The Christmas Chronicles: Santa Claus Likes To Risk The Lives Of Children To Teach Them A Hard To Understand Lesson

The Christmas Chronicles is a Christmas comedy film directed by Clay Kaytis. The plot sees two kids accidentally force Santa Claus (Kurt Russell), into a situation where he loses his bag of presents and his reindeer, together they must act to save Christmas.

Much like the other Santa Claus film I have reviewed recently, this film is made by its lead. The kids in this film are actually quite irritating and annoying, the little girl especially, but thanks to the pure magnetism of Russell and the amount of fun he is having in the role you forget about them and begin to enjoy the film.
In that vein this film feels like the best of Russell all crammed together into a slightly under two hour parcel, you have a sing song which is actually quite good, a car chases (in an American muscle car), and of course heart and sentimentality. He really is on top form.

As far as Christmas films go I enjoyed this, annoying kids aside. I thought it was a fun adventure and I had fun watching. Yes, it was a little annoying when at the end of the film Santa revealed that he could have basically fixed everything at the start of the film, but didn’t to teach the kids a lesson, but again the ride was fun even if the ending wasn’t great.

Overall, made good by Russell but far from perfect.

Pros.

Russell

The ride

There were some laughs to be had (though I don’t know how intentional they were)

Cons.

The kids

The ending
3/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Santa Clause 2: Santa Is On Tinder Will You Swipe Right?

The Santa Claus 2 is a Christmas, fantasy, comedy film directed by Michael Lembeck. The plot this time around sees Scott Calvin (Tim Allen), face the prospect of not being Santa Claus anymore after a clause is found within this contract that says that Father Christmas can’t be a bachelor: so as a result of this Jolly Old Saint Nick has to join the dating game and find a wife before the end of Christmas Eve.

The dating plotline in this film is troublesome for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is unlikely that either party could fall in love within such a short space of time, which means it is more likely that Scott is just using her to carry on being Santa Claus. Moreover, Carol (Elizabeth Mitchell), is just expected to uproot her life and move to the North Pole, which seems like a big ask, but hey the film just shows it as normal. Finally, old, fat Santa Claus can’t be with someone of equal footing, no that would not do with the Hollywood standard, of course it only makes sense for Santa Claus to be with someone who could be a supermodel if she chose another profession and she has to settle; what sort of message is that sending?

That aside.

I enjoyed the other plotline of Santa Clause 2, which is while Scott is off preying on vulnerable women, he is replaced by a toy replica Santa Claus who obviously becomes corrupt and evil. It amused me how far the film went in this absurdist direction even having the new evil Santa dressed up in fascist looking attire and creating secret police at one point. As I said in my previous Santa Claus review the dark plot undertones are the best parts of these films.

Once again Tim Allen is a strong lead, and despite the dating plotline being a bit sketchy we still enjoy seeing him on screen; he has a great presences. He very much anchors this film and it performance hinges on him and how you feel about his version of Chris Cringle.

Overall, the icky dating plotline stops this film from getting higher, but I enjoyed Tim Allen and the absurdist nature of the film and it made me laugh quite a few time. A mixed bag ultimately.

Pros.

Evil Santa

Tim Allen

It is funny

Cons.

The dating plotline

The sudden and unexplained character change in the son/ making him an angsty teen

3.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Boss Baby: I’m Pretty Sure This Kid Is The Antichrist

The Boss Baby is an animated family comedy film directed by Tom McGrath. The plot sees a family welcome a new baby into their lives, however there is something different about this baby he wears a suit and talks on the phone: he is a boss baby.

I truly do believe to enjoy or even understand this film you need a degree in some field of high concept science, as the logic of this film is nowhere to be found. Normally, I would not go after the logic of a kid’s film, but this is particularly egregious. It almost feels at times like the film is going out of its way to make itself more confusing then it already is, it piles on more and more baby lore until you reach a giving up point.

By making the film so convoluted and over the top it removes a sense of relatability the film might have for parents who remember what is it like to have a new baby or for children who remember when their parents brought their sibling home from the hospital. To that end, once the bright colours, and the vapid jokes about poo and things like that are over there is nothing left for the kids to enjoy, they too will see its hollowness.

Alec Baldwin is okay as the titular Boss Baby, he is serviceable, but this is not one of his better 2010 era roles. Furthermore, it is nice to see Tobey McGuire return to our screens even if it is just as a voice over narrator it has been too long.

Overall, I fail to see how this was popular, it takes itself far too seriously and makes things far too complicated baffling viewers whilst simultaneously putting them off the film.
Pros.

Baldwin and McGuire

Cons.

It is too complicated

The jokes aren’t funny

Most of the characters are irritating and not relatable or likeable in any way

It wastes its wider supporting cast

1/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Great Outdoors: Icky Homemade Sex Tapes

The Great Outdoors is a comedy film directed by Howard Dutch. The plot sees two families spending time together on holiday, however, one half of the family was not invited. Comedy, misunderstandings, and forgiveness ensue.

My thoughts on the work of John Hughes have been well documented, I often find them troublesome whether it is from the use of stereotypes or the more questionable sexual undertones, I find them reproachable. I understand that a lot of people love them because they grew up with them, and they will call me names and imply things about my politics for daring to suggest that maybe Hughes wasn’t as great as they remember, but hey these are my reviews.

Though Hughes only serves as a writer here you can feel his fingerprints all over the film.
Namely this comes through in the first scene where the two brother (John Candy and Dan Aykroyd), meet and there is a slightly uncomfortable scene with Aykroyd’s character recording his brother and his wife during an intermate moment for some kind of prank, I understand for the time this would be normal and not suspect but looking back on it now with a 2020 lens I would be remiss to not mention it.

The comedy comes and goes for me, it made me chuckle a few times throughout, but for the most part the comedy missed the mark with me and often left me cold; however, as I always say comedy is subjective. Personally, I didn’t find the slapstick funny if anything I found it cheap.

Candy is a likeable enough lead, he is easy to root to and warm to, Aykroyd on the other hand comes across as an arsehole, I understand by design but by the end of the film we are supposed to buy that as a character he has changed, he has reformed, yet we are given evidence right up until the closing frame that, no he hasn’t, which in turn makes the ending feel unearned.

Overall, a fairly standard to weak comedy

Pros.

Candy

A few funny jokes

Cons.

Aykroyd

A lot of the jokes don’t land

A few iffy moments

It is very familiar

2/5

Reviewed by Luke

Ham, A Musical Memoir: An Ode To The Past

HAM: A Musical Memoir is a biographical, comedy, musical film directed by Andrew Putschoegl. The film serves to tell the story of Sam Harris’ rise to fame.

This is a very effecting film, in multiple sense of the word. While watching it I became fascinated with this persons rise to stardom, not only was I rooting for them I also became invested in them as a person.

During my time with the film I was frequently smiling, also there were quite a large amount of laughs to be had over the run time as well; not laugh out loud sorts of laughs but definitely a few strong chuckles. Moreover, the complexity of this film’s emotion transitions comedy and becomes something more. Quite a few times while watching I could feel the film pulling on my heart strings, I found the character plight effecting, the film did not need to be overt in this, it never felt manipulative with its emotional delivery, yet it had a strong impact.
I also enjoyed the musical elements of this film I thought they worked well and added a nice flavour to the standard biopic format. I think in many ways this film seems destined to change the format of the biopic genre as a whole or at least pump some fresh blood into it, as it takes the best elements of something like Rocketman and distils them into a more refined product.

Overall, a must watch, it will make you laugh it will make you cry and most importantly it is a great way to kill a few hours.

Pros.

It is funny

It nails the emotion

I was invested in the story

The musical elements work well

Cons.

The first act is quite slow

4/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Stand-In: Praising And Rewarding Sociopaths

The Stand In is a comedy drama film directed by Jamie Babbit. The plot follows a disgraced Hollywood comedy star and her double switching places, both are played by Drew Barrymore.

A lot of the responses I have seen to this film have been negative, and my own was likewise inclined. I think the main issue with this film is the fact that it is mean spirited. There will be a few light spoilers here to help me make my point so be forewarned.

From how I understood the film we are supposed to root for both characters the past her prime actor and the stand in, this is hard however, when the stand in treats the real actors like trash. The stand in abuses the real actor emotionally multiple times and goes out of her way to sabotage her life so she can get what she wants, and I guess that catches up to her in the end, but it makes her deeply unlikeable.

The jokes here don’t work, but as I always say comedy is subjective. I found the film to be more of a drama than a comedy especially towards the midpoint of the film, it felt to me more like a commentary on stardom and what comes after. The jokes again feel mean spirited and at the expense of someone who clearly has problems which makes them hard to laugh at.

Finally, I don’t like seeing T.J Miller in the film, mainly because he isn’t funny at when he tries to be it goes horribly the other way, but also because he is a terrible person and should not be cast.

Overall, this is the definition of a misfire.

Pros.

Barrymore is trying

Cons.

It is misguided

It is not funny

It is meanspirited

Casting T.J Miller

0.5/5 (Close to a zero, but Barrymore saved it)

Reviewed by Luke

The Santa Claus: Assuming An Identity

The Santa Claus is a Christmas family comedy film directed by John Pasquin. The film sees a business man (Tim Allen), accidentally kill Santa Claus and then assume this identity and responsibilities, meanwhile he is fighting a custody battle with his ex-wife.

I truly do think that Tim Allen makes this film, he pulls of the charming everyman well and when he becomes Santa Claus he plays him with enough warmth and light that it is a near perfect incarnation of everything that entity stands for.

I enjoyed the darker undertones of the story, that you can see just from my slight plot description. I don’t know whether these were intentionally or just an unintended by product, but regardless it gave me something to laugh at during the film; I would guess it was more likely deliberate as these darker moments carry over into the sequel as well (review coming soon).

My one complaint would be that the custody plotline is not needed. There is already a lot going on with Allen’s character transforming into and becoming Santa Claus, we don’t need another fairly generic drama sub plot as well; it just makes the film feel cluttered and bloated.

Overall, this film is a lot of fun thanks in no small part to an excellent performance from Allen as well as a focus on the lore of Santa Claus.

Pros.

The transformation

Tim Allen

The darker and more sinister moments which I found funny

Cons.

The child custody subplot

Pacing issues

The wider supporting cast add nothing

3/5

Reviewed by Luke

Show Dogs: The Low Point Of Will Arnett’s Career

Show Dogs is a buddy cop comedy film directed by Raja Gosnell. The plot follows an FBI agent (Will Arnett), who goes undercover in a dog show to try and recover a missing panda. By his side the whole time is tough LAPD street dog Max (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges), can the two get on for long enough to solve the crime?

So, I won’t even get into the weird bestiality, abuse scene from this film that was cut. However, I will say that it is very odd to have a scene where the dogs are touched (for inspection purposes), but without their consent in the gentiles which is shown to be traumatic towards the dogs, and then have one of the dogs remark that it is normal and just something to accept, in a kid’s film. The message of this is frankly disgusting and an investigation should be launched into who wrote it and why.

That said, though this film is undeniably bad, there is some goofy fun to be had. If you can accept that this film is not trying to be good and instead laugh at it for what it is then you will enjoy it a lot more.

Arnett seems desperate to be somewhere else for most of the film and it makes you think how did they even get him to sign on in the first place, the same can be said for most of the performers in this film.

Moreover, the CGI effects, especially the ones on the dogs when they are talking, are just awfully bad and show just how cheap the production value of this film clearly is; it looks like something out of the early 00, though that would probably be more convincing.

Overall, if you want to watch a bad movie then this will do, but if you want an actually enjoyable, well made film then stay far, far away from this film.

Pros.

It is hilariously bad

Cons.

Arnett is awful and Ludacris is not much better

The story is joyless

The jokes don’t work

It looks cheap

The film feels icky even with the abuse scene taken out

0.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

Couples Retreat: A Sticky And Uncomfortable Situation

Couples Retreat is a comedy film about a group of couples that go on holiday to an island resort thinking it will be fun, sand and sun. However, when they get there they realise that instead they will have to work on their relationships and reconnect, the horror.

Standard, that is the word I would use to describe this film. There is nothing particularly special about it one way or the other, it is neither good nor bad it is just very average.

The cast is okay with Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau and Kristen Davis getting most of the funny moments, which are few and far between. Most of the film’s jokes don’t work and fall flat there are more hits than misses comedy wise as a whole in the film.

The characters are the usual collection of cliches, the busy guy, the overly anxious guy, the couple that say they don’t want to be together any more but secretly do, etc. In terms of plot and narrative the film is nothing new either, this is the same thing you have seen before just with a different cast. Said cast are never given very much to work with and become stereotypes, which stops you from forming any kind of attachment to them.

Overall, this is a very meh film there is worse out there and if you have nothing else to watch maybe give it a go, it will go exactly as you would expect it and end in the same fashion, it poses no challenge.

Pros.

It is watchable

There are a few funny moments

Cons.

The cast is wasted

The characters are cliches

The film is mostly not funny

1.5/5

Reviewed by Luke

The Binge: The New Fashion Trend Of The 2020-2021 Season Is To Remove And Then Draw On Your Eyebrows, Poorly

The Binge is a comedy film directed by Jeremy Garelick. The plot serves as a novel adaption of the Purge concept, however, rather than have all crime be legal for 12 hours this film imagines a world were drinking and doing drugs is totally illegal with the exception of one night a year where citizens around the world are allowed to binge drugs and alcohol to their hearts content.

This is the second film in my unintentional Vince Vaughn marathon, and I have to say Vaughn really shines here. Of course this film focuses on a group of high school boys who are planning to take full advantage of the binge whilst also being scared of it, continuing the traditions of its forbearers such as American Pie. However, Vaughn plays the principal of the school they all attend, his character is shown as very much anti-binge and he is also the father of Lena (Grace Van Dien), one of the main boy’s love interest. As a result of this Vaughn is set up for many of the best lines and is genuine hilarious multiple times over the course of the film, I especially enjoyed him as a father figure to Griffin (Skyler Gisondo), later in the film.

I also enjoyed the fact that this film was not afraid to get weird with its already terrific premise, there is a whole drug inspired dance number midway through the film that I thought was simply absurdist perfection.

The main and obvious criticism of this film is the same that can be levelled at numerous films in the sub-genre and that is the male focus, this film does not focus on both the male and female characters being rowdy, rather it uses the female characters almost as goals for the male characters or more aptly as plot devices. This is something that ‘sex comedy’ or the ‘teen’ film really needs to change as focusing on one gender over the over is reductive and it would be nice to see these sort of films start to explore both sides of the teen perspective.

Overall, if you like ‘teen’ comedies then you will like this, it has many funny moments mostly from Vaughn and has an inspired and humorous premise.

Pros.

The premise

Vaughn

It is funny

The absurdity

Cons.

Very male centric

4.5/5

Reviewed by Luke