Netflix And Chill: Meet Me Next Christmas (2024)

While they may not be the first names you think of when you consider the selection of entertainment that specifically aims to keep people pleasantly distracted during the festive season, both Christina Milian and Pentatonix have done enough in the past decade or so (well . . . make that two for Milian, who starred in Snowglobe back in 2004) to make them quite comfortable alongside all of the expected holly jolly trimmings.

Milian stars as Layla, a young woman who bumps into a very handsome man named James (Kofi Siriboe) at an airport. The two of them form the kind of immediate and strong connection that should lead to a fantastic love story. That cannot happen though. Layla has a boyfriend, Tanner (Brendan Morgan). James offers to let fate decide for them, and he suggests that they meet at the Pentatonix Christmas concert in a year . . . IF they are both single at that time. Considering how much of an obstacle to the plot Tanner would be, it's no surprise to find him out of the picture just in time for Layla to try and reunite with James, but the problem is that she didn't buy any Pentatonix tickets. She ends up hiring a young concierge (Teddy, played by Devale Ellis) to try and help her Christmas dream come true. Is Teddy up to the task though? And is Layla sure that James is the right man for her anyway?

While your enjoyment of this will depend on how much a capella singing you can stand, and at least Pentatonix allow themselves to be the butt of one or two very gentle jokes, the cast all do a very good job at keeping viewers on their side. That's easy enough for Siriboe, who is offscreen for most of the movie, but both Milian and Ellis make their rapport and interactions feel enjoyably effortless. Nikki Duval is fun, playing the beleaguered assistant who has to put up with random harmonising from Pentatonix, and Kalen Allen enters the proceedings just when it needs another shot of energy. Everyone knows what is expected from them, and they generally exceed those expectations.

While I'm unfamiliar with writers Molly Haldeman and Camilla Rubis, who don't have too many writing credits to their names, both do well enough when it comes to delivering a rom-com full of obstacles on the way to the enjoyably predictable ending. I have seen some other work from director Rusty Cundieff, but none of it would have made me think of him as a capable pair of hands for this type of fare. Which just shows how much I know. A) He's already done a couple of other movies in this vein, and B) he handles the material with a great instinct for making it work the best it can.

It doesn't feel too obviously cheap, unlike so many other Christmas "TV movies", it has a couple of genuinely enjoyable set-pieces, and there is an attempt to at least add one or two wrinkles to the standard formula. If you don't mind the acting from Pentatonix, who would do better if they just stuck to the singing, then you should have fun with this. If you do mind them though . . . well, probably best to look elsewhere for easygoing festive fun.

6/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing, and ALL of the links you need are here - https://linktr.ee/raidersofthepodcast
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Snowglobe (2007)

Another Christmassy confection from the writers of both Santa Baby and Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe, this is a film that may not actually be that good, but it's a perfect time-filler in amongst the many other snow-filled flights of fancy occupying the TV schedules at this time of year.

Christina Milian plays Angela Moreno, a young woman who is a bit fed up of her overbearing family. They never seem to mind their own business, whether they're trying to set her up with a new fella (this time around in the shape of Josh Cooke) or just assuming that she's happy to work in the family business until the day she can take over from her mother (Lorraine Bracco). Angela actually just wants to enjoy a traditional Christmas, and she gets her chance when she receives a magical snowglobe, hence the title. She finds that she is able to enter the village inside the snowglobe, and starts to spend more and more of her time there, especially enjoying the company of cheery and sweet Doug (Matt Keeslar).

Directed by Ron Lagomarsino, and written by Garrett Frawley and Brian Turner, this is standard stuff indeed, but that's not to say that it's not unenjoyable. The simple premise is rough around the edges, and quite lazy at times, but it's also built around a decent core idea.

Milian isn't a great actress, but the film doesn't completely rest on her shoulders so that's not so bad. Cooke is decent enough, and Bracco is sorely underused (and, frankly, deserves better anyway), but Keeslar has a lot of fun as the man who views the world around him through child-like eyes. Kailin See, Christine Willes, Erin Karpluk, Jason Schombing and everyone else onscreen do . . . . . . . . . okay. Nobody stinks, at the very least.

There are some nice little touches here and there, especially in the artificial, twee design of the snowglobe village, but just not enough to raise this to something above average. Not to be too down on the girl, but with a better actress in the lead role this could have been fun. As it is, it's just a mild diversion that doesn't cause you any pain while it's on, even though it could have been much better.

4/10

http://www.amazon.com/Family-Christmas-Collection-Cupid-Boston/dp/B00DNLZRXI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1386495808&sr=8-3&keywords=snowglobe+dvd

Christmas Cupid (2010)

If there is anyone acting in movies lately who is more annoying than Christina Milian then I will be very, very surprised because I almost didn't make it to the end of Christmas Cupid simply because of her annoying and smug presence. She may have been easier to tolerate if the movie had been better but I doubt it.

The plot is a horribly modernised, warped version of A Christmas Carol in which successful and driven Sloane Spencer (Milian) ends up visited by the spirit of prematurely deceased starlet Caitlin Quinn (Ashley Benson, just about the only likeable presence in the movie) and warned that she needs to change her ways. Sloane has been a bad friend, a bad daughter and a bad person to fall in love with so her mistakes are to be pointed out to her by three ex-boyfriends (one from her past, one of her recent dalliances and someone from her future that she hopes she doesn't recognise). So it's kinda like a cross between Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past and Scrooged without any of the appealing elements of either, which I know may not be a lot in the case of the former film namechecked there.

The lazy screenplay by Aury Wallington is lazily directed by Gil Junger and the result is a Christmas film that actually makes you want to say "humbug", at the very least.

Where to begin with Milian? I guess to be nice about it all I could say that I prefer her singing to her acting. And I absolutely hate her singing. She's not helped by the fact that she's playing a character that viewers will struggle to root for but a better actress might have somehow made things more palatable. I've already noted that Benson is about the only likeable presence and she's good fun throughout but her performance is just too little among too much dross to make the movie much better. Chad Michael Murray needs to have a serious word with his agent because going from One Tree Hill and the House Of Wax movie to this is NOT the career path to move along. Burgess Jenkins, Ryan Sypek, Ashley Johnson, Jackee Harry and Patrick Johnson, on the other hand, were all people I'd never heard of before so if they don't move on to anything better I won't be particularly emotional about it.

But it all comes back to Milian - the biggest stench in the middle of a big cloud of . . . . . . stench. If there's any justice in the world then she won't act in any other movie ever again, leaving a role for someone else to take on. But the world is often a crappy place and isn't overflowing with justice. Exhibit A, I give you Miss Milian's career.

One to avoid unless you happen to be a teenager who just loves both Ashley Benson and Christina Milian. But if that's the case I urge you to seek at least some therapy.

2/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share