Sorry, Enterntainment Weekly, Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever Is Not The Worst Christmas Movie Ever


If you go over to Entertainment Weekly right now, you can read an article entitled Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever Is The Worst Christmas Move Ever.  The author of the article, Samantha Highfill, claims that “Grumpy Cat would hate her movie.  Like hate-hate it.”

Well, of course, Grumpy Cat would have hated Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever.  That was kind of the point of the whole damn movie.  The reason why Grumpy Cat has become such a popular meme is because her permanently sour face confirms what many of us suspect but often try to deny — i.e., that our cats are, for the most part, disgusted with us.  However — and this is why people like me cherish our cats — they all have one or two people who they love enough to set aside their natural disgust and allow to be a part of their life.

Cats aren’t like dogs.  A dog will love anyone.  A cat picks someone to love and then they do it despite all of their better instincts.  And because of that, cats will occasionally do stuff that they normally should hate.

Like starring in a holiday-themed film, for instance.

Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever, which premiered on Lifetime last night and was watched by me and a thousand other cat lovers on twitter, works because it not only realizes that it should not exist but it also has no problem admitting that it should not exist.  In Entertainment Weekly, Grumpy Cat’s sarcastic narration and continual breaking of the fourth wall is described as being “oddly meta.”

Personally, I call it being clever, cute, and funny.

But, let’s be honest.  The majority of critics were never going to give a fair review to a film called Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever.  (A fair review, by the way, would have been: “The story’s dumb, the film looks cheap, but the cat is cute and, seeing as that’s the only reason anyone’s watching, that’s all that matters.”)  Most critics probably had their review already written in their head before they even saw the movie.  Complain about the commercialization of Christmas.  Whine about how an internet meme now has her own movie while your coming-of-age screenplay remains unproduced.  Make a few snarky comments about Lifetime, in general.  Admit that Aubrey Plaza totally kicks ass as the voice of Grumpy Cat (because she so totally does).  End it by sadly predicting that Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever will lead to a sequel.

Bleh.  Forget the other critics.  Speaking as the only critics who really matters, here’s what I think you need to know about Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever:

If you own and like cats, you’ll find a lot to enjoy about Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever.  Yes, the story is dumb.  Yes, the movie was obviously cheaply made and, in case there was any doubt, Grumpy Cat herself pops up to point out how cheap the movie was.  But Aubrey Plaza was born to be the voice of Grumpy Cat.  And Grumpy Cat herself is adorable in her grumpy way!  Along the way, we get to see Grumpy Cat drive a car and shoot a paintgun.  We also get to meet Grumpy Cat’s British equivalent.

And it’s all really, really cute.

And really, that’s all that matters.

Grumpy-Cat-drives-a-car

4 responses to “Sorry, Enterntainment Weekly, Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever Is Not The Worst Christmas Movie Ever

  1. Pingback: Two Late Holiday Reviews: Santa Claws and Happy Christmas | Through the Shattered Lens

  2. Pingback: 2014 in Review: The Best of Lifetime and SyFy | Through the Shattered Lens

  3. Pingback: Cleaning Out The DVR: Turkey Hollow (dir by Kirk Thatcher) | Through the Shattered Lens

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