Hallmark Movies: Small Town Royalty Magically Celebrating Rekindled Love! - General Discussion

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, twoods said:

Did they seriously have to ruin a decent movie like Summer Villa with an annoying teen? She got much better as the movie went on and I guess she was somewhat needed for the chef to be inspired but wish they toned her down a bit.

I did like the chemistry between Victor and Hilarie. It kept me interested. I'm also glad she squashed things with the French guy pretty quickly instead of going the ridiculous triangle route. Of course the ending was predictable but I enjoyed it.

I know.  I saw the kid in a scene they aired in an interview and I growled a little.  It's pretty rare when they don't annoy me but I'm glad you liked the chemistry.  I liked the casting and suspected they might be good together.

I'll have to get to it tomorrow.  Still feeling all the feels from the Looking movie that any romantic movie would be hard to compete with. I want to give this movie a fighting chance.

ETA: Ack, what do I see, a Signed, Sealed, Delivered movie tomorrow?  Yay.

Edited July 24, 2016 by Irlandesa

[Misslindsey]

9 hours ago, twoods said:

Did they seriously have to ruin a decent movie like Summer Villa with an annoying teen? She got much better as the movie went on and I guess she was somewhat needed for the chef to be inspired but wish they toned her down a bit.

I did like the chemistry between Victor and Hilarie. It kept me interested. I'm also glad she squashed things with the French guy pretty quickly instead of going the ridiculous triangle route. Of course the ending was predictable but I enjoyed it.

I did not mind the teen girl, because that seemed to be her character's story annoying at first and then found a hobby and was pretty good the rest of the movie. I thought the whole cast had a nice and easy chemistry with each other.

I enjoyed Summer Villa. It was predictable, but I liked it. I never liked Hilarie Burton on One Tree Hill or White Collar, but I enjoy her in these Hallmark movies. I too, was glad they did not really do a triangle with the French guy and that her dating him was basically over before it started.  

[twoods]

6 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I know.  I saw the kid in a scene they aired in an interview and I growled a little.  It's pretty rare when they don't annoy me but I'm glad you liked the chemistry.  I liked the casting and suspected they might be good together.

I'll have to get to it tomorrow.  Still feeling all the feels from the Looking movie that any romantic movie would be hard to compete with. I want to give this movie a fighting chance.

ETA: Ack, what do I see, a Signed, Sealed, Delivered movie tomorrow?  Yay.

The girl was actually pretty decent towards the end- I made the annoying girl comment in the beginning when she was pouting about being in freaking France, and doing the usual annoying teen trope of no wifi or phone signal. She was much better once she stopped pouting and started cooking. Plus, Victor Webster was absolutely smoking. Hilarie looked fantastic too. This seemed like a higher budgeted film than others with the decent editing and lighting.

What Looking movie are you talking about? I'm intrigued.

[chitowngirl]

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ETA: Ack, what do I see, a Signed, Sealed, Delivered movie tomorrow?  Yay.

 

HMM has a Signed, Sealed, Delivered marathon on today with a new movie on at 9:00.

[againstthewind]

Damn, Victor Webster is hot.

 

Hilarie Burton looked like a bag of bones though - she needs to put on some weight.

[Irlandesa]

That was absolutely a lovely movie.  I didn't hate the teen as much as I thought because even her annoying bad timing interruptions (more on that later) were for realistic but not over-the-top teen thingies. Plus, I think actress was quite decent. The scenery was lovely and the music really helped set the scene as it was chosen to create a specific ambiance which made it different than the usual fare.

Hilarie and Victor did have great chemistry.  I would love to see them in another movie.  I wish they had let them kiss before the final kiss because I think kissing for the first time whilel others watch is awkward.  It's such an expected trope in these movies but I pretty much hate it every time.  Those almost kisses, though.  I love it when Hallmark leads get to be sexy and they were definitely that in the "come here...come over there?" scene.  Whew.

Now for the nitpicks--am I mistaken or was the front exterior of that house the exact same exterior in Wedding Bells? 

And oh why did they call that competition the "Taste of France?" That implies it's a national competition...a national competition with only about a hundred spectators.  A national competition could have a prominent foreign judge so that made sense but a local farmer's market butcher wouldn't be the second.  Why not just make it a silly village competition that people got too into?

10 hours ago, twoods said:

What Looking movie are you talking about? I'm intrigued.

Have you heard of the HBO series Looking about three gay friends (and their entourage) in San Francisco? It aired for two seasons and then was cancelled.  But HBO greenlit a wrap-up movie that aired last night.  I don't know how it would play as a stand alone if you haven't seen the series (which was so quiet but I loved it) but it had a great moment of romantic release that was based on a well worn cliche but it just sort of proves that they still work when done right.

[Misslindsey]

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Have you heard of the HBO series Looking about three gay friends (and their entourage) in San Francisco? It aired for two seasons and then was cancelled.  But HBO greenlit a wrap-up movie that aired last night.  I don't know how it would play as a stand alone if you haven't seen the series (which was so quiet but I loved it) but it had a great moment of romantic release that was based on a well worn cliche but it just sort of proves that they still work when done right.

Jonathan Groff! My Melchior and King George the Third the second!

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Hilarie and Victor did have great chemistry.  I would love to see them in another movie.  I wish they had let them kiss before the final kiss because I think kissing for the first time whilel others watch is awkward.  It's such an expected trope in these movies but I pretty much hate it every time.  Those almost kisses, though.  I love it when Hallmark leads get to be sexy and they were definitely that in the "come here...come over there?" scene.  Whew.

I agree. I wish they got to kiss before the end as well. I thought they were going to since they seemed to acknowledge that they were attracted to each other earlier than some of these movies. 

I also liked that Hilarie and Victor's characters knew each other over the course of a couple of months or so, since it was mentioned that they were staying at the villa for the summer. I really liked this movie. I would probably re-watch it if I caught it sometime again. I haven't felt that way with many Hallmark movies lately. Most of them have been just okay for me.

[againstthewind]

9 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I love it when Hallmark leads get to be sexy and they were definitely that in the "come here...come over there?" scene.  Whew.

Yessssssss. I think my heart got a little fluttery when Victor said "come over there?". Damn

[Luckylyn]

I really loved Summer Villa.  The couple had great chemistry, production values looked good, and the music was a wonderful touch.  I also wish they would just let the characters kiss sooner.  It's so contrived to always push it to the end.  We're not going to ever get a love scene in these movies but at least let the characters kiss more than once or twice.  I also liked that they were spending the summer there and so there was realistic time for them to really get to know each other so the "I love you" at the end didn't feel too rushed.

[againstthewind]

Watched Love Under The Stars last night on HMM. It was cute - Wes Brown is very, very easy on the eyes and there was definitely a bit of chemistry between the leads. Honestly, the twist in the end about her thesis was kind of decently done, because I was pissed on his behalf when he found the manuscript.

[Irlandesa]

I was surprised that I liked For Love & Honor.  At first I wasn't sure if I'd watch it but I threw it on anyway.  The lead couple didn't have the best story but had nice chemistry when they were alone. I also liked that their big misunderstanding kind of made sense and was very very short. They dealt with it like adults and not just a few seconds before the end of the movie.

But it was also nice that this movie had some legitimate plot that may have been similar to other Hallmark movies "we have to save this thing that's closing" but wasn't a direct copycat.  And it felt well within its own parameters.  The school ceremony was held in a school gym.  As was the party.  It wasn't made to be bigger than it was. 

[kirinan]

I'm with you on For Love & Honor, Irlandesa. I can't improve on your points of why it worked, so I'll just say I agree. I watched it in a block with Summer Villa, which I hadn't seen yet and also enjoyed very much. Two movies where the leads dealt with their crises like adults, not overgrown teenagers. What a nice change from the fluff!

Speaking of fluff, the next three movies, all of which have Summer in the title (Prince, Love, in the City, or something like that), don't seem particularly appealing to me, but if there's nothing else on I might check them out.

I'm starting to figure out my pattern with these movies (and yes, I know I'm totally pre-judging here). If the leads are unknown and look bland and generic to me, I usually end up not caring about the movie. If the leads are unknown but have some quality that clicks with me, like Natalie Brown and Rebecca Liddiard (the daughter) in For Love & Honor, I watch the movie and usually end up enjoying it (and it does help if there's an actor/actress I like in the movie, like Victor Webster or Autumn Reeser or James Denton). The "click" reason is very subjective--one of those "I know it when I see it" things that I could never explain--but it works almost every time. It's why I enjoyed the Tulips in Spring movie; it wasn't the best movie, and I didn't really recognize the leads that much, but something about them when I saw the commercials said "not generic" to me. 

[TVFan17]

Super-quick movie reviews:

A Perfect Christmas -- Meh.  So-so.  While it was interesting/different to have a movie without a budding romance at the center of it, I got bored with the whole 'delay of the revelations' story line.  That was tedious for me after a while.

Summer Villa -- Loved it.  I hope Christmas Villa comes to fruition.

For Love & Honor -- I thought that Natalie Brown and James Denton were good together, but I am generally not a fan of movies with any kind of military theme so that part of it was an issue for me.

 

During Christmas in July, I happily watched all of my favorites (thankfully, Hallmark added Snow Bride into the line-up at the last minute), and I re-watched A Christmas Detour.  I liked ACD last year when it first aired, but I liked it much, much more upon watching it again.  I think it's a really good (slightly underrated) movie.

 

Quick news (just in case you didn't already know):

• The Countdown to Christmas is starting on October 28th (Friday); 64 days of programming and over 1500 hours
• There will be 19 new movies (including the When Calls the Heart Christmas movie) during the Countdown
• There is a new New Year's-themed movie
• Alicia Witt is starring in Christmas Bucket List
• Jaime King and Luke Macfarlane are starring in The Mistletoe Promise
• There will be 7 new Christmas movies on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, including the Erin Krakow/Niall Matter movie and the Mena Suvari/James Brolin movie
• Once again there are only 4 new movies for Fall Harvest, and one of them is the Good Witch Halloween movie.  New Hallmark favorite Rachael Leigh Cook is starring in another one.
• Ashley Williams is filming her Fall Harvest movie right now
• Mariah Carey's next Hallmark movie is going to be a Countdown to Valentine's Day movie

[Luckylyn]

I want a sequel to Let It Snow.  They kept mentioning his brother in Australia.  I was hoping we'd get a new Christmas movie either about him returning home for Christmas or maybe a Christmas being celebrated in Australia.   I like the idea of a destination Christmas movie for a change of pace.

Edited August 4, 2016 by Luckylyn

[TVFan17]

Hallmark has changed things a bit since when some titles of Countdown to Christmas movies were first announced in early June, and they change things a lot, so I expect that this list will not stay exactly as is for the next couple of months.  Dates, titles and even which channel the movies premiere on could change.  Right now, the line-up for the Countdown to Christmas on the main Hallmark Channel is:

 

A Wish for Christmas (Lacey Chabert/Paul Greene)

Mistletoe Promise (Jaime King/Luke Macfarlane)

Christmas Makeover (Lori Loughlin/Colin Ferguson)

Christmas Cookies (Jill Wagner/Wes Brown)

Suddenly Santa (Danica McKellar/David Haydn-Jones)

A December Bride (Jessica Lowndes/Daniel Lissing)

When Calls the Heart Christmas movie (w/ usual WCTH cast)

 

Christmas Bucket List (Alicia Witt/ male co-star unknown)

Joy to the World (Brooke Shields/ male co-star unknown)

A Prince for Christmas (Jaime Pressly/ male co-star unknown)

 

Christmas Expectations (cast unknown)

A Christmas Broadcast (cast unknown)

A Worthwhile Life (cast unknown)

Christmas Angel (or Christmas Angel in Training) -- Hallmark Hall of Fame movie (cast unknown)

Curveball Christmas (cast unknown)

Nutcracker (cast unknown)

Runaway Sleigh (cast unknown)

The Sound of Christmas (cast unknown)

Rose Parade New Year (cast unknown)

 

Observations:

• One of the above movies will be the new Candace Cameron Bure movie
• Seemingly missing from the list is A Snow Capped Christmas, with Leah Renee and Niall Matter; it might have gotten a title change -- but if it is there I have no idea what it would be called -- or it could have ended up with a different network
• One of the above movies is probably the new Lisa Whelchel movie, filmed earlier this year
• Missing from this list is the title announced in early June -- A Family for Christmas, which was about the reclusive male writer who takes in a woman, her mom and daughter during a storm; maybe it got held up in development and will pop up in 2017
• Sleigh Bell Sweethearts is also missing from this list, but it could go to HMM
• One of the above titles is likely the new Rachel Boston movie as well

 

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries' Christmas movies include:

 

Pair of Jacks (Mena Suvari/James Brolin/John Reardon)

Operation Christmas (Tricia Helfer/Marc Blucas)

Finding Father Christmas (Erin Krakow/Niall Matter)

 

The other 4 titles are unknown, but...

Prediction:

• I think that Love Always, Santa (with Marguerite Moreau and Mike Faiola) will go to HMM.
• I think there is a Kevin Sorbo movie that might end up on HMM

[In2You]

Was  bored and trying to watch My Summer Prince but only half paying attention to it because its so boring and the lead is so annoying. We're supposed to root for her to be some big shot PR agent but she's so weepy and whiny. Makes me wonder how she got so far. 

And with so much focus on Independence Day they should've aired this during 4th of July weekend. 

That pink dress was popular during prom season? Which season? Prom 1980?

The acting from the queen and the fiancee is quite bad and  little ott.

And the couple in this movie has little chemistry. All around such a bland cookie cutter movie that doesnt even attempt to put a new spin on the Prince tale.

[twoods]

I also agree that it didn't keep me entertained but it was better than some of the other movies that have come out this year. Taylor Cole is absolutely gorgeous, and she had pretty good chemistry with the lead (better than the last movie she was in). And Hallmark, enough with the annoying character that ruins movie (fiancé and Lauren Holly in this movie, teen in the last movie, etc). Plus, another movie that features Keep On Loving You (watched Dater's Handbook again last week and that song was in that movie as well).

Edited August 7, 2016 by twoods

[EyewatchTV211]

I've seen a bunch of commercials for the Rachel Leigh Cook movie Summer Love. Looks potentially interesting. There are two love interests. I'm disappointed that my boyfriend Lucas Bryant is playing the seemingly boring business man type versus the other guy being the carefree one. The carefree one always wins the girl in these movies. Hoping I'm wrong. 

[TVFan17]

35 minutes ago, VMepicgrl said:

I've seen a bunch of commercials for the Rachel Leigh Cook movie Summer Love. Looks potentially interesting. There are two love interests. I'm disappointed that my boyfriend Lucas Bryant is playing the seemingly boring business man type versus the other guy being the carefree one. The carefree one always wins the girl in these movies. Hoping I'm wrong. 

I, of course, have not seen the movie yet (waiting for it to air in my time zone), but my guess is that she is ending up with Lucas Bryant.  I didn't always think that way.  While the movie was filming Travis Milne was the one posting all of the photos.  Lucas Bryant is not as active on social media, and neither is Rachael Leigh Cook (in terms of posting from movie sets).  So, because Travis was the one who was so prominent, I assumed he would be the guy who gets the girl.  In fact, at first Lucas wasn't even in any of the photos I was seeing during the shoot.   All of a sudden Travis started posting photos and videos of Lucas on the movie set.

And then, when Hallmark put up its promotional photos of the movie on its website, it began to look more like Lucas is the one who gets the girl.

Also look for Rachael Leigh Cook in Autumn in the Vineyard -- one of the new Fall Harvest movies -- coming in October.

Edited August 14, 2016 by Sherry67

[EyewatchTV211]

Their movie isn't the one airing tonight. Tonight is Summer in the City. So we'll have to wait a little longer to see who she ends up with. It would be a pleasant surprise if they didn't follow the usual pattern of the girls ending up with the carefree guys. In the little previews I've seen, Lucas's character seems to have an actual sense of humor, at least. So maybe he won't be forced to be overly stuffy like some of our other favorites. 

Interesting that they've snatched up Rachael Leigh Cook.

[twoods]

All this talk about Rachel Leigh Cook makes me want to Netflix She's All That, one of my guilty pleasure movies. That would be nice if she ends up with the "boring guy" for once, and I'm looking forward to that movie.

What I am not looking forward to is the Debbie Gibson movie. It does not look good at all, and she seems like a terrible actress in it.

[TVFan17]

7 minutes ago, VMepicgrl said:

Their movie isn't the one airing tonight. Tonight is Summer in the City. So we'll have to wait a little longer to see who she ends up with. It would be a pleasant surprise if they didn't follow the usual pattern of the girls ending up with the carefree guys. In the little previews I've seen, Lucas's character seems to have an actual sense of humor, at least. So maybe he won't be forced to be overly stuffy like some of our other favorites. 

Interesting that they've snatched up Rachael Leigh Cook.

Oh, that's right!  I was doing something else at the moment I was typing and was mostly distracted -- so in my mind I was jumping ahead to next week's movie!!  Lol.  I have tonight's movie (Summer in the City) set to record in case I don't watch it live.  Initially I typed "Also look for Rachael Leigh Cook in Autumn in the Vineyard -- one of the new Summer Nights movies -- coming in October."  And then I thought, "Wait a second!  We're in the middle of Summer Nights now!"  I caught that mistake and changed it -- but completely overlooked the mistake about when Rachael's movie is airing!  Lol.

I really thought Travis Milne would be the one to get the girl until Hallmark put those promo photos up on the site.  One of the photos is of Lucas and Rachael on a boat.  I thought, "That looks like the ending scene.  Maybe he runs to her and wins her over on the boat before she sails away."  That's what threw me off.  It could still be Travis, but now I am leaning towards Lucas.

There was an article about/interview with Rachael the other day -- can't remember the publication -- and she indicated that Hallmark had been pursuing her for a long time.  I guess she had turned them down more than once, but she felt like she was finally ready to go back to rom-com-type fare and decided to accept.  I could be wrong, but I think she is one of the producers on Autumn in the Vineyard as well.  Maybe that was part of the deal Hallmark offered her -- I notice that they seem to be involving a lot of the actors in more aspects of the movies beyond just acting these days.  Quite a few of them are getting in on the production aspect.  Ashley Williams is involved in developing and co-producing her Fall Harvest movie, Seeds of Love.  I hope it's as cute as October Kiss.

[Karen885]

I thought Summer in the City was pretty enjoyable. I didn't recognize the leaf actress from anything but she was pretty cute. I wouldn't mind seeing her in more Hallmark stuff. I liked that the romance wasn't the center of the movie. I always enjoy Vivica A Fox so that was a nice suprise. I don't know why the description for the movie said she was from the South when she was from Ohio though, that was annoying. 

[Misslindsey]

1 hour ago, Karen885 said:

 

I thought Summer in the City was pretty enjoyable. I didn't recognize the leaf actress from anything but she was pretty cute. I wouldn't mind seeing her in more Hallmark stuff. I liked that the romance wasn't the center of the movie. I always enjoy Vivica A Fox so that was a nice suprise. I don't know why the description for the movie said she was from the South when she was from Ohio though, that was annoying. 

 

I agree that Summer in the City was enjoyable. I liked the leads and the rest of the cast, even though I kept referring to the male lead as One since I watch Dark Matter. I also liked that the drama was mostly about the store and not really the romance until a bit at the end, but even that seemed more about the store. I got a laugh at the movie description too!

I did not think the female lead had some awesome sense of style. I liked some of the pieces that she wore, but not all together like so many of her outfits were put together. Some of her skirts/dresses seemed a bit short for a work environment, even though I generally liked the dresses and skirts that she wore. I had to also roll my eyes at the whole people from the city wear black. I live in the city and I wear colors and neutrals. Shocking I know.

I think I am going to sit out the Debbie Gibson movie. From the previews she looks like a terrible actress and it just does not look interesting to me. If she is going to be a Hallmark regular I see myself not watching her movies like I do not watch Candace Cameron Bure or Shenae Grimes-Beech movies. Those are my deal breakers.

[EyewatchTV211]

Hooray, the city won! Finally some appreciation for a city, especially the amazing New York City!

[Karen885]

13 minutes ago, Misslindsey said:

I got a laugh at the movie description too!

 

In the first scene whe they clearly stated she was from Ohio I thought I was going to have to shut the movie off if they started referring to Ohio as the south. Thankfully they juse called it Ohio in the movie and once the midwest. I don't know why the descripting said southern hospitality was going to save the day.

[Shanna Marie]

The movie description for Summer in the City on my cable guide said something about a terrible result when she adapted big-city ways. I guess they were going for the one line where the guy said she'd become a big-city cynic, which I didn't quite see. But whatever.

It was a cute movie, and it was rather shocking for Hallmark that the big city won. They did a better than usual job of mixing the second unit or stock footage with the actual filming of the characters in (I'm guessing) Vancouver so that it wasn't so painfully obvious that it wasn't really New York. I kind of wish they'd left out the romance entirely, though, and just let the movie be about the shop and the heroine's relationships with her boss and co-workers. She supposedly became friends with the co-workers, but we didn't really see the transition, didn't see much of them at home. I'd have loved to see more customer makeovers. We just saw her giving advice, but the only time we saw someone try something she recommended on was with the boss at the beginning.

Meanwhile, I liked the guy, and he got to have something of a storyline of his own, but the relationship was so blah. The way she talked about him and their relationship was exactly the sort of things I say when I'm really not into a guy romantically, wouldn't mind occasionally getting together as friends, and don't want to hurt his feelings. That's when the "I'm really busy right now and need to focus on my work" thing kicks in. She wasn't acting like she was at all interested, and there was no sense of her being torn because she liked him and actually thought she had to give up her personal life to succeed. She was just sort of "well, okay, I guess" about him the whole time. Without wasting time on the romance, we could have had more about the shop and the other relationships, maybe showing more of the customers and the work they were doing. It could have been kind of like a Steel Magnolias in a store (and without the tragedy) thing.

[TVFan17]

Much of Summer in the City was actually filmed in New York (not just scenery, but some actual scenes with Marc Bendavid, Julianna Guill, etc.).  Some of it was filmed in Vancouver, but I don't think it was as much as usual.

Edited August 14, 2016 by Sherry67
left out a word!

[Shanna Marie]

2 hours ago, Sherry67 said:

Much of Summer in the City was actually filmed in New York (not just scenery, but some actual scenes with Marc Bendavid, Julianna Guill, etc.).  Some of it was filmed in Vancouver, I don't think it was as much as usual.

Ah, that explains why it looked a lot more authentic than the usual Hallmark movie set in "New York" that just shows a couple of establishing shots of the skyline, a shot of cabs going down a street, and then the rest of it looks nothing like New York. The Central Park scenes in this movie looked so authentic that I was wondering how they pulled that off in Vancouver. I guess they didn't!

[TVFan17]

5 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

Ah, that explains why it looked a lot more authentic than the usual Hallmark movie set in "New York" that just shows a couple of establishing shots of the skyline, a shot of cabs going down a street, and then the rest of it looks nothing like New York. The Central Park scenes in this movie looked so authentic that I was wondering how they pulled that off in Vancouver. I guess they didn't!

When I was watching it I was trying to figure out when they were switching to Vancouver scenes and when it was actually New York.  I am trying to remember what happened when they were filming it -- it wasn't that long ago but it seems like it was last year at this point.    I think that at least some of Vivica's scenes were filmed in New York, along with at least a few of the scenes with Marc and Julianna.    Marla Sokoloff, however, filmed at least some of her scenes in Vancouver.  I guess it would have been too expensive to just stay in New York and film the entire thing there, so they had to do a split shoot with some folks in one area and others in another area.

The authentic New York shots were great!  I know they can make Vancouver (and Montreal) look like a lot of other places in these movies, but it's nice to see some scenes -- even if just a few -- taking place in the actual location where they are supposed to be.

[EyewatchTV211]

The authentic New York shots were definitely great. I noticed a huge difference and appreciated it. When these movies start off with some random, unrecognizable (to me as an American) skyline, they've already lost at pretending to be the city they say. They try to prevent this with the stock footage of NY when they pretend NY, but this time they managed to mostly succeed beyond just the overhead shots. I'm glad they spent a little more money to shoot there for part. 

While Hallmark has focused on the small town vs. city debate, it seems to me like (for their romantic movies at least) they've mostly ignored typical suburbs. I know in this movie, she referred to suburbs. But it looked like their typical cutesy small town set to me. Nothing has been familiar to the type of town I grew up in, metropolitan NJ. It had a decently large population - certainly not something that could get away with being "small town." I graduated with a class of over 700. It would be nice for that to be represented, too (along with more diverse main casts that we've already complained about).

Edited August 14, 2016 by VMepicgrl

[sacrebleu]

The thing that ruined the movie for me was that Vivica Fox was such an idiot-- I really couldn't understand how she stayed in business. She hires a total stranger-- after seeing her at work for 5 minutes in a store in Ohio.

She doesn't have a web site? in 2016?!?!

She expects the newbie to come up with every single revenue generating idea? And threatens her with "this better work.." everytime she comes up with something?

She acknowledges her sales staff aren't that great-- but keeps them on?

She gives that speech about never listening to someone who tells her she can't accomplish her goals, but caves to her investors-- until Taylor comes up with a plan last minute?

I assume they were going for a Devil Wears Prada-ish demanding boss, but we saw Miranda Priestly be good at her job-- we never saw that with Vivica's  character. 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2016 by sacrebleu

[Shanna Marie]

Not to mention, would investors really insist that a high-end boutique with a celebrity clientele be turned into the Gap? And how likely would it be that a boss would get away with forcing her employees to let a stranger sleep on their couch? But I didn't get the impression that the boss was supposed to be very Devil Wears Prada. She was a little too warm and fuzzy and encouraging for that. She just seemed really stressed and taking it out on others while also talking about believing in yourself.

But I've given up trying to find any kind of business sense or logic in Hallmark movies. After all, they take place in a universe in which the ad campaign for the pivotal holiday season fashion line or gift item is created after Thanksgiving, a newspaper book reviewer can quit her job to start a book reviews web site and expect to make enough money from advertising to support herself within a couple of months, the owner of a farm can just barge in and demand that her tenants let her stay in the house they lease from her, and someone can write a book, sell it, and be a millionaire author within a couple of weeks.

[twoods]

Or how it's so easy to fall in love with a prince or princess even though you are a lowly commoner- no wonder so many people have a dream of being that commoner who becomes a princess overnight since Hallmark does that shtick at least twice a year.

[In2You]

Theyes need some more strong female characters. And stop selling the idea that a businesswoman focused on her job needs to stop so she can focus on a simple country man. 

[twoods]

Summer In The City was really cute! Storyline that didn't revolve completely about the lead needing a man, and great chemistry between the two of them. Plus, no miscommunication or exes to worry about. 

I think ALine did have a website (she was browsing it before she took the job) just not the virtual shopping one that the lead was talking about. Vivica's character wasn't too annoying to me- I think she was scared of being a failure which is why she went the easy route with the investors.

Edited August 18, 2016 by twoods

[TVFan17]

14 hours ago, twoods said:

Summer In The City was really cute! Storyline that didn't revolve completely about the lead needing a man, and great chemistry between the two of them. Plus, no miscommunication or exes to worry about. 

I think ALine did have a website (she was browsing it before she took the job) just not the virtual shopping one that the lead was talking about. Vivica's character wasn't too annoying to me- I think she was scared of being a failure which is why she went the easy route with the investors.

I agree with all of what you said.  I thought it was a pleasant movie -- albeit, a tad slow in some spots -- and I enjoyed it.  I liked Julianna Guill (never having heard of her before I didn't know what to expect).  I thought she and Marc Bendavid were good together and the pace of their budding friendship/relationship was not rushed, so it felt believable.   They spent a lot of time getting to know each other, and yet, as you said, the story did not completely revolve around the relationship.

I also liked Julianna's relationship with Vivica's character too, and I liked Vivica in the role.  I did think it was questionable that Vivica could just decide that this this new girl was going to stay with one of her employees without asking said employee about it first, but I only pondered that for a minute and then just enjoyed the rest of the movie.

Next up... the Rachael Leigh Cook-Lucas Bryant-Travis Milne love triangle movie!

[Irlandesa]

I don't see a forum for it but did anyone watching Chesapeake Shores?  I recorded the 2 hour movie but I'm so behind because of Olympics stuff. I'm not usually a fan of their series but this looked like it could be different.

 

What did you think?

[TVFan17]

This has nothing to do with Hallmark, but since there has been quite a bit of PixL talk in this thread in the past, and because some of the actors in PixL movies have been in Hallmark movies, I figured I'd mention it here unless there is an actual PixL thread (there isn't one, is there?).

Someone just pointed out to me (I wouldn't have otherwise known) that 2 PixL movies are airing on the Lifetime Movie Network in the near future.  The Reluctant Nanny, starring Jessy Schram, is airing on LMN next week -- 8/23 -- and It Had to Be You, starring Torrey DeVitto, will air on 8/30.  Since those are Tuesdays, it makes me wonder if another PixL movie might pop up on 9/6.

Edited August 18, 2016 by Sherry67

[twoods]

32 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I don't see a forum for it but did anyone watching Chesapeake Shores?  I recorded the 2 hour movie but I'm so behind because of Olympics stuff. I'm not usually a fan of their series but this looked like it could be different.

 

What did you think?

I forgot to record it but it looks decent. I'm also wondering why there is no forum. Let me know if it's worth watching.

[In2You]

3 hours ago, Sherry67 said:

This has nothing to do with Hallmark, but since there has been quite a bit of PixL talk in this thread in the past, and because some of the actors in PixL movies have been in Hallmark movies, I figured I'd mention it here unless there is an actual PixL thread (there isn't one, is there?).

Someone just pointed out to me (I wouldn't have otherwise known) that 2 PixL movies are airing on the Lifetime Movie Network in the near future.  The Reluctant Nanny, starring Jessy Schram, is airing on LMN next week -- 8/23 -- and It Had to Be You, starring Torrey DeVitto, will air on 8/30.  Since those are Tuesdays, it makes me wonder if another PixL movie might pop up on 9/6.

Thats news to put in the Lifetime thread

[Irlandesa]

5 hours ago, twoods said:

I forgot to record it but it looks decent. I'm also wondering why there is no forum. Let me know if it's worth watching.

I was hoping someone could tell me whether or not it's worth it.  I will let you know, although I don't know if I'll get to it before the next one airs.

1 hour ago, In2You said:

Thats news to put in the Lifetime thread

Sure.  But I think it's good to put here too since it looks like the vibe of the PixL movies is similar to those of Hallmark movies and might be good recommendations. 

[In2You]

6 hours ago, twoods said:

I forgot to record it but it looks decent. I'm also wondering why there is no forum. Let me know if it's worth watching.

Show forums are usually created when someone requests one so I'm guessing no one requested one yet. 

[In2You]

36 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I was hoping someone could tell me whether or not it's worth it.  I will let you know, although I don't know if I'll get to it before the next one airs.

Sure.  But I think it's good to put here too since it looks like the vibe of the PixL movies is similar to those of Hallmark movies and might be good recommendations. 

Created a new thread for PixL to discuss movies and recommendations

Edited August 19, 2016 by In2You

[Irlandesa]

On 8/6/2016 at 9:47 PM, In2You said:

Was  bored and trying to watch My Summer Prince but only half paying attention to it because its so boring and the lead is so annoying. We're supposed to root for her to be some big shot PR agent but she's so weepy and whiny. Makes me wonder how she got so far.

With the Olympics winding down, I'm finally finding time to start catching up.  I only half paid attention to it too and it was boring.  Very boring.  He annoyed me more than she annoyed me, though.  There's nothing I hate more in these movies than dramatic "you lied to me" accusations when the person doing the accusations him/herself also has a pretty big lie.  And I think almost kissing the PR person while being engaged counts as a lie.

As for Chesapeake Shores, I am not going to be the person able to give my impressions of it as I gave up about a half an hour in.  If it had been a self-contained movie, I might have stuck it out but it's a series and there's no way I'm going to dedicate 10-13 hours to what I saw. 

[TVFan17]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

With the Olympics winding down, I'm finally finding time to start catching up.  I only half paid attention to it too and it was boring.  Very boring.  He annoyed me more than she annoyed me, though.  There's nothing I hate more in these movies than dramatic "you lied to me" accusations when the person doing the accusations him/herself also has a pretty big lie.  And I think almost kissing the PR person while being engaged counts as a lie.

As for Chesapeake Shores, I am not going to be the person able to give my impressions of it as I gave up about a half an hour in.  If it had been a self-contained movie, I might have stuck it out but it's a series and there's no way I'm going to dedicate 10-13 hours to what I saw. 

That's a huge reason why I didn't even want to watch the first episode of Chesapeake Shores -- because it's a series, and I didn't want to commit to it.  It takes enough time, energy and DVR space keeping up with the series I follow regularly, and those are shows I have been following for years.  I'm already invested.  I had a feeling that CS would not grab me enough in the first episode to make me love it, and then I'd end up feeling like I had to watch the entire season just to give it a fair shot.  For the time being I'd rather just not even get started with it.  I've avoided the other series on the Hallmark Channel, so I will probably continue that streak with this one -- and just stick with the movies.

[In2You]

8 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

 

As for Chesapeake Shores, I am not going to be the person able to give my impressions of it as I gave up about a half an hour in.  If it had been a self-contained movie, I might have stuck it out but it's a series and there's no way I'm going to dedicate 10-13 hours to what I saw. 

I attempted twice to watch but both times changed the channel.  The premise/setting alone is too vanilla for me. If Hallmark wants me to watch one of their series it's gonna have to be a half hour series, set somewhere else besides a sleepy small town, with a diverse cast.

[Irlandesa]

8 hours ago, Sherry67 said:

I've avoided the other series on the Hallmark Channel, so I will probably continue that streak with this one -- and just stick with the movies.

The only Hallmark series I watched was Signed, Sealed, Delivered and that's only because it started off with a movie that I thought was terrific.  The series was okay but if I'm honest, I'm glad that it has moved back to being a movie series.  I think it works better that way. 

[In2You]

I saw a lot of people saying Chesapeake Shores has something for all ages but I don't agree with that from the little bit I saw. It's not really something i could see a large amount of the under 30 crowd watching weekly.  Though I can see the older crowd watching more. 

[EyewatchTV211]

The first Signed, Sealed, Delivered movie is one of my all-time favorites from the channel! I was somewhat interested in Chesapeake Shores from the previews, but based on people's comments, I think I will hold off.