Holiday Movies/TV 2019: Do You Hear What I Hear, Crickets
2018 was a sparse year for holiday film and 2019 seems to be a lot worse. The trend it seems is for holiday films to be release online versus in the theater. Gone are the days of cozying up at the theater to see a great holiday movie. Last year I took the kids to see Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch and I have to say the movie is nothing more than Lorax in Grinch clothing. We saw the movie with another family and while the kids loved it, the parents not so much. I think the issue I had with the film was Benedict Cumberbatch’s failed attempt to do an American accent Grinch. Repeatedly his brit accent snuck out. Remember this is the guy who can’t say PENGUINS. Don’t get me wrong he’s a great actor and love his films. This film just didn’t sit right. That said the CG is amazing and heavily stylized but as I mentioned before it feels like we have seen this film before. Now, I will admit Jim Carey’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas was hard to stomach when I first saw it in 2000 but 8 years later it made it onto my holiday movie list. With that said, could The Grinch grow on me, maybe! Let's see what next year brings.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms was a pretty good attempt at the full story of the nutcracker. I was elated that the production team choose Misty Copeland to perform in the movie. The movie was entertaining but a few actors kind of killed the momentum of the film. I was impressed with the choreography and the costume design was near perfection but the soul of the story was missing. For some reason I am still a lover of the 1993 version which stars a lot more dancers in the cast.
Nutcracker: The Motion Picture: I was pretty close to closing out this years holiday movie review without adding anything to our watch list. Then I remembered how much I and the kids disliked the Four Realms version of the Nutcracker. I decided to show them the 1986 version, staring ballet stars like Patricia Barker, Hugh Bigney and Vanessa Sharp the movie is gateway into the realm of dance. We decided to add this version to our list for coming years. On a side note, I kind of miss movies being named “The Motion Picture”.
Klaus (Netflix): My first piece advice, is hold onto your seat and get past the first half hour of the movie. The movie is little on the dark side but the story and art direction is magnificent. Jason Schwartzmen is brilliant as the postman and the story develops at pretty seamless pace. This movie was a hit with the kids and will certainly be added to the watch list. The best part of the movie, is the casting of Joan Cusak as the evil leader & matriarch of a rival village family. I just with Joan had more scenes and lines, that voice and bravado is everything. I want to add this to my list but my reaction was, I’ve seen it and not interested in watching it again next year. I think the darkness was still weighing on me, even 3 weeks after watching it.
Christmas Survival (Netflix): Not quite your typical British rom-com for the holidays. And thanks to one one little “toy” being played with in this movie, this is not a movie for kids. An original story with some pretty great acting. The movie does seem to be a little bit of a downer but give it time. The whole family does border a resemblance that of the Death at a Funeral. The movie is directed by James Dearden, who directed Fatal Attraction back in the day. My honest opinion, give the film a chance, you might like it. Sadly it’s not list worthy, I’ve seen it and I really couldn’t bother seeing it again. I just love how we change titles to fit this side of the pond.
Merry Happy Whatever: I am on fence with this show. An live audience show, the space but overly anal set design, makes the how look like a low-budget vehicle. Mom is dead and the family is coping story line is heavily present this year. I will give Dennis Quaid for his acting chops in the dram-edy show. Sadly he’s the only veteran in the bunch. The young cast of unknowns are like-able and honestly I can see how many people can relate to at least one character in the show. The writers however seem to barrow from such shows like All in the Family and Rosanne too much. It’s worth a watch, but set those expectation low!
Let It Snow: Finally a Holiday movie for tweens and teens! To top it off, Joan Cusack costars with this young cast as the town crazy. The premise is very similar to the classic Love Actually by Richard Curtis. Three rotating storylines of love and life mix around a small town soaked in snow. I feel for the actors because they were actually filming in the deep cold of Ontario, Canada. The cast has other familiars like Liv Gewson (Santa Clarita Diet), Kieran Shipka (Sabrina The Teenage Witch) and Mitchell Hope (Descendants). Sadly the singing in the movie should have been a solo. Awkward moment aside, the movie is steeped in teen drama. Lessons are learned, even for the poor lesbian story line and the lesson that we all struggle with expectations and social pressures. Listening to one another is such a strong lesson in this movie, I think its a great movie for teens. I’ve added it to our holiday list this year because of the lessons. The only downer is that D’Arcy Carden shows up on the tail end and her comedic timing was wasted on a measly 5 minutes of screen time.
Christmas Break-In: This movie was a late arrival last holiday season. Released in early January 2019, you can probably guess why its was a late bloomer. On the surface this movie is just a cheap knock off of Home Alone, which is evident with the stolen one liners, and key character story lines. Please pass on this one. It’s a waste of limited holiday movie viewing time.
Holiday Rush: I wanted this movie to really shine this season. Sadly, it fell like dud with bad acting and while the story line has it moments of interest. The end result, I wanted to turn it off halfway through the movie.
Holiday in the Wild: First, I want to say I have never in my life seen a couple just end a marriage cold turkey in span of 30 minutes. I will admit that’s my 20 something year-old self talking. Sadly for my generation it’s happening more than one would expect. The movie starts with Kristin Davis playing a scorned spouse arriving in Zambia to a couples love suite and picking up the pieces of her life in luxury. Then ageless Rob Lowe comes sauntering into her life as her tour guide to the great lands of Africa. The story is truly repetitive of many, journey movies that ends in a new love. But the arrogance of Lowe in this role is perfect and refreshing. The movie itself is not really a holiday movie per-say. I does land on Christmas time eventually in the 15 minutes of the movie. This is really is not a Xmas movie at heart. I would recommend you watch if you love romantic adventures or maybe on Valentine’s Day.
The Knight Before Christmas: Vanessa Hudgens is back this holiday season after the success of her first Netflix movie, The Princess Switch. This season The Knight Before Christmas is a Hallmark sequel you wish wasn’t made. Sadly the cast is very forgettable and the storyline has been done way to many times to count. Remember Kate and Leopold, exactly, no one does! On the plus side, Hudgens does deliver and prove she’s an actor. Even when the chips are staked against, not to mention her costume designer was not to kind in this production. My money is another Hudgen’s Netflix Holiday movie next season, my vote, “Chanukah”. Overall I think Netflix phoned this one in. The Princess Switch was a lot more fun to watch.
Noelle: With the launch of Disney Plus earlier this month, came the first holiday movie to the platform. Noelle stars Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect, Twilight) as the daughter of Santa Claus. It’s come time for papa to retired from the boots and beard, and the holiday loving daughter is not in the running. Her brother, played by Bill Hader finds conflict as the expected new Santa. Which results in a journey of discovery for the brother and sister. Is this a movie for adults, NO! It’s a Disney movie on a new platform. It’s barely a rom-com. The movie is entertaining but the story is far from original. There are a few memorable songs but the highlight moment of the movie is seeing the amazing Shirley MacLaine as the family housekeeper in the North Pole. Sadly the movie is not list worthy.
The Kayce Musgraves Christmas Show: Is it worth watching once, yes! Is it list worthy for every year. NO! I wanted to like this show so much. I fell in love with the set design because it was nod to the Mary Poppins musical set. Musgraves sounded great and she did pretty good lip-syncing but then she started slipping like most of her duet guests.
Very sad that this year I only added one movie and it was movie from 1986. I fear this seasons crop of holiday addition for 2020’s list may be slim as well. I see myself adding more TV Shows in the coming years. This year I’ve already watch my regular dose of Vicar of Dibley but we also enjoyed some class variety shows as well. This year I am adding The Judy Garland Show Christmas Special from 1963. On board to belt in front of a studio audience are all her children along with some greats like Mel Tormé who was a writer and music arranger for the show. Initially Garland had no plans to do holiday show when signing onto do the show in early 1963. After the Kennedy assassination on 11/22, the nation was in a dark place Tormé, Garland and the network both agreed to do a Holiday episode in early December to life the hearts of America. Sadly Garlands show never peaked above at 18 rating the whole season. Ona side note, the whole catalog of the The Judy Garland Show was put up for sale by the current owner Darryl Payne Films. The show was deep into a legal battle from the late 90’s into the 2000’s, with a deal with Payne that went super sour. My guess is the complete show is up for sale for an easy 8 million. Pull out that check book!
Till next year, I leave with you one last suggestion, I sat down an watched Almost Christmas again this year. Please give it a chance, yes the mother is dead, but it truly is a holiday movie with a lot of heart and some powerhouse acting thanks to 4 amazing women. Gabrielle Union, Mo’Nique, Kimberly Elise and Nicole Ari Parker are simply amazing in this film and who doesn’t like a little cameo by the amazing Gladys Knight.