The Holiday Calendar

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A psychic advent calendar helps a young woman, played by Kat Graham, to see her future.

I will admit this film’s premise has some goofy appeal, a psychic advent calendar at least feels fresh, I haven’t seen one of them in a Christmas film before, however this freshness is quickly undone as the calendar is merely used as a means to an end to enter into the usual holiday rom-com cliches.

Indeed it seems I hoped for too much with this film as it quickly becomes generic. All of the rom-com cliches and tropes are dusted off and forced out on stage for good measure, the love triangle feels incredibly obvious in where it is leading and there are no stakes at all in the whole thing as we all know how it is going to end.

The acting is all fairly sub-par and for Graham who I know can act because she was okay on The Vampire Diaries this is clearly her slumming it for an easy paycheck.

Overall, even the whacky premise can’t save this film from becoming a bag of cliches and tropes.

Pros.

The goofy premise

It is watchable

Cons.

The pacing

It is generic

It is nothing you haven’t already seen before

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We Wish You A Married Christmas: Cute Alpacas To The Rescue

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A married couple check in to a B and B over the Christmas period in order to try and fix their marriage.

Really the main selling point for me of this film is the Alpacas, I really like Llamas and Alpacas and seeing one on the poster for this film is what made me want to check it out. For the most part the Alpacas aren’t really featured but when they are it is the best moments of the film.

Really everything else about this film is deeply generic and makes the film hard to watch. It is a slog to get through and the central couple have no chemistry at all and instead feel throughout the film, even in the end when they are supposed to be happy with each other again, as though they hate each other.

The pacing is also really incredibly bad, and the film feels like it is on for double or even triple its runtime.

Overall, some cute Alpacas aren’t enough to keep you watching throughout this film, as boring as it gets for bad Christmas films.

Pros.

The Alpacas

It is unintentionally funny

Cons.

It is tedious to sit through

It is deeply generic

The romantic leads have no chemistry at all

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Christmas Under Wraps: Santa Claus Is Real

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A doctor, played by Candace Cameron Brue, moves to Alaska and wouldn’t you know it she falls in love with both small town life and with one of the local sons.

Again this is nothing new, you have seen this same movie reskinned time and time again especially if like me you enjoy watching bad Hallmark Christmas films. This goes beyond being simply formulaic and feels like instead there is a check list of things that need to be ticked off one by one, something mimicking whole moments from other films.

However, where this film shone for me was in the fact that the male lead’s father, played by Brian Doyle-Murray, was actually Father Christmas. Most of these films stick to a samey formula that always boils down to the same conclusion, however, I liked that this film got a little zany and went for something quite different.

The performances aren’t very good, with Brue being especially bad. Although, what do you expect from a Hallmark film.

Overall, I like that they went there with it, but otherwise it was a very by the numbers sort of project.

Pros.

The leap into fantasy

It is unintentionally funny

The pacing

Cons.

Brue doesn’t give a good performance and her character is hard to like

It is very samey and formulaic

The ending feels rushed

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Maple Valley Christmas: The Christmas Rom-Com Every Incel Needs

2/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The unlikely love story of a rancher and a property developer.

I think in many ways this is an incredibly cliched Christmas rom-com, it did nothing new, everything was incredibly predictable and the ending could have been seen coming from a mile away. It is by no means a good film.

What saves the film to a degree for me is the chemistry between female lead Peyton List and male lead Andrew K. Walker, both of them gave good performances, particularly List, and appeared as quite a genuine and believable couple on screen.

However, in the quality of their romance lies another problem of the film and that is some quite toxic elements. These can best be found in two scenes where Walker’s character uses straight up incel logic and negging to get List’s character to apologies to him and behave how he wants. These scenes are quite problematic and do take away from the enjoyment of the film quite a bit.

Overall, it has some good moments but the incel vibes drag it down.

Pros.

List

The romance

Cons.

The incel vibes

The pacing

It is incredibly generic

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Big Mouth Season Six Overview: The Lows Of Life

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Hearts are broken, families are changed forever, and a new hormone monster is born.

I was eagerly awaiting the new season of Big Mouth, it is one of my favourite adult animated shows and is usually consistently good. This season is good however, it is also far sadder than I was expecting it to be, yes primarily the comedy is still there and the jokes are funny enough to keep you laughing through all the sad, but I thought there was quite a lot of heaviness to this season of the show. Though I suppose that is reflective of life.

I enjoyed the theme of change and reconciliation this season, I thought that in a lot of ways it felt very natural and worked in many of the characters arcs. I think the show continues to delve to new emotional depths despite all of the rather gross out gags.

I only had two real issues with this season, firstly that Lola had way too much screen time and secondly that the Nick’s Grandfather storyline was given far too easy a tying up. Regarding the former, I think that though Lola has interesting moments and certainly still has some areas of exploration open to her character’s journey, often she is used in far too one note a way and the storyline she is given here shows this to the nth degree. In terms of the Nick’s Grandfather storyline I think that for the most part it is very bare bones and lacks a lot of the nuance and depth the show is known for, but also I thought wrapping it up simply by having the characters saying I love you to fix everything is lazy writing.

Overall, a good season on the whole but one that is surprisingly sad.

Pros.

The nuance

The sombre tone

Jay’s storyline

Andrew’s storyline

Cons.

Nick’s Grandfather is overused and underexplored

Lola is given too much screen time

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Weird The Al Yankovic Story: Never Stop Chasing Your Accordion

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A film detailing the supposed life of Weird Al Yankovic, which is also a stand up of modern Hollywood biopics.

This was one of my most anticipated films of the year, and now that I have seen it I feel somewhat disappointed. Don’t get me wrong the film is still a lot of fun and there are a number of good jokes that come about as a result of the parody, but there are also a number of problems with the film that stop it from ever being truly great.

The chief issue for me is the fact that because the film is trying to cram in so many different references and call backs to other famous biopics, and different types of biopic at that, that often the comedy of the film can range far too broadly and not land, I think the comedy is far more miss than hit. Another thing that bothered me about this film is that it leaves a lot of the best of Weird Al’s work out, maybe I have been spoilt by other musical biopics that hit you with maybe one too many songs, but here I found it was far too few.

The film is redeemed in a lot of ways by its performances, Daniel Radcliffe once again proves that he has fantastic comedy chops, Evan Rachel Wood is a scene stealer as Madonna and deserves her own spin off film and finally Toby Huss is great as Al’s disapproving dad.

Overall, fun but not as strong as it could have been.

Pros.

Wood

It’s a lot of fun

Radcliffe and Huss

The ending

Cons.

It barely features any of Weird Al’s songs

The comedy is more miss than hit

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Raymond And Ray: Burying A Body In Multiple Senses

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Two brothers, played by Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor, go on a road trip to bury their abusive father.

I enjoyed this film quite a bit, the nuance of the narrative and the idea of complicated father son relationships spoke to me and I liked how the film handled it and how each brother found closure in their own way.

In terms of a sentiment side of things I thought the film didn’t really have anything new to say, none of its philosophies haven’t already been explored in full. However, despite the plot of the film being quite humdrum I think the performances from both leading men more than make up for it. Hawke and McGregor both go on long journeys with their characters that feel both natural and by the end earned, I would be hard pressed to pick a better performance out of the two of them.

Another thing I think the film does well is balance out its comedy with its drama, making sure to keep the tone just right and never venturing into one or the other too completely.

Overall, thought it is nothing new the performances and character journeys keep this film engaging and enjoyable.

Pros.

Hawke

McGregor

The tone

The character work

Cons.

It is nothing new

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Hocus Pocus 2: This Time With More Alexas

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Sanderson Sisters return again.

I found this film to be mostly charming, I liked the updated humour and thought that the Sisters interacting with modern technology was a lot of fun. The film definitely benefits a lot from making the Sisters front and centre for this new instalment as it gives them a lot of time to shine. This is doubly good as the new lead of the film Becca, played by Whitney Peak, is incredibly dull and forgettable and the originals are needed to step in and save the film from her.

I think the stand out stars of this film were Sarah Jessica Parker’s Sarah, Sam Richardson’s Gilbert and Doug Jones’ Billy. Sarah Jessica Parker brings such a warmth and child like sense of wonder to her role that really helps to separate her character from the other Sanderson Sisters and makes it hard to root against her. Richardson is always very easy to warm to and that is no less true here, he has great chemistry with Jones and the two should get their own spin-off. The return of Billy could have felt in many ways just a nostalgia grab, but Doug Jones really does add a sense of agency to Billy and gives him an arc that adds weight to his return which really does work well.

My main issue with the film is the ending wherein the Sisters are basically redeemed and then killed off, seemingly setting the stage for Becca and her pals to become the new witches going forward. Now this sucks on multiple levels, firstly they shouldn’t have been redeemed the enjoyable thing about these characters was in how cartoonishly evil they were at times, secondly the seeming replacement characters are dull and have no soul or personality, and finally these films are about the Sanderson Sisters so to get rid of them from the franchise would be hugely folly.

Overall, still a good time but the ending spoils it to an extent.

Pros.

The humour

Jessica Parker, Richardson and Jones

It does justify its existence

Cons.

The ending

The new trio of leads are just awful

The Storied Life Of AJ Fikery: To Live And Love In Small Town America

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The story of a man, played by Kunal Nayyar, from small town America whose life begins anew when he adopts a child.

I thought in many ways this film was beautiful, it told a story of life and love and renewed hope when things seem bleakest, in these current times we can all do to be reminded of this. I would say it was happy throughout but that would be a lie as it is a sad ending, however, in that way it is reminiscent of real life, good times and bad.

Moreover, Nayyar was fantastic. Admittedly this is the first role I have seen him in outside of The Big Bang Theory but if this is anything to go by that show was heinously wasting his talents as a dramatic actor, in addition he also had great chemistry with his on screen love interest played by Lucy Hale. Hale for her part here managed to be charming and warm throughout, which as many of you who are long time readers of mine will know is high praise indeed as I think Hale’s career so far has painted her as a bad actor through and through.

My main criticism of this film would be that it tries to add in a lot of needless drama and mystery towards the end by pitting Christina Hendrick’s character against Nayyar as she wanted the child he adopted. Not only does Hendrick not really need to be in this film, as it would work well without her character at all, but also this subplot doesn’t fit the rest of her characters established personality within the film and feels shoehorned in for the sake of petty drama.

Overall, a sweet film.

Pros.

Nayyar

Hale

It is sweet and effecting

It tries to reflect the duality of life and death

Cons.

The needless drama towards the end

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Slayers: A Torturous Existence Surrounded In Mediocrity

2.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

A group of influencers hunt vampires.

Originally I was quite on board with this film, I liked Thomas Jane’s character and I thought the comedy/commentary was pretty on point, and then it has to go and ruin it all by just becoming another generic vampire film.

I think the worst thing about this film for me is that it boils down to the same old same old, some vampires and slayers attack one another until one comes out on top, there is nothing fresh about that. Moreover, a lot of the characters other than Jane’s are deeply unlikeable and irritating: though maybe that is on purpose. For the most part any film about influencers is best avoided.

The horror is not really there at all, the atmosphere is more jokey than anything else and yes they do have a little bit of gore but really that is nothing too shocking, it’s all fairly tame.

Overall, yet another generic vampire film.

Pros.

Jane

The comedy/commentary

It is short

Cons.

The characters are unlikeable

You have seen it before

It is deeply generic

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