CHRISTMAS DAY
The Star
TVNZ 2, 7.30am
Voice Steven Yeun. Offbeat but sincere animated comedy with Christian themes about the Nativity. It centres on a donkey who becomes the accidental hero of the first Christmas. ★★
Holiday Wishes Three, 8.20am Starring Amber Benson, Britt McKillip. A rich girl with a bad attitude and an orphan, with a surprisingly positive attitude, visit the local-mall Santa who switches their bodies so they get the chance to live life in each other’s shoes. Not reviewed.
Norm Of The North
TVNZ 2, 8.55am
Starring Rob Schneider, Heather Graham. Animated flick about a polar bear who heads to New York city to try to stop real estate development in his Arctic home. As silly as it sounds. ★★
Memories Of Christmas Three, 9.50am Starring Christina Milian, Mark Taylor. A woman returns to her hometown to pack up and sell her childhood home and attend the Christmas Charity Gala established by her late mother. Not reviewed.
A Christmas Story
TVNZ 2, 10.10am
Starring Peter Billingsley. A classic festive tale about a boy’s desire to get a BB airgun for Christmas. Nicely nostalgic and whimsical. ★★★★
A Snow White Christmas Three, 11.20am Starring Michelle Randolph. A jealous stepmother hypnotises her stepdaughter so she will forget everyone and everything about her father’s will in this loose remake of the fairy tale. Not reviewed.
Spotlight Under The Mistletoe Three, 12.45pm Starring Hannah Barefoot, Evan Gamble. After a music starlet’s album sales plummet, her label forces her to record an album with an ex-teen heartthrob and pop-star in a bid to resurrect her career. At first they clash but soon find themselves growing closer together. Not reviewed.
Blizzard M ori TV, 1pm Starring Brenda Blethyn, Christopher Plummer. Top-notch children’s film about a young reindeer, Blizzard, fathered by Santa’s sled puller Blitzen, who helps a young aspiring ice skater fulfil her dreams. ★★★★
Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium
TVNZ 2, 1.20pm
Starring Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman. Playing out like Night At The Museum without the bits that might scare younger children, this family fantasy stars Dustin Hoffman as Mr Magorium, the 243-year-old owner of a magical toy store. ★★★
The Nativity Story
TVNZ 1, 1.35pm
Starring Keisha Castle-Hughes. This slightly too sedate version of the greatest story ever told is enhanced by stunning cinematography shot in Italy, Morocco and Israel itself. But scenery aside, the end result really plays out like a church pageant. ★★
The Truth About Christmas Three, 2.15pm Starring Kali Hawk, Damon Dayoub. A political consultant runs foul of a toy-store Santa en route to meet her boyfriend’s family. Not reviewed.
Another Christmas Coincidence Three, 3.45pm Starring Cindy Busby, Ben Hollingsworth. Two strangers with very different lives meet at a wedding celebration. However, with increasingly complicated professional and personal lives, the two must find a way to balance their budding romance with the obstacles life throws at them. Not reviewed.
Jack Frost
TVNZ 2, 3.50pm
Starring Michael Keaton, Kelly Preston. Competent but rather maudlin family fantasy in which Michael Keaton plays a deceased musician who is reincarnated as a wisecracking snowman a year after his death and uses the time to try to put things right with his son. ★★
A Sunburnt Christmas
TVNZ 2, 5.30pm
Starring Sullivan Stapleton. Aussie film about a single mum and her kids struggling on an Outback farm until a bumbling fugitive dressed as Santa enters their lives. Not reviewed.
Deck The Halls
TVNZ Duke, 6.25pm
Starring Matthew Broderick, Danny DeVito. Unusually mean-spirited for a Christmas movie, this is a weak comedy
about two neighbours at war over their Christmas decorations. ★★
Finding Your Feet
TVNZ 1, 7pm
Starring Imelda Staunton, Celia Imrie. Take a by-the-numbers, oh-so-predictable plot, pretty average scripting, spice it up with a top-notch cast of British baby-boomers and you have Finding Your Feet. Staunton plays sort-of-aristocrat Lady Sandra Abbott, who leaves her cheating husband and must move in with her free-spirited sister Bif (Imrie), who lives in a run-down London council estate. But Bif knows how to live life, and soon stuffy Sandra allows herself to be dragged along to a dance class where she falls in with Bif’s mates, played by Timothy Spall, Joanna Lumley and David Hayman. It’s fun, but laid on a bit thick even for these old-stagers. ★★★
Home Alone 2: Lost In New York
TVNZ 2, 7pm
Starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci. There aren’t that many surprises to be found in this production-line sequel to the original family comedy blockbuster. This time around young Macaulay Culkin is stuck in New York – but he is still facing the same old baddies, using the same old bunch of tricks. ★★★
Dr Seuss’ The Grinch Three, 7pm Voices of Benedict Cumberbatch. Animation which is bound to appeal to the littlies in the family. Benedict Cumberbatch lends his voice to the infamous Grinch, and delivers a feast of festive fun. ★★★
The Road To El Dorado M ori TV,7pm Voices Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh. Dreamworks ‘Road To’ movie from 2000 in the style of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, but with animated characters taking the lead roles. Here, conmen Miguel and Tulio crookedly win a map to El Dorado and hide in barrels to escape their pursuers. But the barrels are then loaded on to a conquistador’s ship bound for the New World. A good voice cast, narrated by Elton John, but it just doesn’t quite hit the jackpot. ★★
Brooklyn Choice, 7.30pm Starring Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen. A young Irish woman has to choose between two worlds – her hometown in rural County Wexford or the brighter lights of Brooklyn where she has emigrated to. This film is multi-layered and superbly acted. ★★★★★
Wimbledon Bravo, 7.40pm Starring Paul Bettany, Kirsten Dunst. A fading tennis star meets a woman’s player who is rising through the ranks in this charming love match. ★★★
Fat Albert
TVNZ Duke, 8pm
Starring Kyla Pratt. Comedian Bill Cosby’s TV show Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids is brought to life in this modern live-action movie adaptation set in Philadelphia. While it’s not Oscar-winning material, this children’s movie will bring back wonderful memories for fans of the original TV series, while also keeping the young ones entertained. ★★
Scrooged M ori TV, 8.30pm Starring Bill Murray, Karen Allen. A cynically slick, even mean-spirited, update of the Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. Bill Murray is completely wasted when he switches from being a miserly television network president to your everyday Joe after visitations from three latter-day ghosts. ★★★
The Shawshank Redemption Three 8.30pm Starring Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman. If this isn’t in your
Top Ten Best Films, it should be. Robbins and Freeman are two convicts who, through perseverance and decency, bring some dignity and respect back to their fellow inmates. Life affirming and profound, it is probably the best prison movie you will ever see – and with a great supporting cast. ★★★★★
The Call Of The Wild Sky Premiere, 8.30pm Starring Harrison Ford, Omar Sy. Author Jack London is remembered mainly for two books – White Fang and the one this movie recreates, Call Of The Wild. It follows the adventures of a St Bernard/collie cross named Buck who lives happily with his master in California. But he is abducted and shipped to the Yukon where he’s sold as a sled dog. It is a real tear jerker, more family friendly than London’s novel, and with an unexpected ending. ★★★
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2
TVNZ 2, 8.55pm
Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana. The original still ranks as possibly the best Marvel movie. Its depth, original storyline, and great characters played superbly by a star cast made for a compelling experience even appealing to those who find superheroes a bit naff. Vol 2 isn’t quite as fresh, but it is still highly watchable. ★★★★
Revenge Of The Nerds
TVNZ Duke, 9.30pm
Starring Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards. Ungainly nerds seek retribution on the footballers and cheerleaders who regularly mock them in this minor comedy classic from the 80s. While occasionally degenerating to a filthy level, it is worth staying put for some really funny moments. ★★★
Revenge Of The Nerds II
TVNZ Duke, 11pm
Starring Robert Carradine. It can reasonably be argued that the first movie in this series was a classic of its kind, but an argument like that is only good once, meaning this trashy geeks-versus-jocks college comedy caper must be treated with the true disdain it so richly deserves. Avoid unless you absolutely loved the original. ★
Phenomenon
TVNZ 2, 11.10pm
Starring John Travolta, Robert Duvall, Kyra Sedgwick. John Travolta, at his cuddliest and most sympathetic, plays everyman mechanic George Malley, who somehow becomes a genius endowed with telekinetic powers. The eventual revelation of the mystery behind this undoes most of the film’s Capra-esque charm, but it’s still an appealing watch. ★★★