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Holiday Movies: 2024 edition
Dec. 10th, 2024 02:53 pmTis December which means I've begun my cheesy holiday movie watching. I'd really expected to get through more of these but that just hasn't been the case. However, the tree is sorta up so maybe that'll help. Not feeling great right now, so shitty thumbnails it'll be.
First up was Christmas Island, which I half watched while taking down my Halloween stuff. I picked it because it seemed like it would be something I could half watch and still enjoy without getting too sucked in. I wound up going back and rewatching and realizing that I'd paid more attention than I realized, so that's something. I also hadn't realized when I picked it that it stars Rachel Skarsten, so that means that when there was a Batman reference, I absolutely cackled since I know her best from her stint on Birds of Prey and Batwoman. CACKLED. Um, anyway, the movie itself is fine. It's like a 3/5. Some movies they clearly don't go all out for and this was one of them, but if you like either of the leads you'll be fine. *shrugs*
Next up was Our Little Secret, which I'd heard was supposed to be good. It was also...fine? Lindsay Lohan will always have a place in my heart and I wish her nothing but the best, but I'm also well aware that her acting is very much hit or miss. It's fine here. Her chemistry with Ian Harding was weirdly off, like I bought them as friends but as more it wasn't for me, but I didn't hate seeing them together if that somehow makes sense. Kristin Chenoweth runs away with most of the scenes she's in, which is to be expected, but again, I enjoyed it. Didn't love his love interest and the orange spray tans were super fucking distracting. Gonna give this a 3.5/5. It also didn't really give me a lot of the holiday magic, but I enjoyed the acting. Trade offs must be made occasionally.
Christmas on Cherry Lane is our third movie and did I pick it based on the name and the number of times Netflix suggested it? Yes. Yes, I did. This means I paid no attention to the fact that the story takes place in three different time periods but all at the same house until the movie smacks you in the face with the time periods like 30 minutes in. Which was actually kinda fun. It does an okay job of balancing all three timelines, but I wanted more out of the 70's couple. I will say that this is one of those movies where they do the absolute bare minimum to set the decade, as I think they relied 100% on how they styled Catherine Bell's character to sell 1999 while the 70's leaned HARD on the gas crisis thing. I'd have appreciated more actual visual cues here, especially since apparently this movie is spawning THREE sequels this year?!
This is another it's fine, but I did enjoy it more kind of deal, so we're at 3.75/5, maybe 4 for parts and for the fact that I could ID 5/6 of the main cast and enjoyed them. I teared up a bit in some parts.
lovehard is 5/5, would absolutely watch again. It's charming as hell and I bought the chemistry between our leads no problem. Hell, you spend a good chunk of the movie waiting for Natalie there to realize she really did fall in love with Josh, just not his looks. (Josh catfishes Natalie using a local dude's pictures but keeps his own personality while Natalie turns around and looks hot but totally changes her personality to try and snag Tag.) It's cute and happy making and the title makes sense in the context of the movie. I mean, it's also just true but still.
Huh. Actual reviews of this are harsh. Those people are wrong.
First up was Christmas Island, which I half watched while taking down my Halloween stuff. I picked it because it seemed like it would be something I could half watch and still enjoy without getting too sucked in. I wound up going back and rewatching and realizing that I'd paid more attention than I realized, so that's something. I also hadn't realized when I picked it that it stars Rachel Skarsten, so that means that when there was a Batman reference, I absolutely cackled since I know her best from her stint on Birds of Prey and Batwoman. CACKLED. Um, anyway, the movie itself is fine. It's like a 3/5. Some movies they clearly don't go all out for and this was one of them, but if you like either of the leads you'll be fine. *shrugs*
Next up was Our Little Secret, which I'd heard was supposed to be good. It was also...fine? Lindsay Lohan will always have a place in my heart and I wish her nothing but the best, but I'm also well aware that her acting is very much hit or miss. It's fine here. Her chemistry with Ian Harding was weirdly off, like I bought them as friends but as more it wasn't for me, but I didn't hate seeing them together if that somehow makes sense. Kristin Chenoweth runs away with most of the scenes she's in, which is to be expected, but again, I enjoyed it. Didn't love his love interest and the orange spray tans were super fucking distracting. Gonna give this a 3.5/5. It also didn't really give me a lot of the holiday magic, but I enjoyed the acting. Trade offs must be made occasionally.
Christmas on Cherry Lane is our third movie and did I pick it based on the name and the number of times Netflix suggested it? Yes. Yes, I did. This means I paid no attention to the fact that the story takes place in three different time periods but all at the same house until the movie smacks you in the face with the time periods like 30 minutes in. Which was actually kinda fun. It does an okay job of balancing all three timelines, but I wanted more out of the 70's couple. I will say that this is one of those movies where they do the absolute bare minimum to set the decade, as I think they relied 100% on how they styled Catherine Bell's character to sell 1999 while the 70's leaned HARD on the gas crisis thing. I'd have appreciated more actual visual cues here, especially since apparently this movie is spawning THREE sequels this year?!
This is another it's fine, but I did enjoy it more kind of deal, so we're at 3.75/5, maybe 4 for parts and for the fact that I could ID 5/6 of the main cast and enjoyed them. I teared up a bit in some parts.
lovehard is 5/5, would absolutely watch again. It's charming as hell and I bought the chemistry between our leads no problem. Hell, you spend a good chunk of the movie waiting for Natalie there to realize she really did fall in love with Josh, just not his looks. (Josh catfishes Natalie using a local dude's pictures but keeps his own personality while Natalie turns around and looks hot but totally changes her personality to try and snag Tag.) It's cute and happy making and the title makes sense in the context of the movie. I mean, it's also just true but still.
Huh. Actual reviews of this are harsh. Those people are wrong.