Category: review

The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 24

And so another pointless Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films reaches it’s conclusion. Because it’s Christmas Eve and that’s how these things work. But what it the cinematic offering behind door 24 of The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films? Why, it’s only 1987’s The Princess Bride.  Which came out when I was eight…

The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 18

The main selling point of 2013’s ‘Grudge Match’ is the notion of a match-up between Rocky and Raging Bull. But iconic though those two silver screen boxers are, neither are in this movie. Instead Stallone is playing someone called Henry “Razor” Sharp, while De Niro’s character goes by the name Billy “The Kid” McDonnen. Ultimately…

The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 15

There was something of a furore back in 2000 when Rene Zellweger was announced as the choice to take on the eponymous lead in the cinematic adaptation of the bestselling Bridget Jones’s Diary. How could an American play such a quintessentially iconic British character? I was not, personally, bothered by Zellweger’s casting because I had absolutely no…

The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 13

2016’s Deadpool is technically Ryan Reynolds’ second big screen outing as the eponymous antihero. The less said about the first incarnation in 2009’s  X-Men Origins: Wolverine the better. It was not well-received. Which is a shame because on the evidence of the 2016 movie and its 2018 sequel, Reynolds was born to play Deadpool. Fortunately, as…