Critic’s Choice: Films On TV Saturday 20th December

The Nightmare Before Christmas – BBC2, 11.50am Alert Me
Spooky, delightful, festive stop motion animation. Everyone’s favourite goth, Tim Burton, and stop-motion guru, Henry Selick combined their twin forces to create a film that seems to grow in popularity every year. Arguably more Hallowe’eny than Christmassy, this is nevertheless a wonderful way to kick off the gluttonous season of yuletide films. Jack Skellington, glorious leader of ‘Hallowe’en Town,’ unwittingly ventures into ‘Christmas Town’ where he realises that giving presents is a lot nicer than scaring people. He proceeds to nick Christmas, kidnap Sandy Claws, and generally bugger things up.

 

The Neverending Story – ITV2, 3.45pm
Spoiler: It ends.

A Knight’s Tale – Channel 4, 9pm Alert Me
The late Heath Ledger gets a lot of attention this Christmas – here you can see him as a ludicrously pretty knight in this revisionist medieval tale of a knight, a girl, etc, which is filled with amusing anachronisms (crowds chanting ‘We Will Rock You’) – and evidence that Heath could have made a great leading man for years to come.

V For Vendetta – BBC2, 10.25pm Alert Me
Set in a depressing, 1984-style future, the titular V (yes, that’s his name) dons a cape, a Guy Fawkes mask, and attempts to bring down the government (hooray!).

 

Cliffhanger (1993) – ITV2, 11pm Alert Me
Grade A, kinda-festive (there’s snow, right? That’s festive) action rubbish-ness, hilariously casting that bloke from 3rd Rock From The Sun as the bad guy. Rarely has an evil megalomaniac been quite so overwhelmingly toothless.