Pictures of Hollis Woods - Hallmark Hall of Fame (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)Sissy Spacek is incredible in this movie portraying a woman who is an artist and has also opened her home to foster children over the years. This time she takes in a girl, Hollis Woods, who is also an artist and has been shuffled from place to place over the years. She is a hard nut to crack, but through art and patience and love a relationship of trust finally develops. But all is not well--Spacek's character is forgetting simple things and it becomes evident that she is suffering from dementia. Throughout the movie there have been flashback scenes of Hollis' previous family where she was very happy. She had spent a summer with them at their cabin, but she took upon herself the blame for an accident which reinforced a feeling she had that she brings bad things to others. Unable to cope with that, she ran away from them. Now, as she sees that she will be separated again from someone to whom she has become attached, she takes the confused woman with her to that family's summer cabin in the dead of winter, where there is no food and no phone.
There is a very heartwarming ending, which happens to take place at Christmastime, so this can be a great movie to watch with family during the holidays.
When I heard about the movie's storyline I thought it sounded too sad and I wasn't sure I wanted to see it, but having seen it, I would highly recommend it as a positive movie experience.

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Having run away from a succession of foster homes, a 12-year-old girl resorts to desperate measures to stay with the eccentric retired teacher who's made her feel like she's finally in the place where she belongs. Stars Sissy Spacek, Alfre Woodard, Judith Ivey, James Tupper, Jodelle Ferland

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Roughing It (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)I rent many DVDs for the family to watch. It's hard to find movies that will be entertaining for the kids and yet keep the interest of the adults. This is one of them. Very beautiful movie - everyone loved it. You'll laugh like crazy but the movie, like Twain himself, is often profound.

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Seventh Stream (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)An ill-fated love story set against the backdrop of a rustic Irish fishing village. Owen Quinn (Scott Glenn), widower and fisherman has been living a solitary life since his wifes' death five years ago. That all changes when an enchanting and mysterious woman with no name (Saffron Burrows) arrives in the village. She reaches out to him for help and he responds by taking her into his home. She takes the name Mairead and before long her kind and gentle ways heal his loneliness and pain.
However their love is not to be, for she is not what she appears to be. She is a seltie, one of the mythical seal people mentioned in Irish legend and lore. Her human form is only temporary, soon she must return to the sea or perish on the shore.
This may be a Hallmark Hall of Fame feature made for television, but you wouldn't know it from the production values. This is a wonderfully done film, one of those old-fashioned romantic tearjerkers that will stay with you for a long time. It also contains some of the most breathtaking scenic shots of the Irish coastline you'll ever see.
Scott Glenn delivers a strong performance as always, while Saffron Burrows plays the part of the mythical woman/seal to absolute perfection. This is a film that can be watched over and over again without ever losing its emotional impact.

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Item Name: The Seventh Stream; Studio:Lions Gate

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The Christmas Choir (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a good movie. It isn't just a mindless romance of a single parent at Christmastime--as so many Christmas movies are. There is a romance involved, it just isn't the whole story.
Peter is a workaholic accountant who has just been dumped by his fiancee. He meets a piano player in a bar who can sense he is down and invites him to "come home" with him. "Home" turns out to be a homeless shelter run by an outspoken nun who is trying to quit smoking. He spends the evening there, makes a donation and leaves, never expecting to return. But after seeing one of the homeless men the next day being pushed along for loitering, he returns to the shelter and helps serve dinner, much to Sister Agatha's surprise. But he wants to do more. On the way home he sees a group of carolers on the street receiving donations. He has an idea and returns immediately to the shelter to discuss it with Sister Agatha. He wants to form a choir as a way for the men to earn some money for Christmas, but there are obstacles along the way. He has to face Sister Agatha's doubts, the men's mistrust of his motives, their lack of training and discipline, his rocky relationship with his father and his own deteriorated personal life.
At first he sees himself as the one doing great things to help these men, but finally comes to see how much they have done to turn his life around. It is an uplifting movie that teaches a good lesson without heavy-handed preaching.
The romance is a gentle thread developing throughout the story. It is never suggestive or inappropriate.
Amazingly, this movie of a rougher side of life has no rough language. I think the term "brain-fart" is as bad as it gets, and we hear that only once. Alcohol abuse is dealt with as one choir member shows up to a performance drunk, violating the "cardinal rule". Peter is very angry, words are exchanged and he quits and walks out on the choir. He ends up drunk himself, which is ironic since in an earlier scene he had expressed his frustration with his own father's alcoholism. I can't think of anything else that might be objectionable to anyone. Things look bleak for a time, but are resolved nicely with an upbeat ending.
It is "based on" a true story, but take it with a grain of salt. The fine print at the end of the credits indicates that they have fictionalized events for dramatic effect. Still, I think it is a very good Christmas movie that isn't just light fluff--it actually has some meat to it. I would definitely recommend it. The whole family can watch it, though younger children may not grasp the message.

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Based on a true story, The Christmas Choir is the inspiring account of how one man can make a remarkable difference simply by giving of himself. Workaholic accountant Peter Andrews (Jason Gedrick) has overlooked Christmas, friends and even his fiancé for far too long. As a result, his life begins to fall apart. But a chance encounter with a homeless man named Bob (Tyrone Benskin) changes everything and inspires Peter to start a choir that eventually goes on to enormous success. With the help of the unconventional Sister Agatha (Rhea Perlman) and his newfound friends at the shelter, Peter learns that Christmas is not a season but a state of mind and that everyone deserves a second chance at life and love.

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Little John (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this as a gift for my parents and they haven't stopped talking about it. My 'busy' uncle even stopped to enjoy this one. It is AWFULLY GOOD!!!
BUY and add to your collection, you won't be sorry. All the actors were great.

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Acceptable Risk (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)Robin Cook is the prolific author of several medical thrillers, in which medicine goes wrong, and the hero/heroine have to face the dire consequences. In ACCEPTABLE RISK, we are introduced to the story via a 1709 hanging of a woman suspected of being a witch. In fact, twelve of these damsels hung that day. Fast forward to the future and we meet idealistic Dr. Chad Rowe, and his lovely wife, Kelly Rutherford who have just inherited the house of the long dead witch. While renovating the house, Lowe discovers a shimmery mold and takes it to his lab, and finds out it has some unusually powerful capabilities: it intensifies his emotions, and seems to cure brain damage such as in Alzheimers. He secretly starts ingesting the formula he's made from the mold, called Ultra, and starts experiencing some of these effects. Needless to say, things start going wrong, and then he decides to enlist other team members to come up with a viable potion.
Lowe and Rutherford do well in their roles, Rutherford looking like a young Judith Light, and Lowe a young Rob Lowe. (Ha ha). Add Sean Patrick Flannery as friend Bobby, who seems to have been a little loose cannon anyway, and you have the ingredients for medical mayhem.
This is a made for TV movie, but its production values are good and I found it intriguing and entertaining.

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Expecting a Miracle (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is another good movie about love & marriage and in today's world. This movie makes a strong suggestion about "hanging in there" in a "complicated" marriage. (What loving marriages worth keeping is not somewhat complicated)?
The story brings up suggestions why a couple should remain married and not the quick and easy out because things don't go "quite right".
Again it is touched by Christian/Spirituality and interjecting a connection that belongs in a marriage rather than--"we can always get a divorce"....
Regarding the see through night gown---I played this movie in slow motion more than once and never saw the 'see through' part. I did see a woman's slip or other type of of cover up under the blue night gown. Never was there any offense to what she was wearing, nor did I see anything that a child or an adult watching this movie.

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Hostage Negotiator (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)I liked this film a lot. What can I say about it? Good story, good acting. The way the film starts is relevant to the story but it takes you a few minutes to get into the film. Very watchable none the less.

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Mail Order Bride (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)I rarely give "bad" reviews, but this is one situation where I agree with the other reviews that this movie isn't a very good one. I, too, have enjoyed most of the Hallmark movies. This one, however, is an exception. My husband and I got through almost a half hour of it before turning it off. The plot was strange, and I, too, found myself not caring about the characters. The language, including the Lord's name in vain was also a turn-off, as was the personality of the main characters. Fortunately I just rented this DVD and didn't waste the money to buy it. If you want to watch a good movie, check out "The Christmas Card" or "Clancy."

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The Wild West just got a little wilder…
Trouble hits con woman Diana McQueen (Daphne Zuniga) when she decides to call it quits with her menacing boss, Tom Rourke (Greg Evigan). But for Diana, the only way to escape his grasp is to move out West and take the place of her friend as a mail order bride. Wyoming rancher Beau Canfield (Cameron Bancroft) has no idea of the trouble that\'s heading his way.

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Relative Stranger (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)I took the opportunity to watch this movie and was very touched. I thought Eriq La Salle played his roll very well. From the beginning his character (Walter) was a very mild manner guy whom couldn't face the fact that he wouldn't be able to live up to his family's expectation after suffering the career ending knee surgery. To come back home and be face with the scrutiny from his family, finding his wife is now seeing, dating, and planning a future with his brother, Walter was very calm. I don't really know if he was understanding. On the other hand, his brother displays lots of anguish. This was a tear jerker. This story is not typical of an African American family in the mere fact that a brother marries the wife of his brother. None the less, I thought it was excellent.

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The Christmas Collection (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)Upon ordering this 3 disc collection I wasn't really sure what to expect but am plesantly surprised to say the least. I have always adored anything with a Christmas theme and this set doesn't disappoint in the least.
Total content on these 3 discs are 13 hours and 35 minutes.
Disc 1 contains 11 classic television Christmas episodes: The Beverly Hillillies - Turkey Day, Christmas at the Clampets & Home for Christmas.
The Burns and Allen Show - Gracie and Relatives
The Jack Benny Show - Christmas Shopping (Note: Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and numerous others cartoon characters, appears in this one)and New Year's Eve
Ozzie & Harriet - Late Christmas Gift, The Christmas Tree, Piano for the Fraternity and Busy Christmas
The final show on this disc is Liberace, The Christmas Show
The entire first disc has a 4 hour 48 minute playing time.
Disc II: Classic Christmas TV Specials
I recognised a few of these but not all.
The Little Christmas Burron - Narrated by Lorne Greene
Brightest Night
The Little King - Christmas Night
The Christmas Visitor
Toys Will Be Toys
Santa's Pocket Watch
Ginger Nutts Christmas Circus
Silent Night, The Story of the Christmas Carol
Little Gray Neck
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Not the famous version)
Santa's Surprise
Christmas Comes but Once A Year
Snow Foolin
Hector's Hectic Life
Jack Frost (Not the famous version)
The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives
Somewhere in Dreamland
The Night Before Christmas
The Candlemaker
The Star of Bethlehem
Jack Frost (The popular version)
Disc III: Beyond Tomorrow (Excellent Christmas film from 1940) runs 1hr 24min
Scrooge, the 1935 version starring Seymore Hicks runs 1hr 27 min
A Christmas Without Snow 1981, runs 1 hr 35 min
Miracle on 34th Street 1957 version runs 47 minutes.
I hope that this helps you in your shopping.


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A Song from the Heart (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Ms. Grant plays Maryann, a woman who lost her sight as a child in a car accident--an accident which also took the lives of her parents. She now teaches the freshman orchestra at a music conservatory. A former student of the conservatory, Gregory Pavan, who has made it big in the music world is coming back to his "musical roots" to make a recording with the students. In the real world I doubt that such a person would choose to work with the freshman orchestra, but that is the story. Initially he is not happy to be working with a blind conductor, but is touched by the feeling of her cello music. As their relationship develops it is observed by her neighbor, Oliver, a widower of two years who has not shared with her how he really feels about her. His daughter takes cello lessons from her and he and Maryann are often in each other's company as neighbors and "best friends".
Gregory finally persuades Maryann to have an operation to try and restore her sight. She has avoided it because she had already had one surgery that had failed. He promised to be there for her and when the bandages would come off she would see the man who loves her.
*SPOILER ALERT*
If you like stories where the quiet, unassuming friend wins over the flashy, flamboyant lover, then this is your kind of movie. The outcome is predictable, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I like "happily ever after". However, there were some little things in the story that were hard to swallow--like the portrayal of the freshman orchestra playing amazingly better by simply moving outside and going barefoot, even though they weren't using the printed music they had been struggling to play from minutes earlier (a technique which works not just once, but twice in this movie). If you have played a string instrument you will know that Amy Grant is not playing the cello, but to her credit, she does a much better job of faking it than Michael Landon ever did with the fiddle on "Little House on the Prairie." And at least Amy Grant really does know how to lead music--her downbeats are spot-on, unlike another recording artist who plays an orchestra leader in another movie.
When I ordered this movie it had nothing but 5 star reviews on Amazon. To me that is a little generous. Maybe my 4 star rating is even a little generous. It is what I consider fun "escape watching" and, as others have mentioned, it is something you can watch without worrying about the content. (After the review was posted with the complaints about the "curse words" I went back when I had a chance and watched it again. There were, from what I could tell, 3 uses of "h***," 2 of the word "d***," and one reference to someone as an "a**," in the sense of someone stupid. All of this comes from the mouth of the "Gregory Pavan" character. I would prefer not to have that language, but I must admit it seems mild for a movie these days. Judge for yourself if it fits your standards or not.)

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Maryann Lowery (Six-time Grammy Award Winner Amy Grant), a beautiful, blind cellist and music teacher at the Milford Conservatory of Music, enjoys her quiet, comfortable life with her friend and widowed neighbor, Oliver (Academy Award Winner Keith Carradine). When world-famous musician Gregory Pavan (D.W. Moffet, TV's Friday Night Lights) visits the Conservatory to record an upcoming album, he sees undiscovered talent in Maryann, promises fame and convinces her to undergo a risky eye operation. As the two fall for each other, it will take a life-changing moment for Maryann to realize that sometimes, true love is waiting right before our eyes, waiting to be discovered.

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A Grandpa for Christmas (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)A Grandpa for Christmas is a heartwarming tale of reconciliation. Ernest Borgnine is his usual somewhat crusty but loveable self, and Juliette Goglia, who plays his granddaughter, gets to show off her beautiful singing voice. If you like a story about family members coming together for the first time and helping each other, this movie is for you. I've seen it on TV twice. Now, I'm buying it!

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An estranged family discovers that to understand the past, they first have to face it. For a dear old man on Christmas, the reward is being called Grandpa for the first time in his life. Eighty-year-old Bert Riley is a former movie tough guy living comfortably and surrounded by good friends all vets from Hollywood s Golden Age. With a scrapbook full of memories, life has been pretty good to him. But he never expected any more surprises out of it. That s before he receives word on Thanksgiving that Marie, the estranged daughter he hasn t seen in decades, is in the hospital following a car accident. What s more, Becca, the ten-year-old granddaughter he s never even met, is moving in with him!

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