Christmas and Netflix Streaming on My Apple TV

I have been getting so sick of the "Countdown to Christmas" movies on the Hallmark Channel.  Maybe cute, albeit in an absolutely nauseating (OK, so "take a purge") sort of way, they seem to follow certain patterns.  Someone thinks they are in love with one person (usually a nose to the grindstone - yuppie - suit - shallow) but discover they are actually in love, but didn't realize it, with this other person (warm - kind - loving - artistically talented - loves the Christmas spirit).  Or this person (Santa's daughter - Santa Jr. - Mrs. Claus - event planner back as an angel) has to save the spirit of Christmas or it will be gone forever.  And, I mean, c'mon!  Where do they hold school pageants, pinewood derbies, save-the-town Christmas shows all on Christmas Eve?  And cashing in your lottery ticket at the lottery office before 11:00 pm on Christmas eve?  And how often do you find four or five carolers decked out like Dickens characters singing on a lonely almost deserted street near midnight on Christmas Eve when they should be home with their family or friends?

So, I find myself searching the Netflix streaming library for more obscure or out of the formula holiday movies. I've found several that I've really enjoyed.  Maybe not all totally devoid of schmaltz, but enjoyable.

From Finland, released in 2010, Rare Exports is a dark tale with a different take on the 'real' Santa.  It has me on the edge of my seat through much of it.  I highly recommend this movie.  Warning:  it's a bit creepy at times!

Trailer:  http://youtu.be/T5woAOEvuNI

From 2004, Noel has a nice ensemble cast with some big names.

The storyline:
Christmas Eve in New York, and the lonely divorced publisher, Rose Collins, needs a miracle to improve the health of her mother, interned in a hospital with Alzheimers. She feels sorry for another patient and meets his visitor. Meanwhile, Nina Vasquez breaks her engagement with her beloved fiancé Mike due to his suffocating jealousy, but misses him. Mike is stalked by a stranger, bartender Artie Venzuela. The poor Jules arranges to spend Christmas Eve in the hospital, where he spent the best Christmas of his life when he was a teenager. The lives of some of these characters cross with others along the night.

Emotional, but well done.  And no one has to save Christmas.
Trailer:  http://youtu.be/XfwW3w-vsvM

From Ireland in 2007, How About You is a heartwarming, touching, funny, bittersweet, feel good movie.

Storyline:
HOW ABOUT YOU tells the story of Ellie, a young woman left in charge of the residential home run by her older sister, over the Christmas period. Whilst most of the residents have left to spend the festive period with their families, four residents, known as 'the hardcore' remain. Their behavior is so terrible that the home faces closure as potential new residents are put off by their appalling antics.

Trailer:  http://youtu.be/8Ld-D3HiUj4




Christmas Angel, a TV movie from 2012 tends towards the Hallmark genre, but it's got Della Reese in it . . .  !

Storyline:  While writing an assignment for school about Christmas wishes, Olivia Mead begins to notice strange things happening around her. As her wishes start to come true, she becomes convinced that they are miracles linked to a woman she thinks is an angel.

Trailer:  http://youtu.be/mZuhDjLhGGE

OK.  So this isn't a Christmas movie.  I was in Toys R Us a couple weeks ago and ran into Julie, who I used to work with at the credit union.  (Julie is one of the few, ok the only other person that I know, besides my family, who can quote lines from Big Business!)  She told me about Bernie.  When I got home I checked it out and found it on Netflix.  And in checking it out, I saw where Jack Black was nominated for a Golden Globe for his work in it.  It's a bizarre tale based on a true story.  Worth a watch just to see the expressions on Shirley MacLaine's face!

Storyline:  We meet Bernie Tiede (1958- ), a chubby undertaker, who takes pride in his work. He's a Gospel-singing tenor. In a series of interviews with townspeople, mixed with flashbacks, we follow Bernie: he arrives in Carthage, Texas (pop. 7,000), where old ladies adore him; he befriends a wealthy, mean-spirited widow named Marjorie Nugent; they become companions in both daily routines and expensive vacations. Among those interviewed, only her stockbroker and Danny Buck, the local district attorney, are unsympathetic toward the sunny, sometimes saccharine Bernie. Marjorie changes from sour and alone to happy with Bernie; then she gets possessive. What will sweet Bernie do?

And I'm not a fan of Matthew MacConaughey, but him being from Texas, he's perfect in his part.  And his mother plays one of the townspeople being interviewed.

Trailer:  http://youtu.be/LEs7l6JTAc4

OK.  Back to searching the Netflix streaming data base . . .