Movie Review- A Christmas in Tennessee (2018)

A while ago, I discovered a two DVD set of two Lifetime Christmas movies. The movies peaked my interest, so I purchased the DVD to watch. Since then, I watched the movies and decided to write reviews about them.

The first movie I watched is called A Christmas in Tennessee. It stars Rachel Boston, Andrew Walker, Kate Moyer, and Bill Essiembre with Caroline Rhea, and Patricia Richardson. It is about Allison Bennet (Boston), a single mother of a daughter that lives in White Pines, a fictional small town in Tennessee’s mountains. She lives in the same building as a bakery she and her mother (Richardson) run together. As Christmas grows closer, Allison, who is struggling to keep up with her bills because of slow business, meets Matthew (Walker), a real estate broker who, with his very pushy and opportunistic assistant, works at a development firm that wants to buy the whole town of White Pines and turn it into a high end ski resort. At the same time, Allison’s daughter’s letter to Santa Claus, which asks to bring more business to the bakery, blows away. The loss of the letter eventually leads a woman with white hair that looks similar to Mrs. Claus (Rhea) to visit the bakery with the intention of finding cookies that she and her husband can offer to guests at their Christmas Day party. Continue reading “Movie Review- A Christmas in Tennessee (2018)”

Movie Review: A Very Merry Mix-Up (2013)

Earlier this month, I wrote a review about the movie, The Christmas Ornament. I purchased it as part of a movie set of four movies from the Hallmark Channel. Since I already watched one movie, I decided to watch another. This time, I picked A Very Merry Mix-up. Continue reading “Movie Review: A Very Merry Mix-Up (2013)”

Movie Review: Cats (2019)

In July 2019, I waited to hear about the new, big budget film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, Cats. My friends and I are fans of musicals, so Cats was a film we wanted to see. Even though we wanted to see it, we felt worried because of the cast. There are many actors and actresses that are very good actors, but we didn’t know how the lineup will work in the movie. Still, we were hopeful… until we saw the trailer and the horrible animation.

When the movie was in theaters, I didn’t get to see it because I was busy and because I was so upset about the trailer I didn’t care much to pay money to see it in the movie theater. My friends ended up talking me into seeing it but before we made it to a theater, it wasn’t there anymore due to bad reviews and very bad animation.

Almost two years after it was in the movie theater, I decided to sit down and write a review about it. It was branded to be a Christmas movie before it came out, so I wanted to save my review for Blogmas, yet I didn’t enjoy the movie so I decided to post the review whenever I got around to watch it. Continue reading “Movie Review: Cats (2019)”

Movie Review- The First Monday in May (2016)

Today is the first Monday in May 2021 and, prior to the pandemic, this means it would be the day the Met Gala would take place. This year, the gala will take place in September, but there would still be an exhibition in the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of the Arts.

Recently, while browsing YouTube movies for movies I can watch with ads, I found The First Monday in May. I already watched it before (And own a DVD copy of it) but I always celebrate the Met Gala this time of the year by watching it.

Continue reading “Movie Review- The First Monday in May (2016)”

Movie Review- A Cinderella Story (2004)

In the 2000’s, many movies targeting female teenagers could regularly be seen in movie theaters. Some of the movies were inspired by fairy tales or princesses. Many were not as good as others, but one of my favorites is A Cinderella Story. Recently, YouTube movies posted the movie to watch for free with ads. Since I enjoyed it so much as a teenager, I wanted to rewatch it and write a review about it. Continue reading “Movie Review- A Cinderella Story (2004)”

Movie Review- Valentine’s Day (2010)

Today is Valentine’s Day and, since to day is Valentine’s Day, I decided to review a romance movie names after today’s holiday, Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day is a 2010 romantic comedy movie written by Kathrine Fugate, Abby Kohn, and Marc Silverson. The movie was directed by Gary Marshall, who is known for working as a director and screen writer from movies and TV shows such as Happy Days and Pretty Woman.

The plot of the movie follows many people throughout one Valentine’s Day. The characters, played by many well known actors and actress such as Julia Roberts, Jamie Foxx, Jessica Alba, Patric Dempsey, Anne Hathaway, and Aston Kutcher to name a few, have different mindsets and frustrations about the day. Everyone’s story is completely related to each others’, but the the stories are related due to the interactions of the characters throughout their day.

Because of this, nobody is specifically a “main character” or “main couple”, but certain characters and their love lives are more prominent than others. The characters’ story that stood out to me as the “main couple” of the movie involves two characters, Reed Bennett (plaid by Aston Kutcher) and Julia Fitzpatrick (plaid by Jennifer Garner) and their love lives. They are also two of the first characters introduced in the movie and the last characters to finally find love.

When I watched Valentine’s Day for the first time in 2010, I didn’t like it. At all. The problem is the story is hard to understand unless you pay close attention to the movie. After watching it several times over the years, it began to make more sense, but it takes time to develop an understanding of the plot, the characters, and how the character’s interaction influences other character’s decisions or the situations they face over the course of the day. Continue reading “Movie Review- Valentine’s Day (2010)”

Movie Review- When in Rome (2010)

While searching YouTube for something new to watch, I discovered YouTube’s movie channel YouTube Movies had some movies available to watch that are free to view with ads. One of the movies is When in Rome, a romantic comedy staring Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel with Will Arnett, Alexis Dziena, Jon Heder, Dax Shepard, Danny DeVito, and Anjelica Huston. Since it was available for free, and it was near Valentines Day, I decided to watch it.

When in Rome is about Beth Martin (Kristen Bell), an employee at a museum and a woman disillusioned with love after a bad breakup with her ex the year before. When her sister tells her she is engaged and is getting married in Rome, she travels to Rome to attend and participate in the wedding. There, she meets Nick Beamon (Josh Duhamel) who is also in the wedding party. Continue reading “Movie Review- When in Rome (2010)”

Movie Review- Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (1970)

On Friday, November 27, 2020, ABC stations aired the Christmas classic movie/TV show Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. 2020 marks the 50th Anniversary of the movie so it was very special and important for me to see it. Since I’m focusing on reviewing Christmas movies this Blogmas, I decided to write a review of the TV broadcast version of the movie. Continue reading “Movie Review- Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (1970)”

Movie Review- Mrs. Santa Claus (1996)

Way back in July, Walmart had Christmas movies for sale for Christmas in July. After browsing the movies, I found a few that I wanted, but the one I wanted to see the most is Mrs. Santa Claus.

Mrs. Santa Claus is a made for TV musical movie staring Angela Lansbury, Michael Jeter, Terence Mann, and Charles During. The music is by Jerry Herman, costume design by Bob Mackie, and choreography by Rob Marshall.

The movie is about Mrs. Claus, the wife of Santa Claus, who helps run the workshop and . Frustrated by her husband’s lack of insert about her help and the lack of acknowledgement for what she does, she decides to take matters into her own hands and sets out to test a new flight plan she developed for her husband’s Christmas Eve run using the sleigh and reindeer. While flying, she runs into bad weather and lands in New York City. There, she stays in a boarding house until after the reindeer have time to rest. She encounters people who have different ideas, religions, and feelings about Christmas.

The movie is well done and is in the style of a Jerry Herman musical, such as Hello Dolly. The pacing of the story is very smooth and would make a great stage musical as it does for a movie musical. The music, written by Jerry Herman, is catchy and well written, but, in my opinion, isn’t as catchy as the music he wrote for Hello Dolly and Mame. The costumes are beautiful and the musical numbers are well choreographed. Angela Lansbury is wonderful as Mrs. Claus and, as a fan of Angela Lansbury, I’m happy to see her in this movie again. Musical theater actor Terence Mann (Known for playing Inspector Javer in the original Broadway cast of Les Miserables and the Beast in the original Broadway cast of Beauty and the Beast) is also in it, as is Charles Durning (The Sting) and Michel Jeter (Evening Shade), two stage and screen actors that also stared in Broadway shows. Continue reading “Movie Review- Mrs. Santa Claus (1996)”

Movie Review: Holiday Inn (1942)

When I began preparing for this year’s Blogmas, I decided to focus on reviewing movies in order to have post already prepared and scheduled without worrying about writing a new post every day. One of the movies I debated if I should review is the 1942 movie of Holiday Inn. 2020 is not a great year and, after the social unrest and Black Lives Matter movement gaining more attention and traction than ever before, I didn’t like the idea of reviewing Holiday Inn. Out of all the Christmas movies in my movie collection, Holiday Inn is one of the most controversial because of a blackface routine in the movie. Although I, a white woman, felt hesitant to review this movie, I still felt like I wanted to talk about it in a movie review.

Continue reading “Movie Review: Holiday Inn (1942)”