Four Calling Birds

Well today was my first official day of winter break, and I only managed to watch one Christmas movie. But that is ok because one movie is better than one, wouldn't you say so?

Today's movie was Golden Winter. I did not have high hopes for this movie after the first five minutes. It is a live action film about a group of puppies that are abandoned by their owners and are trying to find their mom again. With the help of a young boy, they search for their mom and save Christmas in the process. Very cute concept for the movie and I loved the story-line. I did not like the cheap animation to make it look like the dogs were talking. It was downright creepy. If you want to do a movie about talking animals, either make it a cartoon or figure out something better. Some moments were cringe-worthy cheesy, but others were just the right amount. Overall, I'm giving the film 3 stars, because although I enjoyed it, little small things like the animation and bad acting took away from the overall entertainment value. And, apparently Haylie Duff is one of the voices for the dog, but I couldn't tell you which one. 

If you need a good movie with talking dogs, I would suggest sticking to the Air Bud franchise.

Three French Hens

Man, oh man, I hate finals. Sorry I haven't been able to post the last few days, but finals have really gotten the best of me. That being said, I haven't had time to watch any Christmas movies, but I did go and see a regular movie this weekend!

Horrible Bosses 2

Be warned, this movie is rated R for a reason. Don't take your kids to see this one folks. The crew is back at it again. After dealing with their, ahem, horrible bosses (see what they did there) in the last film, Nick, Kurt, and Dale are trying their hand as the bosses this time. The trio has created a new product called The Shower Buddy. However, a big company is trying to steal their idea, so rather than murder someone, which they realized last time, won't work, they plan to kidnap Rex, the corporate bigwig's son, and hold him for ransom. Of course, nothing goes quite like the trio plans, which is cause for many laughs and mishaps. Some familiar characters return, like sex-addict Julia, crazy boss Harken, and "Mother-F***a" Jones. My only word of caution: this movie is possibly racier than the last movie, so be prepared. Like I said, rated R for a reason.

With all that being said, I highly enjoyed the movie, just as much, if not more than the first movie. I was laughing like mad, and also trying to figure out how the trio could get themselves out of every mess. If you liked the first, you'll love the second. It doesn't fall into the rut most sequels do. I'm giving it 4 1/2 stars.

Only one more final for me, and then NetfliXmas will resume!

Two Turtle Doves

Yikes, there are only 12 more days until Christmas!

Well, my original plan was to have twelve posts before Christmas, but, I haven't been able to watch any Christmas movies for the last week because of finals... However, I will still try and post something every day until Christmas to live up to my promise.

Fortunately for all of you, but not so much for me, my last post never actually published... So I have about a weeks worth of movies that I reviewed, which never got posted! I will rewrite all of them, even though I haven't seen anything new since then! And hopefully I can watch at least one movie a day until Christmas!

The Fitzgerald Family Christmas

The Fitzgerald's are the definition of a dysfunctional family. I don't think a family can be any more dysfunctional than this one. All of the siblings have to come together for the holidays to decide if they will allow their dead-beat dad to come home for Christmas. This doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the problems this family has. If you are looking for a dark Christmas movie, this is the one for you. 

Bonus: Connie Britton plays the love interest.

Rating: 2 Stars

Babes in Toyland

I highly enjoyed this movie, but I also love the 60s musical genre. I wouldn't really classify it as a Christmas movie, but Disney sure does think it is. Two young lovers must fight an evil man who has turned them into toys to prevent them from getting married. The word Christmas isn't even mentioned until an hour into the movie, and it is only briefly as the toy maker stressed about "not meeting the Christmas deadline". Despite its lack of Christmas charm, Babes in Toyland is a good, entertaining, family-friendly movie.

Bonus: Early technicolor - bright colors and crazy sets.

Rating: 3 stars

Christmas with the Kranks

I actually saw this movie when it first came out, but it had been so long I forgot what happened. It's a clever movie, but it's not the greatest. Christmas with the Kranks is one of those movies that you watch maybe once or twice, but not something you would watch every year. Tim Allen and Jamie ale acurtis are two of my favorite actors, but this is not their best work. But, if you want a quick laugh and something new to watch, this will do in a fix.

Bonus: Tim Allen and JLC

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars

Small Town Santa

Don't watch this movie. There are so many better choices out there for you to watch, this is not one of them. A grumpy police officer tried to arrest Santa and has nothing on his mind but himself and falling in love. Santa knows this, but helps him anyways. Happy ending (SPOILER), he gets the girl, but he never really gets the true Christmas spirit.

Bonus: ummmmmm

Rating: 2 Stars

Holidaze

Go watch this movie right now. It's not a Christmas Classic by any means, but this is one of the best Christmas movies I have seen on Netflix to date. I cannot merely describe the movie to do it justice, but if you need a new movie to watch this Christmas, it should be this one.

Bonus: JENNIE GARTH ❤️

Rating: 4 Stars

Scrooged

This is by far the moste bizarre, the most insane, the most ridiculous version of A Christmas Carol I have ever seen. "Scrooge" is a TV producer who is producing a TV special based on... You guessed it, A Christmas Carol. I was not expecting this movie to be so weird, so I was a bit disappointed. I will admit, it was an interesting concept for an adaptation and I haven't quite seen anything like it.

Bonus: Bill Murray is Scrooge

Rating: 3 Stars

I Am Santa Claus

I will never look at a mall Santa the same way again. This documentary followed the lives of five different Santa Clauses, ranging from a gay Santa, a professional wrestler, a sex addict, and real bearded Santa, and a completely normal Santa. It was an interesting look at what Santas are like in real life.

Bonus: SANTAAAAAAA!

Rating: 3 Stars

Alpha and Omega: Howl-iday Adventure

This is nothing "howl-iday" about this adventure. Runt, a wolf, gets lost while exploring with his two siblings. The whole wolf family goes out in search of Runt, before it is too late. This is actually the second Alpha and Omega movie, but I have not seen the first. The movie ends with apthe family around a Christmas tree, so obviously that makes this a Christmas movie.

Bonus: Ashley Tisdale and Martin Freeman provide two of the voices.

Rating: 2 Stars

The Muppet Christmas Carol

I'm pretty sure I watched this movie sometime growing up, or the entir movie was a strong bit of déjà- vu. Either way, I've seen it in its entirety now. This is probably one of the most accurate adaptations of A Chrsitmas Carol I have seen, well, except that this one has puppets in it. Personally, I'm not a big fan of The a muppets, which I why this gets a less than stellar rating. I know I am in the minority here, because for some reason, people LOVE the muppets. Sorry, I'm just not a fan!

Bonus: Micahel Caine as Scrooge

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars

The Heart of Christmas

This movie was so good. I loved it. I hated it too. This movie is disguised as a happy-go-lucky Christmas movie, but is actually a sad, sappy cancer movie. Dax is a little boy who has cancer and probably won't live to see another Christmas, so his parents decide to have Christmas in October for him. Grab a box of tissues, you'll need them.

Bonus: Candace Cameron-Burre!

Rating: 4 Stars

That's all I have for now! Hopefully I'll be able to watch some more soon!

A Partridge in a Pear Tree

On the first day of NetfliXmas, my true love gave to me....

Way too many movies to watch!

I know that technically this is my second NetfliXmas post, but for the purpose of my clever song, this is officially the first day of NetfliXmas. Which means there are at least 11 more posts to come!

The Nightmare Before Christmas

I am ashamed to admit that I have never watched this movie until today. I'm pretty sure that I am one of the last people on earth to see this movie. Everyone has always highly recommended it, but it always just looked pretty creepy, and not like a Christmas movie at all. Now, for the great debate: is The Nightmare Before Christmas actually a Christmas movie? Or is it a Halloween movie? I'm not exactly sure where I stand on this debate quite yet, but I will agree that is has several elements of both holidays. Don't be like me and wait until a quarter of your life is over before watching this movie. Christmas or Halloween, it is a good, clever movie.

Bonus: Catherine O'Hara aka Mom from Home Alone, a Christmas Classic

Rating: 4 Stars

All I Want for Christmas (2007)

Yet another instance where I strongly recommend not judging a book by its cover. I actually really, really liked this movie. Don't be fooled, there are TWO "All I Want for Christmas" movies on Netflix. This is not the movie were Santa is hanging upside-down on the cover - I haven't watched that version yet. This movie is about a widowed mom and her son. The mom is about to lose her business and is trying to raise the money to keep the community center open. The son, on the other hand, enters a contest through a toy company to get his perfect Christmas gift, which is for his mom to find a husband. It has it's cheesy moments, but it's a super cute movie about a single mom's journey to finding love once more.

Bonus: The main character looks like Heather Locklear, but alas, she is not.

Rating: 4 Stars

12 Christmas Wishes for My Dog

Watch this movie. It literally has nothing to do with a dog. Don't ask me why the title has to do with a dog, because the 12 Christmas wishes are definitely NOT for her dog. In this movie, Laura leads a crazy, sad life, and wants to turn her life around. This is where the 12 wishes come in, except she uses them for all the wrong reasons. So Laura must turn her life around on her own, and possibly find love in the process. Corny, cute, and it has a lot of Christian undertones which is a HUGE added bonus in my opinion.

Bonus: Andrea from Beverly Hills 90210 and the ginger from Clueless (sorry I don't know her name off the top of my head, but I'm sure y'all know who I'm talking about). 

Rating: 4 Stars

Chrismtas on Salvation Street

Meh, I really wasn't a big fan of this one. Honestly, I found it really hard to pay attention. The general grasp I got from what I did watch, however, is that a widowed preacher and his family move to a low-economy area that has problems with gang violence. The preacher tries to help the community and members of the gang see what a true Christian, loving family is, while showing them the true meaning of Christmas and God's eternal love. I love the overall message the movie sends, but the on-screen play of it was just slow and did a poor job of keeping the attention of the audience, aka me.

Bonus: Drawing a blank on this one, to be honest

Rating: 2 Stars

Christmas Bounty

This is a Christmas movie in the same regards that Die Hard is; the movie is set during the week prior to Christmas, but aside from the setting, it has absolutely no connections to Christmas. This, however, does not mean I didn't enjoy the movie. I just wanted to put that up front. Christmas Bounty is about a teacher who goes home for the holidays and tries to hide her family business and true self from her boyfriend. Tory Bell and her family are bounty hunters. A man who Tory had put behind bars has escaped from prison, and she must once again catch him and some of his fellow cronies. Also, get ready for a not so surprise ending.

Bonus: ABC Family movies are daaaa bessssssst.

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars

One Magic Christmas

Disney can do no wrong, right? Wrong. Disney pulls a Disney and has to give you all the feels within the first ten minutes, making the family poor and killing the father. Now the widowed mother has no Christmas Spirit and her two kids must help her find it, with the help of a Christmas Angel, Giddeon, in order to save Christmas and the family. The overall, general concept is good, but Disney has to play with our heart strings and force us on an emotional roller coaster.

Bonus: It didn't make me cry, just squeezed my heart to a pulp.

Rating: 2 1/2 Stars

Snow Day

Oops, this is definitely not a Christmas movie. However.... I would go so far to consider it a winter movie. During a snow day, a brother and a sister embark on two different quests. The brother journeys to capture the heart of his school crush, while the sister tries to sabotage the snow plow so the school will have two snow days in a row for the first time ever. Even though it wasn't a Christmas movie persay... I really enjoyed it!

Bonus: It's a Nickelodeon movie from the 90's. 

Rating: 4 Stars

3rd Annual NetfliXmas

Welcome to the 3rd Annual NetfliXmas!

On a side note - it has been so long since I got on here, that I forgot my passowrd, and pretty much everything on this website has changed... Oops. I'll get better about posting on here, that is my New Year's Resolution for 2015!

Alright, so onto NetfliXmas.

"What is NetfliXmas?" you ask. Well, I have the answer.

I am obsessed with Christmas movies. I have seen some good, some bad, and some pretty darn ugly ones. But, I still can't get enough. So for the past two years, this year being the third, thus, 3rd annual, I embark on a quest to watch a whole lot of Christmas movies. 

Here are the rules:
1) First, I add every Christmas movie I can find on Netflix to "My List".
2) If I have already seen the movie, it does not get added to "My List".
3) I pick a Christmas movie using a random number generator.
4) I watch the movie in its entirety, no matter how bad it is.
    - Let me remind you that I have seen some pretty terrible Christmas movies in the years past.

5) I rate the movie on Netflix using their 5 star system.
    - Please see the sidebar for reference to how I rate each movie.
6) I get on blogger and write a short little blurb about each Christmas movie I watch and share my rating.
7) You read the blog post and decide if there is a new Christmas movie out there for you to watch!

OK - sounds fun, right? Good, because I've watched a handful of movies over the past few days and now I am going to share them with you!

Christmas Crush

This movie was originally a Lifetime movie that has now been added to Netflix. I dont know about you, but I love cheesy Lifetime movies. This was no exception! This movie was about a girl who has come back to her home town for Christmas and for her 10-year high school reunion. Even though she was voted Most Likely to Succeed in high school, her career has gone virtually no where and she doesn't have a college degree. Her only hope is to get back together with her old high school boyfriend, who she dumped at prom before running off to college. 

Added Bonus: This movie stars Jonathan Bennett, AKA Aaron Samuels from Mean Girls

Overall Rating: 4 stars

Hercules Saves Christmas

Talk about a strange movie. The concept of the movie at first seems cute, but the plot wraps itself up within ten minutes. Then, another challenge is presented, which again is wrapped up in ten minutes. Finally, the real problem is made apparent. The movie appears at first to be the story of a dog who saves a little orphan boy from being on the naughty list. Then, it seems like the movie is actually about saving a grumpy old man from losing the spirit of Christmas. But actually the movie is about an evil elf that wants to steal Hercules, the dog who creates the naughty and nice list, and it is up to the orphan and old man to save Hercules. So my question is, how is it that HURCULES saves Christmas, when he is the one who has to be saved? I wouldn't waste your time watching this.

Added Bonus: The mom from Double Teamed plays the evil elf's henchwoman.

Overall Rating: 2 Stars

Saving Santa

I would be lying if I said I thought I would like this movie. I had some pretty low expectations going into it. Everyone knows the saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover," but we would all be lying if we said we never did. And I did. The cover of this movie looked plain stupid, not to mention the bad animation. But, I gave the movie a chance and it actually wasn't half bad. The movie had some promise once it started. An evil dude wants to kidnap Santa to figure out how he travels the world in one night, so he can use the same technology in his shipping business. It is up to one elf, Bernard, to save the day. I don't want to ruin Santa's secret, but let's just say its pretty cool, and creates a bit of a Groundhog Day effect to the movie's plot. It's biggest downfall was when they felt the need to add in a big music scene.

Added Bonus: All-Star Cast! Ashley Tisdale (AKA Sharpay in High School Musical and Maddie in Suite Life), Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show), and Martin Freemen (The Hobbit and Sherlock)!

Overall Rating: 3 Stars

All American Christmas Carol

If you have never heard of The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens then you need to get in your car and drive to you local bookstore right now to educate yourself. For everyone else, this movie may seem a bit familiar. At first, the parallels aree hard to see, aside from the ghosts of present, past, and future. But, a closer look and you will find Tiny Tim, Scrooge, and Marley in unexpected characters. Set in modern day America, this story is far from "All American". This film should have been titled White Trash Christmas Carol. A mom, who is on the verge of losing her children to CPS must make a change in her life, with a little help from some familiar ghosts. Yet, at the end of the movie, i still have one question: did she get to keep her kids? I guess I will never know.

Added Bonus: Stars one of the characters from Orange is the New Black (but don't ask me which one) and Rita from Bridesmaids

Overall Rating: 3 Stars

Call Me Claus

The world is ending and it's all Santa's fault. That is, unless he finds a replacement Santa in four weeks. Every 200 years, a new Santa must take over, or the world will end, and the current Santa has only one option left. The only problem, Lucy Cullins hates Chrismtas. Santa has to do everything he possibly can to get Lucy to become the next Santa and reinforce her lost love for Christmas. Honestly, cute idea in theory, but I really did not like this movie. Whoopie Goldberg plays Lucy, and frankly, she is brash and annoying. Also, why is Santa now a girl? Lucy's transformation from Christmas-hater to new Santa seemed rather abrupt to me as well.

Added Bonus: Whoopie Goldberg and Victor Garber. Plus, that great 90s movie feel to it.

Overall Rating: 2 Stars

Switchmas

Cheesy, but cute. Two kids swap places at an airport to go to each other's respective vacations. Jewish Ira wants nothing more to celebrate Christmas in a snowy paradise, and Mikey is tired of the snow, and would rather spend the week in Florida. So they switch and pretend to be each other. Has a bit of a Parent Trap feel, without the divorced parents. The movie's biggest flaw was the random animated numbers reflecting Ira's Christmas thoughts. However, worth the watch if you want a quirky Christmas movie.

Added Bonus: Dad from Wizards of Waverly Place

Overall Rating: 3 1/2 Stars

Eight Six

My goal for this year is to watch at least one movie from The Book a week. So far so good, for the past three weeks I have watched a movie from the book on each respective Sunday! So the new total is 86 (thus the title of tonight's post) out of 1001!

First was A Room With A View. I love love loved this one! It's definitely a classic starring some absolutely phenomenal actors - two of whom are two of my absolute favorites: Dame Maggie Smith and Helena Bohnam Carter. This was one of Carter's first films, and the film that put her on the map. Although I have to admit, as an avid Harry Potter fan, it was weird at first to see McGonagall as Bellatrix's nanny, but I soon got over that. This is the story of a young woman (Carter) who falls in love with a man while traveling with her nanny. However, once she gets home, she is soon engaged to another man. As fate would have it, things are not always as they should be, and the young woman's true love comes back into her life, complicating her impending engagement. Definitely a much see, and I hope to read the novel that inspired the movie soon. 4 stars.

Last week's movie was Beverly Hills Cop! I had heard much about this movie so I had pretty high expectations. While I thought it was very funny (my favorite being when Eddie Murphey's character puts a banana in the tailpipe of a cops car) and very deserving pf its spot in the book, I don't think I could handle another minute of Eddie Murphey's ANNOYING LAUGH. If you can get past the laugh, then watch this movie. It has a wonderful soundtrack - an essential to any self-respecting 80s/90s movie. I guess I should maybe tell you what the movie is about, right? Basically a hot-shot Chicago cop takes a "vacation" and goes to LA to investigate his friends murder. But no description can do justice to the raw humor that makes this movie what it is. 3 stars.

Finally for this weeks movie. DRUMROLL..... Say Anything! This. Movie. Is. A. Classic. I think that pretty much sums it up. It is a movie of big romantic gestures, cheesy one-liners, and a corrupt dad who only wants best for her daughter. Unlike most gooey romantics, this movie is told from the perspective of the boy - John Cusack. Ironically, his sister in the movie is played by his real-life sister Joan Cusack, which I thought was pretty cool. Lloyd (John Cusack) is kind of a no-nothing loser. He has no ambition and just did alright in school, but he has found that he has fallen for the school valedictorian, Diane Court (played by Ione Skye). No one thinks they will ever become anything. In fact, when Llyod first asks Diane on a date, she has to look him up in the yearbook after saying yes. But Llyod doesn't stop for anything, especially after Diane breaks up with him before she leaves for college in Europe. Most people associate this movie with Lloyd holding a boombox over his head underneath Diane's window, but that wasn't even my favorite part of the movie. My favorite part was actually the last scene - which I don't want to ruin for any of you who haven't seen the movie, so go watch it and find out what happens. All I have to say is, this is one for the books, and one everyone would see at least once in their lifetime. 4 stars.

Yes, This Blog Still Exists

Wow.... It's hard to believe it's been almost 9 months since I posted something. I could've had a baby in that time... (BUT I DIDN'T - just thought I'd clarify this is a joke.) But, I figured, now is the best time to start it back up again, yea?

So here's to starting fresh and actually posting on here more than once every year...

Went and saw Labor Day today, staring Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet. First I want to preface this saying that, of course, I read the book about 2 weeks ago. I wasn't expecting to like the book (or the movie for that matter), but I really enjoyed the book. It was well written, and pretty realistic. So, I had some high expectations for the movie - especially because Rose (Titanic reference of course) can do no wrong. The movie and the storyline itself were very accurate in terms of the book. However, the movie was just kind of ok. I'm giving it three stars, because I enjoyed it, but all of the emotions and acting just felt pretty surface level. I never felt the deep emotional attachment to the characters that I felt while reading the book. It was good for a one-time see, but it's not something I'll be jumping out of bed to buy on DVD/BluRay anytime soon.

Take it or Leave it, that's just my opinion.

You'll be hearing from me again soon, I'm sure!