Nativity 2 - 17th December 2013

So with Christmas Eve just a week away we take on another new film, but is it second time lucky for;

Nativity 2 - Danger in the Manger

Following on from the success of Nativity back in 2009, Mr Poppy is back at St Bernadette's school for more classroom mayhem. This time he is joined by a new teacher in the form of Mr Peterson AKA David Tennant.

Those of you who have seen the original Nativity with Martin Freeman, will know how Mr Poppy is a classroom assistant, who is more of a kid than the kids are themselves. And in Nativity 2 nothing has changed. Mr Poppy is still seeing off supply teachers with enormous regularity with his outrageous classroom antics. That is until he spots the Song for Christmas competition and is determined to enter his school and win. Of course, the rival school from the first film make an appearance, but to double the tension and give the plot a sufficient twist to make it different from the first film, Mr Peterson's twin brother turns up with another rival school for the Song for Christmas competition.

"What song for Christmas competition?" *shrugs shoulders* - Watch the film, then you will get it.

So that's your plot. A song competition, plenty of rivalry, goodies and baddies, a trek across Wales to reach the venue and a baby and a donkey thrown in for good measure. What could possibly go wrong?

Judging by the reviews on Amazon, Nativity 2 is a bit of a "Marmite movie", they either loved it or hated it. The two most helpful reviews stated; "Christmas magic!" and "Embarrassing drivel".
So it is a difficult one to call. In fairness we at TNiFN Towers are tending toward the "Christmas magic" side of the balance, but only just. However, it is a Christmas movie after all, so lighten up!
OK the antics of Mr Poppy (Marc Wootton) are a health and safety nightmare, but that's the point, it is innocent fun, you know full well that the underdogs will come out on top, but it's how they get there that counts and Nativity 2 has just enough Christmas cheer to keep things ticking over nicely, with plenty of laughs and the occasional sad moment, just to keep you hooked.

The cast are superb, Tennant manages to pull off a double header by playing both the Peterson twins (makes sense really), Marc Wootton is sublimely ridiculous as the irreverent Mr Poppy, clearly ad libbing his way through all his scenes. In fact most of the scenes were improvised with certain key points in a loose script for the cast to "hit".
Adding to the cast are Joanna Page as Mr Peterson's pregnant wife and the brilliant Ian McNiece as the over-bearing father of the Peterson twins. Pam Ferris reprises her role from Nativity as she is still the Headmistress of St Bernadette's. Also Jason Watkins is back, as the pompous teacher; Gordon Shakespeare from rival school Oakmoor. Also making an appearance is the lovely Jessica Hynes as competition host Angel Matthews.

Anyway, all in all Nativity 2 - Danger in the Manger is a pretty good Christmas giggle, it's not going to be a classic Christmas movie, but it is certainly entertaining enough to get you into the Christmas spirit and the music is pretty good too, well as long as you enjoy children singing!

TNiFN Rating 70%

Will You Merry Me? - 10th December 2013

With the 10th door on our Advent calendar open and hanging off it's hinges, it's time to settle down and relax with a mince pie and a festive film.

This week for our viewing pleasure we have;

Will You Merry Me?

Well wasn't that a quaint little Christmas movie? Yes indeed.

Here's the synopsis for this merry little yuletide  tale. Henry and Rebecca, played by Tommy Lioutas and Vikki Krinsky respectively, are young lovers living in New York. Their relationship may only be 6 months old, but everything is just right, almost perfect one could say. And so, the very much in love Henry, decides to pop the question to the lovely Rebecca. All they need to do now is to tell their respective families. And as it is just before the holiday season, what better way to spread the news than to all meet up for Christmas?

Well, that's where the problem lies, Henry's family are mad. Sorry, mad on Christmas, how could they not be as their surname is Kringle! And they live in a small Wisconsin town which is also slightly doolally when it comes to Christmas. Unfortunately, Rebecca's parents are Jewish and not so up on Christmas, preferring as they do to celebrate Hanukkah, then spend Christmas in Aspen. Despite this, they decide to meet up, spend a couple of days with the Kringle's before heading off to Aspen.

However, it was never going to be that simple and the bulk of the film is taken up watching the two families get on, then fall out, then make up, then fall out again. And that previous sentence doesn't do the story line justice at all, but it shows you the approach of the film. It is actually quite a funny film and it was a joy to watch the two very different families try so hard to make the others welcome whilst trying to respect their different beliefs, traditions and foibles.

It is a very entertaining film, but it was never going to be a blockbuster and the cast is made up of mainly unknowns. (Let me just go and check IMDB to be sure of that!)

Henry's parents are Hank and Marilyn, played by Patrick McKenna and Cynthia Stevenson. Whilst Rebecca's parents are; Marvin and Suzie Feine played by David Eisner and Wendie Malick. According to IMDB each actor has been in quite a few films and or TV shows, can't say I have heard of many of them though. However, that is not the point, they are all exceptionally good, funny and not in the least bit wooden in Will You Merry Me. And despite the fact it is a TV movie, it is probably the best one we have seen here at TNiFN Towers (and we've seen our fair share of dire "made for TV" Christmas films). It does stand out as a bit of gem in that regard, in comparison to some.

The other thing that makes Will You Merry Me a decent film is the well written story line. There is just enough Christmas cheer to go round, with a handful of farce, a topping of schmaltzy cheese, a sprinkling of sadness and a modicum of magic to make it a fun, wholesome, family film that should be enjoyed by all ages.

Of course, it all turns out well in the end, that is what Christmas films are about, but it's the journey that you take to get there that counts and Will You Merry Me has sufficient buoyancy to carry you through without getting bored at all. It is akin to Christmas With The Kranks, but not so farcical. It also has just enough pathos to make you sad in places and sufficient pull to ensure you stay with it until all becomes good again.

It's a delightful Christmas film and has enough of the correct ingredients to make it worth repeat viewings. Although it is formulaic in its approach, it has enough uniqueness to make it stand out from the rest. It was never going to compete with the big Christmas blockbusters, but it definitely holds its own and is to be recommended as a definite one to watch should it appear on a TV channel near you soon.

As we said at the start; "a quaint little Christmas movie" and deserving of praise.

TNiFN Rating 78%

IMDB link

Arthur Christmas - 3rd December 2013

Advent is upon us here at Tuesday Night is Film Night towers and tonight we are putting our feet up and sipping eggnog in front of;

Arthur Christmas

Arthur Christmas is a new (2011) animated feature film from Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation and follows the story of the current Santa (Jim Broadbent) who is getting on in years, but not as old as Grand Santa (Bill Nighy) who is 136 years old! Santa has two sons; there's Steve (Hugh Laurie) a modern, technologically compliant, militaristic leader who has taken Christmas into the 21st and runs the North Pole operation, with his army of trusty elves, who aid the aging Santa with his deliveries. The second and younger son is Arthur (James McAvoy). Arthur is everything Steve is not, he's clumsy, frowned upon by the elves and a little overlooked by his Dad and is resigned to work in the mailroom. That is until a child is missed...........

We really don't want to go into too much detail of the film, the basic premise is simple, a child's present is not delivered and Arthur who believes so much in the Christmas spirit, really doesn't want this child to lose out. Steve on the other hand, feels that they can write it off as a minuscule percentage loss of the whole operation. So Arthur in collusion with Grand Santa fly off with the old faithful sleigh to right this minor misdemeanor and ensure that every child has received their present from Santa.

And that is it, that is the story, beautiful in it's simplicity but the writing of Peter Baynham and Sarah Smith (who also directed the film), take this simple story and project it to another level. There is so much detail within the film, not just with magnificent computer generated animation, which has layers of complexity, not only in the foreground action but what goes on in the background as well. It's the same with the writing there are many references that only multiple viewings will pick up on. The dialogue for each character is spot on; Steve is arrogant and a strong believer in the modern world, but is not good with children and that is reflected in the way Hugh Laurie delivers the lines. The same with Grand Santa, Bill Nighy uses his vocal talents to deliver the script to perfection and he has some of the best lines in the film. You really cannot underestimate the wondrous writing of Peter Baynham. He uses the script to to introduce another level of expression that you would not normally see within an animated film. And it is an animated film, it is not a cartoon, it is so much more than that. The animation is real enough to be believable, but sufficiently animated so you know it's not. There is a special feature on the DVD which will clarify what we mean there, just in case you thought we were talking nonsense! 

There is something magical about Arthur Christmas, it has a real ability to release your inner child and tap into that layer of innocence, taking you back to a time where Christmas was truly magical. What the film also does, is to set out to answer those childish questions that we all asked like; how can Santa visit every child, delivering joy along with the presents? And so much more besides.

The cast is fantastic as well, so much (vocal) talent adding to fun and lots of big names too;

James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Ashley Jensen, Eva Longoria, Ramona Marquez, Michael Palin, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Robbie Coltrane and Jane Horrocks, to name but 12!

We really cannot wait to see it again.

You can probably tell that here at TNiFN we love a Christmas movie, however with Arthur Christmas I think we have found a new classic. It's a simple recipe but one that can be so hard to achieve; how do you take a simple story, but make it a complex,  multi-layered, fascinating, gripping, entertaining and funny film? We don't know, but what we do know is that Arthur Christmas does the trick. It will stand the test of time and be a perennial favourite that will be watched over and over again.

Absolutely tinsel-tastic mate!

TNiFN Rating 90%