Christmas Festival Of Ice (2017)

You know how it is. You slave away for years, working on a career in the world of law, being an upstanding member of the community, life opening up ahead of you like an oyster about to show you the biggest, shiniest pearl. Everything could be yours for the taking, if only you could satisfy that insatiable urge to indulge in some ice sculpting.

As ridiculous as that sounds, that's only a slightly exaggerated summary of this movie, which is indeed about a young woman (Emma, played by Taylor Cole) who tries to balance her legal career with the chance to do some ice sclupting in the run up to Christmas. It is something she always used to do with her father, and it's bad news when the town decides that they can't afford to have it as part of the festivities this year. Asking what can be done about it, Emma is told that the council may be able to put up $5000 if she can raise the other $15000, which would then be enough to let everyone have their ice sculpting fun again. Emma sets out to raise the funds, and she also meets another local talent (Nick, played by Damon Runyan), so the scene MAY be set for a third act involving ice, the sculpting of that ice, and the warm glow of affection in the cold weather of Christmas. Maybe.

Directed by Bradley Walsh (for UK folks, like me, I don't think it is THAT Bradley Walsh . . . . but please let me know if I am very incorrect in that assumption) and written by David Golden, this is another harmless bauble to fill up the TV schedules at this time of year. While the premise may seem a bit sillier than some, it really isn't. Let's face it, so many of these Christmas movies revolve around someone deciding whether to be safe and sensible or whether to pursue their true love.

Cole is bright and pleasant enough in the lead role, making up for the fact that Runyan is a bit, well, dull (not his fault, he's just not given anything more to his character than whatever leads to him being compatible with Cole's character). The rest of the cast all hit their marks, smile or look concerned as required, and are just a-okay. Teagan Vincze does her best with a small role, standing out more than anyone else, but this is a film about ice sculpting that doesn't even have enough great ice sculptures dotted around. There are a few impressive pieces, but I was hoping to see a LOT more.

It may not have too much magic sprinkled over it, and it somehow feels a lot less Christmassy than many of the other Christmas movies I have watched in recent weeks, but this still isn't that bad. For this kind of thing.

4/10

Here is a large selection of Christmas movies to enjoy.
And American elves can pick the same set up here.

One Starry Christmas (2014)

I just don't understand it. I'm easily pleased, I'm often about as easily pleased as you can get, and yet there are still movies that come along that get my rage rising from almost the very first scene, despite having the resources available to do better. The worst thing for a movie to do is be dull, but it's also terrible when a film feels lazy, and gives the sense that viewers aren't being treated with anything other than disdain. As is the case with One Starry Christmas.

Sarah Carter plays Holly Jensen, a young woman (and astronomer, hence the title) who heads back to visit her folks for Christmas, also hoping to surprise her potential fiance (Paul Popowich). She ends up sitting on a bus alongside a genuine cowboy type (Damon Runyan), which proves fortunate when the bus breaks down and Mr. Gentleman Cowboy helps her out. To repay the favour, she ends up inviting him for a bite to eat with her folks, who then end up inviting him to Christmas dinner, insisting that he also brings along his brother. The potential fiance isn't too happy about this, but that's okay because he's a bit of a douchebag anyway. Sort of. Well, the movie needs to paint him that way to lead everyone to a predictable final act.

Rickie Castaneda is the man responsible for this weak script, one that alternates between Christmas cliches and cowboy cliches (of course he has great manners, and of course he opts to show everyone how to line dance when the opportunity arises). Director John Bradshaw does nothing to distract from the horrible material, presenting everything in a flat, plain manner that seems to show a complete lack of imagination/interest.

Carter, Popowich and Runyan all try to do something decent, I suppose, with what they're given, but none of them make a great impression. Actually, I'm telling a small lie there because I spent a lot of the movie considering just how much time Popowich spent bemoaning the fact that he would always be "the guy who looks like Paul Rudd, but isn't Paul Rudd". Kathleen Laskey and Neil Crone do better, however, in the role of Holly's parents. Both believe in a very romantic idea of love, although the former is more open and vocal about it while the latter sometimes hides behind humour to tease more of a reaction from his wife. George Canyon gets to join Runyan in the "who can be stuck playing a more cliched cowboy?" performance stakes, and Daniel Karasik is a dot com millionaire who hosts a party that lets gentleman cowboy shine (yes, the line dancing occurs there).

Not JUST lazy and careless, One Starry Christmas also has one or two moments that will make you cringe with embarrassment. I feel sorry for everyone involved, who will all either go on to build a CV that this will be omitted from or end up stuck in permanent TV movie hell.*

*Not that all TV movies are bad. But the bad ones are . . . . . . . . . . BAD.

2/10

Not available on shiny disc at the moment, so go for this pack instead - http://www.amazon.com/Holiday-Romance-Collection-Movie-Pack/dp/B00DNLZRLU/ref=sr_1_7?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1418332695&sr=1-7&keywords=christmas+movies