Every holiday season seems to bring with it another new Christmas movie standard, and this one makes it's bid for 2021. It will almost certainly appeal to those who were teens or young adults in the late Eighties, with numerous pop culture references built around a plot that involves every kid's fascination for Nintendo back in the day. Neil Patrick Harris narrates the childhood memories of one particular Christmas that his character, the young Jack Doyle experienced with a handful of youthful friends in Batavia, Illinois during the Christmas season of 1988. He relates his obsession for the Nintendo game system to his granddaughter Lizzy (Bellaluna Resnick), who's fixation on getting her very own cellphone becomes the stated goal of her Christmas wish list. The picture will surely call to mind 1983's "A Christmas Story", one which has greater resonance for those of an earlier generation like myself. Both films make the case for traditional family values as a way to see through the increasingly commercialized aspects of the holidays, a dynamic that helps them maintain their appeal year after year.
Review of 8-Bit Christmas
