It's Christmas!

I would agree with the viewers that this film is mis labeled as a comedy. This film is not a comedy by any stretch of the imagination. I think i only laughed once and that was at the tail end when the two girls were starting to fight and everyone kept eating their food and nobody broke the fight up. Here is what I would say- the characters are all kind of lame people. They have good hearts but they are lame. The film is about siblings who lose their mom and they come back to spend time with their dad. They find their moms dairy and they decide to celebrate the holidays together and try to bring back some level of family celebration during the holidays.

The film itself is pretty atrocious. The script is bad and the content is really cringey. I spotted so many bloopers, I lost count.

But this was clearly a love-affair with Porthcawl. A beautiful seaside town in Wales. We saw so many familiar faces and parts of the town. Well done for using the local area in this creative way.

I think the film tries too hard to be Wes Anderson-ish or arts housey, but it really doesn't get there. The female characters were mainly annoying and Callow doesn't get the opportunity to really act.

It's something to watch for Christmas and I recommend it for anyone that lives in the town that it's set. But I'm quite disappointed to have paid for it and puts me off looking at other things by this writer.

The Holiday List, or It's Christmas in Europe, is a cute little film about a family coming together during the holidays. The film follows Charlie (Brittany Snow), who goes to spend Christmas with her husband's family after her mother-in-law passed away. Charlie was closer to her mother-in-law than her own mother, and as a result, her sister-in-law, Jackie, is resentful of her. However, things take a turn as Charlie accidentally creates a list for the family to do over the holiday. Be warned going in that this movie was all improvised in that there was no script and that the actors were just making it up as they went along. I'm usually not a fan of movies like this, as often the dialogue feels wooden, and the plot feels bland. I feel like nothing is better than a well-crafted script with meaningful dialogue. This was my worry going in as, at first, the movie seemed to lack substance other than the characters were going to spend Christmas together after the loss of their mother. However, if you stick with it, the characters start to feel like real people. It's also more of a drama than a comedy. Sure, some moments made me chuckle, but the parts that really stood out were the scenes that dealt with loss and love.

The pros: Brittany Snow leads the cast and is amazing as Charlie. Brittany Snow is my all-time favorite actor and does an amazing job in this film. She does an excellent job portraying what it is like to spend time with your significant other's family and trying to figure out how you fit into the family dynamics. Now you can tell she is the most experienced actor, and her character really brings it home. She also was the only one who was really able to pull off the comedic as in the film aspects of the film. Jackie and Lola's relationship was cute. Seeing how other cultures celebrate Christmas was fun for me as an American. I also liked that it was your normal over-the-top Hallmark Christmas movie, which you usually get. It was a movie about real people dealing with loss during the holiday season. Lastly, it touched my heart, and I found it hopeful.

The cons: Sometimes the actors ramble, and you can tell they are thinking about what to say. Wesley, Brittany Snow's husband, was a little bland and felt whiny at times. I would've liked to see his character better developed. I do feel that having some form of the script could've helped tighten up the movie a little, especially the main plot points. Also, some plot points never go anywhere, like the father drinking too much.

Overall, it's not your typical Christmas movie that focuses more on the human sides of the season and how we respond to grief. And for a 90-minute movie, it did that well. I liked it better than I thought I would and would recommend it for Brittany Snow's performance alone.

I am surprised at the relatively short runtime of this movie, as it absolutely draggggggged. All of the characters are completely unlikable, the plot is a little bizarre, yet non-eventful and you just feel uncomfortable the entire time. They are mostly all mean to eachother for what appears to be no reason, but in the odd moments the cast show any humanity, it's super awkward. The relationship between the 2 main characters is quite toxic, and they never give the impression that they even like eachother, it's slightly disturbing. I like Brittany Snow, so I was really hoping this would be good, but don't waste your time on this rubbish.

Marking this one as DNF. Don't waste your time.

I was so excited for a Brittany Snow Christmas movie. Made it maybe 30 minutes in. Gave it an honest shot. Not a single character had any redeeming qualities even 1/3 of the way through the movie. It's awkward and uncomfortable and not in a fun way. They keep making vague references to events of the past leaving you feeling even more clueless. It's like watching a bad, sad improv show. I didn't smile at a single thing that happened in the first 1/3 of the movie. The only thing worth even laying eyes on was the idyllic scenery which has absolutely nothing to do with the film at all.