Hallmark Review: Accidentally in Love (2011, dir. David Burton Morris)

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Valerie Troutman

Another really simple one. I always feel bad reviewing one of these cause I feel like I’m cheating somebody. Also, this isn’t one I could watch where I could take screenshots. Oh, well. It is what it is.

The movie begins and we are introduced to Eddie Avedon (Ethan Erickson) who plays Mulligan the bunny on a children’s TV show. As soon as the camera shuts off, he shoves the kid costar on the show out of the way. He then proceeds to bitch and moan about the costume before he finally gets it off. Of course he hops in his car and soon ends up behind Annie Benchley (Jennie Garth). Benchley’s old run down car breaks down so Avedon keeps honking at her till he makes an attempt to go around her car. And by attempt, I mean he runs into her car. Setup!

We already know that obviously Avedon would rather be doing something else careerwise so we need to be introduced to Benchley. Benchley has a daughter who is losing her eyesight. She loves the character of Mulligan the bunny. So of course the two are going to end up together. The daughter kind of melts his heart. There are no surprises here or anything particularly interesting to mention.

The problem with this film is that I didn’t really think two leads had any chemistry together. Also, Jennie Garth doesn’t fit in the role of a single mother who is down on her luck working as a waitress with a kid going blind. Call it the fault of starring on Beverly Hills, 90210 for too long, but I just couldn’t look at her face and accept her in the role. I accepted him, but I also never really warmed up to him.

Still, it was okay. There were decent supporting performances from Avedon’s friend (Zack Ward), Benchley’s mother (Marilu Henner), Avedon’s agent (Fred Willard), and I even kind of liked the kid costar (Adam Karelin). This one will pass some time for you.

Horror on TV: Buffy the Vampire Slayer 3.18 “Earshot”

Posted on October 7, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy gets infected with the blood of a demon and develops the ability to hear other people’s thoughts. Along with allowing her to discover that Xander is obsessed with sex (like she needed telepathy for that) and that Giles and her mom did it twice on the hood of a police car, it also allows her to discover that one of her classmates might be planning on doing something violent.

This is one of my favorites episodes of Buffy, largely because it uses the paranormal as a way to expose a very real issue and to explore everyone’s shared humanity. Plus, I’ve always felt that, even after playing Buffy and starring in the wonderful guilty pleasure Ringer, Sarah Michelle Gellar remains a sadly underrated actress. This episode features her at her best.

What Lisa Watched Last Night #118: Stalked By My Neighbor (dir by Doug Campbell)

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Last night, I watched the latest Lifetime original movie, Stalked By My Neighbor.

Why Was I Watching It?

Well, of course, the obvious reason was because it was on Lifetime and I love Lifetime movies. But, even if I wasn’t a Lifetime movie addict, I probably would have watched Stalked By My Neighbor. Stalked By My Neighbor is a great title. Whenever you see a Lifetime movie with the word “Stalk” in the title, you know that it’s going to be a good one.

What Was It About?

It’s a Lifetime homage to Rear Window! Jodi (Kelcie Stranahan) and her mother (Amy Pietz) move to the suburbs. A talented photographer, Jodi is still struggling to deal with the after-effects of a horrifying home invasion. Hiding out in her bedroom, Jodi watches her new neighborhood through the lens of her camera and eventually comes to believe that she may have witnessed the murder of a neighbor (Kelly Packard). While the police suspect that the murderer was the cute boy who lives next door (Grant Harvey), Jodi suspects that it may have actually been the dead woman’s niece (Katrina Norman). Soon, Jodi, camera in hand, is stalking her neighbors and trying to solve the mystery.

What Worked?

Stalked By My Neighbor was directed by Doug Campbell, who earlier this year gave us Sugar Daddies. As I previously stated in my review of Sugar Daddies, Campbell is one of the better filmmakers to regularly make films for Lifetime. (He also directed several of my favorite ….At 17 movies.) Much as he did with Sugar Daddies, Campbell strikes just the right balance between melodrama and realism. As both director and screenwriter, he pushes the story as far as it can go without allowing things to go overboard. The end result is a very entertaining film that is the epitome of why people like me love Lifetime movies.

Kelcie Stranahan was well-cast as Jodi and she had a lot of chemistry with Grant Harvey. As well, she and Amy Pietz were totally believable as mother-and-daughter. Wisely, while the film had a lot of fun with the more melodramatic elements of the mystery plot, Jodi’s PTSD was played totally straight and Stranahan did a great job of capturing Jodi’s fragile mental state. By the end of the film, Jodi is a role model for survivors everywhere.

What Did Not Work?

It all worked. This was Lifetime moviemaking at its best!

“Oh my God! Just like me!” Moments

I totally related to the character of Jodi, which is a huge reason why I enjoyed the movie. Towards the end of the film, Jodi had a fight with her mom and ended up getting grounded. Afterward, Jodi made it a point to elaborately apologize and then, as soon as her mom left the room, Jodi was sneaking out the bedroom window. That one scene pretty much epitomized my senior year of high school.

And really, the relationship between Jodi and her mom was the main reason why I loved Stalked By Neighbor. Don’t get me wrong. The mystery was fun. Grant Harvey was cute and the scene where he dances with Jodi was really well done. But ultimately, the film worked for me because I related so much to Jodi and I saw so much of my mom in her mom.

Lessons Learned

If you think you’re neighbor might be a murderer, always make sure you have an extra memory card for your camera. (Seriously, watch the movie. It’ll make sense.)