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First Viewing Plot: Three Devil's Island escapees hide out in the house of a kindly merchant and repay his kindness by helping him and his family out of several crises.

Another worthwhile Christmas classic that has been on my list for many years, We're No Angels is a fun and funny festive flick from Casablanca director Michael Curtiz. The central trio, even though they are escaped criminals, are instantly likeable; the casting is fantastic, with Humphrey Bogart proving himself an able comedic performer. As with The Shop Around the Corner, this film is based on a play and it does certainly feel like a play due to the limited scope, but Curtiz does enough to make the story feel cinematic. Admittedly, the pacing is not always successful during the first half, and I found myself much more engaged in the second half, but this is a minor quibble.

First Viewing Viewing Date: December 17th Via: iTunes Store Plot: Three Devil's Island escapees hide out in the house of a kindly merchant and repay his kindness by helping him and his family out of several crises. Rating: 7.7/10

Viewed: Season 1

I'm a massive fan of 2010's MacGruber and I've constantly watched my Blu-ray over the last eleven years; it's a contemporary cult comedy classic that I recommend at every opportunity. After years of sequel talks, the announcement of a sequel in the form of a TV show got me extremely excited, especially as it reunites the three leads (Will Forte, Kristen Wiig and Ryan Phillippe), while original director Jorma Taccone also returned as a writer and director. The resulting eight-episode season is not quite as great as the movie, but it's a solid continuation all the same, and it's a thrill to see Forte playing this role once again. Rather than a serialised show in the vein of MacGuyver, this is just a four-hour movie that has been cut up into half-hour episodes, so there is filler and it's not always on-point, but there are more pluses than minuses. There's action, I laughed out loud several times, it still looks cinematic, and (thankfully) it's free of woke political grandstanding. Indeed, it would've been easy to use this as another platform to demonise "straight white men" once again, especially since MacGruber is such an idiot, but the makers of the show, fortunately, avoid such an angle: Mac is still the hero, through and through. There is a set-up for Season 2 that I pray will occur (no cliffhanger, though, which I appreciated), but given the cult status of the MacGruber property, we'll have to wait and see.

First Viewing Plot: A debonair angel comes to Earth to help an Episcopalian bishop and his wife in their quest to raise money for the new church.

I've honestly felt guilty about not liking some of the traditional old Christmas movies so far this December, but I'm determined to seek out more of them. Thankfully, The Bishop's Wife did not disappoint me in the least; here's a charming, old-fashioned Christmas drama with wonderful actors (Cary Grant is one of the most charismatic actors in history, period) and an enchanting story. The movie hooked me in from the start with an intriguing introduction to Grant's angel character, Dudley, and it held my attention for the majority of the nearly two-hour running time. Due to the vintage and the nature of the narrative, I was reminded of It's a Wonderful Life to some extent, though (obviously) it doesn't quite reach the dizzying heights of that Frank Capra comedy classic. I'm looking forward to revisiting The Bishop's Wife in the future.

First Viewing Viewing Date: December 16th Via: Amazon Prime Video Plot: A debonair angel comes to Earth to help an Episcopalian bishop and his wife in their quest to raise money for the new church. Rating: 7.8/10

First Viewing Viewing Date: December 16th Via: Cinema Plot: With Spider-Man's identity now revealed, Peter asks Doctor Strange for help. When a spell goes wrong, dangerous foes from other worlds start to appear, forcing Peter to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man. Rating: 8.9/10

First Viewing Plot: A food writer who has lied about being the perfect housewife must try to cover her deception when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her home for a traditional family Christmas.

With Netflix's meagre Christmas offerings out of the way (well, I watched as many as I believe I could stomach - a whole two), I turned my attention back to well-known Christmas flicks that I've been meaning to watch for years. Another traditional holiday classic that is still held in high esteem, I must admit I was somewhat disappointed with Christmas in Connecticut. There are no problems with the story (which was borrowed wholesale for Christmas on the Farm) or the cast, but it's just extremely dated and doesn't stand up as well as movies of a similar vintage (Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life remains a dizzying yardstick). There are laughs here and there, and the actors commit to the material, but it's only intermittently engaging and it can't shake the feeling that everything was filmed on soundstages. Not terrible, but not an immortal Christmas classic.

First Viewing Viewing Date: December 15th Via: iTunes Store Plot: A food writer who has lied about being the perfect housewife must try to cover her deception when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves to her home for a traditional family Christmas. Rating: 5.7/10

First Viewing Plot: An imaginary world comes to life in a holiday tale of an eccentric toymaker, his adventurous granddaughter, and a magical invention that has the power to change their lives forever.

Despite the best of intentions, Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey did not work for me one bit. Another wannabe Christmas classic from the folks at Netflix, this is a cloying, artificial, corny-as-hell fantasy movie that's designed specifically for children. Naturally, there's nothing wrong with children's movies per se, but Jingle Jangle lacks the sincerity and emotion to appeal to adults, not to mention it's frequently contrived and dumb. The musical element is also extremely hit-and-miss; there's no need for this story to be a musical, and the songs do absolutely nothing to enhance the plot or characters - in fact, I tuned out (pun absolutely intended) during the musical numbers and just waited for them to end. Even the score itself is overbearing and obvious, lathering on the emotion to try and trigger tears without genuinely earning it (the early death of Jeronicus's wife did not affect me at all; contrast that against the brilliance of something like Up). There's no denying that the production design and visuals are awe-inspiring (and it looks all the tastier in 4K HDR on Netflix), but the slick presentation is literally the only thing that this movie has going for it. Even Keegan-Michael Key feels utterly wasted here, as there's no opportunity for him to flex his immense comedic chops. Plus, the child actors, alas, aren't very good and got on my nerves. I have no idea why the critics were so kind to this one; it's clichéd, broad and flat, and I'm not surprised that the movie made precisely no impact. Indeed, nobody is even talking about Jingle Jangle a year after its release; it's destined to rightfully fade into obscurity. It's not offensively bad, but I didn't like it at all and have no intention of ever watching it again.

First Viewing Viewing Date: December 14th Via: Netflix Plot: An imaginary world comes to life in a holiday tale of an eccentric toymaker, his adventurous granddaughter, and a magical invention that has the power to change their lives forever. Rating: 5.0/10

First Viewing Plot: An LA girl, unlucky in love, falls for an East Coast guy on a dating app and decides to surprise him by visiting for the holidays, only to discover that she's been catfished. However, he convinces her to pretend to be his girlfriend for Christmas in exchange for the chance to meet and bond with the man she believes is her one true love.

And now, onto the Netflix Christmas catalogue. Love Hard is a slightly better-than-average made-for-TV Christmas flick; it's fluffy, disposable and completely predictable, but it admittedly has its charms. Indeed, I still laughed a couple of times, though I can't say I was yearning to see the leads get together by the end - I was surprisingly indifferent and knew that the formula was going to demand it, anyway. It looks nice, there's plenty of Christmas scenery and there's awkward comedy, making it a nice enough distraction for a lazy evening - but it's not essential viewing.

First Viewing Viewing Date: December 14th Via: Netflix Plot: An LA girl, unlucky in love, falls for an East Coast guy on a dating app and decides to surprise him by visiting for the holidays, only to discover that she's been catfished. However, he convinces her to pretend to be his girlfriend for Christmas in exchange for the chance to meet and bond with the man she believes is her one true love. Rating: 5.9/10

First Viewing Plot: A brother and sister attempt to bring their divorced parents back together for Christmas.

Another random Christmas title that I discovered while perusing the cheap festive movie rentals on iTunes, All I Want for Christmas is a perfunctory, artificial, factory-made studio Christmas movie with little to recommend. It pays lip service to all of the usual checkboxes for such productions, and, even though the central plot is trite as hell, I guess using such a story for a Christmas movie is admittedly unique. What a shame that the resulting movie is so Disneynied and divorced from reality; I mean, while the kids enact their plan to get their parents back together, they lock their potential future stepfather in an ice cream van and aren't even punished for it. (Also, nobody can hear said stepfather yelling and banging in the back of the truck, of course.) None of the characters feel like real people and it's not overly funny or charming, though I guess it delivers the bare minimum for a family Christmas movie. I don't think anybody older than 10 will find much of value here.

First Viewing Viewing Date: December 13th Via: Amazon Prime Video Plot: A brother and sister attempt to bring their divorced parents back together for Christmas. Rating: 5.4/10

First Viewing Plot: A book superstore magnate, Joe Fox, and independent book shop owner, Kathleen Kelly, fall in love through the anonymity of the internet. Neither of them knows who they're talking to online while Joe works to put Kathleen's store out of business.

I felt it was appropriate to do a double feature of The Shop Around the Corner and You've Got Mail, and I'm glad that I did. Another "sort of" Christmas film for which only one part of the movie is set at Christmas (not to mention, this is another Nora Ephron film), You've Got Mail is a disarming and entertaining 1990s romantic comedy which has firmly ingratiated itself into popular culture - and it was a pleasure to finally tick it off my list. It's a bit too long at over two hours, but I can't say that it's boring, and there aren't any scenes that feel inessential or unnecessarily prolonged. The story hooked me from the start, and Ephron's style is all over the material: it's funny, sweet, inoffensive and bursting with charm.

First Viewing Viewing Date: December 12th Via: Stan. Plot: A book superstore magnate, Joe Fox, and independent book shop owner, Kathleen Kelly, fall in love through the anonymity of the internet. Neither of them knows who they're talking to online while Joe works to put Kathleen's store out of business. Rating: 7.0/10

First Viewing Plot: Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand each other, without realizing that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.

Uncynical and sincere, The Shop Around the Corner is a charming and engaging Hollywood classic based on a 1937 Hungarian play. And it certainly feels like a play since the majority of the movie takes place in a store, there are limited other locations, and the staging is very simplistic, but this is not to denigrate the feature; on the contrary, the sharp writing and wonderful performances render this an enormously enjoyable sit. The always-reliable James Stewart is a perfect lead, and his co-star Margaret Sullavan is an ideal foil for him, resulting in some sharp bantering between the two. If you enjoy other old Hollywood classics like His Girl Friday or Arsenic and Old Lace, this one is definitely worth your time.