Film Friday: "Hot Frosty," is a Cute Flick

I wrote the other week about how Netflix has been building a subtle cinematic Universe. I mentioned the movie, "Hot Frosty," and how I intended to watch it. Well, I have and it is a really fun little flick. It is a bit like a Hallmark movie but has some extra little elements that make it a tad more snarky than those productions which (from the ones I've seen) tend to be pretty earnest. The general plot is that Kathy (Lacey Chabert) works at a diner and lost her husband to cancer an indeterminate amount of time ago. She puts a scarf on a really jacked-looking snowman and it magically comes to life and is played by a very, very fit Dustin Milligan. Katy Mixon (who I loved on "American Housewife,") is the town doctor and notes how due to some physiological quirks the claims of the man (dubbed, "Jack,") could very well be true that he somehow is a snowman brought to life. Hijinks ensue.

"Hot Frosty," is very cute and has some tropes you'd expect (everyone thinks Jack is incredibly sexy except Lacey who is too in-her-head to notice at first) and some edgier elements that help it really work. Craig Robinson plays the Sheriff named Nate and is so over-the-top at how he chews scenery that you don't even mind he's kind of the bad guy/a huge jerk for much of the flick. Chabert and Milligan have solid chemistry once she warms up to him (pun intended) and the whole production is a nice low-stakes and sweet film. The only thing that bugged me was we never find out who exactly made the snowman that Chabert accidentally brings to life with her scarf. I thought that would be some kind of fun little reveal, but nope, we are left wondering. That note aside, I had a lot of fun watching, "Hot Frosty," and would recommend you check it out should you have Netflix.

5 out of 5 Stars.

A Netflix Tweet Showed How Creepy and Intrusive the Internet Can Be

When you're on the internet, utilizing a service, it is watching you. Facebook can see every political post, opinion on a product, and smiling selfie you put-up. Amazon is aware of any item you ever bought and has data to show trends and recommend other stuff to you. That porn site  you gave your credit card information to for a couple months complies data from users so it realizes you clearly have a fetish, and Netflix knows every single thing you've watched, and how many times you've watched it. When you're on the internet you don't have privacy as soon as you click that, "Agree," button on a website so you can shop there/view its videos/etc. People try not to think about this, but a Tweet from Netflix (oh, Twitter knows a lot about you too) recently made the lack of privacy clear.

Netflix jokingly said the other day how it noticed a number of people had watched the cheesy Hallmark movie, "A Christmas Prince," a number of days in a row. It was meant as a joke and some people giggled and promptly moved on. Other people thought, "Wait, Netflix can know exactly what a person is watching that easily?" and started feeling very uncomfortable. It was creepy--no matter what Netflix claims--and clearly raises a number of privacy concerns. After all, a number of people at Netflix most likely can see what any subscriber does. I don't know if this could ever be used to blackmail someone or something else nefarious ("Give us $100,000 or everyone will know about your terrible taste in sitcoms, Senator!), but it just gives people a feeling of unease. It is kind of funny though, because so often we ignore how little privacy we get when it comes to the internet--it is as intrusive as any service can be. I'm not saying this is a good thing, it just kind of is a sad fact, and a simple joke-Tweet from Netflix reminded people just how uncomfortably little you can keep to yourself in regards to the World Wide Web.

My Kansas City Adventure AKA Comic Shops and a Crown Center

A Great Labor Day Weekend!

Note that I did not actually grill anything.

This just-concluded Labor Day Weekend involved my wife, Clarkson, Mom-in-law and I as we went to visit Samii's sister/my sister-in-law in Kansas City. While there we did a number of group activities (there is one in particular I'll talk about) and I had the chance to check-out a couple comic book shops as well.

Kansas City Exploration

The Crown Center

I was able to stop-by two comic shops and a location known as the, "Crown Center," which was built by Hallmark almost 50 years ago and is a massive structure full of a mall, aquarium, Legoland, and a Hallmark Visitors Center I was able to visit with my wife and Clarkson! Let's break down the three places I want to discuss:

Pulp Fiction Comics and Games
I traveled to the Lee's Summit region of KC where I stopped by Pulp Fiction Comics and Games. I actually knew about the store as someone who worked there I met on a previous visit to the Kansas City region had told me about the shop. I was able to go there and found all the employees to be extremely friendly and knowledgeable. There was a solid selection of new books and tons of trade paperbacks, plus a sizeable area for gaming where a card tournament of some sort appeared to be taking place. Despite this big event the employees still made sure to ask me if I needed assistance and chatted with me about what they were reading and enjoying.

A to Z Comics
I was able to check-out A to Z Comics in the Blue Springs area and was impressed by the immense number of back-issues they had available. Located in a strip-mall, the store looks small and unassuming but actually was quite large inside and loaded with older and newer stuff!

Hallmark Visitors Center
The Hallmark Visitors Center is a completely free attraction within the Crown Center and was fascinating! There was a 14 minute movie in a little auditorium that gave a surprisingly in-depth history of Hallmark and it was astonishing to hear how one man who mailed stores greeting cards was able to grow his business. There also was a number of neat displays, a machine that made bows for people, and we visited the Kaleidoscope activity center geared towards children which was full of cool art-making tools!

A Great Trip!

I had a wonderful time with my wife, son, and in-laws enjoying Kansas City. We of course did more than what I discussed but I wanted to point out the two comic shops and the Hallmark Visitors Center.