Merry Movies: Review over two new Christmas movies, “Spirited” and “Falling for Christmas”

Falling for Christmas
As a big fan of Lindsey Lohan in “The Parent Trap” and Chord Overstreet in “Glee,” I was ecstatic to see Falling for Christmas, a Netflix Original, got an 8/10 rating on my Christmas movie excellence scale. While this film did have the stereotypical, cheesy Hallmark Christmas movie trademark and was predictable 95% of the time, Lohan and Overstreet were able to add their personal flair to keep me entertained for the entire hour and 33 minutes.

The movie follows Sierra Bolmont, a newly engaged rich girl who’s trying to break away from being known for her father and her high-class last name. But right as her boyfriend proposed on what they thought was a scenic snow mountain, the ground falls through and Sierra slides down the hill and is knocked unconscious, resulting in memory loss and total seperation from her home and family. As she recovers, Jake Russell — the dreamy North Star Lodge owner — gives her a place to stay and a fresh perspective on her previously-spoiled life.

After 20 minutes of the movie, I already couldn’t stand Sierra and her boyfriend — both portrayed as rude to waiters, maids and each other. I don’t want to say I was glad to see her and her new fiance get separated on that mountain because Sierra ended up with head damage which is never good, but I think it actually benefited her and made her have more interesting character development.

I enjoy watching Jake and his family because they are genuinely kind people from the start of the movie and not only because they let a complete stranger into their home and cared for her.

These little and big acts of kindness from the family created a selfless and compassionate Sierra in less than a week compared to the arrogant person we saw at the start of the movie.

I never thought that hitting your head on a tree, losing your memory and staying in a cabin with a family of strangers could convey the Christmas spirit. I enjoyed watching this movie because — although it was predictable at some points — it was still a feel-good movie.

Spirited
“Spirited” starring Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds is a Christmas story musical that was definitely a fun watch. It had a variety of characters and emotions that you might typically see in a Christmas movie, but the plot made them have more layers and excitement.

When the movie started and everyone was singing it came as a surprise because I didn’t know it was a musical before. The songs, although could have just been said normally, added originality to the movie and characters themselves.

When I first saw Clint in the movie I already didn’t like him because not only was he singing out of nowhere — even though I know it’s a musical — but his character had the intentions of deceiving everyone around him and not for the better.

His difficult personality created a challenge for the Christmas spirits to get through and I honestly didn’t think they would because of the pure immaturity from Clint. Anytime Jacob, or another ghost would talk to him, Clint would laugh it off as a joke and find a way out.

Clint had one of the best character developments I’ve seen in a Christmas movie because he himself didn’t even think he was a good person at heart, but from the help of Jacob and everyone else, he was able to see that anyone can change with enough threats from ghosts.

Personally I don’t really like musicals, but this was better than I thought it’d be. It was a fun twist on A Christmas Carol and I loved seeing Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferell together. This movie kept me entertained the whole time with the creative jokes and characters.