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  • The Grinch Is The Most Festive Film Of All Time

    The Grinch Is The Most Festive Film Of All Time

    The Grinch Is The Most Festive Film Of All Time – The holiday season is upon us and ‘tis the time for many traditions, including binge-watching the same old Christmas films we know and love.

    But which classic makes us feel the most Christmassy?

    Interested in finding the films that fill us with the most festive spirit, the experts at OnBuy.com created a Christmas film Index. They set a points-based system where each festive element in the movies, such as the number of Christmas trees and how many times Santa appears, would earn a point (from 1 to 3) based on how Christmassy they are.

    Using this points-based system, at the end of the study, OnBuy.com were able to crown the most Christmassy film of all time.

    The Results 

    Starring Jim Carrey, How the Grinch Stole Christmas is crowned the most Christmassy film of all time with 586 points. The film scored the most points (50) for Christmas Outfit Appearance and Presents Appearance (66 points) out of all the considered films. Although the word “Santa” is said 11 times, adding 22 points to the scoreline, and the classic Down the Chimney happened four times (adding 8 points), the only Christmas element that the film didn’t score points on was Santa Claus Appearance – if we don’t count Grinch dressing up in Mrs. Claus’ clothes. 

    The Results

    The second place revealed that there’s no Christmas story more Christmassy than Dr. Seuss’s: Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch (2018) scoring 484 points. With an animated version of Mr. Grinch dubbed by Benedict Cumberbatch, the film got the highest points for Christmas Food Appearance (15 points), Carol Singers Appearance (4 points), Sleigh and/or Reindeer Appearance (14 points) and Down the Chimney (18 points). 

    Considered a modern-day Christmas staple, Love Actually makes the top three with 406 points. This festive flick scored the highest points (135) for Christmas Trees Appearance. But, with zero points for Kisses Under Mistletoe. 

    Scoring only 97 points, the least Christmassy film of all time is the musical White Christmas. Its highest score is 19 points for the number of times the word “Christmas” is said. The five Christmas Songs (15 points) also disappoint and aren’t quite what we would expect from a Christmas musical.

    Methodology

    1. To achieve the data, OnBuy.com surveyed 2,987 fans and asked them to name the best Christmas films of all time.
    2. The 16 films analysed by OnBuy.com were: How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Dr. Seuss’ the Grinch (2018), Miracle on 34th Street (1994), Polar Express (2004), Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Love Actually (2003), Nativity (2009), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), Jingle All the Way (1996), Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), Elf (2003), Home Alone (1990), Deck the Halls (2006), Scrooged (1988), Jack Frost (1998) and White Christmas (1954). 
    3. Three points awarded for the following variables: each time ‘Ho Ho Ho’ was said, each time a Christmas song was played, each time a scene had a Christmas Tree, each time a scene had presents, each time Santa appeared or each time a scene had someone come down a chimney.
    4. Two points awarded for the following variables: each scene which Christmas outfits, each scene with a sleigh and/or a reindeer, each scene with Christmas decoration, each time ‘Christmas’ was said or each time ‘Santa’ was said.
    5. One point awarded for the following variables: each scene with snow or snow activities, each scene with carol singers, each scene with a kiss under the mistletoe and each scene with Christmas related food and drinks.
  • Sweet Parents: Review

    Sweet Parents: Review

    Will (David Bly) and Gabby (Leah Rudick) are a young couple that have finally managed to afford a place of their own. Unfortunately, they can only afford something very small and with their professions on the line, money is tight. Will is a chef who feels he’s unappreciated at work and Gabby is a sculptor whose work is being overlooked.

    Then one day when talking with one of their friends, they find out that he’s been forming relationships with older people and feels perfectly comfortable with them buying him things and giving him money, he calls them his sweet parents.

    Shocked by their friend’s behaviour, Will is appalled that anybody could ever think about taking advantage of somebody like that in return for sex and companionship. Then Gabby meets Oscar (Casey Biggs), an artist who was revered by her tutors when she was at art school. They get to know each other and Gabby starts to realise that Oscar is exactly the right person to give her career a boost.

    Will is instantly jealous and incensed that Gabby could even consider such a thing, but over time Will and Gabby’s relationship gets tested to breaking point. Especially when Will decides to court, Guylaine (Barbara Weetman) who takes an interest in his work.

    Sweet Parents is a bittersweet drama directed by David Bly and co-written with Leah Rudick. A realistic drama that talks about the things that go unsaid in relationships.

    A drama which may be compared to Marriage Story as it tells a realistic and grounded portrayal of a relationship on the point of breaking. As the film slowly sets out its story, it never feels contrived and forced. Instead Sweet Parents is helped along by naturalistic dialogue and a script that gives the audience an organic story which never tells them how to feel.

    Rudick and Bly’s chemistry is strong and the relationship between them feels natural with the film never making the audience pick a side or to judge either one. Sweet Parents may be hard to watch at times, but it may make you question where you are in your own lives no matter what your relationship status may be.

  • Beast Within: Review

    Beast Within: Review

    August (Steve Morana) is a game developer of Werewolves Within, a mobile game based on the popular party game of Werewolf. At the launch party for the app there are a variety of guests including August’s best friend, Stan (Marco Timpano), his boss, Brian (Art Hindle), and Cheyenne (Holly Deveaux) a beautiful and mysterious woman he’s been talking to online who he invited to the party.

    However, as the guests all settle in and get to know each other better it seems that one of them is hiding a secret and that one of them may really be a werewolf.

    Beast Within is a horror movie that takes the premise for the original party game and opens it up into a real-life game within a movie with plenty of potential to show its audience how fun the game can be to those who’ve never played it. Unfortunately, Beast Within takes itself far too seriously and although set up in a self-referential scenario, the movie tries too hard to be a serious horror and forgets to have fun.

    Also, for a relatively short film, Beast Within does like to take its time to set up its players. In fact, it ends up taking a good amount of time into the movie before anybody realises that somebody has died and that there may even be a werewolf which is quite frustrating to watch.

    There are also a lot of missed opportunities in the dialogue and the connections between the characters is all but lost as they all only really come together once they’re in danger.

    A better script could have made their interactions much more realistic and perhaps even humorous as the characters start to turn on each other. It might have even helped to add moments to the script that reflected real games of Werewolf that could have made players of the game laugh.

    The best part is really the reveal of the werewolf in all its glory because there has been a real effort in the effects, it’s just a shame that the execution of the movie wasn’t as involved.

  • Vanguard: Review

    Vanguard: Review

    Vanguard is Jackie Chan’s latest Chinese action blockbuster, re-teaming the kung-fu star with frequent collaborator Stanley Tong. Despite the duo’s illustrious track record (the Super Cop films are among Chan’s best work), their latest actioner feels like a wayward effort. Indulging in tired tropes and bombastic tendencies, Vanguard’s chaotic energy never reaches its campy aspirations.

    Vanguard follows Tang Hauting (Jackie Chan), the leader of a covert security company. When an accountant becomes the target of a deadly mercenary organization, the Vanguard team is put to the test in a globe-trotting adventure.

    For a film that is jam-packed with frenetic action sequences, Vanguard is rarely able to draw the audience’s interest. Tong’s typically lively hand as a director is noticeably missing, utilizing clumsy effects-driven sequences over the well-crafted stuntwork of his heyday (there’s a CGI lion here that looks like it’s from a PS2 game).

    Colored with artificial backdrops and a frantic cluster of sped-up shots, every setpiece is presented with the same blandly-flavored aesthetics. They fail to muster a modicum of personality, poorly adapting concepts from far superior actioners. Some of these frames elicit a few cheeky fun moments (a flying jetpack trooper brings some much-needed chaos), but most of them feel too cheap and plain to register an impression. Eastern actioners often offer a fresh change of pace from Hollywood’s grandiose blockbuster, but Vanguard relishes in their worst traits. The dialogue often reads with a certain rigidness, straddling archetype characters with nothing interesting to say or do on screen (Chan seems half-asleep in his lifeless role).

    There’s also a bevy of contrivances that feel woefully out of date. Every female character is treated as a mere object (the one “badass” female agent is later utilized as bait to lure a male advisory), while the film’s jingoistic politics leave a sour taste in audience’s mouth. It’s one thing to implement a patriotic verve, but the blatant reinforcement of China’s oppressive police state feels rather icky to endure.

    Problematic politics aside, Vanguard is as disposable as a genre picture can get. If you’re a Chan film fan, just rent one of his superior older films instead.

    Vanguard is now playing in theaters nationwide.

  • Rangers Edition: Bits & Pieces

    Rangers Edition: Bits & Pieces

    Released as After Class in the US, the film stars Justin Long (Dodgeball, / Die Hard 4.0) as a New York City professor, who spends a week re-connecting with his family while defending his reputation over controversial behaviour at his college. Safe Spaces also stars Kate Berlant, Lynn Cohen, and is directed by Daniel Schechter. 

    Martha (Vanessa Kirby) and Sean (Shia LaBeouf) are a Boston couple on the verge of parenthood whose lives change irrevocably when a home birth ends in unimaginable tragedy. Thus begins a yearlong odyssey for Martha, who must navigate her grief while working through fractious relationships with Sean and her domineering mother (Ellen Burstyn), along with the publicly vilified midwife (Molly Parker), whom she must face in court. Directed by Kornél Mundruczó (WHITE GOD, winner of the 2014 Prix Un Certain Regard Award), written by Kata Wéber, and executive produced by Martin Scorsese, PIECES OF A WOMAN is a deeply personal, searing, and ultimately transcendent story of a woman learning to live alongside her loss.

    Arguably maverick filmmaker Abel Ferrara’s most accessible and explosive film, King of New York’s status as an urban gangster classic is cemented by a magnetic, career-best central performance by Christopher Walken, as well as riveting support from Laurence Fishburne, Wesley Snipes, Giancarlo Esposito, Steve Buscemi and David Caruso.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhNSas7fy0E

    Similar in style to the Oscar winning “Parasite”, the South Korean film won the jury award at this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival, and has a steady 100% Rotten Tomatoes score.

    In the not too distant future, Todd Hewitt (Tom Holland) discovers Viola (Daisy Ridley), a mysterious girl who crash lands on his planet, where all the women have disappeared and the men are afflicted by “the Noise” – a force that puts all their thoughts on display. In this dangerous landscape, Viola’s life is threatened – and as Todd vows to protect her, he will have to discover his own inner power and unlock the planet’s dark secrets.

    THE BEE GEES: HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART is the first feature-length documentary about the legendary band who wrote more than 1,000 songs, created twenty number one hits and sold more than 220 Million records to date. The film chronicles the rise of the iconic group, consisting of brothers Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, their music and its evolution over the years and includes contemporary interviews with Barry Gibb, Eric Clapton, Mark Ronson, Noel Gallagher, Lulu, Nick Jonas, Chris Martin and Justin Timberlake.

    https://vimeo.com/475909645
    IFC Films invites you to check out Ekwa Msangi’s feature directorial debut film FAREWELL AMOR…After 17 years apart, Angolan immigrant Walter is joined in the U.S. by his wife and teen daughter. Now absolute strangers sharing a one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment, they struggle to overcome the emotional distance between them. Walter is trying to let go of a previous relationship while his wife Esther struggles with a new country, culture and a husband who seems distant. Their daughter Sylvia is a dancer just like her father, and while she also finds her new life difficult, she bravely starts to explore the city and show herself through dance. The film is both a universal immigrant story and the unique perspective of three characters bound together by history and hope. It is an intimate and deeply personal look at an inter-generational tale that has defined America since its inception