Q-Tips Reviews

 THE HOLDOVERS follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker (newcomer Dominic Sessa) — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).

Q-tips say: Yes, we did enjoy it. You can stream it now on Peacock.

The Holdovers” has a message that’s realistic, not cloying. It’s treats Christmas not as an excuse to be nice, but as a deeply felt reason to be nice. At its core, it’s about old feelings and new friends. The movie succeeds in every way possible.

Mrs. says:  Life isn’t fair but we all need to know how to manage that.

Students Hayley and James are young and in love. After saying goodbye for Christmas at a London train station, they both make the same mad split-second decision to swap trains and surprise each other. Passing each other in the station, they are completely unaware that they have just swapped Christmases. Hayley arrives at a vast mansion in a small village in the Gloucester countryside to find a place where Christmas does not exist, whilst James heads north to a small semi-detached in Macclesfield and steps into the warm and chaotic pandemonium that only a large family Christmas can bring. When the entire country is blanketed in the biggest snowfall on record, our star-crossed lovers are trapped at the most manic time of the year. Christmas traditions are turned on their head, secrets are revealed, and family truths are told with hilarious consequences. The couple realize that there is an awful lot they don’t know about each other. Will they be able to swap back in time for Christmas Day? And will Hayley and James’ fledgling relationship make it through to the New Year?

Q-tips say: Yes, watch the first run of this movie. The first movie is better than the second one.

In YOUR CHRISTMAS OR MINE?, after meeting on their drama course, James and Hayley head to the train station to say their sad goodbyes before setting off to join the respective families. Though heading back home in different directions, on different trains, in an impulsive moment of romance, James jumps off his, to join Hayley. But what he doesn’t realize, is that Hayley’s done the exact same thing. Meaning they are both setting off to their partner’s houses, and given the snowy weather, simply returning to their own homes is not straightforward.

 Based on the incredible true story, shines a light on even the darkest of places. After rescuing a young boy from ruthless child traffickers, a federal agent learns the boy’s sister is still captive and decides to embark on a dangerous mission to save her. With time running out, he quits his job and journeys deep into the Colombian jungle, putting his life on the line to free her from a fate worse than death.

Q-tips say: Yes, watch it. This movie is powerful. Gives you a glimpse into the darker side of the world even where you live. We talk about the horrors of slavery yet this goes so far beyond. We are talking about kids, innocents and this is happening today. Liked this movie because it shows what’s going on in the world without people even realizing it. Children are not for sale!!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year … but will it be for James and Hayley? James’ father has invited the Taylors to spend Christmas in a luxury ski resort in the Austrian Alps, so they can meet his new American girlfriend. However, Hayley’s dad Geoff insisted on handling his family’s side of the booking and something clearly got lost in translation. After a mix-up with transport at the airport, the two tribes end up at each other’s accommodations, on different sides of a valley and opposite ends of the Tripadvisor ratings scale. Can Hayley and James’ relationship survive another turbulent family Christmas, or has their future together gone off-piste?

Q-tips say: Was ok but not really a Christmas movie.

Your Christmas or Mine 2 is a film that is centered on young love and the struggle to integrate two families that normally wouldn’t work well together because of their mentalities.

Maestro is a towering and fearless love story chronicling the lifelong relationship between Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. A love letter to life and art, Maestro at its core is an emotionally epic portrayal of family and love.

Q-tips say: We did enjoy it. Was a tad slow at the beginning but later was good.

“Maestro” is a portrait of the artist as a conflicted man: The film follows the long relationship between Bernstein and his wife, and how their love and marriage was tested by the legendary composer/conductor’s homosexual dalliances, hubris and insecurities. It’s a solid biopic that struggles to find a focus and feels somewhat incomplete, though is boosted by a sturdy performance from the actors.

The American Gilded Age was a period of immense economic change, great conflict between the old ways and brand new systems, and huge fortunes were made and lost. In 1882, young Marian Brook moves from rural Pennsylvania to New York City after the death of her father to live with her aunts Agnes van Rhijn and Ada Brook. Accompanied by Peggy Scott, an aspiring writer seeking a fresh start, Marian inadvertently becomes enmeshed in a social war between one of her aunts, a scion of the old money set, and her stupendously rich neighbors, a ruthless railroad tycoon and his ambitious wife, George and Bertha Russell. Exposed to a world on the brink of the modern age, Marian must choose if she will follow the established rules of society or forge her own path.

Q-tips say: We are enjoying this an 8 series about Old Money vs New Money. Both serious and soapy, it’s a delight. “The Gilded Age” succeeds in keeping the audience on its toes with its mixture of melodrama and genuine grandeur. It may not be enjoyable movie to all but we did enjoy it.

Eddie Murphy stars in this holiday comedy adventure about a man on a mission to win his neighborhood’s annual Christmas home decoration contest. After Chris (Eddie Murphy) inadvertently makes a deal with a mischievous elf named Pepper (Jillian Bell) to better his chances of winning, she casts a magic spell that brings the 12 Days of Christmas to life, and wreaks havoc on the whole town. At the risk of ruining the holidays for his family, Chris, his wife Carol (Tracee Ellis Ross), and their three children must race against the clock to break Pepper’s spell, battle deviously magical characters, and save Christmas for everyone.

Q-tips say: DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY ON THIS PIECE OF TRASH.

To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken.

Q-tips say: Yes, we did enjoy this movie. FYI -Yes, it is a long movie.

Laughs are plentiful and the set design is eye-popping, but what makes Barbie truly work is its skillful tackling of numerous themes.

 Barbie and Ken leave the candy-colored comforts of Barbie Land and Ken discovers the patriarchy.