2023: Year In Review

My final blog for the year and yes, it's a look back at some of the shows I've watched or have started watching to make this list. Here goes.

Doctor Who (BBC1/Disney+): The show really came back swinging triumphantly for its 60th as David Tennant played the 14th Doctor before Ncuti Gatwa debuted as the 15th Doctor. Both utterly sublime.

The Last Of Us (HBO): Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay brought the popular game series to life with their widely acclaimed portrayals of Joel and Ellie. HBO also bagged themselves another successful genre series.

Only Murders In The Building (Hulu/Disney+): The third season gave us both Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep in sizeable roles and certainly put Charles, Oliver and Mabel through the motions.

And Just Like That (Max): This show still has a way to go but the second season was mostly an improvement on its divisive first run. Less of Che though, the better.

Poker Face (Peacock): Natasha Lyonne's streaming renaissance continued with this delightful Columbo inspired piece. A fun but flawed protagonist and cool guest stars made this worth watching.

Doom Patrol (Max): The final six episodes took too long to finally be released but the wait was worth. Especially for the Immortimas extravaganza to boot.

The Bear (FX/Hulu): I binge watched two seasons of this highly addictive but seriously stressful show and loved every minute of it. Jeremy Allen White is a revelation.

Yellowjackets (Showtime/Paramount+): Again, I binged two seasons of this crazy show, following the events of a high school soccer team that barely survived nineteen months in the Wilderness. 

American Horror Story: Delicate (FX): The show might be losing the general audience but who would've thought that Kim Kardashian's Siobhan Corbyn would be a surprisingly entertaining character?

Superman And Lois (CW): The third season sensitively tackled a cancer storyline for Lois while Superman finally faced up to Lex Luthor and Doomsday. 

Loki (Disney+): Season 2 offered a strong conclusion to the god of mischief while also providing the MCU with the means not to continue with Kang. 

Chucky (SyFy/USA): The writers strike might have forced the third season into going the split season route but fun was had with Chucky in the White House and the camp absurdity of Tiffany's trial.

Fellow Travelers (Showtime/Paramount+): A McCarthy era led miniseries with Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey and some of the sexiest sex scenes between two men. Of course this is on the list.

Queen Charlotte (Netflix): This prequel series to Bridgerton turned out to be so fantastic, that I hope it gets a second run. Netflix struck gold with that show

Archie (ITVX): A four part miniseries examining the life of Cary Grant with a brilliant performance from Jason Isaacs as the iconic movie star.

Nolly (ITVX): I knew little of former Crossroads actor Noelle Gordon but Helena Bonham-Carter gave a terrific performance from a great miniseries by Russell T. Davies.

Juice (BBC3): Marwan Rizwan's quirky comedy which included his own family and the always hunky Russell Tovey was one of the better comedy offerings this year.

What If (Disney+): Season 2 of what was my least favourite MCU show (Secret Invasion now has that honour) really managed to up it's game at the eleventh hour. Still though, this show really wants Captain Carter front and centre.

EastEnders (BBC1): The only soap to make this list and yes, it's because of the Six storyline. That storyline really breathed life into the show.

Big Brother UK (ITV2): A genuine return to form from a much missed reality series that can still work in today's environment. I was happy that ITV2 got this right.

Abbott Elementary (ABC): I didn't stick with this as I should've but what I did watch, I enjoyed so I might catch up with it again in the new year.

Ghosts (BBC1): After five series and a US version (which is decent enough), this show bowed out during Christmas. It'll be missed but at least it was smart enough not to outstay it's welcome.

My Adventures With Superman (Max): The anime style took some getting used to but this turned out to be a charming take on the ever iconic DC hero.

A Ghost Story For Christmas (BBC2): Kit Harrington and Freddie Fox delivered in the spooky Lot 249. 

Honourable mentions of course go to other DC shows such as The Flash, Titans and Harley Quinn. Love And Death gave Elizabeth Olsen a real life killer role while David Tennant and Michael Sheen also came back for seconds with Good Omens. The Idol had the perfect set up for a biting commentary for the music industry but fumbled the bag while Succession delivered a final season that was enjoyed. Anime fans also got a win with Netflix's adaptation of One Piece and Mike Flanagan scared up another hit with The Fall Of The House Of Usher. I also binge watched the likes of The Tourist and Wilderness and would consider both American Horror Stories, Vanishing Act and So Help Me Todd as guilty pleasures. 

Now let's see what 2024 has to offer, shall we?

DCU Blog - December 2023 Edition: Aquaman 2 numbers, New Pics For Joker sequel and Farewell DCEU

My final DC blog for 2023 and it's case of closing the past while signalling the future.

The DC Extended Universe has ended and now the DCU and the Elseworlds are the order of the day. Let's go over things shall we?

As of now, Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom has made over 138 million in the box office so far, which isn't great but maybe it breaks even.

However, it's clear as day that Jason Momoa will no longer play the Atlantean hero but is he play Lobo? He didn't exactly say no upon being asked recently. He didn't say yes either. 

The Flash made Barack Obama's list of favourite movies for 2023, so that's pretty good.

Tim Burton recently revealed his abandoned Catwoman spin off movie would've been in black and white with Selina Kyle in a small town. 

Sean Gunn has been cast as Maxwell Lord for the DCU, making this his third role as he'll also be both Weasel and G.I. Robot for Creature Commandos.

Supergirl will appear in Superman: Legacy before we see her fly solo in Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow. Expect casting soon as well as a director confirmed for the latter movie.

Superman: Legacy will begin filming in March 2024 but we won't see a costume before filming begins.

On Christmas Day, director Todd Phillips released new pics of Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga as Joker and Harley Quinn from Joker: Folie A Deux.

The Batman - Part II will apparently begin filming in August 2024. Barry Keoghan has teased returning as Joker but no characters have been confirmed for the sequel yet.

Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths Part 1 will be released from January 9th. It'll be a three part animated movie event.

James Gunn has confirmed that Matt Reeves show focusing on Arkham Asylum will actually be set in the DC Universe instead of his Batman Elseworlds.

Various spoilers leaked for Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, including a reveal for Poison Ivy.

Peacemaker Season 2 is currently being written by James Gunn and will address changes in the DC Universe.

CCXP had some promotion for upcoming anime Series, Suicide Squad Isekai, which will be released in 2024. Characters include Harley Quinn, Joker, Deadshot, Clayface, Amanda Waller, Peacemaker and King Shark.

Okay, now that the DC Extended Universe has ended, it's time to do my final ranking for this franchise. Here goes from best to worst ....

1: Wonder Woman (2017)

2: The Flash (2023)

3: Justice League/Zack Snyder's Justice League (2017/2021)

4: Shazam! (2019)

5: Aquaman (2018)

6: Blue Beetle (2023)

7: Peacemaker - Season 1 (2022)

8: The Suicide Squad (2021)

9: Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

10: Shazam! Fury Of The Gods (2023)

11: Birds Of Prey (2020)

12: Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom (2023)

13: Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016)

14: Man Of Steel (2013)

15: Suicide Squad (2016)

16: Black Adam (2022)

The end to an interesting but often divisive franchise. The DC Extended Universe was never boring but boy, does the DC Universe have a lot it needs to get right from the word go. Can it do it? Let's hope so.

My Review of Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child Of Fire (2023)

 

Written by Zack Snyder And Kurt Johnstad And Shay Hatton

Directed by Zack Snyder

Sindri (re warship): "What do you think they want?"

Kora: "Everything."

I was going to avoid this if I'm being honest but boredom and curiosity got the better/worst of me and I decided to watch this during the weekend before Christmas Day. I'm going to be honest, it's a mixed bag to what both Netflix and Zack Snyder are hoping will be an expansive universe.

If you didn't know this movie was originally Zack Snyder's pitch for a Star Wars movie, don't worry, it becomes pretty clear as it goes along. No, really, there's no mistaking what this originally could've been. 

Our protagonist of the piece is a highly trained and deadly former soldier turned farmer named Kora (Sofia Boutella) who just wants a normal life. Sadly for her, peace isn't an option. On the independent moon named Veldt where Kora had been living a quieter life, war has come in the shape of Admiral Atticus Noble (Ed Skrein), acting on the behest of the barely seen Balisarius (Fra Free).

In the first few minutes, Noble basically bullies the people of Veldt into submission and for their grain. When some soldiers try to attack a young woman named Sam, Kora sees this as a reason to fight back against the tyranny of the Motherworld but for that, she needed an army and the rest of the movie's focus is about that.

There's Gunnar (Michiel Huisman), a local farmer who follows Kora like a love sick teenager and might be the least interesting person in this movie. Fortunately other teammates did include charming thief Kai (Charlie Hunnam), a skilled swordswoman named Nemesis (Doona Bae), secret prince Tarak (Staz Nair) and a brother and sistet duo named Darrian (Ray Fisher) and Devra Bloodaxe (Cleopatra Coleman). However it's only Darrian along with Millius (E. Duffy) who actually sign up to Kora's dangerous mission.

Anyways keeping it swift, this was the first part of a two part saga, so as the film hurtled towards it's final act, we had flashbacks filling in Kora's history with Balisarius, a betrayal within the group dynamic, a surprise death for a character who I thought would have a bigger role. Oh and that last scene where Balisarius gave Noble a reason to take him seriously.

- Other noteworthy characters included a robot named Jimmy (Anthony Hopkins), a spider woman named Harmada (Jena Malone) grieving her losses and the Princess Issa (Stella Grace Fitzgerald) who Kora protected in flashbacks.

- I really didn't like that the only gay character we got in this movie was one that tried to assault Gunnar. Fortunately Millius might be better LGBT rep in the sequel being a non binary character.

- Noble was getting off on that tentacle thing attaching itself to him or being healed by it.

- There's a three hour version of this movie that will be released by Netflix next year. Same with the sequel.

- The sequel Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver will be released from April 19th 2024.

- Chronology: Kora's home world was destroyed when she was nine and she taken in by Balisarius. She's in her thirties and her real name is Arthelais.

Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child Of Fire was actually okay enough as a movie. It's not without it's flaws - chopping editing so bits feel missing/incomplete, annoying overuse of slow motion and paper thin baddies. However, it did have some decent enough visuals, some of the aliens looked cool and Kora's a decent enough protagonist. I might watch the sequel.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Saltburn (2023)

 

Written And Directed by Emerald Fennell

Oliver: "I wasn't in love with him. I know everybody thought I was but I wasn't. I loved him of course. It was impossible not to love Felix. And that was part of the problem."

Getting out of the festive phase and into some award contenders, I got around to watching this intriguing piece last night. Some seem to adore this movie, others not so much. I'm kind of somewhere in the middle with this one.

As a filmmaker, Emerald Fennell certainly wants to push boundaries and her previous effort, Promising Young Woman definitely evoked it's own controversy three years ago. This film definitely tried to push the edge but a part of me also thought it was slightly holding back too in a way.

The movie has Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick, a middle class genius struggling to forge connections at Oxford until he happened to get very friendly with popular posh boy Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). Actually scratch "friendly" and just say "full on obsessed" because that's exactly how Oliver became towards Felix in a relatively short space of time.

It's not long before personal tragedy gets Oliver an invite at Felix's home, the Saltburn manor and even in less time Oliver was making an impression on Felix's family. Notably cousin Farleigh (Archie Madekwe) as the latter was openly hostile to Oliver, trying to humiliate him at every turn before Oliver managed to get Farleigh ousted from the manor.

Oliver's trail of destruction was pretty fascinating to watch, especially following Felix quickly realising that his new friend lied about his family situation. With Oliver's obsession intensified, it didn't exactly end well for Felix and one by one, the remaining Catton family members were taken out of the equation.

Both Felix's sister Venetia (Alison Oliver) and father James (Richard E. Grant) cottoned on too late to Oliver destroying the family. However it was Felix's mother, Elspeth (Rosamund Pike) who had become too enamoured with Oliver with disastrous results. Let's just say the movie ended with Oliver getting rewarded for eating the rich.

- There's a fun appearance from Carey Mulligan as Elspeth's friend, Pamela, who none of the Cattons actually liked.

- The Brideshead Revisited and Maurice influences are rather deliberate as both books influenced Fennell's writing for the movie.

- Standout music: Of course it's going to Sophie Ellis-Baxter's Murder On The Dancefloor. For the most obvious reasons.

- Chronology: The movie started in 2006 with the majority of it then moving into summer 2007.

Saltburn might be one of the more interesting movies I've watched this year. In terms of performance, Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike and Carey Mulligan (brief as the latter was) stood out the most, though no one slouched here. It's a film that wants to be provocative and daring and in some ways, it does achieve that but at the same time, you definitely think they could've pushed it a bit further as well. Saying that I did this little bit of crazy decadence nonetheless.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Doctor Who: "The Church On Ruby Road"

 

Written by Russell T. Davies

Directed by Mark Tonderai

The Doctor: "Who sees a ladder and just hops on? A ladder in the sky and you thought, 'yeah, I'll give that a go, babes.'"

Ruby: "They've got the baby."

After stealing the last ten minutes of The Giggle, it was time to see what Ncuti Gatwa could do with a whole episode as the Doctor and we're off to a breezy but engaging start here.

It's been six years since our last Christmas special where Peter Capaldi regenerated into Jodie Whittaker, so perhaps it's fitting that our new Doctor made his proper debut at this time of year. I've missed this show being on at Christmas and this felt like a welcome return home.

The episode with the new Doctor narrating a story about a baby girl being left at the Church On Ruby Road in the snow by a hooded figure. Nineteen years the girl in question - Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) has contacted Davina McCall to help her find her biological family. Bizarrely enough, Ruby's lineage can't be traced.

Less funny however for Ruby would be the run of bad luck that's befallen her for the last few weeks and her misfortunes have also proven fatal for Davina McCall as well. What's causing them? Oh you know, just some Goblins who have a thing for eating babies. 

What brought Ruby Sunday and the Doctor together was the two of them trying to save the former's foster sister, Lulubelle from being eaten by the Goblin King. Of course there was also an impromptu musical number that's really catchy but overall, saving Lulubelle ended up having not so unforseen consequences for Ruby.

At the start of this episode, we saw Ruby's family dynamic. She's a foundling that was adopted by her foster mother, Carla (Michelle Greenidge) and the two of them along with Carla's own mother, Cherry (Angela Winter) had a wonderful dynamic. I forgot how well RTD wrote family dynamics and why they were such a lynchpin to his success with the show. This episode served as a great reminder.

Carla went from being the most loving mother to someone more cold and intolerant of children when the Goblins time travelled to take Ruby instead. While I do think the way the Doctor defeated the Goblins was a bit hastily done, this episode also solidified that this era won't be saying away from the fantasy side of things. Even magic seems to be on the table if a certain conversation between the Doctor and Ruby was anything to go by.

As for the rest of the episode - who the hell is Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson)? At first I was going to assume she was just a grouchy neighbour but as the episode progressed her interactions with both the Doctor and Ruby seemed peculiar. Oh and she knows what a TARDIS was. Who is she? I'm thinking someone new than old for now.

- Other characters who popped up included Ruby's bandmates, notably Trudy (Mary Malone), another neighbour named Abdul and a policeman who wants to marry his girlfriend. Ruby's a keyboard player in the band.

- A trailer for Series 14/Season 1 revealed various bits but notably mentioned the show returning in May 2024.

- Along with a new sonic screwdriver, the Doctor has intelligence gloves and mavity is still a thing. As for his long hot summer with Houdini, I hope we see that one day.

- There's a novelisation of this episode being released next month.

- Standout music: Nice use of Carol Of The Bells, mostly during the 2004 flashbacks. Oh and of course, The Goblin King with added vocals from the Doctor and Ruby. Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson can hold a tune. 

- Chronology: Christmas Eve 2004 in flashbacks as well as December 2023 leading up to Christmas Eve of the same year.

I loved The Church On Ruby Road. A seemingly light and breezy way to introduce the Doctor and Ruby but underneath it all, it had so much more going on. The foundling connection between our protagonists, the use of the fantasy and supernatural within the show's format, Ruby's bad luck and again, who the hell is Mrs Flood? May 2024 can't come fast enough.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Scrooged (1988)

 

Written by Mitch Glazer And Michael O'Donoghue

Directed by Richard Donner

James (re Frank): "My brother, the King of Christmas."

It's Christmas Eve so one more movie based on A Christmas Carol should be fine to review and why not this one, yeah? It's been a long time since I've watched this one and I thought today would be a good day to talk about it.

Anyways this is a contemporary take on the Charles Dickens classic with Bill Murray playing the Scrooge of the piece. He's a mean spirited television executive named Frank Cross who has his employees either terrified or exhausted by him.

Because of this, it's not long before Frank gets a visit from three different ghosts while at the same time having to deal with his boss Preston Rhinelander (Robert Mitchum) and the somewhat annoying Brice Cummings (John Glover). The latter being there to assist with a broadcast version of A Christmas Carol, funnily enough.

Getting to the ghosts of the piece, we had the Ghost of Christmas Past being a smart mouth taxi driver (David Johansen) going through Frank's past as a child as well as his ex-girlfriend, Claire Phillips (Karan Allen) with the latter clearly being the one that got away from Frank. Claire's selflessness being a not subtle contrast to Frank as well.

Then there was the Ghost of Christmas Present, a manic violent fairy played with aplomb by Carol Kane. I enjoyed her the most as she showed Frank how crap he put his assistant Grace (Alfre Woodard) through. Frank also saw the happier life of his brother, James (John Murray) to boot.

Then there's a scary Grin Reaper for the last bit, the possibility of death and boom, Frank amended his ways and rehired poor Eliot (Bobcat Goldthwait) before going on a massive apology tour. I mean, it is  A Christmas Carol so it's par for the course really.

- All of Bill Murray's brothers appeared in this movie and Lee Majors even did a spoof of The Six Million Dollar Man at the start of the movie.

- Bill Murray turned down several roles to do this movie and even then, it took persuading to get him on board. He also add libbed a lot.

- Standout music: Bill Murray's Put A Little Love In Your Heart. 

- Chronology: 1988 New York, where the majority of the movie was filmed.

Scrooged would definitely be up there as one of the best variations of A Christmas Carol. It's got a great lead performance from Bill Murray, strong supporting roles and has a lot of fun playing around with the source material. It's a lot of fun to watch during Christmas.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom (2023)

 

Written by James Wan And David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick And Jason Momoa And Thomas Pa'a Sibbett

Directed by James Wan

Aquaman: "Four years ago I was basically unemployed, a wanderer with no home. But now I'm a husband and a father and I wouldn't have it any other way. Oh yeah, I finally got a job. I'm the King of Atlantis."

And so it ends. It's been a very volatile ten years. Fifteen movies and one TV series and one director's cut later, we've gotten to the finishing line for the DC Extended Universe. It's been a hell of a time.

In terms of sequels, this was something that took way too long to get here and now that it's here, was the wait worth it? I don't want to say "not really" but I can't entirely say "yes" either. Overall, this happened to be a sequel that's a sum of its parts.

Four years has passed since the events of the first movie. Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) is still Aquaman and the King of Atlantis, though he finds the day to day council meetings extremely boring. On top of that, he married Mera (Amber Heard) and has become a father, the latter thing bringing him much joy and bonding as Junior started to develop his own powers.

Of course while fatherhood played it's role and spanned three generations, there are other themes that have a bigger prominence on display. Notably, the theme of the planet getting too hot. Yes, this movie has an environmental theme and it's pretty choppy in terms of how it's handled.

The cause of the extreme heating of course happened to be because of Black Manta/David Kane (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). Since we've last seen him, he's gotten even more obsessed with destroying Aquaman and his team up with Dr Stephen Shin (Randall Park) as well as a pirate with second in command Stingray (Jani Zhao) and there's nothing he won't do to get his revenge.

This included uncovering the Lost Kingdom otherwise known as Nekrus and getting a hold of the Black Trident. The Trident which showed a lot of scary but noticeably that King Atlan (Vincent Regan) went to war and eventually imprisoned Nekrus as well as his tyrant brother, Kordax (Pilou Asbaek), the latter of whom spending most of the movie further corrupting Manta.

Anyways Mamta going all batshit crazy, stealing orichalcum to heat up the planet while badly injuring Mera did lead to Arthur having to team up with Orm (Patrick Wilson) and lets just say that the Arthur and Orm was the biggest strength of the movie.

As a pairing, both Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson played off each other very well. There's plenty of comedy as Arthur and Orm as well as the pair of them going over their differences, connecting as brothers and putting a stop to both Black Manta and Kordax.

In terms of villains, I hate to admit it but Manta who I liked better in the first movie felt a bit one dimensional here as did Kordax. Kordax's relationship with Atlan paralleled Arthur and Orm but wasn't anywhere near as compelling. Even Orm being briefly tempted to revert to his former ways before choosing redemption was better handled.

As for the rest of the main characters, Mera was largely sidelined and both Atlanna (Nicole Kidman) and Thomas Curry (Temuera Morrison) hadn't a lot to do. There are slightly larger roles for Neureus (Dolph Lundgren), the Brine King (John Rhys-Davies) and Topo the Octopus. Even Shin and Storm the Seahorse have bigger roles than Mera in this one and no, Arthur Jr doesn't get killed off. It's a family friendly comic book movie after all.

- Vulko died off screen between movies while Karshon (Indya Moore) seemed to be in name only as a character.

- There's an amusing cameo from Martin Short as Kingfish, the ruler of the Sunken Citadel, a pirate haven.

- A mid credit scene had Orm on land enjoying a burger with a cockroach inside it. 

- Jason Momoa co-writing this certainly explained why more of his own real life personality seeped into his performance more than usual.

- Standout music: Deep End by X Ambassadors stood out the most as well as the use of Born To Be Wild.

- Chronology: Four years from the events of the first movie with Arthur revealing Atlantis to the surface world at the end of the movie.

Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom doesn't necessarily end the DCEU on a damp squib but it's hardly the high note it should've gone out on. It's not a bad sequel and might end up faring marginally better than Wonder Woman 1984 and Shazam! Fury Of The Gods but unlikely by much. Anyways, the DCEU is done and lets hope the DCU will fare better.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Meet Me In St. Louis (1944)

 

Written by Irving Brecher And Fred F. Finklehoffe

Directed by Vincent Minnelli

Esther: "I can't believe it. Right here where we live - right here in St. Luis.'

To my shame, this is a movie that up until very recently I've never sat all the way through. Of course in the spirit of this review, that's something I've now rectified and now I can see why this movie has been so highly regarded.

For a movie that falls under the Christmas banner, it's only in the final act do we get the festivity itself. The movie itself started at the height of summer and led into the autumn, focusing on the Smith family in particular with an emphasis placed on daughter, Esther (Judy Garland).

Esther had matchmaking in mind, being a tad too eager to get her sister, Rose (Lucille Bremmer) engaged as the latter herself was keen on getting hitched to Warren Sheffield (Robert Sully). Esther herself also has a beau in next door neighbour, John Truett (Tom Drake), which formed the central romance of the movie.

Another big factor into the movie was the Smith family patriarch Alonzo (Leon Ames) wanting to relocate the family to New York. This was something none of the family wanted and something that caused youngest daughter Tootie (Margaret O'Brien) to lash out and vent her anger on a snowman of all things.

By the end of this movie, Christmas had rolled in, relationships had mended and the Smith family decided not to take a bite out of the Big Apple after all. Oh and Esther only went and created a Christmas classic of her own with a certain song popularised in this particular movie.

- Director Vincent Minnelli ended up marrying Judy Garland after making this movie.

- This film's so good, it even has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

- Standout music: The Trolley Song, Meet Me In St. Louis, Louis and of course, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.

- Chronology: 1903 St Louis, leading up to Christmas of course.

Meet Me In St. Louis is an utter joy of a movie. It's truly stood the test of time with a sublime lead performance from Judy Garland as well as some of the best musical numbers to boot. Finally having seen it fully, it's undeniably brilliant.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Home Sweet Home Alone (2021)

Written by Mikey Day And Streeter Seidell

Directed by Dan Mazer

Hunter: "Ugh, this is garbage.  I don't why they're always trying to remake the classics. Never as good as the originals."

And my final review for now in this franchise and it got a bit of an upgrade. Instead of straight to television, the sixth installment in the franchise to get the cushy Disney+ release. Does that mean a uptick in quality?

Debatably, not entirely. This does undeniably still feel like a movie not strong enough for theatres but it's actually a bit better than the previous two movies. Not by a huge margin. Oh and the general idea gets a bit of a mix up, so points there.

Anyways the kid in question is a British child named Max Mercer (Archie Yates) who gets left home alone in his very big house with his mostly German speaking Alexa substitute as his family head to Tokyo and leave him behind. They're not very well developed with his mother, Carol (Aisling Bea) somewhat wasted in the role. It's a thankless role tbh.

As for the thieves in question, this was where I think the movie did work. This time around, it was another married couple named Jeff (Rob Delaney) and Pam McKenzie (Ellie Kemper). They're about to lose their home and in order to save it, they need to sell an ugly boy doll to raise the cash. Except the doll's gone missing.

The mix up being that Jeff and Pam falsely assume that Max has stolen the doll and Max falsely assuming that Jeff and Pam want to sell him. From there on in, Max inflicted multiple amounts of damage to both Jeff and Pam before both sides realise their mistake and try to help one another one.

Overall, the strength of this one was trying in vain to mix it up in terms of the usual dynamics between the kid and the burglars. I appreciated that and it felt more like it was part of the original duology than the last three. Even Buzz (Devin Ratray) has a small part as a police officer to add to the connectivity.

- I did laugh at Hunter's comment at the very awful Angels With Filthy Souls remake on the TV during one scene.

- Standout music: (There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays by Robert Goulet.

- The movie implied that Kevin has gone into Home Security and likes to mess with Buzz during the Holidays.

- Chronology: Christmas 2021, which was when the film was released around on Disney+.

Home Sweet Home Alone was actually pretty decent. Not amazing but not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I still think if this franchise is going to regain momentum, a legacy sequel needs to be the next thing it does.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Home Alone: The Holiday Heist (2012)

 

Written by Aaron Ginsburg And Wade McIntyre

Directed by Peter Hewitt

Hughes: "I don't want to upset some ghost gangster."

Sinclair: "Look, we're going in, ghost or no ghost!"

Keeping with the non theatrical releases of this franchise with diminishing returns, this fifth installment might be better than the fourth's misguoded attempts to have it's cake and eat it, but it's still marred with it's own problems going forward.

On the plus side, there's no attempt to recast/reboot the McCallisters and instead it's a new family (like the third installment) that get the focus. Yup, due to work, the Baxter family swap California for Maine much to the disdain of children Alexis (Jodelle Ferland) and Finn (Christian Martin).

These kids really don't like living in a small town or to be away from their gadgets for too long and because of this, their exasperated parents Curtis (Doug Murray) and Catherine (Ellie Harvie) leave them home alone to their own devises. 

From here on in, the usual hijinks ensue with Finn acting up and Alexis wanting to sneak out to the mall. Oh and a bunch of art thieves looking to break into the Baxters home so they could obtain a very valuable painting, which forced the siblings and a snow obsessed kid named Mason (Peter DaCunha) to stop said thieves as well as a distant gamer named Simon (Bill Turnbill).

The thieves in question being led by Sinclair (Malcolm McDowell) and his accomplices Jessica (Debi Mazar) and Hughes (Eddie Steeples). They're an okay bunch of characters but their story takes a bit too long to get going and their defeat was a bit too quickly done with.

Overall some lessons were learned, gifts and rewards were received and being a thief in this franchise continues to result in excruciating pain inflicted upon by children as well as a jail sentence. Overall, that's it really.

- Originally this was going to be called Home Alone 5: Alone In The Dark.

- There's no references to the McCallisters at all, making this relatively unconnected to the original two movies.

- Standout music: Deck The Halls was used here.

- Chronology: 2012 Maine making this the first movie not to be set in Chicago for this franchise.

Home Alone: The Holiday Heist isn't a great movie by any stretch of the imagination but it's harmless enough. Better than the fourth but below the first three movies. It's inoffensive but far from a must see either.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Merry Little Batman (2023)

 

Written by Morgan Evans And Jase Ricci And Mike Roth

Directed by Mike Roth 

The Joker (to Damien): "We set out to only steal Christmas but you, you destroyed it. And now, thanks to you everyone is waking up to no Christmas."

Yeah, I have to admit something here. I very nearly didn't even watch this, let alone review. With Batman being overexpanded in animation, it felt like this one might have been a too childish, even for me. Make no mistake, it's certainly aimed for kids but surprisingly, it's better than expected.

With Damien Wayne soon to make his live action debut in Andy Muschietti's The Brave And The Bold (date tbc), this Christmas themed animated movie offered a somewhat different take on the most recent version of Robin. I mean, it's very different from both the comics and other DC animated films.

Here's a version of Damien (Yonas Kibreab) who's a rather happy and fun eight old year boy. He doesn't want to be Robin, he wants to be the next Batman and he's determined to follow in his semi-retired father, Bruce Wayne's (Luke Wilson) footsteps. Only his father doesn't think he's up to the task as of yet.

Damien's overzealous enthusiasm to prove himself resulted in his safety utility belt being taken off him while getting scolded by his father. As the latter got dragged off to an unknown mission and Alfred Pennyworth (James Cromwell) was directed getting marshmallows, Damien was up to mischief.

Mostly he was defending Wayne Manor from robbers working for the Joker (David Hornsby) but when his utility belt got stolen, Damien caused a lot mayhem in order to try and get it back, while also getting his own Batman suit with a BatDad ai assistant to boot. The Joker took full advantage of that and he had his own helpers in the mix.

With Mr Freeze (Dolph Adomian) distracting Batman, the Joker had the likes of Poison Ivy (Therese McLaughlin), Bane (Chris Sullivan) and the Penguin (Brian George) to aid in his cause to steal Christmas from Gotham and to make a supervillain out of Damien/Little Batman for good measure. To the Joker's credit, he almost succeeded.

However this is a children's movie and good definitely triumphed over bad with Batman and Little Batman defeating the Joker and his friends while also saving Christmas for the citizens of Gotham. Oh and the Joker got at least one little win of his own too in a very sweet and cheesy scene.

- We nearly got Catwoman in this movie but instead there was a tabby cat named Selina who was Damien's pet.

- Talia is a supervillain in this universe but a complicated one. Both Riddler and Scarecrow appeared in flashbacks. Vicki Vale also appeared in the movie.

- The late comic book artist, Carmine Infantico has an audio cameo in the movie.

- There's a spin off series called Bat Family so this universe will be expanded on. Originally this was supposed for HBO Max but now it's Amazon.

- Standout music: The use of certain songs from other Batman properties brought a smile to my face.

- Chronology: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the present year.

Merry Little Batman turned out to be a good case of never judging a book by it's cover. I didn't like the animation and the trailer didn't initially grab me but the actual movie itself turned out to be a delight with various nods to some of my favourite Batman media. It's undeniably aimed for a much younger audience and Damien's tooled to cater to said audience but it worked better than expected. A feel good festive delight that now has me eagerly wanting another live action Christmas Batman movie.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

 

Written by Jerry Juhl

Directed by Brian Henson

Ghost of Christmas Past: "Let us see another Christmas in this place."

Ebenezer: "They were all very much the same. Nothing ever changed."

Ghost of Christmas Past: "You changed."

You can never beat a take on A Christmas Carol and there isn't one as charming as this one from The Muppets. Even the most cold hearted cynic has to moved by this one.

Anyways you've got The Great Gonzo (Dave Goelz) as Charles Dickens. Along with Rizzo the Rat (Steve Whitmire) as himself, the two of them run down this festive tale of one man whose miserly ways caught up with him. The man in question being Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Caine) of course.

Scrooge was a banker who made a lot of money and very little in the way of friends with even his employees fearing him and his neighbours despising him. Of course there was those who saw some good in Ebenezer or at least wanted him to be a better man.

Those people included his lovestruck nephew Fred (Steven Mackintosh) and his most loyal employee, Bob Cratchit as played by Kermit the Frog (Steve Whitmire). Neither of them could initially thaw the iciness of Scrooge so it was for some ghosts to show up and do that instead.

The ghosts being of the Past (Jessica Fox), the Present (Jerry Nelson) and Yet To Come (Don Austin). All of whom raking over Ebenezer's life, showing him the folly of his ways and consequences if he doesn't change for the better. Needless to say like every adaptation that's not Blackadder, you know how this one ends.

Yup, Scrooge changed his ways, got a big turkey and visited the Cratchits and managed to not get the full wrath of Mrs Cratchit played by Miss Piggy (Frank Oz). Overall, lessons were learned and Ebenezer emerged as a better man.

- This movie was the directing debut for Brian Henson and Scrooge was also one of Michael Caine's favourite roles.

- There's a nice dedication to both Jim Henson and Richard Hunt at the end of the movie.

- Standout music: Scrooge, When Love Is Gone, It Feels Like Christmas, One More Sleep Til Christmas and Thankful Heart.

- Chronology: Nineteenth century London during Christmas Eve and Day.

The Muppet Christmas Carol is sweet, heartwarming and one of the best adaptations of the iconic novel. I loved it as a child and as an adult I still love it. It's just fabulous stuff.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Die Hard (1988)

 

Written by Jeb Stuart And Steven E. De Souza

Directed by John McTiernan

Gruber: "Do you really think you have a chance against us, Mr Cowboy?"

McClane: "Yippee-ki-yay motherfucker."

First of all, before I go anywhere in this review, let's get the elephant out of the room first. Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Yes, yes it is a Christmas movie. The setting alone is enough for me in that regard. 

Now for the actual movie itself, it's Christmas Eve and there's a Christmas party at Nakatomi Corporation. That's where Holly Gennaro-McClane (Bonnie Bedelia) works and it just so happens that her company's festive shindig was going to do in a very different direction.

Yep, we've got terrorists led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) storming up the place and they're looking to take a lot of money from the company vault. Unfortunately for Hans and his accomplices (including an obnoxious co-worker of Holly's named Harry Ellis, played by Hart Bochner), there's a massive obstacle named John McClane (Bruce Willis) and he's an almighty pain for any movie villain.

For a lot of people, John McClane will probably be the most definitive role that Bruce Willis has ever played in his lengthy career and rightly so. McClane's an excellent protagonist - a New York police detective, estranged from his wife but determined to protect her and everyone in the building while also having to stay and deal with the FBI and police not always being the most helpful.

There's a wonderful sense of cat and mouse between both McClane and Gruber as the pair do their best to outsmart one another, before Holly's caught in the middle of the duelling pair. Holly's role isn't quite as dynamic as her estranged husband's but it's decent enough.

In terms of other roles, I have to give a shout out to Gruber's second in command, Karl (Alexander Godunov), who did seem almost impossible to get rid of as well as McClane's limo driver Argyle (De'voreaux White) and of course, Al Powell (Reginald VelJohnson), both of whom were clear highlights in the movie.

- Alan Rickman somewhat got typecast because of playing Hans Gruber and nearly turned it down.

- Nice comparison to High Noon during McClane and Gruber's phone call in the movie.

- Standout music: Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, Jingle Bells and Ode To Joy.

- Chronology: Christmas Eve in New York. What more could you want?

Die Hard is a lot of fun and a film that has aged well. It's also a Christmas movie given it's setting and has fantastic performances from both Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman. Not to mention some pretty damn entertaining one liners and action scenes. I'll get to the sequels later down the line.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Timed Pot Shots, Killer Plays And More

Yes, it's been way too long since I've done one of these but here it is, my final TV Jumble Blog for 2023.

Big Brother (UK): After it's axing from Channel 5 back in 2018, five years was enough time for this show to be missed and for ITV2 to swoop in and bring it back. Their first series was nothing short of a triumph, running for six weeks before eventually Jordan Sangha ended up winning. Having a diverse cast, shorter runtime, decent tasks and twists, it was great to see the show recapture the appeal of its earlier years on Channel 4. I really hope ITV2 can maintain that quality going into the next few years.

Chucky: Falling victim to the split season format, due to the actor and writers strike at the time, you can't begrudge the show for giving half a story, can you? Fortunately the first four episodes are actually pretty strong with a multitude of plotlines meshing into another fairly well. You got the title baddie himself at the White House desperate to perform a ritual to save his life while Jake, Devon and Lexy come for him. Then there was the campiness of Tiffany's trial and prison stint while the Collins family are decent new protagonists. You even get some brief updates for Nica, Andy and Caroline, so overall, it's a good first half.

Loki: 2023 has seen MCU fans getting a taster of what DC (specifically DCEU fans) have had to deal with. However along with the final segment of the Guardians Of The Galaxy trilogy, they got a brief reprieve with the secomd season of this show. Now it's not as good as the first season but it was definitely miles ahead of recent MCU Disney+ shows with a rather befitting ending for Loki overall as a character. Not even the controversy surrounding Jonathan Majors as Kang could deter from that.

Only Murders In The Building: Every time this show returns, I wait for the season to end and then binge watch it. I know no other way with this one. Anyways Season 3 gave us the mystery of who killed actor Ben Gilroy (Paul Rudd) and it wasn't his co-star Loretta Durkin (Meryl Streep), though the show enjoyed teasing the idea. Season 3 gave Charles, Oliver and Mabel their own new love interests with mixed results, nearly broke up the podcasting trio, had a mother and son who were way too close for comfort and even gave Howard and his boyfriend more screen time. Will I be back for Season 4? You bet I will.

South Park: It's been a long time since I've really watched this particular show that I'm amazed it's still on the air. Like a lot of long running shows, it's sort of become background television. Anyways, if there was an award for a piece of media where certain groups on the internet spectacularly missed the point, it would be. Yes, Joining The Panderverse had a lot to say (and not very originally) about the overuse of diversity with some too easy jabs at Disney but it was ripping on people who complain about diversity. Even Cartman - the actual embodiment of entitled man babies managed to get that glaringly obvious message in this decent enough special.

Wilderness: I'm a fan of Jenna Coleman and quite like Oliver Jackson-Cohen and this six part limited series had the pair as a Welsh/English couple named Liv and Will living in New York. Their relationship appears idyllic until Liv found out that Will was cheating on her with a co-worker and from there onwards, she spiralled into madness, which included the accidental death of the other woman, Cara. It's a decent enough series, though Jenna Coleman struggled a bit with the Welsh accent. The ending doesn't exactly portray Liv in a positive and feels like a misguided attempt to legitimise her actions throughout the series. Your mileage may vary with this one.

• The second series of The Tourist will air on BBC1 from New Year's Day with Jamie Dornan returning to the show, which will be set in Ireland this time.
• Jenna Coleman will play Detective Ember Manning for upcoming BBC series The Jetty.
• House Of The Dragon's second season will air on HBO from summer 2024.
• HBO/Max have confirmed the next seasons of Euphoria, The White Lotus, The Last Of Us, And Just Like That and Welcome To Derry will premiere in 2025.
• Filming for the final season of Stranger Things will commence in January. 
• Karen Gillan, Hugh Bonneville and Alex Kingston are the main cast for Steven Moffat's Douglas Is Cancelled in ITVX.
• The second series of Big Boys will air on Channel 4 in January.
• CBS have confirmed the seventh and fourteenth seasons of Young Sheldon and Blue Bloods will be their last.
• Station 19 will end after seven seasons on ABC in 2024.
• Matt Smith will play the title character in the upcoming series adaptation of The Death Of Bunny Munro for SkyTV.
• Bob Odenkirk's Lucky Hank has been cancelled by AMC after one season.
• Filming has resumed for American Horror Story: Delicate and American Horror Stories Season 3. Tommy Dorfman and Henry Winkler will appear in the former and latter, respectively.
• Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans will premiere on FX/Hulu from January 31st. Jessica Lange will also appear in the series.

My Review of Doctor Who: "The Giggle"

 

Written by Russell T. Davies

Directed by Chanya Button

The Toymaker: "Do you like my puppets, Doctor? Do you like my fun? All of them have played and lost but here's my favourite one."

Our final episode in a trilogy of specials for the 60th and if the first two didn't feel like they were referencing the show as a collective whole, then this certainly made up for it. This one definitely hit on that front.

Last year, every single special factored a familiar villain and this year's option was to go for less known ones. We had the Meep and now we've got The Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris). Yes, a character last seen fifty seven years ago. A character from a story that had been divisive with its content.

Anyways we opened up to 1925 where John Logie Baird (John MacKay) sent his right hand man Charles Banerjee (Charlie De Melo) to acquire a Stooky Bill puppet for his television transmission, only for that simple purchase to have dire consequences ninety eight years later.

Yep, the toy came from a shop owned by the Toymaker and now thanks to that one transmission everyone has gone mad with thinking they're right all the time. There's chaos in the street and the only people unaffected are UNIT staff wearing the Zeedex arm bands courtesy of the Vlinx. Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) gave a good demonstration of what also happened when not wearing those arm bands.

Along with Kate we had the returns of both Shirley Anne Bingham (Ruth Madeley) and Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford) along with the introduction of Colonel Christopher Ibrahim (Alexander Devrient). The latter didn't have much to do but after The Power Of The Doctor laying the groundwork, we have our new UNIT set up for the next era. 

Back to the Toymaker and there's a delight battle of wits between the powerful godlike creature and the Doctor and Donna. Neil Patrick Harris played off brilliantly against David Tennant and Catherine Tate as the Toymaker took pleasure in playing off the Doctor's losses but at the same time being unable to resist a game.

The attack on UNIT was not only something we saw as recently as last year with The Master (who's also referenced) but The Toymaker even upped the camp factor before forcing the strangest regeneration on the Doctor yet. Well, not a regeneration but a bigeneration instead.

Yeah, instead of David Tennant changing into Ncuti Gatwa he managed to split into the latter instead with some help from Donna and Melanie. If this show can survive a half human Doctor, outlier versions of the character and the Timeless Children, the bigeneration idea will not kill the show one bit. It's still a rather wild choice.

However wild or not, there was something satisfying in watching the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctors band together over a simply ballgame in order to defeat the Toymaker. It was a swift to deal with him as a character and likely sets up a future confrontation down the line if needed.

As for the Doctors, the outcome here was to have two TARDISes and for the Fourteenth one to retire with Donna's family and Auntie Melanie. I can see why that might have rubbed some up the wrong way but I liked it. The Fifteenth one on the other hand gets to travel the stars and very soon make a new best friend. I can't think of anything better than that.

- The Toymaker brought Donna up to speed about the fates of Amy, Clara, Bill and the Flux through the use of puppets. Donna also got a job at UNIT and Trinity Wells has her own show.

- The Master was trapped in The Toymaker's gold tooth after losing a game and now a mystery woman has the gold tooth. Also who or what is The One Who Waits?

- Referenced characters/events included the First Doctor and Toymaker, Sarah Jane, Adric, River, Rose, Sabalom Glitz, Davros/Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels, the Pandorica, Time War, etc.

- We're definitely getting more of Rose Noble in the next era and the Doctor referring to her as his niece was sweet. Brief voice/body double cameo for Wilfred too.

- Standout music: The use of Spice Up Your Life by the Spice Girls and the Fifteenth Doctor's Theme as well.

- Chronology: 1925 Soho and 2023 London.

The Giggle managed to serve as both a series finale to the 2005 era of Doctor Who while also being a prelude of an unpredictable future for the series. This was a fantastic episode, easily the best of the three with exceptional performances from David Tennant, Ncuti Gatwa, Catherine Tate and Neil Patrick Harris respectively. I loved every minute of this one. Now let's head to The Church On Ruby Road for Christmas Day.

Rating: 10 out of 10

My Review of Wonka (2023)

Written by Simon Farnaby And Paul King

Directed by Paul King

Wonka: "I've spent the past seven years travelling the world, perfecting my craft. You see I'm something of a magician, inventor, and chocolate maker. So quiet up and listen down. No, scratch that, reverse it."

Ah, it's Christmas month and of course, it's the perfect time for a musical. On top of that, how about a musical that's also a prequel for Willy Wonka (Timothee Chalamet)? That's what you're getting here.

The movie started with our whimsical protagonist arriving in an unnamed European city (it's basically London in all but name) in an ambitious bid to make and sell chocolate. Unfortunately for Wonka, there's a few characters in this movie that make that one goal difficult for him.

The most prominent being the Chocolate Cartel, made up of rival chocolatiers Arthur Slugworth (Patterson Joseph), Prodnose (Matt Lucas) and Ficklegruber (Matthew Baynton). They're comically boo hiss worthy villains who have no qualms resorting to bribing the Chief of Police (Keegan-Michael Key) in order to derail Wonka's ambitions and that's the least worst thing they end up doing.

Throughout the movie, they're the baddies who not only have the police on the payroll but also the clergy with Rowan Atkinson as a chocolate obsessed priest. Even when Willy does manage to get a shop open, they resort to the worst trickery. That and an attempt that really does put a more literal spin on the term "death by chocolate."

As for the secondary villains of the bunch, you've got the terrible Mrs Scrubbit (Olivia Colman) and her accomplice Bleacher (Tom Davis) who have Willy a debt by having him work in the launderette for 10,000 hours. It's here we get Willy's support system with orphan girl Noodle (Calah Lane), plumber Piper (Natasha Rothwell), accountant Abacus (Jim Carter), failing performer Larry (Rich Fulcher) and telephone operator, Lottie (Rahkee Thakrar).

They're a likeable bunch of characters who go out of their way to help Willy with his chocolate dreams while he in return gets their freedom back. The emphasis however was largely on Noodle who had a kinship with Wonka as well as a link to Slugworth. Noodle also got her own happy ending being reunited with her mother (Tracy Ifeachor).

As for the Oompa Loompa part of the movie, well their role are smaller but a disgraced one named Lofty (Hugh Grant) certainly made an impression on Wonka as they initially butted heads before being a team by the third act. It's a fun performance from Grant, who made the most of his limited screen time.

- There's a few Paddington links here, which makes sense considering the director. Sally Hawkins briefly appears as Wonka's mother.

- Oompa Loompa cocoa beans weren't the only ingredient. Giraffe milk was needed for Willy's chocolate and we had Abigail the giraffe.

- Post credit scene has the Oompa Loompa show us what happened to Mrs Scrubbit and Bleacher and it wasn't pleasant.

- Apparently this is supposed to be the first movie in a potential cinematic universe for Ronald Dahl. I guess we're ignoring The Witches then.

- Standout music: Of course we got Pure Imagination and Oompa Loompa but there was also You've Never Had Chocolate Like This, Scrub Scrub, A World Of Your Own, Sweet Tooth, Sorry Noodle and For A Moment.

- Chronology: An unspecified timeline but early 20th century by the looks of it. 

Wonka turned out to be a pure delight of a movie. Timothee Chalamet turned in a great performance as Wonka with this being a satisfying prequel to his chocolate factory. The supporting and villain characters were on great form, the musical numbers delighted and overal, this movie will be a lovely Christmas treat for families alike.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Deck The Halls (2006)

 

Written by Matt Corman And Chris Ord And Don Rhymer

Directed by John Whitesell

Buddy: "I want my house to be seen from space."

In my quest to watch/rewatch Christmas movies, I rewatched something a tad more divisive. I had no idea this movie wasn't a festive favourite but here we go.

Anyways we got a small town named Cloverton where optometrist Steve Finch (Matthew Broderick) fancied himself as a Christmas expert. This was at the expense of his wife, Kelly (Kristin Davis) and children, Madison (Alia Shawkat) and Carter (Dylan Blue). Unfortunately for Steve, he was about to be outdone in the Christmas stakes.

Enter the new neighbours - car salesman, Buddy Hall (Danny DeVito) with trophy wife Tia (Kristin Chenowith) and their girls, Ashley and Emily (Kelly and Sabrina Aldridge). Needless to say, both wives and children get on well. It's just the husbands that don't.

In fact Buddy's overt Christmas decorations and lights were enough to have Steve resort to sabotage (and getting bested by a backup generator) before things escalated big time between the two. Eventually their growing animosity towards each other had both Steve and Buddy alienating their own families.

Then in a rather predictable fashion, it was the two of them hashing out their differences, making amends that got their families back and a rather needless subplot involving an MTV segment. I really didn't care for that last bit.

- Fans of shows such Smallville, Lost and Glee might spot certain actors and locations in this movie.

- LED lights and Google maps certainly got used a lot in this movie as well as one scene clearly ripped from Mean Girls.

- Standout music: Santa Baby, Deck The Halls and Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer.

- Chronology: Christmas 2006 I presume, considering the year of it's release.

Deck The Halls isn't the best Christmas movie, but I'm not sure it's truly that awful either. Maybe mediocre at best with some very predictable character beats but I found it watchable enough.

Rating: 6 out of 10