Once again, I watched a cheesy holiday movie so you don’t have to (unless you want to). We close out the week with Midnight at the Magnolia (2020), chosen to represent all the movies that fall into the “two people fake dating fall in love” category. Do I even really need to make official predictions for this one? We all know how this is going to end.
[Spoilers starting here.]
Best friends Maggie Quinn (Natalie Hall) and Jack Russo (Evan Williams) host Windy City Wakeup, a local morning radio show in Chicago. They’ve gotten the attention of big radio guy Judd Crawford (Peter Michael Dillon) who might syndicate them nationally if he likes them enough, and are currently doing a weeklong trial for Judd in the week between Christmas and New Year’s. To really make an impression on radio guy, Maggie and Jack come up with the idea to introduce the people they’re dating to their families while on air. Only problem is, they’ve both just been broken up with, so the solution they come up with is to pretend to date each other and reveal it at a livestreamed party at the Magnolia, a jazz bar that their dads own and run together.
Yeah, we all know they’re actually in love with each other. Sometime during their fake dating charade, it will cease to be an act and they’ll realize they’re more than friends. However, before they can truly be together, they need to have a big fight about something, possibly involving the words “there’s no time to explain.” One of them will then have to make a grand gesture declaring their love, proving once and for all that they’re meant to be together, and then they’ll be able to be a couple.
With some additional details, that’s how things play out. As they prepare the Magnolia for the New Year’s party, Jack and Maggie both come to the realization that maybe they kind of might like each other in a romantic sort of way. But to complicate matters, Jack’s old high school girlfriend Bianca makes an appearance, causing Jack to be late for a planned dinner/movie night with Maggie. This unearths all sorts of high school grievances, and Maggie refuses to listen to anything Jack has to say. They show up to the livestream the next day without having talked. Things go badly until Jack gets over his fear of commitment and publicly declares his love for Maggie, even singing her a song he wrote. Maggie returns Jack’s feelings, and they kiss at the stroke of midnight. One year later, Jack proposes to Maggie at their favorite sledding hill, and it’s happily ever after for our lovers.
Although I knew exactly how the movie would go, I actually found Midnight at the Magnolia more palatable than the majority of the other Christmas movies I watched. I think it’s because, yes, it’s cheesy and predictable, but it’s cheesy in the same way that dad jokes are cheesy, not cheesy in a “trying too hard to be inspirational” way. Natalie Hall and Evan Williams work pretty well together, and their characters being longtime best friends also gives their relationship some basis. They’ve known each other for more than a week and have spent lots of time together, so it’s not a true love in three days situation. [And now I want someone to make a movie about what happens after all these romcoms end, when the city girl returning to her small town hometown is now unemployed because she’s just quit her job for a guy, and they both realize they know almost nothing about each other.]
My final rankings for this year’s movies: A Castle for Christmas and Midnight at the Magnolia tie for least offensive, Falling for Christmas edges out The Knight Before Christmas solely because of Ralph dragging Tad through the Colorado wilderness, and Christmas with a Prince wins this year’s title of worst Christmas movie for being both not very good and filled with questionable medical practices. That’s it for this year; maybe I’ll be back next year with another batch of (in my opinion) bad holiday movies.
Saturday, December 24, 2022
Friday, December 23, 2022
Christmas with a Prince
As it turns out, there are so many of these festive romcoms with “Christmas” and “prince” in the title that it took me three tries to find the right one when I was googling the movie to make sure I had the name right. Christmas with a Prince was released in 2018 as a TV movie. I decided to try this movie because Netflix’s blurb said it was about a pediatrician, and I’m working my way through all the medical dramas I can find. However, I forgot that children in a hospital in a holiday movie can only be used for one purpose: Inspiration1, with a capital I. On that note, let’s go ahead and jump into this stirring and romantic story.
1Inspirational children say things like “It’s okay that I’m not getting any presents this year; the most important thing is that we’re all together as a family” while smiling beatifically. They also joyfully give away their toys and warm winter clothing to children even more disadvantaged than them.
[Spoilers from here on.]
Our cast of characters includes Dr. Tasha (Kaitlyn Leeb), a pediatrician in charge of a children’s cancer ward; her brother Jeff (Josh Dean), a nurse in her department; and Prince Alexander (Nick Hounslow), a prince. When Prince Alexander breaks his leg in a skiing accident, he needs somewhere to recover out of the public eye. Fortunately, his old school friend Jeff works at a conveniently located hospital and arranges to hide the prince in Tasha’s pediatric ward, where no one will be looking for him. Jeff and Tasha convince the Very Mean chief of medicine to let the prince stay at their hospital by telling her there will be a substantial donation made to the hospital. This all happened in the first ten minutes, and I decided it was enough for me to predict the rest of the movie.
From here, Tasha and Alexander will (obviously) fall in love, brought together by the darling children under Tasha’s care. Alexander, who starts out as a self-absorbed prince, will win over Tasha’s heart by bonding with the kids. He’ll be drawn to her by the care and concern she shows her patients. Except that after they realize that they like each other, the prince finds out that he’s allegedly promised to give a lot of money to the hospital, and he’s done no such thing. He accuses Tasha of pretending to like him only to get his money. She denies it, but it’s too late; he leaves the hospital and returns to his royal friends and family. Tasha confronts Jeff, who admits that he made up the money thing just to get the chief of medicine to agree to let Alexander stay. Now Tasha has to go after the prince, explain everything, and make a public declaration of her love, which Alexander accepts, and they skip off into his castle together (because there has to be a castle somewhere in a Hallmark-esque Christmas movie, doesn’t there?).
In actuality, there’s arguably even less that happens in the movie than in my prediction. Alexander, of course, is a favorite of the delightfully precocious children under Tasha’s care, playing with them and getting to know them during his stay at the hospital. Tasha, it turns out, had a crush on the prince when they were at school together, and now that she sees he’s not completely self-centered, finds herself liking him again. When Alexander heals enough to leave the hospital, he asks if Tasha will join him at a fancy Christmas party. She agrees, but just then a woman shows up claiming to be Alexander’s fiancée. He explains she’s not, and they go to the event, where this woman bizarrely tries to handwave the fiancé thing away, then five minutes later insults Tasha, telling her she’s not worthy of a prince. Alexander won’t hear of this, and Tasha even manages to win over his father, so good for her, and they can go ahead and live happily ever after.
If you can believe it, these movies keep getting worse. On top of the usual suspects (predictable plot, corny dialog, subpar acting), I have so many questions about Tasha’s hospital. The children are sick enough to spend days and weeks inpatient, but have no medical equipment in their rooms. The entire pediatric cancer ward appears to have about two nurses and one doctor. Tasha is a pediatrician; shouldn’t there at the very least be an oncologist somewhere around? Why does the prince need to stay at the hospital for a broken leg? And where on earth are all the children’s parents? Why are these supposedly extremely sick children running around unsupervised? So many questions, and no answers.
1Inspirational children say things like “It’s okay that I’m not getting any presents this year; the most important thing is that we’re all together as a family” while smiling beatifically. They also joyfully give away their toys and warm winter clothing to children even more disadvantaged than them.
[Spoilers from here on.]
Our cast of characters includes Dr. Tasha (Kaitlyn Leeb), a pediatrician in charge of a children’s cancer ward; her brother Jeff (Josh Dean), a nurse in her department; and Prince Alexander (Nick Hounslow), a prince. When Prince Alexander breaks his leg in a skiing accident, he needs somewhere to recover out of the public eye. Fortunately, his old school friend Jeff works at a conveniently located hospital and arranges to hide the prince in Tasha’s pediatric ward, where no one will be looking for him. Jeff and Tasha convince the Very Mean chief of medicine to let the prince stay at their hospital by telling her there will be a substantial donation made to the hospital. This all happened in the first ten minutes, and I decided it was enough for me to predict the rest of the movie.
From here, Tasha and Alexander will (obviously) fall in love, brought together by the darling children under Tasha’s care. Alexander, who starts out as a self-absorbed prince, will win over Tasha’s heart by bonding with the kids. He’ll be drawn to her by the care and concern she shows her patients. Except that after they realize that they like each other, the prince finds out that he’s allegedly promised to give a lot of money to the hospital, and he’s done no such thing. He accuses Tasha of pretending to like him only to get his money. She denies it, but it’s too late; he leaves the hospital and returns to his royal friends and family. Tasha confronts Jeff, who admits that he made up the money thing just to get the chief of medicine to agree to let Alexander stay. Now Tasha has to go after the prince, explain everything, and make a public declaration of her love, which Alexander accepts, and they skip off into his castle together (because there has to be a castle somewhere in a Hallmark-esque Christmas movie, doesn’t there?).
In actuality, there’s arguably even less that happens in the movie than in my prediction. Alexander, of course, is a favorite of the delightfully precocious children under Tasha’s care, playing with them and getting to know them during his stay at the hospital. Tasha, it turns out, had a crush on the prince when they were at school together, and now that she sees he’s not completely self-centered, finds herself liking him again. When Alexander heals enough to leave the hospital, he asks if Tasha will join him at a fancy Christmas party. She agrees, but just then a woman shows up claiming to be Alexander’s fiancée. He explains she’s not, and they go to the event, where this woman bizarrely tries to handwave the fiancé thing away, then five minutes later insults Tasha, telling her she’s not worthy of a prince. Alexander won’t hear of this, and Tasha even manages to win over his father, so good for her, and they can go ahead and live happily ever after.
If you can believe it, these movies keep getting worse. On top of the usual suspects (predictable plot, corny dialog, subpar acting), I have so many questions about Tasha’s hospital. The children are sick enough to spend days and weeks inpatient, but have no medical equipment in their rooms. The entire pediatric cancer ward appears to have about two nurses and one doctor. Tasha is a pediatrician; shouldn’t there at the very least be an oncologist somewhere around? Why does the prince need to stay at the hospital for a broken leg? And where on earth are all the children’s parents? Why are these supposedly extremely sick children running around unsupervised? So many questions, and no answers.
Thursday, December 22, 2022
The Knight Before Christmas
Next in my Netflix recommendations was The Knight Before Christmas, released in 2019. I do enjoy a good terrible pun, so I really tried to give this movie a chance. It still managed to disappoint. As usual, I watched twenty minutes before predicting what else would happen in the movie, then I had to finish the movie to see how I did.
[Spoilers for the whole movie below.]
We begin in fourteenth century England, where knight Sir Cole (Josh Whitehouse), his brother, and others compete to capture a hawk released from the castle, a Christmastime tradition. Searching for the bird in the woods, Cole meets an old crone, who tells him that he must complete a quest before Christmas Eve is over or get stuck where she’s sending him, which is 21st century Ohio. There, high school science teacher Brooke (Vanessa Hudgens), doesn’t believe in love anymore because of an ex-boyfriend who broke up with her. That night, she takes her niece to the “Christmas castle,” the town’s Christmas village-type celebration, where she runs into Cole, newly arrived and confused. Leaving the Christmas castle, she runs into Cole again, this time with her car. They go to the hospital, and upon Cole’s release, Brooke offers to let Cole stay in her guest house since he doesn’t have anywhere else to go.
Some other things happen before the twenty minute mark, but at this point we still have absolutely no idea what Cole’s quest is. No problem; I’ll just make it up. We’ll say that Cole’s quest is to do something grand and heroic that will prove him to be a true knight, but that somehow turns into finding his true love, who is, of course, Brooke. Brooke, in showing Cole what Christmas in the 21st century is like, will fall in love with her quaint guest. Cole, for his part, falls in love with the woman teaching him about all the new and exciting things around him. As they confess their love for each other, Cole fulfills his quest and can return to his time. Brooke realizes there’s nothing left for her in the 21st century and goes with Cole back to 14th century England, where they ride off into the sunset together to live happily ever after in the castle.
Here’s what actually happens:
Cole shows up a week before Christmas, so he has six days to complete his quest. Faced with the prospects of never returning to his own time or place, he spends the first few days doing such things as: binge watching TV, stick-sword fighting with Brooke’s niece, learning to talk to Amazon’s Alexa, and shopping for hot chocolate. At one point, he rescues Brooke’s niece and her friend when they get lost approximately five feet from the house, and later catches a pickpocket at the Christmas castle, but neither of these is quest-worthy enough. On Christmas Eve, he attends the Christmas feast organized by Brooke, a tradition she’s carrying on for her late parents. After the successful feast, Brooke and Cole, recognizing their attraction to each other, kiss, satisfying Cole’s quest with hours to spare. He returns to his time and place, leaving a heartbroken Brooke behind. Back in England, Cole meets his brother, who encourages him to go be with his true love. Cole rides through the woods to look for the old woman and when he finds her, tells her he wants to be with Brooke. The crone sends him and his horse off to Ohio, where he finds Brooke at the Christmas castle and they literally ride off together on his horse.
So I got the century wrong, but other than that, could there have been any other way for this movie to go? In hindsight, it makes much more sense for Cole to go to the 21st century than for Brooke to go to the 14th. Basically the whole movie takes place in present day, and Brooke has her sister and niece, plus a job and all her students, while Cole only has a brother with thirty seconds of screen time, so it’s much easier to completely uproot him from everything he’s ever known than for Brooke to leave the town and people we’ve come to know and love throughout the movie.
The acting and dialog were about par for this kind of movie, and Vanessa Hudgens and Josh Whitehouse weren’t too bad together. The plot drove me a little crazy, because Cole does almost nothing to figure out what his quest is, then he kisses Brooke and out of nowhere it’s like, “oh, hey, that’s it, quest completed. Goodbye.” There’s also a side plot with one of Brooke’s students that includes her giving her student borderline inappropriate advice and almost every line of dialog between them is terrible. Then there’s the scene at the Christmas feast where they present a widower struggling to provide for his children with an envelope of money and a bunch of gifts, then stand around and watch them open their presents while patting themselves on the back for their kindness and generosity. Could they not give the family some privacy? Also, one kid gets a bike and another kid gets a jacket, which I guess is at least a few steps up from a new toothbrush.
I actually thought this movie had some potential – person transported into the future discovering newfangled technology can usually be played for humor, but I was not particularly amused in this case. Moving on to the next movie; maybe that one will be better. (Please let it be better.)
[Spoilers for the whole movie below.]
We begin in fourteenth century England, where knight Sir Cole (Josh Whitehouse), his brother, and others compete to capture a hawk released from the castle, a Christmastime tradition. Searching for the bird in the woods, Cole meets an old crone, who tells him that he must complete a quest before Christmas Eve is over or get stuck where she’s sending him, which is 21st century Ohio. There, high school science teacher Brooke (Vanessa Hudgens), doesn’t believe in love anymore because of an ex-boyfriend who broke up with her. That night, she takes her niece to the “Christmas castle,” the town’s Christmas village-type celebration, where she runs into Cole, newly arrived and confused. Leaving the Christmas castle, she runs into Cole again, this time with her car. They go to the hospital, and upon Cole’s release, Brooke offers to let Cole stay in her guest house since he doesn’t have anywhere else to go.
Some other things happen before the twenty minute mark, but at this point we still have absolutely no idea what Cole’s quest is. No problem; I’ll just make it up. We’ll say that Cole’s quest is to do something grand and heroic that will prove him to be a true knight, but that somehow turns into finding his true love, who is, of course, Brooke. Brooke, in showing Cole what Christmas in the 21st century is like, will fall in love with her quaint guest. Cole, for his part, falls in love with the woman teaching him about all the new and exciting things around him. As they confess their love for each other, Cole fulfills his quest and can return to his time. Brooke realizes there’s nothing left for her in the 21st century and goes with Cole back to 14th century England, where they ride off into the sunset together to live happily ever after in the castle.
Here’s what actually happens:
Cole shows up a week before Christmas, so he has six days to complete his quest. Faced with the prospects of never returning to his own time or place, he spends the first few days doing such things as: binge watching TV, stick-sword fighting with Brooke’s niece, learning to talk to Amazon’s Alexa, and shopping for hot chocolate. At one point, he rescues Brooke’s niece and her friend when they get lost approximately five feet from the house, and later catches a pickpocket at the Christmas castle, but neither of these is quest-worthy enough. On Christmas Eve, he attends the Christmas feast organized by Brooke, a tradition she’s carrying on for her late parents. After the successful feast, Brooke and Cole, recognizing their attraction to each other, kiss, satisfying Cole’s quest with hours to spare. He returns to his time and place, leaving a heartbroken Brooke behind. Back in England, Cole meets his brother, who encourages him to go be with his true love. Cole rides through the woods to look for the old woman and when he finds her, tells her he wants to be with Brooke. The crone sends him and his horse off to Ohio, where he finds Brooke at the Christmas castle and they literally ride off together on his horse.
So I got the century wrong, but other than that, could there have been any other way for this movie to go? In hindsight, it makes much more sense for Cole to go to the 21st century than for Brooke to go to the 14th. Basically the whole movie takes place in present day, and Brooke has her sister and niece, plus a job and all her students, while Cole only has a brother with thirty seconds of screen time, so it’s much easier to completely uproot him from everything he’s ever known than for Brooke to leave the town and people we’ve come to know and love throughout the movie.
The acting and dialog were about par for this kind of movie, and Vanessa Hudgens and Josh Whitehouse weren’t too bad together. The plot drove me a little crazy, because Cole does almost nothing to figure out what his quest is, then he kisses Brooke and out of nowhere it’s like, “oh, hey, that’s it, quest completed. Goodbye.” There’s also a side plot with one of Brooke’s students that includes her giving her student borderline inappropriate advice and almost every line of dialog between them is terrible. Then there’s the scene at the Christmas feast where they present a widower struggling to provide for his children with an envelope of money and a bunch of gifts, then stand around and watch them open their presents while patting themselves on the back for their kindness and generosity. Could they not give the family some privacy? Also, one kid gets a bike and another kid gets a jacket, which I guess is at least a few steps up from a new toothbrush.
I actually thought this movie had some potential – person transported into the future discovering newfangled technology can usually be played for humor, but I was not particularly amused in this case. Moving on to the next movie; maybe that one will be better. (Please let it be better.)
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
A Castle for Christmas
Netflix Christmas movie week continues with 2021’s A Castle for Christmas. This movie actually got decent ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, but (spoiler) I was less than impressed, though people who generally like Hallmark-style movies do seem to enjoy this one. Like before, I watched the first twenty minutes of the movie, then made predictions about the rest of the movie.
[Spoilers ahead.]
A Castle for Christmas starts out with author Sophie Brown (Brooke Shields) dealing with the fallout from her latest Emma Gale novel, the twelfth in a series in which she’s just controversially killed off her main character’s love interest. To get away from the drama, she decides to go to Scotland to visit the castle Dun Dunbar, where her father worked as a groundskeeper. Upon her arrival, she meets a knitting group at the inn she’s staying at who all warmly welcome her to Scotland. Not as happy to meet her: Myles (Cary Elwes), the twelfth duke of Dunbar, in charge of Dun Dunbar with the help of Thomas (Lee Ross) and the dog Hamish (Barley). However, it turns out that the castle isn’t doing well financially, so is for sale. Sophie decides to buy the castle, and she and Myles must figure out how to manage Dun Dunbar together.
There’s actually surprisingly little conflict in this movie beyond the obvious – after Sophie buys the castle, she and Myles have to spend time with each other. Despite his best efforts to chase her off, Myles and Sophie will fall in love and live happily ever after in the castle. Somewhere along the way, Sophie will also be so inspired by the wonders of Scotland that her writer’s block will be cured. And that’s basically what happens. A few side plot points are mentioned briefly – Sophie’s ex-husband getting remarried on Christmas (do people do that?), her daughter being away at school and unable to join Sophie for the holidays, a former romance between Thomas and one of the knitting group members – but either don’t factor into the rest of the movie or are resolved in about two seconds.
The movie ends after a Christmas Eve party at the castle brings everyone together for bundles of festive cheer, then skips forward to Sophie having just written her new bestseller, inspired by a tragically lovely Scottish tale Myles told her. Cue applause. Roll credits.
One of the big problems I have with this movie is that I have some trouble feeling that bad for someone who jets off to Scotland for an indeterminate amount of time, at one point offers to pay off the mortgages of an entire village, and on top of everything else, impulse buys a castle. This isn’t to say that rich people should just be happy with their piles of money, but I never felt that Sophie was that bothered by any of her problems – she didn’t seem very concerned about the backlash to her book or the ensuing writer’s block and she also didn’t seem that lonely and in need of a grumpy duke to love.
The other major issue for me was the lack of chemistry between Sophie and Myles. They were unconvincing when they allegedly hated each other, when they were falling in love, and when they were supposed to be in love. In other words, throughout the entire movie. The movie overall was less glurge-y than Falling for Christmas, though a lot of the dialog was still not good. The acting was okay, but the plot felt disjointed. A lot of the scenes didn’t really lead into each other – Myles and Sophie will be arguing in one scene about her taking over the castle, then in the next scene he’s taking her for a romantic horseback ride across the country. Setting the movie in Scotland was a choice, because the majority of the cast was then stuck speaking in Scottish accents, with varying levels of success, for ninety minutes. I found the movie watchable (one good thing about these Hallmark-type movies they keep churning out is that a decent number of them are kept to just over an hour and a half, so they don’t drag on too long), but I can’t say that I really enjoyed or liked it. A Castle for Christmas gets one star for Hamish the dog, one star for Thomas’s kilts, one star out of respect for Cary Elwes, and one star for the castle/scenery, and that’s about as high as I can go.
[Spoilers ahead.]
A Castle for Christmas starts out with author Sophie Brown (Brooke Shields) dealing with the fallout from her latest Emma Gale novel, the twelfth in a series in which she’s just controversially killed off her main character’s love interest. To get away from the drama, she decides to go to Scotland to visit the castle Dun Dunbar, where her father worked as a groundskeeper. Upon her arrival, she meets a knitting group at the inn she’s staying at who all warmly welcome her to Scotland. Not as happy to meet her: Myles (Cary Elwes), the twelfth duke of Dunbar, in charge of Dun Dunbar with the help of Thomas (Lee Ross) and the dog Hamish (Barley). However, it turns out that the castle isn’t doing well financially, so is for sale. Sophie decides to buy the castle, and she and Myles must figure out how to manage Dun Dunbar together.
There’s actually surprisingly little conflict in this movie beyond the obvious – after Sophie buys the castle, she and Myles have to spend time with each other. Despite his best efforts to chase her off, Myles and Sophie will fall in love and live happily ever after in the castle. Somewhere along the way, Sophie will also be so inspired by the wonders of Scotland that her writer’s block will be cured. And that’s basically what happens. A few side plot points are mentioned briefly – Sophie’s ex-husband getting remarried on Christmas (do people do that?), her daughter being away at school and unable to join Sophie for the holidays, a former romance between Thomas and one of the knitting group members – but either don’t factor into the rest of the movie or are resolved in about two seconds.
The movie ends after a Christmas Eve party at the castle brings everyone together for bundles of festive cheer, then skips forward to Sophie having just written her new bestseller, inspired by a tragically lovely Scottish tale Myles told her. Cue applause. Roll credits.
One of the big problems I have with this movie is that I have some trouble feeling that bad for someone who jets off to Scotland for an indeterminate amount of time, at one point offers to pay off the mortgages of an entire village, and on top of everything else, impulse buys a castle. This isn’t to say that rich people should just be happy with their piles of money, but I never felt that Sophie was that bothered by any of her problems – she didn’t seem very concerned about the backlash to her book or the ensuing writer’s block and she also didn’t seem that lonely and in need of a grumpy duke to love.
The other major issue for me was the lack of chemistry between Sophie and Myles. They were unconvincing when they allegedly hated each other, when they were falling in love, and when they were supposed to be in love. In other words, throughout the entire movie. The movie overall was less glurge-y than Falling for Christmas, though a lot of the dialog was still not good. The acting was okay, but the plot felt disjointed. A lot of the scenes didn’t really lead into each other – Myles and Sophie will be arguing in one scene about her taking over the castle, then in the next scene he’s taking her for a romantic horseback ride across the country. Setting the movie in Scotland was a choice, because the majority of the cast was then stuck speaking in Scottish accents, with varying levels of success, for ninety minutes. I found the movie watchable (one good thing about these Hallmark-type movies they keep churning out is that a decent number of them are kept to just over an hour and a half, so they don’t drag on too long), but I can’t say that I really enjoyed or liked it. A Castle for Christmas gets one star for Hamish the dog, one star for Thomas’s kilts, one star out of respect for Cary Elwes, and one star for the castle/scenery, and that’s about as high as I can go.
Monday, December 19, 2022
Falling for Christmas
People who know me might be able to guess that I don’t watch many romance movies. They’re just not my thing; if you enjoy them, please keep enjoying them, but I find them formulaic and kind of trite. [Oh, hello, small towns full of happy, smiling, white people ready to share the Christmas spirit.] So I decided to watch Hallmark-type movies on Netflix, but start out with only the first twenty minutes, then predict everything that was going to happen after that. I began with Falling for Christmas, released just this year (2022).
[Spoilers for the entire movie from this point forward.]
In the first twenty minutes of Falling for Christmas, we meet our main characters Sierra Belmont (Lindsay Lohan), daughter of hotel magnate Beauregard Belmont (Jack Wagner); her influencer boyfriend Tad (George Young); and your everyman bed and breakfast owner Jake Russell (Chord Overstreet). Sierra has just been made “vice president of atmosphere” of her father’s super mega deluxe ski resort in Aspen, but doesn’t know if she wants to go into the hotel business. Meanwhile, Jake, in need of money to keep his humble lodge running, makes a pitch to Sierra’s father for funding. Denied help from Beauregard, Jake literally runs into Sierra in the lobby of the ski resort. After this scene, contrived for Sierra and Jake to sort of meet, Tad takes Sierra on a trip to snap some Instagram photos and proposes to her on top of a mountain. Immediately after the proposal, Sierra falls down the mountain, is discovered by Jake, who doesn’t recognize her, and is taken to a hospital where it’s revealed she’s lost her phone, any kind of ID, and her memory. We also find out that Jake is a widower with a daughter, Avy, and that his mother-in-law Alejandra is helping to raise his child and run the lodge.
With that summarized, let’s make some predictions:
At the hospital, Jake offers to have Sierra stay at his lodge since she doesn’t know where else she could go. At this point, it’s obvious that Jake and Sierra will fall in love as Sierra tries to figure out who she is while being charmed by Jake’s incredibly enchanting but slightly decrepit bed and breakfast, his sweet and adorable daughter, and his very kind mother-in-law. After declaring their love for each other, Sierra will regain her memory at the most horribly inconvenient time, such as while Jake is proposing to her. However, Sierra and Jake will still end up together, with Sierra discovering her passion for quaint small businesses and helping Jake to save his lodge.
What happens to Tad isn’t immediately clear. He also seems to fall somewhere, but into a hole rather than down the mountain to be rescued by his true love. This hole will lead to Santa’s workshop, where the elves hold Tad captive until Sierra gets her memory back and she and Jake show up on his sleigh (because of course his delightful little lodge has a sleigh) to rescue him. When he sees how happy Sierra is with Jake, he relinquishes her to him. He’s not heartbroken because he realizes he’s secretly in love with Terry, the head of Sierra’s glam squad (or whatever it’s called). After confessing his love, they end up together and drive off into the sunset in Tad’s expensive car.
I’m undecided on who Jake’s mother-in-law should end up with. It’s either Sierra’s father or the creepy Santa. Beauregard would give the story a certain amount of symmetry – he, like Jake, is a widower, but I’m going with Santa, just for the fun of it.
After that, I actually had to watch the rest of the movie. Here’s what happened:
As expected, Sierra jumps into life at the lodge, learning to be a person who can do things like make eggs and do laundry while also bringing healing to Jake’s family by showing them that they can find love again. Within three days, Sierra and Jake are in love. While this is happening, Tad is in the middle of the Coloradoan wilderness with no cell signal and anyway, his phone is dead. He stumbles upon an ice fishing hut owned by a cellphone hater named Ralph. Ralph’s truck is also (conveniently) dead, so they have to walk two days back to the road. Eventually, the sheriff finds Ralph and Tad, and brings them in to the station, where Beauregard, back from a business trip, is trying to locate his daughter. (Terry and crew thought Sierra and Tad were off on a trip together and so weren’t looking for the happy couple.) In this lovely small town, the sheriff knows exactly where Sierra is, and they all head off to find her. At the lodge, Jake, at Sierra’s request, is holding a shockingly successful fundraising party to save his bed and breakfast. Former guests have all managed to show up with something like one day’s notice, bringing with them heartwarming stories about the lodge, and, more importantly, their checkbooks. Tad and Beauregard burst onto this uplifting scene to take Sierra away.
To close things out, Sierra declares to her father that she wants to find her own job, not just work for him, and breaks up with Tad. Jake, encouraged by Avy, shows up on his sleigh (because of course he does), and declares his love to Sierra. Both families heartily approve, and Christmas is saved. And Tad and Terry drive off in a limo to spend New Year’s together. Sadly, no love for Alejandra, but don’t worry, her heart is filled by the prospect of having a new daughter in Sierra.
So what I got right was:
- Jake and Sierra
- sweet and charming daughter and mother-in-law duo
- Sierra saves Jake’s lodge
- Sierra’s memory returns inconveniently, in the middle of the big party, as Jake and Sierra are about to share a touching moment
- Sierra doesn’t end up working for her father
- Tad and Terry, driving off together
What I missed:
- Ralph, so no elves, and Sierra doesn’t need to go rescue Tad
- Jake doesn’t propose to Sierra (thankfully; he’s known the woman for four days)
- Creepy Santa apparently just pops up periodically to imbue Christmas spirit into the movie and has no other role
- No love for Alejandra
Overall, this was not a great movie. As you can see above, I predicted enough of the major plot points that I was at no moment surprised by anything that happened. The acting was passable to pretty bad, though the casting at least made an effort to be more diverse. There were several black characters, most of whom even got to speak, and Alejandra is Latina/Hispanic, but it took over an hour before I saw one extra who might have been Asian. But the overarching problem for me was that the script was filled with glurge, so I would not have watched this movie if I hadn’t been preparing this post. Would not recommend; what should I watch next?
In the first twenty minutes of Falling for Christmas, we meet our main characters Sierra Belmont (Lindsay Lohan), daughter of hotel magnate Beauregard Belmont (Jack Wagner); her influencer boyfriend Tad (George Young); and your everyman bed and breakfast owner Jake Russell (Chord Overstreet). Sierra has just been made “vice president of atmosphere” of her father’s super mega deluxe ski resort in Aspen, but doesn’t know if she wants to go into the hotel business. Meanwhile, Jake, in need of money to keep his humble lodge running, makes a pitch to Sierra’s father for funding. Denied help from Beauregard, Jake literally runs into Sierra in the lobby of the ski resort. After this scene, contrived for Sierra and Jake to sort of meet, Tad takes Sierra on a trip to snap some Instagram photos and proposes to her on top of a mountain. Immediately after the proposal, Sierra falls down the mountain, is discovered by Jake, who doesn’t recognize her, and is taken to a hospital where it’s revealed she’s lost her phone, any kind of ID, and her memory. We also find out that Jake is a widower with a daughter, Avy, and that his mother-in-law Alejandra is helping to raise his child and run the lodge.
With that summarized, let’s make some predictions:
At the hospital, Jake offers to have Sierra stay at his lodge since she doesn’t know where else she could go. At this point, it’s obvious that Jake and Sierra will fall in love as Sierra tries to figure out who she is while being charmed by Jake’s incredibly enchanting but slightly decrepit bed and breakfast, his sweet and adorable daughter, and his very kind mother-in-law. After declaring their love for each other, Sierra will regain her memory at the most horribly inconvenient time, such as while Jake is proposing to her. However, Sierra and Jake will still end up together, with Sierra discovering her passion for quaint small businesses and helping Jake to save his lodge.
What happens to Tad isn’t immediately clear. He also seems to fall somewhere, but into a hole rather than down the mountain to be rescued by his true love. This hole will lead to Santa’s workshop, where the elves hold Tad captive until Sierra gets her memory back and she and Jake show up on his sleigh (because of course his delightful little lodge has a sleigh) to rescue him. When he sees how happy Sierra is with Jake, he relinquishes her to him. He’s not heartbroken because he realizes he’s secretly in love with Terry, the head of Sierra’s glam squad (or whatever it’s called). After confessing his love, they end up together and drive off into the sunset in Tad’s expensive car.
I’m undecided on who Jake’s mother-in-law should end up with. It’s either Sierra’s father or the creepy Santa. Beauregard would give the story a certain amount of symmetry – he, like Jake, is a widower, but I’m going with Santa, just for the fun of it.
After that, I actually had to watch the rest of the movie. Here’s what happened:
As expected, Sierra jumps into life at the lodge, learning to be a person who can do things like make eggs and do laundry while also bringing healing to Jake’s family by showing them that they can find love again. Within three days, Sierra and Jake are in love. While this is happening, Tad is in the middle of the Coloradoan wilderness with no cell signal and anyway, his phone is dead. He stumbles upon an ice fishing hut owned by a cellphone hater named Ralph. Ralph’s truck is also (conveniently) dead, so they have to walk two days back to the road. Eventually, the sheriff finds Ralph and Tad, and brings them in to the station, where Beauregard, back from a business trip, is trying to locate his daughter. (Terry and crew thought Sierra and Tad were off on a trip together and so weren’t looking for the happy couple.) In this lovely small town, the sheriff knows exactly where Sierra is, and they all head off to find her. At the lodge, Jake, at Sierra’s request, is holding a shockingly successful fundraising party to save his bed and breakfast. Former guests have all managed to show up with something like one day’s notice, bringing with them heartwarming stories about the lodge, and, more importantly, their checkbooks. Tad and Beauregard burst onto this uplifting scene to take Sierra away.
To close things out, Sierra declares to her father that she wants to find her own job, not just work for him, and breaks up with Tad. Jake, encouraged by Avy, shows up on his sleigh (because of course he does), and declares his love to Sierra. Both families heartily approve, and Christmas is saved. And Tad and Terry drive off in a limo to spend New Year’s together. Sadly, no love for Alejandra, but don’t worry, her heart is filled by the prospect of having a new daughter in Sierra.
So what I got right was:
- Jake and Sierra
- sweet and charming daughter and mother-in-law duo
- Sierra saves Jake’s lodge
- Sierra’s memory returns inconveniently, in the middle of the big party, as Jake and Sierra are about to share a touching moment
- Sierra doesn’t end up working for her father
- Tad and Terry, driving off together
What I missed:
- Ralph, so no elves, and Sierra doesn’t need to go rescue Tad
- Jake doesn’t propose to Sierra (thankfully; he’s known the woman for four days)
- Creepy Santa apparently just pops up periodically to imbue Christmas spirit into the movie and has no other role
- No love for Alejandra
Overall, this was not a great movie. As you can see above, I predicted enough of the major plot points that I was at no moment surprised by anything that happened. The acting was passable to pretty bad, though the casting at least made an effort to be more diverse. There were several black characters, most of whom even got to speak, and Alejandra is Latina/Hispanic, but it took over an hour before I saw one extra who might have been Asian. But the overarching problem for me was that the script was filled with glurge, so I would not have watched this movie if I hadn’t been preparing this post. Would not recommend; what should I watch next?
Sunday, December 11, 2022
Summer Reading [2022, part 2]
The second half of my summer reading activities:
Free space
Read a book with an epic journey – Journey to the River Sea, Eva Ibbotson
- A quick reread before going to the library. When orphan Maya is sent to South American to live with her twin cousins, things aren’t as great as she thinks they will be, but then she meets a boy with a secret and begins to explore the Amazon.
Free space
Read a book with an epic journey – Journey to the River Sea, Eva Ibbotson
- A quick reread before going to the library. When orphan Maya is sent to South American to live with her twin cousins, things aren’t as great as she thinks they will be, but then she meets a boy with a secret and begins to explore the Amazon.
Borrow a puzzle or game
Read a book with a library in it – The Midnight Library, Matt Haig
- An exploration of the concept of the different lives you could have had if you’d made a different decision somewhere along the way. It’s always interesting to see the changes between lives, but I think it’s hard to pull off in a way that’s not predictable, which The Midnight Library kind of was, unfortunately. It’s not bad, but not great either.
Read a novel set in the Great Outdoors – Miracles on Maple Hill, Virginia Sorensen
- Another reread. Fun to hear about a family experiencing the seasons out in nature in the Pennsylvania countryside, but the language romanticizes some of the realities.
Read an author new to you – Fan Fiction, Brent Spiner
- Part memoir, part mystery novel, Spiner sets his book in the middle of filming Star Trek: The Next Generation. While filming, he starts getting creepy stalker letters and must figure out what’s going on. The writing’s a little rough, but the appearances from the other main cast members are entertaining.
Read a book with “path” in the title – The Road, Cormac McCarthy
- I’m substituting “road” for “path.” In a post-apocalyptic America ravaged by an unknown disaster, a father and son walk for days looking for some place they can survive, scavenging food and supplies as they go. This was a good book, in a haunting way.
Listen to an audiobook – Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
- Angel Aziraphale and demon Crowley have been on Earth to make sure their respective overlords’ plans are fulfilled, but after thousands of years, they’re kind of friends now? As Armageddon approaches, it’s not going as planned, and it’s up to them to sort things out. I enjoy both Pratchett and Gaiman, so I found this book funny, if a bit bizarre.
Read a book set in the future – Federation (Star Trek), Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
- Star Trek is set in the 22nd century and beyond, which is currently the future. In Federation, both Kirk’s Enterprise and Picard’s Enterprise-D get tied up in a mystery that seems to revolve around the inventor of the warp drive, vital to the decades of space exploration that have since occurred. Federation somewhat conflicts with the second TNG movie, but can kind of work around it, and taken by itself, is a solid crossover event with the characters you know and love.
Read a book set in the past – Star Wars: X-Wing: The Krytos Trap, Michael Stackpole
- According to the opening text, Star Wars takes place “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. . . .” which I’m taking as canonical proof of being set in the past. The X-Wing novels follow the adventures of Rogue Squadron, led by Wedge Antilles, as they work with the rebellion to rout out remnants of the empire. At least the first four X-Wing books are genuinely good (the writing isn’t stellar, but it’s pretty strong), not just “good despite being what could be considered fan fiction.”
Read a book with a supernatural creature – Dracula, Bram Stoker
- I’ve read Frankenstein a couple times, but not Dracula. I liked the different perspectives it was written from and how the characters put together who/what Dracula was. It did get kind of weird at times, but I don’t mind weird.
Read a book someone keeps recommending – Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy Kaling
- If by keeps recommending you mean I listened to the Office Ladies podcast more than once, and they kind of had to recommend Mindy Kaling’s book. It’s a light, fun read, about growing up as the child of Indian immigrants and how she came to be a writer/actor on The Office, among her other accomplishments.
As a low-maintenance summer reading activity that goes a little beyond the usual “read x number of books or minutes,” book bingo was a good idea. It helps to get people reading books they otherwise might not pick up, and is more flexible than a checklist since people can aim for a single line of five squares or for filling out their whole card (which is what I did).
 |
| Massachusetts puzzle |
Take a walk
 |
| Frog in a pond, taken while on a hike |
Read a book with a library in it – The Midnight Library, Matt Haig
- An exploration of the concept of the different lives you could have had if you’d made a different decision somewhere along the way. It’s always interesting to see the changes between lives, but I think it’s hard to pull off in a way that’s not predictable, which The Midnight Library kind of was, unfortunately. It’s not bad, but not great either.
Read a novel set in the Great Outdoors – Miracles on Maple Hill, Virginia Sorensen
- Another reread. Fun to hear about a family experiencing the seasons out in nature in the Pennsylvania countryside, but the language romanticizes some of the realities.
Read an author new to you – Fan Fiction, Brent Spiner
- Part memoir, part mystery novel, Spiner sets his book in the middle of filming Star Trek: The Next Generation. While filming, he starts getting creepy stalker letters and must figure out what’s going on. The writing’s a little rough, but the appearances from the other main cast members are entertaining.
Read a book with “path” in the title – The Road, Cormac McCarthy
- I’m substituting “road” for “path.” In a post-apocalyptic America ravaged by an unknown disaster, a father and son walk for days looking for some place they can survive, scavenging food and supplies as they go. This was a good book, in a haunting way.
Listen to an audiobook – Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
- Angel Aziraphale and demon Crowley have been on Earth to make sure their respective overlords’ plans are fulfilled, but after thousands of years, they’re kind of friends now? As Armageddon approaches, it’s not going as planned, and it’s up to them to sort things out. I enjoy both Pratchett and Gaiman, so I found this book funny, if a bit bizarre.
Read a book set in the future – Federation (Star Trek), Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
- Star Trek is set in the 22nd century and beyond, which is currently the future. In Federation, both Kirk’s Enterprise and Picard’s Enterprise-D get tied up in a mystery that seems to revolve around the inventor of the warp drive, vital to the decades of space exploration that have since occurred. Federation somewhat conflicts with the second TNG movie, but can kind of work around it, and taken by itself, is a solid crossover event with the characters you know and love.
Read a book set in the past – Star Wars: X-Wing: The Krytos Trap, Michael Stackpole
- According to the opening text, Star Wars takes place “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. . . .” which I’m taking as canonical proof of being set in the past. The X-Wing novels follow the adventures of Rogue Squadron, led by Wedge Antilles, as they work with the rebellion to rout out remnants of the empire. At least the first four X-Wing books are genuinely good (the writing isn’t stellar, but it’s pretty strong), not just “good despite being what could be considered fan fiction.”
Read a book with a supernatural creature – Dracula, Bram Stoker
- I’ve read Frankenstein a couple times, but not Dracula. I liked the different perspectives it was written from and how the characters put together who/what Dracula was. It did get kind of weird at times, but I don’t mind weird.
Read a book someone keeps recommending – Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy Kaling
- If by keeps recommending you mean I listened to the Office Ladies podcast more than once, and they kind of had to recommend Mindy Kaling’s book. It’s a light, fun read, about growing up as the child of Indian immigrants and how she came to be a writer/actor on The Office, among her other accomplishments.
As a low-maintenance summer reading activity that goes a little beyond the usual “read x number of books or minutes,” book bingo was a good idea. It helps to get people reading books they otherwise might not pick up, and is more flexible than a checklist since people can aim for a single line of five squares or for filling out their whole card (which is what I did).
Friday, December 9, 2022
Summer Reading [2022, part 1]
This summer, I did not get to participate in the Summer Game with the Ann Arbor District Library, but my local library had their own, albeit smaller, summer reading event. Part of their summer reading was book bingo, which I more or less completed with only very minor creative license taken. The first twelve of twenty-five bingo squares are below; the second half will be in the next post.
Read a nonfiction nature book – Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver, Jill Heinerth
- This was a pretty interesting look at the incredibly dangerous sport/hobby of cave diving. It covered some of the techniques used, advances in diving technology, and descriptions of trips to dive caves in Florida, Mexico, and Antarctica, so it’s nonfiction and takes place in nature.
Attend a library event
- I’m counting the library book sale as an event. There aren’t a huge number of events for adults, and a good number of them involve knitting, so the book sale was my event.
Read a book by an author [with something in common with you] – Women of the Silk, Gail Tsukiyama
- Set in rural 1920s China, Women of the Silk follows a group of women working at a silk factory and the bonds they form as WWII approaches and the country is invaded by the Japanese. I liked this book, and it gave some insights into China’s history.
Read a book with an animal – How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, Charles Yu
- I have a list of mostly sci-fi/fantasy books to randomly select from if I’m looking for something to read, and this was on the list. The main character/author, a time machine repairman, lives in his time machine with his nonexistent dog and depressed computer while looking for his father, who is lost in time somewhere. Throughout the book, you learn about the science fictional universe the author lives in and how the time machine was invented. The concept was good, but this didn't end up being a super engaging book for me.
Read a memoir or biography – The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard, David A. Goodman
- Hear from the Captain Picard himself about his childhood on a French vineyard, journey to and through Starfleet Academy, and time aboard the USS Reliant and Stargazer before taking command of the Enterprise. I really enjoyed reading this, and seeing how it led to and lined up with events from The Next Generation.
Borrow a museum pass
- We have borrowed museum passes before, but we didn’t this summer. However, we went to a local nature area for an outdoor art exhibition. Close enough.
Reread a book – Blind Descent, James Tabor
- In the quest to find the deepest cave on Earth, teams led by American Bill Stone in Mexico and Ukrainian Alexander Klimchouk in the Republic of Georgia rappel, tunnel, dive, and worm their way through darkness hundreds and thousands of feet underground. I reread this because Jill Heinerth (Into the Planet, above) was involved in at least one scouting trip in the Mexican cave system and I couldn’t remember if any of the other cave divers she worked with were in this book.
Read a book set in your home area – Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
- Nominally set in Concord, Massachusetts, Little Women describes the lives of the March family in the 1860s, their everyday goings on, shenanigans with their neighbor, dreams of becoming artists and writers, or of marriage and starting families. It’s a classic.
A book set in your dream vacation destination – Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
- Apparently my dream vacation is to the moors of England (I didn’t have anywhere else to put Wuthering Heights). Like Pride and Prejudice, I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, in spite of (or because of?) Heathcliff and Cathy’s awfulness.
Take a photograph in nature
Read a book under 200 pages – Hard Reboot, Django Wexler
- On a future Earth riddled with malware that infects any civilized human’s brain implants in seconds, the planet is mostly only good for giant robot fights. A visiting scholar gets conned out of money she doesn’t have by one of the robot pilots and must figure out how to settle her debts before her university sponsors find out. This was a quick read, but with fairly well-developed characterization, setting, and plot, though the ending was a bit predictable.
Read a book over 400 pages – A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin
- Now a TV phenomenon, GoT started out as one of those really thick fantasy novels with tons of characters, long battle descriptions, and a new plot thread on every page. I’ve only read the first book, but it’s been good so far.
Read a nonfiction nature book – Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver, Jill Heinerth
- This was a pretty interesting look at the incredibly dangerous sport/hobby of cave diving. It covered some of the techniques used, advances in diving technology, and descriptions of trips to dive caves in Florida, Mexico, and Antarctica, so it’s nonfiction and takes place in nature.
Attend a library event
- I’m counting the library book sale as an event. There aren’t a huge number of events for adults, and a good number of them involve knitting, so the book sale was my event.
Read a book by an author [with something in common with you] – Women of the Silk, Gail Tsukiyama
- Set in rural 1920s China, Women of the Silk follows a group of women working at a silk factory and the bonds they form as WWII approaches and the country is invaded by the Japanese. I liked this book, and it gave some insights into China’s history.
Read a book with an animal – How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, Charles Yu
- I have a list of mostly sci-fi/fantasy books to randomly select from if I’m looking for something to read, and this was on the list. The main character/author, a time machine repairman, lives in his time machine with his nonexistent dog and depressed computer while looking for his father, who is lost in time somewhere. Throughout the book, you learn about the science fictional universe the author lives in and how the time machine was invented. The concept was good, but this didn't end up being a super engaging book for me.
Read a memoir or biography – The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard, David A. Goodman
- Hear from the Captain Picard himself about his childhood on a French vineyard, journey to and through Starfleet Academy, and time aboard the USS Reliant and Stargazer before taking command of the Enterprise. I really enjoyed reading this, and seeing how it led to and lined up with events from The Next Generation.
Borrow a museum pass
- We have borrowed museum passes before, but we didn’t this summer. However, we went to a local nature area for an outdoor art exhibition. Close enough.
Reread a book – Blind Descent, James Tabor
- In the quest to find the deepest cave on Earth, teams led by American Bill Stone in Mexico and Ukrainian Alexander Klimchouk in the Republic of Georgia rappel, tunnel, dive, and worm their way through darkness hundreds and thousands of feet underground. I reread this because Jill Heinerth (Into the Planet, above) was involved in at least one scouting trip in the Mexican cave system and I couldn’t remember if any of the other cave divers she worked with were in this book.
Read a book set in your home area – Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
- Nominally set in Concord, Massachusetts, Little Women describes the lives of the March family in the 1860s, their everyday goings on, shenanigans with their neighbor, dreams of becoming artists and writers, or of marriage and starting families. It’s a classic.
A book set in your dream vacation destination – Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
- Apparently my dream vacation is to the moors of England (I didn’t have anywhere else to put Wuthering Heights). Like Pride and Prejudice, I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, in spite of (or because of?) Heathcliff and Cathy’s awfulness.
Take a photograph in nature
 |
| Mushroom |
Read a book under 200 pages – Hard Reboot, Django Wexler
- On a future Earth riddled with malware that infects any civilized human’s brain implants in seconds, the planet is mostly only good for giant robot fights. A visiting scholar gets conned out of money she doesn’t have by one of the robot pilots and must figure out how to settle her debts before her university sponsors find out. This was a quick read, but with fairly well-developed characterization, setting, and plot, though the ending was a bit predictable.
Read a book over 400 pages – A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin
- Now a TV phenomenon, GoT started out as one of those really thick fantasy novels with tons of characters, long battle descriptions, and a new plot thread on every page. I’ve only read the first book, but it’s been good so far.
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