The Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020)

Tags

Christmas, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Netflix

To all who would rather be elsewhere,
To all who are feeling alone,
To those who wish Christmases long past
Could somehow return when we’re grown,

To all who are missing a loved one,
To all who wish wishes were real,
To all who are hoping that Christmas
Can brighten a year so surreal,

I know well this plaintive nostalgia,
Yet bypassing cynics’ deaf ears,
I still wish you all Merry Christmas.
May smiles replace all your tears.
________________________

MPA rating:  PG

Two years ago, Netflix delivered The Christmas Chronicles, with one of the more fun incarnations of Santa Claus delivered by the incomparable Kurt Russell. In true commercial Christmas fashion, we now have a sequel to the family-friendly romp, but whereas the first film borrowed heavily from Adventures in Babysitting for its plot, the second film leans a bit more on Gremlins and The Santa Clause 3, with mixed but still enjoyable results.

Teenagers Teddy (Judah Lewis) and Kate Pierce (Darby Camp) are still True Believers two years after their previous adventures with Santa Claus (see first movie), but Kate is now depressed having to spend Christmas in Cancun with her mother’s new boyfriend (Tyrese Gibson) and his young son Jack (Jahzir Bruno). While Teddy was the one with the character arc in the last movie, he’s quickly sidelined in favor of Kate and Jack, who are suddenly whisked away to the North Pole by a mysterious ne’er-do-well (Julian Dennison of Hunt for the Wilderpeople) with designs on Santa’s Village.

The first film was a hodgepodge of admittedly likable ingredients from other movies, and its sequel is much the same, though there are still spurts of inspiration. We get to see more of the North Pole this time, a sprawling collection of specialized toy and candy shops populated by impish elves, which should capture any child’s imagination without the creepy qualities of, say, The Polar Express. And following the first film’s example, this one again includes an exuberant musical number of pure Christmas spirit (featuring Darlene Love) that is worth the price of admission.

It’s rather predictable and not quite as good as the first movie, feeling even more like a farrago of Christmas-themed elements that don’t always fit naturally. The antagonist Belsnickel is particularly meh for the most part, though Dennison does his best to channel cartoonish malice. I did enjoy the new cast members, such as wide-eyed Jahzir Bruno and the larger role for Goldie Hawn as Mrs. Clause, though it was weird seeing Tyrese Gibson as a family man compared with his swaggering ladies’ man role in the Fast and Furious films. I also liked how the story expanded on the series’ Santa mythos as well, even if it also tosses in time travel for a sweet yet contrived reason. The Christmas Chronicles 2 probably won’t become a holiday staple, though there are rumors of a third film in the works, but it’s a diverting watch to remind the world of what a great Santa Claus Kurt Russell is.

Rank:  Honorable Mention

© 2020 S.G. Liput
708 Followers and Counting

A very Merry Christmas to everyone!

Ben Is Back (2018)

Tags

Christmas, Drama

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was to describe a notable bedroom from the past. I went a less comfy direction and explored a bedroom’s significance in the life of a drug addict.)

I’d like to pack
And hurry back
To the room in which I grew,
That room I hoarded toys within,
Where I’d retreat from nosy kin,
Where I first tried my blackest sin
That trails me still today.

I’d count to ten
And come again
To the room in which I grew.
And if I could, myself I’d see
And slap the needle far from me
And ruin reckless privacy
That made me easy prey.

No more to roam,
I’ll go back home
To the room in which I grew.
Because they never would disown,
To Mom and God, I must atone.
And yet my body starts to groan
To make my will give way.

Although I burn,
I can’t return
To the room in which I grew.
_______________________

MPA rating: R (for mainly language)

As part of last year’s NaPoWriMo, I reviewed Beautiful Boy, a memoir-based tale of a man struggling to help his son, who struggles with drug addiction. In another case of similarly themed films being released at the same time, Ben Is Back covers the same kind of story, though fictitious in this case. Instead of a father-son dynamic spanning years, it focuses on a single Christmas night, during which a mother named Holly (Julia Roberts) copes with the sudden return of her son Ben (Lucas Hedges) from rehab.

I personally have never been drawn to drugs of any kind, yet the numbers affected by the opioid epidemic clearly show how widespread and devastating addiction can be. Like Beautiful Boy, Ben Is Back personalizes the statistics by showing that every addict has someone mourning their self-destructive decisions and rooting for their bumpy road to recovery. The first half of Ben Is Back is a deeply poignant portrait of a broken family, with Ben earning immediate distrust from his mother, sister (Kathryn Newton), and stepfather (Courtney B. Vance). While Ben himself seems penitent and likable, his own history and self-doubt make both his mother and the audience wonder how sincere he really is. Although it was spurned, the acting of all involved is Oscar-quality, and one scene where Ben breaks down to a church performance of “O Holy Night” is especially affecting, as is a sober visit to a graveyard.

Unfortunately, the film’s second half loses some of its emotional heft by trying to inject some thriller elements where Ben and Holly drive around town after the family dog is stolen by a drug dealer Ben knows. And the ending, while harrowing, is strangely abrupt, providing no closure to the story, which is perhaps the point since the cycles of addiction are rarely tied up with a clean bow. Beautiful Boy was easily a better film overall, but Ben Is Back had its fair share of powerful scenes; together, they are a sad testament to the victims of America’s drug crisis and reinforced my decision to never go down that dark road.

Best line: (Holly, to Ben) “Just tell me, son, where you want me to bury you.”

 

Rank: Honorable Mention

 

© 2020 S.G. Liput
684 Followers and Counting

Klaus (2019)

Tags

Animation, Christmas, Comedy, Family, Netflix

The world’s getting louder and meaner and prouder,
Content to be less than the best it can be.
Our good angels shrivel when others aren’t civil,
And we follow suit with acute savagery.

The worst in a person can come out and worsen,
And wrong leads to wrong for as long as we let it.
Yet kindness courageous is also contagious.
The bar is as low or high, though, as we set it.

What good can be started by all the kindhearted
Can spread just as quickly as wickedness can.
Right actions and choices speak more than raised voices,
For goodness expressed frees the best part of man.
____________________

MPAA rating: PG

It might be too late for Christmas, but Netflix’s Klaus isn’t just a great Christmas movie; it’s a great movie. I wasn’t expecting much from Netflix’s first original animated film, but good word-of-mouth convinced me to give it a look-see, and now I’m happy to contribute to its positive buzz. Being nominated for a Best Animated Feature Oscar doesn’t hurt either.

Does anyone else recall a 2000 animated film called The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus? I remember it nostalgically as a sweet origin story for Santa, and Klaus is similar in that regard. Whereas the other film featured extensive magical elements, Klaus is far more down-to-earth, gradually developing the myths and trappings surrounding Santa in a way that could feasibly happen, albeit still with some cartoonish absurdity and a dark undercurrent.

However, the titular Klaus is not the main character. Instead, it is the vain and spoiled Jesper (Jason Schwartzman), whose father, exasperated by his son’s laziness, makes him the postman for the remote and desolate island village of Smeerensburg, where a family feud has raged for generations. In a town where no one is eager to send letters to each other, Jesper concocts a plan to get the children to send letters for toys, a plan that might eventually get him transferred back to his well-to-do life. Essential to the plan is Klaus (J.K. Simmons), a mysterious woodsman with a wealth of toys, and, while Jesper’s goals begin as self-serving, he eventually starts to see the good that can come from an act of kindness.

The most noteworthy aspect of Klaus is its unique animation. In an age where most of the 2D hand-drawn animation around originates in Japan, director Sergio Pablos (creator of the Despicable Me franchise and character designer for several Disney Renaissance films) and other former Disney animators wanted to show how 2D animation might have evolved if it hadn’t been abandoned by the industry in the West. The result is gorgeously rendered and looks somewhere in between 2D and 3D, thanks to meticulous attention to shadow and shading.

If Klaus had come out twenty years ago, I know it would have become a classic annual watch in my home, and I’d like to think it will be for this generation as well, despite its exclusivity to Netflix. The last decade has seen 2D animation flourish on the small screen, and Klaus gives me hope that it’s not dead for feature-length films as well. Despite some predictable elements, it’s filled with humor, sweetness, and a stellar voice cast (also including Rashida Jones, Norm MacDonald, and Joan Cusack) and carries the perfect heartwarming Christmas spirit that reminds us how much better it is when kindness guides our choices.

Best line: (Klaus) “A true selfless act always sparks another.”

 

Rank: List-Worthy

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
659 Followers and Counting

 

Anna and the Apocalypse (2018)

Tags

Christmas, Comedy, Drama, Horror, Musical

When the world is collapsing, the nation on edge,
The whole of society out on a ledge,
The sky close to falling, disease at a high,
And dead people don’t even know when to die,
It only makes sense that, when fear’s on the rise,
The level heads left of us prioritize.

Sure, some go for water, and some hunt for food,
And some say we just need the right attitude,
But while these survivalists weigh their concerns
And plan for the worst to diminish returns,
A few must step up to remind all the rest
Of one thing emergencies need when distressed.

MUSIC! That’s right. It’s so often neglected,
But soundtracks do wonders for those not infected.
When life’s at a low, just compose your own cure
And let a good melody help you endure.
Just sing your heart out, out of range of the ghouls,
For songs are survival’s most critical tools.
______________________

MPAA rating: R

What a weird, catchy, sad, gruesome, delightful movie! I’m sure it was an interesting pitch when someone first described the plot of Anna and the Apocalypse, a Christmas musical zombie film that manages to nail all three aspects of its split personality. I normally shy away from zombie movies, but the prospect of an original musical convinced me to give this unique mish-mash a try.

Due to my aversion to gore, I’m always very wary of the zombie genre, yet I know it can be done exceptionally well (Train to Busan and Gakkou Gurashi are two prime examples), so I wanted to give Anna and the Apocalypse a chance. Unsurprisingly, it had the inventive undead bloodshed so common to the genre and so off-putting to me, yet I must admit I loved just about everything else about this British experiment.

It starts out so innocent with its high school setting and teenage misfits and then veers into zombie action and some surprisingly touching moments by the end. And through it all is the magic of song and dance, at first fitting in a High School Musical sort of way and later used as an ironic contrast to the zombie apocalypse. And the music, courtesy of Scottish artists Roddy Hart and Tommy Reilly, is actually darn good! I wouldn’t have been surprised if it came from a Broadway musical or showed up on the radio, yet the fact that it’s all original gives me pure delight.

Putting aside the feeling that I’ve seen versions of all of these characters in other movies many times before, the entire cast of mostly unknowns give their all, instilling a fresh and likable energy to their roles. Ella Hunt is especially good as the wistful Anna, whose zombie-killing weapon of choice is a giant candy cane, and Paul Kaye is a downright ham as the school’s power-mad vice principal. Despite the initial poking fun at how juvenile high-schoolers might actually react to zombies, the whole cast later prove their acting chops as things get more dire. And while dire is to be expected from a movie with Apocalypse in the title, it also sadly saps some of the earlier fun away. Not everyone I wanted to live does, and the half-hopeful ending can’t disguise the inescapable bleakness that almost always accompanies a zombie outbreak. One of the songs even says, “There’s no such thing as a Hollywood ending.”

So Anna and the Apocalypse left me with a strange mix of admiration and indecision. The musical numbers are a blast, and, while I wish I could say I loved every minute of it, I enjoyed far more minutes of it than I ever thought I would in a zombie film. Every actor is on point, and the audacity of its holiday spirit deserves appreciation, especially when it’s this darn likable. Yet it also earns its R rating with the blood-splattering violence and didn’t leave me with the smile I wore through much of it. Thus, I’m pulling out a ranking I’ve only used once: the Semi-Dishonorable List Runner-Up, which sums up my mixed feelings. I hesitate to recommend it, but if the gore and mixed tone don’t bother you, absolutely seek out this ebullient gem. Minus the violence, it would easily be List-Worthy for me. It will no doubt end up as a cult classic addition to the Christmas horror catalog, among which it certainly has the best soundtrack.Best line: (Mr. Savage, after Lisa asks about her boyfriend’s sick grandmother) “Look around you, Miss Snow. What do you see?”
(Lisa, Anna’s friend) “Um…tables?”
(Mr. Savage) “I see civilization on the edge. And what does civilization do when it finds itself on the edge?”
(Lisa) “We help each other?”
(Mr. Savage) “We prioritize.”

 

Rank: Semi-Dishonorable List Runner-Up

 

© 2019 S.G. Liput
656 Followers and Counting

 

600 Followers, New Banners, and Merry Christmas!

Tags

Christmas

 

I know Christmas is upon us, but I wanted to send out a little post to celebrate yet another milestone. Against all expectations, this blog of mine has reached a new high of 600 followers! Of course, I enjoy watching movies and writing about them for their own sake, but it always lends me some extra satisfaction to see that others share my enjoyment. Every like and follow is worth a thank you, which all too often goes unspoken, so to all who have made my day with the click of a button, I wish to say thank you and a Merry Christmas!

Now, typically there’s some special extra for this kind of milestone (like my list of Overrated and Underrated Movies when I hit 500 followers). Due to my school schedule and the immediate holiday, that will have to wait, but I do have some special lists in mind. In the meantime, though, I thought I would share some additional banners I’ve fashioned for the top of each page, which should generate at random from now on. While the banner I’ve had is full of films I love (and will stick around), these new banners focus on specific genres, such as

Comedy,

Science Fiction,

Fantasy,

Animation,

Romance,

Foreign Films,

Musicals,

Horror,

And a miscellaneous one including the Western, Action, War, Drama, Heist, and Historical genres.

All of the films represented are excellent and highly recommended, so feel free to ask if you want to know where any of the images came from.

Again, I wish to thank everyone who reads, likes, follows, and cares even a little bit about my poetry or my humble opinion. May God bless you all, and have a wonderful Christmas!

Love Actually (2003)

Tags

Christmas, Comedy, Drama, Romance

 

Love can strike like lightning
Or love can burn like embers,
And what the world at large forgets
The heart in love remembers.

Love’s not as easy as it looks
In film or paperback,
And yet it must be worth the fail
And worth the coming back.

Some fake ideal that isn’t real
Could not move hearts and minds
As love has done for everyone
Who waits and seeks and finds.
______________________

MPAA rating: R (for unnecessary language and nudity, better as a PG-13 if you catch it cut on TV)

It’s about time I got around to seeing this movie. I love a good Christmas movie or a good rom com, so I was bound to enjoy Love Actually, considering its devoted fanbase who consider it a modern classic. It’s hard to believe that it’s fifteen years old now, but it’s a definite charmer with a most impressive ensemble and a sprawling plot that’s like a mixture of Cloud Atlas and a Hallmark movie.

Where to begin on the cast? It’s amazing how many respected British thespians pop up throughout, each with their own little story of romantic love woven among the others. Liam Neeson plays a grieving widower trying to help his son Sam (an adorable Thomas Sangster) with first love, and the boy goes to school with the kids of a husband and wife played by Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson, whose marriage might be in danger, while Thompson is brother to the new love-struck British prime minister (Hugh Grant). Those are only three of the subplots mixed into this melting pot of holiday tales; also present are Colin Firth, Keira Knightley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rowan Atkinson, Andrew Lincoln of The Walking Dead (I didn’t even know he had a British accent), Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Martine McCutcheon, Laura Linney, Rodrigo Santoro (Lost alert!), and Bill Nighy as an aging and unashamedly vulgar rock star trying to peddle his latest cash grab of a single.

I love these kinds of interrelated stories, which is why I’m so partial to even divisive plots like Lost and Cloud Atlas. Sure, they’re often messy and take time to unravel, but it’s in the unraveling and the connections that we get a glimpse into the interconnectedness of everyday life, which is among my favorite themes. Director Richard Curtis sells it all with good humor, holiday spirit, and shameless romanticism, though not every story has an idealistic ending. Confessions of love abound, and it’s a cold heart that won’t find multiple scenes worth smiling at.

Even so, it is a tad tiresome having to juggle all the storylines, which flit back and forth without warning and could have used a more critical hand at the editing table. Some further editing might also have removed the entirely unnecessary R-rated content featuring some porn stars (Martin Freeman and Joanna Page). I thankfully saw the film on cut TV, and while I would have liked to have seen Freeman, the removal of the nude scenes took absolutely nothing from the film. Plus, while others may love him, I found Bill Nighy’s rock bum more irritating than funny.

The most fascinating thing about Love Actually for me is, naturally, the connections, not in the film but among the cast. I chuckled at seeing Rickman as Thompson’s husband, since he ended up as her brother-in-law in Sense and Sensibility, where Hugh Grant was her love interest rather than her brother. Likewise, Keira Knightley co-starred with Bill Nighy in the first two Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, though they have no scenes together here, and it was unexpected to see Elizabeth Swann marrying Mordo from Doctor Strange. The best connection, though, (and one not everyone may be aware of) was when I realized that the crush of Sangster’s young Sam was played by Olivia Olson. Luckily, I know their names from the cartoon Phineas and Ferb, where Sangster’s Ferb happens to have a long-standing crush on Dr. Doofenschmirtz’s daughter, who is voiced by Olson. It may matter little, but it was a likely intentional Easter egg I never realized was there when I used to watch that show.

I should also mention Red Nose Day Actually, the anniversary/sequel that came out last year as a fundraising short for Curtis’s Red Nose Day charity event. Even if I didn’t have to wait fourteen years between them like everyone else did, it was a delight catching up many of the characters, and I applaud so many of the stars for returning to take part, though sadly the late Alan Rickman could not and Emma Thompson abstained out of respect for his memory. It also managed to create some happy endings out of the dangling threads from the original, so it’s quite a treat for fans, one of which I now consider myself.  Not every character is as likable as I wish, but I can certainly see why Love Actually has gathered such a following, and I gladly will add it to my holiday watch list from now on, at least when it’s cut on TV.

Best line:  (Aurelia’s sister to people nearby) “Father is about to sell Aurelia as a slave to this Englishman.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
600 Followers and Counting!

 

The Christmas Chronicles (2018)

Tags

Christmas, Comedy, Family, Fantasy

 

It was late Christmas Eve, and no sleeper was up.
The cookies were plated, warm milk in each cup.
The snow held a silence, which barely was broken
When Santa Claus came, thinking none had awoken.

He leapt from the sleigh with his sack close at hand,
Entrusting the reindeer to wait on demand,
And nimbly invaded each chimney and home
In a fashion not often depicted in poem.

His task soon completed, rewarding the good,
Saint Nick headed off to the next neighborhood,
When high in the air with the reindeer full speed,
He felt a small tap, as of someone in need.

Well, Santa, unused to surprises, no doubt,
Spun round in his sleigh and began freaking out,
Which then made the reindeer do likewise ahead,
And what happened next should be watched and not read.
__________________________

MPAA rating: TV-PG

Imagine The Santa Clause, Adventures in Babysitting, and Gremlins all mashed together into a surprisingly enjoyable amalgamation of good-natured holiday spirit. If you can also imagine Kurt Russell as a slimmed-down Santa Claus, then you’ve got Netflix’s The Christmas Chronicles.

Christmas movies have long speculated about how Santa does what he does, from The Santa Clause and The Polar Express to Elf and ‘Twas the Night, and The Christmas Chronicles is a welcome addition to such conjecture, with its magical portals and cute, fuzzy elves. As the poem above suggests, a bickering brother and sister (Judah Lewis and Darby Camp) sneak their way onto Santa’s sleigh, causing it to crash in Chicago, where they must help Santa Kurt retrieve his reindeer and sack in time to save Christmas.

Of all the movies I’ve name-dropped, the closest comparison is definitely Adventures in Babysitting, not only for the Chicago setting but for entire sections of the plot (captured by criminals, a marvelous musical number with almost the same bluesy guitar riff). However, it manages to add charm to its more familiar elements, thanks in large part to Kurt Russell, who will surely go down as one of the great Santa depictions on film. Part of that is how non-traditional he is, often grousing over the false clichés about him spread through advertising (he’s not that fat apparently), yet there’s a winking warmth to him that never lets cynicism win out.

It may not be the most original of Christmas films, but The Christmas Chronicles may well become a new holiday classic for family audiences. Netflix certainly seems to have had faith in it, commissioning four elf character balloons at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year to promote it. While the suggestion that no gifts equals no Christmas goes against the better lesson of Dr. Seuss’s Grinch, The Christmas Chronicles is an entertaining jaunt of heart-warming humor from start to smile-worthy finish, which any fan of Adventures in Babysitting or The Santa Clause is likely to enjoy this Christmas (and many more to come).

Best line:  (Teddy) “Can’t you just wave your hand, and, like, Jedi mind-trick the cops?”   (Santa) “I’m Santa Claus, Teddy, not Yoda.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
599 Followers and Counting

 

While You Were Sleeping (1995)

Tags

Christmas, Comedy, Romance

A lot can happen while you’re sleeping
If you’re sleeping hard,
And if you’re not expecting it,
You might be caught offguard.

Your organs might be harvested
While you are unaware,
Or someone may invade your dreams
To plant an idea there.

You might awaken to a world
Infested with undead,
Or find that you’ve somnambulated
Miles from your bed.

And, though this is unlikely,
You might wake up one fine day
To find that Sandra Bullock
Has become your fiancée.
____________________

MPAA rating: PG

This is one of those movies I’ve been meaning to see for a while since it’s a favorite of certain romance lovers, and I just got around to it, partly because it sounded vaguely similar to The Big Sick (romance, coma, etc.). Well, it’s actually not very similar at all, but that’s probably best, and I also didn’t realize it’s sort of a Christmas movie. While You Were Sleeping isn’t about to go down as one of the best rom coms ever, but it’s a likable little morsel of ‘90s-era sentiment.

Sandra Bullock plays Lucy Moderatz, one of those ‘90s romantic leads that are so winsome and pleasant that you wonder why they’re not already married. Then again, Lucy’s not sure either, instead shyly crushing on a well-dressed regular (Peter Gallagher) at her train token booth. When she unexpectedly saves him after he falls in the path of a train, she accompanies her comatose dreamboat Peter to the hospital, and a series of misunderstandings lead his family to believe she is his fiancée, with no one to dispute it. Thus, Lucy must decide how far she should play along with this unintentional fib, especially when suspected by Peter’s handsome brother Jack (Bill Pullman).

To be quite honest, I’m still not sold on Lucy’s reasoning for not telling the truth up front. She supposedly fears that the shock might harm Peter’s sensitive grandmother (Glynis John, who played the Banks matriarch in Mary Poppins thirty-one years earlier), yet I don’t see how she thought she could keep up the charade. Even so, it works well enough for rom-com purposes, including coincidences and comedic reasoning to explain away potential inconsistencies in her story. Despite the untruth, it’s easy to see why she would want to stay with Peter’s family, even apart from her chemistry with Jack, since they welcome her with open arms from her dismal single existence.

I suppose the main thing that was missing from While You Were Sleeping was the laughs. In spite of the multitude of misunderstandings, I barely chuckled through most of it, so the script is hardly on the level of a Nora Ephron film, yet it still left me smiling with its semi-predictable romance. Almost everyone comes out with sympathy, and I liked the cast overall, from Peter Boyle to Jack Warden but especially Bullock. My VC thought it was “good, leaning toward mediocre,” but it was a better film than that, just not one that I’d consider a classic.

Best line:  (Jack) “I guess I don’t remember meeting you.”   (Lucy) “Well, that’s probably because we’ve never met.”   (Jack) “That could have something to do with it.”

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
576 Followers and Counting

 

The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)

Tags

Biopic, Christmas, Comedy, Drama, Family, History

(Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was for a poem featuring simultaneity, where more than one thing happens at the same time, a concept I applied to a writer’s creative process.)

 

The writer sat in the market square,
But that’s not all he did.
He bade “Good day” to Mrs. Wise
And fed the pigeons gathered there
And made a cat jump with surprise
And watched the vendors sell their wares.
To outward eyes,
He just sat there,
But that’s not all he did.

The mind inside the writer’s head
Was hard at work within,
Populating worlds unwritten,
Raising heroes from the dead,
Lads in love and lasses smitten,
Tales of kings that none had read,
Smiles to fit in,
Tears to shed,
And all unseen within.

So though he seemed to waste the day,
Just sitting as he did,
The writer had done no such thing.
He watched the world at work and play
And gleaned its ample offering
To shape what only he could say.
His loitering
Seemed like delay,
But that’s not all he did.
__________________

MPAA rating: PG

Considering how much I love A Christmas Carol and movies about literature, I was excited for The Man Who Invented Christmas, a yuletide biopic about Charles Dickens’ tumultuous writing of his most famous work. While I liked it quite a bit, I wonder if my hopes were too high since it wasn’t the instant classic I had thought it might be. I can’t say I was disappointed since it lived up to its trailer at least, but it didn’t surpass any of my expectations either.

Dickens, played by Dan Stevens, hits a wall when his fame and fortune are diminished by three commercial flops in a row. After contending with writer’s block, the sight of a rich man’s funeral gives him the seed of an idea, and what the world will eventually know as A Christmas Carol speedily develops in his mind as he rushes to get it written and printed in time for Christmas sales. Along the way, he contends with his spendthrift father (Jonathan Pryce), his own past trauma, and his characters mentally coming to life, including a critical Scrooge (Christopher Plummer).

I must say that Stevens is outstanding, playing Dickens with just the right amount of ego and eccentricity, the way we imagine many creative geniuses might have been. When he entertains his children with random voices, I could imagine Robin Williams playing this role thirty years ago. Likewise, I loved the visualization of his creative process, as he interacts with characters only he can see, only to have them vanish when he is all-too-often interrupted. The story also provides a glimpse into Dickens’ difficult childhood, offering insights into what made him the ambitious but compassionate man he was, and it was interesting to see how his original plan for an unhappy ending yielded to others’ hopes and beliefs that even the worst men can change.So, yes, I did enjoy it, including its lesson of forgiveness and the reminder of how Dickens shaped the Christmas holiday we know today, which was not as vigorously celebrated back then. I suppose the weakest aspect was Pryce as Dickens’ father John, whose good nature is undermined by drunkenness and financial waste as he mooches off his son. Despite John’s good intentions, I didn’t blame Charles much for snapping at him at one point, and it didn’t seem entirely right that Charles is in the wrong and apologizes with little change seen on his father’s part.

Despite that objection, I’ll still gladly watch The Man Who Invented Christmas if it comes on TV around Christmastime to enjoy its well-acted, wholesome glimpse into the mind of a great author. I’m just a little sad that there was something lacking, which will make me more likely to just watch some version of A Christmas Carol instead of the story behind it.

 

Rank: List Runner-Up

 

© 2018 S.G. Liput
552 Followers and Counting

 

Serendipity (2001)

Tags

Christmas, Comedy, Romance

The incidence of miracles is far too low these days.
Coincidence is cited now, when “accidents” amaze,
But when it seems that chance is too unlikely an excuse,
We start to dream of destiny and what it might produce.

Call it what you will, my friends: coincidence or fate,
Or more precisely, Providence that makes our courses straight.
Though some may call it all a crock, a universe of chance,
When once you glimpse the grand design, ‘tis more than happenstance.
____________________

MPAA rating: PG-13

Around Christmas, I tend to watch traditional movies I’ve seen a million times (It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34^th Street, The Polar Express, etc.), so I wasn’t sure at first what would be best for the season. Then, I remembered that Serendipity begins and ends at Christmastime, making it a good fit for a Christmas Eve post. Somehow, I thought that most rom coms since the ‘90s just weren’t worth my time, but Serendipity surprised me as a wholly charming and enjoyable member of a genre that deserves a better reputation.

It begins with a classic meet-cute for Jonathan Trager (John Cusack) and Sara Thomas (Kate Beckinsale), both Christmas shoppers after a pair of gloves at Bloomingdale’s. Despite already having partners, there’s an instant connection as they have dessert together at a restaurant called Serendipity 3, and while Jonathan is quick to acknowledge it, Sara is more hesitant and unconvinced that they were “destined” to meet. Using a dollar bill, a book, and an elevator, she decides to test fate a bit too far, and the two potential lovebirds go their separate ways. Fast forward a few years, and both of their relationships have progressed to engagement. Yet, there’s also a gnawing sense of what-could-have-been, and they both decide to search out what might be destiny.

No romantic comedy can be successful without two appealing leads, and Cusack and Beckinsale have marvelous chemistry together, that hard-to-define bond that simply either works or doesn’t. It definitely works here, and I could see how their short time together at the beginning could give them pause on whether this stranger might be “the one.” Beckinsale is lovely as always, though for some reason, even with his sweetly obsessive role in Say Anything, neither I nor my VC thought of Cusack as a romantic lead, yet he affably fills the kind of role that could have gone to Tom Hanks a few years earlier.

The dialogue may not be on the level of Nora Ephron’s, but there’s a good number of chuckles along the way as Jonathan and Kate go on a scavenger hunt for clues as to where their mystery lover might be. Eugene Levy puts in an amusingly offbeat side role, while Jeremy Piven and Molly Shannon are perfect companions in trying to keep the two star-crossed lovers relatively grounded. The themes of fate vs. coincidence are nicely laced throughout as well, sometimes for comedy (“Maybe the absence of signs is a sign!”) but also in more thoughtful ways, especially how the audience gets to see connections and near-misses that the characters don’t.

I wasn’t sure exactly how much I liked Serendipity at first. One minorly major complaint was in how Jonathan and Sara’s other love interests are treated. Usually, this kind of movie shows that the initial relationship is doomed from the start, making the breakup inevitable, but while that is the case with Sara and her weird fluting boyfriend, Jonathan’s alternative girl is a little too viable a match, making me feel sorry for her by the end. I thought that might be a deal-breaker for me in deciding Serendipity’s ranking, but after seeing it a second time with my VC (who also enjoyed it), it’s a minor complaint in an otherwise satisfying romance. Predictable but very watchable, it falls a bit short of my absolute favorite rom coms, but I’ve come to value any movie that leaves me smiling by the end.

Best line: (Jonathan’s friend Dean) “If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.”

 

Ranking: List-Worthy

 

© 2017 S.G. Liput
522 Followers and Counting

 

A Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!