The Watchers' Advent Calendar: 15th December

Day 15 of The Watchers' Advent Calendar. Just ten days to go to the big day! If you're cooking Christmas dinner this year, you should probably put the sprouts on to cook today. 

Today's entry is a little bit of shameless self-promotion on our part but also a reminder of some of the best Christmas movies out there.

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The Watchers' Top Ten Christmas Films!

Last year, our Christmas show featured a discussion of our favourite traditional Christmas movies. Click here to see the full show- but if you're pressed for time, here's our Top 10 countdown:

The answers to yesterday's quiz questions are as follows:

1.  Edmund Gwenn won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Kris Kringle in the 1947 version of Miracle On 34th Street

2.  In The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Great Gonzo plays Charles Dickens

3. In Female Trouble, Dawn Davenport wants a pair of cha-cha heels for Christmas.

4. The Nakatomi Plaza building, the setting for Die Hard, is supposed to be in Los Angeles.

5. In Jingle All The Way, Howard has to get a Turbo Man action figure for his son.

Tomorrow's post features one of the ten films mentioned in that video. Come back tomorrow to find out which one!

The Watchers' Advent Calendar: 6th December

It's rather scary to think that we're already a quarter of the way through The Watchers' Advent Calendar. The big day will soon be upon us. But until then, here's a little something to test the grey matter (and possibly your Google skills).

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The Watchers' Christmas Quiz (Part One)

This is the first of three short quizzes, all related (more or less) to films that have Christmas in them. Please note this is just for fun; there are no prizes. The answers will be given tomorrow.

So, without further ado, your first set of questions are as follows:

1. In It's A Wonderful Life, what's the name of the town in which George Bailey and his family live?

2. Which of the following actors has not played Ebenezer Scrooge on screen: Jim Carrey, Richard E. Grant, Albert Finney, George C. Scott or Alistair Sim?

3. In Love Actually, which musical instrument does Sam (Thomas Sangster) learn to try and impress Joanna (Olivia Olson)?

4. Who was the only member of the cast of the 1974 horror movie Black Christmas to appear in the 2006 remake?

5. Which Christmas song by the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl can be heard in P.S. I Love You? (Bonus question, can you name the Oscar-nominated actor who appears in the official video for the song?)

Hopefully those questions will keep you thinking til tomorrow when we'll have another festive song.

The Watchers' Advent Calendar: 4th December

Today, we celebrate an absolute Christmas classic with a few pictures from one of the most enduring, heartwarming and truly WONDERFUL Christmas movies of all time. Can you tell what it is yet?

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It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

Depressed businessman George Bailey (James Stewart) wishes he'd never been born; angel Clarence (Henry Travers) shows him how bad life would have been without him. If this film doesn't move you, you're made of stone. Stone, I tell ya.

Clarence: Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he? 

Come back tomorrow for more Yuletide film fun!

Mini-Countdown: Our Favourite Films Of The 1940s

Following on from our discussions about favourite films of the 1930s, we decided to progress onto the 1940s. Again, each of us has three choices:

RHYS' CHOICES

Great Expectations (1946)

Impressive adaptation of Dickens' sensational novel, with a brilliant central performance by John Mills. David Lean's direction is sleek and atmospheric.

It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

A perennial Christmas favourite which, even over sixty years later, still pulls at the heartstrings. Stewart is brilliant and if you don't come away from this film feeling better about the world, your heart is made of stone.

Rope (1948)

Shot in long continuous takes in one set, the technical tricks played in this film equal the verbal pyrotechnics- Grainger and Dall excel as the murderous students with Stewart as a wonderful counterfoil.

TEZ'S CHOICES

Double Indemnity (1944)

Barbara Stanwyck sizzles as the femme fatale in Wilder's superlative film noir, ably supported by MacMurray and Robinson. The script, from a James M. Cain novel, was co-written by Raymond Chandler.

Lifeboat (1944)

Another Hitchcock choice; set in a confined space, a great set of wonderful actors working with a thought-provoking script; plus this has one of the most genius Hitchcock cameos ever. 

Kind Hearts And Coronets (1949)

A brilliantly black Ealing comedy featuring standout performances by Dennis Price and Alec Guinness. Plus you get to see Guinness in drag (as the formidable Lady Agatha D'Ascoyne) - what more could you ask for? 

So those are our choices. What about yours? Would you have picked Mildred Pierce or Casablanca? The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre or Key Largo? Maybe Olivier's Hamlet or Henry The Fifth? Or how about Whisky Galore, Brief Encounter or the darling of film critics the world over: Citizen Kane? Let us know your favourite movies of the 1940s in the comments below.  

Programme 3: My Week With Marilyn and Traditional Christmas Films Top 10

Programme 3- our Christmas 2011 Special- contained a review of My Week With Marilyn as well as our discussion of our favourite 'traditional' Christmas films and The Watchers' Top 10 of Traditional Christmas Films

Our news round-up featured casting news for The Expendables 2, mourned the passing of Ken Russell and revealed some of the first winners of the 2011-2012 award season.

The podcast version can be found here and also on iTunes here