Holidate (2020)

Holidate (2020)

Director: John Whitesell

Cast: Emma Roberts, Luke Bracey, Kristin Chenoweth, Frances Fisher, Andrew Bachelor, Jessica Capshaw, Manish Dayal, Alex Moffat, Cynthy Wu

Fed up with being single on holidays, two strangers agree to be each other’s platonic plus-ones all year long, only to catch real feelings along the way. – IMDB

Netflix earliest Christmas/holiday themed romantic comedy was Holiday, released at the end of October. Bearing the talented Emma Roberts who has done quite a few quirky movies in her filmography, Holidate holds a decent premise revolving around the concept of being single during the holidays and the judging eyes of family and friends for not having someone in their life or simply life choices in general. Entering into a holiday contract plus these two people together. While the premise itself is fairly unique using the holiday angle, the whole concept of contractual relationships and the flow of the romantic comedy offers nothing too refreshing.

Romantic comedies aren’t exactly fresh nowadays and yet for those who like to watch it, a lot dwells on the chemistry between the main leads that at least give a reason to root for them. Here’s where some of the deepest issues do occur in the execution. The holiday premise causes the film to jump through the different holidays almost in montage speed giving them very little character build. The scenes that give these two characters the most backstory is in little pieces at the beginning for set-up before the contract, once or twice in the middle and then at the end, when they inevitably face up to their feelings. They have little moments like hooking up after a drunk rendez-vous or helping each other out of embarrassing situations or whatnot and yet, the connection between them is slightly lacking.

If we look at the comedy parts, that part might be a little more successful depending on what your comedy style is. For myself, some of the comedy does land. Embarrassing moments or some over the top bits are good. However, some of the over the top stuff mostly with Kristen Chenoweth’s character sometimes rides along the fine line between being funny and being too much. However, comedy is very subjective. In the comedy department though, Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey do land those moments fairly well.

With that said, Emma Roberts is a really good actress and with what she’s given here, her role is pretty fun. Holidate as a whole is a fairly lackluster and predictable sort of romantic comedy set up and yet, the premise here is fun. It makes sense that it didn’t go full Christmas movie selection since its more about the holidays than set solely during Christmas. Thing is, Holidate is somewhat of a middling viewing. If you enjoy romantic comedies, this one is okay and you can give it a shot. Its nothing super memorable but it has some fun and awkward moments.

Valentine’s Double Feature: The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) & Prince Charming (1984)

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone, whether you celebrate or not (which we don’t other than on the blog as an excuse to watch romance films). If you don’t celebrate, then tomorrow is a great day for some discounted chocolate. 😉

We passed the halfway point of the alphabet which was really all I expected myself to get to by February 14th. This time, we’re at the next two letters, O & P. The first is The Other Boleyn Girl which I have put aside too many times so I decided to just go for it and get it off the list. For the P selection, I floated around a few titles but decided to go with something a little more romantic and comedic with Hong Kong’s 1984 romance comedy Prince Charming.

Let’s check it out!

The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)

Director: Justin Chadwick

Cast: Eric Bana, Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman, Jim Sturgess, Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas, David Morrissey, Benedict Cumberbatch, Oliver Coleman, Ana Torrent

Two sisters contend for the affection of King Henry VIII. – IMDB

I’m a bit torn on how I feel about The Other Boleyn Girl. On one hand, the first part of the movie was pretty entertaining with the obvious chemistry between the characters and the setup of the stage for the parents, their stand and favoritism between children as well as their ambitions and greed for power and fortune despite the consequence of putting their own children into difficult and complicated places. With that said, the start was pretty fun with King Henry (Eric Bana) take a hunting stay at the Boleyns home and having one daughter being set up to seduce the king which somehow defines who Natalie Portman’s Anne’s personality is which as it grows ends up causing herself some pretty irreversible consequences. While I get Natalie Portman’s character, the beginning half with King Henry and Mary (Scarlett Johansson) definitely was the more interesting part even if their focus was really not on them because it involved a lot of music overlaying passionate sex scenes.

To be fair, when the second act started and King Henry got lured into Anne’s traps of playing hard to get. It started getting a bit ridiculous. I’m not a history major and I don’t particularly know a lot about the history of England and the kings but as a historical drama (I know for Chinese history, there are kings defined for their bad judgement because of the women they choose), I can’t say how accurate it is but King Henry is very much getting played and not quite as kingly until he decides to justify his difficult decisions by raping Anne, which seems to defeat the purpose of making these tough choices and throwing it all out the window, hence his descent down the slippery slope, I suppose. It was very soap opera because it was so entangled in romance and the King’s floating attention span of always having women satisfying him and producing an heir when he did already have one that he disregarded, and then the mixed romances and improper decisions and playing games.

The Other Boleyn Girl was good in the sense that I think Eric Bana does a great job and I particularly liked Scarlett Johansson and well, anytime with Kristin Scott Thomas is a good time because she also is a very powerful actress even in the supporting role as the mother of Anne and Mary who ends up losing the most out of Anne’s desperate need for attention (or whatever you call it). Its not a bad film but it is still a bit drawn out unnecessarily.

Prince Charming (1984)

Director (& writer): Wong Jing

Cast: Kenny Bee, Cherie Chung, Pak-cheung Chan, Rosamund Kwan, Maggie Cheung

Chen Li is the son of an enormously wealthy Hong Kong businessman and is vacationing in Hawaii, experiencing typical girl problems. – IMDB

There are a lot of films called Prince Charming. To my knowledge, 1999 also had a Hong Kong film called Prince Charming (which I have seen before with Andy Lau and Nick Cheung). However, we are dialling back to 1984 when Maggie Cheung still did comedies and Kenny Bee and Pak Cheung Chan was a huge deal whether for singing or acting or hosting. Directed and written by Wong Jing, this movie is bound for some laughters. As with most of Wong Jing’s film, he also has a cameo appearance as a passerby listening in on a conversation about some sex meter calculation.

Prince Charming is a pretty charming film. I have my issues sometimes with the humor of Pak Cheung Chan because sometimes it leans on the heavily dumb humor but somehow, perhaps its because its Wong Jing and I like his humor and Kenny Bee has this dorky humor to him that makes it all come together. Its a lot of fluff to be fair because the story itself is fairly simple and in the mist of the mistaken identity, its hard to really focus on the background plot of finding out whether embezzlement is happening at the office because it focuses a lot on the romance and Kenny Bee finding his love with Cherie Chung’s character. However, there is this sweet chemistry between them that works most of the time, especially in the awkward moments. Add in some family bits and a few silly moments and this really does have quite a nice vibe to it.

A lot of staple actors and actresses of the 80s (and 90s) are in this film and it shows their youth especially when the films starts off in Hawaii for a little bit and then heads back to Hong Kong. Its a romantic comedy so it definitely gives off this fun and entertaining sort of film packed with the 80s humor of Hong Kong that defined its films and boy, I really did like that comedic style a lot.

Valentine’s Double Feature alphabet for O & P are done!
Have you seen these films? What did you think of them?

Valentine’s Double Feature: Ibiza (2018) & Just Friends (2005)

Working out a lovely pacing this Valentine’s marathon as we land on the 5th double feature on this Netflix alphabet journey with I & J selection! Ibiza has been on my list a little bit but I have come to realize that late night comedies aren’t always my thing so I have put it off until now. Well, Just Friends is more of a random choice but it was on my list because of Ryan Reynolds so here we are!

Lets check it out!

Ibiza (2018)

Director: Alex Richanbach

Cast: Gillian Jacobs, Phoebe Richardson, Vanessa Bayer, Richard Madden, Felix Gomez, Jordi Molla, Michaela Watkins

A young American woman and her two best friends seek out a hot DJ in Spain. – IMDB

Late night comedies are usually not my first choice in films. Plus, I haven’t seen the series Love yet so I also don’t have that connection for Gillian Jacobs. The start of Ibiza definitely doesn’t quite define how it gets. There are some fun messages here about going with your heart and throwing things to chance and finding your path. These three best friends are a little ridiculous sometimes and have their annoying moments but these are the usual path of late night comedies when it gets odd and it depends on how the viewer feels. Some bits were just not for me. But, there is this carefree feeling as we see the Gillian Jacobs character really let go. Especially in all her awkwardness along with Richard Madden’s character but they also have mad chemistry and passion which is so heart melting to watch.

Despite weird moments, running after the thing you want and having someone chase after you is the whole end game of Ibiza. Its somewhat a self-discovery for our main character that she finds on her Ibiza trip when she finds her value. Ibiza has a more multi-layer story where on the surface its finding this one time encounter that just took her breath away but the choices she makes after that changes the course of her character arc. It seems like my thinking is far-fetched but there’s something more here and it explains the abstract ending which just works for me.

Plus, Ibiza also gets points for having some great music especially seeing as its set with Richard Madden playing a DJ called Leo and EDM is my jam and I really liked the music aspect of it throughout, even outside of the club scenes.

Just Friends (2005)

Director: Roger Kumble

Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Anna Faris, Chris Klein, Chris Marquette, Fred Ewanuick, Amy Matysio, Julie Hagerty

While visiting his hometown during Christmas, a man comes face-to-face with his old high school crush whom he was best friends with — a woman whose rejection of him turned him into a ferocious womanizer. – IMDB

No idea Just Friends is a Christmas movie, well, set during Christmas at least. Just Friends comes about halfway for me. On one hand, there are some funny moments and its to be expected. At the same time, it falls somewhere in the romantic comedy area where its predictable, really weird and at times also incredibly awkward. There are bits that run overly long and then there’s the romance thing which I guess worked but I’ve also seen it done better. To be honest, its not anything special but it has a few laughs as well.

These sort of movies are also the hardest to talk about because technically, nothing really is that bad but nothing is too good either. What hinges on Just Friends enjoyment is how much you enjoy the humor here. Anna Faris has always been an actress that I’ve rarely enjoyed watching because her humor is very odd and awkward and in this one, she plays a singer that is incredibly weird. At the same time, there’s this awkwardness between the main leads throughout most of the film, driving a lack of chemistry and potential desire so when the end game happens, it feels like a fairly rushed sort of ending but its a Hollywood romantic comedy which usually means a happy ending.

That’s it for this double feature!
I and J is now done and we’ll be moving onto the next pairing very soon!
Have you seen these films? What did you think of them?

Christmas 2018: The Princess Switch (2018)

The Princess Switch (2018)

Director: Mike Rohl

Cast: Vanessa Hudgens, Sam Palladio, Nick Sagar, Alexa Adeosun, Suanne Braun, Mark Fleischmann, Sara Stewart, Robin Soans

A Chicago baker (V.Hudgens) is competing in a Christmas baking competition in Belgravia. There she bumps into the prince’s fiancee. They look alike and switch for 2 days. “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” – IMDB

If we talk about something along the calibre of last year’s A Christmas Prince (review) for this year, I would say that I’m not sure any movie in the Hallmark by Netflix category going to beat out this one. A Princess Switch is pretty much the familiar formula of Parent Trap and It Takes Two and movies of that sort except this time, we don’t have teenagers but rather young adults or in their 30s or mid20s or something like that. You know, marriage and romance age sort of story. It has a good bit of laughs and while some parts were kind of a little eye-rolling worthy, there is this charm to Vanessa Hudgens’ interpretation of both of these characters, whether it is Margaret or as Stacy that makes it so entertaining to watch. Plus, there is no doubt that this is a holiday film in the sense that it is set during Christmas and there is an overflowing amount of Christmas activities and endearing moments about the value of Christmas. Its a heartwarming and fun effort as a whole which makes it so much fun to watch especially as a guilty pleasure.

Whenever we talk about these sort of romantic comedy style holiday films, I have to always talk about chemistry. While I maintain that a lot of the really good acting had to go to Vanessa Hudgens, she did have pretty good chemistry with both of the male leads. Both Sam Palladio and Nick Sagar are charming in their own ways that fit the type of man that they portray in this movie so it works out. At the same time, there are some pretty fun moments between  each of these pairs that seem fitting for their situation if not sometimes a tad over-exaggerated but in this genre of film, it is sometimes okay to be like that and still really emphasize the chemistry and some warm laughs with the characters.

As a side note though, I do love how the King and Queen, especially the Queen’s role here as they question the Duchess character making it feel more realistic as sometimes there is always these moments where the silliness things get looked over like everyone else is stupid. At the same time, the guard or whoever we call him ends up getting caught in figuring it out but also having these really hilarious moments of ending up in the most awkward situations like he’s a servant and not the higher ranking that he is supposed to be. Aside from the two assistants of sorts to the Duchess and the Prince who bring a lot of humor, we have the classic character who miraculously shows up everywhere as a magical element that strings together the character and the pieces. In some ways, it makes the movie on rails but it kind of pokes fun knowingly at itself that it works somehow.

Overall, I liked the Princess Switch a lot more than I expected I would. Vanessa Hudgens was on point with both her roles and the male leads were both very charming. There was a lot of heartwarming moments and fun moments and even some meaningful moments. Its really well put together for a holiday centered romantic comedy. It both had the romantic chemistry and holiday spirit in equal parts to make it feel enjoyable.

Christmas Inheritance (2017)

Merry Christmas, my lovelies! Hope you all had a fantastic time with your family and loved ones. 🙂

We have a relaxing Christmas day of just watching fave Christmas movies and gaming. However, its Christmas day and I wasn’t going to let it go to waste without having one final Christmas movie review for the recently released Netflix Original, Christmas Inheritance starring the lovely Eliza Taylor from The 100 which I’m actually starting to get back to catching up. Of course, there is also Jake Lacy who I first saw in Miss Sloane and liked quite a bit in this one as well. Suffice to say that, its been an alright rom com holiday movie marathon for myself with a few that fell flat but pretty good overall. With a cast that I like, I’m going into this one with high hopes for some fun moments.

Let’s check it out!

Christmas Inheritance (2017)

Director: Ernie Barbarash

Cast: Eliza Taylor, Jake Lacy, Andie MacDowell, Neil Crone, Michael Xavier, Anthony Sherwood, Martin Roach

Before ambitious heiress Ellen Langford can inherit her father’s gift business, she must deliver a special Christmas card to her dad’s former partner in Snow Falls, the hometown she never knew. When a snowstorm strands her at the town inn, she’s forced to work for her keep, and in the process, finds romance and discovers the true gift of Christmas. – IMDB

Christmas Inheritance is quite good for all of the expected fanfare with this genre. However, the cast here with Eliza Taylor, Jake Lacy and Andie MacDowell make its very fun to watch while Snow Falls is set in a picturesque little town full of snow fall and a beautiful little inn. While its set during Christmas and looks at the value of the gift business as well as a learning process for the main character Ellen to learn how to actually care for the people around her without the baggage of others giving her the special treatment as a test from her father who wanted her to shed her party heiress ways. With the help of the town and the heart that everyone has to take care of each other, she of course learns it while also seeing how her current fiancee is not what she wants to be and finding that she can see herself as doing more good despite being in a gift business as she sees where it all starts as she, under he Ellie London disguise, touches the heart of the people around her in a matter of days.

As I always say in all the past holiday film reviews (as they were all the same genre), what I look for in these are truly the chemistry and the lessons here. As far-fetched and some silliness as it is or as I recently perfectly heard it be phrased by Shannon over at Reads & Reels called, predictably cheesy, these one offers much of that however, perhaps its because of the fact that I already know what Eliza Taylor and Jake Lacy are capable of that I did buy into their chemistry a lot. I do have admit that I like Eliza Taylor as Ellen quite a bit especially as she really showed off in a believable way (to me) the ignorance she has out of her rich life back in New York and slowly accepts the simpler life around her with much more sincere intentions. Its fairly easy to see the surprise reveal at the end because its quite obvious however the relationship she builds with Jake Lacy’s, Jake and Andie MacDowell’s Aunt Debbie is quite fun to watch. As much as I liked Jake Lacy in Miss Sloane and would love to like him here, the role of Jake started off a little awkward for myself however, I grew to like him more as the movie went along. The ending however seems a little forced to wrap up but its still quite decent.

I’m going to keep this one fairly short since I feel like I say a lot of the same. Christmas Inheritance is a very good holiday romantic comedy. The credit goes entirely to the cast and their outstanding performances as their characters. The heartwarming small town and picturesque backdrop is also very nice. Predictable and cheesy for sure, but I’d have to say that I dig that especially during this time of the year so this one works for me. Netflix Originals usually do pretty good in terms of quality and this one meets my expectations. Does it exceed it? Not really. Romantic comedies in general have had quite a tough few years with nothing in particular that has caught my eye, with the exception of The Big Sick that has caught my eye this year. Chalk it up to these made for TV holiday romantic comedy being just feel-good movies, I know that I’m very forgiving of them and with this being the final review of the winter marathon, I feel that if you aren’t as forgiving as myself in this genre, you probably will probably dislike them. Just like I would never subject my husband to watching these with me.

This wraps up the Holidays Marathon!
A lot of the same this year hopefully next year, I’ll change it up!
However, hope you enjoyed it! 🙂
Merry Christmas and hope you all are having great holidays! 

Look forward to some 2017 movies in the coming week as I try to wrap up the Goodreads Challenge as well as try to wrap up the watched but not yet reviewed films.

A Christmas Prince (2017)

We’re moving right along through another TV movie but this time its  a Netflix Originals called A Christmas Prince.

Suffice to say, if you frequent Twitter, you’ve probably heard of Netflix US and their twitter calling out the 50+ people who watched A Christmas Prince everyday for more than 2 weeks. I have my own thoughts on this and I’ll share it at the end of the review.

Moving on, lets see if I would mind watching A Christmas Prince on repeat!

A Christmas Prince (2017)

Director: Alex Zamm

Cast: Rose McIver, Ben Lamb, Alice Krige, Honor Kneafsey, Emma Louise Saunders, Theo Devaney, Sarah Douglas, Daniel Fathers

When a reporter goes undercover as a tutor to get the inside scoop on a playboy prince, she gets tangled in some royal intrigue and ends up finding love – but will she be able to keep up her lie? – IMDB

A Christmas Prince is Netflix original that does tend to be fun to watch. Netflix hopping into this potential market of TV romantic comedies is a pretty great move. While everyone does acknowledge the sappiness of these movies, there is quite a market for those who enjoy these feel-good movies especially when it involves a somewhat generic plot. If you’ve been reading the last few reviews, I’m all about these movies when they manage to deliver good performances and great chemistry between their leads. A lot of stuff out there is generic and predictable and what sets them apart especially when faced with movies like these who don’t usually have a big budget is being able to connect with the characters. A Christmas Prince does that very well especially when paired with a beautiful setting and having some great performances by its cast to show off some fun characters. There’s some drama and its be to expected but despite all that, this story has hints of so many fun movies and is a little package of homages if you will ranging from a fictional world called Aldovia (Princess Diaries had Genovia) and then a Cinderella-esque story of a poor reporter meeting a prince so just a modernized one without a stepmother but rather a ruthless editor. And then there’s the prince who when getting ready for the throne at the coronation, he dresses like the Cinderella prince as well. Forget how the prince dresses, its a prince, okay? And he looks pretty good also. At a decent run time, the story never lags and keeps the plot moving throughout.

A Christmas Prince is set during the Christmas holidays with the coronation landing on Christmas eve and having that big royal ball. Its in a snow fictitious kingdom called Aldovia which is set in a beautiful castle in Romania in reality which is pretty awesome. With that said the setting itself made the shots incredibly satisfying to watch. Winter fun came into play here like tobogganing and horseback riding in the snow as well as horse drawn carriage rides. Of course, one of the fun bits was the snowball fight. Its set in Christmas and winter and while it shows a lot of these moments, it never really feels like its too in your face which makes it feel natural. One of the things that these TV movies fail to do is give off that effect. The story here is pretty predictable and you’ll probably figure out whats going on before it actually does happen but its never really quite a hindrance because the ornament traditions the fact that the story focuses not only on the romance but also on the truth about the hesitation of the prince taking over the throne and the relationship that our reporter here Amber builds with the princess Emily is really everyone’s way of healing a year after the loss of their father. Sometimes, its the simple idea of someone relating to you and helping and encouraging to find the way to see yourself in a better way which is the case here with Amber who is a positive force even if she comes into their lives via a lie.

With that said, there are some pretty decent performances here. Rose McIver is very believable in her role here as, Amber the reporter in disguise as a tutor. There are some moments here that feel like they should have seen through her disguise as a tutor but I think the reason that she sticks around is that they grow fond of her because of her simplicity instead of how the royalty here thinks of everything a little too complex. I liked how natural she felt in her role. Especially as her character connected like a friend/older sister to the princess and romantically with the prince. The princess Emily is played by Honor Kneafsey which was a really good role with her own struggles and always kept Amber on her toes. What started out as a deal turned into something more as their friendship blossomed and they taught each other a little about life. Of course, we have to talk about the Prince Richard played by Ben Lamb who is a charming handsome guy who of course gets painted badly in the spotlight but turns out to be different when Amber learns the real him. Its nice because he gives off the hesitation well but also shows that he can find the courage at the end. Both Rose McIver and Ben Lamb pull off the romance quite well. There are some really cheesy dialogue here and there but never enough to feel too cringey. But then I have pretty high tolerance of it so maybe my word is slightly biased.

Overall, A Christmas Prince is a well-paced romantic comedy that packs a little of drama and comedy and romance. Ben Lamb and Rose McIver have great chemistry together. The setting of the movie is absolutely stunning and the holiday and seasonal integration is done really well using Christmas as a time frame and backdrop and using the snowy landscape for fun winter activities. This is an enjoyable one. It stumbles a little with its dialogue and as expected is predictable but definitely a winner here with a lot of feel-good moments.

Thoughts on Netflix’s tweet

While I think that Netflix thinks it was a joke (and looking at the comments, a lot of people consider that as well), I’m not so concerned about the info they hold about us because its a reality of it since we get the stats of our watching history also so why not them since they control it, but more the fact that movies are an escape, I’m not one of those people since I only watched it like 2 days ago, but I wouldn’t have liked to be judged about my watching preferences. However, I guess that is just one way to look at it. Some articles talk about Netflix using this tweet to brag about how well-received this movie is. The lesson here is that comedy (aka jokes) are incredibly subjective so maybe not sounding like the people watching your films are troubled is a good idea.  Anyways, I’m feeling like I’m taking it more serious than it was actually meant to be. So…Ha, Ha, Ha Netflix…you’re so funny.

That wraps up A Christmas Prince! Not perfect but still a really good time! I wouldn’t mind watching it on repeat.
On that note, a lot of people don’t really enjoy these movies (and I say it every single review that I do this). Predictable and generic, it sure is. But its important to respect that feel-good moments are hard to come by even right now as we get into the Oscar nominated films which are usually quite intense and deep so these TV movies offer a sweet escape as the world around us (by just looking at one page of news) looks so very messed up.

Sorry about missing out yesterday. It was a crazy day! I’ll have a second review going up later today to make up for it! 🙂

Naughty & Nice (2014)

Moving on with the Christmas movie marathon, we hop into another TV movie of the romantic comedy variety. It seems like this is most likely the theme of this year. Hopefully as Christmas approaches we’ll be checking out a few. 2017 has been a bit of a tough year personally and even if you look at the world that these movies come incredibly needed to just be in a positive story even if its slightly predictable and formulaic. However, as I always start these movie reviews, romantic comedy TV movies of this variety are really for those who appreciate it for it sfeel good value and I am one of those people who do.

Next up is Naughty & Nice! Let’s check it out!

Naughty & Nice (2014)

Director: Sam Irvin

Cast: Haylie Duff, Tilky Jones, Maureen McCormick, Eric Petersen, Tyler Jacob Moore, Terrence Carson, Catriona Toop

A cynical radio host is banished to Colorado, where he has an on-air spat with a hopeless romantic. Soon, their antagonistic relationship sparks the interest of the whole town. – IMDB

Haylie Duff, Tilky Jones and the rest of the cast here are completely new to me. Naughty & Nice is one of the TV movies that seem to betray its title a little early. The bad boy gets sent to a small town and its wildly predictable in the sea of movies in this genre that already are in that category. This one is definitely a little lower on my list. The dialogue feels a little forced and the chemistry between them also leave more to be desired. Its a great start but tries to wrap things up before they actually do pad out these characters too much.

Naughty & Nice doesn’t sit too well with me mostly because of its writing. There are some rather cringey moments and some moments that it was hard to truly feel that these two did need to be together. In normal circumstances, would the situation have progressed like this? I honestly don’t think so. Of course, this is my personal feeling about it. The crowd here doesn’t seem really into their roles as well and other than Haylie Duff, who plays small town radio host Dr. Sandra Love, who did a pretty good job at delivering her role, although you will see that I preferred her in the Christmas Belle (upcoming review). I couldn’t quite place where I stood for Tilky Jones who plays the LA host Pepper who gets banished for going over the line. He definitely has the appealing bad boy look but something about him doesn’t quite convince me and it doesn’t help that his role turns nice really fast. But, to be fair, some of the moments here were quite nice, particularly the chopping the tree and decorating the tree moment. Yet again, he somehow finds a mistletoe to chop down so that he can get a kiss with the girl he likes. A bit forced but they deliver a good kiss.

Of course, there are other cast here. The station manager is played by Tyler Jacob Moore who I can’t say I’m particularly fond of, mostly because his role felt disposable. While Eric Petersen is the station engineer Jonah and stands in as the comic relief in this. It did bring in a few laughs. Maureen McCormick plays as Sandy’s mother, Kate who is the wise person to help bring them together and help guide Sandra and Pepper a little. She was alright especially as the final scene to the big finale turned out to be somewhat funny as you see Pepper struggle a little and get discouraged easily.

Naughty & Nice is pretty average. There are some good and some bad here. Its very predictable and lacks the chemistry that I’d like for Sandra and Pepper to have although they are good looking people and very good kissers so those moments worked well. A few laughs to be had but the ending also felt a little weird. But then, it always goes back to how 2 weeks makes you want to propose to someone right away. That is movie magic that you just have to suspend your belief every once in a while. Some decent performances here and more of a script problem for myself as I liked Haylie Duff and Tilky Jones and their performances.

A Christmas Kiss II (2014)

Continuing with the Christmas movie watching on Netflix, I head onto watching A Christmas Kiss II. I’ve never seen A Christmas Kiss but I took the bet that it wasn’t going to be a continuation and it turns out that I was right. At this point, I’m just looking through the Holiday Favorites on Netflix and what they recommend that I’d like, so no idea what I’m getting in except its probably going to have a happy ending. Lets check it out.

A Christmas Kiss II (2014)

Director: Kevin Connor

Cast: Elisabeth Harnois, Adam Mayfield, Jonathan Bennett, Lola Glaudini, Celesta Hodge, Steven Schub, Elisabeth Rohm

At a Christmastime event, Jenna shares an impromptu, unforgettable kiss with the dashing billionaire, Cooper Montgomery. Unaware of his intentions and fearful of getting hurt in another relationship, Jenna vows to resist his charms, but begins to realize his affection is real as the two spend more time together. – IMDB

A Christmas Kiss II is one of those romantic comedy TV movies that has me slightly on the fence. There are aspects of it that I enjoyed but at the same time, as I get older, perhaps the romance magic of instantly falling in love isn’t quite there anymore. Does that make me bitter? I don’t think so but I also don’t think that its necessary to end it with an engagement after knowing someone for a week (or something like that) even if you think they are the love of your life. That is the infatuation of being in love at the beginning of a relationship and doesn’t make for anything lasting until that feeling is gone and other things sink in. Of course, that is a very realistic way of looking at things and its one of reasons why I can’t seem to get behind A Christmas Kiss II. However, that is a happy ending nonetheless so in the feel-good aspect, it hits its goal. But, I’m not one to bash this movie completely because before the ending, it did have an okay run.

For one, it follows the rule of being set during Christmas and not really stuffing the Christmas stuff down your throats. There are Christmas jewellery photo shoots and costumes as well as like a ton of poinsettias and of course, everyone’s favorite mistletoe in the elevator bit. Like I said in Merry Kissmas review, mistletoe in elevators is apparently a thing that I didn’t know about. It fits into the Christmas theme, so I’m alright with it now. Who doesn’t love a playboy being changed by a girl that he sees and does everything to try to get on her good side and prove that he is for real and even be a better him? I sure do. This is one of those romantic comedy plots that work because its probably not going to happen in real life (Man, its a really bitter review going on here..I blame today). A Christmas Kiss II does have this really deliberate and some forced dialogue between the two. And I can’t say that I’m really into the main couple, Jenna (Elisabeth Harnois) and Cooper (Adam Mayfield). They lack a bit of the usual chemistry that I’d see in these movies however, they are quite pretty to look at and there are a few laughs here and there.

Talking about the cast, there are some redeeming points here. I do like the last gesture that Cooper does here for Jenna. Its really heartwarming and awesome. Its believable and romantic that he would do that and have it set up to make her dreams come true and fight for her goals. The cast also includes some cool supporting roles. Lola Glaudini plays Mia, the boss at the company, but I remember her from Criminal Minds and while its odd seeing her in this role, I enjoyed her performance here. Jonathan Bennett also was in this one as Sebastian, Jenna’s neighbor and best friend who also happens to pose as her boyfriend when she’s trying to push away Cooper. There are some funny moments there as well. I like Jonathan Bennett quite a bit and its a nice twist to make him the make believe boyfriend but never toss them into a love triangle and the obstacle of Cooper and Jenna being solely their own trust in each other to determine whether they would get together in the end.

Overall, A Christmas Kiss 2 is alright. There are some things I can’t get behind but there are some redeeming points to it. Would I rewatch it? Probably not. In this category of films, there are a few others I’d prefer.

Merry Kissmas (2015)

It took a few days to get here but the first holiday movie is here! As mentioned in the marathon announcement, we’re looking at a few Hallmark movies. Why did I start with Merry Kissmas? Frankly, its because there’s Brant Daugherty and I’m still missing Pretty Little Liars and thinking of rewatching the series. Like many romantic comedies, a lot of these types of stories are quite predictable however the winning point is in their believable and feel good factor. While that might sound like I don’t really care about these movies, I actually do like the entire feel-good happy endings especially during the holidays. So let’s see how this one is.

Merry Kissmas (2015)

Director: Michael Feifer

Cast: Karissa Lee Staples, Brant Daugherty, David O’Donnell, Brittany Underwood, Ion Overman, Roxanne Hart, Doris Roberts, Ben Levin, Keith Dobbins

A woman engaged to marry a self-centered film and stage director/choreographer falls for a caterer whom she kisses, as does he for her. – IMDB

Merry Kissmas is an entertaining title of these feel-good films. The story is quite simple. Kayla (Karissa Lee Staples) comes back to her hometown for her engagement party while her fiance Carlton (David O’Donnell) coincidentally is there to work on The Nutcracker ballet choreography and rehearsal for Christmas. Being the manager for Carlton also, she sees that her relationship is falling apart mostly because Carlton’s fame has pulled his attention away from her, leaving her with doubts about their future. At the same time, coming home warrants her a lot of unwanted attention from old neighbors. It is in one of these escapes that she meets Dustin (Brant Daugherty), a caterer who she kisses in the elevator spontaneously and have an instant connection with and soon realizes that he’s actually the caterer for her engagement party. To be fair, other than being set during Christmas and Kayla being a Nutcracker figurine collector (unique hobby might I say) and the Christmas decorations (mistletoe in the elevator) and of course, Santa (which I have some thoughts on), this movie is really just a romantic comedy. That isn’t a criticism, just an observation. While it had some clunky dialogue here and there (as I’ve come to expect from these films), it was pretty fun to watch and an all around good time.

Starting from the basics, Merry Kissmas does have some funny moments. For one, we do have Doris Roberts here as the elderly neighbor that keeps wanting to kiss Dustin under the mistletoe. Its a little weird but also pretty funny also. There’s also Roxanne Hart who plays Mrs. Joyner who ends up with some funny moments running down the road. Carlton and Kayla make for some laughable moments in the beginning although the film does a great job and showing how Carlton is really not for her in extreme ways and sticks in our face that he is a jerk. Some of the best parts do go to the banter between Dustin and his cousin Kim which leads to a hilarious scene with Dustin in the elevator.

Talking about Carlton and Kayla, we need to take a look at the romance here. It is quite obvious that Carlton and Kayla are not for each other right from the beginning. And David O’ Donnell and Karissa Lee Staples has a lot to do with them throwing in decent performances and making some parts properly cringeworthy as well. However, romcom is all about the featured couple and their chemistry and whether it feels like it is natural. Karissa Lee Staples and Brant Daugherty makes Kayla and Dustin believably perfect for each other. Sure, they have the usual hesitation trope and being sidetracked but they are one of the better and natural romances I’ve seen in these types of movies. Right from the start with their first spontaneous kiss, it feels really great to watch them together.

If I were to get a little weirded out about something here, it might be that Santa is everywhere. He is always around when Kayla is in town. I’m not sure if thats an emphasis at how small the town is or there is weird fairy godmother sort of thing to offer support and guidance but matches up with the Christmas theme. Second thing which I am starting to be okay with is the whole hanging a mistletoe on the elevator. At this point I have 3 of these TV movies to review (reviews coming soon) and there is an odd infatuation with mistletoe. Maybe its because I’ve always around people who don’t use mistletoe as decoration thats why it seems odd to me but to be fair, the first kiss for the lovebirds here are under a mistletoe but the mistletoe had nothing to do with it, the elevator did (apparently). Still, the justification is that its Christmas time. Why not, right? I’m really not that picky about Christmas TV movies.

The more I talk about this, its going to sound weird. Overall, Merry Kissmas is one of the better TV movies I’ve seen to date. Its fun, packs a nice dose of laughs and heartwarming plus Brant Daugherty and Karissa Lee Staples have great chemistry making it romantic and heartwarming. It delivers on being very feel-good and (if you are into this genre) a great choice to check out.