Ed's Review Dot Com

Warner Premiere, Hollywood Media Bridge, Telvan Productions,

Daniel Stern, Braeden Lemasters, Stacey Travis, Valin Shinyei, Gerard Plunkett, David Buehrle, David W. Thompson, Tiera Skovbye

Ralphie (Braeden Lemasters) is now 15, almost 16, and has grown up a lot. This year, his Christmas Wish has to do with a beautiful girl, a driver’s license, and a very special car. But Ralph wrecks the top on the car while it’s still on the lot, so along with his friends Flick and Schwartz, they have to try to earn the money to fix the car or else the dealer will call the cops, in this sequel to the original beloved Christmas story.

First of all, a lot of people absolutely HATE this movie. It’s a direct to DVD film, just released in 2012, and so it’s not very spectacular. But those that hate this, I think, went in with the wrong attitude. Obviously a direct to DVD film is not going to be another classic like the original. It features actors and actresses that somehow resemble the first film’s cast. But somehow I didn’t hate this movie. I expected it to be horrible, and it wasn’t. Granted, the story isn’t too hot, and there is no way in the world to live up to the original, but they didn’t simply copy it. They paid homage to the original story, and made reference to the original many times in an oddly reverential way, believe it or not. The leg lamp makes it’s appearance, as does the furnace monster. There are lots of other references as well, and they are carefully done without mocking. It’s seriously done, but keeps the comedy that was in the original, but isn’t just slapstick or mockery. Certainly it cannot hold a candle to the original film, but it was a kind revisit which was kind of sweet when you get to it. They went to great pains to find actors that resemble the originals, and they did pay a lot of respect to the film they were updating, so it was not overbearing at all. I was glad to see it.

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Andrew Gottlieb Productions, Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions,

Eloise Mumford, Catherine Bérubé, Sean Faris, Josie and Lucy Gallina

Mark (Sean Faris) is trying to get out of a relationship that is going nowhere. He’s the guardian of his sister’s little girl Holly (Gallina twins), who is suffering from the very traumatic, sudden loss of her mother. Holly doesn’t talk anymore, and none of the specialists who have seen her can help at all. So Mark decides to move in with his brothers while he tends to Holly. But he keeps bumping into Maggie (Eloise Mumford) who has just moved to the island. It’s Maggie’s dream to open her own toy store, but meanwhile she’s working on the island at a charming little toy story. But when Holly sees the toy doll house, she falls in love with it.

This is a Hallmark Hall of Fame production which usually means an exceptional film. This one isn’t all that exceptional. The story is rather predictable, and, aside from the Gallina twins who take turns playing Holly and are really charming, the performances are not all that special. There is very little chemistry in what is supposed to be a love story, and it sputters along very predictably to a forgettable ending. All in all, this could have been much better done. This premiered on ABC TV this month and will be repeated on other places, and is available on-line. The story is based on a book that is probably a decent novel, but the movie is more phoned in that put together with loving care. It’s ok, and I don’t see any reason not to watch it should it happen to be on. But I don’t suspect it’s worth tracking this one down.

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Film Training Manitoba, Government of Manitoba, The, Manitoba Film & Sound,

George Lopez, Lisa Vidal, James Kirk, Bianca Collins, John Salley, Roger Lodge

“Bum” Henry Ramiro (George Lopez) is a nasty sports reporter in Chicago. He’s number one in the city, although a new guy from New York, “The Hitman” (Roger Lodge) is bringing his show to Chicago to try to knock Bum out of first place in the ratings. While mocking a young fan who thinks that Bum ought to be nice and give out positive vibes, Bum later finds out that he’s a young athlete with a very serious heart problem. So on a mission of “damage control” Bum goes to bring a gift and meet the boy. Bum agrees to be nice for one day, and attempts to keep his promise, but suddenly the boy seems to recover and it appears “everything is connected”. Not only that, but things all around him begin to get better when he’s nice, even with the Chicago teams he reports on. Things are not going so well at home either. Bum’s sarcastic bent has alienated his wife and daughter who are planning to take some time apart. It all comes to a head on Christmas Eve when everything comes together.

There is a brand new “Naughty or Nice” from 2012 that has been released this year. This is NOT it. This is the 2004 film starring George Lopez. It’s a touching film, with a lot of sports humor, and it’s a Christmas movie guys can get into as well. The story is straight forward. As Bum works his way through the film, he learns a lot about how giving people the benefit of the doubt and cutting out the negativity does make a difference. George Lopez actually does a pretty good job in this role. He’s funny in his own way, and can be touching when he needs to be. There is a twist or two, but I’m sure they will be telegraphed a mile away. That is not the point. It’s a cool little holiday film that is fun to watch.

Jones Programming Partners, Michael Filerman Productions, NBC Productions,

Jessica Tandy, Stephanie Zimbalist, Lisa Jakub, Christopher Gartin, Tandy Cronyn

Grace (Jessica Tandy) moves in with her daughter Meg (Tandy Cronyn) where she’s supposed to relax and live out her remaining years. But that’s not Grace’s way. She scours the town looking for a job anywhere, but the schools require you to have a child in the school, the hospitals require too much manual lifting. No one wants to hire her, but when she stumbles upon the magic of public access cable, she puts up her own money to do a show called “The Story Lady” where she reads stories to children over the air. Surprisingly it catches on big time and grabs the attention of the network who offers her a job on the network reading stories. But big business is very different, as Grace finds out, where they totally change the show to suit the sponsors. Grace meets a divorced TV executive and her daughter, and comes to know them very well as she tries to bring some happiness to them as best she can.

This is a bit of a dirty trick, but this made for TV movie is so charming and sweet, that I have a to give it 4 stars. But there is no such thing as The Christmas Story Lady. This is a re-release on DVD of The Story Lady from 1991 with a box that has Christmas Trees photoshopped into the picture, and the word “Christmas” added into the title. But there is no new movie, no sequel, just the original movie with a faked cover. Now Granny does get into a little trouble on Christmas Eve, so that is the excuse for the “Christmas” in the title I guess. Let’s get that out of the way right away, as there is NOTHING Christmas about this movie. Still, it is a wonderful story, and very worthwhile, so since the channel’s are offering this as a Christmas story, and showing it this season, I want to at least offer it up here as something very worthy of your attention. This is a complicated story, and Jessica Tandy was a wonderful actress, and though this is a TV Movie, it is very, very good. This was made just a few years before Ms. Tandy passed away, but is an excellent example of her work that hardly anyone knows about. Granny Goodheart is a real character! So Christmas or no Christmas, this is a very valuable film, and one that is very worth watching!!! Another bit of Trivia, the part of Grace’s daughter is played by her youngest daughter with actor Hume Cronyn, and named for both of them, Tandy Cronyn. She has a rather small part, but it’s great to see mom and daughter together in this film.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Synthetic Filmwerx,

Claire Coffee, Ryan McPartlin, Gabrielle Dennis, Jeff Ward

NYC ad exec Holly Maddux (Claire Coffee) has a dream of perfection. Perfect job, perfect home, and perfect boyfriend. Her job is very stressful, and now she’s on a deadline to come up with a perfect ad before Christmas. On a tight deadline, she passes a store window every day and dreams of the perfect setting in the window. One day she falls and strieks her head, and when she wakes up with a gorgeous man bending over her to try to help. Turns out he’s absolutely perfect. But as the days pass, he may be a bit too perfect. He changes everything in her life, and when she meets his parents, they are just as overbearing as he is. She’s got to somehow learn, that perfect isn’t a great as she thought, and perhaps the flawed co-worker striving to help her with this project is better than her new beau Bo.

This is another new Lifetime movie for 2012. Boy there are a lot of new Christmas movies every year. It’s interesting how many premier one time and disappear and how some repeat year after year after year. This is not a bad film. It has a bit of a twist ending, much like another story about a little girl from Kansas who takes a cyclone ride. The twist probaly is no surprise to anyone, but it is a rather cute holiday film. It’s not very unique in the plot, but every Christmas story that could ever be made has already been made, so like listening to the new versions of the same old Christmas Carols, we get to watch new faces redo the same stories with new faces. But this is a decent holiday tale that’s fun to watch, and just as good as most of the holiday movies. With touches of humor and bits of romance, it’s a good addition to the holiday schedule

The home page for this 2012 Holiday film is here.