It’s easy to be a Scrooge about Christmas, but whether it’s something classic and uplifting, or something more modern and goofy, there’s a Christmas film for everyone. So sit down, grab a mince pie, and enjoy our ultimate guide to festive viewing.
Join Independent TV’s Jacob Stolworthy and Annabel Nugent as they discuss their favourite festive flicks, the best shows to stream over Christmas, and of course, the age old question – is Die Hard a Christmas film? (spoiler alert: yes).
Get the latest film and TV news and reviews with Binge Watch on Independent TV.
Join Independent TV’s Jacob Stolworthy and Annabel Nugent as they discuss their favourite festive flicks, the best shows to stream over Christmas, and of course, the age old question – is Die Hard a Christmas film? (spoiler alert: yes).
Get the latest film and TV news and reviews with Binge Watch on Independent TV.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:12 Hello and welcome to Binge Watch. I'm Jacob Starworthy, the Chief Culture
00:15 Reporter at The Independent and I'm joined here by my lovely two colleagues.
00:19 Introduce yourselves please.
00:21 I'm Ellie Harrison, the TV editor at The Independent.
00:24 And I'm Annabelle Nugent, a features writer at The Independent.
00:28 So it's Christmas, well in a few weeks. Is it a case of like when the TV comes on
00:33 you don't want to watch it because you're sick of it?
00:35 Oh no, I love Christmas TV. I love having the TV on when it's like in the background, you know,
00:40 when you're just relaxing like in between like the hectic parts of Christmas.
00:44 I feel like that's a really nice break.
00:46 We were talking, weren't you saying that Christmas telly was banned in your house?
00:49 I'm shaming my mum here, she's watching, I'm sorry. Yeah mum, I want to watch TV on Christmas Day.
00:54 It's a no TV on Christmas Day house, which is, it's just like Christmas songs,
00:59 but the fifth time you've heard Jonah Louis, stop the camera.
01:02 What, even night time? Totally banned.
01:04 Yeah, we play games.
01:05 Pure family bonding. Unrelenting family bonding.
01:08 Yeah, isn't it? Because all year round, watch a lot of film and TV.
01:11 That's true.
01:12 It's actually quite nice having it approved.
01:14 So we've got questions here that people have sent in that I'm going to ask you both.
01:17 Chime in as and when. There are some hard hitting questions here.
01:21 So what are the must stream shows this Christmas?
01:25 So there's The Crown, part two, which is coming out tomorrow.
01:30 That's it, finito.
01:32 Yeah, that's it. I think maybe it's time for it to end.
01:36 Yeah, people will be happy to see the end of it I think.
01:38 The Crown doesn't ask existential questions of itself.
01:42 Perhaps it should.
01:43 Oh, I think you've been watching this as well, Murder at the End of the World.
01:46 Oh yeah.
01:47 Is that the Emma Corrin one?
01:48 Yeah.
01:49 On Disney Plus, yeah.
01:50 With Harris Dickinson, yeah.
01:52 And Clive Owen. Just love Clive.
01:54 Yeah, he's like an evil English billionaire and it's just very, very perfect cast.
01:59 You know what's really funny is at the beginning of the show, because he's a billionaire,
02:04 and they show him that he's got all this wealth and influence,
02:07 and there's a picture of him with Obama.
02:09 That is a real photo that when I interviewed Clive Owen, he showed me on his phone
02:13 because he was so excited that it happened.
02:15 So he showed me.
02:16 So he obviously supplied it for the show.
02:18 And he was like, "The best thing about that photo, he asked me for a selfie."
02:22 Obama asked Clive Owen for a selfie. Amazing.
02:24 Well, we'll have to fact check that.
02:26 Yeah, I was like, "It's Diddy! Diddy, mate!"
02:28 Welcome.
02:30 It's so exciting to see you all here.
02:32 That's a great show, though, and set in a snowy, in the middle of nowhere.
02:36 Yeah, it's in Iceland, isn't it?
02:38 Iceland.
02:39 Yeah.
02:40 Yeah, that makes sense.
02:41 At the end of the world.
02:42 It's at the end of the world.
02:43 Proper cosy vibes, but tense as well.
02:46 Good one.
02:47 Good shout, that.
02:48 Thanks.
02:49 I've been jumping out of my literal skin.
02:51 When I watch it with my boyfriend, he's like,
02:53 "I'm not actually that scared, but watching it with you is a nightmare."
02:56 He's like, "I don't know how this baby shakes."
02:58 But yeah, it's great.
02:59 And yeah, Emma Corrin plays an amateur sleuth, basically,
03:02 who's invited away to this remote house in Iceland,
03:05 and then people just start dropping like flies,
03:07 and she has to solve...
03:08 Well, she's trying to solve the murders.
03:10 I get the sense that a bit like Knives Out with Daniel Craig,
03:13 that this could be the start of another character,
03:16 the Darwin character could carry on.
03:18 I saw someone saying this is what Knives Out 2 should have been, basically,
03:22 and yeah, I think that was...
03:23 That was weak.
03:24 Would it have been better...
03:26 ...not to go?
03:31 My iPro 1 in there that I've been watching,
03:34 and any old chance to plug it, is The Lazarus Project.
03:38 Oh, yeah, your favourite.
03:39 I love this show.
03:40 It's like Time Loop.
03:42 I mean, I'm a sucker for Time Loop,
03:44 but it's just like literally no scene is wasted.
03:48 It doesn't take a breath, and it's two series now,
03:51 and it's on Sky Atlantic, so now.
03:54 And it's just...
03:55 It's Papa Eseedu, Anjali Mahindra, Caroline Quentin,
03:58 the National Treasure herself.
04:00 Really, really, really brilliant, like, beauty of Time Loop stuff.
04:05 Action.
04:06 It's a perfect watch for Christmas.
04:08 Festive?
04:09 In no way.
04:10 In no way.
04:11 You okay?
04:13 Yeah.
04:14 Yeah, I like just picking out a show,
04:17 a kind of cosy-ish one,
04:19 and I think I'm going to do Reservation Dogs.
04:21 Oh, I love Reservation Dogs.
04:23 - You love it? - It's a really good show.
04:25 - Is this the Kiwi show? - Yeah.
04:26 I'm a big fan of it.
04:27 He produces it, doesn't he?
04:28 This is so good. Yeah.
04:29 Yeah, I watched half of season one,
04:31 and I'm like, saving that for Christmas.
04:33 Honestly, yeah.
04:34 It's one of the best shows that I've seen for a long time, I think.
04:37 It's set on a reservation about Native American teenagers,
04:41 and it's just...
04:42 I think I did it for one of my Hidden Gems ones.
04:44 - Ah, so it's on Disney+. - Yeah.
04:46 And it's just really funny, but heartwarming,
04:50 and it's thought-provoking, and just...
04:52 - Yeah. - It's just everything that you want.
04:54 - The big three. - The big three.
04:55 - The big three. - It's the perfect show.
04:57 You're good thieves. Best in town.
04:59 Thank you.
05:00 It is a small town.
05:01 Leads us on to the next question very nicely,
05:03 and it's a biggie.
05:05 Die Hard is on Disney+,
05:07 but is it a Christmas film?
05:10 The age of the dates.
05:12 I'm going to throw that over to you, though.
05:14 Do you have strong feelings?
05:16 You two look like Bruce Willis heads.
05:19 If ever I saw two people who were Bruce Willis heads, it's you two.
05:22 I think it could be, you know.
05:24 I mean, why is a Christmas film,
05:26 other than a film that is set at Christmas,
05:29 and this one fits the bill, and I love Die Hard.
05:32 Yeah, because he's saving it off his Christmas party
05:35 that's under attack, right?
05:36 - Yeah. - Yeah.
05:37 But they mention that it's Christmas multiple times in the film.
05:41 It's Christmas, Theo. It's the time of miracles.
05:44 I know what you mean. I'm a bit like what you were saying earlier.
05:47 I'm into the slightly subversive Christmas movie.
05:51 I don't see why everything has to be the love actually effect.
05:57 - It's got its place. - Yeah.
05:59 Yeah, yeah. Just both.
06:01 Variety is the spice of life.
06:03 Yeah, it is. She ain't wrong.
06:06 I think Die Hard is a Christmas film myself,
06:09 and I'm willing to take anyone on who thinks otherwise.
06:13 Yeah, I actually only saw it for the first time a few years,
06:16 like maybe two or three Christmases ago,
06:18 and my dad was like, "Oh, we should watch Die Hard."
06:20 - Yeah. - "You girls haven't seen it."
06:22 And that was a great memory, so I'm just like,
06:24 "That was Christmassy time."
06:25 Christmas film is what you make it, right?
06:27 - Yeah. - If it's a tradition, it's a tradition.
06:29 And I feel like by then, you're kind of sick of watching.
06:32 I feel like I watch all the schmaltzy, feel-good stuff
06:36 in the run-up to Christmas,
06:38 and then by the time Christmas runs around, I'm done.
06:41 - You're like, "Let's give it." - Give me some violence.
06:43 - Yeah, give me Bruce Willis. - Yeah.
06:45 (SINGING)
06:47 The writer/director Shane Black,
06:49 who did the lethal weapon films, first few anyway,
06:52 and he's made it his thing, and when he releases a film,
06:55 he always makes it set around Christmas in the hopes
06:57 that it becomes a bit of a cult Christmas film.
06:59 Like the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Rob Downey Jr.
07:01 Even Iron Man 3 he did set at Christmas.
07:04 - They all technically fit the bill, yeah. - Yeah.
07:07 It just guarantees you could get a screening at Christmas or whatever.
07:10 But also, it's just ripe for a good plot,
07:13 because the family and friends coming together,
07:15 intentions and stuff, in so many ways, it's like tick, tick.
07:18 Yeah, no, absolutely.
07:20 If we write a film, we've got to set it at Christmas.
07:22 I'm starting to get a bad feeling up here.
07:24 (SCREAMING)
07:25 Merry Christmas.
07:26 Here's a really big one, and it leads on nicely.
07:28 Again, what is your all-time favourite Christmas film?
07:31 I think we've all probably got an answer to give here.
07:34 Mine is The Grinch. I love The Grinch.
07:36 - I re-watched it last Friday. - Oh, it's so good.
07:39 I think every time I watch it, Jim Carrey is so funny.
07:42 The Jim Carrey one, I was going to say which one.
07:44 Oh, yeah. And Cindy Lou Who.
07:47 I just love the setting of it, and all the costumes are amazing,
07:52 and it's the dog.
07:54 - Max. - Yeah, it just makes me feel so happy.
07:57 Jim Carrey is, I mean, career high.
08:01 (LAUGHTER)
08:03 I'm ready to go there.
08:05 How does he make his face do all those things?
08:08 The Grinch.
08:10 I think it might have won an Oscar for production design.
08:13 - It should have. - Costume, makeup, one of them.
08:15 Best picture.
08:17 I love that The Grinch is an Oscar.
08:19 Because they do, in the Jim Carrey one, it's all actual decoration.
08:23 There's not just what the Neve version was, which was just loads of CGI and stuff.
08:28 It's actually creating, in a way, almost an almost kind of way, that world.
08:32 It's like a bygone era, that.
08:34 Now they would just throw money at it to compute a CGI.
08:39 It's funny, because it doesn't seem dated.
08:41 I watch it every year, and every year I'm like, this is the best movie.
08:45 It's joyful and triumphant.
08:47 What's your favourite?
08:49 I don't know where you can watch it, but you probably do. It's Elf.
08:52 It's just so funny.
08:54 Everything from the way he basically tries to very over-enthusiastically wave
08:59 at grumpy New Yorkers in the street,
09:01 him getting in the elevator and doing the splits by accident.
09:04 James Caan, Will Ferrell's evil dad, is just...
09:08 R.P. James Caan is just spot on.
09:11 I just love that film.
09:13 I don't know if it's basic, but it brings me a lot of joy.
09:16 Son of a nutcracker!
09:18 Mine's Christmas Muppet Christmas Carol, which is everyone's favourite.
09:20 It's the ultimate basic choice, but I stand by the point that you say
09:24 Jim Carrey's career high is the grin.
09:26 Michael Caine's Christmas Muppet Christmas Carol.
09:29 I think he would agree. I honestly think he would agree.
09:32 How would the bookkeepers like to be suddenly unemployed?
09:35 There's so many funny stories about him being in that film.
09:38 He's acting like he was acting opposite Shakespearean princes.
09:41 Taking it so seriously.
09:43 Yeah, and it just works. It was a straight-to-video at the time,
09:47 and I think that film has probably made him more money than any other film he did.
09:50 Really. So, the enduring appeal of the Muppets will never end.
09:54 It's good to be heckling again.
09:57 It's good to be doing anything again.
09:59 Thanks for joining us, and don't forget to tune in to Binge Watch
10:02 by visiting www.independent.co.uk/tv.
10:07 I hope you've had as much fun as we have. Have we had fun?
10:09 A lot of fun.
10:10 We've had fun.
10:11 And we're going to say Merry Christmas on three.
10:13 Three, two, one.
10:15 Merry Christmas!
10:17 (music)
10:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]