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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Review

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At long last I have begun the Harry Potter marathon. It’s definitely a pretty legendary series that’s for sure. The games are out of print though so getting a hand on this one is pretty difficult. It ended up costing 100 but I was able to get it in a bundle pack with two other Harry Potter games so the price didn’t feel all that crazy. Usually you’re likely going to be spending a whole lot more than that on it. It’s a pretty fun game, fairly standard I’d say but one that does the job.

The game starts with Harry being invited into Hogwarts. It’s a school for magicians where he will be able to perfect his craft. He quickly becomes friends with Ron and Hermione which is handy since being on your own here is pretty tough to say the least. One of the Professors seems pretty shady. His name is Snape and he just looks like a villain. Mix that in with his teaching the dark arts and the heroes are all wary of him. When the kids learn that the Philosopher’s Stone is around they realize that they’re going to need to find and secure it before the villains can make a move. After all, Voldemort is supposed to be dead but is that really the case?

From a gameplay perspective Harry Potter isn’t going for anything new. It’s a classic 3D Platformer where you navigate through the levels and deal with the occasional boss. You can’t jump but your character will automatically jump if you are next to a gap. You learn 5 different spells although awkwardly the game only lets you equip 3 so prepare to have to open up the menu a lot. The spells are Light, Attack, Fire, Cut, Open, and Spring. Use them wisely in order to get through the obstacles. The game is typically pretty clear about what you have to do so no worries there. The first plant boss took me a little time to figure out how to beat him but since there aren’t a ton of attack options it’s not like you have to experiment too often. They also re-use the plant boss two more times so it’ll be easy to take him out after round 1.

Aside from two times where you have to go and find some potion ingredients which involves backtracking the game is very linear. You go accomplish your goals for the day and then you have the option to end the day or go collect some cards. If you want to end the day you can do so immediately from the start menu as opposed to having to go back to your room each time. I definitely appreciated that. The fact that you have the option to explore is nice too. There are over 100 trading cards in the game so grabbing those will probably take a while. You can also collect little beans to buy things with. You can only carry 50 though so you get the item box filled really quick. In a way it’s nice to stay filled up though as otherwise Harry always makes a lot of noise when going for the beans. You’d think he would take the whole thing with a little more stride.

The game’s length isn’t bad. You should have it beat in around 5-6 hours and then with the replay value of getting the cards it should take a few extra hours. The hub world is surprisingly huge so finding the collectibles would be quite the journey since there is no way to track where the ones you haven’t grabbed yet are. Still, the game isn’t quite long enough to drop $100 on so I would keep that in mind if it’s still out of print. In that case it’s only worth that amount if you are an incredibly large Harry Potter fan.

The graphics look pretty nice. All of the characters have the huge eyes approach so they’re almost like bobble heads at times. There are a ton of cutscenes and the whole thing feels like it has a good amount of effort to it. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side though. I don’t think there are any tunes here that will make you think twice about the whole thing. So all in all the game works pretty well on a technical level. It’s just a pretty quick platformer to spend a few hours on and have a good time. We even have a few broom levels where you get to zoom around the room. Honestly I would have liked more of those levels since they were a fun change of pace. Finally there are 2 stealth levels but they seemed kind of broken. I just ended up cheesing them by running past the guards and opening the door even if I was seen. It was still a fun little minigame though.

The only thing I would say against the game is that the lock on feature isn’t very good. At times your lock will just go away so you end up shooting at nothing. Changing targets is also difficult. I feel like this could have used a little polish. At times it makes some parts of the game a little more difficult than they should be just because you can’t get the game to lock on to the person you want to attack. On the whole though I would say this isn’t a huge deal and it’s something you can certainly adapt to and quickly overturn. It’s big enough where I thought it was worth mentioning though.

Overall, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a pretty fun initial journey into the verse. It does a good job of capturing the story and tone of the original movie. I look forward to seeing the characters progress in the sequels. I’ll be starting the second game shortly. So if you find this game at a reasonable price then I would definitely recommend checking it out. If it’s still a little overpriced then you’re good with just waiting a little while or even skipping it. You won’t be missing a whole lot. The game’s not trying to do anything special. It’s just a pretty good game, no more and no less.

Overall 7/10

The Thomas Crown Affair Review

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Whenever you get romantically involved with the person you’re supposed to bust on a case then you know that you’ve done your job wrong. This film involves a few heists and as soon as the investigator meets up with the crook you know that things are not going to go well. If anything you’ll just feel bad for the cops here. On one hand they wouldn’t have even been close to cracking the case without the heroine, on the other hand maybe it’s better not to crack the case then to have someone weaken you from the inside.

The movie starts off by showing us the first bank heist. It’s a pretty impressive piece of work as a bunch of strangers are brought together to do the gig. Each one has a different job and only needs to know his part. As a result they don’t actually meet up and this ends up being a pretty big event. Nobody is able to stop Thomas so he escapes to the money and goes back to his wealthy life. The cops are unable to handle this so much to detective Eddie’s horror they call in a specialist. Her name is Vicki and she is not opposed to using less than legal methods to ensure Thomas’ capture. She quickly tightens the net around him but ends up liking him as well. Will she be able to pull the trigger or will she end up defecting to his side?

Now with any heist film you will probably have to suspend a little disbelief at some scenes. The more they show you the more you will have some questions. For example, I feel like the whole thing went way too smoothly at the end. None of the cops get off a single shot as the villains flee and the car is able to easily drive across the many streets with nobody catching up. Too bad none of the cops are good drivers in this film eh? Would have made a pretty big difference if you ask me. The second time around is arguably even worse since the villains use the same plan and it works once again. This time there is more of a shootout though so at least the heroes put up more of a fight.

When you have this as your context it’s also incredibly hard to buy into Vicki falling for Thomas. How could she possibly do this when he was willingly getting involved in such crimes. It’s not like the film ever even tries to paint him as a sympathetic character either. He’s just doing this for the thrills which makes him as villainous as possible. The whole affair with him is just pretty terrible the whole time. There’s one chess game in particular which the film manages to mess up because of this.

Usually in a heist or a mystery film like this you get a good chess game between the hero and villain where they explain their plans and how they one upped the other character. You get a lot of solid moves back and forth which mirror the actual moments. In this case we get none of that. If anything they’re playing in rather sloppy fashion since Thomas gets really distracted during the match. It’s a big shame since Chess is usually pretty hype. It almost goes without saying that the romance is just really bad from start to finish.

The movie also uses an editing style that’s not very good. Basically everything shrinks into tiny boxes along the screen that start to show the same image half the time. So instead of watching a scene normally you’re seeing over 10 versions of it. This might be a decent novelty the first few times but that quickly wears thin before you know it. In the end you’ll just be shaking your head. The writing’s not great either. I would say it’s okay at best but without likable characters there just isn’t a whole lot that you can do. There are no memorable lines here or even fun comedic moments. The film is serious but in a rather dull way where nothing seems to happen for large periods of time.

Thomas is just a petty villain with no master goals. There’s really no depth to him and no reason to like him. It’s also worth noting that Vicki figured him out almost immediately. Then you have Vicki herself and I can’t give her a thumbs up either. She let her personal feelings cloud her judgment. The fact that she even asked the cops if they could have a truce with Thomas was terrible. You can’t negotiate with someone that just robbed a bank and put tons of people in harm’s way. Then you have Detective Eddie who’s okay but never seems to make any headway in the case. He was more reasonable than the other characters at least but I wouldn’t say that it made him a good character either. It was just an added bonus. In the end he was so ineffective you might feel bad for him rather than actively rooting for him. Technically I was hoping he would be the one to crack the case though even if you never thought there was a true chance of that.

Overall, This isn’t a film that would have much replay value at all. It gets worse the more you think about it. The romance is no good and since the heist is only a very small portion of the film, it means that there’s not a lot here to keep your interest. In theory the best part about a film like this should be the back and forth banter between Vicki and Thomas but we don’t get a whole lot of that here because they are interested in each other almost from the start. There’s no true cat and mouse game here because they aren’t 100% serious about getting away from the other. It’s a game, but one with low stakes. It’s like making a Tom and Jerry film where they’re actually friends. It wouldn’t have the same impact unless they’re teaming up against a common enemy but that’s a completely different ball game. If you want a good heist film, watch Ocean’s 11 instead for a vastly superior product.

Overall 3/10

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

Beyblade Review

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Beyblade has always been one of the biggest anime franchises left that I had not seen yet. In fact I would argue that it was by far the biggest franchise I had not started. Not that honor would probably go to Bakugan, Pretty Cure, or Duel Masters. It’s a lot more debatable now though while Beyblade was unquestionably the top spot. Well, it easily lives up to the hype. This initial season was fantastic and really contains everything you could want in such a title. The cast is incredible and you really feel pumped thanks to the excellent action and soundtrack. It’s easy to see why this one hit it big.

There’s quite a lot going on here but the series opens up by introducing us to Tyson. He’s a kid who really likes the game of Beyblade. One day his life is forever changed when a bully shows up and beats the best player in school. Tyson isn’t about to let that slide so he takes that guy down and realizes he has what it takes to compete in the big tournaments. Tyson gradually meets with other skilled Beybladers like Max, Ray, and Kai. Together they form the Bladebreakers and aim to clam the top spot in the world. They’ll have to win a lot of tournaments along the way if they want to reach that title. It means travelling to far off places such as Russia and England and dueling everyone in their path. Not every match is in an official tournament setting either as the Dark Bladers and evil scientists also want to get in their way.

With 50+ episodes you can tell that there are going to be a whole lot of characters and story adventures to cover here so prepare for a pretty long review. There’s so much to cover that it’s always tough to know where to start but lets go with the technical areas here. The animation is quite excellent as you would expect. You really feel the intensity behind the Beyblade battles. It’s all nice and hand drawn which allows the tops to really have a lot of great movement. For the most part the power levels don’t get too crazy but by the end of the series you have dimensional rifts being opened up by the Beyblade’s power so they still shouldn’t be underestimated.

I also have to give the character designs some major props as well. The characters are extremely built considering that they’re just kids. You certainly would not want to mess with these guys that’s for sure since it looks like they could wreck you in a fist fight as well. It helps to add a sense of danger to the series. For example, there’s one episode where Kai has to infiltrate a facility and tape out a bunch of drones and automatic defenses. Between the serious character design and excellent animation in that episode, it got pretty tense. You always knew the series was not pulling any punches.

As for the soundtrack, it’s pretty large. There are a ton of themes here and they’re all pretty great. Sure, there may be one or two songs that don’t land if you were to really go back and listen to all of them but for the most part they’re all pretty fitting and get you into the moment. One song that really sticks out is Kai’s theme. It’s more of a rap song than the others and seems to be about someone underestimating him. It really works well as his “evil” song during part of Kai’s character arc. It just felt like the beginning of a new era and was a perfect way to launch the climax of the series.

The pre arc of the series is really about Tyson meeting up with his future teammates Max, Kai, and Ray. They all get along pretty quickly aside from Kai who’s always pretty aloof. Interestingly Kai is really the team captain for the first tournament which means that he doesn’t get to actually fight much. That’s the only thing that can be unfortunate as until the final tournament Kai is basically on the bench permanently. He only gets to duel occasionally when someone is injured or in a match outside the ring. Since at that point Kai was the big fighter it would have been nice to have seen him duel a little more. Still, we got a lot of different matches this way which was always a lot of fun.

While all the tournaments are leading up to the World Championship you could say that the others are all part of one grand arc. The heroes get to fight Ray’s old team, then they fight Max’s Mom’s team, and then they fight Kai’s team relating to his past. Each team tends to have something to do with one of the members which makes for a pretty good dynamic there. Each arc consistently gives great moments so there’s never an arc that just feels dull. It sort of goes without saying but the final arc is the best one. We get a lot of great character moments with Kai and the final villains just feel like huge threats. Certainly not the kind of guys you can afford to underestimate. It’s also always a good sign for the show to end on the best arc.

The writing with the show is definitely excellent as well. There are countless great moments and one liners. It’s part of what helps make the character cast so great. If I had any issue with the series it would be that the power levels can be a tad inconsistent. It’s hard to see the White Fang being any kind of threat to the All Starz based on what we’ve seen from them. Their feat of busting a boulder was also good enough where you don’t see how Max was able to compete much in the tournament. At the end of the day though it looks like the energy of the Beyblade depends on the owner’s will power so I suppose a lot of that is really subject to change here.

As you can tell I was quite impressed with this series throughout. It really just kept slamming home runs throughout. Same with the character cast and I suppose now is a good time to launch into those guys. First lets go with the Bladebreakers. As the leader of the group Tyson’s a pretty incredible character. For starters he’s never afraid to jump into battle. When the bully attacks his school Tyson is the first person to jump into action. Similarly whenever any opponent shows up disrespecting Tyson or his friends our lead doesn’t take that lying down. He’s always ready to jump in and put an end to that. His skills are also the real deal. Tyson is extremely confident in his abilities but it is absolutely earned. The fact of the matter is that Tyson is always taking care of his business so why shouldn’t he be confident?

He quickly became the leader of the group and while all of their skills remained fairly equal for a while, by the end Tyson easily surpassed the others in ability. His bond with Dragoon is really strong and helped him unlock a completely new level. Then you’ve got his rival Kai who is the best character in the series. Not only are his skills able to match Tyson’s for a while to the point where he even surpassed Tyson, but Kai is also good at fighting outside of the ring. One of his pretty hype moments was when he infiltrated the villain base as I mentioned earlier. Kai’s definitely more of a loner compared to the others and rarely gets in on the team atmosphere. He does mellow out a bit near the end of course but otherwise he keeps that calm and cool persona throughout.

His Dranzer has to be the coolest Beyblade in the series as well. I also liked the Dark Dranzer form quite a bit. The sheer power level on that thing was insane. Naturally you don’t want to be using an evil Beyblade for long but if Kai had kept that then it’s hard to see him losing to just about anyone. There is a brief moment where Kai turns on the team for power and how much you like the character will likely depend on how you feel about Kai’s heel turn there. I was all for it to be honest. You always want to see the rival turn evil at least once and it was a good excuse to see him take on all of the Bladebreakers.

I would consider Ray to be the third member of the group. In most series you’ve got the big 2 (Main Character and Rival) but then there is usually a third character who is under the top 2 but still considerably stronger to the rest. For example I would say that is Gohan in DBZ, Todoroki in My Hero Academia, Shiryu in Saint Seiya, and T.K. in Digimon. Ray can’t quite defeat Tyson or Kai but he’s still a very intense fighter. He takes a lot more punishment than the others as well as he gets beaten up to the point where his clothes are shredded and his hair comes undone. Nothing is able to take him out of the fight as long as he’s still conscious though. His Drigger is a fitting Bit Beast for Ray as well due to his aggressive fighting style.

I was definitely a pretty big fan of Ray. He’s a lot of fun to watch and you always feel like he has a chance at victory. Then you’ve got Max. From the Bladebreakers who can fight he’s easily my least favorite member although I wouldn’t call him bad. He doesn’t take things as seriously as the first 3 and isn’t really one of the stronger members. That being said, he does get a significant power up near the end which boosts his Beyblade’s defense to an extremely high level. You could make a very strong case that at the very end of the series he actually surpassed Kai and Ray. Not that this is likely to stick for the second season but at least the writers threw him a bone. He gets a big role in the tournament against the American team since his Mom is their captain. It made for a lot of drama that’s for sure even if Max usually ended up getting psyched out in the end.

Then we have Kenny who is more of a coach than an actual fighter. He mostly consults with Dizzi before and after every match as he gives tips to the team. I wasn’t a fan of Kenny. Part of the issue is that since he can’t actually play, it’s hard to really buy into him giving the characters such critiques. He wouldn’t really know how to improve their game if not for Dizzi giving him the play by plays. At least in the Dub version. Kenny also tends to complain an awful lot and doesn’t have fun like the other characters. he would have to easily be the weakest main character and one of the lest interesting ones in the whole show.

Time to talk about the White Tigers. They certainly made for a good threat early on. The leader is Lee and he’s pretty upset with Ray for leaving which you can understand to an extent. It sounds like Ray could have explained things better. Of course once you’re in the ring then there’s no chance for mercy. He was a good villain although it was hard to buy him being able to match the American representatives later on. He must have gotten a lot stronger to compete with them at that point. Mariah gets the biggest role aside from Lee and is also one of the most impressive ones. I still remember how she shattered a boulder with a single swing from her Blade. From the whole show that’s still one of the best feats. It’s why it was hard to buy into her not doing so well in the actual tournament but I could definitely see her getting some good wins later on. She’s a fun Blader and one who is easy to root for. It’s clear that she has honed her skills to a great extent.

The other two members Kevin and Gary don’t get to do nearly as much. Both of them seem to be a lot weaker than the main two members. Gary’s your classic power type fighter while Kevin is more about sneaking around an opponent. The fact that Kevin tried to take down his opponents with trickery outside the ring tells you all you need to know about his skills. He was benched from the team for good reason. Not to say he’s awful or anything but he can’t keep up with the other two.

Then we have the All Stars led by Michael. This team was definitely a lot of fun, I’m always up for seeing an American based team appear and make some noise. Michael was also a solid power hitter even if he didn’t get to duel until pretty deep into the arc. I’d say he’s definitely the strongest member of the team even if they sometimes hint that Emily can keep up with him as well. He has a lot of confidence and is a pretty tough blader. While he is no exception among all the side characters who get surpassed by the end he has a solid road to that point.

Emily is the next strongest member of the group and she’s pretty solid as well. She’s more about analytics than high energy and just pushing her way to the top. That said, it’s an effective tactic which seems to work out pretty well for her. She certainly enjoys messing with Max. Then there’s Steven, the Football member of the group. I like his direct, no nonsense style of blading. He goes all in on trying to take these guys down for the count. Steven definitely had a lot of great moments here. Then you’ve got Eddy who is good friends with Steven. Both of them seem to be pretty equal in strength and both have a lot of confidence. Again, you can see why the All Starz are such a great team. Pretty much all of their members are on point.

Judy is the coach of the team and as Max’s mom she gets a pretty big role here. Naturally she is a bit torn on who to root for and at times it seems like she is rooting for the Bladebreakers. It was good to have a parent who is actually here and contributing to the story though. Tyson’s Dad could learn a thing or two. Even Kai’s grandfather to be honest. The guy seems to be a villain with some big plans but he really has almost 0 impact in the series. You could blink and miss the guy’s scenes to be honest. Boris has a much bigger role as a villain. Now that’s a guy who makes his presence in the series felt and has a lot of pretty good master plans. You don’t want to mess with this guy.

We can’t forget Tyson’s grandfather Ryu. This guy’s pretty fun. He definitely loves being the center of attention and at the same time doesn’t care if people think he looks kind of crazy. He’s just determined to have a good time. Ryu can’t fight in the world of Beyblades but he does teach Tyson how to fight hand to hand which is still very helpful. Nobody will get the best of Tyson in the real world. As for Mr. Dickenson, he’s good for scheduling fights but doesn’t really come through when it counts. I wouldn’t say that I’m a big fan of the guy although I do like how occasionally he’ll launch a secret plan. It shows that he is at least fairly cunning.

There’s one group known as the Dark Bladers who to me seem like the most pointless characters in the show. No offense to these guys of course, but in their very first big appearances in the “New World” they all get wrecked by the European champs. There’s no point where you can take them seriously for the rest of the show. None of the characters were all that interesting either. It’s a cool name too so it kind of feels wasted on these guys. They’re like B leaguers thinking that they can actually take on the real characters and naturally that does not go over well.

If anything the big villain team led by Tala should have been called the Dark Bladers. Tala was a great villain. He didn’t get to do a whole lot at times but he has a terrific character design and is definitely a real threat which is what you want to see here. He can definitely hold his own with the other characters even if you feel like he wouldn’t stand a chance at all against Kai and Dark Dranzer. His only chance was with Kai in his normal form. Tala really took away the character chances from his teammates though. For example Spencer seems like a pretty tough guy. In fact his water battle was really good and solidified him as a true threat. He never got to duel again after that though so it was a very brief appearance. Same for Bryan. He’s clearly hooked on fighting and is like a battle machine. A lot of potential there but he never really got to take advantage of it.

Finally we have the European fighters. Oliver is pretty interesting since he seems very two faced. He acts nice to the Bladebreakers most of the time and then suddenly he’ll be insulting them behind their backs. As a result I definitely got to give this guy a thumbs down. The fact that the team did not participate in the tournaments because they were unable to work as a team was also pretty interesting. He is a good fighter though. Then you have Enrique who fights in a Colosseum which is a pretty nice power move. How many people can say they’ve done that in the past right? He’s definitely more of a flirt than the others but he hasn’t let his skills waiver so he clearly still practices. I’m not a big fan but he’s okay.

The other two players are a lot better. Johnny is a pretty tough fighter and he is always ready to rock and roll. From the 4 characters he probably gets the smallest role but he’s always a lot of fun. His skills are the real deal and he’s probably the strongest on the team aside from Robert. Robert is the best of the 4 of course. He’s very emotionless so it can be a bit jarring when he tries to be one of the gang and have some fun at the end. In general the European group is pretty interesting because they are all supposed to be top tier fighters but they spend a lot of their time getting wrecked or dodging the big fights so it’s hard to take them seriously.

The show did a great job of having the power levels slowly go up though. Tyson started out as a local fighter who wasn’t really ready to take on any of the bigger members to being a world champion class fighter by the end. At the end Tyson was taking on multiple fighters at once with no real effort which is impressive. Of course the power scaling means that nobody should ever be able to keep up with him again but I suppose with new technology that helps even things out as the excuse can be that new Beyblades have been created which just have better specs.

Overall, Beyblade is just a great series. You can easily get into it and just watch at any time. It’s got the right balance of action and solid character moments. There are a ton of duels here and the replay value is quite high as a result. These episodes really hold up to a rewatch and have a lot of replay value. I look forward to seeing if season 2 can match this one. After all here we got all of the hype initial meetings but of course sequels are always pretty nostalgic when you get to see all the characters return. Either way this is definitely a must watch anime.

Overall 8/10

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

An Affair to Remember Review

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This film’s definitely one of those classics that you will likely have heard about at some point in your life. It’s a pretty big romance film after all with a lot of iconic moments throughout. The whole premise of the film is built around a rebound though as both characters are already in relationships so that definitely adds an extra layer to think about. It may be hard for you to root for the characters in this endeavor. Still, it is a pretty well made movie with a lot of the fast talking, witty banter you would expect from a Cary Grant film.

The movie starts with Terry and Nickie boarding a cruise. Due to plot reasons both of their fiancés decided not to board the cruise. Great move eh? I mean, in fairness you should not be afraid to miss out on a cruise. It’s not like an affair to remember should ever be expected to happen. If you can’t trust your partner then the relationship isn’t going to work either way. Still, this gives Nickie some room to work. He is a notorious flirt despite being in a relationship and decides to go after Terry. This works rather easily as she falls for him and the two have to think about getting serious. Of course the big thing here is if they do get serious then they are going to need to dump their current fiancés. Will they be able to go through with this or should they just back out of it?

I’ll give the film credit for not taking the easy way out here and making the originals look bad. Kenneth is actually a pretty nice guy. By all accounts he is a very supportive guy who wants what’s best for Terry. He’s naturally hurt by what’s going on but doesn’t get petty about it. No matter what happens he’s always by Terry’s side and also offers to be a rebound if she has second thoughts about Nickie. Then you have Lois who is portrayed as maybe a little more antagonistic as she isn’t super supportive of Nickie’s dreams to be a painter. They are rich though so she probably wonders why he wants to take this hobby up as a real job now. Still, Lois seems perfectly pleasant and even takes Nickie to a movie as a way to cheer him up when he is trying to hide his sadness.

So you need to remember that Nickie and Terry are the heels here. They’re the ones wrecking the ongoing relationships that they had been in with no prior signs of being unhappy. It’s not really portrayed in that light but when you think about it, they’re definitely not doing something that’s nice for the rest of the gang. They’re just thinking about themselves in this light. They should also be a bit wary because as they say, if you found your partner by cheating on someone else…well what comes around goes round. You’ll always have that slight suspicion in the back of your mind that you’re being cheated on as well.

All right, lets talk about the two leads though. So Nickie is a flirt as mentioned who always liked having companionship. He doesn’t really like being by himself and has a pretty tough exterior so people don’t get close to him. He’s a pretty entertaining character even if you never know when he’s actually being genuine. He can be a bit of a mystery in that sense. The only time he seems to let the façade go is when he is with his mother or with Terry at the end. He does his best to find out what happened with their meeting that wasn’t to be without putting her on the spot which was certainly a difficult task.

Terry was someone who initially tried very half heartedly to reject Nickie’s advances but I don’t think anyone truly thought she would succeed. At the end of the day I guess Nickie was just too charming. It seems like she definitely has a rougher road to get through compared to Nickie. He went through the emotional pain while she had to go through that as well as physical challenges. I do think she should have still contacted him right away though. Waiting would just lead to misunderstandings and didn’t really do him any favors. I suppose she didn’t want to tie him down but by that point they were already invested enough where that would have been what he wanted.

I’d say the best part of the film is the first half. I enjoyed the adventures on the boat with the crew constantly messing with the main pair. They weren’t exactly subtle about hanging out together and the crew were always ready to call them out on it like at the scene where they were having dinner or the happy neighbor trying to get a signature. The movie had a lot of nice comedic moments here before becoming a lot more serious and dramatic by the end. it’s a very natural transition though and for the second half the best scene would easily be when Nickie confronts Terry in his very roundabout way of putting the blame on himself. It made for a very nice dynamic as the film slowly builds up to him learning the truth. The writing is just quite stellar here and you would expect nothing less.

Overall, An Affair to Remember is a pretty solid film. It’s unlikely that you will be rooting for the romance though. The solid writing and character development will be what keeps you hear. An event near the film is also quite unexpected and definitely makes for an intense twist. It’s a sad moment but the film doesn’t go too far in trying to force this in your face which I appreciate. The movie goes by fast and you get some pretty nice scenery as well. I’ve always been tempted to go take a cruise even though you see so many of them crashing all the time. It just seems like it would be a really nice change of pace. If I ever went, I would definitely go on the one that has a 24 hour pizza buffet. Why would you choose any other cruise right? If you’re going to go on a cruise then naturally you should go on the best one. I’d recommend checking this one out if you like a light hearted romance. That’s not to say it doesn’t get serious but at the end of the day it is a film that should leave you rather jolly as long as you’re used to rebound romances in films. I wasn’t rooting for them in their romantic endeavors, but the film was still very strong all around and makes for a solid viewing.

Overall 7/10