It’s the 1st of December which can only mean one thing…Christmas content!
Today, we thought we could play a little game of smash or pass, while we share our hot takes on some of the latest Christmas releases.
SMASH: Spirited
Described by IMDb as a musical version of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Spirited tells the story of a miserly misanthrope who is taken on a magical journey. Sound familiar?
Written by Sean Anders and John Morris (Daddy’s Home), Ferrell stars alongside other big names, including Ryan Reynolds, Octavia Spencer, and Judi Dench.
The premise of this film is that every Christmas Eve, the Ghost of Christmas Present (Will Ferrell) selects one dark soul to be reformed by a visit from three spirits. Told through the perspective of the ghosts, Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds) turns the tables on Ferrell, as he finds himself re-examining his own past, present and future.
The film features original songs by Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land) and production numbers choreographed by Chloe Arnold (The Late Late Show with James Corden).
I have seen A LOT of adaptations of A Christmas Carol and I must say, this is one of the better ones. However, as an Apple TV+ film, there is a lot of Apple advertising throughout the film, which is a little off-putting.
The film is packed with cheesy songs and goofy laughs, which was enough to keep me entertained. My favourite moments in the film have to be the allusions to Elf. At the beginning of the film, Ferrell’s character sips his coffee with the same excitement as Buddy (before he realises how awful it tastes!). Later in the film, Ferrell sees a guy dressed up as Buddy the Elf at a party and tells him that he looks stupid.
An estimated $75 million was spent on the all-star cast, with Ferrell and Reynolds taking home $20 million each for their roles. Will Ferrell is definitely typecast, but when you do a role well, does it matter if you have to do it over and over again?
I really enjoyed this film for what it was. Was it groundbreaking? No. However, it did offer a different perspective to the over-saturated market of Dickens adaptations.
PASS: A Castle for Christmas
I love a cheesy Christmas film. A Castle for Christmas sounded perfect: a rich American writer comes to Scotland to heal from her divorce and focus on her writing. When I heard the mention of Dunbar, my mouth dropped.
Dunbar is a beautiful town with all the charm that a holiday romance needs. Sure, the actual Dunbar castle is in ruins, but that is a part of its charm.
This film is not actually filmed in Dunbar. The castle they refer to as “Dun Dunbar” is actually Dalmeny House on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
Every Scottish stereotype is employed in this film. There’s whisky drinking men in kilts, bagpipes, terrible fake accents, and a scene where everybody sings “The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond”.
My qualms with the geography of this film aside, it does have all the feel-good vibes- despite some questionable acting.
The film centralises around Sophie Brown, the American writer, and her romance with the Duke. She befriends the Dunbar Knitters, who become her groupies.
The plot is predictable from the off, but I would argue that it’s part of the charm.
The film ends with Sophie reuniting with her daughter at the castle. She begins her next novel on Christmas Day and calls it (wait for it)…“The Heart of a Warrior”. The happy couple kiss on Christmas morning and the camera zooms out as we see the scene from the window.
All I can say is that I am sorry to any Scots who watched this film. There are now hundreds of Americans who are expecting to see a castle when they visit Dunbar for their Christmas honeymoon. Oh, and why is Drew Barrymore thrown into the mix?
PASS: Single All the Way
The Guardian dubbed this film “Netflix’s first gay Christmas romcom”, which is an achievement in itself. Queer representation is so important, and what’s gayer than a Christmas rom com?
Peter is excited to bring his partner home to meet his family for Christmas. That is, before he discovers that he has a secret marriage, causing Peter to be alone for Christmas.
He decides to bring his roommate and best friend home with him, and pretend that he is his date. Before they can announce their fake relationship, Peter’s mother has set him up with her spin class teacher. She’s trying her best to be an ally, which causes some rather amusing scenes where she gets it so completely wrong.
The Christmas lights and snowy backdrops of this film are gorgeous. I found myself watching on to see more pretty houses and extravagant displays.
However, some of the acting in this film is truly painful. The family dynamic felt staged and uncomfortable, which was a real shame because I feel that it could have added an interesting dynamic to the film.
There’s a plethora of big names in this film, including Jennifer Coolidge, Jennifer Robertson, Barry Bostwick, Kathy Najimy, and Luke Macfarlane.
Terrible acting aside, this was quite a sweet queer love story. I feel that it could have been a great film, had it not followed the Hallmark Christmas tropes.
SMASH: Falling for Christmas
Directed by Janeen Damian, Falling for Christmas landed on Netflix on the 10th of November. As Lindsay Lohan’s first major role in a decade, the target audience couldn’t be clearer…. here I am.
Starring alongside Chord Overstreet and George Young, Lohan plays a newly engaged, rich heiress who is in a skiing accident at Christmas time. After hitting her head, she cannot remember who she is, and is taken in by a handsome cabin owner and his daughter.
Long story short (spoilers, but you could have guessed), Sierra (Lindsay Lohan) falls in love with the cabin owner and learns a lesson about hard work and community spirit.
There are all the classic Christmas tropes: a widowed husband, spoilt American love interest, and child who is wise beyond their years who just wants her father to find love.
The storyline is clichéd, but what more could you expect from a Netflix holiday romance? It took me a few attempts to finish (despite the short runtime of 93 minutes!), but I enjoyed the festive vibes and soundtrack.
Sierra singing “Jingle Bell Rock” was a nice little nod to Mean Girls, without taking a way from the fact that she is now moving into a new stage of her career.
Lohan also worked as executive producer for the film, taking her career in an exciting new direction.
The big question here is: does this film add anything to the already heavily infiltrated market of Christmas rom coms? I would have to argue yes.
Lohan is a very accomplished actor, and it is very easy to see in this movie. She pulls scenes together and keeps the energy high while others falter.
If you’re looking for some festive cheer, there are probably better films on Netflix, but you should watch this to see Lindsay Lohan on screen anyway!
SMASH: Violent Night
Violent Night sees David Harbour (yes, Hopper from Stranger Things) take on the role of John McClane- sorry Santa Claus.
David Harbour is the sleigh riding Santa Claus that has to rescue a girl and their family when they’re taken hostage by mercenaries on Christmas Eve.
It’s a real mix of Die Hard and Home Alone but it’s great fun. It’s like if Die Hard was a Christmas film (because we all know it isn’t).
Harbour is fantastic as Santa but the film is just a great time. To sit back and enjoy watching Santa kill a bunch of bad guys that are struggling to believe that they’re actually being stopped by the real-life Father Christmas is so entertaining.
It’s brutal and bloody and certainly not your traditional take on jolly old Saint Nic but it’s just a wonderful time to see Harbour having so much fun beating the shit out of people as Santa.
Catch Violent Night in cinemas from December 2nd and enjoy all the ferocious festive fights in this future Christmas classic.
SMASH: Christmas Bloody Christmas
Okay, maybe I’m being a bit generous with my ‘smash’ here but this film did everything I wanted it to do.
I was sold on the premise of this being a film about an evil robot Santa that kills people and that’s exactly what I got.
This film does indeed centre around a robot Santa Clause at a toy shop malfunctioning and running around a small American town on Christmas Eve brutally murdering people.
There’s blood, there’s gore, no sappy holiday romances, so it really ticks all the boxes for a Christmas film.
It’s not the greatest Christmas film ever made, nor is it necessarily the Christmas film to watch with the family on Christmas morning, but for what it is it’s pretty good.
None of the characters are especially likeable or interesting, and there is very little to the film outside of the killer robot Santa.
But this film has a killer robot Santa so it’s a smash from me.
Christmas Bloody Christmas is streaming exclusively on Shudder from December 9.
We’ve been watching quite a range of different Christmas films but hopefully this gives you a few suggestions for what to watch- or not watch- this holiday season!