Catch A Christmas Star (2013)

Although it's admittedly a very cheap movie, Catch A Christmas Star tries to do the best it can with limited resources. And its main resource is the lovely Shannon Elizabeth, which was enough to keep me happy for most of the runtime.

Elizabeth plays a pop star, Nikki Crandon, who is about to head back to her home town for a big Christmas concert and a major push for her latest album. As she arrives in town, one young girl (Julia Lalonde) finds out that her widowed father (Steve Byers) used to date Nikki. In fact, he may still hold a candle for her. The girl heads off, with little brother (Kyle Harrison Breitkopf) in tow, to make something happen. She just doesn't really know how to do it.

Directed by John Bradshaw, and written by Rickie Castaneda, I have to say that this is better than some of their other collaborations. There are a number of fairly painless songs throughout the soundtrack, the characters are all enjoyable enough, and the main romantic hurdle - seeing what can happen under the glare of the media spotlight - is a fun one that hasn't been overused, in my experience anyway.

The leads help immensely. Elizabeth is always watchable, Byers is nice enough for the main potential romance to be believable, Lalonde and Breitkopf are both good, with the former shining extra bright in a couple of scenes that allow her to show some solid acting chops, and Christopher Jacot is fairly amusing as Carmine, assistant to Elizabeth's character, and also a friend when she needs one most.

What really doesn't help is the fact that the film incorporates moments that should have been left to the imagination. A major pop star making a TV appearance at a major event? Feel free to just play some audio and show the reactions of other characters instead of placing Elizabeth and some other unfortunate actress in front of some inferior green screen work. A major pop star performing a major concert? Again, perhaps audio work would be best, or to just skip over that moment entirely, instead of showing some stock crowd footage before cutting to . . . . . . . . . . . . . a shot that shows us the backs of about a dozen people, at most, pretending to be part of a huge crowd event. It just doesn't work. Even focusing on shots that JUST show Elizabeth singing away doesn't help. Viewers will watch the scene and keep thinking that this is a big-budget moment created for about $10.

I guess you could take off a point or two if you don't like Shannon Elizabeth as much as I do, which is a lot, but you may be pleasantly surprised to find that there are enough other nice touches here, outwith the budgetary constraints, to make this worth a watch. I'm not going to stake my reputation on it though. Mainly because it's too big a gamble, but also because I have NO reputation worth staking.

4/10

Can't find this on shiny disc just now, but here are some other festive flicks to consider - http://www.amazon.com/Family-Christmas-Collection-Cupid-Boston/dp/B00DNLZRXI/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1418577845&sr=8-13&keywords=catch+a+christmas+star

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

Christmas Magic (2011)

Here we go. This is more like it. The typical TV movie that appears in the weeks leading up to Christmas, one that takes a half-recognisable star name (hey, you all may not know who the hell Lindy Booth is but I like her so don't start with the sarcasm yet) and drops her/him into a half-baked, lazy story that assumes holly and fairy lights are enough to distract viewers from the fact that they're watching rubbish.

Booth plays a career-minded young woman who uses her mobile phone while driving through some bad weather and ends up crashing. When she comes to she finds out that she's an angel. No wings, no halo, but an angel nonetheless, and one with a job to do. That job is to cheer up Scott Walker (Paul McGillion - think of Norm McDonald with absolutely no sense of humour and you're there) and to get him to rediscover some Christmas spirit. Scott has a lovely young daughter (Kiara Glasco) to look after, a failing restaurant, and some musical talent that he's left to stagnate since the death of his wife some years ago.

It beggars belief that it took three people to write this thing. Joany Kane, Kevin Commins and Rickie Castaneda. Kane came up with the original story, which means that the three of them had to put their heads together for a few days to . . . . . pretend to be fleshing it all out, I guess. Director John Bradshaw then simply had to set up the cameras, ensure that they weren't moved much, and make every set and design choice in line with the work that you would see on some cheap daytime soap opera.

Booth does gain the film some bonus points, she's a pleasant enough presence in the lead role and if you like her (as I do) then you should find this at least bearable, and Glasco is alright as the typical lovely child only found in these kinds of movies. Not once does she ever try to beg for a new games console or super duper toy, and she seems perfectly adjusted to her life, despite having a father with such major hang-ups. Derek McGrath isn't too bad either, playing the angel who gives Booth her assignment, and Tricia Braun and Teresa Pavlinek both benefit from having limited screentime. They're not bad, but they don't get much chance to dissuade us of that opinion anyway. McGillion, on the other hand, is just a wet blanket sitting in the middle of proceedings. I know that his character has suffered, hence the need for a magical intervention, but he's still just too uncharismatic to really be bothered about. In fact, he becomes downright irritating at times.

If you're happy to watch the kind of film in which strangers can meet up and then, within minutes, one can offer to help promote a business, and also offer to help babysit a young girl, then this might be passable entertainment for you. But bear in mind that it also has a rubbish song included, one that is used a few times during the third act.

It will kill just over 90 minutes, sure, but it may also kill off a little bit of your goodwill.

3/10

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