Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.<\/p>\n
Warm and believable Marry Us for Christmas <\/em>airs tonight (12\/7) @ 7:00 PM (ET) on UP TV.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1eSnkM57OII<\/p>\n Synopsis (from the UP press release):<\/strong> In the sequel to last year\u2019s popular UP Original Movie Marry Me for Christmas, it\u2019s a year after Marci Jewel (Malinda Williams<\/span>) and Blair Kirkland (Karon Riley) declared their love for each other and decided to tie the knot.\u00a0 But as the big day approaches, Marci is so consumed with work that she\u2019s had no time to plan her wedding.\u00a0 To make matters worse, she may have to team up with former assistant\/fake fianc\u00e9 Adam to win a project she\u2019s been vying for \u2013 a little tidbit Marci has held back from Blair.\u00a0 But Blair, as it turns out, has a secret of his own.\u00a0 Thanks to years of doing pro bono work for financially-strapped clients, he quickly is running out of cash and might have to accept an offer to work for his longtime nemesis, Marci\u2019s manipulative cousin Preston (Carl Payne).\u00a0 Meanwhile, Marci\u2019s mother Stephanie Chandler Jewel (Victoria Rowell) is making some rather bold moves of her own with her sexy salsa teacher, Antonio Simpson (Marques Houston), who is more than a little smitten with her \u2014 and about 20 years her junior. \u00a0Will there be a wedding for Christmas?\u00a0 Better yet \u2013 whose wedding will it be?\u00a0\u00a0 Naturally, the festivities wouldn\u2019t be complete without family, including Marci\u2019s Uncle Donald (GregAlan Williams), Aunt Myra (DeEtta West), Aunt Elizabeth (Chrystale Wilson), Charlene (Dawn Halfkenny) and Antonio\u2019s uncle Lawrence Simpson (Kristoff St. John).\u00a0 <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Mini-Review:<\/strong> About a year ago, I wrote\u00a0 in my review of Marry Me for Christmas<\/em><\/a> that the film is\u00a0 “familiar territory to anyone with a TV. But, while there\u2019s not much new or particularly groundbreaking here, the familiar pieces are mixed and matched with skill. The dialogue is crisp, witty and believable. The cast and characters…are likable and all the performances are good. In the end, you\u2019re left feeling satisfied.” The same can be pretty much said of its sequel.\u00a0 Marci and her family are a likable bunch worth spending a couple of relaxing hours with. In fact, now that UP is getting into the scripted series business<\/a>, the network could do worse than consider weekly installments. In any event, Marry Us for Christmas<\/em> is recommended<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Marry Us for Christmas<\/em> is produced by Atlanta-based <\/span><\/span>Swirl Films. The film is directed <\/span><\/span>by Drue Powell<\/span> from a screenplay by executive producer <\/span>Rhonda F. Baraka (UP\u2019s Marry Me for Christmas<\/i> and Trinity Goodheart<\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\n Not-quite-believable Christmas at Cartwright’s airs tonight (12\/7) @ 8:00 PM (ET) on Hallmark Channel.<\/strong><\/p>\n