Netflix was early with releasing new Christmas themed movies this year. I believe The Holiday Calendar arrived early in November. It’s not the only, the first or the last of the Christmas treats. I’ll list a handful of movies below that I think are worth watching. If this is any indication of what’s to come of future Netflix movies, I’m excited.
The Christmas Chronicles (2018)
This adventurous Christmas movie featuring Kurt Russell is aimed at the younger audience with two siblings helping Santa to save Christmas. It’s made by the same makers as Home Alone and some of the scenes definitely show that.
Summary
Siblings Kate and Teddy Pierce hatch a scheme to capture Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. When the plan goes awry, the kids join forces with a somewhat jolly Saint Nick and his loyal elves to save the holiday before it’s too late.
The Christmas Prince (2017) and The Royal Wedding (2018)
The Christmas Prince and its sequel The Royal Wedding might not be an A-list romantic comedy, but they’re enjoyable nonetheless. I like that Amber still has her investigative nature as she’s about to join the royals. She isn’t brainwashed into the royal life yet and does the thing she does best.
Summary of The Christmas Prince
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?
Summary of The Royal Wedding
The wedding of the year is finally here! But will Amber and Richard make it past royal formalities and down the aisle? Find out when Rose McIver and Ben Lamb star in A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding.
The Holiday Calendar (2018)
The Holiday Calendar is entertaining, but the story is not that good. The twist is obvious and some of the characters are a little over the top. But the acting isn’t horrible. The idea of using a calendar is new to me.
What I loved about this movie is that race is a non-issue. No one talks about race or skin colour. I’m sure that you could replace any character with an actor of a different race and it wouldn’t change the story. With an exception of names maybe. It’s refreshing to see such a diverse cast where race isn’t the subject. I honestly hope that more movies will follow their lead. Especially the cookie cutter movies like these Christmas movies.
Summary
A struggling but talented photographer inherits an antique holiday advent calendar, the contents of which seem to predict the future. Will this magical calendar lead her to love this holiday season?
The Princess Switch (2018)
The Princess Switch has two familiar leads, one from High School Musical, the other from Nashville. It’s nice seeing both of them in very different roles. Vanessa Hudgens plays a double role as a baker and a duchess/princess to be. Sam Palladio plays a prince.
The story is predictable and some things didn’t make sense. If Kevin and Stacy were truely best friends, he would know that it wasn’t Stacy those days. Her charisma, her posture, her speech, mannerisms, everything would have given her away. I don’t believe for one second that someone can learn how to be someone else in a matter of hours.
But if you put that past you, the movie is entertaining and fun. It has an original setting and I think that they did very well with the budget they had.
Summary
One week before Christmas, a duchess switches places with an ordinary woman from Chicago, who looks exactly like her, and they each fall in love with each other’s beaus.
