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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 DECEMBER 2019 FILM FILM The One to Crown them All Discovering that Charles Dickens all but 'invented' Christmas celebration as we know it may come as a surprise to many, but deep down we've all known it, really. A recent – a fairly middling though adequately heartwarming – biopic pretty much lays it out in its very title, as The Man Who Invented Christmas casts Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens as a younger version of the titan of Victorian lit- erature, just as he's about to pen the work that would help assure an already-secure posi- tion in the Western canon but also revive flagging financial prospects at the time of pub- lication. Even Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, while not di- rectly inspired by the source material in question, still ex- presses a similarly redemptive aspect of the holiday, where fellow-feeling trumps over the black dogs of egotism and introspection. I am, of course, referring to Dickens' A Christmas Carol, whose many adaptations con- tinue to enjoy production, ro- tation and healthy audience numbers, and whose most recent take is the Jim Carrey starring 3D animated take, with a highly interesting- sounding BBC mini-series version coming up courtesy of writer-director extraordi- naire Stephen Knight (Peaky Blinders, Taboo), starring Guy Pierce and Andy Serkis, the latter being a voice-over/ motion capture artist famous for his portrayal of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings series… a role that positioned him at the forefront of what is essen- tially digital puppetry. But the old-school puppets do still put on a good show, as is evi- dent in that evergreen classic, The Muppet Christmas Carol. The franchises Among other things, Christ- mas is a time to snuggle up and get cosy – where indulgence means not the cynical and morally bankrupt activities of binge-drinking but the warm embrace of loved ones stuffed to the brim with mince pies and sipping mulled wine. In other words, the perfect mood to sit back and escape into a snug fantasy world for the millionth time in a row, by which point you're no longer concerned with the plot mechanics be- cause you know them by heart, so you can let the nostalgia of it all wash over you. Whatever your fluffy poison here – The Lord of the Rings? Harry Pot- ter? Jane Austen adaptations (because 'prestige' period dra- mas are basically fantasy)? – now's the time to go wild. The Netflix Revolution Assuming that the world's most popular streaming ser- vice would not cash in on the hunger for audio-visual good cheer that's part and parcel of the season. Well, so far it's offered us the rather risible schmaltz-fest A Christmas Prince saga (2017-19), which despite its cringe-worthy script, setting/s and acting managed to score not one, but two sequels, with the lat- est (A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby) making its way to the Netflix rolodex just this month. It's not all terrible, though: Klaus is a genuinely affecting and beautifully ani- mated tale that gives a much needed bump up to Netflix's Christmas offerings. It's Tim Burton time Yep, the maestro of the twee-gothic gets his own sub- category here. Though not Everyone's got a favourite Christmas movie, and they might just get a mention here. But resident film critic TEODOR RELJIC is also after some deep cuts that will leave the Xmas Sceptics sated over the season of good cheer… Teodor Reljic What to watch over Christmas A Muppet Xmas Carol A Christmas Prince Royal Baby Batman Returns Klaus