 |
| Clockwise from top left: Sinners, It's a Wonderful Life, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, Joyland |
It’s A Wonderful Life, 9.55pm, That’s TV (Freeview channel 56), Monday, December 22, (also at 1pm on Wednesday, December 23)
Would it even be Christmas if I didn’t include this Frank Capra classic? You’re never going to be far away from a screening of this over Christmas, and late-night wrappers/Santa insomniacs should note that it’s also screening on ITV at 3.50am on Christmas morning. I think it’s the first time That’s TV has made the Stay-at-Home, so if you’re looking for one to watch and one to record for later, be sure to set whatever your time machine is for Holiday Inn at 4am the next morning. As for It’s a Wonderful Life itself, an angel (Henry Travers) flies in to help a businessman (James Stewart), who has reached the end of his tether. It's an evergreen story celebrating the little acts of selflessness and kindness that can make a big difference, even if we don't realise it at the time. In a festive season full of films brimming over with sugary fake sentiment, this one is a real corrective earning every one of its emotional beats.
Beetlejuice, 10.45pm, BBC2, Monday, December 22
Three decades ago Tim Burton was a comparative unknown when this film put his name firmly on the map. It also turned the young Winona Ryder into a star, as she followed up with Heathers not long after. She plays Lydia Deetz, who befriends a dead couple (Adam Baldwin and Geena Davis) after they attempt to haunt her. It turns out they're not much good at the scary stuff, so they enlist the help of Michael Keaton's Beetlejuice, whose full-on performance is reason alone to watch this. Irreverent, pretty gory and a lot of fun. The sequel may not be quite as good but it’s still pretty enjoyable and can be found on Now Cinema, if you’re feeling completist.
Slumdog Millionaire, 10.30pm, BBC2, Tuesday, December 23
As always, Danny Boyle brings every ounce of energy to this tale of a teenager who finds himself under police interrogation after he is poised to win the jackpot on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Jamal Malik (played in the present by Dev Patel, in his breakthrough film role, and Ayush Mahesh Khedekar and Tanay Hemant Chheda in flashbacks) relates the tale of how he came to know all the answers. We see his childhood unfold in a blend of romance, humour and, of course, tragedy. Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy keep mainstream audiences firmly in their sights but there's plenty of home truths about the plight of street kids in India beneath its shiny surface.
Oppenheimer, 11pm, BBC3, Tuesday, December 23
Definitely not a Christmas film but if you’re looking for a break from the feel-good, then Christoper Nolan’s biopic should fit the bill. The Oscar-winning latest from the British director, details the development of the atomic bomb via the life of Robert Oppenheimer. Whether the film needs to be quite as structurally convoluted is definitely debatable but Nolan does like that sort of thing and you can't argue with the beautifully recreated period detail and the magnetic performances from Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr and Emily Blunt, among others.
E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, 1.35pm ITV, Christmas Eve
This tale of a lost alien who just wants to get home sees Spielberg's trademark focus on children's experience as the camera gets down to their level as they take on a world of, largely uncaring, adults and a friendship blossoms between Elliot (Henry Thomas) and the little man from outer space. The message of peace, love and understanding is surprisingly sugar-free thanks to Melinda Mathison's snappy script that shows a sharp ear for the knockabout interaction between kids. This is also a good time to mention our recent chat with Vittorio Rambaldi, the son of special effects wizard Carlo, who talks about making him, “an innocent… mix of an old man and also a child”.
Sinners, Now Cinema, available on Boxing Day
If you’re only going to stream one on-demand film this festive season, you could do an awful lot worse than pick Ryan Coogler’s horror-inflected tale of the Deep South that draws on America’s dark history of segregation as well as mythical tales of deals struck with devils. Michael B Jordan pulls showstopping double duty as twin brothers Smoke and Stack, with the sort of digital trickery that doesn’t miss a beat from the moment they share a cigarette. They’ve returned to Mississippi from Chicago loaded with money and style and they’re ready to open a juke joint in town with some help from local bluesmen Delta Slim (Delroy Lindo) and youngster Sammie Moore (Miles Canton, impressive in his first role). The first half of the film is so engrossing that I’m not entirely convinced it needs a vampiric shot in the neck from Remmick (Jack O’Connell), which takes it away from drama into siege territory. There’s so much to enjoy here, however, from a dance number that audaciously spins through time to represent Black music down the decades, to scene-stealing performances from Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku as Smoke’s ex that all you can do is sit back and admire the ambition.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Foul, 11.40am, BBC1, Christmas Day
The irresistible inventor and his faithful pal return for another adventure, which also sees the return of the best enemy of the bunch, arch criminal penguin Feathers McGraw. Wallace (seamlessly voiced by Ben Whitehead following the death of the much-loved Peter Sallis in 2017) has, as ever, has come up with a “cracking” invention. In a play on the modern trend for AI-driven helpmates, he creates a “smart gnome” named Norbert (Reese Shearsmith on vocals), who unfortunately has his settings switched to “evil”, leading the usual mayhem to ensue. The film is peppered with sight gags as well as great scripting, with a particular emphasis on northern humour that cares not a jot whether American audiences get the joke or not - a refreshing change. Among the best is a news reader named Anton Deck and a dual sign on a railway tunnel reading: “Welcome To Yorkshire”, “No parkin”. Gold-plated family entertainment at its finest.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl, 3.25pm, 5, Christmas Day
You’ve got to hand it to Disney, it’s hard to think anyone other than the House of Mouse would have managed to make not just one but five films based on a single theme park ride. The first one offers plenty of swashbuckling swagger courtesy of Johnny Depp’s outsize performance as Jack Sparrow, who famously based his accent and mannerisms on Keith Richards. He gets up to all the usual piratical adventure stuff while appearing to be permanently sloshed. Keira Knightley and, particularly, Orlando Bloom, are on the flimsy side but Geoffrey Rush also makes his villain Captain Barbossa memorable. Plot you say? Well, Gore Verbinski doesn’t let a little thing like that get in the way of what is, essentially, a bravura set of action pieces. Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of Christmas rum!
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, 11.40pm, Film4, Christmas Day
Jennie Kermode writes: Her daughter was murdered. The police haven't found the killer. Mildred (Frances McDormand) doesn't think they're trying hard enough, and she's going to make sure everybody knows that, even if that means pasting her complaints on giant billboards on the main road into town. She's the archetype of a 'difficult woman' and no less awesome for it, weighed down by grief but relentless in her desire to see justice done. With sterling support from Woody Harrelson as the sheriff with a tragic secret, Sam Rockwell as a racist police officer with very little brain and Peter Dinklage as a lovelorn suitor, this is a powerful drama with comedic undertones that couldn't get much darker.
Puss In Boots, The Last Wish, 3.20pm, BBC1, Boxing Day
The flamboyant feline hero is back for another action adventure in a sequel that comes up to scratch. Puss (Antonio Banderas) is facing a sticky situation when he discovers that he's burned through eight of his nine lives – meaning the only option seems to be retirement with a cat lady, where he acquires a loyal buddy, little dog Perrito Perrito (Harvey Guillén). Stepping back from the action, of course, proves easier said than done as he finds himself enlisted by former love Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) to find a fallen star. It's a mission that is bursting with humour and action as the trio take on the marauding Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Florence Pugh, Ray Winstone, Olivia Coleman and Samson Kayo), not to mention Big Jack Horner (John Maloney) and even Death himself (magnificently voiced by Brazilian star of Oscar hot property The Secret Agent’s Wagner Moura). The merest whisker away from perfect.
Joyland, 2.05am, Channel 4, Saturday, December 27
The first film from Pakistan to ever screen at Cannes, Saim Sadiq's debut is a complex and deeply moving character-driven drama. Those looking for Christmas cheer should note, the title is ironic. Sadiq immerses us in the lives of a single family who find themselves pushed this way and that by patriarchal expectations that leave little room for personal feelings. Although the main focus is the family's youngest son Haider (Ali Junejo) and the unexpected relationship that develops between him and trans performer Biba (Alina Khan), each member of the family is fully developed and grappling with their own sense of self. A richly scripted and nuanced film that was fully deserving of its Jury Prize from Cannes Un Certain Regard.
Double Indemnity, 10.05am, BBC2, Saturday, December 27
Featuring dialogue that rattles on with the pace of a freight train and master craftsman Billy Wilder at the engine, this sizzler of a thriller has lost little of its grip down the decades. Fred MacMurray plays against his usual nice-guy type as salesman Walter Neff, whose path crosses that of Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) with the crackle of desire. The only fly in the ointment is Phyllis' husband and so the pair plot what they hope will be the perfect crime. Told in a flashback that suggests their scheming may not have been as watertight as they imagined, this film is so taut you could bounce a coin off it. Fun fact: Wilder was so fed up when he didn't snag any Oscars that he deliberately tripped up Going My Way director Leo McCarey as he went to pick up his Best Director gong.
Elvis, 7.45pm, BBC1, Saturday, December 27
Austin Butler had his ears pinned back by prosthetics to play the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll in Baz Luhrman’s polished biopic – and you’ll be wanting to pin your own back to enjoy his charismatic performances throughout. The film tracks him from his early years when he was ‘discovered’ by Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), charting the way their relationship soured down the decades. In essence an origin story, it articulates the Black roots behind Elvis’ success, while offering a showcase for Butler’s skills and Luhrman’s customary excess all areas approach.
Casablanca, 1.45pm, BBC2, Sunday, December 28
Infinitely quotable and featuring Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart at the top of their game, there's little wonder Michael Curtiz's film about impossible choices and a reunion between old lovers regularly makes it into lists of favourites. The secondary players are all from the top drawer, too, with Claude Rains, Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre all putting in memorable performances. It's the heart of the matter that really makes the film tick and scenes between Bergman and Bogart are economical as well as emotionally rich. Plus, of course, there's the song, As Time Goes By, which gains resonance the more you think about it.
We’re returning to the wintry theme with this week’s short, The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse and available to watch on BBC iPlayer. After all, this is the perfect time to remember: "Nothing beats kindness, it sits quietly beyond all things."
