Like It Is

One of the fun things my husband and I love to do at Christmas is watch our favourite “Christmas” Films. Not by going to the cinema though. By staying warm and cosy indoors and enjoying our very own theatre. And being childfree our time and choice is completely our own. Having many of our favourite films/movies on DVD makes this something we look forward to every year.

We’ve sorted our Christmas films into three main groups: primary, secondary and tertiary, according to when we watch each film/movie. So, tertiary movies, for example, are those we watch around this time, a couple of weeks before Christmas. They might not be that Christmassy but they have a Christmas tie-in somewhere.

Here’s the list, which I thought I’d share with you. I use film/cinema and movie/theatre interchangeably. They mean the same thing. I am personally more comfortable with “film” being a Brit, but I do live in North America and have both UK and North American readers so I’ll use both.
Tertiary Christmas movies for us are:

Love, Actually – We watched this last weekend. With so many major stars in its cast, this should have been a much better film than it was. Our take is that Martine McCutcheon must have been sleeping with some producer somewhere, not only to get into this film, but to get a starring role. She adds nothing to it, and she still manages to remind me strongly of her barmaid role in Eastenders. (Shudder!)

Bridget Jones’ Diary What can I say? Renee Zellweger got the accent so spot on, Hugh Grant played the bastard so well, and Colin Firth was a dreamboat as always. Any doubts that this is a Christmas film, can be dispelled with a look at Colin Firth’s sweater.

Mouse Hunt A rather mean film, but absolutely hilarious. Not that much of a Christmas tie-in, but we just think of it at Christmas. And there is snow outside…

Secondary: Getting closer to Christmas, so every evening we’ll probably watch one of these:

Die Hard – The ultimate modern Christmas disaster movie from which we can now practically recite the one-liners backwards. Actually, my favourite actor in this film is Alan Rickman. One of the things we love about Die Hard is that somehow it manages to make sleigh bells sound menacing. Think about it.

Die Harder Still quite tense and a fun film to watch, even though you know Brucie saves the day and the plane; and that the twin flame bit at the end was pushing it just a little bit too far. And it’s Christmassy because it takes place on Christmas Eve at the airport. Most of us have experienced Christmas travel insanity, so it resonates well.

Trading Places – One of my favourite John Landis films and a great Eddie Murphy performance. The photography and imagery of Philadelphia in the opening credits still awes me. Most comical moment? When Eddie Murphy looks straight at the camera, that is, he comes out of character for a split second. He does it only once, but it is priceless. Perhaps not all that Christmassy a film, but it works for us. And my husband says that there are worse things to look at in the Universe than a young Jamie Lee Curtis in a sweater and Santa hat.

Serendipity – Don’t remember much of this film, but I do remember liking it and that it has a Christmassy setting. At least in the background.

Primary –These are the Real Deal. Our favourites for Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day.

A Christmas Story – A marvellous film, I love it. It reminds me a lot of how I saw Christmas when I was a child. which is pretty strange as I grew up in the UK and this is set around the II World War in middle America. Ah, Christmas in Kid-dom! As Ralphie says “Christmas is the high point of the entire kid year.” And the dig at adults is really great – the most telling scene with this one is when the teacher says to the class (after one child had been dared to put his tongue on the frozen metal flagpole)…” and I know the child who did this will be feeling really bad and come forward..” wherein Ralphie says as an aside “…Adults are always saying things like that. Every kid knows it’s much better not to get caught…”

A Christmas Carol – this one is a classic. I never get tired of it, maybe because of the simplicity of the message). Of course, in the UK we know it as Scrooge. Directed by Alistair Sim.

Scrooged – A modern rendition of a Christmas carol, a bit scarier, and darker, but the message is the same as in A Christmas Carol. Scrooged grew on me, as it is one of Sweetum’s all time favourites. Hip, knowing, smart and great performance by Bill Murray as a very self-aware Scrooge. Well, it was directed by Richard Donner.

It’s A Wonderful Life – What can I say that hasn’t already been said about this Christmas classic? We have the Silver Screen classic edition. And this year is the movie’s 60th anniversary. Have to say though If I had been George Bailey, with all the shit he put up with from those people, I’d have run far away and started a life somewhere else. Sod them all!

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation - An example of how people tend to block out the negative aspects of having a houseful of relations over the holidays.

The Ref – This movie is now one of my firm favourites and I was introduced to it by my husband. The first time I watched it, for the first half hour at least I totally disliked it, thinking what is this pointless movie? But now I simply love it. It manages to be fairly nasty and have a great message at the same time. If you hate Dennis Leary, you really should not watch this film. He is not everyone’s cup of tea by any stretch of the imagination. But if he’s no problem, and you watch the Ref, then you need to give the movie a chance going in, at least an hour. It’s not as nasty as it seems, but it definitely isn’t for kids. And it is just a slight exaggeration of what really does happen for many at Christmas.

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (J. Carrey) This is really not that great a film, and it’s rather overdone. Jim Carrey does ham it up a little too much. But it is a Christmas film, no doubt of that. Though the animated TV version is more beloved, we think the message in the J. Carrey film is more realistic and more adult.

Badder Santa – Another totally mean film, and it isn’t as bad as it could have been. The movie itself is called Bad Santa, however the DVD we have is called Badd-er Santa because it has added footage and more violence. It’s a Christmas film because it is set around Christmas. The message is one of the thinnest redemption messages in a Christmas film I’ve ever seen, because he does it almost by accident. You really need a bleak/black sense of humour to appreciate this film. For example, you’ll either find the young woman with the Santa fetish is either screamingly funny or pretty offensive – but nothing in-between. There is no middle ground in this film. At all.

Elf – We found this a very engaging Christmas film. I didn’t think I would like it but I did. Will Farrell played an elf almost too well!

On Friday we went to watch Casino Royale. We were impressed. When we first saw the trailers a few months back I wasn’t sure what to expect, particularly as all the trailers seemed to be just of Daniel Craig’s steely blue eyes, and pursed up lips expression (his constipated look as Sweetums described it).

But no. We really enjoyed this film. And Daniel Craig didn’t have that expression all the time, thank goodness. To me, James Bond in the re-made Casino Royale was more like James Bond is supposed to be, a suave ruthless spy and killer who likes what he does but recognises it will probably consume him, rather than just a suave debonair spy with a bunch of easy one liners. Read the rest of this entry »

My husband and I are DVD enthusiasts nuts. Between us we have approaching 1,500 DVDs. My husband has more than me, but I’m not doing too badly considering I got into them when I came to Canada five years ago. In fact I got into them when I met him. Our collection includes TV shows as well as films (movies), however altogether we have more than most small DVD stores.

I used quite a few of mine in my popular post – Calling All Movie Buffs. We hardly watch any TV - Poker, baseball and some American football, the Footie is about it. If we like a show, we simply wait for it to be released on DVD. Then we can watch it without advert interruptions or waiting a week for the next episode and risking missing one. Of course, Read the rest of this entry »

I went to see Borat today. And I laughed so much that I wept. I was creased up with laughter. Literally. This film (movie) is the funniest I have seen in a very long time, on or off the big screen. It’s about Kazakhstani TV personality Borat, who is dispatched to the United States to report on the “greatest country in the world.” With a documentary crew in tow, Borat becomes more interested in locating and marrying Pamela Anderson than on his assignment.

A fellow Borat veteran described the film as Totally Fucked Up. I have to agree. This film is hilarious, but it’s also very smart. I enjoyed Sacha Baron Cohen and Borat in Da Ali G Show. But Borat in Borat: Cultural Learnings… is something else. Sacha Baron Cohen amazingly, stays in character all the time, even when you might think otherwise. Which may not mean much – but if you see the film you’ll know what I mean.

This film is hilarious. It is offensive. Boundaries are pushed. It reveals a lot about America’s dark underbelly in a way that shocks even as it makes you laugh till you cry. And there will be images that you will try very hard but fail, to get out of your head. Half the time I was saying how the heck did they DO that?! As for the audience – it was in fits of laughter. Great film.

I could go on about it, but part of the film’s appeal is how it surprises you on screen. So all I will say is… go and see it for yourself. I dare you not to find it funny.

Want more? Here it is…

Calling All Movie Buffs was such a success and you made such great contributions that I’ve compiled a list of YOUR favourite film/movie quotes (and included a few more of my own ). So now you have to guess each other’s favourite quotes. I will highlight the ones that have gone as before, to help you spot the ones that are left. Look out for tips, hints and edits in both the post and comments. And if you want to see which bloggers provided which quotes, check out the comments in the original post. I can’t wait to answer some of these quotes…

Go for it – and have fun!

Edit!! October 13th- I’ve added some more of yours to the list! There are now85 and the list is almost full. I will add them to the list - up to 100 as Mosh suggested and highlight them when they’re gone. After that, you’ll need to keep your eyes on your comments to see who’s got what. Everyone’s invited to the movies!

1. “Fucking Cock-er-roach!”
2. “Those who can’t do, teach and those that can’t teach, teach gym.”
3. “When I meet Eisenhower, should I give the Nazi salute, or shake his hand?”
4. “You know, for kids.”
5. “You must be on stage when the curtain falls.”
6. [demonstrates faux karate moves] “they call that the quart-a-blood technique; you do that, a quart of blood drop out a man’s body.”
7. “Lewis, we’ve had presidents who were beloved, who couldn’t find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don’t drink the sand because they’re thirsty. They drink the sand because they don’t know the difference. “
8. “You’re the duke! You’re the duke! … buy you ain’t number one.” (at least that’s how I always heard the line)
9. I’ll have what she’s having” Read the rest of this entry »

Fancy yourself a film (movie) buff? Think you know your stuff? Listed below are 40 memorable quotes… can you say which films (movies) they are from and who said them? Some quotes are a little more obscure than others, but all the films (movies) are very well known and, in most cases, classics.

Tip: if you’re offended by profanity, then best to stop reading right here.

Tip: Sometimes there is more than one quote from a movie! You can use any resources you feel you need to guess them. It can be hard dredging them up from memory I have seen every film in this list bar one, some many times - they are among my all time favourites.

Edit! Look out for the next post…

Edit!! All the ones that have gone are highlighted. Check the comments as well, so you’ll know which ones people have already guessed. Thank you for also sending in your favourite quotes… I am going to do a second compilation and include them, particularly since I won’t get them all! That way, others can guess them as well.

Have fun!

1. “I meant to do that…”
2. “Your husband ain’t dead lady, he’s hiding…”
3. “That ain’t right…” (Tip: Mal said it. The same character said “Mister, you ever seen what a Henry rifle can do in the hands of someone who knows how to use it?”)
4. “Yippee-ki-yay… motherfucker!!”
5. “Awright, we’ll call it a draw…”
6. “Where’s your Messiah now?”
7. “We’re on a mission from God…”
8. “I’ve got two words for you – “SHUT THE FUCK UP!!”
9. “Surely you can’t be serious.” “I am serious… and don’t call me Shirley.”
10. “You’ve got two modes of expression: Silence and rage…”
11. “You do know how to whistle, don’t ya? You just put your lips together and…blow”
12. “Here’s looking at you kid…”
13. “God Damn Army!”
14. “Round up the usual suspects…” (Add this first : “Major Strasser has been shot…”)
15. “Play it Sam… You played it for her, you can play it for me…”
16. “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship…”
17. “I don’t know nuthin’ about birthin’ no babies..”
18. “You’re good. You’re very good.”
19. “Birdie Num-Nums?”
20. “Badges? We don’t need no stinking badges.”(Tip: I put in badges, which was what they were trying to say - it was pronounced in the movie as “baeches”) Read the rest of this entry »