I am NOT a critic. I'm merely an observer. (Books, movies, plays, musicals etc.)

A World War II veteran (Chris Klein) returns home and befriends a young widow (Gretchen Mol) and a mute boy (Zach Mills).-Google Search Initial release: 2007 Director: Brent Shields Story by: Terry Kay Adapted from: The V alley of Light This movie left me speechless for the longest time.  When I saw that CHRIS KLEIN starred in this movie, and he was a soldier, I thought the story was going to be similar to A WALK IN THE CLOUDS.  Boy, I was wrong.  This is very different from it. Almost everything in this movie is pleasant, except for a few things, and one of those things broke my heart. For those who don't want to feel the world on their shoulders after watching a movie, you shouldn't worry, because even if the movie left me speechless for quite some time, it was able to leave a smile on my face when it was through. Of all the Hallmark movies in this category, this is definitely one of my favourites. Mr. Klein has very good chemistry with Ms. GRETCHEN MOL. T...

The Original Kim and The Silver Anniversary Kim 🌏 Disclaimer:  This is NOT a religious blog entry Note:  I have shelved this blog entry for decades.  #LatePost  Today, in the year 2019, I will finally post what I think about this musical.  Honestly, I originally wrote this ages ago, but this blog entry also includes my thoughts about the other productions, so this is updated .  I am not expecting anyone to read this(thanks to the few that already did), but if you do, I hope you get to read this until the end.  Thanks in advance. source MISS SAIGON is still the biggest vehicle that brought a lot of my country people to glory, most especially Ms. LEA SALONGA who became more than a household name.  She was critically acclaimed worldwide, won awards, and her name became like a banner...an emblem for our country.  Through Miss Saigon, Ms. Salonga had a lot of projects with Disney and elsewhere. I had a chance to audition...

Directed by  Gary Yates Story by  Les Alexander and Rob Gilmer Teleplay by Rob Gilmer  and Julie Sherman Wolfe DANICA MCKELLAR has always been beautiful, but she was extra lovely in this made for TV movie.  She and KAVAN SMITH looked good together, and I must say that they also looked naturally attracted, and later in love with one another. Those who hate that the couple only gets to kiss each other in the end would be happy to know that Kavan and Danica...I mean, Nick and Molly, shared kisses more than once. The flow of the story was smooth, and I particularly enjoyed the presence of Mr. BRUCE BOXLEITNER. The "other" couple in this movie was played by CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL and TAMMY GILLIS.  They are both seasoned actors and did their respective parts well. I just had a minor issue between Mr. Smith and Mr. Boxleitner.  I didn't see any resemblance between them.  Thankfully, I remembered that the mom, Clarissa, wasn't show...

Directed by Kevin Connor Written by Matt Marx Relationship therapist, Jessica Bender (Becca Tobin), has finished her book, “Do I Say I Do?”, finally fulfilling her contract with her ex-boyfriend Mike’s (Ryan Kelley) publishing company. Jessica’s excitement at being done with Mike is tempered when he reminds her of a clause in her contract, which obligates her to do promotional videos for the company’s website. As they are forced to work closely together, Jessica begins to realize that she may still have feelings for her ex. - PixL Not everyone liked this movie, but I did.  It has one main story and more or less four side stories.   The side stories: 1) The "other" client of Pryce Books, Robert Vincent, as played by JACK COLEMAN; 2) The couple in therapy as played by JASON LONDON and NICHOLLE TOM; 3) The love triangle inside Pryce Books' premises involving Hannah(JASMIN SAVOY BROWN), Connor(DENZEL WHITAKER) and Whitney(KARA ROYSTER); 4) and the love and riv...

From Google images Directed by Peter DeLuise Written by Betsy Morris Samantha returns home for her town’s winter festival to celebrate her father’s retirement from coaching. Her hopes for a quiet visit are dashed when she discovers NFL quarterback and high school sweetheart Jake is also there. Stars Lindy Booth, Trevor Donovan, Joe Theismann, and Ed Marinaro. - The Hallmark Channel TREVOR DONOVAN and LINDY BOOTH looked so good onscreen that they looked like a real couple.  They weren't Trevor and Lindy, but instead, they were Jake and Samantha. Two old flames who started out as childhood friends until they had a falling out. The movie did not lack conflict, but what's great about this movie is that it's not mostly conflict.  It's about rediscovering each other, and so much more. It's also about priorities, true happiness, family, friendship, sports, literacy... I liked the flow of the story. It's well-written, well-directed, and well-acted. Th...

Directed by Alex Wright Written for Television by Michael Nourse based on the book by Richard Paul Evans Kim Ross (Witt), an aspiring romance novelist, finds herself unceremoniously dumped by her soon-to-be-published romance novelist boyfriend, Garth. She decides to take a leap and signs up for a romance writing retreat at a quaint Vermont Inn shortly before Christmas. There, a top romance novelist is scheduled to attend. Shortly after Kim's arrival she meets Zeke, whom she finds to be intrusive. As luck would have it, he ends up being her assignment partner and worse yet, the ex-boyfriend is also at the retreat. Despite various bumps Kim manages to step outside her comfort zone, surprising herself. Even more surprising is the unstoppable attraction that seems to be building between her and Zeke, that will change her life in ways she never imagined. Based on the bestselling novel by Richard Paul Evans. Written by nadawi95 If you asked me to choose who the most effective ch...

Father and daughter Casey and Heather Twain own and operate Paradise Ranch, a combination working/5-star dude ranch outside of Big Sky, Montana, the dude part of the ranch which is just about to open for the season. They decide to hire actor Avery Ford for a promotional event to mark the opening, Avery the star of the "Aim to Please" series of westerns, which Casey, a once famous cowboy in his own right, loves. What the Twains have failed to tell Avery or his agent Candace is that the ranch, whose 5 stars are based solely on authenticity and not luxuries, has been losing more and more business each year, where another failing year will mean the loss of the ranch, which has been in the family for generations. The PR event is a last ditch effort to have a good enough season to pay off their creditors. An amoral developer named Guthrie is just waiting for the ranch to fail so that he can buy it for a song and turn it into condos, despite he coming from a ranching background h...

note:  This is not really a review...it's more of my personal feelings and observations about this movie Written by Christina Hodson Directed by Travis Knight Wow.  I think this is my favourite Transformers movie.  I was actually thinking of how I would be able to give justice to this movie, but I also did not want to overthink it. After my fight with my thrombosis in the legs and thighs this was the second movie I watched inside a theatre, but the only one I want to talk about.  The first one was good, but it didn't really touch my heart that much.  To each his own. I really like this prequel.  The timeline of this movie is three years after I became aware of Hasbro's Transformers.  A lot of people love/loved it, but of course, there were those who didn't because they thought it was too cheesy/sappy. Some were saying they did not like it because it lacked originality, but didn't they realise that the script was actually paying homage to...

While planning a fundraising event, a small New England town’s radio station manager meets her match in a visiting businessman who can’t seem to see beyond the screen of his laptop computer, until she ropes him into participating in her bachelor bake-off to help save the station. Starring Taylor Cole and Tyler Hynes .- Hallmark Channel Director: Peter DeLuise Writers: Joie Botkin (teleplay), Jessica Gilmore (novel: " Baking for Keeps ") TAYLOR COLE is not on top of my list of favourite actors, but I like her enough to keep on watching her.  There were movies not so memorable, but there were those that made me feel giddy all over. This movie, although did not make me feel giddy all over, gave me good feelings afterward. For those wishing that Hallmark movies would have more kisses than only during the ending, then this is your movie. The two lead characters don't try to hide their feelings or anything like that.  Their issues are beyond those feelings. This ...

Directed by MIKE ROHL Written by Mark Amato When I learned BRITTANY BRISTOW was in this movie, I wondered why she wasn't the Royal Matchmaker.  It's not that I don't like BETHANY JOY LENZ, because I do.  I just wondered, that's all.  When I came to terms with it, I thought Brittany's role would end up with the Prince's Valet, Victor(JOSEPH THOMPSON), but... Anyways, I am writing about this because I like the story...the acting is good, but I just didn't see the chemistry between Bethany and WILL KEMP. Will's eyes did not glow when Bethany was around.  The story obviously pointed to that direction, but the acting, though I reiterate was good, did not make us see what the King(SIMON DUTTON) saw. I remember when I was in love with someone ages ago, one of my friends said, "I don't see any chemistry between the two of you." It turned out she was right.  I remembered that friend when I was watching this movie because that's how ...

( source ) Directed by James Hayman Writing Credits (WGA) David Kendall , Bob Young, Stephanie Phillips , and Mark Amato This made for TV movie was intelligently written, directed well, and well-acted. I thought it was the same old story...well, it was kind of hinted that some of the plot was taken from An Officer and a Gentleman,  but boy, I like how teamwork proved in important in every aspect of this movie. The story is fun, and still managed to be wholesome. There were lots of laughs, of course, but there were touching moments too. I'm all praises for this movie.   Would I watch it again? Most probably. :-) Thanks for your time.  

Director: Rachel Lee Goldenberg Writer: Dayan Ballweg (screenplay by) (as Patrick J. Hobby) What?  Another "My childhood friend is my soulmate!" type of movie.  Haven't I had enough? Thankfully I did not look for another thing to view the day that I watched this because I would have missed this gem of a made for TV movie. This movie is truly audio-visual, and it is advisable to really watch and LISTEN to everything they say.   Miss Havisham in Great Expectations: Description & Character Analysis Words getting in the way is an understatement for this movie, and there's that "thing" called pride too... ...well, maybe there's that "thing" called perfect timing too. Hmm...Which is which?   Would you just let someone get away?  Would you let the ship sail to the Bermuda Triangle?  What if you kept waiting for the perfect timing, but it never happens?  Why don't you just take the risk rather than watching from...

Written by Marcy Holland and Justine Cogan Gunn Directed by Jem Garrard There have been many cooking shows in the past that have been tackled in a lot of love stories in different forms, and different formulae have been tried and tested for these types of programs or movies, or what-have-you, and some of those formulae have been used in this movie, but I still love this movie because it still offered some uniqueness in how problems were dealt with, and how the love story developed. ALI LIEBERT and BRETT DALTON have a good onscreen chemistry, and they surely made my heart flutter more than once, and those two kids, ARIA BIRCH and CHRISTIAN MICHAEL COOPER as Becca and Cody respective, are naturals.  🍳 Honestly, I read some reviews and some were saying that the two lead characters lack chemistry.  I beg to differ.  There's magic between them. Another person said they lacked conflict...gosh, does the conflict really have to be between them?  Besides, ...

When Carly plans Snowden Peak's Snow Ball with Jesse , their attraction is undeniable. But when Carly's twin, Prince Gustav , arrives her royal identity is nearly exposed. As Jesse and Carly decide to hold the ball at Summit Lodge, they make the gala a fundraiser to turn the resort into a year-round destination. But without a celebrity draw, investors aren't interested, and Snowden Peak is put up for sale. Too bad no one knows any royalty who could entice affluent socialites to the gala, which could raise enough money to make Snowden Peak a four-season resort for royalty and commoners alike. Written by  Hallmark Directed by Allan Harmon   Written by Erinne Dobson You guessed it right.  Whether you saw the trailer/teaser or not, you would know in your mind that it's a royal meets commoner story.  Yes, another one of those ... Yet, there's something delightful about this story.  The attack  is different, and the Royal Family, and the friend who is ...

Bungee, Jen Lilley and Kevin McGarry There are moments when we get to spend a lot of times with a certain somebody, we get along, then just when we think we are going up the next level, something happens that could drive you both apart.  This story is something like that.  Our main characters are both writers here.  They have a good following, and they go on tour together.  Most of the time it's just the two of them plus dear Bungee the Dog.  Without the two main characters saying anything directly, everyone who is watching sees and feels what the two of them feel. The two kind of sense "it" too, but when the two of you don't really get to talk about "it", there would conclusions  that would probably be jumped at, on, or whatever...that maybe one of you just imagined everything that transpired between the two of you...the two of them, I mean. Even if there is that formulaic thing again, I like this story because even there were misunderstandings,...

( source ) Wicked (musical album) The Soundtrack WICKED: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz The songs have been inspiring me even before I watched the musical and learned the story. All the while I thought I knew what the real  story is, but little did I know that this musical is sorta, kinda, an inside story of what really  happened in the Land of Oz.   It was when I finally watched this musical that I realised that it was a comedy, because  I kept laughing and laughing, but I also learned that this story is  deeper than the ocean, and higher than the sky.  We may be laughing about the antics of Glinda(Galinda) and some other characters, including Elphaba,  but this is a political farce created by spin doctors headed by the Wizard and that Professor Morrible.   Music Stephen Schwartz Lyrics Stephen Schwartz Book Winnie Holzman Basis Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by...

Director: Gary Yates Writers: Eric Brooks, Erinne Dobson (based on characters created by) This is the sequel to ONE WINTER WEEKEND This movie is the second installment about these two couples.  This time the ones experiencing the infamous Hallmark prelude  to a kiss/kisses are Megan(RUKIYA BERNARD) and Sean(DEWSHANE WILLIAMS), and the main couple, Cara and Ben, kiss almost every time, but not enough to freak other people out.  It's actually sweet every time they smack or really kiss.  If you are a Hallmark viewer, you would know that it is not every time an almost  couple kiss more than once.  It's usually just before the story ends.  There usually something happens before a couple could kiss, like someone would call one of them, a phone rings, or what have you, so many Hallmark viewers are happy about Cara and Ben. Cara and Ben are played by TAYLOR COLE and JACK TURNER, and this is the third time they play a couple.  They actual...