In the wise words of the Peanuts gang, in A Charlie Brown Christmas, “Christmastime is here. Happiness and cheer.” We are well into December. Everyone has cozied up in front of the fireplace, wrapped in an off-brand Snuggie while sipping on a mug of hot cocoa with marshmallows, and turned on Hallmark Channel for their fix of holiday romance. Or maybe they don’t have Hallmark. Maybe they tried to find those Hallmark movies that all feel like a slightly, very slightly, different version of the same exact story. You know the ones. Big city working girl returned for the holidays to the small town she grew up in, only to discover she loved the small town and the hunky guy from her past.
Those people in front of the fireplace in their Snuggie with their cocoa couldn’t watch those, though. They didn’t have Hallmark. Netflix would have to do. Would you look at that? There’s a new Lacey Chabert Christmas movie called Hot Frosty. It’s about… What? That can’t be right. That can’t be the story that they’re going with. Really? Okay then. Netflix really upped the crazy this year.
That’s not entirely true. Netflix didn’t up the crazy on their Hallmark-style Christmas movies this year. They’ve been doing wacky Christmas romances for nearly a decade. This year simply seemed to be the one where things really connected with people. This year seemed to be the one that really got people talking. That was all thanks to Hot Frosty, and it wasn’t even the only strange Netflix Christmas romance this year.
Hot Frosty, for those that aren’t in the know, was about a small-town cafe worker named Kathy (Lacey Chabert). A mysterious, friendly newcomer to the town, Jack (Dustin Milligan), came into her life and the two hit it off. There were sparks between them, even if Kathy kept pushing him away. You see, Kathy’s husband had died from cancer. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to love again. That wasn’t even the biggest problem. Jack was a snowman come to life!
A woman who was in love with a sexy man who was a living snowman. No wonder it was called Hot Frosty. Those people in front of the fireplace with their Snuggie and their cocoa turned the movie on and were astonished by what they saw. Kathy approached a snowman that looked like a chiseled naked top half of a man, six-pack and all. She put a scarf on him for decoration before going home without a second thought. The snowman came to life, streaked through town in nothing but a scarf, and then stole clothes from a thrift shop. What a strange way to start a Christmas romance.
Sheriff Nathaniel Hunter (Craig Robinson) and Deputy Ed Schatz (Joe Lo Truglio) quickly came into the picture, investigating the robbery and reports of indecent exposure. They added some stakes to the movie because they could take Jack away. The late husband was the emotional obstacle between the love of Kathy and Jack. The police force in the small town of Hope Springs was a more physical obstacle because it could create a physical separation. The only other obstacle would be how Jack would survive when it wasn’t winter, and he warmed up while still a snowman. There might have been a little bit of Christmas magic to bring him to life and to keep him alive. There was no real explanation for either.
The credits began to roll once Jack was really a real boy and not a snowman real boy. The people in front of the fireplace with their cocoa have taken off their Snuggies. That movie was too hot. That scene where the older women ogled the shirtless Jack was too hot. That Frosty was too hot. They needed something to cool down. They started scrolling Netflix again and noticed that Hot Frosty wasn’t the only Netflix Christmas romantic comedy with a ridiculous plot. This was not Hallmark. This was some other, strange fantasy land.
Another recent Netflix movie they stopped on was The Merry Gentlemen. That one might have been even hotter than Hot Frosty. It was essentially a Christmas save-the-rec-centre movie with male strippers. The people in front of their fire with their cocoa passed that one by. They didn’t want to lose the cocoa or the fire to cool down after The Merry Gentlemen.
Further down the line was The Knight Before Christmas. They took a quick peep. They questioned the movie because they thought modern day Vanessa Hudgens was in love with a modern day prince that was in love with a different modern day princess Vanessa Hudgens. They didn’t remember anything about a medieval knight coming to the present day to romance Vanessa Hudgens. Oh, they were mixing this movie up with The Princess Switch. Or was it The Princess Switch 2? It definitely wasn’t The Princess Switch 3. That one had spies.
One of the newer movies they noticed on Netflix was Meet Me Next Christmas. It didn’t seem that strange. The people in front of the fire with the cocoa thought it was fairly normal. Oh, wait. The woman’s romance depended on the acapella band, Pentatonix. Every Christmas movie they found had its own little bit of insanity. Netflix seemed to be taking that Hallmark Christmas blueprint and adding some sort of ridiculous hook to it.
Hot Frosty ruined Christmas movies for them that day. It took the saccharine sweetness of Hallmark Christmas movies and added some plot lunacy. It added a snowman come to life as the romantic interest. It made everyone in Hope Springs have the hots for him. Aside from the Sheriff. They turned Netflix off and did something else. Just as I am going to stop writing this post and do something else.
Before I do that, though, some notes:
- I mentioned the Princess Switch movies in this post.
- Lacey Chabert was the star of Hot Frosty. She was also in Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva La Fiesta! and Black Christmas.
- The other star of Hot Frosty was Dustin Milligan, who was previously in Repeaters.
- Did you notice Lauren Holly in Hot Frosty? You might remember her from Santa, Jr.
- Craig Robinson played the sheriff in Hot Frosty. He was one of the leads in Rapture-Palooza.
- Allan Royal was in both Hot Frosty and The Good Witch.
- Finally, Sherry Miller returned to Sunday “Bad” Movies in Hot Frosty after first appearing in The Stupids.
- Have you seen Hot Frosty? What do you think is the craziest idea for a Netflix Christmas romcom? What’s the craziest idea for a Christmas romcom in general? Share your thoughts in the comments, or find me on Bluesky or Threads.
- Bluesky, Threads, and the comments are also places where you could suggest movies for me to watch for future Sunday “Bad” Movies posts.
- I don’t know what the next post will be. I got sick over the past week and couldn’t get the second post I wanted to write done. Because this one was a romcom, I don’t want to go a romcom in the next post, so I’m going to hold off on As Gouda As It Gets for at least one post. I might watch one of the kids’ movies I’ve got lying around. Whatever it is, you’ll find out when the next post goes up. The name is always in the title of the post. See you then.
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