The Christmas TV Strategy Guide 2023 #17

And there we have it, Great Movies Christmas is now switched back to being Great Romance which is the final nail in the coffin for this year’s festive season. But, you may not be back at work yet or still have some kids knocking around the house that aren’t back to school yet so we’ll cover off the rest of the week just to see if there’s anything else interesting on

If you think that the Home Alone films are violent, then check this film out. The titular baby delivers near Goodfellas level of violence to the hapless goons out to kidnap him, and this is a family classic? Then the first of the How To Train Your Dragon films which might be the best despite the sequel being really good as well. Next we have Rango which is a really strange one, a surreal take on Westerns with an art style as far away from the usual animated kids fare as possible. And yet it just about pulls it off, which is a minor miracle really

Yes, is this film series again but the sequel is good honest m’lud, and again its no where near as bad as it should be. It should be terrible, but it somehow manages to charm its way out of dodge

Two stars? Two?! That is an outright crime, this is worth way more than that if only for Kurt Russell’s amazing turn as the dumb blowhard stuck in the middle of a Chinese ghost story. A brilliant John Carpenter film and no mistake

Don’t forget your Daily Clint! Brilliant Western this, again thanks to the film using the weight of Eastwood’s previous western roles to tell a different story that than the usual fare. Easily Eastwoods best Western since the Dollars films and would only be beaten by Unforgiven a decade or so later

Oooh, this is a belter this one and no mistake. Yes, Manhunter is a great film but this is just that bit better thanks to a stunning central performance by Jodie Foster. Her vulnerability locks you into the film and keeps you engaged through everything. And yes, Hopkins is only on screen for a few minutes but his presence seems to permeate the entire film in a way other films with the same character have failed to replicate. A belter this one

Christmas may be over but the BBC is still scheduling back to back bangers during the afternoon. You can’t argue with either of these, both still more than hold up getting on for 100 years since they were released. My God, that was some sentence to type out

Alright, last one of these, promise

Very much buried in the schedules, but this retains all of its power even when scheduled after Classic Cars. One of the definitive Vietnam films, Kubrick delivers a masterclass here, his impartial camera only heightening the personal cost of normal people being chewed up by the US War Machine before being spat out onto the battlefield. A brilliant film

A brilliant double bill here. Have we had Mousehunt before? Not sure, but its worth another watch because its brilliant. And then you get a 1970s classic mainly thanks to the amazing special effects work of Ray Harryhausen. I mean, a dude sword fights a 6 armed statue of Kali, whats not to love about that?

I don’t think there’s much argument that 300 remains Zack Snyder’s best film, God bless him. Dawn of The Dead was a great debut, but it feels like most films after that have been a step down. This one however works as Snyder’s slow mo style enhances the material rather than dragging it down. Following that, you get that rare thing which is an alright Scorsese film. It feels like it wants to build up to a more impactful twist but kind of just, doesn’t? Still a decent watch though and that boy Martin sure can make a film look good

Fairly sure we’ve had these two films before, but here you have the two sides of Gosling back to back; the stoic cool dude alongside the hilarious goofball. Which one is best? I know which one I prefer

And so we come to the end of this year, and what else to finish with but Aliens because, well, why not? Much like Ripley at the end of the film, the Christmas TV Strategy Guide will now go into hypersleep, ready to crash into a planet next festive season to deliver more TV treats. Feliz navidad!