{"id":6069,"date":"2020-11-13T20:18:51","date_gmt":"2020-11-13T12:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journal.com.ph\/?p=6069"},"modified":"2020-11-13T20:18:51","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T12:18:51","slug":"review-of-operation-christmas-drop-netflix-movie-for-the-coming-holiday-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journal.com.ph\/review-of-operation-christmas-drop-netflix-movie-for-the-coming-holiday-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of Operation Christmas Drop,\u2019 Netflix movie for the coming holiday season"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHRISTMAS<\/strong><\/em> is fast approaching and Netflix has already released its annual Christmas presentations and we\u2019ve seen one of them, \u201cOperation Christmas Drop\u201d (the other one is \u201cHolidate\u201d). \u201cChristmas Drop\u201d is a romcom based on a yearly humanitarian mission of the US Air Force that airdrops presents into various Micronesian Islands during the Christmas season.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re a sucker for Christmas films and there\u2019s an entire genre of movies set during the holiday season. We\u2019ve seen the original \u201cAng Pagsilang ng Mesiyas\u201d, the local film made in the 50s about the nativity with Norma Blancaflor as the Virgin Mary, and also etched in our memory were the Nida-Nestor Eastman color films made by LVN Pictures for the holiday season, like \u201cIkaw Kasi\u201d, \u201cTingnan Natin\u201d, \u201cCasa Grande\u201d, sadly none of which has an existing copy now.<\/p>\n

Last year, we enjoyed \u201cLast Christmas\u201d with our grand children who got afflicted with the last song syndrome singing its catchy theme song after we saw the movie. It\u2019s a combination love story and whimsy that critics tore to pieces, but we guess most of these people are now so acerbic that if you\u2019d just show the well loved Christmas classic, \u201cIt\u2019s A Wonderful Life\u201d, today, they\u2019d also find it silly.<\/p>\n

Believe it or not, there are so many Christmas films that made us cry, even \u201cHome Alone\u201d when the old curmudgeon who\u2019s a neighbor of Macaulay Culkin finally reunites with his estranged family. Our list includes \u201cMeet Me in St. Louis\u201d (we still feel so melancholic each time we watch Judy Garland singing \u201cHave Yourself a Merry Little Christmas\u201d), \u201cJack Frost\u201d (about a dad who comes back as snow man), \u201cLove Actually\u201d (cheesy but endearing ensemble romcom with multiple stories), \u201cThe Apartment\u201d (Jack Lemmon is unforgettable in a story of love and loneliness on Christmas), \u201cA Christmas Carol\u201d (there are many versions by this classic Dickens tale, even one with the Muppets, but the best for us is the 1951 British version) and \u201cThe Miracle on 34th St.\u201d (Santa Claus is put to trial with Natalie Wood as the lead child actress, this has been remade).<\/p>\n

\u201cOperation Christmas Drop\u201d is about a congressional aide, Erica Miller (Kat Graham), who is ordered by her boss Congresswoman Angie Bradford (Virginia Madsen), to go to a tropical island just a few days before Christmas. Her mission is to gather data that will be used as evidence to close down a U.S. Air Force base situated there to help slash military expenditures.<\/p>\n

In charge to entertain her is Capt. Andrew Jantz (Alexander Ludwig), a pilot whose pet project is Operation Christmas Drop. At first, but naturally, they clash, they bicker, but of course, it\u2019s predictable that, in the course of her stay in the island and with the amiable captain escorting her, Erica is bound to change her mindset.<\/p>\n

She is able to let her hair down, she goes snorkelling in crystal blue waters with the captain, meets the charming natives and realizes that the real timeless message of Christmas is serving those who are in need. It\u2019s easy to see that Erica and the captain will fall in love with each other. It\u2019s all part of the miracle that is Christmas, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

The movie is sweet and easily digestible with likable leads in an interracial romance. Kat Graham (\u201cVampire Diaries\u201d) is a lovely African-American actress with a winning smile while Alexander Ludwig (Cato in \u201cThe Hunger Games\u201d and Bjorn in the long-running series \u201cVikings\u201d) is a big blonde hunk that reminds us of the likes of Tab Hunter and Troy Donahue in the 60s.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a big plus that the movie gets to display the beauty of the island of Guam and its surroundings islands and beautiful beaches, instead of a White Christmas. It also shows that the U.S. Air Force is truly benevolent and caring. So, mission accomplished, everyone!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHRISTMAS is fast approaching and Netflix has already released its annual Christmas presentations and we\u2019ve seen one of them, \u201cOperation Christmas Drop\u201d (the other one is \u201cHolidate\u201d). \u201cChristmas Drop\u201d is a romcom based on a yearly humanitarian mission of the US Air Force that airdrops presents into various Micronesian Islands during the Christmas season. We\u2019re […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7108,"featured_media":6070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"Operation Christmas Drop","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.com.ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6069"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.com.ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.com.ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.com.ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.com.ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/journal.com.ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.com.ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.com.ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.com.ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.com.ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}