Maybe, partly, with all that is worrisome going on in our world today, I wasn’t quite in the spirit of Christmas when I viewed Christmas on the Square. But as much as I’ve always loved Dolly Parton, there is just too much sweetness in this movie. The music, choreography, sets, and acting are all first-rate, but the predictable […]
This year’s seasonal romantic comedy finds our former dragon queen, fully unchained from the “Game of Thrones” TV series, eagerly soaring into a film career. If you have been unfortunate enough to catch Emilia Clarke’s previous films (“Me Before You,” “Terminator Genisys”) shot between “Game of Thrones,” then you know it can’t get any worse for her on-screen. “Last Christmas” is written by Oscar-winner
This production of the well-known story pleased the audience I was with, and there were lots of audible reactions from the kids, with applause at the end. I think it might be a hit at Christmas-time. The colorful animations, sets, and CGI effects; the Christmas messages that put presents and material things into perspective; and liberal doses
Despite being nominated for three Golden Globe awards (Picture comedy, actor comedy, song), The Greatest Showman isn’t the spectacle it thinks it is. Following in the wake of La La Land, this musical history of PT Barnum lacks large set pieces and emotional punch found within the genre. While Jackman is electric on screen, The
Both James Franco (Spring Breakers) and Bryan Cranston (The Infiltrator) watched their recent film projects tank financially and critically. They combine their misfortune for a raunchy summer comedy, tweaked to grab that holiday traffic. While prestigious awards films are platforming in cinemas, Why Him offers toilet humor for audiences seeking antidotal laughs or a modern
Think of a Lifetime movie, but with Oscar winners and nominees. That’s what director David Frankel’s Collateral Beauty amounts to. If you have never seen a Lifetime film, it’s a network that produces movies that are often contrite, more focused on getting an emotion out of its audience, regardless of the means or accountability in
The only thing that would make former reputable director Gary Marshall (aka the ensemble assembler) and his latest film worse, would be if it cast smaller marquee names. That single element prevents Mother’s Day from being the worst film of 2016. Seeing Julia Roberts and Jennifer Aniston share the screen together, although even that is
Christmas movies are as formulaic as horror films or romantic comedies, in many ways they are worse.
If you enjoy the type of films that director Tim McCanlies likes to make then When Angels Sing should appeal in that same predictable, feel good way. With Texas based actors and singers all in Austin for this holiday film, When Angels Sing seems to understand the lack of family films in the mainstream. Christmas