Film & Series Reviews

Charmed is a cheery, hot pink daisy of a show -- inherently cute and incredibly simple. As other girl-powered series have dropped away, the WB staple is sitting pretty in its sixth season, providing a nifty option to those who miss ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'''s mythology (get your fill of witch-guardian Whitelighters and scab demons here) and the cheeky sorority of ''Sex and the City'' (just don't hold out for phrases like ''funky spunk'' -- this is a preteen-friendly program).

The charm of ''Charmed'' is that it knows what it is: a guilty-pleasure fantasy about three witch sisters, Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), Piper (Holly Marie Combs), and Paige (Rose McGowan), who live in a really great San Francisco house and fight evil in supercool outfits. Theirs is a practical magic: They call otherworldly beings ''dude'' and get peeved over wondrous inconveniences (Piper's response to learning she's heir to King Arthur's throne: ''Oh, crap''). Even the endless, outlandish costuming -- a kindergartner's dream -- gets teased. After Phoebe shape-shifts into a genie, with the full blond-braided, Barbara Eden treatment, her first instinct is to trot to the mirror and whine, ''Why do I always get stuck with the wig?'' (Perhaps because Milano chopped off her locks before this season's start.)

Selling this kind of comedy takes a certain gameness, and the actresses have got it. Milano has turned exasperation into an art form, as she's morphed into everything from Mata Hari to her combat-booted former teen self this season. McGowan, who in 2001 replaced Shannen Doherty as a long-lost sister, has shed her indie-chick-slumming-on-TV 'tude (that noise you heard in her first season was, like, her soul dying) and is all the zippier for it. Best of all is Combs, who, as pert little mother Piper, is a purse-lipped precision underplayer. When the Headless Horseman relieved her of her body, she seemed more annoyed than scared that her noggin was stuck on a mantel next to a houseplant.

Sadly, ''Charmed'' has yet to fill the void left by the charismatic Cole (Julian McMahon, now of ''Nip/Tuck''), Phoebe's half-demon former hubby, whose rakishness is much missed this season. Fortunately, the show's held on to its other great guy, Piper's amiable Whitelighter ex, Leo (Brian Krause), and introduced a nicely hellish story line in which their son might be, oh, the future of all evil. Witches, Whitelighters, bad-seed babies, and girl talk about the trouble with demon lovers -- what series could possibly pull off all this silly fun? ''Charmed,'' I'm sure. - Entertainment Weekly

Not rated: Made for TV

Starring: Alyssa Milano (Jane), Stockard Channing (Vivian), Eric Winter (Michael), and Ivan Sergei (Hugh)

Actress Alyssa Milano is best known for her TV roles in the hit WB series “Charmed” for nine years, "Melrose Place.” , and she began her career on ABC’s “Who’s the Boss,” which aired for eight years.

Actress Channing is Forever known for her role as Rizzo in the film “Grease,” and won two Emmy Awards for her roles as First Lady Abbey Bartlet on NBC’s “The West Wing,” and for the role of Judy Shepard in “The Matthew Shepard Story,” for which she also received a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Actor Winter plays a recurring role opposite Simon Baker on the hit CBS series “The Mentalist.” Winter previously recurred on the critically acclaimed “Brothers & Sisters” as well as the cult vampire drama “Moonlight.” Early in his career his television debut role was on the popular daytime soap opera “Days of Our Lives.”

Ivan Sergei first made a name for himself in the indie gem “The Opposite of Sex,” with Christina Ricci. her can also be seen in “The Big Day,” “Scorched,” “Dangerous Minds,” “We Met on the Vineyard,” “Playing Mona Lisa,” “Gunfighter’s Moon” and “The Break-Up,” with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn.

What's it about?

"Alyssa Milano, who also serves as producer, stars as Jane Claremont, who, as a young girl, would accompany her mother Vivian (Stockard Channing) to Tiffany’s in New York every Sunday and bring along her imaginary friend, Michael. Now, 20 years later, Jane is a successful businesswoman, set to marry Hugh (Ivan Sergei), her handsome fiancé, until Michael (Eric Winter) suddenly reappears, all grown up, to warn Jane about the path her life is on. Initially shocked and in disbelief, Jane slowly realizes that not only has Michael returned to her when she needs him most, but he may also be her one true love. Based on the book by James Patterson." -- mylifetime.com

What I liked about the movie:

I am not usually a fan of the lifetime channel, but this movie was just a sweet story. There was no murder or revenge, just a good family movie with some good actors. Being a fan of Milano for many years, I was pleased with her performance, and she is as beautiful as ever. The story has a nice flow to it with likable characters and fine acting from a good-looking cast. I like the idea of using magical fate involving an imaginary friend coming to life. It's warm hearted and just an overall clean story that keeps you smiling.

What I didn't like about this movie:

It's not a totally unique story, and it's quite predictable, but those are just minor complaints.

Who should see this movie?

It's certainly a good movie for lifetime fans. I'm sure most woman will love it. You macho guys out there may want to avoid this unless you want to watch it with your wive or girlfriend. There is no action here, it's just a drama and romance story. It's not a big screen movie for those who are not familiar with the lifetime channel. It's a good clean television movie. I haven't read the book, but I understand it's quite good as well.

As every regular Lifetime viewer knows, sometimes we women don't realize it when we're dating a rude asshole who doesn't care about our opinion, know us very well, or do his share of the apartment cleaning/wedding planning. Unfortunately, our only recourse is to date these jerks until another, much better, man comes along and points out how wrong we really are.

"Sundays at Tiffany's," the latest Alyssa Milano and Lifetime original movie, is just such a story, with an engaged Alyssa running into an hot, old friend and romping in the snow in Central Park with him until they inevitably end up in bed. But then the hottie friend has to leave. So after stating over and over that her fiance is a "good man" and giving no other reason she'd like to marry him, Alyssa walks down the aisle with him anyway, only to dump him at the end of it when they can't resolve a spat about their honeymoon that they have in front of all their guests. Alyssa runs off in her wedding gown and reunites with the hottie, who proposes to her.

This would be a pretty normal Lifetime movie--perhaps not even worth a mention on this blog--except that, in an homage to "Drop Dead Fred," the hottie friend is IMAGINARY. At this point, you may have a few FAQs. Like,
Q: So nobody else can see him?
A: No, everybody else can see him, even though no one could when Alyssa was little. And he can talk to other imaginary friends. Yeah...it doesn't really make any sense.
Q: Where has he been in the meantime, and where does he have to "go" when he tells Alyssa he has to leave?
A: Not explained, except that he has to go because it's "the rules."
Q: Why doesn't Alyssa ask him where he's been, or where he's going, or who wrote these "rules"?
A: No idea.
Q: So Alyssa doesn't mind that he's imaginary, she's just going to marry him anyway?
A: Apparently so.
Q: Is he human? Can he feel pain? Is he immortal? Can he have children? What is the punishment for breaking the rules? Does he have a social security number? Will he randomly disappear again?
A: Unknown.

Unfortunately, "Sundays at Tiffany's" would still be unwatchable, even if the movie had answered any one of these questions (I'm not asking for anything plausible--but something closer to Mannequin's "I'm an Egyptian spirit" and further from The Lake House's "Oh, I guess you're writing to me from a different decade" would have been appreciated). The imaginary friend's hotness is greatly detracted from by his 12-year-old attitude and mid-movie performance of "Can't Touch This," and there's a whole side-plot where he gets a job as a dishwasher and moves up to chef in a couple of months. Stockard Channing is completely one-dimensional and wasted as Alyssa's mom, and there's a therapist who has a green light outside of her office that lights up when she's ready to see a patient. And in case you were wondering, Tiffany's is only in the movie to give it its title. But if you're a WASP, you'll love that the whole thing takes place at Christmastime! So don't worry, Lifetime will be running this one three more times in the next two weeks, and then we can look forward to seeing it next year. Merry Christmas to all!

From Time Out New York
There’s ample hackwork—in a morgue, no less—in this murky, gruesome, utterly disposable
med-resident thriller from Germany’s Marc Schoelermann, whose only personal stamp seems to be a fondness for Seven’s helicopter shots. Harvard grad Ted (Ventimiglia) arrives at his internship in big, bad L.A. and immediately runs afoul of his vampire-like peers, who enjoy late-night autopsy sessions, copulation near corpses and an unusual amount of pre-op roughhousing. Ted doesn’t put up much of a fight; no doubt his instant moral descent was considered “edgy” by someone involved. An earlier generation had Flatliners. We have this.

Pathology Movie Review

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on April 18, 2008

As a movie reviewer, I have always held onto the theory that every film has an audience somewhere. Not every film can have a Star Wars sized cult following that spawns infinite amounts of memorabilia sales and conventions. But I believe that with the amount of people in this country (303 million, according to the Census Bureau) that there is no reason why a movie like Pathology can’t not only find an audience, but find some success in the process.

From the writing team that brought us Crank, Pathology follows Dr. Ted Grey, played by “Heroes” star Milo Ventimiglia, as he moves into a new hospital morgue to work alongside a bright young crew of pathologists. What he soon finds out is that there is more to his new group of co-workers than meets the eye, and that they are all caught up in the sick and twisted game of trying to commit the perfect murder. A reluctant participant, Grey finds himself eventually immersed in this disturbing new world filled with sex, drugs and dead bodies. But he soon realizes that if he doesn’t put a stop to the madness, he may put those he cares about most in harms way.

It is a simple premise, to say the least. In fact, the big draw here is not going to be a completely original and deeply engrossing story, but rather a little bit of shock factor courtesy of the twisted minds of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the aforementioned Crank scribes. As we’ve seen in their previous work, Neveldine and Taylor have a penchant for the sexual and a severe lack of restraint when it comes to showing off some wicked imagery. Here, the sexuality is in full form thanks to the likes of Lauren Lee Smith and Alyssa Milano (who are both smoking hot) and the wicked imagery is courtesy of plenty of cadavers (which are fake, but you get the point). For their fanbase, those who relish in the shock trauma of anything from Crank to Saw to Hostel, Pathology delivers in spades.

As well, there are performances here that stand out above the rest, including that of Michael Weston. As Dr. Jake Gallo, the unofficial leader of the group of doctors who have gone overboard with pleasure killing, Weston is as insane a character as you may see all year. Having normally played more tame roles in films such as The Last Kiss and Garden State, it was quite a surprise to see Weston let loose with the fury of an Al Pacino at his peak — think Pacino in The Devil’s Advocate, seriously.

Unfortunately, Pathology cannot succeed on the great performance of Michael Weston and the shock-and-awe factor alone. It certainly could have used a better pace, and for lack of a better term, a few more snips and cuts in the editing room. There are moments down the home stretch of the film where the audience is left to sit through unnecessarily melodramatic moments. This unfortunately goes on the shoulders of director Marc Shoelermann, who is making his first major directorial effort with Pathology. My hope is that he is able to look back at the film and see where a few more edits could have been made in order to keep the tension rising in the film, so as to not make the same mistake again in the future.

All-in-all, Pathology is not a film that is going to break into the mainstream and find ferocious box office success, but it does play well for its limited audience. If you are the kind of person who went to see a midnight screening of Saw II on opening night after falling in love with the first Saw film, this movie is for you. If you are the type of moviegoer that loves to be shocked with gratuitous violence and raw sexual energy, this movie is right up your alley. Unfortunately, if you don’t fall into either of those categories, you may find yourself disappointed with it. To say the least, this isn’t a movie for all of the 15-year old female Milo Ventimiglia fans across the world — but if you’ve seen the trailer, you probably already know that. As movies go, Pathology isn’t the most engaging experience, but it will sure show you something you haven’t seen before, whether you like it or not.

Charmed Review by Current Film.com

A popular, long-lasting series on the WB (now the CW), "Charmed" started off in 1998 and quickly found an audience. The show focuses on the Halliwell sisters - Piper Halliwell-Wyatt (Holly Marie Combs), Prue (Shannen Doherty) and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano). In the opening show of the series, the three sisters find themselves together in San Francisco again in the house that they were left by their family. Although the reunion is tense at first, the three sisters eventually come upon the Book of Shadows (not to be confused with the "Blair Witch" sequel) in the attic and, after casting a spell, get the powers that have run through generations of their family - one has telekinesis, one can see the future and the other can stop time.

Although I've never followed the show intensely, I enjoyed watching this third season, as the characters continue to develop, and the writing improves. The trio of actresses also continued to get more into their characters (although the third season was the last season for Shannon Doherty, replaced by Rose McGowan) and their whole situation in this season. Visual effects continue to improve and be respectable, given the TV budget.

The fourth season opened with the girls grieving over Prue and finding a new addition in Paige (Rose McGowan). Although the replacement of a major character could have made the show suffer, McGowan entered the series here and quickly became a solid fit (with good chemistry with the other two leads) and continued to be a solid part of the series until the show ended.

The final season of "Charmed" saw the creators with a difficult task: trying to figure out how to bring the series back after the seventh season was thought to be the show's last. The seventh season finale had essentially closed the door on the characters (the first episode of the series was called "Something Wicca This Way Comes", while the final episode of the seventh was called, "Something Wicca This Way Goes.")

"Still Charmed and Kicking" starts the eighth season with the three leads presumed dead - but revealed to be alive and have taken on new identities. While their outward appearances have changed to the rest of the world, they are still the three original leads in most scenes. While the three witches have taken on new identities, it's not long before their enemies are attempting to lure them out of hiding for another fight. They are joined this season by Billie (Kaley Cuoco, of "8 Simple Rules") as Billie, a young witch who starts off as a friend, but who turns into a foe later in the season. Despite some budget cuts that were required for the 8th season to go forward, the series still remains quite entertaining here, as the quality of the writing and acting is still solid and Cuoco makes a good addition to the cast.

Note: the back of the box notes that some episodes have been edited (possibly syndicated versions) and some songs have been taken out (music rights issues.)

Season 8

157. 8- 1 25 Sep 05 Still Charmed & Kicking
158. 8- 2 2 Oct 05 Malice in Wonderland
159. 8- 3 9 Oct 05 Run, Piper, Run
160. 8- 4 16 Oct 05 Desperate Housewitches
161. 8- 5 23 Oct 05 Rewitched
162. 8- 6 30 Oct 05 Kill Billie: Vol. 1
163. 8- 7 6 Nov 05 The Lost Picture Show
164. 8- 8 13 Nov 05 Battle of the Hexes
165. 8- 9 20 Nov 05 Hulkus Pocus
166. 8-10 27 Nov 05 Vaya Con Leos
167. 8-11 8 Jan 06 Mr. & Mrs. Witch
168. 8-12 15 Jan 06 Payback's A Witch
169. 8-13 22 Jan 06 Repo Manor
170. 8-14 12 Feb 06 12 Angry Zen
171. 8-15 19 Feb 06 The Last Temptation of Christy
172. 8-16 26 Feb 06 Engaged and Confused
173. 8-17 16 Apr 06 Generation Hex
174. 8-18 23 Apr 06 The Torn Identity
175. 8-19 30 Apr 06 The Jung and the Restless
176. 8-20 7 May 06 Gone With The Witches
177. 8-21 14 May 06 Kill Billie: Vol. 2
178. 8-22 21 May 06 Forever Charmed

TV Movie Review: Wisegal - Lifetime Original Movie

by Jason the TVaholic on March 15, 2008

in Reviews, TV Movie

Long Synopsis: A woman that grew up very poor meets a nice police officer and ends up getting married. They have two children and then he falls ill with cancer. After two years in-and-out of the hospital he passes away. She is left poor once again and begins selling illegal cigarettes to pay the bills. A local captain in the Brooklyn crime family takes notice of her and offers her a chance to run a restaurant of his. She turns it into a hot nightclub and gets noticed by the family Don. He wants her to use her wherewithal to shuttle millions of dollars down from Canada from the family’s operations up there. As the years go by, she ends up deeper than she ever thought she would be. One day she realizes that she can’t do it anymore and wants out.

Review: Wisegal is inspired by the true story of Patty Montanari, played by Alyssa Milano (Charmed, Who’s the Boss?), a widowed mother of two that became a trusted member of the Mafia in an attempt to do right by her kids. The executive producer of the movie is none other than Joe Pistone, the FBI agent whose undercover exploits inspired the movie Donnie Brasco.

When I pulled the Wisegal screener packet from the envelope and saw Alyssa Milano on the cover and the likes of Jason Gedrick (Boomtown) and James Caan (Las Vegas) as co-stars, I was looking forward to watching this. It wasn’t as great as it looked like it might be, but it is worth checking out, especially on a Saturday night bereft of worthy TV watching options.

Pretty much anything with Alyssa Milano in it is going to get this TVaholic to check it out. I mean, she was my first TV crush way back in her Who’s the Boss? days, as she is only six months older than I am. I used to watch that show every week. Check out an interview with her over at theTVaddict.com, for more on her character in Wisegal.

Alyssa Milano is very good and believable in the role, except for her accent coming and going a bit. Jason Gedrick plays a good smooth talker with anger issues and James Caan is, well, James Caan. Some of the other side characters don’t come off as well, as they seem to be right out of the mafia movie stereotype playbook.

Overall, Wisegal is pretty good. It may be even better when it airs than the version I got a chance to watch, as it will have the full soundtrack and musical accompaniment in the final version. Background music to set the mood and transition scenes is a very important element in a movie, one that the preview copy didn’t have.

Wisegal premieres tonight on Lifetime and replays tomorrow night, March 16th and again on Monday night, March 17th.

Filmed in Toronto by Daniel H. Blatt Prods. in association with Starz Media. Executive producers, Blatt, Joseph Pistone, Leo Rossi, Anthony Melchiorri; producers, Terry Gould, Alyssa Milano; co-producer, Danielle McVickers; director, Jerry Ciccoritti; writer, Shelley Evans;

Patty Montanari - Alyssa Milano
Frank Russo - Jason Gedrick
Salvatore Palmeri - James Caan
Angie - Janet Wright

Women love the bad boys, so Lifetime obliges them with this fact-based tale about a woman not quite married to the mob. Alyssa Milano is in fine form (pun intended) as Patty Montanari, a struggling widow who becomes a mobster's "gumar" in part to support her kids, eventually running a nightclub and ferrying illicit cash across the Canadian border. Despite auspices that include Joseph Pistone (the real-life "Donnie Brasco") and Patty's actual son Anthony Melchiorri as producers -- plus James Caan getting pulled back into Mafia-land -- "Wisegal" plays mostly like a thin mish-mash of mob-movie cliches.

Told in voiceover by Patty's son, "Wisegal" races through Patty's hard-luck tale to quickly reach the moment when she buries her husband, leaving her a single mom. At that at point she has a meet-cute encounter with undertaker/wiseguy Frank Russo (Jason Gedrick), whose gang accuses him of "thinking with the wrong part of your body." Fairly soon, Patty's resistance to a liaison with the married Frank melts away, and he puts her in charge of a restaurant that she turns into a fabulous success, catching the eye of big boss Salvatore (Caan), who enlists her for the cash-smuggling operation.

OK, so seeing Milano with wads of unmarked bills taped under her breasts is the equivalent of two taste treats in one. This is less about putting her in slutty get-ups, darn the luck, than a tepid rehash of "Goodfellas," only with a woman in the middle of a dangerous game from which, theoretically, no one escapes.

Milano makes a convincing enough lioness protecting her cubs and, as crafted by director Jerry Ciccoritti and writer Shelley Evans, almost single-handedly carries the story. As for Gedrick and Caan, both have played similar roles so many times before it's hard not to simply file these performances away somewhere amid their repertoires of roguish pricks and steely bad-guys. (Gedrick previously starred in "Falcone," a short-lived CBS series based on Pistone's undercover experience.)

"Wisegal" is just the kind of actress-oriented movie vehicle at which CBS once excelled, and seeing it on Lifetime provides yet another reminder of how slim the pickings are beyond the few cable networks that still indulge in such fare -- and, not incidentally, consistently do reasonably well with it by those less-exacting standards.

Even so, this is at best mobsters lite -- a movie packed with a little bada, perhaps, but not much bing.

Camera, Gerald Packer; production designer, Franco de Cotiis; editor, George Roulston; music, John Frizzell; casting, Stacey Rosen. RUNNING TIME: 120 MIN.

Hall Pass Filmcritic Review

Reviewed by Jason Morgan

Marriage and family responsibility are often punch lines at the butt end of jokes told in a smoke-filled poker room or over hot wings and beer. While there's a good amount of independent chest-thumping in a group of buddies, guys kid because they love. Maggie (Jenna Fischer) and Grace (Christina Applegate) put that to the test when they give their sex-obsessed man-child husbands a "hall pass" -- one week off from marriage, anything goes.

Rick (Owen Wilson) is the quintessential good guy, who occasionally notices other women and is egged on by his bad influence, best friend Fred (Jason Sudeikis). The 40-somethings are convinced they can get as many women as they did in their now romanticized college days. Their newfound freedom leads to predictable fish-out-of-water situations and plenty of cringe-inducing conversations with women who are half their age and out of their league.

Unfortunately, none of that translates into comedy, thanks to the lack of energy between Wilson and Sudeikis. Hall Pass directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly have made a career out of dimwitted pairings -- Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, and Stuck on You -- but the Hall Pass co-stars read through their lines like they're at a script meeting. As director Kevin Smith once said, the money is in dick and fart jokes, and the Farrelly brothers follow that creed all the way to the bank. Other than an over-used Law and Order joke, the gross out gags are the few moments of laughter the film can cough up.

As Rick and Fred drag their feet by overeating, playing video games, and taking in rounds of golf, the pace of the film slows to a crawl. By the time the two luck out with a couple of hotties and put their loyalty to the test, the moral of the story is a fleeting whimper caught between talking genitalia and full-frontal male nudity. For Farrelly fans, the story just gets them to the next exploding diarrhea joke, but Hall Pass takes too long to get there. While Dumb and Dumber had clever one-liners -- "It's a cardigan but thanks for noticing" or "Samsonite! I was way off!" -- to fill the gaps in between absurd comic set pieces, Rick and Fred aren't idiots, they're children, and it's boring listening to them fantasize about sex.

Hall Pass's funniest moment comes during the sharp-witted, quickly cut montage of Rick and Fred's friend daydreaming about the trouble he could get into if given a week off from marriage. It is a hint of the comedy Hall Pass could have been if the Farrellys shaved off 20 minutes. While the promise of nudity and plenty of potty mouthed humor will be good enough for the teenage crowd, the rest of us should curb the marriage jokes and spend the night with our families -- kiddie humor isn't as funny as we remember it being.

Sundays at Tiffany’s: TV review [Lifetime Movie Network]

Reviewed by Entertainment Realm

Every Sunday, Jane Claremont [Alyssa Milano] would go to Tiffany’s with her oblivious, self-centered mother Vivian [Stockard Channing]. She would always bring along her imaginary friend Michael. Based on the best-selling novel by James Patterson, Sundays at Tiffany’s presents a sweet fable about a precocious girl who outgrows her imagination.. But has she truly forgotten that inner-child? Now Jane appears to be engaged to a vapid actor [Ivan Sergei] who’s using the marriage to advance his theatrical career.

Jane and her mom run a highly successful theater. Instead of pursuing her dream of writing, Jane stepped into the family business. On the surface of course, her life seems enviable as she’s dating a sought after star, appears on Page Six and lives in a fabulous apartment. One day, seemingly out of nowhere, a grown-up Michael appears to assist Jane in deciding if this marriage is truly what will make her happy. They spend time planning Jane’s wedding, talking until all hours of the morning and playing in the snow and around the city. Sure the story is a bit hokey. Just suspend reality here and it’s cutesy. Without Milano, Sundays at Tiffany’s would fail. She articulates her character’s doubts through quirky tics and physical humor. Sundays at Tiffany’s proves to be quite delightful.

Premieres Monday, December 6, 2010 at 9pm ET/PT on Lifetime Movie Network.

Sundays at Tiffany's Movie Review

Reviewed by Rissi C

I saw the release date of this DVD around the same time as I discovered Lifetime’s miniseries Marry Me was going to be made available. Like most romantic ventures, this one is nothing particularly special and, in fact can be quite annoying. Lonely as a young child and without any friends, young Jane Claremont was sent an imaginary friend to help keep her company. The only daughter of a driven and successful businesswoman (Stockard Channing), Jane and Michael spent many happy hours together – including a tradition of finding Jane the most perfect birthday gift at Tiffany’s. On Jane’s tenth birthday, Michael is forced to leave as per the “rules.” Heartbroken by her childish fantasy, Jane’s mother is thankful that Michael is gone and instead encourages her daughter to grow up.

Some twenty years later, Jane (Alyssa Milano) has done just that. She is now managing her mother’s theater and engaged to an up-and-coming actor (Ivan Sergei). Having given up on her talent and dreams of becoming a writer, Jane is now a responsible adult who has no time for fantasies – only her childhood is about to confront her again. Michael (Eric Winter) suddenly re-appears as an adult everyone can see. Confused at his appearance in Jane’s life, Michael can only assume it is because she needs him, so he sets about discovering what is making her unhappy. The only problem with that is Michael begins to fall in love with Jane, which complicates an already awkward situation.

This was one movie that actually disappointed me. Most of the times I plan to see a light-hearted film I expect clichés and silliness, but this movie seemed very mediocre through its inability to tell an engaging story. Its premise had a great deal of promise – based on the best-selling novel of the same name by James Patterson (yes, it’s the same James Patterson who writes pulse-pounding suspense fiction), but it is also a very complicated idea to keep on the up and up or in other words, to not to play out as a tad bit creepy. For about the first ten or fifteen minutes, I was enchanted. The set-up is really good and the child actors adorable but after that it kind of goes downhill. With a setting in NYC and at Christmas time (which I’d apparently forgotten), the movie had the potential to be adorable in a goofy kind of way and instead, it just fails.

All of this is aided by Michael’s ridiculous persona. Naturally, he hasn’t a clue how to “act” like an adult having come from a dreamland in which he forever remains nothing but a child and a figment of children’s imagination at that. Nevertheless, I think writers could have more artfully emphasized that point. Patterson is a best-selling author so to experience his work on-screen as less than up to par is something of a let-down for most fans (I have not read this novel – or any of his works for that matter). Given that this is a romance, naturally, there is some disappointing content. One semi-steamy sex scene takes place about twenty minutes before they film closes (there is a lot of movement and barely avoided nudity). Some profanity is thrown in; there are also awkward comments about sexual matters, mostly as regards Michael in his “innocence.” Hugh assumes that in their past relationship, Jane and Michael slept together.

I really wanted to like this one, but the writers over thought much of the process from book to screen and it kind of backfired on them. And I haven’t even touched on the acting yet. Alyssa Milano is an actress that I’ve “liked” in the roles I’ve seen her in; however, she wasn’t great here. Her co-stars capably fill in the gaps given what they had to work with. Ivan is just barely arrogant enough without coming off as a total jerk as Hugh (he was actually not as bad as I’d have imagined or the stereotyped fiancé might be) whereas Eric as Michael was pretty unforgettable because of how his character was written. The movie does have some really pretty scenery and I liked how charming a handful of scenes were between Jane and her childhood friend. Still… this isn’t one I suggest you go out of your way to find – it’s cute, but not that cute. Instead, I’d suggest you see one of Alyssa’s more recent romantic comedies, My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend or something more along the lines of any one of Hallmark Channel’s yuletide movies.

BREAKING IN “Tis Better to Have Loved and Flossed” Review

Reviewed by Daemon's TV

BREAKING IN “Tis Better to Have Loved and Flossed” Season 1 Episode 2 – I took a peek at the advance review for this show and I have to agree with Dani that this show is perfect for Christian Slater. He’s always had a kind of frenetic energy about him and I think that is being utilized to a tee in his role as Oz. He bounces around from scene to scene and character to character, dropping a witty line here and a bit of wisdom there and all without getting even the list bit tiring. In fact I found myself missing him whenever he’s not on screen, and that’s saying something considering he’s in most of the scenes.

This show is off to a great start and in this episode we find that Cameron is still pining for Melanie. But both Oz and Cash convince him it’s time to get his mind off the one he can’t have, so he actually goes out and finds himself someone super-nice. Well, that is until she turns out to be Oz’s ex who is just going out with him so that she can find out all about his plan to have the team break into her house and steal dangerous secrets out of the safe.

In the end, Oz and his ex make up (twice apparently) and it looks like we might be seeing more of Amy in the future. But it also means that Cameron is now free to go back to pursuing Melanie. Now I’m of two hearts on that because I like Cameron and think it would be cute if he and Melanie got together, but I also LOVE Michael Rosenbaum as her wacky boyfriend and kinda don’t want those two to break up if that means he’ll be going away anytime soon.

My favorite bits..

Oz describing the shenanigans his team got into that day as “fiddling your diddles.” Finding out that Oz once played beer pong…erm scotch rifles with Sean Connery. Nice little nod to the fact that Christian once co-starred with Connery. The fact that Oz was able to have an entire conversation with Cameron using nothing but a flat screen. Now that is a talent. Cameron describing Melanie’s boyfriend as a sketchy mega-douche. Yep that sounds about right. Is it wrong that I love him anyway? Cash’s shock when Cameron actually suggested that (gasp!) he go talk to the cute woman at the other table.

Cash not only using the term “tapping the grave”, but also having a dance for it. Appreciating the colorful way that Oz had of saying big boobs. The entire team getting their asses handed to them by a “geriatric Fort Knox.” Barely being able to look at Josh after he lost his eyebrows in the line of duty. Dutch giving Josh eyebrows. (Okay now I REALLY can’t look at the guy.) The entire hand-over-the-mouth conversation. A thumb drive that’s actually a thumb. Brilliant. Finding out that Dutch thinks that Jason Mraz stole his songs. Ha! What did you think of this episode of Breaking In? Got any favorite bits or least favorite bits of your own? I’d love to hear from you!

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