Blog and Video Description: In this episode of the Mattacritic, I will be doing something different this time, I will be giving you my thoughts on Christmas Movies, Books, TV Series that I like or do not like. This will be the last video that I will do for the year 2023 before I have another video or blog post in January of 2024. The most probable day that I will have a video or blog post be public will be January 19, 2024. I need to take this break to recharge my batteries and to work on innovative ideas that will be helpful to the channel. I will give you a list of movies, TV shows, and Books that I like and dislike. I will give you the content that I like first and tell you why, but there will not be a ton of pictures that come up. I will just show the picture of the movie, TV show, or book that I like and the same will go for the content that I do not like. I hope this episode will inspire you to read, watch, and learn.
Hello everyone, welcome to the Mattacritic. This is Matthew Hemenway. In this episode of the Mattacritic, I will be doing something different this time, I will be giving you my thoughts on Christmas Movies, Books, TV Series that I like or do not like. This will be the last video that I will do for the year 2023 before I have another video or blog post in January of 2024. The most probable day that I will have a video or blog post be public will be January 19, 2024. I need to take this break to recharge my batteries and to work on innovative ideas that will be helpful to the channel. I will give you a list of movies, TV shows, and Books that I like and dislike. I will give you the content that I like first and tell you why, but there will not be a ton of pictures that come up. I will just show the picture of the movie, TV show, or book that I like and the same will go for the content that I do not like. I hope this episode will inspire you to read, watch, and learn.
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This is open to content that I reviewed for this channel as well as content that I have not reviewed for this channel. This will allow me to promote content that I currently have on this channel as well as test out latest content ideas and see if you will be interested in this latest content for this channel. I will now give the content that I like first as stated before.
One of the movies that I reviewed for this channel is By God’s Grace which is a modern retelling of the Christmas Carol which I love the story of the Christmas Carol and that I enjoyed watching. Christopher Taylor, who goes by Chris, lost his parents and his 10-year-old sister in a horrible automobile accident that involved a drunk driver. Chris suddenly feels down during the Christmas season and believes that work is the most important thing and that he should work all the time and that this is all that matters. He believes that only investments that return a monetary return are the most important thing as he told his friend Samantha who goes by Sam. She was in love with him and still is. Chris still loves her, but the tragedy has clouded him, and he uses work to avoid the pain of that tragedy of the automobile accident that involved a drunk driver that killed his parents and his 10-year-old sister whose name is Grace. Chris will get a visit from his 10-year-old sister Grace and will learn the true meaning of Christmas. She will act as Marley, the ghost of Christmas past, present, and future instead of having 4 different spirits. Grace will have Chris see as Samantha was telling him about that investing in tomorrow there is a return not just money but people becoming productive citizens of society and loving people does pay you back, not in money but with love returning to you. Chris realizes love is the most important thing and money does not buy that or friendship. He will realize that he allowed himself to be alone, and that it is not an effective way to live life. Each person needs to have friends, and no matter what happens, you are not alone even despite the darkness. Grace becomes Grace to Chris, and she helps him to heal from the tragedy of losing her and his parents to the automobile accident that involved a drunk driver.
Another movie that I enjoyed that I reviewed for this channel is Christmas Again that is a Disney Channel original movie. This movie stars Scarlet Estevez and she plays Rowena who is experiencing a time loop, and that movie borrows the idea from Groundhog Day that starred Bill Murray where he kept reliving that day until he got it right. The one of the other movies that does this is the 12 Dates of Christmas which is an ABC family original film, and the character of that story is going through 12 Dates which does a time loop, and she must figure out who she is supposed to be with in that movie. Rowena is reliving Christmas all over again. She is upset with having her family change. Rowena wants things to be like they were. She gets blamed for all the things that go wrong. She realizes when things happen as they do, and the events did not happen like they did; Rowena believes that she can do what she wants and will do what she wants. She checks off everything that she had on her list. She is reliving the day all over again and is realizing that she is going to that day over again. She wonders if it will end. It may seem great when the day is repeating itself and you can do what you want, but it is like being stuck in a prison. Another great reference is 12:01, as it was a device that shot at a beam and the day repeated itself, and one person knew about it. That person kept reliving that day and he realizes that it is not great. He felt stuck in a prison and wanted out. There is no freedom when time is repeating itself. Rowena realizes that it is not about getting her divorced parents back together, it is about helping others, not herself. She realizes that family is not blood, but it is who you love. Another great reference is the Spy Next Door where Bob tells the oldest child who is a 13-year-old female that family is not blood, it is who you love. And like Rowena, she understands this. Rowena is close in age as she is 12 in this movie. Scarlet Estevez does well with Rowena, and she has a way of bringing the viewer into the story no matter what medium it is.
A TV series that I enjoyed watching is Hawkeye Season 1 which is produced by Marvel Studios and was released on Disney+ from November 24, 2021, which is the Wednesday of Thanksgiving week till December 22, 2021.There are 6 episodes and they had 2 episodes come out on November 24, 2021. The question is why I am mentioning a superhero series in this episode. This series takes place during Christmas and would not be the first to do an action type story during Christmas. The 1s Die Hard is a good example of that and another is the 1st Lethal Weapon that does take place during Christmas. I did an actor analysis of Hailee Stanfield being cast as Kate Bishop and why she is the right choice to play Kate Bishop. This is one of the 1st series that I reviewed when I first started out on YouTube. This is where I reviewed each episode individually and that may be nice, but it means I am only doing a certain amount of content. Those 2 episodes work well together, and it felt like the viewer was watching a movie in those 2 episodes as they work simultaneously together. This is where Kate Bishop found the Ronan the Assassin costume and took it and started wearing it. Kate Bishop wanted to do what Hawkeye did and she met Clint Barton and when she was helping. Kate Bishop suddenly realized what it means to be a hero. She is gifted in Martial Arts and Archery. Clint Barton is still better in this series because of his years of experience. The track suit mafia worked for a particular crime boss. The clue that helped me is when the word Fat Man Used Cars came up in episode 5 of this series and this revealed Kingpin. Kingpin was called Fat Man in the 1990’s Spider-Man cartoon show. If Marvel does not do season 2 of this series, it is good that they are doing a spinoff series of Echo in which the character is a deaf superhero. She originally started as a villain in this series but will become a hero and realizes that Kingpin is evil. The Echo trailer shows Kingpin in white and looks like what he did in the 1990’s Spider-Man cartoon show. Her powers come from feeling vibrations, and she is very gifted at martial arts which an episode shows in the Hawkeye series. That is the 3rd episode of Hawkeye Season 1. The story does well in the fact, it makes the killer be a mystery, and you need a solid detective to be able to crack the case. Clint Barton is smart, and Kate Bishop is smart. She has a high moral code even despite her family. She and Clint Barton will develop a strong relationship down the road. Hopefully, you will see Kate Bishop and Clint Barton in another season or in anything else Marvel decides to do here. Both Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld have great chemistry, and it will be great to see them together in another Marvel Studios Project.
A book that I have listened to is called Christmas Presents which I have not reviewed for this channel. I enjoyed listening to this book. This book is psychological, and it involves a woman named Madeline Martin and she is the daughter of Sheriff James Martin. She lives in a small town and owns her own bookstore which is called the Next Chapter Bookstore. The title makes sense as books have chapters, and it has meaning for her. Madeline Martin is starting the next chapter of her life after her experience with Evan Handy. Evan Handy kidnapped her and drugged her while serving alcohol at a party. This is no different than being drugged with the rape drug of Ecstasy and it can have depilating effects which I mentioned in Joe Pickett Season 2 which is what happened to women that were given this rape drug. Evan Handy used a similar drug that has similar effects. He killed Madeline Martin’s best friend Stephanie Cramer during the party which takes place during Christmas. Madeline Martin was lucky to survive when she escaped to the river and left for dead. Her best friend Steve, which his friends call Badger, rescued her during that horrible night. Ainsley and Sam Wallace were taken by another person, and no one knows what happened to them. The other person involved in this took Lolly Morris who is a college dropout who is working as a stripper. This kidnapping of Lolly Morris will lead the reader to the other killer. Evan Handy is not innocent, but he did not act alone. The book is psychological, and it will have twists and turns. It will make a great series or movie.
A movie that I recently watched that I have not reviewed for this channel is called EXmas which is a freeve original. I enjoyed this story. This is a romantic comedy that stars Robbie Amell as Graham and Leighton Meister as Ali. Ali is Graham’s Ex-fiancé, and she broke of the engagement when she felt that he valued work more than her. It has a Christmas Carol feel with that being the case. Ali and Graham bet that one of them will get the other gone by Christmas. They fight with each other, but as the viewer will learn that they still have feelings for each other. There is a saying that sometimes love, and hate are 2 sides of the same coin. When that happens, Love and Hate are about the other side showing passion for each other or what that person does. Graham and Ali will realize that this fight that they have with each other is stirring up feelings that each one of them has not wanted to deal with. Graham will realize that work is not important, but life with the person that you love is important. That is an important lesson to learn.
Other content that I enjoyed is Feliz Navidad, The Santa Con, Noelle all content that I reviewed for this channel. Content that I have not reviewed is A Charlie Brown Christmas where Charlie Brown is depressed about Christmas and learns the true meaning of Christmas while directing the Christmas play at the time, he picks up a sorry Christmas tree that came out in 1965. A Garfield Christmas that came out in 1987 where Garfield goes to Jon’s childhood home and spends time on the family farm. Garfield is Jon’s cat, and he will learn the true meaning of Christmas as well and it is about love not necessarily getting gifts.
I will give you content that I do not like.
One of the movies that I do not care about is Christmas with the Kranks. This is where the Kranks wanted to go off to do a cruise when their daughter Blair decided not to come home for the holidays. The story does not work for me as I would prefer them to do what they can to have her come home. I am a sucker for letting all the family home for Christmas. I would have preferred it if the Kranks had challenged Blair to come home. For example, in the movie I will be Home for Christmas, the dad challenges his son Jake to come home. He promised that he would give him the Porsche. This is what I would like to see in this movie. If I have reviewed it for this channel, it will not get a great rating by me. If you like it, that is fine.
The one of the other movies that I do not care about is How the Grinch Stole Christmas which starred Jim Carey in 2000. The movie has flaws. I do not like the love story in this movie. I like love stories, but it does not work here. How the Grinch Stole Christmas fell off in this movie, and I like the original cartoon better because it has the spirit of what Dr. Seuss had in mind. To me Jim Carey does not work as the Grinch. It is hard to do that as a live action movie. The Grinch should be done as a cartoon movie. That is what they did with Benedict Cumberbatch and the trailer looked good for that movie. Grinch needed to understand Christmas and they did not need him to be a kid in school and have a love story with another person. This takes the viewer out of the story. He needed to understand that Christmas is not about gifts, it is about the love and joy that people feel during Christmas. It is necessary to say his heart grew. His heart was 3 sizes too small, but it grew because he saw the true meaning of Christmas. It would not get a good rating if I reviewed this movie.
These 2 movies are all I have for content that I do not like. It does not mean I could not tell you the other content that I like or do not like in something like this in Christmas 2024.
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Please go to www.mattacritic.com and check out my blog. There will be a bunch of blog posts that you can check out on my website. My website has links to other websites such as Patreon. As was mentioned before, you can become a Patron. Thank you.
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Please check out my review of the Noelle coming up right now. Please check my playlist of Christmas, which has reviews of any Christmas content coming up right now. Thank you.
As was stated before in this episode, this will be the last video or blog post that I will do for the year 2023 before I have another video in January of 2024. The most probable day that I will have a video or blog post be public will be January 19, 2024. I need to take this break to recharge my batteries and to work on innovative ideas that will be helpful to the channel.
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Music: A Day to Remember from Microsoft's Clipchamp Video Editor
Reference: By God’s Grace (2014): https://smile.amazon.com/Gods-Grace-Cameron-Deane-Stewart/dp/B00R0152PA/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2FHQVB7YONBKW&keywords=by+gods+grace&qid=1638812237&sprefix=by+god%2Caps%2C174&sr=8-1
Reference: By God’s Grace picture: http://www.liveatthearmory.com/calendar-of-events/2014/11/16/by-gods-grace
Reference: Christmas Again?! 2021 and Picture: https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/christmasagain/6LBqUTqduFue
Reference: Groundhog Day (1993) and picture: https://www.amazon.com/Groundhog-Day-Bill-Murray/dp/B008Y6MKSW/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2FLGX06KICH81&keywords=groundhog+day&qid=1702311558&sprefix=groundh%2Caps%2C148&sr=8-3 and https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107048/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
Reference: 12 Dates of Christmas (2011) and image from Hulu: www.hulu.com and www.paramountplus.com
Reference: 12:01 (1993) and picture: https://www.amazon.com/12-01-Helen-Slater/dp/B000BZN1NM/ref=sr_1_2?crid=AD4IG57ENE25&keywords=12%3A01&qid=1702311629&sprefix=12+01%2Caps%2C215&sr=8-2 and https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106188/
Reference: Hawkeye TV series: https://www.disneyplus.com/series/hawkeye/11Zy8m9Dkj5l
Reference: Hawkeye Picture: https://thedirect.com/article/hawkeye-jeremy-renner-hailee-steinfeld-marvel-suits-cover
Reference: Die Hard (1988) and picture: https://www.amazon.com/Die-Hard-Bruce-Willis/dp/B009EEQO08/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=die+hard&qid=1702237061&sr=8-2
Reference: Lethal Weapon (1987) and picture: https://www.amazon.com/Lethal-Weapon-Mel-Gibson/dp/B002VSS3P8/ref=sr_1_1?crid=F286H1XDYN33&keywords=lethal+weapon+1987&qid=1702237111&s=instant-video&sprefix=letha%2Cinstant-video%2C136&sr=1-1
Reference: Images of Echo and Kingpin from Echo trailer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFUKnherhuw&pp=ygUMZWNobyB0cmFpbGVy
Reference: Image of Kingpin from 1990’s Spider-Man cartoon show (1997 to 1998) on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/series/details/5IOvHdSZO9kv
Reference: Christmas Presents Book by Lisa Unger and picture: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1613164513/?coliid=I2U9HYSGA5SQEZ&colid=1JSIXHDXDKGO8&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Reference: Freeve’s Original Movie EXmas and picture: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CGS8H9LX/ref=atv_hm_wat_c_0sLMfd_1_1
Reference: Joe Pickett Season 2 on Parmount+: www.appletv.com and www.paramountplus.com
Image for Joe Pickett Season 2 on Google Images: https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=579237292&sxsrf=AM9HkKlf7aEF0-5XBdrvqvT4psMPtNzeog:1699041588135&q=joe+pickett+season+2&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj_ucaSz6iCAxW_kIkEHUUNCaMQ0pQJegUIgAEQAQ&biw=1920&bih=919&dpr=1
Reference: Noelle Movie (2019) and picture: https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/details/1NOwi3epkH6X
Reference: A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965): www.appletv.com and https://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Brown-Christmas-Ann-Altieri/dp/B015X7G3P0/ref=sr_1_1?crid=R9CJRGCC8SWA&keywords=a+charlie+brown+christmas&qid=1702347461&sprefix=a+charlie+brown%2Caps%2C635&sr=8-1
Reference: A Garfield Christmas (1987): www.peacock.com and https://www.amazon.com/Garfield-Christmas-Phil-Roman/dp/B00H2ENQB2/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3BFM2IJ5HV2JY&keywords=garfield+christmas&qid=1702347537&s=instant-video&sprefix=Gar%2Cinstant-video%2C106&sr=1-2
Reference: Christmas with the Kranks (2004) and picture: https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Kranks-Tim-Allen/dp/B009ITM1A6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2Q2NCF9M8LUJB&keywords=christmas+with+the+kranks+free&qid=1702069264&sprefix=christmas+with+%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-1
Reference: I will be Home for Christmas (1998) and picture: https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/details/4JnQ1UDM1qFD
Reference: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) and picture: https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Seuss-Grinch-Stole-Christmas/dp/B0030B1WBM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=39IGFE6N2M4O&keywords=how+the+grinch+stole+christmas+movie&qid=1702069326&s=instant-video&sprefix=how+the+g%2Cinstant-video%2C130&sr=1-1
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