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


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14 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

It got better after those first fifteen minutes.  I'm not arguing that it's a must go back and watch, but I thought it was more enjoyable after the very rocky beginning.

If I have to work that hard to like something, it's not worth it for me.  I never go more than a chapter in a book - if it doesn't grab me in that time it's not likely to.

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Wow, it has not been a good February for Hallmark, based on the comments here.  I was away for a couple of weekends, though it sounds like I didn't miss much.  I tried to watch the 'Love Club' last weekend and lasted about 10 minutes.  Plus, nothing coming up looks very good either.  I guess Love-uary was a bust.  Here's hoping for Spring Fling.   Thank God for DVRs.  So far this week I have watched Wedding Every Weekend and Project Christmas Wish.  Now I have a hankering for some Andrew Walker so it will probably be Bridal Wave.

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6 hours ago, bankerchick said:

Wow, it has not been a good February for Hallmark, based on the comments here.  I

Then you maybe missed the discussion about A Paris Proposal which most of the posts discussing it praised on the previous page.  I don't recall reading a truly negative reaction to it here...or at least not yet.

 

 

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8 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Then you maybe missed the discussion about A Paris Proposal which most of the posts discussing it praised on the previous page.  I don't recall reading a truly negative reaction to it here...or at least not yet.

 

 

I have a complaint since there was so much discussion here about fashion.  When they went to his parent’s house, she was wearing a sleeveless dress where the bodice was all white but then just above the waist there were some flowers that presumably went down to the hem. I really wanted to see the flowers but I don’t think we ever got a look at the dress in a full length shot.

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13 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Then you maybe missed the discussion about A Paris Proposal which most of the posts discussing it praised on the previous page.  I don't recall reading a truly negative reaction to it here...or at least not yet.

 

 

It could have been formulaic (couple pretends to be married) but everything about it was superior to the typical Hallmark movie - writing, acting, directing. Really one of the best Hallmark movies in a long time.

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I did see the comments about the Paris movie, but am not generally a fan of the Panavega girl (don't know her name and don't care to look it up) so I likely wouldn't have checked it out anyway, but based on the positive comments, especially about the fashion, I might try it if it comes on again.

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1 hour ago, twoods said:

For what it’s worth, I’m also not a fan of Alexa PenaVega, but I enjoyed the movie.

Her character in the CW show The Tomorrow People was gawd awful! So one note, so unappealing and unrootable.  I was still bummed though when it was cancelled because I recall watching the original 1970s British version (although Matthew from Downton Abbey voiced the computer Tim in the CW remake).

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I'm watching Moonlight In Vermont, despite it starring Lacey Chabert.  It does have Carlo Marks, who I like.  It is certainly true that I have never been to Vermont in the winter, but I'm pretty sure it is not sunny and bright at 'not even 6am.'  In fact, I'd be surprised it it's that light at 6am on June 21.

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4 minutes ago, bankerchick said:

It is certainly true that I have never been to Vermont in the winter, but I'm pretty sure it is not sunny and bright at 'not even 6am.' 

Sunrise in Vermont in December isn't until around 7:30.  However, the further north you go, the earlier the sun rises in summer - think Alaska where the sun barely sets in summer.  In Vermont it can be 5 am at the summer solstice.  In summer in northern MI where I live, it starts getting light before 5.

I wonder how many times they have rerun some of these bland offerings. And there seem to be a lot of Veil marathons as well.  Can't they open the dusty vault and pull out some of their older but way better stuff?

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Got all they way through Made for Each Other and it wasn't bad once you suspend disbelief. I quite liked the lead, Alexandra Turshen, although her eyebrows were a bit distracting.  It might have been a little heavy on the Jewish mother tropes but overall it held my attention to the end.

 

Edited by Cetacean
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I also liked Made for Each Other, and especially the actor, Matt Cohen, who played David.  I had seen and liked him once before, in a pretend-we're-a-couple movie with Brittany Bristow.  Of course it's largely the lines they're given to say, but it was just so pleasant to see him do his thing.

Of course we've seen O'Connell a lot before, he did some good work with a sort of unique character, and I enjoyed him too.  

And, yes, about the lead's eyebrows.  Maybe it's a style just now??

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26 minutes ago, Chippings said:

And, yes, about the lead's eyebrows.  Maybe it's a style just now??

As a COL (Clueless Old Lady) I really don't have any idea.  I live in a rural area so that's not something anyone talks about!

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I thought Made For Each Other was silly silly silly, but I enjoyed it too.  My only quibble is that the stand up comedy wasn't as funny as the laughter indicated.  It felt as awkward as a sitcom with a laugh track.  And that's a bit ironic because the movie did make me laugh when it wasn't telling outright jokes.

And I did like the twist that the commercials I had seen made it seem like "Clay" was the main love interest so I was pleasantly surprised when it was a real human being.

 

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Watched Made for Each Other and the wife and we ran out of hooks upon which we could suspend our disbelief. All that said, it had it's moments and kept us entertained. I have one bit nit - I thought for sure that Clay was going to sacrifice himself by taking the amulet off and that Rachel was going to use it to animate the clay doggy that David magically wouldn't be allergic to! I WANT MY FRAKKING GOLEM DOGGY!!!

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23 hours ago, Cetacean said:

Got all they way through Made for Each Other and it wasn't bad once you suspend disbelief. I quite liked the lead, Alexandra Turshen, although her eyebrows were a bit distracting.  It might have been a little heavy on the Jewish mother tropes but overall it held my attention to the end.

Mr. ShelleySue said he couldn't finish watching this with me because all he saw were her eyebrows. Being the strong, independent, feminist that I am I told him that he should look deeper than her physical appearance. But deep down I too was distracted. 

Speaking as a Jewish mother, raised by a Jewish mother, I can honestly say that I've known women like that. BUT they were from another generation. The Jewish mothers that I know now all want their daughters to be doctors or attorneys (I'm an attorney) instead of wanting them to marry one.

My problem with movies were belief has to be suspended is that I'm too worried about everything to do that. For example, how did Clay become a model, who would be getting paid, without having a social security number? At the end he's a famous chef with a magazine cover. Did the writer who wrote the article ask him where he's from? Where did he go to school? My brain can accept pure fantasy, but things like that just bother me.

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3 hours ago, AAEBoiler said:

I thought for sure that Clay was going to sacrifice himself by taking the amulet off and that Rachel was going to use it to animate the clay doggy that David magically wouldn't be allergic to! I WANT MY FRAKKING GOLEM DOGGY!!!

I missed how Clay came to life but I too was waiting for a real doggie.  Maybe Clay becoming that doggie.

1 hour ago, ShelleySue said:

For example, how did Clay become a model, who would be getting paid, without having a social security number? At the end he's a famous chef with a magazine cover. Did the writer who wrote the article ask him where he's from? Where did he go to school? My brain can accept pure fantasy, but things like that just bother me.

Yes.  And he got accepted into Harvard or something like that.  It's why I said the movie was just silly but its full-throttled silliness sufficiently charmed me.

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I finally watched Made for Each Other, and as others have said, except for the OTT Jewishness, I really enjoyed this movie. 
wish they hadn’t gone there with the overbearing Jewish mom who bulldozes her way through her kid’s life, but oh well.

unless I’m mistaken, the lead actress also played another Jewish character ALSO named Rachel on the Netflix series Partner Track. She was my favorite character on that show (not sure Netflix renewed for more episodes), and I really liked her in this Hallmark movie as well.  Only thing I didn’t like was the hideous dress she wore to her sister’s wedding. 
 

and can I just say how refreshing it is that Hallmark movies seem to have more realism compared to past movies.  I mean, I can imagine people actually talking and behaving in the way portrayed in the last few movies I’ve watched on Hallmark.

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32 minutes ago, norcalgal said:

unless I’m mistaken, the lead actress also played another Jewish character ALSO named Rachel on the Netflix series Partner Track. She was my favorite character on that show (not sure Netflix renewed for more episodes)

Ha.  You're right. I didn't even recognize her but I looked her up and she played both characters.

No, Partner Track was not renewed.

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(edited)

Okay. So I watched The Love Club: Nicole’s Pen Pal because I love Brittany Bristow, and like Marcus Rosner. I’m pretty sure I lost a number of IQ points tonight that I really can’t spare at my age. Writing: Awful; it was like reliving my most embarrassing high school journal entries about my unrequited crushes. Acting: Completely unable to rescue the writing. Me: Sorry I didn’t just watch some shows I had on my DVR.

There are going to be three more movies in this series, about Nicole’s friends. Don’t be like me, kids. Save your brain cells while you still can, and think twice about watching it.

Edit: One unexpected element was that at the beginning, when they were back in college, there was drinking and one of the girls was a little drunk. Hallmark doesn’t usually go there. Okay, that’s all I got.

Edited by kirinan
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Yeah, I'm fairly new to watching these Hallmark movies, but this one was pretty hard to handle in a way that the others I've seen so far haven't been. The titular character was kind of stalker-y, especially at the beginning, the repeated fake-outs about the letters became ridiculous, and the "big reveal" at the end that resolved the love crisis and brought them together at last was something that very easily could have been mentioned waaaay earlier.

10 minutes ago, kirinan said:

Edit: One unexpected element was that at the beginning, when they were back in college, there was drinking and one of the girls was a little drunk. Hallmark doesn’t usually go there. Okay, that’s all I got.

Speaking of the beginning: this might be a crude observation, but that scene honestly felt like watching the setup to a lesbian porn scene. Sorry if that's off-base, but that's the vibe I got.

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One halfway decent offering with Made for Each Other and right back down to the bottom of the cesspool with the Pay Pal mess. 

Hallmark should be embarrassed.  Sadly, they are not which is why they keep cranking out drivel.

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2 hours ago, Cetacean said:

One halfway decent offering with Made for Each Other and right back down to the bottom of the cesspool with the Pay Pal mess. 

Hallmark should be embarrassed.  Sadly, they are not which is why they keep cranking out drivel.

Bristow and Rosner have been in a few quality Hallmark movies. They deserved better than this. It was a mess! Next weekend is the premier of Game of Love with Kimberley Sustad. I hope it is better.

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17 hours ago, norcalgal said:

and can I just say how refreshing it is that Hallmark movies seem to have more realism compared to past movies.

It's funny you should say this because the movie I watched last night (10 Truths about Love) felt like they took a movie from 10 years ago and re-cast it.  Fretting about what to wear to your engagement dinner then having your boyfriend break up with you?  Done.  Being inexplicably rude to someone who ends up being your co-worker?  Done.  He's an author but gave it up because of a bad review?  Done.  And that's just the first 10 minutes.  Truth told, I didn't hate it, which is more than I can say for, I think, every movie since Countdown to Christmas was over.

1 hour ago, Ele said:

Next weekend is the premier of Game of Love with Kimberley Sustad. I hope it is better.

From your lips to God's ears.  I really like Kimberley Sustad, especially with Paul Campbell, but her character is often the person who is overwhelmed with work, prone to bitching about it, but when offered help will say, 'oh, no it's ok, you don't have to help, I can do it.'

I believe Paul Campbell also has a movie this month.  I am really looking forward to that one.

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(edited)

I think the Love Club movies might be acquired, and not Hallmark productions. I noticed them on demand a few weeks back when I was trying to find this first one to record (and it wasn't available yet on my listings), so that's my guess. And those acquisitions are often lower quality than the Hallmark originals.

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10 hours ago, Ele said:

Next weekend is the premier of Game of Love with Kimberley Sustad. I hope it is better.

It has Brooks Darnell.  The man is smokin’ hot.  There are maybe 3 people in the universe who don’t look stupid wearing their hair like he is in the previews.  He is one.

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E! channel's Royal Rendezvous was ok.  The best thing was it went against expectation (trope) and had the female end up with the butler type, instead of the Prince! What's even more astounding than having the non-Royal win out is the fact that the female lead had sex (in a flashback) with the Prince (James) but she still ended up with Rory instead. Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore because there's no way a Hallmark movie would have:

1) a clear scene conveying sex was gonna happen between two characters; and

2) the female choosing someone other than the guy she had sex with

Props to you E!

 

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On 3/4/2023 at 10:10 PM, kirinan said:

Okay. So I watched The Love Club: Nicole’s Pen Pal because I love Brittany Bristow, and like Marcus Rosner. I’m pretty sure I lost a number of IQ points tonight that I really can’t spare at my age. Writing: Awful; it was like reliving my most embarrassing high school journal entries about my unrequited crushes. Acting: Completely unable to rescue the writing. Me: Sorry I didn’t just watch some shows I had on my DVR.

Hallmark may be trying to capitalize on the success of the six Wedding Veil movies, but this wasn't the way to do it. In Wedding Veil the characters are all strong, independent women who have stayed friends for years. You get the feeling that they think of each other as family. In Love Club they all seem to be wimpy. I got the feeling that they just stay in touch when they have problems. Love Club seemed to be written by a junior high student who thinks that that's how adults act. If I had a friend who couldn't commit to a relationship because she was pining over someone who sent her letters ten years ago -- someone she never met -- I'd suggest therapy instead of going along with a hairbrained plan.

Also, just curious, where were they supposed to be? Usually you can see license plates, but these were ones without any writing. Did the friends fly in? Drive? They all arrived together (or within minutes). In one day they were at the inn, checked out, drove three hours to get back to Nicole's house, drive two hours to see the guy who really "wrote" the letters, and then drove a back to the inn (was it one hour away or five -- depends on where the "writer" lived).

On 3/4/2023 at 10:26 PM, tracyscott76 said:

The titular character was kind of stalker-y, especially at the beginning, the repeated fake-outs about the letters became ridiculous, and the "big reveal" at the end that resolved the love crisis and brought them together at last was something that very easily could have been mentioned waaaay earlier.

Mr. ShelleySue has dyslexia. He's very eloquent, but has trouble putting his words on paper. So I immediately thought that Josh had dictated the letters when one of the friends (I forget names) noticed the different handwriting. But Josh didn't mention that so I assumed I was wrong. I hate, hate, hate movies based on simple misunderstands. The whole movie could have been an hour shorter if Josh had just explained it correctly. 

17 hours ago, Woopwoopkitty said:

It has Brooks Darnell.  The man is smokin’ hot.  There are maybe 3 people in the universe who don’t look stupid wearing their hair like he is in the previews.  He is one.

There's something about his voice . . .

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3 minutes ago, ShelleySue said:

So I immediately thought that Josh had dictated the letters when one of the friends (I forget names) noticed the different handwriting. But Josh didn't mention that so I assumed I was wrong. I hate, hate, hate movies based on simple misunderstands. The whole movie could have been an hour shorter if Josh had just explained it correctly. 

And of course since it turns out he never really "lied" about writing the letters, it rankled even more that she got away with trying to snake that other design company out of the job, just so she could meet this guy. I mean, was I missing something? Didn't she fake being the company rep and insert herself in their place? And once she agreed to be in lurve with him, that just got set aside? No red flags, there!

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(edited)

UpTV had a winner with Luckless in Love. I so, so, so enjoyed this movie because of the palpable chemistry between the leads and some of the fun (painting, singing) or goofy (doorbell dash) things they did.  It also didn’t hurt that Holden had a yummy British accent and believable backstory. I wonder if that’s the actor’s normal accent or if he “poshes” it up.  If you hear Scouse or Mancunian accents as often as I do, you might not think it’s yummy. 


I liked how Winnie connected with Holden’s son, and Winnie’s BFF was such a great, loyal friend.  Although, cripes - the friend kept eating throughout the movie!!!  I never saw a character eat so often! What did that actress do to the writers that they had her eat, eat, eat.

 The one demerit was how stereotypically loathsome Winnie’s boss was - manipulative and threatening Winnie as she did. Inga was a right ol’ bee-yotch. Inca’s belated apology to Winnie was self serving to the end (helping Winnie publish her book helps Inga).

Edited by norcalgal
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2 hours ago, norcalgal said:

UpTV had a winner with Luckless in Love. I so, so, so enjoyed this movie because of the palpable chemistry between the leads and some of the fun (painting, singing) or goofy (doorbell dash) things they did.  It also didn’t hurt that Holden had a yummy British accent and believable backstory. I wonder if that’s the actor’s normal accent or if he “poshes” it up.  If you hear Scouse or Mancunian accents as often as I do, you might not think it’s yummy. 


I liked how Winnie connected with Holden’s son, and Winnie’s BFF was such a great, loyal friend.  Although, cripes - the friend kept eating throughout the movie!!!  I never saw a character eat so often! What did that actress do to the writers that they had her eat, eat, eat.

 The one demerit was how stereotypically loathsome Winnie’s boss was - manipulative and threatening Winnie as she did. Inga was a right ol’ bee-yotch. Inca’s belated apology to Winnie was self serving to the end (helping Winnie publish her book helps Inga).

Just noting that there's a separate channel for UPtv movies (it doesn't get much traffic, unfortunately, but I still follow it--sometimes there are gems there).

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14 hours ago, bankerchick said:
17 hours ago, ShelleySue said:

There's something about his voice . . .

That you love or hate?  I too find him smokin' hot, but his voice is kinda wimpy to me.

I like it. It reminds me of music.

 

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Fellow Antonio Cupo fans: He doesn’t show up on IMDB, but I  caught part of a preview last night of tonight’s Game of Love with Kimberley Sustad, and he was in it. Looks like a supporting role, but any Antonio is better than no Antonio. Just wanted to let you know in case you were on the fence about watching it.

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2 hours ago, kirinan said:

Fellow Antonio Cupo fans: He doesn’t show up on IMDB, but I  caught part of a preview last night of tonight’s Game of Love with Kimberley Sustad, and he was in it.

I thought the same thing when I saw him.  It's been too long and he really should be in more movies.  I was already leaning in because I like Brooks Darnell and Kimberley Sustad is generally pretty good, so fingers crossed for the first good movie since Christmas, in my opinion.

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Just watched The Story of Us again.  I always like Sam Page.  Maggie was her mush-mouth speaker, but not awful.  Came here to say that I didn't realize that cute Zibby Allen and Marco Grazzini played two old friends who had longtime crushes on each other -- I like both of them a lot and didn't realize they'd played opposite each other prior to Virgin River.

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3 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Just watched The Story of Us again.  I always like Sam Page.  Maggie was her mush-mouth speaker, but not awful.  Came here to say that I didn't realize that cute Zibby Allen and Marco Grazzini played two old friends who had longtime crushes on each other -- I like both of them a lot and didn't realize they'd played opposite each other prior to Virgin River.

I didn't watch it today, but Sam Page is one of my favorite Hallmark leading men.

 

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I liked Game of Love. It took a while for them to get there, but I was hooked at the halfway point and it definitely got better. I just wish they didn’t make Kimberly’s character so abrasive in the beginning just to show that she’s willing to change. They can write a stubborn person without being rude and condescending. 

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I also liked The Game of Love ok, but I didn’t love it.  Brooks Darnell did a very good job, I thought — had never seen him before.  It was Kimberly, who I always LOVE, that was the weaker link IMO.  Like twoods said, Kimberly’s character was too off-putting and abrasive.  I get it that Hallmark wants a character arc but this was one of those cases where they made one of the leads way too cold.  I liked the game aspect in the Tyler Hynes / Mallory Jansen movie, but this game creation plot wasn’t that interesting.  

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The Game of Love was underwhelming.  Sustad is considered a "proven winner" in the Hallmark stable of actors but the director really did a number on her character.  Just over the top unlikeable and snotty, apparently to make a point but we don't need to be bludgeoned over the head to figure out she has issues.

I have no idea how long it takes to totally design a game but I would wager to say it takes more than a couple of weeks;  that whole thing was silly.  

The story really bogged down toward the middle leading to the inevitable falling out just before the race to the kiss.  I did get through it but I won't rewatch even though I normally like Sustad.

On a shallow note, Darnell is very easy on the eyes.

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Damn you, Hallmark.  Did I not just say this:

On 3/5/2023 at 12:54 PM, bankerchick said:

I really like Kimberley Sustad, especially with Paul Campbell, but her character is often the person who is overwhelmed with work, prone to bitching about it, but when offered help will say, 'oh, no it's ok, you don't have to help, I can do it.'

Yes, yes I did.  Just a week ago.  (My apologies for quoting myself.)  I am starting to wonder if Hallmark actually hates Kimberley and that's why every freaking movie she is in, they make her the same person.  Even after her team came together to create a great game, when it was inexplicably cancelled and her teammate asked how she could help, she still says, 'no, I'll do it myself.'  Maybe she's like that in real life.  I guess they think it makes her look like a strong, independent, capable woman, but it makes me think there's a reason why she's single.

I watched the whole movie, but I won't likely watch it again.  I did notice the multiple coats, but as a counterpoint, she wore those stupid Converse hightops in every scene.

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I was getting excited that we may come out of a movie without a misunderstanding because what was there to to be upset about? But then they had to do her stupid freak out about working as a team, when the reason why her prior board game sucked is because she wasn’t asking for help. At least she realized that she was wrong, but it was still annoying. Also, I got his backstory a lot more than hers. Did her parents hurt her in any way or was she abandoned? 

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I didn't watch all of The Game of Love. It did not look interesting. I just saw a commercial for next week's movie Kris Polaha. HIs hair is a no.  Maybe they were trying to make him look younger, but it does not work. Especially compared to his look in Pearl in Paradise, which was on last night.

 

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Game of Love was only watchable because of the leads. They did a lot of work on an underwhelming script and nonsensical story.  I thought we left the "we need to do something that takes months of advance planning in a week."

Oh, I thought Antonio Cupo's small bits were fun.  I wish he had been the love guru because him selling the "possible" with the heart hands was golden.

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1 hour ago, Ele said:

Maybe they were trying to make him look younger, but it does not work.

I thought he looked like a worn out 40 year old whose alarm didn't go off and he had to run out of the house before washing his face or combing his hair.

25 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

Oh, I thought Antonio Cupo's small bits were fun.  I wish he had been the love guru because him selling the "possible" with the heart hands was golden.

This would have been so amazing!  It would have made for a much better movie.

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2 hours ago, Ele said:

I didn't watch all of The Game of Love. It did not look interesting. I just saw a commercial for next week's movie Kris Polaha. HIs hair is a no.  Maybe they were trying to make him look younger, but it does not work. Especially compared to his look in Pearl in Paradise, which was on last night.

I started watching The Game of Love but bailed about half an hour in—the story didn't interest me, and I didn't like Kimberley Sustad's character right off the bat (although I love Kimberley). But I did DVR it, so I'll FF through for the Antonio Cupo parts and then get rid of it.

Then I watched every second of Pearl of Paradise, one of my favorites, and I mourned that none of the new movies I've seen so far this year live up to that standard of writing and acting (my opinion only, of course). I'm pretty sure it was here that someone said the stories are created via Mad Libs, and I don't disagree anymore.

And @Ele, I'd seen pictures of Kris Polaha in this new movie, and all I could think about was the Goth kids with the side bangs from South Park. 

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