Reels & Riddims
Welcome to Reels & Riddims!
Mikelah and Kerry-Ann, two friends and culture enthusiasts, give their eclectic mix of commentary and reviews in world of TV, Film, and Concerts. From dissecting storylines in TV and film that feature Caribbean characters, to the irresistible 'riddims' of the concerts, Reels and Riddims got you covered.
Reels & Riddims
Prime's Boxing Day & Christmas Movie Favorites
Join us in this festive episode where we dive into the magic of Christmas 🎄 movies through a Caribbean-American lens, featuring a special review of Boxing Day (available on Amazon Prime) and share our top picks for holiday movies that blend humor, family, and tradition. Whether it’s Elf or This Christmas, our “Reels List” will give you all the cozy vibes for the season.
Discover how Caribbean culture meets Christmas traditions, with lively commentary on cast performances, cultural themes, and even a touch of dancehall vibes! 🎶 Don’t miss out—share your favorite holiday movies with us in the comments.
Connect with us:
- @reelsandriddims on Instagram
- Website | YouTube
A Breadfruit Media Production
Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of Reels and Rhythms brought to you by CarryOn Friends in partnership with the Style to the Vibes and Breadfruit Media. Reels and Rhythms brings you commentary, reviews and perspectives to the world of TV, film and concerts with enough plenty Hualipa vibes, as only Michaela and I can. And we're doing this through the lens of Caribbean culture, Caribbean American culture, immigrant experiences and first-generation experiences. And it's important for us to call that out because, you know, all of these things inform our views and opinions and I'm excited about this episode because it's beginning to feel a lot like christmas, not christmas, it's christmas, christmas.
Speaker 2:you know we have to get it right christmas christmas that's how we say it yes, yes, it definitely is about to be the holiday season, so this this is like right on topic, and as I was rewatching for the umpteenth time, sinai comes in and says you always watch this movie.
Speaker 1:I said well, it's a holiday movie.
Speaker 2:She's like yeah, I know you always watch this around the holiday. I was like, well, it's so good it should be watched every year. So we are talking about none other than Boxing Day.
Speaker 1:But before we get into Boxing Day, so that is on our Reels list. So Reels list is like a playlist of sorts of movies around a familiar theme and since we're talking about Christmas and Boxing Day, we should have a list of movies that we like to watch around the Christmas season. So what are your other than the one that we're about to talk about, what are your favorite Christmas movies?
Speaker 2:Definitely A Christmas Story. I watch that every year. I still think it's funny. It's like old school middle America Funny Home Alone Boxing Day. I still think it's funny. It's like old school middle America funny Home Alone Boxing Day. This Christmas I do like. And then there was this other one? What's the one with Danny Glover? Oh, so you have all of my favorites.
Speaker 1:So my favorites are Home Alone, el. Oh, this christmas with regina king, that bathroom seed every time gets me. And the one with um danny glover is called almost christmas, who puts paprika in the potato salad, and she's like everybody and monique in that like yeah, she's the star of that one for sure, for sure, yeah no, actually the kids are the stars when they have the phone propped up and doing all the emoji because they got kicked out of the room because it was adult conversations.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, absolutely funny. So I'm glad we have some of the same Christmas movies on repeat and I'm looking forward to watching all of them.
Speaker 2:I've already watched Elf, already for the umpteenth time, santa.
Speaker 1:Santa.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, will Ferrell is just just hilarious. He's like a big child. So it's do your kids like these same movies, or they they found their own, or they haven't definitely definitely elf, um, and home alone definitely those.
Speaker 1:I don't know what else they watched. So that also made Boxing Day one of our favorite favorite. We're not going to go too much into Boxing Day. Boxing Day comes from the UK, the holiday itself. If you are not familiar with Boxing Day, it is the day after Christmas, it's the 26th of December, and I wrote a whole blog post on this as to how the holidays traditionally celebrated, but I'll definitely drop the link so you'll become more aware of what the holiday originally means and what people still try to do around Boxing Day. But we are talking about Run it, mikayla.
Speaker 2:Yes, so Boxing Day is about a British author who lives in America. His name is Melvin. He is played by Amel. Uh, amel Amin, amel Amin, yeah, yeah, yeah, and we've seen him in stuff like who? Now all of his stuff is escaping me. He played.
Speaker 1:King Yup In um Rustin.
Speaker 2:Rustin.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Yes, um, so the movie is about a meal. I mean um, who plays Melvin? He is a British writer who brings home his American, new American, newly fiance. We open the movie and he is proposing to her played by Asian Naomi King, who you might know from how to Get Away with Murder. She plays Michaela no, no, no relations there.
Speaker 2:But and Leanne Pinnock is his ex-girlfriend in in the UK, girlfriend in the UK, and so the drama is really Melvin is bringing his fiance home for Christmas, boxing Day, which is a big celebration for his family. So this will be the first time they are meeting the fiance, hearing about her, and they are still in love with his ex-girlfriend. Well, some are still have an affinity for his ex-girlfriend, so it goes into the relationship. You know why he left the UK, why he came back, themed because of the time of year that he brings her around. So it has a lot of traditional elements around Christmas and gift giving and families getting together and what that looks and feels like.
Speaker 2:And it's very British, jamaican. The ex-girlfriend is actually half Nigerian and half white, so you get the mix of Nigerian and white people in the movie as well, and then it really just talks about the turmoil within the family in a comedic way. And Amin actually wrote this film and it is available on Amazon Prime Video. So if you have Amazon Prime and you have Amazon Video and you have Amazon Video and you can watch it there, I don't think I miss anything.
Speaker 1:Well, we just want to big up Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who plays Melvin's mom, and she is a veteran actress, not just in the UK, but she's appeared in films here as well. There's a lot. I've seen her in enough roles. Martina Laird plays one of the aunts and she was in the Disney live-action Little Mermaid the other day the father's character. I can't remember his name right now, bilal right. Robbie G Robbie.
Speaker 2:G right.
Speaker 1:He was in Desmond's, so I remembered him from the series Desmond's. Oh, yes, okay, and he was also in Small Axe. He played the Rasta in the jail. Yes, yes.
Speaker 2:Was Josh the little cousin. Was he in Small Axe too?
Speaker 1:Yes, he played Alex Wheatley, so both of them were in the same, so I was going to him next in there. So, again, what I love about British TV is especially for Black actors. You can see that they're a close-knit community. They're usually on each other's projects and we get to familiarize ourselves with them and who they are, because we can see them across multiple projects. So, yeah, all right.
Speaker 1:So, as Michaela said, oh, dear Melvin Melvin, bring this American, this Yankee. I mean the reaction. So the auntie in the salon's reaction said when he fell in love with that American girl, she said American, May we find you a nice Jamaican girl, church girl, I mean in a salon aquarium, like American girl. I mean, you know they sell on Aquari, like American, you know. And every culture has its reaction to the beloved son having someone outside the culture come in and what that potentially means. But there were just so many things about Boxing Day and I feel like I've recommended it to some people and they didn't like it. I don't care, I've watched it a bajillion times and the time you called me back in 2022 or 2021, you tell me, I mean me light up the Christmas candle and bungle up and watch it. It's just such a I like.
Speaker 2:It's a feel good movie, yeah, and I think it's a romantic comedy. It's still funny. It's not like barrel full of laugh, your belly out, earth your laugh, but it's like a nice chuckle. It's a beautiful story and we don't get a whole lot of, you know, black leads in Christmas stories. That are something that is actually decent enough to watch every year. From a Christmas standpoint, a lot of Christmas movies tend to be romantic and cheesy and reindeer and Santa and so some of it. When it's good, it's good like elf, um. But this is really more about family and getting together and traditions and really incorporates Jamaican culture, uk culture in a kind of fused way that feels natural to a lot and relatable to a lot of people. Like, even if you're not British or you're not Jamaican, you would enjoy it as just an easy watch, like the first time I watched it was on Boxing Day.
Speaker 2:I had my black cake, which we do every year. I don't have no black cake on Christmas Day. I wait until the day after Christmas and have my cake with my little tea. I'm going to sit down in front of the TV and have about two, three slices and watch a movie. That is my Boxing Day. That's what we do. Leave me alone. I'm not sit down in front of TV and have about two, three slice and watch movie. That is my boxing day. That's how I need to leave me alone.
Speaker 2:Menaka, my fair coach. I do all my cooking. I cook for the people, then the present them is done. Boxing day is my day to relax, and that's how I do it.
Speaker 1:So what's a tradition that you have. What I also loved about the show was just like the sister who is now kind of a personal assistant to the ex-girlfriend and she goes into the room to cheer up the ex-girlfriend because the boyfriend, what she have, cheat on her and then they take the bat and beat up the blow up doll, mash up her waist man.
Speaker 2:Yes, that was like. It's those little moments that make it like enjoyable, because it's kind of like that's what you would do for your girlfriend or a good friend in time of need for your girlfriend or a good friend in time of need Go ahead.
Speaker 1:Also, something special is coming to carry on friends. But when Melvin is talking to his girlfriend and she asked him a question, he starts making that throat noise that I dislike. He start going I dislike it, right. She's like I know something is wrong. You're making that funny throat noise. You know Caribbean people know what that is, right. I don't know if other people do it, I just know that you know people do it. Um, and I just started laughing because she was just like what is this? She looked genuinely perplexed, like what is this thing that you're doing?
Speaker 1:And then the other thing there was a little Easter egg, some Easter eggs throughout, like maybe two throughout the movie. So Emil is half Jamaican, half St Vincent. So there was a scene in his room where on the ledge there was a little St Vincent flag on the ledge. And then when the answer yeah, I saw it the first time I was like wait, I thought they were Jamaican. And then I realized that he was part, I don't know, one of his parents come from St Vincent. So that's him. Maybe it's the mom I recognize that was him just you know, paying homage to that side.
Speaker 1:But also in the scene where the auntie was like, well, vincy Curry, I was just like, oh, this coming like there was quarreling about the making the curry good and in a watery like Vinci curry, I was like what does that have to do with anything? The first time I watched it and it was only after the fact that I realized, oh, he's from St Vincent. So they kind of found a way to pull in something that had a conversation around St Vincent, but I absolutely loved it. Conversation around San Vincent, but I absolutely loved it.
Speaker 1:The thing about this project and I'm glad that Emil was able to do it is that what I've noticed with this project and McQueen's project as well the director of Small Axe is that you know it's just another observation that these actors of Caribbean descent or heritage, they had to establish themselves in mainstream Hollywood before they were able to create their own project around the culture. So another exception he's not Caribbean but him love Caribbean culture is Idris, right. Idris is the director of Yadi, right, and so he had to go through all these roles before he was able to create a project that he felt resonated with him, and he chose Jamaican culture, culture. All of that to say that that is an interesting thread that I've observed, that mainstream actors of Caribbean heritage, once they've established themselves, a lot of times their first project that gets greenlit it's something around their culture.
Speaker 2:I think that's a good thing, because it allows them to show their chops, and then they get behind the camera and do writing, directing, that sort of thing that they're capable of doing, and you know who better to tell our stories than people who come from our culture? So I think it's a great nod, it's a great way in, and I definitely want to see more of it.
Speaker 1:Absolutely All right. So here we are. We are down to what are we rating Boxing Day upon the Hawks sense?
Speaker 2:I think accent wise I would give it three and a half.
Speaker 1:I'm three. Ok, I'm three Again. It wasn't perfect, um, but it was doable. It's, it's all right, yeah, yeah, you know, I did cringe. You know the way that melvin cringe.
Speaker 2:When his american girlfriend was trying to talk jamaican, I was like, oh no actually she wasn't the cringe worthy part, for me, it was more on auntie valerie that like it. Just something was off about her. The, the, the, the the heavy set auntie.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, she's the the one from.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, that, um, but she captured the essence of her character and even um the ex-girlfriend. What's her name? Um, they keep calling her ex-girlfriend georgia. Georgia's parents, her dad, I don't know something was just off with some of the aunts and the uncles, like that scene was just so rich, like I think the kids were fine, because a lot of kids if their parents came from yeah the islands and they were born in, you know, the, the UK.
Speaker 2:then they may or may not have the accent and they also incorporate their own um slang into it. So the the kids were all fine. It was the aunties and the uncles that were a little off.
Speaker 1:They were off, right yeah, so it wasn't even.
Speaker 2:It wasn't even lisa, like lisa no, her, it was cringe.
Speaker 2:It was cringe, it was like it was cringy, but that's what you expect for, uh, somebody who is not right. That's why it wasn't cringy for me. To me she did better than some of like in harlem jasmine guy. Her accent is just, it's horrible. But to me, like lisa is coming from, that's almost like playing that space. So she's supposed to not sound perfect, if you will. You know what I mean. So I, I expected that and to me she kind of held her own attitude, wise anyway, yeah, um, but she definitely didn't have the accent down, but I didn't expect expect her to.
Speaker 1:But the aunties and uncles yes, I did, accent them, did All right. So what do you give for the characters?
Speaker 2:Characters, I would give a solid four and I don't know why Yep. Yep, yep, yep, yep, solid four, but I don't know.
Speaker 1:I don't have any talking points. I mean they're whatever their storyline, it worked. You know you have the sister, you have the brother, you know everybody played the role that they were supposed to play, stereotypically but there wasn't like any sort of like moment.
Speaker 2:That I was just like, like you know, but again, it might be the premise of the movie.
Speaker 1:It's a rom-com, yeah.
Speaker 2:Storyline Five. I love the storyline. I really did yeah, I thought it was spot on. I don't think it could have been longer or shorter. I liked it.
Speaker 1:Yep Music Four.
Speaker 2:Nah, give it a five.
Speaker 1:No it is. I was about to say wait a minute. When Melvin tries to four, no, give it a five. No it is. I was about to say wait it's out. When, when, when melvin uh tries squash the thing and he pulled the vibes cartel, um, when the the mother's boyfriend professing yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2:That was one of my favorite moments.
Speaker 2:That was didn't like the remake of um, the one that georgia was singing and and say a little prayer, say a little prayer, I think, because it was such a big part it was, but it just didn't work for me. I think the her renditions. After, like she did um, at the end was it al green, I can't remember she did another r&b cover and that was really really good at the end. So I did like, but I think because that was supposed to be such oh, it wasn't al green, um, or maybe.
Speaker 1:So voyage to atlantis which I love is isley brothers. I think they may have she.
Speaker 2:She did that one at the end where she's serenaded yeah, um, visual authenticity, I give it a five.
Speaker 1:I give it a five. Every time I watch this I'm like I want want to go to London. It was just beautifully shot. I felt like I want to go to London. He's like it's the most romantic. He was represent for his city. That's kind of what he did. It was just so beautiful. I was like I want to go to London and be in London around Christmas, because he made that something that I wanted to experience.
Speaker 2:And that's. That's a good point too, because a lot of times we see Christmas from a very we don't look at like the scenery of the place too much and even when it's shot in like Switzerland or somewhere where it's snowing, you don't really get the locale of where they are, whereas this movie you could actually tell they were in London, they were filming, filming because you saw some of the like it just came off with such authenticity and then even like the way that they shot it, like tone wise, it was very romantic.
Speaker 1:So very intentional when he was like walking through the streets and it was just him and he was. It was just like shots of.
Speaker 2:I was just like, oh, I want to go there I want to, and because it's such a walking city like yeah, yeah, I love that, yeah, yeah I loved it, and so I've obviously may give it a five two yo.
Speaker 1:This is probably one of outside a champion. This is probably one of our highest rated, so it is a 4.4.
Speaker 2:Don't surprise me, because we've been liking a lot of the stuff coming out of the uk. Absolutely yeah absolutely so.
Speaker 1:4.45, we could round up to 4.5. Um, I, I just love it. I'm going to probably watch it again this christmas, along with all the other shows. I hope that they're streaming them. So our playlist is Elf Home Alone this Christmas, almost Christmas, obviously, boxing Day. Those are the ones that we are recommending for the season. So we wish you a Merry Christmas. Come rhythm. We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas.
Speaker 2:And a happy New Year.
Speaker 1:New Year. New Year.
Speaker 2:Christmas come, but only once a year, this year, miss.
Speaker 1:Oh, we can't, let me, let me stop, let me stop let me stop, that is called beneman's dengue fever, um, yeah. And the other christmas tune while we're on dancehall is miss ivy, last son.
Speaker 1:Um, so, anyway, so anyway, we've fully digressed from the topic of this episode, but it is reels and rhythms. So I just recorded a separate episode for Carry On Friends about the music that made me feel like Christmas, and I said it wasn't until I moved to New York that I was paying attention to dancehall rhythms that were released in the Christmas season, not to be confused that these songs are Christmas songs. So I gave the example of Miss Ivy Last Son is the rhythm, and the song by Bounty is Miss Ivy Last Son. It's to the tune of we Wish you a Merry Christmas. Go check it out.
Speaker 1:So again. So this is a Christmas-filled episode. We gave you the real list of Christmas movies to watch and you can check out Dance Our Riddance, you can check out Dengue Fever and you can also check out Miss Ivy La Sun by the two big bad, beanie and Bounty Killer. Why else Beanie and Bounty Killer? Why else Beanie and Bounty, for Christmas are Boxing Day? You know it's sting. It's been so long, it's been so very long.
Speaker 2:Now you're way after Big Bad God.
Speaker 1:But it's sting. It's sting. Boxing Day. So anyway, thank you for joining us for this episode of Reels and Rhythms. We went deep into Rhythms as well. We hope you get to enjoy some of the movies that we've recommended with your family. Definitely, check out Boxing Day. When you have checked it out, let us know what you thought about it, what you loved, who's your favorite character, what do you think about the ratings that we gave it, and let me know if there's some other Christmas movie that you enjoyed that we didn't call out on this episode. So, as me love to say, walk good, mikaela, what you say, pizza.
Speaker 2:Peeps, all right, bye guys.
