Christmas Cinema Part 2 (With Extras!)

I haven't been as consistent with the movie watching as I would have liked (in other news, I DID get the dissertation proposal written, so, yay) but I managed to find a few new gems and a couple of oldies I haven't mentioned before. For some reason, I am turning completely sappy in my old age, and that means I am crying at absolutely everything. Unless I mention otherwise, assume I cried at some point during the watching of these Christmas movies (and TV episodes, too). As with any good party buffet, let's start with the cheese:

- 12 Men of Christmas
(There were no tears here - I wouldn't have minded, as the idea of a festive holiday firefighter/beefcake calendar should be worthy of a few joyous ones, but... no.) Oh, Kristin Chenowith, I adore you, and you are always watchable, but even your presence here can't save this poor, well-intentioned travesty. It's ridiculous (in the 'itching in the back of the neck' way) and sappy (in the 'nuts, I think my feet are stuck' way) and it just doesn't work. Also, your editor should send his Internet diploma back, as moving a couple of scenes to their correct locations would have really helped to make the acting make sense; and your screenplay writer(s?) should send their cereal box Author's Guild Secret Decoder ring in for repairs because suddenly shoehorning in a Pride and Prejudice spin halfway through the film and then dropping it again is not the best way to use and abuse a classic. Jane Austen hates you, and she was actually OK with the zombies. Try again next year, and please try to find a co-star a little closer to your own height - or if he's big enough, make sure he carries you everywhere. You're so wee, it couldn't do any more damage to his back than practically folding in half every time he's supposed to kiss you already does. Hugs!

- A Christmas Wish

(Bingo.) This is the kind of movie the Lifetime Channel was designed to cherish - low-budget, low production values, big heart. It was actually a recommendation from the longtime movie reviewer at the Deseret News, so I checked it out. Kristy Swanson (formerly known as the original 'Buffy: The Vampire Slayer') is so sweet and charming, and K.C. Clyde (the rebellious/reformed elder from The Best Two Years) is almost compulsively watchable. The sorriest part of the movie was that they didn't get enough screen time together! Yes, the script is a little flimsy in places. Yes, there are contrivances all over the place. Yes, there are adorable children, and the requisite 'Christmas miracle' accompanied by the 'Christmas change-of-heart.' It's all there, right down to the awkward title changed by Lifetime to a different, equally awkward title. (Five gold stars to anyone who figures out the original title just from watching the movie!) ((Also, there's another movie called THE Christmas Wish, and it stars Neil Patrick Harris and Debbie Reynolds. I am so disappointed in myself that I did not know about this earlier! To iTunes!)

- Christmas Angel
(Sniffles. Definite sniffles.) K.C. Clyde's second appearance on this year's review list; and boy am I glad he was in this movie, because the female lead was about as stiff and interesting as a yard stick until he got her to laugh at something. Here, Salt Lake City is (fairly cleverly, actually) a stand-in for Chicago, and includes a cancer patient, Secret Santa-ing, and a dog (the dog does not speak, or have cancer). It's yet another flick born for Lifetime! I'll probably watch it again next year, but only because it's turning out that I'll watch K.C. Clyde in anything. Apparently.

Onward: Naturally, I revisited Christmas in Connecticut and The Holiday. Took at little jaunt with Queen Latifah in The Last Holiday (she is just fabulous in EVERYTHING). Finished up all the Doctor Who Christmas specials (four more days! Wheeee!). Today, I found my new favorite Christmas movie.

- Arthur Christmas
LOVE. Lovelovelovelovelove this movie. I was enthralled and delighted from the opening sequence, and found the entire film to be so very clever and snarky and adorable and FUN. It was great, too, to realize that there were quite a few homages to other films happening, and that I would probably need to go see it again very soon to figure out all the ones I missed. Like, tomorrow. The pacing is perfect, the design is gorgeous and everyone in it is totally charming. You should go see it. (It's BRILLIANT. And I liked it a lot.)

Hi, Arthur! Go ahead and send those back to that judge in New York -
(SPOILERS) it's pretty important if they're going to finish the movie!

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A few other things that have been making me happy this Christmas season:

- This ad(vert) from British department store Jon Lewis (of course I cried)
- Two tunes from Straight No Chaser that always make me grin: 12 Days of Christmas and Christmas Can-Can
- This really is possibly the greatest family Christmas letter ever written.

- Oh, and I almost forgot... How great is THIS?!?

SO GREAT.

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4 more days!

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