Ed's Review Dot Com

Hallmark Channel, The, Kaufman/Plager Productions,

Julie Benz, Michael Shanks, Kirsten Robek, Toby Levins, Farryn VanHumbeck, Chilton Crane, Steve Makaj, Jay Brazeau, Daryl Shuttleworth

A war widow Amanda (Julie Benz) is still struggling with the loss of her husband two years ago when she meets an injured soldier Master Sergeant Jim Mullins (Michael Shanks) returning from Afghanistan. The town has cut the funding for the museum where Amanda works, The Pinewood Heritage Museum and Community Center, and it looks like it’s going to have to close when Amanda comes up with the idea of holding a fundraising event on December 23rd to raise the money to keep the museum open. Jim is anxious to help, but he notes that Amanda is grieving the loss of her husband while he, himself, is struggling with guilt that he is home and his men are still in Afghanistan. He wants to go back to the field, but cannot under doctors orders. The two help each other get to the root of the issues they have buried inside and help each other learn to live their lives again.

This 2017 premier movie is a war film wrapped around Christmas time, but I did find it very sentimental which made it a little bit unrealistic. The chemistry between the two go from zero to sixty in 5 seconds, and makes it hard to accept. It’s a interesting story, but not the most intriguing of the films I have seen this year. Overly sweet, I found myself getting bored pretty quickly. There are no real conflicts or really hard decisions and things are a bit easy. I’m sure this will resonate with those familiar with life in the service, but for civilians like me, things were a little bit too simplistic and resolved too quickly. I found this to be one of the weaker entries for this year, and an interesting choice to start out my Christmas reviews for this year!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Felt Films, Taggart Productions, Votiv Films,

Mercy Malick, Jordi Vilasuso, Zachary James Rukavina, Kaiwi Lyman, Allegra Masters, Kevin Sheridan, Michael Nardelli, Michael McLafferty, Matt Corboy, Julie Benz, Autumn Federici, Sara Sanderson, John Edward Lee, Cesar Garcia, Lawrence Kao, Lisa Pelikan, Carter Jenkins, Molly Jackson

Fifty random people wake up inside a huge dark room with circles on the floor, one for each person to stand on. If they step off the circle, they are struck dead instantly. But as they stand on their circle, a ticking starts every two minutes and one of them is struck dead. Pretty soon they figure out that each person can wave their hands to select the person they vote for to die next, but no one can see any markers but their own, and you cannot vote for yourself. As the figure out the secrets, they begin to get to know the other people in the circle and just like a survivor episode, they try to work out what characteristics make the best choice to kill next. There are many different kinds of people, different races, different occupations, men, women, and children, and different ages. Does age matter? Should the women and children be protected, or are the oldest ones who have lived the longest first to go? There are many views and prejudices, but in the end, is it more about playing the others to protect yourself?

This is a mind blowing very cerebral study of human nature and how our experiences and prejudices affect our thinking. The stress is huge, as it’s no laughing matter as they try to figure out any reason to why this is happening. It takes place (except for the first and last scene) in the single room, in darkness, and could easily be performed as a stage play. There are no instructions and no voices other than the players themselves, and we are not really given much of a hint as to why they are doing this. It appears from the hints in the beginning and end that it is probably an alien abduction, but be have no contact with them, and we don’t know why, as none of this makes sense. This would be a horrible experience, and it’s terrifying to imagine being in that room. The script is awesome, and I was not able to recognize any of the people in the case. As a result, they were just random people with the luck of the draw as to why there were here. And the thought will hit you before it dawns on them, what happens when there are two people left and neither can vote for themselves? How long will this go on, and is there any way to stop it or defeat the game? The pressure sits on us throughout the movie, and it is something you will think about for a long time. My son knows I am a fan of sci-fi and mystery films, but especially those that make you think. I must thank him for putting me onto this movie after he found it and streamed it on Netflix, and he could not wait to talk to me about this film. Now that I’ve complete it, I look forward to discussing it with him to see what his take on it is, and what he makes of it. If you can find a friend to watch this with, it’s a definite plus to have someone to discuss it with! I think this is a very well make film and though there’s no car crashes or shoot outs, it’s a very intriguing movie that really makes you think. I actually really liked this movie.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Hallmark Entertainment,

Julie Benz, David Sutcliffe, Daniel DeSanto, Paul Hopkins, Ashley Leggat, Vanessa Matsui, Catherine McNally

Here is the home page for this 2015 Hallmark Holiday Film.

Meredith Rossman (Julie Benz) is the executive of her family’s department store, Rossman’s. Her parents are thinking of retiring and turning things over to her, but she loves the business, but she has big plans for the future. A financier has an offer to buy the store, keep the family in charge, but to open other franchises to expand the store to other cities. They need to hurry, as the investors want to close the deal before Christmas, but as Mom and Pop think it over, Mom comes up with a plan. In her younger years Meredith’s mom was the Mrs. Claus in the annual Christmas town, and she wants her daughter to have the opportunity of working with the children to see their faces. Meredith thinks she’s too busy, but decided to take the deal where she works with the store’s Santa, Nick (David Suthcliffe) who really believes in his role as Santa. Meredith’s view of the holidays starts to change as she sees the joy in the children’s eyes and good relationship they have with their community.

This is a really fine Hallmark film. There is a charm to the old Department Stores at the holidays. They are decorated so cheery and festive. I remember as a child making the drive into the city to shop (once a year) at the Kaufman’s in downtown Pittsburgh. Spanning many floors, riding the escalators was a real thrill since we didn’t see them anywhere else, up and down, floor after floor. Heading out to see Santa was something that was really special, and we generally only got one chance a year to see him when we were little. This film brings back those old days and the feel of Christmas in the city. The family is really well played, and Julie does a great job as the lead. Basically there is a lot of heart in this film, and though it’s direct and to the point, it has all the charm that a Hallmark Christmas film should have. I really enjoyed the time watching this, and this was one of the earliest films I was able to watch this year. I nearly forgot to do the review on this one. I am glad I remembered, as I really enjoyed this one. Set your DVR for “Charming Christmas” as it will be on many more times before the end of the season. Catch it if you can.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog