Tag Archives: Jackee Harry

Holiday Film Review: Broadcasting Christmas (dir by Peter Sullivan)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 2016’s Broadcasting Christmas, Melissa Joan Hart (who will always be Sabrina to me) plays Emily Morgan.

Emily is a television news journalist in Connecticut.  She specializes in doing human interest stories.  Years ago, Emily was up for a job with a station in New York but she lost out to her then-boyfriend, Charlie Fisher (Dean Cain).  Charlie went to New York and Emily has never really forgiven him.  As the Christmas season approaches, Emily finds herself reporting about the fact that America’s top morning show, Rise & Shine, is looking for a new co-host.  Being considered are a basketball player, a reality TV star, and …. CHARLIE!  Emily has a meltdown on air and says that she feels that she should be the new cohost of Rise and Shine.  Emily’s rant goes viral and, soon enough, she’s invited to come audition for the spot.

Emily, Charlie, Abby (Krista Braun), and Jimmy Eubanks (Todd Litzinger) will be auditioning over the holiday season.  They’ll take turns co-hosting with Veronika Daniels (Jackee Harry) and they will also be expected to come up with human interest stories.  Emily and Charlie immediately start working hard, trying to make a good impression while also trying to resist the fact that they’re clearly both still in love with each other.  Jimmy Eubanks doesn’t work at all.  And Abby — well, Abby knows that she’s going to get the job and the auditions are all just for show.

Except, Abby doesn’t get the job.  She gets a chance to plan a celebrity wedding and abandons the show.  Now, it’s just between Emily and Charlie.  Will they be able to balance falling in love with competing for the same job?  Will Emily find her confidence?  Will Charlie make peace with the fact that his famous father was instrumental in getting New York to select him over Emily?  And how does a hundred year-old fruitcake fit into it all?

Okay, I know what you’re thinking.  Yes, it’s a Hallmark holiday film and, as soon as you see their names in the credits, you immediately know that Melissa Joan Hart and Dean Cain are going to end up back together.  It’s the type of film where New York is safe and beautiful and the snow falls constantly without anyone ever getting a red nose or a scratchy throat.  The film’s portrayal of the behind-the-scenes shenanigans at a network show feel especially false.  One doesn’t necessarily watch a film like this expecting to see anything reflecting reality but the whole idea that Veronika would have four people on her show without fully knowing what they’re planning on doing when they appear requires a huge suspension of disbelief.

That said, it’s a sweet-natured movie.  Melissa Joan Hart and Dean Cain make for a cute couple and I have to say that, between her Hallmark films and her Lifetime films, Hart has shown herself to be one of the stronger performers appearing in these type of films.  That’s the holiday spirit for you.  Any other time of the year, I would probably roll my eyes at this film.  But, watching it in December, I was just happy that Emily and Charlie realized that they still loved each other.

Awwwww!

Cleaning Out The DVR: The Wrong Cheer Captain (dir by David DeCoteau)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

“She definitely picked the wrong cheer captain,” Carol (Vivica A. Fox) says toward the end of Lifetime’s The Wrong Cheer Captain and what else can I say but, “Damn right!”

Seriously, Anna (Sofia Masson) may be a good cheerleader and she may have a lot of experience and she may have even been recruited to go to her new high school so that she could be a member of the cheerleading squad but she definitely should not have been named captain.  Not only is Anna failing her classes and vaping on school grounds but she also has a bad habit of murdering people!  Of course, Anna only commits murder because a past trauma and because she wants so badly to succeed as a cheerleader but still, murdering is definitely not a good habit.  I mean, if the school has a no vaping policy, I can only imagine what their policy on murder would be!

Perhaps a better pick for cheer captain would have been Carol’s daughter, Kate (Alexis Salmon).  Of course, Kate is actually pretty busy trying to prove that Anna murdered her best friend so it’s not like Kate doesn’t already have a lot to deal with.  Oddly enough, even though the evidence overwhelmingly indicates that Anna is murderer, Kate can’t get anyone to listen to her.  The principal is skeptical.  The cheerleading coach just wants to win competitions.  And Kate’s mother keeps trying to blame everything on drugs.  She even orders Kate not to hang out with her boyfriend because of his past use of steroids….

Wow, there’s a lot going on at this high school!  Who knew that the world of high school cheerleading was so ruthless?

Well, everyone.  Everyone knows that high school cheerleading is perhaps the most dangerous activity that someone can involve themselves with, especially if they’re starring in a Lifetime film.  And if you’re in a Lifetime film that has the word “Wrong” in the title, it’s even more dangerous!  I’ve lost track of how many Wrong films David DeCoteau has directed by Lifetime but it certainly does seem like a lot of them feature cheerleaders.  They also all feature Vivica A. Fox, usually playing a no-nonsense authority figure and ending the film by using the title as a way to sum things up.  “It looks like you hired the Wrong Landscaper,” Vivica will say and, even though you didn’t actually do the hiring and he was instead only sent by an agency, you nod and agree because you know better than to openly disagree with Vivica A. Fox.  Instead, you face the truth and admit that, even if it doesn’t seem that way, you were still somehow wrong.

The Wrong films have become a bit of a Lifetime mainstay, loved for their campy melodrama, their Canadian locations, and, of course, Vivica A. Fox.  The Wrong Cheer Captain has a lot in common with the other Wrong films but then again, that’s part of the appeal of these films.  They’re like comfort food.  You watch them because of their comforting familiarity and because you know exactly what you’re going to get.  The Wrong Cheer Captain delivers exactly what it promises, cheerleader mayhem and plenty of different takes on the term “wrong.”  Who could possibly complain about that?

Lifetime Film Review: The Wrong Wedding Planner (dir by David DeCoteau)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

“She was the wrong wedding planner!” says Detective Jones (Vivica A. Jones) in the Lifetime film, The Wrong Wedding Planner, and Detective Jones has a point!  Typically, a good wedding planner will put together a memorable wedding without trying to kill the bride.  I mean, I’m sure that there have been murderous but talented wedding planners in the past because, let’s face it, we all go a little bit crazy when it comes to planning the perfect wedding but, for the most part, the aim is for the bride to survive.

Of course, in her defense, Mandy (Kristin Booth) isn’t really a wedding planner.  Though she pretends to be one when she approaches Ashley (Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe), that’s just because Mandy is looking for an excuse to barge into Ashley’s life.  Ashley is engaged to Brad (Steve Richard Harris) and Brad used to be engaged to Mandy.  Needless to say, things did not end well between Brad and Mandy.  Now, Mandy is not only planning the perfect wedding but she’s also looking for revenge!

Will Mandy get her revenge and, more importantly, will Ashley get her perfect wedding?  That’s the question at the heart of The Wrong Wedding Planner.  To be honest, there’s been a lot of Lifetime films like this one and I’ve enjoyed every single one of them because they all deal with some universal truths.  Everyone wants a big and expensive wedding and everyone wants to live in a big and expensive house.  Seriously, Brad’s house is huge and wonderful and I’m pretty sure that I’ve seen it in a few other “Wrong” films as well.  Of course, as soon as Mandy gets into the house, the first thing she does is plant a bunch of hidden cameras so that she can spy on Brad and Ashley.  I probably would have done the same thing but not because I wanted to watch Brad and Ashley make love in the bedroom.  Instead, I would have just wanted to take in the fabulous job that Brad and Ashley did decorating the house.  I mean, seriously, they should be proud.

Mandy’s a bit crazy and Kristin Booth does a good job playing her.  The thing I like about Mandy was that she was totally unapologetic about trying to ruin everyone’s lives.  She didn’t waste any time trying to justify her behavior.  Instead, she just showed up like a wrecking ball and started destroying everything in her path.  She was a force of nature, as any wedding planner should be.

So, yes, Mandy may have been the wrong wedding planer but, in the end, I think she helped to bring Ashley and Brad closer together and she taught them an important lesson about why honesty is important in a relationship.  That’s not a bad accomplishment when you’re not even really a wedding planner.  When I get married, I only hope that my wedding planner is as dedicated to Mandy.  Hopefully, of course, she’ll also be a little bit less crazy than Mandy but then again, sometimes a little insanity is what you need to make your special day perfect.