We watched The Bishop’s Wife, The Holdovers and (of course) Trading Places on the big day but here are was the running order during the build-up.

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Brian Henson directs Michael Caine, Dave Goelz and Steve Whitmire in this meta adaptation of Charles Dickens’ perennial Christmas classic.

One of the best examples of “The Christmas Movie Boost”. It is a fine movie, ranking in quality comfortably in the middle of the charts for a Muppets production. It is funny, warm and self aware. But it ain’t the funniest, warmest or snarkiest by a long shot. Add that festive cheer though and people treat it like an all-timer, gold standard. Caine playing this as if it requires a proper Oscar Worthy performance plus Gonzo and Rizzo’s narration pump it up for me. I do desire more Fozzy and Miss Piggy in my Henson joints though. The songs are a tad meh. It is in most people my age’s annual viewing rotation when really the way superior The Muppet Movie should be their yearly fixture.

7

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (2000)

Ron Howard directs Jim Carrey, Taylor Momsen and Jeffrey Tambor in this Dr. Seuss adaptation about the odious outsider who learns to love Christmas.

Post-Ace Ventura and The Mask, this the Jim Carrey ad libs unleashed performance we were waiting on. He got respectability and then he let it all run loose in one of ugliest studio kiddies’ movies I have seen. None of it gels together. And even if Jim is up to 11 that becomes grating when he doesn’t really have anyone to bounce off of. Kelley the dog as Max deserves a pay rise. A Christmas before nightmares.

5

Klaus (2019)

Carlos Martínez López and Sergio Pablos direct Jason Schwartzman, J.K. Simmons and Rashida Jones in this animated Christmas movie where an exiled postman and a hermit toymaker invent Christmas in an alternate history / fairy tale.

Beautiful hand drawn animation recalling the Disney Renaissance era. Alva the school teacher / love interest is straight out of the Megara from Hercules school for example. There are a few iffy anachronistic musical choice that let the magic down. Maybe it takes a beat too long to get going?

7

Silent Night Bloody Night (1972)

Theodore Gershuny directs Patrick O’Neal, James Patterson and Mary Woronov in this pre-slasher chiller where a man inherits a mansion which once was a mental home.

Weird indie seemingly hobbled together from three attempts to make spooky films around the same location. We get a cast shift every half an hour. I’m not entirely sure what happened by the end but the tone changes at every new act are welcome. It is a weird and a creepy experience, closer to Herk Harvey’s Carnival Of Souls than Halloween. Slow, impending doom and mystery. The sepia toned flashback finale is sad and unnerving. The faces of the restless mob of insane often eerily blurred.

5