It's nearly December which means it's nearly time to get the tree up, drink some mulled wine and watch some overgrown man-child in a silly green suit prance around New York with a great big smile on his face. Yes this weekend I'll be watching Will Ferrell in John Favreau's
Elf. It's the film Ferrell will be remembered for. Long after the Ron Burgundy quoters have moved on to the next comedy creation, Buddy the Elf will still be being watched by kids, families and Ferrell fans at Christmas time. It's got charm, heart and a role that fits the innocence and immaturity inherent in Ferrell's persona. So the romance with Zooey Deschanel is slightly icky and James Caan could have phoned this performance in from a yacht in the Caribbean and then turned up in the last reel cackling with a sack of money but it still never fails to get me in the mood for Christmas.
This December, I'm also going to make sure I get to watch
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, the Finnish film about an evil Santa being caught by a father and son and then wreaking havoc in the remote mountain community. It sounds like a very fun, pretty silly mix of creepy fable and dark humour with just a dash of kids adventure story thrown in. I've heard it compared to
The Goonies which is a good enough reason for me to hunt this down. It's meant to an Anti-Christmas horror but hopefully just not in any way as nasty as Billy Bob Thornton's wretched
Bad Santa.
And it's really time I finally watched
It's a Wonderful Life this year once and for all. It's got the wonderful James Stewart and I feel like I know the film already from what I've heard, seen and read about it over the years. If I'm not all Christmassed out by then, I might have to re-watch
Scrooged as that's one I haven't seen for a very long time and quite frankly I miss Bill Murray.
What will you be watching this Christmas? Any recommendations?
It's a Wonderful Life is probably one of my all time favourite films, and RARE EXPORTS I watched last week, I thought it was ace, quirky and completely different
ReplyDelete@Scott Excellent! I hear only good things about IAWL but still not 100% convinced I'll love it. I hope it lives up to it's reputation. Glad to hear you liked Rare Exports, really looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteI'm actually the same regarding It's a Wonderful Life! I feel like I basically know all about it from what I've heard from others and seen, but I've never sat down and actually watched the film from start to finish. I'm hoping to do so this year. And I love Scrooged--it's classic Bill Murray :) This year I'll be watching Jingle All the Way (who doesn't like a little Governator?!), the first Home Alone, White Christmas and hopefully A Charlie Brown Christmas. That Rare Exports movie looks CREEPY! I might have to take a look at that! Nice post!!
ReplyDelete@alleyesonscreen Never seen Jingle all the Way, might give that a try too this year! Home Alone and Die Hard are my two other Christmas favourites! Thanks for reading!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree on Elf. Good modern Christmas movies are rare these days.
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely have to catch Rare Exports as well.
You can't beat Scrooged! My favorite Christmas flick.
Great post.
@Robert Yeah I barely remember Scrooged except that I loved it. Need to watch it this December! Thanks for reading!
ReplyDeleteDie Hard & It's a Wonderful Life are my favourites (IAWF has the power to make you feel like you are literally glowing with happiness), but I'll also be finding time for Muppet's Christmas Carol, Scrooged and Gremlins.
ReplyDeleteMight have to pair Rare Exports with Bad Santa and have a disturbing Christmas movie double bill...
@Dave Never seen a Muppets movie! I hear they're great but feel like I'll be getting to the party a little late if I start now. Just watched Rare exports last night and was not disappointed. Fantastic ending! Thanks for reading!
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