Tag Archives: Christmas

One Christmas Eve Review

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It’s time for one of those classic Hallmark films and this one definitely gets intense as someone even pulls out a gun. I wasn’t expecting that so it really showed that this would be a different experience. It makes for a fun title and has a good amount of humor in it. The romance may not hold its own as well as some of the others but the story still keeps it all afloat.

The film starts off with Reggie finishing up a tough shift at work only to find that someone left a puppy outside. He can’t leave it alone but doesn’t really want to spend the effort and time of taking care of it. So he aims to leave it outside the door of a random person but he trips on the ice and breaks his leg. The lady named Nell showed up and helps him but now she’s stuck with the dog and taking care of this guy. She takes him to the hospital but then one of her kids falls in a trap and gets injured. Could it be that the dog is somehow causing them all bad luck?

You could say that the whole film is basically a long string of bad luck after bad luck for all of the characters. They just can’t escape it and gradually the group gets larger as this also includes a night watchmen/security guy who gets in trouble as well. All they want is to enjoy a nice Christmas but the goal gets farther and farther away. This even includes a house burning down so the characters really go through a whole lot here. The film does a good job of keeping the bad things funny without it ever getting too mean spirited though.

This is a happy/wholesome Christmas film first and foremost though. That said, it is also why there would really be no shot at a romance here. After the crazy day that Nell had and how it’s basically 90% Cesar’s fault you don’t really forget that. Nell’s a solid heroine though as she always tries to do the right thing and didn’t just ditch Cesar immediately. She was definitely verrrrry reluctant for a while there but ultimately did things with a good nature.

Her kids were a little more on the annoying side since they didn’t contribute much. The daughter was really bad at singing and didn’t seem to be making much of an effort to improve her skills. The son was busy falling into holes and getting into trouble which didn’t help anybody. Cesar is a character who has his whole character arc and everything but ultimately I wouldn’t say he was a great character. You have to wonder if he really changed or if he’s just nicer now since he likes Nell but otherwise is the same person on the inside. The whole thing with leaving the dog on the front porch like that is super hard to get away from.

I’d say Reggie was easily the most entertaining character. He always had a good one liner for the occasion and he’s a quick study. He went from just knowing a few lines in Spanish to knowing quite a bit during the latter part of the film. The guy also handled being held at gunpoint rather well compared to the rest of the characters who would have probably been panicking a whole lot. The movie did a super good job with the music and atmosphere for that moment too. You could feel the danger.

Then we have Dr. Chen who is another solid character. He was ready to support the heroes as needed even while the nurse was trying to rush them out. He had a lot more common sense and wasn’t just going to be pushed around. It’s always good to have a friendly face out there because otherwise the heroes were really going to be on their own. The film tries to have the nurse suddenly be a little more friendly during the climax but it definitely didn’t work out so well. It was too little too late as they say.

Because the characters are always moving it also makes the plot feel pretty expansive. It already had more main characters than the average film so it was nice to see them all pal up and everything. A film like this is only as good as its writing o fortunately the film didn’t falter there. You could tell that most of the characters were still good people and so that was the same as usual except they just weren’t immune from the bad luck. Like we had a moment where a guy comes over to help tow their car and naturally it goes terribly. Usually that would have instantly been the solution but not here.

I like the idea of a dog that brings bad luck as well. It makes you face a difficult dilemma because the dog himself is quite innocent but it’s not a super comforting thought because you are going to be experiencing the bad luck either way. I was glad that the characters don’t take it out on the dog either. Reggie for example is quick to defend the dog when the nurse tells him to take it outside. He wasn’t about to obey that order and that’s a good thing because it would have absolutely tanked his character!

Overall, One Christmas Eve is a pretty fun film. It doesn’t feel quite as much like most other Hallmark movies since there is so much travelling and running around instead of staying in one place but it still has the right vibes. You’ll have a good time watching the movie which is the most important part as well. The writing is solid and the pacing is good so there aren’t really any issues. If you’re up for a film about how a bunch of strangers all band together to support each other during the holidays, then this is the title for you!

Overall 7/10

The Legend of Frosty the Snowman Review

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It’s time for Frosty The Snowman to return to action but I can tell you that he is playing for keeps here. This time Frosty is the one breaking the rules and trying to get everyone to follow along. The Mayor will need to stop him but doing so may end up breaking all of his relationships. This time there will be no easy winners.

The movie starts by introducing us to a small town that is ruled by Tinkerton. Everybody is taught to follow the rules quite strictly from the start and then from there they grow up to be law abiding citizens. The main catch is that they have given up most of their free will in order to achieve this to the point where everybody is like a zombie. They must all repress their emotions and creativity. Well Frosty has decided to end this and so he starts appearing to some of the kids in town to lead them down the dark path. In the meantime the mayor’s right hand man figures this is his time to take over the village.

There’s quite a lot to unpack here but the main thing about this film is that it is absolutely insane. It is not trying to be all that realistic like the older films. Instead it’s really leaning into how the world could turn into a dystopia some day just by following the rules. The fact that everybody listens to the mayor is really quite telling and you wonder just how long it has been like this. Years, Decades? We know that at least when the mayor was a kid things seemed to be normal based on the book but that’s still more of an assumption I suppose.

The fact that there is a book that shows events of the future is another crazy thing. The inner mechanics of the book are never fully explained but it seems to show you the knowledge that you need in the moment. The best character here was the mayor because of how absolutely busted he was. The guy had more tears to shed about his clipboard than about his own sons. He was absolutely drunk with power and yet he is able to let it go a lot easier than you would expect. He becomes a completely broken man without the clipboard and then we learn that he has been gaslighting himself for years into thinking that Frosty wasn’t real.

I would say in some ways it feels like South Park or Family Guy where the characters can be rather cruel to each other but then this is still obviously aimed at kids. It just makes for a crazy experience where it’s like you’re watching a parody. It succeeds in the most important aspect which is that the film is absolutely hilarious! You’ll definitely be cracking up with the movie the whole time even when that may not have been the overall intent. Characters change personalities on a dime and keep getting in each other’s way but that just increases your enjoyment of the madness.

Pankley is probably the weak point of the film if I have to pick one. It’s more of a by default pick since he still made for a good villain but he’s playing the role a lot straighter than the rest. He doesn’t have to act like a parody because compared to the others you could see him working as a standard villain. The pettiness of his goal is definitely impressive though. This guy never gave up and he nearly succeeded in his master plans. He just got a little sloppy at the end.

Tommy was okay but also mishandled most of his moments. He should have managed to get close to the kids to either prove he wasn’t a snitch, or to become one and make his dad proud. Instead he sort of does neither and fades in the background. The kids all avoid him completely as soon as he got the #1 sticker so it really wasn’t his day. I was definitely expecting that he would do a whole lot better.

Frosty is definitely not as heroic as in previous versions of the character. He’s not singing about good morals and things like that. Instead he’s mainly just messing around and gets sloppy by falling into the villain’s trap. You’d think that freezing water wouldn’t be the most effective thing against him but my guy Frosty folds immediately. He definitely needed some more power because this version of him just felt really weak the whole time.

All of the kids have fairly significant shortcomings the whole time though so it’s not like Timmy is on his own here. You have one kid who gets really selfish and wants Frosty all to himself. Not a very cool thing to do and so it’s easy for him to get manipulated. Then you have the girl who is rather rude to Timmy for no reason until the time skip ending. I know that he was terrible at making conversation but he wasn’t even breaking the rules at that point. There’s his brother who was a bully from the start but gradually got nicer. At least he had full agency the whole time.

In a town where everyone has their personalities suppressed, I suppose they’re all on eggshells. The characters being this flawed is part of what makes the film so much fun though. You’ve really just got to see it, it’s hard to do the whole scenario justice without you seeing it first hand. Even the animation is really crazy with the characters going on and off model the whole time. The character designs are poor to start with so the blend is crazy. The soundtrack is fairly weak. So you’re really here for the writing which is what hard carries the film. There ae just so many great moments here and a clever Youtuber could have a field day making an abridged version or just poking fun at it. For my money, this is a film with a tremendous amount of replay value. It’s certainly short enough to keep on rewatching it anyway and it’s just good high quality fun.

Overall, The Legend of Frosty the Snowman is definitely a really solid film. It may not have the heart of some of the old Frosty titles but this one is just having a lot of fun. You have to imagine the writers were grinning the whole time as they made this one. It’s definitely got much more of a comedic flair than the previous films but again it just works really well! It’s not like the laughs come out of nowhere or anything like that. It’s all balanced towards a grand goal and I expect it’ll be a hit for anyone looking for a fun time watching their Christmas flicks this year.

Overall 7/10

Silver Bells Review

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It’s time for a whole lot of drama here. Silver Bells is one of those films that brings in the Christmas cheer but also puts the characters through a lot before that. It may not be able to take down some of the classic Hallmark titles but there’s a good amount to enjoy here. It’s always fun to see the big city after all and the writing is solid. The length is also fairly short so the movie really flies on by.

The movie starts off with introducing us to Christy and the family as they sell Christmas trees for a living. It’s been a really good family business but unfortunately Danny is not very satisfied with this arrangement. He’s always felt that he could do a lot more with his life and his passion is in photography. One day he runs away and vanishes. 1 year later, Christy has come to the city again and he is determined to find Danny but is the kid even still okay after all this time?

From the jump I can say that Danny didn’t handle things well. I get wanting to do his own thing and all but the way he handled it was absolutely dangerous and irresponsible. It’s completely possible that things could have gone badly here. If anything that would be the most likely outcome and he just got lucky a bunch of times. While the film makes it clear that Christy wanted Danny to follow in the family business, at no point did I get the impression that he would be violently against it.

I believe if Danny had built up to this long enough then he would have been okay. Instead he actively makes things harder on Christy like when he ran off to take pictures during one of their really busy days. He just felt really selfish the whole time and unfortunately he is also not very good at hiding his tracks. A lady named Catherine decides to help him out and he gets real close to putting her career in jeopardy many times. He leaves snacks lying around, the computer open, forgets to lock doors or close windows, etc. You wonder how he could have really lasted a year.

Also I know he was proud of his photos and remaining a mystery but the fact that he wouldn’t even tell Catherine the answer to where his big photo was taken is crazy. She could have easily been fired and then there would be no more connections for him. In short, I was not a big fan of Danny here, I thought he made too many blunders.

I also didn’t care much for Christy. He definitely made a mistake with how he handled Danny’s wanting to skip on the opera show but beyond that at least he did a good job in finding him. My main problem is with how dismissive he is of Catherine by the end and how quick he is to turn on her. That was an absolutely terrible look and it definitely made it so that you could not root for the romance in the end. The whole climax feels very unbelievable as a result and you will just be shaking your head. It doesn’t feel very plausible and even if it’s going for an unrealistic view, you’re actually hoping that it won’t work out.

As for Catherine, she’s one of the better characters here. You don’t see how she could possibly like Christy after everything they’ve been through though. Catherine is good at her job and doesn’t let herself get distracted too easily. She’s exactly the kind of worker you want to have in your company because she will give it 110%. Manipulating Christy in order for Danny to see his sister was definitely on the underhanded side but she was in a sticky situation.

I also liked corporate here. The son of the CEO is a pretty big character and he is forced into the role of the antagonist due to what’s going on here but he is very reasonable. Look, if someone is constantly breaking into your company and sneaking around then you have to do something about it right? Made perfect sense to me and even then he tried to de-escalate at every turn. I don’t think there is much more you can ask for him. His final emotional scenes were maybe a bit heavy handed though. That subplot about wanting approval from his father felt rather random.

His father also made for a good CEO. He cared about making a difference and seeing the long term vision instead of the immediate bottom line. That is absolutely the way to go here. It’s clear that the company is in good hands. The movie does a good job of fleshing out the world pretty well beyond the immediate main characters. I’d even say I probably cared more about the city and Catherine’s project than with the drama about Christy and the others. Maybe it’s because Danny felt so petty and Christy had his moments as well. They weren’t the best pair of main characters.

His little sister Bridget was okay but doesn’t really contribute much to the adventure. The only main weakness here is the romance like I said before. The film gives too many reasons for the main pairing to despise each other rather than falling in love. It felt pretty bold for Christy to even show his face at the party in the end. Catherine’s friend was definitely a bad influence with how hard she kept trying to make this happen though. That was going a little too far if you ask me.

Overall, Silver Bells is a pretty good film. It may not be an absolute top tier but I had a good time with it and it fits right in with the Christmas themes. You know right from the jump that you will be in for a fun time with lots of fun visuals and a wholesome ending. That’s the main appeal of these films after all, even after things get rocky for the cast, you know it’ll all end up well in the end.

Overall 6/10

November Christmas Review

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It’s time for one of the more emotional Christmas experiences. This one keeps you at the edge of your seat the whole time as you wonder what will happen to the main character….or does it? The movie unfortunately makes the massive mistake of spoiling the entire point of the film in the intro scene by having a fast forward. It’s still one of the craziest kinds of decisions no matter how often I see it. I mean it doesn’t happen often but it shouldn’t happen at all. In a way you’re better off skipping the first 10-15 minutes here.

So ignoring that, the film starts off by introducing us to Tom and Beth who have two kids. Unfortunately their daughter Vanessa is incredibly sick and the treatments have not worked so far. It seems likely that she will be dying soon and so Tom has the idea of celebrating every holiday early so that Vanessa will get to experience them one last time. This is a very unusual plan but Beth gives in and they decide to go for it. It’s time for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Is it possible that they will be getting a Christmas miracle at the end?

Naturally it’s an incredibly difficult situation to deal with when you have a sick kid like this. Tom and Beth are both trying to stay strong throughout the circumstances but they have different ways of handling it. Beth figures that Vanessa should really be isolated and kept away from anything requiring effort so that she can heal better. Meanwhile Tom wants her to have fun and encourages her to move around in order to build up some strength. Due to this there is some fighting initially.

I tend to be more on Tom’s side so I felt lie Beth was being unreasonable but it’s not a large part of the film. They both have to team up once the holidays part comes into play and from then on it is pretty smooth. I was glad about that because if we had a subplot about them fighting, that would have been pretty rough. The film is dramatic enough without any of that after all. I also think the idea of the early holidays is really fantastic too. No reason you can’t just celebrate early and whether it looks weird or not, it’s certainly worth it in case Vanessa does die.

We also have a subplot where the nearby farmer Jess shows up to help. He noticed a connection in all of Tom’s questions and decided to put his best foot forward. He even mended his relationship with his best friend. There’s a lot more drama there but basically Jess had a death of his own to think about and so he wasn’t around for his friend during a tough period. You sot of feel like the friend could have been more understanding there but we don’t know the exact context of how it all went down. Meanwhile the friend has a new girlfriend after his wife died and I didn’t think we needed a rebound romance in this film. Focusing on the main plot is good enough for me.

As always it was fun to see the strong sense of community spirit that you always see in these Hallmark type films. Everyone pitched in to help once they knew the situation with Vanessa and so she had a lot of support. It’s always nice to imagine a town where everybody knows each other and they plan evens and things like that. If you’re introverted it’s probably a nightmare but otherwise it’s like something is always going on.

This one can be a little relentless with how sad it is the whole time. Part of me thinks that is why they spoiled the final outcome in the beginning of the movie so that people wouldn’t be too on edge the whole time. I get it but I do think that it weakens the impact for that very reason. You have to commit at that point and just go all in. I’m a bigger fan of happy films generally but if you handle the tone and ending right, a somber one can work too.

The ending was ultimately satisfying here so it ended up working out. It’s no exaggeration to say that the ending could have swung the film 2-3 stars in a single move depending on how it went. So this is a complete experience and has good writing throughout. It’s more of a holiday merge as opposed to a full Christmas film but it works well for each of them. The writing is pretty good and as always the film’s length is pretty short. That means there isn’t a ton of time for fluff or any of that. Instead the film really dives into the heart of things right away.

The only plot that seemed really out of nowhere with no reason to be included was the rebellious nice and her uncle at the cafe. She was basically rebelling and wanted to be a good artist instead of waiting tables. She comes off as very irresponsible the whole time especially once we learn about her backstory and how he came through for her when nobody else did. The film never paints him as being unreasonable at all so this plot needed some more cooking. The problem is that there just wasn’t much time for it and so they really ended up rushing the whole thing. She basically just learns to be a better person right away but putting more time into the holiday celebrations would have been a better use of the movie’s time.

Overall, November Christmas is a pretty good film. At times it can be a little too somber though. The ending really helps things out but I do feel like the replay value for this title would be very low. I suppose you would just need to really be in the mood for this kind of flick but I don’t see that being the case too often around the holidays. It’s well made and there are a lot of fun moments to be had but it does lag behind the average title. There aren’t a lot of big competitors in the somber arena though so if this sounds good then you should definitely check it out.

Overall 6/10

A Holiday to Remember Review

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Oh nooooo, it’s a romance film that focuses on a rebound? And we’ve got a love triangle going? This one definitely gets real dramatic and while most of the film is still decent enough, it takes way too long for the characters to make any decent decisions. Additionally, I felt like the main guy was getting gaslit throughout the entire film so that was a bit annoying at times. He has some valid points here.

The movie starts with Carolyn deciding to leave the big city to go back to the small village she grew up in. It’s a humble existence but you know…it was a fun one. Now her daughter Jordy can have a good time here as well. The only problem is that her ex-fiancé is here. Uh oh….this wasn’t part of the plan. Clay is still upset over what happened in their past and so he’s not thrilled to see her but what sucks for that guy is he basically has every job in the village. He’s the cop, handyman, etc. Looks like they’re going to have to try and get along but is there still a flame between them?

Obviously there shouldn’t be since they have been apart for so long and they left on bad terms. Instead of any spark there should just be animosity here. Lets get into exactly why they broke up. Carolyn panicked…and left him at the alter. She just dashed out of town and never even said goodbye to him. Carolyn has a daughter so she already met someone else but I forget what happened there. I’ll assume they just broke up but either way Clay is at best going to be the rebound guy. Things aren’t going great for her economically and now he can help out. Clay should want no part of this.

I think the roughest part is how Clay talks in depth about how upsetting the whole thing was. He was super embarrassed and humiliated in front of the whole town. It’s not something you just forget you know, that’s a huge deal. He must have felt awful for years wondering what he did that was so wrong. Then you want to know the worst part? Nobody is all that sympathetic to him. They say he should get over it, to stop being a wimp, etc. Even Carolyn has that same energy of “That was so long ago tho” and it’s absolutely crazy. Putting so much of the burden on Clay to just move on makes no sense.

So I was not rooting for this romance at all. It never felt like it made a lot of sense or was even a reasonable one. Too much time has passed and Carolyn really lived her life at this rate. It’s too late to turn around now. Then in the village there is also another girl who likes Clay. She’s been dropping tons of hints and making moves on the guy but none of them have been all that effective. She is less than pleased to see that Carolyn is back and of course her fears are completely justified. That said, why continue to pursue a guy who doesn’t actually care about you right? That’s my main problem with the whole thing. I guess you don’t have to stop until you’re rejected but it won’t be the basis of a great relationship. I can definitely guarantee that.

I should mention there is another aspect to the plot. There’s a homeless kid wandering around the village who steals food to survive. He steals from Carolyn but the main heroine has pity on him and decides to let him stay at the house. She intends to adopt him but the village has a strict policy on this. So Carolyn wants Clay to break the rules and gets upset when he doesn’t. This is also rather unfair because it’s not like he created the rules. As always, everyone takes Carolyn’s side and makes Clay feel bad for literally upholding the rules. Cmon now, that’s just not cool. He really didn’t deserve all of the hate here. Sure, the rules may seem harsh but you can’t break them just because you don’t like a rule. How would there be any law and order at that point?

Also I would say Jordy looks pretty bad here. She gets along with the kid well enough but messes him over near the climax by taking the role he wanted. That was a big blow and there wasn’t really a way to come back from that. Ultimately they get along and we have the wholesome ending but this is one minor subplot that we probably didn’t need. There was already plenty of drama among the main characters by this point.

Look, basically what I’m saying here is that Carolyn should have taken way more responsibility for what happened earlier. That wouldn’t have saved the romance plot but it certainly would have helped. It’s also just annoying to see them do the whole “We’re just gonna be friends” and then immediately go further. At this point they’re both adults and they’ve been around each other for a long time so why would they even assume it wouldn’t happen again? Just feels rather cheesy here.

A romance film is only as good as its romance and that’s where this one falters. Aside from that, it’s always hype to have a film that takes place around Christmas. The snow was really fun to see and I liked the sets in general. Everything looked nice and the writing was good when it wasn’t just everyone dunking on Clay the whole time. Poor guy’s own mother never took his side in any of this.

Overall, This in a way feels like one of those classic Hallmark Christmas movies but without the wholesome energy of it. This one feels a bit more jaded and it’s also just a bit more mean spirited. I would have liked if the dynamic could have been more pleasant. Honestly not having them already be each other’s ex would have been a good way to start that off. It’s just hard to recover from that and especially when you give such a tough backstory. Look I’m just gonna say it one last time, I don’t think how you can ever forgive and forget when you’re left at the alter like that. There are plenty of other romance films to check out so check one of those out instead.

Overall 4/10

Star in the Night Review

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It’s time to take a look at a movie that is very short but still ends up being great. It’s a perfect example of how you can have a great film with developed characters in a really short period of time. The overall message is very clear and executed well. I had a really good time with this one and would definitely recommend it to anyone. It’s super accessible to fans of any genre.

The film has a Hitchhiker stop by a local motel where he is hoping for a place to shelter from the cold for a while and maybe get a hot coffee. The owner isn’t very hospitable though. His name is Nick and he feels like people don’t actually spread goodwill around Christmas. It’s Christmas time right now and yet everyone is as rude as ever. One lady is always complaining about the noise, one guy comes in to complain about his dry cleaning, etc. Nobody seems to actually be in a good mood and they just fake it for a while. The Hitchhiker disagrees and believes that people actually do get nicer on Christmas and that’s when you see their true selves. Will he be proven correct before the night is over? There will be a good opportunity to see how this plays as a young couple runs in with the wife about to give birth. The motel has no available rooms and everyone’s already stressed out…how will this end?

I’d say the character who deserves the most amount of credit here is Nick’s wife Rosa. From the start she is the only character who actually does seem to care about everyone and she is doing her best to make things turn out well. Even before the other characters start to turn around, Rosa was consistent right from the jump. Whether it’s in offering her own blankets for a guest to use or running around to get some clean clothes and fresh drinks, Rosa was doing everything. She never got jaded or let the world beat her down the way it did for Nick.

You get why anyone would get discouraged when you interact with so many rude people every day and that’s why it was super impressive that Rosa never backed down. She was ready for every situation. Best character by far. I will say that Nick is the most entertaining character though. The guy gets extremely irritated all the time so he’s constantly muttering and making a fuss about things. The guy has absolutely lost the last bit of patience a long time ago and is the kind of guy who will no do you a favor. Ultimately he does get the Hitchhiker his cup of coffee once the goodwill starts to spread.

Meanwhile it was nice to see everyone start to pitch in later on. The guy who was complaining about his clothes being wrinkled ends up ripping them up so they can be used as rags for the lady giving birth. The lady who was complaining about the noise ends up helping with the delivery, etc. Everyone did their best to play a part and for the ones who were not really sure how they could help, they just did their best to be compassionate and supportive. There was one guy in particular who was a bit older and not exactly sure how this worked but made it clear that he wanted to help so they had him transporting water and then calming down the husband.

In the end everyone appeared to be rude and basically not good people at the start but once someone was actually in a jam they ended up helping out. Nowadays it can be hard to picture that happening in many situations but it is nice to think that people would help you out when the chips were down. For example a lady being pregnant and about to give birth should cause you to want to help. It should trigger your parental instinct as you jump in to attend every need. The Mom is just in such a delicate state that you want to help as much as possible. I knew someone who was pregnant for a while and it was always fun to help her out. I probably overdid it a bit as I tend to but I made sure she was stuffed full of pop tarts, Chipotle, Burger King, chocolates, and whatever other snacks she would suddenly have a craving for! It just feels kind of nice like you’re helping make sure the kids comes out all right but of course that’s taking way too much credit.

That’s the kind of memory the film helps to bring out of you though. Each character here really wanted to do their part and so minor complaints like the noise just weren’t a problem anymore. You quickly start to see the big picture in those moments and it’s important to remember that even when there isn’t something urgent going on. You should always take a step back and just try to make sure you aren’t losing your cool over something minor.

The film is extremely short at less than 30 minutes long so it has to move quickly. I’d say that the film pulls this off perfectly though as the pacing is good and the writing is on point. In a way it’s able to directly tackle the message even easier this way than if it was super long and had to throw a lot of extra plot elements in. Make no mistake, I think this could absolutely work as a long movie as well because when a film’s writing is good, length is not really a factor. So I have a lot of confidence in the team behind this one.

Overall, Star in the Night is a great film. It’s a nice optimistic view on humanity which you don’t see very often and it makes for a very wholesome watch. It works really well as a Christmas film and is more focused on the true meaning of Christmas in spreading goodwill and cheer to all. It’s an allegory for the Three Wisemen in a way with a lot of elements from the Nativity being brought in. I also think this is a great way to explain some concepts to kids and younger viewers watching as it’s all very clear and easy to understand while still being mature enough for older viewers to get something out of it. The production values were all on point and the characters were solid. It may have been short but it’s very memorable.

Overall 8/10

Fit for Christmas Review

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It’s time for a very classic kind of romantic comedy film and this one really executes on what’s otherwise a fairly simple plot. At the end of the day I’m going to keep on calling this the Hallmark formula and so of course it’s filled with a romantic rebound and a lot of good burns being dished out by both of the main characters. The path that the story follows may be generic but you’ll have a good time as the film slowly takes you there.

The film starts off with Audrey heading back to her old hometown for the first time in a while. She’s on a “break” from her boyfriend after he decided to cancel their wedding at the last second. Well, this gives her more time to re-open her dancing/fitness classes back up and it’s almost Christmas so this’ll be fun. Unfortunately the town is about to get in the middle of a crisis because a giant corporation has decided to move in. They’re going to be building new places, fresh eateries and improving the quality of life in the town by 1 billion percent but it will likely lose that old town vibe as a result. Audrey has decided to stop this at all costs but it’s difficult since most of the people in the town seem to be on board with the idea. Even worse? The guy representing the company is a man named Griffin, one of the most eligible bachelors of all time! She will have to try and resist his looks, charm, and money but can she pull this off when everyone is rooting for them to get together?

Right away one thing I like here is the banter between Griffin and Audrey before they get together. He really embraces the villain role while always taking the high road. She jumps in with a lot of insults and everything right out of the gate while he takes it all in stride and at least acts nice on the outside. He did a good job of bluffing through his lack of Christmas knowledge during her quiz while they were doing the fitness routine and he did manage to make friends with everyone in the town. That’s impressive since they all started out not wanting to like him since he was a part of corporate.

Griffin is clearly very good at his job and it shows. I’m glad that he wasn’t incompetent or anything like that. You could make the case that he was a step ahead throughout the whole film and ultimately the spirit of Christmas is what it took to stop him. He definitely could have stood to be more confident when talking to his father though. That was absolutely his weak point. Particularly since as we see his father is very reasonable the whole time. I think he would have supported Griffin’s change to the plan right from the start and so we didn’t need all of the secrecy or anything like that.

The characters were all written rather well and realistically. The antagonists were not too far gone. At most you could just say that the romance was really rushed the whole time and that’s definitely true. They’re moving way too fast considering that Audrey was really close to marrying the last guy. It’s always been one of my biggest problems with the concept of the rebound. If you were so close to being married to the point where she would have been had he just said yes…then is her love for Griffin really the real deal? If your feelings can change so quickly then I have doubts on just how deep they are. It’s just not how these things work and you’ll have a very hard time convincing me of anything else.

In general though the instant you have to take a “break” in your relationship then it’s as good as over. A break is never needed for the person that you really love. Audrey was on the fence about this longer than she should have been. The other guy seemed decent overall but the fact that he wasn’t ready to commit is a dealbreaker. You just can’t really come back from that, at least not easily. The movie randomly tries throwing in another romance subplot which was more on the weak side though. Particularly since this guy’s wife was dead which was the main reason he didn’t want to get back into the dating scene.

It’s a super valid reason but it’s just brushed aside the whole time with the whole “She’d want you to be happy.” Yeah maybe but sometimes she actually would want her husband to just stay loyal to her, particularly since he’s rather old at this point anyway. I know the phrase is til death do us part but you can sometimes stand to stretch that out until both people are dead you know? You don’t have to just move on like that every time.

Well, romance aside, the rest of the film was a blast though. The fitness scenes were actually pretty good since it does feel like that would give me a good workout. I liked the sets and it was nice seeing the whole town come together. The fact that Griffin was nice to everyone even while working for corporate was great because it makes the ending less cheesy and more realistic. There are no hatchets to be buried or grudges to get past because everyone was on the same page from the start. It’s an extremely refreshing thing to see here.

Overall, Fit for Christmas is a very well made movie. At its core it’s a super enjoyable film and of course that is the most important part for any title by far. You have to be a blast in order to be remembered as a super solid title and this one really holds its own there. It has a lot of replay value and would stand as one of the stronger Hallmark styled films that I’ve seen. I always love good banter and this film definitely delivered with that. So in the end I really have no major complaints with this one and would recommend it. You’re bound to find a lot of scenes that make you smile.

Overall 7/10

Operation Christmas Drop Review

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It’s time for an emotional Christmas story that would do Hallmark proud. It’s a fun movie all around and the pacing is on point so you’re always having a good time. The plot is fairly straight forward and you can see a lot of the story beats coming but the execution is on point. The movie never tries to do too much and mainly focuses on one key plot instead of trying to jam in a ton of them. Less is more in this instance and so that ends up working pretty well.

The film starts with Erica being tasked with her most difficult mission yet. She has to prove why the army should close an air force base so that the funds can be reallocated. Of course this means a lot of people would be losing their jobs which is rough. Additionally the biggest loss would be the Christmas Drop program where the Air Force flies supplies, gifts, and a lot of much needed convenience items to people in the nearby islands who could really use some essentials. They aren’t very well off and so this is one way to help boost morale while helping a lot of people in very real ways. All in all, this is a PR nightmare for Erica as she is basically the bad guy here. She keeps deflecting by saying that she is just following orders but maybe it is time to make a stand. Maybe it is time…to save Christmas!

You would think optically Erica’s boss would like to keep the base to show how benevolent she is but of course in politics you always have a thousand voices yelling at you to different things so at this point and time the pressure is simply higher on the other side. Sometimes that’s really all it boils down to. Erica is certainly ready to submit her report and bury the place at first as well until she gradually sees how it helps out. I have no doubt that some money is likely spent on the program even with all of the donations but the fact that the base went out of its way to try and make this a good deal for everyone does speak volumes. It shows that they are really trying hard to be responsible at all phases of the project.

Andrew is the main guy sticking up for the program and he does a terrific job. He always has the right answers on hand and isn’t intimidated by Erica’s boss. He makes the pitch to her directly as well and you can tell that the guy has put a lot of effort into this program. Even with the romance aside I’d say his pitch would have been fairly convincing to any reporter looking in on the situation. That’s because by every objective metric this is a really good idea. For the cynical onlookers at least it’s good PR, for the people hoping to make a difference in the world this gives them an avenue to do it, and for all of the islanders it obviously helps them out a whole lot since they are in a tough spot.

It’s always good to see the army doing good and using all of their equipment for something like this is great. So yeah Andrew steals the show as the main character here. Meanwhile Erica is solid as well. Obviously she does have to go through a bit of a character arc to end up as the selfless lead she was destined to be but it’s a character arc that is definitely handled well. When it comes time to make a stand, she picks the right side and helps the team out on their mission.

As for the romance in this film, there’s no rebounding going on so I appreciate that. Often times there is a poor ex running around or a character was already with someone and breaks up after making it to the main plot. In this case that doesn’t happen. The romance is still on the weaker side since it’s all moving a little too fast though. Given the stakes here you’d think romance would be the last thing on either of their minds. Andrew has a mission to save after all and letting your feelings interfere with that would be a grave mistake.

It is definitely a bit odd to see a Christmas film taking place by the beach like this but it certainly helps the film stand out. That is also the normal setting for plenty of people so that’s a nice way to see their perspective. Of course if given the choice I would always want a Christmas that’s sub zero temperature with plenty of snow but at the end of the day you should be able to have a good time no matter how hot or cold it is. It’s more about enjoying the day and the festivities than what’s going on outside right? This does mean there aren’t any big montage of holiday foods this time around though but that’s fine.

The writing is on point so even the antagonists aren’t written to be super crazy or anything like that. Everyone has reasons for doing what they are doing and the film does give the main antagonist a good amount of presence. Whenever she walks in you know the characters are going to be stressed. You also can’t blame her for being upset since from her point of view this all does look pretty bad. Imagine walking into the army base to see the person you hired in the middle of a party instead of researching? Bosses tend to have tricky timing like that sometimes.

Overall, Operation Christmas Drop is a pretty good film. It has a good story with a solid moral and ultimately just spreads good vibes the whole time. It’s the kind of movie where you feel good after having watched it and you can’t say that for just any film. Mix in a lot of fun visuals, songs, and a good cast and you have a winner here. Being fun is one of the main positives I would say for the film and that’s really all that you need. It kept the plot fairly basic and the character cast rather small. It has a very specific focus with the story and doesn’t deviate from that. I had a good time watching it and so I would definitely recommend checking it out.

Overall 7/10

O. Henry’s Full House Review

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It’s time for an anthology film and you know that those can sometimes get a little dicey. Well, this one ends up being solid as most of the stories are pretty good. There is one particularly weak story that does almost lower this one by a star because it can really drag but the positive ones outweighed the weakest link. Ultimately this would be one of the better anthologies that I have seen.

So lets jump into each story. The first one is about a guy who wants to be arrested. He likes to be kept in a jail cell during the colder months of the year because then he is guaranteed 3 square meals and a warm place to sleep. The jails were pretty well kept back in those days and so it was like a free hotel service. The trick is he needs something that will keep him in jail for exactly 3 months so it can’t be anything too mild or anything too brutal. It would also be nice not to get beaten up or shot so he has to be careful on what kinds of crimes he dishes out. Unfortunately nobody seems to want to arrest him. What can he do now?

It does feel like this should still be a very easy mission to complete though. I mean there are so many ways to get arrested even if you’re just looking for non-violent means. The main guy tries some mild stuff like theft, dining and dashing, etc. but it just isn’t working. At that point the guy needed to adjust his gameplan a bit. Maybe try dining and dashing a second time since it usually works you know what I mean? It does lead to a funny gag at the end though so it worked out. This was a pretty fun story with a good amount of humor and solid pacing.

Then in the next story we jump to a murder case that has been unsolved…until now. See one of the cops recognizes the pen left at the scene of the crime. It belongs to a guy he used to know who was always a petty crook but evidently he has gone beyond that now. Thing is, he owes this crook $1000 and doesn’t feel right arresting him before paying the money back. So now he has to earn the money before the guy skips town but how do you raise 1000 that quickly? It’s a good story but I do have some rather massive issues with it.

First off, this villain’s a murderer. I don’t care if the cop owes him a million dollars, you have to bring him in so that he doesn’t murder anyone else. He is clearly unhinged after all so why hold back? You can pay him back while he’s in jail as long as he isn’t executed. So the whole premise to me didn’t make a lot of sense. It’s a very weak excuse to potentially let someone stay on the loose causing a bunch of trouble. The main character lost a lot of my respect at that point.

It’s still a very fun story though which is why it stays at a high level. The pacing is good and the writing is very solid. In general outside of one story involving a kid, the writing is always good which is what makes the anthology work. It balances the humor and solid elements well. The cop just comes across as the biggest pushover I’ve seen in a while. He literally lets the villain punch him in the stomach and doesn’t do anything about it. You can’t let people be putting hands on you like that. Trust me, it never ends well.

After that is a bit of a weaker story. Basically a girl is heartbroken and literally falls to the ground. She ends up catching pneumonia from staying out in the snow for too long and now her health is a matter of life and death. She should have recovered sooner but part of her doesn’t want to get better as life is meaningless without her man. So her sister and a kind neighbor try to help her out but she has this delusion about her life being tied to that of a tree outside. Once the final leaf falls, she will take her last breath. It’s an old tree that will soon be destroyed though so what can the heroes do?

The girl who is sick ends up being rather annoying here. Obviously it’s much easier said than done to tell her to buck up and handle this in stride but she really doesn’t help them out at all. I think this is a good place to quickly remind you all that nobody is so important that losing them means your life has no purpose. You have to always continue on living and while I would not recommend rebounding, find some solo activities to enjoy. Ultimately the neighbor comes through when it counts here. I do think he was taken for granted the whole time as he was really doing his best to help out through and through. He may not be a great artist but he was clearly someone who cared about them. So I was glad that the ending addressed that and it was the best ending out of any of the specials. (Although most of the stories did have really satisfying conclusions)

Now we enter the worst story of the bunch. Basically two guys who are down on their luck decide to kidnap a kid and hold him for ransom. They succeed but what they don’t realize is that this kid is really tough and he starts to literally beat them up. The town also has a no returns policy so if they want to bring the kid back then they are going to have to pay $250 which is rough when they don’t have much money. Can they survive this experience?

While most of the stories do have some comedic undertones they were great at balancing them with the serious moments. That’s not the case with this story as its fully comical and completely unrealistic. It goes a bit too far here with such a small kid beating up the two adults the whole time. The kid is supremely annoying and the same goes for the adults who are losing this battle. The whole plot doesn’t make sense but instead of that being in a cool abstract way like the Twilight Zone, it just comes across as really annoying.

The story ends up dragging on quite a bit as a result so I dunno I think they could have done a whole lot better with this one. If you make the story too serious it would be a bit too dark of course but somewhere in the middle would have made sense. Like have the two adults still be nice people so they can’t do much about the kid but then have the kid still be a lot of work. You could absolutely make this work and it was the only time I felt the writing was not up to par.

Finally we have the famous Christmas gift exchange story. It doesn’t compete with the Mickey Mouse version but that’s how it goes. Basically a recent couple is getting ready for Christmas but they are really poor. They tend to imagine having fancy foods and items but in reality they never get to have anything all that fancy. Well, each of them decides that they want to get something big for once so the guy gets his girl a fancy hair set while she gets him a really good watch strap. Unfortunately things take a rough turn with what they each had to sacrifice in order to make this work.

It’s a pretty tragic story all around. I mean the underlining message is that they didn’t really need any of that stuff and can still be happy but it’s still a shame to see what they have lost. It won’t be easy to get the watch back and while the girl’s hair will grow back, it’ll take time. It’s why secret presents and such can be fun but you do have to be careful about the whole thing. Keep your partner happy but don’t sacrifice something so precious that it’ll end up working out more like a guilt trip. Surprises can be double edged swords in that regard but all in all it was definitely a quality story through and through.

Overall, This was a pretty good anthology. Most of the stories worked out well which is exactly what you want to see in a collection like this. The writing tended to be good and the stories were on point. I’d definitely recommend checking this one out and I expect you will have a good time with it. The stories may be fairly basic but that’s why the execution is always important. They are handled well and so you are absolutely entertained.

Overall 7/10

The Holiday Review

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You might as well call this the rebound movie because that is constantly what is going on here. The characters jump from one person to the next with limitless speed. It’s completely uncanny and ultimately takes away from any message of true love that the film is trying to express. It ends up getting too dramatic and so ultimately none of the characters really make a lot of sense here. I cringed a lot more during this movie than any other recent title.

The movie starts off by introducing us to two characters who have both experienced a lot of heartache recently. First is Amanda who is super rich and owns her own film trailers company where she excels. Unfortunately her boyfriend cheated on her and so she breaks up with him and now has nobody to spend Christmas with. She decides to enroll in this super sketchy program where you swap houses with someone and flies all the way to England to get started on her vacation. Now she can be away from all of the usual neighborhoods which could remind her of her ex but she just can’t be alone anymore. So when some guy shows up at her new house she is ready for a quick one night stand.

Meanwhile Iris is having guy trouble of her own as she is in an unrequited love with one of the guys at work. He’s engaged to another woman and has lots of affairs but she is satisfied with just receiving his attention sometimes. He knows that she likes him and continues to exploit this fact by telling her that he needs her and letting her get some action now and again. It’s a very unhealthy dynamic though so Iris ends up swapping houses with Amanda. Now she can finally enjoy being rich for a little while but the colleague continues to call her because he needs some help on his projects. Can she learn to block his number in time?

In a lot of these adventures I really don’t get why the characters don’t just block the number. Seriously it’s not that hard and then you don’t have to worry about seeing any of those messages or calls ever again. In particular from the two characters I also can’t really sympathize with Iris all that much. She’s just too much of a pushover. Unrequited love is one thing. Sure that can be rough but at the same time it’s not this huge mess she’s making it out to be. When you’re in love with someone then you’re happy as long as they are. A crush is when you’re sad that your girl/guy got snagged before you could make your move. True love is much deeper than that and so as long as the girl he is with is a good person then that’s it.

So her jealousy the whole time isn’t great. You either move on or just really enjoy the moments you have with the guy. You do not continue being a homewrecker or just pouting the whole time. Then when you find out that the guy actually knows the whole situation and keeps weaponizing it, that is when Iris should have gotten out of there. How does she even love the guy when he’s this toxic? Yeah her plot just didn’t win me over in the slightest and it really hurts her as a character.

There’s a scene near the end that hurts her a lot too. So she’s ready to rebound with the nice music guy when her ex shows up again. Iris is ready to throw all of that away immediately to get back together with him and the only thing that stops her is that he’s still engaged. Meaning?? She would have gone back together with him if he had claimed that he called it off. It’s a horrible look and is why I can’t root for any of the romances in this film because this kind of thing keeps on happening.

Miles is the guy she’s supposed to end up with but he’s not much better. For starters I think he is a bit too much of a flirt. I half forgot that he was even dating someone because when he meets Iris he’s being super friendly, gives long awkward stares, kisses her on the cheek twice later on, etc. So then his girlfriend cheats on him so he feels bad and goes to Iris for the rebound…..only to then go back to the ex real quick when she asks him over. Ultimately he says no this time and goes back to Iris but again why is he tempted at such a late date? It implies that she could have won him over depending on how she handled this. Real bad look for Miles.

Men and Women reading this blog, always remember to know your worth. If you’re someone’s second choice then that isn’t the person you want to be with. The other wise words of wisdom I’m going to impart is to be careful if someone is too easy as well. Because the way you obtain someone is often the way you lose them. So if someone you like offers you a one night stand right away…know that the offer may be extended to others as well. So yeah when it comes to advice in the ways of love, I’m your guy. I’m something of a romantic expert myself after all….

Yeah back to the movie though, we’re cutting back to Amanda’s plot now. Her plot is also one that’s hard to be sympathetic with. I will say that she handled the Ex way better than Iris though. He cheated so she punched him in the face and kicked him out. Boom that was it for him. No second thoughts, no half hearted apologies, etc. He was gone and out of the movie. Where Amanda’s plot goes wrong is it takes a few seconds upon meeting some complete stranger for her to go all the way with him. Are you kidding me? If that’s similar to how fast she went with the first guy then it’s not too surprising that he ended up being a cheater. The entire point of dating is to find out the true character of a person after all. So you don’t get to learn about that if you’re skipping that whole phase.

Of course, knowing someone isn’t super easy and there are tons of ins and outs to romance that take years of experience and other parts that just require faith. This guy named Graham has a lot of secrets of his own which he doesn’t share and that does make him look bad by the end. Ultimately this plot was just annoying with Amanda and Graham both appearing to have no morals the whole time. I wouldn’t trust either one with my groceries let alone in a relationship! They just seem way too desperate.

The only real quality character here is Arthur. He’s a fairly old guy who is having health issues but still has a fairly positive attitude. He’s a fierce guy too who doesn’t let anyone push him around. He injected some humor into the film and had some of the best moments. The film could actually be inspiring and emotional when it wanted to be rather than being super dramatic all of the time. So this was definitely when the film was at its best. If it could have skipped the romance and just focused on making friends and learning how to enjoy yourself then that would have been a much better film.

The fact that the main characters cannot function by themselves without constantly being in a relationship is in itself a red flag. You should be able to be fairly self sufficient as needed because if not then you’re probably going to be a very clingy partner. You should always have your own interests as well so if you guy/gal needs to be on a business trip or working late you have something to do beyond blasting their phone with endless texts and things like that. None of these characters really seemed all that happy on their own so they aren’t in that perfect spot yet.

Overall, The Holiday is one of those films where you don’t really buy into the characters having a happy ending. They’re all too quick to rebound so it’s hard to see how they could possibly trust each other. There’s just too much baggage and so the relationships probably won’t last. The film could have really worked on making the characters more likable all around if you ask me. The writing isn’t the best and while the film is long, it stuffs itself with so many plots that it doesn’t really matter. It’s just used to create more and more problems for the heroes with made them more and more irredeemable. There are some fairly high quality songs thrown into the mix at least though.

Overall 3/10