Christmas has always been special to me and my favourite time of year. Main reasons being that it means lots of family time and reliving the nostalgia of singing and listening to carols, watching Christmas films and animations, playing festive games and opening presents. Will never tire of it and nothing will ever change that for the world.Seing it as someone who wanted to see a different festive film other than the ones watched every year, 'The Spirit of Christmas' is never going to be among my favourites or one of the timeless festive films. It is not great, nor is it flawless. 'The Spirit of Christmas' is though a more than watchable film and avoids some, though not all, of the traps that other Christmas films have fallen into. It is a case of having appeal for some and others finding it a bit of a chore to sit through. For me despite its flaws, 'The Spirit of Christmas' is one of the better new Christmas films seen recently, but nowhere near close to ever.As to be expected, the story is predictable and although the premise is a reasonably clever one there isn't really an original idea in sight. There are a lot of easily telegraphed scenes here. Some draggy pacing here and there too.Quite a fair bit of the dialogue does make one cringe and like some festive films it is not without its cheesy moments, and when we say cheesy we are not talking a little sadly.However, 'The Spirit of Christmas' is a decent looking film, the locations are particularly striking. The music provides some affectionate nostalgia and is pleasant to listen to, while the direction avoids being too routine. Didn't find myself irritated by the characters at least and wasn't bored.Despite the predictability, 'The Spirit of Christmas' has its heart in the right place, a difficult to dislike atmosphere and has a nice message that is easily relatable and wasn't laid on too thick. There is definitely a festive spirit and there is plenty of warmth and charm here, with enough parts to warm and melt the heart. Never does it feel too juvenile or mean-spirited and the sentimentality generally doesn't become too much. The acting actually comes over very well, with two likeable leads and a supporting cast that show enthusiasm without over-doing it.Overall, likeable and above average if nothing to be blown away by. 6/10 Bethany Cox
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Before you decide to watch "Dunkirk" I have a bit of a warning. While you would expect death and blood in a war film, some of the scenes in the film are amazingly tough to watch. There's actually very little blood, but there are some drowning scenes which are intense and awful. Now I am not saying don't watch it...just be prepared.The story is a retelling of the escape of the British* from the beaches of Dunkirk. The German army was coming and the combined British and French forces were trapped with little apparent chance to escape. And, as an army of over 300,000 Brits dug in and waited, the Luftwaffe began chipping away at them....and ultimately would have killed and/or captured them all if it wasn't for a rag-tag flotilla of private boats which hastily arrived and spirited away about 80-90% of the men.By the way, early in the film you hear someone speaking to the pilot (Tom Hardy) over the radio. The voice is that of Michael Caine....an odd and brief cameo.The story is gripping, well told and brilliant. I have only one complaint, and I am surprised it made it to the film considering how amazing a director Christopher Nolan is. At one point, the scene switches between some men in a boat being attacked and a private yacht rescuing downed pilots. The scenes kept switching back and forth....but one was clearly at night and the other clearly was in daylight. This really didn't make any sense. Still, otherwise an amazing spectacle...a truly amazing war film.
Rick (Christian Bale) is a successful movie screenwriter in Hollywood. He goes out with free-spirited Della (Imogen Poots). He goes to a tarot card reading. Barry (Wes Bentley) is his brother and Joseph (Brian Dennehy) is his father. Nancy (Cate Blanchett) is his ex-wife. Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) is another woman from his past. Tonio (Antonio Banderas) is a womanizer. Helen (Freida Pinto) is a model. Karen (Teresa Palmer) is a stripper. Fr. Zeitlinger (Armin Mueller-Stahl) is a priest. Rick moves through L.A., Vegas, and other places as he searches for meaning with various loves and hookers.The acting is improvisational. The movie moves through L.A. and this world in a dreamlike fashion. Rick doesn't say much. The camera moves through his world like a spirit observing his life. In a way, it's a very fitting vision of LaLaLand. It reminds me of an IMAX movie I saw back in the 80's with disconnected action vignettes in Canada. It was disembodying but fascinating... for about thirty minutes. Luckily, that's how long that IMAX movie was. In this case, this movie lasts for two hours. One does check out sooner or later. I try to stay with it but it does get away from me a couple of times. 2ff7e9595c