Ed's Review Dot Com

Cinemagic,

Erin Galway-Kendrick, Robert James-Collier, Bronagh Waugh, Liam Neeson(Narrator)

Noelle O’Hanlon (Erin Galway-Kendrick) was born under the Christmas Star, so she feels like she must be special. With the encouragement of her friends, she believes she has the power of working miracles. But when a slick businessman shows up with plants to upgrade the factory that is the life blood of the town, Noelle knows he’s up to something. When she overhears that he’s really planning to tear everything down and building a resort in it’s place, Noelle must rely on her miracle powers to try to convince the town to reject the plan.

This cute little British Christmas has a nice little story like many others. A town in trouble, with good townspeople struggling to make a difference and failing, and an angry former resident who has made good and is coming back to wreak havoc on the little town and to destroy the town. Pierce Brosnan has a cameo as the company owner who isn’t aware of what his rogue executive is up to, and Liam Neeson is the narrator. Both of these two help the story along. The Irish accent is charming and the local settings is really nice. This is an interesting story that is an interesting story of life in a different world. I enjoyed this film and caught it on NetFlix streaming. It was really worthwhile watching and I enjoyed it a lot.

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Chris Kasick Company,

Brian Posehn, Paget Brewster, Missi Pyle, Scott Adsit, Beau Ballinger, Melia Renee, Jacob Houston, Joe Nunez

Uncle Nick (Brian Posehn) is heading to his brother’s house for Christmas. Nick is an alcoholic who barely functions, and his brother has married a wealthy woman with a step daughter who live in a house way beyond his means, but paid for by his new wife’s money. This family is very dysfunctional, and nothing seems to go right from the very start. Nick has no filter, and the whole week is filled with fights, disgusting behavior, and lots of nasty business as it all comes to a climax in the end in this irreverent and deplorable family Christmas.

This is a really off-beat look at the problem of families and holidays. Uncle Nick is not the worst guy in the family, but everyone thinks he is. But the whole family has major issues and we get them thrown straight into our face. This is a really raunchy movie, with plenty of male and female nudity and all kinds of depraved actions going on. It’s a hard R rated film, and certainly not appropriate for kids. The location is Cleveland, and the evolution of the story is set to an ongoing story of one particular Cleveland Indians game that got out of hand. It seems like the baseball story has nothing to do with the rest of the movie, but I’m sure those who smarter than me can find the connection and how the story allegorically fits with the Christmas story being told, but at least it does provide chapter headings for each of the stages in the film. It is a clever, even if a bit nasty. This is certainly an “alternate” view of the Holidays compared to the Hallmark Movie Channel films! This DVD was just released this week.

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Marvista Entertainment,

Marguerite Moreau, Mike Faiola, Brady Smith, Jay Black, Isadora Swann

Celia Banks (Marguerite Moreau) lost her husband three years ago on Christmas Day, and believes she will never fall in love again. Now her life is filled with taking care of her young daughter Lilly (Isadora Swann). Lilly writes a letter to Santa asking nothing for herself, but rather that her mother can find love again. The letter falls into the hands of an excellent writer who is struggling for inspiration. His name is Jake (Mike Faiola) and he writes and answer to Lilly signed “Love Always, Santa”. The two continue to write until Jake is able to find his inspiration from this little girl and her mother.

This Hallmark premier Christmas film from 2016 is a nice story of boy meets girl assisted by the young daughter. Not utterly unique in Christmas stories, is it? But it does have a few twists and changes in the story to keep it interesting and it’s not a bad holiday film at that. The little girl (Isadora) is awesome and is a delight to watch as she sets out to find love for her mother. The film, like all Hallmark films, has a lot of heart and small town Christmas spirit. This is probably not a keeper as far a future year classic returns, but it’s certainly good enough for this year. I enjoyed the story and the people and found it a really decent movie.

Here is the Hallmark page for this film.

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Santa Proof Productions,

Lori Laughlin, Colin Ferguson, Willie Ames

Kate Harper (Lori Laughlin) is a talk show host who makes a huge gaffe on-camera which sends her ratings and the future of her show into a tailspin. The mayor of Hollyvale, North Dakota, offers Kate a chance to redeem herself by visiting Hollyvale to find her Christmas spirit. The network jumps at the chance and sends Kate and her boss to Hollyvale to provide an update every night until Christmas. But what Katie finds is a mystery and her journalistic instinct kick in full bore.

This Hallmark 2016 Christmas film is a Christmas story, a clever mystery, and a romantic story all in one. Lori Loughlin is really good, and the rest of the cast keeps up. It’s creative and fast paced and very well written. There’s a tad of suspense mixed with a LOT of heart. There are a number of twists and little surprises all the way through, but it ends very nicely. This was a movie I really enjoyed. It’s quite entertaining and very well made. I must really recommend this film for all lovers of the holidays. Watch for “Every Christmas Has a Story” on Hallmark this year, and for years to come.

Here is the link for the Hallmark page for Every Christmas Has a Story.

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Swirl Films,

Malinda Williams, Victoria Rowell, Karon Riley, Gregory Alan Williams, Chrystale Wilson, Deetta West, Lola Riley, Nadej k Bailey, Brad James

Marcy Chandler is determined to make her baby’s first Christmas a memorable one. She throws herself into both planning the perfect Christmas and building her new event planning business. But when the business gets off to a rocky start and members of her family face their own hardships, Marci will discover that when your plans for a perfect Christmas start to fall apart, it just might be the miracle you need.

This UP TV network 2016 premier movie starts in November. This is the third in the series about the Chandler family (Marry Me for Christmas and Marry Us for Christmas were the 2014 and 2015 entries) This is a typical Christmas film about a big family and their struggles around Christmas. For some reason, I just didn’t get into this story very much, perhaps it was because I was coming down with a cold and tried to relax by watching this movie. Although reviewing my reviews of the other two, I think this one has the same problems the other have. I haven’t been a fan of any of them so far. I found it a bit contrived and very standard issue movie like so many others. As a result, I really didn’t get so into it. I’m hoping for better from UP as we go forward. I have a feeling we’re going to find some real gems in their holiday premiers, but so far, it’s been 0 for 2. Unless you’re a follower of the other two films, this is one that can’t stand on it’s own.

This link to the UPTV.com page for this movie.

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