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Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus, a review by addicted2dvd

Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus (2004/United States) IMDb |Wikipedia | Goodtimes Entertainment Director: Harvey Frost Writing: Pamela Wallace (Writer) Length: 85 min. Rating: NR Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo Subtitles:

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Stars:
Steve Guttenberg as Nick
Crystal Bernard as Beth
Dominic Scott Kay as Jake
Thomas Calabro as Andrew
Armin Shimerman as Ernst
Sebastian Tillinger as Hennesy

Plot:
Steve Guttenberg (Three Men and a Baby), Crystal Bernard (Wings), and Thomas Calabro (Melrose Place) star in a Christmas charmer about Santa's son and his search for a wife. Nick (Guttenberg) is due to replace his retiring father, and needs a Mrs. Claus, so Santa's advisor sends him down to Southern California. There he meets Beth Sawtelle (Bernard), a workaholic whose advertising job with Andrew West (Calabro) leaves precious little timefor her son, Jake (Dominic Scott Kay). Concealing his identity, Nick stars in a series of Christmas commercials for the agency as he tries to make sure Jake and Beth both believe in Santa Claus-no easy task in her case!

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Bonus Trailers

This one I really enjoyed a lot. I enjoyed the storyline... I liked the cast. I basically found myself hooked from the very beginning of the movie. This one I can see myself watching every year at this time. This is a made for TV movie that originally aired on Lifetime. It is just a sweet and innocent holiday film. If you enjoy a good Christmas film this time of year I definitely recommend giving this one a chance. I don't think you will be sorry.



(From Christmas Reviews 2014 on December 20th, 2014)

Taken, a review by goodguy

Taken (FR 2008) Written by: Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen Directed by: Pierre Morel Starring: Liam Neeson DVD: R2-UK Fox (Feb. 9, 2009; Extended Cut) My rating: -

Cover blurb: Liam Neeson stars in this action-packed international thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. When his estranged daughter is kidnapped in Paris, a former spy (Neeson) sets out to find her at any cost. Relying on his special skills, he tracks down the ruthless gang that abducted her and launches a one-man war to bring them to justice and rescue his daughter.

Frankly, it escapes me why everyone seems to think Taken is "Da Shit" and Punisher: War Zone is, well, just shit. Both are pretty violent action movies that can be enjoyed to some degree with the right mindset, or more precisely, the mind checked out at the door for a bowl of popcorn. Yes, one tries to be more gritty and real, the other one more comicbook-like and gory, but they are really not that different.

Except: While PWZ knows it is just trash, Taken is pretentious and manipulative. So it spends half an hour of its short 90min running time to setup its paper-thin characters, and it casts a serious actor as protagonist instead of a B-list one. Well, that doesn't work, because it raises expectations beyond the realm of mindless fun, and the script is unable to meet them.

For a vastly superior and really brilliant take on the "black ops guy rescues girl from sex slavery" scenario, I recommend David Mamet's largely ignored Spartan (2004), starring Val Kilmer.


(From goodguy's Watch Log on June 15th, 2009)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

24
Midnight. Jack Bauer, head of the CIA's Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit, is suddenly thrust into a chaotic and exhausting 24-hour marathon of death, deception and terror as he struggles to prevent the assassination of a presidential candidate, find the traitor within his own organization, and save his kidnapped wife and daughter.

12:00 AM - 1:00 AM
Moments after discovering his daughter Kimberly has snuck out of the house, Jack Bauer is called into work. As head of the CIA's Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit office, he's told that an assassination attempt will be made on the life of presidential candidate David Palmer and it's up to his team of agents to keep Palmer alive. Meanwhile, Jack's wife, Teri, also sets out to find their daughter.

My Thoughts:
This is a great start to the series. I really enjoyed every minute of watching it again. A good introduction to the characters and an interesting story. The main drawback to watching this type of series for this type of marathon is the fact that after watching the pilot episode you really don't want to stop.

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on October 26th, 2009)