#30 Your weekly recommendations roundup.

What to watch, read and listen to this weekend.

Hello!

Usually I’m not allowed to watch Christmas movies until the clock strikes midnight on December 1st. I made this rule because I found if I went too hard on the Christmas rom-coms too early, by Christmas Day I would be a total grinch who couldn’t stand the sight of impeccably-groomed Hallmark couples kissing under mistletoe, while a wide-eyed, rosy-cheeked child looks on, excited for their new life with their new step-mum who they’ve known for approximately six days.

But this week I made an exception for Genie, the new Christmas fantasy film starring Melissa McCarthy and Paapa Essiedu, which is streaming on Binge in Australia.

I made this exception because it was written by Richard Curtis, the man responsible for Love Actually, Notting Hill and About Time, so I knew if nothing else this was going to be a top-of-the-range cheesy Christmas movie.

And that’s exactly what it is. The film follows Bernard (Essiedu), a workaholic whose wife decides they need a trial separation after he …