The Christmas Ornament

A few weeks before Christmas, Kathy Howard (Martin) is struggling.  Her late husband's cycling business is barely making ends meet.  She is avoiding the holidays, other than making Christmas cookies to share with the important people in her life.  Her best friend, Jenna (Staite), is worried and drags her to buy a Christmas tree.

Kathy escapes to the gift shop, where she meets the owner of the shop and trees, Tim Pierce (Mathison).  They connect and begin running into each other everywhere.  He brings her a tree and she responds by bringing a tray of cookies.  The cookies are a hit with Tim's customers and lead them to team-up.  Can Kathy find joy again in the midst of her grief?

This is a Hallmark movie.  It is short and sweet, and doesn't require much of a commitment.

The Good:

This is not your typical Hallmark movie.  Yes, the main characters are dealing with pain, but they it doesn't focus on pain for pain's sake.  The story focuses on overcoming that pain and choosing to see the potential in the future.  It doesn't rush the characters into a relationship, it takes time to build the characters and believability, which is refreshing.

The Bad:

They don't give much attention or backstory to the side characters.  Jewel Staite's Jenna is the most fleshed out character, but you don't know much about her.  Everyone else just ticks a box and are defined by their roles.

Other Comments:

-Kellie Martin and Cameron Mathison are strong leads and have good chemistry.

-The film has a nice mix of tones, without leaning too far in one direction.  It ends on a nice uplifting moment.

-Enjoyable.

The Christmas Ornament (2013) 83 minutes

Director: Mark Jean

Starring: Kellie Martin as Kathy Howard

Cameron Mathison as Tim Pierce

Jewel Staite as Jenna Lowe

Matthew Kevin Anderson as Ben Lowe

Brendan Meyer as Connor

Laura Mennell as Rebecca

Cole Vigue as Graham

That Thing You Do!

"I've found that a hit record is like a stew.  All the ingredients have to come together just right.  Otherwise, it's just soup."

In 1964, Guy Patterson (Scott) works in his family's appliance store by day and dreams of being a jazz drummer by night.  His friends, Jimmy (Schaech), Lenny (Zahn), and T.B. (Embry), have a band called the One-ders and are preparing for their first performance. When their drummer, Chad (Giovanni Ribisi), breaks his arm, they ask Guy to fill in for the show.  At the show, Guy plays their original song "That Thing You Do" at a faster tempo, to roaring cheers from the audience.

They decide to make a record and have Jimmy's girlfriend Faye (Tyler) sell the records at their shows.  Eventually, their record is heard by Play-Tone records and Mr. White (Hanks) becomes their manager.  Under Mr. White's direction, they become the Wonders and begin touring.  As their record climbs the charts, will there love of music be enough to save the band and their friendship?

The film was written and directed (in his directorial debut) by Tom Hanks.  In addition, the songs performed by the band "That Thing You Do", "All My Only Dreams", "Dance With Me Tonight", and "Little Wild One" were written for this film.

The Good:

The title song is catchy (you hear the full song twice, but parts of the song play numerous times throughout) and gets stuck in your head.  The cast and the characters they portray are great.  This was the film debut of Tom Everett Scott and he is a solid lead.  The band has good chemistry and are believable as lifelong friends.

The film is upbeat and fun and leaves on a hopeful note.  It also holds a PG rating and is relatively tame for a film about a band in the 1960s.

The Bad:

No complaints

Other Comments: 

-The film holds up to repeat viewings and has aged well.

-Hanks' family - wife Rita Wilson, son Colin Hanks, and daughter Elizabeth Hanks - all have cameos in the film.

-Ethan Embry's bass character does not have a name (and is never called by name in the film).  In the end title card, he is listed as T.B. Player, which stands for "The Bass Player".

-Mike Viola provides Jimmy's vocals, backed by Adam Schlesinger (who wrote "That Thing You Do"). 

-The theme song "That Thing You Do" was nominated for the Oscar for Best Original Song.  It was also nominated for American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Songs list.

-There is also an Extended Edition of the film that was released in 2007, it is 148 minutes.

That Thing You Do! (1996) 108 minutes

Director: Tom Hanks

Starring: Tom Everett Scott as Guy "Shades" Patterson

Liv Tyler as Faye Dolan

Johnathon Schaech as Jimmy Mattingly

Steve Zahn as Lenny

Ethan Embry as T.B. Player

Tom Hanks as Mr. White

Maze Runner: The Death Cure

 

"Three years we spent behind those walls, trying to break out.  And now you want us to break back in."

Thomas (O'Brien), Newt (Brodie-Sangster), and Frypan (Darden) are on a mission to save their captured friends from WCKD.  With help from Right Arm, they are able to save a train car of immune kids, but a second car, including their friend Minho (Lee), is taken to WCKD.

WCKD's base of operations is the walled "Last City".  The teens are informed that it is impossible to rescue their friends, especially when their last hope for escape is almost complete.  Thomas, Newt, Frypan, Brenda (Salazar), and Jorge (Esposito) sneak away to save Minho.  As they approach the Last City, they run into Gally (Poulter) who agrees to help them get past the guards.

In the city, WCKD scientists, led by Teresa (Scodelario)  and Ava Paige (Clarkson) are torturing the captured teens.  They hope to find a cure for the deadly Flare virus.  Janson (Gillen) and the other adults are desperate and willing to do anything to escape the virus.  They also expect Thomas and the other Gladers to make a rescue attempt.  Can the Gladers save the day and evade the reach of WCKD?

This is the third film in the Maze Runner series, following The Maze Runner in 2014 and Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials in 2015.  The films are based on the James Dashner young adult novels.  In addition to these 3 novels, Dashner wrote 2 prequel novels "The Kill Order" and the "The Fever Code" to set-up some of the details and backstories for the series.

The Good:

The plot sticks closer to the novel than the previous film, but there are still major changes.  The film opens at the start of the train heist.  This scene reminds the audience of the stakes: the tension and action are high, with no guarantee that the mission will succeed.  It is also a good reminder that no one is safe.

The rest of the film continues that momentum with the stakes, the action, the destruction, etc.  In this case, it feels warranted.  These teens, and their allies, are in danger that keeps escalating.  All of the characters (who are still alive) from the previous installments, make an appearance here.

The Bad:

They attempt to explain/justify/redeem the characters who have made questionable decisions in the previous entries, specifically Will Pouler's Gally and Kaya Scoldelario's Teresa.  They only succeed with Gally.  I dislike Teresa in the books and I do not like her at all in this film.  Her final act is not enough to change that.  It feels like a waste of time and effort.

Other Comments:

-Wes Ball returns as the director and T.S. Nowlin returns as the screenwriter.

-O'Brien was injured in the stunt that opens the film.  The injury was enough to halt filming for almost a year.

-A solid ending to the franchise.

-As usual, the book is better.  I suggest starting with the novels, and then watching the films.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018) 143 minutes

Rating: PG-13 for intense scenes of sci-fi violence and action, language, and some thematic elements

Director: Wes Ball

Starring: Dylan O'Brien as Thomas

Ki Hong Lee as Minho

Kaya Scodelario as Teresa

Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Newt

Dexter Darden as Frypan

Will Pouler as Gally

Jacob Lofland as Aris

Rosa Salazar as Brenda

Giancarlo Esposito as Jorge

Patricia Clarkson as Ava Paige

Aidan Gillen as Janson

Barry Pepper as Vince