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

My Review of It's A Wonderful Knife (2023)

 

Written by Michael Kennedy

Directed by Tyler MacIntyre

Winnie: "I stood under the Aurora and said everyone would be better off if I never existed. Well, wish granted."

Oh Christmas time, and yes, more horror themed festive delights will be watched and reviewed this month, is one for LGBT fans. So a festive queer themed horror film it is and with an interesting title, which obviously evokes a certain Christmas classic.

We've got a lovely small town named Angel Falls where a shifty but campy Mayor Henry Waters (Justin Long) is trying to take over the town, bit by bit while eating into every property he can get, no matter what. When one person refuses his power grab, Henry dons a white costume and goes on a massive killing spree.

Yup, from the start it was clear as day that Henry was going to be the killer but what I hadn't anticipated that after killing both poor Roger (William B. Davis) and his granddaughter Cara (Hana Huggins) that the killer would be taken out by local girl Winnie Carruthers (Jane Widdop). For that to happen so early in the movie meant there had to be a twist, right?

Of course there was. A year passed, Winnie couldn't get over her friend being murdered and her family's attempts to move from the killing annoyed her enough to make an unwise wish during an Aurora Borealis. Simply put, Winnie rewrote history and it had major consequences. 

Her family were splintered for starters. Her mother Judy (Erin Boyes) was sleeping around while her father David (Joel McHale) was not only mean spirited and distant but in this world, he was severely under Henry's thumb. Not to mention the fact that Jimmy (Aiden Howard) died in this world and Winnie's not even a Carruthers. It does show to be very specific when making wishes.

Fortunately for Winnie, the town pariah Bernie (Jess McLeod) turned out to be the very person she could rely on to help free the town of Henry's grasp and return to her own timeline. Along the way also being a very sweet and nicely earned romance between the two of them.

- The killer costume was an abandoned idea for the original Ghostface in the Scream franchise. There are a lot of nods to this franchise here.

- Shout out to Katharine Isabelle as Winnie's aunt, Gale Prescott. Gale, Jimmy and Winnie made up the LGBT characters along with Bernie, Karen, Henry and maybe Buck.

- Standout music: Carol Of The Bells, Holy F*cking Sh*t It's Christmas and Joy 2 The Girls.

- Chronology: A year passes within the movie itself.

It's A Wonderful Knife turned out to be the surprise delight, playing with familiar themes while doing something very fun with them too. Great performances from Jane Widdop and Justin Long, nice bits of gore,a visually cool killer costume and a sweet romantic subplot made this a great watch.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Doctor Who: "Wild Blue Yonder"

 

Written by Russell T. Davies

Directed by Tom Kingsley

Donna: "There's something so bad, the TARDIS ran away?"

The Doctor: "Yes."

Donna: "Then we go and kick it's arse."

Well, here we are, the mysterious second special. An episode so mired in secrecy, you'd think it was going to be the Doctor Who version of Avengers: Endgame but nope, not even close.

Instead what we got was an episode arguably more comparable to past classics such as Midnight and Heaven Sent. I honestly it's more akin to the former but I've seen online comparisons to the latter episode as well. It's smaller scale and far stranger compared to the more crowd pleasing The Star Beast.

We get a brief scene in 1666 England where the Doctor and Donna crash into an apple tree and cause a lot of apples to land on Isaac Newton (Nathaniel Curtis). Aside from the word "gravity" being replaced with "mavity", the scene doesn't serve a huge purpose. It's just a harmlessly fun little opener. 

The bulk of the episode then took place in a spaceship in the depths of nowhere. Oh and due to the HADS, the TARDIS abandoned the Doctor and Donna while repairing itself from that coffee it didn't like. Still though, a vast creepy spaceship with barely any characters was a good way to mix things up for the Doctor and Donna.

I mean there was Jimbo, the oldest and slowest robot we've encountered in a long time but there was also the main threat. The main threat being unknown entities, desperately trying to correctly get the Doctor amd Donna's shape whie also accessing their memories and repeatedly trying to kill them as their origins and a backup to defeat them was slowly being revealed. 

The use of slowness was clever in how it was done but this was also the second episode where Donna was very nearly a goner. The Doctor just about managed to rescue her by the skin of his teeth here. Oh and while the baddies were blown, the highlight wasn't even the main story.

The highlight was the final appearance of Bernard Cribbins Wilfred Mott, who got to see the Doctor and Donna one last time. I had a tear in my eye for that. Then the episode went and set up the final special with things being quite mad and chaotic in the streets of London.

- The episode had an "In Memory Of Bernard Cribbins 1928-2022" at the end credits.

- The Fourteenth Doctor found Isaac Newton hot. The man has good taste. He's a bisexual icon. Or gay. 

- The events of both The Timeless Children and Flux were referenced throughout the episode. 

- Daniel Tuite, Ophir Raray and Tommaso Di Vincenzo are credited as acting, beast and contortinist doubles for David Tennant and Helen Cripps as acting double for Catherine Tate.

- Donna has access to the memories of the Doctor beyond his tenth incarnation but described it as like looking at a furnace.

- Chronology: 1666 and 2023 England and the edge of nowhere. 

Wild Blue Yonder (yes, the song it was named after also featured in here) was definitely a very strange episode to watch. Not the cameo fest many wanted but the quirky outlier episode that many can love or hate. David Tennant and Catherine Tate acted their asses off here. There were some good jump scares and the last scene with Wilfred ended it on a bittersweet note.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Violent Night (2022)

Written by Pat Casey And Josh Miller

Directed by Tommy Wirkola

Scrooge (to Santa): "My life's been leading up to this moment. This year will be the last Christmas ever. Christmas dies with you."

It's December 1st and while this isn't the first Christmas movie I watched or reviewed this year, it's definitely one of the most entertaining I'll have watched this month. It took me a year to watch this but at least I caught up with.

David Harbour, who won a lot of people over with Stranger Things cast as Santa Claus was not something I'd expect but given the type of Santa he's playing, he's actuakly perfect for this role. A Santa that's sort of down in the dumps and weary of how materialistic children. Oh and one who gets drunk and puked on a woman.

However instead of being concerned with delivering presents to children, this was a Santa who got himself caught up in the middle of a home invasion/heist with an obscenely wealthy matriarch named Gertrude (Beverly D'Angelo) and her family.

The family in question had Gertrude's son Jason (Alex Hassell) trying to his marriage to Linda (Alexis Louder) back on track while nearly shattering his daughter Trudy's (Leah Brady) iron clad belief in Santa Claus. It's Trudy's team up with Santa that brought some of the best moments in this movie.

As for the baddies in question, you had a code name team led by Scrooge (John Leguizamo) and he definitely lived up to his name throughout the movie. His minions included Krampus (Brendan Fletcher), Gingerbread (Andre Eriksen) and Candy Cane (Mitra Suri) and let's just say that as things progressed, it didn't end well for any of them. There's a lesson in staying off the naughty list.

As for the rest of the movie, we had Santa mourning his fractured relationship with Mrs Claus, having his magic sack burned and nearly dying until the belief of the family in question revived him. Oh and there was a plot involving a lot of money that even Alva (Edi Patterson) - Gertrude's daughter wasn't best pleased about losing. Still though, it ended on a feel good note for everyone who wasn't a baddie.

- Cam Gigandet had some fun screentime as Morgan Steel, the vacuous action star boyfriend of Alva.

- Alva's son, Bert (Alexander Elliot) provided the mid credit scene with his own warning about crossing Santa Claus.

- Standout music: Burl Ives A Holly Jolly Christmas, Bryan Adams Christmas Time and Slade's Merry Christmas Everybody.

- Chronology: Christmas Eve 2022. 

Violent Night was a lot of fun from start to finish. It's very Home Alone meets Die Hard and the better for it. Some genuinely funny scenes, a lot of violence, fair whack of gore and great family dynamics on display. This was absolutely a winner.

Rating: 8 out of 10

DCU Blog - November 2023 Edition: Superman Major News Items, Productions Resume, Etc

Yup, the strikes are officially over and as a result, a lot of news has trickled over. Notably in regards to the future of DC. 

In terms of Superman: Legacy casting, Nicholas Hoult will be Lex Luthor, Skyler Gisondo will be Jimmy Olsen, Sara Sampaio will be Eve Teschmacher and Maria Gabriela De Faria will play The Engineer.

James Gunn has also debunked certain rumours about the movie's plot that overzealous scoopers have been spreading.

The marketing has kicked in for Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom but tracking for it's opening weekend isn't particularly great.

Zack Snyder has confirmed that he's done with DC but did express an interest in making a movie about The Dark Knight Returns.

The upcoming fourth season of Superman And Lois has been confirmed to be the show's last. It'll air on the CW in 2024.

There's rumours of a Korean Huntress movie being in development by Jung Byung-Gil, who will write and direct it. 

Lanterns will apparently comprise of ten episodes with Nathan Fillion appearing in three as Guy Gardner.

Harley Quinn has been renewed for a fifth season on Max while Batman will not appear in the second season of My Adventures With Superman.

Both The Penguin and The Sandman have resumed production. 

Anya Chalotra is rumoured to be voicing classic Wonder Woman villain Circe for Creature Commandos. 

The Brave And The Bold's casting isn't something to expect soon, though John Logan is now rumoured to be writing the script. 

Ana Nogueira has been confirmed as the writer for Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow. 

Netflix recently released the first trailer for Dead Boy Detectives, due for release in 2024. A character from The Sandman will appear in the show.

Expect something DC related at CCXP this weekend. I'll cover it next month. Likely going to be mainly about the anime Suicide Squad show next year.

Although it did badly in theatres, Blue Beetle has been a hit for Max. Xolo Mariduena will reprise the role in the DCU.

A Lobo project is also rumoured to be in development. I bet we can guess who'll be playing that role.

That's it for this month and quite a lot to go through. It's only just beginning though.

My Review of A Christmas Horror Story (2015)

 

Written by Jason Filiatrault And James Kee And Sarah Larsen And Doug Taylor And Pascal Trotter

Directed by Grant Harvey And Steven Hoban And Brett Sullivan

Caprice: "Merry Christmas, motherfucker."

I'm going to try and watch more horror themed Christmas movies as we head into December and some less traditional ones too. Mainly horror themed movies during the festive period. Like this one for example.

The title promised A Christmas Horror Story and it does make an effort to try and deliver on that premise. William Shatner's a radio DJ named Dangerous Dan and throughout the movie, it's Dan who tells us four seemingly unconnected stories. I'll go from most to least interesting.

Most interesting was the story of Santa Claus. Only Saint Nick wasn't preparing for the biggest night of the year. He was too busy fending off and killing his zombie possessed wife and elves. Then came a battle with Krampus, only for the story to have the twist of a delusional mall Santa. Easily the best of the bunch.

Coming in second was a family visiting their grandmother who earns them of Krampus as well. This story had a creepy caretaker, a spiteful boy and for some reason, a daughter whose anger also turned her into Krampus. I have to say that Krampus looked suitably creepy in both of the segments.

The third story in my ranking then centred on a police officer, his wife and their son. An encounter in the woods saw the son swapped out for a changeling and a lot of other creepy shit before ending on a more bittersweet note.

The least interesting story but by no means bad focused on a group of kids who broke into their school, which was also an old convert. This one was something of a ghost story with a pregnancy twist and while decent, I found it lagged compared to the other stories.

- The End Credits has Dangerous Dan doing a phone in.

- The movie takes place in Bailey Downs, the same fictional town used in the Ginger Snaps movies and Orphan Black series.

- Standout music: It's Christmas Eve at the start of the movie.

- Chronology: All the stories take pace during Christmas Eve.

A Christmas Horror Story makes a good effort in doing the anthology storytelling and for the most part, it works. The stories are all decent and Shatner's DJ does a good job in relaying them.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Frozen II (2019)

 

Written by Jennifer Lee And Chris Buck And Marc Smith And Kristen Anderson-Lopez And Robert Lopez

Directed by Chris Buck And Jennifer Lee

Anna: "You're the bridge."

Elsa: "Bridges have two sides, and our mother had two daughters."

There was a time when a Disney movie did well and the sequel was a straight to video thing that wasn't as beloved as the original but had its own charm. Frozen changed the game and so does the sequel.

The goodwill from the first movie not only ensured that the sequel was a hit but it only went and surpassed it too. Now the question: is this sequel any good? Why yes it is. It's very good. Very good indeed.

Time has passed since the first movie and there's a childhood flashback where Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) learn of how their parents first met as well as the history of neighbouring tribe Northuldra, adding more context to Elsa's magic. In the present day, it's Elsa hearing voices that drove the main narrative of this movie.

Well, that and the fact that Elsa inadvertently awoke the elemental spirits, which caused a lot of chaos for the Kingdom. This meant that it was up to Elsa, Anna, Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), Olaf (Josh Gad) and Sven to venture into the Enchanted Forest and solve the current Arendelle problem. Also along the way learn some more family history.

Notably that Elsa and Anna's grandfather wasn't as heroic as previously described and also that Elsa was the first element, bridging the gap between two worlds. Ultimately this movie has Elsa choosing to be the Enchanted Forest's new protector while Anna becomes Arendelle's new Queen as her and Kristoff got engaged.

Along with the journey of discovery, family history, new characters added into the mix, there was a good segment of the movie where Anna and Kristoff were badly communicating with one another while Olaf had his own character arc in between hilariously recapping the events of the first movie to the newcomers. 

As for the newcomers, there was an Arendelle lieutenant named Mattias (Sterling K. Brown), while the Northuldra characters such as Ryder (Jason Ritter) and Honeymarron (Rachel Matthews) worked well in their interactions with Kristoff and Elsa. 

- Elsa got herself a water horse she made solid with ice as well as a white dress halfway through the movie. I liked the salamander too.

- There's a fun post credit scene with Olaf recapping the events of this movie to Marshmallow.

- The Northuldra tribe's culture is inspired the Sàmi who are indigenous to Norway, Sweden, Finland and Northern Russia.

- I get why some saw something between Elsa and Honeymarron but I wouldn't be surprised if the character is never given a love interest in future movies.

- Standout music: Into The Unknown, When I Am Older, Show Yourself and Some Things Never Change?

- Chronology: Despite a six year gap between release, the events take place three years after the first movie and during Autumn.

Frozen II is a triumph of a sequel. No wonder it did better than the first movie. It builds on the characters and takes them all in very interesting directions without diluting what came before. I absolutely loved this one from start to finish.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Frozen (2013)

 

Written by  Jennifer Lee And Chris Buck And Shane Morris

Directed by Chris Buck And Jennifer Lee

Elsa: "The cold never bothered me anyway."

With Disney having a rough time during their 100th anniversary, there was a time when they were at the height of success and one of those times involved this movie. A movie in the shortest time ever became something of a global event.

Loosely based on the story, The Snow Queen and set in the fictional world of Arendelle, the story focused on Elsa (Idina Menzel). Elsa's the oldest child and has a close friendship with her sister Anna (Kristen Bell). Or she did until her ice and snow powers emerged and she inadvertently hurt Anna, changing their relationship for quite a long time.

Elsa became cold and distant with Anna as she struggled to control her powers and on the day of her coronation, her powers revealed themselves to the kingdom in the worst way possible. With Arendelle trapped in an eternal winter and Elsa fleeing in shame of her powers, it was up to Anna to save the day and get her sister back.

Of course Anna had to tread an icy environment and for that she needed the help of an iceman named Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and the latter's reindeer, Sven (Frank Welker). It's not long before there's an emerging love story between Anna and Kristoff as well as the introduction to comic relief character Olaf (Josh Gad). Needless to say, Olaf is a delight, albeit rather naive about the dangers of heat to a snowman like him.

As for Elsa, she built herself an ice palace, rejected Anna's attempts of a reunion and then got captured by the scheming Duke of Weselton (Alan Tudyk) and the more subtle in his scheming Prince Hans (Santino Fontana) of the Southern Isles. The former's more of a bigoted but bumbling oaf while the latter was more quietly callous compared to past Disney movie baddies.

Having Hans portrayed as a pseudo love interest for Anna was a smart move, especially when his real motives came to light and he took pleasure in Anna's need for true love to fix her heart. However unlike Disney villains of the past, he actually survived to face the consequences of his misdeeds. 

As for Elsa and Anna, they more than reconnected with each other with a sibling bond being the thing to save Anna's life. It was a nice twist to a usual fairytale predicament and with Elsa embracing her powers, things did work out well for the Queen of Arendelle.

- The Arendelle setting drew heavily from Norwegian and Scandinavian culture as well as the Sami culture.

- Fans of Tangled get a brief cameo from Rapunzel and Flynn during one scene.

- The Pebble folk  who have their own magic were mistaken for trolls by Anna.

- The end credit has a short scene with a snow creature wearing Elsa's crown. 

- Standout music: The obvious highlights being Let It Go, Do You Want To Build A Snowman?, For The First Time In Forever and Vuelie.

- Chronology: For the majority of the movie, Elsa and Kristoff are 21, Anna is 18 and Hans is 23.

Frozen was a triumph of a movie. A Disney classic through and through, following some of the traditional tropes but also subverting them too. A great cast, brilliant character dynamics, more subtle villains and some of the best musical numbers. A pure joy.

Rating: 10 out of 10 

My Review of Doctor Who: "The Star Beast"

 

Written by Russell T. Davies, from a story by Pat Mills And Dave Gibbons

Directed by Rachel Talalay

The Doctor (to Shirley): "I don't believe in destiny but if destiny exists, then it is heading for Donna Noble."

And just like that, they're back. Probably the most iconic Doctor and companion duo the show has had post 2005. Yes, for three specials to commemorate the 60th anniversary. Except, it's not quite as we remembered.

For instance, David Tennant isn't playing the 10th Doctor as he did between 2005-2010 and briefly in 2013. Instead he's the 14th Doctor and needless to say he's a tad confused by having a familiar face. As the episode indicated, there's going to be a reason for that.

Then there's Catherine Tate's Donna Noble. Last time we saw her, she married Shaun Temple (Karl Collins) and since then they've had a daughter named Rose (Yasmin Finney) while living with Sylvia (Jacqueline King). Oh and Donna gave up her lottery winnings to be more like the Doctor without realising why she did it.

Needless to say, the episode has the Doctor reunite with Donna while properly meeting Rose and Shaun. Soon then, a spaceship has crashed and Rose ended up taking care of a seemingly harmless creature called The Meep (Miriam Margolyes), who ended up causing a lot of trouble for the Temple-Nobles as a race known as the Wrarth Warriors came looking for the Meep.

If you've read the comic (and I did far more recently), then it's not too shocking when it's actually revealed that the Meep was the true baddie of the piece. The switch up from adorable to pure evil with Beep the Meep was handled very well with the character's history and true motives revealed pretty sharpish.

With the Meep posing a danger to the planet, it's up to the Doctor and Donna to save the day and for the latter, that meant her memories returning. Surely, this episode ended with Donna's death, right? Er, no. It seems that by having a daughter, Donna passed some of her biological metacrisis on to Rose. 

To be succinct, this meant that Donna wasn't going to be a dead woman, Rose discovered who she truly was and the pair of them let the remaining energy go. Yes, there's some very pointed dialogue about gender identity but it's handled well enough and of course between the Doctor, Donna and Rose, the Meep was defeated. Now we just have to meet their boss. I think we all know who that will be in two weeks time.

As for the rest of the episode, both Sylvia and Shaun had some good scenes with the former being somewhat nicer than she was in the past. UNIT introduced a great new character with scientific advisor, Shirley Anne Bingham (Ruth Madeley) but the Doctor and Donna's attempts to go and visit Wilfred went horribly wrong thanks to a coffee accident. Anyways on to the next adventure.

- I love the new title sequence, the new tricks on the sonic screwdriver and I really love the spacious new TARDIS interior. 

- Both the Doctor and Donna were talking to the audience, recapping their past adventures and some unseen ones.

- Rose's toy designs included a Dalek, Cyberman, Adipose, Judoon, Ood and a Lupar. The previous three Doctors were also referenced. 

- Kate Stewart got Wilfred into a sheltered accommodation. Wilfred is now 94. I'm guessing we'll see him in the last special.

- The character of Fudge who had a larger role in the comic was more of a cameo here, being a neighbour of Rose's and scared of the Wrarth Warriors.

- Chronology: 15 years since the events of The Stolen Earth/Journey's End.

The Star Beast was a glorious return to form. You'd swear that Russell T. Davies, David Tennant and Catherine Tate never left, given how effortlessly they all slipped back into things. Everything you loved about RTD's writing was present, but sharper and more evolved. Not to mention the clearly higher budget. This set a high standard and I can't wait to see how the next two specials play out.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Doctor Who - 60th Anniversary Blog And So Much More

Yes, it's November 23rd 2023. Doctor Who has turned 60 and this blog will be a mix of celebrating that as well as spoilers for the anniversary specials and beyond. Buckle up everyone.

The celebration part. 60 years is quite a feat for any show and boy, has it been a tremendous journey. So many Doctors, companions, monsters, spin-off's etc but it's finally here. In two days time we'll be getting the first in a row of specials that brings back David Tennant and Catherine Tate as the 14th Doctor and Donna Noble, courtesy of Russell T. Davies. 

Meanwhile a new image of Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor was released courtesy of Whotopia book that came out today. Speaking of books, a new version of the Rose novelisation was released today with coloured illustrations. 

Keeping with the 60th celebrations, Radio Times went all out this week with a gorgeous series of photos and interviews. These included Russell T. Davies, Waris Hussein (director of An Unearthly Child), David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill, Carole Ann Ford, Millie Gibson, Bonnie Langford and the legend himself, Tom Baker.

At 89 years of age, the oldest surviving Doctor was decked out in his classic Fourth Doctor look for the anniversary photoshoot. It was a decade ago that he appeared as The Curator in 50th anniversary, The Day Of The Doctor, so to see him pictured as part of the 60th celebrations is another highlight in a month littered with them. Speaking of classic, be sure to watch the colourised 75 minute version of The Daleks tonight on BBC4 from 7.30pm.

Getting back to the anniversary specials, there's some big stuff ahead for viewers. The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder and The Giggle might have elements of familiarity but at the same time, expect some changes going ahead. There's rumours of how regeneration might handled in relation to the imminent switch up between David Tennant and Ncuti Gatwa and that's all I'm saying on the matter. That rumour will likely be very much true. Also expect more of Yasmin Finney's Rose Noble beyond these upcoming anniversary specials while Charlie De Melo will also appear in the series.

Throughout the day, keep an eye on the Doctor Who social media pages with various announcements such as podcasts, water shows and clips all revealed. Oh and Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson's debut episode is now titled The Church On Ruby Road while Shirley Ballas and Johannes Radebe will be appearing in the upcoming series. In terms of Christmas 2024, Nicola Coughlan was officially confirmed earlier this month (though her character's name wasn't) while Millie Gibson will also remain for Series 15. 

Also on keeping with how so far ahead of this show has gotten in terms of filming, we have a prominent recurring character for the series after next. Series 15 will introduce Jonah Hauer-King as a love interest for Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday. On top of that, Series 15 could debut from May 2025 according to Russell T. Davies. The episode currently filming is the fourth episode, directed by Peter Hoar. It involves UNIT (who definitely appear to be more prominent in this new era) and alien protestors. To be this far ahead is definitely a feat for the show.

The 60th anniversary specials of Doctor Who will air/stream on BBC1 and Disney+ from November 25th-December 9th with Doctor Who Unleashed on BBC3. The Church On Ruby Road will air on Christmas Day.

Scream VII - Melissa Barrera AND Jenna Ortega Not Returning (Rant Time) - UPDATED

I was hoping to do another blog about Scream VII. However, this wasn't the sort of blog I thought I'd be doing.

Last night it was confirmed that Melissa Barrera who had been playing main protagonist Samantha Carpenter in both Scream (2022) and Scream VI would not be returning for the upcoming Scream VII, which was confirmed to start filming in early 2024 for a yet to be confirmed release date. The reason for this?

Oh yeah, it seems that Spyglass and Paramount sacked Melissa Barrera for expressing her views on the current situation with Palestine and Israel as she vocalised her solidarity with Palestine. What the actual fuck, Spyglass?

If you check the comments that Melissa had made on social media, not once did she say anything that was anti-Semitic in her support of Palestine. Needless to say for the last several hours, Spyglass have deservedly received backlash for their awful decision and criticism for their attempts to justify it. Spyglass have well and truly fucked up here.

Yeah and this blog is being edited because Jenna Ortega will also not be reprising her role as Tara Carpenter for Scream VII. Spyglass are trying to cite that her schedule for the second season of Wednesday (which will film in Ireland in late April 2024) is the main reason but something tells me they're trying to save face and money from both Barrera and Ortega not coming back. 

With both these exits and the unlikelihood that Jasmin Savoy-Brown and Mason Gooding will also come back as Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin, what can both Spyglass and director Christopher Landon do to remedy a shit show the former could've easily avoided by not firing their lead actress? 

A part of me would hope that the online and media backlash would blow up so much that Spyglass would be forced to rehire Melissa Barrera and conclude Sam's storyline but realistically I don't envision that happening.

Another part of me would say to scrap ths movie altogether but again, I also don't see that happening. What I think is more likely to happen would be for an entirely new movie that ditches the Core Four and has a new cast and setting with maybe Courtney Cox's Gale Weathers factoring into the plot but would that work too under the circumstances? Only time will tell.

Either way this was a bad call on Spyglass's part and could very well backfire on them in the long run. 

Scream VII will start filming in early 2024. A release date has yet to be confirmed.

My Review of Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987)

 

Written by Lee Harry And Joseph H. Earle

Directed by Lee Harry

Ricky: "Oh Mother Superior! I've got a present for you!"

Following the controversy but success of the first movie, a sequel had to happen, right? Only problem being that Billy Chapman (Robert Brian Wilson) was killed off. Oh wait, he's got a brother named Ricky. Let's pivot the story around him.

That's exactly what the movie by jumping in time and revealing Ricky (Eric Freeman) to be a raging serial killer being interviewed by his thirteenth psychiatrist. Sadly for Dr Henry Bloom (James L. Newman), the number thirteen really was unlucky for him.

Not only did Bloom learn just how deeply disturbed Ricky was (arguably more than Billy) but he didn't live to tell the tale as Ricky made his escape so he could cause some Christmas terror. Of course before that, there was flashbacks and lots of them. Too many for this movie's own good.

You know your movie might be in trouble when a large portion of it was spent literally going over the main bullet points of the first one. Granted it was from Ricky's perspective but it ate up more time that it should've done in the first place.

Of course we did get to see Ricky adopted into a loving family but that didn't stop him from killing his girlfriend Jennifer (Elizabeth Kaitan) and her horrible ex Chip (Ken Weichert) as well as several innocent people before got back to the present day. The rest of the movie had some old scores to settle.

Mother Superior (Jean Miller) might have been retired and the orphanage shut down but that didn't stop Ricky from dressing up as Santa Claus and going after the wheelchair bound old woman with an axe. Unlike his brother, Ricky was actually successful here but things didn't end so well for him. Or did they?

- Most of the cast from the first movie ended up being credited for this one given the amount of flashbacks used for it.

- I had to laugh at Mother Superior's house address being 666.

- Standout music: Silent Night was used here.

- Chronology: Four years since the events of the first movie.

Silent Night Deadly Night Part 2 was definitely more over the t than the first part. Eric Freeman certainly chewed the scenery big time in many of his scenes but the kills were inventive enough and while sme of the dialogue tried too hard to be funny, one particular line worked well.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

 

Written by Michael Hickey

Directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr.

Billy: "Mommy, you shouldn't have said that. It's naughty to say bad things about old people. Santa Claus will punish you."

Okay, so I'm starting Christmas reviews a month early but I'm spacing them out between other reviews and the first batch will be of the horror persuasion. Not to mention some of them are new to me. Like this franchise for example.

I've been vaguely about the general idea behind this movie for a bit now and last night, I gave it a go. To my intrigue, this was a rather disturbing take on the old "naughty or nice" saying.

The movie started with a young family visiting an old man at a retirement home. The old man in question scared the shit out of his grandson Billy (Jonathan Best) by warning him of Santa's not so nice side. It was a warning that unfortunately was too on point as Billy would soon learn.

Anyways, Billy's parents get murdered by a robber dressed as Santa in the middle of nowhere and both Billy (Danny Wagner) and younger brother Ricky are in a convent orphanage. Billy hasn't gotten over the trauma of witnessing his parents murder and the rather sadistic Mother Superior (Lilyan Chauvin) only made things worse with her cruel methods of trying to control Billy.

After another time jump, we get to see the adult Billy (Robert Brian Wilson) aged out of the orphanage working in a department store. He's still triggered by Santa Claus and be made into a store Santa only brought out his bloodlust.

The rest of the movie was Billy dressed as Santa murdering anyone who had the misfortune of being in his way. Aside from one person, none of Billy's victims deserved their fate and a showdown at the orphanage brought Billy's killing spree to its own violent conclusion. Oh and the obvious sequel hook, courtesy of Ricky. 

- I can't believe there was a campaign to get this film initially banned. Oh wait, yes I can.

- Other portrayals of killer Santa at the time included Tales Of The Crypt and Christmas Evil. 

- Standout music: Slayrider, Santa's Watching, Christmas Flu and It Must Be Christmas to name a few.

- Chronology: Christmas 1971, 1974 and 1984 respectively.

Silent Night, Deadly Night moved at a bit of a slow-ish pace but when it got going, it really went to town on the gore. It's probably a film that might have unsettled me as a kid but as an adult, it was still effective enough.

Rating: 7 out of 10