Top 10 Christmas Productions

It’s Christmas Day! Christmas, Christmas, Christmas! And yes, I haven’t released any video reviews. It’s mainly because I realised I had left it too late. So that story arc will have to wait till next year. But myself and the Whalley (http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWhalley100?feature=g-all-lik) did do a video review, so you can expect that soon. It’s our first one together so be gentle on the criticism.

But it’s still Christmas, I’m still in the festive spirit, but what do I enjoy at this time of the year? What helps put me in the spirit? Well here’s my top ten...technically eleven, Christmas productions.

10. A Christmas Carol (ITV 2000)

The first of several adaptations of the old Charles Dickens story on this list, this one sees Ross Kemp in a modern day version, playing Eddie Scrooge, a mean loan shark.

Now I am a fan of Ross Kemp. I didn’t see him in Eastenders because I hate that show, but I did see his ‘Ross Kemp on Gangs’ and his other TV documentaries, and he is golden in this. Kemp brings a great new look to the old Ebenezer/Eddie Scrooge character. The film itself brought a great new look to the character as well. He’s haunted by ghosts which take the looks of those close to Eddie, the greatest revelation was who the Ghost of Christmas Future was.

The makers of this really did a fantastic job modernising it all, Belle is now nurse Bella, the accountant Scrooge is now ruthless loan shark Eddie, the ambulance service can’t go on the estate without a police escort, all the little details which you wouldn’t think twice about were developed greatly into the story.

It actually takes a page out of ‘Groundhog Day’ by having Eddie repeat the same day (though I have the book I can’t remember if it happens in that), which is really effective as he tries to undo the misery he had caused and even try to save a life. His reaction to the first failed attempts was brilliant.

It’s a brilliant modern take on the Victorian classic, and one I look forward to watching every Christmas.

9. Blackadder’s Christmas Carol (1988)

Another Carol, but a twist. We all know the Blackadder story, Rowan Atkinson plays Edmund Blackadder, where, in the television show, he is a sarcastic, conniving and witty character who is only out for himself. And we obviously know that Ebenezer Scrooge starts out as a selfish, bitter old man who only cares about money.

So it’s an amusing twist when Ebenezer Blackadder is a kind pleasant individual who puts everyone else first. This results in everyone taking advantage  and Blackadder and Baldrick (Tony Robinson) having a miserable Christmas. The Spirit of Christmas (Robbie Coltrane) visits Blackadder and shows him his evil ancestors and descendants using their wit to gain power and money. Blackadder therefore decides to act more like them, though it backfires when he finds he insulted the King and Queen of England!

 

This was a refreshing change to the old story, and as funny as the Blackadder series ever was. Atkinson is as brilliant as ever, as was everyone else in this, and the idea that Ebenezer goes from a kind man to an evil individual was well executed.

A great British classic to enjoy, well, anytime of the year.

8. Elf (2003)

It’s not often you can say a Christmas film from the year 2000 onwards is any good. There’s ‘Christmas with the Kranks’, ‘Four Christmases’ and ‘Fred Claus’, but this one is superb.

Will Ferrell stars as Buddy, a human child raised by elves who goes to New York to find his biological father, played by James Caan. While I do feel Ferrell is once again playing the same character, and that it got off to a slow start, it did get better fast. The film is actually funny, unlike most modern Christmas films, the acting is really good and the effects aren’t that bad either. Zooey Deschanel as a blonde was also a great addition. She should stay a blonde. It was also, probably unintentionally, funny that something unidentified (it’s Santa) crashes in Central Park, and the immediate reaction is to send in the four Horseman of the Apocalypse. I mean the gun mad Central Park Rangers.

It’s great as well to see Caan slowly remember the spirit of Christmas and the love of family, rather than it being all about work. Seriously, his boss calls a meeting on Christmas Eve! What a dick! Though it is odd that Caan sees Santa, but it isn’t until everyone is singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town that he gives Santa’s sleigh the boost it needed to take flight.

While the film does show that love, family and friendship is all that matters at Christmas, it is odd how eager Buddy is to abandon his foster father, the man who had cared for him for twenty odd years. That beside the point, this was one of the few actually good Christmas films to come out in recent years. A must-have Christmas film.

7. Scrooged (1988)

Ah Bill Murray, why are you so awesome? Here in another modern version of a Christmas Carol, sort of,  he plays Frank Cross, a selfish TV  producer who is visited by his TV mogul mentor, played by John Forsythe, and, of course, the three ghosts; the taxi driver, the pixie, and TV screen face.

Murray is the gem in this, he is absolutely brilliant in this, as per usual. It’s also a great change to see that his interactions with the ghosts have an effect on the real world, that he goes from one part of the building to the other. The ghosts are portrayed brilliantly, by both the actors/actresses and the way they were written.

But despite the laughter, the film doesn’t lose track of the message it wanted to portray. The heartfelt message that families and friends should spend quality time with each other rather than watch countless television. As well as be nice and kind to you fellow man. Bobcat Goldthwait should also be given a nod, as he did a brilliant job as disgruntled employee Eliot Loudermilk.

One that should not be missed.

6. Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)

The earliest Christmas film, well, a Christmas short anyway, I remember seeing, so it’s probably the first one I ever watched.

Wonderfully animated, we get traditional Disney characters, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Scrooge McDuck and Minnie Mouse, play the old Dickens’ characters. They all fit perfectly into the ‘Christmas Carol’ characters, it was as if they were born...designed for those roles.

And for 30 minutes it’s a very memorable piece of work, with great voice acting and brilliant story telling despite the fast pace. The music is great and people of all ages can enjoy it. This film also has one of the scariest scenes ever. You know what scene I’m on about.

The only terrible thing is this Disney short is now extremely hard to get a hold of in Britain.

5. The Flint Street Nativity (1999)

This was an unexpected surprise. I didn’t think I would enjoy this as much as I did.

We follow a school putting on a Nativity play for their parents, with the kids and the parents played by the same actors and actresses. And we have some great talent including Neil Morrissey, Mark Addy, Frank Skinner and Dervla Kirwan.

The story was fantastic and the actors played their characters to perfection, they were so realistic. The characters themselves, well, were also real because we all know people who were like that; students who knew each other’s lines, the jealous loners, the uptight spoilt brat, they’re all there! The interaction between all these characters were brilliantly executed.

A memorable film, one which should be on everyone’s shelf.

4. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Tim Burton’s Christmas masterpiece. We get a weird tale of Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king of Halloween, being depressed about having to do the same thing each year. So he jumps for joy when he finds Christmas Town. He organises the kidnapping of Santa and goes to Earth to spread Christmas joy...of course since he’s best known for scaring people Christmas doesn’t go so well. Santa however ends up in the possession of Oogie Boogie, who is essentially the bogeyman, and only Sally, the girl who fancies Jack, can save him.

 

This film is fantastic; the animation is great, the songs are memorable, the voice acting is good, the animation is...weird but still good. You can see so much effort was put into this production, and it certainly paid off.

This is a brilliant film, an unforgettable one which will stand the test of time.

3. Gremlins (1984)

Yeah, it was coming. This fantastic horror comedy sees Billy come into possession of a Mogwai called Gizmo. He is given three simples rules; 1. Keep him out of sunlight. 2. Don’t get water on him. 3. Don’t feed him after midnight. Of course this doesn’t happen so we then get a bunch of Gremlins running around ripping the place apart.

This film is amazing. The acting is great, the characters are brilliant, the plot is fantastic, and the effects, the most important part of this film, were brilliant. The Gremlins actually looked like real life creatures and not puppets, or fake CGI which most films nowadays use.

 

If you haven’t seen this film, you haven’t lived. Seriously, this is one of those films you need to see this film before you die.

And Gizmo’s soooooo cute!

2. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

This film is now 65 years old, and it is still one of the best films to have ever been made, let alone of the best Christmas films.

We follow George Bailey, who is quite possibly the most kindest man on the entire planet, even more so than Ebenezer Blackadder. George though is facing bank fraud after a rival steals some money that was intended to be deposited. Contemplating suicide and wishing he was never born, the angel-in-training Clarence enters the stage and shows him what the world would’ve been like if he was never born, showing that the town would’ve become a sleazy, decrepit place, one of his friends would have gone to prison for accidently poisoning a child (since George wasn’t there to intervene), his uncle is insane, his brother is dead (as George wasn’t there to save him from his accident), his children were never born and the remainder of his friends and family are either criminals or suffering poverty.

This film shows how one individual can make a difference, how all the little things in life could have snowballed into something devastating if the individual in question wasn’t there.

When Clarence has shown that George did make his town better, George returns home expecting to be arrested. However the whole town turn up to donate money, his brother turns up (ignoring a banquet in his honour and flying through a blizzard) and one of George’s more successful friends sends a line of credit for $25,000. And George was worried?! Whilst many did regard George a victim of own kindness, they came through for George when needed help the most. Most of us wish we had that kind of life.

Now for the number one spot, I just couldn’t decide which I preferred. I absolutely love both of the movies, so that’s why I named them both as number one. It’s why I brought in ‘The Flint Street Nativity’ for number 10, so it all balances out. Now, in alphabetical order, here’s the first of my number one Christmas productions.

1. Joyeux Noel (2005)

This film is superb. Set during World War One, it focuses on the Christmas Day truce between Ally and German forces. The film itself starts off with French and Scottish failing to advance on the German trench. Opera singer Nikolaus Sprink and his lover Anna Sorensen (Benno Furmann and Diane Krueger) sing at the general’s house, but Sprink is bitter at their comfy residence and they return to the German trench, where they start singing for them and their leader Lieutenant Hortsmayer (Daniel Bruhl). The Scottish, led by Lieutenant Gordon (Alex Ferns) and consists of reverend Palmer (Gary Lewis), having just played the bagpipes, provide the music to Sprink’s rendition of Silent Night. The Scottish and the Germans then talk while the French, led by Lieutenant Audebart (Guillaume Canet), eventually join them wondering what’s going on. A ceasefire for Christmas Eve is called and the two sides talk and exchange presents. Another ceasefire is called on Christmas Day to bury the dead, and the two sides then refuse to fight one another.

This is heartbreaking, I have to tell you. The film deals wonderfully with the aftermath of the truce, showing that the men on either side don’t want to continue fighting with those they just called their friends and brothers just a day before; they had played a game of football, told each other of their lives at home, some even exchanged addresses so that they can meet up after the war. This is also shown when Hortsmayer invites the French and Scottish forces over to their trench before their artillery starts shelling their trenches. The French and Scottish then do the same as the Ally artillery then starts shelling the German side.

The fact that this film is based on the actual Christmas Truce in 1914 makes this even more heartbreaking. This is probably the only film that  I cry to even after the hundredth time watching it. The film doesn’t even have a happy ending! Sprink and Anna stay with the French so they won’t be separated, the Scottish unit is disbanded, Audebart is relocated away from his men, and the Germans are not only denied permission to see their families, but they’re sent to the Eastern front to most  likely die at the hands of the Russian army. Despite Palmer emphasising the goodwill shown by the truce, he’s rebuked by the bishop who then spouts a anti-German speech to fresh soldiers, telling them they must kill every German “good or bad”, effectively making you feel sick that these people are in charge and think they know what’s best. Audebart even yells at his superior (who turns out to be his father) that “the country” don’t know the horrors they face “without complaint”, that he has felt closer to the Germans than to his leaders who hide behind their turkeys. The Germans even show an act of defiance to Kaiser Wilhelm by humming a song the Scottish taught them.

I absolutely loved this, it’s such an emotional piece of art which shows that even during one of the worst periods of violence in mankind’s history, the spirit of Christmas, peace and harmony can still be found.

So what else was as good as this film? Puppets.

1. The Muppet’s Christmas Carol (1992)

Well okay not just any puppets, but the Muppets. Like ‘Mickey’s Christmas Carol’ we have certain Muppets play certain characters, like Kermit the Frog playing Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy playing Mrs. Cratchit, Gonzo the Great playing Charles Dickens (a.k.a. the narrator) and Rizzo the Rat playing...Rizzo the Rat.

But who plays Ebenezer Scrooge? Michael Caine. Yes, Michael Caine. That alone makes this film awesome! Caine plays Scrooge to perfection, and he doesn’t have a bad  singing voice either.

The film in general is flawless, there’s hardly anything wrong with it. The Muppets are fantastic, the songs are catchy/brilliant, the acting in general is great and the plot is excellent...as is the plot to every single other adaption of ‘A Christmas Carol’.

Anyway, yes, the film is perfection, and that’s why this and Joyeux Noel are my top Christmas films of all time.

Thank you for reading. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.