Christmas Classic: How The Grinch Stole Christmas

If by chance this modern classic isn’t a fixture of your Bluray collection then you can catch it on Netflix. It isn’t the best adaptation of Dr. Suess’ story but this update of the Grinch still holds up today. With great commentary on consumerism, fantastic set design, and two great lead performances from Jim Carrey and Taylor Momsen.

Family: Paddington

Paddington is the perfect film to warm you up on these cold nights. Following the eponymous bear as he moves in with the Brown family and is hunted by Millicent (Nicole Kidman) this movie is some of the purest, good-natured fun to have been released in the last decade. There’s a lovable character at its centre (Ben Whishaw provides Paddington’s beautiful voice), pitch-perfect comedic timing, inventive set-pieces, and a heartwarming message about taking care of those in need no matter where they come from. Paddington is a good-natured pallet cleanser for all the cynicism of modern filmmaking. 

Drama: Boiling Point

No film captures the intensity of working in a restaurant during the Christmas run-up better than Boiling Point. Clashes with customers, interpersonal team drama, and personal issues intruding into work play out brilliantly and flowingly in this extraordinary drama shot entirely in one take. It will definitely give everyone a newfound appreciation for what hospitality workers have to put up with.

Animation: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

This hotly anticipated stop-motion reimagining of Carlo Collodi’s classic tale of a wooden puppet who wants to be a real boy from horror master Guillermo del Toro and stop-motion mainstay Mark Gustafson does not disappoint. The stop-motion is a marvel, the voice acting is outstanding and it takes the classic tale in interesting new directions. Plus its central exploration of family, faith, and how fascism perverts them makes for perfect viewing right now.

Romance: I Believe in Santa (14th December)

Sometimes we all want a bit of festive cheese. I Believe in Santa focuses on a woman (Christina Moore) who has to come to terms with the fact that her partner (John Ducey) is obsessed with her least favourite holiday, Christmas. And still believes in Santa. Undoubtedly the film will be sickeningly saccharin but hey, occasionally we all need a bit of Christmas schlock.

Mystery: Knives Out & Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (23rd December)

Finally, for those who love watching a mystery tale during the holidays, you’re in luck. Both Knives Out and its sequel Glass Onion will be arriving on Netflix just in time for Christmas. Both movies revolve around unconventional mysteries being investigated by Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc. Rian Johnson’s series (Netflix has ordered another sequel) revels in the genre’s trappings and not only subverts what’s expected but updates the genre in very satisfying ways. And both films feature great performances from absurdly talented casts. Please give them a watch so we can encourage Johnson and Craig to make as many sequels as they want.

That does it for our seasonal Netflix recommendations. We hope our suggestions provide some enjoyment for you. Please feel free to recommend anything we should add to our watchlist. And from our family to yours we hope you all have a Happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

Also Read: Best Christmas Movies of the Past Decade

The post Christmas 2022 Netflix Recommendations appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

Side By Side

Citizen Kane is the story of Charles Foster Kane, a poor child adopted into a rich but loveless family, he achieves great wealth and becomes a titan of the age before inevitably falling into unhappiness – his huge wealth, priceless treasures and pleasure palace providing no contentment. The film is directed by, written by and stars Orson Wells, 25 years old at the time, which I add just to make everyone older than 25 who hasn’t made arguably the greatest film in existence feel sad.

Paddington 2 is the sequel to Paddington, Paddington being a bear from Peru who is adopted by the Brown family. Paddington is the ursine embodiment of kindness, decency and friendship and while occasionally getting into scrapes is a wonderful addition to the Brown family. In Paddington 2 the bear is wrongly imprisoned for stealing a book, the real culprit being a devious actor played by Hugh Grant (I personally think Grant should have played himself instead of the wonderfully named Phoenix Buchanan). Paddington is played by Ben Whishaw and directed by Paul King, previously best known for having directed The Mighty Boosh.

To compare these films seems a somewhat ridiculous task but Citizen Kane is considered an incredibly original and inventive film and is perhaps now the default depiction of the idea that “money doesn’t bring you happiness”. Paddington 2 is a family film that is very funny and very sweet and both Paddington films have been praised for their ideas of acceptance, the importance of family and friendship and doing the right thing.

What The Critics Said

Looking at the reviews collected from Rotten Tomatoes on each of these films and quite frankly some of these reviews are masterpieces in their own right –

Paddington 2 :

“The thing about the Paddington movies is that they are perfect” – Karen Han, Polygon

“Everything that a kids’ movie should be: sweet and adorable and kind, and adults can enjoy it too” – Alonso Duralde, What The Flick

“‘Paddington 2′ is ‘The Godfather Part II’ of Peruvian bear movies, a sequel that surpasses the superb original“. Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal (presumably after writing this Morgenstern walked off into the sunset knowing he would never write anything better).

Citizen Kane (all of these are of the time of the original release):

“It is daring, different, thrilling and revolutionary, a power play of startling brilliance” – Harold V Cohen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Welles is the most exciting thing that’s happened since sound” – Josephine O’Neill, Daily Telegraph (Australia), we would have to assume O’Neill is referring to the still relatively recent addition of sound of movies, rather than the auditory phenomenon that has existed for billions of years.

“Welles has shown Hollywood how to make movies” – Gilbert Seldes, Esquire Magazine

Of the now infamous of Mae Tinee – “You’ve heard a lot about this picture and I see from the ads that some experts think it “the greatest movie ever made”. I don’t” – Mae Tinee, Chicago Tribune.

Rotten Tomatoes has recently gone through a process of adding old reviews for classic and historic films and Citizen Kane is not the only film to have its rating adjusted in this process.

The Greatest Film Ever Made

As pointless an exercise in trying to work out what is the greatest film ever made the idea of combining critic reviews is as good a method as any but many an eyebrow was raised at the suggestion Paddington 2 was the superior film. Part of this is because Paddington 2 is a film about a talking bear, it’s a family film, or as some would see it, it’s for children. To make a film that would genuinely entertain a whole family is no easy feat and Paddington 2 shouldn’t be looked down upon in that that is its goal.

Brett Goldstein’s brilliant podcast Films To Be Buried With poses a question – what is objectively the greatest film ever made, not your favourite, the greatest. Early on in the podcast, a good explanation was given to perhaps what this meant: if aliens came to Earth with no knowledge of cinema, what film would you show them to exemplify cinema? Citizen Kane could well be the film that would be chosen for such a prestigious task but that does not mean it is the most entertaining, the most moving, the funniest or most exciting. I will perhaps give the final word to Bob Fredericks of the Miami Herald who reviewed Citizen Kane at the time of its release, “I would say it is a great picture but… It is one of those things, like the Pyramids, which are impressive and definitely interesting to have seen, but one can have more fun than looking at the Pyramids.“

Also Read: 30 Years On: The Godfather (Part 3)

The post Rotten Tomatoes: Citizen Kane & Paddington 2 Fight For The Top Spot appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.