STREAMING WARS
Christmas movies run the gamut
You don’t need the Hallmark Channel on cable to be inundated with Christmas movies and content this time of year. No, you just need to subscribe to almost any streaming service and you’re all set.
I’m a huge Christmas fan, so I decided to sift through the major streaming platforms and see what’s available for those eager to get into the holiday spirit while remaining safe and cosy at home.
NETFLIX
Netflix’s ever-growing catalogue of Christmas originals is, simply put, an embarrassment of riches. That’s not to say all that glitters is gold, but there’s plenty on here that’s worth the watch.
• Holidate is a new romantic comedy starring Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey. It attempts to satirize the genre, pointing out all of the silly tropes that come along with it, while also adhering strictly to said tropes. Sloane (Roberts) and Jackson (Bracey) make a pact to be each other’s holidates for all major holidays to avoid the awkwardness that comes with bringing a significant other to family gatherings. Will they fall in love? I think we all know. It’s still a fun, sometimes raunchy romp — definitely not for children — but lacks cohesion and focuses more on eyecandy than clever comedy. Kristin Chenoweth as Aunt Susan is hilarious and steals the show.
• Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square is not what I was hoping for. Dolly Parton has made some of my favourite Christmas songs, but this holiday special is best to be avoided. Both an amateur Christian stage-play and an Old Navy commercial, Christmas on the Square completely drops the ball to highlight the talent on screen. The hamfisted drama — a predictable mish-mash of holiday tales — is painful to watch and sometimes unintentionally funny. Skip.
• Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey on the other hand is exactly what I want a Christmas musical to be. Beautifully imaginative, heartwarming, with a steampunk world that is a feast for the eyes.
Jingle Jangle tells the tale of a great inventor Jeronicus (Forest Whitaker), who creates the most amazing toys and gadgets in the world, but when his greatest creation is taken from him, he loses his way. It’s up to his clever granddaughter, Journey (Madalen Mills), to reignite his imagination.
We’re spared yet another retelling of Santa Claus and his various origins and lore and are instead given an original story about strong, Black characters and it’s so refreshing. A must watch.
CRAVE
Although Crave doesn’t have the breadth of titles that Netflix has, they make up for that in quality.
• Last Christmas, a holiday romance starring Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding was added to the Canadian streaming platform earlier this year after its 2019 release. The film is about Kate (Clarke), who’s sort of going through life in London. Working at an all-year Christmas store with the hilariously strict not-her-actual name Santa (Michelle Yeoh), Clarke aspires to be a performer but can’t catch a break. She bumps into Tom who is able to lift her spirits and guide her through a tough time in her life and they appear to have a strangely powerful connection. It’s a lovely, intimate romance about looking after yourself and others. Tissues recommended. Also, there’s a lot of George Michael music, fair warning.
• Crave recently added a bevy of classic Christmas movies to its service called The Holiday Collection. It includes favourites like Love Actually, Miracle on 34th Street (original and remake) and my number one favourite It’s A Wonderful Life. They’ve even included a subcollection, called Yes, It’s a Christmas Movie, with titles like Die Hard, Gremlins and Batman Returns — which, aren’t in the Christmas genre, but take place around Christmas.
DISNEY+
Disney’s original and back catalogue of Christmas titles is relatively thin, but there are a few things here worth streaming.
• Noelle, starring Anna Kendrick, is a fun and often hilarious family movie about the Santa Claus family dealing with a changing of the guard. Nick Kringle (Bill Hader) isn’t ready to take over from his father, while Noelle (Kendrick) tries to help him out as best she can, while clearly showing an aptitude for the top job herself. There are some really funny performances in this from the cast, including Billy Eichner and Shirley Maclaine and kids will like it too — put this in the same category as Elf.
• Other holiday classics.
Thanks to Disney’s evergrowing back catalogue from its various holdings, there are several classic films on offer here too. Some of the best include Home Alone (the original and its sequel, skip installments three and four), The Santa Clause and the little-known, but lovely
One Magic Christmas starring Mary Steenburgen and Harry Dean Stanton. In it, a mother re-discovers the joy of Christmas thanks to the intervention of a guardian angel named Gideon. Just a note: the content may be disturbing to younger viewers as the film does deal with death and tragedy.
Admittedly, that’s only scratching the surface, there’s an endless flood of Christmas and holiday-themed films to watch with many more on the way, but hopefully, this is enough to get you started. Have an idea for a future episode Streaming Wars? Reach Colin Chisholm on Twitter at: @Colinhantsco or via email at colin.chisholm@herald.ca