Category: Christmas

Christmas Movies: Miracle On 34th Street (1947)

12/22/2013

by Laura Weaver

When I was a child, I wasn't really into the Christmas films or specials. I enjoyed the Rudolph and Frosty specials, as well as Home Alone, but I never really got excited for them. The most excitement that went on was for The Nutcracker airing and I usually ended up falling asleep right in the middle of it. It wasn't until after my father died that they really started to appeal to me.

Last year, I watched the original version of Miracle on 34th Street, with Natalie Wood in, and it has since become one of my favourite Christmas films of all time.

DVD and Blu-ray Disc Stocking Fillers

12/21/2013

by Paul Costello

Here's something useful to anyone who shows up at the occasional pub quiz: the first movie to be released on DVD was... Twister, starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton. Although released in 1996, this was the film that was selected as the first to be presented on the new digital format thanks to its use of visual effects and sound design (both of which were Oscar-nominated), which were deemed to be the right showcase for this new step forward in home entertainment technology when it launched in 1998.

That's right, folks. DVD is 15 years old this year.

Christmas Movies: It's A Wonderful Life

12/19/2013

by Paul Costello

There’s a tradition where I come from. Every year, many brave the bitter winter chill and the odd burst of snow to seek refuge in the warm glow of their local cinema. It’s always packed, every seat taken, filled with people who have gathered together to experience something. Huddled in a room of mostly strangers, all those present are there for the communal catharsis that comes with this event. And with this, there is the unspoken, but well understood agreement amongst participants that the emotional effect of what they will feel within these walls shall be met with full acceptance and no judgement. There is an amnesty on castigation here. Tears are allowed, even expected, in this room. In a time that some call overly cynical, too knowing and ironic for people to be able to feel things sincerely, here and now is evidence against that. These people are here to feel. They’re all here to see It’s a Wonderful Life.

Movie Monologues: The Breakfast Club

12/19/2013

by Paul Costello

Welcome to the third and final week of our Seasonally Appropriate Monologues. This week, we counter the point of family togetherness with a story of a banner year at the old Bender household.

Yeah, maybe I’m blurring the lines of what’s both acceptable as a monologue and a story about Christmas for this one. But then again, it’s my series and I can do what I want. And I really want to look at The Breakfast Club. There’s good stuff in there… and Judd Nelson is f**king harsh.

Christmas Movies: The Muppet Christmas Carol

12/18/2013

by Robbie Jones

There are some stories that will just never stop being told. We see them over and over, all in different shapes and sizes, different interpretations and casts. But no matter how well we know it, we never get tired of seeing it. The best example of this is A Christmas Carol. Charles Dickens’ novel (Perhaps his most famous) about a bit old man who is visited by three spirits at Christmas time is a story that everyone knows off by heart. There have been countless films made, from comedies like Scrooged with the excellent Bill Murray, to the more heartfelt ones, like the 1999 TV film starring Patrick Stewart. Of course the visually amazing, such as Disney’s 2009 remake starring Jim Carrey.

But here is no better adaption than The Muppet Christmas Carol.

Christmas Movies: Meet Me In St. Louis

12/17/2013

by Jo Johnstone

From childhood there are films from before your generation that simply everyone must see. From cinema favourites to cult classics, they transcend era’s in their appeal. In my household this was the musicals of the 40’s and 50’s. A select few of these were always watched at Christmas. These would be family films that boost a message of love and coming together. They had the instant effect of gathering my family around the TV screen.

For my Christmas favourite I’ve chosen a film that stars one of my first great loves, Judy Garland. From watching her in, The Wizard of Oz most youngster become fascinated by the little girl with the big voice and sparkling eyes. In the MGM musical, Meet Me in St.Louis, Garland stars in a great, feel good family film. The story follows a year with the Smilth family through winter and Christmas and also show cases one of the best Christmas songs ever performed.

Christmas Movies: Rocky IV

12/17/2013

by Jade Lindley

Do you work in retail in the festive season? Is your soul dead from hearing all regurgitated Christmas carols which all sound exactly the same? Are you sick of wishing people a Merry Christmas, when all you want to do is shoot them with a machine gun and letting their blood spray on the walls to match the awful red and green decorations? If so do you know what you need to watch this Christmas?

No not A Christmas Carol, or It’s a Wonderful Life, you need to get fired up, excited with a special dose of Rocky IV.

A Cynic's Cinema Christmas List

12/16/2013

by Matthew Howe

Dear Santa,

I know you're as avid a movie buff as I am (after all, those long nights at the North Pole must get kind of boring. And since you've known all the elves for a few hundred years, I would guess you're heard all their comedic industrial accident stories by now.) Here are a few cinema-related requests I humbly submit for your consideration:

Christmas Movies: Miracle On 34th Street (1947)

DVD and Blu-ray Disc Stocking Fillers

Christmas Movies: It's A Wonderful Life

Movie Monologues: The Breakfast Club

Christmas Movies: The Muppet Christmas Carol

Christmas Movies: Meet Me In St. Louis

Christmas Movies: Rocky IV

A Cynic's Cinema Christmas List

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