Reviews

First off, I don't know how movies like this even get to production. It's absolutely atrocious and it may be the worst most poorly acted Christmas movie I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot of poorly active Christmas movies.

Now enter handsome hunky army guy, Luke, who wants to be a firefighter. First, coming fresh out of the army would not have hair that long. Production values here are virtually nonexistent. You don't just get out of the military and walk into the fire dept. To hear, you're hired. Now shut up and take your shirt off. If you any to see that just google his name shirtless. Wow.

Why are all the firefighters standing around socializing in full gear. I don't think that ever happens.

Honestly, I don't even know where else to go with this. Suffice to say that it's awful and I don't know if I can sit through the whole thing.

Anyway. Here's a list to ponder:

When I write a review for a movie, I take into consideration much more than just the storyline. There are so many factors in this movie that just make it plain bad. Let's start with the acting.

Most of the acting in this movie is just bad. The only one who shows any promise is, the male MC. Sometimes an actor's ability to pull off what I would call quality acting is affected by the script itself, and this one is terrible. The dialogue is ridiculous and I don't even know how the actors can state their lines without laughing.

The formula here is the same old tired stuff that one can grow easily sick of. Just once I would like to see the guy whose behavior is so horrible towards his girlfriend, die a slow and agonizingly painful death. Yeah, that would work for me. Then she goes home to mommy and daddy to grieve where she meets the handsome town hunk.

One thing we didn't see here, unless I completely missed it, was the interrupted kiss. Yes, there's always a scene where they're moving in for that kiss and somebody walks in. How stupid. Just once I would like to see it intimated that they've had sex.

If not, for the bad acting, and the horrible script, this movie could've made it. However, it didn't make it with me.

Believe it or not it actually started out pretty good. But then it just deteriorated into one of the worst Christmas movies I've ever seen.

As we get to know the characters, we see the rotten ex, the evil-to-the-core ex father in law, the conflicted daughter and the love interests. I thought it was pretty sweet in the beginning because it didn't really follow the standard romcom formula and construct.

There was actually a fire rescue scene that was pretty realistic and harrowing to say the least but it wasn't long after, this movie started to take a nosedive. It's difficult to describe the silliness but suffice it to say it ruined it.

Production values were fairly good, but a lot of the acting was terrible. Why can't someone spend a little money on these movies. Oh well, 2 hours of my life down the drain.

The concept is tired and as far as I'm concerned the magic died after the first movie all those 30 years ago.

I remember the excitement when Jurassic Park hit the big screen and what idiots I thought the parents were for taking their little kids. Oh the trauma.

Now I'm experiencing adult trauma, not from marauding Dinos but from all the bad acting. I don't think anybody did a good job in this save Jeff and there certainly were no Oscar performances in this one. Bad acting of the day goes to Laura Dern. I like her but sorry Laura.

I think I'm now ready for some personified Pixar dinos with a few laughs thrown in for good measure.

I can't believe I wasted more than two hours of my life on this crap. I think I'm done with action movies for awhile. Let's get some popcorn and a good mystery.

I liked this. The characters are likable, the actors attractive. But, I gave this a low score because of production values. For the most part they were good but they didn't go that extra mile for authenticity and for some reason that just bugs me. Most people wouldn't even notice or pay much attention to it except me. There's the one thing here that bugged me more than anything else.

This guy was supposedly in the Navy. An officer no less. A Lt. Commander to be exact and since I know my Naval officer ranks, that's starting to get up there. OK then. Now that we've got that out of the way let's get down to details. There is no way in holy you know what that a Naval officer would have long hair and a scrappy beard. Obviously budgeting doesn't allow for any kind of consulting or they just don't care and believe the audience doesn't either. For godsakes and that of the movie, get a haircut and get rid of the scrappy beard. It all grows back.

Now that I have that off my chest, lets get to the rest.

Like all Hallmark movies, they follow a formula and this was no exception. The plot was good enough with the right amount of conflict to move the story forward. The secondary love interest might have been better looking than the primary and I thought that was a bit unusual.

Now here's something unusual that I really liked. There was kissing that was neither interrupted nor at the end of the movie. Hallmark has a way of ruining any intimacy because of what it might imply, and the kissing is usually lame with stupid camera angles. This was a pleasant exception to that. But, they stop at the hint of any tongue.

In the end I take away stars for the cited production values but at least this one is watchable.

How this show ever made nine years. I'm sure the majority of Texas rangers only wish they saw this much action.

So why am I so strangely drawn to it. Maybe it's hate watching. Maybe I watch it because I detest the man who is Chuck Norris and what he stands for. I don't care how hot he is and yes, he's hot.

Sometimes the script is just dumb, but what's even dumber is what Norris and his crew do with it. And, the acting here is mostly terrible. Norris is stiff, unimaginative the kind of pseudo-actor who portrays himself in everything he's ever in. His performance here, like everything else he does, is stilted and his character has a tendency to talk down to everybody.

Sometimes the storylines are good. Sometimes not. Mostly not. Network TV shows of this era leave a lot to be desired. This one is especially trash.

With a bunch of horrid people. This was about one thing and one thing only. Self loathing and those who took advantage. They should change the title of this dreadful thing to Prey Away.

I think the thing that disgusts me the most was the parts that focused on Jeffrey McCall. Please note that transgender is not gay. Gender dysphoria is a serious mental health issue that remains in the DSM and will for sometime. His newfound faith will be his undoing. Or, should I say her.

I'm glad these leaders feel remorse but I also want them to feel shame for what they've done. They are an abomination.

Watch at your own risk. The risk of angering and enraging you.

It's the one thing that keeps me coming back. Waiting for the Duke to take his shirt off because trust me, he's got plenty to look at. Not only is he handsome but built like the proverbial you know what. The worst thing is that his character is absolutely totally unlikable.

There's plenty here that's difficult to watch. First off is the blatant sexism, the trouble with most period pieces set in this era. Could you imagine being a woman in this time and having to put all those damn clothes on every day, a dress so heavy and cumbersome that you have to pick it up and carry it when you walk? Men are behind this.

The perceived nonexistent sexual tension with the mistaken notion it will keep the show alive. This can never be allowed to end lest the show be a complete failure. What nonsense.

In the end I'm somehow drawn to it. Oh I already said how. Well there are other reasons to watch it like seeing her put him in his place.

Only on S2E6 but enough to know where I want it to go. He quits Scotland Yard and joins forces with Miss Scarlet and together they kick London a**. And show up SY. Yeah.

Isn't it interesting how they can take something with comedic origins, and turn it into a mystery drama?

Wednesday's character is dark, brooding, macabre. She's determined and tenacious and apparently suffers from anhedonia in that she doesn't experience joy. During the entire series I saw a hint of a smile only once.

Her affect is flattened as though severely depressed or on antidepressants. She shows no emotion but for an occasional look of terror and she's essentially friendless save Thing. She's quick witted, not in the habit of exchanging niceties and her barbs will cut you like a knife.

Her gait is stiff and unyielding and she never swings her arms. All in all Wednesday Addams is just an effing delight.

But these qualities are necessary. Every aspect of her mystery solving is deliberate and she makes it incredibly difficult to get in her way. She cannot be intimidated and she'll never give up.

It's fun to watch her at work as you know she'll solve the mystery. But is death looming? Let's see. Only Fester makes her smile.

They should not be in the business of making movies. What started out as a cute story line becomes quickly botched by lousy writing. The dialogue is just stupid.

The main character though extraordinarily attractive, is a man who cannot seem to work through the grief of losing his long since departed wife. This is why we have shrinks.

One thing is for sure, it's one thing to be attracted to someone but a lot more time and sequence is needed to fall for someone to the point where you go after them after you boot them out of town. These two never even had an actual date. The formula didn't mix well here.

It could have worked but for the writing and directing. The acting was iffy but not cringy.

This is one of the greats and I recommend everyone see it at least once. It was great in its day but by today's standards a bit dated and cheesy.

IMHO there was no other crooner on the planet at the time that could match the pipes of Bing Crosby. Conversely Rosemary Clooney was gifted in her own right.

Interestingly Bing was twice her age in this production. He 51. She 26. Vera-Ellen though only 33, looked older than her age, perhaps partly because of her own issue with anorexia. The next time you see the movie take note of her ribs and waistline on her entrance into the train club car scene. Yikes!

Though an incredible hoofer Vera had no voice and Rosemary dubbed her vocals. Danny Kaye, the song and dance man, was no match for Vera. Enter John Brascia a man who imparted a serious air of masculinity to the dance numbers. These two paired together in this movie just tore up the floor.

The rest of the movie is silly but Berlin's numbers made it very watchable. Rosemary's character was a silly little immature school girl, a most annoying thing. It's a great story as the General's onetime subordinates try to help him out, producing some incredible numbers along the way.

Old, dated, cheesy but well worth the watch.

Why man. I just don't get it. The acting is bad enough but the first thing that draws my eye to the lead actress is this. Why does an attractive young lady like this need to alter her appearance. What she has done to her face is painfully obvious.

The eyelash implants are absurd and unnatural looking. Then there is the lip plumping. Her lips look like they could explode and it makes me want to poke them with a pin to see what comes out. This is something reserved for the aging who've lost lip volume, not for young women wanting bigger lips.

Now that I've trashed Chelsea. The male MC is certainly handsome enough, and I love the interesting look of the secondary interest.

The story is shallow and lacking any substance and in the end, I just can't get past her face.

Lets talk about the acting because it is seriously that bad and they're conveying to us that the camera makes them nervous. I just can't get past those eyelashes and lips. Sorry. For me this is one of the things that ruins this movie.

Oh look. It's a year later, 2023, I took away a star and I'm back to once again make fun of her lashes & lips. I think they should change the name of this movie to Have a Lashy Lippy Christmas.

A harrowing tale of the unavoidably converging paths of a vicar and a death row inmate with an uncanny ability to see what isn't there to solve mysteries and crimes.

The writing and acting are brilliant. All around excellent production that'll leave you with a few WTFs escaping your lips.

The story of how a vicar, through no fault of his own, can go from normalcy to committing the most dreadful of acts to protect an innocent loved one. An illustration of the lengths a parent will go to.

Will the pinnings and intellect of the inmate be enough to prevent tragedy. Stick with it. It's gritty, it's graphic, and it will leave you breathless.

I really enjoyed this movie. At last Mar Vista did a decent thing here. That is until the very end.

The climax of the story actually brought a tear to my eye and I was excited to see such a wonderful story culminate in the MCs love for one another. And then that stupid kiss at the end. What is even up with that? I don't know what's going on with the idea of the camera angles but they're obstructive and they destroy a good thing. Are they afraid I'm going to see a slip of the tongue or actual lips touching? They should be embarrassed.

Well, what did I expect. Whether it's Lifetime or Hallmark, they both have a way of destroying a good story and the really good ones are so rare.

I don't know what they were trying to do with this ending but it was by far one of the sappiest most ridiculous things I've ever witnessed in any of these movies. They took a wonderful story and completely ruined it. I don't even know if I can bring myself to watch another one.

If you want to see decent Christmas romance movies check out Netflix. At least you know the couple's having sex before they even utter those three words and it's a refreshing change to this nonsense.

This is a very typical formula romcom. Boy meets girl, girl hates boy, girl starts to like boy, girl hates boy again, they kiss and make up and live happily ever after.

This is a Netflix production and therefore not a hallmark. The difference in this story is it's very strongly intimated that their relationship became sexual long before those three words escaped somebody's lips, something that would never happens in a Hallmark movie. Then there are the kissing scenes where you can actually see an open mouth and almost a little tongue but not quite. One of the biggest irritants for me with hallmark romcoms is that there isn't even a kiss until the end of the movie which is really stupid. Nine times out of 10 the kisses are lame.

Believe it or not, with the exception of a couple of instances of total sappy cornball, the story is pretty well told. One of the best redeeming qualities here is that the male lead is absolutely beyond anything gorgeous. And if you're waiting for the shirt to come off it happens pretty early and a couple of times. Josh is probably one of the most handsome men I've seen in a very long time. At one point the female MC actually says he looks like someone right out of a soap opera. Well guess what, he happens to be on General Hospital.

As with all romcoms no matter who produces it you have to take them for what they are and this one is no exception. A sappy love story, predictable and silly. But in this case the acting is pretty good with good production values and it's worth watching. I'm going to recommend it.

For more of Josh watch Roped. It's a really stupid romcom and I actually trashed it on here but if you're into eye candy it's just another one.

The only thing I can say about it right now is that I find all the characters extremely irritating, and annoying, especially Victor.

First of all I understand the teen angst thing but it's taken a little too far in this. God knows I had enough of my own but it was a different era. I could understand the level as it's portrayed here if it was the 60s or 70s. Yes. Coming out is hard even now but the lying to yourself and everyone around you to the point of hurting them is an entirely different story. No matter what era it is it's egregious behavior. It's so yesterday and it reeks of self-loathing. Once that perception of self-loathing is out there it doesn't go away and I will always see Victor as a teen suffering from internalized homophobia. Here we're dealing with parental failure as well.

And then, just when you think a particular character has redeemed themselves, bam, they screw it all up.

I suppose another big irritation for me here is the fact that all the gay characters are portrayed by straight guys. It's like the producers are afraid they're going to insult straight people or something. God forbid we have an actual gay actor who might be too gay for the masses.

I'll watch for awhile but I don't have a lot of hope for improvement. I guess the thing that drew me in was that I loved Love Simon (Simon was also portrayed by a straight actor, Nick Robinson). Maybe what I'm doing is the definition of hate-watching. Yeah. I hate this show.

Or that's how it appears. Do priests, Catholic or Anglican, seek refuge in the church as a shield from their own pain?

Sidney, a handsome ginger and Anglican priest, lives in the shadow of his past, so severely traumatized by a wartime incident that he seeks refuge not only in the church but from the bottom of a bottle and the burning embers of a cigarette. Neither option offers much.

In the end Sidney only wants to be loved and ventures outside the church with his friend Geordie, a detective, fighting crime and solving murders, which seemingly helps him find purpose.

The problem I have with these small-town detective stories is trying to figure out how so many murders can take place in such a single tiny geographical area.

A wonderful supporting cast from the love of his life, to the confused gay curate, the talented detective and the prudish zealot of a housekeeper.

In the states it's presented as a part of Masterpiece Theater. Check it out and you'll start to feel really good about yourself as a person.