The Princess Switch (2018)

 

For whatever reason switching places is a popular Christmas movie trope. I guess that Christmas magic prevents anyone from catching on that two completely different people have switched places. 

The Princess Switch is one of Netflix’s first efforts to compete with the Christmas movie juggernaut Hallmark. It stars Vanessa Hudgens as Stacy, a baker from Chicago and as Margaret a duchess from a fictional European country. So many Christmas tropes in one film. A switch and a royal falling in love with a commoner and might as well include the baking aspect in there as well.

Stacy and her best friend Kevin (Nick Sagar) have been chosen to compete in the televised international baking competition in Belgravia. She, Nick, and his daughter Olivia travel to Belgravia from Chicago in order to compete as well as get away from Stacy’s ex who has quickly moved on after their breakup. While setting up at the studio, Stacy bumps into Margaret. Margaret is in town to prepare for her upcoming wedding to Belgravia’s Prince Edward (Sam Palladio). 

They’re surprised at their resemblance, but handle it well all things considered. Margaret is pleased to discover the resemblance as she’s eager to experience a normal life before getting married. Stacy agrees to take Margaret’s place as the switch will occur the two days that Prince Edward is out of town and the two days before the baking competition.

The logistics of the script don’t make sense. No one in Belgravia, other than the royal family, knows what Margaret looks like. This is used as a rather clumsy explanation as to why Stacy and Margaret are able to switch places in the first place. It’s also rather odd that Kevin isn’t in on the plan. Kevin would have no motivation to reveal the switch. Keeping him in the dark is only used as an excuse to fall for Margaret, and in doing so thinking he’s falling for Stacy, but as he finds out soon after who he really fell for there’s no dramatic payoff for that confusion anyway.

There’s also a scene in the film where Stacy’s biggest rival tries to sabotage her in the competition by cutting the power cord off of Stacy’s blender. Again, there’s no dramatic payoff because somehow in the entire five hour cake baking competition, there’s no need for Kevin and Stacy to use the blender until the last half hour in the competition. 

Of course, Margaret and Kevin fall for each other as do Edward and Stacy. You can predict that as soon as the switch happens. Still, this movie is meant to provide a distraction and that’s exactly what it does.

The film starts to pick up once Kevin, Olivia and Stacy are actually in Belgravia and once it does, it’s actually easy to put aside the plot holes in the film. 

Despite a bad British dialect Vanessa Hudgens isn’t bad as Margaret and Stacy and I like Nick Sagars and Sam Palladio. It’s a ridiculous plot, but to get some holiday cheer into your system it does its job.

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)

 

The holiday season is upon us and that means Christmas movies galore. Of course, most Christmas films are notoriously bad and unoriginal.

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey is one of this year’s exceptions as it is full of wonder, a great concept and fantastic musical numbers.

Phylicia Rashad reads the story of Jeronicus Jangle (Justin Cornwall to start) to her grandchildren. Jeronicus is the best inventor, but one of his creations Don Juan Diego (Ricky Martin) wants to remain one of a kind and convinces Jeronicus’ apprentice Gustafson (Miles Barrow to start) to steal Jeronicus’ book of inventions and sell them as his own.

The theft brings Gustafson (now Keegan Michael-Key) success, but ruins Jeronicus in many ways. Years later Jeronicus (now Forest Whitaker) has lost his wife, is estranged from his daughter Jessica (Anika Noni Rose) and has no relationship with his granddaughter. His granddaughter Journey (Madalen Mills) finally gets to meet him one Christmas season as he’s ready to close up shop for good as he’s bankrupt and has no way to pay off his debts.

You can probably guess the ending, but that doesn’t mean it’s a mediocre film by any means. The film is full of cheer and the setting is different from most Christmas films so it’s also visually cool. The music is also phenomenal.

Journey is smart and proudly so and her intelligence is rewarded. She never feels like she has to dumb herself down for anyone and it’s one of my favorite aspects. The film is currently streaming on Netflix and due to its great message and contagious holiday cheer, I say it’s definitely one everyone should check out.

Dangerous Lies (2020)

 

“Dangerous Lies” is ridiculous and far fetched. Still the Netflix thriller isn’t all that bad. It’s most certainly not good, but I’ve seen worse. It’s also entertaining enough to pass the time.

“Dangerous Lies” stars Camila Mendes as Katie who works as the caretaker of a rich old man named Leonard (Elliot Gould). That’s all you need to know about that. Leonard dies unexpectedly and leaves everything to Katie. Detective Chesler (Sasha Alexander) is assigned to investigate Leonard’s death and is immediately suspicious of Katie and her husband as Katie only worked for Leonard for four months and had been struggling financially. Katie had been more reluctant to accept any kind of financial help from Leonard, but her husband always convinced her to take the extra help.

Katie’s husband Adam (Jessie T. Usher) quickly accepts the inheritance and any financial help given to him and his wife as he’s tired of being poor. At the start of the film, he is a local hero for having thwarted a robbery at the diner Katie worked at initially. Katie convinces Leonard to hire Adam as his gardener, and while exploring the house one day, Adam discovers a trunk full of money. Before finding out they have inherited everything, Adam convinces Katie to take all the money in the trunk as Leonard won’t need it anymore and no one else knows of its existence. After finding out that they inherited everything and moving in to Leonard’s house, Katie begins to grow weary as she is harassed by a real estate agent named Mickey (Cam Gigandet) who finds ways to get Adam out of the house.

It is an incredibly convoluted plot. It’s not all bad though. “Dangerous Lies” doesn’t fall into the trap many small budget films do in being too visually dark. It’s easy to see the action in every frame of the film.

The film does try hard to build suspense, but nothing feels dangerous until many wonky plot reveals later. It also takes a long time to tie in the robbery scene with the rest of the film. There’s a lot of build up, but little pay off for all the supposedly scary reveals. There are also convenient plot points strewn throughout.

The majority of the film is exposition. Mendes and Usher also give good performances despite the weak script. Adam is the main suspect of the film and despite the fact that the film does a good job in letting you think it’s him, it also feels too convenient and expected. This isn’t a good film by any means, but if you’re looking for mindless entertainment then this is not a bad film to watch.

Instant Family (2018)

 

Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne star as a couple who decide to become foster parents. They are a childless couple and after seeing the faces of the children in the system want to open their home to some of them. Initially they only want one young child, but change their minds after meeting the teenage Lizzy and her younger siblings. There are a surprising amount of charming cameos as well as big name talents to round out the cast. It’s a sweet, charming film.

High Strung Free Dance (2018)

 

If you’re looking to get an authentic look into what it takes to be on Broadway, then this is not the film to watch. The lead finds work way too quickly and doesn’t struggle in the slightest, but if you’re watching this film you’re more than likely just in it for the dancing.

The film follows dancer Barlow (Juliet Doherty) and pianist Charlie (Harry Jarvis) as they both easily find a job doing what they love in the new Broadway show “Free Dance”.

The show’s choreographer Zander (Thomas Doherty) is erratic and cruel, but his antics are forgiven because of his brilliance.

That part may actually be an accurate portrayal of the business. Other than that, this is the kind of film that fuels young performers into believing breaking into the industry is as simple as not needing to do anything but following your dreams. Also I shuddered at the amount of equity rules being broken during the audition process, but what I’m trying to emphasize is that this film is by no means meant to be taken seriously.

The aspect that is absolutely delightful is the dance number at the end. This is a film about dance and anytime there is dancing on screen it’s beautiful, but the fictitious Broadway show is especially beautiful to watch. This film doesn’t have great acting or a believable story line, but if you want to watch great dancing then it’s worth checking out.

Ghostbusters (2016)

 

It makes sense to see the "Ghostbusters" reboot. As I mentioned in my original 1984 "Ghostbusters" review, the reboot was instantly hated and reviled from the moment it was announced.

I had no interest in watching his film when it was initially announced. My simple reason being: I hated "Bridesmaids" and both films involved almost the same people. It made no sense to watch a film if I didn't like the previous team up, but my opinion about watching the "Ghostbusters" reboot began changing as all the unnecessary hate aimed at it grew. 

The women received unending hate with Leslie Jones dealing with the worst of it as she had to deal with racist attacks on top of everything else.

It was appalling the way, mainly childish men, reacted towards this film. It bombed at the box office cementing its female led fate to that of nonexistence. Instead, another film was made, as a direct sequel to 1989's "Ghostbusters II" with no acknowledgement that the 2016 film ever existed.

Anyway, I think the entire situation is completely unfair, especially considering that if given a fair chance, this film is not that bad. I watched it mainly to support everyone involved in this project after the unfairness of the situation, but it still wasn't something I was looking forward to, and yet I had a good time. 

The "Ghostbusters" reboot was trying to do something different from the original which I appreciated. If you're going to do a reboot or a remake, then don't do a shot for shot remake for fan service (although I begrudgingly admit that that stupid formula works). There are fun Easter eggs and call outs to the original "Ghostbusters" film. Overall, though, the film has its own storyline. There are similar plotlines, but there are enough differences to warrant its existence.

The leads are funny with Leslie Jones being a standout for me. The final boss was more difficult to fight than the boss in the original. 

McKinnon is funny, but not usually my kind of humor, but I did enjoy her in this one. Leslie Jones though, stole the film for me. She's not over the top with her delivery, making it more funny to me. She has a natural comedic timing that doesn't require her to do more than say her lines.

If you haven't watched this film, I say give it a chance. I'm not saying you're going to like it more than the original, but I think you'll enjoy it all the same.