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This film has been described as "staggeringly luminous", "inspired", "a poem come to life!"

Did I get that? No.

The dialogue, prolonged silences, wooden acting (Lee) and even the cinematography is just meh. How can you make New York City boring?

I get it. The crush represents the what if and closure of her past life. But her present life doesn't seem all that spectacular. There isn't a lushness or layers to this film. There aren't any truly defined characters. The husband and crush are two dimensional characters, who are tent poles on either side of Nora's life.

And who really is Nora? Is she passionate about anything? Her writing seems somewhat important. I mean she goes to writer retreats, but she still hasn't won the Nobel or Pulitzer she braggged about. Has she even produced a play? Is she writing anything beyond a workshop?

This movie isn't a romance or even a high-brow introspection. It's simply the story of an Asian woman assimilating into whiteness, flirts with her past and decides against it. This would've been better suited to a fifteen minute short.

I hate QVC, but a poster for this movie floated across my Roku screen. I love Christmas movies, so I was like take a chance, especially when the fare of Hallmark movies this season have been rather bad compared to the 2022 season.

This movie contained all the tropes: drinking hot chocolate, selling of a family inn, someone thinking about moving for a better life, an obnoxious mayor, decorating a tree, and even a scrooge who doesn't like Christmas.

However what this movie has, which is rare is actual humor. Mostly at the expense of the clueless hero.

I was surprised how much I liked the "commercial breaks" with the QVC hosts. They seemed to enjoy themselves as they snack on the same foods as the characters. I was so hooked I even ordered a Pine Falls T-shirt😅

I would actually watch this one again.

As soon as Hallmark released the ultra-cute poster for Friends and Family Christmas, I was dying to see it. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a disjointed dud with scenes of one female always running to work and the other babysitting the former's parents.

Their one-on-one moments, albeit brief are gold and I wanted more of that not just thirty seconds here and there before they run-off in opposite directions.

I'm sort of bummed they didn't give us the Hallmark princess moment of Dani walking down the stairs all gussied up, and Amelia turns and and she's speechless. No. They meet on the stairs as Amelia turns around from talking with a co-worker😐.

In all honesty, I'm unsure how they started liking one another. They're rarely together. They don't decorate the tree they buy. They don't make holiday crafts despite Dani dragging Amelia to these events. Instead, Amelia is doing all of this with Dani's parents, while she's running around like a chicken with her head cut off.

I took off stars because I fell asleep twice and finally made it through the third attempt.

Normally I don't like Lifetime Christmas movies. They somehow always miss the mark. So I watch other network offerings first then circle back around to them.

Of course, I wasn't going to miss this one. Give me a Mowry twin in a Christmas movie and I'm there. Tia and Tamera always give solid performances. And Tia was good here.

The storyline was pretty unique, combining two of my favorite viewing pastimes: cooking and genealogy. The former being a nod to her twin's real-life recent appearance on Finding Your Roots earlier this year. They even related her to Caribbean roots in the surprise twist.

I liked the hero as well. I've never seen him before but he's a solid actor, and I felt chemistry between the pair.

I stumbled across this movie a couple of weeks ago, clicking through Netflix's catalog for some holiday fare. And this one delivered with all the requisite tropes: Christmas pageants, fake relationships, and friends to lovers.

Despite keeping it clean, the chemistry between the two leads was very believable, sexy even. That outdoor frost breath photo shoot. Hot.

Jennifer Coolidge is great here as always. Who in their ever living minds would put her in charge of a children's Christmas pageant. I literally bust out laughing when she stepped into the scene giving Stella Adler to pre-teens, probably forced to perform.

This one wouldn't be a pain to watch again.

I think I've watched this one three times this holiday season. The storyline is so screwball I can't get enough it. Throw in one of my favorite actress' Barbara Stanwyck and I plunk myself on the couch everytime TCM drops it into their programming.

This movie is based on lies and just when you think things can't get worse for Barbara Stanwyck's character they do. Fortunately, she's also falling in love with dreamy Dennis Morgan.

Comedy aside, this movie is pretty progressive for the time. Most of the women are in non-traditional roles, from Stanwyck not being able to cook or do "homey" things, to the two mothers working in a ballistics factory. Even the lone black character was portrayed as highly intelligent and not subservient.

Too bad Hollywood didn't take the hint and provide less stereotypical fare.

Despite producing Hannukah movie less than three years, Hallmark does a great with them. I haven't watched one that was bad and I've sat through a good hundred. And Eight Gifts of Hannukah doesn't disappoint, especially in the romance department.

As a person who loves to find packages on their doorstep, I was eagerly anticipating each and every one of Sarah's gifts. And every time, I squeed inside because they were so thoughtful and meant something, on a personal level, to the heroine.

Overall, this is a really, cute movie with a friends to lover trope with a believable reveal. I thoroughly enjoyed learning all the different traditions and foods eaten during Hannukah.

Out of all the Hallmark movies I've devoured over the past two or so years, (I've gone back and watched about a hundred 😭😅) this one is easily in my top ten.

I was so looking forward to this movie since I'm a huge fan of Groundhog's Day and Hallmark's Hannukah movies are always winners.

However, I have two grievances: the female lead and the middle/rising action of this movie.

The lead actress' is so blah. It's not her acting, she's just so plain Jane that I kept wondering if they failed to hire someone for hair and makeup.

Like her hair, the middle of this movie was a snooze. The first twenty and last twenty made up for it, so I gave it seven stars.

Groundhog's Day this movie isn't. Heck, this isn't even, The Best Night of My Life, a YA book.

Both of these beat this one because the leads learn a lesson or change their ways. Someone even dies or gets badly injured. Not here. There are no real stakes or the 'so what' in 'Round and 'Round and that's what it needed. I became so bored, I actually started rooting for the hero's best friend with the shag carpeted van to get the girl. Instead, we watch the heroine get out of bed seven times only for her to find (I won't spoil it).

This Christmas movie from Hallmark was a nice surprise. Like the title, it's more women's fiction than romance. The acting is above par, and the storyline is heartwarming without the obligatory-I-got-to-make-a-choice romance trope.

Don't get me wrong, I like those story lines as well, but sometimes you need to change it up and actually watch the characters grow, their circumstances get better despite the obstacles, which were real and actually dire (planning a Christmas pageant isn't life altering😐) thrown in their way. Or in two character's instances, realize they're real jerks and give back. That's what the holiday is about, right?

Boba Fett isn't as charismatic as the Mandalorian. His quest is as dry as the sand sea on the planet Tatooine. This show is slow moving and no real storytelling.

Maybe it's a slow build but I feel like all I'm doing is waiting on is for Grogu and Djin to appear in a cameo so I can finally root for someone. Personally, we didn't Boba's story.

His death was silly, anticlimactic and not worthy of the buildup. Dude was taken out by mistake, when Hans Solo accidentally hits his jet pack. So not worthy of a resurrection and oversaturation of the series. I think the writers should hold off on anymore spinoffs to ensure better storylines for Mandalorian.

I stumbled across this movie recently. I'm not sure how I found it but it definitely has had a profound affect on me. I even watched it several times after my initial viewing and can't get enough.

It's simply beautiful with lush cinematography and a nuanced script that reflects the harsh realities of American culture.

It's so real and perfectly acted and it's a shame it's rarely in rotation on classic movie channels when it shines as bright as some other offerings, which have become cinematic classics i.e. Hud or Bad Day At Red Rock. It's inclusion into the National Library of Congress is well deserved.

I really liked the science aspect of this movie. I liked that Michelle wasn't a party planner or marketing guru trying to make partner. She's a successful opthalmologist and single mother.

Unfortunately, that's all I liked about her because she has a major defect--she can't respect boundaries. She comes into her daughter's classroom and basically overrides all the teacher's objections to Christmas decorations. And despite his misgivings and objections regarding a treatment for his condition, she forges his signature for special, experimental glasses.

Isn't that breaking some kind of HIPPA law?

Still, Michelle's behavior wasn't as creepy as her exes'. Geesh, this guy stepped right out of a Lifetime movie. He kept popping up at the weirdest times and places.

This movie will not be on my viewing radar again.

Without Bruce Campbell, a Southern Family Christmas would have fallen flat. All the other actors felt like 2-D caricatures phoning it in compared to Campbell, who acted circles around everyone. I mean how can you not like him as Pere Noel, dressed all up and riding down the bayou on an airboat.

The female lead wasn't very likable to me. She's written like a lying, stealing brat who literally gets upset and wants to call off everything because she's not included in a family photo. Girl, you wanted to tell your father he's your father but gets upset when the "step mom" doesn't correct the photographer when they insisted only on "family."

I'll probably watch this one again but only to get my Bruce Campbell fix.

This movie was a pleasant surprise. One of the best soundtracks I've ever come across in a Hallmark movie. The "Home for Christmas" song at the end was just beautiful and could be a holiday favorite like Lisa Loeb's "Light" featured in Hanukkah on Rye. Thank goodness they didn't miscast the singing lead like...cough...cough Undercover Holiday...or this movie would've been just as much of a dumpster fire.

Like Undercover Holiday, this movie revolved around a fake fiance trope involving an pop star. This time production gets it right. The acting was solid and it's one of the few Hallmark movies, not starring Paul Campbell, that I actually laughed out loud. The heroine was actually a bonafide pop star and not just the winner of a singing/talent contest. Even better, the leads' romance was also believable and they had chemistry. Did I say this actress, Ledisi can actually sing!? Small blessings go a long way Hallmark!!!

This movie was like reading a textbook on Mexican Christmas traditions, sprinkled in with an implausible script and odd casting. Feeding in all the Mexican Christmas traditions was heavy handed, so much so I was bored. Add in a "pop star" who can neither sing nor dance and no album to her credit and you have a dumpster fire. The lead has only won ONE singing/talent contest!! Read that again, she's only a talent show winner😬 And yet, she lives in a big, beautiful rented house and merits a 24/7 bodyguard. And why a bodyguard for two corny notes along the lines of "I'll love you forever." This threat to the heroine's person was a big reach.

Even more of a reach was the chemistry between these two. Despite both of them being very attractive I didn't see them together in any reality.

This should've remained a short film since the original plot was expanded with horror cliches and the lead screaming and freaking out the majority of the film. Nothing substantive was added that would've separated it from the bottom of the barrel horror movies. This was essentially the R*ng. But less scary and not as clever nor as well acted. There were points I felt I was watching a Lifetime movie with a good budget.

Sometimes crappy movies redeem themselves at the end. Not this one. I walked away even more befuddled. Too bad this dud is so bad, I can't make myself rewatch it to see if I missed anything.

The cinematography was aesthetically and visually stunning but it didn't save this movie from being an extended Vine. Insulting stereotypes (so much so they had to go back and change a characters name), disgusting sexual gags, and corney morals all mashed into a Hollywood budget (that couldn't save this movie). I had to look up the directors to make sure they were both over 18 because I felt a lack of maturity.

I will commend the actors for what they put into it despite all the stupidness going on around them. Still they couldn't prevent it from going off the rails. Great to see James Hong tho'. Like always, he eats up every scene.

Unfortunately I can't pull out examples because I really didn't understand what was going on for 90% of the film or what they dubbed "Chapter 1". Then hastily wrapped things up in seven or so minutes in "chapter 2" 😒 See the imbalance here.

So yeah, I perplexed at the 8+ rating. Must be a ton of pubescent boys trolling this site.

Watching Bridgerton is "like a painting, see? From far away, it's OK, but up close, it's a big ol' mess."

This sums up my experience with this series which I abandoned after a couple episodes of season 1 (blander than boiled chicken) BUT I returned to watch season 2.

Sigh...this show needed a Brit writing it. Everything is surface appeal. The costumes and sets are sumptuous, the acting passable BUT the storyline is a snooze. There is no intrigue nor tantalizing machinations. Just boring people trapped in a never ending marriage market. Even the few feminist are uninteresting in their constant protestations of equality but become weak in knees in the face of their masculine crushes.

I don't know what it is about Shondaland productions but I always end up not liking or rooting for anyone. And that blows because why watch a show if you can't get invested?

Watch if you're between shows.

I love vampire films and I know bad scripts are common BUT this movie was downright stupid even when it reminded me of Collateral. In the latter Jaime Foxx at least had some sense and a backstory. The hero in this movie wasn't sympathetic. Couple zero backstory with his stupid, inexplicable choices, I rooted for his demise by way before the end of this hot mess.

Stupid hero aside, there were were too many holes in the storyline to make up for the hour and half lost of this dud.

This movie was better.than expected and not your cheesy Hallmark Holiday movie fare. I liked that the hero and heroine but heads over their vision for a holiday project. She wants it sleek and trendy, he wants to keep it warm and cozy. After a major setback, the heroine realizes the true spirit of Christmas.i have no idea what people are talking about no chemistry. The hero was charming my gingerbread cookies...lol.

The Paper Tigers was better than expected and a funny twist on the cliche martial arts genre. The three leads are polar opposite of the traditional main characters you'd see in this genre. They're middle aged and rusty at their craft. On one hand, I learned a few things I didn't know about the kung Fu community and on the other a particular character felt all too familiar-- the Asian culture-appropriating sifu. I went to high school with a Caucasian kid who went full Bruce Lee our junior and senior years. Dyed his hair black and wore a Kung Fu uniform to school everyday. This was a good family friendly film with an underlying message of honor and keeping your word.

I really like the character Loki but this was boring. This storyline has him either shackled to a desk looking for clues or in "in the field" looking for clues to who's killing the time keepers. The culprit is equal parts BORING. Things really don't pick up until the multi Loki episode. Alligator Loki is primo. Alas it was too short lived and we see the great Oz reveal...boring.

Vincenzo popped up on my Netflix feed after finishing Kingdom, which in my opinion is one of the best zombie movie/series out there.

Vincenzo starts off with a blast, pun intended, and stays pretty steady. However I can't give it a 10 for two reasons: the lead actress and drawing out the episodes.

After I got over the initial sour taste of the kdrama formula, which seems to be an odd mix of slapstick comedy and overt violence, I stayed on board through all twenty movie-length episodes. Did you read that? Twenty movie-length episodes. The cat and mouse between Vicenzo and Han Seok was great at times but it became so exhausting that by episode 16 I was like just finish them already!!!!

I'm in agreement with several other reviews, the female lead was a weak link. So much so, I fast forwarded over some of her scenes. She wasn't funny and her behavior was more immature/clownish for a lawyer. She only became palatable when she became more of a straight man towards the middle of the series.

All in all this was a really good series. The acting was exceptional and the cat and mouse between Vincenzo and Han Seok kept me watching, albeit exhausted, till the end. And I'm even anticipating season 2, if there is one. The episodes just needed to be cut down/or out.

This movie was like a really good ABC After School Special. You remember those films that featured a theme like "say no to drugs." But even that particular special where the girl high on pcp jumps out of the second story window of her high school English class was better than this movie.

Sound of Music is not transcendent or enlightening. It was essentially a remake of Helen Keller but not as good.

The switching back and forth between hearing and silence was cool but not very gripping much like the plot which was thin.

I love hip hop but I hate when people can't rap. You know where you hear the same monotonous cadence for every verse. Lin Manuel Miranda being the biggest offender. Ugh, his voice and presence on stage just isn't commanding.

The minimal set and costumes are refreshing but I didn't see the need for dancers. Another con is the storyline. Instead of taking a snapshot of Hamilton's life and amplifying it, which would've made it more interesting, we skim through his ENTIRE life at a rapid fire place. As a consequence, I didn't feel for any character least of all Hamilton and his expected fate.