Media Update 12/19/19

A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby

I was not going to let the Holiday season go by without checking out what has been an annual tradition for three Christmases now. I fell in love with Rose McIver through her role on iZombie which definitely showed her range. I fell in love with her again in the role of Amber (now Queen Amber) in The Christmas Prince. She plays such a nuanced, intelligent, and likable character. Ben Lamb returns as King Richard, who is charming and intelligent himself. Alice Krige and Honor Kneafsey return as Queen Helena and Princess Emily and continue to be delightful. Theo Devaney returns as Simon and gets to continue a rather interesting character arc which I was pleased to see continue. Tahirah Sharif was not a new addition to the series but in the past two movies, she only got a few minutes of screentime so it was interesting to see more of her story. Newcomer Momo Yeung (as Queen Ming) really made the movie for me as she was a welcome addition and was such a breath of fresh air. Kevin Shen (as King Tai) and Crystal Yu (Lin) were also very welcome. Other returning characters were pushed to the background but they got their moments to shine. I really enjoyed the influx of people of color into the franchise which led to a richer experience overall. I definitely recommend this whole franchise.

Let It Snow

Frankly, I was not going to watch this movie and was instead going to watch a different, more cheesy Christmas movie (which I may watch next year). However, two things changed my mind. One, the cast included two genre actresses which reminded me of what got me back into Christmas movies a few years ago (Dear Santa). The other was that the movie ended up on a list of LGBT holiday movies to watch since we all decided to boycott Hallmark (I have a lifetime boycott). The two actresses that I mentioned are Kiernan Shipka (from The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) and Liv Hewson (from Santa Clarita Diet). What I didn’t realize was that there would be other favorites of mine. Shameik Moore was Miles Morales in Into the Spidervers and was in The Get Down and here he was surely fantastic. The always funny Jacob Batalon (Ned in the MCU Spidermovies). I was also shocked and very pleased to see Joan Cusack as the only adult in the movie. The rest of the cast was so great. The movie is a great ensemble piece as if somebody had watched Love, Actually and had said to themselves “I can do that but better”. It was a wonderful collection of stories that really did not have a lot to do with Christmas but that was a breath of fresh air too. I recommend this as well.

The Knight Before Christmas

Back to the cheesy Netflix Christmas movies! Vanessa Hudgens was a welcome addition to the Netflix Christmas family last year and it was good to see her return. This time, we get a particularly innovative Christmas movie about time travel. Basically, a knight from England is transported to a modern-day city (probably Canada). Vanessa Hudgens really ties the movie together well as her snarkiness and sweetness really guide most of the scenes. She is joined by Josh Whitehouse who is great as the somewhat naive but fun knight out of time. Most of the scenes are between the two of them but the rest of the cast is delightful. The movie was just different enough that I found it harder to predict each story beat so I was pleased and engaged by it. This movie also established a shared universe with the Christmas Prince universe so all of those post-apocalyptic theories have been disproved. I am interested to see if this is a new franchise for Netflix or just another valuable addition to their Christmas stable. I definitely recommend it.

Music of the Week:
Lizzo – Never Felt Like Christmas

Elton John – Step Into Christmas

My Chemical Romance – Every Snowflake is Different (just like you)

TLC – Sleigh Ride

Run DMC – Christmas in Hollis

Weekly Update:
– This week’s theme is “Netflix Christmas 2019” #NotSponsored
– I watched Max Headroom’s Giant Christmas Turkey
– I watched more Bob’s Burgers Season 7
– I watched more The Crown Season 3
– I watched more The Gifted Season 1
– I watched more Runaways Season 1
– I watched more Elementary Season 1
– I watched more Prodigal Son Season 1
– I watched more Scream Season 1
– Merry Christmas! Next week is Christmas Horror.

Tags: 2019, Christmas, Christmas Prince, Knight Before Christmas, Let It Snow, Media Update, Netflix, Royal Baby