Individuals who make Yuletide Log movies — are you okay? I’m apprehensive about you. The usual flame-filled movies of vacation cheer appear quite a bit darker these days, and whereas I might like to know why, I’m additionally simply usually involved to your psychological well-being.
My first signal that one thing was mistaken was The Witcher: Fireplace on Netflix, which technically got here out final yr however is understandably getting re-promoted now. It’s received a nice-looking hearth crackling away within the Nice Corridor at Kaer Morhen, however the flippantly ominous music lurking within the background killed “the right backdrop for a comfy vibe” that Netflix promised.
Then Yellowjackets received within the sport on Wednesday with a Yuletide Log that stored the logs however appears to have missed the Yuletide. It’s simply two hours of creepy vibes and freaky Easter eggs.
So even when I give the creepy Yuletide Log’s the side-eye, if a scary fire brings you some sadistic sense of pleasure, or helps you deal with the sensation of pressured vacation cheer that appears to permeate every thing this time of yr, then hey, okay, I get it. Typically we simply need our artwork to replicate the world, and 2022 hasn’t been universally nice. For lots of people, it’s been fairly shitty. If it helps you get by to have ominous whispers popping out of the audio system whereas a desolate winter scene hovers on the display screen, go for it. You do you.
Personally, I activate a Yuletide Log as a result of I would like an escape from <waves palms> all this. I don’t have a fire in my NYC condo, so I activate one of many “Hearth For Your Residence” movies on Netflix whereas I wrestle presents into wrapping paper. I’m precisely the type of person who programmers had in thoughts when WPIX started the TV Yule Log tradition by broadcasting a three-hour loop of a hearth in 1966.
I do know it’s primary, however essentially the most thrilling factor I need to resolve if I would like the basic or Birch variations. Carry on the flames. I’ll save the scares for one more season.