Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/914278
maltatoday SUNDAY 10 DECEMBER 2017 42 This Week THE plan was to finally get around to watching Yorgos Lathmios' The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Honestly – it was my priority to finally get down to the weird, wonderful and confrontational Greek filmmakers' latest, which by all accounts prom- ised to be a dark but grudgingly re- warding odyssey into the darkest recesses of our psyche, in what ap- pears to be yet another step on the rung to Lathmios' unlikely – but warmly welcomed – ascent into the international arthouse-main- stream (contradiction in terms for you there, but there we are). Well, best-laid plans and all that. That was the idea, but then I fell violently ill. And the last thing that both my psyche and my body could handle was a) a physical trip to the cinema and b) the neces- sary tenacity and bloody-mind- edness to first endure, then enjoy whatever Lathmios had to offer. The experience would have to be shelved. So I stayed home, and flipped through the latest Netflix releases to see what I could justify chatting about here. While we're at it, why not go for something seasonal, I reasoned. Settling in on A Christmas Prince, directed by Alex Zamm and starring iZombie's Rose McIver, I soon began to wonder whether The Killing of a Sacred Deer would not, in fact, have been the kinder option for my belea- guered predicament. And as it happens, our pro- tagonist in A Christmas Prince, Amber Moore (McIver) is also a beleaguered journalist. Toiling away at a gossip rag where she's subjected to unforgivable indigi- ties like being asked to shrink down puff pieces from 600 words to 300 (!), she longs for a big scoop that will win her the respect of her tough-as-nails editor, Max Gold- ing (Amy Marston). As luck would have it, the Christmas season does bring a professional boon for Amber – the opportunity to attend a press conference at the distant (and entirely invented) Eastern Euro- pean kingdom of Aldovia, where everyone mysteriously speaks in perfect BBC English and where – most importantly – its handsome but reluctant king-in-waiting, Prince Richard (Sam Lamb) might just abdicate the throne following his father's death. Hoping to get a juicier scoop after the conference turns out to be something of a bust, Amber actually manages to inveigle her- self into the daily affairs to the royal family, after she successfully tricks them into believing that she is, in fact, an American tutor sent to help the prince's sister, Emily (Honor Kneafsey), who suffers from spina bifida and who has something of a bad history with all her former teachers. But Amber's professional resolve begins to waver after Emily actu- ally begins to warm to her. And of course, after her erstwhile subject reveals himself to be a sensitive, haunted soul – with matinee idol good looks to boot – and not the flaky playboy that the tabloids would have you believe. But the scheming of the prince's ambi- tious cousin Count Simon (Theo Devaney) and his ex-girlfriend Baroness Sophia (Emma Lou- ise Saunders) threaten to put a spanner in just about everybody's works. A Christmas Prince sounds, looks and feels like the kind of product wheeled out with a slap- dash efficiency just in time for the Christmas season. It is Netflix's bald attempt at capitalising on our increased tolerance for cliché and schmaltz dur- ing this particular time of year. Which would have been fine, had it all been put together with tighter engi- neering. As it stands – or rather, shakes like a badly-planted Christmas tree – its nature as a hash-job is evident in each frame. An early estab- lishing shot of New York is clearly littered with Chicago landmarks, and subsequent establishing shots of Aldovi- an architecture are clearly filmed miniatures. Even in- side, the sets look dull, even if a lot of the interiors were filmed on-location in a Ro- manian castle. Certainly not a great way to create the coveted atmosphere of Christmas magic. And while McIver does her best to make Amber a plucky, sympathetic heroine, irrational and lazily-written tics (she insists on wearing her Chucks at royal events!) hamper her efforts, as does her chiselled-but-bland love interest. While A Christmas Prince al- ready appears to be generating "so bad it's good" status online – just Google it – you probably already have your holiday favourites to re- watch. And the likes of The Man Who Invented Christmas and Star are still screening in local cinemas should you crave some- thing new, that is probably miles better than this cheaply con- structed, badly-plastered papier- mâché creation. A Christmas Prince is currently streaming on Netflix IN CINEMAS TODAY Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 Daddy's Home 2 (12A) 10:00, 12:15, 14:30, 16:45, 19:00, 21:15 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (3D) (TBA) 21:15 Paddington 2 (U) 10:00, 12:10, 14:20, 16:35, 18:50, 21:05 Justice League (12A) 16:00, 18:35, 21:10 Murder on the Orient Express (12A) 10:30, 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00 The Star (U) 10:00, 12:05, 14:10, 16:15, 18:20 The Man Who Invented Christmas (PG) 10:25, 13:45, 16:05, 18:25, 20:45 Valletta Living History (U) 10:00, 10:45, 11:30, 12:15, 13:00, 13:45, 14:30, 15:15 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 A Bad Moms Christmas (15) 14:05, 16:25, 18:45, 21:05, 23:20 A Real Vermeer (15) 16:25, 21:15 Battle of the Sexes (12) 14:25, 18:00, 20:40 Daddy's Home 2 (12A) 11:50, 14:20, 16:30, 18:50, 21:00, 23:15 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (12A) 21:15, 23:50 Justice League (3D) (12) 11:20, 13:50, 16:15, 18:45, 20:35, 23:15 Murder on the Orient Express (12A) 14:30, 18:10, 20:45 Paddington 2 (PG) 11:40, 14:00, 16:15, 18:30, 20:55 Suburbicon (15) 20:50 The Disaster Artist (15) 14:15, 16:30, 18:45, 21:05, 23:25 The Killing of a Sacred Deer (TBA) 14:00, 18:50 The Man Who Invented Christmas (PG) 11:30, 14:15, 16:30, 18:50, 21:10, 23:30 The Nutcracker (PG) 15:00 The Star (U) 11:55, 14:15, 16:25, 18:35 Thor: Ragnarok (12) 14:30, 18:00, 20:40, 23:05 Wonder (PG) 14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15, 23:40 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 Paddington 2 (12A) 10:45, 13:35, 16:00, 18:25, 20:50 Daddy's Home 2 (12A) 11:00, 13:40, 16:20, 18:40, 20:55 Wonder (PG) 10:50, 13:35, 16:10, 18:35, 21:00 Justice League (12A) 10:40, 13:25, 16:05, 18:40 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (3D) (PG) 21:15 Murder on the Orient Express (12A) 11:00, 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 20:55 The Star (U) 11:15, 14:00, 16:30, 18:35 Justice League (12A) 21:15 The Man Who Invented Christmas (PG) 11:15, 13:45, 16:15, 18:30, 20:45 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ PRINCE VALIANT ★ ★ ★ ★ PRINCE CASPIAN ★ ★ ★ THE BLACK PRINCE ★ ★ PRINCE OF DARKNESS ★ PAUPER'S DELIGHT FILM By Teodor Reljic No amount of seasonal cheer can save this (Maltese?) star-crossed: Ben Lama and Rose McIver in Netflix's attempt to capitalise on seasonal schmaltz Rose McIver A CHRISTMAS PRINCE (PG) ★ ★