Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday November 19, 2013
Johnson Production Group,
Patricia Richardson, Katrina Law, Jordan Belfi
Greta Kaine (Katrina Law) is a tabloid reporter who is out to get the story on a very wealthy family which has a son who is planning on getting engaged. Trying to get the scoop, Greta plays the damsel in distress and stays at their home overnight with the oldest son Ben (Jordan Belfi). The next morning the rest of the family arrives, and little brother shows up with Ben’s ex-girlfriend in tow, and announces their engagement. Ben convinces Greta to stay for the weekend and pretend to be his fiance because he’s not quite over the breakup yet. What follows is one disaster after another and Greta learns that the family is actually nice, but the things she’s put in motion are going to go forward with or without her.
This is a premier 2013 Christmas romantic comedy that has a lot of laughs and a bit of romance. Patricia Richardson plays the family matriarch that has everythign under control without anyone realizing she knows what’s going on. The romance between Katrina Law and Jordan Belfi isn’t the greatest on-screen romance, but it’s passable. This is a decent film, though, and a new Christmas film this year to help put you in the mood for the season. I doubt this will remain as a classic, but it’s good enough to kill some time while wrapping your presents.
Here is the official web page for this movie.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
Eh-Okay Productions, OutPost Media, OutPost Media,
Zachary Gordon, Bailee Madison, Molly Parker, Bruce Dern
Pete (Zachary Gordon is the middle child who is having the absolute worst Christmas ever. Mom and Dad forgot his Christmas gift, Dad and Grandpa are fighting, and it just goes downhill from there, worse and worse. But after the worst day of his life, Pete wakes up to face Christmas once again. And then he has to live it over and over until he learns his lesson and does it the right way.
Yeah, there’s another one of these. This is a brand spanking new 2013 premier of a very old concept. If you sick and tired of these kinds of “Groundhog Day” movies, then skip this one! But first of all, I’m a sucker for these time warp stories in the first place. Secondly, they did this one a bit different. In all of these other stories, they pretty much have 20 minutes of footage, and go through the day from start to finish several times. This one handled it a bit differently and it frequently jumped through a single portion of the day a number of times all at once, then moved on to a different part of the day. I found it less repetitious that way, for some reason. The concept is the same, but the events are new, and it is a really nice little Christmas film. The highlight of this one, to me, was Bailee Madison who played Pete’s new neighbor. She had a different reaction to Pete’s repeated attempts to convince him that he was going through the same day over and over. She kinda believes him. That was refreshing. But Bailee really did a great job, and was the star of the film to me. But immediately when I saw her, I was sure I knew her. But I am the worst (maybe it’s my old age creeping up on me) at remembering where I saw a person before. I know I know here, but from where? I could even see her face very intensely saying, “But I just couldn’t do it”. Wham! Oh yeah! She’s the young Snow White from Once Upon a Time. Geez, I’ve seen every episode.
Anyway, if you’ve got the stomach for another cute little Christmas Every Day film again, go for it, as this one is nicely done. On the other hand, after watching a bunch of these, you might start to think you’re reliving the same movie over and over again too.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
Larry Levinson Productions, Nonius Productions
Emily Rose, Justin Bruening, Lindsay Wagner, Bruce Boxleitner
Mary Ross (Emily Rose) is a lawyer who learned that her Great Aunt died, and left her the house in Plymouth, Mass. Emily moves in to the house which brings back bittersweet memories of her childhood in that house. Her Father and Mother divorced, and Emily can’t forgive her estranged father for leaving them alone. Now that her Mother has passed away, Emily hates Thanksgiving and is planning a cruise with her boyfriend for the holiday. But she finds a young man, Everett (Justin Bruening), digging in the front yard. He’s a teacher and an amateur archeologist who thinks he has proof that the first Thanksgiving happened right on the spot where Emily’s house sits. There is a movement to excavate the property to search for proof, but Emily doesn’t want to give up her new home in this Hallmark Channel premier Thanksgiving movie.
This is a romantic comedy that follows the formula pretty closely. There are a lot of familiar roles here, the nasty boyfriend who takes advantage of her, the sneaky tabloid reporter, the estranged Dad, the meddling mother, etc. It’s really all familiar, but for this kind of movie, who really cares. With some newer faces, and some old friends we haven’t seen in a while, this is just a lovely Thanksgiving themed romantic comedy. Everyone does their best, the story is good, the acting is above par, and the setting in New England at Thanksgiving is really nicely done. This film will be on throughout the month, and is perfectly good as a lighthearted seasonal rom-com that is relaxing to watch and enjoy. It’s nice we have a few new ones each year, even if they are quite familiar feeling, that’s what these movies are for.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
Cayre Brothers, Jetlag Productions,
Tony Ail, Nathan Aswell, Chera Bailey, Kathleen Barr, Lillian Carlson, Garry Chalk
This retelling of Dickens A Christmas Carol is done by Jetlag productions and is a very close in following the original story. It’s the classic tale of the redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge a tight-fisted old miser who learns the meaning of Christmas during the visit of 4 ghosts.
If you’re a follower of Ed’s Review, then you must know that I am a huge fan of this story. I think this Christmas ghost story written by Dickens is nearly the perfect story. The story of how and why he wrote it is also a great story, and at the times in England when it was written, Christmas had nearly been lost altogether and was treated by most as just another day. Dickens needed the cash really bad, and wrote this story as a fund raiser and in the process created a gem. He spent nearly every Christmas of the rest of his life reading this story out loud and in character voices to the public who couldn’t seem to get enough of it. This is nice, concise little retelling of the story that is very nicely done. It’s only 48 minutes, but captures all the main parts of the story very accurately. The entire book is not that long to begin with. It keeps the original language mostly, updating a few words here and there that are hard to understand for the younger folk, but mostly staying true to the text. Not tremendously scary in the “future” section, it nails the story without the unnecessary horror that some versions throw in. It’s moving, but not horrifying. This is good version for children to get to know the story and then they can appreciate all the dozens and dozens of other versions of the story that have been told. I really enjoyed this pure version of Dickens masterpiece, and would recommend it to anyone who loves the story.
Here is one of the original songs from the film:
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
| Search for Movie Reviews: |
