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Reviews
Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (2018)
Evangelical Christian Give This Two Thumbs Up !!!
I am not a theater person, so I can't comment on how good John Legend was compared with other people who have performed the role. He did seem a little "flat," (aloof, detached), but maybe that was what he was going for. after all, Max van Sydow is pretty "wooden" in the Greatest Story Ever Told, and he's considered a great actor. I thought Brandon Victor Dixon as Judas was excellent--maybe didn't fully capture the pathos of what it would have been like to sell out the King of the World, but let's face it, who of us really knows what that would feel like. Not many people have ever experienced that. // Loved the updating of the music and staging to make it cool, hip, and relevant to a new generation. Great job!
Christmas in Rome (2019)
Gorgeous Scenery is Star of the Show--Acting OK--Plot Awful
That about sums it up. The two actors have about as much chemistry and peanut butter and pickles. The scene where the leading man is supposed to declare his feelings for "Angela" is painful for him to deliver--the look on his face as if even he knows it's not believable. If you watch it with the sound down and don't listen to the trite dialogue, you should enjoy the view!
Royal Matchmaker (2018)
Most of the scenes are set in dreary rooms, not at all "royal."
The acting by the leads is pretty good. The outside of the castle is lovely. However, much of the plot takes place in "dreary rooms": the children's center (which looks like a nasty daycare--the kid's aren't even having fun); or the utility room where the prince secretly works on HVAC. The prince has a "meet and greet" with three of the most eligible candidates, but we do not even get to see the "group date," rather the scene is set up, then cuts to commercial, and when the movie returns, it's the two leads talking about how the date went. Lame!
Love Blossoms (2017)
Too Many Thorns on the Roses
This movie could have been so much better than it was. Yes, the two leads are gorgeous, and so is the scenery. However, nothing really happens in the movie except the heroine is trying to save her father's perfume company--but there is NO suspense or intrigue in how she saves it. Pacing is leaden and plodding. She is so rude and overbearing to the male lead when she first meets him, tells him his job (designing gardens at a botanical museum) is a "waste of his talents." I can't imagine how a woman would attract a man after she insulted a job that he went to college to get. The leads have no chemistry.
If you compare this movie to Lacey Chambert's "Love, Romance, and Chocolate," this is a big miss. Disappointing because I usually love Hallmark movies that are set overseas in "exotic" locations.
p.s. Why cant Hallmark find people who can act. If you watch old black and white movies from the 40's, everyone in the movie from the maids to the cooks to the secretaries can act better than most of the LEADS in a hallmark movie. It's crazy. Maybe it was the studio system back then, where they helped train people under contract in their craft. Maybe Hallmark should have acting classes for the "actors."
The Santa Suit (2010)
Well "Suit"-ed for the Holidays !!!
Disclaimer: I'm a Kevin Sorbo fan. He's a good actor. If you compare him to most of the "generic" actors in Hallmark movies, he's a clear standout. When he comes on the screen he's certainly seems every inch a movie star. I say that because I've watched (or should I say fast-forwarded through) many HM movies where it really wasn't clear who was (supposed to be) the "star." This guy has matinée idol good looks (even now, well into his 50's) and he really is a cut above the usual male lead. There's a scene in the movie where he's recounting something upsetting, and he does it just the right blend of privacy, melancholy, and embarrassment that is appropriate when telling something private. In general, this is a great little feel-good holiday movie. Two thumbs up !!!