"At the risk of sounding like the Grinch, I must once again bemoan the release of Christmas movies before Thanksgiving; the temperatures may be dropping at long last, but it's still too close to the gloominess of daylight savings and too far from the belt-loosening of the actual holidays to fully indulge in Netflix's now-annual buffet of cheap Christmas confections. Nevertheless, their content conveyor belt rolls on, offering treats about as substantial and enduring as cotton candy beginning in mid-November."
"Like American chocolates that no longer, in fact, contain real chocolate but sell like gangbusters on Halloween anyway, the Netflix Christmas movie, like rival holiday movie master Hallmark, is relied upon, even beloved, for its brand of badness, for its rote familiarity (nostalgic casting, basement-bargain budgets, styrofoam snow, knowingly absurd premise) and uncanny artificial filler, for its ability to deliver hits of sugary pleasure while still somehow under-delivering on expectations."
"At worst, these films are forgettable train wrecks (last week's A Merry Little Ex-Mas); at best, they are forgettable fun, such as the Lindsay Lohan comeback vehicle Falling For Christmas, of which I remember nothing other than cackling with my friend on her couch. (Actually, at best they are memorably ludicrous, such as last year's impressively unserious Hot Frosty.) Champagne Problems, Netflix's latest Christmas concoction, disappears into the vast middle of the forgettable spectrum. Written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson, a former studio writer whose last Netflix-core romcom, Love in the Villa, was so disposable I forgot I had even reviewed it, it goes down like cheap bubbly, appropriately flat and situational."
Holiday streaming romances arrive early and imitate the sensory pleasures of seasonal cheer while lacking depth. These films deploy nostalgic casting, low budgets, artificial snow, and contrived premises to produce predictable, comforting formulas. They prioritize immediate sugary gratification over lasting substance, oscillating between forgettable disasters and mildly enjoyable, ludicrous spectacles. Recent entries often feel flat and situational, resembling cheap bubbly that loses fizz. Creative choices favor brand familiarity and rote comfort. The latest example continues the pattern, failing to achieve meaningful originality and instead blending into the vast middle of undistinguished holiday content.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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