In the last week of the year, classics will be shown on TV again. Film criticBelinda van de Graaf compiled a top 10 from more than a hundred films. Bondactor Daniel Craig is on a roll in a new Knives Out adventure and MarilynMonroe sings the iconic Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.
Belinda van de GraafDecember 23, 202215:59
1) Marilyn Monroe
Those who dropped out of Blonde, the new film about the life of Marilyn Monroeon Netflix, can enjoy two Monroe classics on Christmas Day. In GentlemenPrefer Blondes (1953), showgirls Lorelei and Dorothy travel by boat from NewYork to Paris, pursued by a private detective. If this scintillating HowardHawks fifties musical is anything to go by, it’s a great film about a woman’sfriendship. Maybe it works so well because the protagonists Marilyn Monroe andJane Russell were good friends in real life as well.
In Some Like It Hot (1959) we find Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis as pennilessmusicians who become embroiled in a mob case in Chicago and have to flee.Dressed as women, they join a women’s orchestra traveling to Florida by train.Monroe plays the sultry singer and ukulele player Sugar Kane in thisdelightful Billy Wilder comedy. She almost seems to radiate light.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes can be seen on Sunday December 25 at 4.10 pm. SomeLike It Hot follows at 5.40pm, BBC2.
2) Sissy and Sisi
The Austrian Empress Elisabeth, nicknamed Sisi, remains a fixture during theChristmas holidays. The familiar film trilogy from the fifties, starring RomySchneider, returns to the screen. But the old Sissi movies have company thesedays. A new series can be seen on Netflix under the title Die Kaiserin, withthe beautiful German-Turkish actress Devrim Lingnau as the young, bubbly Sisiwho quickly gasps for breath in the imperial corset.
The second season of Sisi will also start on Boxing Day, with 26-year-oldDominique Davenport in the title role. What is striking about the newportraits is that they depict Sisi much freer and more rebellious, as a rebelat the Viennese court.
The three Sissi films from the fifties can be seen on Sunday 25 December at3.45 pm and 5.30 pm and on Monday 26 December at 5.30 pm, ARD. The trilogywill be repeated on Sunday 1 January from 6 p.m. on RTL8. The second season ofSisi starts on Monday 26 December at 8.30 pm, NPO2.
3) The Karate Kids
Fans of The Karate Kid will get their money’s worth, because in addition tothe original martial arts film from 1984, the two sequels can also be seenduring the Christmas holidays. Rocky director John Avildsen achieved greatsuccess in the mid-1980s with The Karate Kid, in which a bullied schoolboytakes revenge on the rabble at his school through a karate tournament. Thefilm was so popular that two sequels appeared in 1986 and 1989 respectively.In 2010, another cast & crew did it all over again, this time set in China inthe presence of the Chinese martial artist Jackie Chan.
The Karate Kid trilogy from the eighties can be seen on Monday 26 Decemberfrom 13:30, RTL7. The Karate Kid with Jackie Chan follows on WednesdayDecember 28 at 8.30 pm, RTL7.
4) When Harry Met Sally
Engaging romantic comedy in which Harry and Sally take twelve years to declaretheir love for each other. From the first meeting at university in 1977 youknow they are meant for each other. Still, they will have to take a lot ofhurdles before they realize this themselves and admit it. With wonderful, fastdialogues by protagonists Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, written by the acclaimedNora Ephron. Classic is the scene in which Meg Ryan gives a fake orgasm in arestaurant in Manhattan. The rom-com of rom-coms.
When Harry Met Sally (1989) is on Saturday 24 December at 10.45pm on Canvas,and Sunday 25 December at 1.05am on BBC1.
5) Mines
Festive Annie MG Schmidt film adaptation with Carice van Houten as cat Minoeswho changes into a high-heeled lady during the day. In her human form, Minoesgoes out with the shy journalist Tibbe, played surprisingly nicely by TheoMaassen. Together they set out to provide the Killendoorn newspaper with news.Also note the nice supporting roles of Hans Kesting as Harry de Haringman,Bianca Krijgsman as Gossip Aunt and Olga Zuiderhoek and Kees Hulst as Mr andMrs van Dam. Awarded the Golden Calf for the Best Film in 2002.
Minoes can be seen on Thursday 29 December at 4.55 pm on NPO3.
6) The Private Affairs of Bel Ami
Compelling drama based on the famous 19th century novel Bel-Ami by Guy deMaupassant. Georges Duroy, played by Georges Sanders, is a Parisian journalistand womanizer, an opportunist par excellence, who uses his charms to climb thesocial ladder.
Georges Duroy hooks up with a series of rich, powerful women only to dump themwhen he no longer needs them. Among them is the love-blinded Clotilde deMarelle, delicately played by the recently deceased Angela Lansbury. Nice toknow: Paul Verhoeven has been walking around for a while with the idea ofre-filming De Maupassant’s novel about the womanizing villain.
The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (1947) is on Thursday 29 December at 10.20am,BBC2.
7) Goodfellas
Fascinating mafia film by Martin Scorsese. As a kind of sequel to MeanStreets, Scorsese, born in Little Italy (New York), records the mafiaenvironment of his hometown, from 1955 to 1980. The main character is theyoung Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), who has to make extra effort because of hisIrish-Italian background. do to be taken seriously in the Italian mafiafamily.
James Conway, played by Robert De Niro, is the mentor who teaches him the mostimportant mob rule: never betray your mates. By the way, Steven Spielbergrecently called Goodfellas his favorite Scorsese film, a masterclass in story,dialogue, music and food in film.
Goodfellas (1990) can be seen on Monday 26 December at 11.15pm on BBC2.
8) Witness for the Prosecution
Gripping Agatha Christie film adaptation by Billy Wilder, in which a Britishlawyer delves into a murder case that reveals one surprise after another.Wilder knows how to forge a classic courtroom drama, in which a womantestifies against her own husband. With wonderful performances by CharlesLaughton as the bombastic criminal lawyer Sir Wilfrid Robarts and Tyrone Powerand Marlene Dietrich as the married couple.
Witness for the Prosecution (1957) can be seen on Friday 30 December at3.30pm on BBC2.
9)The Farewell
Great dry comedy drama in which the Chinese-American rapper Awkwafina plays aversion by director Lulu Wang. Her name is Billi and she is an aspiring writerin New York who one day learns that her dear grandmother Nai Nai has not longto live.
Once on location in China, a delightful culture clash ensues, and a storyabout family members who tell each other big and small lies for the better.The Farewell excels in wonderfully languid playing by Awkwafina who declareshimself an heir to Buster Keaton. The film was an unexpected hit in Americancinemas and was showered with awards.
The Farewell can be seen on Thursday 29 December at 23.05 on NPO2.
10) Knives Out & Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Bond actor Daniel Craig appeared in the mellow crime comedy Knives Out threeyears ago. As detective Benoit Blanc, he had to solve the murder of an oldmillionaire. Naturally, there was a whole series of suspicious heirs.
But now there is a successor, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, on Netflixfrom December 23. And yes, if the first movie was a profiterole, then thesecond is a cream pie. Again Daniel Craig stars as Benoit Blanc, a kind of mixbetween Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. For a new case, he travels to anisland off the coast of Greece, owned by a tech billionaire.
Knives Out can be seen on Saturday, December 24 at 8 p.m., Veronica.Successor Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery can be seen on Netflix.