This movie doesn't really have any flow and is hard to follow. Rather than feeling like its own show, it feels more like a bad editing job of splicing together every other Christmas movie you've ever seen. Considering that the main character is trying to make the perfect Christmas movie when she passes out, I'm sure this is probably on purpose, but unfortunately the end result isn't good. It feels more like we were dropped into a fun house than a snow globe. Also, the male and female leads didn't demonstrate any believable chemistry, or at least not for more than a second or two at a time. Both actors are terrific, and I've loved them in other shows, but it just didn't work here. It might not be their fault, though. It could be because the movie kept jumping around and never held still long enough to maintain emotion. In any case, your time would probably be better spent watching one or more of the other Christmas movies instead of this trippy imitation.
Reviews
7 Reviews
Small Town Santa
(2014)
Adorable!
6 December 2015
Honestly, I don't know why this film has such a low rating (just 3.9 as I'm writing this). I mean, sure, it's obviously an ultra-low budget film, but it's adorable! A very sweet film. Dean Cain is, of course, fantastic as the lead character. I assume he did this on a volunteer basis (maybe as a favor to a friend?), because I'm pretty sure his salary alone would've been more than this film's entire budget. Santa and the town drunk are also wonderful. The only 2 REAL faults I can find are some overacting on the part of some of the female roles, and I'm not quite sure what the point of Tom's drunk mother-in-law was. She's just generally very bratty, not adding comedic value, and doesn't really seem to have a purpose in the plot, either.
My Dear Secretary
(1948)
Sidekick steals the show
17 October 2015
The plot has potential on paper, but can't quite hold up on screen, despite its fun, lighthearted feel.
The main characters are horribly mismatched. Although they do have a lot in common: both are far too stubborn for their own good, with nasty tempers and both need to grow up, especially him.
The movie's saving grace, though, is Ronnie, the sidekick. He's tremendous fun! :)
I wouldn't suggest making an evening of it, but if you have some spare time to kill and don't have too high of expectations, it'll give you a few laughs.
The main characters are horribly mismatched. Although they do have a lot in common: both are far too stubborn for their own good, with nasty tempers and both need to grow up, especially him.
The movie's saving grace, though, is Ronnie, the sidekick. He's tremendous fun! :)
I wouldn't suggest making an evening of it, but if you have some spare time to kill and don't have too high of expectations, it'll give you a few laughs.
Fiebre de amor
(1985)
Yes, it really is as bad as its ratings, maybe worse
29 June 2015
The plot listed for the movie actually only lasts about half an hour. The entire first hour of the movie is basically just a bunch of badly synced music videos loosely tied together. Unless you're a huge fan of teenage Luis Miguel or Lucero, let me save you some time. The entire story development of the first hour and three minutes is as follows: Luis Miguel is a famous, but clumsy teenage singer. All the girls are after him, so he's not allowed any freedom & wishes he could get out on his own. Lucerito is a teenage fan of Luis Miguel and lives with her rich parents in Acapulco. She daydreams about him a lot. Luis Miguel comes to do a concert in Acapulco. There are some bad guys with diamonds.
There now. Wasn't that a lot faster? I can't really say that the remaining 36 minutes are all that much better, but at least there's some action.
There now. Wasn't that a lot faster? I can't really say that the remaining 36 minutes are all that much better, but at least there's some action.
'Til There Was You
(1997)
The problem is it's billed wrong
30 March 2015
Warning: Spoilers
I think what hurts this film's ratings the most is that it's billed wrong. It's listed as a romantic comedy. But the film is neither particularly romantic or comedic. This is probably also why it's been stated that it gets better after multiple viewings. After you've already seen it once, you already know that it's more of an introspective drama, so you can watch it in that context & it goes much better. It's actually not a BAD movie if you're in the mood for more of a "down" movie, but if you're looking for an ACTUAL romantic comedy (which are "up" movies), this is NOT it! The first 2 minutes are happy & hopeful, but after that, the happiness turns to sadness, the hopes are dashed, and it's a movie focused on addictions, broken relationships, lies, tears, broken hearts, pain, death, destruction, goodbyes, and a general sense that nothing lasts forever...a sense of hopelessness. Only in the last 6 minutes of the movie is there even the slightest glimmer of hope again. But the mistake they make is that they run the movie full circle so that the hope at the end is the same as the hope at the beginning...the hope that was killed during the movie. So the end result is that they're implying (whether intentionally or not) a cycle of hopelessness.
And when what I wanted were some happy, hopeful thoughts to close out a rough day and give me sweet dreams, this heavy feeling of depressiveness really sucks. Two stars.
And when what I wanted were some happy, hopeful thoughts to close out a rough day and give me sweet dreams, this heavy feeling of depressiveness really sucks. Two stars.
12:01
(1993 TV Movie)
Mixed feelings
21 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Most of the movie was actually quite fun. But for me it went a bit sour toward the end. I'm trying not to give TOO much away, so let's just say that I found many of the main character's actions to be extremely self-centered. Usually in one of these repeat-the-day movies, the main character grows by the end of the film. They realize that they have the chance to fix most of what went wrong. This one really doesn't have that. Even by the end of the film, the only two things the main character was interested in were getting the girl and ending the time loop. If the writers just would've reset the day one last time, they could've fixed the things that went wrong (including one actual DEATH) on the last run-through instead of selfishly pushing through. It was disappointing.
A Marriage of Convenience
(1998 TV Movie)
Not enough chemistry
21 January 2015
This had the potential to be a really great movie! And in fact, it looks like something that was probably a really good book. The problem is that they didn't do a very good job of translating that book into a movie. A book has the benefit of being able to narrate thoughts for us. To turn that into an effective movie, you still have to find a way to convey those thoughts and emotions to the audience. Unfortunately, this movie put all of its efforts into the setup and the conflict between the two main characters. There was virtually no indication of any kind of connection between them until the very end, which made the "happy ending" seem rather hollow.
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