Thankfully, I don’t have the Hallmark channel.  Only Netflix and ION television are putting Christmas movies in my path.  I’ve watched a few this year, so here it goes.  No doubt I’ll post again with more to come as I waste precious time I should be using to write.

The first one makes me wonder if I have a sick sense of humor since the poor movie received 0% on the tomato meter of Rotten Tomatoes. I apparently enjoyed the odd story but must have missed it last year.  It came out in 2007 and is streaming on Netflix.

Pottersville is the story of Maynard, a down-to-earth regular nice guy, whose wife is into an absolutely absurd, crazy, a kinky outlet.  You’ll have to see it to believe it.  When he discovers his wife with another man, he goes on a drinking binge and decides to dress up in a costume that makes him look like a hairy monster.  With a gorilla head, paws with claws, and a fuzzy body, he runs around the town. The next day, reports come in that people saw Bigfoot.  Of course, one sighting of Bigfoot, and the entire town goes bonkers and descends into Bigfoot mania.

Maynard really wants to tell the truth that it’s him behind the mask, but when he sees the outcome of his drunken night and how the town has come alive, he keeps it a secret.  I don’t know what it was about this movie, but I thought it cute and had a few good laughs.  Not much in the way of romance. Some parts are just stupid, I’ll admit.  Well, at least 53% of the Rotten Tomatoes audience liked it.

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Okay, ladies, back to princes.  Netflix has a sequel to A Christmas Prince.  It’s A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding.  It continues the story from last year.  The prince is now king since his father died.  It focuses mainly on Amber’s return to Aldovia, with her father in tow, before the wedding and her acclimation to becoming the queen.

Everyone attempts to mold her into the royal protocol and ways of doing things, while she comes kicking and screaming along the way.  Richard, her husband to be, is awfully busy with affairs of state, dealing with a country in debt and nothing working as it should.  The evil cousin returns but he’s not so bad this time.

It’s the usual fluff.  Can’t say I was overwhelmed by the story though Netflix users seem to be piling on five stars.

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Your next royal movie (le sigh), The Princess Switch.  It’s another overused trope – two lookalikes who switch places.  The commoner, Margaret, in this switcharoo is a baker from Chicago who owns her own bakery.  The royalty, duchess of Montenaro, is betrothed in an arranged marriage to a prince.  Vanessa Hudgens plays the parts, doing quite well from speaking in a haughty poss-English accent to a down-to-earth woman who loves to bake.

Same old story.  Gee, let’s switch places.  The duchess wants a moment to see what life is like on the other side, while Margaret had always dreamed of her prince charming.  Of course, each enjoys their new roles in life and each fall in love with the individuals they should not.

It’s a fairly enjoyable movie but overly similar to so many others that use this story, which creates a tad bit of boredom and yawning.

I also watched the Christmas Crush on Netflix that came out in 2012.  Didn’t finish it.  Oh, my gosh, so over the top with four girls who attend a high school winter reunion ten years later.  Spare me.  If you hated high school, you’ll hate this one.

Another I used the fast-forward button on repeatedly and didn’t finish, Christmas Wedding Planner, on Netflix, came out in 2017.

That’s it for now!