Ed's Review Dot Com

A perfect Road, Front Street Pictures,

Danica McKellar, David Haydn-Jones, Christian Convery, Bruce Dawson, Deidre Hall, Greg Harper, Dee Jay Jackson, Owen Kwong, Jackson Lake, Christine Lee, Chelsea Mae Leung, Madeline Mast

Christina Masters (Danica McKellar) is the manager of McDougal’s flagship store, when the owner stops in for a visit. Victoria (Diedre Hall) has some news. The store is going international, and the first store in Paris is about to open and Victoria is looking for a manager. Christina spent some time in college in Paris and is dying to go back again and seems right for the job, but Victoria wants Christina to show her stuff by designing the store’s Christmas window display to WOW her. Trouble is, Christina is out of ideas, but a very creative former employee Kurt (David Haynd-Jones) and his little boy may have to help her to get the job done.

This is a quality Hallmark 2016 Premier movie. The different characters in this film really bring a lot to the plot including Christina’s best friend, Holly (Cristina Lee) and the old timer Henry (Bruce Dawson) who has worked at the store since he was a young man all add a lot to the story. The little boy who plays Kurt’s son is also a scene-stealer, and this little guy who ask too many questions is a real star. All in all, it slowly unfolds exactly the way it simply has to, but it’s so much fun along the way that it really kept me entertained. I haven’t found a bad movie yet with either Candace Cameron Bure or Danica McKellar and they seem to be competing every year. This 2016 entry by Danica is a winner, and I think you’ll find it very worth while to watch.

Here is the Hallmark Channel page for this movie.

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Hallmark Movies & Mysteries,

Erin Krakow, Niall Matter, P. Lynn Johnson, Michael Kopsa, Jim Thorburn, Aliyah O’Brien

Miranda (Erin Krakow) has been left alone since her single Mom suddenly died in the middle of a performance of A Christmas Carol. Miranda’s Mom was an actress, and after her mother’s death, she pretty much kept to herself and worked every Christmas so as not to remember the horror of her mother being struck down in the middle of the play. But when an old theater employee discovers a box that belonged to her mother, and offers it to her, Miranda finds a picture of a small boy on Santa’s knee in a little Vermont town. The fact that her Mom hid it from her (and would never mention a word about who her Father was), made her believe somehow that it was a clue to her Father’s identity and the family she never had. So Miranda heads out to see if she can find any information and spends a lovely holiday in a tiny New England town with lots of nice people and beautiful scenery in this Hallmark 2016 premier movie.

This is a giant step above most of the new films this year. I have some favorites, and always look for the yearly entries with Candace Cameron Bure and Danica McKellar, and a few others that are outstanding, but face it, the majority of the several dozen new movies each year are retreads. This one, however, has a good mystery behind it, and the ending is not really what you expect. She knows there’s a reason why her Mother would never talk about her Father, but the real reason is really hard to guess and we have to gather one piece at a time which makes it very interesting. Filmed in Canada, it plays the part of Vermont very well, and the Bed and Breakfast where she stays is beautiful. The town is really festive, and it adds a lot to the story. There is a romance or two that is really fun too so all in all this is a really good Christmas film. I enjoyed it very much and was very moved by the story. If you don’t have a sweet spot, or if you are a Scrooge yourself, then you probably won’t even have read this far, but if you love holiday films, this is an excellent one. It’s showing all season on the Hallmark Channel.
Here is the page for this Hallmark holiday movie.

Film Väst, Scott Free Productions,

Jim Broadbent, Rafe Spall, Warwick Davis, Ewen Bremner, Stephen Graham, Joanna Scanlan, Jodie Whittaker, Kit Connor, Josh McGuire, Nonso Anozie, Hera Hilmar, Matt King

A young boy finds Santa asleep in their garage after clipping a power line and crashing his new sleigh. With the help of his Dad, who is on parole after spending some time in the pen, set out to help Santa, but things are bad as the police are after him and the reindeer have all gotten loose. They will have to do everything possible to get Santa back on track for Christmas Eve.

This little movie was a surprise. It’s got Jim Broadbent as Santa. He will always be Tootles for me from the movie Hook, but he is an excellent choice for Santa. We also have “Not an Elf” Warwick Davis (Willow) here as a prisoner who Santa mistakes for an Elf. He adds a lot of humor to the script as well. This is a very British movie and the (dare I say) accent makes it a little harder to follow, especially if your sound is screwed up, but it was actually a very nicely done movie. I found it very entertaining and a cut above the rest. There have been so many low budget Santa is in trouble and needs the kids to help him save Christmas movies, but this has a lot of class. Granted some of it is silly and that’s intentional. But it has much more going on here. There is a complicated relationship between the boy and his Mother who is remarried and with his Dad who is trying to do his best even though he’s being punished by having his son kept away from him. All in all it was a delightful adventure and a good time watching this, and I feel like it is well worth the time I invested watching it. You can stream it on Netflix if you wish.

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Sodona Entertainment Inc.,

Wes Brown, Amélie Eve, Benita Ha, Marci T. House, P. Lynn Johnson, Marissa Miller, Chelsey Reist, Tiera Skovbye, Jim Thorburn, Jill Wagner

Hannah (Jill Wagner) is a food company executive who is sent to the tiny town of Cookie Jar, home of Aunt Sally’s Cookie Company. Aunt Sally has passed on and left the company to Jake (Wes Brown) who is running the company, but very short on cash. Aunt Sally’s Cookies are really wonderful, and this big corporation wants to save the company by purchasing it, and moving the operation to Buffalo. But an easy bailout turns into a problem when Jake insists the company must stay in Cookie Jar.

This 2016 Hallmark Premier Christmas Movie is certainly a recycled story. This is a big corporation coming to in to save (takeover) (destroy) (close) the small town local business that is the only source of income in the town. But the grinchy person who hates Christmas learns to love the town and the holidays, and most likely (as in this film) falls in love with a local person. This is the same story, but it’s a new one, and has a number of things going for it. Jill Wagner is not overly sugary and sappy, and is actually very good in this role. Her costar, Wes Brown is also very good in his role. The townsfolk are really likeable and so it is a holiday romance from our Hallmark friends, and we get what we want. It was certainly a good enough film and quite entertaining. I think this was a decent gift for this Christmas, and it’s a good movie to catch as it makes the rounds on Hallmark Christmas 2016.

Here is the home page for this Hallmark 2016 Christmas Film.

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Factory25,

Kentucker Audley, Hannah Gross, Jason Shelton, Oona Roche

Noel (Kentucker Audley) is a very depressed man from upstate New York who comes to New York City for the holidays to sell Christmas Trees for the 4th year. But this year he’s without his girlfriend which is why he’s so depressed. Time goes slowly until one night he finds a strange girl passed out on a park bench without a shoe and brings her back to the trailer to keep her warm. When she keeps showing up things get more and more mysterious.

This is a very documentary like film, dark and somber. The style is to simply show what happened, and it feels like a they just turned on the cameras and let it run. Noel is mourning his lost girlfriend and really in a funk until some excitement finally shows up, but in the meantime it’s very slow and plodding. You won’t find much excitement here, mostly scenes of people buying trees, sawing off the trunks, and you will constantly hear, “Tonight just put some hot water on it to break up the sap, and then after that lukewarm water every day” about 30 times. I kind of enjoyed the movie, but I did get really bored in parts. I kept expecting for it to pick up and get interesting at some point, but nothing much happens. When it’s over, all we learned about was some guy selling trees for one Christmas. I don’t suppose there’s a really great reason for watching this one, and I don’t think I’d want to sit through it again. This is a strange waste of film.

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