Magical Month

This is it, finally. The very last chapter in the life of the most famous boy wizard who ever lived. Those who had already worked through every book in the series may have been sitting there smugly, knowing how everything was wrapped up,…

Well, it's the big day. December 25th. Christmas Day. And what better accompaniment to your full bellies and sense of contentment than another viewing of an all-time classic and one of the best Christmas movies of all time. George Bailey…

AKA Hostile Hostages. Christmas is a very stressful time, let's not try to deny it. Preparations being made for guests who are coming to eat, gifts being picked for loved ones, taking care not to overindulge on the spirits and tell…

A remake of a festive favourite (and a classic that remains as entertaining today as it must have back when originally released), Miracle On 34th Street isn't all that bad but it's certainly not a patch on the fine original. In fact,…

When it comes to family entertainment and twisted Christmas movies, few films can hold a spice-scented candle to the brilliance of Gremlins. Taking the idea of "a dog is for life, not just for Christmas" to a twisted extreme, there’s no…

An event movie, a big deal at the time of it's release, I remember seeing a hundred and one clips of Santa Claus: The Movie on TV when it first came out and I'm sure that everyone involved with it hoped it would become THE modern seasonal…

Another Christmas movie from Bob Clark, the man who gave us the original Black Christmas, this is a very different affair, a celebration of just how great it is to be young and so eager for that big day to come around. Written by Clark,…

The movie that came from the song that, of course, gets another airing in this movie. White Christmas isn't all that white and isn't ALWAYS all that Christmassy but it certainly puts everything in place (tree, snow, gifts, Santa suits) when…

AKA Beyond Christmas. As illustrated in this fantastic article by Cleaver Patterson, Christmas has long held a tradition of accompanying the celebrations and decorations with time by the fire hearing tales of ghosts and the supernatural.…

Dick Maas is quite a guy. He was responsible for one of my favourite "bad" movies of all time, Down AKA The Shaft. If you haven't seen it then please seek it out ASAP. It stars Naomi Watts, James Marshall, Ron Perlman and many other people…