Tag Archives: netflix

December 17, 2021 · 7:01 am

Christmas Movie Time! Single All the Way

It’s just one week until Christmas Eve! That means that amongst all the last-minute shopping, gift wrapping, and baking, there’s still time to watch Christmas movies! This is one of my favorite things about this time of year. It’s a lot less pressure than everything else. 🙂

Today’s selection was a new one this year, Single All the Way. I honestly skipped over it a few times as I was skimming Netflix. I mean, how many I’ll-pretend-I-have-a-significant-other-to-please-my-family-at-the-holidays movies can they make? It’s getting to be a pretty tired trope.

Fortunately, Single All the Way actually makes it work! I don’t want to give away too much, but there are some nice twists that make it fit a little bit less into that trope than it might seem. I also think it’s great that there are starting to be more Christmas romance movies about LGBTQ couples. Even better is that Peter’s family isn’t bothered in the least by the fact that he’s gay. It comes up, and they’re certainly aware of it, but nobody is trying to change him or get him to go out with a woman. His family genuinely loves him for who he is, and maybe they know him better than he knows himself.

I honestly really liked this movie, and it’s definitely going on my list of favorites.

What movies are you watching? Do you have any suggestions for me? Let me know!

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Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois.  She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University.  Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective.  Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous.  Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world.  You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.

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December 16, 2021 · 7:21 am

More Christmas Movies: Father Christmas is Back

I’ve mentioned before that it’s always a risk to try out a new Christmas movie. There are so many old classics to love, after all! But there are several newer ones that have become classics for me over the last few years, so I can’t help but try out at least a few new ones.

And it seems pretty safe when I see a new Christmas movie that is a Netflix original (often a good sign) and has a cast that includes Kelsey Grammer, John Cleese, and Elizabeth Hurley. Right?

Well…

This movie is nothing short of awkward. The basic storyline is that a father who left on Christmas Day over twenty years ago has finally returned. His four somewhat dysfunctional grown daughters now have to deal with it. Sure, this could be a great comedy, and it should be considering the cast. But it’s really not funny at all, and so much time is spent setting up how awful these people are that it becomes boring. It’s the family Christmas gathering that makes you wish you pretended to be sick and stayed home in your pajamas.

I recognize the looks on their faces. It’s the same look I had while trying to watch this movie.

I’m no great movie critic, and it’s difficult for me to pinpoint exactly what went wrong here. I just know that it did, at least for me.

Have you watched Father Christmas is Back? What did you think? I’d love to know!

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Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois.  She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University.  Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective.  Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous.  Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world.  You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.

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December 15, 2021 · 7:08 am

Christmas Movie Time! The Christmas Inheritance

While this year I’m hoping to explore some new holiday films I haven’t seen yet, I just couldn’t skip out on one that’s become a recent favorite: The Christmas Inheritance.

Here’s a quick summary from IMDB: Before ambitious heiress Ellen Langford can inherit her father’s gift business, she must deliver a special Christmas card to her dad’s former partner in Snow Falls, the hometown she never knew. When a snowstorm strands her at the town inn, she’s forced to work for her keep, and in the process, finds romance and discovers the true gift of Christmas.

With the typical Christmas romance trope of a spoiled young woman who has to return to a small town to fulfill the family tradition, The Christmas Inheritance has just about everything you’d expect: a cute inn, a guy who’s heart has been broken, troubles that keep our heroine from just running back to the city, and a scene that makes me sob every single time no matter how many times I watch it.

Even though I’ve pretty much watched this movie every year since it came out, it was still absolutely worth having on while I wrapped Christmas presents. (Sorry to anyone who has tear stains on their gift…see note about the scene that makes me cry.) The acting is actually pretty good, which doesn’t always happen in movies like this. The story isn’t particularly new or earthshattering, but it’s definitely satisfying. If you’re looking for warm, fuzzy feelings as you curl up with your mug of hot cocoa, then The Christmas Inheritance is it!

***

Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois.  She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University.  Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective.  Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous.  Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world.  You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please consider using my links to do your shopping and help me out at no extra cost to you!

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December 8, 2021 · 8:39 am

Christmas Movie Time! Starting the Season with Love Hard on Netflix

Christmas movies are one of my favorite things about the season, but it’s always hard to decide where to start. An old classic, or something new? And with as many terrible Christmas movies as there are out there, it’s always a risk to grab a new title.

Love Hard poster.jpg

But I went ahead and chose Love Hard on Netflix. A story about dating apps and catfishing doesn’t sound very holiday-ish. Neither does the MA rating! I’m not always keen on modern movies in this genre, but Love Hard didn’t disappoint! A fun story, truly great characters, character arcs that occur in side characters as well as the two mains, and references to other great Christmas movies made this an absolute hit for me. Throw in some laughing, crying, and laughing-and-crying, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be adding this onto the list of movies I watch every year.

What Christmas movies are you watching? I’d love to know!

***

Ashley O’Melia is an independent author and freelancer from Southern Illinois.  She holds her Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University.  Her books include The Wanderer’s Guide to Dragon Keepingand The Graveside Detective.  Her short stories have been published in The Penmen Review, Siren’s Call, and Subcutaneous.  Ashley’s freelance work has spanned numerous genres for clients around the world.  You can find her on Facebook and Amazon.

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July 27, 2015 · 3:58 pm

What Netflix has Done to Me, or The Summer without Satellite

As an adult, I’ve never been much of a TV watcher.  Sure, I like to find something to entertain myself while I’m eating lunch, but in general I feel like watching TV is too unproductive.  When I did watch a program, I usually found myself on the edge of my seat, but not because the show was suspenseful.  No, I was waiting for the next commercial, when I would hop up and commence a hyper-speed cleaning session in the living room.  Why?  Because watching commercials is such a big fat waste of time, even worse than watching the shows themselves.  If I wasn’t doing commercial cleaning, I was busy in some other way.  I would cross-stitch during comedies, paint my nails during the news, or blog during ball games.

This makes me sound like I’ve got adult ADHD, doesn’t it?

No, the truth is just that I hadn’t found much that made me feel it was worth wasting my time for.  Even during all those DVR’d episodes of Once Upon a Time, I held my finger on the fast forward button in anticipation of the ads.

Then we decided to suspend our satellite service for the summer.  (There’s a tongue twister for you!).  The kids were mostly watching Netflix and  the satellite channels were only showing reruns for the billionth time, so why pay the $100+ per month?

Even though we’d had Netflix for forever, I never bothered clicking over to it and using it.  Why?  Well, because I’m not much of a TV person, right?  But that is swiftly changing.  My next book is going to involve time travel, so I decided I needed to watch shows and movies that revolved around that theme as well.  First up was Continuum.  I’d never even heard of the show, but it turns out that a story about a policewoman who accidentally travels back in time and has to use her knowledge of history to prevent crimes makes for a darn good story.  There were a few good movies, some other series that I tried out and got bored with.

Then.  Came.  Doctor Who.

I know, I know.  How on earth could I not have watched this show before?  How did I not check into this fantastic series earlier in my life?  How can I not have been a Whovian all this time?

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Well, I don’t know.  Perhaps it’s because I spent my childhood as a Trekkie (not convention-level Trekkie, just enjoyed the show and had a huge crush on Will Wheaton) and thought I was done with sci-fi for awhile.  Perhaps I figured I could never love any time travel story that didn’t start with the words “Back to the Future” (still huge on those movies, by the way).  Perhaps I should just claim ignorance.

But it’s all changed now.  I’m only in the second season, but I’m completely hooked.  My latest fish is named The Doctor.  I have a huge crush on a TARDIS teapot I found at Barnes and Noble.  I have a feeling this is only the beginning…

And it’s all your fault Netflix!

(Oh, crap.  Now I found Sherlock.  And Torchwood.)

What’s your favorite thing to watch on Netflix?

 

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