fran-veal Reviews

Frasier (2023– )

Optimistic beginnings

[8/10 · 17 October 2023]

I don't understand all the hate. No, this isn't the original Fraser, without John Mahoney, David Hyde Pierce and Jane Leeves it couldn't be.

Here's what I loved about it:

1. In spite of Fraser and Lilith's obsessive over parenting in trying to push Freddy into what they wanted him to be, he drops out of Harvard to become a firefighter. (I would have loved to be a fly on the walk to see Lilith's head spinning off for that one!) 2. Jack Cutmore-Scott is brilliant. His lines were well delivered and I can see him out pompousing Fraser.

3. The homage to Martin Crane was sweet and tender and had me in tears.

Has it gelled yet? No. But it took a few episodes for the original Fraser to come together. I think people should give it a chance.

A Christmas Story Christmas (2022)

In the Spirit of the Original

[10/10 · 18 November 2022]

A Christmas Story Christmas picks up with Ralph Parker and family anticipating a visit from his mom and "the old man" for Christmas. A phone call from his mother changes everything, and Ralph and family pack up the car to drive back home.

With his father gone, Ralph feels the burden of creating the perfect Christmas for his family. Everything he plans goes wrong, but in A Christmas Story fashion, everything manages to turn out ok, anyway.

I went into A Christmas Story Christmas cautiously optimistic. I knew Peter Billingsley wanted to create a story that was true to the original.

He absolutely succeeded.

I found myself laughing as I watched Ralph bungle his way through Christmas. The cast includes the characters (played by the original actors) of Flick, Schwartz, Randy and even Scut Farkus. Flick even gets his revenge for the flag pole incident when they were kids. Rounding out the cast are Ralph's wife and children, each of whom have some memorable scenes of their own.

Congratulations, Mr. Billingsley. I think you have another classic on your hands.

NCIS: Los Angeles: Ninguna Salida (2018) Season 9, Episode 24

Mosley is a liability.

[6/10 · 9 April 2022]

Mosley's character is hit or miss with me, but there is NO WAY someone who had a child with an arms dealer could have ever, by any stretch of the imagination, become Assistant Director of NCIS or any other federal agency, She's what you call a liability. She's compromised. And no, you can't hide something that big. She would have been re-vetted with each promotion and the child and his parentage would have come out. The fact that his father had him in his custody would have been found out and she not only would have lost out on the promotion, she would have been dismissed..

I know the show can be a stretch, but this story arc had more holes than Swiss cheese.

Doctor Who: Flux: Chapter Six - The Vanquishers (2021) Season 13, Episode 6

Over all, I liked it

[6/10 · 1 January 2022]

Over all, I liked it, but egads, the makeup for swarm and Azure was terrible. Swarm looks like someone mixed a bunch of pain together (sort of) and threw it on him. And what's with the stuff sticking out of his head? And the whole "noseless skeletal" look has been done and overdone in this series. Azure is even worse. The glitter makeup is like a Halloween costume gone bad. It's 2021, and we've come to expect a little more from special effects. So distracting I couldn't tell you much about their scenes.

Doctor Who: Flux: Chapter Six - The Vanquishers (2021) Season 13, Episode 6

Having a hard time with the lazy make-up

[6/10 · 1 January 2022]

The makeup jobs for Swarm and Azure were absolutely distracting. Swarm looks like someone swirled a bunch of paint together and threw it on him. And what's with all the stuff sticking out of his head? And the skeletal "noseless" look has been overdone in this series. Gold teeth? Azure is even worse. All that glitter looks like a Halloween costume gone wrong. I couldn't tell you anything about any of their scenes because I couldn't get past the fact that they looked like poorly made up actors and not actual characters. Ugh.

Christmas in Washington (2021 TV Movie)

I only watched 10 min

[4/10 · 20 December 2021]

I'm giving this a 4 to give it the benefit of the doubt because I could only sit through about 10 minutes of this. Maybe I'm burnt out on Christmas movies this year, but the acting of the woman who played the ambassador's assistant was cringeworthy. The whole first scene at the embassy seemed more like a bad dress rehearsal. Damon Runyon is normally one of my favorites, but even his acting seemed awkward and stilted. Since he's normally pretty good, I have to blame the director. I know these Lifetime movies are lower budget and they probably don't have time for a lot of takes, but your first scenes are what draw the viewer in. This one's early scenes had me flipping the channel.

My First Miracle (2015)

Hidden gem

[10/10 · 19 December 2021]

I don't understand why this movie has such a low rating. The story is sweet and innocent. A chance encounter brings the lives of a homeless man, a homeless teen, and a teen dying of cancer together in a story of hope and redemption.

The boy, Brandon, is homeless because he attacked his foster father to keep him from harming his little sister. He feel hopeless and afraid because of what he's done. He's on the run, but desperate to get back to his sister.

Angelica, the girl with cancer is waiting for a bone marrow donor. She is in treatment which stops when her exhausted father loses his job for falling asleep one too many times. Her family's once strong faith is wavering and the click is ticking.

Charlie, the homeless man, is a veteran who drinks to numb the pain and suffering of who he was, what he's experienced, and what he lost. He and Brandon look out for each other, and their relationship reminds us that just because someone is different from us, does not mean anyone is discounted in God's eyes.

Angelica and Brandon have several chance meetings, but those watching will understand nothing really happens by chance. They start to fall for each other, but there story seems hopeless as time starts running out for. Angelica.

The ending may be predictable, but it blew me away. Miracles happen every day, we just don't often watch for them. I highly recommend this movie.

A Kiss Before Christmas (2021 TV Movie)

One of James Denton's Best Performances

[9/10 · 18 December 2021]

I've been a fan of James Denton all the way back to his role as the bad guy Mr. Lyle on the Pretender. That said, he really sells this role as a good guy tempted to compromise his principles in order to get that bump in salary to give his family all those extras he feels they need and deserve.

Denton and Terri Hatcher have an undeniable onscreen chemistry. Their scenes together are electric, and you can really see them as a couple. The story is sweet, and you can really feel Denton's character's desperation to get back to his real life and to his family.

Definitely the best Hallmark Christmas movie this season.

The Nine Kittens of Christmas (2021 TV Movie)

Kittens, Zach and Maralee

[10/10 · 27 November 2021]

People complain of Hallmark's lack of originality, then complain when a sequel throws a curve ball. In this sequel, instead of finding Zach and Maralee planning their wedding (like every Hallmark sequel) we find that Maralee chose to complete her vet residency (not change vet schools as several others mentioned) across the country after Zach exhibits a bout of cold feet when she pushes for more in their relationship and he "doesn't want to mess up what they have".

In real life, this would not be an atypical response for someone like Zach who watched his parents' disaster of a marriage. Real life is fraught with fear and mistakes, and Zach makes what he later calls the biggest mistake of his life by letting Maralee go and not going after her. This is actually where the plot of a lot Hallmark movies pick up - AFTER a couple that has sworn their undying love for each other has broken up over one of them leaving to for a school/job then suddenly find themselves thrown together for Christmas. Viewers just aren't invested in the old relationship because they didn't witness it and can flow with the magic of the renewed relationship.

That said, I loved watching Zach and Marilee reconnecting over 9 abandoned kittens, each pretending it was just for the sake of finding the kittens homes. In a way, the roles are reversed . In the first movie, Zach was the unattainable ladies' man that Marilee had a crush on and whose heart she finally wins. In this one, Maralee is the successfully business owner, confident and sure of herself, and Zach is the one who, having messed up before, has to show her he's changed and work to win her back. Their first onscreen kiss is passionate and uninhibited, and you feel the heat of two people who know deep down that the love is still most definitely there.

And then there's the kittens, Ambrose (adorable as ever) and Maralee's new cat, Duchess. Zach and Maralee still talk to their kitties and the cats still play a part in bringing them together. I thought the movie was great and found it refreshing to see a little bit of a shakeup in the plot.

Don't Breathe (2016)

Plot with more holes than Swiss cheese

[5/10 · 23 May 2021]

This entire review is a spoiler, so stop reading now if you want to watch and be "surprised".

I watched the movie because I happen to like Jane Levy, although her character was despicable in this movie. I won't bore you with the plot of the movie which has been discussed by other reviewers, I'll go straight to those irritating plot holes.

1. Why would a blind man live in the middle of an abandoned neighborhood, far away from neighbors and modern conveniences like a grocery store?

2. The devise used to make you lose sympathy for the blind army vet was an extremely contrived plot trick. It turns out he's a kidnapper holding the girl who killed his daughter in a hit and run hostage. Oh, and she's carrying his child. Now it's "ok" to root for the degenerates who broke into the home of a man who, in all probability, lost his sight defending this country.

3. And speaking of the hostage, how did the blind man manage to kidnap her, anyway? Did he lure her to the abandoned property? Hire someone to grab her? How did a blind man set up her room with mattresses, extra lighting (the only well lit part of the house), etc?

4. The kidnapped girl happens to have a newspaper clipping of her hit and run case where she was declared innocent, as if any millennials actually read newspapers and don't get their news off the net.

5. The dog. There's a vicious dog that the criminals drug and leave chained in the yard who magically manages to get unchained and into a house that is locked tight with no doggy door.

6. There are tools and objects all over the house that could be used as weapons, but the criminals never think to use them.

7. The blind vet- we are led to believe that he would have super human strength and agility, as well as being able to appear out of nowhere one minute, and stumbling to find his way the next. Oh, and he's able to track Levy's character in an open area outside of his home, traveling blocks away, by sound when echos are bouncing off everything.

8. The police find the vet in the basement where someone has obviously been held captive and blood spray that would not have cone from his injuries and just close the case as simple breaking and entering where the homeowner killed the perpetrators. Pu-lease.

A Nashville Christmas Carol (2020 TV Movie)

Cute movie with lots of Nashville touches

[8/10 · 5 December 2020]

As a native Middle Tennessean, I have to start off by saying I've only seen that much snow that stuck around in December- like- never. In fact, it almost never snows until January, unless you count the flurries we had last week that were gone by morning. That aside, I really loved the movie. Jessie Schram is one of my holiday faves, and she lit up the screen, as always. I loved that much of the movie was actually filmed in Nashville (instead of Canada), and I even recognized several of the street scenes. Unlike other reviewers, I found the country stars charming in their roles, especially Wynonna Judd, in a Marley- type role, and the multi-talented Kix Brooks (you should check out his wine label, Arrington Vineyards) as the Ghost of Christmas Past. The story was a sweet addition to the Hallmark lineup. It's actually my favorite so far this year.

Star Trek: Voyager: Natural Law (2001) Season 7, Episode 21

Missed an opportunity

[6/10 · 3 August 2019]

I loved Voyager, but some of the episodes were hit or miss. For me, this episode was a miss because you had Seven and Chakotay stranded on a planet, but nothing was done to develop the relationship that was dumped on us in Endgame just two episodes later.

We already know Seven has a bit of a crush on Chakotay from the Human Error episode earlier in the season. Rather than allowing a relationship to build naturally over several episodes, it's sprung on us as an afterthought.

The episode itself was kind of meh, although I did enjoy the performance of a young Autumn Reeser as one of the natives.

I'll skip all the Prime Directive dialogue that's been discussed in other reviews, but yeah- there's that too.