Cleaning Out The DVR: 911 Nightmare (dir by Craig Moss)

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s amazing how quickly a DVR can fill up. Just a few weeks ago, as December came to a close, I went through my DVR, watched a lot of Christmas movies, and cleared up about 30 hours of space. At the time, I was pretty proud of myself but now, a month later, I find myself once again in the same situation. I am running out of space.

In other words, it’s time to clean out the DVR yet again.

I got things started by watching 911 Nightmare, which premiered on the Lifetime Movie Network on January 10th. And let’s give credit where credit is due. That is a brilliant title, especially for a Lifetime film. It not only promises a nightmare (perhaps even a sexy nightmare) but it also promises so much danger that someone is going to have to call 911. A sexy nightmare and danger? How can I say no to that!?

(According to the imdb, this film was originally called Dispatch. 911 Nightmare is a clear improvement.)

Anyway, as for the rest of the film, it tells the story of Christine McCullers (Fiona Gubelmann). When we first meet Christine, she’s a cop and she’s carrying on a family tradition of law enforcement. However, when she gets cornered by a perp (that’s right, I said “perp” because I love to use that official police talk) in an alley, her partner gets a bullet in the head and Christine gets a bullet in the leg.

Now wearing a big ugly brace and moving with a pronounced limp. Christine is working as a 911 operator. One night, a call comes in. Christine answers.

“911,” she says.

“The boogeyman is here!” a little kid says.

Christine tells the kid to get some sleep and to stop playing pranks and she threatens to tell his parents what a bad son they have. She hangs up on the kid and, as a result, the kid’s best friend is murdered…

And I have to admit that this is where I kind of lost interest in 911 Nightmare. The rest of the film deals with Christine trying to solve the murder and we’re clearly supposed to feel sorry for her because everyone is blaming her for what happened but you know what? She deserves to be blamed because she messed up! The film goes out of its way to convince us that Christine made an understandable (if unfortunate) mistake but it never quite convinces us.

Perhaps it would have worked better if the kid had been attacked while he was on the phone with Christine and killed before the police arrived. And maybe then the police could try to blame Christine for their own failure (and certainly, they would point to her previous wounding in the line of duty as proof of her incompetence). Then you would really root for Christine.

But no. Christine is terrible at her job and it’s difficult to really root for a character who screws up that badly. There’s a scene where Christine views all of the mean comments that have been posted about her online and it was probably a bad sign, as far as the film’s effectiveness was concerned, that I agreed with almost every single comment.

Anyway, Christine does go on to investigate the murder and, since this is a Lifetime movie, she also gets a boyfriend during the course of her investigation. Good for her. Unfortunately, however, the film fell apart as soon as she told that kid to go back to sleep.

2015 in Review: The Best of Lifetime

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, I continue my look back at 2015 by posting my picks for the best of Lifetime! My nominees for the best Lifetime films and performances are listed below, with the winners starred and listed in bold! Congratulations to all the nominees and winners and thank you for making this one of the most entertaining years in my long history of watching Lifetime movies!

Best Picture
Babysitter’s Black Book, produced by Robert Ballo and Ken Sanders.
Cleveland Abduction, produced by David A. Rosemont and Stephen Tolkin
*A Deadly Adoption, produced by Fritz Manger, Max Osswald, Will Ferrell, and Adam McKay.*
If There Be Thorns, produced by Richard D. Arredondo and Harvey Kahn.
A Mother’s Instinct, produced by Oliver De Caigny and Timothy O. Johnson
Patient Killer, produced by Barbie Castro.
The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, produced by Joseph Boccia, Don Carmody, and David Cormican.
The Spirit of Christmas, produced by Andrea Ajemian
Stalked By My Neighbor, produced by Robert Ballo.
The Unauthorized Beverly Hills 90210 Story, produced by Ian Hay.

Best Director
Jason Bourque for A Mother’s Instinct
Doug Campbell for Stalked By My Neighbor.
*Rachel Goldenberg for A Deadly Adoption*
Alex Kalymnois for Cleveland Abduction
Vanessa Parise for The Unauthorized Beverly Hills 90210 Story
Casper Van Dien for Patient Killer

Best Actor
Shaun Benson in Kept Woman
Dan Castellaneta in The Unauthorized Beverly Hills 90210 Story
*Will Ferrell in A Deadly Adoption*
Travis Hammer in The Bride He Bought Online
Adam Kaufman in A Mother Betrayed
Eric Roberts in Stalked By My Doctor

Best Actress
Josie Bissett in A Mother’s Instinct
Anna Camp in Caught
Kimberly Elise in Back to School Mom
Kelli Garner in The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
*Taryn Manning in Cleveland Abduction*
Kelcie Stranahan in Stalked By My Neighbor

Best Supporting Actor
Ken Camroux-Taylor in Sugarbabies
MacKenzie Gray in If There Be Thorns
Richard Harmon in A Mother’s Instinct
*Patrick Muldoon in Patient Killer.*
Eric Roberts in A Fatal Obsession
Peter Strauss in Sugar Daddies.

Best Supporting Actress
Angeline Appel in Babysitter’s Black Book.
Barbie Castro in Patient Killer
Olivia d’Abo in Stolen From The Suburbs
Sarah Grey in A Mother’s Instinct
Jessica Lowndes in A Deadly Adoption
*Samantha Munro in The Unauthorized Beverly Hills 90210 Story*

Best Adapted Screenplay
*Cleveland Abduction, written by Stephen Tolkin*
If There Be Thorns, written by Andy Cochran.
The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, written by Stephen Kronish and J. Randy Taraborrelli.
Seeds of Yesterday, written by Darren Stein.
Turkey Hollow, written by Tim Burns and Christopher Baldi.
Wuthering High School, written by Delondra Williams.

Best Original Screenplay
*Babysitter’s Black Book, written by Richard Kletter and Michele Samit*
A Deadly Adoption, written by Andrew Steele.
The Murder Pact, written by John Doolan
Patient Killer, written by Bryan Dick and Brian D. Young.
Stalked By My Neighbor, written by Doug Campbell.
Stolen From The Suburbs, written by Alex Wright

Best Cinematography
*Cleveland Abduction, Richard Wong.*
Fatal Obsession, Ronnee Swenton.
If There Be Thorns, James Liston.
The Murder Pact, Branden James Maxham.
Patient Killer, Bernard Salzmann
The Spirit of Christmas, Michael Negrin.

Best Costume Design
Grace of Monaco, Gigi Lepage
If There Be Thorns, Shanna Mair, Rebekka Sorensen.
Kept Woman
*The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, Gersha Phillips.*
Seeds of Yesterday, Claire Nadon.
The Spirit of Christmas, Jennifer Lynn Tremblay.

Best Editing
Babysitter’s Black Book, Ely Mennin
Cleveland Abduction, Henk Van Eeghen.
*A Deadly Adoption, Bill Parker.*
A Mother’s Instinct
Stalked By My Neighbor, Clayton Woodhull.
The Unauthorized Beverly Hills 90210 Story, Allan Lee.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
*Cleveland Abduction, Dugg Kirkpatrick, Susan R. Prosser, Tina Roesler Kewin, Alan Tuskes, Alicia Zavarella*
Grace of Monaco
If There Be Thorns, Jenine Lehfeldt, Tana Lynn Moldovanos.
The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe. Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey
The Spirit of Christmas
The Unauthorized Beverly Hills 90210 Story, Amber Crombach.

Best Original Score
Dangerous Company
Cleveland Abduction, Tony Morales.
Her Infidelity, Russ Howard III
Kidnapped: The Hannah Anderson Story, Matthew Janszen
*The Murder Pact, Matthew Llewellyn.*
Sugar Daddies. Steve Gurevitch.

Best Production Design
Cleveland Abduction, Derek R. Hill.
*If There Be Thorns, Linda Del Rosario, Richard Paris.*
A Mother’s Instinct, Jason Sober.
The Murder Pact, Caley Bisson.
The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe. Rocco Matteo.
The Unauthroized Beverly Hills 90210 Story

Best Sound
*The Bride He Bought Online*
Dangerous Company
If There Be Thorns
Stalked By My Neighbor
UnGodly Acts
Whitney.

Best Visual Effects
Becoming Santa
If There Be Thorns
Last Chance For Christmas
*Turkey Hollow*
When the Sky Falls
Wish Upon A Christmas

Tomorrow, I’ll post my picks for the worst 16 films of 2015!

Previous Entries In The Best of 2015:

The Last Lifetime Film of 2015: The House Sitter (dir by Jim Issa)

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

There’s a very simple lesson at the heart of The House Sitter, a thriller which premiered on Lifetime on December 27th of 2015. That lesson is be careful who you let stay in your house because she might be a psycho who steals your best bra and then has sex with your boyfriend. It’s an important lesson, one that far too many of us learn too late.

In many ways, The House Sitter is your typical Lifetime obsession film. An unbalanced young woman moves in with a family, learns their secrets, and then tries to destroy them. As usual, only the daughter understands what is truly happening but, up until the final 30 minutes or so of the film, she can’t get anyone to believe her. In fact, the psycho is so cunning that she manages to make the daughter look like she might be the crazy one.

It’s been done a thousand times in the past but, familiar as the plot may have been, The House Sitter was still a lot of fun and it’s largely due to two performances.

Ashley Dulaney plays Rebecca, a perky and almost excessively friendly house sitter who — when the family she is house sitting for returns early — subtly makes sure that everyone knows that she doesn’t have anywhere to go.

“Why not stay with us?” the family suggests.

Rebecca agrees, thanks them profusely, and soon starts to insidiously break up the family. That Rebecca is a psycho is not a surprise. What does distinguish her from other Lifetime psychos is just how cheerful she is about it. Forever clad in pink and always smiling as she makes passive aggressive comments, Rebecca is somehow both totally over-the-top and totally believable at the same time. Ashley Dulaney does a great job as Rebecca, making her into a marvel of insane efficiency.

However, with all due respect to both Rebecca and Ashley Dulaney, my favorite character in the film — and the one to whom I related — was Amy Marie (Shelby Young), the daughter who is the only member of the family not to be charmed by Rebecca. I saw a lot of myself in Amy and it wasn’t just because we both share the same totally awesome middle name. I also related to Amy’s “I don’t have time for this crap” attitude. From the minute Amy appears in the movie, she’s annoyed. She’s annoyed with her naive parents, she’s annoyed with Rebecca’s nonstop peppiness, and ultimately, she’s annoyed that someone’s trying to kill her. Towards the end of the film, whenever Rebecca attempted to attack her, I kept expecting Amy to just roll her eyes and go, “Whatever.” As played by Shelby Young, Amy was a Lifetime heroine to which even I could relate!

The House Sitter was the final Lifetime film to premiere in 2015! It’s hard to believe that, starting with Damaged way back in January, I have managed to sit through and review every Lifetime film released last year. But I did and I’ll be posting my picks for the best of the year later today!

What Lisa Watched Last Night #147: Stalked By My Doctor (dir by Doug Campbell)

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Last night, I watched the second-to-last original Lifetime film of 2015, Stalked By My Doctor!

Why Was I Watching It?

After a month of nonstop holiday cheeriness, Lifetime returned to doing what it does best. With the premiere of Stalked By My Doctor, Lifetime announced that the melodrama was back! There was no way that I was going to miss it. (Of course, it also helped that the film was directed by Doug Campbell, who previously directed such classic Lifetime films as Sugar Daddies, Stalked By My Neighbor, Betrayed at 17, and The Cheating Pact.)

What Was It About?

Teenager Sophie Green (Brianna Joy Chomer) is nearly killed in a car accidents that occurred because her dumbass boyfriend was texting while driving. Fortunately, her life is saved by the brilliant Dr. Beck (Eric Roberts).

Unfortunately, as brilliant as he may be as a doctor, Beck has some issues. He’s a sociopath with an obsessive streak and he quickly decides that he’s in love with Sophie. Soon, Sophie is being stalked by her doctor…

What Worked?

Oh my God, Eric Roberts was so creepy in this movie! And I mean that in the best possible way. Whether flashing a smile that was a bit too quick or leaning in a bit too close while having a conversation or throwing a sudden and childish fit, Eric Roberts turned Dr. Beck into the creepiest stalker in the history of creepy Lifetime stalkers. But what made Roberts’s performance even better was that, no matter how crazy he went, you still believed that he could be a brilliant surgeon.

The film also did a good job of revealing the double standard when it comes to how society views stalkers and their victims. No matter how insane Dr. Beck revealed himself to be, Sophie’s father was quick to 1) make an excuse for him and 2) accuse his own daughter of leading him on.

What Did Not Work?

It all worked! This was exactly what viewers like me are looking for when we watch a Lifetime film.

“Oh my God! Just like me!” Moments

When I was 19 years old, I was in a serious accident much like Sophie’s. By all logic, I shouldn’t have survived. It was raining, I wasn’t wearing my seat belt, I was driving too fast, and I was in a convertible. When I hit the car in front of me, I turned the wheel too sharply and my car flipped over and skidded, upside down, across the street. By the time the car came to a stop, both the windshield and the door windows had shattered, showering me with broken glass. Thankfully, since it was raining, I had the top up on the car. Otherwise, I would have ended up with a broken neck and more. However, somehow, I only ended up with a few scrapes on my legs, a small cut on my hand, and a gash on my neck that bled a lot but didn’t sever any major veins or arteries. I didn’t have any broken bones or anything else and, my injuries meant that I’d only have to deal with some stitches and I wouldn’t be able to show off my legs for a few days. I don’t know how I survived but I do know I was a very lucky girl!

And though my injuries were not as bad as Sophie’s (I didn’t nearly die, for instance), I did feel like the doctor at the hospital was hitting on me but who was I to complain? He was a medical professional and I was in shock and bleeding. He could flirt as much as he wanted as long as he made sure I didn’t end up with any disfiguring scars.

Lessons Learned

Melodramatic Lifetime is a lot more than Holiday Lifetime (though I did enjoy The Spirit Of Christmas!)

Sci-Fi Film Review: When the Sky Falls (dir by John L’Ecuyer)

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I guess it’s open to debate as to whether or not When The Sky Falls is truly a science fiction movie. It deals with a huge storm that basically produces extremely powerful lightning and the lightning occasionally appears to have a mind of its own. I have no idea if there’s any scientific basis for this. I don’t really understand how lightning works, other than the fact that you don’t want to stand under a tree in a lightning storm and you definitely do not want to get struck.

But, regardless of whether the film is scientifically accurate or not, I still feel like this should be considered a science fiction movie. First off, there’s the fact that the lightning itself often does seem to be intentionally targeting the film’s heroes. Though the film never specifically states this as fact, it does seem as if the lightning has developed enough of a personality to hold a grudge against those attempting to escape it. Secondly, the film’s main character is an ozone researcher and that just seems like an appropriate job for a character in a science fiction film. And finally, despite the fact that it premiered on the Lifetime Movie Network, the entire film feels like it belongs on the SyFy network.

Seriously, everything about this film — from the acting to the cheap but crudely effective special effects to the environmentalist protagonist — feels reminiscent of a pre-Sharknado SyFy film. (It’s easy to forget that, before Sharknado, SyFy films pretended to take themselves seriously.) The plot even follows the standard SyFy formula — a dysfunctional family spends the weekend at a cabin in the woods and end up getting separated once the big lightning storm strikes. They start out arguing and they end up depending on each other for survival. And, perhaps most importantly of all, Dad gets to prove that he’s not as lame as everyone thinks. If Lifetime films all build up to that moment when everyone realizes that mom was correct, SyFy films often celebrate the uncool but capable father figure.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about When The Sky Falls is that it was even on Lifetime Movie Network to begin with. Compared to more traditional LMN films — like Confessions of a Go-Go Girl and The Perfect Teacher — When The Sky Falls feels a bit out-of-place. Perhaps next year, SyFy will return the favor and produce a sequel to Back To School Mom.

But anyway, what about the film itself? In no way can it compare to either SyFy or Lifetime at its best. The script is predictable, the actors struggle with some seriously undeveloped characters, and the film never finds a steady pace. Some parts of the film seem way too slow while others seem to be oddly rushed. On the plus side, when taken on their own terms, some of the lightning effects are kind of fun and the film was shot in Canada so, at the very least, you get to see some really pretty scenery.

Seriously, I love Canada!

Love you, Canada!

Cleaning Out The DVR: Wish Upon A Christmas (dir by Terry Ingram)

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

After finishing up with A Gift-Wrapped Christmas, it was time to move onto the final Lifetime Christmas film on my DVR, Wish Upon A Christmas. Wish Upon A Christmas premiered on December 13th and, much like Becoming Santa, The Flight Before Christmas, and Last Chance For Christmas, it features Santa as a matchmaker.

Well, maybe it does. Though he has the beard and the jolly attitude, the film is somewhat ambiguous as to whether or not Mr. Tomte (Kevin McNulty) is actually Santa Claus or not. The facts certainly suggests that he may be. Before Mr. Tomte shows up in town, Danny (Dylan Kingwell) does make a wish that Santa could bring his single father, Jesse (Aaron Ashmore), a girlfriend. And then, one night, a bright light flashes in the sky and there’s an explosion in the distance as something crashes to the ground. Was it a meteorite or was it Santa’s sleigh? Who can say? But Danny does come across a silver bauble that Mr. Tomte is somewhat desperately searching for. Is it just a family heirloom and or is it, as Danny suspects, filled with the magic that allows Mr. Tomte to fly his sleigh?

Meanwhile, Jesse is the much beloved owner of a company that makes hand-crafted ornaments. He inherited the business from his parents and Jesse is a big believer in tradition. Despite the fact that it’s cutting into profits, he insists that every ornament be hand-made and that his workers take their time to make each one perfect. His workers are so happy that they even hum Christmas carols while they’re working.

Unfortunately, the big mean corporate world does not understand what makes Jesse’s business so special. They send efficiency expert Amelia (Larisa Oleynik) to inspect the company and make some recommendations. Much like George Clooney in Up In the Air, Amelia makes her living by firing people and convincing them that it’s for their own good. However, as soon as Amelia arrives in town, she finds it difficult to do her job. For one thing, she grew up in the town and she’s always had a crush on Jesse. Secondly, it turns out that she’s not as cold-hearted as she believes.

So, will Amelia fire everyone at the factory? Or will Danny’s wish come true?

Well, you already know the answer. This is a Lifetime Christmas movie and there’s nothing really surprising about it. However — and yes, I do realize that this has become a reoccurring theme when it comes to my Lifetime Christmas movie reviews — Wish Upon A Christmas is such a sweet and good-intentioned film that it would really be silly to be overly critical of it. You know what you’re getting when you watch a Christmas movie on Lifetime and Wish Upon A Christmas delivers.

Add to that, Kevin McNulty makes for a very likable Santa. Next year, he should co-star in a movie with The Flight Before Christmas‘s Brian Doyle-Murray in which they play the competing Santa brothers. It’ll be fun!

Cleaning Out The DVR: A Gift-Wrapped Christmas (dir by Lee Friedlander)

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

After watching Last Chance For Christmas, it was time to continue to clean out my DVR by watching A Gift-Wrapped Christmas. Directed by Lee Friedlander (who did such a great job with Babysitter’s Black Book), A Gift-Wrapped Christmas was actually the first Christmas film to air on Lifetime this year. It premiered on November 28th.

A Gift-Wrapped Christmas tells the story of Gwen (Meredith Hagner), who I immediately envied because not only does she have a great attitude towards life but she has a really kickass job as well. She’s a personal shopper, which means that she gets paid to do something that I do for free. In fact, she might be the greatest personal shopper of all time. All she has to do is take one look at a client and she immediately knows what is needed. She currently lives with her older sister (Beverly Mitchell) and her husband and she’s single. She’s also almost always cheerful, without being annoying about it. I wish I could pull that off.

One day, her agency tells her that she has a new client. His name is Charlie Baker. Oh my God! I thought, the Governor of Massachusetts!? Seriously, who wouldn’t want that job!? However, it turns out that it’s a different Charlie Baker. This Charlie Baker (played by Travis Milne) is a business executive who sucks at giving gifts and thinks a black suit is appropriate for every occasion. Charlie is also a widower, raising his precocious son, Owen (Anthony Bolognese) on his own. Charlie does have a girlfriend but it’s obvious to everyone (but him) that Victoria (Anna Van Hooft) is cold and manipulative and is more in love with money than with Charlie.

So, Gwen takes one look at Charlie and his boring office and his boring gifts and she says, “Nope, this is all going to change.” At first, Charlie is resistant and even refuses to consider wearing a purple suit. But Gwen refuses to give up. She continues to buy stuff that encourages him to broaden his worldview. Charlie starts to loosen up and act like a real human being.

And don’t think that Victoria hasn’t noticed and isn’t thinking, “No way I’m going to lose my man to a personal shopper!”

When I first watched A Gift-Wrapped Christmas, I tweeted some pretty snarky things about it but I think I may have been a bit too upset over the prospect of not getting to see any Lifetime melodramas for a month and, as a result, I was a bit too quick to judge A Gift-Wrapped Christmas. On a second viewing, I discovered that the film had a lot more charm than I initially thought. At the very least, Meredith Hagner and Travis Milne are both adorable and how can you not love a movie where the secret to happiness is shopping?

A Gift-Wrapped Christmas is an almost stereotypical Lifetime Christmas movie but, thanks to the chemistry between Meredith Hagner and Travis Milne, it’s still an enjoyable dose of holiday cheer.

Cleaning Out The DVR: Last Chance For Christmas (dir by Gary Yates)

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

After I watched The Christmas Gift, I continued to clean out the DVR by watching Last Chance For Christmas. Last Chance for Christmas originally aired on Lifetime on December 6th and it took me a second viewing to realize that, as far as Lifetime holiday movies are concerned, Last Chance For Christmas was actually pretty good.

Annie (Hilarie Burton) lives in a small town in Alaska, along with her daughter Madison (Lola Flanery). Annie owns a reindeer farm, which is her inheritance from her father. The bank is eager to foreclose on her and take the farm away from her. It’s all because Mr. Buckley (who is somewhat inevitably played by Tim Matheson) wants to build a ski resort on her property.

Desperate but still defiant (which is why I liked her), Annie is understandably paranoid when John (Gabriel Hogan) suddenly shows up on her doorstep and says that he needs to borrow one of her reindeer. She assumes that John must be working for either the bank or Mr. Buckley.

Which she doesn’t know is that John’s boss lives up north. For the past 15 years, John has worked for Santa Claus (Derek McGrath). John is in charge of the stables and taking care of Santa’s reindeer. When Prancer cracks a hoof, it’s crisis time at the North Pole. As John explains it, without Prancer, it could take three to four months to deliver all of the presents. John even suggests that they may have to delay Christmas or cancel it altogether…

That’s when Mrs. Claus (Jayne Eastwood) steps forward and announces that, under no circumstances, will Christmas be canceled. As she puts it, the children will get their gifts “by any means necessary.” John is sent into the human world, instructed to track down a replacement reindeer. And he thinks that he’s found one on Annie’s farm.

The problem, of course, is that the reindeer — named Frankie — is Madison’s favorite. As John slowly starts to win Annie’s trust (and as he and Annie fall in love), he realizes that he cannot bring himself to take Frankie away from Madison. However, when he explains this to Mrs. Claus, she tells him that the needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few. If John isn’t willing to steal Frankie then maybe Mrs. Claus will have to come do it herself…

And really, the portrayal of Mrs. Claus as being the ruthless head of a crime syndicate was perhaps the best thing about this film. It was so unexpectedly dark and almost cynical. As well, Jayne Eastwood was obviously having a lot of fun playing this very unsentimental version of Mrs. Claus.

Beyond the subversive portrayal of Mrs. Claus, Last Chance For Christmas was a genuinely entertaining film. Hilarie Burton and Gabriel Hogan made for a cute couple, Lola Flanery gave a blessedly non-cutesy performance as Madison, and the snowy scenery was nice to look at. All in all, Last Chance for Christmas is a perfect example of the correct way to do a holiday movie.

Cleaning Out The DVR: The Christmas Gift (dir by Fred Olen Ray)

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

After I watched The Flight Before Christmas, it was time to continue cleaning out the DVR by watching The Christmas Gift! The Christmas Gift was one of the first Christmas films to show up on Lifetime this year, premiering on November 30th.

Megan (Michelle Trachtenberg) is an ambitious writer who works for a tabloid magazine and who is frustrated by the fact that she’s only assigned to write articles about the best lip gloss for fair skin. As well, her boorish boyfriend, and fellow journalist, Alex (Daniel Booko) not only dumps her but gets assigned the big story that she wanted! Michelle’s editor, Cooper (Rick Fox), tells her that, if she really thinks that she deserves better assignments, then she needs to go out and find a story that proves it.

Megan returns home to discover that her aunt has sent her a package of her old belongings. Going through it, Megan comes across a notebook that was anonymously given to her one Christmas many years ago. The notebook — and the poem that was inscribed within — inspired Megan to become a writer. She decides, for her story, to track down the person who gave her the notebook.

Her investigation leads her to Wesley Hardin Johnson, Jr. (Sterling Sulieman), who runs a foster care program. Megan says that she wants to do a story about the program and the kids that Wesley is helping. Wesley agrees, on the condition that the story be about the kids and not about him. For reasons that only make sense when you consider that this is a Lifetime holiday film, Megan decides that this means that she shouldn’t tell him about the notebook.

Not only does Megan have a hit story but she and Wesley are also falling in love! However, Megan then discovers why her aunt sent her all of her old stuff. It turns out that her aunt’s retirement community is about to be leveled and repalced with condos. And who is evicting Megan’s aunt? None other than Wesley’s father, Wesley Hardin Johnson, Sr. (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs)…

Needless to say, it all leads to misunderstandings and conflicts but it’s nothing that can’t be solved within 90 minutes of narrative. This is a Lifetime Christmas film, after all. You watch it with the full knowledge that everything’s going to turn out okay. The Christmas Gift is a good-natured and likable holiday movie and Michelle Trachtenberg does a pretty good job in the lead role.

Perhaps what is most interesting about The Christmas Gift is that it was directed by the incredibly prolific Fred Olen Ray, who is better known for directing horror films and thrillers than for directing sweet-natured family films. (That said, if you look at his filmography, you’ll actually come across several movies that you wouldn’t normally associate with him.) Someday, someone is going to write the definitive overview of Ray’s long and varied career and, hopefully, I will be one of the first to read it.

Cleaning Out The DVR: The Flight Before Christmas (dir by Peter Sullivan)

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

After watching The Spirit of Christmas, it time to continue cleaning out the DVR by watching The Flight Before Christmas. The Flight Before Christmas originally aired on December 5th on the Lifetime network. I was at a Christmas party and I totally missed it.

The Flight Before Christmas is perhaps the epitome of your typical Lifetime holiday movie. Stephanie (Mayim Bialik) has never had much luck in love but things are finally starting to look up! She is planning on moving in with her boyfriend and she has already called her mother and let her know that she won’t be home for Christmas this year. But then Stephanie’s boyfriend shows up and says that he’s changed his mind. Not only will they not be moving in together but he wants to break up as well.

That’s it! Stephanie decides. No more love, no more romance, no more risk of heart-break! And, since she’s not going to be having hot, just-moved-in-together-sex this holiday season, she might as well just go back home to Connecticut. She rushes to the airport and manages to get tickets on a flight back home. Also, at the airport, she meets a jolly fat man with a twinkle in his eye. His name is Noel Nichols (and is played by Bill Murray’s older brother, Brian Doyle-Murray) and … well, if you can’t guess what’s going on with Noel Nichols then you really haven’t seen that many Christmas movies.

Meanwhile, Michael Nolan (Ryan McPartin) is on the same flight as Stephanie. Originally, he had seats in first class but, acting out of holiday generosity, he suddenly decides to switch seats with Noel Nichols! (Are you sensing a pattern here?) Michael ends up sitting right next to Stephanie.

Well, immediately, Michael and Stephanie don’t get along and we all know that means that they’re destined to fall in love. However, Michael is flying to Boston so that he can ask his girlfriend, Courtney (Trilby Glover), to marry him. No, Michael, she’s not right for you!

Fortunately, the plane runs into turbulence and is forced to land at the most romantic place on Earth … Bozeman, Montana. Seeing as how they’re going to be stranded for a day or two, Stephanie finds a room at a local Bed and Breakfast. She manages to get the last available room and then, despite claiming not to like him that much, she invites Michael to share the room with her…

Okay, so you’ve read the plot and you already know what’s going to happen. There’s nothing surprising about The Flight Before Christmas but then again, holiday movies aren’t supposed to be surprising. They’re light-hearted and somewhat silly and hopefully, you’ll feel good after you watch one. The Flight Before Christmas is a sweet film that, for me, didn’t quite work. Try as I might, I simply could not imagine Michael and Stephanie as a couple. However, I did think that Brian Doyle-Murray did a great job as Noel Nichols. If I ever meet Santa, I hope he’s just like Brian Doyle-Murray,

(Incidentally, this film ended with a dedication to Mayim Bialik’s father, Barry, who passed away earlier this year. It was a sweetly sincere moment.)