Film Critics United

Christmas Collision (2021) So this movie Christmas Collision is untethered.  Not released by any of the genre’s heavy hitters in Lifetime or Hallmark, and not the smaller players via Ion or UP or whatever, as this one is independent.  Now the fact that it isn’t tethered to a network doesn’t mean that the brain trust behind this movie doesn't understand the genre as they most certainly do, as this one hits all the expected notes at mostly the right times, but I’m of the opinion a TV edit would’ve done this particular movie a world of good, which we will get into a little later. Theodora the Bountiful (Sebrina Scott) is a soulless, big city real-estate something or another closing deals and destroying dreams, and her doubly soulless boss Mr. Ronan (Vernon Wells) is dispatching his top dream crusher to Nowhere Ohio, around Christmas (Theodora is Christmas Averse) to foreclose on some random farm for some reason.  At Christmas. Now in Nowhere Ohio we meet sad Charlie the ...

The Santa Stakeout (2021) - Hallmark And so it begins, Year Six of watching the various romantic Christmas movies from Hallmark / Lifetime / UPTV / OWN / BET / ION TV/ Netflix and whomever else has jumped on this train over the past years or so.   This year is bumper crop for these kinds of movies, listed at over 140 and counting, which has me thinking, who has time to watch all these freaking movies?   Well, we’re going to give it a try and watch probably around 20 of them.   And this year, instead of jumping around to and fro previous years of Holiday movies, we’re gonna stick to 2021, and we’re going to kick things off with The Santa Stakeout.   I have to admit I was a little excited about this one because Joe Pantoliano is in it, and I’m thinking, hoping, that Uncle Joe was going to play Santa Claus in this movie.   Cypher as Santa Claus?   The profane police captain from the Bad Boys movies as Jolly Saint Nick? With that unique Italian American / Jerse...