Northpole (2014)

Another Christmas, another failing magical system. When will Santa and his elves realise that building a business on a foundation that requires consistent levels of positivity and suspension of disbelief is no way to maintain steady growth without legitimate concerns about the stability of the entire infrastructure? The answer would seem to be never.

This time around it is up to an elf named Clementine (Bailee Madison) to come up with a plan to save Christmas. She does this by encouraging a boy named Kevin (Max Charles) to whip up some Christmas spirit in his new hometown. That's easier said than done. The town isn't even going to have a tree-lighting ceremony this year, as it's apparently too expensive and unappreciated. Kevin's mother, Chelsea (Tiffani Thiessen), is reporting on the whole situation for a local newspaper. She may end up contributing to the fading Christmas spirit, but her pessimism it balanced out by the optimism of Ryan (Kevin's teacher, played by Josh Hopkins).

Poor Bailee Madison. This is far from the worst Christmas TV-movie that I've seen, but it's a shame to see her stuck in such fare after a decent performance in Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark and a scene-stealing turn in Just Go With It. She's perfectly fine in this, all Christmas cheer and earnestness, but I hope this is just a minor diversion on her way to some meatier roles further along the line. Young Charles is likable enough as the lad struggling to fit in to his new surroundings, and then subsequently focusing on a good cause to save a Christmas tradition, and Thiessen and Hopkins are both good as the adults who view his behaviour from different perspectives. Robert Wagner and Jill St. John pop up for a minute or two, playing Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus, respectively, and I'm not denying that I smiled when they appeared onscreen.

The direction from Douglas Barr may be as pedestrian as you can get, and the script from Gregg Rossen and Brian Sawyer isn't exactly full of magic moments, but I must admit that they managed to invest the material with a sense of fun. A sense of fun is something often forgotten about, even in the world of the Christmas-themed TV movie. You'll always get moral lessons, of course, and there will usually be snow, plenty of cocoa, and often a character given the role of Scrooge. You'll see gifts under large Christmas trees, roaring log fires, and maybe even an elf or two. Fun, however, can be a bit harder to find, which is a great shame. Especially when it should be the easiest ingredient to mix in to any festive treat.

5/10

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Wild Things (1998)

Wild Things is a twisty, stylish, sexy thriller that features a great cast all doing a great job. It's also quite trashy and stretches things further and further with each scene but I still love it (and, no, that's not just because of the scenes in which Denise Richards goes topless . . . . . . . . . . it's because of Theresa Russell too).

While aiming to keep things as spoiler-free as possible, I shall describe the plot thus: Matt Dillon plays Sam Lombardo, a popular and handsome guidance counselor who is accused of a heinous crime by Kelly Van Ryan (Denise Richards). It's simply untrue, according to Sam, but Kelly is the daughter of Sandra Van Ryan (Theresa Russell) and Sandra Van Ryan has the money and influence to make sure that Sam no longer has a place in his town. Kevin Bacon and Daphne Rubin-Vega are the two main cops on the case and Neve Campbell plays Suzie Toller, a girl who may end up playing an important part in the proceedings. Oh, and I'd better not forget to mention the great performance from Bill Murray as Ken Bowden, just about the only lawyer who will take a chance on defending Sam.

There's a clever, fun script by Stephen Peters and great direction from the talented John McNaughton (who provided audiences with the very different, and disturbing, Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer and also directed the enjoyable Mad Dog & Glory) that manages to create a darker and darker style while still maintaining the colour and heat of the Florida locations.

A decent score by George S. Clinton accompanies the action but the icing on the cake is the acting from everyone involved. Matt Dillon is always a great actor, as is Kevin Bacon, so you expect them to do good things. And they do. Neve Campbell is just fine and Denise Richards is fantastic (she's actually very good in the right roles, such as her part in Drop Dead Gorgeous, but that often seems to be ignored because of her physical attributes). Bill Murray is another actor I'd watch in just about anything and he's as wonderful as ever here. Daphne Rubin-Vega easily holds her own and does well to avoid her character being pushed into the background.

Trashy and sexy fun, this is the kind of movie you'll probably enjoy if you liked Cruel Intentions and the fantastic Body Heat. And make sure that you keep watching the credits at the end of the movie to see a number of crucial revelations.

8/10.

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