Most Overrated Christmas Films

[SuperBacon]

4 minutes ago, gmoney said:

Oh yeah, cool, lets have that incredibly tedious chat. 

Oh, absolutely agreed. We could have the chat instead about 2 being better than 1? 

[Keith Houchen]

8 minutes ago, gmoney said:

Oh yeah, cool, lets have that incredibly tedious chat. 

You’re new here, aren’t you. 

[deathrey]

I was quite late in watching The Elf but had heard lots of people say how brilliant it was.  I was throughly disappointed after watching it and thought 'is that it?' I didn't and dont get the fuss at all. Awful film.

Edited December 6, 2022 by deathrey

[westlondonmist]

3 hours ago, deathrey said:

I was quite late in whaling The Elf but had heard lots of people say how brilliant it was.  I wad throughly disappointed after watching it and thought 'is that it?' I didn't and dont get the fuss at all. Awful film.

I saw for the first time a couple of years ago and just was just confused. It's okay, not a bad movie but nothing special. 

Christmas Vacation has actually grown on me over the years, the storyline is a bit shit but has a couple of decent performances. 

I personally don't mind a cheesy shit Christmas film, as long as it doesn't pretend it's anything other than cheap cheesy shite. 

I love variations of a Christmas Carol, Muppets is the best but Mickey and Blackadder both have good versions or even Scrooged. 

 

[The Gaffer]

21 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Santa Claus the Movie. Lot of people I know love it, I hated it as a kid, still hate it now.

Babe 2: Pig in the City levels of sinisterness for me. 

We had it on VHS when I was really young, so it's one of those bizarre movies I ended up watching loads when I was 5-6 despite never really enjoying it. 

I swiped it last week to watch again with the missus to see how my memory of it worked itself out and it's still unnerving once it kicks into present day and the whole Santa's backstory thing is out of the way.

It's one of those kids films there's just something so blood curdling and unfriendly about, like the entire conception and production of it was just lorded over by spiteful, drunk men. 

[Chris B]

I've got a fondness for a few Christmas movies but, outside of horror, there aren't many good ones that are specifically Christmas movies - most are just versions of A Christmas Carol. 

One brand new one that's deeply okay is Violent Night, in cinemas now. Great concept (Bad Santa meets Die Hard) and David Harbour knows exactly what he's doing in the lead (and a few people seem to have enjoyed him saying 'Naughty' before killing someone with a sledgehammer), but everything else in the film is crap. The main family in it could have worked if they were funny, but it's paint-by-numbers. It's also unsure if it wants to be more Die Hard or a horror version of Home Alone. Some of the gore is a bit over-the-top for the film that it is - it's just missing the tone it's aiming for.

That said... I enjoyed it. Harbour is having a blast and that's pretty infectious. But it's going to be treated as a cult classic that it doesn't deserve to be. I reckon there'll be a much better sequel along in a year or two, with a bigger budget.

Edited December 7, 2022 by Chris B

[SpiritOfTheForest]

My family has never been one for Christmas films so I never saw many growing up and still have never bothered as an adult. That said, I did really enjoy The Santa Clause (the one with Tim Allen). I put it down to mainly nostalgic reasons but I gave it another watch a couple of years ago and still found it a fun watch. There are some adult jokes over there too which went right over my head as a kid. 

[air_raid]

The worst thing about Love Actually - you know, apart from creepy Mark, fat-shaming and some dialogue that's written specifically for cheap laughs and is pretty detached from how real people talk  - is that Hugh Grant's awkward Prime Minister that we're supposed to find sympathetic, charming and likeable, is a Tory.

[SuperBacon]

32 minutes ago, air_raid said:

is a Tory.

Is he? I always thought that it was loosely riffing on Tony Blair, being a "young, hip, cool" PM and therefore assumed he was a Labour MP. Is it said? 

I'm not watching it again to find out. 

 

[HarmonicGenerator]

3 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Is he? I always thought that it was loosely riffing on Tony Blair, being a "young, hip, cool" PM and therefore assumed he was a Labour MP. Is it said? 

I'm not watching it again to find out. 

 

If memory serves, he's got a photo of Thatcher on his wall and calls her a "saucy minx". Does that count as evidence?

[gmoney]

Blair probably did as well though. Brown was a big fan too, so perfectly plausible he's supposed to be New Labour. 

[Fatty Facesitter]

I always got the impression it was ambiguous - i.e the 'real' parties don't exist within this particular sphere, in the same way that I don't think it was directly implied on programmes like The Thick of It.

...So he's clearly a Liberal Democrat.

[westlondonmist]

13 minutes ago, Fatty Facesitter said:

I always got the impression it was ambiguous - i.e the 'real' parties don't exist within this particular sphere, in the same way that I don't think it was directly implied on programmes like The Thick of It.

...So he's clearly a Liberal Democrat.

Or Jim Hackett

[Carbomb]

1 minute ago, westlondonmist said:

Or Jim Hackett

The way Hacker was portrayed, it was fairly clear he was a Tory.

[Tommy!]

On 12/6/2022 at 12:45 PM, Hannibal Scorch said:

It’s a Wonderful Life,. Main character is a right drip, just lets everyone take the piss out of him and he lets them. Don’t get the love for it at all. 

Sounds like right wing tory talk to me, he's a picture boy socialist who puts the overall good of his society above himself and fights tooth and nail against larger, stronger and richer potter. 

No one makes him stay, he chooses to. No one makes him give out his money to keep the building and loan going, he chooses too. He also stands up to the town more than once to make sure they are collectively stronger. 

Edited December 7, 2022 by Tommy!