Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, The Christmas Set Up and Feliz NaviDAD

    My Top Three This Week CHRISTMAS PART DEUX

Greetings to all my semi-constant readers. For many of us this can be a sad time of year, remembering past holidays with loved ones who are no longer with us. This year will be a little more than that as most of us can not be with extended families or beloved friends. This is the time to reach out to all of them- zooms, texts, emails, Christmas cards and the most old fashioned one on  one experience of yesteryear ,a good old fashioned phone call. Catch up with some classics like Christmas in Connecticut, It's a Wonderful Life , Home Alone and my personal favorite Meet Me In St. Louis. But make room for some new holiday fun.

1) Jingle Jangle : A Christmas Journey streaming on Netflix is film exploding with color, music , dance and a Christmas explosion. This is like a  Broadway musical  with high production values . Jeronicus Jangle is the most celebrated inventor of his era. His store Jingle Jangles is a magical place full of his inventions - that fly , do feats of magic and fly off the shelfs as the townspeople clamor for his latest toy. He has created his most magical toy yet a talking matador Don Juan Diego (voiced by Ricky Martin) who is a scheming  manipulative creature. He convinces Jangle's resentful assistant Gustofson to steal his book of inventions and become the "new" hot inventor. Jeronicus, becomes a recluse without his book and chases away his family and changes Jingles Jangles into a pawn shop because he cannot believe in the magic anymore. The evil Don Juan Diego convinces Gustovson ( the fabulous Keegan Michae -Key to come back and steal secrets again from Jangle but he has an obstacle -Jangle's granddaughter who has moved in with her grandfather and appears to have inherited his inventor gene. Some great actors in this Forest Whitaker, Keegan-Michael Key, Hugh Bonneville, Anika Noni Rose, Phylicia Rashad and Madalen Mills as the young Journey.

2)  The Christmas Setup on Lifetime is a schmaltzy Christmas movie with all of the things we want and expect from a Christmas movie. Beautiful Christmas set pieces, sumptuous food, a crazy family dynamic, a landmark building that needs to be saved and snow falling just when you need it. But this one has a twist. The lead character is gay and it is about his journey to love. Sweet and gentle Hugo comes back home to visit his family and discovers his mother has done a bit of  a set up and he reconnects with a high school crush Patrick and they start spending time together. I love this sweet story and the best part is that Hugo and Patrick are Blake Lee and Ben Louis who are married in real life. Fran Drescher as Hugo's mom is just the icing on the Christmas cookie.

3) Feliz NaviDAD on Lifetime starring Mario Lopez falls into the cornball Christmas fare but I liked it. A sweet family story about a single dad (Lopez) who struggles with multiple jobs since his wife died to support his family. His daughter and sister conspire to bring Christmas back to the family and also put him back in the dating game on an app. He meets a beautiful Annalynne McCord and starts a holiday romance. And it all turns out great.

Bonus: Christmas Chronicles  :Part 2 is a continuation of the first one with Kurt Russell as the fantastic Santa and this time around we meet his real life love Goldie Hawn  as Mrs. Claus. Christmas is hijacked again by the naughty elf Belsnickel. Santa has to reach to his old friend Kate Pearce ( Darby Camp) again for help. This is a winter wonderland of a movie and is a great sequel.

Bonus 2: Snowglobe  (2007) is not new but if you haven't watched it you need  to search for it right now. Starring Christina Milian as Angela who is harassed daily by her meddling family and finds a snowglobe outside her apartment wrapped. She finds herself transported into the magical world of Christmas and snow and never ending cookies and skating and presents and a boyfriend who has never lived outside the globe. Things take a comic twist when her globe boyfriend escapes the globe into her world. I loved this movie. Great soundtrack, hilarious performances. A well written movie. Did I mention Lorraine Bracco is her mother!!

Bonus 3: We cannot have Christmas without new Christmas music. Check out the new music from Dolly Parton ( A Holly Dolly Christmas) featuring a duet with Miley Cyrus. Pentatonix - (We Need a Little Christmas) featuring Seasons of Love . and last but not least is Meghan Trainor ( A Very Trainor Christmas) featuring White Christmas with Seth McFarland.

Dash and Lily, Happiest Season and Holidate

   My Top Three This Week CHRISTMAS EDITION

Greetings to all my semi-constant readers. My favorite time of year and if you are like me, you need a little Christmas right this very minute. For the whole immersive experience check out all of my favorites so far and light the tree, get the spiked eggnog and soak it all up.

1) At the top of my list is Dash & Lily a clever limited series on Netflix directed by Fred Savage ( The Wonder Years) . New York features prominently in the story of Dash who finds a notebook at The Strand with a dare from a mysterious girl (Lily) This starts as a fun game as they write in the notebook and share their dreams and hopes and dare each other to step out of their comfort zones. They leave the notebook in various places around the city with clues about themselves. Did I mention that Lily loves Christmas and Dash is cynic about the holiday. This is such a well written series it could have taken place any time of year but Christmas just makes it better. The cast is great but Austin Abrams and Midori Francis are so engaging as Dash and Lily I could see a season two next Christmas.

2)  Happiest Season a Hulu original is funny , heartbreaking and a refreshing change from the flood of cookie cutter holiday movies. Kristen Stewart's Abby is going home with her girlfriend Harper (Mackenzie Davis) to spend Christmas with her family. As they near the family home , Abby discovers that Harper has not come out as a lesbian to her family and asks Abby to hide their relationship. Abby soon finds out that Harper has a very dysfunctional family and ends up in a series of misunderstandings with the family and townspeople.Written and directed by Clea DuVall it feels like a real story and the cast is all-star. Mary Steenburgen, Victor Garber, Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza , Jake McDorman and Ana Gasteyer. But Dan Levy as her best friend John is perfect "My Best Friend's Wedding" casting.

3)  Holidate a Netflix Original is the kind of wacky Christmas concept that is a perfect rom com with a holiday flair. Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey as Sloane and Jackson ,two single disillusioned people who make a pact to be each other's holidates for a year at every event . It seems like the perfect idea as they become closer and closer and keep it light and easy. But eventually real feelings emerge and it becomes apparent that they might actually care for each other. Nobody does snark like Roberts and it is fun to see her in a holiday movie. Some favorites like Kristin Chenowith as her crazy aunt and Frances Fisher as her mom.

Christmas Bonus: Mariah is here to save 2020 with her HBO Max Christmas special on Apple+ TV- Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special. It is exactly what we needed right now. She has never looked or sounded better. Chock full of costume changes and quickly moving set changes there is never any down time. She has some great vocal moments and surprise guests  like Billy Eichner and Snoop Dogg but the highlight is her fabulous performance of Oh Santa with Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson.

The Flight Attendant, Veneno and Run

   My Top Three This Week 

Greetings to all my semi-constant readers. It is that time of year and the next post will have all kinds of Christmas goodies but I have some early treats that have nothing to do with Christmas but should be the perfect gift.

1) The Flight Attendant on HBO Max is a crazy stylish thriller series and possibly the best acting Kaley Cuoco has done to date. Although there are a lot of mixed reviews I felt this was a fun watch. Cassie Bowden (Cuoco) a hard drinking  flight attendant wakes up in a bed with a dead man in Thailand who was a passenger on her flight and doesn't remember what happened. While she tries to evade the authorities and piece together what happened, people are trying to find her. There are other plot lines that might muddle the story but it is always interesting. Michiel Huisman is the handsome passenger who seems to always be around even though he is dead! There are some great actors  like Zosia Mamet (who I love ) and T.R. Knight as her brother but my favorite is the national treasure that is Rosie Perez who plays a layered Megan her fellow flight attendant. From the stylized intro to the music score this is a wild ride.

2) Veneno  a mini series on HBO Max might be a real story or part fabrication but it is all heart. A biographical story of Spain's most iconic transgender performers La Veneno (The Poison) and her origins story . Told by a young Valeria who is on their way to discovering who they really are as dictated by an older Christina (La Veneno), this  starts in a small town in Spain where a young Joselito/Christina runs away from his home with his lesbian sister to stay with a loving family who welcomes him with open arms. The story cuts back and forth to Christina in all stages of life and current setting where Valeria is submitting the story to be published while undergoing her own transformation. This is one of the most fascinating stories I have seen in a while with entrance into a world I have never been exposed too. A must watch.

3)  Run a Hulu Original is an on the edge of your seat thriller movie that does not stop. A young Chloe Sherman ( Kiera Allen) worries that she is being a burden on her mother because she is confined to a wheel chair and has endless maladies. Her loving mother Diane (Sarah Paulson) assures her that she is not. Diane is the picture perfect mother of a very sick girl, homeschooling her and caring for her with undying love. But then Chloe uncovers a dark secret that changes the whole dynamic of their relationship. This is similar to another Hulu Original The Act but this takes it to an even darker level. Paulson and Allen are terrific as a mother and daughter playing a most dangerous game.

The Queen's Gambit, Big Sky and Soulmates

     My Top Three This Week 

Greetings to all my semi-constant readers. We are closing in on Christmas and Thanksgiving is next week. There are some very good options out there now and I will be watching the new season of His Dark Materials myself and I am catching up on a great series The Leftovers I wanted to finish. But here are a few really good things you should be watching.

1) The Queen's Gambit a Netflix Original is something you should be watching right now!! I cannot say enough good things about this miniseries. I love when I am immersed in a world I know nothing about. This time it is the world of chess. A young Beth is orphaned at the age of nine and placed in  an orphanage where she becomes addicted to two things- librium and chess. Since this was the early 50s the girls were managed with medication and Beth discovers the orphanage handyman Mr Shaibel playing chess with himself in the basement, She becomes intrigued and starts playing with him every day , learning quickly. He discovers that she has a unique gift and soon enough she is playing tournaments and winning . She is adopted at fifteen and soon becomes very attached to her new mother who later becomes her biggest supporter, pulling her out of school and registering her to play all across the United States. The better Beth, becomes, it also becomes apparent that she is paying a price. There are so many good actors in this , it would be hard to name them all but Marielle Heller is superb as Beth's adoptive mother. Isla Johnson who plays a young Beth is uncanny and Anya-Taylor Joy is heartbreaking as the grown up Beth. The set design, wardrobe and cinematography is without question one of the best I have seen lately.

2) Big Sky on ABC is a new series from David E. Kelley ( Big Little Lies, The Undoing) and it starts off with a level of intensity that will have you immediately hooked. One of the first series set in the Covid world- we don't know yet if it is just starting or the middle of it. A young detective (Ryan Phillippe  in the middle of a separation, gets involved in the disappearance of two girls on their way from Colorado to Montana who happen to be visiting his son. Without giving any spoilers we are introduced to some unsettling characters right from start. This is episode one and it ended with a bang. Literally. Some great actors -Brian Geraghty, John Carroll Lynch, Valerie Mahaffey, Brooke Smith and Katheryn Winnick all have great acting pedigrees and that Montana sky is its own character. This is on my must watch list.

3) Soulmates on AMC+ is an anthology series with a theme. From the co writer of Stranger Things and Black Mirror- this is set in a world just fifteen years from now. A world where there is a test that can determine your soulmate. These stories reveal the cost of finding a soulmate and whether that is the true love connection we are all looking for and what happens when your soulmate is married, a different gender or suddenly is deceased. Heartbreaking, disturbing and often thought provoking. Some very good actors -Charlie Heaton, Malin Ackerman and Bill Skarsgård . Some stories are better than others and all very dark. I liked it.

Bonus: Friendsgiving available for rental is a perfect frothy comedy antidote to all the drama. It has a great cast - Malin Ackerman, Kat Dennings, Aisha Tyler, Jane Seymour, Ryan Hansen are just part of the funny cast. A group of close friends gather for a dysfunctional Thanksgiving dinner and bring along some odd guests (Christine Taylor). Nothing groundbreaking but a fun watch.