The Christmas TV Strategy Guide 2024 #09

Here’s another Star Trek film to get you through the post Christmas malaise. Its definitely a step up in quality from the first film, as its a cracking sequel that takes the end of an old episode of the TV series and runs with it. A great villain, a great cast and a great science fiction story. Lovely!

ITV3 always loves a day of Carry On films, by that we mean the UK comedy franchise not the recent Netflix action film. And here they seem to have gone for the 2 of the best slash most iconic of the series; Khyber is probably the best, Camping has THAT scene in it and the other 2 are from before the wheels started coming off the franchise so still have a few good laughs in them

Arguably Gore Verbinski’s best film, the weird art design ends up suiting this off kilter take on western films even with Johnny Depp showing up as well. There’s not much that looked liked it at the time which means its ageing not too badly which is always a danger with these CG animations. Its ageing much better than the Shrek films!

Pure Beatles at the height of Beatlemania, this remains one of the best films starring a popular band. Maybe only Slade in Flame is a bit better but this is still one of the bext

Three days in a row! THREE! Can you believe? It truly is a Christmas Miracle

More required viewing for the TV Festive; Big Charlton Heston giving it the Big Beard Moses action right up on the big screen. Certainly the right time of year for a big Christian Movie Epic and they don’t come much more epic than this one

Still one of the best super hero movies, this is right up there in the top tier of Pixar films. Such a great voice cast, that great 60s super hero aesthetic and some great jokes. Its a banger!

Moar Poirot just for you, this time the first two movies starring Peter Ustinov as the titular detective. And they’re pretty good, Ustinov’s take on the character is probably the furthest away from the book but he brings enough energy to the role to keep you hooked. The first film probably has the edge thanks to the cast but both are still a good time

More family fun for you today with one of Aardman’s alright CG animation films, my Eldest would tell you its a banger but ignore him. And then Nanny McPhee which is a bit too sickly in parts but still an enjoyable fairy tale style film

We all wanted this to be a banger after Skyfall, which remains one of the Bond high points, but this ended up just being alright I’d say? A bit too muddled, not enough Big Dave Bautista and a stinker of a Bond theme. Still, the action is still good and Christoph Waltz gives good value for money so still worth a watch

My Good Friend Ryan will tell you this is a banger because Jet Li takes apart a gun with one hand but, I ask you, is that enough to hang an entire film on? Probably not. Still, if you’ve watched the rest you may as well get this one done as well. In for a penny, right?

In the right mood I’d argue this is De Niro’s best film of the 80s. No really, what looks to be a fairly straight forward crime caper is massively elevated by De Niro and Charles Grodin’s chemistry as they try to escape baddies whilst crossing America. Its a belter!

Speaking of belters, here’s one of the beltiest belters that ever had a belt. The Godfather one of the very best films you can see so whenever its on its well worth a re-watch. And then a Naked Gun sequel which is good but you can see the diminishing returns starting to set in which would really show themselves with the third one. But this one is still a hoot!

More Bruce Lee action! This time the film that gave one Chuck Norris his debut as the big bad guy of the film that Bruce has a classic tussle with in the Colosseum. Its also pretty funny as well so one well worth your time

Got to end the day with a big daft werewolf film, am I right? The transformation sequence is probably second only to An American Werewolf in London and is probably the highlight of the film. Its still good though, one from early 80s era of horror that could really sink its teeth into you, pardon the pun