Mystery Manor Adventure Forum

A Boyfriend for Christmas
As a little girl, Holly wanted one thing from Santa, a boyfriend. But Santa thought that she wasn't ready for it. He promises her that within 20 years, she will find true love. But after all those years, she doesn't believe in christmas and Santa anymore. Till he sends lawyer Ryan Hughes to her. But because Ryan had missed an important ruling of the custody case of one of Hollys clients (who is going to miss her kids for the holidays), Holly wants nothing more then give him a piece of her mind. So Ryan Hughes becomes Doug Firwood. They fall for each other and it seems like a perfect Christmas for Holly. That is, till her ex Ted shows up.

I've watched this movie a lot and I keep enjoying it. A wonderful movie.

The story is, of course, very predictable. You know how it's going to end and that the secret has to come out. When that happens, it is a shame. It breaks up the almost magical moment, the wonderful, romantic atmosphere. Thankfully this is quickly fixed and we can enjoy the sweet, but lovely ending.

The movie works so well, because Kelli Williams and Patrick Muldoon makes such a perfect couple. Very charming, worked well with each other, the chemestry is very strong and there really is a spark between the two. Fantastic to watch, but the rest of the cast is good too. Durning is ideal as Santa, a part he fulfilled many times before. But he is much better in place here then in Mr. St. Nick. There is also a great role from Bruce Thomas as het bastard ex. His only goal is for the watcher to hate him from the very start. And he does this without any problems.

The movie really has such a nice christmas atmosphere, while the movie spends a lot of time after christmas. But the atmosphere remains. I can see this movie over and over again, loved it. Again next year.

I actually watched that film just before christmas. It was on one of the Sat channels one day I was flicking through.

I thought it was a sweet little movie. The 2 main actors had some chemistry and it had a nice Xmas feel.

A feel good movie.

The other one I watched was "Christmas in Boston" which was quite similar. A guy and gal who are long time pen pals, but have never met. Meet for the first time at Christmas. Hilarity ensues as both of them had as kids had sent pictures of their best friends instead of themselves. So you a a lot of the two best friends running around trying to pretend to be the pen pals etc. It was quite good fun.

That sounds like a Christmas movie I could really enjoy. Will be on the look out coming December.

Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist



As Rom-com's go this is pretty good. It plays like a teenage "Before Sunrise" where 2 young people spend a whole evening together hunting for a band and slowly fall for each other. The plot is pretty predictable and certainly won't come as a surprise, but the 2 leads are charming and sweet in the roles (Cera's bunny in the headlights acting seems to fit her just like it did in Juno, but he is in danger of being a one trick pony) and they are believable as a cute couple.

The highlight of the film for me though is the music, it full of cool music references and indie songs. I loved the soundtrack.

8/10

Role Models



I so thought that this was gonna suck. The plot is very predictable..two friends one who is uptight and anal and one who is a slacker with no morals get in trouble, meet some disfunctional kids and become learn to be better people and reform the kids along the way. Seen it a thousand times.

However there is something about the film that is just bloody funny. Scott is teamed up with a foul mouthed African American kid and as well as teaching him all about boobies shares some of the films funniest lines in th movie. Paul Rudd is paired with the shy geek kid who is into live medieval roleplaying which takes up a larger focus towards the end due to the finale battle scenes.

It crude, it's rude and surprisingly very funny.

8/10

Yes Man



Based on a best selling book, it's about the life altering premise that you can live your life better if you say "yes" to more opportunities. Taken to the fullest extreme in this "Comedy" it shows Jim Carey saying YES to everything without hesitation. So this leads to him learning to fly, taking Korean lessons, giving everyone a loan at his bank who asks, ordering an iranina bride of the internet, sigining up to those penis enlargement ads etc etc etc. Presumably this is all supposed to be funny with Carrey pulling his usual facial tics and over exagerations.

Unfortunatly it might be a decent idea as a life lesson to be open to more opportunities, but as a one joke film it was wearing a tad thin. The only decent thing about the movie was the beautiful Zooey Deschanel who always plays the kookey strange girlfriend with aplomb (500 days of summer looks cool).

5/10

Valkyrie



I couldn't really go wrong could it. Tom Cruise is a Nazi, there are a gaggle of big name British stars to back him up and it's directed and written by the team behind "The Usual Suspects".

Damn them......

It looks great, the authentic settings and costumes. The acting is ok, Tom Cruise is pretty good, Eddi Izzard, Tom Wilkinson etc are all top notch. The story is decent enough based on one of the real Assassination attempts on Hitler towards the end of the war.

So why was I not connecting to anyone in the movie. The film trailer makes it look thrilling, but it's far too concerned with how the plot was conceived and executed that it misses out on the characters. You don't give a hoot about any of them and in the end it falls flat. I think it was a mistake taking a true story and trying to make a hollywood thriller out of it. It can't stand up to the likes of Downfall or Shindlers List without feeling shallow and pointless.

6/10

Alright Lucien21, I have to ask. In Valkyrie, what did you think about our Dutch prides Carice van Houten and Halina Reijn?

And thanks for the warning for Yes Man. I wasn't planning on seeing it in theaters (not really my genre of a movie to watch in the cinema), but I'll think I will skip the DVD till it is show on tv. I like Carrey a lot, but mostly in serious roles.

Can't say I placed there names as being in the movie, but I googled them and they were ok. The Acting wasn't really the problem in Valkyrie, it was more the script.

In related news they were both pretty good in Black Book.

for my the latest one is stephen king's the myst.
But I don't like the end of the movie, it's depressing.

Some weeks behind (prepare for a long post):
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Joyeux Noël
It is the First World War and the German, Scottish and French are in the middle of a fierce trench war. But on Christmas Eve, all the soldiers look each other up to celebrate to holiday together.

I was very sceptic about this movie. The story sounds too ridiculous to believe. How can people be in a terrible war, then celibrate christmas and then kill each other again. It doesn't sound believeable. But appearently it really did happen.

So even though I started sceptic, this was a very good movie. The story I described before is worked out very nice and credible with some touching scenes and some funny scenes. Sometimes it's a bit too sweet, but hey, it's a Christmas movie. And the christmas feeling is there, even through out all the terrible things that happen. Of course it is predictable. Like I said in the first alinea, nobody can go back to the old situation, which is logical. You can really feel with the three armies and they did a good job in showing that is was just work, nothing personal. Like the German leader who was married to a French woman.

The friendship between the three armies is well done too. This is of course thanks for the great acting of the whole cast. That they most of the time speak there own language is excellent too and adds realism. So the German speak German, the French speak French and the Scottish speak Scottish (I think). The last group didn't have any subtitles on the BBC, so there were times I had no idea what they were talking about. They should have put subtitles under that too. But when the movie progress and the armies meet each other, they began to speak one language and this transition worked very well.

The movie looke good too. The begin is beautiful with the nice landscapes of Scotland. And in the trenches, everything is easy to follow and pretty spectaculair. So in short, a very good, credible, interesting war movie with a Christmas theme.
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Open Season
Boog is a grizzly bear who is more like a pet then a wild animal. He has an ideal life. He is taking care of, has a roof above his head and every night he gets a song before he goes to sleep. However, his life is gonna be turned upside down when he saves the deer Elliot out of the hands of de hunter Shaw.

I didn't like it that much. It's supposed to be funny, but I never really laughed. There are some nice and amusing scenes, especially in the end with the final fight (and winks to other movies). This moments came from the side characters, the main characters, the bear and the deer, weren't that fun.

I think the voice actors are mostly to blame. Lawrence was ok but didn't fit the bear, but Kutcher went over the top and was annoying because of this. The rest of the voices were great. Especially Gary Sinise. I mostly know him from CSI: New York as the good guy. So it takes some time to get used to him being a bad guy, but he is great.

The movie looks fantastic. I was really impressed by the gorgeous backgrounds. Absolutely brilliant. The animals and the animation were great too.

So even though the movie wasn't bad, and I enjoyed myself, I'm not very enthusiastic about it.
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The Holiday
Amanda and Iris both have succesful carreer, but they are not so lucky in love. And with Christmas on there doorstep they want something else. They both agree to switch houses, not knowing that they both will find their true love.

How can a romantic comedy with Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Jack Black fail? I don't know cause this movie is fantastic.

There is nothing to tell about the story. It's predicatble, but I wouldn't expected anything less. It's all about the four main characters and there chemistry.

The acting of the charming cast is great. Diaz and Law are very charming together, but I had some trouble with Diaz in the beginning. But after she meets Law and after she recovers his secret, I didn't had anything to complain. Law really convinced me after his secret became known. It was really well worked out and added realism to his character. Winslet is excellent (as always) and her scenes are the best of the movie. Especially her scenes with the (then) 91 year old Eli Wallach, who was brilliant. I really enjoyed this man. I did have my doubts about Black, I feared he would be over the top annoying. But he constraint himself and was very good because of this. I also really liked the way both couples engage in their relations different. Lotta fun and very well done. There are also some very nice supporting acts. Especially Hoffmans cameo was great. It was also fun to read how this cameo got started.

The movie looks warm and has a nice atmosphere. Especially the gorgeous snowy locations of England were super. The music of Zimmer is absolutely perfect and fits the movie like a glove. There are some more famous songs, which I have no problem with, but the music from Zimmer was fantastic and really completed the movie. It did remind me sometimes to the music from Bill Conti of the Thoms Crown Affair. Wonderful.

I really enjoyed this movie a lot. The 138 minutes flew by way to quickly and I was saddend when it was over.
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A Christmas Carol
Ebenezer Scrooge hates Christmas and think its all nonsense. But this will all changed when on Christmas eve he gets a visit from the ghost of his old business partner Jacob Marley. He tells him that he can expect a visit of three more ghosts. The ghost of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

Past Christmas, I haven't seen a real Scrooge. Ok, there was A Carol Christmas which was based on the famous Dickens story. But that movie was just bad. And since it was snowing outside, I wanted to see a real, good Scrooge movie. And the one with George C. Scott is good. Very good.

The story is of course well known and nothing new is done. Not that that's important. It's all about Scrooge. George C. Scott is absolutely brilliant as Scrooge. But as soon as the ghosts are gone, he gets annoyingly happy and that's irritating. Thankfully it's a small part of the movie, for the rest he is fantastic. The other castmembers and the ghosts are great. David Warner is excellent as Bob Cratchit, but Anthony Walters is really annoying as Tiny Tim. "God Bless Us, Every One." Ugh. You would almost be happy that he dies. Unfortunately for a short time. Thankfully he only has a few scenes. The ending is very sweet but that is custom to the story (even though I don't like it).

This movie just has the perfect Christmas atmosphere and the customs and enviroments are fantastic. Just a wonderful Scrooge movie that takes away the bad taste A Carol Christmas left behind.
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The Brave Little Toaster/Het Dappere Broodroostertje
A group of house hold devices have been abondoned by their owner. After a couple of years, they decide to look fot him themselves. But they didn't realise that their journey will be filled with dangerous adventures.

Once upon a time, many, many, many, many, many years ago. I've seen this animation movie. So I couldn't remember much. I was very curious what I would think of this movie now. And I thought it was very good.

The story was fun, exciting, funny, tense and sometime pretty grim and sinster. Maybe that was the reason I couldn't remember much. Must have closed my eyes back then. The scene in the spare parts shop with the mixer, in the house of the owner, the nights in the forest ( especially during the storm) and the scenes in the junkyard are pretty shocking and definately not suitable for the small kids this movie is intended for. Even now I find it pretty shocking.

What the movie does achieve (just like al the Pixar movies) is make you forget that for the biggest part of the movie, you are watching a toaster, a lamp, a radio, a blanket and a vacuum cleaner. Everyone of them with there own personality and characteristics. The late Joe Ranft from Pixar worked on this movie, so that could explain somethings. The movie is called The Brave Little Toasterm but the real stars are the vacuum cleaner, the lamp and the radio. Especially the last two make a fantastic couple.

The adventures of our house hold devices are great, of course somethings don't fit and there are some giant holes in the story. But if I almost didn't noticed it, then it shouldn't have been a problem for the kids it is intended for.

The animation and the drawings are good too. The background are great and the devices top. But the animals didn't do much for me and the characters are terrible. Very unbelievable and annoying. But thankfully is all about the devices and our five heroes. And those are great.

Most songs were ok, but I think that the Dutch translation ruins a lot. The voices fits the characters perfect, but you can't hear that in the songs.

So a great movie that is still fun after al those years. Some dark, sinister scenes makes it very suitable for grown up kids like me. Not sure about the small kids the movie is intended for.
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In Good Company
Dan Foreman is a 51 years old succesful businessman. But his life changes drasticly when during a fusion, he has to give away his job to the 26 years old Carter Duryea. But that his new boss is a young kid is not enough. Carter begins a relationship with his oldest daughter. And then he finds a pregnancy test in the garbage.

Very fun movie that has been carried by the excellent acting of the whole cast. Except for one scene, Dennis Quaid was very good. In that scene Scarlett Johansson shows what a brilliant actress she really is. In the rest of the movie too. Marg Helgenberger was very good too, but unfortunately she doesn't get enough time. In the beginning I had my doubts about Topher Grace. I didn't find him credible as the big boss (because of his nervous behaviour and how he totals his brand new Porsche before leaving the shop). But that changes after the movie progressed. He's not so arrogant as I feared, but he is just insecure about what he achieved at such a young age. That is really a good thing for his character. Basically it was his part in That 70's Show, only now combined with a job as a succesfull businessman. His character really grew after the table soccer scene with Scarlett Johansson. After Quaid calls them in for dinner.

There are also some great scenes in this movie. Espescially the staredown between Grace/Quaid and Gregg with lots of close ups was awesome. The movie has enough humor and funny scenes. Especially the difference in age between Grace and Quaid was fun. And I especially had to laugh about Grace. What I didn't like were the scenes in which Quaid basically is a big jerk (and not as the fun, grumpy old men) and in which he doesn't care as much for Grace as I expected. There is also a hilarious deleted scene on the DVD that should have been in the movie (with the painted hair of Quaid). But the movie also have a serieous and recent note with the many firings due to the crisis (even though in this movie the firings are because of a fusion). What I didn't liked was that even though there are firings, Grace still buys a brand new, very expensive car. For that money that could have kept some people.

So in short, I thought this was a good, fun movie with great acting of the whole cast.

I watched some movies from you list, Sneaker:

Open Season-
I posted about this some time ago. I had about the same opinion. Meh movie with unlikeable main characters. I wish the villain had a bigger role and more of a motive since he was the coolest part in the movie.

The Holiday-
Didn't like this one. Way too sappy and predictable. Especially the crying part. The actors did a good job and the romantic relationships were cute and believable but apart from that it was mediocre.

The Brave Little Toaster-
This movie was on about every week when I was ten years old so I watched it alot. I didn't like it too much back then. Talking appliances? It's a hard concept to connect to. I think that if I'll watch it now I might like it better. Especially the songs. I watched one of the sequels and the songs are just great.

I had asked that dvd for Sinterklaas (a Dutch holiday) and my dad had the same thing. "A talking toaster hahahaha". But Pixar made me forget I was watching things like a robot, or some cars, monsters, toys and fish. And Disney's Bambi (guess it was my first movie I watched on the big screen) and other Disney's were all about talking animals, but they managed to make me forget that. Same with this movie.

However I really was shocked by some dark and sinister scenes in the movie. I stumbled on this review on imdb that really made me laugh, but was really true:
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Cannot believe Disney produced this video for young children. Purchased it for my 3 year old granddaughter and she had nightmares for weeks. Imagine watching your friend being chased by a giant magnet that wants to drop him into a giant compacting machine. Doesn't sound like happy family fare to me.
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I'm curious about the original english voices. Even though the current Dutch voices were great, I wished that had included the original english voices. I think the songs would have been a lot better. Curious about the sequels too, but I'm afraid the dvd would never reach Dutch ground. Oh well, have to import it then or buy it on eBay or something.

Just goes to show that even though there's no blood/sex/physical violence it doesn't mean kids can watch it. Luckily I was old enough when I first watched it.


I watched the first sequel - The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars. It was surprisingly good for a sequel, but otherwise a forgettable film. Good songs as I said but not much happens in it.

Well technically, there is blood and there is plenty of physical violence in this movie.