Tag Archives: Holiday Movies

The Noel Diary review — Grotesque seasonal schmaltz

December 12, 2022 flawintheiris

Directed by Charles Shyer | Written by Shyer, David Golden, and Rebecca Connor, based on a novel by Richard Paul Evans | 99 min | ▲▲△△△ | Netflix Sometimes movies annoy simply because the filmmakers who made them think their audience are idiots. This one of the problems with The Noel Diary, though not its… Read More

A Christmas Story Christmas review — Not the same magic, but not bad

December 10, 2022 flawintheiris

Directed by Clay Kaytis | Written by Kaytis, Nick Schenk, and Peter Billingsley, based on the book In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd | 98 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Crave If I've said it once I've said it a dozen times, filmmakers attempting to sequelize a classic so many years… Read More

Violent Night review — “Like Die Hard, except a Christmas movie”

December 7, 2022 flawintheiris

Directed by Tommy Wirkola | Written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller | 112 min | ▲▲△△△ Violent Night is one of the most shoddily made movies I've seen in a long time, a picture so half-baked it's amazing the filmmakers had the nerve to do it. They should count their lucky stars they got… Read More

Your Christmas Or Mine? review — Sweet Brit Christmas tale surprisingly original

December 6, 2022 flawintheiris

Directed by Jim O'Hanlon | Written by Tom Parry | 95 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Amazon Prime To the best of my knowledge this particular scenario has never been done before — young lovers get stuck at each others' families with very different holiday traditions — and for that reason alone I'd recommend Your Christmas… Read More

Spirited review — Lots of singing in this Christmas Carol

December 5, 2022 flawintheiris

Directed by Sean Anders | Written by Anders and John Morris | 127 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Apple TV+ We open on a deeply troubled woman — named Karen, of course, played by Rose Byrne — getting sucked into a grave, but this picture's not nearly as grim as all that. This creepy opening scene… Read More

Christmas on the Square review — For Dolly completists only

December 11, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Debbie Allen | Music and Lyrics by Dolly Parton, written by Maria S. Schlatter, based on her stage play | 98 min | Netflix It's entirely possible this doesn't qualify as cinema at all, given that it's produced by Warner Brothers Television, but either way Christmas on the Square is just awful. I… Read More

Last Christmas revisit review — Better than you’ve heard

December 6, 2020 flawintheiris

People who know me know I love London — I went to high school there and have visited probably a dozen times since those years. Exactly a year ago I in town, a gorgeous week of galleries, theatre, and a lot of walking down streets adorned with all the lights of the holidays — as… Read More

Happiest Season review — A gay and merry holiday treat

December 2, 2020 flawintheiris

Directed by Clea DuVall | Written by DuVall and Mary Holland | 102 min | Netflix It's Christmas at the Caldwell home, solidly upper-middle class, white, and midwestern. Daughter Harper (Mackenzie Davis) is bringing her partner Abby (Kristen Stewart) to the holiday celebration. The problem is that Harper hasn't come out to her parents —… Read More

Last Christmas review — Seasonal romcom a joy

November 10, 2019 flawintheiris

Directed by Paul Feig | Written by Emma Thompson, Greg Wise, and Bryony Kimmings | 102 min | On Demand I try not to blame a movie for the mistakes of its marketing, but have you seen the trailers for Last Christmas? They sell it as a sweet romantic comedy set in London at Christmas,… Read More

The Holiday (2006) review — The verdict on the popular seasonal romcom

December 17, 2018 flawintheiris

Directed and Written by Nancy Meyers | 132 min | On Demand So, this is what happened: A friend and colleague at work and I got talking about Christmas movies. She raved about The Holiday. She says it's a delight, with just the right mix of sweetness and romcom magic, and for those with interest… Read More