Jingle Bell Heist

 Watched: 29^th November 2025

How watched: Netflix

Rating: 5.8 out of 10, based on 1,900 reviews.
Correct on 29^th November 2025

Who's in it:

·      Olivia Holt

·      Connor Swindells

·      Lucy Punch

·      Peter Serafinowicz

 

Directed By: Michael Fimognari

Year: 2025

Duration: 1 hour 36 minutes

Trigger Warning: Cancer 

Plot:

 

At the height of the Christmas build up, two strangers team up to rob one of London’s most famous department stores. 

Review:

 

So this is one of this year’s new Christmas offerings from Netflix.

 

I’ll be honest I was expecting it to be far worse than it is. Not based on Netflix’s previous festive movies, but because of some of the other reviews I’d seen floating around. 

 

However, this is a well-rounded movie. A bit of heist-ing, Christmas twinkles, character back stories, and a sprinkle of romance thrown in. All wrapped up in a London based Christmas backdrop. 

Theres even a little ‘well I didn’t see that coming’.

 

Genuinely enjoyed watching this and think it is a definite repeater. 

 

All in all a solid effort from Netflix. 

For more information about the film visit the imdb.com page: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt24852126/

 

Hopeless Romantic Score: 8 out of 10.

A Timeless Christmas

 Watched: 26^th November 2025

How watched: Amazon Prime

IMDB Rating: 7 out of 10 , from 4,000 reviews. 
Correct at 26^th November 2025

Who's in it:

Erin Cahill

Ryan Paevey

Brandi Alexander

Zahf Paroo

Directed By: Ron Oliver

Year: 2020

Duration: 1 hour 24 minutes

Plot:

 

In 1903, Charles Whitley buys a beautiful clock for his fiancé, with a mysterious engraving. "Wind once at Christmas moon, true love will find you soon", and just like that Charles is catapulted to the year 2020. 

Holiday romance ensues in the modern era.  

Interesting Facts About the Film:

To research time travel Charles reads three books being: The Time Machine, A Christmas Carol, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
Source IMDb.com

Review

Think Kate and Leopold meets The Knight Before Christmas and you pretty much have A Timeless Christmas.

 

I spent a lot of the movie thinking ‘What have I seen him in before?’. Well look him up and you see he is a popular actor in the Hallmark range, just like Lacey Chabert. So our paths must have crossed before.

 

Bad point. I know it’s fiction, I get that, but for someone misplaced in time by some hundred and something years he takes to modern living awfully fast. 

 

Good points. A kind-hearted Hallmark movie. Like a warm cup of hot chocolate on a cold and frosty December morning, Gushy and mushy, with no prizes awarded for guessing how it all ends up. 

For more information about the film visit the imdb.com page:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13341414/

 

Hopeless romantic score: 6 out of 10 for general movie-ness, 7.5 out of 10 for being a romancy Christmas movie.

Just Another Christmas (aka Tudo Bem no Natal que Vem)

 Watched: 23^rd November 2025

How watched: Netflix

Rating: 6.7 out of 10, from 6,100 reviews
Correct on 23^rd November 2025

Who's in it:

·      Leandro Hassum 

·      Elisa Pinheiro 

·      Danielle Winits 

·      Louise Cardoso 

·      Rodrigo Fagundes 

·      Arianne Botelho 

·      Miguel Rômulo 

·      José Rubens Chachá 

·      Levi Ferreira 

·      Lola Fanucchi 

·      Daniel Filho 

Directed By: Roberto Santucci

Year: 2020

Duration: 1 hour 40 minutes

Trigger warning: Cancer. 

Plot:

 

Stuck in a Christmas Day repeat, moving on to the next year’s Christmas at the end of each Christmas day (with no knowledge of the events on the 364 days in between), Jorge, who’s birthday is also on 25^th December, starts to learn about what’s important in life. 

Review:

 

Think a mash up of Groundhog Day, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Christmas Carol and place it in Brazil, and this is this movie.  

 

It is a bit like it’s trying too hard to be like Lampoons Christmas Vacation but generally its ok. 

 

 

What I would say is that, like watching Squid Games dubbed, you may get more out of the movie if you watch it in Portuguese with the subtitles. Rather than what I did with the English dubbing and get distracted by the lip synchronisation. 

Having a birthday near Christmas myself I feel the sentiment of the main character, and the voiceover at the beginning of none of your friends coming to your birthday party as they are all away, it rang very true. But I keep the spirit of Christmas unlike Jorge!

 

This is a nice movie, better than I thought. With lots of Christmas sentiment; be grateful for what you have, spend time with the ones you love etc. 

 

I would say give it a watch. But it might not be a repeater movie, unlike Jorge’s Christmas days.

For more information about the film visit the imdb.com page: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13354204/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_7_nm_0_in_0_q_just%2520another

 

Hopeless Romantic Score: 6.5 out of 10. 

Holiday Rush

Watched: 22nd November 2025

How Watched: Netflix

Rating: 5 out of 10, from 3,400 reviews Source IMDb.com
Correct at 22nd November 2025

Who's in it:

• Romany Malco
• Sonequa Martin-Green
• Deon Cole
• Amarr M. Wooten
• La La Anthony
• Alysia Livingston
• Andrea-Marie Alphonse
• Selena-Marie Alphonse
• Roscoe Orman
• Malika Samuel
• Deysha Nelson
• Tamala Jones
• Darlene Love
• 
  

Directed By: Leslie Small 

Year: 2019

Duration: 1 hour 34 minutes

Trigger warning- main character widowed 

Plot:

Widow Rush Williams has everything he wants, the house the four children, Then a pre Christmas firing from his job as a radio DJ looks to put a spanner in the works. 

Review:

Another Christmas movie set in the great New York City. But mainly what looks like stock ariel footage, other than some exteriors in Queens and the great Pepsi Cola sign in Long Island (which makes an appearance for about 2 minutes). 

A Netflix original movie. Something Netflix have now started to excel in; the festive Christmas movie. This maybe though isn't one of their greatest achievements

It falls a bit flat. Half way through I considered if I could manage another 45 minutes. Give it 5 more minutes and this is the start of the turn to better things. 

The children of the main character are very materialistic, even setting up crowd funding for $25,000 of Christmas presents because they won't get a pony.  Bearing in mind they’ve lost their mother in the years preceding the storyline they are incredibly self centred and money orientated, 

Not sure it's a year on year watch, but glad to have seen it. 

Stick with it if you haven't watched if before. Like the moral of the story, things will get better

Hopeless romantic score- 5 out of 10

For more information about the film visit the imdb.com page: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10091530/ 

Serendipity

Watched: 18th November 2025

How Watched: DVD

Rating on IMDB: 6.8 out of 10 (from 129,000 reviews)
Correct at 20th November 2025

Who's in it:

John Cusack

Kate Beckinsale

Molly Shannon

Jeremy Piven

Bridget Moynahan

Eugene Levy

Directed By: Peter Chelsom

Year: 2001

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes 

Plot:

Sara and Jonathan meet over the last pair of black cashmere gloves during a Christmas shopping trip to Bloomingdales. 

Sara, a big fan of leaving things to the fates, says they should put the principle of serendipity to the test. If they are meant to know each other better then the fates will bring them together. 

Bring on Jonathan's phone number on a $5 bill and Sara's number in the cover of a first edition of Love in the Time of Cholera. 

Will they get their happily ever after or will the fates have other ideas? 

Interesting Fact About the Film:

• Cusack and Beckinsale filmed only a few days together during the shoot, much like their characters they only saw each other for a limited time.

Source IMDb.com

Review:
The soundtrack for the movie is great, a good strong christmassy start with Cool Yule. A lovely setting of New York City, always a good setting for a Christmas caper with lots of well known sights. 

John Cusack stars during his rom-com era, with a deadpan but warm smoulder. 

Kate Beckinsale plays the British love interest and between them there is a lovely charm to the whole thing. Add in their friends trying to guide (and otherwise) and an interfering salesman played by Eugene Levy (known to me in 2001 more as Jim's dad, IYKYK). 

The majority of the comedy in this rom-com comes from the supporting cast eccentricities, rather than the main characters.

Generally a warm love hug of a movie. 

Great to be watching the snowy New York scenery while large snowflakes were also falling in the UK this week. 

Hopeless romantic score: 8 out of 10 

For more information about the film visit the imdb.com page: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240890/

Christmas greetings- and movies

 Here we are again folks, after an extended hiatus. 

The full Christmas spirit and season is fast approaching. So let's do a bit of a review of some of the most famous (and not so famous) Christmas movies. 

Notes on our Christmas reviews;

- How watched relates to the UK. Other regions and territories may vary, 

- As it's Christmas, I may highlight any trigger warnings in the movies, as it's only fair when you want to be jolly and don't want the wind knocking out of your Christmas sails unexpectedly. 

- And yes I understand that the Hallmark/Hallmark-esque movies of the world are formulaic and full of a fantasies. Unless there really are back of beyond, sexy, male, small business owners looking to save Christmas at the drop of a hat and fall in love in the process everywhere in America- in which case I’ll be booking the next ticket out there!! But it’s (nearly) Christmas people. Let’s live a little 

Well off we go on our little Christmas adventure. In 3... 2... 1..........