ADVENT CALENDAR DAY 10 | THE WATCH LIST

Where are all the vanilla hot men for the Christmas movies?! I must say all the romcoms I have seen so far, the men are blah. Look we do not come to holiday movies for the heavy narrative or deep meaning stuff, we come because at some point towards the end, the guy will get the girl, they will have a merry christmas and live happily ever after because inevitably, the girl will give up her life, up sticks and move to become the proprietor of a ramshackle inn… and so on and so forth. Its the age old formula so we don’t come here for anything other than fluff, good old fluff and I love fluff, the fluffier the better. So again I ask where are all the bland hot men that pepper these movies at this time of year? Answer, this season, there aren’t any. But there are still some really lovely options on play a delightful something to keep us as we cocoon indoors.

JINGLE JANGLE- A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY: Talk about a lovely christmas surprise, a sprinkling of hope and good story yelling. This movie encapsulates it all. Black Girl Magic at its most magical. Some will poke holes are the sub plots of the movie and what not but I am not interesting in looking for what is wrong with a holiday movie starring mostly Black casts when there are hardly any. The story is feel good and wonderful; the simple element of good triumphing over evil and the magic of children at christmas throw in fierce little girls dancing the gwara-gwara and its perfect. One that will be a classic for years to come.

THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE: the cheesiest movie there ever was, this trilogy is so full of cheese and cliches you’ll be hard pressed to take it seriously but its just the perfect amount of fluff for the holidays so watch all three because the rom-coms ain’t saying much this season.

THIS CHRISTMAS: this is my favourite Christmas movie, who can remember a Christmas spent with family that did not involve some kind of friction and age old conflict rearing its head. Shit always goes down when you have all the family together and the Whitfield family is no different to ours. This is about family and love. Poor decisions and selfish ones, sacrifice and secrets… its about knowing the power of love and the bonds of family. And there’s a baby oil scene that will forever remain iconic.

CHRISTMAS ON THE SQUARE: I love Dolly Parton, absolutely positively love her, She is an angel quite literally and she plays an angel in this movie with Christine Baranski another woman I simply adore, anything she is in and with this movie she plays that ever charming evil woman.

ANGELA’S CHRISTMAS: This is a short rather lovely cartoon about childlike innocence especially around the holidays. Short and sweet and such an adorable watch for the family.

THE HOLIDAY CALENDAR: I rather like the magic of this movie, no one is too old to hope and believe in some magic by way of an advent calendar.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL: Still the best Christmas movie out there. the story warms my heart, a tale of miracle and goodness of the holiday season. A classic for all.

DOWNTON ABBEY CHRISTMAS: I love this Christmas episode of Downton. I mean I really enjoyed the series and am overdosing on the episodes not on amazon but I do enjoy this Christmas episode so much because it is when things come right with Mary and Matthew. Do you know, I have to tell you I have never watched the episode he dies because I simply cannot bear that he dies. Mary goes on the marry a wild card which in a way Matthew was despite being the heir but this is one of my favourite episodes.

SOUND OF MUSIC: Not a christmas movie I know but this movie is so good, the blue print of romance and there is a moment when Maria and the Captain are dancing the Llandlër, that defines romance in movies, its a singular scene that encapsulates the love between these two. So watch it and if you are like me, sing along

THE HOLIDAY: One person ruins this movie for me, Jude Law or possibly his hairline or both of them. I don’t know, something about his acting bores me. BUT Everything else is perfect, my love is for Kate Winslet and her meet cute scene and one that makes up for Law’s presence. And The Holiday is MILES BETTER than Love Actually. Fight me.