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Amelia 2.0 (2017)
Amelia 0.2
If the teenage son of the owner of a local news station had to do a term paper for a first year philosophy class, and the news station owner decided it might get a better grade if it was a video, and told the crew at the station to make it, the video might come out something like "Amelia 2.0".
It's difficult to compare it to a movie or even a TV show because nowadays those almost always have relatively skilled professionals working on them, even if they have no talent. Regardless, the video addresses an interesting topic, but not in any meaningful way, and without the usual dramatic elements of fiction, even at the level of a docudrama or biopic.
It does have some competent professional actors, but they weren't given actual characters to portray, so it's sort of like they walked in off the street and were given lines to read. The editing was pretty tight though.
The Plot Against the President (2020)
Good content. Presentation could be better.
While the various tiny pieces of content are solid in and of themselves, I don't think they're stitched together into a clear story, although It might be fine for a viewer who already has a clear understanding of everything to see some people involved talking about it. The biggest criticism I have besides the lack of clarity was the unnecessary, distracting and counterproductive interview clips of some sort of shadowy hidden figure with a masked voice; the last thing this story needs is more anonymous sources.
The Amaranth (2018)
Placid and Unobtrusive
While it seems like it's going to become a melodramatic, supercilious Lifetime type movie, it ends up treating a dicey subject a pretty objectively, giving the viewer an opportunity to form their own opinion, which I find refreshing in an era when every movie and TV show seems like imperious operant conditioning for convicted thought criminals.
The Life Peddler (2020)
A Long Play at the Community Theater
This is only a film in the sense that it was filmed. It was essentially a play set it a house with two people pretending to see things. There were problems with mic placement, camera placement, etc. There was an ok plot but it didn't really have a story arc that went anywhere, and it doesn't have a score. If it's understood that it could have been written and produced in a week with no budget, it's well enough done, but it does move slowly.
Dark Light (2019)
Other than making no sense...
The actors were all attractive and competent, and the characters were written pretty well, although they were without depth. The concept was typical and it was pretty well executed. Beyond the concept, the script made no sense at all, virtually every aspect of it was complete gibberish on every level, so it has to be accepted as presented from scene to scene without any thought.
Family for Christmas (2015)
Hallmark makes horror movies?
*** SPOILERS AHEAD ****
As disturbing, dystopian horror movies and black comedies go, I thought this one was pretty good. The main character, a relatively content and successful person, is sent by a creepy "Santa" into an alternate universe (because he says she made a wish without knowing it) where she loses everything she worked her whole life towards, and is thrust into an awkward and macabre "family" where she has two "daughters" and a "husband" with whom she shares nothing in common and has no semblance of familial chemistry or even congruity.
She is forced to try to adapt to this nightmare by changing everything that made her who she is, and becoming what those people demand her to be. When she finally gets to a point where she is barely able to survive in that environment, the creepy "Santa" puts her back into her original life. The circumstances are so disorienting and traumatic for her that she finds herself unable to deal with her original life, she begs "Santa" to put her back in the alternate universe and he says he can't, and then the movie ends. I didn't notice if any credit for story inspiration was given to Franz Kafka.
For me, packaging the movie in the usual Hallmark style production elements made it even more effective as horror, and I will have difficulty sleeping. Fortunately, outside of Lacey Chabert's performance, which as always comes across as sincere and natural, there was not a single note in the movie which rang true, so I will be able to forget the experience of watching it soon. I'm glad the movie premiered in July, because I prefer not to watch horror movies during the actual Christmas season.
Cloudy with a Chance of Love (2015)
Generic, derivative, redundant, and San Diego
Hallmark seems content to take time tested formulas for plots and characters, where any weaknesses in any aspect have been chipped away, and the highest quality has been demanded of the production and creative people.
An example of something that's annoyed me about previous movies like this one... I am used to the anchorman being a stupid chauvinist jerk who hits on the lead female character, but in this movie the anchorman is a nice, smart guy who's respectful and helpful to her.
It seems to me like movies on Hallmark have gotten to a point where reductionist criticism seems pointless. The script was good, the acting was good, the sets were good, the costumes were good, the cinematography was good... but that's to be expected on Hallmark.
But I think I can safely say in some senses this movie is generic, derivative, and redundant. I don't really care though, because I liked and enjoyed it more than similar movies that came before it, and I expect to watch it again.
The dozens of mentions of San Diego did get on my nerves a little, even though I usually have no objection to subtle product placements.