6 Feel Good Christmas Movies + 1 Reality-TV On Netflix 🙂

Would you like some Christmas cheer to engulf your abode?

Ginger cookies, mistletoes, Christmas trees, bells and abundance of red, green, gold and silver - do they make you happy?

Would you like to look away from the gloom around you into a happy world of dreams and wishes which eventually come true?

If yes, then dunk into the world of feel good festive movies brought to you by Netflix.

Here is my datewise list of such movies with short reviews -

1. Holidate (28 Oct 2020)

Genre: Comedy Romance

Duration: 103 minutes

Plot: Fed up with being single on holidays, two strangers agree to be each other's platonic plus-ones all year long, only to catch real feelings along the way.

Review: It's fun to see the lead cast play each other's 'holidate' for a series of festivals!

2. Operation Christmas Drop (5 Nov 2020)

Genre: Comedy Family Romance

Duration: 95 minutes

Plot: Congressional aide Erica Miller lands at a beachside Air Force base, where she clashes with Capt. Andrew Jantz over his pet project - Operation: Christmas Drop. The Captain knows that her assignment is to find reasons to defund the facility!

Review: Nice storyline with average performance but good message.

3. Jingle Jangle - A Christmas Journey (13 Nov 2020)

Genre: Musical Fantasy

Duration: 119 minutes

Plot: Decades after hus first apprentice betrayed him, a once joyful toymaker finds new hope when his kind and curious granddaughter comes into his life.

Review: Clean, beautiful, colorful and magical!

4. Holiday Home Makeover With Mr. Christmas (18 Nov 2020)

Genre: Reality-TV Lifestyle

No. Of Episodes: 4

Running Time: 35-40 minutes

Plot: Equipped with lights, garland and tinsel, interior designer Benjamin Bradley and his team of elves work around the clock to bring holiday cheer to families and communities deserving of a home makeover for the most joyous time of year.

Review: An authentic and creative, fun-reality show.

5. The Princess Switch - Switched Again (19 Nov 2020)

Genre: Comedy Drama Family

Duration: 96 minutes

Plot: It is a sequel to The Princess Switch. When Duchess Margaret unexpectedly inherits the throne to Montenaro and hits a rough patch with Kevin, it's up to her double Stacy to save the day before a new lookalike, party girl Fiona foils their plans.

Review: A silly but cute and full of Christmas sequel. 

6. Dolly Parton's Christmas On The Square (22 Nov 2020)

Genre: Family Musical

Duration: 98 minutes

Plot: A woman who plans to sell a small town without regard for the people who live there receives a visit from an angel.

Review: An inspirational story with great cast but over the top acting.

7. The Christmas Chronicles 2 (25 Nov 2020)

Genre: Comedy Adventure

Duration: 112 minutes

Plot: Kate Pierce, now a cynical teen, is unexpectedly reunited with Santa Claus when a mysterious troublemaker threatens to cancel Christmas - forever.

Review: The movie is clearly a no match to it's prequel, but still watchable to keep live the Christmas spirit.

Binge Watch Suggestion List - Part IV 🙂

I am sharing below my pick list with short reviews of 4 international Amazon Prime Video web series showcasing strong, liberal, talented and entertaining lady protagonist(s) -

1. Covert Affairs (13 Jul 2010, 7 Jun 2011, 10 Jul 2012, 16 Jul 2013, 24 Jun 2014)
Genre: Action Thriller Espionage Drama
Country of Origin: United States
Seasons: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
No. of Episodes: 11, 16, 16, 16, 16
Running Time: 45 minutes

Short Review: Annie Walker (Piper Perabo) is a young CIA field agent who works in conjunction with August "Auggie" Anderson (Christopher Gorham), an extremely talented blind CIA tech operative. Throughout the series, she comes across a lot of life threatening missions, a couple of love angles and betrayals. She speaks seven languages and is multi skilled.

Not particularly beautiful, but quite an impressive and agile personality, Annie Walker lights up the screen whenever she appears in a frame. In spite of being a hard core result oriented spy, she is a humanitarian in her approach.

The series is quite engaging and relaxing.

2. Nikita (9 Sep 2010, 2011
Genre: Action Thriller Espionage Drama
Country of Origin: United States
Seasons: 1, 2, 3, 4
No. of Episodes: 22, 23, 22, 6
Running Time: 42 minutes

Short Review: The series is an adaptation of the Luc Besson's French film 'La Femme Nikita'.

The lean and athletic Nikita Mears (Maggie Q) is rescued from death row by Division, a secret government organization, wherein she is trained and hired to do off-the-book assassination of dangerous and threatening personnels.

With the course of time, Nikita realizes that Division has been created and is managed by Oversight, a black operations centric organization and ever since it's first director and founding member has gone rogue, Division is actually undertaking private killing contracts!

First she goes into three years hiding, then surfaces with the resolution of terminating the entire aforementioned net of black operations.

It's an ultra complex series with a lot of layers and a bevy of important characters. The series is quite well scripted and manages to keep the audience guessing till the end. Maggie Q is simply fantastic in action scenes.

3. Diablo Guardian (3 May 2018, 12 Apr 2019)
Genre: Comedy Drama
Country of Origin: Mexico
Seasons: 1, 2
No. of Episodes: 10, 8
Running Time: 45 minutes

Short Review: The series is based on the 2003 novel 'Diablo Guardián' by Xavier Velasco.

Violetta (Paulina Gaitán) is a sucker for luxurious and materialistic lifestyle and leaves her ordinary Mexico life for the glittery life of New York, with $217,000 in hand, that she had stolen from her disapproving parents.

Initially, she revels in luxurious - hotel stay, clothing, wine, dine and the likes. But eventually, the money runs out and she resorts to high end conning and prostitution, till it lasts.

Herein, the protagonist is kind of amoral but child like and gleeful and continuously experiments with everything fashionable and luxurious, which makes for an interesting watch.

4. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (17 Mar 2017, 5 Dec 2018, 6 Dec 2019)
Genre: Comedy Period Drama
Country of Origin: United States
Seasons: 1, 2, 3
No. of Episodes: 8, 10, 18
Running Time: 43-76 minutes

Short Review: Mrs. Miriam "Midge" Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan), is a beautiful, poised, witty and Jewish housewife of the late 1950s and early 1960s, in New York City, who out of the blue realises that she has the talent and urge to be a stand-up comedian and goes on to pursue a career in it with full force and focus. This includes separating from Joel Maisel (Michael Zegen) her loving, gentleman but cheating husband and leaving her two children under her mother's care, while she goes out or travels for work.

Most of Miriam's bold and brazen standup-comedy acts are funny and interesting.

The series also gives a sneak peek of the then inferior treatment meated out to women in the work arena.

Binge Watch Suggestion List - Part I -
http://jaimaadurga.blogspot.com/2020/03/binge-watch-suggestion-list-part-i.html?m=1

Binge Watch Suggestion List - Part II -
http://jaimaadurga.blogspot.com/2020/03/binge-watch-suggestion-list-part-ii.html?m=1

Binge Watch Suggestion List - Part III -
http://angrezipicture.blogspot.com/2020/04/binge-watch-suggestion-list-part-iii.html?m=1

Binge Watch Suggestion List - Part V -
http://jaimaadurga.blogspot.com/2020/05/binge-watch-suggestion-list-part-vl.html?m=1

Binge Watch Suggestion List - Part VI -
http://jaimaadurga.blogspot.com/2020/05/binge-watch-suggestion-list-part-vi.html?m=1

Binge Watch Suggestion List - Part III 🙂

I am sharing below my pick list with short reviews of 7 international Netflix web series showcasing strong, well groomed, talented and entertaining lady protagonist(s) -

1. Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (24 Feb 2012, 6 Sep 2013, 8 May 2015)
Genre: Crime, Mystery Costume Drama
Country of Origin: Australia
Seasons: 1, 2, 3
No. of Episodes: 13, 13, 8
Running Time: 60 minutes

Short Review: Miss Phryne Fisher (Essie Davis) is a well groomed, glamorous, stylish but bold and risk loving lady detective, often found snooping around jazz clubs and dubious people's properties. The time period is of 1920s.

She is extremely observant and loves good life and never shares her woes or weaknesses in public.

The series is simple and clean with old vintage charm.

2. Cable Girls (28 Apr 2017, 25 Dec 2017, 7 Sep pop2018, 9 Aug 2019, 14 Feb 2020)
Genre: Thriller, Period Drama
Country of Origin: Spain
Season: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
No. of Episodes: 8, 8, 8, 8, 10
Running Time: 41-63 minutes

Short Review: Originally titled as 'Las chicas del cable' in Spanish, the series is about the personal and professional lives of the four cable operator ladies, who got employment in the first national telephone company of Spain, in the 1920s.

It's interesting to watch the working mechanism of the then telephone company, including the pride, politics and crisis around it. The series also depicts the dawn of the times when the society started considering women equal to men and women started taking their life decisions and complex matters into their own hands.

The series in totality is an engaging watch and much more than just the cable operating system.

3. Locked Up (20 Apr 2015, 31 Mar 2016, 23 Apr 2018, 3 Dec 2018)
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Serial Drama
Country of Origin: Spain
Season: 1, 2, 3, 4
No. of Episodes: 11, 13, 8, 8
Running Time: 70 minutes

Short Review: Originally titled as 'Vis A Vis' in Spanish, the series starts with the admittance of Macarena Ferreiro (Maggie Civantos), a victim of corporate fraud and lover's betrayal, into high security women's prison and follows up with the mechanism of the prison system and Macarena's life amongst the medley of both caring friends and ruthless enemies.

Eventually, the series focuses on different individual stories, leading to prison escape by few hardened criminals and their re-capture by the concerned authorities.

It's an extremely well researched and filmed series with apt casting and excellent direction and acting. There is more than required nudity in the garb of body searching and the likes.

4. House of Flowers (10 Aug 2018, 18 Oct 2019, 1 Nov 2019)
Genre: Satire, Comedy, Drama
Country of Origin: Mexico
Season: 1, 2, Special Episode
No. of Episodes: 13, 9, 1
Running Time: 27-37 minutes

Short Review: Originally titled as 'La Casa de las Flores' in Spanish, the series is about a dysfunctional family with a prestigious flower business front but a problematic and full of secrets reality.

The first season is exclusively filmed in Mexico, while the second one's filming shifts between Mexico and Spain and the Special Episode is filmed on the Texas-Mexico border.

The series has a modern and liberal approach on LGBT lifestyle and consists of enough scenes constituting the LGBT characters.

It's a non-serious, funny and full of drama series.

5. Three Days of Christmas (6 Dec 2019)
Genre: Classic Drama
Country of Origin: Spain
Season: 1
No. of Episodes: 3
Running Time: 53-66 minutes

Short Review: Large, well built, secluded and surrounded by beautiful snow capped mountains - this is the family home where four sisters joined by a childhood secret, celebrate Christmas at three distinct phases of their lives i.e. during their - teens as daughters, adulthood as mothers and elderly age as grandmothers.

It's a well made classic series, showing the conservative and anticipatory atmosphere post World War II. Interpersonal relationship and antics of the kid sisters is a gleeful watch.

6. Queen Sono (28 Feb 2020)
Genre: Crime Action Thriller Drama
Country of Origin: South Africa, Congo, Nigeria, Zimbabwe
Season: 1
No. of Episodes: 6
Running Time: 32-47 minutes

Short Review: It is Netflix's first African original series. It is about a young but extremely well trained African spy, who has a knack for successfully completing her missions but no policy of adhering to any rule. Alongside working for her nation, she is also on the continuous look out of finding her mother's assassins.

It's quite educative to watch an African series with an African protagonist in her local backdrop. Usually, we as the international audience are used to see Africa as a visiting or migrated location from other developed countries' protagonist's point of view.

It's also refreshing to hear dialogues in Zulu and Swahili. It's an interesting series.

7. Self Made (20 Mar 2020)
Genre: Classic Drama Biography
Season: 1
Country of Origin: United States
No. of Episodes: 4
Running Time: 45-49 minutes

Short Review: Based on Madam C. J. Walker's biography 'On Her Own Ground' by A'Lelia Bundles, the series depicts the strugglesome and inspiring life of the aforesaid great lady, the first African American self-made millionaire, who made her empire out of hair care products and salons.

The short and voluptuous but beautiful and talented Octavia Spencer is a treat to watch as Madam C. J. Walker.

The well made rags to riches story along with it's vintage charm will keep you hooked till the end.

Binge Watch Suggestion List - Part I -
http://jaimaadurga.blogspot.com/2020/03/binge-watch-suggestion-list-part-i.html?m=1

Binge Watch Suggestion List - Part II -
http://jaimaadurga.blogspot.com/2020/03/binge-watch-suggestion-list-part-ii.html?m=1

Binge Watch Suggestion List - Part IV -
http://angrezipicture.blogspot.com/2020/04/binge-watch-suggestion-list-part-iv.html?m=1

Binge Watch Suggestion List - Part V -
http://jaimaadurga.blogspot.com/2020/05/binge-watch-suggestion-list-part-vl.html?m=1

Binge Watch Suggestion List - Part VI -
http://jaimaadurga.blogspot.com/2020/05/binge-watch-suggestion-list-part-vi.html?m=1

Netflix TV Series: Wanted - Seasons 1, 2 and 3

Genre: Crime Thriller, Mystery
Language: English

No. Of Seasons: 3
No. Of Episodes In Each Season: 6

Original Network: Seven Network in Australia
Original Release Dates Of 3 Seasons: 9 Feb 2016, 5 Jun 2017, 15 Oct 2018

Director: Peter Templeman, Jennifer Leacey and Rob Sarkies
Cast: Rebecca Gibney, Geraldine Hakewill, Stephen Peacocke, Ryan Corr, Nicholas Bell

Introduction:

Made somewhat on the lines of 'Thelma and Louise' and 'Fugitive', 'Wanted' is a chase based TV series, filled with twists and travels.

The Plot:

Lola Buckley (Rebecca Gibney), a bold, no-nonsense and fiesty supermarket teller and Chelsea Babbage (Geraldine Hakewill), a hard-working plain Jane styled senior accountant, share the same bus spot during the late night hours for returning back home post the working hours.

During on such late night, while waiting for their respective buses, they happen to witness the murder of a car driver, which was the result of a drug and money exchange gone wrong between him and two masked goons. Lola shoots one of the two goons in defence, in order to save Chelsea's life and both of them end up getting abducted by the other goon, who is eventually assassinated by Ray Stanton (Nicholas Bell), a high ranking police officer.

Though caught innocently in the wave of crime, they unwillingly sink deeper and deeper into it, as they happen to possess both the drugs and it's price money, all of it belonging to someone extremely powerful and well connected. They cannot report or return it to the police as they are tainted even at the highest level and they cannot destroy or lose the same, as they would be as good as dead without them.

What follows is a series of chase sequences woven intrinsically with slices of Lola's and Chelsea's pasts and presents. While the duo come across a series of bad and threatening guys, they also encounter a few good and helping ones. Bullets miss them by a hair's breadth and they also learn to shoot and throw a mean punch when necessary. Even their family members are caught and tortured.

This continues for the first two seasons of the TV series.

By the end of it all, they successfully dodge all of their enemies and take care of the matter at the highest level, thereby putting an end to the anti social activities on a national level!

The third season of the TV series opens with both of them behind the bars, anticipating to be released soon guilt-free and that too with accolades, as promised by the higher authorities.

They soon realise that the concerned authorities plan to keep the accolades to themselves and make them the escape goats!

This makes the duo strike a deal with a hardened and seasoned inmate, who assists them in their escape from the prison in lieu of information about her daughter who seems to be incommunicando and missing, suspectibly on the account of her overpowering and dangerous boyfriend.

Once outside the prison, Lola and Chelse embark on an altogether different chase, wherein they shield themselves from getting arrested, track down the concerned daughter and her boyfriend along with a human trafficking racket and with great effort and risk end up freeing the girls caught up in the aforesaid racket!

Series Analysis:

'Wanted' is quite well scripted and directed. Both the protagonists are brilliant in their acting. They are extremely natural, always in continuity and never over-the-top. The TV series is filled with surprises. But everything happens in a flow without any major thud or bang. Thankfully, there is no nudity.

The cinematography is extensive and quite good. The first two seasons cover Sydney, Queensland, Thailand and New Zealand. The third season covers the vast expanse of South Australia including Flinders Ranges and Adelaide Hills.

Conclusion:

It's an engaging and tension-free watch.