LET THE CHRISTMAS MOVIE ONSLAUGHT BEGIN!.....BQ OPENS THE FLOODGATES.......

           Once upon a time, Hallmark Channel Christmas movies remained a quaint, undiscovered secret among their many fans......

            No longer. Now they're so much a national Pop Culture Event, other networks have gotten into the act, including Netflix......

            Since we fell victim to Christmas movie addiction long before the rest of the country, we stand amazed at the amount of attention these movies now command..........(including three guys who started 'Deck The Hallmark', their own Hallmark Christmas Movie podcast......)

            So to mix it up a little, we kicked off our own Christmas movie marathon with a split double feature......Netflix's "The Holiday Calendar" and Hallmark's "It's Christmas, Eve"....(the latter automatically receiving our award for best title of the season so far.....)

            "The Holiday Calendar" (2018)   What we love most:  Even though Netflix farms these out to the same filmmaking bunch who make the Hallmark movies, they're given more freedom to deviate from Hallmark's carved-in-stone tropes......

               First off, way more diversity in the casting......in almost all of the Hallmarks, African-Americans are consigned to the BFF roles, if at all......

               We especially appreciated this film's refreshing take on a Christmas movie's most thankless role, the ultimately rejected boyfriend......played here by Ethan Peck  (Gregory's grandson).

               Usually this character is established right away as an insensitive, thoughtless jerk, who does everything but wear a "I'm Gonna Get Dumped" sign around his neck.

                With the script's sly help, Peck gives off such a smooth, romantic vibe that, for a while,  he actually tricks you into believing he's THE guy........at least until later on, when it's subtly revealed that he's .......well, a thoughtless, insensitive jerk. (He uses the feeding of lovable old homeless guys to impress his dates.......and later disses the old fellows, even though they're Christmas Movie Homeless Guys, with no lice, foul odors or public urination problems....)

                  Even better, the movie springs a heartwarming twist on its primary gimmick, an Advent calendar that magically spits out little toys that predict our adorable heroine's love life.  We had a Holly Jolly good time with this one.....4 jingle bells...(****)

                 "It's Christmas, Eve"  (2018)  While Hallmark never dares tamper with the rigid structure of their Christmas movies, we're more than happy to see them brighten it up with songs and singers......in this case, country music star LeAnne Rimes.

                   Sweetening the movie with her vocals, Rimes plays an interim school superintendent, tasked with slicing the schools' budget by deep-sixing the music and arts programs. This doesn't sit well with her own suppressed musical background.......not to mention falling for the school music teacher who lives next door.......

                    Only those of you who've never, ever experienced a Hallmark movie would wonder how this is all going to resolve itself........

                     Rimes make a fine addition to the growing Hallmark collection of dependable romantic leads......(let's face it, none of these actresses have Meryl Streep level demands put on them......as long as they're  gently sweet, loving and ready for their long awaited kiss at the 1 hour & 58 minute mark. 

                   For the added music, we'll sing out 3 stars (***)......(keep in mind, we're grading all these Christmas movies on a deep curve.......based on their ability to deliver everything they promise......it's a little bit like looking for something better or worse in a Big Mac.........we'll still stay on the lookout for any of them to avoid or not to miss.......)