Ghost Mike's Movie Review Roundup #8: December 2024 · 6:30pm January 7th
Am I ready for 2025? Hell no. But after a rough 2024 on a personal level, it can only be better. Apart from personal projects I really want to get going again (not least a certain ponyfic adventure novel), I’m just starting to get deep into a role transition at work: one I gunned for and asked, and though taking a less direct route than I’d proposed, is happening, and now enough to give me a bit of the spooks about it. But not spooks that make me waver, mind.
Of course I have things I want to achieve. My parents and I are set to buckle down and solidify a plan for my future housing: not something I remotely want to do, but what with inflation nearly matching the rate at which I can save, won’t do me any good to keep putting off. I’ve set a few attainable goals re: video games and some items I want to get. Others I won’t disclose here. And on a more casual level, continue to broaden the films I watch with more blind spots. Which hey, would you look at what this blog’s topic is about? 
As mentioned in Monday Musingslast week, there were quite a number of family gatherings: two meals with relatives on my Dad’s side, the immediate one on Christmas Day with the five of us, and the big buffet gathering for my mom’s side. All good stuff that counteracted not travelling anywhere this year: we usually visit my Grandad between the 25th and New Years, but coming up on two years since he passed now, and with my Dad and his siblings having already had a gathering in October to keep in physical touch (they’re very good about keep in digital touch, as a not-hugely-digital-literate generation goes), there was little going on down there. But us here had just enough going on to not spend it just sitting around, while also getting plenty of time to do that. Did not nearly stave off the listlessness that seems to follow me everywhere during downtime these days, but I did value it.
The tradeoff of that is, especially with one aunt and her husband staying with us for five days, and something of an obligation to do a decent share of activities while my brother and sister were still here before they left (my brother flew back to his government posting on Sunday, my sister doesn’t leave until February), there was very little room for movies. At least, what with me hoping to squeeze in a couple of family watches, not even necessarily with all of them. But we only watched one flick together on the 25th, and it wasn’t even my idea, given how timid I get floating activities for fear others won’t like them. It was my brother’s suggestion and pick instead, and to be fair, it was a belter: seeing It’s a Wonderful Life for the first time, can’t go wrong there.
Regardless, the rest of this is a split between several more common sources of watches. There’s two early-month watches with Dad, one another 90’s adult comedy-drama classic I hadn’t seen (and unlike Barbarians at the Gate, Glengarry Glen Ross did live up and delight), another a semi-animated masterpiece picked by me in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (which, as seems to be a trend no matter what animation I pick, he didn’t adore as I thought). The weekend before Christmas had a double-header with friends in the latest Wallace and Gromit’s brief one-week screening run at select cinemas, with Sonic the Hedgehog 3 rounding it out later (a flick I saw only to see with them, but it didn’t embarrass itself too much). And on my own, I fitted in some of my annual Christmas TV watches, which probably look a lot different to your average American, between the Christmas special of my favourite non-animated tv show Father Ted and the Wallace and Gromit shorts.
There was an extra reason for the latter: I was hoping to rewatch the whole W&G series prior to a second viewing of Vengeance Most Fowl the weekend past, right as it became available to the rest of the world via Netflix, both because I feel I need another viewing to unpack it, and to judge it afresh in the qualitative context of the series (a series I basically have memorised, but you know, intellectual honesty). Alas, the aforementioned busyness meant I only got through the classic 90’s shorts (plus the Cracking Contraptions anthology, which was my first watch of 2025 and thus not included here). So expect Curse of the Were-Rabbit and A Matter of Loaf and Death next month!
On top of the new reviews, I’ve adjusted some ratings for a few past reviews, as follows:
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (★★★★1/2 -> ★★★★)
- Lady and the Tramp (★★★★1/2 -> ★★★★)
- Moana 2 (★★1/2 -> ★★)
Snow White and Lady and the Tramp were mostly cases of being on the borderline, rating wise, and enough time away from seeing them on a big screen making me realise that their more low-stakes, plot-light approaches to their material, while not nearly huge problems like many feel, are not absolutely nothing. Moana 2, on the other hand, I soured on fast; that review I rushed to have ready for last month’s roundup, and my feelings on both the flick and what it’ll mean for the future of animation have curdled further. That review is actually edited, not just had its rating changed, so worth reading if you missed it.
That’s probably enough preamble. And while I am disappointed I watched a lot less than intended over the break, I recorded a lot of good films on TV over the break (again, unlike US tv, the UK still broadcasts a wide range in eras, even if the most recent will always have a hefty presence): some I may not use, but I intend to for most of them, sprinkled on-and-off over the next few months. We’ll see how it goes. And hey, even if half weren’t done at Christmas, nine for a month (okay, three being half-hour short films) is robust enough still.
- Glengarry Glen Ross (★★★★) – More a masterpiece of drama than of cinema, with some rather segmented direction and flow. But the writing and acting is so stellar in its dismantling of the American dream and the merits of capitalism, reducing men to their worst instincts. December 6th 2024, Film Watches With Dad.
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit (★★★★1/2) – Never runs afoul of the common sin of cutting-edge populist blockbusters, to stop being exciting once you get used to the visual magic. Not without its seams, but the seams really just don't matter, in writing, artistry or technique. December 15th 2024, rewatch, Film Watches With Dad.
- Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (★★★★) – The upper echelon of legacy sequels: a little stale and feels of reheated leftovers at times, but far more successful than not, and it does no damage to the duo's legacy. Seeing this in the cinema was an absolute delight. December 21st 2024.
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (★★★) – A further improvement over Sonic 2: no vestigial human side drama, has near-constant momentum. Still a dumb family blockbuster, but it's charming and investable enough, as they go. The treatment of Shadow’s backstory is quite cinematic. November 21st 2024.
- A Christmassy Ted (★★★★1/2) – The tight efficiency of the show can feel a little absent. But with the absolute laundry list of gut-bustingly hilarious bits, only slightly less dense at over twice the length, small wonder it's the only annual Christmas special for many. December 24th 2024, rewatch.
- It’s a Wonderful Life (★★★★1/2) – Got bugger all fresh to add on my first watch. But the prickly tensions under the surface make the late despair feel earned, and the fantastic acting and technique give weight to the ending's release above what simple sunshine would do. December 25th 2024, watched with family.
- A Grand Day Out (★★★★) – Frightful ambition for a student film nearly fully met, with plenty of thoughtful animation bristling with character interiority. Even as rough as it is, those rough edges come out as charming, making for the duo's cosiest outing still. December 29th 2024, rewatch.
- The Wrong Trousers (★★★★★) – So daft it crosses back to amazing, not a beat goes wrong here, from the impeccable clay animation, to the heist and noir appropriation, to the playful wit of the timing and set. The penguin and train chase remain infamous for good reason. December 30th 2024, rewatch.
- A Close Shave (★★★★1/2) – Not without a few contrivances, but they barely matter: the appropriation of Hollywood blockbuster plot beats placed into this series' parody of British inertia is masterfully modulated. Perfect exploration of cartoon physics in the climax. December 31st 2024, rewatch.
Regarding Sonic 3, at least tell me you found Carrey's dual-roles as sidesplitting as my theater did. The final battle in particular, and how it resolved ("Who was it who said life was pointless again? Oh right, you.") just had my theater and my friend group howling.
And oh man was Vengeance Most Fowl an utter delight. I'm very pumped to watch it again just to see all the jokes I missed, but that movie left me with a warm glow of happiness. Wonderful to see that 30 years later Wallace & Gromit still have the magic.
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My viewing was more kids/parents than adults (for some reason, the cinema only had five viewing of the film that day, the latest at 4:50pm; while Mufasa had like 12; tellingly, this reduced number meant my screening was nearly full), so not the audience that would get Jim Carrey doing his thing as much as adults. But several of his moments did go down very well; the fourth-wall break in particular produced huge laughs, even though I wasn't among them (that joke went too far for me). But overall, though I'm not the biggest Jim Carrey fan, I did rather enjoy him getting to go full ham, but in a manner using his talents carefully.
It's amazing that I can say that the only sign of outside interference with this one (besides Netflix's enforced 2:1 aspect ratio, ew) is having to have a runtime that long, which let's be frank, it doesn't justify (one could assemble a fan edit of this thing an hour long with little trouble). I am concerned that the lower density/hitrate of jokes will make it not watch as well every year (I am not kidding when I saw every one of their prior five adventures are Christmas regulars for so many people in the British Isles), but we'll see come my rewatch this month.
Instant serotonin.
I'm happy the new one landed well, hope to check it out soon myself.
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Ha, this reminded me of an anecdote Julian Nott (the series’ composer) shared in a 2001 interview: he once read in a paper that a boy woke from a coma when his parents happened to play the W&G theme tune! He (Nott, that is) would also hear it being whistled in such unlikely places as a Russian train.
Myself, it’s one of those pieces of music that can’t help but cheer me up no matter what.
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That sweet mix of triumphant brass combined with the nostalgic memories it evokes.