With Christmas just around the corner it would be wrong of me to not take a moment to get in the festive spirit. There are hundreds of Christmas movies out there, some are truly horrific - Jingle All the Way springs painfully to mind. However, there are a collection of films that without watching, Christmas, just isn't Christmas!
My first choice is a film I have watched at Christmas for as long as I can remember. Picture the scene; a young boy, sitting in front of the TV, candy cane in hand and chocolate money sprawled out around him, about to watch a film known as; Santa Clause: The Movie. Fast Forward fifteen years and every single time I watch this film I am that young kid, in front of the TV - only now its usually a can of beer in my hand!
This is hardly one of the greatest films ever made but there is something about Jeannot Szwarc's 1984 flick that just makes you feel very Christmassy - if that is even a word, or in fact the correct spelling?! If not, then I have invented a word for how watching this film makes you feel. Watch it and you'll know what I mean. I always remember it being shown on the afternoon of Christmas Eve and that was when the excitement really started to stir in my stomach, knowing it wasn't long until Santa would be here. Like music, film has that power of nostalgia - you can remember when and where you were and what you felt first time watching certain films. Santa Clause: The Movie is exactly one of those films for me.
Another film I remember watching over and over as a child is one I think many of you will relate to as a great Christmas film; Home Alone. I wanted to live in that house, with all the snow outside and I definitely wanted to create a series of booby traps like Kevin does. I love the scene after Kevin has been talking to Marley in the church and he realises it's 8pm and he needs to get home to get the house ready. The atmospheric Carol of the Bells accompanies this scene and is a piece of music I always associate with this film. Home Alone is exactly what a Christmas film should be, full of snow, full of fun and with a reminder that family is what Christmas is all about. Love it!
Rarely a post goes by here at The Armchair Director without some kind of mention to the genius of Tim Burton and this is the case here. Next up, simply one of my ultimate Christmas films; The Nightmare Before Christmas. I don't need to go in to the magnificence of this film because, frankly, I have already said all I need to about it. I remember sitting up until the early hours of Xmas Eve/Xmas Day just so we could watch this film on TV one year, because it wasn't Christmas until we had seen this film. When you watch a film and at the end you can't help but smile, then you know you have watched something special. Add in to the mix all the snow, scenary and songs - It's Christmas people!!
All joking aside my final choice is without doubt the ultimate Christmas movie. It is also in the list of the greatest films of all time. If I write the four words that make up the title and you have not A) heard of this film or B) seen it - hang your head in shame, get up, walk to a DVD shop and buy it. Then watch it, then tell me I'm right...
The film in question; It's A Wonderful Life.
130 minutes of utterly sublime film making. The film that the term 'you watch this film and just can't help but smile when it ends' was created for. This has everything. You mention to most people that it's a black and white film and people nowadays turn their noses up at that. Black and White movies = boring old films. Hell I was there, thought that same thing about Schindler's List (for anyone who read my first blog - thanks! - you know how that turned out). Snow in black and white movies is spellbinding. As magical as when you wake up and open the curtains to find everything covered in snow. There is scene after scene in this movie that is just brilliant. The stand out one for me has always been when George Bailey is running down the street wishing everyone Merry Christmas having finally seen his worth to the world by Clarence. I'd say that for me is the ultimate Christmas Scene.
As I get ready to travel home for Christmas not only do I have to make sure I have all my presents with me for my family I check and double check that the DVDs of these films are also in my bag because it just wouldn't be Christmas if I did not see these films.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night (name the film)
Showing posts with label xmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label xmas. Show all posts
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Friday, 9 December 2011
The Great Movie Speech - Part 2
After a refreshing break, a quick Clark Kent style change of outfit and a pep talk from the Tony D'Amato school of team talks, I'm ready to crack on with our homage to the great movie speeches...
Next up is a short speech but delivered in such a way it leaves you with chills. I don't know if its Liam Neeson's smooth Irish accent that makes this even more powerful but every time I watch this film I just find myself wishing I was this damn cool. The film I'm talking about is not Star Wars episode 1 or Rob Roy - I am actually talking about Pierre Morel's brilliant thriller, Taken. In short, guy has his daughter kidnapped, guy goes about kicking ass all over Europe until he finds his daughter. If you haven't watched this film I can't recommend it highly enough - for me it's everything Collateral tried so hard to be (and failed); dark, violent and as it's lead a damn cool dude.
The moment in question comes after Neeson has listened to his daughter be kidnapped (they are on the phone when the intruders break in, I won't go in to it...watch it!) he hears a guy pick the phone up and delivers a speech that is short but bloody scary and you know full well this is a man who means what he says. Brilliantly delivered by Neeson and probably the best man for the role (after all he was Aslan, Qui-Gon Jinn and Oskar Schindler - you don't mess with this chap!)
This film is simply one of the finest pieces of cinema of all time - fact, end of, no debate. The Shawshank Redemption. I could literally write a dissertation on the magnificence of this film. Stunning movie. I love every single minute of this film and there are some fantastic scenes and brilliant speeches. The one that gets my nod here is Red's final Parole meeting. Morgan Freeman delivers this speech of contempt, acceptance, remorse and defiance in such a way you wonder if he is talking from experience. Of course he isn't, he was never in jail but that is the brilliance of the acting in this scene. He doesn't take his eyes off the parole officer as he speaks and there is something in his eyes that seems like he has just given up, which adds even more power to his words. He has been here so many times before and as he so eloquently puts it, he 'doesn't give a shit' anymore. I love this speech and I love this film.
I end with an inspirational moment from a film I found inspirational virtually throughout. The Pursuit of Happyness. Personally I think this is Will Smith's best film, in terms of performance anyway. He displays here he can actually act (who knew?!) and there are some real moving scenes in this film. The one in the subway well and truly got me - which I know isn't exactly hard before you all start scoffing at me - The speech I have chosen again is a short moment of brilliance but its spoken from the heart from a dad to his son and it is superb.
So there you have it, just a few of the great movie speeches. Of course there are many classics overlooked - De Niro in Taxi Driver, Neeson in Schindler's list, Nicholson in A Few Good Men and Simba in the Lion King to mention just a few - but let's face it, you don't come to the Armchair Director to read the same recycled words you can read anywhere else...and the world of film is a vast, vast landscape and if maybe I have shown you a scene you hadn't heard of before then that can only be good!
So while I am off to write a speech of epic proportions to deliver to the next hot girl I see that will make her fall in love with me instantly I ask, what is your favourite movie speech?
Next up is a short speech but delivered in such a way it leaves you with chills. I don't know if its Liam Neeson's smooth Irish accent that makes this even more powerful but every time I watch this film I just find myself wishing I was this damn cool. The film I'm talking about is not Star Wars episode 1 or Rob Roy - I am actually talking about Pierre Morel's brilliant thriller, Taken. In short, guy has his daughter kidnapped, guy goes about kicking ass all over Europe until he finds his daughter. If you haven't watched this film I can't recommend it highly enough - for me it's everything Collateral tried so hard to be (and failed); dark, violent and as it's lead a damn cool dude.
The moment in question comes after Neeson has listened to his daughter be kidnapped (they are on the phone when the intruders break in, I won't go in to it...watch it!) he hears a guy pick the phone up and delivers a speech that is short but bloody scary and you know full well this is a man who means what he says. Brilliantly delivered by Neeson and probably the best man for the role (after all he was Aslan, Qui-Gon Jinn and Oskar Schindler - you don't mess with this chap!)
This film is simply one of the finest pieces of cinema of all time - fact, end of, no debate. The Shawshank Redemption. I could literally write a dissertation on the magnificence of this film. Stunning movie. I love every single minute of this film and there are some fantastic scenes and brilliant speeches. The one that gets my nod here is Red's final Parole meeting. Morgan Freeman delivers this speech of contempt, acceptance, remorse and defiance in such a way you wonder if he is talking from experience. Of course he isn't, he was never in jail but that is the brilliance of the acting in this scene. He doesn't take his eyes off the parole officer as he speaks and there is something in his eyes that seems like he has just given up, which adds even more power to his words. He has been here so many times before and as he so eloquently puts it, he 'doesn't give a shit' anymore. I love this speech and I love this film.
I end with an inspirational moment from a film I found inspirational virtually throughout. The Pursuit of Happyness. Personally I think this is Will Smith's best film, in terms of performance anyway. He displays here he can actually act (who knew?!) and there are some real moving scenes in this film. The one in the subway well and truly got me - which I know isn't exactly hard before you all start scoffing at me - The speech I have chosen again is a short moment of brilliance but its spoken from the heart from a dad to his son and it is superb.
So there you have it, just a few of the great movie speeches. Of course there are many classics overlooked - De Niro in Taxi Driver, Neeson in Schindler's list, Nicholson in A Few Good Men and Simba in the Lion King to mention just a few - but let's face it, you don't come to the Armchair Director to read the same recycled words you can read anywhere else...and the world of film is a vast, vast landscape and if maybe I have shown you a scene you hadn't heard of before then that can only be good!
So while I am off to write a speech of epic proportions to deliver to the next hot girl I see that will make her fall in love with me instantly I ask, what is your favourite movie speech?
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