Film Critics United

  You Can't fight Christmas (2017) - TVOne So there’s a scene in this movie where Leslie (Brely Evans) and Edmund (Andra Fuller) are at the bar… lot of time spent at the bar in this movie ‘You Can’t Fight Christmas’… and they are steadily throwing down a few when they spot a piano.  Edmund plays, Leslie sings so let’s do tune, maybe a classic Christmas tune called, I don’t know… You Can’t Fight Christmas!  Which is the name of this movie!  Well these two kids have fun doing this and they are getting a little cozy with each other which means it’s time for that near miss kiss… oh… Oh my… Or an alcohol infused one night stand complete with a Walk of Shame.  Don’t think I’ve seen one of those in one of these before.  Huh. Anyway, Leslie is a party designer or something at the Grand Chesterfield Hotel, with Christmas being her biggest event of the year, but trouble for The Chesterfield is on the horizon in the form Edmund, grandson to the owner Mr. James (Richar...

  Happiest Season (2020) - Hulu Admittedly, in this silly thing me and Lisa do in chatting about Hallmarky Holiday movies, Hulu’s Happiest Season doesn’t really fit.  This movie follows the path of a traditional RomCom more so than a Hallmarky Holiday movie, but this is one of those occasions where I’m of the opinion that this film would have served itself much better if had actually followed the Hallmarky formula. Abby (Kristen Stewart) and Harper (Mackenzie Davis) are two kids living in the big city, and these two kids love each other.  Like… a LOT.  Like… if you ever wanted to watch two women make out a LOT, then this is the movie for you.  I don’t think I’ve seen a ‘straight’ movie where two characters kissed more than these two.  I hope Mackenzie and Kristen got along on this set.  And just to get this out of the way, having two same-sex characters in your movie making out does NOT make your movie ‘progressive’.  At the baseline it just means...

Christmas by Starlight (2020) - Hallmark Reviewed by Lisa Sue The first thing to comment on Christmas by Starlight is that the co-stars came up with the story, and Paul is credited with the teleplay. Having seen both Paul and Kimberley in a number of these Hallmark movies, I think Wedding Every Weekend springs to mind, they seemed to have picked up nicely on the formula and seemed able to transfer what they may/may not have learned making these movies into the script.   So here’s the premise for this movie- Annie’s a family lawyer who specializes in adoptions, and her parents beloved Starlight Café (Best Waffles in Chicago!) is about to be demolished to make way for more…shopping malls or some other unnecessary pantheon of corporate greed. Enter William Holt- the face of the corporate greed, heir in training to Holt Enterprises, which SURPRISE is the entity about to shut down the Starlight Café. William’s dad doesn’t like how little attention Will is paying their clients (somethi...

One Starry Christmas (2014) - Hallmark Ladies, here's a scenario for you to consider.  Suppose you're taking the Greyhound from Chicago to New York.  Not the Megabus, because their trips are non-stop, but a Greyhound, which tends to stop at every podunk town in-between.  You get on the bus, nobody's sitting next to you, you nod off.  When you wake up, there's a dude sitting next to you because he got on during one of the many stops.  But hey, he's a nice dude, good looking, you two are having some nice conversation and you tell him you're heading to NYC to visit your parents and surprise your boyfriend, it's all good.  But then the bus breaks downs.  Dangit.  Chances are you might make it home by Christmas.  But then that nice dude you met drives up in car he just rented and tells you to jump on in!  He'll take you the rest of way.  Ladies... do you get into this car with a guy you just met an hour ago on a bus?  If you paused ...

  A Christmas House (2020) - Hallmark Reviewed by Lisa Sue A Christmas House stands out for several reasons. Main reason is in the opening scenes they provide us with the fake TV show Handsome Justice, which is just superb. Glorious. The title alone of the fake show is exceptional, the eldest Mitchell son Mike plays a lawyer.   His character’s last name is Handsome. The potential of such a show gives me endless joy, and for that you have my eternal thanks Christmas House. And less you think this is a one and done joke, never! His brother gives him grief for the show, and the love interest neighbor Andi kids him for how terrible the show is. And the initial brotherly banter sets the tone for the show and their relationship, which is nice that the brotherly bond is developed. Sticking to Handsome justice, Mike does a commercial for love interest Andi’s real estate business, in character. And stick around to the end of the movie, Handsome even does a body spray commercial. Mike...

  A Timeless Christmas (2020) - Hallmark Dateline:   December 18 th , 1903.   Charles Whitley (Ryan Peavey) has just won an auction on a magic clock, he doesn’t know it’s magic yet, and upon payment for his prize he encounters his arch enemy, the rapscallion Harold Moran.   That’s what Charles called him and now it’s my new favorite word replacing scalawag.   You see, Moran has been eying Charles’ woman Eliza, and Charles don’t like that.   Charles makes it home with his magic clock where Eliza is waiting for him, mainly to give him the business.   She doesn’t like that Charles is stoic and emotionless, Charles tells her to kick rocks because they are getting married, because that’s what people do.   Charles’ housekeeper Rosie throws in her two cents pointing out that these two don’t seem to like each all that much and shouldn’t get married.   He tells Rosie to kick rocks too.   With those people out of his business, Charles reads some...