Movie Round-Up

I've got one more Christmas movie for a quick review, but just today I found recommendations for four more that I hadn't considered! They may or may not merit an after-Christmas download, but they'll definitely go on the list for next year.

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12 Dates of Christmas

So, you know how ABC Family produces (buys, repurposes, etc...) OODLES of Christmas movies for their '24 Days of Christmas' (or whatever they did this year)? And you know how the vast majority of them are incredibly sappy and generally forgettable? Well, there are a few exceptions. (Not the exceptions: a friend mentioned they were watching 'Holidays in Handcuffs', so I checked it out on Amazon and iTunes, and... no. I just CAN'T. Also, I did download 'Christmas Caper', starring Shannon  Doherty - I have such a soft spot for 'Charmed', '90210 - Original Style' and 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' - but I haven't been able to get past the first 15 minutes. Me no caro. Me no thinko SD caro, either.)

'Shall we gaze delightedly at the Christmas miracle
provided by ABC Family?'
'Sure, but just for fun, let's do it like we MEAN it.
And like we have actual talent.'
'Deal.'

One of those exceptions is '12 Dates of Christmas', which is charming and delightful and features real chemistry between the lead characters! I know! The movie (er, 'TV special') is an unapologetic copy of 'Groundhog Day' (which I also love) and stars Amy Smart (you've seen her in at least something before, you just didn't know it) and the former Zack Morris, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, all grown up and looking much better after he cut off the long, greasy-romantic-poet mop he'd grown for some law show that flopped. I don't need to tell you the plot (see: Groundhog Day) but I will say that one of the things I enjoyed was that instead of just learning things about herself (which she did), each day Amy Smart's character tried things a little bit differently and that allowed her to learn all kinds of new and surprising things about the people around her. The leads are intelligent and fun to watch together, but the show also uses the supporting cast really well. There is quite a bit of cheese, of course, (including the last line - urgh) but it's generally sprinkled liberally and lovingly over the top rather than drowning the whole dish in a dairy soup. I've actually watched it twice since I got it, and there is a very good likelihood that I'll watch it again soon. (Like, tonight.)

The movie is also a great tutorial on What To Do and What Not To Do on a blind date, so, bonus. And guys, if your set-up's name is Phyllis, don't bother - she's not coming.

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My (Currently) Comprehensive Christmas Movie List - in No Particular Order:

- Arthur Christmas
- The Holiday (bonus Christmas AND New Year's)
- Last Holiday (ditto)
- Christmas in Connecticut
- Miracle on 34th Street (I'm partial to the original B&W version, but Dylan McDermott is just. so. pretty. in the remake...)
- Nightmare Before Christmas
- A Christmas Carol (choose your poison - Mickey, Muppets, Patrick Stewart, Albert Finney, etc... just not Jim Carrey in motion-capture. Brrr.)
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas (ORIGINAL. Thank you very much.)
- While You Were Sleeping (also a holiday bridge)
- White Christmas
- It's A Wonderful Life (I can actually only do this one about every five years. Next year for sure.)
- The Thin Man
- A Christmas Wish
- Holiday Affair
- Christmas Angel
- 12 Dates of Christmas
- Borrowed Hearts (ABC Family/Hallmark/Lifetime... it's still a keeper. Ah, Eric McCormack's HAIR...)
- Sleepless in Seattle (Christmas Eve, New Year's, and bonus Valentine's Day!)
- Doctor Who Christmas episodes
- Downton Abbey Christmas Special (will also be watched again shortly)

- Joyeux Noel (HOW did I not know about this before?!?)
- Edward Scissorhands (oh... yeah.... next year!)
- Little Women (*headslap* Of course.)
- Catch Me If You Can (Really? I had no idea.)

Of course this is completely subjective, but by next year ABC Family and/or Hallmark may have churned out two more winners in their slew of entries for holiday programming, and I'll get a full set of 24! (I'm not counting the TV episodes - I'll leave those for the remaining 7 days of the month.)

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It's not a holiday movie at all, but I did see 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol'** today and quite enjoyed it. So much, in fact, that I'm nearly tempted to go watch the others to get a handle on the backstory. But only nearly. I might now have a little crush on Jeremy Renner, too. Might.

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Looking forward to all the (potentially) great (fun) movies on tap for 2012 - Avengers, The Hobbit, The Dark Knight Rises, etc, etc... must also settle in for a Harry Potter marathon to re-watch the whole series before someone decides to start re-making them!

Bring it on! And watch out for falling turtles!

(You never know.)





** I wonder who had to work out the punctuation here. You've already got a colon built in to the title, so  you can't really add a second or it's 'Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol' which suddenly becomes hugely Shatnerian. It's OK for the poster, because you can just go to the second line, but I'm curious as to whether the official paperwork has the dash or not. I mean, really, is there another option? Inquiring (and apparently easily distracted) minds want to know.