Christmas Belle (2013)

Next up in the holidays movie marathon is Christmas Belle. Its something of a modernized holiday spinoff of Beauty and the Beast which as some of you know, I’m a huge fan of twisting fairy tales. Cinderella and Snow White are two very popular properties that get the spinoff treatment but I have yet to see Beauty and the Beast (except for Beastly which was okay…I think). With that said, Christmas Belle falls into my soft spot so it already has some points before we start.

Let’s check it out!

Christmas Belle (2013)

Director: Alex Wright

Cast: Haylie Duff, Nicholas Gonzalez, Mark Famiglietti, C. Thomas Howell, Sheree J. Wilson, Jerry Hauck

IMDB didn’t really have a decent synopsis so here’s my version: Isabella Everhart is sent by her father to document the Lowell estate passed down to Hunter Lowell. Hunter Lowell is a grumpy guy with a lot on his mind and rudely rejects Belle’s appearance however due to his urgency to get everything done before Christmas, reluctantly accepts the arrangement. He is hard to approach and while Belle enjoys this job and the library full of rare books and gets to know the housekeeper Angie very well, her eagerness to prepare the house for the estate sale gets her in trouble when she rearranges a room she isn’t allowed into. However, this breaks the ice a little between her and Hunter as he tries to make amends to her for his behavior. As they know each other more, they become closer and its here that long time friend Tony enters the town with her father to show his love for her with big gestures and a few lies.

Christmas Belle plays along with the Beauty and the Beast plot line quite closely. Of course, while Hunter is not called The Beast and his dog is, it somehow hints that Beast growing a fondness for Belle is an overshadow of what is to happen, which to be honest, we all already know the ending. However, regardless of that, Hayliee Duff and Nicholas Gonzalez has a lot of chemistry as their relationship gets closer. It still lacks some depth and feels a little disjointed but they are incredibly charming together and its hard to not fall in love with the genuine feelings between them. Of course, Tony (played by Mark Famiglietti) shows up and tries to break them apart and its here that my frustration for Hunter shows that I have bonded with him because his easiness to believe lies becomes quite irritating as many male romance films tend to build them that way where they falter when doubted and stop believing the girl that they know more and not this bozo that shows up claiming things. Who do you trust, right? Its pretty obvious but it never happens that way. Of course, its the conflict that they need to resolve to get their happy ending. To be fair, its expected and I did enjoy a lot of this whole going on because bonding with Belle and Hunter was part of the deal to hoping they will get together (even if this is one of those movies that it will happen).

With that said, Christmas Belle does have some issues. Lets start with something good that leads to something bad. The good part is that the setting of the estate is absolutely beautiful. Its a mansion with a beautiful interior decorating and the land around it is a vineyard with a lovely barn and a covered bridge. Its picturesque. The town itself is wonderful as well being homey and charming. However, the direction of the film wants to make it more dramatic than it is or just that they had an obsession with the score. With that came segments of showing a shirtless Nicholas Gonzalez doing his morning run two or three times to some orchestral music which was slightly unnecessary and over the top. There were other scenes that were more fitting like lens flares on Christmas lights in a decorating scene with some nice orchestral music as well that worked better. However, the score was so loved that in one part it actually overpowered the dialogue between Belle and Hunter.

Overall, Christmas Belle had a little bit of good and bad. It could have used with a less of flaunting the score and overdoing it. Some scenes felt downright unnecessary. At the same time, the source material works for a Christmas theme. Haylie Duff and Nicholas Gonzalez both do a great job as Belle and Hunter and are completely believable as the leading couple here to root for. There are some over the top sappy dialogue but it stay nice and fluffy and the feel good factor here is pretty decent. Although there’s one part that Belle threatens to punch Tony and I wish she did but I think these movies have something about not having violence and foul language so probably thats why it didn’t happen. Still, its a little average but relatively enjoyable.

Naughty & Nice (2014)

Moving on with the Christmas movie marathon, we hop into another TV movie of the romantic comedy variety. It seems like this is most likely the theme of this year. Hopefully as Christmas approaches we’ll be checking out a few. 2017 has been a bit of a tough year personally and even if you look at the world that these movies come incredibly needed to just be in a positive story even if its slightly predictable and formulaic. However, as I always start these movie reviews, romantic comedy TV movies of this variety are really for those who appreciate it for it sfeel good value and I am one of those people who do.

Next up is Naughty & Nice! Let’s check it out!

Naughty & Nice (2014)

Director: Sam Irvin

Cast: Haylie Duff, Tilky Jones, Maureen McCormick, Eric Petersen, Tyler Jacob Moore, Terrence Carson, Catriona Toop

A cynical radio host is banished to Colorado, where he has an on-air spat with a hopeless romantic. Soon, their antagonistic relationship sparks the interest of the whole town. – IMDB

Haylie Duff, Tilky Jones and the rest of the cast here are completely new to me. Naughty & Nice is one of the TV movies that seem to betray its title a little early. The bad boy gets sent to a small town and its wildly predictable in the sea of movies in this genre that already are in that category. This one is definitely a little lower on my list. The dialogue feels a little forced and the chemistry between them also leave more to be desired. Its a great start but tries to wrap things up before they actually do pad out these characters too much.

Naughty & Nice doesn’t sit too well with me mostly because of its writing. There are some rather cringey moments and some moments that it was hard to truly feel that these two did need to be together. In normal circumstances, would the situation have progressed like this? I honestly don’t think so. Of course, this is my personal feeling about it. The crowd here doesn’t seem really into their roles as well and other than Haylie Duff, who plays small town radio host Dr. Sandra Love, who did a pretty good job at delivering her role, although you will see that I preferred her in the Christmas Belle (upcoming review). I couldn’t quite place where I stood for Tilky Jones who plays the LA host Pepper who gets banished for going over the line. He definitely has the appealing bad boy look but something about him doesn’t quite convince me and it doesn’t help that his role turns nice really fast. But, to be fair, some of the moments here were quite nice, particularly the chopping the tree and decorating the tree moment. Yet again, he somehow finds a mistletoe to chop down so that he can get a kiss with the girl he likes. A bit forced but they deliver a good kiss.

Of course, there are other cast here. The station manager is played by Tyler Jacob Moore who I can’t say I’m particularly fond of, mostly because his role felt disposable. While Eric Petersen is the station engineer Jonah and stands in as the comic relief in this. It did bring in a few laughs. Maureen McCormick plays as Sandy’s mother, Kate who is the wise person to help bring them together and help guide Sandra and Pepper a little. She was alright especially as the final scene to the big finale turned out to be somewhat funny as you see Pepper struggle a little and get discouraged easily.

Naughty & Nice is pretty average. There are some good and some bad here. Its very predictable and lacks the chemistry that I’d like for Sandra and Pepper to have although they are good looking people and very good kissers so those moments worked well. A few laughs to be had but the ending also felt a little weird. But then, it always goes back to how 2 weeks makes you want to propose to someone right away. That is movie magic that you just have to suspend your belief every once in a while. Some decent performances here and more of a script problem for myself as I liked Haylie Duff and Tilky Jones and their performances.

Christmas: Holiday Engagement (2011 TV Movie)

Netflix is really not cooperating with me.  The final movie for Christmas was supposed to be Scrooged but guess what happened last week some time? It expired on Netflix because it wasn’t there anymore. I almost didn’t want to watch anything and just do something else but then, on last Friday night when I wasn’t feeling great and I couldn’t sleep at like midnight, I chose a random movie and watched this TV movie called Holiday Engagement.

Holiday Engagement (2011)

Director: Jim Fall

Cast: Bonnie Somerville, Shelley Long, Jordan Bridges, Sam McMurray, Haylie Duff, Carrie Wiita, Chris McKenna

Afraid to admit she was just dumped, a woman hires an actor to play her lawyer-boyfriend during a 4-day Thanksgiving weekend at her parents’ house.-IMDB 

I kind of got tricked into this one.  It looked so much like Christmas holidays but its really set around Thanksgiving.  Of course, I never read synopsis before I jump into a movie nowadays so this is what happens.  Still, why not, right? I’ll do a little write up on it.

Earlier this week, I reviewed Christmas Crush and I said it was harmless.  Most romantic comedies, family dramedies usually are. I really hate watching women being all desperate to get back with the obvious douchebag.  I really think those girls are like the minority.  Just because Mr. DB is a bigshot lawyer and rich and all that doesn’t mean anything.  If you don’t want to move somewhere because of legit reasons, then that’s okay.  He wants to chase something else, that is his business as well.  This is the 21st century and last I checked, 2011 is also 21st century so what is the deal? I can get that you usually follow the one in the relationship that makes more money because well, money is crucial to everyday survival in a way. Its just not reasonable that she thinks this guy is a catch when he clearly isn’t except for his wallet.  If the warning signs of him breaking up because she didn’t want to move and got in the way of his career wasn’t a warning sign enough, right? Regardless, I can understand the hoping to not disappoint your family and still bringing home an imposter for your fiance.  Who does it benefit more, right? But then, its kind of crazy before these two are seriously the most naive and clueless people when in love with people that are obviously not with you for the good reason.

As ridiculous as I feel about the story itself being cliche and the main girl being way too desperate, there are some decent characters here in a weird way.  When everyone wakes up and faces the reality of things, it pulls in some endearing moments, especially a particular father and daughter moment and the mother and daughter moment as well.  The relationship between the two had some chemistry that I could buy but their characters had some pretty frustrating moments that I eventually just phased out of.  However, I did enjoy the imposter guy’s role quite a bit.  He was adorable to watch and the way they set his character was really spontaneous and fun. Plus, he gets pushed into a fake engagement and steals back the dream wedding dress for his fake fiancee. I think that makes him quite the stellar dude 😉

You know what? There really isn’t much else to say about Holiday Engagements. Its pretty below average.  While I liked some parts and the message was there about family and expectations and there was some cliche heartwarming moment, this video shows the only moment I truly loved the most and I think you should just watch and not really have to bother with the rest of it all.

Plus, its Christmas music and good chemistry.  There was one other part with the mom putting up the night after Thanksgiving the Christmas decorations that was pretty nice as well.

Enough of these Christmas movies thing.  I’m done with exploring Netflix.  I’ll have more than enough of that in the New Year with Netflix A-Z coming back.  I’m going now to watch my holiday faves instead.

Have you seen Holiday Engagement? What are your thoughts?