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

[Ohwell]

Her hair in that video is just awful.

[KLovestoShop]

2 hours ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

Hallmark Drama is having a marathon of Hallmark Hall Of Fame movies today, and they're showing some really old ones as well.

They just showed a movie with Brenda Fricker from 1999, and they're showing the Sarah, Plain and Tall movies with Glenn Close later on.

Our cable doesn’t carry Hallmark Drama.  Sucks. 
 

[Was-MArsenault]

5 hours ago, Ohwell said:

Her hair in that video is just awful.

What are you talking about?

 

4 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

Our cable doesn’t carry Hallmark Drama.  Sucks. 
 

That really stinks. What Hallmark channels do you have?

[scenicbyway]

23 hours ago, ECM1231 said:

Yes he is! I remember thinking his wife was rather plain-looking, compared to him, when I first saw them on Chicago Med together. But apparently she's a Broadway actress and Colin sings as well. I wonder how they met. I know it's shallow of me to mention her looks but I always wonder when one half is so much better looking.

My mom said it’s so the better looking one gets all the attention.  The thing is though, she just looks normal in this Iceland movie but is pretty in real  life.  I would guess they were trying to down play her looks so as not to compete with the lead.

I thought the lead and the tour guide had way more chemistry in their scenes than she did with Colin.  It also made no sense for the friend the be paired off with the tour guide when they had no chemistry.  They should’ve cast the pairings differently.

The scenery was amazing!

The winter fest countdown was totally lame, Unleashing Mr Darcy as number 1? It’s a summer movie!

Edited January 21, 2020 by scenicbyway

[KLovestoShop]

5 hours ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

What are you talking about?

 

That really stinks. What Hallmark channels do you have?

Regular Hallmark and Movies and Mysteries. 

[scenicbyway]

So Amazing Winter Romance is awful?  I’ve been trying to watch it and I just don’t get it.  Another city girl goes home to her small town for inspiration and runs into her high school best bud. Random girl from NYC decides to love there too and likes the same guy.  The guy is totally boring and I find it hard to believe he’s the only catch in town.  Could the bakery have been a more depressing set?  No color or warmth.

[TVFan17]

2 hours ago, scenicbyway said:

The winter fest countdown was totally lame, Unleashing Mr Darcy as number 1? It’s a summer movie!

I don't disagree that the Winterfest Countdown was questionable -- they included at least two Valentine movies in it, and possibly more (I didn't follow along with it but I saw that those movies were in it), so it made no sense because Valentine movies have their own dedicated month and branded event. 

But Unleashing Mr. Darcy was, indeed, a Winterfest movie -- meaning it premiered in January, as part of Hallmark's official Winterfest event in 2016.  Would I have put it at #1?  Absolutely not.  But at least it is a Winterfest movie, unlike the Valentine movies they inserted into the Countdown.

Before Hallmark started making their Winterfest movies extra snowy a couple of years ago (in conjunction with the Winter Olympics), they used to premiere some movies in January without much snow -- just regular rom coms.  Those movies were included under the Winterfest banner for January.  I think Winterfest officially began in 2016 or 2015, but they started really going all out with the snowy scenery in 2018 or so.

Whether the movies have snow and ice in them or not, all I ask of a Winterfest Countdown is for Hallmark to limit it to only the movies that actually premiered during Winterfest and not show movies from other themed events or holidays.  Prior to this month, they used to only include Winterfest movies in their Winterfest Countdown.  I have no idea why they opened it up to extra movies this year that were never Winterfest movies.

Edited January 21, 2020 by TVFan17

[Irlandesa]

3 hours ago, scenicbyway said:

So Amazing Winter Romance is awful?

I haven't tried to watch it yet but I wouldn't be surprised.  Unless it's around Thanksgiving, any time Hallmark airs a movie on a weekday instead of a weekend, it's usually a special kind of boring in my experience.

[Misslindsey]

I agree Amazing Winter Romance was horrible. It was so dull. I have liked Jessy Schram in most of her Hallmark movie appearances. I am a sucker for the cliched Harvest Moon for some reason. The male lead was so boring. Apparently he is the only eligible man in town. Ummmm.....I am trying to think of something positive about the movie. I guess I will keep thinking.

[TVFan17]

I was not really in the mood to pay attention to a full movie of any sort last night, so I'm sure that had a lot to do with my impression of Amazing Winter Romance - but it just didn't grab me.  Nothing in the movie made me suddenly get invested in what was happening and snap out of my non-movie watching  mood.  I watched a chunk of it and then tuned out right before the one-hour mark. 

I figured that I might give it another try down the road, when I am in more of a mood to watch it, but it just wasn't meant to be on my first try.  So I don't know if I just didn't like Amazing Winter Romance in general, or if I just didn't care for it last night, specifically, but either way... it was not holding my attention at that moment.

I like the idea of a snow maze as a fun, wintry thing to do, but I don't know if that concept/gimmick translates to a movie format as well as an ice hotel does. 

Also, I didn't think the 2 leads in AWR were all that good of a match.  I think that Jessy Schram is pleasant and adorable, and I would have liked to see her paired up with someone else.   (If her long lost Fall Harvest movie Country at Heart ever actually premieres on Hallmark, I think I will like her with Niall Matter much more.)

Edited January 21, 2020 by TVFan17

[Bronx Babe]

Amazing Winter Romance -- is Hallmark insulting to big cities or what?  They practically demonize them, although try to have it both ways ; i.e., "I live in Chicago. It's different, but in a good way"  Yeah, right.

The male Canadian lead forgot that his character was supposed to be from the American Midwest and an "Eh?" slipped through.

The hot chocolate, as usual, was flowing.

On 1/19/2020 at 2:15 AM, Irlandesa said:

It had the Hallmarky tropes like the ticking time bomb job offer and the misunderstanding (although they did surprise me in that it wasn't that he saw Katilyn's character out with the Icelandic dude).  

And they couldn't get away from the hot chocolate.

 

Did a drive-by a few days ago and unfortunately landed on one of their scintillating monarch-meets-commoner stories.  Don't ask what the title was as they all sound alike to me and I'm betting to most of you guys as well.

Heroine plants a demure peck on Mr. Royal Guy:  "I've never kissed a prince before!"

Prince:  "And how was it?"

Heroine:  "Awesome!"

(CLICK)

[sistersledge]

Amazing Winter Romance was not amazing. I couldn't get past the male lead. He seemed pretty goofy and not in a good way. And not attractive either. I usually like Jessy but it was a terrible movie with zero plot. And could they stereotype the New Yorker much? Annoying.

[ehall1052]

43 minutes ago, sistersledge said:

Amazing Winter Romance was not amazing. I couldn't get past the male lead. He seemed pretty goofy and not in a good way. And not attractive either. I usually like Jessy but it was a terrible movie with zero plot. And could they stereotype the New Yorker much? Annoying.

How true! And did they not hire a make-up artist for the movie? Jessy looked very pale the whole time.

[mikeb]

No surprise with this news. 

https://tvline.com/2020/01/22/hallmark-channel-ceo-leaving-same-sex-wedding-ads-commercials-controversy/

[TVFan17]

1 hour ago, mikeb said:

No surprise with this news. 

https://tvline.com/2020/01/22/hallmark-channel-ceo-leaving-same-sex-wedding-ads-commercials-controversy/

No surprise.  It's too bad, though, because, by all accounts, anyone I know who has met or who knows Bill Abbott likes him and says he is a great guy.  He is the one who is responsible for a lot of the actors and actresses being used in a lot of projects, because he befriended them and made sure there was always a place for them on the network.  Clearly -- it goes without saying -- he needed to modernize his way of thinking, though, and become a bit more open-minded and inclusive.

He made a bad decision with pulling the ad -- that was a colossal, short-sighted mistake -- and I knew when it happened that that it was going to cause a ripple effect.  I knew that things would not go back to being business as usual.  And when the TCA party was cancelled, I knew it was a bad sign.

So it will be interesting to see how the programming changes going forward.  Some projects are already on track to go into production, so we might not see any major changes for quite some time, once the pre-planned programming cycles out, someone steps in to take Bill's place, and the dust settles.

Here is another article -- Hallmark Exec Bill Abbott Out

Edited January 22, 2020 by TVFan17

[Guest]

3 hours ago, mikeb said:

No surprise with this news. 

https://tvline.com/2020/01/22/hallmark-channel-ceo-leaving-same-sex-wedding-ads-commercials-controversy/

It was their only choice. I’m thrilled at the possibility of them shaking up the formula. That New Yorker behind the scenes story made it clear that Abbott was directly responsible for Hallmark dominance but was unwilling to adapt and improve movie quality. Plus he’s was a PR disaster since before the ad was pulled. 

Now it will be interesting to see if they are willing to make the changes necessary to start making consistently good movies again. 

[MissyPoo]

2 hours ago, Dani said:

Now it will be interesting to see if they are willing to make the changes necessary to start making consistently good movies again.

One can only hope so. I'm very curious to see if anything changes. It'll definitely depend on who takes the reins and I wouldn't be surprised if the VP moves into that position.

[Kohola3]

10 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

It'll definitely depend on who takes the reins and I wouldn't be surprised if the VP moves into that position.

Hopefully that's someone who has actually had contact with people other than Caucasians.

[dubstepford wife]

On 1/22/2020 at 5:18 PM, TVFan17 said:

He is the one who is responsible for a lot of the actors and actresses being used in a lot of projects, because he befriended them and made sure there was always a place for them on the network. 

This is both a good thing and a bad thing.  Good because it helps the actors and gives them consistent work.  But bad because it can lead to the network feeling a bit stale, with the same actors just being recycled in different movies and/or series. 

This needed to happen.  The movies are poor quality, beyond formulaic, and the network has become a national joke.  The diversity problems were blatantly obvious.  Controversies were horribly mishandled (and as is the case with the Zola ad, didn't need to happen in the first place).  Hallmark had become a religious network without saying that it was, which was Bill wanting to appeal to everyone (which results in you appealing to no one). 

And I'm sure if you were an actor he was nice to you...if you played by the rules.  If you adhered to your morality clauses and were willing to spend your career playing roles that weren't particularly interesting or challenging.  If you stayed silent and obedient during times of upheaval.  Most actors like roles that have some meat, and what's more, in the arts you've almost certainly befriended lots of people who are gay, and you don't like to see your friends attacked.  This is why I applaud Emilie Ullerup and the other actors who spoke out during the Zola controversy, because they were willing to sacrifice their paychecks to do the right thing.  It's why I wish people like Bailee Madison and Daniel Lissing the best, because they *did* sacrifice their guaranteed paychecks in exchange for personal growth and fulfillment.  

Well done, Hallmark.  

[Was-MArsenault]

I really wish that Hallmark Drama would show this:

It's underrated, and it was last on Hitz a few months ago, but it got removed.

Edited January 25, 2020 by MikaelaArsenault

[AstaCharles]

Last night I watched the Falling For You repeat, which I've seen about 3 or 4 times. I think it might be my favorite Hallmark movie ( I've been a casual viewer for about 2-3 years)

Even though the plot has been done before, the director did a good job with the talented leads to add spark that's missing in a lot of these movies.

 

[ehall1052]

Did I see Jen Lilly in the new Progressive Insurance commercial featuring Smash Mouth? She is the “wife” sitting on the couch next to her “husband”. (He has a speaking part, but not her).  I think it might be a pre-Super Bowl commercial.

[Bronx Babe]

Love At First Glance

The ubiquitous Italian restaurant

Chicken risotto is served in five minutes 

Red-checked table cloth

[Luckylyn]

15 hours ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

I really wish that Hallmark Drama would show this:

It's underrated, and it was last on Hitz a few months ago, but it got removed.

I miss when Hallmark Hall of Fame movies were something special and high quality 

[Kohola3]

8 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

I miss when Hallmark Hall of Fame movies were something special and high quality 

Yeah, those were the days when it was a family event to gather and watch.  Such thoughtful movies back then.  Those Million Moms would swoon en masse to think Hallmark had anything to do with The Boys Next Door.

What happened to those great writers?  Now we have the Pod People cranking out worthless generic drivel.

[Luckylyn]

The current Hallmark wouldn’t be capable of making a What the Deaf Man Heard, Follow the Stars Home, Back When We Were Grownups , Saint Maybe, A Season for Miracles, etc...

Imagine how cheap looking and generic  Sarah Plain and Tall would be made today versus in the past.  The current Hallmark could never get talent like Glenn Close and Christopher Walken.

So I’m happy for a new person to run the company.  I’m hoping it’s a beginning of making better movies again and a push for diversity not only in ethnicities but in the type of stories being told.  I love romance but Hallmark used to make movies with various genres.  It doesn’t have to be different variations of the same generic romances over and over.  At minimum, they need to make more of an effort to improve Hallmark Hall of Fame films.  They used to be event movies that were fantastic to watch and could be conversation provoking.  There isn’t much difference between their weekly cookie cutter romances and the Hall of Fame movies which has made the Hall of Fame movies loose their specialness.  The Hall of Fame should be distinct and more of an event.

[TVFan17]

Did anyone watch Hearts of Winter with Jill Wagner and Victor Webster?  Although Jill Wagner might not have been showing too much at that point, I did get a kick out of the scene in which she was literally holding a giant pillow in front of her slight baby belly.  She could also easily wear coats and hold bags in front of her as she redecorated Victor's house, so there were lots of ways to hide any sign of a belly.  (She will be showing quite a bit more in the next  Mystery 101 movie, which is currently in production, so I expect a lot of sitting behind desks or being filmed from the shoulders up, more big coats and things of that sort.)

Victor and Jill are pleasant together, but I think I might like their previous A Harvest Wedding movie a bit more.  I'm not sure.  I have to go back and watch the Fall movie again to make up my mind.  And it's always wonderful to see Rukiya Bernard in a movie -- she is likable and has a fun personality -- and it made me wonder if we will see One Winter Wedding in Winterfest of 2021.  Hallmark should definitely put Rukiya in more movies if she is interested in doing them, as she is delightful.

One thing I appreciated about Hearts of Winter was -- as strange as it sounds -- the lighting.  This is probably something that happens in every Winterfest movie and I am just now paying attention to it, but I appreciated that the movie didn't always look bright and cheery in terms of how lighting was used, as they were trying to get the point across that it's winter and everything (indoors and outdoors) seems darker than it would if it were spring or summer.  (I always notice the colors and decorations in a scene, but I don't always pay attention to the specific lighting.)  The light and shade used in a few scenes of this movie really gave me that "not-Christmas time-but-still-winter" vibe that will be lost as soon as we start segueing into the Spring Fever movies, where everything is sunny and flowery, and the tones get lighter.  

 

 

 

[Bronx Babe]

OMG -- a Mexican restaurant! and "Taco Tuesdays"!!

As usual I can't remember the title, but, is this a first?  Hallmark acknowledging other ethnicities, lol?

[MerBearHou]

I did watch Hearts of Winter (another dumb Hallmark title) and enjoyed it just fine.  I'm such a Jill Wagner fan and really like Victor Webster so was looking forward to this one.  I noticed Jill's tiny baby bump too.  It was enjoyable and agreed, Rukiya Bernard is always a winning addition.  Victor always plays grumpy well and IMO he had good, not great, chemistry with Jill here.  I didn't feel the romantic sparks with them like I see with Jill and Kristoffer but that's a tough bar to reach.  

[Bronx Babe]

Just finished Crossing Delancey on TCM.  This is my idea of a charming romantic comedy.

But then, I'm a born and bred New Yorker, raised in da Bronx.  

I don't fantasize about living in a small town.  I'm nostalgic about my old borough neighborhood.

I can't identify with the Hallmark "formula".  So bland and insipid.  Give me a bit of grit and the city!

[ehall1052]

Re: Hearts of Winter. .. there was no closure on the broken bowl incident. There’s no way that bowl could have been glued back together and used. Jill’s character should have made a mosaic out of the pieces and displayed it in the kitchen. After all, it was something very important to the father and daughter.

Edited January 27, 2020 by ehall1052
Added comment

[TVFan17]

3 hours ago, ehall1052 said:

Re: Hearts of Winter. .. there was no closure on the broken bowl incident. There’s no way that bowl could have been glued back together and used. Jill’s character should have made a mosaic out of the pieces and displayed it in the kitchen. After all, it was something very important to the father and daughter.

A mosaic would have been a great idea.  If something broke that meant a lot to me for whatever reason, my first thought -- albeit, an irrational one -- might be "I have to put this back together!"  Then later on I would realize there was no way to put it together, and that the pieces would have to be dealt with in some other way.

Edited January 27, 2020 by TVFan17

[ECM1231]

9 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I did watch Hearts of Winter (another dumb Hallmark title) and enjoyed it just fine.  I'm such a Jill Wagner fan and really like Victor Webster so was looking forward to this one.  I noticed Jill's tiny baby bump too.  It was enjoyable and agreed, Rukiya Bernard is always a winning addition.  Victor always plays grumpy well and IMO he had good, not great, chemistry with Jill here.  I didn't feel the romantic sparks with them like I see with Jill and Kristoffer but that's a tough bar to reach.  

Didn't know Jill was expecting and hadn't noticed a baby bump. Congrats to her! I think they had good chemistry. I  liked the actress playing his daughter; can't remember where I've seen her before..

[kirinan]

15 hours ago, ECM1231 said:

Didn't know Jill was expecting and hadn't noticed a baby bump. Congrats to her! I think they had good chemistry. I  liked the actress playing his daughter; can't remember where I've seen her before..

She one of the sheriff's daughters in Welcome to Christmas, a last-season Hallmark movie with Eric Mabius. She has a distinctive look which is really appealing, and is an enjoyable, natural actress IMO.

I liked Hearts of Winter, and think Victor Webster and Jill Wagner have a lot of chemistry. Of course, they're two actors that to me, can rarely do any wrong. 

[ECM1231]

2 hours ago, kirinan said:

She one of the sheriff's daughters in Welcome to Christmas, a last-season Hallmark movie with Eric Mabius. She has a distinctive look which is really appealing, and is an enjoyable, natural actress IMO.

I liked Hearts of Winter, and think Victor Webster and Jill Wagner have a lot of chemistry. Of course, they're two actors that to me, can rarely do any wrong. 

Thanks for the info.  I probably have seen her in one or another of the Hallmark movies. And yes, I am a big fan of both Jill and Victor , too!

[Was-MArsenault]

Hallmark Drama showed movies from 1990 and 2009 yesterday. It's really nice to see some of the older movies being shown.

[Kohola3]

7 hours ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

Hallmark Drama showed movies from 1990 and 2009 yesterday. It's really nice to see some of the older movies being shown.

That would have been nice.  Hallmark drama is not part of my cable package, however.

 

[Luckylyn]

30 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

That would have been nice.  Hallmark drama is not part of my cable package, however.

 

I don’t have it either.  

[Suzysite]

On 1/27/2020 at 12:41 AM, ECM1231 said:

I  liked the actress playing his daughter; can't remember where I've seen her before.

She was also the town doctor's daughter in Falling for Vermont where Julie Gonzalo was a writer who lost her memory and had to stay with them.

[JunebugWA]

Stumbled on an old movie with Meghan Markle in it -- Dater's Handbook or something like that. She had a dog named "Duke". Somehow, I thought that was funny now that she is married to a Duke 🙂

[screengem]

On 1/26/2020 at 2:54 PM, MerBearHou said:

I did watch Hearts of Winter (another dumb Hallmark title) and enjoyed it just fine.  I'm such a Jill Wagner fan and really like Victor Webster so was looking forward to this one.  I noticed Jill's tiny baby bump too.  It was enjoyable and agreed, Rukiya Bernard is always a winning addition.  Victor always plays grumpy well and IMO he had good, not great, chemistry with Jill here.  I didn't feel the romantic sparks with them like I see with Jill and Kristoffer but that's a tough bar to reach.  

I really didn't think there were so many Jill Wagner and Victor Webster fans out there.  I really think these two have skilled acting chops and both deserve better than this script.  

The scenes seemed so pieced together.  The movie wasn't based on any book or adapted screenplay.   The choppy, filler scenes like his daughter's ice rink recital were painful to watch.

Hopefully both will again appear separately in better roles during the Hallmark spring and summer seasons.  Their fall move season is so much abbreviated now that the three or four flicks they produce are almost a passing thought.

[Bronx Babe]

Every child of either the male or female lead sounds like that Geico commercial Pinocchio person.

[ECM1231]

Jill Wagner and her husband are having a baby girl! Congrats to them!

 

https://people.com/parents/hallmark-star-jill-wagner-reveals-sex-of-baby-on-the-way-with-krispy-kreme-donuts/

[Suzysite]

I thought once we got past the Christmas/Winterfest movies we'd be done with "hot cocoa" and town festivals.  But no.   Apparently they are part of the Valentine's Day movies now, too.   I swear these things are written like Mad Libs.  Just fill in the blanks, but always add cocoa and festivals.

It was hard to see February in A Valentine's Match, when outside the trees were all green and flowers were blooming.  

[TVFan17]

Most of Hallmark's Valentine movies are filmed in November or December but, for whatever reason, they had to film A Valentine's Match in August.  Maybe a scheduling issue necessitated it.  Hence, the greenery and blooming flowers.  If the movie were set out here in California, it wouldn't be that much of a stretch.  We have sun, heat and blooming flowers right now, and then it might suddenly get cold at night.  But this movie was set in Oregon, I think??, where it might still be snowing and not as green in February.

Anyway, I liked A Valentine's Match.  I loved that they kept the humor going for a while -- longer than they usually do -- and the background music supported those funny moments.  Someone on Twitter said that the music was like a character all on its own, and I agree. 

I don't have a problem with festivals and cocoa.  Celebrating seasons and holidays is what the Hallmark brand is known for, so why not play it up?  I would question it if they did not work that angle, to be honest.

I also don't mind if there is a template for the movies and that the plots are similar.  They are romantic comedies.  Hallmark made the decision quite a while ago to focus on that genre on their main channel, so there is not going to be a lot of drastic variation or originality in romantic comedy plots.  (My main complaint is that lately they have strayed from unabashed rom coms too much for my liking and have tried to make them less funny.)  Some of them will be hits and some of them will be misses, but that formula is exactly what I am there for -- predictable, cute, easy-to-digest romantic comedies.

I find Bethany Joy Lenz to be utterly charming in most of her Hallmark roles, and I think she is very adept at romantic comedy pacing and banter.  I thought that about her in Royal Matchmaker a couple of years back too, but I worried that Hallmark would try to steer her away from humorous roles as they seem to do with all of their funny actors and actresses after a while.   (She has another Hallmark movie coming up for their Spring Fever event, but I don't think that one is supposed to be as lighthearted as this one was.)

It's not that I necessarily thought that Bethany and Luke Macfarlane had spectacular romantic chemistry throughout the movie, but I felt it was sufficient and I liked them together.  Plus, the kiss at the end was good.

I also loved the meddling, matchmaking moms! 

So, all in all, short of a few flaws, A Valentine's Match was mostly a winner for me -- not an all-time Hallmark favorite, but I would watch it again.

Edited February 2, 2020 by TVFan17

[Suzysite]

6 minutes ago, TVFan17 said:

I don't have a problem with festivals and cocoa.  Celebrating seasons and holidays is what the Hallmark brand is known for, so why not play it up?  I would question it if they did not work that angle, to be honest.

Not in every single movie, please.  It's tiresome and trite.  

[TVFan17]

7 minutes ago, Suzysite said:

Not in every single movie, please.  It's tiresome and trite.  

I have no problem with it.  I like what I like.  You like what you like.  It's not tiresome and trite to me.  (Or if it is trite, I don't care because I am watching specifically for that kind of element.)

Edited February 2, 2020 by TVFan17

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Suzysite said:

Not in every single movie, please.  It's tiresome and trite.  

To me it’s becoming a crutch taking the place of actual character development. Little quirks and personality traits are what make characters feel real and Hallmark’s formula is forcing all the characters to be the same. The storylines and actors do sometimes stand out but the characters rarely do. 

Edited February 3, 2020 by Guest

[Luckylyn]

I really liked A Valentine’s Match.   It included the tropes but managed to be charming.  The chemistry with the leads was great.

[In2You]

On 2/2/2020 at 11:19 AM, Suzysite said:

Not in every single movie, please.  It's tiresome and trite.  

It's become a joke at this point. It's actually funny how all these small towns have these huge festivals on Hallmark because one complaint I always hear about small towns is the lack of festivals and big events.