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Christmas movies often come with nostalgia and cheer, but some gems are overshadowed by classics like Home Alone and Elf. Here’s a list of ten underrated Christmas movies that deserve a spot in your holiday viewing rotation:

1. The Family Stone (2005)

This heartwarming dramedy follows a chaotic family reunion when the eldest son brings home his uptight girlfriend. With a stellar cast, including Diane Keaton and Rachel McAdams, it balances humor and poignant moments beautifully.

2. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

A Christmas movie for those who love crime, dark humor, and Robert Downey Jr. This Shane Black-directed neo-noir comedy is witty, unconventional, and full of holiday spirit in the quirkiest way possible.

3. Arthur Christmas (2011)

This animated film by Aardman Animations is a delightful take on the magic of Christmas, following Santa’s clumsy son, Arthur, as he tries to deliver a forgotten gift. It’s heartfelt, visually stunning, and criminally overlooked.

’Twas the weekend before Christmas… With the holiday season upon us, many of us are starting to revisit some of our of Christmas favourites. I actually went to see a 4K re-release of the original Black Christmas last night here in Montreal. There’s something comforting upon returning to our old favourites every year, whether they be traditional Christmas classics, or perhaps something a little more modern, like Die Hard, which, despite many claiming otherwise, has totally established itself as a Christmas classic over the years.

Whatever the case, there are certainly Loads of Christmas movies, with everything from old-time classics like It’s A Wonderful Life or some of the many versions of A Christmas Carol (the Alistair Sim version is the best Imo), or something like Love Actually, which is virtually inescapable at this time of the year.

With that in mind, we’d love to figure out just...

There have now been 2 seasons of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and the show seems to be missing something rather important, but there are 10 actors who could put that to rights. As the main character of The Rings of Power season 1, Morfydd Clark's Galadriel was notably short one husband. The Rings of Power never strictly adhered to its source material, the books by J.R.R. Tolkien. However, eradicating the main character's canonical husband to make way for a romance tease with her mortal enemy was a bold move.

Controversial but commercially successful, this move allowed sparkling chemistry to bloom between Clark and Sauron actor Charlie Vickers. Rings of Power showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay confirmed at Sdcc that "Celeborn will be back" (via Screen Rant), so Galadriel's husband is fully due for an appearance in The Rings of Power seasons 3, 4, or 5. The Celeborn actor has...

I’m somewhat bewildered over how outraged people have been over the new version of The Crow (don’t call it a remake!). Many are calling it a stain on the legacy of the late, great Brandon Lee, who infamously was killed in an on-set tragedy, but by examining the franchise as a whole, it’s clear that as far as these things go, the franchise has been exploited to death. There have been no less than five Crow movies at this point, and guess what? We’re going to rank them all! That said, as far as our Crow movies ranked list goes, they’re all varying degrees of bad outside the first movie and the new version, which isn’t half bad.

Dishonourable Mention: The Crow: Stairway to Heaven

Yes, ladies and germs, they once made a TV version of The Crow, and it was abysmal. You...

Dan Stevens is a busy man. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire landed in theaters at the end of March, where Stevens played charming leading man Trapper, then anarchic horror Abigail arrived hot on its heels in April. Next up, August brings strange horror/sci-fi Cuckoo, which sees Stevens playing a deranged scientist. Between press tours, festivals, and new projects, he’s got a lot going on. And we get the sense he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Describing himself as an “experience hound,” Stevens is a man who thrives on challenges. He began his career in theater, made it big as tragic heartthrob Matthew Crawley in British drama Downton Abbey, and has genre-hopped ever since, from action-thriller The Guest, to playing Sir Lancelot in family fun Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. He sang and danced on stilts for Beauty and the Beast, played Charles Dickens...

It’s been less than 12 years since Dan Stevens raised a middle finger to the British aristocracy, quitting “Downton Abbey” as the show neared its Emmy-amassing zenith and setting sail for America with his family. As he admits, he had “absolutely no idea” what was going to happen to him.

“There was no roadmap,” the 41-year-old actor explains with frank honestly about a decision that, at the time, was considered by many to be sheer lunacy. “I left ‘Downton’ with a blank slate. It was just, ‘I think I want to do other things.’ But I didn’t know what that looked like.”

To have an idea of what that currently looks like, anyone need just head to their nearest cinema, where Stevens is going head-to-head against himself in two of the biggest studio releases of the season. In what has become something of a calling card for the Brit...

With Christmas just one week (and one day) away, we wanted to ask you, the people, what your favorite Christmas Movie is? It doesn’t have to be the movie you think is the best, just the one that you eagerly anticipate watching every year. Is it the timeless tale of an angel getting its wings in It’s A Wonderful Life? or perhaps the under-appreciated (and genuinely hilarious) R rated The Night Before is how you kick off your holiday season?

Do you look forward to seeing Jack Skellington discover the true meaning of Christmas in the Christmas Movie Classic The Nightmare Before Christmas or watching Kevin McCallister take down the Wet/ Sticky Bandits in Home Alone 1&2 or perhaps seeing Clark W. Griswold struggle to have the perfect family Christmas in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is more your speed? Whatever film fills you with yuletide glee, we would love...

Christmas Books That Were Turned Into Movies ( Photo Credit – IMDb )

Not everyone likes reading books. It demands a big chunk of your time and a lot of concentration. And come on, let’s be real, why bother when you can easily watch a two-hour movie adaptation that covers all the important scenes and leaves out all the fillers? Besides, even for the most avid book readers, diving into Christmas-themed books might not be very high up on their list of holiday priorities. So, what better way to fill in that book void on Christmas than by watching some Christmas films based on books?

Here are 5 holiday-themed books that were turned into movies.

1. The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)

“The Man Who Invented Christmas” is a Charles Dickens biographical film based on a book written by Les Standiford. It was released on November 22, 2017, in Canada and was directed by Bharat Nalluri. It stars Dan Stevens,...

The Man Who Invented Christmas is a creative and original adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, featuring the author as the main character. The film incorporates historical information and context about Dickens' life as he writes A Christmas Carol, making it a genre hybrid of fantasy and biopic. The movie frames Ebenezer Scrooge as a fictional character, existing only in Dickens' imagination, allowing for artistic parallels between the author and his protagonist.

In one of the most ingenius takes on Charles Dickens' classic tale A Christmas Carol, a forgotten 2017 movie adapted the narrative with a clever meta twist. A Christmas Carol has been adapted onto the screen countless times over several decades, and fresh new takes on the classic tale published 1843 have been harder to come by in recent years. From the first movie adaptation of A Christmas Carol in 1901 all the way to The Muppet Christmas Carol in 1992 and beyond,...

Genie is a fantasy Christmas film directed by Sam Boyd, from a screenplay by Richard Curtis. The Peacock fairy-tale film revolves around a workaholic man who comes in possession of a genie who helps him to win his family back before Christmas. Genie stars Melissa McCarthy and Paapa Essiedu in the lead roles with Denée Benton, Jordyn McIntosh, and Marc Maron starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the Peacock film here are some similar movies you could watch next.

The Man Who Invented Christmas (Prime Video) Credit – Bleecker Street

Synopsis: The Man Who Invented Christmas tells the magical journey that led to the creation of Ebenezer Scrooge (Christopher Plummer), Tiny Tim and other classic characters from A Christmas Carol. Directed by Bharat Nalluri (Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day), the film shows how Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens) mixed real life inspirations with his vivid imagination to conjure up...

Jonathan Pryce (“The Two Popes”), Meera Syal (“Yesterday”) and Toby Jones (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”) are joining the cast of “Flavia de Luce.”

As revealed by Variety, Isla Gie will star alongside Martin Freeman in the upcoming feature film, which is an adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery.”

Protagonist Pictures has launched international sales on the family adventure and is introducing to buyers at the ongoing Cannes film market. CAA Media Finance are handling North America.

Adapted by Susan Coyne (“Daisy Jones and the Six”), the film will follow the adventures of 11-year-old Flavia de Luce (Gie), who is both an amateur detective and a master poisoner. When she discovers a dead body in her family’s decaying British manor house and her father is accused of the murder, Flavia launches her own investigation to...

Isla Gie (“The Sandman”) will star alongside Martin Freeman in the upcoming feature film adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel “The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Flavia de Luce Mystery.”

Protagonist Pictures is launching international sales on the family adventure and will introduce to buyers at the upcoming Cannes film market. CAA Media Finance are handling North America.

Adapted by Susan Coyne (“Daisy Jones and the Six”), the film will follow the adventures of 11-year-old Flavia de Luce (Gie), who is both an amateur detective and a master poisoner. When she discovers a dead body in her family’s decaying British manor house and her father is accused of the murder, Flavia launches her own investigation to uncover family secrets and bring the true murderer to justice.

The film will be directed by Emmy and BAFTA-nominated director Bharat Nalluri.

The film is being produced by...

It's no secret that Hollywood often takes inspiration from best-selling books to create phenomenal and often record-breaking movies. While it can be frustrating for audiences to constantly be paying for "unoriginal" content, sometimes Hollywood does get it right when choosing what written works to turn into movies. While book adaptations are usually reserved for fantasy novels like Harry Potter or teen romances, occasionally Hollywood finds movie gold in other book forms, like Christmas stories. From literature classics to children's picture books and even a young adult novel, there seem to be way more Christmas movies based on books than most people realize.

Updated On December 19th, 2022 by Danielle Bruncati: While 2022 has seen an influx of original Christmas movies, with the David Harbour-led Violent Night performing well at the box office, Christmas is still a time for book adaptation, it seems. The most notable addition this year is a...

Coming off one of the worst Thanksgiving Weekend’s in box office history The box office looks to rebound a bit this weekend, but with only one new wide release set to debut, that may be a bit tough!

Traditionally the weekend after Thanksgiving is a bit slow as people start their decent into Holiday shopping madness. Luckily this year Universal Studios has decided to give us a yuletide, R rated, John McClane/ John Wick in a bright red suit mash-up in the festively titled Violent Night. I can’t lie, this has been my most anticipated movie since I first heard about it and that first trailer only made the long wait for this release all that more excruciating! Movies like Nobody and the aforementioned John Wick have been some of my favorites made over the past few years. Add in to that shades of the ultimate Christmas action...

Exclusive: Sk Global and LA-based production and literary outfit The Mazur Kaplan Company have closed a first-look development deal, with an initial five books set for adaptation. The pact was jointly announced Tuesday by Sk Global President of Television Marcy Ross, and Mazur Kaplan principals Paula Mazur and Mitchell Kaplan. It is part of Sk Global’s expansion into television under Ross who joined the company in April. The deal also is part of book IP-focused Mazur Kaplan’s push into TV.

Here are the first five books identified for television or feature adaptation under the pact, along the creative auspices attached to each project:

The Hierarchies. Written by debut novelist Ros Anderson and set in the not-too-distant future, The Hierarchies is a character driven story about a sentient pleasure robot designed to cater to her husband’s needs, and her startling self-discovery as she begins to realize more about...

Dan Stevens is very good at keeping busy. A decade into the most visible part of his career — kickstarted by his star turn on “Downton Abbey,” and only helped along by such varied film roles as “The Guest,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “The Man Who Invented Christmas” and the daring series “Legion” — the British actor remains hard to categorize, though he is consistently prolific. While the summer of 2020 looks different than anyone could have possibly expected, it has offered a few delights, including two roles for Stevens, who is riding high on the success of Netflix’s winning musical comedy “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” and ramping up for the release of the chilling “The Rental,” marking his return to his most beloved genres.

That those genres are “horror” and “musicals” speaks to Stevens’ range, the one connective thread between all his work. Well, that and the terror.

Exclusive: Anna Kendrick is set to star in Unsound, a new crime thriller movie to be directed by Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and The Man Who Invented Christmas helmer Bharat Nalluri from a screenplay by Matthew Ross and Christopher Edwards.

The Oscar-nominated Kendrick will play a New England state trooper, privately struggling with irreversible hearing loss, who’s tasked with investigating the prison break of a notorious gang leader. As she digs deeper into the most dangerous case of her career, she uncovers a vast conspiracy that, coupled with her deteriorating condition, threatens to end her career — and her life.

ShowKat Production’s Jonathan Shukat, who originated the material, will produce with Untapped’s Andrew Corkin and Xyz partners Aram Tertzakian and Nate Bolotin. Xyz and CAA Media Finance are financing and handling sales at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival, with both repping U.S. rights.

Kendrick recently...

Amazon has added “It’s a Wonderful Life” and 30 additional holiday movies to its Prime Video streaming service, the company announced on Thursday.

This is the first time that the 1946 holiday classic will be made available on a streaming service.

The new selections are included in Amazon’s Prime Video subscription service which costs $13.99 per month or $119 for an annual subscription.

Also Read: Amazon's Ad-Supported Streaming Service Could Be Its Ticket to Winning India

Among the 30 additional holiday films that are available on Amazon Prime Video are “A Christmas Wedding Tail,” ” “Christmas That Almost Wasn’t,” “Holiday Inn,” “Let There Be Light,” “Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You,” “Pete the Cat: A Groovy New Year,” “Christmas with the Kranks,” and “The Adventures of Tintin.”

Amazon also has holiday-themed movies available to rent, meaning that even with a subscription to Prime Video, users will need to pay...

Elbert van Strien project stars Thekla Reuten.

Peter Mullan, Emun Elliott, Rebecca Front (The Thick Of It) and veteran character actor Bill Paterson (The Man Who Invented Christmas) have joined Dutch director Elbert van Strien’s Scottish-set psychological thriller Marionette.

As previously announced, Dutch actress Thekla Reuten (Red Sparrow) stars in the film, which has just started principal photography in Luxembourg.

Van Strien co-scripted the project alongside Ben Hopkins. The film is set in Scotland and will be shot on location in Aberdeenshire and Luxembourg. Shooting on the €5m co-production is forecast to wrap in early December and the film...

Gareth Evans is beloved for his martial arts action franchise “The Raid,” and now he’s hoping to bring that same level of bone-crunching spectacle to the horror genre with the upcoming “Apostle.” The film, the latest from Netflix, teams the director with “Legion” favorite Dan Stevens.

“Apostle” is set in 1905 and follows a Prodigal son (Stevens) as he ventures to an island to save his sister from a religious cult. The group is led by the charismatic Prophet Malcolm (Michael Sheen), who suspects the island’s new visitor might not be telling the truth about his identity. Lucy Boynton and Mark Lewis Jones co-star.

Netflix has debuted the first trailer for “Apostle” below, and it’s a batshit crazy introduction to the film’s central cult. Anyone who gets queasy around the sight of blood will probably want to stay far away from “Apostle.” The film looks to be a descent into bloodthirsty madness,...

The dog days of summer are a dropping ground– just before the festival launch of many major award season entries –for weaker commercial entries that need room to breathe. Still, multiple new titles opened this weekend. One, Sundance grad “Searching” (Sony), looks set for wider interest ahead.

Remake “Papillon” (Bleecker Street) opened in 544 theaters, neither platform nor wide, but standard for general interest openers that still require special handling. Results were desultory, but without a lot of competition the grim period prison drama probably could have done no better, with a chance of some Labor Day holiday playtime ahead.

“The Wife” (Sony Pictures Classics) showed some real strength on its second weekend and should play well for the next few weeks. A standout run could help position Glenn Close for awards ahead of the glut of new contenders that will soon arrive.

Opening

Papillon (Bleecker Street) – Metacritic: 52; Festivals include: Toronto...

Exclusive: Bharat Nalluri is attached to direct We Interrupt This Program, a drama financed by Echo Lake Entertainment that focuses on the internal battles between Orson Welles and producer John Houseman that nearly derailed the shocking radio broadcast of War of the Worlds in 1938. Without identifying they were performing a sci-fi play, the broadcast panicked listeners into believing an alien invasion was taking place.

Sean Sorensen wrote the spec script, and Echo Lake’s Doug Mankoff and Andy Spaulding are producing with the writer.

The script explores two dramas unfolding on the night of October 30, 1938. The most well-known is the infamous radio broadcast, where the specter of invading aliens sent shockwaves of panic rippling across America. But even more chaos was taking place behind the scenes because of the stormy relationship between broadcast producer Houseman and Welles, its petulant director and star, that nearly derailed the most influential radio broadcast in history.

SVoD service strikes deal with Studiocanal.

Netflix has taken a host of territories on Mike Newell’s Lily James-starring historical drama The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society.

The SVoD service has picked up rights for Us, Canada, Latin America, Italy, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, while Studiocanal will distribute in its territories the UK, Australia, New Zealand, France and Germany. The film has now sold out worldwide and the roll-out commences with Australia on April 19, the UK on April 20 and New Zealand on April 25, followed by France on June 13 and Germany on August 9.

Produced by Studiocanal with...

Call Me By Your Name, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Phantom Thread and more hit the Cineplex Store this March!Call Me By Your Name, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Phantom Thread and more hit the Cineplex Store this March!Adriana Floridia3/6/2018 10:07:00 Am

March has arrived, and with it, some of the year's best films are now at the Cineplex Store!

This month, you can catch up with award-winning movies like Call Me By Your Name and Phantom Thread, or you can watch Star Wars: The Last Jedi again and again....and again!

If you missed any of these when they played theatres, or if you simply want to watch them again, here are the titles that are coming to the Cineplex Store in March!

March 6th

Our pick of the week: Call Me By Your Name (Available to Buy)

Elio, Elio, Elio...if you've seen Call Me By Your Name,...

Coco, Lady Bird, The Shape of Water and more hit the Cineplex Store in February!Coco, Lady Bird, The Shape of Water and more hit the Cineplex Store in February!Adriana Floridia2/6/2018 9:33:00 Am

February is here, which means it's still freezing cold outside, but at least it's awards season.

This month, the Cineplex Store has great new releases including many of the Oscar nominated films that you can catch up with at home!

If you missed any of these when they played theatres, or if you simply want to watch them again, here are the titles that are coming to the Cineplex Store in February!

February 6th

Our pick of the week: The Florida Project (Available to Buy or Rent)

The Florida Project was one of the best films of last year. Told through the eyes of six-year-old Moonee, we experience poverty on the outskirts of Disney World in Orlando,...

MaryAnn’s quick take… The most interesting thing about this all-over-the-place drama-thriller is Ridley Scott’s last-minute Hail Mary pass to replace a disgraced cast member. The finale is tense and exciting, but it’s a slog to get there. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): hot and cold on Ridley Scott lately

I have not read the source material

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto) women’s participation in this film

(learn more about this)

Well, it’s one way to ensure that your movie is remembered in the annals of cinema: replace one of your leading actors after the film is finished, reshoot and reedit and do all the other ancillary work (new posters!) in a mere few weeks, and still meet your release date. Nothing like this had ever been done before in Hollywood, but Ridley Scott pulled it off,...

141 original scores just made the Oscar shortlist, meaning that we have no real idea which soundtracks will go on to be nominated for the actual Academy Award — “Phantom Thread” composer Jonny Greenwood looks poised to finally be recognized for his work, but might “Baywatch” be a spoiler? We simply don’t know, dear reader. We simply don’t know.

As you await the nominations — which will be announced on Tuesday, January 23 — treat yourself to this selection of tracks from the shortlist.

Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Original Score



Read More:Oscars 2018: Best Original Score Shortlist Includes ‘The Shape of Water,’ ‘All the Money in the World,’ and More

Here are the 141 scores vying for an Oscar nod:

“Alien: Covenant,” Jed Kurzel, composer

“All I See Is You,” Marc Streitenfeld, composer

“All the Money in the World,” Daniel Pemberton, composer

“Annabelle: Creation,” Benjamin Wallfisch, composer

“Band Aid,” Lucius, composer

“Battle of the Sexes,...

For Ridley Scott and the stars of the his movie All the Money in the World, the Monday night premiere of their film marked the end of a sprint to the finish line. Just six weeks before, the director made the unprecedented decision to recast a key role played by Kevin Spacey in the wake of the Oscar winner’s sexual misconduct scandal.

Michelle Williams, Mark Wahlberg, Timothy Hutton, and Christopher Plummer —who stepped in to replace Spacey in the role of the real-life billionaire oil tycoon J. Paul Getty —were among the actors at the event, held at the...

Author: Stefan Pape

In what has been a somewhat whirlwind few months in Hollywood, one of the films that have been most heavily impacted by the ongoing sexual harassment scandal, is Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World, which had initially featured Kevin Spacey in one of the leading roles. He was since replaced by Christopher Plummer, and against all odds, Scott had delivered the film on time and ready for the forthcoming award’s season. You can see why he sought so fervently to do so, for this is a film with big Oscar potential, in what is a quite remarkable story being told by one of the industry’s most reliable, and resourceful storytellers.

The role that Plummer has undertaken is that of J. Paul Getty, the richest man in the world, building an empire for himself through oil. Shrewd he may be, compassionate he isn...

“Justice League” was not the superhero tentpole Warner Bros. was hoping for when it decided to bring the most iconic DC superheroes together on the big screen. With just around $220 million at the box office, the movie will end up as the lowest domestic grosser in the Dceu thus far. What “Justice League’s” disappointment means for the future of DC and Warner Bros. remains unclear, but one project that will probably continue to elude the big screen is “Justice League Dark.”

Read More:‘Justice League’ Box Office Bomb: Warner Bros. Could Lose Up to $100 Million on Superhero Tentpole

The alternative superhero team features magical and supernatural heroes likes Constantine and Zatanna, and a film version of the popular comics storyline has been in development for years. Directors such as Doug Liman and Guillermo del Toro have been attached to the project at various points of development, and currently Gerard Johnstone...

A24’s “The Disaster Artist” and “Lady Bird” led the pack of specialized successes, again landing in the weekend’s Top 10 chart. Both had to hold off the usual pre-holiday dip as well as the massive draw across all audiences for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

A total of eight recent limited releases expanded this weekend –all their theaters combined add up to about the same number of theaters as “The Last Jedi,” but it grossed 22 times as much as the $10-million total of those eight films combined.

To a large extent grosses this week are gravy on top of past totals and more importantly a build-up to the most lucrative time of the year for adult moviegoing. That starts in earnest on Christmas Day. More viable titles are competing than most years, and not all will be optimally available. But distributors hope to regain their momentum with the return...

The Man Who Invented Christmas Bleecker Street Director: Bharat Nalluri Screenwriter: Susan Coyne Cast: Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer, Jonathan Pryce, Miriam Margolyes, Simon Callow Screened at: Critics’ DVD, NYC, 12/11/17 Opens: November 22, 2017 Perhaps the biggest difference between movie critics and an ordinary audience is that most people probably prefer sentimental stories, whether comedies […]

The post The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Over the last six weekends, six new specialized releases have opened to a per-theater average of over $60,000. “I, Tonya” is the latest, and comes at a time when seats at prime theaters are at a premium.

Still, it isn’t necessarily a bad weekend to open. Last year, “La La Land” launched to $881,000 in five theaters, a nearly $170,000-per-theater result. But it had far less competition, ecstatic reviews, top stars, and signs of early appeal that propelled it to over $100 million and much more worldwide.

This year has more strong titles; even better, most show early success with wider audiences. “The Disaster Artist” expanded quickly in its second weekend to place #4 overall, while A24 had a second Top 10 hit again with “Lady Bird.” That film, coming off critics’ group wins, is thriving and easily the leader among fall releases so far. In fact, it already is the second-biggest specialized release...

Bleecker Street is having some fun with critics who disliked their new holiday film “The Man Who Invented Christmas,” starring Dan Stevens and Christopher Plummer. The indie distribution company has been sending coal to the critics who gave the movie a bad review. In keeping with the spirit of Christmas, Bleecker Street has also been making a donation to the Bowery Mission homeless shelter for every piece of coal that gets sent out.

Read More:‘The Man Who Invented Christmas’ Review: Charles Dickens Gets a Winsome but Weary ‘Shakespeare in Love’ of His Own

Fortunately, “The Man Who Invented Christmas” doesn’t have too many bad reviews. The film is currently at a healthy 79 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. IndieWire’s David Ehlrich gave the movie a mixed review, calling it “winsome” and “weary” at the same time. The coal is being sent with a Christmas card that reads:

Humbug to you!

Oh, hi Cinemaholics listeners. It’s time to review The Disaster Artist, directed by and starring James Franco as Tommy Wiseau. Based on the book of the same name by Greg Sestero, this new movie is a dramatic comedy about the making of The Room, considered by many to be the “best worst” film ever made.

As always, the Cinemaholics also cover a host of Mini Reviews, starting with My Friend Dahmer, based on the graphic novel of the same name about notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer from the perspective of someone who knew him in high school. Elsewhere, Jon talks about the first two episodes of Runaways, a new Marvel original show on Hulu which definitely has some potential, as it centers around a group of high schoolers who find out their parents are super villains and inherit their powers.

Maveryke and Will, meanwhile, have a lot to say...

The hits keep on coming. Both “The Disaster Artist” (A24) and “The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight) opened strong, despite the usual strong-fall off in post-Thanksgiving audiences. Last year the month of November saw only one specialized release, “Manchester By the Sea,” pull an opening platform per theater average over $60,000. This year has already seen five.

“The Disaster Artist” (in 11 markets) showed the best performance in New York/Los Angeles of any title this year (nearly $120,000 per theater), besting last weekend’s numbers for “Call Me By Your Name” (Sony Pictures Classics). They join other Oscar-bound strong openers including “Lady Bird” (A24) and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (Fox Searchlight).

This marks unprecedented strength over such a short period, with “Lady Bird” and “Three Billboards” already performing well in wider release. At some point exhibitors are going to be challenged to handle so many hits (all will not go wide...

He’s got debts, writer’s block, and a child on the way; a new film tells how Charles Dickens beat the odds to write everyone’s favourite Christmas story. Its star Dan Stevens reveals how he brought the writer to life

In the pecking order of Christmas stories, A Christmas Carol is second only to the baby Jesus. Even if you’ve never read it, or had it read to you, you know about that flinty-hearted miser Ebenezer Scrooge and his redemption during one long dark night of the soul.

Bill Murray, Albert Finney, Michael Caine and Alastair Sim have all played Scrooge in one of the endless film remakes and reboots there have been over the years. Now comes the story behind the story, The Man Who Invented Christmas: a heavily fictionalised biopic with Dan Stevens playing Charles Dickens, bashing out A Christmas Carol in six weeks...

Simon Brew Dec 1, 2017

Wonder and Paddington 2 both have kindness at heart - and both prove that the live action family movie can still hit big.

I’ve taken to this site several times in the past to bemoan the lack of quality live action family movies to take my offspring to over the years. That when they arrive, they tend to generally be cheap and cheerful, but not always very good. Instead, though, the bulk of films aimed at families tend to be animated. I’d wager at least 80% of them have some kind of talking animal.

No bad thing, as a rule. As much as I’m opposed to the kind of film that’s a surrogate babysitter when I’m paying £30 for the privilege, I’ve found more life, more story and more things to talk about in some animated features than you’d find in 100 live action alternatives.

Title: The Man Who Invented Christmas Director: Bharat Nalluri Cast: Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer, Jonathan Pryce, Simon Callow, Donald Sumpter, Miriam Margolyes, Morfydd Clark, Justin Edwards, Ian McNeice, Bill Paterson, Anna Murphy, Eddie Jackson, Neil Slevin, Paul Kealyn, Aleah Lennon, Ger Ryan, Ely Solan. Charles Dickens is synonymous with Yuletide, as attested by his ‘A […]

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That was quick!

Christopher Plummer made his debut as J. Paul Getty in a new trailer for All the Money in the World which aired on Tuesday night during the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

The spot was surprising, since the 87-year-old screen legend had just been spotted filming his first scenes for the biopic earlier this week.

In quick snippets, Plummer can be seen as the infamous billionaire oil tycoon dressed in a black suit, a white shirt and tie.

The Oscar winner is replacing Kevin Spacey in the film, following multiple allegations of sexual harassment against the House of Cards star. Director Ridley Scott decided to recast Spacey and reshoot all of his scenes, after the movie had already been completed.

Photo: YouTube

Upon seeing the new teaser, fans were quick to spot Plummer in the trailer and took to Twitter to express their enthusiasm and shock.

Despite the cost of reshoots and the time it will...

Are we in the middle of a Charles Dickens renaissance? (A Dickenssance?) The Man Who Invented Christmas – a movie about the creation of Dickens’ classic novel A Christmas Carol – is in theaters now, a David Copperfield movie adaptation is in the works, and now a new batch of Dickens adaptations is coming to the small […]

The post Tom Hardy and ‘Locke’ Director Reunite for BBC Adaptations of Charles Dickens Novels appeared first on /Film.

Christopher Plummer is already hard at work filming All the Money in the World — just a few weeks after it was announced that he would be replacing Kevin Spacey in the film.

Plummer was spotted on set of the upcoming Ridley Scott-directed thriller on Monday, donning a long black coat and a matching hat for his role as billionaire oil tycoon J. Paul Getty.

Following numerous allegations of sexual misconduct against Spacey, Scott, along with production company Imperative Entertainment, made the unprecedented decision to recast the role with just six weeks until the film’s release.

“It isn’t replacing.

Two year-end Oscar contenders, “Call Me by Your Name” (Sony Pictures Classics) and “Darkest Hour” (Focus Features), opened well over the Thanksgiving holiday. “Call Me by Your Name” is now the top initial weekend platform grosser of the year, at a level often seen by films that end up as Oscar leaders. While Wednesday opener “Darkest Hour” didn’t perform at the same level, Focus launched the World War drama at a level consistent with its favorable reviews and strong media positioning.

“Bombshell: The Heddy Lamarr Story” (Zeitgeist/Kino Lorber) enjoyed an excellent initial New York single theater showing, as yet another documentary about creative world figure drew unexpected interest.

Read More:‘Call Me by Your Name’ Screenwriter James Ivory Loves the Story Too Much to Think About Sequels

Two robust recent openers, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (Fox Searchlight) and “Lady Bird” (A24), showed continued strength, pulling crossover interest...

With a strong, five-day debut Disney and Pixar's Coco joined the ranks of the many successful films Disney has launched over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Receiving high marks from critics and audiences alike, the film finished atop the weekend box office and is looking at solid returns throughout the holiday season. Additionally, WB and DC Comics' Justice League and Lionsgate's Wonder played mostly as expected as the three films contributed to a healthy helping of receipts at the holiday box office, outperforming the Thanksgiving three-day last year by ~4% with the top twelve combining for over $180 million. With an estimated $49 million for the three-day weekend and $71.2 million for the five-day, Disney and Pixar's Coco delivered the fourth largest Thanksgiving weekend three- and five-day openings. As a result, Disney continues to own nine of the ten largest three and five-day openings over the Thanksgiving holiday with New Line's Four Christmases the...

  Now In-theater: November 24, 2017 The motion pictures now in-theater are from various Hollywood and independent movie studios. Some of the films are in wide release (600 screens or more in the United States and Canada) and some are in limited release (a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across [...]

Continue reading: Now In-theater: November 24, 2017: Coco, Darkest Hour, The Man Who Invented Christmas, & More...

Coco and The Man Who Invented Christmas top this week's What to Watch weekend previewCoco and The Man Who Invented Christmas top this week's What to Watch weekend previewTanner Zipchen11/23/2017 2:49:00 Pm

This weekend in theatres, I'm excited to see Coco and The Man Who Invented Christmas!

In Coco, despite his family's baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel (voice of newcomer Anthony Gonzalez) dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt). Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. This lovely and at times emotional tale is a must see for the whole family!

In October 1843, Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens) was suffering from the failure of his last three books. Rejected by his publishers, he set out to write and self-publish a book he hoped would keep...

The Man Who Invented Christmas' Dan Stevens and Bharat Nalluri chat about their new holiday movieThe Man Who Invented Christmas' Dan Stevens and Bharat Nalluri chat about their new holiday movieAmanda Wood11/23/2017 11:45:00 Am

The holidays are almost here! As they grow nearer, more and more holiday movies are popping up. This week’s The Man Who Invented Christmas is one of this season's holiday tales, and it’s one the whole family can enjoy.

Dan Stevens stars as author Charles Dickens, the author of "A Christmas Carol" and the man responsible for much of how we celebrate Christmas today. In The Man Who Invented Christmas, we get to learn the story of how Dickens wrote one of his most famed works in a whirlwind holiday season. Christopher Plummer and Jonathan Pryce also star.

We caught up with Dan Stevens and director Bharat Nalluri to discuss bringing...

Christopher Plummer loves his job, and doesn’t plan to stop doing it so long as he can help it. The 87-year-old Canadian acting legend has a number of projects lined up, including the upcoming “The Man Who Invented Christmas” and “The Last Full Measure”. He also recently replaced Kevin Spacey in Ridley Scott’s “All the […]...

As Les Standiford’s book would tell it, Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens) found himself in somewhat of a creative rut after a lengthy and expensive tour of America post-Oliver Twist. He had published three flops since buying a new London home in need of wholesale remodeling and began watching his pocketbook dwindle along with his confidence. It was as though the autumn of 1843 presented him a make or break moment wherein he wasn’t certain he would ever write again. And then inspiration struck with the voice of a new maid (Anna Murphy’s Tara) telling the children Irish ghost stories before bed. This idea of Christmas Eve providing a doorway of sorts to the spiritual world planted itself in Dickens’ mind. Soon after Ebenezer Scrooge (Christopher Plummer) was born.

The last thing anyone needs in 2017 is another adaptation of A Christmas Carol — especially since none have ever come...

Movies that center around writers tend to vary. The process of writing is so inherently introspective that trying to make that narratively interesting can be tricky. There are exceptions, of course. There are great movies, like Spike Jonze‘s “Adaptation,” that found ingenious, heartbreaking ways to depict what it means to be a writer without overdoing the showmanship. There are films, like “Barton Fink” and “The Shining,” that use different genres and dark comedy to translate the madness that comes in trying to jot down your thoughts.

Continue reading ‘The Man Who Invented Christmas’ Gives Dan Stevens A Charming Yet Formulaic Holiday Biopic [Review] at The Playlist.