4th December: Eight Crazy Nights (2002)

Today's film was 'Eight Crazy Nights' an animated film made by and starring Adam Sandler from 2002.

I can't find a decent synopsis online and cba to write one, just watch it http://stagevu.com/video/ucajxqtakvki trust me its good!

Now, I've seen this film a couple of times and I really like it, its just a great story,  its told well, its animated well, and its acted well its great for anyone who's a fan of Adam Sandlers comedy, and a great Christmas/Hanukkah story, similar vibe to A Christmas Carol how Davey Stone changes from a prick to a nice guy throughout the film (except there are no ghosts... well kinda).

3rd December: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)

This is the strangest idea in the history of film... I think!? This is 'Santa Claus Conquers the Martians' from 1964 and it really has to be seen, to be believed.

Synopsis: Martian children have become unhappy watching Earth television programs showing Christmas cheer among humans. The wise old Martian Chochem tells the adults that Mars needs Santa Claus to bring fun and joy to their children. A group of Martians arrives at the North Pole and kidnaps Santa, but the angry Martian Voldar wants to get rid of him instead. With the help of two Earth children and the clumsy Martian Dropo, Santa defeats Voldar and brings happiness to Mars!

My thoughts on this film are basically that its fucking weird, I presume the idea for this film was brought about by the Americans fascination with the Moon and Mars during the space race with the Soviets, but how it got accepted and made, your guess is as good as mine, however its kinda ok, the children's acting is poor but that's understandable and yeah its cheesy and silly but that's part of the charm, anyway I think its worth a watch even just to say you've seen it.

2nd December: A Christmas Carol (1938) and Scrooged (1988)

So next I watched the 1938 film adaptation of 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens.

I don't think I need to give you the synopsis here, so I'll get straight to the review.

This film was great! It was surprisingly well made and well acted for a film made over 70 years ago; Now i haven't read the original novella but as far as I'm aware the film is a pretty accurate adaptation, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed watching this and recommend it to anyone looking to watch a version of this story.

Next up we have the 1988 'Scrooged' with ghostbustin' Bill Murray which is a more of a remake in a then contemporary setting with Bill Murray being a misanthropic TV producer who is haunted by the ghosts of Christmas.

Well this film was good but not great it was very interesting how they told the story but I think if you want to see an adaptation of A Christmas Carol you should look for one of the more straight forward tellings of the story such as the 1938 version or any of the other ones out there, I am likely to review another 2 or 3 different adaptations later on this month.

1st December: Babes in Toyland (1934)

Lets kick off my film filled December with what turned out to be quite to opposite of a Christmas film, as the film is set in July and only features two references to Christmas!

'Babes in Toyland' (also known as March of the Wooden Soldiers)


Synopsis: Ollie Dee and Stanley Dum try to borrow money from their employer, the toymaker, to pay off the mortgage on Mother Peep's shoe house and keep it and Little Bo Peep from the clutches of the evil Barnaby. When that fails, they trick Barnaby into marrying Stanley Dum instead of Bo Peep. Enraged, Barnaby unleashes the bogeymen from their caverns to destroy Toyland.

Ok so, I would say I enjoyed this film for the most part but as it was made in 1934 it definitely shows its age, as it is in black and white which doest so much bother me but still it is, the actors have that funny way of pronouncing things very properly, and the vocal style for the singing can be hard to understand at times but those things were common at the time, it gets a little long and drawn out at times but really i just think that I've been a little desensitized by the focus on action intensity of modern cinema. Overall I would say its worth a watch but its not great by todays standards and as I said before its really not much of a Christmas film.

Mission Statement!

Ok, so i've made this here blog as an account of my thoughts on a little... err, i guess challenge?! i've set myself:

To watch a Christmas film everyday of december and then review each and every one on this blog after i've watched it.

This is basically just a bit of fun and something interesting for me to undertake, as i'd like to think of myself as a fan of films but i don't really watch a great deal of them, and seeing as its the holiday season i thought this would be the perfect time to really sit down and watch all these films i hear people talking about. I hope whoever stumbles across this blog enjoys reading it and will come back throughout the month to read and add their own thoughts and opinions on my reviews and maybe i can influence some people to watch some new films too. =]

much love, Jim.