The one where Casta La Vista crashes another podcast

Jingle All The Way – the Christmas Midnight Movie Club podcast (right click and “save as” to download)

Greetings friends!

Welcome to a post that exists outside the 12 Days of Castmas ether, but is something we want to urge you all to check out as part of your Christmas routine and beyond.

This month we were invited by Lee and Dan, the two totally awesome and (probably) handsome hosts of the Midnight Movie Club Podcast to join them for their Christmas/First Birthday episode extravaganza.

Regular Casta listeners will have heard Lee and Dan in our live episode earlier in the year so will already be aware that they somehow manage to fit just as much nonsense and in-jokes into their content as we do.

The Midnight Movie Club (you can call it Midmo) takes one movie per episode and disects it beyond the realms of normal film readership. For their Christmas episode Lee and Dan chose the “movie” Jingle All The Way as a special treat for Casta La Vista, because one of us is stupid enough to like it.

Anyway, that’s a lot of rambling. Check out the episode by listening to the link above and remember to visit www.midmoclub.com just as much as you visit www.castalavista.com and subscribe to their podcast via itunes- it’s worth it.

Thanks for having us Lee and Dan!

Five movies the critics got completely wrong…

Here at Casta La Vista, we’re all about cutting through the bullshit and giving you honest opinions of movies from a real life perspective.  Here then are five films  that the critics would have you believe were truly awful whereas I believe otherwise.
1. An Innocent Man (1989)
Starring: Tom Selleck
Tomatometer rating: 29%

Starting off with an extremely personal one then; it’s a well known fact that I love Tom Selleck – hell I even changed one of my names because of him – but this film isn’t my favourite film ever because of that famous moustache alone!

An Innocent Man tells the story of what a framed and wrongly imprisoned law abiding citizen must do to survive in a high security prison, chronicling his journey from fish to big boss man. The thing that strikes me about this movie is that it was so ahead of the curve of what we saw in the likes of Oz or Prison Break but at all times keeps Selleck’s character sympathetic even when carrying out unspeakable acts.

DVD – £2.99

2. Speed Racer (2008)
Starring: Emile Hirsch
Tomatometer rating: 37%

Up to this point in time, this is the only non cinema release I’ve reviewed in Casta’s short history. The full review can be found here.

To say that this film bombed is somewhat of an understatement and truth be told I’ve never really understood why. It’s fun, fast paced and massively entertaining. The races are well choreographed, as are the fight scenes and it’s peppered with hilarity throughout with one of the best animal performances I think I may have ever seen. And it’s colourful enough to make your eyes bleed – what more could you want?

DVD – £2.99 & Blu-Ray – £7.83

3. Bad Boys II (2003)
Starring: Will Smith
Tomatometer rating: 24%

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return in one of the most ridiculously entertaining action ’em ups to ever grace the silver screen. Once again there’s some guff about drugs and what not, but the real important facts here are; witty dialogue, tight action, ridiculous stunts and intriguing camera work.

This film really is Michael Bay at his finest. That may not be saying much but if you’re one of those who enjoy their action movies where anything or anyone could explode at any given moment in time, then this should be right up your street.

DVD – £3.99
4. Final Fantasy VII – Advent Children (2005)
Starring: various voice talent
Tomatometer rating: 33%

The title alone is enough to perturb most people from this wonderful semi-quel to arguably one of the best games of all time. Take it from me that you don’t need to know anything about the game as, admittedly, the story is complete nonsense anyway.

What we’re left with then is a visual showcase of ridiculous sword fighting action that remains untouchable in terms of visuals even five years after its creation. This film is an absolute must for action movie fans as the format allows fight scenes to be choreographed in a way that would be impossible for real life actors and which still brings a buzz of excitement to me even after multiple watches. The music is worth a nod, being re-orchestrations of the classic game music and the voice acting isn’t half bad whether you choose to listen to the original Japanese or English overdub.

Final Fantasy fan or not, this is still a great watch.

DVD – £4.99 & Blu-Ray – £9.93

5. Jingle All the Way (1996)

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Tomatometer rating: 16%

Talk about saving the best for last! It wouldn’t be much of a list without an Arnie film now would it?

Jingle All the Way is undoubtedly one of my favourite Christmas films. It’s the simple story of a well meaning but hapless dad trying to get his son the must have Christmas toy on Christmas Eve which would be pretty terrible if it weren’t for one thing. ARNOLD! Hollywood was on to something when it put one of the buffest men in history in a long line of ever more ridiculous comedies, this being the greatest/worst depending on how you look at it. Sure it’s stupid, sure Sinbad is awful and sure you know how it’s going to end before you even drop the DVD in the tray but this is Christmas fun at it’s best.

PUT THAT COOKIE DOWN! NOW!

DVD – £3.97