The Merry Gentlemen: Movie Review

Chad Michael Murray dances shirtless.

I think the entire point of this movie is an excuse to see Chad Michael Murray and other hot men, or merry gentlemen, to dance shirtless. Hey, there are far worse reasons for movies to be made. There is an argument that the movie should have leaned even further in and given us an hour and a half of the male dance revue, because instead after each quick dance number, we’re treated to the most cliché tropes around.		2024 Directed by: Peter Sullivan Screenplay by: Jeffrey Schenck, Peter Sullivan, Marla Sokoloff Starring: Britt Robertson, Chad Michael Murray

Jingle Bell Run: Movie Review

A simplistic and enjoyable romance.

While Hallmark Christmas movies are always simplistic, sometimes they lean into that simplicity perfectly. Jingle Bell Run spends all of its time on Wes and Avery and their budding relationship as they race around the United States in an Amazing Race type reality competition show. It’s the right focus because the actors fit their characters perfectly and there is that much growth in their relationship.		2024 Directed by: Lucie Guest Screenplay by: Tom McCurrie, Stephanie Sourapas Starring: Ashley Williams, Andrew W. Walker

Christmas with the Singhs: Movie Review

Family drama that over-complicates a nice romance.

First, Hallmark has to be congratulated on recognizing that there are other cultures and races in the world. It is such an overwhelmingly White network that Christmas with the Singhs is their only foray into a more diverse lineup. But before we go too far, it’s very important to note that the Singhs, an Indian American family, are Christian so Christmas still looks like Christmas.		2024 Directed by: Panta Mosleh Screenplay by: Patricia Isaac, Emily Ting Starring: Anuja Joshi, Benjamin Hollingsworth

Hello, Love, Again: Movie Review

The magic is gone and is replaced with a mess of forced comedy, dark drama and soap opera romance.

Hello, Love, Again has a good idea for the sequel, revisit the same characters in a new city. When Joy leaves Hong Kong for Canada, she’s starting a new life, but with the same love, so romantic issues are sure to abound. I was thinking something like Past Lives, but one where we already knew the characters. Instead the writers took every single idea they had for the sequel and packed all of them in. The result is a movie about everything that says nothing.		2024 Directed by: Cathy Garcia-Sampana Screenplay by: Carmi Raymundo, Crystal S. San Miguel, Olivia M. Lamasan Starring: Kathryn Bernardo, Alden Richards

Hot Frosty: Movie Review

Whimsy and comedy in a lightweight, simplistic rom-com.

Hot Frosty is the second of Netflix’s four holiday rom-coms releasing each Wednesday in the month of November. If the first one, Meet Me Next Christmas, was a typical romantic comedy (it was), then this is an atypical romantic comedy. It’s not every day that snowmen come to life. In this made-up fantasy, which is set in the real world, a hot perfect man is born out of the snow by placing a red scarf around his neck.		2024 Directed by: Jerry Ciccoritti Screenplay by: Russell Hainline Starring: Lacy Chabert, Dustin Milligan

Santa Tell Me: Movie Review

Santa's magic can't save this rom-com.

The appeal to Santa Tell Me is in the magical intervention on Olivia (Erin Krakow’s) love life, because everything else it does in service of a holiday rom-com is very unappealing. Olivia is a one-dimensional no-nonsense, over-worked television show interior designer. It’s a common, but over-used character for Hallmark movies, and it’s very tiring here. And then the worst trope of all, she misidentifies her future romantic interest and is immediately extremely rude and antagonistic towards him.		2024 Directed by: Ryan Landels Screenplay by: Ryan Landels Starring: Erin Krakow, Daniel Lissing

Escaping Ohio: Movie Review

Young love, tearjerker style.

An indie romance about young love, finding yourself, figuring out your future, living in Ohio, and leaving Ohio. Escaping Ohio has very common themes about a teenager hating their hometown, desperate to graduate and leave and then find love along the way. While it doesn’t tread new ground, it still me won me over with one great character, an adorable romance and a friendship that may or may not survive state borders.		2023 Directed by: Jessica Michael Davis Screenplay by: Jessica Michael Davis, Collin Kelly-Sordelet Starring: Jessica Michael Davis, Collin Kelly-Sordelet

Trivia at St. Nick's: Movie Review

Christmas, trivia, romance and an unlikable lead character.

Welcome to Nick’s Bar where the annual Christmas trivia tournament is the most important thing in this Vermont college town. There are a lot of things to like in Trivia at St. Nick’s and a whole lot of things to dislike. It’s a movie fighting to incorporate so many tropes and stereotypes that it can’t help but bring down a movie a solid premise, but at the same time, you’re sure to find parts of it to love.		2024 Directed by: Marlo Hunter Screenplay by: Christine Garver, Stephanie Jackson Starring: Tammin Sursok, Brant Daugherty

A Sudden Case of Christmas: Movie Review

A good premise ruined by everything else.

A Sudden Case of Christmas is about a young girl and her parents travelling to Italy to visit her grandfather, during the summer. It’s supposed to be about the girl recreating Christmas to be able to deal with her parents’ impending divorce. The problem is that it’s barely about that. The movie seems to spend most of its time with random characters that do not add to the story at all.		2024 Directed by: Peter Chelsom Screenplay by: Peter Chelsom, Tinker Lindsay Starring: Danny DeVito, Antonella Rose

Meet Me Next Christmas: Movie Review

A typical romantic comedy filled with romance, laughter and music.

For their 2024 Christmas rom-com slate, Netflix is releasing four movies, one each Wednesday in the month of November. With Meet Me Next Christmas, we are off to a rockin’ good start (please pardon the pun). The romantic comedy features not one but two meet cutes, an act two which has multiple laugh out loud funny scenes, an ending with all the sweet romance you could hope for, and last but not least, it is filled with fantastic music.		2024 Directed by: Rusty Cundieff Screenplay by: Molly Haldeman, Camilla Rubis Starring: Christina Milian, Devale Ellis, Kofi Siriboe, and Kalen Allen

Holiday Mismatch: Movie Review

An enjoyable pairing of romance and comedy.

Holiday Mismatch should be at the top of any Hallmark Christmas rotation. The characters are very simplistic but it’s a really nice romance with the right amount of comedy sprinkled in. It also employs two of the better rom-com tropes: fake dating turning into real dating; and meddling families who are constantly trying to get them together and then break them up and using reverse psychology and reverse-reverse psychology and then rinse and repeat.		2024 Directed by: Caroline Labrèche Screenplay by: Sarah Wise Starring: Beth Broderick, caroline Rhea, Maxine Denis and Jon McLaren

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: Movie Review

Cheesy and wholesome, but still a winning formula of kindness and acceptance.

Based on the 1972 novel of the same name, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever has a Christian director and based on a very Christian story of a town hosting a Christmas pageant of the traditional Christmas story of Jesus’ birth. While I was concerned it might get too preachy or religious, it won me over because its only message is kindness and having an open-mind, which most of the Christian characters within the movie are unable to practice.		2024 Directed by: Dallas Jenkins Screenplay by: Platte Clark, Darin McDaniel, Ryan Swanson and Dallas Jenkins Based on the novel by Barbara Robinson Starring: Judy Greer, Molly Belle Wright

A Carol for Two: Movie Review

A nice and boring Christmas musical.

Usually the musical Hallmark Christmas movies are the better ones, adding another dimension to the holiday romance. Unfortunately that’s not the case for A Carol for Two, which is just a boring version of the romantic drama. Technically they have good singing voices, but nothing that adds any fun or excitement to the usual drama.		2024 Directed by: Jeff Beesley Screenplay by: Nina Weinman Starring: Ginna Claire Mason, Jordan Litz

Stealing Jokes: Movie Review

A lot of funny stuff and a lot of insanity.

A group of stand-up comedians on acid or cocaine or a combination of a lot of things. No, I’m not describing a normal night at a comedy club, but the new movie Stealing Jokes. A movie made by and about stand-up comedians that goes all over the place at break-neck speed. When a club owner screws them over, they become ninjas, and thiefs, and heist planners, and that covers like 20 minutes.		2024 Directed by: Mike Young Screenplay by: Mike Young Starring: Jeff Dye, Dustin Ybarra, Carlos "Ha Ha" Davis, and Ryu Go-Eun

Here: Movie Review

Uninteresting and lacks focus.

One house over the years. One camera in place to watch the people come and go in their lives. I’m not a fan of the digitally de-aged Tom Hanks and Robin Wright trailer, but what sold me on seeing this was a critic that described it as covering centuries. There is definitely a good idea in that concept, a single space as it has evolved over centuries, over human life. Here is not it.		2024 Directed by: Robert Zemeckis Screenplay by: Eric Roth, Robert Zemeckis, Richard McGuire Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright

Time Cut: Movie Review

Starts slow, gets increasingly stupid.

Maybe it’s just me, but time travel serial killer movies really need to have a comedic edge to them. Why are we trying to take this genre seriously? It’s not built for seriousness. There is a very noticeable lack of comedy in Time Cut. The first third of the movie is basically pure depression. A sister, and her parents, and a town, mourning a group of teens killed twenty years ago.		2024 Directed by: Hannah Macpherson Screenplay by: Michael Kennedy, Hannah Macpherson Starring: Madison Bailey, Antonia Gentry

The 5-Year Christmas Party: Movie Review

Let down by underplaying its premise.

The 5-Year Christmas Party has the same premise as See You Next Christmas. And I don’t mean they’re the same in the general sense that all Christmas rom-coms are the same (which is a lame criticism), I mean they literally have the exact same premise. The 5-Year Christmas Party features Alice and Max who meet up at Christmas parties every year for a 5-year period as they evolve apart and grow closer together.		2024 Directed by: Peter Benson Screenplay by: Zac Hug Starring: Katie Findlay, Jordan Fisher

The Christmas Charade: Movie Review

The usual Christmas romance fare, bundled in an FBI sting operation.

Normally, Hallmark should stay in their own lane and not try to do a movie about FBI agents going undercover in a sting operation, but admittedly, The Christmas Charade is light and fun and arguably better suited to the genre than all the big budget movies that go way too big and way too far. There’s still a degree of suspension of disbelief required, but Hallmark makes it more about the romance than the FBI.		2024 Directed by: Corey Sevier Screenplay by: Kate Pragnell Starring: Rachel Skarsten, Corey Sevier

Hangdog: Movie Review

A well-made movie filled with depression.

Hangdog is a drama about a lost dog that is actually about a lost person trying to find himself again. Starring Desmin Borges who is best known for playing roommate Edgar in You’re the Worst, a war vet suffering from PTSD who is constantly down on himself; he’s playing the exact same type here. Walt is in a serious relationship with Wendy, but her dog gets priority and Walt has spent the better part of the relationship in a downward depressive spiral.		2024 Directed by: Matt Cascella Screenplay by: Matt Cascella, Jen Cordery Starring: Desmin Borges, Kelly O'Sullivan

Woman of the Hour: Movie Review

Captivating and smart portrayal of a true crime thriller.

Woman of the Hour can be an uncomfortable watch, a movie that doesn’t really all come together until the end when you realize how succinctly it has told a true crime story with real implications from the sexism of the 1970s. How women weren’t believed and how easily people can present themselves differently. It's a measured and careful movie, a smart blend of what's needed to tell both a small story of one game show and an epic tale of misogyny.		2024 Directed by: Anna Kendrick Screenplay by: Ian McDonald Starring: Daniel Zovatto, Anna Kendrick

Chosen Family: Movie Review

The messiness of adult relationships.

Chosen Family takes place in a beautiful and affluent community in Rhode Island, and it's about how hard life is. Yes, you read that right, it's primarily about rich people who can afford to live in one of the nicest coastal towns in the country struggle through life's ups and downs. It is better than that, but be prepared.		2024 Directed by: Heather Graham Screenplay by: Heather Graham Starring: Heather Graham, John Brotherton

Advanced Chemistry: Movie Review

Funny, stupid, ridiculous.

Advanced Chemistry is a romantic comedy / comedy of errors. The premise suggests science fiction, a genre that typically can’t be done well with a miniscule budget. While the film does do well with its limited means, the biochemistry plot is too stupid for the movie to overcome. The resulting side effects of the experimental drugs lead to hilarity for some but only if you fall on the right side of ridiculous, which it does not for me.		2023 Directed by: Etana Jacobson Screenplay by: Alec Moore Starring: Samba Schutte, Chaunte Wayans

My Old Ass: Movie Review

A perfect mix of genres, characters and choices in life.

Let me just get one thing off my chest: I don’t like the title. I think it cheapens the movie; it may fit the characters in the beginning, but it grows so far beyond that. My Old Ass presents a few different themes but it evolves into something so sweet, uplifting and relatable (minus the parts that ignore the laws of time).		2024 Directed by: Megan Park Screenplay by: Megan Park Starring: Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza

The Problem with People: Movie Review

A tale of Irish quirkiness.

Local Hero meets Wild Mountain Thyme when a centuries old land dispute comes to ahead when a successful businessman from America travels to Ireland and quickly makes friends and enemies alike in the small Irish town. The Problem with People perhaps isn’t quite as weird as that mix would suggest but quirkiness takes over after a simplistic set-up. Fergus is dying and it’s his final wish that two separate halves of an estranged family reunite.		2024 Directed by: Chris Cottam Screenplay by: Wally Marzano-Lesnevich, Paul Reiser Starring: Colm Meaney and Paul Reiser

This Time Next Year: Movie Review

A mess of a not-a-romantic-comedy.

There’s a basic premise in This Time Next Year that is so simple but also creative and original. One moment of the year which most people think about exactly once a year and then never again, unless the odds have deemed you to be that one person it affects. Every year on New Year’s Eve there is a race in maternity wards to have the first baby born in the new year as it often comes with cash awards and prizes.		2024 Directed by: Nick Moore Screenplay by: Sophie Cousens Starring: Sophie Cookson, Lucien Laviscount

She Taught Love: Movie Review

Fresh and unique, but also boring and forgettable.

Frank (Darrell Britt-Gibson) is a struggling actor in LA. He complains about only being considered for stereotypical black roles like drug dealers, and sees a room full of actors who all look like him when he walks out. He’s a smooth talker and can make friends, and enemies, with women pretty quickly. His agent (D’Arcy Carden) attempts to get him to schmooze with industry bigwigs at parties, but his natural affinity for talking does not lend itself for Hollywood networking.		2024 Directed by: Nate Edwards Screenplay by: Darrell Britt-Gibson Starring: Darrell Britt-Gibson, Arsema Thomas

Killer Heat: Movie Review

An utterly forgettable tale of greed and jealousy.

Killer Heat has a strong and distinct film noir vibe. A private investigator has been hired to investigate the potential murder (ruled accidental death) of a son of a wealthy and controlling family. That story is then paired with bright sun-soaked photography of beautiful Crete and the rich residents wearing crisp white and designer sunglasses. It’s a beautiful-looking movie but does not at all fit the film noir atmosphere it’s trying for.		2024 Directed by: Philippe Lacôte Screenplay by: Matt Charman, Roberto Bentivegna, and Jo Nesbø Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley

The Life of Peter Gottlieb: Movie Review

A great lead character runs into production limitations.

Peter Gottlieb is a freshly-divorced, hopeless sad-sack of an economics professor at a small community college. Just in case you weren’t sure, the movie's opening sentence clarifies that this is indeed a fictional story. The beginning, featuring Peter in a hospital delivery room eagerly awaiting the arrival of his baby receives different news instead, is funny. It remains funny when we jump ahead five years to Peter teaching with no care whatsoever about his students or his job.		2024 Directed by: Sam Centrella Screenplay by: Sam Centrella, Reuben Barsky, and Giorgio Panetta Starring: Reuben Barsky and Erica Pappas

Millers in Marriage: Movie Review

Rich people and their champagne problems.

“You’re a good writer, Mags; you always have been, but it’s rich people and their champagne problems.” “Well, I write what I know.” That passage from husband Nick (Campbell Scott) to wife Maggie (Julianna Margulies) is the perfect quote to summarize Millers in Marriage. By far, the most common – and fair – complaint about Edward Burns’ latest is that it’s just rich people and their boring problems. This is true, but also true is that Burns is still a very good writer and has armed these characters with some witty dialogue and moments where things come together in an understated manner.		2024 Directed by: Edward Burns Screenplay by: Edward Burns Starring: Julianna Margulies, Gretchen Mol and Edward Burns

Sweet Angel Baby: Movie Review

Sexuality, morality and small-town politics.

Bundled up in big sweaters and tall boots, Eliza (Michaela Kurimsky) is arguably ready for the harsh Newfoundland winters. She’s also covering herself up to hide and get as far removed as possible from her other persona. In town, she’s a sweet, single, church-going, fundraising, unassuming young woman. But away from town – in the woods, or on a rocky shore, or in a deserted barn – she strips down in front of her camera and anonymously broadcasts to the rest of the world.		2024 Directed by: Melanie Oates Screenplay by: Melanie Oates Starring: Michaela Kurimsky

Addition: Movie Review

Grace (Teresa Palmer) likes to count thing. That’s not exactly accurate, she has a compulsive need to count otherwise she has a panic attack and feels like she has no control in this world. So she likes to count to feel safe and in control. She especially likes to count things in groups of 10. When she realizes she accidentally picked up 9 bananas at the grocery store, she needs to quickly find a 10th banana.		2024 Directed by: Marcelle Lunam Screenplay by: Becca Johnstone, Toni Jordan Starring: Teresa Palmer, Joe Dempsie

The Luckiest Man in America: Movie Review

The Luckiest Man in America is based on a true story that you’re likely not familiar with. There were no affecting consequences, it was just a day for big swings in opinions and personalities in front of the camera and behind the camera for the 1980s daytime game show Press Your Luck. Michael Larson (Paul Walter Hauser) is winning big money on the small-time game show, but nobody is sure if that’s a good thing, a bad thing, or a potentially fraudulent thing.		2024 Directed by: Samir Oliveros Screenplay by: Maggie Briggs, Samir Oliveros Starring: Paul Walter Hauser, David Strathairn

A New York Story: Movie Review

A love story that really pulls you in.

A New York Story is heavily influenced by Whit Stillman and Woody Allen. A tale of class differences in New York City anchored by a pair of young lovers who often find themselves walking the New York sights as autumn changes to winter. It’s a romantic aesthetic which I loved as a teenager but in recent years it no longer feels fresh or mature. However, it really fits the tone and these characters as they make their way towards each other across the class lines.		2024 Directed by: Fiona Robert Screenplay by: Fiona Robert, Sofia Robert Starring: Fiona Robert, Paul Karmiryan

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: Movie Review

A vibrantly crafted mess.

It’s been around 30 years since I last watched the original Beetlejuice, but I don’t remember it having so much nonsense. I remember Michael Keaton’s Betelgeuse, the larger-than-life demon, and Wynona Ryder’s goth girl. Both of whom, plus Lydia’s mother Catherine O’Hara, have returned for the sequel. Keaton warned producers that he can’t be in the movie too much or else his character gets over-done, which is why the first worked so well. They get the ratio right again, but the rest of the afterlife and underworld is just so ridiculously filled with nonsense that goes nowhere.		2024 Directed by: Tim Burton Screenplay by: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Seth Grahame-Smith Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, and Jenna Ortega

Deaner '89: Movie Review

Deaner (Paul Spence) is supposedly an iconic Canadian character. I think that’s a bit of an oversell. Regardless Deaner is getting the origin story treatment as many famous Canadian actors show up for a laugh. That is being generous though as all the jokes are buried in extreme rural Canadian accents and adding an “ ’er” or an “eh?” onto the ends of most words and then chugging beers while swearing.		2024 Directed by: Sam McGlynn Screenplay by: Paul Spence Starring: Paul Spence, Star Slade

(Un)lucky Sisters: Movie Review

A fun fast romp around Buenos Aires.

The (Un)lucky Sisters are two estranged half-sisters whose father just died. He may or may not have been a criminal and they may or may not have just inherited a luxurious apartment in Buenos Aires. He owned the apartment but it’s currently caught up in a lawsuit and won’t transfer to the estate right away if at all. This is a fun, fast drama/comedy caper as the girls navigate their relationship and dodge people who are most likely criminal co-conspirators of their father.		2024 Directed by: Fabiana Tiscornia Screenplay by: Mariano Vera Starring: Sofia Morandi, Leticia Siciliani

Boot Camp: Movie Review

Teen romance both cheesy and predictable, and sweet and funny.

Boot Camp is a teen romantic comedy about a chubby girl who attends a fitness and wellness retreat and falls in love with her trainer. It’s cheesy and predictable, and sweet and funny and hits a lot of the right notes. The beginning can be frustrating to get through because there are so many unrealistic aspects that you just have to accept, but then it settles down into a cute and lovely romance between two adorable characters.		2024 Directed by: Mackenzie Munro Screenplay by: Gemma Holdway, Gina Musa Starring: Rachel Boudwin, Drew Ray Tanner

Incoming: Movie Review

Perhaps I’m aging out of these movies, but I also think the filmmakers have aged out of these movies. Incoming is like 40-year-old men trying to act and sound like high school kids. They seem to have picked up as much lingo as they could from Gen Z on social media and then completed the movie borrowing from Gen X peers. The result is a high school party that doesn’t fit any decade.		2024 Directed by: Dave Chernin, John Chernin Screenplay by: Dave Chernin, John Chernin Starring: Mason Thames, Isabella Ferreira, Ali Gallo and Bobby Cannavale

It Ends with Us: Movie Review

A romantic drama with something to say.

With any movie based on a popular novel, there are always going to be two very separate camps: those who compare it to the novel they know and loved, and those who never read the novel. I am in the latter camp. Normally I would be in the target audience for this movie but considering I had not heard of author Colleen Hoover prior to this release, I am in a weird in between place where I am neither the target audience and yet also the type of person most likely to enjoy and get something out of this romantic drama.		2024 Directed by: Justin Baldoni Screenplay by: Christy Hall, Colleen Hoover Starring: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni

Spread: Movie Review

Ruby (Elizabeth Gillies) is smart and works hard, kind of. More accurately, she works at lots of jobs because she keeps getting fired because she can’t keep her mouth shut. Her current job is a paid internship at a high-brow magazine where she goes on a rant about journalism integrity and who the company should and should not partner with. She told herself to not say anything, but she couldn’t help herself, and now she’s out of a job.		2024 Directed by: Ellie Kanner Screenplay by: Buffy Charlet Starring: Elizabeth Gillies

Find Me Falling: Movie Review

Romantic drama that's a little unexpected.

You know what is a good underrated romantic drama? Hope Floats. This isn’t Hope Floats, but there is a comfort level whenever Harry Connick Jr appears on screen in a romance. Here he’s an aging former rock star who has just moved to Cyprus, where he wants to be alone, unknown and retire in peace. Or so he says. And then he finds out that the house he just bought is a suicide hotspot.		2024 Directed by: Stelana Kliris Screenplay by: Stelana Kliris Starring: Harry Connick Jr

Goyo: Movie Review

A dark and difficult watch about love on the autism spectrum.

Love on the Spectrum is a TV show that I have not seen, but would be a fitting alternate title for Goyo. Goyo is about a young man nicknamed Goyo (from Gregorius) with Autism. Goyo spends his days learning to swim with a group of mentally and physically handicapped adults but he actually just likes holding his breath and hiding from the world underwater and then yelling at his classmates.		2024 Directed by: Marcos Carnevale Screenplay by: Marcos Carnevale Starring: Nicolás Furtado, Nancy Dupláa