It’s a Wonderful Film!

We’ve reached the end of our 12 Days of Christmas Films, and I cannot think of a better film to round off our festive series. It’s a special kind of Continue reading →

Snow! Snow! Snow! Snow! (White Christmas.)

We have a saying in our family: ‘Gran friendly’, used to describe inoffensive methods of entertainment which the whole family can enjoy together. This means something other than Rammstein on Continue reading →

Lenny Henry: The British Robin Williams

I apologise in advance for what will be one of the most obscure posts you will ever read on this site. As we count down to Christmas with some of Continue reading →

Put a little Bill Murray in your heart

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is the perfect Christmas story. It takes place over Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, features the unlikely redemption and emotional rebirth of its protagonist, and Continue reading →

They tell me you got the cripple from New York in there. He mention Keyser Soze? Or Santa?

Our toddler dictates that we watch a lot of Disney. The animation of which is all bright colours and rounded edges. It’s inoffensive on the eye, even at the ridiculous Continue reading →

Santa Claus: The Movie (based on a true story)

This month is the last December we’ll get with our daughter before we have to introduce her to the web of lies that is Father Christmas. This troubles me. I Continue reading →

Santa Claus is coming to town. To kidnap your children.

It had to happen at some point. I’m Failed Critics’ resident film snob and so far in this series I have written about two safe, mainstream Christmas films that sit Continue reading →

Christmas, Arnie style.

It started innocently enough. We sacked off Sky Movies after a couple of months, the way most people tend to. But, for some reason, when we phoned to cancel, they Continue reading →

Clark Griswold: The Last True Family Man

Another day, another film written by John Hughes. I didn’t mean for my unadulterated love of the man to dominate my contributions to the 12 Days of Christmas Films. In fact, this Continue reading →

Yes, I like Love Actually. Do you want to take this outside?

A couple of months back my twitter timeline exploded with people dismayed to find themselves watching Love Actually. From what I could tell, they weren’t being held against their will. Continue reading →