Miranda looked at the selection and sighed. Christmas films were not her bag. Her finger hovered over the nauseating it's a wonderful life.
'No! Three hazelnuts for Cinderella' exclaimed Max insistently. They looked at him.
'What?' Mumbled Roberto.
'Three hazelnuts for Cinderella. Christmas is not complete without this film' Max explained.
Roberto snorted.
'Is that not for children, Max?' Miranda asked patiently.
'No. It's a classic. We watch it every year in Germany.'
He loaded it up and set out the snacks. Soon they were whirled off to a pastel hued adventure in the snow. Roberto gave his seal of approval to the idea of the enchanted hazelnuts and especially the owl, the ultimate denizen of the night. Miranda found herself enjoying it despite her best intentions. The style was understated, not gimmicky, Cinderella was a genius with the crossbow and the costumes were actually very good. She glanced at the stream of light coming through the curtains. Instead of baking in this heat she would have much preferred the snow in the background. Even the novelty of a foreign language film had its charms. They glanced at Max who watched as contentedly as a child. Miranda didn't know that he could enjoy a film that didn't have people jumping out of planes or gunning each other down.
Roberto gave it a round of applause when it finished and pronounced it wonderful. Max beamed.
'I knew you'd like it.'
'It was alright' said Miranda. She wasn't going to admit that it wasn't so bad after all.