Max Farrow

Film watching at Christmas time can be a prickly dilemma. Not only do we have to face the endless debate over whether each film is a Christmas Movie or not (ie. Die Hard), we also must consider that quite a few of them…well, aren’t that great. Indeed, some simply endure as holiday mainstays because they provide that requisite jolt of nostalgia and festive cheer (looking at you, Santa Claus: The Movie). That isn’t to say that there aren’t any great Christmas movies. Indeed, The Snowman and The Muppet Christmas Carol rank among the nation’s favourites, and even the most Bah-Humbug of Brits find it hard to resist watching such stellar pieces of entertainment. But one film that should be counted among this venerated group of movies is the criminally underrated Arthur Christmas.

I would understand if Christopher Robin had escaped your attention, among the bluster of the bigger blockbusters on offer this year. But even though the film is on a smaller scale, it’s a hugely earnest and nostalgic tale that’s worthy of note. The story does not chart the real-life Christopher Robin Milne (who had a decidedly difficult relationship with his father’s creation, Winnie the Pooh) but rather the fictional version that we’ve seen in many an animated film cell from Disney. But here, Christopher’s rendered in live action and he looks an awful lot like Ewan McGregor.

There are those films that we will always cherish, no matter what....We reconnect with them – for solace – when life doesn’t seem to be letting up. If you’re reading this – and know anything about me and my tastes – you’d have assumed that my choice of go-to movie would be something rather adventurous. Not so. In fact, the film that I most like to watch when times are tough is considerably small in scale. It’s Richard Curtis’s 'About Time.'