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…
Tag: film review
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 23
There are some movies that are so interwoven with my childhood that to say I love them would seem somehow inadequate. Obviously (as anyone who read my blog in May this year will know) the original Star Wars trilogy are the definitive movies of my youth, but there are several other films that are not…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 22
Back in 2017, when I first started doing The James Proclaims Advent Calendar Of Christmas(ish) Films I included Rocky IV in the line-up. Because it is a bit Christmassy, albeit one of the weaker entries in the Rocky franchise. It is something of an oversight then, that I managed not to include the original 1976…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 21
2014’s The Equalizer is a fairly ‘by-the-book’ action flic, that is elevated by having a decent cast, headed by Denzil Washington, and a director in Antoine Fuqua who knows his way around a generic action movie. But while it more than adequately passes the time for those of us who enjoy occasionally turning off our…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 20
According to his Wikipedia entry, Mike Newell is best known for directing Four Weddings and Funeral, Donnie Brasco and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. While I have watched and quite enjoyed all three of those movies, it’s fair to say that anyone watching Donnie Brasco on the basis of the other two might…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 19
Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men is a pretty joyless affair. Set in a dystopian future, which is the not too distant 2027, it depicts a world in which no children have been born since 2009. Given that as a species we still appear to be procreating in 2020, it’s up there with Back to the…
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 17
1998’s ‘The Truman Show’ is something of a genre-defying movie, that also turned out to be ahead of its time. Had it been made more recently, it might well be viewed as a satire of the celebrity-obsessed culture of the world we know today. But in 1998, reality TV wasn’t really all that prevalent, and…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 16
2013 seemed to be the year for ‘Die Hard’ rip-offs that were set in the White House. Well, there were two of them anyway. The first was Roland Emmerich’s ‘White House Down’, which wasn’t especially good. The second was Antoine Fuqua’s ‘Olympus Has Fallen’, which was arguably slightly worse. In fairness, both movies pass the…
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 14
It’s probably fair to say that 2004’s Mean Girls was not really aimed at me. It is, perhaps lazily, oft-referred to a ‘teen comedy’. I was not a teenager when it came out, though I was considerably closer to being a teenager back then, than when I actually saw the film for the first time.…
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…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 12
1985’s Young Sherlock Holmes could, and possibly should, have been a beloved classic from my childhood. It ticks a lot of the boxes of the kind of light-hearted adventure film that would definitely have appealed to me in my pre-teen years. But it seems to have passed me by. Which is perhaps no bad thing with…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 11
Time for Door 11 of The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films and in honour of the date we’re going to ‘turn it up to 11’. Because today’s entry is the 1984 ‘rockumentary’ known as This is Spinal Tap, a poignant and compelling insight into the trials and tribulations of a touring rock band. Or,…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 10
1995’s Jumanji is an interesting concept (interesting enough to spawn spin offs and reboots in more recent times) but the movie itself feels a bit generic. Perhaps the special effects were good at the time, but they feel a little dated now. Not a great deal happens in the way of character development. The demonic titular board…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 9
1998’s The Waterboy is the kind of juvenile comedy you tend to associate with Adam Sandler. Which is maybe unfair to Adam Sandler because he has, in his time, been in some good films. But he’s also done a lot of this kind of thing. When The Waterboy came out I would’ve been 19. I quite liked…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 8
As with most Wes Anderson films, I didn’t really like 2009’s Fantastic Mr Fox when I first saw it, but I have come to appreciate it more with subsequent viewings. Still, while it often takes multiple viewings for me to ‘get’ most of Wes Anderson’s output, I generally don’t hate them initially with the level of vitriol…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 7
I was a pretty big fan of Kevin Smith movies in the nineties, but I haven’t really kept up to speed with much of his output in the last twenty years. I’m not sure why. I loved 1994’s Clerks and I’m nostalgically fond enough of 1995’s Mallrats (although it obviously isn’t as good as Clerks) to have continued…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 6
Door 6 of The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films and maybe it’s time to sort out that Christmas shopping. We could head to the mall. Except we don’t tend to call them that in the UK. I think we’d be more likely to refer to them as Shopping Centres. And we…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 5
Door 5 of The Third Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films and perhaps it’s time to take it easy. Maybe kick back and relax in a hot tub. But don’t drink any Russian energy drinks while you’re in there or you may end up travelling back in time to the eighties. And if none…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 4
The Office is one of my favourite TV shows of all time. I actually like all versions of it that I’ve seen. I loved the US incarnation, which evolved from being a rehash of the UK original in series 1 to establishing its own identity and thriving for multiple seasons thereafter. I liked the French edition,…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 3
Door 3 of The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films and we’re off to a magical land. Narnia to be precise. Today’s film of choice is 2005’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which is far too long a title. It’s based on the novel entitled The Lion,…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 2
Door 2 of The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films brings us Martin Scorsese’s 1990 masterpiece GoodFellas. It would be foolish for a hack like me to try and offer any critical insight into a film as universally acclaimed as this one, but it truly is extraordinary. Although probably one to avoid…
The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 1
As if by magic December 2020 is upon us. And so must begin, whether anyone wants it to or not, The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films. And to kick off this year’s festive countdown of films, is a movie that really highlights the difference between the worldviews of children and adults.…
May The Twenty-Fourth Be With You: Solo: A Star Wars Story
‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ has the dubious claim to fame of being the first Star Wars movie to make a loss at the box office and it’s perhaps the main reason that the focus for future Star Wars projects, after the release of ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ has been more geared towards content for…
May The Twenty-Third Be With You: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Day 23 of me writing exclusively about Star Wars, purely on the basis that it’s currently May and I can entitle each post ‘May the (whatever date it actually is) be with you’. Which possibly was never that funny. Or if it ever was funny, the joke is wearing thin now. Surely the end is…
May The Twentieth Be With You: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (The Movie)
So, what’s the worst Star Wars movie in existence? Many people will have their views. A lot will tell you it’s ‘The Phantom Menace‘ and they might have a point. Others will tell you it’s ‘The Last Jedi’ and, although they are entitled to their opinions, they would be wrong, because ‘The Last Jedi’ is…
May The Thirteenth Be With You: Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
Following on from 1984’s ‘Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure’, 1985’s ‘Ewoks, The Battle For Endor’ was another TV movie that somehow found itself in cinemas in the UK. But you wouldn’t have found me in any of those cinemas. Because unlike the first Ewok film, which is firmly established as a seminal moment in…
May The Twelfth Be With You: Caravan Of Courage: An Ewok Adventure
Originally a TV movie for American audiences simply called ‘The Ewok Adventure’ this 1984 Star Wars spinoff was retitled ‘Caravan Of Courage: An Ewok Adventure’ when it was released in cinemas internationally. I saw it in the UK. Which is where I lived in 1984. Indeed it is where I live now. And I saw…
May The Ninth Be With You: The Rise Of Skywalker
So here we are, on the last of the Star Wars movies, collectively known as ‘The Skywalker Saga’. Episode IX of IX. The official ‘end of the story’. The culmination of a journey some 42 years in the making. And by definition the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything. No,…
May The Eighth Be With You: The Last Jedi
Expectations were quite possibly at an all time high when this one hit the cinemas. Not only had 2015’s ‘The Force Awakens’ been generally well-received by fans and critics, but the first standalone Star Wars movie of the modern era (though not, of course, the first standalone Star Wars movie ever), ‘Rogue One’ had also…
