A Diet Of Christmas Films V

In 2008, I decided to embark on a marathon consisting of festive movies in the run-up to Christmas Day. I christened it the 'Diet of Christmas Films' and wrote about them for the Christmas Day blog post.

I have continued the tradition ever since. It's now in its fifth Christmas.

As I write this, it is November 20th and I have yet to watch a film. However, I have a lot of DVDs left over from last year that will be watched in the next few weeks.

As soon as I watch a film, I log into my Blogger account and write a brief synopsis and opinion of the film. I repeat this until I have no time left. The Christmas Day blog post is set to publish at 12am on Christmas morning so I do my best to cram as many films into this marathon as possible.

Here I go..

Snowglobe (2007)

Brief description:
A young woman discovers a Christmas-themed dreamworld inside a magical snowglobe.

Thoughts:
It took me a while to get into this film. It picked up when one of the characters from inside the snow globe manages to make it out and into present day New York. It was the saving part of the story because. before that point, I was not enjoying it. I did end up liking it.

Nothing Like The Holidays (2008)

Brief description:
A Puerto Rican family living in the area of Humboldt Park in west Chicago face what may be their last Christmas together.

Thoughts:
There was just too much going on in this film.
The mother of the large family says she wants to divorce the father, the father is secretly dying of cancer, one of the sons has just returned home from Iraq and finds that the girl he once went out with has moved on, the daughter of the family has returned home from her acting career in Hollywood and doesn't want to get with the family friend (whose brother was killed in a gang-land killing ten years earlier and he goes out to avenge his brother's death against the gang leader but decides not to pull the trigger), the eldest son wants to be the first son to offer his parents a grandchild, his wife wants to put her career first.
You see what I mean?
On the plus side, Luiz Guzman and John Leguizamo both star in it. The last time I saw these two together in a movie was in my favourite - Carlito's Way.

The Dog Who Saved Christmas (2009)

Brief description:
A family adopt a guard dog for Christmas. The only problem is, the dog cannot bark and there are burglars in the area.

Thoughts:
This was like a cross between Home Alone and (insert film with voice over artists doing the voice of animals) albeit on a budget.
It was a fun made-for-TV movie that the family, especially young children, will enjoy. It is currently the best film out of the three that I have watched this year so it has that going for it.
Dean Cain was in this film. This is the second consecutive year that a film starring Dean Cain has been written about on this blog.

The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation (2010)

Brief description:
In a sequel to The Dog Who Saved Christmas, the Bannister family and their dog, Zeus, head to Colorado to spend Christmas at a ski resort. A stolen diamond necklace winds up in the possession of the extended family's poodle and so Zeus must save Christmas by fending off the criminal duo from the first film and win the heart of the poodle.

Thoughts:
Same sort of thing that was in the original.
Dean Cain is in this one so he gets his hat rick. Oh, and Paris Hilton is the voice over actress for the brother-in-law's dog.
The third film in this series came out for Halloween last year. The fourth - once again based around Christmas time - was made this year so I am wondering whether it will make it to TV screens over here next year. If it does show up on my viewing schedule, you'll read about it here.

Christmas Town (2008)

Brief description:
A week before Christmas, Liza McCann visit her estranged father who strangely lives in a town decked out for the holidays and is full of Christmas spirit. Strange events immediately occur when they arrive challenging everything Liza had once believed in.

Thoughts:
My first thought is the IMDB.com summary that I copied and pasted above does not give much away. The previous two films didn't have a summary on their respective pages so I wrote my own.
When it began, I thought the film would be about a woman finding the Christmas spirit the old fashioned way (ie falling in love etc). I was wrong to a certain extent as the film became a fantasy story where she ended up visiting her father in a town which Santa Claus uses as his base to begin his journey on Christmas Eve Eve. Yes, I wrote 'Christmas Eve Eve' because - according to this film - New Zealand is twenty-four hours ahead of Hollyville.
Now, the question is - did I like it? Yeah, I did. It had a nice story and message throughout. It was odd in places but that's something to expect from Christmas films.

One Christmas (1994)

Synopsis:
It's Christmas 1930, and eight-year-old Buddy (T.J. Lowther) finds himself in New Orleans spending the holidays with his estranged father (Henry Winkler). Leaving behind his Aunt Sook and the peaceful Alabama country life. Buddy now endures a conniving, deceitful con man of a dad who seems to care more about fast buck scams than earning his son's affection.
Buddy dreams of finding Santa, a snow-covered New Orleans and a new relationship with his father. His dad is looking for something real in a life of lies. Finally, father and son realize the greatest thing they have is each other. It's a gift that comes just in time for one unforgettable Christmas.

Trivia:
Katharine Hepburn was also in this film. She must have been eighty-seven when the film was made and was evidently frail. This turned out to be her final film role.

Thoughts:
This is one of the best Christmas films I have ever seen. I had tears in my eyes at the end of it. It was a really nice story and I'll definitely watch this one again.
Coincidentally, this is the second film starring Henry Winkler that has been highly recommended by yours truly in the five Christmases that I have been writing about festive movies.

The Days Before Christmas (1958)

Brief description:
A black-and-white short documentary about Christmastime in Montreal. The milling crowds, department store Santas, Brink's messengers, kindergarten angels and boisterous nightclubs - all combine to make a vivid portrait of the holidays.

Thoughts:
This was a diversion to the usual Christmas films that I watch. I found this short documentary when I searched for 'Christmas' on the National Film Board of Canada app on my Blackberry Playbook.
I enjoy documentaries and found this to be an interesting piece. The best way I can describe my feelings towards it is that it is a good capture of the late 1950s and how people celebrated the festive period. It may not fit into what I am doing here but is still interesting nonetheless.

November Christmas (2010)

Brief description:
A brave young girl is battling cancer, which has an effect on the people around her.

Thoughts:
Yet another great film.
The film is about the girl and how her family - and their community - push forward seasonal holidays like Halloween and Christmas because they fear she will not make it to see the actual days.
It had its sad moments but was a well written film with good acting by everyone in it.

The Snowman (1982)

Brief description:
Wordless (save for the song "Walking in the Air") animated adventure about a young English boy who makes a snowman one Christmas Eve.

Thoughts:
It had been a very long time since I watched this short film. With this being the thirtieth anniversary, and with a sequel airing on Christmas Eve, I thought I would seek out this great cartoon that was one of the things I'd always watch in the lead-in to Christmas. Watching this once again - after so many years - brought back some fun reminders. I cannot wait until I get to see the sequel (even though I know it could never top this).

Secret Santa (2003)

Brief description:
Family drama in which a big city journalist is sent to a small town to try and find out the identity of a 'secret Santa' who anonymously gives out presents to the needy every Christmas.

Thoughts:
This was another good film with a great storyline.
I was guessing throughout who the secret Santa would end up being and was right with my second guess. It was quite obvious in hindsight. However, the way it was explained made perfect sense.

Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (1964)

Brief description:
The Martians kidnap Santa because there is nobody on Mars to give their children presents

Thoughts:
Where, oh where do I begin?
This is the worst Christmas film I have ever seen. Seriously.
Earlier this year, I noticed the DVD in a sale on either Amazon or Play.com. As I hadn't seen - or even heard of it - before, I thought I would buy it with the intention of it being the final film I would watch for this year's blog post. So, I tried ordering the film but it had sold out. I then ordered it from another website (with a different cover to the one I had wanted) and they contacted me to tell me that copies of the DVD had sold out as well. I eventually found the film - with the cover I had originally wanted - and bought it.*
I now wish I hadn't.
It was abysmal. I try my best to see the positive in Christmas movies because they aren't meant to be artistic masterpieces but I just cannot offer anything about this film other than to say it was probably an average film.... IN 1964!
It does not hold up. It probably never did.
And you know what made sitting through this even more painful? I was determined to finish what I had started and was fighting the urge to turn it off. I knew the film lasted 121 minutes because I had checked IMDB.com and was just hoping the thing would finish fast. At the 115 minute mark, the DVD player started making a noise and the film stopped dead. I ejected the DVD, reinserted it and forwarded it to the spot where the disc had gone awry and it abruptly stopped again.
I don't know how it ended. I don't care, though. The title gives it away, anyway.
*The moral of my story is simple - DON'T JUDGE A DVD BY ITS COVER

Christmas Eve update - It's nearly 1am on Christmas Eve and there is no way I am going to finish this year's edition on a low note. I'm going to watch one more film and hope that it turns out good. After Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, the only way is up. I hope....

The Snowman and The Snowdog (2012)

Brief description:
A sequel to Raymond Briggs' animated short film about a boy who makes a snowman.

Thoughts:
Thankfully, the fifth annual Diet Christmas Films ends with a good film.
I enjoyed this film and was especially glad that the people who created it decided to stick with the same sort of animation that was done in the original film.
Good to see that The Snowman didn't technically die thirty years ago. Shame it took them all that time to reassure us that he could be recreated.
All kidding aside, they did a tremendous job alluding to the original film at the same time as creating a new adventure for the children of today to enjoy.


And that's it for 2012. I have a ton of films on the DVD recorder hard drive that I'll convert to discs over the next few weeks in preparation for next year.

In the meantime, enjoy your Christmas and if I can offer one word of advice: If you want to enjoy the next few days, please don't watch Santa Claus Conquers The Martians!