Ed's Review Dot Com

Curiously Strong Productions, MarVista Entertainment

Meredith Hagner, Bobby Campo, Aaron O’Connell, Megan Park, Gregory Harrison

Cynthia (Meredith Hagner) is a hopeless romantic. Her relationships never last because she’s looking for a guy who will do romantic things for her like her parents. Since Mom died, she’s more intent on finding the perfect romantic guy. She’s gone home to be with her Dad and her sister who is planning a Christmas wedding. But Cynthia is planning a working vacation as she brings along her close friend of many years, and her illustrator (she’s a writer) Liam (Bobby Campo) to help her. But someone begins sending unsigned presents based on the 12 Days of Christmas starting with a partridge in a pear tree. Cynthia is intent on find out which of her former boyfriends is doing this major romantic thing, and as the days pass by she gets more and more frustrated trying to find out who is sending these to her. In the end, she finds out, and we’re as surprised as she is when she finally solves who the sender is, but in the process she is able to learn that it’s not someone who is doing something romantic for you, it’s finding the person you want to do romantic things for. But it just may be too little too late.

One of our final Hallmark 2016 premier movies, and this is an interesting story. The 12 gifts on their own is really clever, and it’s hard to wait until the next day to see how they’re going to do the next one. Very well performed, and it’s a interesting script, so it’s not easy to get carried away in the story and it makes the two hours fly by. All in all, this is a very well done script and it’s an enjoyable holiday film to see.

Here is the web page for this Hallmark Channel film.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Hallmark Channel,

Bonnie Somerville, Brennan Elliott, Madison Brydges, Precious Chong, Richard Waugh, Graham Scott Fleming, Sadie LeBlanc, Andre Richards

Maddie Duncan (Bonnie Somerville) is a high powered marketing executive that is afraid of flying. She has to go to Denver for a client wedding, and decides to drive. She’s doing good when her car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Her car is towed to a little garage in the town of Christmas Valley. The car looks like it may take a while to repair, and there is no hotel, so Maddie ends up in a boarding house. While there, she learns to like the other residents living there, and especially one particular guy
Kevin Tyler (Bennan Elliott) who seems intent to teaching her the important advantages of a small town that really, really loves Christmas.

Another Hallmark 2016 premier Christmas movie. This one is not all that outstanding. The rich guy/girl who gets stranded in a small town and learns to love Christmas has been done over and over again. There is nothing really here that makes this one stand out. It’s entertaining enough, and easy enough to watch, but there’s not much to stand out against all the other ones. The cast in the Boarding House is rather interesting and they are fun to get to know. Bonnie Somerville is a pretty good actress and plays her role pretty well. I guess the premise is a little weak, and there’s not enough momentum in the script to pull it off. Okay to watch if you find it’s on, but don’t go way out of the way to seek it out. It’s just a average attempt.

Here is the web page for this Hallmark Christmas Movie.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Hallmark Channel,

Amy Acker, Sascha Radetsky, Sophia Lucia, Kenneth Welsh, Katherine Barrell, Siobhan Murphy, Shauna MacDonald, Raven Dauda, Geri Hall

Lily (Amy Acker) has dreamed of being a ballerina since she could walk. She worked very hard at it, and had quite a lot of talent, but when she was chosen for the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker in a professional company, she was over the moon. Her sister was her biggest fan. But a tragedy pulls Lily out of the ballet, and she has to return home. She lost interest in ballet that day and didn’t look back. Her sister’s young daughter Sadie (Sophia Lucia) wants to follow in her footsteps though, so she supports her 100%. When Sadie gets the opportunity to play the Sugar Plum Fairy too though, Lily has to go with her, but there are some issues. The biggest one is that the director is her old dance partner Mark (Sascha Radetsky) who she’s very angry with for forcing her to leave her role and she’s not ready to make nice just yet.

This 2016 Hallmark premier Christmas Movie is a really good one. I enjoyed this very much. Amy did an excellent job in her role, and went through all the emotions from the horror at what happened, to frustration, to pride in her niece who she is raising in her sister’s place. The dancing and the music is excellent as well, and it brings an interesting formula for the film. This is out of the ordinary due to the Nutcracker theme, and as such is quite unique. This is what made this film different. With the good performances, fine arts included, and and interesting story, this is one of the better films of this year, and perhaps one that will be back again next year. If you have any interest in the Nutcracker side of the story, be sure to watch this one. It’s got a lot of emotion and tugs the heartstrings as well. There’s a lot going on and it’s a very well done project.

Here is the web page for this Hallmark Christmas film.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Odyssey Networks, Johnson Production Group,

Erin Cahlill, David Alpay, Dakota Guppy, Donovan Scott

Laurel (Erin Cahill) is recently divorced, lining in her little home town, and her spirits are down. But when she is assigned to head up the town’s Christmas Parade, she a bit overwhelmed because there is only two weeks left. For a number of years the parade has been cancelled, but this year the town has enough money to pull it off. With the help of a magical sleigh, and a helpful woodworker Alex (David Alpay) who is a key person from Laurel’s past, she’s trying to pull off the parade, has time to find her Christmas Spirit, and maybe even find a new romance in this 2016 Premier Christmas Movie from Hallmark Channel. See, Alex is back in town after leaving years ago for his dream job in the big city of New York, while Laurel didn’t even get to say goodbye when he left her behind. Now he seems ready to do it all over again.

This is a rather run of the mill Christmas film, and shows perhaps why sometimes certain people star in these Christmas films year after year after year. Here we have some fresher faces, but the connection isn’t quite there. The gimmicky sleigh that seems to have a mind of it’s own ain’t no Love Bug, for sure, but it does manage to bring people together one way or the other. Of course there’s the usual suspense of whether or not they’ll get together in the end, and of course the sleigh has to help, but there’s a lot of stuff not explained and mostly it’s rather flat. The minor characters in this movie are more entertaining in a lot of ways, than the two lead characters. The two of them are just not sparking the kind of chemistry that we need to get invested in the movie. It’s not a horrible film, and if you’re in the mood for a new film, or if you are just tired of all the old ones, then at all means, watch this one. Hallmark takes on a full plate of new movies each year, and it must be hard to turn out that many new films and make them all excellent. This one is a good idea, but it needed a little more attention to bring it up to the level of many of the others.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Holiday Breakup Productions, Promedios, Temple Mathews Productions,

Manon Mathews, Shawn Roe, Katie Leclerc, Diane Robin, Matt Riedy, Rene Hamilton, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Mindy Sterling, Derek DuChesne, Jennifer Aspen, Lenora May, Jordan James Smith, Nancy Van Iderstine

Chloe (Manon Mathews) is a new soul. She laughs and plays and refuses to grow up. She wants to joke around and have fun all the time. Jeff (Shawn Roe), on the other hand, is all business all the time, serious and sober. When the two literally bump into each other, the sparks fly and they hit it off really well with each other and with their respective families, but when they decide to move in together, they find there is lots of troubles because they are far too different from each other. But as the families are so fond of each of them, and neither can face spending Christmas alone, so they decide to spend Thanksgiving, at least, pretending to be a happy couple. This works out okay, but for Christmas the decide to come clean, but troubles in their families make them decide to keep up the charade, but by New Years Eve they can’t stand being together anymore so the finally split. But the troubles are still happening.

Not an all Christmas movie, the story starts on New Years Eve, but flashes back to the beginning on July 4th when the “fireworks” started, although most of the film is set on the period between Thanksgiving and New Years Eve, so it fits the holiday setting (and title) just fine. This is a cute little film with some fresh faces and funny families. They usual misfits are here, and they have a lot to work out, but his is a fun couple, and you’ll probably find yourself rooting for them to work it out, but there is so much going on, they are really in a really bad place. The actors are pretty good, and the story isn’t bad. This is available for streaming on Netflix and not a bad little holiday flick. Watch it if you’re in need for a holiday rom/com that you probably haven’t seen before.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog