good morning!
Welcome to another edition of Fitzie’s Film and TV Reviews, where your hoddler-in-chief reviews some things he’s recently seen on the television and the big screen.
We’ve got a special Christmas edition in store today. No, I’m not going to list every single Christmas special I’ve seen. It’s too long of a list and I’m not going to spend two hours writing on it. If you feel the need to write 250 words on Christmas with the Kranks or Bad Santa, please do so in the comments.
Anyways, let’s get to it:
The Holdovers: A tremendous film that was my favourite in 2023 (and the one I wanted to win best pic at the Oscars this year). It’s beautifully shot, I love the budding relationship between a surly Paul Giammati and a neglected pupil. Plus, Da’Vine Joy Randolph puts in the best role of her career.
Bad Moms Christmas: This is a stupid, fun movie. I don’t know how this happened, but I watch it every year now. Including on Saturday. I will watch Kathryn Hahn and Mila Kunis in almost anything they star in, so a film that has them both will of course draw my attention.
It’s exactly what you’d expect from the film’s title. It’s about some bad moms trying to take Christmas back. We know how it goes. It’s fun anyways.
Spongebob Christmas special: Everytime I think of a Christmas special, my memory brings me back to this one. I’m not talking about the more recent attempts by Spongebob to create a Christmas episode.
This episode is now 24 years old (season 2, episode 8). I will never forgive a nation that did not include this in the Top 100 Spongebob episode list in 2006.
I love this episode so much. The festivity. The jokes (the donkey one I didn’t understand til much later). And, of course, an absolute banger of a track. It doesn’t get better than this.
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer (1964): I didn’t like this one too much. The abominable snowman scared me as a kid, even when he became a good guy. When I got older, I still didn’t like him.
Plus, everyone was such a jerk to Rudolph.
The creepy thing with the ice and fire monster: Please, no one talk about this. I still have nightmares about this one. There was a commercial, I think, sometime last year maybe that included the firey guy from this film and it brought back a lot of fear.
I will never watch it again.
Elf: A modern-day classic that I was lucky enough to watch in the cinema when I was a youngling. It’s a wonderful Christmas film that gets watched every year.
Spirited: This is honestly solid, if a little too long. The songs are a bit much (a trope they make fun of, albeit in a too-meta way), and I don’t understand the love interest Will Ferrell’s character has.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: Yup, another banger. I love Doris Roberts, who plays a minor role. Some highlights from this film include the Christmas shopping, the blessing over Christmas dinner, the cop raid and so much more.
Your generic sitcom Christmas episodes: I love watching Christmas episodes for sitcoms. They’re always so fun. We know that, mostly, they won’t challenge us too much. There’s a bit of extra comfort watching these.
Did any sitcom do this better than 30 Rock? I don’t think so. The show aired five Christmas specials during this time, bringing a festive twist to its sharp-witted and quick humour.
A Very Murray Christmas: I’m not sure why I keep coming back to this one during the holidays, but I do.
It’s not great, just alright. But it’s got tonnes of cameos. Chris Rock is probably my favourite of the bunch. Jenny Lewis and David Johansen are great too.
Where the special really loses me is the Miley Cyrus bit. Not that I dislike it. It just feels so misplaced. Like, how did we get from a snowed-in hotel to this glitzy scene with Cyrus, Murray, George Clooney and Paul Schaffer?
Fitzie’s track of the day: Alone on Christmas Day, by Phoenix
And now for your links:
Vitor Pereira to become Wolves’ new manager
The Athletic ($$): On the European Super League relaunching as the ‘Unity League’78
ESPN: How set piece specialists are thriving in the Premier League