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Just in Time for Christmas (2015)
Antiquated story line
This movie was disappointing. Are we really still doing this--movies with the woman giving up her dreams of accepting a Yale professorship to settle with her longtime boyfriend in the town they grew up in so he can continue to run his coffee shop--because coffee shops aren't allowed in New Haven, apparently. Like grownup men and women can't plan and compromise when they want to be together. Very frustrating. How about when the guy tells her he thought he would be her dream. What is it, 1950? It was messed up then, and messed up now. No issues with the acting, everyone did a competent job. The amnesia thing was weird, too.
A Playful Romance (2021)
How to Bully an Old Lady at Christmas--Spoilers
An elderly theatre owner wants to sell the theatre she owns with her nephew, and they have made plans to do so. The theatre director, and various cast members then proceed to guilt her and bully her into not selling and handing over the title to the theatre director. The theatre is saved, who cares about the old lady? The important thing is everyone worships her dead husband throughout the whole movie, with no care for her. And the neighborhood gets to keep the theatre, which wouldn't be in such financial trouble if anyone bothered to attend. The Christmas stories from Hallmark and Lifetime are really falling short the last couple of years.
Since when does retiring and selling your property qualify you as a villain or Grinch?
Miracle on Christmas (2020)
Didactic and Pretentious
A Christmas story about a family who doesn't seem to like one another and treat each other with derision and judgement. It's hard to like so many of the characters in this movie, and to listen to the heavy handed religious rhetoric spread though out. Hard to watch how the family talked about and judged one another. I was surprised at the 10/10 stars-- Made me wonder if they were associated with the movie somehow.
Second Chance Christmas (2017)
Christmas Gaslighting
Basically, this is a story about a couple that is breaking up near Christmas because the husband is a selfish, irresponsible man-child. The wife is in an accident and she sustains a head injury that causes amnesia. She no longer remembers anything, including she was in the process of divorcing her husband. So the husband and her mother (and the father goes along) basically gaslight her into believing she is happily married to this slacker, and spends her time cooking, decorating, and cleaning up after her husband, who sleeps on the couch all day when he is not gaming. In reality, she is a go getter who owns her own business, and her husband and family are willing to let it go under so she conforms to this June Cleaver 1950's nightmare. 1 star.
My Month with Mrs Potter (2018)
I really don't understand the negative reviews.
Why all the hate? It is a quiet, understated movie. It might not win any awards but the acting is certainly and not as bad as some say- it is fair to midland. And the plot is not jolting, this is not an action movie or a rom-com. It is about a criminal who breaks into an old dying woman's home to escape his fellow crime buddies who want their loot and possibly to kill him. Add in the woman's health carer. And Jane Hayward does as fine a job as well as the younger actors. She is playing a somewhat bitter, grumpy, lonely, older lady who is in pain and dying.
A Long Way from Home (2013)
Wherever you go, there you are
Brilliant performances in a realistic film. Expatriate retirees from England move to France to live out their golden years, Brenda and Joseph (Brenda Fricker, James Fox). The wife may have the beginning of a senile dementia, and the husband is depressed, suffering from exhaustion, and generally doesn't like his life with his wife or himself anymore. Same thing they were experience at home in England. Enter a young couple visiting, Suzanne and Marc (Natalie Dormer, Paul Nichols). The couples become friends, but James, the older man, becomes a bit obsessed by Suzanne's youth, beauty and energy. He is clearly longing for his youth. He almost seems to regret his life with Brenda and his lost youth, to the point of not speaking to his grown children when they call. At times he seems to be embarrassed by his wife to the point of dislike. And Brenda seems frustrated with Joseph's depression and low energy, except when he can spend time with Suzanne and Marc. Both couples are sad in that they love each other, but have such high expectations of one another. Even in Provence, wherever you go, there you are.