Christmas Movie Reviews

Home Alone

One of the vital ingredients to any December is the children's Christmas movie, and this is one of the best.

It's a Wonderful Life

I can understand the reluctance of some to watch It’s a Wonderful Life for the first time. It’s a black and white movie from 1946 that lasts 130 minutes.

Elf

Buddy is played by Will Ferrell, who is in wonderful form, playing childish ignorance like only he can, and it is his journey around the Big Apple that brings the real fun.

Dr. Suess' How The Grinch Stole Christmas

The Grinch curses the happy, button-nosed Whos down in Whoville below. When Christmas comes around, he decides to dress as Santa Claus and steal their presents and thus prevent Christmas from coming.

The Santa Clause

A film eager to rekindle the love for Saint Nick in all of us, The Santa Clause will keep the whole family smiling.

Jingle All The Way

He is surrounded by police, armed and ready to fire. He has reindeer chasing him. He’s starting fires. He’s getting into battles with teams of hoodlum Mall Santas.

The Polar Express

Tom Hanks plays their mentor, the conductor on the train, along with five additional roles in the film, ranging from a hobo to a certain jolly, fat man...

Ernest isn’t outdone, however, with a get up as a crazed snake handler, attempts to fly Santa’s sleigh up and over a travelling aeroplane, and of course the all-too-familiar catchphrase “KnowhutImean?” crops up to help us on our merry way.

A Christmas Carol

Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Michael J. Fox and Gary Oldman also feature, which would usually lead to a description of an all-star cast, but in this case Carrey’s large workload takes over in a virtual one man show.

A Christmas Tale (Un Conte de Noël)

Arnaud Desplechin seems to be saying that not even the lucky, the learned or the rich can avoid such familial problems. It revels in the differences of character that play out in family instances, and we can all relate to that.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a typical representation of what to expect from the Tim Burton camp, who produced and co-wrote the film. The darkness, the sense of humour and the off-kilter tone are Burton to the core.

Scrooged

These ghosts are a little different than Dickens drew them up, happy to trick, tease and punch Cross in order to prove their point, which brings with it a more daring Christmas Carol than seen before.

Miracle On 34th Street

Miracle on 34th Street was originally a feature from 1947, and this is the fourth version of the film. It features Richard Attenborough as the replacement, or real, Santa Claus, and the cute as a button Mara Wilson playing the six year old girl.

A Christmas Story

It tells the tale of a young boy, Ralphie Parker, who wants only one thing for Christmas; a Red Ryder BB Gun, complete with a compass and a sundial. The only problem is, no one seems to share his vision of a wonderful Christmas...

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Chase is, as ever, on top form with his unique style of smiling-to-cover-up-the-despair humour, and no scene better represents this than Christmas dinner...

The Muppet Christmas Carol

It’s unfortunate that this was to be the first project by the Jim Henson Company subsequent to Jim Henson’s death. The voice of Kermit the Frog was taken over by Steve Whitmore; a tough act to follow, but he does a steady job.

White Christmas

The songs of Berlin really capture the time and the essence of the musical genre, and while I’ve never been a man to open up to the song and dance routines, his musicianship really should be admired.

Christmas in Connecticut

This Christmas, she must cover up her little white lies, as her boss and a returning war hero, who of course becomes Lane’s love interest, show up for Christmas dinner.

The Christmas Wish

This mature tale will please Neil Patrick Harris fans and newcomers alike, also featuring Debbie Reynolds and Naomi Watts in a surprisingly low-budget and low-impact film for such big film stars.

Bad Santa

There are alcoholic rants, stolen BMWs, a pudgy kid boxing with a dwarf and a whole host of wildly inappropriate scenes that will tickle you this Christmas. If you’ve got the stomach for it, that is.

The 12 Dogs of Christmas

This is 101 Dalmatians set at Christmas time. You can expect the same villainous characters, who are eager to downsize the pooch levels in the city. This time, however, we are in Doverville in Maine, and this is 1931.

All I Want For Christmas

Thora Birch's ability to play the headstrong and yet cuter than cute Hallie seems to come so easily to her and it’s no surprise her career continued strongly, at least for a while…

All Mine to Give

While the story is a little more than a hundred years old now, it’s nice to know that we’re watching a recreation of true events. That is until we learn the story and we’re more than a little sympathetic.

Babes in Toyland

Hal Roach’s friendship with Walt Disney came in handy during the filming, with the character of Mickey Mouse - “played” by a capuchin monkey! - and an instrumental version of Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? being allowed in the feature.

Bachelor Mother

The only surprise in this role is that it was - for the most part - a non-singing and a non-dancing role, whereas Rogers was well-known for her ability in both.

Beyond Tomorrow

Much like A Christmas Carol, this is a charming tale of love and life - much alike to the staple of Christmas television viewing, It’s a Wonderful Life.

Bernard and the Genie

The bizarre concept pulls any hesitant audiences through the fray, however, with a bamboozling idea put together neatly in a 70 minute feature. This is solely due to Richard Curtis, who may not be a household name, but whose works have been charming for years.

The Bishop's Wife

In the original version of the film - shot by William A. Seiter - Carey Grant played the part of the bishop, and David Niven that of the angel. When Henry Koster replaced Seiter as director, he saw they were playing the wrong roles. However, Grant needed some convincing...

Black Christmas

A relative Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity - a horror film making millions from a shoestring budget - Black Christmas had a budget of $620,000 and raked in over $4 million at the box office.

Blizzard

Whoopi Goldberg features as the voice of one of the reindeer, and indeed her voice is unmistakeable, and a welcome reminder of the big leagues of Hollywood.

Bush Christmas

Perhaps not the typical Christmas story we expect; the sun is shining and the landscape is beautiful and sparse. But as that part of the world holds its Christmas in summer, it’s commonplace for Ozzies to enjoy the sunshine while celebrating Christmas Day.

The Candlemaker

The drawings are simple, but the cartoon still has an old-style charm, specifically with the choice of audio to signify the movements of Tom’s small pet mouse, Squeaky.

The Cheaters

The biggest performance comes from Joseph Schildkraut as the desperate actor, and his rendition of the touching scene from a Christmas Carol really gets the goose pimples raised on your arm.

Christmas Child

The choice of Steven Curtis Chapman in the role of the preacher is no shock, since he is a successful Christian singer. However, don’t shy away from the religious references...

Christmas Comes But Once A Year

Cheery, upbeat music carries the film though the heartbreaking beginning, and with the amass of singing and dancing, as well as the bold, primary colours, you can not help but feel touched by this tale.

Christmas Eve

It doesn’t sound much like a comedy, perhaps, but the laughs come through the production and performances, rather than the premise. It is George Raft in particular who shines...

Christmas Evil

But do the naughty kids get from Santa Claus at Christmas? Coal, right? Well, this Christmas, Santa decides to go a little bit further than delivering coal…

Christmas In The Clouds

Christmas in the Clouds claimed the Best Native American-Theme Film at the Santa Fe Film Festival, and it’s nice to see that such a subculture can be a part of mainstream cinema and acclaim, where once it wasn’t.

Christmas In Wonderland

The film is a big ball of fluff, but it’s enjoyable fluff, and after all it is Christmas. The children will love the wild chases of the two young heroes.

The Christmas That Almost Wasn't

The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t was filmed in Rome and Lazio, in Italy, and features many Italian actors. Being shot in location adds a lot of European energy to the mise en scene...

Christmas With The Kranks

Dan Ackroyd’s presence in the film is a joy, although there is a hint of him phoning this performance in also. He plays the neighbourhood’s number one rival of Luther Krank, and he is always nice to have on our screens.

Christmas at Maxwell's

The story is inspired by true events, and this fact becomes apparent when you watch the film. Though it had a low budget, the film sparkles, with cinematography that escapes the picture’s price tag and elevates it onto another plain.

Comfort and Joy

The whole opening premise is a nice nod to Alice in Wonderland - he follows a white rabbit through a tunnel, before all hell breaks loose.

Deck the Halls

Luckily for them, Danny DeVito and Kristin Chenoweth did not win the awards, nor did Deck the Halls for Worst Excuse for Family Entertainment. But it’s the taking part that counts, right?

Die Hard

"For the real men out there, let’s be thankful that here is a festive film that can focus on something that is more manly than embracing the Christmas spirit. Instead we have guns, some explosions and some good old-fashioned swearing. This is Die Hard."

Die Hard 2

"In the original Die Hard, John McClane only had a few scripted one-liners, but Willis ad-libbed several and they were enjoyed by audiences. In light of this, director Renny Harlin added more gags and gave Willis free reign to ad-lib as much as he wished."

The Family Stone

"Parker can do no right in my book, but if you can handle her presence then you might have found the right Christmas film for you. Luckily, she has Luke Wilson to fall back on, an underrated bucket of charm who has been outscoring his brother Owen in my books for years..."

Four Christmases

"The best thing about the film is without doubt the casting of the four parents. Somehow, they manage to wrangle four Oscar winners into the affair, which brightens the film significantly."

Fred Claus

"The great premise is this: Saint Nick has an older brother, Fred, who is always overshadowed by the soon to be jolly fat man. Fred grows to hate Nick always jealous of the attention and praise that he gets."

Frozen River

"There is a light at the end of the bleak frozen tunnel, and if you face it with an open mind and a tough skin, it’ll bring you more hope than any decoration- and gift-filled film this year."

Gremlins

Gremlins is one of the most enjoyable Christmas films of my memory. It’s a wonderful mash-up of childish horror and Christmas spirit, of cute Furby-like pets and of outlandish ways to kill inhuman vermin, directed by one of the best exploitation directors around, Joe Dante.

The Hebrew Hammer

It is a rip-roaring ride, and a lot of fun throughout. There may be some small plotholes here and there and a few more noteworthy names would have helped, but all in all it’s a very enjoyable film with an impressive lead performance.

The Holiday

The fact that the film was written with the four actors specifically in mind is no surprise, since the writing is tailored to their exact talent and personality.

I'll Be Home For Christmas

The people at Disney have never been as well known for their live action films. Besides the anomalies of Remember the Titans and old classics like Mary Poppins, they have never been known for the format, and could always do better with their animations.

The Ice Harvest

Instead of smirking Santas and wild and inventive plots, The Ice Harvest deals with the mob, shady lawyers and strip club owners. Perhaps not for the young ones in our families this year.

Homeless For The Holidays

This sentimental tale is a riches to rags story. At Christmas, it’s easy to get wrapped up (if you’ll excuse the pun) in the materialistic aspects of the season; in the gifts, in the money, in yourself and your self-worth...

Love Actually

While Curtis' mainstream humour and romantic comedy sensibilities do not convince everyone, he always conveys a warm-hearted likeability and brings the normal British lifestyle to the screen in a very convincing way (if sometimes a little overplayed).

Christmas Movie Reviews

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