Ed's Review Dot Com

Chesler/Perlmutter Productions,

Sarah Carter, Kathleen Laskey, Neil Crone, Daniel Karasik, Damon Runyan

Holly Jensen (Sarah Carter) is an astronomy professor and a Christmas enthusiast, but she’s disappointed that her long time boyfriend is off to New York City to spend the holidays working leaving Holly alone. She decides to take a bus since she’s afraid of flying, to surprise her boyfriend, but when the bus breaks down stranding her and a co-traveller, cowboy rodeo rider Luke (Damon Runyan) they travel together to drop Holly at her parents home nearby. But making a connection with Luke, since he, being a cowboy is obsessed with the stars as she is, in the holiday spirit she invites Luke and his brother Bull to stay with them for Christmas at her parents house. When Adam arrives intending to propose to her, Holly is caught in a bind between someone she has learned to really like, and the man who seems now to be so cold and different than what he seemed before.

Typical Holiday fare, this is another Romantic-Comedy for the holidays, new in 2014. This typical Hallmark Christmas story is a nice Christmassy love story, but is like so many others of the same genre. The characters are enjoyable, and the story is very full of holiday cheer. This is one of the movies they make every year to keep us entertained on a cold evening, perfect to wrap presents by. It’s not badly done at all, and it has the right of amount of smug desperation in the jerky all business boyfriend and the cloudy-eyed dreamer Cowboy that it’s easy to see where Holly is headed. But though I can rate this movie extremely highly, I also can’t knock it down, because it is exactly what it set out to be, so there’s no surprises here. But instead of watching Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye dancing for the hundredth time, if you want to see something fresh and new, and very 2014, this is a good choice. There are a few movies that I like to watch over and over, and this won’t be one, but I’m glad to see this as one of the new twelve premiers on Hallmark this season.

[Here’s the web page for this Hallmark Premier movie]

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Muse Entertainment Enterprises,

Trevor Botkin, Max Charles, Tiffani Thiessen, Dawn Ford, Ziad Ghanem, Candice Glover, Josh Hopkins, Christina Kelly, Bailee Madison, Ambrose McLaughlin, Kyle Meagher, Chloe O’Malley, Jonathan Potts, Marc Primeau, Jill St. John, Nathaly Thibault

The North Pole has grown into a pretty large city that runs on the power of Christmas. But Christmas spirit is at an all time low, especially since the Mayor has cancelled the tree lighting program at the town park. A young man, Kevin (Max Charles) has the desire to make a difference and to save the tree lighting, and a young elf from the north pole, Clementine (Bailee Madison) is willing to help. But her single mom, reporter Chelsea (Tiffani Thiessen) doesn’t believe him and is looking for a scoop, and his teacher Ryan (Josh Hopkins) is looking after Ryan and allows him to choose saving the North Pole as his school project.

This is a new 2014 Christmas film from Hallmark. It’s a very similar story to all the other “The world is losing their Christmas spirit” films. But this one is very well done. The casting is really good, and we have some great performers here. Furthermore the sets and scenery are spectacular. Especially the North Pole scenes. This is not a particularly new concept, there aren’t many of those left, but it’s certainly one of the nicest Christmas premiers I have seen. I really enjoyed the movie very much, and I think Bailee Madison did a super job playing the young elf. She’s been in several Christmas movies from the last few years, and many other blockbuster films, but I enjoyed her the most as Young Snow White in the
“Once Upon a Time” shows. She has a lot happening and is an excellent actress who can really act. Since this is new this year, you haven’t seen this one yet, but it’s also already available on DVD, so this is one you ought not to miss!

[Here is the home page for the film.]

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Chesler/Perlmutter Productions,

Tricia Helfer, J.T. Hodges, Mark Lutz, Cristina Rosato

Sean (Mark Lutz) is an advertising agent in New York City who is about to propose to his girlfriend for the holidays. His plan doesn’t turn out so well, and he’s really depressed. Owen (J.T. Hodges) is a small town handyman and a country musician from North Carolina. The bump into each other on the internet and decide to swap homes for the holidays. Both of these guys are in need of a change of scenery and a bit of a vacation. Sean has asked his assistant Mia (Cristina Rosato) to look after Owen, while when Sean arrives at the home in North Carolina, he meets Ryan (Tricia Helfer) who Owen had asked to help fix the heater. Mia is instantly attracted to Owen, who feels like a fish out of water in the big city. But when Halo (Jessica Philips) notices Owen, dressed in Sean’s clothes in the elevator, she assumes he’s rich and they two decide to have a date. But on the date, Owen learns what Halo is about and learns his lesson. This little house swap may turn into a wonderful holiday for everyone.

This is your typical Hallmark holiday romp through romance and lots of problems. It is well made though, and is an enjoyable little film. The story moves along quickly and is enjoyable. The holiday theme is great, and it’s an interesting premise. Like most holiday fare from TV, it’s not a remarkably unique story, but it’s perfect for the season, and if you missed it last year, it will be repeated this year on the Hallmark Channel

For times and movie info, here is the home page for Finding Christmas.

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Bent Nail Productions, Ingenious Film Partners, Kintop Pictures,

Maurice Cole, Toni Collette, Ioan Gruffudd, Hayley Mills, Richard E. Grant, Anne Reid, Daisy Beaumont, Bobby Smalldridge

Zooey (Toni Collette) and Alec (Maurice Cole) are a young couple who long to have a child. But they have many problems and their marriage seems to be coming apart. Unable to conceive, they set their heart on adopting a child, or at least taking in a foster child and they visit an orphanage. Just before Christmas, a young boy arrives at their door claiming to be their foster child. He leads them to seek inside themselves to try to heal the problems in their marriage. But as happy as they are, sometimes things are just too good to be true.

This is a very touching movie. Toni Collette is very good at giving Zooey the pain that she feels and brings it poignantly to the screen. Maurice Cole, as Eli, the 7 year old foster child is an amazing actor. He talks and acts like a grown up and if very helpful in many ways in bringing the couple together and helping them work out their problems. His acting is well worth watching the movie for in itself. It’s very heartwarming and touching and there’s bound to be a few tears due to the way this movie reaches in and touches your soul. It would be a good movie for anytime, but the Christmas season is a great backdrop for this story as it ads strength to many other supernatural holiday films. This is an excellent film, and one that ought to be added to your list of choices for the holidays.

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NGN,

George Canyon, Amy Jo Johnson, Britt McKillip, Carly McKillip, Ben Hollingsworth

Two sisters have been estranged since one sister ran out on the other sister’s wedding. But now Mom and Dad are having some problems, so they try to make amends. It’s their dream to have Christmas again in their childhood home, but the problem is that someone else lives there now.

This is a touching Christmas film with an emphasis on family. This is a rich story which is somewhat unusual in the typical Christmas on TV story. The two sisters had a falling out, but we don’t really know why, other than one sister walked out on the other sister’s wedding. As we get to know the reasons, it shows how misunderstandings can go on for years. When they get back together, it’s to help out their parents, but the main story is between the sisters. This is a well done holiday story, and well worth watching. The story is well constructed, and the characters are very well developed. It’s a nice little story, in the spirit of the holidays.

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