The NICE list
20 KLAUS 2019
How the grinches made Christmas.
Warring tribes, bathtub brawls, “glorious hatred”. Santa gets a refreshingly surreal, spiky origin myth in this beautifully drawn 2D ‘toon, where failing post-boy Jesper (Jason Schwartzman) unites with dour woodsman Klaus (J.K. Simmons) to get the kids of feud-riven Arctic island Smeerensburg writing letters. Even if you know how events will snowball, director Sergio Pablos’ deviations from sentimental/CGI seasonal cliché furnish bracing returns: when the thaw comes, the glow is all the toastier for it.
Festive fact: Simmons played Santa before: in a shopping centre, pre-fame.
What the Dickens? Initially fuelled by “resentment and spite”, Smeerensburg’s Scrooges eventually thaw.
Where to watch: Netflix.
19 A CHRISTMAS CAROL 1951 SCROOGE 1970
You can call them Al…
Querulous, cowering and more than a little camp, Alastair Sim is many people’s definitive Ebenezer in what’s generally considered the most authoritative rendering of Dickens’ 1843 novella. Sim doesn’t sing though – and you could argue Albert Finney doesn’t either in the musical version that followed 19 years later. It was the latter adaptation, however, that ended up with four Oscar nods, not to mention a Golden Globe for its star’s theatrical depiction of miserly grumpiness. ‘Thank You Very Much’ indeed!
Festive fact: George Cole plays young Scrooge in the 1951 version.
What the Dickens? Bah, humbug! The titles say it all.
Where to watch: Digital download, Prime Video (Scrooge only).
18 A CHRISTMAS STORY 1983
The little gunner boy.
In 1974, director Bob Clark made Christmas scary with proto-slasher (see #15). Nine years on, his ‘40s-set adaptation of Jean Shepherd’s growing-up tales offered a more nostalgic, family-centric perspective, sharpened by bracing satire. Peter Billingsley leads endearingly as Ralphie, a nine-year-old who desperately wants an air-rifle from Santa. With Melinda Dillon and Darren McGavin giving steadfast support as the parents, Clark’s kid’s-eye vignettes nail children’s seasonally heightened emotions:
