Tag Archives: Christmas

Arthur’s Perfect Christmas Review

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It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen this Arthur Christmas special that’s for sure. It’s definitely a very well made special that’s for sure. It’s nice to see all of the celebrations and the nostalgic Arthur characters running around. This special has aged very well and will continue to be a solid watch each year. It’s definitely rough when a gift doesn’t go the way you think it will so you can understand Arthur’s plight.

The film starts us off a few days before Christmas. Each of the characters are getting ready for the day in their own way. Arthur is determined for this to be the best Christmas yet. I understand the feeling as I always go in expecting each year’s Christmas to surpass the last one and this year will be no different. Arthur is thrown a lot of curveballs though as the tree doesn’t tur out the way he had hoped and the menu is also a lot different. Still, Arthur is willing to give these changes a chance. The only thing that could ruin the day for him now would be if his Christmas present for his Mom were to break…

Then we’ve also got subplots for most of the other members of the cast. Binky is going to be cooking dessert for a soup kitchen he is volunteering at during Christmas and is testing out his recipes on everyone. It’s a pretty noble gesture but his cooking needs a lot of work. He makes rather basic mistakes in each of his dishes. It’s good that he’s trying but the first step of cooking is to try the food out yourself and it seems like Binky is not doing that. That doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in trying out his dishes now does it?

Muffy’s plot is about how she has scheduled a party while Francine will be observing Hanukkah with her family. Francine told her many times that attending the party would be impossible but Muffy wouldn’t hear about it. In a lot of these cases usually the mix up is because the character was unable to work up the courage to explain this. There is no such issue here as Francine told Muffy over 20 times. I liked how direct she was so the fault is entirely with Muffy this time around. There was no way that Francine could have been any clearer. So Muffy’s got to take the loss here.

Then you’ve got Buster who’s mother has been traumatized by Christmas and always celebrates it a few days early each year. It’s definitely a rather odd situation but at the end of the day she just wants to make sure that the day is a success for Buster. She is clearly trying pretty hard even if the whole thing is pretty exaggerated. Even the fancy restaurant food doesn’t look as good as what Buster would usually get at the Sugar Bowl. There are a few other characters having their own adventures like George, The Brain, and Mr. Ratburn but I wouldn’t consider those subplots so much as quick scenes to show us what they’re doing. They didn’t have any trail to go through which makes sense since the film can only squeeze in so many plots during its run time.

The movie is a little under an hour so there’s only so much it can do. The animation is pretty solid and consistent as always. The character designs are on point and the whole thing is nice to look at. This is the kind of hand drawn animation that will always age well. You can just feel the effort that was put into this. As this is a musical there are also a number of songs included. I wouldn’t say that any of them are all that solid though. It’s not really my style of music but it does still help to get the Christmas vibes in there.

Arthur’s Perfect Christmas also separates itself form other Christmas specials in that it does include some pretty key details like having the group go to Church in one scene and even having the Dad come up with the idea of having an authentic Christmas dinner like what they would have served in Bethlehem. While the dishes naturally may not sound the best next to some classic staples like Mac and Cheese, I like that the topic was broached. The film was clearly acknowledging the history of celebrating Christmas due to Jesus Christ’s birth. It’s always great to see that.

The special is high energy throughout and coupled with the solid writing that naturally makes for a fun adventure. Arthur tends to dream about the worst case scenarios as always. He really lets his imagination run wild even when it’s a positive event. Then you have DW who still panics quite a lot. At least she tried to be happy about the Duck at first even if she wasn’t able to stay strong in the end. I suppose if you’re hoping for a cool toy and get something else that can be tough. She was nice enough to think about Santa by leaving the cookies out which was neat. All of the characters are pretty solid at the end of the day.

Overall, Arthur’s Perfect Christmas is a pretty fun special. It’s definitely a fitting one to check out as Christmas quickly approaches and I’d recommend it. I’ll give Arthur points for being pretty tolerant of all the different things that could have sabotaged his Christmas. He was okay with the menu change, the Christmas tree change, and even handled the songs decently even if they did set him off pretty quick. He definitely doesn’t seem to like any of the fast paced music tracks that DW tends to enjoy which is unfortunate. Who knows, maybe one day he will get on board with these although I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Overall 7/10

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms Review

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It’s been a while since I’ve seen anything relating to the Nutcracker. It’s definitely a pretty classic story though so it’s nice to see it being brought out again. This story does a fun job with it. You get a little action, a little adventure, and a lot of emotion. I wouldn’t say it’s particularly noteworthy like I won’t be remembering it in the future much but I like to think each movie leaves you something to remember. In this case that would be the living rat monster which was pretty intense. Definitely not someone you’d want to have to bump into in a life or death situation.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Clara who has been dealing with a lot now that her mother has passed. Her father has tried to recreate Christmas the way it would usually be but this has not worked. In part this is because it comes off as him trying to get everyone to get on with their lives which is all happening too fast. At the very least Clara does not want to be at a party and doesn’t feel like dancing. She manages to escape into the land of the 4 realms when a rat escapes with her key. She needs this key in order to unlock the last memento from her mother. It turns out that the key has another purpose as well. It’s the only way to unlock the machine needed to bring the toy soldier army back up and operational. The kingdom needs this army to stop Mother Ginger from wiping them out.

Extra pressure is here because Clara’s mother used to help the Kingdom as its queen and has quite a lot of experience here. Clara feels like she can’t live up to such a legendary example. Still, Clara does step up when needed. The beginning of the film also introduced her as a very intelligent character who really knows how physics works. This comes into play later on in the film so it was nice foreshadowing. It’s also hard to blame Clara in the opening scenes because the party didn’t feel appropriate. She was fairly respectful in trying to deny the event so all in all I give Clara a thumbs up as the lead.

The other major character in the film is the Nutcracker Phillip. Phillip has always performed his job really well. He stays at his post and only moves when ordered. He is a very faithful fighter at Clara’s disposal and does pretty well when having to go up against an army. He offers his own advice as well and helps keep Clara on the right path. He ends up having a nice bond with one of the Mice and they even get a good team up. The idea of a Rat monster made from tons of little rats is definitely pretty fun. Certainly a disturbing monster to have to go up against though. You really wouldn’t want to have to square off against such an opponent.

As for Mother Ginger, she’s a pretty interesting character. She can definitely fight really well with her whip as well which definitely comes in handy. She was able to take on several fighters on her own which is really good. I was glad to see action scenes of any kind here since that’s definitely not going to be the main priority here. The film had a good balance of action and adventure though. The heroes may not fight all that much but the climax has several action scenes at the ready. The giant mecha Ginger had was also pretty neat even if sheer numbers were definitely enough to overwhelm it in the end though. That’s the thing about having a giant robot, it’s pretty susceptible against many opponents.

In general the movie goes down a rather predictable path but I always say that’s not a bad thing as long as the execution is good and I’d say it was. The writing is good and the pacing is solid. The visuals throughout the film are also nice. While the soundtrack is rather forgettable I wouldn’t say there were any bad tunes here either. That definitely ends up being an experience I can be satisfied with. It’s certainly more interesting than something like the Lord of the Rings. That’s why it’s good that we mostly stuck in the world of the Realms because the real world definitely wasn’t quite as interesting. Whenever a fantasy world is an option that’s absolutely where you want to spend your time.

There isn’t much more to talk about with spoilers. I will say that the villain’s motivations while not justifiable are pretty understandable. Sometimes offense is the best defense. If you think about it, defense just isn’t good enough if you are always being attacked. If someone attacks you every month, it doesn’t matter that you are able to repel the attacks if you take a lot of hits in the meantime. The best way to get out of the situation is to take the opposing side down and that way you will have the peace needed to get victory right? Of course it’s not so simple but at least the base reasoning makes sense. There are a lot of deceptions involved so you shouldn’t take anything at face value though. I just like when a villain at least has some rationale so I appreciated that.

Overall, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is a pretty solid adaption of the classic story. It brings in all of the classic elements you would want to see and we get a nice cast of characters. I’d definitely be game for a sequel someday. There are definitely ways you could go about it. Clara also should come back to visit the kingdom at some point. I don’t see any reason why she would have to stick to the human world, especially since time seems to stop while she’s gone. That’s really the perfect excuse to go back in since there is no risk thanks to that. That’s just how I see it at least.

Overall 7/10

Mr. Soft Touch Review

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Mr. Soft Touch is a film about a guy deciding to get revenge on some gangsters for taking over his shop. It’s a different spin than usual though as he just wants his money back and isn’t going around shooting them all down. While the film has some pretty good writing humor, I ultimately wouldn’t give it a thumbs up because of some suspect characters and the main character just not being all that likable even by the end.

The movie starts by introducing us to Joe. He has stolen a ton of money and is trying to escape the country but unfortunately his friends were unable to find a boat that leaves before Christmas. He needs to survive for a night somewhere but that won’t be easy since the Mob is everywhere. Joe is able to masquerade as a criminal and get taken to a settlement home where a social worker named Jenny will look after him. Joe figures this will be a decent safehouse as a last resort since there is literally no alternative but when he sees how much help these people need, will he really be able to leave? Some tough choices will have to be made.

Soft Touch has some fun moments and good bits of humor throughout. One nice moment was when the tough guys at the home try to scam Joe out of some money with the dice. He takes them down and clearly has some kind of experience with these games from a while back. He knows a scam when he sees one but does a good job of playing dumb the whole time. This lets him claim the upper hand. It was a nice subversion where usually the main character would have gotten suckered. The main tough guy also reminded me a lot of Spider-Man from the recent movies so it was interesting to see him in more of a villainous role.

You can tell that the people at tis place all meant well. It was a nice cast of characters here. At first they weren’t all happy to see Joe and it was hard to blame them since he wasn’t playing ball but eventually they all formed a pretty good group. In particular I liked Rickle. He had a tendency to go off on long rants about everything but that’s the kind of character who is always good to add levity to the equation. It’ll help keep everyone’s spirits up there which is really important.

Then you have Jenny who is a solid heroine. She does a whole lot for her community and really tried to help Joe out when she thought he was someone else. I would make the case that she is far too lenient though. Her job is about mercy and it’s an important function but since the guy who was charged was an abusive drunk then it seems like he was already too far gone for any of this to help. Jenny also had a traumatic backstory as a kid which makes it all the more impressive that she is putting herself out on the front lines and helping out a bit. She may be a little extreme but I would definitely say that she is a good person.

Then we get to Joe. I just couldn’t find myself being able to root for him. I understand him taking the money back after the mobsters stole it. That makes perfect sense since it was his and the whole thing seems unfair. Why does he not help Clara get away from Victor though? That seems like a pretty toxic relationship that he just looks the other way with. The film would have been a lot better without those two characters since they just hurt Joe a whole lot by extension. Then you’ve got the fact that Joe doesn’t do anything to help out the people in the settlement house before it’s too late. Byrd offered him a rather decent deal at the time but Joe wouldn’t hear of it.

Joe tries to make things right by the end but it is far too late for that. Even the scene where he gives his jacket and the money to the little girl comes off as rather suspect. At first it seems like a nice gesture but then Jenny points out that it was also a way to take the risk off and it’s hard to see it any other way at that point. The girl’s life was in serious jeopardy with the mobsters finding that kind of cash on her. Joe just puts too many people in harm’s way. He has some good plans but they all end up putting people in more danger while he escapes. It’s not a very heroic approach at all.

As for Byrd, I thought he was a pretty solid reporter. The guy put the pieces together a lot quicker than you would have initially expected. He clearly has some bad history with Joe but the guy did make a good offer to call the cops in. He just wanted some intel. I wasn’t really sure why Joe wouldn’t tell him at this point since his partner is dead and the mobsters are everywhere. Maybe it was a pride thing or just because Byrd was partially responsible for his partner dying since he didn’t do anything. Byrd did save Joe’s life a few scenes earlier though which is hard to forget. Byrd surprisingly doesn’t take this all that personal later on when they meet up again.

At times the movie seems to move really fast with characters sort of going through a character arc off screen. One example is the romance between Jenny and Joe. It goes from nowhere to suddenly she’s begging him to stay and some of the big speeches you would expect if they had been together for a long time. It doesn’t always flow as organically as you would expect. I suppose the film just wanted to move straight on ahead to the next moment but some scenes would just happen really suddenly like that.

Overall, Mr. Soft Touch would have been better with a better main character. Someone who was actually standing up for justice to stop the mobsters, not just because they crossed him. I would have liked better reasons for why he didn’t accept Byrd’s help or also a scene of him helping Clara out of just confirming Victor’s innocence. From what we saw of Victor he just seems like a very bad guy and Joe not doing anything about it doesn’t help in the slightest. The film’s pretty light hearted for the most part I’d say and has a nice Christmas theme going. It mainly just gets serious at the end with the ending being a little surprising. Definitely not the smartest move on both Joe and Jenny’s part. I think they could have handled the whole thing a lot better. Either way you can do better than this if you’re looking for a good Christmas film to watch this year.

Overall 5/10

Christmas Town Review

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It’s time for the Hallmark marathon to conclude for now. It’s definitely been a pretty good run I would say. When you see a title like Christmas Town you know things are about to get hype. It’s one of those small towns where everyone is pretty friendly and you could see yourself having a pretty good time there. How can it go wrong right? There’s a lot of cookies shown in this film as well so you may get hungry while watching.

Lauren has not been having a good time with her boyfriend who has prioritized work over her. He doesn’t even write or call anymore. So she decides to take up a teaching job in another city. Unfortunately her train is forced to make a detour due to the weather. This causes her to hitch a ride with Travis after mistaking the guy for one of the employees. He helps her find a place to stay in the meantime and she quickly grows close to the owner of the bakery (Betty) and Travis’ foster kid Dylan. Now she is unsure if she even really wants to leave this town and decides to help them with a fundraising drive first.

Lauren’s a pretty reasonable character right from the jump. She gave Eric a pretty fair chance but the guy blew it each time. If anything I don’t think she needed to give him quite so much time at the end. The instant that the letter didn’t come I would have said that was game over. You have to be able to deliver on something like that, especially when it was promised and agreed to. There’s no backing out of the deal just like that. His reasoning of not being a very good writer definitely didn’t work either. I do appreciate Eric not being portrayed as totally crazy of being a huge jerk. He’s just absent minded and clearly didn’t have her as a priority so this wasn’t going to work. They could possibly be good friends but that’s about it.

Meanwhile Lauren’s just a perfect fit for the town because she is always willing to lend a hand in just about any area. She is quick to support the bakery and then to get the fundraising at the ready. She’s definitely a quality character. I also liked Betty and Gloria a lot. Betty just seems like a great owner who really cares about her customers. Her cooking is also apparently quite good and based on how those cookies were looking I definitely believe it. Meanwhile Gloria’s role isn’t quite as large but she does enter the fray later on with some really critical scenes. She’s certainly got an incredible amount of influence over the school and makes the transition a lot easier on Lauren.

Then we’ve got Dylan. I’m still never a big fan of seeing kids get a big role in films. They tend to be pretty cheesy and Dylan’s no different. He also guilt trips Lauren quite a bit into not leaving although I expect she was going to stick around anyway. He certainly gets a lot of screen time. I’ll give him credit for being a nice kid in the end though. He does donate his coats to help others and is a very generous guy. As for Travis, he’s a pretty solid character even if he doubted Lauren quite a bit. I can’t really blame him there because he does have a point that she has only known Dylan for a week or 2 and is moving awfully fast. If you replace the scenario with someone other than the main character then you can definitely see why he was concerned. Still, he’s definitely someone that you can count on.

The writing and pacing as on point as expected of course and the scenery is definitely really good. There’s a lot of snow of course and the town is quite charming. It’s also a pretty generous town as everyone was able to chip in a lot of money to help the group who lost everything in a fire. Ultimately this town’s definitely built up a lot of goodwill and with a whole new generation here as well you expect that it will stay like that.

There’s also a subplot the film slowly builds up involving a statue of an Angel. Lauren got it from her father back when she was a kid but then it broke with the wing falling off. Her father sent it to be fixed but ended up forgetting to include the wing so Lauren kept it. Since he died shortly afterwards nobody was ever able to pick it up. Fortunately this was the town where it got sent to. So throughout the film you see the statute changing hands until it finally makes its way back at the end. It’s a nice plot to have around for sure. Her father definitely seemed to be quite wise based on the letters he sent.

Overall, Christmas Town was definitely a really fun movie. We also got some good depth with Lauren’s backstory as she read through letters her father gave her. The movie definitely has a lot of emotional scenes going for it to contrast all the happy moments eating cookies. It’s just a very wholesome film that makes for a satisfying watch. You really can’t go wrong here and by the end of the film you will be ready for your own Christmas adventures coming up. I would definitely recommend watching this film so you can add it to your collection. It’s quite solid without a doubt.

Overall 7/10

A Shoe Addict’s Christmas Review

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Time for another Hallmark adventure for the ages. The whole shoe theme here was definitely pretty unique. I don’t believe it’s been done before. I know some people are really into shoes while others collect sneakers but I can’t say I’ve ever been into that. Just get me a pair of sneakers and I’ll wear them for the next 5-10 years no problem. Of course in this film it’s fortunate that Noelle enjoys her shoes since they are quite central to the story. Without them she definitely could have been in trouble.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Noelle. She’s pretty content as she has a nice job, good coworkers, and just loves Christmas. It’s a pretty fun time of the year for her. She is even put in charge of helping direct the annual charity party that co-operates with the Firefighters. Their liason here is a guy named Jake. They don’t initially get off on the right foot as Jake tries to make a good impression with some jokes while Noelle is fairly serious. Still, they’ll have to put aside their differences if this is going to be a big success.

There is something supernatural afoot here as well. A lady named Charlie appears and claims that she is Noelle’s guardian angel. Whenever Noelle puts on a pair of shoes from her past she is transported to that point in time to relive the memories and see what she could have done differently. Charlie is trying to make the point that Noelle has pushed her friends and family away while also turning down opportunities that could have helped her in the present. Noelle tries to point out that living in the past is dangerous but Charlie insists that she take a look at some of these alternate routes. Should Noelle listen to Charlie and try to hang out with people more or is she okay as is?

As always Hallmark’s got a pretty solid film here. There’s also just a whole lot of story developments and plot to sift through here so it’s a little busier than the average title. You’ve got time travel, angels, the firefighter plot, and even some family drama with Noelle and her father. The writing is on point as always and the film really flies by. The scenery is also good. There are no real weaknesses to speak of. At most maybe the boss gets a very rushed character arc at the end but it does help to wrap things up nicely for a quality ending. From all of the plots I feel like the Gala itself got the shaft for the most part since there just wasn’t enough time to grab everything. It’s why things had to move quickly at the end.

If anything I just didn’t agree with Charlie that Noelle made all of the wrong moves. For starters, she was perfectly content at her new job even if everyone was trying to guilt trip her into leaving. Put it this way, she makes a solid salary here and has quickly moved up the chains. Everyone seems to like her at this job so she seems to have a positive future. The pay is good as well while working for herself is a lot riskier even if it may end up paying well. Then Charlie says she wasn’t all that close to her father but they did seem pretty good to me from the opening scene. They had some banter and were even joking around with each other.

So I felt like Charlie was making this sound a lot more serious than it really was. It’s not like Noelle’s current life was really that bad at all. Still, Charlie herself was pretty nice even if she didn’t have a lot of experience in the gig yet. Noelle’s best friend Lorna was also really good here. She was always encouraging Noelle and had the heroine’s back from day 1. No matter what timeline Noelle went to, she certainly owes Lorna a lot for always being there. It’s been a little while since the main character had a solid friend like this so that was nice to see.

As for the main guy Jake, he’s pretty solid. He wants to move up the ranks even if it means no longer being a firefighter. He’s a bit worried since this means leaving his late father’s shadow but he does feel like it’s the right move. He does his best to make the firefighter gala a success. The ending is pretty tough on him since he effectively wasted a lot of time but ultimately at least Noelle helped him out a bit. It’s understandable that he wouldn’t have been a happy camper at that point. The romance is pretty rushed with him and Noelle though. I feel like they could have gone with the just friends angle and that would have worked out quite nicely.

Finally with Noelle, she’s a solid main character. It’s nice to have a character who’s super into Christmas for a change instead of coming around later. By all accounts she’s always been a nice person and has made a lot of good moves. She probably could have handled the situation of not telling Jake about the changes a little better but all in all I definitely can say that she was a fun lead. The cast is fairly small so each character really counts here.

Early on in the film Noelle gets stuck at work when due to everyone forgetting she was there and locking up for the night. She handled it pretty well as she really made herself at home and began eating the snacks. That would definitely be a nice perk of being stuck in a store like that. I always thought it could be pretty fun depending on the store. Spending a night trapped in there would almost be like a vacation of sorts with unlimited food. It’s fun to think about of course but so I’m glad she wasn’t panicking or anything. Taking it in stride is definitely how you should handle it.

Overall, Hallmark never ceases to churn out solid Christmas films and this one was no different. It’s been a little while since I saw one where they had a big supernatural angle from the start so that was a lot of fun. The Guardian Angel made for a fun character even if she wasn’t always helpful with how she likes to keep secrets and answer cryptically instead of just saying what she’s thinking. If you’re looking for a fun film to check out with quality characters then I would definitely say to watch this one. There’s really nothing bad to say about it and it consistently delivers with solid moments.

Overall 7/10

Switched for Christmas Review

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It’s been a while since I saw a film where the main characters decide to trade places. It’s always a pretty fun concept though using the whole premise of how the grass always looks greener. It makes sense that both of the characters would think that the other one has the easier job. I would make the case that the VP of the huge company probably has it tougher because she really had to rise up the ranks but naturally both of them have tough jobs. At the end of the day nobody’s got it super easy. Everyone has something that they’re going through and trials to overcome.

The main characters are Kate and Chris. They are both twin sisters who have grown rather distant ever since their Mom died. They used to be close but that was a long time ago. Their father tricks them into having dinner together and after a spirited argument they agree to do the body swap. They figure nobody will notice the difference and each person’s life is so much easier that it’ll be like having a vacation. In a lot of ways the swap itself is easy but the tough part is that each of the main characters falls in love with a guy while in disguise. This is naturally not good for a lot of reasons. The main one being that this will cause a lot of drama when they return to their own lives. They have to find a way out of this predicament but can they do it?

In a lot of ways Chris really shined the brightest here. She got to show off her artistic talents, knowledge of children, and was just a great team player. She was really acing every part of her day and really fulfilled her end of the bargain. From the two characters she also just seemed like the nicer member. Her eating habits may not have been as healthy as Kate’s, but Chris still gets the job done in the end which is what counts. Naturally that isn’t to say that Kate’s a bad character. She does a reasonable job at making the edits to the school play. The main difference is that she was showing a lot of resistance at first which almost put the job in jeopardy. Keep in mind that a large donor has asked to change things up and yet Kate still tries to block this at first. She comes around later on but seemed slower on the uptake.

Both of them were shaky with allowing romances to develop during the swap though. That’s definitely the last thing you need to be doing at this point. It all ends up working out pretty nicely for the characters but it could have easily gone very wrong. Definitely a high risk play if you ask me. The core plot can be a bit weaker than some of the other Hallmark titles. I’d say from all the ones we saw recently this one just felt the least focused on Christmas. It was more accidental than being a core/focused part of the story. Not to overstate that, we still do have two Christmas parties and a lot of lights everywhere of course but it still didn’t feel quite as big here. Maybe that’s just because the main part of the story was really about the swap and because of that the rest feels like background elements.

This movie did go for a bit of a different kind of story from the norm though so I appreciate that. Usually you have the girl who ditches her fiancée or gets dumped by him and then meets someone else. They hit it off and the lead learns to have a little more fun on Christmas. This time around none of that happens as both characters do like Christmas, Kate just tends to be too busy to really celebrate it all that much. By the end of the film she has learned to make time though.

The two guys Tom and Greg are decent enough I suppose. They aren’t great at knowing which twin is which though as it probably takes a long time to really master that. In a lot of ways their personalities are super similar. Tom is a rich guy who enjoys spending time with his family and wants to make sure that the school year starts off well for his kid. Then you’ve got Greg who just enjoys helping out with the party decorating. Both of them seem like pretty decent guys so that’s always good. Then you’ve got Chris’ kids who fortunately don’t appear all that much so they don’t hold the film back or anything like that.

Overall, this is another solid installment. As always the writing here is pretty solid. The characters are good and you’ve got a pretty well rounded movie experience. There’s perhaps a little less going on for this film compared to a lot of Hallmark’s other titles but I still wouldn’t say that there’s anything here to really hold it back either. It’s got a unique premise and that’s always good since it shows that Hallmark is still trying new things. With two main characters to follow that means there is a little less screen time for each one but still enough to tell a full story. If you want to watch a good Christmas film then this is a solid option to check out although I would sooner recommend other Hallmark films at the ready. With this title complete, Hallmark continues its streak of always delivering quality experiences.

Overall 7/10

A Christmas Detour Review

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Whenever you’re planning to go somewhere and your ride ends up getting delayed it definitely makes you hope that you’ll at least be able to grab some food. Some may really enjoy the detour while others will just eagerly await the moment where they can just get to where they were planning to go. This film deals with the main character having an exceptionally long detour but will this time allow her to avoid a potential mistake with her future? Right now there’s definitely a whole lot for her to think about.

Paige arrives to her plane with a decent amount of time to spare. This is fortunate because in the end she has to barter with the staff a while as she tries to bring more luggage on board than what the plane allows. She makes it onto the plane but then gets involved in a debate with Dylan on true love. Paige believes in this 100% as everyone has a soul mate and that’s the one true partner for them. Dylan doesn’t think that makes sense and thinks the odds aren’t in its favor. Well, they’re going to have a lot of time to be able to debate this with each other because as it turns out the weather is really bad so nobody will be getting to New York anytime soon.

For Paige this is troubling news because she had been heading to her fiancé Jack’s house so she could finally meet his parents. They are about to get married so this was a pretty big deal for her. Jack also warns her that if she doesn’t make it by Christmas day then they will have to put the marriage off for another year. The stakes are high. Meanwhile Dylan wasn’t thrilled about going home for Christmas anyway so he is thrilled whenever these occurrences happen. He has a lot of fun teasing Paige throughout the movie since she is very easy to trigger. There’s also a married couple of 20-30 years tagging along. They fall in the middle of the main 2 on emotions. They’re ready for a nice Christmas but are enjoying the detours as best they can.

This film has one of the better dynamics with Paige and Dylan. Certainly Dylan’s teasing can go a bit far at times but he’s just determined to have a lot of fun the whole time. Nothing is about to get him down and it makes him a pretty interesting character to follow. Of course you know the film is ultimately going to set him and Paige up but at least he has a lot of personality before that. He does have the right attitude about their situation. The heroes can’t exactly control when the storm will end so the least you can do is make the most of it in the meantime.

Paige definitely isn’t able to see the bright side here because she is very stressed out about her plans not going through. There’s also the added pressure of the marriage going back but that should have just been a red flag. When we meet up with Jack and his parents it’s hard to see how she ever liked him. Now, of course she would not have met the parents before so we can’t take that into consideration. They are portrayed to be comically antagonistic the whole time as they insult Paige to her face many times. Jack never actually defends her on this either so he loses more points right off the bat there.

The thing is, Jack isn’t really any better. He takes shots at Paige as well and is all too willing to have her lose out on her wedding plans. He just lets the Mom choose everything and expects Paige to follow suit. He doesn’t seem to care about her at all. I guess Paige was just a little oblivious at the time but there just didn’t seem to be much of a friendship between them at the bare minimum. It makes the whole soulmate thing look even more suspect as a result since this clearly didn’t end up working out. In theory you should go into a relationship as if it’s the only love you’ll have but the problem is in a film like this there are always constant rebounds so you can’t even take the premise seriously.

Unfortunately this whole plot ends up hurting Paige quite a lot though. She started the film off on a relatively strong note but started to really decline after that. She lies to Jack quite a few times and even by the very end of the film she continues to deceive him. She is basically forced to come clean once the photo is brought to light and Dylan himself appears. That already seems like a rocky start to her sticking through this next relationship. Keep in mind that she was already engaged prior to the film starting so no matter how she justifies it, she wasn’t exactly holding strong up to this point.

Additionally, Paige allowed herself to get steamrolled by the Mom during the whole second half of the film. She put up 0 resistance as all of her wedding plans were dashed. She would just shoot everyone astonished looks the whole time but wouldn’t say anything in her defense. That’s just not a good look. It shows that she’s not going to stand up for herself no matter what happens. Allowing everyone to walk all over you is never a good thing.

I ended up liking Dylan a lot more than Paige as a result. At least he always has a lot of good one liners at the ready and quick retorts. That said, Maxine and Frank were probably the more interesting characters here. They’re a very jaded married couple as mentioned, but they’ve still got a pretty strong bond going on. The end of the film actually gives them more of a serious plot than I expected. I kind of figured they were already doing well and the sarcasm was something they had fun with. Either way by the end of the film they’re pretty tight again. Without them Dylan and Paige definitely would not have been in a great spot. It’s been a while since I saw a Hallmark film with a supporting couple like this who get a big role. In fact, it may be the first time and I enjoyed it. It was a nice angle to have included.

Overall, Christmas Detour started out a lot better than it ended. The ending was just a bit weak with a lot of the decisions Paige ended up making. Still, I do like the premise quite a bit and so of course the best scenes of the film are before they actually get back onto the main path. There was a lot of good humor here and as always a lot of good writing as well so there’s nothing to really dislike in the slightest. You can expect a very balanced film here and I would definitely recommend checking it out if you want to see a good Christmas movie.

Overall 7/10

Christmas Under Wraps Review

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Time for our next stop on the Hallmark channel express. They’ve always done a tremendous job with their Christmas lineup and unsurprisingly that is true of this film as well. Christmas Under Wraps is another solid entry in the franchise and is a very solid all around title. There are no real issues to be had with the film. It’s just a nice adventure where we get to enjoy some time at a local town where they have a fun time celebrating Christmas. Definitely gets you excited since that’s coming up pretty close now.

The movie starts by introducing us to Lauren who is a doctor getting ready to get promoted into the Fellowship where she will be able to finally have completed her life’s plans. She’s always lived by her plan and prepares to get married which will check another box. Unfortunately things don’t go quite so smoothly. Her boyfriend dumps her during dinner and then she loses out on the program. Lauren’s only available option is a small town in Alaska where they need a doctor. It’s not exactly what she signed up for but she lost out on the position in part because she didn’t have out of the box experiences so this is her chance to change all of that. It’s definitely a very different atmosphere. Can Lauren get with the program or is she doomed here?

Lauren starts off as a fairly reasonable character though compared to the last Hallmark adventure where the lead came in with a bad attitude from the start. Lauren’s not perfect and does show some clear disdain for the small town environment at first but the townsfolk do a good job of ignoring her slights and continually trying to get her on board. Eventually she does realize that the town’s actually pretty great and that’s when she can really start having some fun here. It’s no surprise that she would eventually get used to the town. All the people there are really nice and the town has all of the essentials on hand. As long as you keep an open mind you’re bound to have some fun. I didn’t see any pizza places though so I’m hoping they’ve got at least one.

Naturally there is a romance plot in this film as handyman Andy shows up to have a good time. I can’t give the romance here a thumbs up since Lauren literally went from being ready to marry someone else to dating this guy within a few days. Perhaps if we’re being generous you could say there were massive time skips and Lauren was at the town for months but I have my doubts. So that falls into the rebound territory. Otherwise Andy’s a pretty good guy though. He really helps out around the town doing whatever he can to help the others. He’s portrayed as just a very decent guy and he never really lets things get him down. It’s hard to find a more balanced character.

Although my favorite character would be Hattie. She was great at memorizing the coffee orders real quick and seemed to have a solid knowledge of the town as a whole. She was always around and ready to step in when Lauren was having trouble. She’s the kind of character who will always have your back. The rest of the town members are solid as well of course but she really stood out. Then you’ve got Billie who is the head nurse and also a good friend to Lauren. I’ll give her props for not beating around the bush and just asking the guy out. I do feel that if you like someone you should just go ahead and make the move as opposed to waiting to be asked out. Of course, when you make a game of it like in Love is War that can make for incredible dynamics but that’s more the exception to the rule.

Henry and Maggie are also portrayed as pretty nice parents to Lauren. Finally we have a more reasonable group here as her father is glad that Lauren will be following in his footsteps but doesn’t put any extra pressure on her. When she makes her decision to enjoy the town he’s quite supportive of it. Meanwhile Maggie was especially happy since she was hoping Lauren would slow down a bit to enjoy her time while it was around. After all, a career’s important but you do always need to make sure to leave time for everything else too.

Then we’ve got a subplot with Frank, a man who looks like Santa Clause. Throughout the film Lauren keeps noticing things that don’t add up like Elves running around and the fact that Frank even owns a Reindeer. The official story is that he’s part of a little parade the town throws on Christmas but is that really the whole story? He’s quite secretive about his shipping business to the point where he doesn’t tell anyone outside of the town about it. The whole town seems to be involved in some kind of conspiracy. Frank’s definitely a great character though and he certainly enjoys his cookies. Of course, why wouldn’t he right? Christmas is the perfect time to snack on a bunch of cookies. Chocolate Chip will always be my favorite but naturally sugar cookies are a lot of fun too.

Frank may not take great care of his health but he’s definitely a good guy doing his best during the busy season. He probably could have been more receptive to Andy taking over parts of the business but I do agree with him that they shouldn’t be so quick to tell Lauren the truth about the business particularly if she was still thinking about going home. That’s the kind of secret you have to wait until both characters are fully committed. Based on Lauren’s final decisions she clearly hadn’t been 100% committed at that point. In the end the big twist of what the whole town is involved in with the business is pretty fun. It helped add a subtle mystery element to the movie.

Overall, as always Hallmark delivered another great adventure here. The writing is really good and the cast of characters are solid as well. You just can’t go wrong with that combination. It makes for a really solid Christmas adventure and shows you the appeal of small town environments. Personally I’m still more of a NYC kind of guy since I just like having all kinds of stores around and the ability to go anywhere on a whim but I wouldn’t mind some of that weather. It feels like a while since we got a decent helping of snow and over in Alaska that definitely would not be a problem in the winter. If you want to see a nice uplifting film that gets you into a festive mood then this is definitely a good movie to check out.

Overall 7/10

Let It Snow Review

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It’s time to look at a Hallmark film from a while back. They’ve always been very consistent about churning out great products. They have a lot of Christmas movies and I have yet to see a bad one. They always tend to have a solid plot and good characters arcs for the cast. In this case we don’t even have the usual rebound plot so that was an extra bonus. I’d definitely say there are no real complaints here. Naturally some of the story elements may seem very familiar and I’m sure you can guess what will happen before it does, but it doesn’t take away from the solid execution here.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Stephenie. She is a top executive at her father’s company and he has a new task for her. Stephenie has to head to a Christmas cabin that their company has just purchased to see how they handle Christmas. Her job is to take away the glitz and glamor and figure out how to make this a successful enterprise. Right now mostly families rent out rooms here but the firm needs this to be a place for single people with lots of cash to burn. Stephenie is ready for this since she’s not a big fan of Christmas and doesn’t even like the cold. She’ll enjoy taking everything apart. Things all begin to change though when she meets up with Brady, the son of the current owner. Is it possible that she will regain her Christmas spirit?

I think we all know the answer to that question. The scenery is really nice as always. We get to see some gingerbread cookies being baked and there are a lot of solid decorations all around the cabin. It’s clear that the family puts a great deal of effort into the project. You may wonder why they are selling the place. Is it because they got a great deal and can just take it easy now? Well, I’m sure that didn’t hurt but it’s really because nobody is prepared to take the business over. Brady wanted tom, but he also wanted to enact a lot of changes to the place which his father did not approve of. As a result they hit a stalemate. Stephenie is quickly brought into this drama as well and wants to help but the business deal is done. It’s not like she can really do a whole lot about the deal at this point. Still, she gives it her best shot.

Stephanie’s a pretty decent lead. She definitely starts out as one of the meaner ones though. She is absolutely not on board with having a good time at all. She definitely overreacts to just about everything and really gives Brady a hard time. Still, she ultimately gets past this. Then you have Brady who doesn’t get along with her at first but it looks like he is usually a pretty nice guy. Everyone at the camp likes him as he is typically seen as a very reliable figure who is always around to help out when the kids need a hand or something seems too difficult. He’s a man of many talents.

Then for the supporting characters you’ve got a good cast. Stephenie had a friend in the first scene but she ends up vanishing completely after the opening so we won’t count her. Stephenie’s father is definitely a fun character to have around although he seems a lot less reasonable after the opening scene. At first he definitely is shown to not like Christmas or anything like that but he isn’t shown to be quite as antagonistic towards it as later on. That’s where he really begins trying to crush all the ideas Stephenie has without really listening to the pitch. I like the idea that he sat there listening to her for over an hour only to completely disregard everything at that point and go on to the pre prepared topics he already had ready. The guy certainly wasn’t budging.

Then you have Brady’s parents who are pretty nice. The Mom does her best to get Stephenie settled in even if she is met with a ton of resistance. The lead not trying her home baked cookies was definitely an emotional moment. Brady’s Dad also does a good job as it must take a lot of effort to keep on getting the cabin set and participating in all of the events at his age. He did well in keeping the place going as long as he could. He and Brady have a lot of disagreements on how to make the place better but as we only see the aftermath of their arguments it’s hard to say who takes more blame in their disagreements there.

The movie really flies by. Let It Snow has solid writing and pacing as you’d expect from a Hallmark title so that won’t come as any surprise. You can definitely imagine visiting a place like this to have a good day. I can’t imagine actually spending a Christmas out there over the comforts of home but I’m sure you would still have a good time. I’d be going all in on the cookies and the rest of the desserts displayed in the film. Then the fact that there is also a pretty nice breakfast spread is also very enticing.

Overall, Let It Snow is definitely a very good movie and one that I would recommend checking out for Christmas. You’ve got a solid story and a good cast of characters which always serve as strong fundamentals for a movie. The romance is a bit cliché and could have been written out of the movie for sure, but otherwise the rest of the story beats end up working out quite well. It’s not the most ambitious film out there but it’s a pleasant one. As they say, it’s the journey that counts and even if you know how the movie is going to end, the execution is on point the whole time so you don’t feel bored or anything like that.

Overall 7/10

Beyond Tomorrow Review

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Time for a film that reminds you of how easily many people can be corrupted by a touch of fame. While the film is a pretty uplifting one for most of its run, it actually goes through what I’d consider to be a fairly dark second half. Things get pretty serious with James choking left and right at every corner. Let me tell you, it’s difficult to really feel bad for the guy after a while. He really didn’t make things easy on himself that’s for sure.

The movie starts with three guys finally finishing work for the day. They run a pretty successful business and have all known each other for quite a while. One of them is a bit of a grouch while the other two have more fun just enjoying the Christmas season. When all of the guests cancel their appearances at the party the main member of the trio, Michael decides to have a little wager. The three of them will throw a wallet with 10 bucks out the window to see if anyone brings it back. 2 people do. A lady named Jean and a guy named James. Michael invites them for a Christmas dinner and they all get along rather well. Eventually Jean and James get together and life looks pretty bright for them except that the 3 men die in a big plane crash. Now they are back as ghosts to try and keep these two together as James begins being tempted by another woman.

First off I gotta say that James is just a terrible character. The guy doesn’t last a minute before lusting after the famous music star he meets. As soon as he goes to the studio to record his song he can’t help but stare at her poster rather obsessively. From there he never looks back and dumps Jean like a sack of bricks. Thing is, he’s not even able to do that so instead he just ignores Jean for a while and hangs out with the new girl. Karma tends to strike rather fast in these films so things don’t go very well for him but it’s a shame just how deeply his character was wrecked. He seemed like a nice guy originally and then all of a sudden he just jumps off the bridge. Madame Tanya even tries to warn him but he ignores all advice given as he is eager to keep on digging his own grave.

It’s why the film seems to have such a tonal shift between the first and second half of the film. One second things are going dandy with everyone having a good ole time and then they’re not. In the first half of the film we have people enjoying their time with dinner, hanging out with the kids at school, going on a merry walk through the park, etc. It’s just a very happy film where everything is going well and all of the characters are wholesome. To go from that to suddenly all of the characters are corrupted was just something I had not been expecting in the slightest. It’s almost like watching an entirely different movie. It was an interesting development though, I just wish James could have stayed strong.

Meanwhile Jean was a good character throughout the story. I’m actually glad that in the end she just walked out. Now I know there are always 2 minds about this. 1 is that you should fight for your man. If you see him being stolen away by another girl then you try to use your own wiles to fight back. The other is that if he is tempted away so easily then you can never trust him again anyway so why bother fighting for him? Just leave and find someone better. I’m more inclined to go with the second option. I think it’s reasonable to confront the issue head on first of course but if you just jump to option 2 I wouldn’t blame you. The second the guy cheats then it’s all over. There’s no real way to come back from that. Jean gave him a chance and he blew it so that’s it.

It’s part of why I’m not a big fan of the ending of the film. Certainly it’s always nice to have a second chance but it’s framed in more of a way like James made a mistake when he didn’t. He knew exactly what he was doing throughout the film as well as the consequences of his actions. He just decided that he didn’t care and so I think the film should have just ended on that note. It’s a pretty intense way to end the film of course but I do think it made a lot of sense after everything he put Jean through.

I do think a missed opportunity here is the ghosts angle. My main issue with it is that the ghosts served no real purpose. Of the 3, only Michael stays around for most of the film. The problem is that he didn’t really do anything. For most of the film he’s just glares at the various characters. At most he’ll throw someone’s hat but that’s about it. He never actually contributes anything to the story after death. The 3 characters were great before that but they may as well have not returned. The ghost angle just wasn’t explored so it felt like a rather empty subplot. There’s a whole lot more they could and should have done with that but I suppose the film didn’t want to get too supernatural and lose sight of the main premise.

Overall, I definitely didn’t like James but I thought this was a well written movie. I would have switched up the ending a bit though. Regardless of if you sympathize with James or not (I certainly don’t) there are definitely people like that who will throw you away as soon as they get fame or status. It’s why you always got to be careful before you commit. I’d recommend checking this film out if you want a pretty serious drama to watch. It’s a Christmas film but not one that is all that happy after the halfway mark so you may want to watch another classic like Jingle All The Way first and then wait a bit on this one. It’s definitely still got the biggest tone shift I’ve seen in a very long time between the first and second acts but it’s handled pretty well. You certainly don’t expect everything that happens.

Overall 6/10