Christmastime Viewings: 2010

Fourth Viewing


"If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around."

Thoughts: I looked back on my former review of this film, which I found too unfair and critical of such a genuine charmer of a Christmas movie. So I re-watched it, loved it even more, and crafted a much fairer review

Unknown Viewing Number


"I made my family disappear..."

Thoughts: This is a film I watched ad nauseum as a kid. I loved it, it played a big part in my childhood. It was therefore refreshing to revisit it as an adult and see that it does indeed hold up.

Full review here

Unknown Viewing Number


"You can mess with a lot of things, but you can't mess with kids on Christmas."

Thoughts: Yeah, it's not as good as its predecessor and it's very unoriginal. But it's still really fun and enjoyable!

Unknown Viewing Number


"You can run, but you can't hide, Junior!"

Thoughts: Like the other Home Alone movies, I watched this one quite a lot as a kid, when I found it fun and entertaining. Shame it doesn't hold up as well as the others.

First Viewing


"I knew this was gonna be the best Christmas ever.""

Thoughts: Holy fucking shit, this film is awful. It's a whole new special form of awful. It reinvents awful. It's easily one of the very worst movies I've ever seen, and the fact it's part of the Home Alone series... Makes it truly insulting.

Full review here

Third Viewing


"Can we take a direct flight back to reality, or do we have to change planes in Denver"

Thoughts: Another Christmas movie I'd seen prior to this year, but not for a while. I'd seen the sequels more recently and hated them... So I decided to watch this one with an open mind. Amazing how good it actually is.

First Viewing


"Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville - did not."

Thoughts: This movie is great - a genuine seasonal classic that's well-paced, short, and to the point.

Full review here

Second Viewing


"It's the Mrs. Clause..."

Thoughts: Oh my fucking God. I'd watched this movie several years before revisiting, and remembered it was bad. But I watched it for the sake of the season. And the chance to write a scathing review

Second Viewing


"You're not Santa anymore. You're just the guy who smells like a cookie."

Thoughts: Hadn't seen this since about 2007... It was every bad as I remembered it was, and then some.

Full review here

First Viewing



"You are a hallucination brought on by alcohol... Russian vodka poisoned by Chernobyl!"

Thoughts: This is a sublime reinvention of the classic Christmas Carol story for modern audiences. And its messages remain as relevant as ever.

Full review here

First Viewing


"Dear Santa, how are you? I'm not doing so well. There's this really, really bad man, Ebner Frost, who lives up on the hill... He's got these weird people working for him and I think they're gonna do something really bad this Christmas."

Thoughts: It took a while to track this one down... But I wish I didn't go to so much trouble...

Full review here

First Viewing


"We invite you to ask yourself this one simple question: Do you believe in Santa Claus?"

Thoughts: It's not entirely terrible... It's just unnecessary.

Full review here