Category Archives: 7 Star Movies

The Shop Around the Corner Review

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The Shop Around the Corner is a pretty fun title for a movie. It does give you a classic rom-com feeling although you could also see this working for a horror title. It’s a fun little story although it is one of those times where the romance seems is hard to buy into because of how mean the main heroine is though. If she’s this mean to just anyone…well the main guy better watch out.

The film starts off by introducing us to Alfred who is the best salesman in the store. This store sells just about everything from music boxes to suitcases. Alfred has been exchanging letters with a lady and is starting to get serious about her but they are anonymous pen pals so they don’t even know what each other looks like. In comes the main heroine Klara who really wants a job. She and Alfred do not get along right from the start but she ends up getting the job. Fast forward many months and things have not improved between them. Each of them are getting ready to meet their pen pal but Alfred is distracted by the fact that the boss: Hugo has been turning on him as of late. Is Alfred’s job security in trouble?

Alfred seems like a nice guy right from the start. While the 6 month feud between him and Klara is mainly off screen, it seems like she’s always the one who starts it. A lot of her remarks towards him seemed rather uncalled for the whole time. She insults his intelligence, his character, and is always just taking any shot she can get. Even when he is being nice or at least trying to be, she just tears him down more and more. So it was hard to find her likable throughout the movie. Klara is someone who is only nice to some people and that’s not a good thing. When you’re conditionally nice, that just means you’re probably someone to be avoided.

As for Alfred, well he is a good main character. He’s put up with a whole lot on the job but kept on going. He’s the most dependable employee in the whole place. Alfred also does really enjoy the letters he gets and responding to them. In a way his life was going perfectly well until Klara stops by and the boss starts acting rather aggressively towards him. Alfred’s life is thrown upside down but at no point does he take it out on any of the other characters. He just does his best to stay professional and really does all the right things. By the end you’ll certainly be rooting for him.

I did not like the boss Hugo. So, Hugo finds out that someone is having an affair with his wife and so he jumps to conclusions on who it is before waiting for his private investigator to let him know who it was. Not like the PI was a lot of help though as the guy just narrowed the options down to an employee which was most likely anyway. Hugo goes in hard on burning the bridge with Alfred. Alfred’s a nice guy and still stays courteous but I don’t think many would overlook how Hugo treated them.

Pirovitch is Alfred’s best friend and he’s a loyal sidekick to have at the ready. Whenever Alfred needed help with anything, Pirovitch would help out. The guy also took things in stride and had a very laidback approach to everything. Whatever you needed to be done, Pirovitch would do it. Then you have Vadas, one of the more dicey characters. He is quick to agree with the boss on anything to curry favor. He’s not trustworthy or honest in the slightest as he can only think about moving up. There’s always someone like that and so you need to keep on high alert around him.

Finally you have Pepi and this guy was really entertaining. Pepi started out as an errand boy and gradually moves up the chain. The voice he uses for the phone calls is great as he trolls Hugo’s wife and he also really knows how to command the troops once he moves up. Pepi has a lot of confidence in himself and this really ends up paying off for him. I like his confidence and his will to win. Through rain or sun, you could always count on Pepi to get the job done. You can also tell that he is going to be a very strict boss. There’s no doubt about that.

The writing is solid here with a lot of good banter between the characters. You’re always glad when Alfred defends himself so that it isn’t just a one way smackdown as Klara destroys him. Fortunately Alfred rarely takes the comments to heart and just lets them bounce away. I’m rarely surprised to see good writing in these old films because if anything I’ve come to expect it. This one doesn’t disappoint in that area and the whole film flies by pretty fast. Really the only weakness as I’ve mentioned is the romance which doesn’t really work.

The concept itself is sound. The idea of two characters liking each other as pen pals but not liking each other in the real world is a fun dynamic. It’s almost like a Clark Kent and Lois angle where she likes Superman but in most continuities doesn’t like Clark like that and will even insult him at times. I think the problem here is that they just made Klara too extreme. To balance this out, they should have also had Alfred taking more shots. Maybe tone down the actual shots so it’s more like fun colleague banter as opposed to extreme dislike. that’s really the only aspect where touching it up a bit would have been really good.

Overall, it’s not enough to really hurt the movie or anything like that though. Either way I had a good time with this one. When you have good writing and a very strong main character, you’re likely going to succeed either way. I like the story’s premise and the execution was on point. The movie never drags on at any point and the side characters are also very memorable. I wouldn’t have minded Pepi getting to appear more but ultimately he served his role well. It’s a very charismatic store and you can see why they have so many sales each year with such a talented team. I’ll even give Hugo some credit there since he tries to lure in customers as well. His main issue is that he’s already too well known so his tricks don’t seem to work very often at this point.

Overall 7/10

Where the Sidewalk Ends Review

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Next up on the review list is an old murder thriller. This time we really get to see what happens at the end of the road. It’s an engaging film that shows what happens when mistakes are made on every side and how this keeps on snowballing. I do like the idea of a hero trying to frame a villain. It’s something that doesn’t happen too often but is something to think about. Of course this is also morally dubious at best but ultimately the film has a satisfying conclusion.

The film starts off with introducing us to Mark Dixon who is really tough on crime. This is to the point of being excessive though as he tends to rough them up quite a bit during interrogation. He has now been demoted and warned to curb this behavior. Well, this will be difficult as he is wrapped up in another case when a rich man is stabbed to death at a local gaming arena led by some notorious gangsters. Of course the trick is that there is no real proof here and these guys have a habit of getting away. Mark ends up doing some interrogating anyway and ends up murdering Paine by accident as his punch hit the guy in a way where his metal plate shattered. Mark figures he’ll hide the body and then frame Scalise for it.

Unfortunately he ends up framing an innocent cab driver instead. Mark has grown close to the guy’s daughter Morgan and needs to settle this. Will he be able to get proof against Scalise or is this curtains for him? Additionally now that he has murdered someone, even if accidental, he is facing some issues as well. After all, fully attacking someone as part of an investigation was outside the mission parameters.

There’s a lot going on here to be sure. I was glad that the rich guy stepped in to protect Morgan when she was attacked but it is tragic since you know he never stood a chance. The guy was surrounded by gangsters after all and just wouldn’t have lasted either way. It’s hard to trust anyone at these high stakes gambling arenas, especially if it isn’t at a reputable venue. It makes for an intense opening scene as we know what happened and have to see how Mark will put the evidence together.

As a main character, Mark is solid. I do like his determination even if he lets it get the better of him sometimes. He doesn’t buy into the false stories as quickly as the other cops but ultimately there is a limit to what he can do as a cop. It’s not like he can just beat the truth out of everyone although he would certainly like that. His final attempt to frame Scalise was also a very bold approach as he was directly putting his life on the line. Not just anyone could pull that off.

Even Scalise comments on this and how Mark is crazy here. His obsession with taking down Scalise and defying his father’s legacy is certainly impressive. Unfortunately this isn’t a big James Bond action movie and so his big attack on the villain base doesn’t quite go as planned. It would have been intense to have seen him take them all down but realistically that would be nearly impossible without a gun or something like that.

As for Scalise, well he’s your classic noir villain. I’ll give him a little extra kudos for being intelligent though. He sees through Mark’s plans and also knows how to prevent evidence from getting out. He’s an old hand at this and isn’t your run of the mill gangster. While his personality may not be super memorable beyond the usual tough dialogue, this is enough where he holds his own as the main antagonist.

Finally we have Morgan and her father. I liked her Dad’s constant talking about how he helped Mark with a case back in the day. He just seems like a nice guy who is always cheerful and trying to look out for Morgan. Morgan makes some dicey calls with the people she hangs out with like Paine. Ultimately I don’t think she’ll be around those areas much going forward though and has developed quite a bit as a result of this experience. The severity of the case against her father gradually sinks in during the film and she doesn’t take this in stride but then the film shows the contrast of how she handles the news at the end of the film. She’s come a long way and won’t be blindsided anymore.

As a noir thriller kind of movie, this film always has some level of danger present. Whether it’s Mark trying to hide a body or quickly thinking up an alibi, you can tell that he’s never quite safe. It also works well in keeping your interest the whole time through. The movie’s fairly long but the pacing is on point so it never drags on. We see enough of Mark’s life to see what makes him tick and it helps build the world around the mystery. He’s certainly quick on his feet so it’s easy to see why he got such a high rank at the start even if he’s been on a bit of a decline since then with how he beats up the criminals.

Overall, This was a solid movie. It really builds a good atmosphere from the start and the adventure is interesting from start to finish. Mark makes for a good hero and Scalise ends up being a smarter villain than I expected. As a result you have some decent banter with them. The only time Mark goes too far is when he takes such a hard stance against his partner at one point. That was definitely the wrong move and showed him taking out his aggression on the wrong person. Even though the case may be solved, it is fair to say that this line of work may not be right for him. There really is nothing to prevent this kind of scenario from happening again because it’s fair to say that this case hasn’t really changed him. The ending is left up to interpretation on how it will go though so you can ultimately reach your own ending. If you’re looking forward to a good noir title then this is a good one to watch.

Overall 7/10

The Man Who Came Over For Dinner Review

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Time for a crazy comedy film where you get to see what it would be like to have someone living at your place and creating a lot of chaos. You’ll probably have some issues with the main characters getting pushed around so much but it is fun to see Sheridan constantly bash everyone over and over again. The guy is quite committed to taking everyone down verbally to the point where you have to give him some credit. He is quite consistent with how he acts towards them.

The movie starts by introducing us to Sheridan who is a very important man. For publicity he will be having dinner with Ernest and his family although he is not happy about this. Sheridan doesn’t really like people and he doesn’t like anything that messes with his routine. Well, this dinner falls into both of those categories as reasons why he isn’t happy about it. Things get worse for him when he slips on their steps and breaks his hip. Now he must stay in their house for days as he tries to complete his business duties. Will the family continue to be overwhelmed in their own home or will they fight back?

Sheridan is a very entertaining antagonist and he really makes the movie. He never lets a minute slide where he isn’t insulting the cast with his actions or even just verbally. He has utter contempt for all of these guys since he believes he is above them. The only character he seems to care about at all is Maggie and that’s mainly just because he wants a consistent secretary so he doesn’t have to train a new one. Sheridan is a very selfish guy but it’s all so over the top that you can’t help but have fun with him. I’m telling you, the movie would not be the same without him at the helm. This guy’s great and he also has complete confidence in himself.

Whenever he’s concocting a plan, Sheridan knows that it will succeed. He also has quite a lot of allies to help him out in case things don’t go very well. One such character is a guy named Banjo who may be the craziest member of the whole cast. He isn’t crazy in a cool way though and I would consider him one of the weakest characters here. He certainly does have a lot of energy and adds to the insanity of it all but he’s one character that could have been toned down. Traumatizing the maid like that was mean spirited.

As for Maggie, she’s a solid main heroine. She is the only character who can keep up with Sheridan in terms of banter and even takes the edge sometimes. We see just how crucial she is to his success and has really done well for herself. Now that she is entering into the romance game that ultimately pits her against Sheridan. While the film shows that Sheridan will still win any match against an opponent, she puts up a really good fight here. Her cleverness and talent with making plans gets her far.

Bert is someone I didn’t like quite as much. See, my issue with him is how oblivious he is. An actress invites him to spend some time alone with her in a cabin to go over the script? He should have declined right away considering that he was seeing Maggie. Yes, he could have gone and made sure that everything was above board but the optics of that are awful. Especially with Maggie being so distressed and he acts like he has no idea why that could be. The whole thing hurt his character a whole lot.

As for Lorraine, well she is shown to be a character who will do whatever it takes in order to get her roles. She certainly isn’t afraid to admit this and has a lot of drive. The end to her character is rather intense here. You know she’ll be okay but I’d say a few bridges have certainly been burned by the end of this film. Out of all the characters though, Ernest and his family have to be the worst ones. They are actively bullied in their own home and don’t do anything about it.

Ernest’s two kids are quickly tricked by Sheridan and get themselves into trouble. Ernest’s wife ends up just trying to stay polite the whole time even as she is insulted and makes no move to defend herself. Then you have Ernest himself who just rolls over each time even when he is initially talking tough. That’s no way for the head of the household to be acting. Then when he finally makes a move he starts to get blackmailed? The guy should be ashamed of himself for ever letting it get this far. He should have made a stand right away. When Sheridan told everyone to vacate the first floor and use the back door exit he should have just said no and started reading the paper. Realistically there isn’t a whole lot that Sheridan could do about this.

That would have been amazing to have seen Ernest fight back like this. It would have changed the whole feel of the movie of course but I think this would have been the right direction. If you want to keep the events similar, just have Sheridan bribe a cop to arrest Sheridan or something and then you’ve still got the same scenario but now Ernest did fight back. It’s just almost hard to feel bad for Ernest with how he let everything go up in smokes like this.

The writing is good though and there is a lot of witty banter throughout. That’s where a good deal of the humor comes from and it’s all rather effective. The pacing is good too with a whole lot happening during the movie. You get to feel like it really has been a long time since Sheridan ended up staying at the house. The film also has a pretty solid ending which ends the movie off on the right tone. We’ll see if the characters handle things a bit differently next time.

Overall, The Man Who Came to Dinner is a very interesting comedy film. It’s all rather crazy like with how Sheridan invites murderers over for dinner and is obsessed with criminals in general. A murderer ends up being a part of a plot twist and there’s just always something happening. Whether you enjoy the film or not will completely depend on how much you enjoy Sheridan and how he pushes everyone around. I quite enjoyed that and also seeing how he’s built up quite a few friendships despite his gruff exterior. I doubt any of them would admit to being friends but it shows that even this cold lead needs someone to talk to.

Overall 7/10

Meet John Doe Review

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John Doe always seemed like a cool name. I don’t know the origins of how that became such a popular name to use as an alias but it is certainly catchy. The movie does a good job of showing how difficult it can be to uproot the political power around you. You can’t just try to rock the boat without an army or all the sides will get you. “John Doe” wasn’t prepared for this and you’ll have to see if he can adapt or not as the movie goes on.

The movie starts off with a newspaper deciding to fire a ton of its staff as it transitions into greater profit margins than ever before. Ann is upset by this and creates a fake suicide letter by a “John Doe” to stir things up. This plan works as the paper calls her back in and she convinces them to make this into a big story. They’ll take a random guy off the streets and have him play the part. He will say that he is going to jump off the building at Christmas Eve and in the meantime he’ll talk about society’s problems. They’ll then give this guy a train ticket out of town so that he isn’t spotted and the illusion doesn’t break. They find a guy who actually is named John and get him to play the part. John isn’t thrilled about it, but this seems to make a lot of people happy. Is he making a big mistake in sticking around here or will it all work out in the end?

Ann’s move at the beginning was certainly bold but it payed off so big props to her there. It’s sort of something that you would expect Lois Lane to pull off. Throughout the movie Ann has a solid role and really shapes John into the character he is supposed to be. Her mother gives her a lot of good advice too when it comes to making the speeches. By the end of the film one of the themes is that most people will ultimately submit to power and peer pressure though. Unfortunately Ann is no exception and it is far too late by the time she sees the light. She made a rather big mistake during the film which comes back to haunt her. Ann’s good scenes heavily outweigh her bad ones though so in the end she was a quality character.

The character I really liked here was The Colonel though. He spends the whole movie trying to warn John against the dangers of money and letting it make him weak. He’s certainly paranoid and off his rocker though. The Colonel’s points aren’t all necessarily wrong, he just takes them too far like saying how $50 will completely break John. The Colonel is all about freedom and would prefer to live under a bridge than to have a comfy bed and live in the lap of luxury. He is loyal though and no matter how tough he talks the entire time, you can always find him right next to John when trouble comes. The Colonel has also sacrificed quite a lot in order to help John based on what he said about having to push back his travel plans so often.

Henry was another standout character. He’s the editor of the newspaper and while he’s a tough man, he’s also a guy who likes to play fair. He fights for the common man and doesn’t like it when the politicians try to step on everybody. He’s done his best to keep the newspaper objective and towards the end of the film he is the first to suspect that something is not right here. Now, he does drink a lot which is a mistake since it means that he can’t focus on the issue at hand, but aside from that scene he does keep his cool for the most part. I’d say every character makes a mistake at some point or another here so that’s not terrible.

When it comes to John, well he takes a lot of convincing here. Considering that he was homeless and without a place to turn to before now, I kind of thought he would be a little more co-operative. He ditches the characters at a moment’s notice and it’s not until he’s directly confronted by all of the people that he has helped that John really buys into the program. It seems like he wasn’t truly understanding what he was even talking about in the speeches initially. He was only doing this in large part because he likes Anna lot. It’s not the greatest of motivations for a character but at least they are ones that make sense.

By the end of the film John is good but it takes him a long while to get there. He also comes close to making the wrong decision as well. I won’t criticize him for the speech since there was really nothing more he could have done there, but I would have liked him to have tried some different methods to stop corporate after that. He talked a really good game initially but it seems like he just didn’t have a lot of big plans after that.

Finally we have the main villain Norton. His scheme is rather ambitious as he aims to start a third political party which would knock the other two out. You can’t say that he dreams small, that’s for sure. That said, I see a lot of issues ultimately stopping him anyway. Even if John had gone along with his scheme, the movement would have likely died out midway through. Norton would learn the difference between having clubs as a hobby and then turning that into a political army. After all, all of the clubs had a role of no politicians so I don’t think they would all suddenly be tricked into becoming a fully fledged political army.

The movie does show the importance of being careful who your benefactors are. If someone’s paying for your clubs and memberships then that’s giving them a whole lot of power to use against you in the end. Something like that can and usually will end up going sideways. The movie is mainly laidback and relaxed but the ending does get rather intense. The film does a good job of building up the tension and it’s a well written adventure from start to finish. You’ll be feeling the intensity of the movie as well as the somber notes when things start to fall apart for everyone. Ultimately each character tends to act selfishly at times which continues to snowball into a bigger issue.

Overall, I liked this film. It’s a well written movie that is really interesting. The big meeting of the villains at the end was rather hype and almost felt out of place here with how diabolical everyone was. It helped paint a nice picture of the every day joe vs the world though. Some scenes may be a bit cheesy like how the clubs introduction to John felt a bit dragged out but it’s still a heart warming scene to see how they were all affected. As a few members pointed out, the overall message of knowing your neighbor is a sound one even if the movement at large ended up failing. Some members took it way too hard like the guy with a ton of signatures. You can see why they were upset though and perhaps caught in the moment but that’s why in a movement you need to agree with the idea and not the person at large. If you’re up for a classic film about politicians manipulating people behind the scenes, this is a really solid one to check out.

Overall 7/10

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year Review

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Hallmark has returned once again. This is a bit of an older Hallmark film and you can tell that it is quite a bit different from the newer ones. At least the ones I have seen thus far as this one has some action and a real sense of danger here. Things aren’t quite as happy the whole time although this is certainly still a feel good movie. It works rather well and I could call this one of the stronger Hallmark films. It’s not quite at the top but it has a lot of heart.

The movie starts with Christmas fast approaching and Jennifer is getting ready to pick up her uncle Ralph at the airport. It’s going to be a very nice Christmas celebration as her fiancé Richard is coming over and Jennifer will get to see his parents again. Ralph doesn’t seem crazy about Richard but he doesn’t seem like a bad guy either. Perhaps a bit stuffy but a decent fella. Well, things take a turn when Ralph bumps into a nice guy named Morgan at the airport and invites him over for Christmas. Is it time for Jennifer to trade guys?

I mean, it is obvious from the start that she is going to ditch Richard. The only question is, how quickly will she do this. Will this happen at the end of the film, Will Richard make a mistake or just lose out naturally? In this case I would say it’s a mix. Richard doesn’t do anything too obvious but there is one scene where his parents are making fun of Jennifer and he doesn’t stop them. It’s quick and the parents aren’t too exaggerated here, but I don’t care if it’s the thinnest insult out there, you have to defend your fiancé. After all, if you can’t trust your partner to help you out now then this whole thing is not going to work.

I know the film has to give Richard some bad quality so you don’t root for him in the end but each time I just wonder how the relationship even got this far. It’s interesting because I watched a film after this one with a similar romantic option where the “safe, nice guy” pick was the wrong one and that is the main critique Morgan gives here. Richard is just too basic and all of that. I never agree with that criticism though because I don’t see how that’s a bad thing. Like the joke of “Does he fold his clothes neatly” is seen as a bad thing. I suppose they would prefer a slob eh? So you don’t win any points by using that as an attack but Richard not defending Jennifer is enough for me to give him the thumbs down here.

I was just glad that the film had some restraint and didn’t make him out to be a total jerk or anything. He seems quite reasonable to me and of course it makes sense that he wouldn’t like Morgan since Morgan is trying to take his girl. Then you have Morgan who you know is doomed to be the main guy here. He is very quick to criticize Jennifer and her life choices like mailing out cards to everyone. She was right that this was real sudden considering they just met but he did apologize so that was good. On the whole Morgan’s a solid character and he does try really hard to help Jennifer get the toy for her son. He’s just a classic nice guy with no strings attached and so it all worked out for him.

That said, I would still say the romance here is weak because it’s a total rebound. Jennifer was a few days away from marrying Richard and suddenly she is completely together with Morgan? Yeah that’s just way too fast so I wasn’t buying into it. Beyond that Jennifer is rather mean in this film. She’s incredibly rude to her neighbor throughout the film and I didn’t think she deserved that. The neighbor is a little noisy and always talking but Jennifer just plays along which is only encouraging her. If Jennifer had told the neighbor she wanted the lights a certain way or something and the neighbor continued to pester her? Okay then that’s different but instead Jennifer is passive aggressive throughout the entire film which gets old really quickly. It just wasn’t deserved the whole time which is what hurts. By the end I like to think Jennifer is a nicer character…but I can’t be sure of that. There’s no real indication that she would be nicer to the neighbor since Morgan doesn’t like her either.

Finally we have Ralph and he’s a fun side character. He certainly has a preference for which guy Jennifer picks and does his best to run interference. He even plays a VHS to try and trick Jennifer at one point. His real standout scene is when he takes out some guy who tries to mug him though. Ralph doesn’t back down from a fight and clearly kept his combat skills even though he is retired. It had to be the most surprising scene in the film but in a very good way. That’s really how you get the job done. Ralph steals the show in this movie and is easily the standout character.

Every scene with him is a lot of fun. At the end of the day, that’s the core advantage that most Hallmark movies have. They’re just a lot of fun and really fly by in an instant. I wouldn’t say they have any big weaknesses and the character cast is always on point. You can feel the Christmas cheer here and the only thing the movie was missing was some Christmas cookies. We got a turkey which is a big subplot in the movie but a few desserts would have been nice to see too.

Overall, This movie’s a success and I would give it a thumbs up. If you’re looking for a good Christmas film to check out, you really can’t go wrong with this one. It ticks off all of the right boxes and just keeps the adventure rolling. The small fight scene we got at the beginning was fun and there’s even a scene later on where the main guy has to fight a store owner. Now, this moment is harder to cheer for since he’s basically taking out an innocent store owner. The guy was rather mean the whole time but Jennifer did arrive past her promised time at which he said that would be game over. By the end of the film your main message here is to always make your deadlines.

Overall 7/10

Fitzwilly Review

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Fitzwilly is a very odd name for a film and the poster is rather crazy. At least you really would have no idea what you were getting yourself into here. It’s really a fun heist film all in all. The writing is on point and the cast of characters is fun. There’s just a lot going on here and the story keeps on changing and adapting as you go through it. I would have been on board with a sequel for this one to be honest.

The movie starts with introducing us to Fitzwilliam and his team. He works for Victoria, an old lady who is super rich or at least that is what everyone believes. It turns out that Victoria is not rich as her father didn’t leave her much of anything when he died. Fitzwilliam and the rest of the hired help don’t want her to feel bad though so they go around stealing to make sure that she is able to live the wealthy lifestyle that she is used to. Is this dubious? Well yes of course but at least they are stealing for a noble cause. You may not be rooting for them but it makes for an interesting dynamic. Well, one day Victoria hires a new secretary only she went out of the usual families and picked someone up from the outside. Her name is Juliet and she could potentially ruin the entire scheme. Fitz needs to find a way to get her out of here and quick but can he do it before she figures out that something is not right here?

Right away you feel like this will be a good movie because it just has a very calm vibe to it. The writing is fun and the pacing is on point. You immediately understand how all of the characters operate. Yes they’re crooks and I have doubts on whether they are really as generous as they appear to be at times. I’m sure they pocket some of the money for their own ends as well. Still, they don’t actually go around hurting anybody and steal from people so rich that they won’t miss the money much. It doesn’t mean you’ll be rooting for them because you shouldn’t be, but as they are not hurting anyone, it’s still entertaining to follow them on their quest.

Fitz is really a pro at this and it must have taken a long time to balance out his daily life along with his criminal empire. The guy even has time to always create an alibi for himself. The only time he seriously messes up is in letting Juliet stay. It’s a case of outsmarting himself where he was thinking of how this could really improve his position even more but erasing her doubts but the risks really outweighed the benefits this time around. She could have messed things up for them in dozens of different ways.

I do like Juliet quite a bit as the main heroine though. Initially she appears to have a strong sense of justice but then we learn her sense of romance is stronger. Yes, it’s a questionable moment for her but at the same time it was such a different reaction. I was expecting drama, running to the cops, and things like that but her actual response to his criminal empire is different than I had expected. She ends up having a really solid role here and the film just wouldn’t have the same level of danger without her.

Victoria is rather oblivious to everything but she means well. It would be a little hard to guess that she isn’t rich after a while though with the staff taking such great methods to keep her in the dark. I still feel like she should have known at some point though like checking her bank account. It’s the one….okay one of the many downsides of letting someone manage every part of your estate like that. She trusts Fitz a whole lot but as a result doesn’t even check over his work. I should think you would want to do an audit at some point. She keeps herself busy all the time though and that’s good since it means she won’t be bored.

Fitz has a lot of helpers but the only one that stands out in a bad way is Albert. This guy’s the easiest to crack when the going gets tough and he makes a really poor decision in the climax. There are just so many ways he could have handled that a lot better and it would have enhanced his character. Instead I would call his final move selfish rather than heroic and it simply isn’t a good look. In a way I had more respect for the rest of the staff who were on the take but weren’t dancing across the line so much. They knew where they stood and wouldn’t budge.

As I kind of hinted earlier, the romance is a bit on the weak side here though. It happens awfully fast all things considered and you feel like it shouldn’t work. Fitz started this whole thing as an act to push her away and so he’s not acting great throughout their dinner but Juliet doesn’t notice and the whole thing goes smoothly. Ultimately she falls for him anyway. The only part of the romance I do like is how she has his back right away after that since it’s fair to say that she knew the stakes once they were together but keeping the cat and mouse game a little longer would have been fun.

Where the film really shines is with the big mall scene at the end. The rest of the film was really fun and engaging too but this is the exciting climax that lives up to the build up. There’s a whole lot going on here and you have security getting involved as well. You couldn’t ask for a whole lot more than that here and Fitz’s plan was rock solid. It was really quite clever and while the film is part comedy so things are exaggerated, you can see this working to an extent. It’s really not a bad idea and when you have as many contacts as Fitz has, well that ends up helping out even more.

Overall, Fitzwilly is a really fun film. It’s one of those old time classics that will always age well because the writing/dialogue is strong and the movie has a good sense of humor. The characters are all written well and the movie doesn’t drag on for a minute. You’ll even get worried for the poor guy in Florida who is being pulled around by Fitz the whole time. Most of the movie wouldn’t have happened if Fitz didn’t make the big mistake of hiring Juliet in the beginning, but it shows that even someone as prepared as Fitz can make a mistake sometimes. It adds to the challenge and you’ll have a satisfying time watching this movie all the way to the end.

Overall 7/10

Christmas Carol (1938) Review

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Time for another Christmas Carol adventure. This is one of the earlier ones from 1938 and is definitely still a classic. The story has aged well even if Scrooge himself can be a bit cheesy with the quick turnaround here. Of course he does have to turn good sooner or later so might as well have this occur early on. It’s easy to see why the story got so big as it’s a well rounded adventure.

The movie starts off with Fred getting ready to visit his Uncle Scrooge. Scrooge isn’t big on Christmas though and is still being rather rude to everyone. He has earned himself quite the reputation so everyone knows to avoid Scrooge. Fred is unable to convince Scrooge to come over for Christmas so he heads on home. Scrooge fired his assistant Bob on Christmas Eve which shows just how cruel he can be. Well, 3 ghosts have appeared and they are going to show Scrooge the past, present, and future in order to get him back into Christmas shape. Will Scrooge see the light or will he keep yelling Humbug?

The cast is fairly small here so each character gets a good amount of development. You can quickly see each of their personalities from the jump and that provides all the context you need for the story. Like Fred is instantly shown to be a really happy guy who loves Christmas. That’s who he is and makes for a great foil to Scrooge. It’s clear that Fred is someone who will be having a lot of fun all of the time and his family was certainly doing well too with their party.

Then you have Bob who is an honest worker and is just trying to make enough money to pay the bills. It seems like there aren’t a whole lot of jobs in this town given that the only option was to work for Scrooge. I would say Bob is extremely timid but when you absolutely need a job and there no union at the ready, it’s understandable that he would be walking on eggshells the whole time. It’s a shame that he had to get canned on Christmas Eve just for having a bit of fun.

As for Scrooge, well he is the ultimate Penny pincher. The guy is as rich as can be but he still doesn’t want to pay a living wage and won’t even put wood in the fireplace to keep it warm. Scrooge even goes as far as to completely shun the people trying to raise money for the poor. Scrooge is doing his best to play the role of the Grinch and ruin Christmas but that’s when the 3 ghosts come in. They try all of the routines, being nice, scaring Scrooge into submission, or even letting him feel like he’s in control.

Before the 3 ghosts though we do get to see good ole Marley. He’s always an interesting character because he was also a very successful businessman but someone who was also generous. Somehow Scrooge didn’t even know about this so I feel like Marley must have been exceptional at business for this not to have been apparent. Still, it didn’t go very well for him since he was in chains. Was he just not good enough? In a lot of Christmas Carol versions he was shown to be just as bad as Scrooge so it made sense why he was shacked and trying to tell Scrooge not to make the same mistakes. In this version he seemed decent from the start but maybe he was still stingy to an extent and that was his downfall. It’s a small thing but something to think about.

The first ghost is the nice one who shows him the past. She has good speed and reaction times with how she was able to teleport away from his grab in the end. From the 3 visions the first is never as strong as the other two since the first is about his childhood days. Not a lot going on there but we do see how he managed to push everyone away. If he had just gone to play with the other kids then it could have been all good but I don’t think that was possible for a kid his age.

Then we have the second ghost who is the father of many. He has a lot of fun mind controlling the people which is always a bit iffy. It’s why you rarely see heroes using mind control since even using it for the right reasons seems like a bit much. You’ll never know which characters are being good or mind controlled. Nice enough guy though and by this point Scrooge had totally bought in to the spirit of Christmas. You feel like the third ghost didn’t even need to appear but I guess you might as well go for the full combo at that point.

Finally we get to the last ghost who isn’t very talkative. It’s rather late by this point so the ghost probably wanted to get this done and head out. We see the bleak futures of what could be if Scrooge had stayed in his ways. He certainly would have left quite a lot of loss in his wake. It shows how powerfully rich he was in the end. With his fortune he could really make a difference in the town.

The Christmas Carol is a fun film with good pacing and writing. There aren’t any real weaknesses to the story so you should have a good time even if you have seen the story told many times before. In this particular version it felt like Scrooge turned good a little too quickly which would be my only note. It just made the third ghost feel a bit unnecessary which I don’t think was the intention. Usually you want all 3 to play a good role.

Overall, A Christmas Carol is as good a story as it ever was. You get to see what a town experience may have looked like so many years ago and the cast is enjoyable to watch. It would be quite exciting if you could visit your own past as a sort of “Greatest Hits” montage. I could probably go without seeing the future though to avoid any time loops. You never know what ripple effects you might end up creating which will just cause a whole lot of trouble. If you haven’t seen this one yet then it’s worth checking out. Of course there are so many different versions which are all usually solid so you don’t really have to watch this one in particular.

Overall 7/10

The Nine Kittens of Christmas Review

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Hallmark returns with another big Christmas title. This one’s even a sequel to one of their earlier Christmas titles which is pretty neat. You definitely don’t see sequels like that very often. I don’t think it quite takes down the original but it’s fun to see the characters again. It’s hard to buy into them breaking up the way that they did but I suppose the film wanted to get some drama in somehow.

The movie starts off with Marilee getting ready to take a trip back home. She moves away after breaking up with Zachary and found a new man to love. In fact they are quite close to being married but he is unable to make it for this vacation and we find out this is not the first time they had to have a change of plans. Marilee breaks off their relationship and goes back home by herself. It’s all going well until she runs into her ex: Zachary. It turns out that he never rebounded with anyone once she left so maybe Marilee can get him once more. Will the two be together for Christmas and is there any reason we should think this will last this time?

Now the movie is a solid one as you’d expect with Hallmark titles but the romance has to be one of the weakest ones. Because the main characters have already broken up once you just feel a bit more jaded this time around. Clearly Marilee moved on quickly since she was getting ready to marry someone. Rebounds will always weaken a romance for me because you just have a lot of doubts here. You know that this wasn’t the first pick so it doesn’t feel as genuine. As the romance plays a big part in the film here, you can see how that hurts the movie a bit. You know where it is going from the start but you’re just not able to get on board.

The reasons for why Marilee and Zachary are kept rather vague too. It seems like Zachary was not ready for the big changes that Marilee wanted and so they drifted apart. It doesn’t seem like either one tried very hard to get the other back either. Ah well, at least both of them have found success on their own. Marilee became quite accomplished in her field of pet care and Zachary is next in line to be the chief. Both of them stuck to their guns and have done rather well.

Marilee’s a good main character who always wants to help people out. She’ll go the extra mile to ensure that the animals are well taken care of and won’t back down. Zachary’s a nice guy who can’t leave a kitten in need and is also super humble so he’s not sure if he’s ready to be a big boss. Both characters are solid even if a bit one dimensional so they work well in leading the movie. Then you have the current fire chief Sam who has really done a good job all these years. It’s clear that he has done well by the community and so it’s about time he lets himself retire.

The movie goes by really quick so the pacing is on point. I guess it just feels a bit emptier compared to some of the others. There really isn’t a big ordeal to overcome or any real big obstacles. There’s no rival, barely even any misunderstandings. I suppose the focus here is just on seeing the two get back together but otherwise it feels a bit more uneventful. This realization hits you a lot harder once the film is over though so during it you should be good. We get some Christmas music and all which is always a good thing.

At the end of the day there isn’t really anything bad about the film which is always important. It’s just a fun Christmas film to get you into the festive spirit. You can probably watch this at any time but doing it around Christmas will end up boosting the experience a bit. The kittens are nice enough as well. I’m definitely way more of a dog person so seeing a bunch of puppies around would have been cool but the kittens help get the characters back together which is important. Without them the heroes would not have made nearly as much ground considering how easy it is to push them apart.

Low key I have to give the heroine’s friends some credit here. Initially when they aren’t sure if Zachary would be a good match right now, they have Marilee’s back at all times. Whether it’s awkwardly asking if she wants to shop with them as a way to get away from Zachary or just standing by her, it was nice to see the loyalty here. It’s always good to have quality friends at the ready and Marilee’s friends were good.

Overall, There isn’t a ton to talk about in this film. It really doesn’t have a big plot or anything like that, it’s just a fun Christmas story with a lot of drama and some romance. I didn’t buy into the romance angle but beyond that the movie is strong on all sides so I’d recommend giving it a watch. There may not be a whole lot to discuss but you’ll have a good time and that’s the important thing in the end. Now that we have one sequel, hopefully they make a second so we can just turn this into a full trilogy.

Overall 7/10

A Kiss Before Christmas Review

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The Hallmark channel has always had a great record when it comes to churning out solid Christmas films. This one is no different and makes for a good experience from start to finish. The film has good pacing, writing, and just ends on the right note. If anything the only element this film lacked was more Christmas snacks since the films usually give that quite the spotlight. Maybe next time and either way as long as the story is good that’s more of a bonus anyway.

The movie introduces us to Ethan who has always done things the right way while he watches his colleague Doyle take shortcuts at every opportunity. Ethan has always been proud of who he is, but lately he feels like he made the wrong choice by being a good person. He’s been stuck in the same job for 10 years while Doyle continues to move up and Ethan’s house is even super beat up. The last straw is when he makes a deal with a nearby newsstand owner instead of chasing her off the property. Now his promotion may be in jeopardy. In a moment of weakness Ethan makes a wish to go back to the moment in time when he first made the good guy move and instead to make the wrong one. Well Santa decides to humor him and so Ethan wakes up in this new world. In this world Ethan is super rich and is even the co-owner of the company. Ethan’s convinced that his life is now perfect and this shows that he made the right call all along. Is he right though?

Of course it’s nice to be rich but since Ethan met his wife on the elevator since he skipped the first one, this new timeline means they never met. That also means he never adopted the two kids and they are still at the orphanage currently. So Ethan’s new status came at a big price. Of course the moral here is to do the right thing and he should go back to his family. It’s a good moral although I almost feel like Ethan could have had his cake and ate it too in the end.

So in this film Ethan is unable to go back to the main timeline until he lives this period out through Christmas and discovers what he is lacking. At that point he will lose his memories of the old life although he keeps his new personality based on what we see. During the course of the movie he is able to win over his wife Joyce once again to the point where they are going out. So if he stays in this world he can still end up marrying her only this time he is rich and she got the degree that she wanted.

In this timeline her mother seemingly never got injured either. So the only loss here is that the kids are adopted by someone else already although their parents are clearly good people so at least there’s that. They still have a good life ahead of them and now Ethan can use his newfound money and power to make the city a better place. It’s a rather tempting offer to stay in the new world and enjoy it. Ethan will also get his memories of the new timeline back presumably which should help him not have to bluff everything anymore. He would have lost around 13 years of events from his family life though and he can’t get those back.

So it’s an interesting idea but of course it makes sense why he would want to go back. It also makes for a fun ending as we’ll see if everyone believes in his new story or if they think he just went crazy or was having a dream. All of those options are fairly reasonable since believing in a magic Santa would be tough. Also, he will have a more difficult time proving it since in the new world he could at least mention things he shouldn’t know. In this world though? Not really an easily solution like that.

Ethan was a fun character throughout. He did a good job of being a leader and really made everyone around him better. Then you have Joyce who was good in both continuities. As a lawyer she did a good job standing up for the youth center and ultimately pushing through until she could claim victory. Rona was the big boss in the original dimension and she’s a nice character. Ultimately she became really successful on her own and while she may have overlooked some dealings beneath her, she was someone who would look out for the little guy. She really came in clutch during the climax of the film since the heroes were nearly defeated. That said, it was a big mistake on Ethan’s part to forget that he was rich in this world.

Finally you have Doyle who serves as the main villain in this film. He’s an absolutely ruthless business man who will cut any corners and pressure anyone if it means that he gets his way. In a way Doyle seemed to even have more power than Ethan despite being co-owners. It was fun seeing Ethan pull a fast one on him during their TV appearance though. I was glad Doyle didn’t get off too easy here since he really did cause a lot of damage and destruction the whole time.

Of course we get some fun Christmas songs here as well. The soundtrack is on point and there’s also a lot of nice scenery. It makes for a very pleasant watch. The writing is good like you would expect and the movie really flies on by. Ethan has to overcome his own issues by the end of the film but you never feel like any character goes too far. The closest the film goes to having pointless drama is when Doyle nearly tricks Joyce into turning on Ethan. Fortunately that didn’t work but if it had that would have felt like a bit much because there’s no reason to trust Doyle at this point.

Overall, A Kiss Before Christmas is definitely a solid movie. It’s definitely a fun one to watch as you get close to Christmas. I have to say that Santa didn’t seem very heroic in this film though. At one point he starts messing with Ethan’s mind even before the Christmas deadline has appeared. That felt like he was hitting way below the belt since that’s not supposed to have happened to soon. Fortunately his attempt did not work but the characters should definitely be careful around him.

Overall 7/10

American Made Review

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This review is of the edited TV-14 version of the film below. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version may be more negative

American Made is an interesting film about trying to play all of the sides for as long as you can. Ultimately this will pretty much always lead to ruin so the movie’s really about seeing how far he can go with this. The film is based on a true story but loose enough where I figure I’ll still do a review here. It would have definitely been something if all of this had really happened.

The movie starts off by showing us that Barry is already in the illegal business of smuggling cigars to people while on his flights. This catches the CIA’s attention and they remind him that stealing and smuggling is okay as long as it’s for the good guys. They will pay him poorly to smuggle a lot of things for them. Barry accepts although it’s not like he has much of a choice. When he arrives at the gang hideout with the items, they convince him to start smuggling for them. Why not right? Then the DEA wants a piece of the action and before you know it Barry is working for all of the good guys and bad guys. It’s going to be rather difficult to get out of this predicament.

Barry’s a charismatic guy and that’s really how he has lasted so long in this rough business. as always it is a matter of time before someone catches you when you’re cutting corners and committing crimes but he would have been caught sooner if he wasn’t so smooth. At the end of the day he just really wants to be rich and doesn’t even hide the money all that well. When he starts raking in the cash there is so much money that it’s flooding the house, the family gets a super big house, a pool, etc. Barry likes to live large and in charge that’s for sure.

He’s a fun lead even if he isn’t heroic. That’s good since a film like this really needs a good lead as otherwise you would run the risk of this guy not being sympathetic at all or just rooting for him to get taken down already. As it stands, you’re invested in what is going on here. The cast is rather small though. I mean there are quite a lot of side characters but for the main ones it is relatively self contained. You’ve for Barry’s wife Lucy who isn’t really thrilled at all the secrecy initially. It’s not like Barry told her about his new job at the CIA so when he just vanishes like that it isn’t easy on her.

In one scene she even throws away all the food he brought home. It’s an emotional moment of course but I always feel bad when that much food is tossed aside. It had to be a lot of work to get that and you can’t let good food go to waste like that right? I dunno, I thought the food could have at least been saved. Otherwise Lucy takes it all in stride once Barry actually explains things. She cracks a bit near the end with the jewelry but lasted well for most of the journey.

Her brother JB is one of the most annoying characters in the film though. He’s just here to complain and get a free lunch. He doesn’t contribute at all and makes the worst decisions possible. You definitely know he’s doomed by the end as he starts creating a lot of scenes and even attempts some blackmail. Game over JB, that’s the match.

Barry’s boss Schafer was fun though. He may seem rather slippery and untrustworthy but from the start you get the feeling that he will act as if he has no knowledge of Barry if things go sideways. I would say it’s one of those things that is just understood. Naturally he also gets to take the credit so Schafer really has it easy here. At the end of the day he never has to go into the field or take any of the risks. All he has to do is claim the spoils at the end. It’s a really good setup.

As for the two main weapon/drug dealers who worked with Barry, they seemed nice enough. Of course you never quite forget that they are villains. It’s one of those things where they don’t act overtly evil but just knowing what they are doing shows that they aren’t exactly the good guys here. That pretty much wraps up the cast, it’s a fun group of characters I’d say. Definitely couldn’t consider any of them to be weak ones.

Another good aspect of the film is that the movie balances the humor and serious moments rather well. There are quite a few scenes that should at least have you crack a smile. Barry coming prepared with the Baseball bat after being robbed the first time was definitely a solid scene. Even when things aren’t going well for Barry there’s always a humorous undertone surrounding the movie. It was executed quite well and the movie already had good pacing as it was. Throw in the solid writing and a film that could have easily been more on the dull side ended up being a lot more interesting.

Overall, American Made was better than I expected it to be. I wouldn’t say it had any serious weak points to it. It’s not like I would say the movie is great or anything but there wasn’t a point during the experience when I was bored. It just passes on by rather quickly and you should be satisfied at the end of it. I think in some ways the movie could have gone a little more all out with how crazy it could be if it wasn’t trying to be based off of a true story though. The ending was rather intense though and it does seem like the gang has a whole lot of influence. Even the whole thing with the courts felt like it was rigged for Barry to fail.

Overall 7/10