Deck The Halls (2006)

John Whitesell directs Danny DeVito, Matthew Broderick and Kristin Chenoweth in this comedy where an arrogant local busy body has his well planned Christmas ruined when his new neighbour decides to decorate the house across the street to excess.

Can’t decide whether it wants to be family or gross out… lands neither. Plenty of convoluted slapstick set-ups but only DeVito’s screen time sings.

4

The Shop Around The Corner (1940)

Ernst Lubitsch directs James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan and Frank Morgan in this classic comedy where a store’s best salesman has a crisis of confidence during the December rush.

A filmed play, famously remade as You’ve Got Mail. The core romance is actually a minor subplot here. Stewart finding his mojo and his saving the day is the magic. The well defined ensemble of players grows on you as Lubitsch glides into his witty groove.

7

The Preacher’s Wife (1996)

Penny Marshall directs Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston and Courtney B. Vance in this fantasy romantic comedy where an angel comes down to save a holy man’s family over a busy Christmas.

The Bishop’s Wife is a five star classic. This remake decides to shy away from any obvious attraction between Denzel and Whitney’s characters for Christian reasons. Meaning it is solely now about two handsome people moaning at a church man for being too busy while he works his butt off to keep his community together. What’s the point then? Whitney does get to sing Christmas songs with a church choir. Fair enough.

4

The Package (1989)

Andrew Davis directs Gene Hackman, Joanna Cassidy and Tommy Lee Jones in this Cold War action thriller where, after being framed for murder, a Green Beret must figure out why he was tricked into sneaking an assassin into America.

This wintery dry run for The Fugitive includes solid action, a “What If?” end of the Cold War setting that proved prescient and more than a few nods to Lee Harvey Oswald. So there is a lot going on. The first act is a little murkier in its storytelling than is needed but I think that is on purpose. There’s not really enough Tommy Lee Jones. All in all, this killed a Saturday night with my Dad and me in a way that most things floating around on streaming never could.

7

Enemy Of The State (1998)

Tony Scott directs Will Smith, Gene Hackman and Jon Voight in this paranoid conspiracy thriller where a lawyer’s life is destroyed by the NSA when he accidentally receives incriminating video footage.

You are out in the cold. Everyone is wrapped up pretending the world is a hopeful, sparkling place. There’s something about a Christmas time setting that makes a conspiracy thriller bite just a little harder. Will Smith is the everyman-on-the-run. He treats the trap that is chewing him up like an action heavy sitcom episode. He is not paranoid enough, saucily surly. Fuck reality, this is one of his most pleasing, on brand, blockbuster turns. Hackman’s surveillance expert joins the slam bang fun late in the story but the nods to him being The Conversation’s Harry Caul are a cute Easter egg. He’s a bit too testosterone fuelled and macho here to truly be a cover for his best acting turn. There are plenty of winks to The Conversation but this has more affinity to The Last Boy Scout or The Long Kiss Goodnight. Scott loves exploring modern digital tracking and hacking methods with an overwhelming visual full pelt. The movie rarely rings false as a techno thriller even a few decades down the line. The ending is choppy, the cast of a thousand faces are often underserved… Yet as an enthusiastic revival of the Seventies chase thriller Enemy Of The State has a lot, tons, of entertainment packed into it.

8

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

Jalmari Helander directs Onni Tommila, Jorma Tommila and Tommi Korpela in this Finnish adventure horror where the young son of a reindeer hunter begins to suspect scientists have unleashed an evil Santa.

Apart from a slightly rushed ending, this is exactly what I want from a family horror flick featuring a plethora of nude old men. An icy blast.

8

Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights (2002)

Seth Kearsley directs Adam Sandler, Jackie Sandler and Allen Covert in this animated Hanukkah musical comedy-drama.

Wouldn’t know class if it got bit by it on its hairy ass. Utterly unpredictable. Every minute has a shock decision that feels in terrible taste. A lead character has slapstick seizures. Deer and shit share the frame way too often. The logos of shopping mall storefronts come to life to teach Sandler’s broken loser a product placement heavy life lesson. If you hate Sandler it is all here. Exhibit A through Z. Made post-South Park and aimed at teenage boys, those derided decisions make a lot of sense in actual context. The 2D animation and salty songs hit the spot. We laughed plenty. If you knee jerk hate on this, that’s a technical foul.

6