DIE HARD REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Despite it being 30 years since its release, Die Hard remains one of the best action films as it features a compelling and gripping narrative, memorable characters, a brave protagonist, an unforgettable villain and exhilarating action sequences.

It's Christmas time in L.A., and there's an employee party in progress on the 30th floor of the Nakatomi Corporation building. The revelry comes to a violent end when the partygoers are taken hostage by a group of terrorists headed by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), who plan to steal the 600 million dollars locked in Nakatomi's high-tech safe. In truth, Gruber and his henchmen are only pretending to be politically motivated to throw the authorities off track; also in truth, Gruber has no intention of allowing anyone to get out of the building alive. Meanwhile, New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) has come to L.A. to visit his estranged wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), who happens to be one of the hostages. Disregarding the orders of the authorities surrounding the building, McClane, who fears nothing (except heights), takes on the villains, armed with one handgun and plenty of chutzpah.

One of the strongest aspects of Die Hard is the choice of actors and their impressive performances. At the time of Die Hard's release 30 years ago, Willis was largely known for his comedic role as Detective David Addison in the TV series, Moonlighting. When offered the role of McClane, Willis turned it down because of contractual commitments to Moonlighting. However, his co-star on Moonlighting, Cybil Shepherd, became pregnant, leading to filming on the series to be shut down for 11 weeks. This provided Willis with sufficient time to work on the action-packed feature. Prior to its release, people had their doubts about the choice of Willis, however, he beat their expectations. He brought charm to the role of McClane and also developed into a fierce, brave protagonist. He also has many memorable one-liners including, "Yippie ki-yay, motherfucker!". Because of his performance as McClane and after featuring in several action films, Willis has gone on to become known as an action star. Another impressive performance comes from Alan Rickman who makes his feature film debut as the evil Gruber, who is smart and cunning and determined to achieve his plan. Throughout the film, McClane and Gruber communicate through radio, however, the two don't meet until towards the end of the film. However, Gruber hides his identity by mimicking an American accent and pretending to be one of the hostages. This is one of the most memorable scenes in the film. Solid supporting roles come from Bedelia as McClane's wife and Reginald VelJohnson as Sergeant Al Powell, who is a friendly police officer who communicates with McClane via radio.

Unfortunately, while there have been a lot of action films that have been made since Die Hard, very few of them have been able to leave a lasting impression. The main reason why Die Hard succeeded was because it was different to any other action film that had been released before it. In the 1980s, the most popular action film was James Cameron's The Terminator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Willis' McClane was written as your everyday man, who had a wife and children, and, unlike Schwarzenegger's Terminator, he had his weaknesses. He felt more real and, over the course of the film, he suffers a lot of injuries but this doesn't stop him. Die Hard is also an incredibly tense film as we didn't know who was going to survive and who wasn't. As we see in the beginning of the film, Gruber doesn't hold back from murdering innocent people to get his way. Now, a lot of action films fail to match the quality and, because they follow the formula made by Die Hard, they become very predictable and fail to leave a lasting impression. 

While Die Hard works as an action-packed feature, there has been some debate as to whether it's a Christmas film. In my opinion, while it's not your traditional Christmas film that's festive and cheerful, Die Hard makes many references to Christmas, including the Christmas party McClane attends at his wife's office. After disposing of one of Gruber's henchmen, the body is found in a lift wearing a jumper that reads 'Now, I have a machine gun, ho-ho-ho'. While Die Hard can be watched at any time of the year, it does work as your atypical Christmas film. 

After Die Hard's release, it surprisingly received mixed reviews from critics, however, now, thirty years later, a lot of people agreed that it's one of the greatest action films ever made. At the box office, it received over $140.8 million. Because of its success, four sequels were released between 1990 and 2013. Unfortunately, these sequels were average at best and struggled to match the quality of the original.

Thirty years on, Die Hard still remains one of the best action films ever released as it's thrilling, features exhilarating action sequences and impressive performances from Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman.

8/10

KATIE'S 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS FILMS

Christmas is one of my favourite times of the year as I love spending time with my family, eating good food and watching Christmas films. From today (December 13th) until the big day on December 25th, I'll be posting reviews of my favourite films to watch during the festive season. You can read my reviews by clicking the link in film's title. These films are in no particular order and I do recommend you watch them if you haven't already.

12. The Santa Clause (1994)

11. Arthur Christmas (2011)

10. Scrooged (1988)

9. The Polar Express (2004)

8. A Christmas Carol (2009)

7. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

6. The Holiday (2006)

5. Love Actually (2003)

4. Elf (2003)

3. A Bad Moms Christmas (2017)

2. Home Alone (1990)

1. Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (1992)

A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Christmas can be one of the most wonderful times of the year. Unless your parents are visiting. That's the case for the three moms from the 2016 comedy, Bad Moms, Amy (Mila Kunis), Kiki (Kristen Bell) and Carla (Kathryn Hahn). Amy's mother, Ruth (Christine Baranski) desperately wants her daughter and grandchildren to have the perfect Christmas but proves to be controlling of her daughter's life. Kik's mom, Sandy (Cheryl Hines), refuses to give her daughter any space and even watches her in bed with her husband. And Isis (Susan Sarandon) only turns up when she's in desperate need of money from Carla, however, she insists she wants to spend Christmas with her daughter this year. Because of the arrival of their moms, Christmas quickly goes from the most wonderful time of the year to the worst.

When Bad Moms was released in the summer of last year, it was a surprise hit with audiences and at the box office, making over $183m. This lead to a sequel being announced just four months after it was released. Many sequels can be disappointments but I think that A Bad Moms Christmas is just as good as its predecessor. It's not a perfect film but, then again, neither was the original. However, both films are highly entertaining and fun to watch. I really enjoyed seeing the main characters' relationships with their moms, each had a different relationship. Amy has a difficult relationship with her mother because of her controlling behaviour. As soon as she turns up, Ruth reveals that she's invited over 100 people to her house for a Christmas party, much to Amy's annoyance. This leads to a big falling out between the two towards the end of the film. Kiki finds her mom obsessive and finds it hard to explain to her that she needs space. Carla worries that Isis has only turned up to borrow money but the two end up becoming the closest they've ever been. I think that a lot of people will be able to relate to the characters' relationships with their moms in some shape or form and the stress of Christmas, including buying presents and having the perfect tree and decorations.

The tone of A Bad Moms Christmas is similar to that of The Hangover which probably isn't a coincidence considering Scott Moore and Jon Lucas (who wrote and directed this) wrote that. The three moms, in a funny sequence that takes place in a shopping mall, get drunk and steal a Christmas tree. 

I think that the actors that portray the new moms were all well-chosen. I've seen Baranski in many films, however, I mainly see her as Leonard Hofstadter's mother from the popular sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, and her character, Ruth, is similar to her role in the TV series. She's great at portraying the controlling mom who wants everything to be perfect, however, we only see her from Amy's point of view. It isn't until towards the end of the film, we discover why she acts so controlling. I've only seen Hines in one or two films but I know she's great at comedy. She captures the obsessive nature of her character, Sandy, who rarely leaves her daughter's side. Sarandon gives a solid performance as Carla's mother and the two share a memorable scene when they dance with a stripper dressed as Santa. Kunis, Bell and Hahn share chemistry as the three friends who have a lot of fun together.

Like I mentioned, A Bad Moms Christmas is far from perfect. Despite its attempt to be dramatic, there's no tension as it's pretty obvious how things are going to end: with three characters improving on their relationships with their moms and everything ending happily. However, all of this is to be expected with this type of comedy. I also agree that there was probably one too many slow-motion montages. Despite its flaws, however, I really enjoyed watching it. It could've been better but, then again, it could've been a lot worse. It's harmless and its only intention is to get its audiences in the mood for Christmas and entertain them and, in my opinion, it has succeeded.

7/10

ARTHUR CHRISTMAS REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

​Creating a Christmas film that is entertaining for the whole family can be a difficult thing to achieve. Most films, especially animated motion pictures, tend to aim at younger audiences which means older viewers fail to enjoy it as much. Fortunately, Arthur Christmas, the 2011 animated film released by Aardman Animations (the studio that also released the Wallace & Gromit claymation films and Chicken Run), will most likely entertain the whole family. It's full of adventure and has a lot of funny scenes that will make everyone laugh this Holiday season. Unlike Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run, which both used stop-motion animation, Arthur Christmas is created using computer generated imagery and the result is visually stunning.
The film opens with the current Father Christmas (voice of Jim Broadbent) preparing for his annual gift-giving journey around the world. This is his 70th mission but it is also his final one as he is planning to retire soon and his oldest son, Steve (Hugh Laurie), is expected to take over. However, things don't go to plan when his younger son, Arthur (James McAvoy), discovers that a child in Cornwall was overlooked during Santa's Christmas Eve odyssey. This leads to him, with the help of an elf, Bryony (Ashley Jensen) and his 137 year old 'Grandsanta' (Bill Nighy), stealing the sleigh in order to deliver the present by Christmas morning but will they make it in time?
The film doesn't take long to set up the premise and, with a running time of 97 minutes, it moves at a fast pace.
Children are always asking their parents how Father Christmas gets around the whole world in one night. Parents no longer need to worry about making excuses as Arthur Christmas cleverly describe Father Christmas' journey like a mission. Hundreds of elves work behind computers and there are even ninja elves to help him deliver the presents. There is a scene near the beginning where Father Christmas is almost discovered by a sleeping child and must hide in front of the bed. This scene is both tense and funny at the same time.
With animation films, especially those that feature the voices of recognisable names, most people tend to forget who is voicing the characters. This is the case here. James McAvoy is unrecognisable as the title character, Father Christmas' youngest son and is the clumsiest member of the family. It doesn't take us long to warm to him and, throughout the film, we are rooting for him to succeed. This is what makes him a perfect protagonist. Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie and Bill Nighy are all great as their characters.
The majority of the film is focused on Arthur and his determination to deliver the present before Christmas morning begins. There's never a dull moment in his adventure and there are lots of funny moments, most of which comes from his Grandsanta who recalls his own adventures when he was Father Christmas.
Most animated films feature a villain in order to create conflict with the protagonist. However, Arthur's only conflict is with time itself. He is also trying to keep his mission a secret from his brother and father who thought it was pointless delivering one present.
Two of the best Christmas animated feature films are The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol both of which were directed by Robert Zemekis. Arthur Christmas joins that list as it's not only one of the best animated films, it also makes for a entertaining Christmas film that the whole family can enjoy.
7/10

A CHRISTMAS CAROL REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

This is, by far, one of my favourite adaptations of Charlie Dickens' famous novels, A Christmas Carol. Directed by Robert Zemekis, who also directed the beloved animated Christmas film, The Polar Express, this stars Jim Carrey in, not one, but a staggering eight roles. His main role is Ebenezer Scrooge, a grumpy, old man who despises Christmas. However, things begin to change when one fateful night, he is visted by three different ghosts: Ghost of Christmas Past; Ghost of Christmas Present and Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. These three ghosts will teach him about the true meaning of Christmas. Throughout the film, we learn why Scrooge has a negative attitude towards Christmas as we see his life as a child and then as a young man. When we first meet Scrooge, he's very unlikable but, as the film goes on, we feel sympathetic towards him. 

I've always loved this story as it was heartwarming and features some of the most iconic characters in storytelling history. It's been adaptated many times: Michael Caine played Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol; it had a modern-day take in comedy, Scrooged; Albert Finney portrayed Scrooge in Scrooge and many more. My personal favourite is The Muppet Christmas Carol as it was adaptated into a musical and was very entertaining and funny.

The reason why this is one of the best adaptations of Dicken's famous novel is because it's accurate. Disney wanted to make a film suitable for children but this doesn't mean they left out any of the scariest scenes, in fact, I would say that this is one of Disney's darkest films. Dicken's book was never intented for children, he wrote for adults so making a family-friendly adaptation must've been difficult. Nevertheless, Disney managed to successfully do it. I saw this at the cinema when it was first released in 2009 when I was 12 and I loved it. 

One of my favourite things about this film is the animation. Zemekis uses motion-capture, which is the same technique as the one he used in The Polar Express. It was also released in IMAX which makes the film look even more stunning. I watched it in 3D at the cinema and I remember feeling like I was part of the story.

Despite Jim Carrey playing eight characters, he doesn't portray all of them. Colin Firth is almost unrecognisable as Scrooge's nephew, Fred, who is the polar opposite of his uncle. He's cheerful and loves Christmas and tries to get his uncle in the Christmas spirit. 

Gary Oldman plays three characters: Bob Cratchit, who works for Scrooge and has to ask him for a day off Christmas; the ghost of Marley, who used to work for Scrooge until he died and informs him that he'll be visited by the three ghosts and Tiny Tim, Cratchit's son who is dying from an illness.

All three of the asforementioned actors give outstanding and unrecognisable performances as their characters.

If you loved The Polar Express and Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, then you'll love this film. With great performances from every actor involved and stunning animation, this is one of my favourite Christmas films.

7/10

THE POLAR EXPRESS REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

​It's not hard to understand why Robert Zemekis is one of the most creative directors in Hollywood. He has directed the iconic time-travel adventure comedy, Back To The Future, the Oscar-winning drama, Forrest Gump and the science-fiction drama, Contact. In 2004, Zemekis directed his first Christmas-themed feature film, The Polar Express. This was the first film to use digital capture to create the animation and the result is stunning. The characters look almost life like. This technique would be used again in Zemekis' second Christmas themed animated motion picture, A Christmas Carol.
The story begins on Christmas Eve and focuses on a young child, known as 'Hero Boy', who is unable to sleep. Unlike his younger sister, he doesn't believe in Santa Clause but, after a giant train appears outside his house, he is taken on an adventure that will restore his (and many viewers') belief in Santa.
This is Zemekis' third collaboration with Tom Hanks after they worked together on Forrest Gump and Cast Away. Hanks performs as six of the characters featured in the film but his performance as the Conductor is the most memorable. He provides entertainment on the train ride including singing whilst dancing waiters serve the children hot chocolate. However, the film's main focus is on the Hero Boy, also performed by Hanks, and his adventure with his new friends, Hero Girl (Nona Gaye), and Billy, the Lonely Boy (Peter Scolari). The majority of the film takes place on the titled train which is where the film is at its most engaging. Most train rides are boring, however, this is a train that never fails to excite. One of the best scenes is when Hero Boy loses Sarah's ticket and the camera follows the ticket on its own mini adventure as it flies outside of the train and through the snow and has encounters with a wolfpack and an eagle before returning back to the train. This recalls the opening scene of Forrest Gump where the camera follows a feather before landing on Forrest's lap.
When this was released in 2004, computer generated animation was still relatively new
so the special effects used in this motion picture were amazing at the time, however, now, 12 years later, they don't impress as much as they used to. However, this doesn't make it a bad film. Fortunately, this technology was improved with A Christmas Carol.
The Polar Express was nominated for three Oscars including an award for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song for the song the Lonely Boy sings, 'Believe'. This is one of the more emotional parts of the film and will most likely cause a few people to shed a tear or two.
The Polar Express is one of my favourite films to watch during Christmas as it's adventurous, exciting, full of humour and heartwarming scenes and is worth watching just for Hanks' performance as the Conductor.
8/10

ELF REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

​Despite being released over a decade ago, Elf still remains a classic Christmas film that a lot of people love to watch during the holiday season. This is because it's entertaining and features one of Will Ferrell's best performances.

After being raised as an elf in the North Pole, Buddy (Ferrell) discovers that he's a human and travels to New York City to look for his biological father, Walter (James Caan). This leads to a series of mishaps with a fake Santa in a departure store, falling in love for the first time with Jovie (Zooey Deschanel) and developing a relationship with his new family, including his younger half-brother, Michael (Daniel Tay).

After making several appearances on Saturday Night Live, Ferrell made several supporting roles in comedy feature films but it wasn't until his first lead performance in Elf that he shot to fame. His performance as Buddy is brilliant and carries the whole film. There are great performances all round. Caan, who is best known for appearing in The Godfather, plays the Scrooge-type character. He is a book publisher and despises Christmas so he's, understandbly, annoyed when an elf turns up at his office claiming to be his son. Edward Asner is perfect as Santa Claus. Deschanel is sweet as Jovie, Buddy's love interest and, despite his quriks, she ends up falling in love with him. Many people will know Peter Dinklage best for his role as Tyrion in the fantasy/drama TV series, Game of Thrones, however, I remember Dinklage for his performance as Miles Thinch, a writer who has a meeting with Walter but has an awkward yet hilarious encounter with Buddy who mistakes him for an elf.

Now, it would seem unusual that Jon Favreau, who is best known for directing Iron Man, directed this but this film proves that he has a knack for comedy and directs this film with speed, humour and efficiency. He even makes a cameo as the doctor who tests Buddy to see if he's really the son of Walter.

The film's most funniest moments are when Buddy is exploring New York. In a montage, we see him ride around in a revolving door several times, congratulating a coffee shop on having the 'world's best coffee' and mistaking an old man for Santa. Fortunately, the humour doesn't end there and improves when Buddy visits a departure store and ends up being mistaken for one of the members of staff (who are all dressed up as elves as part of the holiday season). After the boss announces Santa is visiting, Buddy screams out in delight, obviously not realising that it's an actor dressed up. This leads to a slapstick fight with fake Santa, one of the best scenes in the film.

A lot of films like Elf struggle to have an engaging climax but that's not the case here. I won't spoil it but the ending features Buddy helping Santa out, a lot of people singing the classic Christmas carol, 'Santa Clause Is Coming To Town' and a heartwarming conclusion.

Elf provides a hilarious and entertaining Christmas film that is a must watch during this holiday season.

7/10

HOME ALONE 2: LOST IN NEW YORK REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

It's rare that a sequel can be just as good as its predeccesor. However, Home Alone 2: Lost In New York proves to be just as entertaining and funny as the previous film. This is mainly because of Macaulay Culkin's solid performance as Kevin McCallister and the slapstick violence that feature throughout the film.
Most people would be surprised to discover that the McCallisters are preparing for another festive holiday due to the events of Home Alone. However, they're planning on travelling to Florida. Despite Kevin actually making it to the airport this time, he ends up on the wrong plane and arrives in New York, hence the title of the sequel. And if that wasn't bad enough, the Wet Bandits are also in New York after their escape from prison. Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) are both planning to rob the biggest toy store, Duncan's Toy Chest, and steal the money which is supposed to be for the children at the hospital. Fortunately, Kevin discovers their plan and is determined to stop them.
In some ways, Lost In New York can seem better than the previous film because there are more characters and more comedic opportunities. In this sequel, we are introduced to Tim Curry's concierge, who is suspicious after he sees Kevin checking in to the Plaza hotel alone. This leads to a very amusing scene where the employees of the hotel chase him into his room but are stopped in their tracks when they think a mad man is in the room but it's really Kevin playing scenes from fictional film Angels With Even Dirtier Souls. What makes this scene even better is that we can see Kevin silently laughing at their reactions.
Chris Columbus returns to direct with John Hughes writing the story again. I think this is also why Lost In New York is a good sequel as the majority of the cast and crew are back and everything that made Home Alone entertaining, including the booby traps, also return.
Speaking of the booby traps, before watching this sequel, I was hesitant. How do you improve on the traps from the previous film when there's no house? Conviniently, Kevin has an aunt and uncle who live in New York but, fortunately, they've left it because it's being renovated which means he has the perfect set up for his booby traps, he just has to come up with a smart plan that leads Harry and Marv to the house.
Of course, with the setting being in New York, there's an opportunity for Kevin to explore the Big Apple and he takes it. In a montage, we see him ride a yellow cab into the city and go to the top of one of the Twin Towers which, for obvious reasons, will have a much more emotional impact on certain viewers.
Despite Kevin being ten years old, he still gets frightened when he sees a mysterious 'bird lady' but, as he later discovers, she's a lonely woman whose only comfort comes from the birds. In fact, this character was based on a similar character from the 1964 Disney film, Mary Poppins. Much like the scene where Kevin discovers that his neighbour isn't scary and talks with him in a church, there's a heartwarming scene where he converses with the woman and she confesses that he's the first person that she's talked to. Fortunately, Kevin helps her get over her heartbreak and difficulty to trust people.
Despite Home Alone 2: Lost In New York making less money than its predecessor, it was still successful at the box office, making over $358million. I'm sure audiences were hoping for another sequel but, unfortunately, because none of the cast and crew returned, the sequels that were released were nothing short of disappointing and, if I'm honest, I'm not sure why the producers bothered making them.
I think that fans of Home Alone will find a lot to enjoy here and it's a perfect Christmas film that the whole family will find entertaining.

7/10

Read my review of the first Home Alone here

HOME ALONE REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

How many of us, as children, wished we could make our family disappear and have the whole house to ourselves? A lot of us, I'm sure, but what if two burglars turned up? I think less of us would want to be alone and that is the premise for Home Alone which is a comedy set during Christmas and features a young boy who is accidentally left behind and must defend his house from two burglars. 

It is Christmas time and the McCallister family is preparing for a vacation in Paris in France. But the youngest in the family named Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) got into a scuffle with his older brother Buzz (Devin Ratray) and was sent to his room which is on the third floor of his house. Then, the next morning, while the rest of the family was in a rush to make it to the airport on time, they completely forgot about Kevin who now has the house all to himself. Being home alone was fun for Kevin, having a pizza all to himself, jumping on his parents' bed, and making a mess. Then, Kevin discovers about two burglars, Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern), about to rob his house on Christmas Eve. Kevin acts quickly by wiring his own house with makeshift booby traps to stop the burglars and to bring them to justice.

Culkin was previously seen in John Hughes' 1989 comedy, Uncle Buck, alongside John Candy, who also makes an small but memorable appearance in this film. One of the scenes in Uncle Buck gave Hughes the idea to write this film. Culkin is the perfect choice as Kevin who, at first, is delighted to be rid of his whole family and have the big house all to himself, however we see that, deep down, he really misses his family. Both Pesci and Stern are great as the two burglars. Harry is serious and determined to rob the McCallister house and Marv is his sidekick and isn't at all that bright. Catherine O'Hara and John Heard portray Kevin's parents who are shocked to discover that they left Kevin behind and it's Kevin's mother who makes the decision to travel all the way home by herself even if it means hitching a ride from an annoying but kind-hearted Gus Polinski (Candy) who is the lead member of a traveling polka band. I liked that director Chris Columbus included the scenes with Kevin's mother as this shows children that, even after an argument, their parents still do care about them. 

The film is worth watching for the slapstick violence that features in Home Alone's final act. It's amusing to watch two idiotic burglars fall for an 8-year-old's various booby traps. They're so over the top and does make older viewers wonder how a young kid came up with the traps but this doesn't make them any less entertaining. Various traps include broken pieces of baubles on the floor, a burning-hot door knob, a falling clothes-iron and many more. 

Despite all the humour, there's a few heartwarming scenes that may bring a tear to the viewer's eye, including when Kevin talks to his neighbour, 'Old Man Marley' (Roberts Blossom), who he thought was scary because of the rumours Buzz spread about him but it turns out he's friendly and the two converse about their families whilst in a church watching the choir. We learn why Marley was perceived as a dark and scary character and feel sympathetic towards him. 

This was Columbus' first family feature film (his previous films, Adventures In Babysitting and Heartbreak Hotel, were aimed at older viewers) and it was a huge success, thanks to Culkin's iconic performance as the brave Kevin and the comic booby traps. It was the second best selling film of 1990 after making over $476million. Because of this, a sequel was released two years later with the subtitle Lost In New York. 

This is a film that is definitely a must watch during the holiday season and something that the whole family will enjoy. 

7/10

THE HOLIDAY REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

It's really no surprise that I loved this film. It's a romantic comedy, it's set during Christmas and features four of my favourite actors (Kate Winslet; Cameron Diaz; Jack Black and Jude Law). 

The story begins with Iris (Kate Winslet) narrating and talking about different kinds of love, such as 'unrequited love', which she suffers from as she has feelings for her co-worker, Jaspar (Rufus Sewell), who she knows will never love her back and is devastated to learn that he is engaged. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, with Amanda (Cameron Diaz), a trailer editior, breaking up with her boyfriend after he confesses to cheating. This scene gives us an idea of Amanda's character and how easily annoyed she gets and she learn that she isn't one to mess with as she slaps her boyfriend, not once, but twice in annoyance. Most women would cry after ending a relationship but not Amanda. In fact, she can't cry and one of the funniest scenes is when she is trying to cry and the faces she pulls are hilarious. This leaves the two heartbroken during the festive season and they are both in need of a holiday, hence the title. The two come into contact online when Amanda tells Iris that she is interested in staying in England for the holiday season, away from any reminders of her ex-boyfriend. Iris is surprised, at first, but the two come up with the idea to swap houses for Christmas which, may sound like a bad idea in real life (the idea of a stranger in our homes? Don't be ridiculous) but in romcom-world, nothing bad happens so Amanda and Iris agree to swap homes without even meeting up first. This is probably one of the flaws in the film but I overlooked it as it was only a film and didn't really matter.

When Amanda temporarily moves into Iris' cottage, she is woken up in the middle of the night by a drunken man at the door. This man turns out to be Iris' brother, Graham, who is shocked to discover a new woman living in his sister's home. This is where their relationship begins after they sleep together. Their chemistry is undeniable and we can tell that they both have feelings for each other despite Amanda wanting a romance-free Christmas.

Iris, to her delight, is living in Amanda's home and she soon meets Miles (Jack Black), a score composer, who is a friend of Amanda's ex and turns up at her house wanting to pick up his stuff. This is where Iris and Miles' friendship begins with their love of iconic films and their scores. As much as I enjoyed watching Amanda and Graham's relationship unfold, I enjoyed watching the scenes with Iris and Miles a lot more. This film proves that a male and female can be friends without any romance or sex. They are supportive of one other (Miles goes through his own heartbreak in the middle of the film) and they befriend Amanda's neighbour, Arthur (played by the late iconic western actor, Eli Wallach), who is an retired screenplay writer and rejects the idea of a tribute show being made for him until Iris convinces him otherwise. The scene where Arthur attends his tribute show is one of the most touching scenes as I feel like it was, really, a tribute to the actor himself as he has starred in some of Hollywood's most iconic films (The Good, The Bad & The Ugly; The Godfather Part 2 and The Magnificent Seven).
This is directed and written by Nancy Meyers who previously directed Something's Gotta Give (a romcom starring Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton) and The Parent Trap (a comedy starring Lindsay Lohan). Meyers has a knack for creating entertaining romantic comedies and understands how to make a viewer connect with the characters. By having Iris narrate at the beginning of the film, we hear her inner thoughts and what she's truly feeling. This is similar to Amanda who, in random parts of the film, hears a narrator describing her life like it was a trailer for a film. This contributes to the humour.
The majority of the film is set before Christmas and could easily work as a stand-alone romcom without the festive association, however, in the final scene, we see all four of the characters celebrating together which will put viewers in the festive mood.
Overall, with an original story written by Meyers and also great directing, strong performances from all four of the lead actors, The Holiday is one of my favourite films to watch during the holiday season (pun not intended).

7/10

LOVE ACTUALLY REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

​If you're looking for a Christmas film that's full of romance, comedy and features some of the best British actors, look no further than Love Actually.
The film focuses on the lives of several characters as they prepare for the biggest holiday of the year: Christmas. The characters include: married couple Karen (Emma Thompson) and Harry (Alan Rickman) who are preparing for their children's nativity play; Daniel (Liam Neeson) whose wife has recently passed away and is shocked to discover that his stepson, Sam (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), has developed a crush on a girl at school; Juliet (Keira Knightley) who has just married Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor), however, her husband's best friend, Mark (Andrew Lincoln) has feelings for her he's finding difficult to hide; Jamie (Colin Firth) who, after discovering his wife was having an affair with his brother, flies out to Portugal and unexpectedly finds love; the newly elected Prime Minister, David (Hugh Grant), who falls in love with his secretary, Natalie (Martine McCutcheon) and many more.
Featuring a lot of characters in one film can be a tricky thing. After a while, it becomes difficult to keep up with what's going on. Fortunately, the director, Richard Curtis, gets the pacing and editing right. Yes, some characters are less developed than others especially Martin Freeman's Jack and his love interest, Judy, played by Joanna Page. However, their time on screen is short and sweet.
I would say that Thompson's Karen and Rickman's Harry get the most screentime. Thompson is one of the best British actresses and her performance as Karen is definitely one of her best as we clearly see her struggling with the fact that her husband may be having an affair with his employee, Mia (Heike Makatsch) and putting a brave face on for their children. The scene where she's in her room having a private cry is one of the most heartbreaking scenes and I'm sure a lot of women will be able to relate to her and her situation. Despite playing an unlikable character, I think that this will be one of the performances that the late Rickman will always be remembered for. He brings charm to Harry and, although we can clearly see him flirting with Mia throughout the film, we never hate him and that's because of Rickman's portrayal. One of my favourite scenes is when he is in a jewellery shop and he purchases a necklace. The shop assistant, Rufus (Rowan Atkinson), then asks him if he would like it 'gift wrapped' which then leads to one of the funniest scenes in the film. Now, whenever I watch this scene, it feels bittersweet because it's sad that Rickman is no longer with us.
I loved watching the relationship between Daniel and his stepson, Sam as, while Christmas is meant to be a time of celebration and love, for these two, it's a time of mourning and loss. However, Daniel soon finds out that Sam has a crush on a girl at school and he becomes focused on helping him win her over. By the end of the film, the two become close as their father-and-son relationship develops.
I doubt that Love Actually would be half as good without the comedy and there's a lot. Curtis wanted us to feel good during this holiday season and he does so successfully by featuring a group of characters that bring comic relief to the film. One of the funniest characters is Billy Mack (Bill Nighy), who is a rock and roll legend who records his version of Wet Wet Wet's classic 90s pop hit, 'Love Is All Around' but replaces the word 'Love' with 'Christmas'. However, it's his relationship with manager, Joe (Gregor Fisher), that the film focuses on. Joe is always there for Billy despite the promo tour not always going to plan. Speaking of which, the scenes that show Billy trying to promote his new single are where the comedy works best as he makes crude comments live on TV and radio. Without a doubt, one of Nighy's funniest performances.
Despite its amazing cast of British actors, there are some appearances from American actors including Billy Bob Thorton as the President of the United States who flirts with Natalie on his trip to the United Kingdom much to David's annoyance. However, it's Laura Linney's performance that is the most memorable. She plays Sarah who is employed by Harry and has a crush on her co-worker, Karl (Rodrigo Santoro), but can't seem to talk to him. Unfortunately, she soon realises that their relationship can't work out because of her mentally ill brother who she has to look after. We feel sympathetic towards Sarah and want her to be with Karl but we know it just can't be.
Over a decade after its release and it has now become a Christmas classics which isn't surprising. It's one of the most enjoyable films to watch during this season as it's full of love and humour.
8/10