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

[GaT]

Hello Hallmark Channel Movies thread! **waves**. It's nice to see you again after my 4 month "I hate the friggin' Christmas movies" absence. Now I am back because tonight was the start of the Mystery Movies again. The first one is Emma Fielding Mysteries: More Bitter Than Death. I recorded it & just sat down to watch, only the movie that started playing was Hailey Dean Mysteries: A Will to Kill. My DVR says I recorded the Emma Fielding movie, but it most definitely isn't. When I checked Hallmark's website, the Emma Fielding movie is now premiering on 2/10. Anybody have any idea what is going on & why the movie premiere was changed?

[TVFan17]

28 minutes ago, GaT said:

Hello Hallmark Channel Movies thread! **waves**. It's nice to see you again after my 4 month "I hate the friggin' Christmas movies" absence. Now I am back because tonight was the start of the Mystery Movies again. The first one is Emma Fielding Mysteries: More Bitter Than Death. I recorded it & just sat down to watch, only the movie that started playing was Hailey Dean Mysteries: A Will to Kill. My DVR says I recorded the Emma Fielding movie, but it most definitely isn't. When I checked Hallmark's website, the Emma Fielding movie is now premiering on 2/10. Anybody have any idea what is going on & why the movie premiere was changed?

I am not sure why the Emma Fielding movie was bumped to February 10th, but I noticed that it had moved about one week or so ago, when I checked the Hallmark website.  It's Hallmark's usual shenanigans of changing the schedule after advertising certain dates and details.   Sadly, they do that kind of thing all the time.

The only new mysteries airing this month are Ruby Herring and Mystery 101.  

In February, after Emma Fielding premieres, there will be two Chronicle Mysteries movies (the new series with Alison Sweeney).

In March, I think that there might be a 3rd Chronicle Mysteries movie premiering at the beginning of the month, along with the new Crossword Mysteries (with Lacey Chabert and Brennan Elliott).

There is a new Hailey Dean movie that was filmed not long ago, but I don't know if it is airing in June (which was the last "Hailey Dean Mysteries Month" in 2018) or if it will air as a standalone movie.

There are several new Garage Sale Mystery movies premiering in August.

Sometime later this year -- either September or October -- there will be 3 new Aurora Teagarden movies.

One month this year -- not sure which month it will be -- will be dedicated to the Morning Show Mysteries (with Holly Robinson Peete), with at least 3 new movies.

Another new mystery movie called Picture Perfect (starring Alexa and Carlos PenaVega) is filming soon, so I have to imagine it will air this year.

Edited January 14, 2019 by TVFan17

[LexieLily]

3 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

I am not sure why the Emma Fielding movie was bumped to February 10th, but I noticed that it had moved about one week or so ago, when I checked the Hallmark website.  It's Hallmark's usual shenanigans of changing the schedule after advertising certain dates and details.   Sadly, they do that kind of thing all the time.

The only new mysteries airing this month are Ruby Herring and Mystery 101.  

In February, after Emma Fielding premieres, there will be two Chronicle Mysteries movies (the new series with Alison Sweeney).

In March, I think that there might be a 3rd Chronicle Mysteries movie premiering at the beginning of the month, along with the new Crossword Mysteries (with Lacey Chabert and Brennan Elliott).

There is a new Hailey Dean movie that was filmed not long ago, but I don't know if it is airing in June (which was the last "Hailey Dean Mysteries Month" in 2018) or if it will air as a standalone movie.

There are several new Garage Sale Mystery movies premiering in August.

Sometime later this year -- either September or October -- there will be 3 new Aurora Teagarden movies.

One month this year -- not sure which month it will be -- will be dedicated to the Morning Show Mysteries (with Holly Robinson Peete), with at least 3 new movies.

Another new mystery movie called Picture Perfect (starring Alexa and Carlos PenaVega) is filming soon, so I have to imagine it will air this year.

Thanks for the updates! Hmph, so I can go ahead and delete what I deleted last night if its not actually that Emma Fielding movie.

[In2You]

16 hours ago, sistersledge said:

I’ll say it - One Winter Proposal was terribly boring. I still have no idea why the original got a sequel since it also seemed like every other hallmark movie, nothing special. I don’t like Taylor Cole or her movies, there seemed to be a lot of tight mouth smiles at each other... almost like the leads weren’t getting along. YMMV

I changed the channel on it because it was so dull. 

[Misslindsey]

20 hours ago, sistersledge said:

I’ll say it - One Winter Proposal was terribly boring. I still have no idea why the original got a sequel since it also seemed like every other hallmark movie, nothing special. I don’t like Taylor Cole or her movies, there seemed to be a lot of tight mouth smiles at each other... almost like the leads weren’t getting along. YMMV

I liked the cast, but found it dull as well. I did like the friendships between the characters, but it barely held my attention. 

[AnnaRose]

I watched The Birthday Wish last night, which was another winner recommended by MissyPoo. It was very enjoyable and the romance was believable.  Also, instead of insta-love and the couple getting engaged after a few weeks, it was "One Year Later" and then we even got a little snippet of their life "Ten Years Later".  (That's because it was part of the premise that she saw a glimpse of her future and the scene took place ten years later... but still, it was nice.)

I also recently watched The Dater's Handbook and had mixed feelings about it.  I loved Kristoffer Polaha in it (no surprise there), and the two leads had some cute banter, but Megan Markle's character annoyed me.  In particular when she blames Polaha's character for her allergy attack after she eats food off his plate - as if he was supposed to know she had an allergy to honey (and that it was in the wings he ordered) and was supposed to order his meal with that restriction.  It further annoyed me that she actually told Polaha's character, who was an incredibly nice guy, that she had to stop seeing him because she needed to date a better class of guy than him.  Ugh.  He really should have found somebody better. 

Speaking of Kristoffer Polaha... isn't he supposed to have a mystery series on Hallmark at the end of this month?  I thought I saw that advertised, but I don't see it mentioned on his IMDB page.

[mikeb]

43 minutes ago, AnnaRose said:

Speaking of Kristoffer Polaha... isn't he supposed to have a mystery series on Hallmark at the end of this month?  I thought I saw that advertised, but I don't see it mentioned on his IMDB page.

Yes, he is co-starring with Jill Wagner in Mystery 101, currently scheduled to premiere on Sunday, January 27th.

[AnnaRose]

4 minutes ago, mikeb said:

Yes, he is co-starring with Jill Wagner in Mystery 101, currently scheduled to premiere on Sunday, January 27th.

Thank you! Do you know if that's a series or just an individual movie?

[mikeb]

21 minutes ago, AnnaRose said:

Thank you! Do you know if that's a series or just an individual movie?

I have seen commercials describing both it and Ruby Herring as "limited series", which suggests will be more than just one of each, but I have not seen any announcement of additional movies yet.   Maybe they are waiting to see how the ratings are or maybe just waiting to announce at next Hallmark media presentation.

[sistersledge]

1 hour ago, AnnaRose said:

also recently watched The Dater's Handbook and had mixed feelings about it.  I loved Kristoffer Polaha in it (no surprise there), and the two leads had some cute banter, but Megan Markle's character annoyed me.  In particular when she blames Polaha's character for her allergy attack after she eats food off his plate - as if he was supposed to know she had an allergy to honey (and that it was in the wings he ordered) and was supposed to order his meal with that restriction.  It further annoyed me that she actually told Polaha's character, who was an incredibly nice guy, that she had to stop seeing him because she needed to date a better class of guy than him.  Ugh.  He really should have found somebody better. 

Speaking of Kristoffer Polaha... isn't he supposed to have a mystery series on Hallmark at the end of this month?  I thought I saw that advertised, but I don't see it mentioned on his IMDB page.

Did I write this? Lol - my thoughts exactly from watching  The Dater’s Handbook for the first time, all the way to wondering when his new mystery will be on. He’s become one of my favorite Hallmark actors.

It was my first exposure to Markle acting and I wasn’t impressed, but I have no real love for Harry and Megan for some reason. And I say that as someone who LOVES Will and Kate. But yes, the character was terrible. I think her problem was that she picked terrible losers, not that she picked non-commital guys (same thing?). I thought it was gross and rude to eat off other people’s plates and not at all cute. 

[Jenniferbug]

On 1/12/2019 at 9:10 PM, TVFan17 said:

I am expecting to be alone on my own little island again with this opinion, but I loved One Winter Proposal!!!    I wasn't expecting to love it, but it won me over.   For me, it's a clear winner and not a clunker.  That is all.

 

On 1/13/2019 at 12:57 AM, Dani said:

I loved it too. It was just sweet and fun without a lot of drama. This is my favorite cast. They were all so likeable.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the brother from Road to Christmas as Ethan. 

 

On 1/13/2019 at 1:51 AM, MissyPoo said:

Count me in! This is my fave of the year so far. I was actually nervous they would mess it up because I loved the first one so much but they met my expectations and even exceeded them a little. No fake drama or forced misunderstandings, just two adults with adult relationships in a gorgeous setting. I'm looking forward to seeing this one again!

I just finished One Winter Proposal and I adored it, for all the same reasons listed above. Everyone was adult and the relationships/friendships felt genuine. I think this one and its predecessor are my favorite non-Christmas Hallmark movies. I may even watch them both again tomorrow!

[Irlandesa]

I agree with those who loved it and those who found it boring. I was finding it pleasant and loving the gang all together.

But then I was kind of over it with about 30-40 minutes left. 

And the doctor worked there for like a weekend? LOL.

Edited January 14, 2019 by Irlandesa

[TVFan17]

3 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

Thank you! Do you know if that's a series or just an individual movie?

Hallmark seems to be emphasizing that both Ruby Herring and Mystery 101 are "limited" series -- which is usually not how they refer to their other mystery series (Aurora Teagarden, Morning Show Mysteries, Hailey Dean, Garage Sale, etc., etc.).    So that tells me that the stars of each new movie (Taylor Cole, Jill Wagner, Kristoffer Polaha, etc.) might not have signed on for an ongoing series quite yet.   That could be because Hallmark wants to see how well these new movies do and how the viewers respond before committing to anything else, or it could mean that they might just do an occasional movie in the series once in a blue moon, with no real regularity... or it could mean that they will do another movie or two this year only, and that both limited series will end after 2019.

In other words, it is entirely possible that Hallmark is going to try some of these limited series every year -- series that they don't plan on continuing for more than 2 or 3 movies, but that are just confined to one year and are done.   If they did that, then in 2020 they might pop up with another totally new limited series or two, starring different actors.

It will be interesting to see how they handle it.   We might know more when Hallmark's annual Winter TCA event takes place very soon, in terms of whether or not there will be more Ruby Herring and Mystery 101 movies this year or beyond.  At the same time, as much as those TCA events are bonanzas of info, they also sometimes leave more questions than there were before!!

One thing that is for sure is that Hallmark seems to be moving Taylor Cole, Jill Wagner and Kristoffer Polaha more to the forefront, giving them more things to do and making them bigger, more prominent, parts of the Hallmark family.    Kristoffer's sudden prominence is nicely timed, as actors such as Daniel Lissing and Paul Greene (Paul was once very prolific in movies on the channel) are slowly kind of fading away over time.   I even get the feeling that we might start to see less of Andrew Walker over the next year or two (he is not in any new Wnterfest movies or Valentine movies) -- probably because he will want to branch out and not be pigeonholed as "the Hallmark guy."

They are also doing the same thing with Carlos and Alexa PenaVega -- making them more prominent.    But I don't know if their new mystery series (which I mentioned in my above post about mysteries) is "limited" or if it's just a regular mystery series.

[sistersledge]

2 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

They are also doing the same thing with Carlos and Alexa PenaVega -- making them more prominent.

Ugh please no. I never watch any of their movies.

[Happywatcher]

4 hours ago, sistersledge said:

Ugh please no. I never watch any of their movies.

For being real life married actors, you would expect more screen chemistry. Maybe it's tougher when you actually care for the underlying actor playing the character?

6 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

 

One thing that is for sure is that Hallmark seems to be moving Taylor Cole, Jill Wagner and Kristoffer Polaha more to the forefront, giving them more things to do and making them bigger, more prominent, parts of the Hallmark family.   

Once Taylor got to the point they let her have dark hair (juice? Qscore? experience?) she got very likable. As long as the new mystery movie is good, she can be the new Hallmark golden girl. The teaser around the body where she sort of looked robotic has me a little worried, through

[Jaded]

I'm not sure if she'd accept but I'd love to see Tatyana Ali with her own mystery movie series. If she did get one hopefully she'd get to have better hair then the disaster Holly Robinson Peete has to wear on her head during her mystery movies.

Going by the commercials only Mystery 101 seems more like a mystery movie I might like over the Ruby Herring one. I'm going to give them both a shot. I really wish they'd rerun the McBride mystery movie series with John Laroquette. I didn't get to see either of the Hallmark channels until 2006 so I've never seen the earlier ones. I thought they might rerun some other older ones after airing some of the Jane Doe movies. I guess they wouldn't rerun the Murder 101 movies with Dick Van Dyke since that title is so similar to the Mystery 101 movie coming up even though he's been getting more attention after appearing in the new Mary Poppins movie. 

[GaT]

3 hours ago, Jaded said:

I thought they might rerun some other older ones after airing some of the Jane Doe movies.

I've never seen any of the Jane Doe movies. Whenever I think of checking to see if they're on, they're not. Then I find out at a later time they were on, but I didn't know it.

[MissyPoo]

On 1/14/2019 at 8:46 PM, Jaded said:

I'm not sure if she'd accept but I'd love to see Tatyana Ali with her own mystery movie series. If she did get one hopefully she'd get to have better hair then the disaster Holly Robinson Peete has to wear on her head during her mystery movies.

Or her Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. I liked Christmas Everlasting, but I couldn't help being distracted by the wig at times. Especially since Lifetime didn't make such a mishap two years in a row.

 

Just noticed Surprised By Love aired yesterday. :-/ For those who haven't seen it, definitely put it on your watchlist. It's super hilarious and (imho) Paul Campbell's best. It's what made him one of my fave comedic Hallmark guys. It looks like another airing is coming up this Sunday so yay!

I'm excited to see Bridal Wave is on! Love this movie so much. I wish I could get more Arielle and Andrew movies in the future. I hope it shows up on demand for folks who may miss it.

Wedding Bells is on Thursday which another fave of mine. I wish Hallmark had more character development like this in how they explain the leads' current relationship with food and how it relates to their past which adds a nice layer.

And I see some classics are coming up Saturday with Elevator Girl & A Taste of Romance. Rewatching them now seems like they may have been a few of the templates current Hallmark likes to reuse but not as well depending on the execution.

Love By Chance is on Sunday which, for some reason, I never tire of watching whenever it comes on.  On paper it seems like a run of the mill Hallmark movie but when watching it, it's a pleasure.

The original (and best) All of My Heart comes on before a marathon of the Winterfest countdown which seems really weird. I didn't think there were that many to warrant a countdown but do you, Hallmark. Do you.

On 1/15/2019 at 12:06 AM, GaT said:

I've never seen any of the Jane Doe movies. Whenever I think of checking to see if they're on, they're not. Then I find out at a later time they were on, but I didn't know it.

I hate when that happens. :-( I did a quick search and surprisingly it looks like they'll show it on Thursday Jan 31st. I can't remember if they're in order or not.

Edited January 16, 2019 by MissyPoo

[Jenniferbug]

2 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

The original (and best) All of My Heart comes on before a marathon of the Winterfest countdown which seems really weird. I didn't think there were that many to warrant a countdown but do you, Hallmark. Do you.

I thought this was weird too! The Winter Princess (?) movie airs at 3:00 and then there's another new movie at the usual 7 PM on Saturday....then a marathon next week. But it doesn't seem like there are enough movies from this year to warrant a countdown. Are they including previous winter movies too? 

If anyone notices Cooking with Love on soon, please let me know. I missed it recently and would like to DVR it since it seems unlikely to ever be on DVD and I love it. 

[MissyPoo]

55 minutes ago, Jenniferbug said:

I thought this was weird too! The Winter Princess (?) movie airs at 3:00 and then there's another new movie at the usual 7 PM on Saturday....then a marathon next week. But it doesn't seem like there are enough movies from this year to warrant a countdown. Are they including previous winter movies too? 

It would make total sense if they did include the others. Which is funny if they are doing that now when everyone expected them to do it with the other countdowns instead of just focusing on the new premieres. Checking their site, it says 5 new Winterfest premieres this year and I counted 15 movies in the countdown from Sun 3pm to Mon 7 pm so you may be right. Tbh, I didn't even realize they made that many total...

[EyewatchTV211]

1 hour ago, Jenniferbug said:

I thought this was weird too! The Winter Princess (?) movie airs at 3:00 and then there's another new movie at the usual 7 PM on Saturday....then a marathon next week. But it doesn't seem like there are enough movies from this year to warrant a countdown. Are they including previous winter movies too? 

If anyone notices Cooking with Love on soon, please let me know. I missed it recently and would like to DVR it since it seems unlikely to ever be on DVD and I love it. 

It's too bad you just posted about Cooking with Love. I actually saw that on very recently. I don't know when it will be on again, though. Sorry!

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, MissyPoo said:

It would make total sense if they did include the others. Which is funny if they are doing that now when everyone expected them to do it with the other countdowns instead of just focusing on the new premieres. Checking their site, it says 5 new Winterfest premieres this year and I counted 15 movies in the countdown from Sun 3pm to Mon 7 pm so you may be right. Tbh, I didn't even realize they made that many total...

According to Wikipedia after this year there will be a total of 16 Winterfest movies with the last one airing the week after the marathon. So most likely the countdown will go back to the first Winterfest in 2016. 

Edited January 16, 2019 by Guest

[Woopwoopkitty]

I always thought that I was knowledgeable in geography.  Not Ken Jennings level, but I know a thing or two.

But apparently I missed a few classes because unbeknownst to me, there are a significant number of small European countries, all of which have a handsome young prince poised to assume the throne imminently. And open to marrying lowly American women.

I’m turning 60 soon.  Do you think I’m out of the running? Or maybe I should make a play for the retiring king. There seem to be 30 or 40 of these countries, there must be one that would work for me.

[MerBearHou]

 From the commercials, it sure looks like Taylor Cole / Ruby Herring need a far better wig or dye job!!

[Irlandesa]

8 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

And I see some classics are coming up Saturday with Elevator Girl & A Taste of Romance.

Oooh I love A Taste of Romance.  I should set my DVR.

[kirinan]

On 1/14/2019 at 10:43 AM, AnnaRose said:

I also recently watched The Dater's Handbook and had mixed feelings about it.  I loved Kristoffer Polaha in it (no surprise there), and the two leads had some cute banter, but Megan Markle's character annoyed me.  In particular when she blames Polaha's character for her allergy attack after she eats food off his plate - as if he was supposed to know she had an allergy to honey (and that it was in the wings he ordered) and was supposed to order his meal with that restriction.  It further annoyed me that she actually told Polaha's character, who was an incredibly nice guy, that she had to stop seeing him because she needed to date a better class of guy than him.  Ugh.  He really should have found somebody better. 

I watched it for the first time last week, and you're spot on, AnnaRose! As I was watching, I wondered why a movie with three actors I like so much (Jonathan Scarfe, Kristoffer Polaha, Meghan Markle) annoyed me so much. Then I realized it was because: a) it seemed kind of sexist to me, a throwback to the days of, "OMG, I must get married or I'll be an old maid!", and b) it made all of the women snotty and/or bitter beeyotches (even the mother, although she was better than her daughters). The sister, especially, with her constant disparagement of KP's character, made me want to throw something at the TV. And MM's character wasn't far behind; I kept hoping he'd walk away from her, even though I knew it wouldn't happen. Plus they made JS's character so stereotypically dull and stodgy that I think the writer should have been fired. All in all, I thought it was an unpleasant movie, one I don't think I'd watch again.

[TVFan17]

The actual Winterfest event (under that official title) has been going on for at least three consecutive years, if not longer.   Before calling it Winterfest, they premiered new movies in January.   So they basically have enough movies to include in their ranking/countdown.    And they have been doing these countdowns for their other recent themed events, so it makes sense that they are doing the same thing for Winterfest.   It's just a marathon of movies they have already been showing and will show again.  

As for Dater's Handbook... it has grown on me over the last couple of years and I enjoy it much more now, but one thing that bothered me when I first saw it and still bothers me today is Meghan Markle's character taking food from other people's plates -- or expecting them to automatically share what they have.  It's a nitpicky, silly thing to be annoyed with, but it annoys me.   She helps herself to other people's food and calls it "sharing" food.   Um... no.  "Sharing" would be if the guy asked you if you would like to have some of his cake, or his dinner, or whatever, and you say yes.  "Sharing" is not just reaching over and taking food from someone's plate!  

And not only does she do that, she does it when she is just getting to know them!  Who does that?  Who just reaches over and samples someone's cake when you just met them 2 minutes ago?   How about asking him, "Would you mind if I tried a bite of that?"   It's one thing to do it if you are already in a relationship with someone, but not when you are just getting to know them.

See, that's the kind of nonsense that guys will put up with if a woman is attractive, and that women will put up with if a man is attractive.  Then it's "cute" behavior.  But if any unattractive person that you just met decides to sample your food without asking or without you inviting them to -- or expects that you are sharing what you have -- then it's not so cute!

Edited January 16, 2019 by TVFan17

[Marsupial]

I know "Frozen in Love" got mixed reviews here, but I just watched it and found it charming!! I loved the hunky hockey player dude, he had such a nice effortless and easy manner, and the story was just so sweet and lighthearted. Plus, well a charming and cozy bookstore in a small town is my jam...Between work and family stuff, I have been highly remiss in my Hallmark movie viewings, but I am attempting to make up for my slacking off!! 

Quote

I wish Hallmark would make fewer films and show more of the older (and Hall of Fame movies). Maybe designate one day a week (TBT perhaps?) For showing 'classic' Hallmark.

There is NOTHING like the Hallmark HOF movies. I got a trial subscription to Hallmark Movies Now over the holidays and binged on these. That's the only place to get them though, and I didn't find enough on there to justify adding the price to my cable bill. If money were a little more flush, though, I would. 

Edited January 18, 2019 by Marsupial

[TVFan17]

The PenaVegas are expecting a second baby, so I wonder if their Hallmark work will slow down for a while after they film their upcoming mystery movie --

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-moms/news/alexa-penavega-is-pregnant-expecting-baby-no-2-with-carlos-penavega/

[KLovestoShop]

How many freaking times are they going to show Love On The Sidelines?  I swear it's been on 4 or 5 times since they stopped the Christmas movies.  And it's not even a good movie.  They had so many idiotic scenes, like when the bride was having her dress fitted and the fiancé was sitting in the next room and could easily see her.  Close the flipping door, you bozo, if you didn't want him to see it.  And while there are some women who might not know sports, she was played to be totally clueless. 

Edited January 19, 2019 by KLovestoShop

[TVFan17]

1 hour ago, KLovestoShop said:

How many freaking times are they going to show Love On The Sidelines?  I swear it's been on 4 or 5 times since they stopped the Christmas movies.  And it's not even a good movie.  They had so many idiotic scenes, like when the bride was having her dress fitted and the fiancé was sitting in the next room and could easily see her.  Close the flipping door, you bozo, if you didn't want him to see it.  And while there are some women who might not know sports, she was played to be totally clueless. 

 

I love -- or at least enjoy -- a lot of Hallmark movies, but Love On the Sidelines is, for some reason, not one of them.  I am definitely in the minority on that one, though.  That movie seems to have a lot of fans.     I don't hate it, but I never make a point of trying to watch  it when I see that it's on.   I don't have the DVD.    I couldn't buy Emily Kinney as a leading lady at that point, when it premiered in 2016 -- probably because I was so used to her playing teenager Beth on The Walking Dead, and she still just seemed like that same teenager in the movie.

It's interesting, though, that considering how popular Love On the Sidelines is with viewers, Emily hasn't been back to star in any other Hallmark movies in the last 3 years.  It could just be bad timing, though.  She was working on a couple of other series at one point, and she also devotes a lot of time to her music. and doing shows.  But I wonder if Hallmark has tried to get her back.

Edited January 19, 2019 by TVFan17

[In2You]

Was getting my hair down last night and my stylist was watching Hallmark. 

What did everyone think of A Winter Princess? I thought the couple had chemistry though I felt more spark between the lead and her brother. Why did all the other royals have a British accents but her? It was very jarring. And she switched from speaking normally to speaking like a Disney Princess through the movie along with over exaggerated facial expressions.  Her personality was too sugary sweet.   And her ball gown at the end was hideous! They were going for Cinderella but instead went for tacky Homecoming Queen. I liked that the prince rival brought in was not a jerk unlike how they portray the princess rival in these movies.  Loved at the shots of the ski resort and would've preferred more winter sport activity. 

 

[Guest]

32 minutes ago, In2You said:

Was getting my hair down last night and my stylist was watching Hallmark. 

What did everyone think of A Winter Princess? I thought the couple had chemistry though I felt more spark between the lead and her brother. Why did all the other royals have a British accents but her? It was very jarring. And she switched from speaking normally to speaking like a Disney Princess through the movie along with over exaggerated facial expressions.  Her personality was too sugary sweet.   And her ball gown at the end was hideous! They were going for Cinderella but instead went for tacky Homecoming Queen. I liked that the prince rival brought in was not a jerk unlike how they portray the princess rival in these movies.  Loved at the shots of the ski resort and would've preferred more winter sport activity. 

 

I thought it was okay but it’s not one I would go out of by way to rewatch. Her lack of an accent was explained by her years in American boarding schools.  Her acting felt off particularly when she switched to the accent. I’ve been watching a lot of movies with Brittany Bristow lately and I thought she would have been better as the princess. 

One thing that confuses me is the scene where Carly saves Jesse from being run over by the motorcade. The scene was weird and then when they officially are introduced minutes later there is no mention of it at all. 

I think I am enjoying the winterfest movies more then I normally would because they are missing the normal Hallmark drama. When it was revealed she was hiding her identity I thought I knew what the plot was going to be and then he immediately discovers the truth and tells her he knows. There was no misunderstanding and everyone behaved like adults. Maybe Hallmark is finally paying attention to the criticism and trying to change things up a little. 

[In2You]

1 hour ago, Dani said:

I thought it was okay but it’s not one I would go out of by way to rewatch. Her lack of an accent was explained by her years in American boarding schools.  Her acting felt off particularly when she switched to the accent. I’ve been watching a lot of movies with Brittany Bristow lately and I thought she would have been better as the princess. 

One thing that confuses me is the scene where Carly saves Jesse from being run over by the motorcade. The scene was weird and then when they officially are introduced minutes later there is no mention of it at all. 

I think I am enjoying the winterfest movies more then I normally would because they are missing the normal Hallmark drama. When it was revealed she was hiding her identity I thought I knew what the plot was going to be and then he immediately discovers the truth and tells her he knows. There was no misunderstanding and everyone behaved like adults. Maybe Hallmark is finally paying attention to the criticism and trying to change things up a little. 

I missed the accent explanation. It was really wierd how she'd go from speaking like an American to putting on a half assed accent in scenes with her brother.

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, Dani said:

When it was revealed she was hiding her identity I thought I knew what the plot was going to be and then he immediately discovers the truth and tells her he knows. There was no misunderstanding and everyone behaved like adults.

I agree.  It was nice that he figured it out AND looked her up.  The internet is good for things like that but we rarely see it used.  And the lead couple did have chemistry so I was cautiously optimistic for the first thirty minutes of the movie but then it just didn't hold my attention.  Of course she gives up her royal life to stay at a small ski resort.  Of. course. 

[In2You]

51 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I agree.  It was nice that he figured it out AND looked her up.  The internet is good for things like that but we rarely see it used.  And the lead couple did have chemistry so I was cautiously optimistic for the first thirty minutes of the movie but then it just didn't hold my attention.  Of course she gives up her royal life to stay at a small ski resort.  Of. course. 

I didn't like that double standard as a prince would never give up his royal life for a woman in one of these movies. 

[kirinan]

Thank you, Hallmark! I loved, loved, loved Winter Love Story. At least in my opinion, you hit it out of the ballpark. It's my favorite movie in quite some time.

I've always liked Jen Lilley--she's one of my favorite Hallmark actresses--and I really, really liked Kevin McGarry in this (I haven't seen him in much so far), and I thought the two of them had so much chemistry. I liked the story; it flowed well, without the usual unrealistic "she wrote a book, had it published and it became a best-seller--all within 24 hours!" kind of thing they usually push off as a writer's career. I think some of the scenes might have been in real snow, the relationship developed relatively naturally, AND THEY ACTED LIKE ADULTS! (Okay, there was a tiny blip at the end, but I'm willing to overlook it). And of course, we met Bungee the dog.

This one is a keeper, as far as I'm concerned. I would buy the DVD in a heartbeat. 

So, not to be greedy, but could we get some more like this? Pleeeeeease?

[Irlandesa]

3 minutes ago, kirinan said:

So, not to be greedy, but could we get some more like this? Pleeeeeease?

Yep.  These two need to pair up together again.  I was so afraid I was going to come here, say I loved it, and raise the hopes of others only for them to be disappointed.  That still might happen but at least I have another person who likes it.

Hallmark Trigger Warning:  If you have issues with one of the leads being mean for no reason, then you're going to struggle a little bit with maybe the first 20-25 minutes of the movie.  Because she's mean for no reason.  She shades his genre of writing.  Judges him.  And he's such a sweetheart.  But eventually they get past that and are just sparkly the rest of the time.  And there was a mild miscommunication but it wasn't as egregious as it could be because I can see why she'd be sad about some of the things she said.

They had the best chemistry I've seen in one of these movies in a very very very long time. Elliot was sexy and charming and nice. Even though Cassie was prickly in the beginning, Jen Lilley's charm kept me going until she stopped being shady.

The story was your general "let's go on a book tour" but the conversations they had were deeper than we normally get.  Both had good characterization, especially Cassie's relationship with her mother that fed her insecurities but not because of something her mother did to her.  Bungee was cute too.

[TVFan17]

There was at least some (if not all) real snow in the first 4 installments of this year's Winterfest  because of the times of year they were filmed and the locations of the shoots.  

However, the final Winterfest movie next weekend -- SnowComing (which is a goofy title, and I have a feeling the two leads will have no chemistry) -- definitely has some fake snow (I saw pictures with fake snow on the ground), and I don't know how much -- if any -- real snow actually made it into the movie.

I thought Winter Love Story was pretty good.  I prefer tonight's Kevin McGarry Winterfest movie over the other Kevin McGarry Winterfest movie from 2 weeks ago, and I also liked this one better than his previous Spring movie and Christmas movie.   But my favorite new Winterfest movie of this year is still One Winter Proposal (that ending scene is wonderful).

Edited January 20, 2019 by TVFan17

[twoods]

One Winter Proposal was decent. It was nice to see adults acting like adults, plus the main couple kissed a few times and not just at the end of the movie. I did not like that the other couple got zero love when it came to a kiss, but that end proposal was beautiful and made me cry. It was perfect and not too rushed like other Hallmark endings. I’m sure next year will be One Winter Wedding and we will finally see the friends have some romantic scenes.

Winter Love Story looked promising in the commercials so it’s nice to see that people enjoyed it. I tend to like Jen Lilley’s movies (she always has an easy chemistry with the lead), so I will overlook the usual nasty mean girl schtick and try to keep an open mind,

[Kaoteek]

I'm not sure what Natalie Hall & the director & writer were going for with her character in A Winter Princess, but it ended up mostly broad, cartoony and quite awkward. And I gotta say the writing didn't really help (which is strange, since it was the same writer as One Winter Weekend, which was much stronger on that front). Didn't care much for the overall product, to be honest, and even if it was a different spin on the usual "Royal" movies, it just felt off and flat, overall. (and those dodgy accents... sigh)

[EyewatchTV211]

On 1/1/2019 at 5:22 PM, MissyPoo said:

To the DTH podcast's credit, they got me to watch a movie that I had planned to skip, Jingle Around the Clock. Brooke and Michael were gems on the podcast. It's cute they wrote it, exec produced it and are a couple in real life. I started watching it, but it was a little too slow for the time. I'll probably try again later.

 

 

When I first read this, I assumed you were talking about the Michael who was the other lead in the movie with Brooke in Jingle Around the Clock and was confused since google showed that his wife is definitely someone else. I actually just listened to that episode of the DTH podcast today. I slowed down my listening to try to save some for walking my dog (listened to some sports podcasts and TV podcasts in between instead). Anyway, after listening, I now realize that it was a different Michael who co-wrote it and produced it, not the actor Michael Cassidy. Though it looks like he has acted in other things - think he is Michael Traynor. I ultimately did not like this movie as much as the DTH guys, despite them being right that it was nice that they worked out the misunderstanding about the other male friend right away. 

Edited January 20, 2019 by VMepicgrl

[Kaoteek]

Winter Love Story : this one was fun. A bookish, anxiety-ridden lead, some fun snarky banter, decent chemistry, a doggo, a road trip, Laura Miyata as the publicist, a more laid-back Kevin McGarry than in Winter Castle, and an overall light-hearted and enjoyable tone... I liked it.

(also, funny how those Winterfest movies seem to have proper opening titles/fonts... whereas the HM Christmas movies tend to be so rushed into production - and renamed again and again - that they always get basic, generic last-minute titles and credits)

[Jaded]

The Ruby Herring movie is on HMM tonight.

[TVFan17]

1 hour ago, Kaoteek said:

 

(also, funny how those Winterfest movies seem to have proper opening titles/fonts... whereas the HM Christmas movies tend to be so rushed into production - and renamed again and again - that they always get basic, generic last-minute titles and credits)

 

I don't know how or when the title/credit fonts are chosen (and you're right that some of them are definitely more generic than others!), but the interesting thing (to me) is that all of Hallmark's movies -- for any of their themed events -- are more or less handled the same way in almost every other regard, but you might not always know or hear that the non-Christmas movies are being renamed, or filmed just a short time before premiering.    Some are filmed just a month or two before they air, and some are filmed way in advance.    Some of them go through multiple title changes (Winter Castle has had a few different titles, and Winter Love Story was originally called Love on the Books), while others somehow manage to keep the same titles all the way from production to premiere.    Or Hallmark might not always announce the movies with their original titles, so when the titles are changed later on down the line, the viewers might not have any idea that anything is different.   Hallmark makes the mistake of announcing all of the Christmas movie titles in a big, splashy way -- and then they think nothing of changing the titles and schedules many times after those announcements, when what they should do is just not announce any Christmas titles at all until everything is finalized and not going to change.

 

Some of the movies even change themes before they are filmed -- or during production.   For example, a few years ago there was a movie announced as a Christmas installment (A Worthwhile Life), but it ended up getting re-themed and it turned into a Valentine movie (Love at First Glance).     The movie that eventually became A Royal Winter was originally supposed to be a Christmas movie starring Jaime Pressly, called A Prince for Christmas.   And the movie that eventually became Love, Once and Always was originally supposed to be a Christmas movie called Christmas Castle.   The upcoming February movie Valentine in the Vineyard was originally called Wedding in the Vineyard and was supposed to premiere last June, and it had nothing to do with Valentine's Day!  lol   As Wedding in the Vineyard was filming, there was no indication that it was going to become a Valentine movie at all, based on pictures posted on social media.   It was even listed on the Hallmark Channel website as Wedding in the Vineyard, with a premiere date.   All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Wedding in the Vineyard got a new Valentine title and new premiere date, and Love on the Books got moved to January and magically became Winter Love Story!

 

Some of Hallmark's regular writers have said before that a lot of things (like major script changes and rewrites) can happen at the last minute with all of the movies, even in the middle of shooting.   A movie might even be close to going into production, and then Hallmark suddenly decides to change the theme of the movie at the last minute, sending the writers scrambling to do rewrites, turning a planned Summer movie into a Valentine movie, or a planned Spring movie into a Fall Harvest movie.    They sometimes cast the actors in the movies at almost the last minute too.   

 

The more I hear and learn about how these Hallmark movies come together before and after they film and all of the craziness involved in the whole process, the more I am surprised that so many of them actually get made and don't get stalled.   To me, it all sounds very disorganized and chaotic, which would stress me out if I had to work in that kind of situation!

[Irlandesa]

I couldn't get into the Ruby Herring Mystery movie even though I like Taylor Cole.  But that's pretty typical for the movie mystery series for me.  Even the series I like I don't get into until the second movie.  Hopefully, the next one will be better.

But the acting of the suspects felt so stilted.  The potential motives were weak and boring.  And Ruby had more chemistry with her dad than her presumed love interest. 

[TVFan17]

17 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I couldn't get into the Ruby Herring Mystery movie even though I like Taylor Cole.  But that's pretty typical for the movie mystery series for me.  Even the series I like I don't get into until the second movie.  Hopefully, the next one will be better.

But the acting of the suspects felt so stilted.  The potential motives were weak and boring.  And Ruby had more chemistry with her dad than her presumed love interest. 

I can see that Ruby Herring is apparently not a hit with a lot of viewers on social media.  They are not being kind.   I stuck with it to the end.   The main thing that really seemed odd to me was the mismatched pairing of Ruby's parents.   I didn't buy them as a couple.   Even if they were/are close in age in real life (and I don't know if they are), the actress playing the mom just seems a lot older than the dad, mainly because dad looks/seems younger than he really is.   (That same kind of thing happened in the movie My Christmas Love, when Gregory Harrison's character was matched up with a woman who seemed older, while he seemed younger than his years, even if their ages were the same or close in real life.)

Edited January 21, 2019 by TVFan17

[GaT]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

I couldn't get into the Ruby Herring Mystery movie even though I like Taylor Cole.  But that's pretty typical for the movie mystery series for me.  Even the series I like I don't get into until the second movie.  Hopefully, the next one will be better.

But the acting of the suspects felt so stilted.  The potential motives were weak and boring.  And Ruby had more chemistry with her dad than her presumed love interest. 

 

1 hour ago, TVFan17 said:

I can see that Ruby Herring is apparently not a hit with a lot of viewers on social media.  They are not being kind.   I stuck with it to the end.   The main thing that really seemed odd to me was the mismatched pairing of Ruby's parents.   I didn't buy them as a couple.   Even if they were/are close in age in real life (and I don't know if they are), the actress playing the mom just seems a lot older than the dad, mainly because dad looks/seems younger than he really is.   

Yeah, I just finished watching & I was not impressed. I was hoping for more after a 4 month mystery drought.

[Jaded]

That Ruby Herring movie was kinda painful to watch. The guy working in the hotel looked too old to be a classmate of Ruby/Taylor Cole. I agree about the chemistry between Taylor and her former step father Shawn Christian not coming across as Father/Daughter like. The actress playing Ruby's Mom did look older then Shawn who was playing her husband. Nothing against the actress but when I first saw them all enter the hotel lobby I thought the actress playing Ruby's Mom may have been her Grandmother until it was established she and Shawn were playing husband and wife.

It seemed like this movie had more commercials then usual too. I decided to eat a really late dinner earlier while watching it on my DVR and it felt like I was taking a break from eating to FF'd every couple of minutes. This next part probably comes across weird in print even though it makes sense in my head. The whole thing felt really low energy all around and didn't evoke any feelings of suspense or really try to either. 

I mentioned awhile back that the commercials for Mystery 101 seemed more interesting then the ones for Ruby Herring. Looking back the Ruby Herring commercials didn't do a very good job masking the fact that it was probably going to be a clunker. I wonder what the actors/actresses and BTS people thought of it the movie wrapped....

Edited January 21, 2019 by Jaded

[ShelleySue]

On January 19, 2019 at 10:11 PM, kirinan said:

Thank you, Hallmark! I loved, loved, loved Winter Love Story. At least in my opinion, you hit it out of the ballpark. It's my favorite movie in quite some time.

Things I liked about the movie.

1.  The chemistry between Jen Lilley and Kevin McGarry was really conveyed by their facial expressions.  I actually sighed once when he looked at her.  

2.  The award winning novelist mother was not a diva.  She was fine with her daughter not exploiting the relationship between them.  She was supportive, but not domineering.

3.  There was a valid reason for the road trip.  I could understand why it was easier driving with a dog than flying.  It wasn't some contrived reason like planes being grounded by weather.

4. We never saw the ex-wife which was nice.  There was no evil person in the movie trying to derail the relationship.

 

Now I'll share my opinions on Winter Princess.  I lost interest in the story when I heard Natalie Hall's voice.  To me at least, it was like chalk on a blackboard.  I watched it while playing solitaire on my phone.