Christmas Shopping, Movie Blogger Style!

Just a brief pause in movie reviews for a while, because my favourite time of the year is here, and also because Lawrence of Arabia killed me last week and I haven’t seen another movie since. I’m actually going to see Nocturnal Animals tonight though, so I’ll have that to talk about very soon.

But for now, Christmas has arrived (in my world at least) and Sunday brought my annual Christmas Present Planning Meeting. My husband was a little put off at the extremity of it all, until I told him the meeting would kick off with a big American-style breakfast out at one of our favourite restaurants. Ah, sweet bribery.

The reason I’m even mentioning this on the blog though is because I decided that this year, all of my christmas shopping will have a theme - movies! In previous years I’ve given dozens of Pop Figures (to curb my own addiction) and also board games (I buy the ones I really want to play myself) so I wanted a theme for 2016 too. I’m no movie expert by a long shot, but I like to think that I watch enough to be able to pick out movies for family and friends that they’ll enjoy.

Plus, it makes shopping a lot more fun. With plenty of little ones in the family, there are going to be lots of Disney movies on the list, and I’m torn between choosing my all-time favourites or picking out some lesser known gems. One of my cousins has reached that age where it's ‘cool’ to watch every single horror that comes out and pretend that they weren’t scary in the slightest, and thanks to Halloweenie I now have a few ideas for her.

Then there’s my parents, who love action and mystery, and anything with Tom Cruise or Bruce Willis, bless my Mum. I’m trying to remember whether they’ve seen Unbreakable (2000) yet, because they would love it. Not naming names, but I also have a family member who detests language in movies, so I’ll be heavily studying the Parental Guide’s in IMDB for the next week or so to find something suitable.

I have a brother who loves magic and all things weird, and I’m torn between getting him Chronicle (2012) or Now You See Me (2013). Does anyone know of a movie that heavily features a pug? I have a cousin obsessed with them, but she also loves horses so I have War Horse (2011) sat in my Amazon basket right now.

All in all, I am having a blast with shopping this year. It’s not a chore when you get to sit at your favourite little coffee outlet drinking hot spiced apple and talking about movies! Has anyone else started shopping yet?

Christmas in July Blogathon: The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)

The wonderful Drew at Drew's Movie Reviews is running his Christmas in July Blogathon right now. How has it been a whole year since Drew’s last Christmas in July Blogathon?! I honestly remember writing last year’s post as if it were yesterday. Anyway, I’m so glad it’s back, because I need the outlet - Christmas is my favourite time of the year but no one will let me talk about it until December. Last Christmas was an amazing time for me as a movie fan as I delved into the Star Wars movies before watching The Force Awakens, and shocked myself with how much I fell in love with it.

Imagine my surprise then when I discover that in 1978, a Star Wars Holiday Special was broadcast on TV! Okay, so general consensus seemed to be that it was the worst TV movie ever made, but I couldn’t help but feel that watching it was a rite of passage for Star Wars fans. Or maybe I just like to torture myself and watch terrible movies. Who knows! I read the reviews, I read the quotes from the cast saying they wish they could forget it was ever made, and all I could think was, surely it can’t be that bad? I mean, the entire main original cast is here. Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, even James Earl Jones! 

Oh, I was so wrong…

So, the gist of the story is this. It’s Life Day, a holiday celebrated by Wookiees, and Han Solo is desperately trying to get Chewie home to his family in time for the celebrations. That’s right, Chewie has a family! Specifically, a father called Itchy, a wife called Malla and a son called...Lumpy. Who names their kid Lumpy? I sure hope that’s a nickname. Anyway, Malla is getting impatient and puts in a few video-calls to some friends to find out where her beloved Chewie is. One of those calls goes to Luke Skywalker himself, wearing more make-up than I do on a night out, but he knows nothing. A local trader and friend by the name of Saun Dann tries to ease Malla’s worries, and later turns up at the house (that was fast) with gifts for everyone.

At this point I should probably point out that over 50% of this movie’s dialogue is spoken in Wookiee, with no subtitles, so you kind of have to guess what’s going on. I was at least grateful for the lack of translation when Itchy was gifted with some bizarre adult-fantasy video…thing. That was disturbing. I need to try and forget that moment, erase it from my memory somehow.

I mean, on the surface of it, The Star Wars Holiday Special is like any other Christmas movie. The father of the family is late coming home, leaving a disappointed child. The family are being inappropriate and no help to anyone, and the cooking turns out to be a disaster. That part at least was actually funny, watching Malla try and follow a cooking program to cook a stew. Turns out, it’s really difficult to mix, whisk and beat a mixture when you only have 2 arms. Who’da thunk it?

Then come the Imperial Officers, flanked by 2 Stormtroopers, here to search the property. Doesn’t anyone get a day off work on Life Day? Poor Lumpy is told to watch his cartoons and stay out of the way. Somehow, Lumpy’s cartoon happens to explain what exactly is holding Han Solo and Chewie up. It’s all a rouse played out by Boba Fett and Darth Vader! Bah humbug, guys!

Honestly, at this point the rest is a blur. I made myself a drink during the first 10 minutes, knowing I was going to need it to watch anymore, and I got through a lot of drinks very quickly. A lot like Christmas I guess! All I know is that it was happily ever after, and there was a musical interlude by the Cantina band somewhere in the mix.

So, lesson learnt. This really was a monstrosity. But did you know this was Boba Fett’s very first introduction? Gotta give the movie a point for that. And another for Malla’s cooking attempts. That’s all I can face giving out, though.

In true Christmas in July fashion, Drew is forming a star-studded Christmas party, and we’re all allowed to invite our favourite celebrity in the hopes we’ll catch them under the mistletoe. I feel like I should stick with the Star Wars theme, and as much as I’d like to catch Kylo Ren and warm up that icy heart of his, I worry he’ll throw one of those tempers and wreck the party. With that in mind, I certainly wouldn’t mind bumping into the best pilot in the galaxy, Poe Dameron, AKA Oscar Isaac! Swoon…

Christmas Cast-a-Thon: Entries Round-Up

To celebrate our favourite time of the year finally here, we ran a Christmas themed Cast-a-Thon! Here are the entries we received. If you fancy taking part, please do! Just check out our announcement post here to find out how.

If you do feel like taking part, just let us know when your post is up, and we'll add it to this list.

John at Hitchcock's World's Christmas movie featured the most bad-add parents of all time, John McClane and Lara Croft!

Dell at Dell on Movies' Christmas movie had one of the greatest grinches ever, none other than The Penguin!

And finally, you can check out my post here and Jenna's post here!

Christmas Cast-a-thon - Jenna's post

This was so much harder than I thought it was going to me, I really thought it would be easy to cast the perfect Christmas movie but it really isn't.  After hours of pondering, this is what I have come up with.

Santa Claus - Hal from Malcolm in the Middle (Bryan Cranston)

In most Christmas movies, Santa is the boss.  He works tirelessly to keep the helpers on track to make all the presents in time for Christmas.  As far as the helpers are concerned xxx is the boss but behind the scenes, Santa is completely whipped by Mrs Claus, the real brains behind the operation.

Scrooge/Grinch/Mrs Claus - Megan from Bridesmaids (Melissa McCarthy)

Megan was initially attracted to Hal's power as Santa but over time has taken over the North Pole and runs it her way.  Hal doesn't have the balls to argue with her so just leaves her to it to live an easy life but Megan has no idea how to run the business and things start to go awry.

Santa's Sidekick - Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones (Peter Dinklage)

Tyrion is completely aware of the control Mrs Claus has over Santa but no matter how much he tells Hal, he just wont listen.  In the end, he has to recruit outside help to when Mrs Claus' interference threatens to destroy Christmas.

Santa’s Helpers - Minions (Stuart, Bob, Kevin and friends) from Minions

Stuart, Bob and Kevin (as head helpers) ran the toy factory with perfect synchronicity making millions of toys for all the good children if the world, that is until Mrs Claus decided they weren't right for the job and brought in their replacements.....

Mrs Claus' Helpers - Magic Mike (Channing Tatum), Big Dick Richie (Joe Manganiello), Ken (Matt Bomer) and Tito (Adam Rodriguez) from Magic Mike XXL  

...Mrs Claus brings her new helpers for their 'talents' and 'assets' but spends all of her time making them dance for her and now it's 3 days until Christmas and there are no toys for all the good children.

The Children - Mikey (Sean Astin), Mouth (Corey Feldman), Data (Jonathan Ke Quan) and Chunk (Jeff Cohen) from The Goonies

In the years following the saviour of their beloved town and the capture of notorious criminals, The Fratelli's, life is pretty quiet for the Goonies, that is until they are sought out by Tyrion to save Christmas and take down Mrs Claus before it's too late....

Can't wait to see everyone else's christmas cast-a-thon posts!

Christmas Cast-a-Thon - Allie's Post

You know, whilst I was dreaming up the post for our Christmas Cast-a-Thon, I actually had no idea what kind of cast I was going to create, or what kind of movie it would end up being. I was more excited to see everyone else’s posts! But it would certainly be rude to not take part in your own blogathon! So here’s what I’ve come up with.

If you'd like to take part, check out the announcement post here.

Christmas is the perfect time to watch cheesy movies without feeling guilty, so that’s exactly what I’m making here. I’m going for typical rom com with a Christmas flavour!

Santa - Benji, Mission Impossible Series (Simon Pegg)

Let’s say the IMF were shut down. When your entire career is a secret, your CV isn’t going to look that great, and so poor Benji is forced to work at a toy megastore as Santa over the Christmas holidays just to pay the rent.

Santa’s Helpers - Olive, Easy A (Emma Stone) & Winston, New Girl (Lamorne Morris)

Just because their job title is ‘Helper’ doesn’t mean they’re actually helpful! Olive is providing all the laughs here with her dry, sarcastic. humour, at the expense of everyone around her. Winston is looking for some extra cash on the side of his cop job, but he’s also Santa’s perfect wingman in his search for true love. Speaking of which…

Parents - Sabrina, The Change-Up (Olivia Wilde) & Owen, Jurassic World (Chris Pratt)

Married life as a legal secretary and a velociraptor handler is busy, and stressful, and that’s what ultimately led to the divorce of Sabrina and Owen. Sob. Luckily, Sabrina’s best friend Olive just so happens to work very closely with an eligible bachelor. See where this is going?

Child - Alexander, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Ed Oxenbould)

Alexander is having another terrible day it seems. Not only have his parents just finalised their divorce, but he’s being dragged Christmas shopping with his Mum to meet up with his rude Aunt Olive who isn’t even his Aunt, and he’s reached that age where he’s 99.9% certain Santa isn’t real.

Scrooge/Grinch - Dwight, The Office (Rainn Wilson)

Let’s say Dunder Mifflin really did shut down in the end. Things were looking pretty bad, but now Dwight has secured a role as Assistant Store Manager (or should that be Assistant to the Store Manager?) at the city’s biggest toy store. Only thing is, he hates Christmas. The only thing he hates more than Christmas are the company’s new hires, Santa and his Helpers. They spend far too much work time chatting, and Dwight is going to make darn sure all three of them get fired.

Extra Roles:

Grandad - Bryan, The Taken Trilogy (Liam Neeson)

Let’s face it, if you’re going to end up dating the daughter of any Liam Neeson character, especially Bryan Mills, you best make sure you don’t hurt her feelings. Or he’ll find you. And kill you. Wait, no. This is a lighthearted movie! Cool it, Bryan!

Family Pet - Grumpy Cat, Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever (Aubrey Plaza)

I’m cheating a little here. Last week I discovered that this movie existed. I scoffed that Grumpy Cat has his (her??) own Christmas movie. Then I noticed Grumpy Cat is voiced by Aubrey Plaza. Never before have I bought a DVD so quickly! I haven’t watched this yet, but come on, what Christmas Movie is complete without a (dis)loyal family pet?

That’s it! Would you ever consider watching my stereotypical, predictable Christmas Movie? I would, and then I’d add it to my list of guilty pleasures. Can’t wait to see what everyone else comes up with!

Christmas Movie Cast-a-Thon

The nights are darker, supermarkets are full to brim with ‘festive’ items, and the cups at all the coffee shops are now red. Let’s face it, Christmas is here folks. Don’t try to fight it.  I wasn't, I've been waiting for months for everyone else to catch up ;-) Me too!

To help us all get into the festive mood, we thought now would be the perfect time to host a Christmas-themed Cast-a-Thon. Over a year ago now one of our favourite bloggers, Dell at Dell on Movies hosted a Slasher-themed Cast-a-Thon, and we’ve been wanting to host another for ages now! 

So, think about your favourite Christmas movie right now. It could be a heartwarming movie like Miracle on 34th Street, a classic comedy like Elf or National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, or a downright rude, adults only movie like Bad Santa. Regardless of your theme, there will be a standard set of characters. So, who would you choose?

Here are the rules:

1. Choose a character from TV or film for each of the roles below, and tell us what they’ll be contributing to your movie. 

2. Compile your list and post it on your blog before the 1st December, 2015. We’ll put together a master list shortly after that date and link back to you.

3. Feel free to use one of the banners above, or create your own.

4. Most importantly, have fun! Tis the season to be jolly after all.

The Roles:

Santa Claus - You can’t have a Christmas movie without Santa, that just goes without saying, but what kind of Santa are you going to cast?

Santa’s Helpers - Santa has a lot of work to do each year and when winter kicks in, he can’t do it all by himself. Just one helper or a whole army? It’s up to you.

Scrooge/Grinch - Our Christmas movie can’t be all sunshine and rainbows, there’s always someone trying to ruin the day.

Parents - Tirelessly working to give their children the perfect Christmas day, usually at the detriment to their own relationship. Who are you casting as the perfect, or not so perfect, couple?

The Children - Sometimes young a starry eyed, waiting for the sound of reindeer bells, sometimes fully grown up with children of their own.

Others - This Cast-a-Thon is purely for fun, so please feel free to add more roles as you see fit!

I really can't wait to see everyone's responses to this and its just another great excuse to start celebrating Christmas early!! 

Christmas in July Blogathon

Originally written for and posted by Drew at Drew's Movie Reviews. Original post can be viewed here.

Today is a wonderful day, everyone. No, I’m not talking about the beautiful July weather right now. It’s Christmas! Or more specifically, it’s Christmas in July, which is just as good! I love this time of the year even more than Summer. Don’t you just love wrapping yourself up in a blanket, lighting some festive-smelling candles, and curling up on the sofa with a good movie?

I’m the worst for reminding people how close Christmas is (I normally start in April) but I have it on good authority that it is completely okay to talk about the C word today! Err, Christmas, that is. 

See, I have proof and everything. Drew has invited us all to celebrate early with a post. For mine, I’d like to share the Christmas movies that I’ll be watching this year. We’ve all got one of these lists, surely? Those movies that become a tradition to watch each year. Well, here are mine!

Love Actually (2003) is the first movie I turn to. It has such a brilliant cast, and never fails to make me laugh and cry within minutes of each other. It’s set in the run up to Christmas, and shows several different storylines that all tie into each other in the end. Plus, that scene with Keira Knightley and Andrew Lincoln with the cardboard signs is the sweetest thing ever!

Jingle All the Way (1996) is a movie I was introduced to when I had just started dating my now fiance. It’s his family’s traditional Christmas movie and since watching it at their house 7 years ago, I’ve watched it every year since. This doesn’t really happen anymore, but it’s about one parent’s mad dash on Christmas Eve to buy the sell-out toy of the year for his son. Thanks to Jingle All the Way, I can name all the reindeer!

Christmas Vacation (1989) follows on from my love of National Lampoon’s Vacation. Featuring Chevy Chase, it’s a hilarious tale of Clark Griswold’s experience of that festive time when his whole family come over to visit. No matter your age, there’s definitely something to relate to here.

I’m not sure if this should count, but Shrek the Halls (2007) was a half-hour TV short that my family still has recorded on their TV box. At the time, my littlest brother was Shrek obsessed, but even now we get together and watch it. It’s kind of sad, because we know all the words by heart, but it’s such a funny little short!

I watched Bad Santa (2003) for the first time last year as part of our 12 Days of Christmas blog series, but I fell head over heels in love with it. Billy Bob Thornton is the best bad santa ever, and this is probably the only Christmas movie I’ve watched which is strictly not for children! It only took 1 viewing for me to know that this will be added to my list every year.

Oh! I almost forgot, Drew also wanted to know who we would like to meet under the mistletoe. This is such a difficult choice! Normally I would try to choose between my usual favourites Ryan Reynolds, Chris Pine or Benedict Cumberbatch, but right now I’m going to make a wish to meet my current crush, Chris Pratt!

Drew, thank you for letting me gush about how much I love Christmas and it’s festive movies in July of all times. Now, to sing Christmas carols for the rest of the day till I get told off…

12 Days of Christmas - Day 8 The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

I was so glad to see this film on the list that Jenna sent me when we discussed doing this 12 Days of Christmas project. I’m a huge fan of the Muppets but admittedly, I hadn’t seen The Muppet Christmas Carol since I was a child. This was actually the version of A Christmas Carol that taught me the story, and so for years I thought everyone else was just copying the Muppets!

If you’ve ever watched another Muppets film, you’ll know what to expect here. And if you haven’t, who are you, what are you doing here and please, go and watch one now! The legendary Alfred, sorry, Michael Caine plays Scrooge in this version, and the Muppets themselves replace the other characters. What makes this version so great is Gonzo plays Charles Dickens, and with Rizzo the Rat’s help, they tell the story to the audience, breaking the 4th wall.

There is something in this film for everyone to enjoy. Kids will love the Muppet characters telling such a classic tale, but I learnt while I watched this that adults will have just as much fun. There were so many jokes that would have gone straight over my head when I was younger, things like the family of rates that work in Scrooge’s finance department complaining about the cold ‘We’re freezing our assets off!’ as just one example. I may have laughed out loud at that. I love terrible jokes.

Of course, no Muppets film is complete without a host of catchy songs to sing along to. I had ‘One More Sleep Til Christmas’ stuck in my head instantly and I’ll spend the remaining days till Christmas singing it!

Ok so my opinion on this film will probably be met with shock, horror and annoyance...that will just be from Allie!!  I tried I really did BUT I do not like the Muppets, I did when I was a kid but now I don't find the films funny or entertaining but irritating and predictable.  I managed 20 minutes or so of this before I turned it off, therefore I won't score it as that seems mean but no no no this film is not for me Christmas or no Christmas!!

I don’t know if this will join my list of Christmas films that I watch without fail every year, but when the time comes, my children will be subjected to it for sure.

12 Days of Christmas - Day 6 Elf (2003)

How can Christmas ever go by without watching this bit of movie gold.  I actually hated it the first time I watched it, but I learnt to love it for what it is. I had a funny experience seeing this in the cinema. It was my brother's 8th birthday and my Mum and I took him and a group of his friends. What's wrong with that you ask? It was the middle of January. To this date I don't know why it was still showing!

Buddy the Elf a normal sized human is raised in the North Pole as an Elf but his size wreaks havoc on the small community.  Soon he is sent to the US to find his real father but finds it harder to fit in, in the real world than he anticipated.

This is by far the silliest, most random, off the wall Christmas movie going but that is what I love about it.  You have to watch it with no expectations and try to switch your brain off completely so you just see the funny side of it all.  I'm not a huge Will Ferrell fan, in fact I usually hate films he is in (don't shout at me but I really dislike Anchorman, I think its massively overrated and not in the least bit funny!) but this tugs on my Christmassy heart strings and some of the one liners in it are amazing. "Santa's Coming? I know him" probably more about how it's said than the actual lines haha!

I love Will Ferrell already, but it's definitely the over the top 'ness' of it all that makes Elf so funny. It's so quotable as well, I really can't help but shout 'I know him!' when the name Santa is mentioned!

The story is ok, but it is overshadowed by Ferrell's overpowering verbal and physical comedy, much of the time the story is forgotten over an elaborate comedy sketch.  For me, that may be what makes it likeable, it's extremely easy to watch, you don't even really need to follow the story just enjoy gag after gag.  The escalator scene being my personal favourite:

Not the greatest story on Earth but certainly an entertaining jaunt perfect for watching while wrapping presents or with family (safe for kids as well as Dad, the train and planes!)

This is one of my personal favourites and I hope I can find to watch it this year before the big day!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 5 Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

I’d heard of Miracle on 34th Street before Jenna told me it was on the list. Great, I thought! That’s the one with Matilda in, I’m looking forward to that. Nope, Jenna says, we’re watching the original. The one from the 40s. Ugh! I have never, up until now of course, seen a black and white film. I’ve just never had the interest, really. I decided I could make an exception for Christmas.

Miracle on 34th Street circles around the Thanksgiving Parade at Macy’s in New York. Their Santa is discovered to be blind drunk, and is replaced by the very man who found him, who calls himself Kris Kringle. Kris does wonders (miracles, even!) for Macy’s but soon lands himself in trouble when concerns spread about his mental health. Santa isn’t real they all said, and this Kris fellow seems to be convinced that not only is he real, but he is Kris himself! Entwined with this story is a secondary arc of a little girl who has been brought up to know that fairy tales are nothing more than tales, and so she doesn’t believe in Santa.

Once I got over the fact that widescreen didn’t exist back then, and stopped pressing buttons on my TV remote trying to fix the screen, I soon forgot about the lack of colour and enjoyed the film for what it was. I even marvelled at how good looking John Payne was.  I thought the same...swoon!! I reckon my Granny probably fancied him too when she was younger. I’ll have to ask.

When I think about it, Christmas films these days aren’t much different to this one, they all have the same themes and morals, although culturally they differ. Could you imagine letting your child watch a parade from the window of a man’s house you barely know these days? This really shocked me, I hadn't seen this film before so when the housekeeper (?) said she's across the hall in that mans apartment, I nearly had kittens!!  Definitely some culture changes in the world since came out...

I’m really glad I watched this original before any of it’s remakes you know. I can be ‘that gal’ who sits there muttering about how many changes they made, and how the original is far superior! Seriously though, for a film I really didn’t think I would enjoy, I was surprised. I got a little bored throughout the court scene as it was just too long, but I thought the ending was perfect and really brought a smile to my face.  I preferred this ending to the 1994 version, the way Gailey wins the court room battles is much more logical than in the 90's version, which now seems a little disappointing.  I was very tired by the time I got to the end of this movie but I still clapped and grinned at the happy ending.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this, I have always avoided black and white films (I know I shouldn't) but this was great.  I don't know if anyone else notices this though, scenes in black and white films seem to end quite abruptly in comparison to more modern films.  They seem to be half way through a conversation and the scene will close, I find it very odd.

I initially didn't Maureen O'Hara's character, what kind of woman refused to let her child believe in Santa and fairy tales, that's just a crappy childhood there if you ask me!  Obviously, she grew on me as she came to believe in Kris Kringle which was nice to see, although I didn't really understand why Fred Gailey (John Payne) would be so interested in her when she is a boring workaholic with no imagination. 

I might not watch this again, but I think it’s a film that everyone should see at least once around the Christmas season.

I think I'll be watching this every Christmas from now on because I really did love it.

 

12 Days of Christmas - Day 4 It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

You may remember this film was noted in my Against the Crowd Blogathon post (if you missed it, check it out here) so this was never going to be a good review.

The story of George Bailey (James Stewart) a kind Businessman who has spent his life running his fathers business to ensure the town stays out of the clutches of ruthless businessman, Mr Potter (Lionel Barrymore).  When his Uncle Billy loses $8000 of the companies money, George is at risk of losing his business and going to jail and decided his family would be better off if he were dead.

 

 

I have nothing technically against this film, I think my Dad just hyped it up so much over the years that when I finally got round to watching it, it was a bit boring and slow.  I found all the characters extremely annoying, particularly the children to the point that I didn't really care if they were happy or not!  George, who you are supposed to sympathise with is a selfish wet fish, he would seriously consider leaving his wife and children to fend for themselves.  I fully understand that depression can be crippling and leave you unable to think rationally but it still makes me more angry than sympathetic.  He has quite obviously been unhappy with his life for a long time for this to push him to the brink of suicide but he appears unwilling to ask for any kind of help instead just giving up.

I am fully aware that had he asked for help and the town helped him out, it would have been a much shorter film and even less interested but it's just something that bothered me throughout.

One memorable element of the film was James Stewart, although I didn't like his character that doesn't mean to say he didn't do a good job.  His subtle gestures really made the character come to life, one thing I noticed what his ability to 'fake' smile while running the business and helping the town instead of seeing the world.  In one smile to a customer or local townsperson he can portray  George's years of disdain at being stuck in Bedford Falls just by the sadness in his eyes.

I found the whole film to drag and ended up being quite forgettable (if my Dad didn't shove the DVD box in my face from 1st December onwards!). It is not entertaining by any means, if there was any humour present, I missed it and it just moved so slowly.  Maybe, I have been brainwashed by the fast paced, CGI packed movies of my time and can't appreciate a classic anymore (this theory will be tested with my first viewing of White Christmas this year!)

My annoyance at the introduction to main part of the movie may have ruined the rest for me.  Maybe I'm just overthinking it - either way not a movie for me! Sorry!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 3 - Home Alone (1990)

This I my ultimate Christmas film, it doesn't really feel like Christmas until I've watched this and once I do, that's it the decorations have to go up immediately, while listening to Rocking around the Christmas tree by Brenda Lee.

8 year old Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) gets left behind when his huge family head off to Paris for Christmas.  Initially, Kevin thinks this is the best thing EVER, he has the house all to himself and he can do whatever he wants, that is until the burglars arrive.  The dim-witted Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) who call themselves the Wet Bandits arrive to rob the McCallisters home, but Kevin has other ideas in mind.

This is why I love 90's films so much. A plot like that these days would get shot to bits, but back then it was enjoyed just for what it was. I think at Kevin's age we've all thought about how great it would be to have the house to ourselves where we can do (and eat!) whatever we want.

I still laugh out loud at this film (although I do still look away for the nail on the stairs part!) the pranks that Kevin pulls on the Wet Bandits are brilliant and there are some classic lines that will stick with me forever:

"Keep the change, you filthy animal"

"You guys give up yet? Or you thirsty for more?"

"Hey, I'm gonna give you to the count of ten, to get your ugly, yella, no-good keister off my property, before I pump your guts full of lead! 1, 2, 10! "

It's probably one of the darker kids Christmas films (maybe that's why I like it!) and actually I recently read an article about how the Harry and Marv would have both died had the 'accidents' happened in real life, you can read it here.

I forgot how dark this film actually is until I saw it at the Giant Screen for a charity showing 2 years ago. I was really cringing at some moments!

So, from a critics point of view, this probably doesn't have the best script, best direction or best editing but for me it has both sentimental and easy watching value.  No effort required (particularly as I have seen it hundreds of times so I know exactly what will happen!).  It's laugh out loud funny in places and cringeworthy in others, I particularly hate having to watch Kevin's mother (Catherine O'Hara) who has to continually explain to people that she left her 8 year old son home alone.

Great quotes, great laughs and a real Christmassy feel - what more could you ask for from a Christmas film.

Home Alone isn't one of the films I'll put on every December, but I loved it so much when I was younger and it's still really enjoyable now.