This is the delightful,
animated tale of a young orphan boy Yotan (Kyle E. Christensen) who is tricked
into going to the North Pole to steal a powerful crystal by Santa’s Brother
Basil (Gerald Owens).
But as soon he realises
he has delivered it into the wrong hands, he sets out to return it to safety
before it's too late and Christmas is lost forever.
Security Elf’s Jaga
and Didi (Clarissa Humm & Cj Fam) don’t think Yotan is up to the task but
Santa (Joe Carey) holds a different view.
With the threat of
foreclosure hanging over her father's candy store, Wendy Carroll (Ashley Williams)
and her six-year-old daughter Grace (Kylie Price) travel to the big city in
hopes of making extra holiday cash to save the store.
They stay with
hometown friend Angie (Shanola Hampton) who works at Wolman’s Department store
and Wendy manages to get a job in the toy department.
The job brings her
into contact with the nephew of the store owner Tom Wolman (Jon Prescott) which
prompts an instant mutual attraction, which brings her into direct conflict
with Teanna Musk (Ashanti) the board appointed Grinch of a store manager.
On the surface Teanna
seems hell bent on destroying the Christmas spirit throughout the store, even
sacking Santa, but she has an ulterior motif.
With Wendy losing
faith in Christmas she reaches out to the old man who was the store Santa only
to discover he was the real deal and then she realises she must bring the true
meaning of Christmas back to Wolman’s before it is too late and get her man into
the bargain.
One of the films
highlights is a nicely performed rendition of “The First Noel” by Wendy and Tom.
The Holiday jewellery store has been in their family for decades and
is run by Robert Holiday (Phillip Edward Van Lear) and his children Jade
(Chaley Rose) and RJ (Lucien Cambric) but since the death of wife and mother
Jewel the store has been struggling and if they don’t have a good Christmas the
store will not reopen in the New Year.
As if sent by providence Devin (Tobias Truvillion) appears in the store
one day, a knowledgeable and confidence character who is given the sales
assistant position.
What they don’t know is that Devin is a thief and was sent by local
crime lord, Poncho (Simeon Henderson) as a prelude to robbing the store.
Poncho also ensures RJ is compromises so he can use his hacking skills
to disable the alarms and gain access to the customer’s credit card details.
But Devin is trying to escape his criminal past and has hopes of
having a crime free life with Jade.
So, the question is can he turn the tables on Poncho, save the store
and get the girl?
The Christmas musical drama, Black Nativity, is a contemporary
adaptation of Langston Hughes' celebrated play which tells the story of
Langston (Jacob Latimore), a streetwise teen from Baltimore raised by a single
mother, Naima (Jennifer Hudson).
Who is sent him to New York City, when they receive an eviction
notice, to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives Reverend
Cornell and Aretha Cobbs (Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett).
However he is unwilling to live under the imposing Reverend Cobbs'
strict rules, so Langston is determined to return home to his mother so he
embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey aided by his new friends, and
a little divine intervention, and he discovers the true meaning of Christmas,
faith and family along the way.
The film follows a
young chorister from a small Appalachian Mountain town, Grace Gibson (Desiree
Ross) and her family as she pursues her dream of becoming a country music star.
She is ably supported
along the way by her parents (Megyn Price and Brian McKnight), her teacher and
mentor (Ross McCall) and grandmother (Mary Kay Place).
The pinnacle of the
film is a country and western talent show hosted by Dolly Parton in which she
is up against Jamie Warner (Dillon James) and the excellent Mary Lou Memphis
(Camille Sanders).
This is an enjoyably
sweet tale with the subtle morality messages which you would expect in a film
aimed at young teens but it has very little reference to Christmas although the
final scene showing the family sitting down to Christmas dinner accompanied by
Desiree Ross’s rendition of Silent Night is quite beautifully done and its
worth watching the film just for that.
Tommy (Ezra James Colbert) is unable to celebrate Christmas because his mom Julia (Nicola Lambo) says Santa isn't real and was invented by Coca Cola, and in true Ebenezer Scrooge style Christmas is a false holiday designed to make you spend money.
After the kittens make a huge mess in the house he leaves them out for
Santa (John P. Fowler) to take back to the North Pole, but he is allergic to
cats so after a major allergic reaction Santa can't deliver presents anymore,
so the kittens have to deliver the rest of the presents to all the boys and
girls around the world before sunrise, while Santa tries to convince Julia that
he actually exists.
“The Perfect Holiday”
is a fun-filled comedy full of laughter, love and just a hint of magic for
Christmas.
A little girl, Emily
(Khail Bryant) overhears her mother Nancy (Gabrielle Union) tell her friends
that she would be happy if a man was to just pay her a compliment.
So when she goes to
see the Mall Santa, Benjamin (Morris Chestnut), she asks Santa to make her
mum’s wish come true.
Benjamin decides that
he would make the wish come true and in the process he falls in love with Nancy
with the help of an Angel, Mrs Christmas (Queen Latifah) and in spite of the
efforts of her counterpart Bah Humbug (Terrence Howard).
Charlie Murphy, Katt
Williams and Faizon Love also star in this, delightful family treat for the
whole family to enjoy.
