The Claus Family 3 (2022)

I'm glad it's not just American movies that kind of go off the rails around movie number 3. My prediction did not come true- the whole family does not get involved.

The whole family does go on vacation together to a ski resort for Christmas. Jules (Mo Bakker) and Noel (Jan Decleir) are still working together secretly to deliver presents, but Jules's little sister Noor (Amber Metdepenningen) finds the magic snow globe and goes to the north pole, where she meets some of the elves. Jules finds out about Noor first and gets upset with her, but when Noel finds out, he immediately wants to include her and train her to be Santa, too.

Meanwhile, Suzanne (Bracha van Doesburgh), Jules and Noor's mom, is getting the heat from Jet (Sien Eggers), an old lady whose relationship to the rest of the family I have since forgotten from the first film, to propose to her boyfriend Jef (Kurt Rogiers). Also happening, Noor has weird beef with young skiing prodigy Felix (Celest Henri Cornelis).

Mostly this movie is a fight between Jules and Noor because Noor wants to be involved, but Jules thinks she's too young and won't listen to anyone else about it. Noel ends up in a Mexican prison for a minute, which brought up a lot of questions for me as an American about why a Mexican prison would have that reputation in Belgium. It was kind of interesting to hear bits of Spanish in all the Dutch, though.

Overall, this is chaotic and their poor mother really is in the dark and I wish, for her own sake, that she knew what her children were up to around Christmas. I understand the sibling dynamics at play, but it was kind of painful to watch. This wasn't the worst 3rd movie in a series I've seen, but I'm not sure why this series needed to continue to this point. It would make more sense to have a character pass away and have everyone else dealing with that than this weird high-stakes vacation. Overall, 2 stars.

The Santa Clause (1994) is a nostalgic film for me, but can we talk about how unlikable its main character is?

Seriously. Scott Calvin constantly badmouths his son's stepfather, and for what? For being a psychiatrist. What does this guy have against psychiatric medicine?

He objects to his ex-wife telling their son Santa isn't real without consulting him first. Dude, you're not the custodial parent. You only have visitation rights. Your ex states that you're never around. Your son clearly doesn't want to spend Christmas Eve with you. You have no right to be consulted on parenting decisions.

Even when ex and stepdad try to talk to Scott about their concerns re: his son, he's rude, dismissive, and insults stepdad's sweaters. Real mature.

Not only that, he rudely interrupts a work meeting with loud, over-the-top objections to a colleague's ideas. Said colleague was trying to give a presentation. All Scott had to do was sit and listen, wait to bring up his concerns later, but no. He keeps interrupting him and shooting down his ideas. No employee deserves to be treated that way.

You might argue Scott becomes a better person when he transforms into Santa, but he only does two noble things at the very end: 1) tell his son to remain with his mom and stepdad while he lives at the North Pole, and 2) admit that stepdad is part of the family. That does little to make up for kidnapping his son (he didn't even leave a note!) and spending the entire rest of the film insulting stepdad.

Are we supposed to excuse Scott Calvin being an awful person because his sass was occasionally funny?

Day 7 and a not so new one:

Yes. It's a Muppets Christmas Carol. No I have never seen it before. I don't think Muppets have really been a thing in Sweden. Or at least not in my life.

I like it, it's a classic for a reason, both the movie and the story. I'm glad I saw it. I will have some of the songs on my mind for a few days at least.

For a very nice version of the classic: 7 out of 10 Santa's.

🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻

had to watch a Christmas movie before going to bed so I finally got the chance to watch violent night and I gotta say this might be one if not my fave Xmas movie to watch for future years to come. it’s truly hilarious and has some precious moments. I mean CMON seeing David harbour as Santa Claus beating people up is just incredible. he ate this movie upppppp really hope there’s a sequel with Mrs claus. definitely recommend this for Christmas girlies 🎅🏻🪓

Merry Christmas, Ticketholders and Tumblrz! Today's review is very special to me because I get to review The Retaliators! And I get to write a Bring Back the Soundtrack: a column that I haven't done anything with in over seven years! It's a Christmas Day double feature! Exclamation points!!!!

Enjoy, with joy!

So Weird/The Office/Hallmark

I’m working on a Christmas-focused So Weird playlist.

Henry Winkler tweeted about An American Christmas Carol - a movie he did after Happy Days.

I already knew of his Hallmark movie The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, but this year I learned of Jewel Staite’s version of Call Me Mrs. Miracle.

Y’all that movie is difficult to find online! The DVD prices are all over the place. And while looking for a stream to rent I noticed the director of the movie is MICHAEL SCOTT?! 

After I gave up looking for that Hallmark movie I checked for Wonderful Time of the Year and noticed something:

Besides the fact that this movie is older than Mrs. Miracle but available in great quality, it was directed by the same person.

Apparently this guy - Michael Scott - has been making TV movies since the 80s, started making Hallmark Christmas movies before they became what they are now, AND the dude is still making Hallmark movies!

Way to go, Michael Scott. How does it feel working with So Weird cast members and executive producers?

Anyway, I’ll post the playlist soon and if someone has a copy of Call Me Mrs. Miracle (2010) to share so I can add it to the playlist I’ll be forever grateful.

The thirteenth Christmas movie

Some of the worst movies I´ve ever seen are Christmas movies. Naturally, I rewatch them every year. The good ones also. This year I wrote down 24 movies on 24 pieces of paper. Every day I get another Christmas movie to watch. This way, I don´t have to spent hours trying to decide which film I´m in the mood for. I have rewatched some old movies, but added many new ones to my list. Some of them surprised me a lot. I think I´ve become very good at deciding whether a movie is good or not. I´m surprised by myself for creating a blog on the Internet, since I despise having to see other people´s opinions all day long. I do however enjoy sharing my own opinions, as I enjoy writing. I´m already more than halfway through my movie calendar, but I don´t care.

Tonight, I watched Lovehard on Netflix. It´s fairly new, released in November of 2021, but I hadn´t seen it yet. Nina Dobrev, whom you might recognize from The Vampire Diaries, is the lead. I have to admit I´ve never seen The Vampire Diaries. I read a certain teen magazine as a kid that told me all about the show and its actors anyhow. The only thing I remember seeing with Nina Dobrev is The Perks of Being a Wallflower. She wasn´t bad in that one and she certainly wasn´t bad in Lovehard. I always expect these Netflix Christmas movies to be disastrous. I have experience. Lovehard is about Natalie, a writer. Probably in her late twenties or early thirties. We have the Christmas movie cliché plot: she´s single for Christmas. Not just for Christmas, though. She writes about her standard dating experiences, mostly online dating. Her boss loves her articles about terrible dates, so he´s not pleased when Natalie thinks she found the real deal: Josh, an Asian-American guy from Lake Placid, New York. By the way, Natalie lives in Los Angeles. Basically, Natalie thinks Josh is perfect and flies to Lake Placid to surprise him on Christmas, only to find out he´s a loser living in his parents´ basement, who used an old classmates photos to catfish women. Somehow Natalie agrees to pretend to be Josh´s girlfriend until Christmas, if he helps her get the guy from the photos. The actual hottie, who used to be Josh´s best friend in middle school. The plotline is very cliché, I give you that. I can´t complain about the acting. I was surprised about how good it was. Of course, don´t watch Lovehard expecting Love, Actually. Just kidding, I haven´t seen Love, Actually. That´s next on my list. But seriously, this is no Hollywood Blockbuster. It´s a Netflix Christmas movie, which should speak for itself. But a damn good one. One of the best I´ve seen so far. Believable acting, especially Nina Dobrev. Sort of a predictable plot line, but that´s a given. Very funny, a lot of second-hand embarrassment and a lot of cute moments. I was prepared for a bad Christmas movie and I got rewarded with a good one.

December 13th, 2022

'Tis the season so head on over to Vintage Leisure and check out the Christmas section.

It's loaded with chestnuts - discussions of Christmas music and movies as well as a look at the contributions to the Yuletide songbook of the likes of Harry Connick, Brian Setzer and more. Plus there's the Christmas Caveats series, warning what albums to avoid and which ones will keep the customer satisfied.

Ho Ho Go there now. Click the link.

https://soulrideblog.com/category/christmas/

A Heartwarming Holiday Treat: 'The Holiday Calendar' Review

As the holiday season approaches, there’s no shortage of heartwarming films to get us in the festive spirit. Among these, “The Holiday Calendar” stands out as a delightful and enchanting addition to the genre. In this review, we’ll explore why this Netflix original film has earned its place as a cozy holiday favorite. A Charming Tale of Love and Magic “The Holiday Calendar” follows the journey…

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#Movie Theater Time Machine #podcast continues National Lampoon’s Vacation month with a #review of "Christmas Vacation". For more, visit www.MovieTheaterTimeMachine.com

I Believe in Santa (2022)

This one was... interesting.

So, our main character Lisa (Christina Moore), is a writer, but seems like mostly opinion pieces, so not quite journalism but not quite creative writing either. The kind of writer which requires the least work and the least talent. Off to a great start. We open on Lisa at the 4th of July writing an article about how Independence Day is a better holiday than Christmas. Which is a strong opinion to have. Liking the 4th of July is completely fine and normal, but I don't like comparing national holidays to religious traditions because they don't feel like the same category to me. I could go on, but I want to focus on the movie.

Lisa has an 8 year old named Ella (Violet McGraw). It's a recurring plot device that Ella's dad makes promises to both Lisa and Ella and makes last minute excuses to not show up frequently. This is how Lisa and her best friend Sharon (Lateefah Holder) end up at a summer fair for Ella's dance group performance when Ella gets lost in front of the free legal advice booth (which is not a thing I've ever encountered and I am a fan of fairs generally). Tom (John Ducey) notices that Ella looks lost and scared pretty quickly, takes her out of the crowd so she doesn't get more lost, and sends his friend (who is also working the booth) Assan (Sachin Bhatt) to the lost children booth (also not a thing I've seen, but this does seem more likely, and I don't have children yet, so I might have just not noticed). Nobody is working at the lost children booth, but it's fine because Lisa happens to walk by and see Ella, which is how Lisa and Tom meet.

The movie skips ahead to the end of November, and Lisa and Tom have been together the whole time and Tom already has a good relationship with Ella. But Lisa finds out Tom loves Christmas (like, a very uncomfortable amount) and has a freak out about it, but they don't break up. This happens a few times, actually, where Lisa finds out more about the depth of Tom's love for Christmas, freaks out about it, but they stay together because they love each other. It's only weird because it doesn't actually seem like Lisa and Tom love each other in the movie at any point. Like, watching them kiss is kinda weird. Most healthy, sane people who find out their partner has a weird obsession would also just shrug it off as a quirk.

The main conflict is kind of stupid. I watched this movie less than 24 hours ago and fully forgot what even happened for a minute. I had to try to remember what led to the breakup. It seems even more stupid once the resolution happens.

Ok, so it wasn't like painful to watch. The acting wasn't terrible, there was just no chemistry between the people who were supposed to have chemistry. Tom is most likely a serial killer (I'm pretty sure they make jokes about this in the movie). Lisa sucks. Sharon is just kinda there so Lisa has someone to talk to. Assan is the best character in the movie and he doesn't get any good lines until the conflict (rip off). It feels mean to rate it this low, but any higher would be lying. Overall, 1 star.

Just saw violent night, I know it's a bit after Christmas at this point but holly FUCK 10/10 would recommend

Day 1 and the first movie of December 2022 is:

Love Hard

This is the "let's pretend we are together for Christmas so you can make your family happy and you can help me get the guy I like" movie of your dreams. It's literally like a fanfic cliché but not gay.

They do a very fun version of "baby it cold outside" and yes, They do have the usual second hand embarrassment but it's a sweet movie. I am not mad at it.

Final score: 7 of 10 Santas

🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻

I watched A Karate Christmas Miracle so you don’t have to.  Merry Christmas!

Just the Ticket #132: Lethal Weapon (2023 Christmas Special)

Merry Christmas, Ticketholders!

Lethal Finale was supposed to have released this year, but without a definitive director and this year's SAG/AFTRA strike, it has curled up in Development Hell for a long winter's nap.

But the first Lethal Weapon entry's status as a Christmas movie is much less hotly contested than Die Hard, and it has some interesting connections to that franchise. So my gift to you this season is a review of the four movies in the Lethal Weapon franchise thus far, plus some personal Mandela memories and a special recommendation to make your holidays merry and bright.

Enjoy!

It's time for Christmas break, and the sorority sisters make plans for the holiday, but the strange anonymous phone calls are beginning to put them on edge. When Clare disappears, they contact the police, who don't express much concern. Meanwhile Jess is planning to get an abortion, but boyfriend Peter is very much against it. The police finally begin to get concerned when a 13-year-old girl is found dead in the park. They set up a wiretap to the sorority house, but will they be in time to prevent a sorority girl attrition problem?