adamjohns-42575
Iscritto in data apr 2020
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Valutazione di adamjohns-42575
Christmas Above The Clouds (2025) -
This parody of 'A Christmas Carol' contained so much of Dickens work that he should have been given a writing credit. Although it was odd that with all the quotes and references that they did use they didn't actually mention that "Carol" existed in their world, that it was a story Ella Neezer (Erin Krakow) should be aware of.
It was interesting to place the events on an aeroplane though, even if it did make a lot of it very silly. I mean I love Christmas but I would have killed Pip the flight attendant (Erik Gow) and the Captain (Matthew Clarke) if they'd been in my face like that. And I could only assume that the producers weren't able to get the rights to any song except 'The 12 Days Of Christmas' because it was well and truly overused.
However, I was always going to love this film because of the unbelievably sexy Tyler Hynes, who played Jake, and of course I adore the original Dickens story. Aside from that it was actually a fairly good version of it anyway, even if I might have tweaked some elements.
The moment Jake spoke for the first time I went weak at the knees. That voice, his attitude and charm, the dude is smoking! Personally I thought that he was better off without Ella, the "Scrooge" of the film. My Mother and I both agreed that Jake should have ended up with Bobbi Cratchit (Emily Tennant) instead, mostly because Ella's change of personality was SOOO rapid, which was fine for Charles' protagonist back in 1843 but more of a stretch in a modern setting where people just won't put up with that sh!t anymore. I might have liked Ella to have shown more points of redemption to prove a complete turnaround before I would have got back together with her if I was Jake.
I supposed that was one of the biggest differences from the original version, where Scrooge's Nephew loved him unconditionally (As did Ella's Sister) and Bob just accepted whatever his boss said on Boxing Day, waiting to wake up from an unbelievable dream (As did Bobbi), we never saw Ebenezer getting back together with Belle, probably because it would have been hard to make it believable, as it was hard to buy that Jake could see any and enough real change in Ella on such a short flight. Especially as they didn't essentially interact for large periods of time.
Although if he'd never stopped loving her perhaps it wouldn't be so hard to forgive everything. It would be the continued proving of it that would decide how long their rekindled relationship would last.
Personally if I'd been Ella I would have changed my whole being to be with Jake and never have left him in the first place. It makes me so angry that I can't have a Mr. Hynes of my own.
Whilst I did enjoy this film there were some things that I noted as Ella experienced visions of her past, present and future Christmases via Spirits sent to save her soul.
I felt that it was a bit of a struggle to believe Erin and Tyler as Teenagers/20 Somethings. I might have utilised the new CGI like they did with Luke Skywalker in 'The Mandalorian' (2019-) or just had them played by younger lookalikes for that one part.
I also didn't like Erin's shorter haircut. It's petty but it just annoyed me, because of how much it didn't suit her.
And it might have been easier to believe that Bobbi was struggling financially if she didn't live in such a fancy house (It was her Mother's, but the point still stands). I might also have chosen a more aggressive illness for Tim (Daniel Shevchuk) than Asthma, I know it can be very bad, but it just didn't seem right in this instance.
My only other point was that some of the script was a bit rushed and jumbled with certain elements that could have been more thought out and so on, although I can't remember them now.
It had good production values and most of the actors did what they needed to. The Ghosts could have been calmer but they did bring a sort of comedy.
Tyler was in it, so I will watch it again and I'll just have to cry myself to sleep because I don't get to kiss him as often as Erin did in this one. What is the power he has over me? I'm not a nutty obsessed fan but I defy you to watch it and not feel that he was the best bit although I will confess that he probably did skew the score and allowed me to forgive some of the naffer elements more easily than I would normally. But then a good lead should be able to do that. Erin helped with that too but she was obviously not playing the nicest character for the majority of the film.
All that aside it was a fun one that brought Scrooge's story up to date for newer audiences and the moral of that tale still stood out strongly, if a little heavily focused on the relationship over general soul salvation and making the whole world a better place.
7.41/10.
This parody of 'A Christmas Carol' contained so much of Dickens work that he should have been given a writing credit. Although it was odd that with all the quotes and references that they did use they didn't actually mention that "Carol" existed in their world, that it was a story Ella Neezer (Erin Krakow) should be aware of.
It was interesting to place the events on an aeroplane though, even if it did make a lot of it very silly. I mean I love Christmas but I would have killed Pip the flight attendant (Erik Gow) and the Captain (Matthew Clarke) if they'd been in my face like that. And I could only assume that the producers weren't able to get the rights to any song except 'The 12 Days Of Christmas' because it was well and truly overused.
However, I was always going to love this film because of the unbelievably sexy Tyler Hynes, who played Jake, and of course I adore the original Dickens story. Aside from that it was actually a fairly good version of it anyway, even if I might have tweaked some elements.
The moment Jake spoke for the first time I went weak at the knees. That voice, his attitude and charm, the dude is smoking! Personally I thought that he was better off without Ella, the "Scrooge" of the film. My Mother and I both agreed that Jake should have ended up with Bobbi Cratchit (Emily Tennant) instead, mostly because Ella's change of personality was SOOO rapid, which was fine for Charles' protagonist back in 1843 but more of a stretch in a modern setting where people just won't put up with that sh!t anymore. I might have liked Ella to have shown more points of redemption to prove a complete turnaround before I would have got back together with her if I was Jake.
I supposed that was one of the biggest differences from the original version, where Scrooge's Nephew loved him unconditionally (As did Ella's Sister) and Bob just accepted whatever his boss said on Boxing Day, waiting to wake up from an unbelievable dream (As did Bobbi), we never saw Ebenezer getting back together with Belle, probably because it would have been hard to make it believable, as it was hard to buy that Jake could see any and enough real change in Ella on such a short flight. Especially as they didn't essentially interact for large periods of time.
Although if he'd never stopped loving her perhaps it wouldn't be so hard to forgive everything. It would be the continued proving of it that would decide how long their rekindled relationship would last.
Personally if I'd been Ella I would have changed my whole being to be with Jake and never have left him in the first place. It makes me so angry that I can't have a Mr. Hynes of my own.
Whilst I did enjoy this film there were some things that I noted as Ella experienced visions of her past, present and future Christmases via Spirits sent to save her soul.
I felt that it was a bit of a struggle to believe Erin and Tyler as Teenagers/20 Somethings. I might have utilised the new CGI like they did with Luke Skywalker in 'The Mandalorian' (2019-) or just had them played by younger lookalikes for that one part.
I also didn't like Erin's shorter haircut. It's petty but it just annoyed me, because of how much it didn't suit her.
And it might have been easier to believe that Bobbi was struggling financially if she didn't live in such a fancy house (It was her Mother's, but the point still stands). I might also have chosen a more aggressive illness for Tim (Daniel Shevchuk) than Asthma, I know it can be very bad, but it just didn't seem right in this instance.
My only other point was that some of the script was a bit rushed and jumbled with certain elements that could have been more thought out and so on, although I can't remember them now.
It had good production values and most of the actors did what they needed to. The Ghosts could have been calmer but they did bring a sort of comedy.
Tyler was in it, so I will watch it again and I'll just have to cry myself to sleep because I don't get to kiss him as often as Erin did in this one. What is the power he has over me? I'm not a nutty obsessed fan but I defy you to watch it and not feel that he was the best bit although I will confess that he probably did skew the score and allowed me to forgive some of the naffer elements more easily than I would normally. But then a good lead should be able to do that. Erin helped with that too but she was obviously not playing the nicest character for the majority of the film.
All that aside it was a fun one that brought Scrooge's story up to date for newer audiences and the moral of that tale still stood out strongly, if a little heavily focused on the relationship over general soul salvation and making the whole world a better place.
7.41/10.
The More The Merrier (2025) -
I really liked this film. I will admit that it was all fairly predictable, mostly because I'd read the synopsis but also because I've seen a million of these films and it wasn't hard to guess, but in comparison to most of the Hallmark Seasonal films it was a different story full of great values and happiness and I thought that the two leads connection was strong and lovely to watch. And their budding romance was believable. How much could happen in 24 hours after all?
Brendan Penny and Rachel Boston were easy to like together. They work as a pairing of really nice people and had just enough difference and friction in this one to keep it interesting.
The story was set in a snowed in hospital on Christmas Eve where babies were popping out of everybody and the newly appointed Dr Brian (Penny) struggled to understand the nuances of a smaller more community driven ER than he was used to whilst also getting to know Dr Alice (Boston) who had her own, almost hyperactive, way of getting through the night.
I do really like Rachel Boston in these films but she does always seem to play parts that are very excitable and super cheerful. They're aspirational but not necessarily real.
Brendan Penny is always just the ideal man for me because even in his grumpier roles he's still easy to relate to and represents a genuine character who has heart and shows his good side fairly quickly. And he's just so God damned handsome that I'd forgive him anything anyway.
In some ways the film was a great ensemble piece and everyone played their parts well and with relevance, whether giving birth, staff at the hospital or one of the other trapped patients they all felt like they were right and they performed well. I did feel that they struggled to write for the kids though. A lot of what they said to or did for the kids was a bit old fashioned (Juggling and Santa).
I would have liked to have understood why Catherine the Nurse (Lucia Walters) was so cranky all the time. It wasn't just the one incident with Brian and it felt like her story had been edited out or not fully delivered.
The only one that struggled to fully deliver for me was Damar Hamlin, the sports star cameo. He was just a tad wooden.
Honestly it was probably a bit saccharine but it was a nice saccharine with the heart and warmth that I tune in to these films for.
I supposed that for a tad more depth it could have done with a bit more drama, an emergency procedure, someone trapped or a tree falling in through a window perhaps but in general I was glad that they didn't get too graphic with the births or let them bog the story down as it was nice to focus on the potential relationship more and I've seen the miracle of childbirth on screen a lot anyway. I was also pleased that they didn't feel the need to add any upsetting elements to the story with difficult labours, etc if you know what I mean. It didn't need any extra natal drama or the threat of things not going well. No one turns up to these films wanting to cry because a child is at risk.
Nothing felt wrong regarding the production values, the snow wasn't exactly torrential and seemed to be the foamy stuff used by films, but they didn't get up close enough for it to be irksome.
In the end I supposed that if 'Scrubs' (2001-) had made a serious Christmas episode it would have something been like this.
It had humour and care and joy in a similar way to that series but with that magic Hallmark festive touch.
8.25/10.
I really liked this film. I will admit that it was all fairly predictable, mostly because I'd read the synopsis but also because I've seen a million of these films and it wasn't hard to guess, but in comparison to most of the Hallmark Seasonal films it was a different story full of great values and happiness and I thought that the two leads connection was strong and lovely to watch. And their budding romance was believable. How much could happen in 24 hours after all?
Brendan Penny and Rachel Boston were easy to like together. They work as a pairing of really nice people and had just enough difference and friction in this one to keep it interesting.
The story was set in a snowed in hospital on Christmas Eve where babies were popping out of everybody and the newly appointed Dr Brian (Penny) struggled to understand the nuances of a smaller more community driven ER than he was used to whilst also getting to know Dr Alice (Boston) who had her own, almost hyperactive, way of getting through the night.
I do really like Rachel Boston in these films but she does always seem to play parts that are very excitable and super cheerful. They're aspirational but not necessarily real.
Brendan Penny is always just the ideal man for me because even in his grumpier roles he's still easy to relate to and represents a genuine character who has heart and shows his good side fairly quickly. And he's just so God damned handsome that I'd forgive him anything anyway.
In some ways the film was a great ensemble piece and everyone played their parts well and with relevance, whether giving birth, staff at the hospital or one of the other trapped patients they all felt like they were right and they performed well. I did feel that they struggled to write for the kids though. A lot of what they said to or did for the kids was a bit old fashioned (Juggling and Santa).
I would have liked to have understood why Catherine the Nurse (Lucia Walters) was so cranky all the time. It wasn't just the one incident with Brian and it felt like her story had been edited out or not fully delivered.
The only one that struggled to fully deliver for me was Damar Hamlin, the sports star cameo. He was just a tad wooden.
Honestly it was probably a bit saccharine but it was a nice saccharine with the heart and warmth that I tune in to these films for.
I supposed that for a tad more depth it could have done with a bit more drama, an emergency procedure, someone trapped or a tree falling in through a window perhaps but in general I was glad that they didn't get too graphic with the births or let them bog the story down as it was nice to focus on the potential relationship more and I've seen the miracle of childbirth on screen a lot anyway. I was also pleased that they didn't feel the need to add any upsetting elements to the story with difficult labours, etc if you know what I mean. It didn't need any extra natal drama or the threat of things not going well. No one turns up to these films wanting to cry because a child is at risk.
Nothing felt wrong regarding the production values, the snow wasn't exactly torrential and seemed to be the foamy stuff used by films, but they didn't get up close enough for it to be irksome.
In the end I supposed that if 'Scrubs' (2001-) had made a serious Christmas episode it would have something been like this.
It had humour and care and joy in a similar way to that series but with that magic Hallmark festive touch.
8.25/10.
One December Night (2021) -
I've definitely seen this story done before but this was a good version of it. I did feel that it favoured the musical duos reunion slightly too heavily over the romance between the reluctant Children/Managers of those rock stars compared to the usual formula for these types of films and maybe that was a good thing for a change, but I would have liked to have seen Quinn (Eloise Mumford) and Jason (Brett Dalton) forming a much closer bond. It just seemed like they needed another date or two to build that connection. It might have helped if they'd been sweethearts at school which was hinted at but not obviously enough. I could see the romance happening, but their moment at the end seemed to come a tad too quickly just to wrap things up.
In general however it was a nice, charming and heartwarming story with good performances by all.
As much as I haven't generally liked Bruce Campbell, in his role of ageing music star Steve he played his part really well. It was nice to have a cast that could be relied upon without anyone standing out as a bad choice amongst a group of substantially better peers, which actually happens a lot.
It was a shame that Bruce didn't do his own singing as Peter Gallagher in the role of Mike did because there are actors out there that could have done both, but it wasn't obvious.
Also I nearly got completely lost in Brett Dalton's brown eyes.
I also liked the character of Addison (Jasmine Forsberg). In a way they could have made her the "Thing" that brought the lovers together instead of the Dad's, but I have seen that story too.
And she could actually sing too.
I would say though that without her there would have been more time for Quinn and Jason but as I've said that would just have been my personal preference or at least what I have become used to.
There was obviously a good budget for this one but I did think that they could have done a bit more with the actual final concert. Such a big event would have had a larger attendance and grander stage. And I'd have just loved it if they sang an outstanding new Christmas song and actually played it in its entirety. Something that would leave the audience on an absolute high as the credits rolled. Especially when the song was so hyped throughout the film. In the film 'Youth' (2015) a composer refuses to let them use his song all the way through the film only to relent as the film ends and when that song played it blew me away. I want that all the time!
I would definitely recommend this one and I will watch it again and perhaps next time without having to do a review I will be able to more freely enjoy it. Not that I didn't enjoy it this time.
If you're reading this Brett Dalton, call me.
7.57/10.
I've definitely seen this story done before but this was a good version of it. I did feel that it favoured the musical duos reunion slightly too heavily over the romance between the reluctant Children/Managers of those rock stars compared to the usual formula for these types of films and maybe that was a good thing for a change, but I would have liked to have seen Quinn (Eloise Mumford) and Jason (Brett Dalton) forming a much closer bond. It just seemed like they needed another date or two to build that connection. It might have helped if they'd been sweethearts at school which was hinted at but not obviously enough. I could see the romance happening, but their moment at the end seemed to come a tad too quickly just to wrap things up.
In general however it was a nice, charming and heartwarming story with good performances by all.
As much as I haven't generally liked Bruce Campbell, in his role of ageing music star Steve he played his part really well. It was nice to have a cast that could be relied upon without anyone standing out as a bad choice amongst a group of substantially better peers, which actually happens a lot.
It was a shame that Bruce didn't do his own singing as Peter Gallagher in the role of Mike did because there are actors out there that could have done both, but it wasn't obvious.
Also I nearly got completely lost in Brett Dalton's brown eyes.
I also liked the character of Addison (Jasmine Forsberg). In a way they could have made her the "Thing" that brought the lovers together instead of the Dad's, but I have seen that story too.
And she could actually sing too.
I would say though that without her there would have been more time for Quinn and Jason but as I've said that would just have been my personal preference or at least what I have become used to.
There was obviously a good budget for this one but I did think that they could have done a bit more with the actual final concert. Such a big event would have had a larger attendance and grander stage. And I'd have just loved it if they sang an outstanding new Christmas song and actually played it in its entirety. Something that would leave the audience on an absolute high as the credits rolled. Especially when the song was so hyped throughout the film. In the film 'Youth' (2015) a composer refuses to let them use his song all the way through the film only to relent as the film ends and when that song played it blew me away. I want that all the time!
I would definitely recommend this one and I will watch it again and perhaps next time without having to do a review I will be able to more freely enjoy it. Not that I didn't enjoy it this time.
If you're reading this Brett Dalton, call me.
7.57/10.