Reviews
A Slice of Romance(2021)
Female lead is unwatchable
The female lead is utterly unwatchable. If some acting coach told her acting consists of making weird faces and exaggerated voices, she should demand a refund. By the time she delivered her 3rd line of dialog I wanted to turn it off and delete it. All I could think was What the $&#@ is this? Some kind of spoof? Is the camera going to pull back and reveal a painfully amateur production in progress? But, no. It was really the movie. What we saw is what we got. I can't believe some production company actually paid her to do that and call it acting. P. T. Barnum was right. There's a sucker born every minute. And then more suckers who are stupid enough to waste precious time watching this travesty.
A Very Vermont Christmas(2024)
Cute movie, fairly novel plot for Hallmark
It's not the usual Christmas fair or charity benefit or the usual Christmas memes Hallmark seems to rely on. Even though the family pub business is riding in the balance, it's not the centerap plot line. The "villain" even had their forgiveness in the end. I'm not sure I'd have been so generous if an old family friend and former boyfriend stole from me and sabotaged me knowing it would put me out of business. There was one BIG goof that will be noticed. The 2 leads wanted to get the first chair up the mountain but Lifty Lucy wouldn't let them ride until the stroke of 9AM, despite no one else being around to even know, let alone on line. Yet when they're riding up the mountain and the camera focuses on their conversation, every chair behind them is filled. And when the camera focuses on their backs as they continue moving up the hill, there are also people in the chairs ahead of them. How did they get there? Did they fly and land in the chairs like birds? Overall, it won't ever be counted as the best Christmas movie Hallmark has ever made. But it's far from the worst. The 2 leads would be welcome in more Hallmark films, especially since GAF poached some of their bench.
Joyeux Noel(2023)
movie just OK, authentic location and scenery saves it
This is the 3rd Hallmark movie I've seen the female lead in and unfortunately, she seems to act the same in all of them. She tends to have a very flat affect - maybe it's her inherent personality and not her acting. But she doesn't seem to ever be overy excited or overly upset. She just.... IS... whether she's tracking down a msytery story in this movie or designing couture clothes or tracking down a father she never knew. It isn't the worst movie Hallmark has ever made, but it won't go down in history as one of their most popular ever. The authentic location really saves it. For once, Hallmark spent some cash and filmed in France instead of trying to make Vancouver look like France. Whoever oversaw the wardrobe should be fired. The female lead is a plus-size woman, apparently Hallmark's attempt at body positivity. She's very attractive, but was dressed in clothes at least 2 sizes too small for her. The winter coat especially was nothing short of criminal. It was a nice sashed wrap-style coat but she was forced to wear it like a bolero. It was literally inches short of even meeting in front, much less wrapping. She kept tugging on it and trying to straighten it over her bust, almost self-consciously. If it had been 2 sizes bigger, it would have wrapped and fit nicely and she'd have looked slimmer and sleeker than she did poured into a too-small coat and fighting it constantly. Somebody in the wardrobe department needs some pointers in dressing plus-size people. They hired a plus-size lead, but then don't treat her with the respect due a lead. I'd bet my last dollar Lacey Chabert's wardrobe fits her perfectly. Everytime;-)
Vote One for Love(2023)
I wouldn't vote for him
None of the leads were the least bit impressive - Flat performances from people just delivering lines. No perceivable chemistry. His daughter & her niece are both obnoxious & dislikeable. The Parent Trap references to the 2 of them scheming were like a sledgehammer because it just wasn't working. Then the romance just appeared out of thin air. The show runners didn't do any homework ahead of time in addition to the 5-pin Canadian bowling. The made-up license plates on her car and his truck say 114 and 211. Wyoming license plates all start with 1 or 2 digits indicating the county where they are registered - 1 thru 23. Even Craig Johnson portrays Longmire's fictional Absaroka County as #24. Movie was a complete waste of time.
A Christmas Village(2018)
Even 2 stars is generous - Skip it.
Sorry, but no - just no. I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt and give it a fair try. But I finally couldn't deal with it any longer and turned it off. I've sat through some pretty amateurish school productions that were still as good or better than this. It was almost comically bad. The 2 leads weren't impressive in their acting skills. And they had absolutely NO chemistry - they didn't even seem comfortable being in close proximity. And there's plenty of blame to pass around. Directing in particular added to the uncomfortable overall feeling. Actors' body language was middle school level. If there were 3 or more people in a scene they stood lined up shoulder to shoulder all looking at the camera and not each other. There is no live audience that needs to be considered, but they did it anyway. One especially painful scene had everyone who worked at the village and maybe some guests gathered along a fence. It physically gave them the line for side by side, 3 rows deep placement. It looked like a choir about to start singing. I was half expecting singing and dancing and a big production number. It might have been an improvement. That's just amateur placement and blocking. Middle school productions remember to consider that. How does a professional movie production miss it? I don't know how it ended up with a medium rating after so many abysmal ratings. On the plus side, probably the only plus, the dog was cute.
Un passo dal cielo(2011)
Like a drama within a travelogue
I just saw this in the US on PBS Masterpiece. As others mentioned, I was very confused initially because the description here and in other places did not match the series I was watching. But I've since discovered there were 3 earlier seasons (or series as I think they're called elsewhere) with a different lead actor. The so-called 1st and 2nd seasons we're watching are actually the 4th and 5th seasons. I'd give the show's dialog and plots an 8 or 9 on their own. The drama is a bit over the top heading toward melodrama and the comedy, esp. With the police officers who are basically the Keystone Kops, is more slapstick silliness and pratfalls that subtle comedy. The lead actor - who has become a meme on reddit as "Hot Forest Ranger" - does most of the crime solving when he's not dealing with his personal issues and demons or dramatically staring off into the distance. But all of that notwithstanding, it's worth watching for the cinematography. That is worth 12 stars at least. The scenery is mesmerizing! Filmed in and around Dolomite National Park and the real village of San Candido in the Alto-Adige. Trust me when I say - watch a few episodes and you'll be adding to your bucket list of travel plans, digging out your passport and checking flight schedules. It is THAT tempting! My hope now is that PBS gets access to the next season. I'll be crushed if they leave it where it is now.
Christmas in Scotland(2023)
Fell asleep - forced myself to finish it just to see if got better - it didn't
I watched this with high hopes after a binge of British and Scottish Christmas movies this year. As someone previously mentioned, Brooke Shields' 'A Castle for Christmas' with Cary Elwes was very enjoyable - a good script and talented experienced actors made it worth watching. Lacey Chabert and Scott Wolff's 'A Merry Scottish Christmas' was fun and enjoyable, even if incredibly far-fetched. (Their mother wouldn't have inherited the title - it would have gone to the next male in line even if that male was a distant relative. Remember the problems Robert Crawley had finding the next male heir to the Earl of Grantham title before they stumbled onto Matthew? And her children certainly wouldn't have BOTH inherited titles to share.) But Lacey is the Christmas Queen of Hallmark and it was great fun to see her and Scott Wolff reunited playing siblings again all these years after 'Party of Five' so the problems were overlooked for the escapist fun. But this movie was just slow and dreary and never got better. The leads didn't seem to have any chemistry or attraction to each other despite the plot insisting they did, and the female lead, supposedly a high-powered go-getter at the top of her field in NYC just didn't sell it to me. The secondary characters weren't any better. His father was just a stubborn oaf - against things just for the sake of being against them because they are "new". If he truly were the Laird of that castle, he'd be trying anything to generate income and get the estate to profitability. He and the son both complain about the cost of running it and maintaining it (as all the landed peers do) but did nothing to help it. Her father was a confusing mess. Was he an uncouth Ugly American? Was he intended to be the comic relief? He never seemed to settle on a character. The production cut too many corners and the village supposedly decorated for Christmas, didn't look much different and wasn't the least bit impressive, let alone contest-winning. Again when the whole celebration was moved to the castle, it was basically a small dance with a few people taking a few steps of that medieval dance in a small room, maybe a set, maybe a rented room somewhere. But definitely not the interior of that grand castle in the establishing shots. The exterior drone shots were all that was authentic. Someone mentioned what a mess Americans frequently make of English and Scottish Christmas movies. Sorry, but I have to speak up for Americans. Reel One, criticized in another review as an American company churning out trash, is actually a Canadian company. And the lead actress, while American-born, seems to be England-based now. Her bio consists of UK movies and TV and West End theater credits. With all the Christmas movies available on all the streaming channels and platforms out there, don't waste your time on this one. I'm being Christmas-generous awarding 2 stars.
A Cape Cod Christmas(2021)
Major props for actually filming on Cape Cod
The movie itself is pretty good - definitely better than most. Nicely developed characters and a believable plot. There are often so many complications and disagreements when family members have to make a decision regarding the disposition of family property. So the plot may actually feel all too real and push some buttons and strike a nerve for come people.
But my biggest and most pleasant surprise was the scenery. The movie that takes place on Cape Cod, MA was actually filmed on Cape Cod. I live on the Cape, though not in Falmouth. I've gotten so sick of watching movies purportedly taking place on the Cape and the scenery always includes dense forests, high mountains and sheer rock faces on the mountainsides. Lovely scenery but couldn't be less like Cape Cod, which is basically a giant sandbar sticking out into the North Atlantic. It was so nice to see the characters walking Main St in Falmouth and visiting Eight Cousins Books, Coffee Obsession, Nobska Light, the many shops and galleries along Main, participating in the Main Street Christmas Stroll and I believe in the first establishing shots, seeing the dike road to Mashnee Island, where I think the family home - the crux of the plot - was located. It's a better than average movie and the authentic scenery is the frosting on the cake... or is it Christmas Pudding?
Astrid et Raphaëlle(2019)
What a find!
I just discovered this on PBS Passport in the US. I was hooked instantly. Imaginative plots, great characters, wonderful scenery. Sara Mortensen as Astrid in particular is beyond amazing. No words can adequately describe how well she handles the difficult role of the autistic researcher. She has perfected the body language, darting eyes, difficulty making eye contact, body tics and stiff movements, her obsession with puzzles. With anyone else, it could easily have become an uncomfortable and even insulting caricature. But she handles it superbly. I actually googled her to see if she really is autistic she is do believable. My only tiny nit pick - and it's not enough to lower the 10 stars - is that it's in French with English subtitles. So it's important to watch it carefully and don't try to do anything else at the same time. Leave your knitting in the bag!
Love in Bloom(2022)
Slow, Dull and Confusing
There wasn't much to rave about here. Sadly, as with most GAF movies, the cast is second-rate at best. If they aren't using one of the few big names they poached from Hallmark as leads, the cast is full of unknowns and little-knowns. Definitely the case here. Story and plot had big holes never addressed in editing. It would have been interesting to know why the sister is living in a tiny hamlet in Australia. What does she do for a living? What brought her there? When the duster calls the lead while still home in Chicago it is mid-day in both places. In reality there is about 12 hours difference - they are literally on opposite sides of the earth. When the lead left Chicago and arrived in Australia it remained summer (based on lush flower gardens and relatively light weight clothes, esp for Chicago. It was def. Not winter there). Australia in southern hemisphere has seasons opposite to ours. Again in opposite hemispheres of the earth. Why was the male lead/local vet driving a truck with American-style steering wheel on left? Vehicles sold there have steering wheels on the right for driving on the left. In his first scene he is parked at the correct curb for left side driving. But in a later scene he appears to pull out from a curb on the right side of the street and drive away on the right. And why is he driving an American-style truck with the steering wheel on the left? Vehicles sold in Aust. Have sreering wheels on the right, British style. At first I thought I was filmed in North America despite being set in Australia, so it might have been a somewhat understandable mistake. But it was filmed in Brisbane. So why bother with a North American truck when they were surrounded by Australian ones? There were likely other mistakes as well. But I was so groggy from the boredom I probably missed them.
Making Waves(2023)
Cute enjoyable movie - I'd watch again.
The movie revolved around a recording company junior executive hoping to land an up-and-coming band (whose lead singer turns out to be her high school boyfriend) while competing against a bigger company with deeper pockets. (There were other incidental issues in the back story, but they didn't affect the plot significantly.) The 2 leads. Holland Roden and Corey Cott, are attractive, personable and most importantly, decent actors. After losing actors to GAC, some of Hallmark's replacements have been obviously 2nd and 3rd stringers... back benchers. I think these 2 have a bright future with Hallmark. Additionally Cott is a talented singer. Sometimes giving leads singing scenes seems to be more for vanity than talent. Cott carried his scenes well.
My only quibble is with the background scenery. And it's with many movies, not just this one and not just Hallmark. It seems like no effort is made to make the scenery look like it should. The movie takes place on the Outer Banks of NC. The OBX is a giant barrier sand bar. There is only 1 spot that's more than a few feet above sea level: the hill in Kitty Hawk where the Wright Brothers first flew their flying machine. There aren't even many large trees let alone mountains and forests. But this movie showed large rugged forested mountains everywhere. I get most of these movies are made in Canada and especially around Vancouver. The city and area is beautiful in its own right, but it looks *nothing* like the OBX. It's too bad more effort isn't made to find backgrounds a bit flatter, less mountainous and a little more like a sandbar. It would be more believable.
Romantic Rewrite(2022)
Would be OK but for 1 character
It would have been a passable romance -maybe a 7 or 8 - except for Zach. I can't even figure out why he was still invited to the family wedding. He wasn't a relative, he was no longer a boyfriend. The reason was ostensibly because the family loved him despite the breakup. All I could wonder was WHY??? He was the rudest, most obnoxious creep I could imagine. He was like a spoiled petulant 5 year old: asking inappropriate questions and demanding explanations that were none of his business, cutting serving line to be first and get everything he wanted ahead of everyone else including the bridal couple. Honestly he was so obnoxious I fast forwarded through every scene he was in. Take him out and it still would have been a cute movie and there still could have been the hurdle of hiding the leads' fake romance from the nosy family. Zach was just way too over-the-top and detracted from the movie.
Royal Rendezvous(2023)
beautiful scenery, but mediocre movie
The Irish scenery was beautiful. And kudos to the production company for hiring so many Irish actors so we didn't have to suffer through fake brogues. The movie worked great as a travelogue with real location scenery (not Vancouver doubling as Ireland) and real Irish people. But the female lead was a caricature of a hip young Hispanic woman. The wardrobe choices were awful! She should have been wearing a sign saying "Here I am really trying to stick out and not fit in" She was a total cliché. And those 2 pieces of hair hanging in her face over food was gross and should not happen. But PLEASE do the slightest bit of research. #1. Old landed families with hereditary titles are members of the British aristocracy, not royalty. No one curtsies for them or treats a Duchess like the Queen waiting for her to start tea before anyone else may. #2. The titles and estates remain from the centuries of British occupation - the titles are not Irish. Anyone in 20th Century Ireland who styles themselves with a noble title is actually British. Those titles and the estate lands that came with them were awarded by the Monarch - maybe hundreds of years and many generations prior - and non-British citizens can't hold them except through marriage to a titled British citizen (Meghan Markel is addressed as a Duchess, Cora Crawley was addressed as a Countess through her marriage to an Earl) End of history lesson.