solojere

Gettysburg was the site of the biggest battle of the American Civil War and the largest conflict ever seen in North America. In 3 days in July 1864, over 50,000 US soldiers died, almost as many as all 9 years in Vietnam. About 150 years later, we find that Hope (Kelley Jakle) has moved to this sacred ground to start an apple tree farm. Hope has moved here to get away from it all and escape the problems of her life. Her life is kind of a mess. She isn't on speaking terms with her father, her fiancé left her, and she hates Christmas. However, this year, home comes to Hope as her family comes for Christmas. Not only is there tension between Hope and her father, but her brother has brought his best friend Nick with them for the Holidays. I won't spoil anything, but a Gettysburg Christmas follows your typical Christmas movie formula. Overall, it was a pretty cute movie, even if it was predictable. The cast is pretty good. Kelley Jakle is the queen of Christmas movies and does an amazing job as Hope. Lee Majors also gives an excellent performance in his old age, and his scenes are among the best in the film. There are a few weaknesses. For example, some of the acting from the side characters isn't great and feels rushed. Also, the setting of Gettysburg didn't really add anything to the film. You would think that at a major Civil War site, they would at least mention it. But all that ever happens is that occasionally there is a Civil War monument in the background. Overall, though, it was a cute Christmas Movie about forgiveness, love, and Hope. I'd recommend it for Kelley Jakle's performance alone.

Following the accident on the lake, one of the teens, Mallory Beach, is missing. Alex Murdaugh quickly goes into damage control as the Murdaugh family spirals. At the same time, Mandy Matney (Brittany Snow), an investigative reporter is hot on Alex's tail as she attempts to find out the truth. After the first episode which was slower this episode was packed with drama and tension. At the same time there is a sadness knowing that this is a true story and poor Mallory Beach did get killed and that there was an attempted cover up. The entire cast has been great so far. It was also great to finally see Brittany on screen. Brittany Snow is so mazing in this and she steals every scene she is in. And the tension her character already has with Alex is great. Brittany Snow is my all-time favorite actor and her love for true crime really heightens her performance. All in all, this was a near perfect episode and I can't wait to see where it goes from here.

The first episode in Murdaugh: Death in the Family does a good job of establishing the family dynamic of the Murdaughs and setting up the mystery. The show opens with an accident and then jumps back in time three years to before the tragedy. Here, we meet Alex and Maggie Murdaugh, the central couple in our story. Alex is a lawyer working under his dad, but also has some sketchy stuff on the side. Their son Paul also seems to have a lot going on. Episodes like these are always challenging to rate and review because they primarily set up the characters and lay the foundation for the rest of the story. Overall, it does a good job of setting the stage. However, there were times it dragged a little, and figuring out all the characters and their relationship took a little time. It was also confusing that Brittany Snow wasn't in this episode, as she was advertised as the main character of this show. However, once I figured out who the characters were and things started to unfold, it improved significantly. All in all, it was a good start, and I'm excited to see where it goes from here.