WE WISH YOU A MERRY NETFLIX......THE CHRISTMAS ROUNDUP SO FAR.......

             Last year, as if the Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies weren't enough for you, Netflix waded into the fray, sprinkling their oodles of cash on their very own Christmas romances......

              Did we way 'their very own'?  Not quite......since the streaming service's holiday offerings are mostly cobbled together by the same Canadian production teams who pump out the Hallmark holiday baubles........

              Since we've already freely admitted we can't get enough of these junky, clunky guilty pleasures.....(the movie equivalent of  Hickory Farms sausages).....here's a bunch for you fellow Holly Jolly fans to binge on......

               The Princess Switch (2018)  We couldn't live with ourselves if we said anything snarky about this one, a loopy mash-up of "The Parent Trap", "The Princess Diaries" and "The Prince And the Pauper".......it'd be like kicking a puppy.....

                Perfect casting.....with too-cute-for-words Vanessa Hudgens playing both the uppercrust Princess of one of those mythical kingdoms populated by Brits and naturally, her twin, the workaday girl from the States.

                Just imagine the wacky fun and complications if they switch places!  Oh wait....they do switch places.....and you don't have to chew your nails worrying if the twins will secure their designated squeezes before Christmas...... for the fans of this stuff - 3 stars (***)

                A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding (2018)  Deck the Halls with one more sequel!
Yes, it's the continuation of last year's 'Christmas Prince', which Netflix customers indulged in so many repeat viewings, it confounded the company execs.

                In yet another mythical Kingdom.......our sweet journalist heroine, now engaged to the Prince, has to cope with all manner of malice in the Palace, including micro-managing royal minions and  a kingdom villain who's sabotaging the country's economic recovery. 

                 What's a girl to do? Where will it all end?  A Happily Ever After Royal Wedding?  If you really need these questions answered, you're not watching nearly enough TV Christmas romances.
But if you watch way too many......it's a reliable 2 & 1/2 stars (**1/2)

                 The Christmas Chronicles (2018)   Now here's the surprise joker in the deck......produced by that purveyor of family blockbusters, Chris Columbus ("Home Alone", the first two Harry Potters)

               No imitation Hallmark romance going on......it's nothing less than an ambitious attempt to duplicate the Spielberg-Columbus, special-effects stuffed family films of the 1980's.........complete with loads of sentiment, visual splendor and up-to-date gags.

                 The film's centerpiece showstopper:  Kurt Russell as the coolest, wildest Santa Claus ever seen in a Christmas movie. From his first appearance to his last, you just know that Russell's having the blast of his life playing Santa.......and he comes equipped with cleverly rendered CGI elves and reindeer.

                 Deliberately designed to look like a movie that would have been an incredible box office smash in 1986, we don't mind admitting we had a ball watching it.........call us suckers for nostalgia, but we're still givin' it 4 very merry stars (****).......and wouldn't mind at all if Netlix put Kurt back in the sled for Christmas 2019.

                  And while we're at it, Happy Holidays to all BQ visitors.  Thanks for stoppin' in.....sorry we drank all the eggnog......