'Tis the season for the Christmas movie and - once again - I have set the DVR to record a number of films based around the festive period.
I've been doing this for three years now but, for those who don't know what I do, here is how it works.
On December 1st, I begin watching films and then add a short summary/review/opinion to a blog post that is set to be published in the early hours of Christmas morning.
I am currently writing this on December 1st, and I have six DVDs ready to watch. I also have two movies on my Windows Media Center hard drive as well as a number of films set to record on the cable box downstairs.
So, here goes...
The Christmas Suit (2010)
It seems like I've started off with a good one.
This film is about an owner of a toy manufacturing company who inherited the business from his dead father. The products produced by the son are not as good as his father's. His drive for profit overlooks the need for quality so all of the toys produced by the firm - other than a doll that the father launched the company with thirty years earlier - break easily.
The owner comes across a Santa Claus who magically transforms him into Santa Claus without him knowing. He returns to his office only to be arrested for trespassing (everyone else in the movie sees him as a man dressed up as Santa while us at home see the original actor, just like Quantum Leap). The judge lets him get out under the condition that he seeks help from a social worker who puts him up in the shelter she runs.
He gets work as a store Santa, keeps meeting the same young girl who doesn't speak to him so he goes out to find out what her problem is. The youngster is from a single-parent household and her mother - who works for the toy firm - cannot afford to get the child the gift she wants for Christmas.
The businessman - now Santa - finds his Christmas spirit at the end of the film when he smashes the window of his own building in order to steal one of the dolls to give to the girl on Christmas morning. When caught, the real Santa reappears and congratulates him on finding himself.
Oh, and as you would expect, everyone lives happily ever after.
There are other subplots along the way that makes it an enjoyable film for Christmas.
Cancel Christmas (2010)
This film is the kind of Christmas flick that I like best. Cheesy yet fun.
It starts with Santa Claus being told that his services are under review by the people in charge of the Christmas holiday.
His employers give him the task of making three boys believe in the spirit of Christmas and - if he succeeds - he will retain his job for eternity.
With his elf along for the ride, the pair magically transforms into a normal looking people and get jobs as janitors of the private school where the three boys are pupils.
Yes, it all ends happily ever after although there are a few hiccups along the way.
I enjoyed it.
Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009)
I finally managed to get to see this after LoveFilm failed to send this to me last year.
There is no point with me explaining the story as it's the Disney version of the Charles Dickens story. However, what I will write about is how good it is.
The animation in this film was great.
It is the best version of A Christmas Carol that I have seen. Is that the best compliment I can give it? Not really, because the other versions that I have seen set the bar low. As far as I see, this adaption will be unbeatable for a very long time.
Santa Claus : The Movie (1985)
I remember going to see this in the cinema when it first came out.
Dudley Moore plays an elf who leaves the North Pole to try and make it as a toy maker on his own. He ends up in New York and is deceived by an evil toy manufacturer into making magical candy canes that allow children to fly. Santa Claus - and two young children - find out that the candy canes are hazardous so they set out to save Patch (Moore's character).
It must have over twenty-five years since I had last seen this film but there were a lot of things I remember from it.
I noticed that it was rushed near the end, though. I guess that's because I was watching it with adult eyes.
A Dream For Christmas (1973)
When I first started watching this, I wasn't impressed. I guess it was mainly due to the film being quite old and the acting wasn't on par with what you would expect from a TV movie of today. But, as I continued to watch and ignored my earlier reservations, I started to like it.
It is about a Reverend who moves his family from Arkansas to California only to find out that the church he is moving in to is set to be demolished in order to build a shopping centre.
As you would expect, it ends happily ever after after the Pastor manages to bring a large congregation back to the church over Christmas forcing the developer to change his mind on the project.
Moonlight & Mistletoe (2008)
When I first saw the title of this film, I guessed it was one of those corny romantic Christmas made-for-TV movies.
I was half right.
The film is about a daughter who returns home to her father's themed village - Santaville - to find that the tourist attraction is not making any profit. She falls for a conman who tricks her father into signing away Santaville if the park doesn't make enough money by Christmas Day.
Need I tell you how this ends?
It's very predictable but, and like I have probably emphasised each year I do these posts, you always have to throw that sort of criticism out the window when watching festive movies. Yes, it was predictable but I enjoyed the story very much.
A Nanny For Christmas (2010)
This film is about a female advertising executive who loses her job just before Christmas and is in need of new employment. She calls in a favour from a friend who gets her an interview with another agency. She is success in the job interview although right at the end of said interview, she realises she was being employed as a nanny for the owner's children and not as an ad agent.
The lady lives the lie and pretends to be a nanny because she needs to keep an income.
When I first read the synopsis of the film, I guessed the two children would give her hell and it will be one of those movies. It wasn't - the children are polite and friendly to her but are very reserved, the nanny brings some fun to their lives by giving them pancakes for breakfast and acting out Shakespeare rather than simply reading it (which was the mother's initial instructions).
It also has a romantic subplot that also involves the nanny ironically pretending to be an advertising agent to another employee of her boss'.
I found this film to be surprisingly good.
The Christmas Clause (2008)
This film is about a lawyer who finds it hard to cope with being a mother of three children so she asks Santa Claus to have a life like one of the people she knows who is a full-time mother with family commitments. She then spends the rest of the movie living in a alternate universe where she is the boss of a lawyer firm and has to try and woo back her husband so she can escape the wish and return to her normal life.
I did not like this film at all. In fact, it's possibly the worst films I have seen in all the years I have been doing this.
It didn't come across to me as a true Christmas movie.
The only festive theme seemed to have been because it was Santa Claus was the person who granted the wish. And even so, the Santa they used was a wise guy with a New York accent who only appeared in costume the once. They could have easily have a fairy godmother come in or - better still - have the woman throw a coin in a fountain to make the wish.
One Magic Christmas (1985)
This is a classic that I watched when it first came out. It seemed like me and my sister would rent this from the video shop every Christmas when we were youngsters.
An angel is sent by Father Christmas to seek out a young mother who has lost the Christmas spirit. It took a dramatic thing to do it, but the angel - Gideon - succeeds. Well, of course he succeeds, it's a Disney Christmas movie!
It was fun seeing this film again after probably twenty-something years.
Christmas Every Day (1996)
Very enjoyable.
The film is about a young teenager who has to relive the same Christmas Day over and over again until he makes things perfect. It's a festive Groundhog Day, if you will.
The film is about a young teenager who has to relive the same Christmas Day over and over again until he makes things perfect. It's a festive Groundhog Day, if you will.
The film is about a young teenager who has to relive the same Christmas Day over and over again until he makes things perfect. It's a festive Groundhog Day, if you will.
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)
Seeing as The Muppets seem to be on another one of their renaissances, I decided that this film would be on the list of movies to watch this year.
I hadn't seen it before but was what you would expect from a Muppet film. A lot of human and Muppet interaction.
In the film, The Muppets are about to lose their theatre to an evil developer (played by Joan Cusack). When they fail to pay the debt in time, Kermit the Frog becomes dejected and proclaims that every one's life would be better off without him. Cue the It's a Wonderful Life plot - God (played by Whoopi Goldberg) sends an angel down to Earth in order to show Kermit how the world would be without him.
As an aside, The angel was played by a former WCW World champion, I'll give you a few moments to ponder which legend it could be*.
It wasn't too bad. There were a few in-jokes that I have to admit I did laugh at so that is a positive. I guess the best thing I can say is: it's a Muppet movie. Take from that what you will.
Final Thoughts
It's now 3pm on Christmas Eve and the diet of Christmas films is over for another year. I still have two DVDs and an unaccounted number of films left on my cable box ready to watch in 2012 so I'll definitely be back doing this for at least one more year.
Looking back at the list of films I watched in Christmas 2011, I'll have to go with The Christmas Clause as the one I was disappointed with the most.
It's tough to decide which film was the best out of Disney's A Christmas Carol, One Magic Christmas, Christmas Every Day and Cancel Christmas. All brought something so they each deserve a thumbs up.
Merry Christmas.
*David Arquette
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