Category Archives: romance

My Boyfriends’ Dogs

drama, movies, romance, television, , ,

My Boyfriends' Dogs DVD-f (1)Hallmark movies have their own flavor of entertainment based on a formula that works most the time. My Boyfriends’ Dogs works for me because of Ericka Christensen, who plays Bailey Daley, creates a very believe able winsome character that you can’t help but love.  She is on her own, unattached, charming, cute in a funny way and attracts guys more often than one would think.

The crux of the story is each guy who approaches her turns out having a dealbreaker.  It’s not because they are criminals or killers. It’s because they are control freaks or just don’t like dogs, which Bailey says is the grounds for a breakup.

In spite of everything, she meets three different guys, played by Jeremy Gilbaut, Oliver Rice, Jesse Hutch, and she gets serious enough to be smitten with their dogs.  She ends up breaking it off with the guys, but keeps their dogs, a golden retriever, a Dalmatian and a Shih Tzu. Here, we begin our story with Bailey because the rest of the story is told in flashback.  I like it.

Being a Hallmark movie is a shoe in to have a happy ending, and for this movie, it’s called a twist of fate. But just how it happens is what makes the story interesting to watch until the end.  You will like Christensen, the dogs, and even the ex-boyfriends.  The story may seem a bit slow, but it is worth watching for all the talent on the screen.

Some Kind of Beautiful

comedy, movies, romance, , ,

somekindDirected by Scottish television and film director Tom Vaughan, the movie follows Richard Haig, played by Pierce Brosnan. Haig teaches the Romantics at Cambridge where he encounters an American student named Kate, played by Jessica Alba. They start a relationship of sorts, after 6 months, she is having his baby. Richard is an honorable man and takes his new and young bride to Los Angles.  He meets Kate’s half sister, played by Salma Hayek. Now, we have a threesome happening here, and Kate has a baby boy.

Haig discovers his wife is leaving him, and his life is crushed. His entire livelihood is concentrated on his son while trying to get a new job.  His situation gets twisted around and he begins to have lusty and romantic feelings for Olivia. The problem is that his Visa renewal comes up. At this point, Richard needs to find a job, remain in the US, and find love with Olivia whom he never wanted to find love with in the first place.

The storyline is nothing new, but it is good to see these actors together. Vaughan has done his fare share of romantic comedies, yet this one misses its mark. The movie is way too predictable and not original with any surprises. Don’t get me wrong. It is funny and easy to watch, but Vaughan holds back the final punch for the knockout of laughs.  The actors do a fine job trying to save the movie from being too cookie cutter while the movie holds its own. Some Kind of Beautiful is worth a watch on cable or on a streaming network if you like these actors and can put up with a so-so, funny story.  But, watch the trailer…you’ll have a good laugh. Fun stuff.

Ice Sculpture Christmas

holiday, romance, television, , ,

Ice Sculpture Christmas DVD-fSometimes it is just nice to sit down and watch a new movie that is greatly appreciated by so many others who enjoy Hallmark’s “Countdown to Christmas” program. More than raising my expectations, I had a wonderful time watching Ice Sculpture Christmas as a whimsical movie. I found viewing the original ice sculptures in the movie was the most enjoyable part.

Directed by David Mackay, the movie follows a young woman, Callie Shaw, played by Rachel Boston. Her unwavering childhood dream is to be an accomplished chef. Trying to get her foot in the door, she nabbed a lowly job at a country club washing dishes with the hope of working her way up the ladder where the real cooking happens – in the kitchen. David Manning, played by David Alpay, is a well-off childhood friend, who works for his father. The two meet up again by chance, which is an entertaining scene to watch.

The movie cuts back and forth from their childhood friendship to their present budding romance, which makes the movie pleasurable and attractive. The well-rounded cast adds more to Callie and David’s story, and shows how David lives a much different lifestyle than Callie in regards to money and success. He never abandons his feelings for Callie even though she struggles with her own financial problems while trying to work her way into the country club kitchen.

Without her consent David enters Callie in a two person team competition for an ice sculpting contest. He knows she is more than capable to add her talents. Her self-esteem is heightened, yet David is not that talented or helpful with sculpting. Callie senses there could be a problem, particularly when Callie finds out who her direct competition happens to be.

Of course, the ending is predictable, but that makes Hallmark movies so much fun to watch. You can always count on a happily ever after ending.

‘Tis the Season for Love

family, holiday, movies, romance, , , , ,

Tis The Season For Love DVD-fHallmark movies usually have a holiday theme in mind when they tell a story. ‘Tis the Season for Love definitely warms up to the countdown to Christmas.

Directed by Terry Ingram, we meet a New York actress named Beth, played by Sarah Lancaster. She is vying to land a role in a David Mamet play. After the audition and not hearing anything final, she receives a perfect gift from a close friend. An airline ticket back to her small hometown she left ten years ago.

Feeling like she needs a good rest, she arrives and soon finds her mother planning all of the Christmas things that the two need to do together.  She rather not do so much stuff, but compromises and visits the town’s Santa Claus, played by Gary Chalk. This simple visit may seem unimportant, but he does have a secret that leaves Beth wondering what the mystery is.

Along comes and old friend, Dean, played by Brendan Penny. He had a crush on her in High School, but didn’t act on it because she was dating Barry, played by Andrew Francis. Dean never felt the two belonged together since they had different interests. Dean is now divorced from Melinda and has twins while working as a fireman. Beth now finds him even more appealing. He boosts her self-confidence from her lack of nabbing acting roles she desires. The town’s Santa Claus is up to something inexplicable and situations get a little out of kilter.

Beth gets involved with a local theater production and really enjoys herself. The seed has been planted, and she is pondering whether or not she should stay in her small hometown for good. Confusion is the end result of her indecision, and what will happen to her future.

You can’t go wrong with a Hallmark movie because they have a formula they follow for each production. Like ‘Tis the Season for Love, each movie is simple but direct, and a love story is sure to flourish.

Ascension

action, drama, movies, mystery, romance, science fiction, , , , , , ,

ascensionOriginally introduced as a miniseries for the SyFy Channel, Ascension is now available on DVD.  The movie is set against stimulating and enormous elements on which the story plays more with the human approach to drama.

The story is looks great for a miniseries, offering a spacecraft built in the 60s. The attention to detail is extraordinary, and draws the viewers into the experience.  The direction allows the actors to do stellar work with such notable talent as Tricia Helfer, Gil Bellows, Brian Van Holt, Andrea Roth, Brandon P. Bell, and Brad Carter. They all work together and keep the plot moving forward with memorable performances.

The CGI is well done with a few amateurish looks to scenes when viewing the exterior shots of the spacecraft.  Keeping in mind that the SyFy Channel produced the movie, the special effects comparably are not that bad.

The storyline is what wins the movie for me. In 1963, in the gripes of the cold war, we guard against our future survival by launching a huge interstellar ship call the U.S.S. Ascension. With 600 or more people aboard to guarantee our survival, the ship is little over 50 years out on a 100 year mission. Threatening the crew is an unprecedented domestic murder.

The movie is promoted as “Mad Men in Space” and I agree it is the best way to describe it. The twists and turns in the story is a little too much like a soap opera, but it keeps you on your toes with the plot moving along nicely.

All in all, I was surprised how good Ascension actually is for a low grade cable show. I really recommend it.  There is a lot of entertainment value for sure.

A Horse Tale

drama, family, movies, romance, , , , , ,

horsetaleDirected by Brad Keller, A Horse Tale received the Dove “Family-Approved” Seal for all ages.  The story follows a typical uptight city accountant, Michael Thompson, played by Patrick Muldoon. He is raising his daughter by himself and is over protective. His daughter, Chloe, played by Mandalynn Carlson, has an unpleasant incident at school, and her dad stresses out. So much so that his assistant recommends they move to her Uncle Cliff’s horse farm. Her uncle needs help with the books, anyway, before the merciless bankers take the farm away from them.  With Christmas coming up, it is a perfect time to visit the family and help save the horse farm.

Cliff, played by Rick Herod, is grateful for Michael’s help. But, Samantha (Sam), played by Dominique Swain, is in charge of running the farm. She has a hard time with the idea of a city guy stepping in to help. Sam is not interested in any assistance from an outsider. They smooth over the rough edges, and decide working together is the best way to avoid losing the farm.

The story is predictable.  But, it is a good family movie because it promotes getting in touch with your family and working together toward a common goal. It also touches on the importance of accepting help when you are trying to overcome a problem. The movie even offers a message to parents: No matter how hard it may seem, let your children grow up and be in command of their own lives. Be willing to let them make mistakes on their own.

She’s Funny That Way

comedy, legend, movies, romance, , , ,

She's Funny That WayShe’s Funny That Way is a good movie, coming across sometimes funny and sometimes serious, but has a great cast that keeps the show on the road. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, who directed such winners as Paper Moon and The Last Picture Show, does a fine job on this movie as it tries to find an amicable ending.  Another favorite of mine, Wes Anderson, who directed such witty movies as The Grand Budapest Hotel and Fantastic Mr. Fox, is one of the many producers of this movie.

It starts off with a sit down interview with Izzy, played by Imogen Poots, who is a hooker-turned actress and now successful. She talks about her rise to stardom and her first role on Broadway.  She reflects on the people involved with her breakout role, and the movie cuts to that time on Broadway where they are thrown into a romantic state of uncertainty and confusion.

A salacious, but bleeding heart director, played convincingly by Owen Wilson, hires Izzy, a former hooker he solicited, now turned actress, to star alongside his wife, played humorously by Kathryn Hahn, and his wife’s ex-lover, played by Rhys Ifans. Playing on the outer edge of this confusion and adding a lot of hilarity are Jennifer Aniston, Cybil Sheppard and Will Forte. There are also numerous cameos such as Tatum O’Neal, Quentin Taranitino and Peter Bogdanovich himself.

The movie really gets fun when the director’s wife (Hahn) discovers his fetish for soliciting and then helping call girls. It comes to light when one of the more recent call girls he helped, Izzy, auditions for a role in the play he is directing. She does a fantastic reading because she is reading for a call girl, type casting. A hilarious scene follows where his wife, who wants to get back at her husband, rehearses with the lead actor (Ifans) in a passionate love scene, and she makes real sexually advances toward him. The director tries to stay professional, as her husband he is jealous. I was laughing at his reactions, so funny all the way through, and Wilson is hilarious.

Jennifer Aniston plays someone that I have never seen her play before, an unlikeable character, so I was uncomfortable with it at first. She does a great job of being the typical psychologist, who totally makes the patient feel inadequate and weak. Adding to that, in their face telling them what is wrong with them. Aniston is great and funny.

There are so many good qualities in this movie. The reason I really enjoyed it is because of the director, Peter Bogdanovich brought all these fine actors, some is has worked with before, together. He is such a wonderful director, and I am delighted to see him working again.

Christmas at the Cartwright’s

movies, romance, television, , , , ,

christmascartwrightLike most Hallmark movies, Christmas at Cartwright’s is a charming movie that comes around the Christmas season each year. Cartwright’s is a fine example that Hallmark movies are innocuous, amusing and heartwarming to watch.

Directed by Graeme Campbell, the story follows Nicky Talbot, played by Alicia Witt, who is a single mother and without prior notice becomes unemployed.  With Christmas just coming up, being without a job is going to be tough finding a way to earn money to give her daughter Becky, played by T.J. McGibbon, an engaging and cheerful Christmas with a few gifts.

Nicky finds out a local department store called Cartwright’s is hiring extra staff for the holiday shopping season. She applies for a position. Nicky is happy because it appears she will have a job, but Fiona Aldrich, played by Gabrielle Miller,  a senior executive at the store, puts a curb on her plans and turns her down for the job.  Fiona is jealous of Nicky because she has seen her with Fiona’s would-be boyfriend named Bill.  Gabriel Hogan plays Bill, who is the store manager.

Along comes Harry Osbourne, played by Wallace Shawn, he suggests Nicky work as the store Santa. That way she can keep her identity hidden from the other workers.  We are talking Hallmark magic here on the storyline. It is a little unbelievable for a young woman playing an older man as Santa. It gets funny at times, but still hard to believe.

Christmas at Cartwright’s is a fun movie to watch with the whole family.  All the actors are great. Their roles are believable and engaging. The movie is timeless because it is like a fairy tale where you have to believe what is happening to get into the holiday magic. Like all fairy tales the story is worth seeing again every Christmas.

Love & Mercy

legend, movies, romance, , , , , , , , ,

L&M_bdskewLove & Mercy delves into the part of the entertainment industry where evil people lurk. Such people control and manipulate the artist while feeding off the artist’s life force, creativity, energy force or whatever you want to call it. There are not a lot of these life suckers, but the few that are there can wreak havoc. This movie answers the questions of what happened to Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Robin Williams and so forth. Luckily, Brian Wilson meets a woman who has the tenacity to help him and save his life.

The movie directed by Bill Pohlad, his second film as a director, takes a refreshing, and almost clandestine, approach to the story about Beach Boys co-founder and song writer, Brian Wilson. Two very talented actors play Wilson in different stages of his life. Paul Dano is the younger Brian. Here we see him with his cousin and a good friend, together; they launch the Beach Boys musical group in the early 1960’s. John Cusack is Brian in the 1980’s while under the control of his ingenious and vicious psychologist, Dr. Eugene Landy, played truthfully by Paul Giamatti.

The story flashes forward and back while twisting the lives of both the young Brian and the old Brian. Watching young Brian create memorable music, we see a whiz kid. He starts with “surfer” music and moves to more complicated music produced as studio sound. During this time we hear some great music by the young Brian Wilson. He is a unique soul, creating hit song after song.

He did have problems to face, such as not wanting to fly in an airplane or being on the road with the Beach Boys. So, he refused going on the road and worked in the studio instead. He also took popular recreational drugs at the time, which probably caused all his problems. Some may label him while others would say he did have demons, but psychiatric treatment is not the answer.

Dano is great as the young Wilson. His performance captures Wilson and his various mood swings and eccentricities. Here the viewer must not mistake this for mental illness. He is a genius while conversing about the mind and spirit. The older Wilson is constantly under the psychotherapy of Landy’s 24-hour surveillance and over-medication and misdiagnosis. He blatantly manipulates Wilson guising help with a colorized screen of undermining half-truths, invalidation and total lies.

The older Wilson decides he wants a new Cadillac and meets saleswoman, and his champion, Melinda Ledbetter, played brilliantly by Elizabeth Banks. They fall for each other and begin dating, supervised by Landy and his associates. History will prove that there were other interests that Landy had in Wilson other than his mental health, which Melinda touches on as she confronts the ill-intended psychologist.

At first, the flashbacks are a little annoying because the younger Wilson and the older Wilson are two very different people. After awhile it all makes sense. Both the young and old versions are hard to watch, yet Melinda proposes a breather of hope. And when she confronts Landy, I cheer her on. She does the right thing and doesn’t smack him in his demented face as he shrinks back from her absolutely determined smile. She saves Wilson and flourishes.

The Age of Adaline

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ageadalineThe Age of Adaline appears to have everything a movie needs to be in order to be a really good movie. So it seems.  Two main elements are missing – a really good script and a seasoned director.  Nevertheless, it is the number one romance movie at Amazon as I write this review.  The wave of potential has carried over to On Demand, Blu-ray and DVD because of the astounding cast and cinematography.

The Age of Adaline tells the story of Adaline Bowman, played very well by Blake Lively (Gossip Girl). She is a woman born in 1906 and looks like she is in her late twenties when we meet her in 2014. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you would know the big part of the story is that she will never age another day.

In a series of flashbacks, the movie narrates while showing how Adaline was given the baffling curse of never aging past the age she was at the time of the curse. The narration is where both the writer and the director made their big mistake. Any filmmaker will tell you to let the story unfold. Don’t tell us. Show us.  The imagery worked just fine where the narration is used unnecessarily twice. The narration made it all seem so hokey. As if the director had to convince us that this transformation really happened to Adaline. The narration is not needed because throughout the movie her curse is so believable.  It’s like a fairy tale. Lively is convincing and her talent held my attention throughout the movie. Along with a very talented ensemble of co-stars kept me hoping for a better story.

What is fun about the movie is the story shifts through history with some hitches along the way. Adaline worries she will be recognized as a curiosity and terrified that she will be used as a guinea pig for governmental experimentation.  Adaline decides to live on the run, changing identities and locations in a timely manner. Until she encounters Ellis Jones, played charmingly by Michiel Huisman, he is a man beguile by her inscrutability and decides to woo her with her own medicine – history. He captures her heart, but not without a disquieting concern. It just so happens that another Jones family member Ellis’ father (played by Harrison Ford) might have a stronger connection to Adaline than any person knows.  Ford is great as he always is, and I just love watching him in this movie.

Lively is gorgeous in personality and body.  Yet, while watching the movie I kept feeling that she didn’t get along with the director, Lee Toland Kriegerm, or he didn’t know how to bring her over the top as the star of the movie and let the story be told. He just placed her in the scene hoping something would happen.  What she did was fantastic. Kriegerm just didn’t know who to capture it. The reason I say this is because the seasoned actors like Harrison Ford were true to form. Kathy Baker and Ellen Burstyn had minor roles, but I had a great time watching them in the movie.  They knew what to do with an inept story and director.

Being number one at Amazon merits a mention because the movie has its qualities. The overall story is engaging because of the concepts it offers like love at first sight, lasting love, growing old, becoming wiser, and finding old friends and family. They are magical, endearing through Adaline.