Festive feels

Our guide to the best festive viewing

IT’S THAT

time of year and whether you love the silly season or not, you’re about to be inundated by Christmas movies and television specials.

So here at TimeOut we’ve gathered a few of your viewing options from old favourites to new trainwrecks so you know where to get your viewing fix this year, based on the type of festive flick you’re in the mood for.

FEELING CHEESY

If you just want a good ol’ cheesy Christmas film to while away the hours, Netflix has all the usual suspects like The Holiday Calendar, Christmas with the Kranks and Elf, but more interesting is their slew of super-cheesy Christmas originals: There’s no going past A Christmas Prince — not after last year’s viral success and not when reviews are already landing for the sequel, The Royal Wedding. Starring New Zealand’s own Rose McIver, these flicks are famed in the “so bad it’s good” category, but they’re also just really lovely, warm and easy-to-watch. In a similar Christmas romcom vein, there’s the Vanessa Hudgens-led

Princess Switch , in which a young baker swaps place with a princess to see how the other half lives; and

The Christmas Chronicles in which Kurt Russell stars as Santa in a film produced by Chris Columbus (yes, the Home Alone Chris Columbus). If you’re more of a chill-in-front-ofthe-telly person, Sky, Three and TVNZ have you covered. Christmas Day on Three is literally back-to-back festive flicks including titles like A Cinderella Christmas, Oh Christmas Tree, The Nine Lives of Christmas, The Holiday and more.

Meanwhile, Sky has very helpfully put all its festive flicks in one easy-to-find place with a new pop-up channel from December 15-27. Channel 38, the Sky Movies Xmas Pop-Up, will feature titles like The Star, Bad Moms 2, A Christmas Cruise, Almost Christmas, Four Holidays, Surviving Christmas and more.

And over on TVNZ2, they’ll be airing a ton of Christmas films from December 15 until Christmas Day, including Fred Claus, Arthur Christmas, Four Holidays, The Santa Clause and even a Bad Santa double feature.

FEELING GRINCHY

If you’re not so into the festive spirit this year, there are a few less orthodox options for your viewing pleasure.

On Sky, TLC has a festive special from Dr Pimple Popper (you didn’t see that coming did you?) Brilliantly titled: The 12 Pops of Christmas, the special will see Dr Sandra Lee help patients who are looking to remedy their skin issues before attending festive parties and family dinners. Check it out on December 23. Of course, what’s Christmas in New Zealand without a Shortland Street Christmas cliff-hanger? Love it or hate it, this series’ cliff-hangers usually wind up being the talk of the watercooler, and this year’s sounds no different with producer Maxine Fleming saying, “You may need your tissues.”

Catch the final one-hour episode on December 17 on TVNZ 2. Later that night, tune into The Undateables at Christmas, in which the Undateables share their extra special plans with loved ones for the festive season — from releasing a Christmas single, to buying mistletoe in anticipation of that first ever kiss.

And over on Duke, Richard Ayoade’s Travel Man gets an hourlong Christmas special on Christmas Day. In this episode, Ayoade travels to Hong Kong with Mad Men superstar Jon Hamm and the pair desperately try to make their visit relevant to the festive season — even though it’s not. Want a Christmas special without all the actual Christmas? This one’s for you.

FEELING NOSTALGIC

Just want to cosy up with a couple of those bona fide classics? Netflix has you covered with titles like

Miracle on 34th Street and, of course, Love Actually.

And is Christmas even Christmas until you’ve watched Home Alone? The festive family classic is coming to Three at 7pm on Boxing Day so you can relive all your best

Home Alone memories. That’s not all either; Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is on Christmas night. Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!

FEELING HUNGRY

On to the important stuff: the food. Festive foodies can switch on the Food Network’s 12 Days of Christmas — 12 days of culinary inspo from some of your favourite TV chefs including titles like Jamie’s italian Christmas, Nigella’s Christmas Table, Mary Berry’s Christmas Party, and the Simply Nigella: Christmas Special, airing December 13-24.

And if that’s not enough, Prime as The Great Christmas British Bake Off airing on December 23 at 6pm, which will see much loved bakers from past Bake Offs return to battle it out for the title of Christmas Bake Off champion. And TVNZ2 has the Christmas cake edition of Extreme Cake Makers on Boxing Day.

FEELING MUSICAL

Ready for a kanikani and some celeb action? Check into Prime on Boxing Day at 7.30pm for It’s Christmas —in which the Royal Albert Hall is transformed into a “rock ‘n’ roll winter wonderland “for a concert special including performances by Mel C, Nadine Coyle and The Vamps. And let’s not forget the biggest staple of the New Zealand festive season, the Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park. The event returns to your screens on December 15 on

Three, headlined by

Kiwi crooner Stan Walker, and will also feature a slew of famous Kiwi faces just a week after the big event hits Auckland.

FEELING MERRY

If you just want a bit of a laugh for Christmas this year, tune into Three on Boxing Day to catch Jono and Ben’s Christmas Special, Graham Norton’s Christmas Special and Michael McIntyre’s Big Christmas Show.

And over on TVNZ, you can enjoy all the best festive lols to hit the web with Santa Makes You Laugh Out Loud on TVNZ2 on Christmas Day, and you can also catch Mrs Brown’s Boys’ Christmas special: Mammy’s Mummy on TVNZ1 on December 27.