Mistletoe Merriment: Spirited, Falling for Christmas, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

Are you listening to Christmas music all day long and need some new pop culture for your annual holiday rotation? Well, here are two films and a special designed to get you in the holiday spirit!

Spirited: This is a modern-day update of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, where Will Ferrell is the Ghost of Christmas Past, tasked with helping teach a lesson to Clint (Ryan Reynolds), a media consultant who seems to have no scruples whatsoever. As you can imagine, Reynolds and Ferrell are perfectly cast, the former being a peak douche until his heart finally starts to stir, while the latter brings some of that naivete of Buddy the Elf but has been tempered by seeing much more of the world and knowing just how horrid humans can be. 

No spoilers, but there's a fun twist about Ferrell's character's back story. And did I mention, this movie is a musical? The songs are by Pasek & Paul, so get ready for some witty and charming numbers that feel imbued with Broadway magic - I wouldn't be surprised if an actual stage adaptation is in the works because the whole film does feel like it could easily be turned into a Holiday Spectacular.

If you're in need of some Christmas spirit, you can't go wrong with adding this movie to the mix. It has the right blend of humor and heart, a dash of snark tempered by a soupcon of sentiment, and the overall tone manages to be light, frothy, and ultimately, gooey and Christmassy. It's too early to tell if this can become a classic, but it's certainly a good option in 2022 if you're in need of some holiday cheer.

Falling for Christmas: I don't do Hallmark or Lifetime Christmas movies. I tend to be a purist who sticks to the classics and known quantities during Christmas (like my beloved While You Were Sleeping, of course). But when I was told Lindsay Lohan was in a Netflix Christmas movie, I had to watch it. And let me tell you - it is not good, but damned if I didn't start putting my Christmas tree up halfway through the movie because I was overwhelmed by the spirit of the season.

Lohan stars as Sierra, an entitled rich girl whose father owns several ski resorts. She and her social media influencer boyfriend are staying at one of these resorts when she has an accident on a dangerous ski slope and falls (you get it? Falling for Christmas!), wakes up in a hospital, and, of course, has amnesia. Chord Overstreet plays Jake, the man who found her and brought her into the hospital. And luckily, he owns a local bed and breakfast, where he lives with his mother-in-law and young daughter (he's a widower, the sexiest category of Christmas movie leading man), so Sierra can recuperate there while the local police try to figure out who she might be.

It's all terribly predictable and full of cliches, but that's what you want from this kind of movie, right? Just grab a cup of hot chocolate, huddle into a flannel blanket, and settle in for a cozy romcom that also features some magic from a whimsical Santa. Merry Christmas everyone!

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special: If your biggest gripe about Christmas is that it doesn’t feature any new Marvel movies, well, Disney+ has you covered with a 45-minute special featuring the main cast from Guardians of the Galaxy. Written and directed by James Gunn, be prepared for the same irreverent tone and comedy stylings as the movies, but with a lot of heart and holiday warmth.

I won’t get into the weeds as this is a short watch and you deserve to get a highly concentrated dose of merriment. Suffice to say, there are typical human-alien miscommunications and a delightful guest star who makes for a fun addition to the shenanigans. It’s cute, features some great songs, and is a quick way to get a holiday fix without absolutely wallowing in eggnog. If you’re not a complete Scrooge, but you like to only think about Christmas in brief spurts, this might be exactly the right dose of holiday pop culture for you.