Hello elf-ryone! 💚❤️

This was a spur of the moment post as I was gonna upload a list of what to watch this festive season instead! 🤣 After seeing a new film called Last Train to Christmas yesterday I was compelled to think a bit more outside of the box (not too far tho, it’s still film related! I like the comfort zone of not really changing my mind). That film had me captivated from the very beginning and I’ll probably mention it a lot in this post so why not explain what it was about!? (Don’t worry there’s not a spoiler in sight 😅).

I almost didn’t remember any character names and that’s not good for something I intend to rave about!! It revolves around Tony (I remembered because they mentioned Tony Visconti at one point and my sister met him so we were like ooooooh all Buddy the elf “I know him!” 🤣), he’s a guy who is seemingly living his best life in the 80s, or so he thinks! 💫 Things start to get messed up when he discovers that each carriage within the train he is on takes him to a different part of his life 🤯. As a strong personality, he’s going to want to make some changes, amiright? (I’m not wrong!…and I sure as hell hope that wasn’t a spoiler 🤔, In which case: I’m so wrong, my bad! 🙌😂). At risk of sounding like I’m being sarcastic (because I do say this when I’m using sarcasm), it’s truly riveting! ✨ (And I mean it for once 🤣). It’s not like a time-lord kinda thing (even tho Doctor Who is cool too!), it’s made to feel like it’s real and not with outer space vibes or as real as possible considering the concept! If you can watch it then I totally recommend you do, you will NOT be disappointed (it’s a long one but you do lose track of that time, it doesn’t lag).

When it finished I was like, now THATS Christmas! 🙌🎄 Even tho it wasn’t overly festive, it was just something that happened to him in the leadup to that day. In saying that it wasn’t Christmassy, that just goes to show what can still be considered a festive film! 🤔 There were other elements making themselves be known that screamed (in a nice way), MERRY CHRISTMAS and for that, I am here today, completely (kind of) changing the direction I was going in with today’s post. The time has now come, let us discuss what it takes for a movie to be a seasonal hit! 💥 In my oh so humble opinion anyway 😌🤣.

Starting with…….

A storyline that has you hooked!

I know that’s with any film but at Christmastime there’s other things to be doing so it really does need to make you want to stay and watch! 👀 A good lot of movies don’t even start out that way, it can be a gradual thing and that’s okay too. What comes to mind when I just said that was like when you’re in the cinema and something isn’t so great at first but you stay because you paid and god-damn-it you’re gonna at least take up a seat. Then something happens and your perspective shifts, the film starts to get good so you have more of an incentive to stay and at the end you leave almost forgetting what the beginning was like because even if that wasn’t accounted for, it doesn’t matter because you enjoyed it in the end 🥲✨🤣. I don’t care what way round the scenario is, just so long as a movie has me at some point and finishes on that same high!

Imma be honest with you here, when Last Train to Christmas ended, my sister and I thought it could have gone in so many other directions that would have tied it off nicely but still, the way it did finish was up there with the best and I suppose when something has you so taken with it, you’re not going to be entirely pleased when you’ve got to say goodbye anyway. That’s not to say we weren’t obsessed tho because we were and still are, that film went on for quite a long time so we kept with it for a reason and it’s now up there on my list as a top movie! Heck, I’d watch it even if Christmas wasn’t around the corner 😂.

Next up on the list is something that I’d thought of before when it comes to festive films but I’d never really seen it up on such a pedestal in terms of being a “movie-must-have” until I saw LTTC!

It’s got to be whimsical and funny….a little if not a lot! (Added that last part in as you’ll see why in a bit 🤣)

There’s not a single Christmas movie I love that isn’t chock-a-block with magical vibes!…well it doesn’t have to be packed with them but I like a fair amount because it’s Christmas, come on!! 😆✨ The best example of this (in my eyes) is The Polar Express, that film is life!! 🙌😍 I’ve had a puzzle of it since I was little and it’s one of those things I can’t bear to part with even tho the little dancing elf’s on it are the stuff of nightmares. There’s something to say about a film that’s so spellbinding you save it until a particular day (Christmas Eve for us!) to watch, no less, not more. It’s like it’s so good you want to watch it more but you know that half the magic of it is in the fact that it’s been made into a rarity. That’s no easy feat to stick to in not watching it again but you do it because that keeps alive what it is to you…..and I had no idea I thought that way about The Polar Express until just then 😅 that’s beautiful, man 😭🤣.

Almost forgot that I like em’ funny too but a good film doesn’t have to be! Parts of Last Train to Christmas were hilarious but there was more to it than that keeping us watching. I kind of contradicted the whole post in that one moment because the title is basically saying that “every festive film needs these things” but I stand by both of what I’m saying (and in turn confuse myself because I refuse to decide between the two 🤣). Okay so in my book a movie needs some humour in it but that doesn’t have to be the final word because other things (like in the case of LTTC) take over and keep ahold of your attention anyway. Jokes are sprinkled in like peppercorns and you can’t miss them! 😂

Think of Home Alone 2, it’s got just the right amount of laughter and that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s got a story to tell that I for one can never get bored of! It’s got to be the biggest hype that I can easily fall for because it’s full of nostalgia and never fails to get me in the festive spirit 🎄. (Unpopular opinion: I can never remember much from the first Home Alone 😅. If you’re a huge fan of it then you KNOW that was a brave thing for me to say 🤣 unless big fans out there are in agreement? Not the remembering bit (because you wouldn’t forget, you’re a FAN! 😵‍💫) but maybe it’s because I hear way more about the second one so it’s like the first gets pushed aside around the holiday season?? Idk I think I just like seeing New York, that’s probably it! (I’m having Real Housewives of NY withdrawals 🤣).

It’s got to make you FEEL ✨✨

Sometimes there’s a hype surrounding particular Christmas movies but as nice as they are, you just can’t FEEL it. I’m not entirely sure what “it” is because you’re going to see that judging by this post, I ask for a lot when it comes to a Christmas film, all bundled into 3 points. You can try too hard to like a film so as to somewhat force the festive feeling and that’s not feeling it at all, it’s going for what you think is the norm when you’re not getting the full value like you could be doing from something you’ll enjoy more! Films like It’s a Wonderful Life have the effect I’m talking about right now. I only really paid proper attention to what happened in that last Christmas and I was almost locked in a moment (but in a nice way 😅). That film has stood the test of time for a reason, because it shows what’s important and has the possibility the make people feel a particular way.

Ooooh I know what FEEL is now, lemme explain! (I’ll only tell you anyway 🙂). It’s when your brain tingles 😂. I first got that feeling way back in 2008 when Alexandra Burke won the X-Factor and sang Hallelujah, lil me thought that was soooo magical and my brain started fizzing (is that ASMR?) and I was almost crying because it was an outer body experience (and it was at Christmastime too so thats saying something!). It was such a beautiful fragment in time. It felt like a historic moment even tho it cannot be found in a single textbook (….the old X-Factor annual perhaps? 😂)….do you know what, I’ll write that textbook one day. I know what 😏🤣.

This is going to sound like a slap in the face to my other blog posts but this one was the easiest and most fun to write out of all in the My kinda Blogmas thingamajig ☺️. The words just flew out of my mind because it was so spur of the moment and not planned out as much as the others. I feel so happy right now! 🤣 I’m acting like this is the very last post of the series but there will actually be one tomorrow that seals the deal, more so just something to send merry wishes your way 🎄. Incase you don’t see that one, I’ll say it now, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! ✨✨ And a happy new year too 💫. I hope you have a lovely time, whichever way the next couple of days are spent and whether or not you celebrate them 💕.

Back to the present day and sort of putting a downer on things, HOW IS IT CHRISTMAS EVE???? I’m trying not to force the festive feeling but Xmas has come round so fast 😅. Today I intend to finish watching (yes you guessed it) yet another festive film and this one’s super funny!! It’s 8-bit Christmas and the laughing has not stopped since the very beginning….well it did halfway through because we started watching it yesterday evening and then we went to bed with the plan to carry on today but anyway!! I’ll enjoy that and finishing up with wrapping because I’m so last minute and I hate myself for it (I got some done the other day but then I wasn’t up to it up until now and it’s got to be done NOW so the pressure is on. I’m not going to be neat about it tho, it’ll just get ripped open in less than 24 hours 😂🎁). I’ll be off and sadly, puns are avoiding me right now as I usually like to sign off a post with them 😔……be a rein”dear” and think of one for me, will you? 🤣 Okay I’m going now, but not without asking you: In your opinion, what must a festive film have!? Be sure to let me know, I’d love to hear someone else’s perspective, if you can relate to anything I wrote about and also whether or not you enjoyed the post as much as I did! 🍿 (Was anyone else caught up with singing Last Train to London by ELO whenever the film was mentioned? 🤣 I can’t stop thinking about it! 🎶). Take care, stay safe and buh-bye! ✨💚❤️

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