Sigh.
ABCFamily has done it again my friends! There new holiday movie this
year features a successful woman played by Jennie Garth who returns home,
and gets to experience her life if she had never left and instead
married her high school sweetheart. What is it with ABCFamily that every
movie has the moral of if you have a successful career you are a
loser? Oh, and the movie is called Holidaze. Wow, real original guys! I
even used that once in a story!
Anyway,
I decided rather than once again rant on the horrible TV Christmas
movies out there, I would discuss five that I actually liked. Sure
they're silly...even ridiculous in some cases, but I actually enjoy
them.
A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
This
has gotten mixed opinions. People don't think its god awful, but they
dont really think it was great either. Me? To me it's the Deep Space
Nine of the Muppet franchise. It is a darker but decent, solid film but
for some reason it just doesn't have that charm the other Muppet movies
have so many stay away. I really like it! I like it more than The
Muppets in some ways. I like the references to various other Christmas
movies, especially It's a Wonderful Life. I also like the Muppet
references within. For instance, when Kermit sees the world where he was
never born he sees a stand for Doc Hopper's Frog Legs. A very clever reference to the original Muppet Movie. I guess I also like this
because unlike crap like Bah Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas it takes
place in and even respects the established Muppet canon. Heck the
setting is the classic studio where The Muppet Show was done! How could
you not love that??? Does it have flaws? Sure. For instance Piggy walks
off the show just to be coaxed back ten minutes later, what was the
point? But flaws and all I still enjoy it.
To Grandmother's House We Go
Before
the olsen Twins were a money making industry, they first appeared in
this TV movie in 1992. It's a silly story involving a pair of bandits
played by Jerry Van Dyke and Rhea Pearlman. Is it dumb? Oh heck yes, the
lead male is a Roy Roger/lottery obsessed jerk. I love the plot device
in the movie involving the lottery. The character has the winning numbers,
now in the real world that means you win. But in this crazy movie it
entitles him to spin a big wheel or a cash prize in the lamest of
climaxes. But in all fairness the story is original, the characters are
unique....ok there are cliches all over the place but it's still worth a
watch.
Home By Christmas
I
don't watch Lifetime, for obvious reasons, but I stumbled onto this
last year and really liked it. The story is nothing special, about a
woman dumped by her cheating husband and then hits an all time low
(courtesy of every cliche you always see including getting mugged, the
obvious new love interest, and trouble with an unreasonable teenage
daughter) before recovering at Christmas. She learns a few lessons a
long the way, of course. If it's a story that's been done to death, Why
do I insist it's so good? Linda Hamilton stars and brings her A game. I
was totally invested in her character and wanted to see her prevail. Her
characters was strong and wouldn't let anything defeat her, and the
movie manages to avoid going all "Man hating" like so many of these do
even if it is full of plot holes. Its cliche, contrived, and even a bit far fetched....but decent as far as corny Christmas movies go.
Santa Baby
Despite
my gripes about ABC Family, they do have one original movie I liked.
Before mvoies about Santa's kids became so common it's almost it's own
genre now, we have this little film. Mary Class, played by Jenny
McCarthy, is a highly successful executive in New York. Oh, she also
happens to be Santa's daughter. After Santa has a heart attack (which
was always odd but I digress), Mary has to step in and take over. Her
actions nearly shut the workshop down and ruin Christmas. I don't know, I
just like this one. Santa
Workshop is toned down from other versions but it's still done well, and
the special effects are decent. I even like the end when Mary learns
what believing in Christmas and her family means, and has to stop a
colleague from bulldozing her home. Oh, and her being successful is not
frowned upon! Jenny McCarthy is really good in this, and it earned a
sequel so I can't be the only one who likes it. Besides, compared to
other ABCFamily dreck, it's a decent watch.
Richie Rich's Christmas Wish
This is cheating because it didn't start as a TV movie but a direct to video movie but I actually kind of liked this one.
Of course it's basically another "It's a Wonderful Life" knockoff.
Maybe I am just a sucker for these, but I still find this a decent
watch. Richie Rich wishes he was never born, and is transported to a
parallel world where Reggie is the richest boy in town. It's nothing
remarkable, and I don't like the rushed ending. The whole mess starts
when Reggie sabotages Richie's sled which causes it to wreck havoc. When
Richie returns to his normal reality this gets quickly resolved. I
suppose you could argue that its because everyone got over it after
Richie disappeared, but it still felt rushed. So yeah, it's nothing
remarkable but it's not the worst either.
So,
there is some good stuff out there. Of course "A Very Brady Christmas"
has been a favorite of mine for years but I have already discussed that.
As for "Holidaze", I haven't watched it yet but will go on a limb and
guess that in the end Jennie Garth chooses to stay in her home town and
with the guy because being a successful executive means you're evil!!
But that's just a guess.
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