Tag: christmas movies

Film Review: “Red One”

Red One is a cacophony of borrowed ideas and lazy jokes

Each year, movie lovers share a communal hope that a new holiday film will earn a spot among the pantheon of great holiday classics, becoming a new beloved title to watch annually with family and friends. This year, Red One isn’t it. Bloated with ideas borrowed from a wide range of superhero and other Christmas films, and prioritizing action above comedy or the Christmas spirit, Red One is simply a colorful distraction that fails to achieve emotional liftoff.  Continue reading “Film Review: “Red One””

Film Review: “Christmas With You”

Representation Matters in Christmas With You Starring Aimee Garcia and Freddie Prinze Jr.

Costume director Carisa Kelly deserves a raise… and whoever scouted that piano. Aimee Garcia and Freddie Prinze Jr. as Angelina and Miguel. Photo courtesy of Netflix (2022).

About ten years ago, a friend of mine said, “They never make movies about people like us unless it’s about our trauma or a white person growing. Why can’t we have happy endings, too?”

It was true; all my favorite movies were helmed by white people, and the few that weren’t were about trauma. The rest of the time, we were in supporting roles as best friends, maids, taxi drivers, gangsters, or terrorists. Sometimes the story was about us, but it wasn’t really about us; it was about the white teacher who changes our lives, the white writer who is inspired by us to tell our stories for us. It still centered on a white person’s journey of growth. Continue reading “Film Review: “Christmas With You””