In 2003 Bad Santa was a surprise hit. It was crude, rude, hilarious and mildly festive making it a Christmas movie like no other. Conmen Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) and Marcus (Tony Cox) pose as Santa Clause and his little helper in a different shopping mall every year in order to rob the place on Christmas Eve. Now thirteen years later Marcus gets out of jail and approaches Willie about pulling off one last job. This time round Willie's mum Sunny (Kathy Bates) is in on the caper and his special friend Thurman Merman is along for the ride. When movie companies wait over a decade to make a sequel you have to wonder why they bothered given that what they come up with isn't usually very good. Unfortunately the results here are no different. Bad Santa 2 isn't a bad movie, it's funny - in some cases just as funny as Bad Santa - but it doesn't bring anything new to the table. The formula is the same as the original, in fact it's basically the same movie w

In order to put together our Advent Calendar of Christmas Movies I have watched many movies from several decades. I have made lists, debated over said lists  (that's a nice word for argued right?) , made new lists and argued...I mean debated some more. The point is, it wasn't an easy task whittling down the list to the final 25 - well 27 but who's counting? In order to do it I've had to watch some challenging movies, and by challenging I don't mean intellectually. It's a miracle I made it through some of them. Two such gems of varying quality are 'The Night Before' and 'A Merry Christmas Miracle' A.K.A. 'A Merry Friggin' Christmas'. The Night Before reunites the team that brought us 50/50. In December 2001, Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) lost his parents in a car accident. Every Christmas Eve since then his friends Isaac (Seth Rogen) and Chris (Anthony Mackie) have taken him out partying so he's not alone on Christmas. But

1st December: Planes, Trains and Automobiles 2nd December: The Snowman, The Snowman and The Snowdog and Father Christmas 3rd December: Miracle on 34th Street 4th December: Gremlins 5th December: Lethal Weapon 6th December: Home Alone 7th December: Elf 8th December: Scrooged 9th December: The Polar Express 10th December: Christmas with the Kranks 11th December: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 12th December: Home Alone 2: Lost in New York 13th December: The Nightmare Before Christmas 14th December: A Christmas Carol 15th December: Fred Claus 16th December: How The Grinch Stole Christmas 17th December: The Santa Clause 18th December: The Muppet Christmas Carol 19th December: Santa Claus: The Movie 20th December: Jack Frost 21st December: Die Hard 2: Die Harder 22nd December: Four Christmases

For most people, 'tis the season to be jolly. For me it's a time to watch one of my favourite Christmas movies, the greatest Christmas movie of all...Die Hard. When terrorists led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) seize control of Nakatomi Plaza taking thirty people hostage, the last thing they expect to find is John McClane (Bruce Willis). McClane, a New York Police Detective is in town to spend Christmas with his estranged wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia). With the building locked down by the heavily armed terrorists, McClane is the only one who can save the hostages. I know I don't need to talk about Die Hard, it's a classic. Not only is Die Hard my favourite Christmas movie, it's probably my favourite movie in general. And before the naysayers start complaining that Die Hard isn't a Christmas movie, here's proof that it is: The story takes place during a Christmas party on Christmas Eve There's Christmas music McClane uses Christmas tape