Film 4’s Christmas Day line-up promises to be hugely entertaining

Alan Loughnane

Plenty to like.

Christmas Day in many houses follows a tried and trusted formula:

You are to arise no earlier than 9am.
Gifts are exchanged while everyone is in either pyjamas, dressing gowns or onesies.
You eat everything in sight.
Movies are watched on TV all day with no exceptions.

If your day follows a similar pattern, then there are plenty of movies on domestic channels RTÉ and Virgin Media over the Christmas period.

But if you fancy turning on your TV and not flicking the channel at all for the day, then the answer for you might be Film 4.

Here’s a look at the schedule for the day.

11am – Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Rotten Tomatoes score: 37%

OK, bear with me as we’re off to a rough start. The Fantastic Four movies are all objectively bad in a variety of ways. But this is the perfect movie to start off the day while you’re not really paying attention.

You can chat with family and examine your gifts before tuning in at the end for the dramatic final fight scene.

It’s an ideal start.

12.45pm – Horton Hears a Who!

Rotten Tomatoes score: 79%

Now we’re really getting somewhere with Horton Hears a Who!. It’s an animated movie about Horton, an elephant, who must find a safe place to keep the dust speck, which contains a microscopic community of creatures known as The Whos.

The two leads are voiced by Jim Carrey and Steve Carrell. It’s a lot of fun. What’s not to like?

Clip via YouTube Movies

2.25pm – Turner & Hooch

Rotten Tomatoes score: 52%

It’s an absolute disgrace that this buddy cop/dog movie only received 52% on Rotten Tomatoes. Tune into this midway through your Christmas Day and you won’t be disappointed.

It’s Tom Hanks and an unruly dog for long periods. It’s got everything you could ever need. Although there are moments which will tug at the heartstrings… you’ve been warned.

4.25pm – Ice Age: Collision Course

Rotten Tomatoes score: 18%

This is a tough one. The less we say about it the better. Maybe time for some tea and cake to run concurrently with the fifth movie of the Ice Age franchise.

6.15pm – Independence Day

Rotten Tomatoes score: 65%

Come on, it wouldn’t be Christmas if this wasn’t on the TV at some stage. Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum and others fight off an alien invasion. Loads of cities also blow up. There’s a speech about independence in it somewhere.

9.00pm – Deadpool

Rotten Tomatoes score: 85%

Watch Ryan Reynolds kill people in increasingly inventive ways for the guts of two hours. This is a supervillain story disguised as a superhero movie. It may also be the role that defines Reynolds’ career.

“HAVE YOU SEEN FRANCIS?”