Tag: Christmas

  • Movie Review: Holiday In Handcuffs

    Movie Review: Holiday In Handcuffs

    Holiday in Handcuffs is a Christmas movie that came out back in 2007 and aired on ABC Family, now known as Freeform. It’s about a women named Gertrude, who also went by “Trudie” in the film and was played by Melissa Joan Hart, and her day started off terribly. She was the black sheep of the family. She worked a minimum job as a waitress, while her brother Jake, played by Kyle Howard, and her sister Katie, played by Vanessa Lee Evigan were a little bit more above her in their parent’s eyes.

     

    During the Christmas holiday she and her siblings, along with her boyfriend were going to visit their parents’ house, but while clocked in to work she gets a call from her boyfriend and he ends up breaking up with her, and on top of that it didn’t help that she missed a big job opportunity. After being broken up with days before Christmas, a man named David, who was played by Mario Lopez, was dining at her job and she decided to kidnap him at gunpoint, like the crazy person she is, and forces him to pretend to be her boyfriend, while she visits her family for Christmas. 

     

    They have a nice drive up the mountain to her parent’s place, while she explains to him what’s going to happen. She explains to her parents that he likes to “pretend that he was kidnapped” as a joke. So even if he did tell the truth no one believed him! And there’s no way of escaping, because her mom conveniently didn’t allow phones during the holidays so they can enjoy family time. Throughout their time being there he tried many ways to escape in order to make it back to his own family for Christmas but nothing seems to work… even keys for the cars were hidden. 

     

    While there he gets to know her and slowly starts playing his part in Trudie’s scheme. Although he didn’t enjoy his time being there, he got to know her and started realizing she may not be that bad of a person. But while starting to feel more comfortable, David’s girlfriend, who he was planning to propose to back at the diner Trudie worked at, starts to wonder where her boyfriend is. She contacts the police and they start her search for him. hile David was being held captive, he actually starts to fall for Trudie, but when his wife finally figured out where he was, the police were contacted and Trudie and her whole family was arrested for the kidnapping. 

     

    After being in jail for a bit, David actually vouches for them and gets them out. And in the end he actually tries to give their relationship a try. And although they had a crazy and rocky beginning they start to work things. 

     

    Overall I would give this movie a 7/10 rating. It’s definitely a nice and funny family Christmas movie that will have you on their crazy rollercoaster. So warm up your hot chocolate and popcorn and kickback and enjoy this wonderful movie with your friends and family this holiday season.

     

    Holiday in Handcuffs is available playing on Freeform throughout the holidays and is available on demand on FreeForm.com using a cable subsriber login.

     

  • Movies of the Decade

    The year has finally come to an end, also bringing the decade to an end. Within these 10 years, there have been many films which have most certainly left quite an impression on us. Here is a list of 10 films which have made it to the top throughout the past ten years.

    • 2010 Despicable Me
    • 2011 Captain America: The First Avenger
    • 2012 The Hunger Games
    • 2013 Frozen
    • 2014 Guardians of the Galaxy
    • 2015 Jurassic World
    • 2016 Moana
    • 2017 Star Wars: The Last Jedi
    • 2018 Avengers: Infinity War
    • 2019 Avengers: Endgame
  • ‘Tis the Season for Pi(e) (COMIC)

    ‘Tis the Season for Pi(e) (COMIC)

  • Cooking Joy

    It’s that time of the year, when families gather and enjoy a big meal together, and well, let’s be honest, get fat together. Oh yes, Christmas is just a couple days away and I already know that some of y’all cannot cook,  so I’m here to supply you with one of the best side dishes to add to your Christmas dinner, mashed potatoes.

    Mashed potatoes recipe:

    Preparation: 10 Minutes 

    Cook: 30 Minutes 

    Ready: 40 Minutes 

     

    Ingredients: 

    -2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered -salt and pepper (seasoned to taste)

    – ½  cup of Milk 

    -½ cups of sour cream 

    -¼ cup of freshly cut chives 

    Double in ingredients to make a bigger portion 

     

    Directions:

    1. Set a big pot with water and bring the water to a boil and add salt to the boiling water.
    2. Place 2 pounds of Golden Potatoes, peeled, and quartered, into boiling water and boil for 25 minutes. To test if your potatoes are cooked fully , stick a fork through the potatoes, and if your fork comes out with no problems, then they are ready.
    3. Drain potatoes from water.
    4. To mash your potatoes, oh can get a handheld potato masher, or an electric mixer, and mash/mix your potatoes until nicely, add ½ cups of milk while mixing.
    5. Once potatoes are mashed stir in ½ cups of sour cream and chives.
    6. Season to liking.

     

  • I’m Sick of Christmas

    It feels like every year, Christmas season is being pushed earlier and earlier by businesses. Over the radio, through shop windows, and television screens.  The relentless corporations are taking Christmas “spirit” and shoving it deep down our throats, attempting to take our money on the way out. It’s disgusting and so very exhausting.

    Thanksgiving hadn’t even passed yet when I first started hearing Christmas music on the radio. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas music, but there are a few problematic things with it being played so early. First of all, during the week of Thanksgiving, I’m in Thanksgiving mode, not Christmas mode. I don’t want to be thinking about gift-giving and Jesus’ birth; that stuff is a month away. Let me focus on stuffing my face and being thankful. Having all the Christmas stuff  pushed so early kills my Thanksgiving vibes. On top of this, having a whole straight month of Christmas music is tiring. I like Christmas music, but there isn’t a whole lot of variety, which would be fine if radio stations didn’t start playing it as early as before Thanksgiving. Hearing the same stupid songs for over four weeks makes them incredibly unenjoyable, and by the time Christmas rolls around, I’m already sick of it.

    What makes all this worse is the sinister intentions behind all of it. The corporate pigs have Christmas season start early so that people buy all their Christmas gifts earlier, and when Christmas comes around, these people are more likely to go ahead and buy some more Christmas stuff anyways. It’s an evil, greedy practice that we ought to protest and hopefully put an end to.

  • Spirit Spendings

    Holidays are meant to be spent with family and loved ones, but in reality, there is actually more spending on family rather than with family. From November to December, there’s an average of more than one thousand dollars spent on gifts.

    During November from Thanksgiving dinner, to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, over $900 alone are spent. Moving onto December, there is both Christmas and New Years. The spendings here are also sky high, with buying Christmas and New Years decorations and meals, and holiday gifts.

    The real question is: Is spending all of this money for these holidays really worth it?

    I would say it is. In the end, you spend time with family, sharing new memories, laughing and growing a stronger bond with one another.

    As for gifts, it’s always nice to see a smile on someone’s face. It’s even nicer when you’re the reason for it. It doesn’t even have to be family. Seeing your friends happy for receiving something they like is also a good feeling when you’re the one who gave it to them. Teachers too, can leave a wonderful feeling when they give you a warm smile or a kind ‘thank you’ for a simple gift.

    Christmas time is also known for charity and donations, it is one of the best ways anyone can spend their money. We’re lucky to still have generous people who love to give back.

  • Once Upon A Hallmark Christmas

    Once Upon A Hallmark Christmas

    Fate is real. The rich are evil. New York City is the only large city in existence. There is no excuse to hate the holidays. It is wrong to want a good career. Living in a small town is the only way to be happy. Research shows that 50% of the time, engaged women are more likely to meet their true soulmates because their fiancés were actually jerks anyway. Christmas is not about presents, it is about showing your love of family and friends. If a woman is fired from her job or does not get the promotion she wanted, then she will most likely be married within six months. In order to be a complex character, a close relative to you must have died. Congratulations! You just made it through every Hallmark Christmas movie plot in existence!

    I admit that I do like some of these movies (watch Once Upon a Holiday), but I also have to say that most of them make me want to vomit because of the culmination of bad writing, predictable plotlines, and sickeningly sweet dialogue. While researching for this article, I watched ten Hallmark Channel original movies. I also smashed the television with a baseball bat, or at least I wanted to.

    I understand that nobody expects these movies to be nominated for Oscars and that any romantic movie will always have a certain level of cliché in it, but I also know Hallmark can do better. They can create characters that are complex because of their thoughts and interests, not because of the death of a family member or a bad breakup 15 years ago. Also, since none of the movies set in New York have anything to do with the actual city–no ice skating at Rockefeller Center or long walks through Central Park–they could change it up and make a movie set in Cleveland or tell the story of two college kids falling in love at Purdue University. Perhaps Hallmark could make the male lead the one who is desperate to find a partner. The writers can come up with pivotal dramatic scenes that are not caused by a misunderstanding.

    Luckily, it seems like the 2015 movies are not as sexist as the older movies. The plotlines of the old movies usually go like this: a thirty year old woman living in NYC is dumped by her jerk boyfriend, is passed up for promotion by a different jerk guy, gets stranded in a small town, falls in love with a kind man from said small town, realizes that she shouldn’t have a career or live in a big city, and then the two leads kiss and the movie ends with no real answer as to where they are going to live. The 2015 movies I watched were basically the same except the couple moved to where the girl was promoted and ended with a wedding montage. Hopefully this means progress, but I sincerely doubt it.