lifetime movie club film festival

I could have made a small film festival just from the four I viewed today!

Yes, that's correct: a quadruple header in less than 24 hours!!!

I was off on a tangent, having found several with the same leading man, and several others with the same leading woman, and I wanted to make the most of that opportunity before the free week of viewing on Comcast came to an end.

So, that's what I did.

 

My morning had begun with Jana Kramer, a country singer as well as actress, as the lead in "Christmas In Mississippi" (2017), set in Gulfport, a town I've actually visited.

She's a photographer, back home to visit her mom (Faith Ford, Corky on "Murphy Brown"!) and ends up helping her former high school boyfriend with the holiday light festival.

Her leading man is played by Wes Brown, but her mom's is Richard Karn (Al on "The Home Improvement Show"!), and Santa is Barry Bostwick!!!

Yep, that was a very good movie, star-studded as it was!

That's when I decided to try another of her holiday films.

"A Welcome Home Christmas" came out in 2020, with her as a transition counselor for recently released Army personnel, to help them find their way back to civilian life.

Brandon Quinn is the late-thirties retiree who has been self-isolating until she gets him involved with Operation Santa Claus, the local toy drive.

She and he do a very nice duet of "Silent Night", so that was a highlight!

They also did a lot of chatting about the chemistry of love, which was a nice touch.

As for old stars still shining their light, her mom was Charlene Tilton (Lucy on "Dallas") and the general was Tim Reid (Venus Flytrap of "WKRP In Cincinnati") - very nice!

As a veteran, I definitely approved!

 

So, two up, and both were home runs!

The third one wasn't quite up to par, but it was because the chemistry was off.

In 2021's "The Holiday Fix Up", Jana was paired with Ryan McPartlin, with them playing high school sweethearts who'd split after she got picked up for a home improvement show on TV, but he was left behind.

Now, she's called back to Bell Harbor by the innkeeper to repair a hole made by bad weather, and, of course, the only handyman available to help is her old boyfriend.

The story was good, the other characters were good, but their kisses were cold.

Was it something to do with him???

 

No, that couldn't be the case, I thought. 

I recognized that he was the lead in "The Flight Before Christmas" of 2015, in which he was paired with Mayim Bialik (Amy on "The Big Bang Theory"!), seen on Wednesday.

They were both traveling strangers thrown together by bad weather as they tried to get to Boston by plane, train, and automobile - lol!

Very funny movie, lots of good mojo working there!

So maybe I should try another one with him, right?

I'm so glad I chose "Twinkle All The Way"!!!

That 2019 charmer had Ryan as a widower in the construction trades, with a first-grader.

The female lead was Sarah Drew, a divorced wedding planner who was the mother of another first-grader.

The two get paired together to decorate the stage for the school Christmas play.

Quite adorable that was, too, with little elves running all over the place!

Lesley Ann Warren (actress in several TV shows of the 1970's that I watched as a kid) played Ryan's mom, who ran the family holiday-decorating business.

This was an absolutely fabulous movie!!!

It was the last one I watched, of the dozen viewed, and I'd gladly watch it again!

I can say the same about "The 12 Days of Christmas Eve", made last year, and definitely not the same one that starred Steven Weber.

In this version, Kelsey Grammer is the businessman who needs to get his priorities straight, and he's given twelve chances to get it right between him and his daughter (played by his real daughter, Spencer Grammer).

I did like the change-ups to the manner in which he died, and I very much liked that it was Santa himself that was helping him find his way... but I liked Steven Weber better.

By the way, this was the first of the LMC movies I saw, watched on Tuesday.

The following six movies all had actors I didn't know.

They were all quite enjoyable and well done, so I wouldn't say "no" to a future viewing.

"Mistletoe & Menorahs" (2019) had Kelley Jackle as a Christmas-fanatic toy designer who lands a chance with a big company owned by a Jew, with him under the impression that she is an expert on Chanukah.

Fortunately, she gets set up with Jake Epstein, so she learns Jewish rituals while he learns all about Christmas, so his girlfriend's dad will like him.

"A Christmas Dance Reunion" (2021) finds Monique Coleman and her mom invited to the final Christmas season at the resort they once frequented before her dad died.

Corbin Bleu, her dance partner at those long-ago shows there, is elated to see her and tries to get her, now a lawyer, to slip back into some dance shoes.

The best part: ten full minutes of dancing at the movie's end!!!

"Christmas Ever After" (2020) reminded me of "The Lost City", except this time the writer (Ali Stroker) has never met the cover model (Daniel di Tomasso) on the jackets of her romances.

She always returns to Antler Lodge to finish her novels, but this time the name has been gentrified to Antler Chalet and the owner's son is running things... and he's the dreamboat that's been in her dreams ever since her first novel was printed!

Nice little extra: the lead actress, Ali Stroker, is paralyzed from the chest down and uses a wheelchair, making for some new angles in this holiday romance.

"Ghosts Of Christmas Past" (2021) Annie Clark is told by the gypsy at the office Christmas party that she needs to set things right with all the guys she's ghosted or she will never, ever, find true love... and it has to be done by Christmas.

Meanwhile, she has to finalize a video game and has been paired up with newcomer Dan Jeannotte, who she also enlists to help her find those ghosted fellows.

Be on the lookout for "Blinky 4 Ever"!

LOL!

It really was a good movie!

"Christmas Lost And Found" (2018) has Tiya Sircar home with her Grandma, who has gifted her the cardboard box of heirloom ornaments.

Her distracted self ends up putting them by the curb for trash pickup!

Fortunately, her childhood friend, Edward Ruttle, is there to help her track them down.

"Rebuilding A Dream Christmas", also called "Christmas Comes Home" (2020), had another overly busy woman, Meggan Kaiser, called to the small town she grew up in.

There's been a storm and a tree broke a window in her Grandma's old house, which is on the town's register of historic sites.

That means she has to get a permit for the repair, and Zane Stephens, her old boyfriend, is the only carpenter in town who can fix it.

LOL!

Similar story line to another, right?

Still, quite enjoyable, especially while wrapping Christmas gifts.

Thanks, Comcast!

(smile!)