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Elf (2003)
Elf (2003)
2003 | Comedy, Family
SANTAAAAAAAA!
Elf stars Will Ferrell as buddy the elf, after climbing into Santa's Christmas sack as a baby, he is accidentally taken (or kidnapped as he was not returned) to the north pole, their he is raised as an elf until discovering the truth and decides to find his parents and discover who he is.
With plenty of laughs and memorable moments, it's easy to see why elf has become a family Christmas classic.
  
The Holiday (2006)
The Holiday (2006)
2006 | Comedy, Romance
Kate WInslet and Jack Black (0 more)
This film is saved by Kate Winslet and Jack Black, I just love their understated relationship and how it develops, their characters seem genuine and I root for them every time! Cameron Diaz overacts her role, I am not a lover of Jude Law and the scenes with his children are twee. Nevertheless in the UK this film is on every Christmas and I watch it every Christmas!
  
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AT (1676 KP) rated The Last Christmas in Books

Dec 21, 2018 (Updated Dec 21, 2018)  
The Last Christmas
The Last Christmas
Brian Posehn, Gerry Duggan | 2006 | Comics & Graphic Novels
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The story of Santa after the apocalypse. Very gory, violent, disturbing, sad, and hilarious! Santa has had enough of his life, and wants to end things. However, one boy still believes in him, and as long as he does, Santa is forced to stay Santa. So...Santa goes to find that boy... If you can only read one Christmas story this year, screw Rudolph, Frosty, and The Polar Express. Read The Last Christmas!
  
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Beatriz (138 KP) Dec 21, 2018

@Paige this sound like something you’d like !

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Paige (277 KP) Dec 21, 2018

@Beatriz Absolutely! ??

For the second book in this series we find a wedding planner in the midst of a Christmas wedding competition, and a Missionary recently returned from overseas. The characters in this book were believable and I liked their reactions to the situations presented. The plot was a good Hallmark feels to it, which seems to be the thing for Christmas books. I enjoyed this book I think more than the first one.
  
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
2000 | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Verdict: Dated Christmas Movie

Story: The Grinch starts as we head to Whoville a small town in the snow covered mountain range, the whole town loves Christmas working all year around to get the most out of the season, with decoration you could see from space, above the town lives a grumpy outcast known as the Grinch (Carrey) who hates Christmas.
When a young Who Cindy Lou Who (Momsen) meets the Grinch and learns about his story, she decides to nominate him for the Christmas award, against the wishes of the town Mayor Augustus Maywho (Tambor), which he reluctantly accepts, going against all his own hatred for Christmas, here the Grinch gets embarrassed once again and comes up with a plan to steal Christmas from the whole village.

Thoughts on The Grinch

Characters – The Grinch is a Who that has lived above the town like an outsider who has always hated Christmas, he always looks for small ways to ruin the season, but this year he will steal everything from them and learn that his constant play for revenge has only ever held him back from enjoying his life. Cindy Lou Who is the little girl that is brave enough to stand up against the town in hopes of inviting the Grinch back into the town, she sees the good in him and wants everybody to be included in the Christmas spirit. Mayor Augustus Maywho has always seen and wanted to keep the Grinch out of the town, he believes he can destroy Christmas.
Performances – Jim Carrey is front and centre here, he is very hard to watch in this role because his turns into one of his routines, with unnatural energy for the role. Taylor Momsen as the young girl is the next strongest out of the whole cast, but if we are honest, most of the cast barely get any time to shine.
Story – The story here focuses on a community of Who’s that love Christmas and the one outsider Who that hates it and decides to get his revenge this year, despite a young girl trying to help him find his Christmas Spirit. This is a Dr Seuss book, so we know that everything is going to be very colourful and over the top with world created, at the heart of this film, we are looking to teach to accept everybody in life no matter how different they are. The problem with this comes with the fact that most of the film is Jim Carrey doing his comedy routine to an audience that isn’t even there, we just don’t get that magical feeling the film is trying to create.
Comedy/Fantasy – The comedy in this film does seem to focus on Jim Carrey’s routines, which just aren’t entertaining enough, while the fantasy side of the film shows us the world where the Who’s live in.
Settings – The film does build a nice setting of the town in the shadow of the city, this does help us learn more about the world we are entering.
Special Effects – The effects are used to turn Carrey into the Grinch, mostly all make up, but it ends up looking creepier rather than different.

Scene of the Movie – The door doing the right thing.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The comedy just gets boring.
Final Thoughts – This is a Christmas movie that just doesn’t get out of trying to be a comedy routine for Jim Carrey, losing the message it is trying to give us.

Overall: Sloppy Christmas Film.
  
One Christmas in Winter
One Christmas in Winter
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
One Christmas in Winter appear about a girl and her dream to want to director of holiday films. Will she get her dream job. There appear problems though out with her cast. When her led man falls it put her in a spot, that she got to find a stand in for him.

Holt Bradley has his own dream. He walked away from it and Hollywood for a reason. He has come back to his hometown where his father owns a diner and once his father passes Holt is owner and run the place. Things get a bit confusion when he delivers Chinese food to the movie crew that come to winter to film on location.

What on from there is anyone guess. Will Holt and director be the stars or the holiday film or will it be a repeat of the past. Find out by reading the story to see. This book and story is centered around the holiday season of Christmas. Looking for the spirit of Christmas and it magic. This one will not disappoint.

The author does well with having take place in Winter, Montana. The title says it all. Will Christmas bring true love together or will it just be another Christmas in Winter, Montana.
  
When Holly White calls off her wedding, she returns to her family’s tree farm in Maine just in time for the annual Reindeer Games, which take place in the twelve days leading up to Christmas. However, the night before the games are set to start, Margaret comes in causing problems in her quest to keep the town exactly historically accurate. When Holly finds Margaret dead among the trees a few hours later, the police start looking a little too close to home. Can Holly clear her family and friends before Christmas?

If you are looking for a Christmas cozy, this one is perfect. Each page oozes Christmas cheer, and the games sound like a ton of fun. I’d love to visit and play myself. Unfortunately, I did feel this got in the way of the mystery at times, and Holly spent quite a bit to time reacting to events rather than actually investigating at other points. Still, it held together well overall, and we got a great climax. The characters are already sharp, and their relationships help add to the Christmas cheer.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/10/book-review-twelve-slays-of-christmas.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.