A Sprinkle of Christmas

“A Sprinkle of Christmas” is a 2025 Netflix original Christmas rom/com starring Hayley Sales (Deadpool 2), Marshall Williams (Glee), and Ajay Bharti (Death in the Cul-De-Sac).

An up-and-coming baker (Sales) opens up a bakery just in time for Christmas. She receives a scathing review from an anonymous customer. She creates a fake name and responds to the review creating a heated exchange that ends up helping her business. An A list movie star (Williams) hires her for a catering event. As they start to fall for each other, neither one realizes they’ve been arguing with each other under fake names on the restaurant review.

It’s December, so it’s time for Christmas movies. First one for the season I’ve watched is this one. I like the unique story. It ends up being very cheesy and extremely Hallmark-esque with the bad acting. I mean the acting is atrocious outside the two main characters, their acting isn’t the best either but a whole lot better than the supporting actors. The bad dialogue is right in line with the Hallmark movies as well. It’s pretty simplistic. This isn’t to say it doesn’t have its funny parts though. If Hallmark movies are your thing, then this movie is right up your alley. You go in knowing it’s cheesy and the acting isn’t the best, you’ll enjoy this movie. It’s worth the watch going in knowing what to expect. I give it a 6/10.

Mickey 17

“Mickey 17” is a 2025 Sci-Fi/Dark Comedy starring Robert Pattinson (The Batman), Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead), Naomi Ackie (Blink Twice), Toni Collette (Hereditary), and Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers).

Failed politician Kenneth Marshall (Ruffalo) is leading an expedition into space to colonize an icy planet. People of earth are allowed to sign up to try to be selected for the expedition. Two friends on the run (Yeun, and Pattinson) sign up to go, one of the friends, Mickey (Pattinson), signs up to go as an “expendable.” An expendable is what it sounds like, they die or are killed over and over, then their memories are uploaded, and a new version is printed out. When another Mickey is printed before Mickey 17 dies, the two Mickeys are forced to team up to try to save themselves.

As you know, I like unique movie ideas, and this is one, plus it looked really good. I like the premise of this one, but it seemed lacking. It’s close to a two-and-a-half-hour movie and it feels like it in some parts. A lot of it is Mickey wandering around complaining. The worst part of it though is Mark Ruffalo’s accent. It’s like he’s doing a bad Trump. I’m not sure who thought that was a good idea, but it’s more annoying than anything. It does have its good parts, and funny scenes, but overall, it wasn’t as good as I was hoping. I give it a 6/10.

A Quiet Place: Day One

“A Quiet Place: Day One” is a 2024 horror movie and third installment and prequel for the horror series “A Quiet Place.” This one stars Lupita Nyong’o (Us), Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things), and Djimon Hounsou (Guardians of the Galaxy.)

A woman (Nyong’o) dying of cancer and a young man in law school (Quinn) are both living in NYC when an aliens who possess hypersensitive hearing invade earth. The two become unlikely allies in the fight to survive.

The last one introduced us to the very beginning when the aliens invaded earth, it was just a more rural area. Outside of this one taking place in an extremely populated city, I feel like we already saw the beginning in the last one. The acting is great from Nyong’o and Quinn, and it’s only fitting that Quinn is in this one since the aliens are identical to the Demogorgon’s in ‘Stranger Things.” However, even with these two talented actors, the movie falls flat. We already know you have to be quiet, or the aliens will find you and attack you, we’ve seen this the past two movies. This one doesn’t bring anything new or exciting to the table. It’s a shame because I was really looking forward to this one, but if they don’t do anything different, it’s probably time to let this franchise die. I give it a 6/10, and that’s only because Eddie from “Stranger Things” is in it.

Monster Inside: America’s Most Extreme Haunted House

“Monster Inside: America’s Most Extreme Haunted House” is a 2023 Hulu original documentary exploring McKamey Manor.

If you’re unfamiliar with McKamey Manor, it’s an extreme attraction in Tennessee owned and ran by Navy Veteran Russ McKamey. If you can survive his attraction, you get 20,000 dollars, which no one has managed to yet. He has the volunteers sign a several page waiver where he is allowed to break bones, pull teeth, etc… There is no safe word, and they agree there may be severe bodily harm, brain trauma, and even death. The attraction ends when Russ says it ends.

The documentary interviews a few individuals who have been through the manor, they talk about the cruel and unusual punishments Russ McKamey put them through. I’ve known about McKamey Manor for a long time. So, it wasn’t anything revolutionary for me, but if you’re unfamiliar with McKamey Manor it’s probably a pretty crazy watch. Where a man is legally torturing people and getting away with it. If you haven’t heard of McKamey Manor, definitely check it out. If you have, it probably won’t provide you with any more insight. Good news is though, this documentary has caused McKamey Manor to become under investigation. Hopefully they shut this sicko down. I give it a 6/10.

Five Nights at Freddy’s

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” is a 2023 Blumhouse horror movie based off the popular video game series with the same name. It stars Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games), Piper Rubio (Holly & Ivy), Elizabeth Lail (You), and Matthew Lillard (Scooby-Doo).

A man, who is taking care of his sister, is struggling to make ends meet so he takes a job as a night security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. An abandoned Chucky Cheese style pizzeria that was big in the 80’s, complete with a full animatronic band. The job seems simple enough, keep looters, and vagrants out. One big problem though, the animatronic band is possessed by the ghosts of dead children who have murderous intentions.

This looked like a movie that could go either way, but with murderous animatronics it definitely has a creepy vibe to it, so I figured I would check it out. I haven’t played any of the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” games, so I don’t really know the lore behind it. If so, I probably would have enjoyed it more. To me, it was pretty boring. It’s a lot of build up with very little return. The animatronics aren’t in it a whole lot till about the last 30 minutes or so, before that it’s a slow ride. The last 30 minutes does save it some, but not enough to give it a real high score. When the lights came on there was a huge ovation, I looked around and it was a theater full of kids 12 and younger. Take that as you will, but it’s probably more of a horror suited for teens. I give it a 6/10.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter

“The Last Voyage of the Demeter” is 2023 horror movie starring Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton), Aisling Franciosi (The Unforgivable), Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones), Woody Norman (C’mon C’mon), and David Dastmalchian (Oppenheimer).

“The Last Voyage of the Demeter” is a period style vampire movie. It comes from the captain’s log from the novel “Dracula” following the transportation of Dracula, unbeknownst to the crew, from Romania to London.

The movie opens up with the abandoned Demeter crashing onto the shores of London with everyone on board dead. So, off the bat we know Dracula kills everyone, which is to be expected being stuck out on sea with Dracula. However, this makes it shooting fish in a barrel type movie. Yes, there’s gore and some unique deaths, but overall it’s boring. You just sit around waiting for the next person to get killed, which it makes it rely heavily on jump scares, and the jump scares are not scary. Dracula himself, has major Stephen King “Salem’s Lot” vibes as far as appearance. The one bright spot in this movie is Corey Hawkins. His acting is superb playing his role very well, but it’s not enough to save the Demeter. Overall, it’s a little bit of a letdown. I give it a 6/10.

The Final Rose

“The Final Rose” is a Tubi original horror/thriller starring Christina Masterson (Truth or Dare), Brytni Sarpy (The Young and the Restless), Carrie Alexander (Paper Tiger), Taylor Foster (Saving Sloane), Robert Palmer Watkins (General Hospital), and Roger Howarth (General Hospital).

Jess Rose is a single mom with a seven-year-old who is struggling to find love. Her brother enters her to be a contestant on “Love at Last”. A “Bachelor” style game show where the women are eliminated one by one till one final girl is left and chosen by the bachelor, or as it is called in this movie the “Beau.” Only one problem though, the other girls start getting killed off one by one.

Tubi isn’t exactly known for having quality original movies. Most appear cheaply made and are more like Hallmark original type movies. This one isn’t too bad though. It’s a slasher movie with a unique plot that I can get behind. The acting is pretty good too, especially from Christina Masterson. She has the acting skills to be a good “final girl”. Now does it have its cheesy parts, of course and the gore looks very fake, but it does its job of being entertaining and keeps you watching. Main problem is it is a little slow for a slasher. It focuses more on the “reality show” than the killings. Which the reality show is entertaining but, I would rather be watching a slasher instead of a straight up “The Bachelor” show. If it switched gears and did this, it would have been a great horror movie. Overall, it’s entertaining. I give it a 6/10.

The Whale

“The Whale” is a 2022 drama based on the play with the same name, it stars Brendan Fraser (George of the Jungle), Sadie Sink (Stranger Things), Ty Simpkins (Insidious), and Hong Chau (The Menu).

“The Whale” is about 600-pound recluse who tries to reconcile his relationship with his estranged teenage daughter before he dies from congestive heart failure.

I’ve been wanting to see this since it was first announced. I like Sadie Sink, I think she’s a great actress and I love seeing Brendan Fraser having a big comeback after being black balled by Hollywood for all those years. Unfortunately, it didn’t come to a theater near me, but it’s available at Redbox now. The acting is very solid from both Fraser and Sink. The movie is a let down however. The movie is two hours and it feels every bit of that. The story is very slow, the entire movie is set in Fraser’s apartment. Which makes sense, he a 600 pound recluse, but nothing really happens. Even the trying to reconcile his relationship with his daughter doesn’t really go anywhere. I get where the writer is paralleling this story with Moby Dick, but it just falls flat. I was expecting a lot more from this film. I give it a 6/10.

The Man Who Killed Hitler Then the Bigfoot.

I have an obscure one for you. “The Man Who Killed Hitler Then the Bigfoot” is a 2018 Drama/ Sci-Fi starring Sam Elliott (The Big Lebowski), Aidan Turner (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey), and Larry Miller (10 Things I Hate About You).

“The Man Who Killed Hitler Then the Bigfoot” follows the story of a WWII vet (Elliott) who went on a secret mission and assassinated Hitler. Now an old man, who is lonely and doesn’t feel like he has much left to live for is once again called upon by his country to hunt down bigfoot and kill the monster. Bigfoot is carrying a type of plague that is wiping out wildlife and it’s starting to spread and kill off humans. Elliott is humanities last hope.

This sounds like one those awful cheesy Sci-Fi movies that shouldn’t exist. Where they mash up two things that shouldn’t be together and it is just a mess, like “Sharknado”. This has Sam Elliott in it though, and he’s a respectable actor, so I figured I would give it a shot. It was definitely different than I was expecting. It’s slower than expected and more on the drama side than anything else. Sure, it had its cheesy moments, I mean the plot is ridiculous, where else are you going to see Sam Elliott fight bigfoot? It’s original though, which I like that. Despite the name of the title, it doesn’t focus a whole lot on Hitler or bigfoot just more on Elliot’s life. It’s not a bad watch, like I mentioned just slower and different than I was expecting. You can currently catch it on Tubi. I give it a 6/10

The Noel Diary

“The Noel Diary” is a 2022 Netflix original Christmas Romantic Comedy film starring Justin Hartley (This is Us), Barrett Doss (Iron Fist), and Bonnie Bedelia (Die Hard).

It’s Christmas time and a famous bestselling author (Hartley) goes back to his childhood home after he finds out his mother passed away. He hasn’t been home in twenty years and when he returns, he finds a woman (Doss) waiting outside his house. The woman is the daughter of the nanny who watched him and his deceased brother as kids. She was put up for adoption by her mom and is trying to find any info she can about her. While Hartley is going through his mom’s possessions, he stumbles across a diary that belonged to the nanny. It may hold the key to reuniting mother and daughter. They set off following the clues to reunite them, and along the way he tries to reconcile some of his own past. All the while the two start to fall for each other.

This one isn’t very Christmasy, it takes place during Christmas and there’s snow throughout the entire movie, but that’s about it. It feels more like a Nicholas Spark movie. It’s more of a romantic drama instead of comedy. The acting is pretty good, it follows the cookie cutter style romantic movie where the two want to be together, but can’t because of certain reasons, end up being together, but then can’t once again. If you’re into these types of movies, you’ll love it. It is not as cheesy as the last Christmas rom/com I reviewed “Falling for Christmas”, the acting and story are line are both better making it a better watch. I give it a 6/10. Still not my cup of tea, and I found the ending to be a little bit of a letdown.