Welcome one and all to the Library’s festive extravaganza film blog!! It may be the last one of the calendar year, but never fear! It’s by far the most fun. If you’re not quite in the mood for the merry season yet or if you’re feeling a little down, we have four cracking movies to ignite the festive cheer inside of you. Call me Claus, as I am going to inform you of some of the best gifts you could ask for this year in free festive films you can use to spend quality time with your loved ones.
We start with a couple maybe not for the children, and more orientated towards adult eyes. The first of which is Joe Roth’s Christmas With the Kranks (2004). Written and produced by accomplished director Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone), it was based on a 2001 novel by John Grisham called Skipping Christmas. If those facts aren’t big enough to draw you to this film, how about that knowledge that it stars Hollywood legends Tim Allen (Toy Story, The Santa Clause) & Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween, Freaky Friday 2003), with a great supporting turn from Dan Aykroyd (Ghostbusters, Trading Places).
The premise takes place in Riverside, Illinois and begins when Luther & Nora Krank (Allen & Curtis) decide not to celebrate Christmas and instead depart on a Caribbean cruise, after seeing their daughter leave for an assignment for the Peace Corps and realising just how much they spent the previous year on Christmas (a very realistic problem). The couple are surprised however to discover just how upset their neighbours become at their decision (the Kranks being well known for their annual Christmas Eve party), being deemed pariahs by their friends who are all very serious about the festive season. The so-called leader of the neighbourhood Vic Frohmeyer (Aykroyd) organizes a campaign to force the Kranks to change their minds and at the very least decorate their home on the outside to make the street appear uniform in their love for Christmas. Even the children of the street and Luther’s work colleagues get involved and try to influence him to change his mind, but the Kranks continue to stand their ground on the matter.
That is however, until they receive a call from their daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) on Christmas Eve while packing for the cruise. Having finished her assignment early, she informs her parents she is on en route home with her Peruvian fiancé to surprise her parents (it certainly is that!), she additionally enquires if her parents will indeed be throwing their usual party that night. After Nora panickingly replies yes, chaos ensues as the Kranks rush to get everything sorted in time for Blair’s arrival, while begging their neighbours for help and potentially rediscovering their holiday spirit in the process. Fun and different it provides an entertaining watch for any grumpy adult at this time of year, especially thanks to Allen and Curtis’ excellent chemistry. It received mixed reviews, but it seen as a fairly faithful adaptation of Grisham’s bestseller. Watch a clip of the beginning of the neighbour’s hilarious campaign by clicking the link below:
From one slightly non-family orientated Christmas movie to one definitely non-family orientated, our second entry is Black comedy Bad Santa (2003). Directed by Terry Zwigoff, it stars Billy Bob Thornton (Armageddon), Tony Cox (Friday, Beetlejuice), Lauren Graham (Evan Almighty) and Bernie Mac (Transformer’s, Ocean’s Eleven 2001). The titular character himself is Willie T. Snoke (Thornton) who along with his dwarf assistant Marcus (Cox) is a professional thief, both of home masquerade as Santa and his elf in a department store, with the intent of robbing the stores inside at night. Marcus takes the jobs very seriously, but Willie (a sex-addicted alcoholic) does not. For their latest job they are hired at the Saguaro Square mall in Phoenix, Arizona.
Things get off to a bad start when Willie’s rude behaviour sparks the interest of mall manager Bob which in turn brings them to the even more unwanted attention of security chief Gin Stagel (Mac). Undeterred, they plan to rob the mall on Christmas Eve night. That plan however, is somewhat complicated when Willie meets a friendly bullied young boy named Thurman, who begins to have a profound effect on Willie. Marcus is not impressed and considers ending the partnership after the current job. With Marcus wanting to cut his partner out and Willie on a downward spiral, things are bound to start going wrong in this hilariously bad plan!
While certainly not one for those who staunchly believe in Santa, this Christmas comedy has it all. It’s entertaining, informative, and perfectly bridges the gap between humour and sadness. It garnered positive reviews and even spawned a not so beloved belated sequel in 2016. You can meet Bob the manager and Gil right now by clicking the link below:
Next, we switch an unpleasant fake Santa for a soon to be great Santa, with the fabulous, animated fantasy, Arthur Christmas (2011). A British-American production made by the famous Aardman company (creators of characters such as Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep), it was only their second entirely computer-animated feature after Flushed Away (2006). Featuring an ensemble cast of exceptional British talent, including James McAvoy (The Chronicles of Narnia, X-Men: First Class), Hugh Laurie (Sense and Sensibility 1995, Stuart Little), Imelda Staunton (Harry Potter series), Jim Broadbent (Bridget Jones’s Diary, Hot Fuzz) and Bill Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean series).
In this entry’s universe, Santa Claus is a hereditary title handed down through generations of gift givers. The current Santa is Malcolm Claus (Broadbent), an elder man who is mere more than a figurehead for the operation now. He has two sons: Steve (Laurie), who micromanages each Christmas delivery operation from the North Pole and expects to be handed down the role of Santa; and the younger Arthur (McAvoy) who epitomizes the festive spirit all year round and answers the letters children send to Santa.
The story begins with Malcolm heading into his 70th Christmas, his sleigh and reindeer have been replaced by a high-tech automated vessel that delivers presents for him. During one of said delivery operations however (somewhere in Poland), a toy is accidently activated, and a child awoken, almost exposing Santa. A daring rescue operation ensues and amongst all the commotion, an elf aboard Santa’s vessel leans on a button and accidently causes a present to fall unnoticed. Another elf named Bryony Shelfley eventually finds the present, but Arthur is devastated to realise a child will go without a present, having personally responded to her letter as well. He resolves to get the present to the young girl before Christmas Day, despite not having the backing of his family, save for his beloved Grandpa (known as Grandsanta, voiced by Nighy). Unsurprisingly however, they do encounter several obstacles along the way.
Arthur Christmas received overwhelmingly positive reviews, being described as, “a clever and earnest holiday film with surprising emotional strength” and unexpectedly fresh.” It was even the recipient of that years Golden Tomato Award for the Best-Reviewed Animated Film on the aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, a testament to its greatness, certainly one to watch over the festive period! Get a sneak peek of the moment the audience meets Arthur by clicking the link below:
We finish with the oldest yet most classic of this month’s features, Jingle All the Way (1996). Directed by Brian Levant (The Flintstones, Are We There Yet?), it stars an Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator, Predator) at the height of his comical genre popularity, and comedian Sinbad (Planes) as two dads in a race to find a popular toy for their sons for Christmas at the last minute. There are additional supporting turns for Rita Wilson (Sleepless in Seattle, Runaway Bride) and Jake Lloyd (Star Wars: Episode I). This festive film is set in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Howard Langston (Schwarzenegger) is a mattress salesman who dearly loves his wife Liz (Wilson) and 9-year-old son Jamie (Lloyd) but struggles to find time for his family and can’t help but continually disappoint his son. Because of his failures, he also feels constantly threatened by his divorcé neighbour Ted who harbours a crush on Liz.
After his latest blunder, missing his son’s karate class graduation, Howard resolves to win his son back by granting his Christmas wish of getting him a Turbo-Man (a popular television superhero and the most popular toy of Christmas that year) action figure. He is in for a very rude awakening however when he goes in search of one, finding the item sold out across all stores due to it being Christmas Eve (very last minute if you ask me….). In the process of trying to find one he bumps into and develops a rivalry with postal worker Myron Larabee (Sinbad) who also wants a Turbo-Man action figure for the same reason. This is where the real entertainment begins, as the rivalry and their desire to please their sons sees them traverse a team of Santa con-men, a radio competition and much more all to acquire a toy.
It’s good old fashion 90’s Christmas fun, fast and emotional too with a poignant message at its core. While critics reviews weren’t overally positive at the time, it has definitely become a firm favourite with audiences around the world, appearing on many a Christmas watchlist every festive season. An unexpected and long waited sequel (even more so than the aforementioned Bad Santa 2) was released in 2014, though it bore absolutely no resemblance to the original and the less that is said about this little known direct-to-DVD sequel the better. Get a glimpse into exactly how the rivalry that dominates this festive title begins by clicking on the link below:
I shall leave you with one last gift this Christmas… the knowledge that all four of these fabulous movies are available on e-stream! Meaning you can watch them anyplace, anytime, with anyone you like throughout this holiday season. Finally, I would like to wish all who celebrate it a Very Merry Christmas and a sparkling New Year!! See you in 2023!
Not sure how to access e-stream? Then simply click on the link below…
Bradford College Planet Estream.
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