Your Christmas Movies! Whatcha' Watchin' this Christmas season?

[nicholasrope]

Santa Clause 2

Tim Allen returns as Santa, this time he has to find a wife before Christmas Eve or he won't be Santa ever again. With Charlie going through a rebellious phase, he is able to get close to the school's principle. In order to maintain a presence in the North Pole, a toy replica of him is created which obviously doesn't go to plan. This is one of my favorite Christmas movies, it is such a good watch and one I plan to watch again this month.

Die Hard 2

As mentioned on a previous post, this is a film that I've neglected but it was so enjoyable especially when McClane and his wife wonder why it's happened to them again.

Jingle All The Way

Arnold Schwarzenegger is the workaholic dad who thinks that getting the most popular toy for Christmas won't be a problem, obviously he's wrong. This should be a beloved Christmas movie but whilst it's entertaining, there's something about it that prevents it from reaching those heights. There is a Red Heat reunion with Jim Belushi with Schwarzenegger.

[MrBarlow]

Gremlins. 1984.

Billy Peltzer gets a new present for Christmas, that comes with three rules, when the rules are broken small green monsters wreck havoc in the small town of Kingston Falls.

At a time of the 80s and animatronics were the bee's knees and none of the CGI crap we have today, you gotta hand to the creators who gave us reasons to follow the rules of new pets. Joe Dante's Gremlins is an absolutely, amazingly fun time. The concept of the Gremlins themselves being so intriguing and fun, and face it, Gizmo is one of the cutest creatures that even I wanted the real thing.

The Gremlins do steal the show, the actors do make it better and the narration by Hoyt Axton at the start on how he was looking for a new pet for his son Zach Galligan who does and doesn't break the rules (mere accident shall we say). Corey Feldman plays the young friend of Billy and Phoebe cates as the love interest. It's one of the best comedy-horrors for this festive period and a great background score by legendary Jerry Goldsmith.

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[Inspector Abberline]

Fatman.
Chris Cringle aka Santa Claus Aka Mel Gibson,is finding it tough this Christmas,his funding is getting cut due to the fact that there are to many naughty children each year which is screwing with his productivity...An extremely naughty but rich kid,Billy Wenan gets a piece of coal this year, mainly due to the fact he steals and forge's cheques from his Grandmother,so he can hire an assassin to do his bidding...Said assassin,is played by the always reliable Walton's Goggins,who has his own personal reasons for hating Christmas, so when he is hired by Billy to kill Santa, everything falls into place for a final showdown... What may seem on paper as very ludicrous, including the casting of Mel Gibson as Santa, works wonderfully,and it's good to see Mel Gibson,doing what he does best, being grumpy and kicking ass...Goggins is brilliant as a narcissistic killer,with his pet hamster and hatred of Christmas...It's not quite full on 80s action fodder,but it's certainly more entertaining than most recent attempts at the genre...

[trebor8273]

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline

Fatman.
Chris Cringle aka Santa Claus Aka Mel Gibson,is finding it tough this Christmas,his funding is getting cut due to the fact that there are to many naughty children each year which is screwing with his productivity...An extremely naughty but rich kid,Billy Wenan gets a piece of coal this year, mainly due to the fact he steals and forge's cheques from his Grandmother,so he can hire an assassin to do his bidding...Said assassin,is played by the always reliable Walton's Goggins,who has his own personal reasons for hating Christmas, so when he is hired by Billy to kill Santa, everything falls into place for a final showdown... What may seem on paper as very ludicrous, including the casting of Mel Gibson as Santa, works wonderfully,and it's good to see Mel Gibson,doing what he does best, being grumpy and kicking ass...Goggins is brilliant as a narcissistic killer,with his pet hamster and hatred of Christmas...It's not quite full on 80s action fodder,but it's certainly more entertaining than most recent attempts at the genre...

Noticed this but was in two minds, but thanks too your review sounds right up my street

[trebor8273]

The Muppets take on a Christmas carol , the usual mixture of comedy and songs with Kermit as Bob Cratchit , Miss Piggy as his wife, Gonzo as Charles Dickens and Michael Cain as Scrooge. It's very enjoyable and I put it up there with the best adaptations. 9/10



Roger Murtaugh has just turned 50, it's Christmas and has just been partnered with Riggs who may or may not be crazy . They set out investigating the death of a old war buddy of Rogers , and soon get involved in a drug ring run by ex special forces

One of the best cop buddy movies with great writing and chemistry between the two leads. 10/10

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by MrBarlow

Gremlins. 1984.

Billy Peltzer gets a new present for Christmas, that comes with three rules, when the rules are broken small green monsters wreck havoc in the small town of Kingston Falls.

At a time of the 80s and animatronics were the bee's knees and none of the CGI crap we have today, you gotta hand to the creators who gave us reasons to follow the rules of new pets. Joe Dante's Gremlins is an absolutely, amazingly fun time. The concept of the Gremlins themselves being so intriguing and fun, and face it, Gizmo is one of the cutest creatures that even I wanted the real thing.

The Gremlins do steal the show, the actors do make it better and the narration by Hoyt Axton at the start on how he was looking for a new pet for his son Zach Galligan who does and doesn't break the rules (mere accident shall we say). Corey Feldman plays the young friend of Billy and Phoebe cates as the love interest. It's one of the best comedy-horrors for this festive period and a great background score by legendary Jerry Goldsmith.

BBC News report from 1984

[Skip to 1:37]

[Justin101]

Ride Your Wave (2019)



So last night I watched an anime film (spoilers ahead because none of you will watch it) where a young woman moved back to the coastal town that she grew up in so she can go surfing and basically not have to take a real job. She meets a young man who's a firefighter after her apartment block catches fire, they start dating which culminates in a lovey dovey scene on the traditional Japanese date night Christmas Eve, they have a magical evening and it starts snowing. She mentions that she wishes she could go surfing the next day because the waves are great the day after snow, but she has to work. He's been learning how to surf and goes surfing the next day on his own and drowns!! ON CHRISTMAS DAY!!

She spends the rest of the film imagining that she can see his spirit in bodies of water and starts taking a flask everywhere that she talks to (because of the spirit of her dead boyfriend..)

She finally starts to get over him and it's Christmas Eve again, she happens to be near the place she went on the date the year before when an announcement comes on the big screen and the tannoy from her dead boyfriend wishing her a happy Christmas, which he had booked the year before as a surprise (he mentions on the date how there is a huge waiting list) and she just loses it - as you can imagine. The End...

Christmas is ruined

I actually really enjoyed it lol...

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Doctor Who: The Return of Doctor Mysterio (2016)

Another fun if slight Christmas special which continues on from the previous year's The Husbands of River Song.

Heavily influenced by all things Superman there's a lot of laughs here especially from Peter Capaldi as the Doctor and you definitely get that warm fuzzy feeling whilst watching it but it lacks any real dramatic narrative with the fun coming from aping classic superheroes rather than the alien invasion from the Shoal of the Winter Harmony. Creepy surgeons and brains in glass jars add a touch of horror to proceedings.

Enjoyable fluff!

[trebor8273]

Originally Posted by Justin101

Ride Your Wave (2019)



So last night I watched an anime film (spoilers ahead because none of you will watch it) where a young woman moved back to the coastal town that she grew up in so she can go surfing and basically not have to take a real job. She meets a young man who's a firefighter after her apartment block catches fire, they start dating which culminates in a lovey dovey scene on the traditional Japanese date night Christmas Eve, they have a magical evening and it starts snowing. She mentions that she wishes she could go surfing the next day because the waves are great the day after snow, but she has to work. He's been learning how to surf and goes surfing the next day on his own and drowns!! ON CHRISTMAS DAY!!

She spends the rest of the film imagining that she can see his spirit in bodies of water and starts taking a flask everywhere that she talks to (because of the spirit of her dead boyfriend..)

She finally starts to get over him and it's Christmas Eve again, she happens to be near the place she went on the date the year before when an announcement comes on the big screen and the tannoy from her dead boyfriend wishing her a happy Christmas, which he had booked the year before as a surprise (he mentions on the date how there is a huge waiting list) and she just loses it - as you can imagine. The End...

Christmas is ruined

I actually really enjoyed it lol...

God it's sounds very depressing!

[nicholasrope]

Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

Tim Allen is back as Santa and this time his wife is due to give birth around the same time as Christmas. Not only has he got those problems, he also has to deal with Jack Frost (Martin Short) who not only has designs on taking over being Santa, he actually manages it and changes the dynamic of Christmas by monetizing every aspect of Christmas, therefore he has to find a way to defeat Frost and take back being Santa. I've always considered this to be the weakest of the trilogy but it's better than other Xmas movies, the sets always get me in the festive spirit and more than likely will re-watch the series for Christmas.

Deck The Halls

Matthew Broderick is the king of Christmas in his town but when Danny DeVito decides to take over by lighting his house so it can be seen from Space, a rivalry is born. Not great but not bad, worth breaking out once a year.

Office Christmas Party

TJ Miller is the goof who is in charge of a branch of a company who throws the best Office Christmas Party ever in order to win a deal which would save his branch after his Sister (Jennifer Aniston) threatens to close it down. Jason Bateman and Olivia Munn co-star in this silly but a rather entertaining under-rated film, which is a nice change of pace after watch a lot of family friendly Xmas movies. Jennifer Aniston has had a few Rom-Com roles but like in Horrible Bosses 1 & 2, she excels has the mean woman in charge roles.