The Trouble with Christmas

There is just something about the festive season that has never lost its magic. Whether it is the promise of multiple turkey feasts with family or listening to Shakin' Stevens Christmas hits, I just never tire of Christmas. This results in films which I would not even consider normally rising to the top of my priorities if they have a Christmas setting. It is difficult to explain exactly what it is about Christmas that still enchants me so but it is again that time of year when I feel my belly rumble with festive cheer. This blog is going to cover three of my favourite Christmas films ranging from a child unfortunately left alone by their family to those suffering the fear of an altogether more sinister ol' St. Nick. Now that I think about it, that sums up my love for Christmas right there.

Home Alone

Home Alone was my favourite film when I was young. Actually Home Alone 2 was but because I owned the sequel and not the original, the otherworldly allure of its predecessor was too much to resist. I liked everything about the film, the criminals are genuinely villainous and Kevin's out-witting of various adults made him the perfect role model for an impressionable young man. I remember being given a replica Talkboy for my Christmas only to feel utter dejection upon finding that my voice and the 'slow' function did not equal my fathers voice and as such could not book me hotel rooms or explain my absences from school. I was willing to overlook this and just focus on how good the films are. The original (although I am sure you are aware) tells the story of a feuding family who, in the haste of pre-holiday havoc, leave their young son behind as they embark on a trip to France. Kevin quickly adjusts to his role as the man of the house and begins the associated tasks of showering, shopping and defending his kingdom from the advances of two hapless burglars. What ensues is a slapstick series of traps and tricks as the criminal worlds answer to the Chuckle Brothers attempt to defeat Macaulay Culkin. Kevin's success is a victory for all children and his ingenuity an inspiration for my future endeavours to the present day.

This is Christmas, the season of perpetual hope. And I don't care if I have to get out on your runway and hitchhike. If it costs me everything I  own, if I have to sell my soul to the devil himself, I am going to get home to my son.

Elf

Starring Will Ferrell, James Caan and Zooey Deschanel, Jon Favreau's Elf (2003) depicts Buddy the Elf's banishing from Christmas paradise and his struggles to adjust to everyday life in the city. Buddy, previously unaware of his human origins after a mix-up and hasty adoption, struggles to adapt to this new life which brings some hilarious moments with his initial arrival in New York and subsequent attempts to please his father particular stand outs.

It's just like Santa's workshop! Except it smells like  mushrooms... and everyone looks like they wanna hurt me...

Elf is essentially a story about spreading Christmas cheer to those who are not so predisposed  but is also a story about family and the connections that are particularly important to people at this time of year. It is Buddy's persistent insistence which, although at first grating to those around him, endears people to him and the Christmas spirit required to resolve the plight of Santa and his elves. Elf is a genuinely funny and heartwarming film that loses its way a little towards the end. However, Will Ferrell's MTV Movie Award for best comedic performance was very well deserved. Buddy has settled in New York and is telling his tale in a Broadway musical through the Christmas season this year. The films box office takings of $220million display how much affection the movie going public has for this type of festive experience.

I just like to smile, smiling's my favourite!

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

In terms of appropriate titles Rare Exports is about as apt as you could request. Rare in terms of its portrayal of Christmas so far removed from that we are accustomed to and exported from Finland to an unsuspecting audience around the world. It is unusual for me to be able to summarise a Christmas film as a creepy horror with comedic moments and under-tones of paedophilia but that is exactly what Rare Exports has to offer. To say that this is a Christmas film not suitable for children evokes memories of Bad Santa et al. but this is a far different proposition. Rare Exports may not be for children but it may not be for most adults either. 

Director Jalmari Helander has created something between an unsuccessful comedy and unsuccessful horror derived from his earlier series of Internet shorts. That is not to say that the film is not enjoyable just that it does not fulfil expectations of either genre. The films tag line proclaims that "This Christmas everyone will believe in Santa Claus", they may well but it is not the same Santa Claus you can expect to see on your Coke can. Children will barricade the doors of their advent calenders, naked elves will chase children through the snow and in time honoured tradition Santa will be nowhere to be seen. In place of the great deliverer or gifts we are faced with the great discipliner of children. Santa is excavated from an icy mountain grave before facing the guile of the local townspeople. The film is strangely unsatisfying regardless of the fact that there are no loose ends at the close of the film but it is also unlike any other Christmas film you will see this year.

I asked through my Twitter account what your favourite Christmas movies were and the replies were so varied that it really reiterated the wide range of circumstances, and as such the cinematic opportunity, afforded by this particular holiday. Christmas films have the wide-ranging appeal of being suited to hard-luck stories of loss and redemption to tales of unbridled joy for family viewing. The Christmas setting can be adapted to almost every narrative and as such we can expect an influx of new additions at this time every year. However, any new additions to my cinematic stocking will struggle to usurp the magic of the three detailed above.

The trouble with Christmas..? It only comes once a year.

The Millennium Bug

Based on the bestselling books by Stieg Larsson the films that comprise the Millennium trilogy have been at the centre of a resurgence in Scandinavian cinema with films such as Let the Right One In also prompting Hollywood remakes. The films focus on the investigative work, on both sides of the law, undertaken by Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) and Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist). Brought together by a series of conspiring circumstances, the two form a bond, or what could be more accurately described as a 'mutual understanding'.

The first in the series is titled The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and sees Blomkvist, journalist for underground magazine Millennium, investigate the mysterious disappearance of a wealthy businessman's granddaughter while also fighting a court case, and subsequent jail term, handed to him for his expose style journalism. Lisbeth, a talented computer hacker, is initially hired to investigate Blomkvist but becomes involved in his work after finding information pertinent to his case. The two strike up a relationship and uncover a web of deceit through a well-to-do family and the upper-echelons of Swedish business. During this Lisbeth also has to contend with her sadistic custodian which add the scenes of sexual violence to the film and we are also faced with serial killers and Swedish Nazi's as the cherry on top of the already well-baked cake. To be honest there are only two things I would criticise the three films for and they are all apparent throughout each addition to the series. The first is that there are so many characters, and so many sub-plots that the films feel bloated to the point of combustion. The second, related to the first, is the running time for each film with them all coming in at well over 2 hours. The only time I really had a problem with this was in the second installment which I though was the weakest of the three.

During The Girl Who Played with Fire we delve deeper into the psyche of Lisbeth Salander who returns to Sweden after a year abroad to be faced with charges for the murder of a journalist, his girlfriend and the sadistic guardian mentioned earlier. The film sees revelations about Lisbeth's childhood and the film ends with a climatic battle between Salander and her father/brother. This film suffers from being devoid of the chemistry so successful between the protagonists in the first outing. Mikhael's searching for Lisbeth and his continued relationship with his magazine colleague are slightly unconvincing and, after the themes of the first, the second film feels a little tame in comparison.



The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest is the final film in the series and begins with Lisbeth in hospital following the showdown at the end of the second film. Still facing the murder charges, Blomkvist does what he can to attempt to prove her innocence but has to deal with Salander's continual uncooperative behaviour which threatens to derail their progress at every other turn. Going from hospital to police custody we see less of Salander's talents and are faced with more of a race against time which follows a more familiar 'thriller' narrative structure. Again the film suffers slightly from the sheer number of characters but I did find myself slowing move towards the edge of my seat as the film, and the series, neared conclusion. The consecutive releases of the films within the period of a year worked well and resulted in the characters becoming so familiar that it would have been hard not to care about the outcome and well-being of each.

The influence for the series has been reported as Larsson's real-life witness to the gang-rape of a young girl named Lisbeth and his abhorrence of sexual violence from that point forth. This is also reflected in the original title given to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo of Män Som Hatar Kvinnor which translated as Men who Hate Women. I have to admit to seeing the films before reading any of the books but was impressed enough with the first film in the series to read the material from which it was adapted. I found the book to be a little slow paced which, although worked well throughout the cinematic series, struggled to hold my attention. I understand how I am in the minority with this opinion but preferred the character portrayals offered by the films.

The Hollywood remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is due for release December 21st 2011 and will star Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara in the lead roles. I suggest you see the Swedish trilogy first.

Official Site - http://dragontattoofilm.com/

(m)Exploitation

I remember watching the Grindhouse (2007) double bill when it was first released in the cinema and the sense of cinematic superiority I could display upon hearing a patron in the row behind state his excitement at seeing the upcoming feature 'Machete' for which the trailer had just been screened. Little did I know it would be he who was to enjoy laughing last.

I have been excited about the release of Robert Rodriguez's Machete since it was announced that the trailer was to be made into a full length production. My love for exploitation cinema has been well documented throughout my blog and this year has already seen a classic in Black Dynamite receive its overdue UK release. Although I feared disappointment, caused by heightened levels of excitement, I soon found there was no reason to worry. The original trailer for Machete, contained within Grindhouse, promised a full-on exploitation fix whereas, upon first viewing, the official trailer for the actual release was much less encouraging. It just didn't have the same impact and it appeared as the grindhouse look of Rodriguez's Planet Terror (2007) had been ditched in favour of that of the generic action-movie. I was wrong.

The plot sees Danny Trejo in his first leading role playing Mexican immigrant Machete. An ex federale who sets out to right the wrongs resulting from the killing of his wife. Some time later we join Machete as he seeks work as a day labourer in Texas before being offered $150,000 to kill a corrupt Senator. Accepting the cash involves Machete in a plot to win support for the Senator and he is quickly double crossed and hunted for the assassination attempt. Machete is unstoppable in his efforts to seek revenge and assist in the protection of Mexican immigrants to Texas.

The cast is extremely impressive and is notable for memorable performances from Robert De Niro, Steven Seagal and Cheech Marin. I really can't recommend the film enough especially if you, like me, are trying to avoid Potter-mania at all costs. The scenes that I looked forward to from the original trailer were included in the movie and the fact it was quite clear that these were filmed years previous, and sometimes even with different actors, added to the grindhouse feel of the film. I would have liked it to be heavier in terms of stylisation but the action, script and acting is more than enough to satisfy. It has been reported that the sequel, promised during the credits, has already been written and with a 'more violent' directors cut due for DVD release Machete isn't going away anytime soon.

Official Site - http://www.vivamachete.com