What to Watch This Holiday: Anna and the Apocalypse, Feast of the Seven Fishes, Dad's Christmas Date, Die Hard, Jingle Jangle, Klaus, Charlie Brown, Mickey

We have a special Holiday-themed What to Watch with suggestions for streaming movies so you can stay in, stay warm, and avoid the cold.  Wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season!

Anna and the Apocalypse (Amazon and Hulu)
My go to Christmas movie!  Anna and the Apocalypse offers something refreshingly different from anything else out now, with the perfect combination of holiday cheer, catchy music, zombie action, funny characters, and high school drama.  And the soundtrack has become a holiday regular in my house!  For more information, check out the review!

A Christmas Feast / Feast of the Seven Fishes (Digital, Amazon Prime, Tubi)
This wonderful holiday movie involves family, drama, and a big feast at the end.  It is a great choice to scratch that family feasting itch if you are spending this holiday away from family. For more information, check out the review!

My Dad's Christmas Date (Digital)

My Dad's Christmas Date gives Barrett and Piven a chance to shine and brings an unconventional holiday story with great characters and plenty of emotion and heart.  For more information, check out the review!

Die Hard (HBO Max)

Some may debate whether or not this belongs on the list, but since it's our website we're including one of the best Christmas movies of all time, Die Hard.  Learn about the importance of perseverance, family, and trying to keep it a silent night with this holiday classic.

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)

There are few better ways to get into the Christmas spirit than with Jingle Jangle, a film that is getting rave reviews for its holiday spirit and uplifting message!

Klaus (Netflix)
A beautifully animated holiday movie with a funny and heartwarming story, Klaus is a new Netflix film but will likely be on people's holiday schedules for years to come. 

A Charlie Brown Christmas (Apple TV+)
The Christmas classic is now streamable on Apple TV+. The music is pretty much the soundtrack of our household's Christmas, and the story is silly and heartfelt.

Mickey Christmas Carol (Disney+)
Another holiday classic that you can rewatch every year.  It has a universal message and will bring some holiday cheer to young and old!

What to Watch This Quarantine: Zombie Edition

As many of us are stuck indoors for extended periods of time, the only options for entertainment are streaming.  Luckily, we have you covered with a selection of themed movies.  This time, we are highlighting zombie movies to show the other type of apocalypse we could have had.  

Anna and the Apocalyspe (Hulu)
My favorite movie of 2018, Anna and the Apocalypse offers something refreshingly different from anything else out now, with the perfect combination of holiday cheer, catchy music, zombie action, funny characters, and high school drama!  For more information, check out our review!

The Dead Don't Die (Cinemax)
I wanted to love The Dead Don't Die so much more than I did, but now that it is streaming it is a good candidate to enjoy at home.  It has great performances by Bill Murray and Adam Driver, but the story is slow and some of the humor is hit or miss.  However, if you want a slower paced zombie apocalypse, this is a great choice.

Dead Rising: Watchtower (Amazon)

Dead Rising is one of my favorite game series, so when I saw that there was a movie I was excited.  It is not a great movie, but it is entertaining and has enough references and easter eggs to the video game to make fans of the series happy.  It also has plenty of ridiculous zombie action to keep those new to the series happy as well. 

Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (VUDU)
Ok, this movie looks ridiculous, but it has a very high rotten tomatoes rating and who doesn't love seeing zombie Nazis get their due.  However, reviews talk about how fun this film is with witty dialogue and silly antics.  

Evil Dead (1981) (Netflix)
Why not use this quarantine time to catch up on some classics like the original evil dead.  Sam Raimi's classic low budget zombie movie has just the right combination of gore and dark humor to keep you thrilled and entertained.

It Comes At Night (Netflix)
A tense film, this one has you on the edge of your seat from the start.  It has some good acting, really great cinematography, and enough suspense to keep you engaged throughout.  

Overlord (Amazon)

The alternate universe war movie tells a different side of Nazi Germany.  It has a lot of good action and what I loved most about it is that despite its clearly unrealistic antagonists, the movie is presented in a way that makes it fit into a plausible WW2 alternate history. 

Shaun of the Dead (Hulu)
A classic comedy zombie movie, Shaun of the Dead still holds up despite being 15 years old.  One of Simon Pegg’s earlier roles has him dealing with a zombie outbreak in his small UK town in a hilarious and gory adventure.

Train to Busan (Netflix and VUDU)
A Korean Zombie film features a father and a daughter trying to get to the city of Busan.  However, the area is overrun by fast moving, aggressive zombies.  This film has the perfect combination of tension, action, suspense, and heart as these do all that they can to survive.

What to Watch This Holiday

We have a special Holiday-themed What to Watch with suggestions for streaming movies so you can stay in, stay warm, and avoid the cold.  Wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season!

Anna and the Apocalypse (Amazon and Hulu)
My favorite movie of last year, Anna and the Apocalypse offers something refreshingly different from anything else out now, with the perfect combination of holiday cheer, catchy music, zombie action, funny characters, and high school drama.  And the soundtrack has become a holiday regular in my house!  For more information, check out our review!

A Bad Mom's Christmas (Showtime)
The mom's are back for some holiday planning.  Bad Mom's Christmas returns the same cast from Bad Moms, with some holiday cheer / drama thrown in for extra effect.

Die Hard (Crackle)

Some may debate whether or not this belongs on the list, but since it's our website we're including one of the best Christmas movies of all time, Die Hard.  Learn about the importance of perseverance, family, and trying to keep it a silent night with this holiday classic.

The Grinch (Netflix)
Get into the holiday spirit with Illumination's animated movie The Grinch.  This remake of the classic Dr Seuss tale adds some bright, beautiful animation and enough updates to keep the story fresh.  

Jingle All The Way (HBO)
Arnold's Christmas classic may not be the most well-reviewed movie, but sometimes bad movies can make for great staying in evenings.  And the desperate, last-minute shopping theme might resonate with any other procrastinators out there.

Klaus (Netflix)
A beautifully animated holiday movie with a funny and heartwarming story, Klaus is a new Netflix film but will likely be on people's holiday schedules for years to come. 

Love Actually (HBO)
One of the original massive cast, story crossing films, this holiday classic merges many different story lines during a UK holiday season.  And through it all you will see love, sadness, cheer, and friendship through many people's eyes.  

Noelle (Disney+)
Anna Kendrick does her best to make this silly, harmless, Hallmark-style film enjoyable.  It doesn't offer much, but for those with Disney+, you just might find some holiday cheer from it.

Review: Anna and the Apocalypse

Release date: November 30, 2018
Running time: 97 minutes
Starring:  Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire

I knew I would love this movie from the moment I heard the combination: Zombie Christmas Musical. If Shaun of the Dead meets Glee sounds remotely interesting to you, you will love it (side note: Glee is a much closer comparison than La La Land, despite the movie poster quote).

Let me set the stage. Take one dash Glee—with its high school drama, spontaneous bouts

of singing, and over the top characters—add in some apocalyptic zombies, and let the ridiculousness ensue. There is not one overarching theme in this movie: zombie gore is broken up by musical numbers, high school drama is broken up by zombie hordes, family tension is met with high school silliness. The themes change enough to keep you from focusing on one movie trope, but there is enough of a through line to keep the story moving.  What you end up with is an interesting combination of movie themes that normally don't go together, yet mesh perfectly.  

The characters are varied enough that the rag tag group of friends play enough off each other to keep you engaged.  You get a mixed set of high school arch types, from outcasts hoping to escape their small town, to popular kids picking on said outcasts, and some that are in between.  As with the themes, the characters have enough variety, and are generally very likable, to keep you engaged throughout the film.  

The film is not without its flaws. Some of the characters are unlikable and many of them are one-dimensional (despite the hamstrung attempts to give these characters additional depth).  There are some attempts at drama that fall flat.  And some of the songs are better than others.  And overall, the movie is too short.  Personally, I could have used a few more musical numbers, high school drama, and zombie action—basically I just wanted more of this charming, flawed, unique movie.

But at its core Anna and the Apocalypse is a thoroughly enjoyable experience. It is not a flawless movie, but it is one that I loved all the way through its 97 minutes.  It offers something refreshingly different from anything else out now, with the perfect combination of holiday cheer, catchy music, zombie action, funny characters, and high school drama. It’s a movie that as soon as the credits rolled, I wanted to listen to the soundtrack and watch again. Anna and the Apocalypse is one of my favorite movies of the year, and one that has stayed with me since seeing it. If the combination of Shaun of the Dead and Glee sounds interesting to you, go see this excellent holiday treat.

Watch it.