Christmas Is Canceled

Loved this. It was bonkers. Nothing made sense: not the plot, the character arcs, the conflicts, the romances, the dialogue, the settings, the editing, the music, the ending, or... well, anything.

You know that feeling you get when you stare at a strobe light too long? Sick, disoriented, and kinda woozy? Turn that feeling into a feature length Christmas film and you've got "Christmas is Canceled"

10/10 Highly recommended A+

(Plus the guy's a great photographer apparently, so that's cool.)

Hohoho, here's some christmas trash, I'm sure you wont enjoy unless you're some kind of chritmas whacko. This movie should come with a bottle of vodka, because you'll like the vodka more than the movie, and then the floor more than the movie after you've puked.

The plot synopsis states a 29 year old woman finds out her father is dating her high school "frenemy." I went into this movie prepared for the usual silliness and over the top acting Christmas romcoms are known for. I expected pettiness and catty arguments leading to a sickeningly sweet ending in which everyone gets what s/he wants.

What I got was a movie even more ridiculous than anticipated. The daughter, who is supposedly 29, acts like a 4 year old throughout the entire film. She even kicks over a Santa Claus, in her father's place of business at one point. I can't imagine that any woman approaching her 30s would act the way this character acts. It's just way too unbelievable. The whole movie was so bad that I felt embarrassed for the actors. Do yourself a favor and skip this one. It is terrible.

I don't mind a low-budget try-hard tacky Christmas film here and there. They make for nice background trashy entertainment. But when one normalises a coldly unempathic bereaved 58yr old seducing a 20something friend of his daughter, and his daughter is made out to be the one with the problem, its messages aren't exactly on a par with 'Its a Wonderful Life'.

The humour is of the cringey sarcastic reactions ilk, with ill-judged music to suggest things are supposed to be funny. The whole thing is such a jarring misfire I'm amazed anyone thought "yeah let's make this!"

The premise of breaking up a relationship between dad and a free-wheeling woman has been done a few times, but I don't remember ever doing it where that woman is the daughter's high school classmate and neighbor. I found that aspect to be taking it a little too far. It was hard to root for Brandy.

This story had some good moments, especially if you like a revenge trope, and there were great possibilities. There were also some cringeworthy moments. It seemed like there wasn't anything upbeat in the whole movie except maybe the inevitable outcome.

Emma, the daughter, definitely shows a very unlikeable side, even mean. While I didn't like this aspect of her personality, I identified with her feelings was behind her in principle, to a point. She had very mean moments. Brandy becomes a sympathetic character.

Usually in a movie with this kind of premise, the guy that the daughter picks as an ally turns into her romantic interest. Yet Hayley Orrantia and Michael Naizu had very little screentime together. There was no valid explanation for the relationship they develop.

I'm pretty sure this is not a Hallmark movie. It gets pretty crass at times, including the language and there is some heavy petting with minimal clothing.