Cup of Cheer Pantses Hallmark Under the Mistletoe

FTC Statement: Reviewers are frequently provided by the publisher/production company with a copy of the material being reviewed.The opinions published are solely those of the respective reviewers and may not reflect the opinions of CriticalBlast.com or its management.

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. (This is a legal requirement, as apparently some sites advertise for Amazon for free. Yes, that's sarcasm.)

Submitted by RJ Carter on Sat, 11/14/2020 - 13:38

Tis the season to lose control of your television to the more sentimental members of the family. So if you're going to watch anything from now through the end of the year, it's going to be a Christmas movie, and it's probably going to be either Lifetime or Hallmark (not that you'll be able to tell the difference). The romantic holiday genre has grown so pervasive that we even had to come up with an alternative a few years back, when we put out our Nine Christmas Movies for Guys Who Hate Christmas Movies.

This year, we may just have to round out that list to ten (or bump one off -- we'd hate to ruin the gestalt of our nine ladies dancing).

From Director Jake Horowitz comes CUP OF CHEER, a slightly bawdy sendup of just about every heartfelt holiday homecoming you've ever watched.

Storm Steenson plays Mary, a reporter who is sent on assignment, quite by chance, to her home town to report on the Christmas spirit for which it is famous. The town is of course outwardly utterly charming, decked out with festive trimming, and every shop is seemingly geared specifically to exist for the holiday season.

But there is trouble brewing, as Chris (Alexander Oliver) finds out that his lease on his hot cocoa establishment, Cup of Cheer, is being terminated at midnight on Christmas Eve unless he can come up with an exorbitant amount of cash. He'll do whatever it takes to come up with that money, except exchange cups of hot cocoa for money.

Taking shots at tropes like Mrs. Miracle and Santa incognito, CUP OF CHEER is packed with humor and fratboy innuendo, giving Hallmark a good pantsing under the mistletoe this year. Streaming now on Amazon Prime.

Bonus Content: Critical Blast sat down with Director Jake Horowitz and actress Storm Steenson to go behind Santa's workshop and get the goods on CUP OF CHEER. Video of that interview follows.