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%

Christmas Baggage - 26th November 2013

On the penultimate Tuesday Night is Film Night night before Advent, we squeeze in another one of those "made for TV" type films that seem to saturate the obscure movie channels at this time of year. Sometimes you can find a hidden gem, but will we be thinking that after we watch;

Christmas Baggage

No. Think on.

Having said that, the film does star Cheryl Ladd who is at least well known. It also stars Barry Bostwick. Who? Exactly.

Just to clear up some confusion, on TV it was billed as Christmas Baggage, on Amazon it is sold as Holiday Baggage and on IMDB it is labelled just as Baggage. Anyway to the plot. 

Sarah Murphy (Ladd) is a doctor, her estranged husband Pete Murphy (Bostwick) is an older man with an eye for the younger woman and left the marital home some years ago, eventually hooking up with a younger woman who he intends to marry. Pete and Sarah have two daughters who are now both young women; Holly and Lisa. Holly is being a surrogate mother to her sister's baby. Don't looked confused, it does make sense (I think) and we have those inevitable Christmas plot twists; baby being born around Christmas, to someone called Holly. How convenient?

So the crux of the matter is, due to their father's wanderings and splitting up the family, whilst breaking his wife's heart, the daughters are not really speaking to Pete. Pete and Sarah have never divorced and with the intention to marry his young sweetheart, Pete visits Sarah to discuss signing off the paperwork.

Cue farcical plot thread number one; Pete has a massive heart attack, luckily with his medically trained wife at hand and ends up in hospital. However, considering he has had a huge Myocardial Infarction he ends up walking away from hospital a couple of days later, seemingly right as rain. It's a Christmas miracle and no mistake!

Given this shock and the subsequent checking out of the hospital, Sarah invites Pete to stay with her and the girls for the holidays (Thanksgiving through into December) and some time to recuperate, with the proviso that he makes peace with their daughters and tries to reconcile their differences. This is easier said than done. And to be fair the middle section of the film, which concentrates on this element of the storyline, does offer up some hope that the film may be worthwhile watching. Indeed some of the acting from Ladd and Bostwick and some of the supporting cast was actually quite good. However, good acting cannot save a weak story and although there was potential it was let down in some style, by a farcical, nonsensical unclear and possibly ludicrous ending. (Farcical plot twist number two).

You would expect that there would be some real conclusion to the film, as the plot had hotted up in the middle (when I say hotted up, it was lukewarm at best), but no. Although we were held in limbo by the attempted reconciliation between father and daughters, the death of Lisa's father-in-law (and family friend) plus the impending birth of the surrogate child and the imminent wedding of the globe trotting Pete, once the finalisation to the story started it frittered away in a hurried, saccharin sweet, overly complicated, but not thought through way. Which let the film down totally, leaving us confused and scratching our heads, unsure what happens to Pete's wife-to-be as he is seemingly getting back with Sarah. Or is he? We guess so, but can't be certain. No loose ends tied up. They say the devil is in the detail and there was no detail here at all.

A very poor ending, after a mediocre start, albeit with a promising middle.

Next week is the first week of Advent, so we'll have a proper Christmas film!

TNiFN Rating 47%

I'll Be Home for Christmas - 19th November 2013

Tuesday Night is (a Christmas) Film Night continues the festive film and cheesy cheer with;

I'll Be Home For Christmas

Well, where can one start with this film?

It was made in 1988 and stars a young Courteney Cox, Hal Holbrook and Eva Marie Saint, who make up part of the Bundy family; Nora, Joseph and Martha respectively. (Daughter-in-Law, father and mother). It's set in a small American town, during the second world war and follows the family through one Christmas.

The Bundy family also have three sons, two of which are serving in the forces and one younger son who is keen to join. The eldest son; Mike is married to Nora and they are expecting a baby. The middle son; Terrel is at odds with his father. And the youngest son; Davey follows the progress of his elder siblings as they travel the world in the air force and army.

The general premise of the film is; the family will be together and at home for Christmas, as Mike is granted leave after his tour of duty, as is Terrel. However you just know that somebody will not be coming home.

I won't spoil it too much by filling in the detail, suffice to say there will be tears on Christmas Eve.

I'll Be Home For Christmas is an unremarkable film, albeit with a slight dramatic edge that made us avoid the "off" switch for it's 96 minute duration. It's quaint, festive and thought provoking, that is if you wanted to analyse the juxtaposition between the desire for peace at Christmas and the ravages of war. There were moments of pathos, there were moments of fun, but generally there were just moments.

The story held itself together, but only just. And the ending was truly disappointing. They seemed to rush it, attempting to tie up the lose ends very quickly, after building up to this point for most of the film.

We really should research these films more, prior to committing to watching them! Luckily for you, it is not available via Amazon.

Never say that we at TNiFN Towers do not provide a service. We watch these films so you don't have to.

Here's hoping next week's offering is a better one.

TNiFN Rating 45%

IMDB Link

If You Believe - 12th November 2013

Like it or not Christmas is on the horizon and here at Tuesday Night is Film Night we like to get into the spirit nice and early. So to kick off our season of Christmas movies we have chosen;

If You Believe

Like it, loathe it or just put up with it, Christmas is just around the corner and here at Tuesday Night is Film Night we have a penchant for Christmas films and try to squeeze in as many as we can before the big man arrives with his heavily laden sack. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be many new good Christmas films around. We have a few, or we have seen a few already, but they are few and far between now, so we have to make do with the odd classic, the odd new one and the plethora of cheesy, American, schmaltzy films that abound the satellite channels at this time of year! These can be hit or miss, they tend to follow the same formula and are not ratings winners, not by a long way, but sometimes you find one that hits the mark, from a story perspective, even if the acting is more wooden than Santa's sleigh!

Anyway, we watched If You Believe which follows the life of Susan Stone, played by Ally Walker, (who has an impressive list of roles on IMDB, we've not heard of a lot of them though). Susan is a publishing house editor, who is struggling with her writers, struggling with her family, having been recently divorced and fallen out with her brother. So, life is not too rosy for the grouchy, Scrooge-like, curmudgeonly Susan, that is until she discovers a 7 year old girl in her apartment. It transpires that this girl is Susan's inner child, AKA Susan at 7 years old, full of joy and childlike innocent, intent on getting the adult Susan to mend her ways, change her outlook and reconnect with the people that surround her.

So far, so good (ish). Yes it is formulaic and cheesy, but if you can see past this thinly veiled layer of sentiment, Mom's apple pie and the good old American dream and just take the piece for what it is, it does possess an innocent charm, that may not melt the most cold of hearts, but thaw them just a little.

Susan gambles on an unknown writer, whose book is too long, too new and too dangerous to publish, but it is all she has to save her career. When she actually reads it, she loves it and goes off to spend three weeks with the writer to edit the book into a publishable form. Can you guess what happens next, to the single, unloved Susan? It wouldn't be a Christmas film without a modicum of romance now would it? Yes indeed! A little bit of romance to warm your cockles! Susan's writer is Thom Weller played by Tom Amandes, (no, we've never heard of him either) and fight it so she might, she starts to fall for our handsome Prince Charming, all the while being egged on by her constant companion; her 7 year old self.

We really should point out that Susan's 7 year old companion got quite annoying at the start of the film, with her very loud, constant berating of her older form. The child actor playing Susan junior is Hayden Panettiere and was clearly one of those precocious child acting brats that really should be seen and not heard, but she does (like it or not) give a great performance and was clearly made for this role and her involvement within the plot is key to the story.

Anyway, we digress. Back to the story, there is not much left to retell apart from the part and this is common to all the films of this ilk, where everything looks fine and dandy, but the rug gets pulled out from under the feet of one of the leading characters and we have that solemn moment when you never know if it is going to be a happy ending or not.

Rest assured, it would not be a good wholesome, heart warming Christmas movie if it didn't have a happy ending! If You Believe follows the formula to the letter and things turn out just fine.

If You Believe isn't a good film by a long stretch of the imagination. However, don't get us wrong; it is entertaining, it provides a great dollop of Christmas spirit, it ticks all the boxes but it would not be a hit at the box office. However, if you want to sit by the fire, with a glass of eggnog, staying warm from the winter chills and be entertained for 87 minutes then If You Believe can do that for you.

Don't expect a high rating though, as one of our number at TNiFN Towers fell asleep halfway through, which is always a good indicator as to a films' content!

See you next time for some more Christmas cheer.

TNiFN Rating 53%

IMDB Link

Indecent Proposal - 5th November 2013

Tuesday Night is Film Night is trying to get back into a rhythm after missing a couple of weeks in October due to other commitments and before we start the countdown to Christmas, there's just time to slip in a quick;

Indecent Proposal

Yes, we go way back to 1993 for this ostensibly three handed interplay between Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson and Robert Redford.

The delightful Demi Moore plays Diane Murphy, who is in a solid relationship with her husband David Murphy (Harrelson). Things are looking up and David starts to live out his architectural dream; his own design for their marital home. Just as things are going well, a recession hits and they start to lose everything; money, jobs and eventually the unfinished dream house looks like it will go too. They beg some money to try to keep up repayments on the mortgage, but it's not enough. Until David hits on an idea and they race off to Las Vegas to gamble away their remaining money in attempt to win more back. At the start they do well and are thousands of dollars up, but it's not enough, they just need to double up. At this point, it starts to go wrong and they end up losing everything, not before Diane is spotted by billionaire John Gage (Redford) who is immediately attracted to her. And this is where the story starts to really unfold.

I will assume that you all know what the indecent proposal is, one million dollars for a night with your wife, but this film is more about the relationship between Diane and David and not the one million dollar night, in fact the sequence of scenes for that night is extremely brief.
The film does take awhile to get to this point and there are several overlaid scenes setting us up to this point, ensuring that sufficient background information is there.

After the indecent proposal is proposed and carried out, after some heartfelt discussion between the Murphy's I might add, we start to see the real crux of this film, where one evening of desperation leads to what could be a lifetime of dishonesty, disloyalty, mistrust and misunderstanding. We see David and Diane's relationship crumble after David loses faith in Diane's honesty and questions her motives. All the while Diane is being pursued by John Gage, who is not relentless in his quest to continue to see Diane, much to the chagrin of David. Eventually David and Diane split up and go their separate ways, but what is to become of them? What happens to Diane and John?

Obviously we have no spoilers here, you'll need to be watch the film for the complete story, let's just say I was slightly surprised by the final result,  not overly displeased, but it was a bit saccharin sweet and schmaltzy, which after a tense drama was a bit of a let down.

As for the film itself, on the whole the story-line is good, believable I guess. The interplay between the characters was extremely good, especially Moore and Harrelson. Nice though it is the number of slow, semi nude scanning shots of Demi Moore was a tad predictable. Yes, she has a cute body, but continued gratuitous panning shots don't really add to the tension, but I guess it added a degree of sexual allure to the love scenes. That's not a complaint, there just seemed to be a lot of them, along with several quick jump shot edits where Moore was filmed from all angles, so was hard to see which end you were looking at. (Again, not complaining!)

As to the peripheral cast members, Oliver Platt provided some levity to the piece, playing a lawyer friend of David's, with some funny lines to lighten the mood somewhat. Also near to the end, we have what is slightly more than a cameo appearance from Billy Connolly, playing himself as a celebrity charity auctioneer, which was nice but didn't really add to the film as a whole and seemed to be a cash in on Connolly's fame at the time, I may be wrong.

All in all, Indecent Proposal was better than mediocre, the TNiFN female contingent enjoying it more than the male. So the scores are going to reflect the female vote, but it's the male contingent that writes the words!

TNiFN Rating 68%

Frost / Nixon - 3rd November 2013

I admit it, this is not a Tuesday Night, so to blog a Tuesday night is Film Night film, on a Sunday is pushing the envelope of sensibility somewhat, but we have been pretty busy here at TNiFN Towers, so a Tuesday film was never really going to happen. However we have caught up and decided to throw in a quick Sunday night version of TNiFN, just because we could.

So this week's film was a departure for us, gone is the chick-flick and rom-com, as we throw down the gauntlet on a gritty political drama;

Frost / Nixon

The subject matter speaks for itself, we all know about the rise and subsequent fall of President Richard Millhouse Nixon, as we are also aware of the varied talents of one David Frost, but do we know much about when they met for a series of interviews in the late 70's? This film follows the drama as the story of the story unfolds.

Writer Peter Morgan manages to capture in his screenplay an incredible tense, dramatic interplay between the disgraced former president and the jet setting TV presenter, in this gritty film. The action, if it can be described as that, is akin to a boxing match, where the underdog is clearly Frost and the supreme champion is Nixon, but can Frost make anything from this battle? Certainly the mainstream US media do not think so, as none of the major news networks are interested in taking the interviews and so the majority of the funding to pull off the recordings, is produced by Frost himself.

Once the film gets underway, there is a modicum of scene setting, some background information, therefore imparting sufficient information for us to get drawn into the main action, which of course is the interviews themselves and it is a testament to Peter Morgan's writing and Ron Howard's direction that a film that ostensibly deals with two grown men talking in front of some camera's becomes a gripping, dramatic and fascinating production. Obviously, if you know about the history, you will know the outcome, but even so the journey to that inevitability is most entertaining, enlightening and intriguing.

Frank Langella provides a magnificent performance as the jowl wobbling Nixon, who vehemently defends himself of any wrong-doings in front of Frost. Michael Sheen is as always a real treat as the ever smiling Frost, managing to capture the nuances of the TV giant, in almost every way. Supported ably by a talented and well picked cast, notably Kevin Bacon as the ex president's adviser come bodyguard Jack Brennan. Also the supporting team for Frost led by John Birt the producer of the interviews (Matthew Macfadyen) and two researchers James Reston and Bob Zelnick, played by Sam Rockwell and Bob Zelnick respectively.

So, this pugilistic battle between political heavyweight and TV's up and coming chat show host is an odd mix. Nixon clearly plays Frost as a fool and dominates the first three days of filming and it looks to be a lost cause for Frost and Nixon will come away from it and seen a better light as a result. However in the final day's filming the tables are turned and Frost produces body- blow after body-blow, forcing the president to admit his failings, the cover-ups and eventually an apology to the American people over the scandal that was Watergate.

Frost / Nixon journals a very important stage in political history and does so with aplomb. As a gritty political drama, based on reality it is perfection. It has the ability to keep you focused and it's also a movie where the underdog comes up trumps, after facing adversity and we all like that in a film.

TNiFN Rating 75%

By the way, we passed 5,000 page views this week, so thank you to all those that stop by and read our little cinematic bloggage.