Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

It's that time of year again, or it isn't and you're just reading these reviews because you're thinking about Christmas. Fun and family, stress and shopping, holiday hell and "I ate way too much..." being the focus. Whatever it means to you, the movies love Christmas, and we get at least one film a year focus on the big day in December. Here's my Top 5 Christmas films. 

 5. Elf

Take the star of Saturday Night Live in the late 90’s and the director of “Swingers” and you’ve got...a kids film about Christmas? It might have sounded dangerous on paper, but “Elf” proved to be a hit for all involved. Will Ferrel was just breaking into movies and would choose this as his first starring role. It was certainly a safe picture for him; taking his tall physique and skill at playing dumb characters who were essentially boys trapped in men’s bodies, and you have a small winner. As he discovers he’s not really an Elf, Buddy goes in search of his birth parents. From the North Pole to New York City in the weeks leading up to Christmas, Buddy finds his dad, a hard working corporate man. Trying to convince his father who he is and make sense of a world that doesn’t believe in Santa Clause proves to be Buddy’s biggest challenge, after years of being a giant Elf in a workshop made for little people. But he pulls it off. 

 4. Jingle All the Way

Arnold Schwarzenegger made a few attempts at comedy over the years, his best being “Twins”. When he wasn’t trying to be funny, he was funny. But when he was trying to be funny, he wasn’t that funny. Jingle all the Way is such a case, but it's easy to watch and has some good moments. Arnie plays Howard, a workaholic dad who misses all his sons’ milestones. In trying to make it up to him for another let down, Howard offers to buy his son Jamie anything he wants for Christmas. The biggest toy in the world at the time is Turboman; the action figure of Jamie’s favourite kids show. Little does Howard know it’s the most in demand toy in the world, and he leaves it until Christmas Eve to try and find one. Discovering every toy store in the city is sold out, he goes on a frantic search for the action figure every kid wants, so he won’t let his son down again. Purely a family film, with some cheesy moments and comical scenes involving Howard and a determined postman also trying to get a Turboman for his son, this was no doubt Schwarzenegger’s attempt to appeal to a younger audience who would grow up and becomes his action film fans in the 2000’s. For any other long term Arnie fan (like me) it’s just a quick, fun film.

 3. The Santa Clause

Time Allen was a household name in the 90’s with his hit show “Home Improvement”. He was the embodiment of the working class American man, and was an interesting choice for a film about playing Santa. Here, he plays Scott Calvin, a divorced dad with a son he doesn’t see enough and no Christmas spirit left in him. Until he hears a sound on his roof late one Christmas Eve. With his son, they investigate and catch a man in a red suit up top, who slips and falls to his death. Putting on the suit, Scott Calvin inadvertently becomes Santa Clause, finishing off the present run before returning to the North Pole. Here, the elves tell him he has 11 months to get his affairs in order and return to the North Pole and fulfil his role as the new Santa. A clever premise and well told, The Santa Clause still stands as family favourite, thanks to the appealing performance of Tim Allen, the inventive style of the North Pole, it’s elves and it’s comical reindeer, and having a touching story at its heart about a man trying to be a good father to his estranged son, while becoming the new Santa Clause. My two year old daughter just watched it for the first time recently, and loves it. So much so she now wants to watch it every day. At least it gives us a break from watching “Frozen”.

 2.  The Polar Express

The first film to use the concept of motion capture; recreating computer animated versions of the famous A list actors you knew and loved. It signified a huge leap forward in filmmaking technology and worried the pants off of some actors who thought this was the future of movies. Given Tom Hanks has always been a pioneering performer he headlines this tale about a boy who might no longer believe in Santa Clause. Late on Christmas Eve, a large steam train pulls up out-front of his house and out steps the conductor. Offering him a free ride to the North Pole, the Polar Express goes on a fascinating journey through snow, up mountains, across frozen lakes and beyond the world of disbelief, to take the boy and several other chosen children to visit the big man in the red suit. It’s a whimsical story, with razzle-dazzle special effects that hinted at a new frontier in on-screen storytelling, which would be expanded with movies like Beowoulf and eventually Avatar, which took it to even greater heights. But Polar Express has a nice message in the true meaning of Christmas, and that Santa Clause will always be real, if you still believe...

 1. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

Chevy Chase was the King of Comedies in the 1980’s, headlining his own brand of goofiness in the Vacation Movies. It started with a cross country road trip of America, followed by a chaotic tour of Europe, and then finally we visited the Griswald family home to spend Christmas with them. And what a catastrophe it would turn out to be. Still, this is one of the best and funniest Christmas movies of the bunch, and my personal favourite. It’s tradition that my family and I all watch this on Christmas Day in the evening, and continue to laugh our arses off every year at the antics of Clark Griswald, as he tries to put on the perfect Christmas for his family. But he’s thwarted at every turn when his extravagant set of Christmas lights fail to be lit, his parents and in-laws both visit, as well as his redneck, destructive cousin Eddy, his family and their dog which chases a squirrel though the house and destroys half of it in the process. A classic! 

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 

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