Ed's Review Dot Com

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

Muse Entertainment,

Susie Abromeit, Dillon Casey, Erin Gray, Neil Crone, Rebecca Dalton, Siobhan Murphy, Randal Edwards, Rachel Wilson, Patrice Goodman, Romaine Waite, Peter DaCunha, Amariah Faulkner, Caleb Marshall, Chris Gillettm, Chris Farquhar

Newlyweds, Steve (Dillon Casey) and Cynthia Faber (Susie Abromeit) are spending their first Christmas together. Thought Cynthia is responsible for the town Christmas pageant, and Steve is an up and coming attorney, they pair have a definite desire to plan everything. They have a 10 year plan for their lives, and they are even planning to have the family home for A Perfect Christmas as well. But major things happen in their personal lives, just as the family begins to arrive. But once they start showing up, nothing goes as planned and the two are so busy dealing with one crisis after another that neither one tells the other what has happened to turn their lives upside down. As people arrive and things continue to go worng at every turn, it begins to be a huge dark cloud over their heads knowing that they are going to have to tell each other sooner or later.

The story goes that a department store in Australia “invented” the holiday Christmas in July. It was a no brainer there as in the Southern Hemisphere the seasons are opposite of the Northern Hemisphere and July is very cold and snowy and fits the season very well. They do celebrate the holiday on December 25th though, the same as the rest of the globe. It became very popular in the US in 1940 when the movie “Christmas in July” was released. The first time I heard of it was when I was a child, and my Uncle who lived across the country in Arizona came back to Pittsburgh in the middle of July and my Grandmother declared “Christmas in July and put up her tree and all the decorations. I can remember the fun of sitting around the piano and listening to everyone singing Christmas carols when it was 80 degrees outside. The Hallmark Channel every year shows their original Christmas films early every year when July arrives, and this year they rolled out a brand new premier film “A Perfect Christmas”. I am sure this film will be around again this December, so you’ll get a chance to see it if you miss it this summer, but I caught it. Hallmark has another reason for Christmas in July as well. That is the time the release next year’s 2016 Christmas Ornaments to the stores. A Perfect Christmas was a nice enough little Christmas film, and I was impressed with it. The acting was pretty good, and it was a really nice story. It had the fun of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation which is a staple being shown all year round on some channel or another, but also has the romance and love story of a newlywed couple where they are trying to build a life of their own, really want to share with their families, but need some time to work things out. There are problems everywhere, but they still show us how to come together and work things out and make the best of all the bad situations that arrive. It’s warm, cute, and very touching. This is just a little made for TV, but very well done, and worthy of the Hallmark label. Merry Christmas in July everyone, and see you after Halloween with the new Christmas movies for 2016.

Here is the web page for the Hallmark Channel for this film.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog