cult film freak: ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

Written by James M. Tate / 11/27/2011 / No comments / animated , children , tens

ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

11/27/2011 | No comment

title: ARTHUR CHRISTMAS
year: 2011
voices: Bill Nighy, James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent
rating: ***

In the spirit of those great Rankin/Bass Christmas movies like RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER and FROSTY THE SNOWMAN comes ARTHUR CHRISTMAS, and while it’s computer animated, the film has the vibe of the stop-motion stuff of yesteryear. The place is the North Pole, and Santa Claus doesn’t use a sled with reindeer any longer. Instead there’s a giant space ship with tons of “Elf Ninjas” who have it all down to a science: every good kid is counted for. But something goes wrong and one child's left out. Just happens to be the same little girl who’s letter touched Santa’s youngest son’s heart… His name is Arthur Christmas, he’s a clumsy slacker and is degraded to reading letters for pop. And while Santa and the oldest militaristic son, in line for the big white beard the following season, call it a night: Santa’s father, the last of the sled riding Claus's, takes a forlorn but dedicated Arthur on a retro journey to deliver the girl’s bike before sunup. Till then a whole lot happens and the suspense keeps building to the very finish. And despite pockets of downtime with too much exposition, and some intricate British humor that might fly by youngsters, this has a good (if forced) message: no kids are to be left behind. And beware anyone over eleven years old: instead of an animated short there's a video of Justin Beiber singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town." And if you could imagine how bad this is… it’s even worse. Thank goodness the film makes up for it till the end credits and the song repeats, reminding you of that nightmare all over again.

Share This Post :

Tags : animated , children , tens

James M. Tate

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)CALCULATED RISK 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE BREAK 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)THE SERGEANT 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)SHARKS' TREASURE 22)THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)SANDS OF THE KALAHARI 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)RIOT 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE FAVORITE ACTORS 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)JACK NICHOLSON 6) CHARLES BRONSON 7)BURT REYNOLDS 8)WILLIAM LUCAS 9)TOM COURTENAY 10)GENE HACKMAN DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)SAM PECKINPAH 10)MICHAEL WINNER