Chippings

I hope this is the appropriate place to mention that The Daily Show on Comedy Central put up an elaborate spoof of a Hallmark Christmas movie last night! The cliches unfolded one by one -- sprightly heroine walking briskly down a New York street (in a great coat) to her powerful job; then goes back home to her parents' generously decorated home in her old hometown; mother mentions that she isn't married; along comes former boyfriend, dressed in a lot of red and a plaid scarf, and points out that he's now a widower with three lovely children who ask her to be their mom. Et cetera. All so beautifully done. Who'd have thought that the Daily Show would suppose enough of its audience would know about Hallmark Christmas movies for this to work for them. They put a lot of work into the piece. Very surprising, and fun.

One4 .. Thanks for mentioning this one. It's my favorite of all time for many reasons, but the main one is that it introduced me to Aaron Tveit. Also, all the principal actors have serious Broadway experience -- Laura Osnes of course, Tveit in Moulin Rouge and several others), Victoria Clark (more recently award-winning star of Kimberly Akimbo), Krystal Joy Brown (of Hamilton), and Tom McGowan (featured role in She Loves Me). Amazing. They all take what is probably a pretty standard Hallmark story and take it above that level. So glad it's special to you also!

Hi -- Yes speaking of the older movies, I just saw Window Wonderland (2013) for the first time last week, and was so delighted. First, there was Paul Campbell so very young; then, my fave Matty Finocchio in a secondary role (I hope this is a good career for him!); and Cameron Mathison as, oddly, the "inappropriate original boyfriend." I noticed that it was written by the Dobrofskys, who usually do great work. Loved it all. (Oh and should really speak of Naomi Judd, who was very cute in this but I remember died sadly a few years later.) Then today, they're showing actually the first Hallmark movie that ever really caught my interest, A Royal Winter. One of those filmed in Europe, very beautiful. It was probably one of Merritt Patterson's first, and she certainly has become a staple. But Jack Donnelly, whom I liked, has disappeared. Great seeing Samantha Bond, though. Her bio is certainly well beyond anybody else's in that piece. Anyway, the oldies and goodies It's great to see those from a decade or more ago. There must be plenty of them, and we could use more from that period and fewer returning-home-to-save-pumpkin-farm-and-meet-high-school-boyfriend-s.

Okay, I'll do this -- It's late Sunday evening and nobody at all has posted since the new Hallmark movie on Saturday night. So interesting .. It didn't appeal to me and I wanted to watch Saturday Night Live. But has anybody actually watched it on Saturday or the repeat on Sunday? Or maybe there's another website where people are commenting? I like our crowd .. but maybe everybody is as bored as I've been with the recent entries. Anyway, Hi everybody!

I noticed at the end of "The One with the Cop" in Montana that it did show a date of 2019, which agrees with what Kirklandia said. . That hardly jibes with the "New" on the listings, though.

Yes and Yes ! I have to admit not having watched all of Falling Together, largely because I have the same impression of Ashley Williams, having that large grin going on throughout all her movies. I saw mostly the last half, so I appreciated your notes on the first part. In addition to that, I didn't see any hint of chemistry between her and Paul Campbell (whom I usually do like and he's been great with a few different co-stars). It was all just a dumb premise, I thought, and nothing to recommend it. I have the greatest respect for Alzheimer's research and compassion for those afflicted and connected - but really it doesn't tie in that great with a Hallmark rom-com. It sent my mind, at least, into a lot of related thoughts that pretty much broke the desired mood. It even made me miss the sub-plots of saving the family pumpkin farm or cupcake shop. There has to have been a meeting where this concept was pitched, and they really should have given up on it then. Sorry ..

I haven't watched DWTS in a very long time, but wanted to catch a couple of them tonight. I love "pommel horse guy" and hope he stays on for quite a while. Great personality, and obviously is as perfectly fit as you can get. That said, that Anna person (the "fashionista" !?) was really entirely bad. (They even gave her a very drab costume.) She showed zero personality and I don't think ever smiled. I'm hoping for a very early buh-bye to her.

So glad to see comments on the Lawyers movie! I missed the Will Kemp reference -- Whereabouts is it, for when I watch it again ? Enjoyed this, really enjoyed their relationship. Having worked for family lawyers for a lot of years, I did wince at the plot a few times. What ?? You can't do that!! I did answer a call years ago from a potential client whose first question was "Do you go for the jugular?" I hadn't anticipated the twist at the very end, so that was fun. But even more important - Will Kemp?

Fostersmom, I agree entirely about the Head over Heels movie. I literally yelled out loud at it a couple of times. Really!!? No chemistry between the leads, for sure. Also I'm not sure how many viewers care much about the shoe market that's above the department store lines and cost a thousand dollars or something. Also the character of the shoe designer woman was so badly written between the Devil Wears Prada Miranda Priestly character, but then suddenly half a dozen times she'd get kind of nice, and then revert again. Must have been awfully hard for the actress to play, actually. It was all just very odd and I thought poorly written.

I liked the Lemon Drops movie also. It was interesting that the hero (Ian Harding) was the same actor who was in Ghosts of Christmas Always, which they coincidentally showed shortly before this Saturday. It seemed funny that two new Saturday movies in a row were fantasies (Lemon Drops and the 'Dream' thing). But just fine, as there was no returning home to save the father's pumpkin farm and running into the old boy friend.

The issue I'd had with Marcus Rosner, who I'm sure is a very nice person, is that the first movie(s) we saw him in had him portraying the Stuffy Humorless Wrong Fiance'. When they started casting him as the hero, even when they ruffled up his hair and added the facial hair, it was hard to lose the original impression. He may even be acting it pretty well -- In the previews he seems to be going for a quirkier character, but I can't get there yet.

Oh yes, oh yes. such a pile of bad ideas this thing was. But I was surprised to finally recognize Ryan McPartlin. He was doing absolutely nothing for me in this movie, including the acting. But finally (and only by searching his name online) I realized he had been the lead in one I've remembered for some years now -- "The Flight Before Christmas" with Mayim Bialik. He looked so different in that (given that it was 9 years ago) but just so much more appealing. I even saw him fitting well with Mayim Bialik -- Hmm, possibly the plot and the writing helped? And his haircut in this one didn't help. This character basically was just not appealing, and the plot just a series of bad ideas. As said above, Really - Christmas and beer?

What struck me, for as long as I lasted, was that in the opening scene the heroine, fresh off the plane, was wandering through town pulling her rolling suitcase, and seeking the first fromagerie / gelato store / that she could find -- the absolute image of what Bethany Joy Lenz did (after a quick office scene) last week! I 'get' a series of overseas, food-oriented stories, but Jeepers. And yes, really tired of recipes and flavors .. and Indeed I remember that Kevin Kline movie too !!

I can see why they wanted to film another one in Malta, after seeing the 'dancing detective' one with Will Kemp filmed there a few months ago. And I will usually enjoy an Andrew Walker one. But nothing here drew me in, and I only lasted 25 minutes tops. You all were very brave to last as long as you did -- and it was very pretty, for sure. But generally, story-wise and chemistry-wise, I wasn't impressed.

In regard to your question, Haleth, the book says There are so few of us here on this page, and maybe you looked it up also.