas fix will please fans of the author as well as lovers of uplifting Christmas stories. (Granted, the latter may need to open their minds a bit.) It's overkill having Burroughs read the story while it's enacted onscreen (the audio and video alone could suffice), but Burroughs' trademark croak is too much fun to mute. Too bad the tale's total running time is about 20 minutes, with the rest of the disc padded with other short films from VH1. They're okay, but why not throw in a Burroughs doc instead?

We also recommend: 49 Up; The Electric Company: Volume 2; Forbidden Planet: 50th Anniversary Edition; Family Guy, Vol. 4; Harper; Homicide: The Complete Series; Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical; Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man; Northern Exposure: Season 5; Oldboy (3-disc set); Six Feet Under: The Complete Series; Strangers With Candy(movie); Who Killed the Electric Car?