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Christmas films
圣誕電影
The snowball effect
雪球效應
Holiday films are cheesy, mindless and widely loved. Why?
圣誕電影甜膩、沒腦子，但備受喜愛，為什么？
The story is set in a town called Hope Springs—your first clue to the film’s schmaltz—which hosts an annual snow-sculpture contest.
故事設定在一個名為“希望泉”的小鎮——你發現這是一部煽情電影的第一個線索——這個小鎮每年都會舉辦一場冰雕比賽。
A local Michelangelo has sculpted a snowman with a chiselled face and rippling muscles.
當地的一位米開朗基羅雕刻出了一個雪人，它有著鑿刻般棱角分明的面容和起伏飽滿的肌肉。（注：米開朗基羅是文藝復興時期的著名藝術家。）
On a whim, a young widow drapes a red scarf over the frozen figure; naturally, magic brings the ice-cold hottie, shivering, to life.
一位年輕的寡婦一時興起，將一條紅圍巾披在冰雕上，水到渠成地，魔法讓這個冰冷的火辣帥哥顫抖著活過來了。
Recently released on Netflix, “Hot Frosty” is a truly absurd Christmas film.
最近在網飛開播的《這個雪男不太冷》是一部著實荒唐的圣誕電影。
No one in Hope Springs seems perturbed by a snow sculpture becoming a fully sentient being; one person simply shrugs: “It’s Christmas.”
在希望泉小鎮，似乎沒有任何人對冰雕變成了一個完全有感知能力的生物而感到不安，一個人只是聳聳肩：“畢竟是圣誕節。”
Nor do viewers seem to mind the movie’s outlandish premise.
觀眾似乎也不介意電影離奇的前提。
Subscribers spent nearly 52m hours watching the film in the three weeks after its release; it has been one of the most popular movies on Netflix, enjoying nearly 35 times the demand of an average film in America, according to Parrot Analytics, a data firm.
訂閱者在影片開播后的三周內觀看這部電影近5200萬個小時，據數據公司“鸚鵡分析”稱，它已經成了網飛最受歡迎的電影之一，需求量幾乎是美國普通電影需求量的35倍。
“Hot Frosty” points to a hot area of entertainment: lighthearted, generally predictable, sometimes terrible Christmas films that people nonetheless love.
《這個雪男不太冷》指向了一個熱門娛樂領域：輕松愉快的、大體劇情可預測的、有時甚至是糟糕的圣誕電影依然受到人們的喜愛。
In 2023 144 of them were released worldwide—seven times more than in 2000.
2023年，144部這樣的電影在全球范圍內上映，是2000年的七倍多。
That was the year when Hallmark’s cable-television network started making festive fare in earnest; in 2024 it is releasing 32 films as part of its annual “Countdown to Christmas” event, in which at least three new films are broadcast every weekend, starting in October.
2000年是霍爾馬克有線電視網開始認真制作節日影片的一年，2024年，該電視網將發布32部電影，這是其年度“圣誕倒計時”活動的一部分，從10月開始，每個周末至少播出三部新電影。
The most-watched film made for cable TV this year was Hallmark’s “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story”, loosely inspired by the relationship of Taylor Swift, a pop star, and Travis Kelce, an American-football player.
今年有線電視上收視率最高的電影是霍爾馬克的《假日達陣：酋長隊愛情故事》，這部電影稍微借鑒了流行歌星泰勒·斯威夫特和美式橄欖球運動員特拉維斯·凱爾塞的戀情。
A large majority of Hallmark films—over 90%—are romances with punny titles such as “To Have and to Holiday”.
霍爾馬克的絕大多數電影——超過90%——都是有雙關語片名的浪漫喜劇，比如《擁有與假期》。
Brandon Gray and Daniel Pandolph, two of the hosts of “Deck the Hallmark”, a podcast, have analysed around 1,000 Christmas films and observe that they “typically have some sort of baking scene” and “a big decision that has to be made by Christmas”.
布蘭登·格雷和丹尼爾·潘道夫是播客節目《打倒霍爾馬克》的兩位主持人，他們分析了大約1000部圣誕電影，并觀察到這些電影“通常都有某種烘焙場景”和“一個必須在圣誕節前做出的重大決定”。
Around 80% of them feature a decorating scene involving homes, gingerbread houses and more.
其中約80%的電影有特別的裝飾場景，涉及家、姜餅屋等元素。
Most feature a montage, a hammy film-making technique that is otherwise out of style year-round.
大多數都采用了蒙太奇手法，這是一種做作的電影制作技術，在全年除圣誕節之外的時候都是過時的。
For a long time, Hallmark had the holiday season wrapped up.
長期以來，賀曼公司一直主導著節日市場。（注：賀曼公司從賀卡業務發家，現在已有文具、寢具、數碼娛樂、電視頻道等多項業務。）
But Netflix and other streamers are getting in on the festive action, tempted by the low budgets—the films generally cost less than $5m—and high returns.
但是網飛和其他流媒體受到低預算（電影成本通常不到500萬美元）和高回報的誘惑，也加入了節日行動。
In 2023 Hallmark released 40 original Christmas titles, according to Ampere Analysis, a research firm; meanwhile viewers could stream more than 70 on Netflix (a mix of new offerings and back-catalogue fare).
2023年，據研究公司安培分析稱，賀曼發布了40部原創圣誕影片，與此同時，觀眾可以在網飛上播放70多部（包括新片和過往影片）。
The platform is focusing on romance titles at the expense of productions aimed at children or families.
網飛專注于愛情題材，犧牲了針對兒童或家庭的電影。
Another of the new releases in 2024, “Our Little Secret”, has accumulated nearly 95m hours of viewing.
另一部2024年的新電影《我們的小秘密》已經積累了近9500萬小時的觀看時長。
Starring Lindsay Lohan, it follows a couple who split up years ago but meet again, unexpectedly, via their new partners.
琳賽·洛翰主演的這部電影講述了一對多年前就已經分手的情侶，通過各自的新伴侶而意外重逢的故事。
Who likes such sparkly fluff, and why?
到底是誰喜歡這種亮閃閃的無腦電影？為什么喜歡？
Adult Christmas films are mostly watched by women, from millennials upwards.
成人圣誕電影的主要觀眾是女性，包括千禧一代及年齡更大的群體。
Many are busy preparing presents and food; few have time to sit down and give a film their full attention.
許多人正忙著準備禮物和食物，很少有人有時間坐下來，全神貫注地看一部電影。
The predictable plots, then, are an advantage.
于是可預測的情節就成了一個優勢。
“You know what’s going to happen,” Mr Gray says, “and so you can still do the things that you need to do, while also getting into the Christmas spirit.”
“你知道接下來會發生什么，”格雷說，“所以你可以一邊繼續做你需要做的事，一邊感受到圣誕氣氛。”
Mr Pandolph adds that after a couple of glasses of mulled wine, it does not matter that the story is naff: in fact, “Your enjoyment of these movies goes up exponentially if you’ve been drinking.”
潘道夫補充說，喝了幾杯熱葡萄酒后，故事是否老套已經不重要了：事實上，“如果你一直在喝酒，你對這些電影的享受會呈指數級增長”。
Russell Hainline, the writer of “Hot Frosty” and other holiday flicks, says that films such as his offer wish-fulfilment.
拉塞爾·海因林是《這個雪男不太冷》等圣誕電影的編劇，他說這類電影讓人美夢成真。
“‘Harry Potter’ has wands and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ has hobbits.
《哈利·波特》有魔杖，《指環王》有霍比特人。
Christmas movies have good people having good things happen to them all the time.”
而圣誕電影有好人，并且總是有好事發生在他們身上。”
The world would be a nicer place, he suggests, if it “was even a little bit more like a Christmas movie”.
他表示，如果世界有一點點像圣誕電影，世界都會變得更加美好。
It is a cheerful idea.
這是一個令人愉快的想法。
In fact, it sounds like a perfect line in a holiday film.
事實上，這聽起來正像是圣誕電影中的一句完美臺詞。
