Netflix rolls out the Christmas flicks — including ‘hot Santa’
There’s a funny thing about Christmas when it comes to movies: It doesn’t matter how bad they are, how illogical they may be or how terrible the acting is, they’re very hard to hate. And Netflix has cottoned on.
THERE’S a funny thing about Christmas when it comes to movies: It doesn’t matter how bad they are, how illogical they may be or how terrible the acting is, as long as there’s a decorated tree, a bit of snow and a man dressed up in red and white, they’re very hard to hate.
Netflix has cottoned on to this phenomenon and gone into overdrive with a feast of new movies popping up on the streaming service about the festive season. There is absolutely no threat any of these will win an Oscar, and you’ll find yourself laughing when you’re not meant to in a few of them, but strangely with the magic dust of Christmas sprinkled over them, they’re all quite watchable.
THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES
Kurt Russell is Santa Claus. That’s all many people will need to know before sitting back and giving this one a crack. Some reviews have already just focused on the fact that there’s a “hot Santa” to give it the thumbs up and let’s be honest, he’s the perfect choice and it’s kind of surprising he hasn’t donned the suit before. The Christmas Chronicles is so jam-packed with cliches, it’s a work of art in itself. The kids, facing their first holiday season without their dad (a hero firefighter no less), left at home on Christmas Eve when their nurse mum gets called into work, setting out to trap Santa, nearly ruining Christmas... yada yada. This list is longer than Santa’s but ... it works.
THE HOLIDAY CALENDAR
Abby’s best friend Josh returns home just in time for Christmas and the games begin. Everyone in the world can see they should be together but they both insist they’re “just friends”. When Abby inherits an antique Advent calendar that appears to be able to predict the future with the ornaments that appear behind the windows, it begins a series of events that lead to the eventual conclusion that we won’t write here, but you can guess without using a single brain cell.
THE PRINCESS SWITCH
Vanessa Hudgens stars in this royal-themed hat tip to The Parent Trap. The High School Musical star plays both Chicago baker Stacy De Novo and Margaret Delacourt, Duchess of Montenaro and future princess of the Kingdom of Belgravia. When Stacy, who is dreading her first Christmas since breaking up with her long-time boyfriend, is invited to Belgravia for the annual baking contest, she packs up her bags and travels to Europe with her business partner and (just) best friend and his daughter. The baker and the princess-in-waiting run into each other and devise a plan to switch for a few days so the royal can experience life as a pleb. No need to explain what happens next because from start to finish you feel like you’ve already seen this movie but the kids will love it and it’s covered in that
magic dust.
A CHRISTMAS PRINCE: THE ROYAL WEDDING
The folk at Netflix sure do love a royal-themed Christmas story. This is a follow-up to last year’s A Christmas Prince. It’s likely we will see new chapters added to the franchise for the next 50 years until we reach A Christmas Prince: The Funeral. Just as Amber is about to marry her prince, she questions whether or not she actually wants to be a royal. At the same time the kingdom is hit by a political crisis that threatens to destroy …. CHRISTMAS! (and the kingdom).
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