Best of the box on Christmas Day
From classics to merry musicals, family fun and ho-ho-horrors, we've got you covered, writes Karl Puschmann
ALL THE presents have been unwrapped, the dishes have been done and you’re as stuffed as a Christmas turkey. Now ’tis the time to collapse on the couch and turn on the telly for some festive viewing.
There’s some terrific holiday programming on the box tomorrow with free-to-air TV and streaming services putting on a great line-up of Christmas-themed shows, specials and movies to fill your living room with the appropriate seasonal atmosphere.
So you don’t have to spend quality time faffing about looking for something to watch, here are our picks of the best of the box on Christmas Day.
You can’t beat the classics
The 1983 Christmas comedy A Christmas Story is cited as a classic for a reason and that reason is that it’s fabulously, festively funny. It follows an adult reminiscing over a particularly memorable Christmas season when he was a young boy and all the high jinks, escapades and stunts he and his pals got up to. The movie’s really a whole lot of little stories that dovetail in and out of the main arc. But all are stuffed with gags for young and old, sprinkled with a little bit of weirdness and covered in a whole lot of Christmas spirit. If you only watch one story this Christmas, make it A Christmas Story.
Starts at 11.40am on TVNZ 2.
Scrooged, from 1983, combines two of our favourite things: Christmas and Bill Murray. This modernisation of Charles Dickens’ story A Christmas Carol sees Murray perfectly cast as “the meanest person in the world”, a hotshot TV exec who, after a series of despicably un-festive decisions on Christmas Eve, gets visited by a trio of ghosts intent on teaching him the error of his grouchy ways. Murray’s patented comedic-cynicism carries the film while its eternally festive message ensures its relevance 17 years after it came out. It starts at 8.30pm on Ma¯ori Television.
From Netflix’s decent menu of Christmas-themed fare, we’ve opted for the irrepressible positivity and unbridled hilarity served up by Will Ferrell in his 2003 family Christmas classic, Elf. Staying on just the right side of silly, Elf’s a sure-fire crowd-pleaser that will have everyone from the younglings right through to gran and gramps giggling away. No matter how many times anyone’s seen it before.
Family fun
On Three, the most famous Christmas killjoy of all, Dr Seuss’ The Grinch, bah humbugs his way through this bright and bold CGI adventure from 7pm. This adaptation of the slim children’s book fills out The Grinch’s back story, giving his festive disdain context and showing why he wants to steal all the town’s joy, aka, the presents, in the first place. Its lively action, vibrant visuals and faithfulness to the imaginatively warped Seuss aesthetic will appeal to kids of all ages.
Is The Nightmare Before
Christmas (Disney+) a Christmas film or a Halloween film? Both, perhaps? Whatever it is, this triumph of stop-motion animation is a holly jolly good time and one we’d always recommend revisiting on either of those festive occasions. The story of Jack Skellington and his fright-filled attempt to take over Christmas comes from the gothpop mind of Tim Burton who produced the film, designed the characters and wrote the poem it’s based on. He left the painstaking animation to specialist Henry Selick to direct and enlisted Danny Elfman to liven up their dark fantasy world with the magic of song. The outcome was a brilliantly fun festive musical that’s a real holiday treat. no matter which holiday you happen to watch it on.
Merry musicals
Sorry to bring you down by making you feel bone-creakingly old but Mariah Carey’s chart-topping, super-duper, festive singalong All I Want for Christmas Is You is now 25 years old. Yes. To celebrate (or
commiserate) this impressive milestone, Carey presents Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special, a brand new holiday special on Apple TV+, which tasks her with saving the world by filling it with Christmas cheer and her impressive vocal histrionics. To aid her in her quest and song she’s joined by fellow celebs Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson and good ol’ Snoop Dogg — a chap we imagine has a very specific idea of how to light up the world and spread goodwill. There’s music, dancing, animation, a heartwarming story and Mariah. Really, what more could you want for Christmas?
Bill Murray makes his second appearance on our list because who doesn’t love Bill Murray? And also because he has his very own holiday special on Netflix called A Very Murray Christmas. Directed by Sofia Coppola, it’s a hip hour of song, dance, celebs such as George Clooney and Miley Cyrus and, of course, Bill Murray doing his best sad clown routine as he learns the true meaning of Christmas.
A royal good time
If you have an appetite for all things royal then A Berry Royal Christmas (TVNZ 1, 3.20pm) is sure to satisfy. Prince William and Kate join Mary Berry, celeb chef and former judge of The Great British Bake Off, to bake, grill, boil and fry a big Christmas cook-up for the
volunteers who work at their various charities. The Telegraph described this festive, foodie special as, “generous-spirited, uplifting and irresistibly festive”, exactly the qualities you’ll want to eat up on Christmas Day.
The Windsors also reign supreme over Prime’s Christmas Day line-up. Starting with the salacious gossip of Secrets of the Royal Servants at
7.35pm and exploring Princess Margaret: The Royal Rebel at 8.25pm before closing up with the first part of The Story of the Royals at 9.25pm.
Best of the box (-sets)
The new series of the beloved period crime drama The Murdoch Mysteries on Acorn TV sets about solving a new assortment of crimes
that include shenanigans at a secret space programme, an assignment to protect Mark Twain, played by Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, and, most shocking of all, the dastardly case of a murdered Santa Claus.
If you fancy ’avin a laugh, then over on TVNZ OnDemand you’ll find many Brit comedies to binge your way through. There’s full seasons of shows like Ricky Gervais’ Extras, Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley’s Absolutely Fabulous and Dawn French’s The Vicar of Dibley. All of which conveniently have Christmas specials! Merry Christmas indeed.
Bah humbug!
While the Amazon Original movie Sylvie’s Love lacks Christmas decoration it more than makes up for it with a sentimentality that’s as sweet as a candy cane. Premiering on Amazon Prime Video tomorrow, this love story is a stylistic throwback to Hollywood’s classic era and is as sweet and schmaltzy as its title suggests. Set in New York’s jazz age, it sees the always great Tessa Thompson and her co-star Nnamdi Asomugha falling in friendship in a record store. Before they can start thinking about making sweet music together life pulls them apart. A chance meeting years later retunes their passion but are they still in the key of love?
If, by now, you’ve had your fill of festive cheer and fancy some holiday ho-ho-horror then Black Christmas, a silly season slasher streaming on Neon, is the pick. Its story is as familiar as any Christmas carol and sees an unknown stalker terrorising and murdering a group of sorority sisters. But, after a day of jingle bells and seasons greetings, some simple frights could be exactly what you want to blob out with. Just make sure the kiddies are tucked up in bed first.