Twelve Films At Christmas - Or Quite Possibly More - 1 - 5

Christmas is definitely upon us - not only have we had the matchless Biennial Roberts Christmas Party but also I have that vital seasonal accoutrement, the Christmas edition of the Radio Times.

Hardened readers will have noted the slightly different title for this year's filmic blogs. I've got off to a flying start and may not therefore be able to confine myself to the usual round dozen films. Lucky me. Lucky you.

There's some real crackers (Christmas jokelet there - I know I spoil you) in this first batch, not least Coppola's 1974 The Conversation, a taut, claustrophobic thriller with a commanding central performance from Gene Hackman. 8/10. Coppola wrote, produced and directed this at much the same time that he was giving us The Godfather Parts I and II. Talk about being in the zone.

Next up on my screen has been another very good film. You don't see Laurel and Hardy films on the television these days. They were a staple of my youth and I am always wary of recreations which may damage cherished memories. I need not have worried. This biopic is generous to these two comedy titans and it draws fine turns from Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly. Stan & Ollie. 8/10.

An honourable mention next for Disney's A Christmas Carol, Robert Zemeckis's motion capture take on everybody's favourite Dickensian Christmas. It makes a nice companion piece for the same director's Polar Express even if it is not quite as much fun as my personal favourite adaptation of the story (we all know it but how many of us have actually read it?) A Muppet Christmas Carol. Worthy of a place on the Christmas menu, the Zemeckis film gets 7/10.

It is very silly and raises questions of child protection for the humourless but I have to say that I enjoyed Nativity!. Warm-hearted and with a cast of winsome, but not overly so, children. Oh and the main thing, it makes you laugh. 7/10.

Finally in this first tranche I have saved the best till last. An absolute undeniable classic, a film that observes the three classic unities but which never feels thereby constricted, a movie that does all sorts of clever things (for example the way the score merges in and out of the action) but which never becomes self-conscious. Altogether brilliant. High Noon. 9.5/10.