Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

Hello, guys!
Christmas is over but before we can get ready for the new year I have one more X-Mas flick to talk about. Two days ago I did a review on the original Miracle of 34th Street film, so we cannot end this year without also tackling the 1994 remake!

The Plot (as found on Rotten Tomatoes):

Six-year-old Susan Walker (Mara Wilson) is skeptical of the Christmas myth surrounding Santa Claus, a trait she perhaps learned from her mother, Dorey (Elizabeth Perkins). When tasked with hiring the Santa who will pose with kids at Macy’s, Dorey enlists a man with the curious name of Kris Kringle (Richard Attenborough) who claims to be Santa himself. His assertions are met with scoffs and threats of institutionalization, but a young lawyer, along with Susan and Dorey, comes to his defense.

Miracle on 34th Street on RT

The Rating:

After watching the first Miracle on 34^th Street film, I naturally had to go and see the second one as well. Is this a sequel that anybody needed? Is it well made? I am always wary in the face of remakes, but this one actually turned out to be fairly decent! Granted, and didn’t like it quite as much as the original, but I don’t really have much to complain about either!

For quite a large part of the film, they stick fairly close to the original storyline with only a few little tweaks. One that is actually rather small but stood out to me concerns Mara Wilson’s character’s father. In the original movie, it is made pretty clear from the beginning that he is out of the picture because of a divorce (which was surprising to me considering the movie is from the 40s). In this remake, however, for a while, they phrase it as if he simply died. I mean, they don’t say that outright, but it is heavily implied. It isn’t until quite far into the film that it is mentioned that they are merely divorced. Somehow it struck me as odd that it is the more recent movie where the lines are written like that. As I said, I completely irrelevant little detail, but that’s what my brain picks up on. I’m sorry guys. 😅

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Hey guys!
Technically speaking Christmas is over, but it’s still the holidays and still December, so there’s definitely time for more X-Mas movies. Today we’re looking at a classic, that I had never seen before!

The Plot (as found on Rotten Tomatoes):

In this Christmas classic, an old man going by the name of Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) fills in for an intoxicated Santa in Macy’s annual Thanksgiving Day parade. Kringle proves to be such a hit that he is soon appearing regularly at the chain’s main store in midtown Manhattan. When Kringle surprises customers and employees alike by claiming that he really is Santa Claus, it leads to a court case to determine his mental health and, more importantly, his authenticity.

Miracle on 34th Street on RT

The Rating:

Miracle on 34^th Street is a film I’ve meant to watch for a while. Or rather films. Since there is a remake, I feel obligated to watch both the old and new versions! Today we’re going to talk about the black and white picture before tackling the 1994 version in a couple of days.

I was pleasantly surprised! This is a lovely film that I enjoyed a lot. First of all, it didn’t dawn on me that the little girl was played by Natalie Wood until I looked it up on Wikipedia which was interesting to me! She delivers a great performance but she’s not alone with that. I have no complaints whatsoever when it comes to the cast.

The story is rather charming and the department store execs trying to one-up each other felt rather realistic. Even when you do something nice there has to be money in it, right? I appreciate how they treated the whole Santa thing. It’s always a little weird to me that in movies people just easily accept “oh yeah, you say you’re Santa!” Here they don’t raise their eyebrows, they question whether he is of sound mind and send him for psychiatric evaluation. After all, that man is working with children, so it’s important to be sure he is not a threat or anything of that sort. Really nice touch!

A Boy Called Christmas

Hello, hello!
For today’s Christmas movie review, I bring you a brand spanking new release. A Boy Called Christmas hit Netflix this year and after seeing the trailer, of course, I couldn’t skip it!

The Plot (as found on Rotten Tomatoes):

An ordinary young boy called Nikolas sets out on an extraordinary adventure into the snowy north in search of his father who is on a quest to discover the fabled village of the elves, Elfhelm. Taking with him a headstrong reindeer called Blitzen and a loyal pet mouse, Nikolas soon meets his destiny in this magical, comic and endearing story that proves nothing is impossible.

A Boy Called Christmas on RT

The Rating:

This movie definitely wasn’t on my radar but when I opened Netflix and saw Maggie Smith looking back at me, I knew I had to check it out. It is not the most amazing Christmas film I have ever seen, but it certainly is a cute flick and I enjoyed watching it.

I absolutely love Maggie Smith (who is telling the story), her character almost reminded me a bit of the dowager in Downton Abbey. This was a layer they didn’t have to include the movie would have been long enough and would have had enough of a story with just the tale she tells but I like that we get this frame. It did make me chuckle a few times, and that’s always appreciated!

This is your typical Christmas movie in as far as you can tell where the story is going to end approximately two minutes in. But the film is cute enough that I really don’t mind. There are some interesting (and even dark) twists to the story that are somewhat unusual for a movie that appears to be geared towards little kids in most other regards. I like that they did try to do a bunch of different stuff here!

12 Dates of Christmas

Hello, hello!
Today we’re going to talk about a Christmas movie that left me less than excited. Well, I watched so you won’t have to! 😅

The Plot (according to Rotten Tomatoes):

A woman (Amy Smart) magically experiences Christmas Eve over and over again.

12 Dates of Christmas on RT

The Rating:

I don’t know what possessed me to click on this movie but browsing the Christmas film section on Disney+ I was presented with it, so here we are. If you are looking for a *very* cringy, somehow shallow, and cheesy flick to watch, look no further. 12 Dates of Christmas has you covered. If you are looking for something that will *not* melt your brain cells while watching, steer clear of 12 Dates for Christmas.

The premise is Christmas à la Groundhog Day. Amy Smart keeps reliving the day over and over again. What already irked me to an almost painful degree was her obsession to get back with her ex and trick him into spending Christmas with her. The was the first thing that was super cringy. Lady, he’s just not that into you – which was exemplified by him showing up with his new girlfriend. This is where any sane person might have decided to call it quits, but Amy Smart’s character keeps going for a while after that. I was glad to see that at some point she did come to terms with everything, but still.

Arthur Christmas

Hello, hello!
Today I’ve got quite the gem for you. It’s time to talk about Arthur Christmas, one of the most adorable movies I’ve seen this year. Let’s find out why I enjoyed it so much!

The Plot (as found on Rotten Tomatoes):

Everyone knows that, each Christmas, Santa Claus delivers presents to every last child on Earth. What everyone doesn’t know is that Santa accomplishes the feat with a very high-tech operation beneath the North Pole. But when the unthinkable happens, and Santa misses one child out of hundreds of millions, someone has to save the day. It’s up to Arthur (James McAvoy), Santa’s youngest son, to deliver a present to the forgotten tyke before Christmas morning dawns.

Arthur Christmas on RT

The Rating:

How freaking adorable is this movie?! I enjoyed every single second of it. I feel like the people involved in making this have a special place in their hearts for Christmas and it shows. The attention to detail is amazing, the character design is perfect, the story is charming, witty, and funny. What else could you want?

I honestly don’t know why I didn’t watch this movie earlier. Probably it was because I simply didn’t know it existed, which is a gross oversight. I haven’t really heard any big publicity for it though, and I also can’t recall it being on TV. Well, I’m glad I finally had a chance to check it out.

I’ll be Home for Christmas

Hello, hello!
Welcome to another season-appropriate movie review. Today we’re going to take a closer look at I’ll be Home for Christmas.

The Plot (as found on Rotten Tomatoes):

Estranged from his father (Gary Cole), college student Jake (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) is lured home to New York for Christmas with the promise of receiving a classic Porsche as a gift. When the bullying football team dumps him in the desert in a Santa suit, Jake is left without identification or money to help him make the journey. Meanwhile, his girlfriend, Allie (Jessica Biel), does not know where he is, and accepts a cross-country ride from Jake’s rival, Eddie (Adam LaVorgna).

I’ll be Home for Christmas on RT

The Rating:

This is another Christmas movie that pretty much came out of left field for me. I had never even heard of it, but Disney+ threw it my way, so here we are. To be honest, now that I have seen it, I can tell you that I wouldn’t have missed much had I continued living in ignorance.

I guess the main appeal of the movie when it came out back in 1998 was that the lead is played by Jonathan Taylor Thomas and that his girlfriend is played by Jessica Biel. I would assume that posters of both of them adorned a significant number of bedroom walls back in the 90s. However, in 2021 that is not enough to make this movie work.