I'm not sure if anyone has actually seen this movie, but it's a film that was shot last Summer in Edmonton Alberta, Canada, where the film happens to take place.
I'm a current resident of the city of Edmonton, I also work at the Scotia Bank Theater, Formerly known as Silvercity, West Edmonton Mall. (thats is full name right now... we were re-branded last year.)
So I was able to see various parts of this film actually shot, the green screen effects at the end with the girl throwing money off the roof was filmed in the parking lot, and several parts were filmed near the ice-rink where I get off the bus each day for work, as well the opening scene was shot down the street from my apartment, that being said the city was in a huge frenzy because a major motion picture was being filmed about the city we live in in the largest mall in north America.
That being said, the Film has been out in the US for about a month or so now, the Canadian Distributor dropped out so it was not released in Canada, but a deal was cut with the distributor to allow the movie to be shown in select theaters in Alberta, specifically Edmonton where the movie was shot, So i decided to grab some staff tickets and watch this masterpiece of a film located in my city.
Oh my GOD, this film is freaking terrible and it makes Canada look rather pathetic. but first a little about the film.
The Plot
The story is of a family from L.A whose father has gotten a job with an Alberta drilling company in Canada, so they move to Edmonton, the Family, consists of the Father Wayne, two boys, Danny 16, Brian 12 and a girl Mary, around 8.
They are mopey about moving to Edmonton and leaving sunny L.A behind, and it gets worse! there is no snow on Christmas eve in Edmonton! and to top it all off, turns out that Wayne's job was lost before he started, a rival company bought out his company and they have their own drilling equipment, looks like Wayne's out of money on Christmas eve.
To make the kids feel better, they decide to go to the West Edmonton Mall and do Christmas Shopping. (hey, what broke father doesn't shop on Christmas eve for presents...) he tells the eldest boy to watch his sister and brother, but he quickly leaves for fun in the mall and leave Brian and Mary to wait in the hour long line to see Santa, promising to return in 1 hour to get them after seeing Santa.
But the kids leave and go skating at the ice-rink where they discover 200,000 dollars in counterfeit money lost by two would be con men (Played by Chris Kattan and Preston Lacy), who report of the feisty head crook, Ginger (Played by Carmen Electra)
The kids find the money and thinking it's a gift from Santa for their broke dad, decide to save X-mas by buying gifts and things, but the crooks soon start chasing them through the mall for the money and the RCMP mistakenly arrest their dad thinking him the ringleader!
in the end it's up to Mary and Brian to fight back against the crooks, turn them over to the police and then prove their dads innocence! all the while Santa, taking the form of different people remind the family what Christmas is really about.
Sounds like a great holiday movie, and maybe if it was not shot in Edmonton, or I still lived in Ontario it could still pass for a mediocre holiday comedy like "jingle all the way" (oh arnie...), but several things annoyed me about the movie.
- The acting was just crap... seriously, even with child actors I've seen WAY better, only during a few scenes did anything being said actually sound natural and not read off a sheet although the script was really crappy.
- The dialog was really cheesy and cliche and horrible, it was like watching a movie written by the 12 stars of the movie.
- The plot device to explain the lack of snow in DECEMBER in EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA!
- The horrible stereotyped Canadian accents that several of the characters slid into their acting, like the mini-bike store clerk... omg, I wanted to reach into the screen and strangle that guy.
- There was a shot of the mall that made me, my co-worker and half the theater bust out laughing, the Mall was made up with horrible CG to look more magical and fantastic and wound up looking like a toy model.
![[http://www.outlaw-inc.com/wem_ciw.jpg]](http://www.outlaw-inc.com/wem_ciw.jpg "http://www.outlaw-inc.com/wem_ciw.jpg")
Thats NOT what the mall looks like and now we're going to get annoying tourist from the US saying, This isn't what the mall looks like, it's not the best shot, but it gives the idea. (I'll try to take one myself at the same angle.)
![[http://www.outlaw-inc.com/WEM.jpg]](http://www.outlaw-inc.com/WEM.jpg "http://www.outlaw-inc.com/WEM.jpg")
- there was a scene where Brian opens a door in the basement of the mall the leads to the north pole and the scene is a poorly animated workshop with elves making toys that looked like they hired an animation student to do and he didn't finish so they say," Meh, we'll take it anyway."
![[http://www.outlaw-inc.com/workshop_ciw.jpg]](http://www.outlaw-inc.com/workshop_ciw.jpg "http://www.outlaw-inc.com/workshop_ciw.jpg")
- The overall plot and how it was carried out just plain sucked, and they noticeably used parts of the mall repeatably getting the idea that his giant mall only has two escalators in it.
Overall the post production was poor, the special effects looked like a students work all around and they portrayed Canada incredibly poorly, for a movie to be filmed in the city it's taking place in at a location it's taking place in they sure don't hesitate to insult Canadians throughout the movie.
The entire movie was just plain trash! and I hated it, It's gotten horrible reviews across the board, but here are some of my favorite quotes from a review on IMDB.
I'm a current resident of the city of Edmonton, I also work at the Scotia Bank Theater, Formerly known as Silvercity, West Edmonton Mall. (thats is full name right now... we were re-branded last year.)
So I was able to see various parts of this film actually shot, the green screen effects at the end with the girl throwing money off the roof was filmed in the parking lot, and several parts were filmed near the ice-rink where I get off the bus each day for work, as well the opening scene was shot down the street from my apartment, that being said the city was in a huge frenzy because a major motion picture was being filmed about the city we live in in the largest mall in north America.
That being said, the Film has been out in the US for about a month or so now, the Canadian Distributor dropped out so it was not released in Canada, but a deal was cut with the distributor to allow the movie to be shown in select theaters in Alberta, specifically Edmonton where the movie was shot, So i decided to grab some staff tickets and watch this masterpiece of a film located in my city.
Oh my GOD, this film is freaking terrible and it makes Canada look rather pathetic. but first a little about the film.
The Plot
The story is of a family from L.A whose father has gotten a job with an Alberta drilling company in Canada, so they move to Edmonton, the Family, consists of the Father Wayne, two boys, Danny 16, Brian 12 and a girl Mary, around 8.
They are mopey about moving to Edmonton and leaving sunny L.A behind, and it gets worse! there is no snow on Christmas eve in Edmonton! and to top it all off, turns out that Wayne's job was lost before he started, a rival company bought out his company and they have their own drilling equipment, looks like Wayne's out of money on Christmas eve.
To make the kids feel better, they decide to go to the West Edmonton Mall and do Christmas Shopping. (hey, what broke father doesn't shop on Christmas eve for presents...) he tells the eldest boy to watch his sister and brother, but he quickly leaves for fun in the mall and leave Brian and Mary to wait in the hour long line to see Santa, promising to return in 1 hour to get them after seeing Santa.
But the kids leave and go skating at the ice-rink where they discover 200,000 dollars in counterfeit money lost by two would be con men (Played by Chris Kattan and Preston Lacy), who report of the feisty head crook, Ginger (Played by Carmen Electra)
The kids find the money and thinking it's a gift from Santa for their broke dad, decide to save X-mas by buying gifts and things, but the crooks soon start chasing them through the mall for the money and the RCMP mistakenly arrest their dad thinking him the ringleader!
in the end it's up to Mary and Brian to fight back against the crooks, turn them over to the police and then prove their dads innocence! all the while Santa, taking the form of different people remind the family what Christmas is really about.
Sounds like a great holiday movie, and maybe if it was not shot in Edmonton, or I still lived in Ontario it could still pass for a mediocre holiday comedy like "jingle all the way" (oh arnie...), but several things annoyed me about the movie.
- The acting was just crap... seriously, even with child actors I've seen WAY better, only during a few scenes did anything being said actually sound natural and not read off a sheet although the script was really crappy.
- The dialog was really cheesy and cliche and horrible, it was like watching a movie written by the 12 stars of the movie.
- The plot device to explain the lack of snow in DECEMBER in EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA!
- The horrible stereotyped Canadian accents that several of the characters slid into their acting, like the mini-bike store clerk... omg, I wanted to reach into the screen and strangle that guy.
- There was a shot of the mall that made me, my co-worker and half the theater bust out laughing, the Mall was made up with horrible CG to look more magical and fantastic and wound up looking like a toy model.
Thats NOT what the mall looks like and now we're going to get annoying tourist from the US saying, This isn't what the mall looks like, it's not the best shot, but it gives the idea. (I'll try to take one myself at the same angle.)
- there was a scene where Brian opens a door in the basement of the mall the leads to the north pole and the scene is a poorly animated workshop with elves making toys that looked like they hired an animation student to do and he didn't finish so they say," Meh, we'll take it anyway."
- The overall plot and how it was carried out just plain sucked, and they noticeably used parts of the mall repeatably getting the idea that his giant mall only has two escalators in it.
Overall the post production was poor, the special effects looked like a students work all around and they portrayed Canada incredibly poorly, for a movie to be filmed in the city it's taking place in at a location it's taking place in they sure don't hesitate to insult Canadians throughout the movie.
The entire movie was just plain trash! and I hated it, It's gotten horrible reviews across the board, but here are some of my favorite quotes from a review on IMDB.
Quote:
Sadly while its good for a movie to be made in Edmonton, this is the worst movie i have ever seen. Worse than Police Academy Mission in Moscow. Worse than a Sylvestor Stalone or Hulk Hogan comedy. And those are bad movies. Im sure most direct to DVD movies are better than this.
Quote:
The love story in the movie is unbelievable. The older boy misses his girlfriend from LA. But luckily he finds an attractive girl with the same obscure name as his old girlfriend, who also just moved from LA, and who has the exact same catch phrase as the boy does. He says one line to her, and they are instantly dating. It must have been love at first sight.
