'Tis the Season - No Sleep 'Til Christmas (2018)

Streaming Service: Hulu, Amazon Prime
Movie Name/Year: No Sleep ‘Til Christmas (2018)
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Length: 120 minutes
Rating: TV-14
Production/Distribution: Freeform, Mass Hysteria Entertainment, Cosmote Cinema, Disney+, Moviemax Family, Vlaamse Televisie Maatschappij
Director: Phil Traill
Writers: Steve Smith, Phil Traill
Actors: Odette Annable, Dave Annable, Charles Michael Davis, Alphonso McAuley, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Marsha Mason, Tina Jung, Stacey McGunnigle, Brittany Bristow, Craig Warnock, Jess Salgueiro, Scott Cavalheiro, Delia Lisette Chambers, Kevin Hanchard, Al James, Marilla Wex
 
IMDb Blurb: A bartender and a businesswoman find they only have one thing in common; insomnia.

Selina’s Point of View:
As basic as a lot of this flick turned out to be, I kind of loved it.
 
A lot of what makes No Sleep ‘Til Christmas a recipe film for the rest of the year, makes it more interesting for a Christmas offering. It’s not quite as saccharin sweet as most holiday movies, and it’s closer to the recipe of a ‘friends with benefits’ sub-genre.
 
The characters are flawed enough to relate to, but the outcome carries enough magic to sate the craving for a bit of Christmas. It’s easy to root for just about everyone – including the side characters.

 
I also appreciated the addition of lesser-known holiday music. Sure, there were some classics among the soundtrack, but there was one I’d never heard before. It’s rough to collect a fresh line-up of songs for a flick like this because the radios are already playing carols on repeat all through December. Even just having one or two tunes outside of the norm means a lot.
 
I found the reasoning for the protagonists’ affliction to make sense. I, personally, have a sleep problem that is rooted in a similar issue. I can’t say too much without spoilers, but it all made sense to me. Most holiday films don’t even bother with the actual psychology of a situation.
 
As a side note, the very last scene was memorably hilarious. I’m glad they included it, even if it was a bit unnecessary.
 
In the end, No Sleep ‘Til Christmas was a solid holiday flick. I pre-judged it, and I was wrong. It’s worth watching.

Cat’s Point of View:
No Sleep ‘Til Christmas was certainly a refreshing change of pace for me. I am finally starting to feel a smidge better following my weeks-long fight with the creeping crud, and I really needed the pick-me-up this movie provided.
 
This originally aired on the FreeForm network, yet it doesn’t suffer from most of the pitfalls of a made-for-TV Christmas movie. No Sleep ‘Til Christmas stands apart with its quirky story and amazing cast chemistry. I believed the power-couple pairing between Charles Michael Davis (The Originals, Younger, N.C.I.S: New Orleans) and Odette Annable (The Truth About Lies, Supergirl, Walker) while rooting for Dave Annable (Armed Response, What/If, Yellowstone) all the same. I didn’t even realize that the Annables were married in reality until researching for the production details accompanying this review. (I got Odette Annable confused with someone else while watching, to be honest.) The crazy on-screen chemistry makes a lot of sense now, though.

 

My inner insomniac could really relate to all the trials and tribulations that the character Lizzie goes through as she struggles to sleep. I’ve been there. I had no trouble buying the desperation and willingness to do just about anything to actually get some Zs. These days, my problem is generally the opposite – trying to stay awake. No Sleep ‘Til Christmas even defeated my narcoleptic tendencies. I made it all the way to the end without having to re-start due to involuntary napping.
 
I appreciated that No Sleep ‘Til Christmas didn’t try too hard to go over the top, and I was genuinely entertained throughout.
 
If you’re looking for a Christmas rom-com that isn’t going to try to jam the ‘joy of the season’ down your throat and will give you plenty of laughter along the way, No Sleep ‘Til Christmas might be just the one you’re looking for. It is currently available to stream across multiple platforms. 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 100%
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 6.7/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 4.5/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4.5/5

Trust the Dice: Parental Guidance Rating: PG-13
 
Movie Trailer:

Descendants 2 (2017)

Streaming Service: Disney+

Movie Name/Year: Descendants 2 (2017)

Genre: Action, Adventure, Family

Length: 111 minutes

Rating: TV-G

Production/Distribution: Disney Channel, Disney-ABC Domestic Television, Disney XD, American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Freeform, Lifetime, Disney Cinemagic, Disney+, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Walt Disney Television

Director: Kenny Ortega

Writer: Sara Parriott, Josann McGibbon

Actors: Dove Cameron, Cameron Boyce, Sofia Carson, Booboo Stewart, Mitchell Hope, Brenna D’Amico, Melanie Paxson, Thomas Doherty, Bobby Moynihan, Dylan Playfair, Dianne Doan, Jedidiah Goodacre, Zachary Gibson, Anna Cathcart, Dan Payne, Keegan Connor Tracy, China Anne McClain, Whoopi Goldberg

Blurb from IMDb: Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay try to adjust to life in Auradon, but Mal becomes overwhelmed with pressure and returns to her roots.

Selina’s Point of View:

I liked the first Descendants (2015) movie and I expected to like this sequel. I try to go into film as cold as possible – I don’t even watch the trailers ahead of time unless it’s for a top 20 – but it’s impossible in this case.

I watched the original Descendants for this blog, but you might have noticed that only Cat wrote about it. That was the night that a pipe burst under the foundation of my house and my first floor flooded. I felt pretty much the same as Cat did, though. It was cute. Though I would have scored it a little lower than her, and I did think it bordered on too cringey in some scenes.

That said, I have a much higher opinion of Descendants 2.

The first thing I noticed was that the songs were a much higher quality. There was some seriously good music in this film. I’m definitely going to have a few lyrics stuck in my head. I didn’t really experience the same thing with the first one. If you played the soundtrack to the first movie for me, I might not be able to place any of it… but the second one I might even sing along to. It’s almost like they put more effort into the second film’s music.

I also didn’t feel like there was nearly as much cringe in Descendants 2. In fact, everything about it seemed so much more like a Disney movie. You could still feel the ‘Disney Channel’ aspect to it, in the way that everything was stripped down to the G-ist of G ratings, but otherwise it just had a higher quality.

There was a message here that I really liked, and it’s one that I don’t think enough pop culture touches on. In a lot of films, books, and even songs, you see it said that changing yourself is bad. In Descendants, however, Mal changed for the better – so Disney couldn’t really go there. They’d already showed a healthy form of change, saying that people shouldn’t change at all would have contradicted that.

Instead, the movie shows that you can evolve without changing every single thing about yourself. That’s important. Evolving is VERY important. If I was the same person I’d been as a teenager… that would be awful. In other ways, I’ll always try to be as unapologetically myself as possible.

It’s important for kids to know that sometimes change is good – but that it doesn’t mean the stuff you love has to change as well. It’s a good “be the best version of yourself” lesson. I have to acknowledge that.

I liked Descendants 2. I think it was a better movie than the first one. I am looking forward to seeing the third one, though there will be a bitter-sweetness to it. I don’t see how they could possibly continue past that film without the talented Cameron Boyce (Mrs. Fletcher, Steps, Jessie). I don’t think he’s replaceable.

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 71%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 71%

Metascore – 47/100

Metacritic User Score – None

IMDB Score – 6.5/10

CinemaScore – None

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 4/5

Movie Trailer: