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

[Lugal]

11 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

Clearly you’re more qualified than the geniuses behind Where the Heart Belongs 🙄

I was shouting at the movie: "Of course your maple syrup farm is struggling!  You're tapping cedar trees!"  I don't think we saw a single maple in the whole movie.

I thought it had potential, at least from a humor perspective, but then it just became annoying.  If this is someone's only exposure to Jen Lilley, I can see why people don't like her.

Then there was the unfortunate coincidence that her character's name was Sullivan and her father was played by Robert Wisden who played the father of Chloe Sullivan on Smallville.  So when they had the "You're my favorite daughter." - "I'm your only daughter." exchange, I thought very loudly, except that other daughter who joined the cult, but we'll never speak of her again.

[bankerchick]

14 hours ago, Maelstrom said:

Cedar syrup has officially joined my Hallmark Hall of Shame, alongside Christmas Day blue moons and perpetual full moons. 

Not quite the same thing, but I worked with a woman who brought in spruce beer for us to try and yes, it tasted like drinking a liquified spruce tree.

[norcalgal]

On 1/9/2022 at 6:24 PM, EyewatchTV211 said:

A little late to the party about Jen Lilley. I liked her a lot in The Spirit of Christmas as the slightly cynical, serious character who gradually believes. I think my liking has coincidentally decreased as her hair has gotten lighter and longer in movies over time. 

One thing that stands out to me about this movie was that Thomas Beaudoin's 19th century character was believed to have had pre-marital sex that resulted in a pregnancy. WOW! That would have been scandalous for the time period in real life, never mind that Hallmark allowed this plot point to remain!   😲

On 1/10/2022 at 6:54 AM, Cetacean said:

North to Home ...My hopes of seeing some indigenous actors (after all, this was supposed to be in Alaska) were dashed - a lily white cast as usual.  Would I rewatch?  No.

Good point.  I just watched this last night, and you're right - nary an Indigenous character in sight.  I can't recall even a background character as such. The only POC I recall was the bartender the sisters yelled at who brought them wine.

On 1/10/2022 at 7:49 AM, Lugal said:

Then there was the unfortunate coincidence that her character's name was Sullivan and her father was played by Robert Wisden who played the father of Chloe Sullivan on Smallville.  So when they had the "You're my favorite daughter." - "I'm your only daughter." exchange, I thought very loudly, except that other daughter who joined the cult, but we'll never speak of her again.

Oh man...as a Chloe Sullivan fan (she was my fave until Lois came along -  I know!  I know!), I couldn't believe it when I heard on the news about Alison Mack!  YIKES!

[EyewatchTV211]

5 hours ago, norcalgal said:

One thing that stands out to me about this movie was that Thomas Beaudoin's 19th century character was believed to have had pre-marital sex that resulted in a pregnancy. WOW! That would have been scandalous for the time period in real life, never mind that Hallmark allowed this plot point to remain!   😲

 

Good thing it was on Lifetime, then. 😉

[norcalgal]

20 hours ago, EyewatchTV211 said:

Good thing it was on Lifetime, then. 😉

Yikes - looks like my memory is already fading and I'm not even close to retirement age yet.

😬☹️

[Cetacean]

On 1/11/2022 at 5:05 PM, norcalgal said:

That would have been scandalous for the time period in real life, never mind that Hallmark allowed this plot point to remain! 

Well, there was that DNA test one this year on Hallmark, something about a family tree.  I bet the pearl clutchers were gasping at that out-of-wedlock plot line.  I guess it was OK because the mom was dead - served her right for being a slut.

[norcalgal]

5 minutes ago, Cetacean said:

Well, there was that DNA test one this year on Hallmark, something about a family tree.  I bet the pearl clutchers were gasping at that out-of-wedlock plot line.  I guess it was OK because the mom was dead - served her right for being a slut.

Yeah, the movie was called My Christmas Family Tree  (I think)?  I watched it and can't even remember the title!!!  Oh dear...I better do some brain exercises!   

[Cetacean]

10 minutes ago, norcalgal said:

  I watched it and can't even remember the title!!!  Oh dear...I better do some brain exercises! 

Well, since 99% of them have "Christmas" in the title (and virtually identical plots), I think you can cut yourself some slack.  I didn't remember it either.

[ctlady]

Thank goodness A Perfect Pairing is finally airing tonight. If I have to see a pair of patent stiletto ankle boots sashaying across a sidewalk with “Christina Joy Osborn!” sing-songy  voiceover I’m going to pull my eardrums out. Do these movies not have more than one preview with different scene cuts?

[Cetacean]

2 minutes ago, ctlady said:

Do these movies not have more than one preview with different scene cuts?

Especially since that one preview tells the entire story beginning to end.

[SusanM]

So I'm in the middle of A December Bride right now.  Kinda cute but I must have missed something (I'll be honest most of the time these movies are just on in the background) anyway why the hell does the aunt care so much that the two cousins are on the outs?  Especially given the reason why?  She can't let a few months go by and let things settle down and evolve naturally?  Layla is supposed to forgive and forget 5 minutes after the wedding?

Edited January 15, 2022 by SusannahM

[MerBearHou]

I came here to see what people thought of A Perfect Pairing but no comments!  Did anyone watch it?  I haven’t seen it but was curious on what our group thought before I sought it out on replay.

[Irlandesa]

48 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

I came here to see what people thought of A Perfect Pairing but no comments!  Did anyone watch it?  I haven’t seen it but was curious on what our group thought before I sought it out on replay.

I thought it was okay.  I kind of liked the amnesia angle in this movie because the amnesia presented an "other shoe waiting to drop" scenario.  She was the reviewer he hated.  She felt guilty about the review (before she forgot who she was.)  People know who she is but will they find her and tell everyone or will she remember first?

I actually think they could have exploited that a bit more than they did. 

I like Nazneen as an actress. My only quibble is the lead, Brennan Elliott's, outsized dislike for the reviewer who "ruined" him.  She wrote an honest review.  He sent her legitimately bad wine. 

[ctlady]

7 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I came here to see what people thought of A Perfect Pairing but no comments!  Did anyone watch it?

 

8 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I thought it was okay.  I kind of liked the amnesia angle in this movie because the amnesia presented an "other shoe waiting to drop" scenario.

I liked it too and the amnesia plot wasn't cookie cutter  Nazneen is absolutely beautiful, but something about her voice inflection bugs.  It's like the last word of every sentence ends in breathlessness

And could they have shaved Brennan Elliot's neck for Pete's sake?  That wasn't a sexy 5'oclock shadow.  It looked positively dirty

I really don't like how they portray these 'power women always on their phone and ignorant of their surroundings'.  It makes them look like self absorbed high school girls.  I just can't buy that a food critic who is most like an experienced traveler would realize she was getting off the train without her purse then not know which car had her luggage in it.  All because she was distracted on her dang phone.  UGH!

And the frugal queen in me was aghast when she tossed those fallen souffles in the garbage.  I'm sure they were still delicious.

I loved that red leather, envelope style notebook folio she carried

Now I must try ice wine, even though I don't drink

[Cetacean]

46 minutes ago, ctlady said:

Now I must try ice wine, even though I don't drink

I don't like wine in general but love a little glass of ice wine.

I found Perfect Pairing totally formulaic.  Bored to tears.

48 minutes ago, ctlady said:

I really don't like how they portray these 'power women always on their phone and ignorant of their surroundings'.  It makes them look like self absorbed high school girls.

Hallmark always has to go over the top with this kind of "cell phone is bad" scenarios.  

And never in the Hallmark universe is a woman complete or fulfilled without the love of a good man.  Welcome to the 50's.

[Kemper]

I always like Brennan Eliot; I have never seen the actress before.  But there was zero spark between the pair.  And Brennan Eliot usually seems to be enjoying himself in all his Hallmark movies.  It didn't help that the actress was put in that terrible Hallmark hairstyle that the network puts most of their actresses in.  Parted in the middle, beachy waves down the side. It did her no favors.  And amnesia...because that is fresh and new.

[bankerchick]

It doesn't seem as if chemistry is ever a factor when casting roles.  It's as if they have a stable of 8 or 10 actors and 8 or 10 actresses and it's a crapshoot who gets to play opposite who.  Some of them are totally charisma-free with anyone and sometimes it's just not a good match.  So much so that you can really notice if a pair has heat (Sustad/Campbell, Walker/Kebbel.)  I watched Winter In Vail this morning.  Everyone here loves Tyler Hynes and many people here love Lacey Chabert but I did not sense any chemistry between them.  Perhaps I say this because Chabert is someone I consider chemistry free but I will use Bethany Joy Lenz as an example.  I don't like her and she is almost a non-watch for me, but you can sense the attraction between her and most of the actors in her movies.

After watching a few movies this past weekend, I am starting to suspect that Tyler Hynes has hairplugs.  I know we have discussed the bad styles ad infinitum, but the perfectly straight-across hairline combined with a few of the hairstyles leads me to believe that this might be the case.

[Daff]

The Wedding Veil. A good story, the main characters had chemistry, but. Everyone here is tired of that cringe moment in the last 15 minutes of the movie when the dreaded “misunderstanding” dashes the lover’s dreams? Prepare to cringe throughout the movie-and there was really no need for it! Plenty of activity/side plots to keep interest, so there was no need to keep the thing going so long. I’ll try to say this carefully, but without any cleaning at all, I saw the very last scene with the 3 friends coming. I’ll watch the next two, as I like all the actresses. 

[Chippings]

I had only seen Nazneen Contractor in A Winter Getaway last year, and she (that is, her character) was charming.  Also liked Brooks Darnell in that - another new face, and he was really endearing.  Haven't watched the wine thing yet and may not because I'm kind of tired of seeing Brennan Elliot find true love for the 110th time.   (Nice man, I am sure.)  

My point, I guess, is that it is nice to see new faces who do a good job and have some good chemistry.  It is, I know, too much to ask to avoid the last-20-minutes-misunderstanding.  But, fresh actors, people ??   

[ctlady]

The premise of Don't Forget I Love You looks good.  I just wish they cast someone other that Emilie Ullerup as the lead.  She ruins the character of Brie on Chesapeake Shores with her slap-sticky acting and goofy facial expressions.  She doesn't ooze a drop of romantic chemistry

[Artsda]

I finished a Perfect Pairing and realized while watching that was Peller Estate Winery in Niagara Falls (Canada side). It had that ice bar inside, my parents went once. 

Made me want to go visit myself. Lol

Edited January 18, 2022 by Artsda

[Scarlett45]

On 1/8/2022 at 4:38 PM, Chippings said:

Also, in my mind, Autumn Reeser is still living happily with Jesse Metcalfe from 'Country Wedding', and Lacey Chabert is with Will Kemp making chocolate in Brussels ('Love, Romance and Chocolate') -- Some pairings just work and stick in my mind, and those really did.  

Do y'all remember other pairings that seemed particularly legit?  

Did you like Will Kemp & Lacey Chaubert in Christmas Waltz?

 

I liked Will Kemp & Bethany Joy Lenz in Royal Matchmaker quite a bit.
 

I also liked Brandon Routh & Kimberly Sustad in Nine Lives of Christmas ,   Taylor Cole & Ryan Paevey in Matching Hearts - but I admit I think Ryan Paevey is really hot and there’s that. 

[bankerchick]

2 hours ago, ctlady said:

The premise of Don't Forget I Love You looks good.  I just wish they cast someone other that Emilie Ullerup as the lead.  She ruins the character of Brie on Chesapeake Shores with her slap-sticky acting and goofy facial expressions. 

Emilie Ullerup reminds me of Natalie Hall, who is an actress I don't like at all.  Some of these actresses really commit to being a bitch for the first 45 minutes of the movie and it makes it hard for me to believe that a hot, funny, smart guy would stick around long enough for these women to thaw out.

[Chippings]

1 hour ago, Scarlett45 said:

Did you like Will Kemp & Lacey Chaubert in Christmas Waltz?

 

I liked Will Kemp & Bethany Joy Lenz in Royal Matchmaker quite a bit.
 

I also liked Brandon Routh & Kimberly Sustad in Nine Lives of Christmas ,   Taylor Cole & Ryan Paevey in Matching Hearts - but I admit I think Ryan Paevey is really hot and there’s that. 

I absolutely did like them in Christmas Waltz, and him again in Royal Matchmaker, which I think was his first Hallmark movie.  He strikes me as another Hugh Jackman type (I think they were even in one movie together).  

btw, I'm not one who is bothered at all by Bethany Joy Lenz, because of having watched her for a long time in 'Guiding Light' -- the spunky Michelle Bauer, who married Danny Santos.  She is fine with me in anything.  

[ctlady]

On 1/17/2022 at 7:55 AM, ctlady said:

I loved that red leather, envelope style notebook folio she carried

Quoting myself because I'm putting out a plea for help.  Anyone know the brand/designer of this notebook holder?  I did an extensive search using different descriptions and even slow-mo'd the end credits On Demand to see if they listed some designer names.  Thanks!

[norcalgal]

On 1/17/2022 at 10:04 AM, bankerchick said:

It doesn't seem as if chemistry is ever a factor when casting roles.  It's as if they have a stable of 8 or 10 actors and 8 or 10 actresses and it's a crapshoot who gets to play opposite who.  Some of them are totally charisma-free with anyone and sometimes it's just not a good match.  So much so that you can really notice if a pair has heat (Sustad/Campbell, Walker/Kebbel.) 

I'm curious to see if Hallmark will pair up the folks from When Calls the Heart in a non-WCTH movie.  I know they already did this with 2 actors from WCTH (the actors who play Lee & Rosemary) but wonder if they will do that with the main actor - Erin Krakow and one of the actors from WCTH?  Or maybe Hallmark will never do that because they don't want to muddy the waters - even though we viewers are smart enough to tell they are different productions/characters!

23 hours ago, bankerchick said:

Emilie Ullerup reminds me of Natalie Hall, who is an actress I don't like at all.  Some of these actresses really commit to being a bitch for the first 45 minutes of the movie and it makes it hard for me to believe that a hot, funny, smart guy would stick around long enough for these women to thaw out.

If for nothing else, I will always have a soft spot for Natalie Hall because her character was my fave on a CW teen show called Starcrossed. Would be funny if she and Aimee Teagarden (she was the main character on Starcrossed) did a Hallamark movie together.

[bankerchick]

Andrew Walker has off the charts chemistry with every actress in every move (except perhaps this past year's Family Tree movie where he was more a side character than a leading man.)  He is sexy, funny (and snarky) and charming, and in Bridal Wave when he is telling the 'how we met' story and he says she was 'luminous' I defy anyone to say they would not run off with him in a NY minute.  Even with the terrible buzz cut.  

[luvthepros]

On 1/18/2022 at 9:12 PM, bankerchick said:

Andrew Walker has off the charts chemistry with every actress in every move (except perhaps this past year's Family Tree movie where he was more a side character than a leading man.)  He is sexy, funny (and snarky) and charming, and in Bridal Wave when he is telling the 'how we met' story and he says she was 'luminous' I defy anyone to say they would not run off with him in a NY minute.  Even with the terrible buzz cut.  

Agree with everything you said!

[Clawdette]

I saw on Today that Megan Park has written and directed a movie coming to HBOMax next week. It’s called The Fallout and is about a school tragedy. You’ll remember Megan from 2021’s A Royal Queen’s Christmas as well as Time for Me to Come Home for Christmas and Once Upon a Prince.  
 

Good for her!

[bankerchick]

OK, don't judge me.  Well, go ahead.  Sheer January boredom has set in, so I decided to do a bracket-type challenge using Hallmark men.  I don't know what you call it - like they do for basketball, where you start out with 16 names, pitting 2 against each other until you come out with an ultimate winner.  I thought it would be fun to see how it shakes out.  It's relatively easy to come up with 16 names, though some are from a few years ago and there are some who hold no appeal to me at all.  I did it twice just for variety, randomly drawing names out of a hat.

As expected, Paul Campbell came out the winner both times, versus Tyler Hynes the first time and Travis Van Winkle the second time.  The bad news is that he came up against Andrew Walker in the very first round both times, as did Chris McNally vs Paul Greene.  It was equally hard choosing between two guys I really like (eg Travis Van Winkle vs Tyler Hynes - picked Travis) or two guys I don't care about (eg Luke MacFarlane vs Michael Rady - basically flipped a coin and picked Michael.)

I guess I could have washed the floor or cleaned the bathroom instead, but nah.

[MerBearHou]

29 minutes ago, bankerchick said:

OK, don't judge me.  Well, go ahead.  Sheer January boredom has set in, so I decided to do a bracket-type challenge using Hallmark men.  I don't know what you call it - like they do for basketball, where you start out with 16 names, pitting 2 against each other until you come out with an ultimate winner.  I thought it would be fun to see how it shakes out.  It's relatively easy to come up with 16 names, though some are from a few years ago and there are some who hold no appeal to me at all.  I did it twice just for variety, randomly drawing names out of a hat.

As expected, Paul Campbell came out the winner both times, versus Tyler Hynes the first time and Travis Van Winkle the second time.  The bad news is that he came up against Andrew Walker in the very first round both times, as did Chris McNally vs Paul Greene.  It was equally hard choosing between two guys I really like (eg Travis Van Winkle vs Tyler Hynes - picked Travis) or two guys I don't care about (eg Luke MacFarlane vs Michael Rady - basically flipped a coin and picked Michael.)

I guess I could have washed the floor or cleaned the bathroom instead, but nah.

This is GREAT!  Paul would have won every time in my bracket too.  Tyler Hynes and Kristoffer Polaha would have been my runners-up.  Then Andrew Walker.  Other tough contenders would be Travis Van Winkle, Chris McNally, Kevin McGarry -- I like all of those guys in everything they do (even if I sometimes don't like their female counterpart and don't buy the relationship).

[geekgirl921]

I keep seeing the commercials for the new movie Cut, Color, Murder. They really shouldn't have named the town Golden Peak because the beauty pageant announcer's big announcement really sounds like something else!!😀

[norcalgal]

3 hours ago, bankerchick said:

OK, don't judge me.  Well, go ahead.  Sheer January boredom has set in, so I decided to do a bracket-type challenge using Hallmark men.  I don't know what you call it - like they do for basketball, where you start out with 16 names, pitting 2 against each other until you come out with an ultimate winner.  I thought it would be fun to see how it shakes out.  It's relatively easy to come up with 16 names, though some are from a few years ago and there are some who hold no appeal to me at all.  I did it twice just for variety, randomly drawing names out of a hat.

As expected, Paul Campbell came out the winner both times, versus Tyler Hynes the first time and Travis Van Winkle the second time.  The bad news is that he came up against Andrew Walker in the very first round both times, as did Chris McNally vs Paul Greene.  It was equally hard choosing between two guys I really like (eg Travis Van Winkle vs Tyler Hynes - picked Travis) or two guys I don't care about (eg Luke MacFarlane vs Michael Rady - basically flipped a coin and picked Michael.)

I guess I could have washed the floor or cleaned the bathroom instead, but nah.

No judging at all. I like this "tournament".  Guys who would end up the "winner" for me are (depending on certain categories like appearance, acting ability, movie plot, co-stars) would be:

• Travis Van Winkle
• Andrew Walker
• Kevin McGarry
• Ryan McPartlin

That's off the top of my head.  

[ShelleySue]

Wow!  It's Monday and I'm the first person posting on Don't Forget I Love You. Was it a busy weekend for everyone or are we still all burnt out from the Christmas movies?  I guess I'll start with a bunch of random comments.

This is going to show my age and shallowness, but I have never understood the dark roots with blond hair trend.  So you can imagine I really don't understand blond hair with six inches of dark roots.  Is six inches even considered roots? Her hair looked like hair during the depth of Covid when salons were closed.  I found her hair to be very distracting, especially when they showed the back of her head. Yes, I already said I was shallow.

On the positive side: I did appreciate a different plot though.  It was nice to have a woman who had flaws but was willing to admit and face them.  The wife's friend (forgot her name) wasn't evil or plotting.

[Cetacean]

1 hour ago, ShelleySue said:

t's Monday and I'm the first person posting on Don't Forget I Love You. Was it a busy weekend for everyone or are we still all burnt out from the Christmas movies? 

Started it, got bored, quit.  Burned out on all Hallmark in general.

[MerBearHou]

1 hour ago, ShelleySue said:

Wow!  It's Monday and I'm the first person posting on Don't Forget I Love You. Was it a busy weekend for everyone or are we still all burnt out from the Christmas movies?  I guess I'll start with a bunch of random comments.

This is going to show my age and shallowness, but I have never understood the dark roots with blond hair trend.  So you can imagine I really don't understand blond hair with six inches of dark roots.  Is six inches even considered roots? Her hair looked like hair during the depth of Covid when salons were closed.  I found her hair to be very distracting, especially when they showed the back of her head. Yes, I already said I was shallow.

On the positive side: I did appreciate a different plot though.  It was nice to have a woman who had flaws but was willing to admit and face them.  The wife's friend (forgot her name) wasn't evil or plotting.

I feel exactly the same way about the dark roots/blond hair trend -- or really any roots -- it's really distracting to me (and unattractive IMO).  

Sadly, I'm with Cetacean -- very burned out on Hallmark at the moment.  I'll watch some beloved reruns on the network (and there are plenty I do like), but I come here first to read our friends' reviews before deciding to watch one of the new movies when it's re-aired.  

Edited January 24, 2022 by MerBearHou

[bankerchick]

I guess the reason none of us posted is because we all thought the same thing, and it wasn't really related to the story.  

2 hours ago, ShelleySue said:

Her hair looked like hair during the depth of Covid when salons were closed.  I found her hair to be very distracting, especially when they showed the back of her head.

Couldn't agree more.  It was like she decided she was done colouring her hair and was going to grow out the brunette, but a movie came along in the meantime.

Also, the green screen.  I don't know if I have ever seen a more fake background than when they were in the middle of nowhere appreciating the mountain view.

Having said all that, I don't dislike the actress and was happy to see actor who always plays the big-city boyfriend who gets left behind for the country boy, finally get a leading role.  Not a traditional hottie, but likeable enough.  The movie was fine, but that's all.  I thought the focus on the daughter's anxiety was a little much.  Just because she was nervous to do a presentation in front of her class (who wouldn't be, at that age?) now she has anxiety issues and the lead actress has to help her though that?  The dad getting a phone call to pick her up from the sleepover seemed thrown in to justify the focus on anxiety.

Currently, Making Something Great is on.  If there is one thing Erin Cahill can't do, it's make something great (or even tolerable.)  What she can do is get me to change the channel.

[Kemper]

Emilie U - I never knew her name but have seen a couple of her Hallmark movies.  So.  I watched “Brazen” last week on Netflix and thought I had seen one of the actresses before. (it wasn’t Alyssa Milano). Turns out it was Emilie U; and her role was nothing like her Hallmark roles. So. When one of “their” actresses takes on a movie or tv role that is not in the network’s image … does that disqualify them from any further network roles?

[ctlady]

4 hours ago, ShelleySue said:

This is going to show my age and shallowness, but I have never understood the dark roots with blond hair trend.  So you can imagine I really don't understand blond hair with six inches of dark roots

I never understood it going all the way back to when Madonna came on the scene.  I personally think it makes the hair look dirty

2 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Sadly, I'm with Cetacean -- very burned out on Hallmark at the moment.

Third that here.  The only positive note is that they're not Christmas movies!  I just don't like seeing the same crop of actors/actresses in different roles.  They're just packaged differently and churned out on the formulaic HM plot conveyor belt.  I may not watch the second Wedding Veil movie.  The first one I forced myself through because.....Lacy Chabert.  The second one.....something about Autumn Reeser grates.  There's this haughtiness about the way she portrays her characters.  I can't explain it.  I may watch the final one with Allison Sweeney.  I don't know if it's her hair or if she lost a few pounds, but she looks stunning

I did enjoy The Perfect Pairing and North To Home (scroll up to see my comments on each)

But can I just say that Butlers In Love looks positively cringe-tastic?  The title is dopey and the female lead comes across too doofy (in the previews) for me to see her in a romantic light.  I do appreciate Maxwell Caufield is in it (he's aged well and has come far since Grease2!)  Funny, I just saw him on an episode of Dr. Quinn as Michaela's assumed-to-be-dead fiance

[Pallida]

For Don't Forget I Love You, the whole possible proposal thing just made me angry. What is this, the 1880s?

[Cetacean]

40 minutes ago, Pallida said:

What is this, the 1880s?

Welcome to Hallmarklandia where women can only be happy and fulfilled by a man, a small town, and a cutesy business.

[Pallida]

3 minutes ago, Cetacean said:

Welcome to Hallmarklandia where women can only be happy and fulfilled by a man, a small town, and a cutesy business.

Since you said above that you didn't finish it, it's even worse than that! He was going to propose to his wife's friend because his daughter needed a mother and she had promised to always take care of them...

[Cetacean]

3 minutes ago, Pallida said:

Since you said above that you didn't finish it, it's even worse than that! He was going to propose to his wife's friend because his daughter needed a mother and she had promised to always take care of them...

Oh, blech!  

[bankerchick]

3 hours ago, Kemper said:

When one of “their” actresses takes on a movie or tv role that is not in the network’s image … does that disqualify them from any further network roles?

Well, let's hope not, at least for the actors.  They'd positively get the vapours if they saw Travis Van Winkle in You.  (Well, I got the vapours anyway, and not in a bad way!!)

3 hours ago, ctlady said:

I may not watch the second Wedding Veil movie.  The first one I forced myself through because.....Lacy Chabert.  The second one.....something about Autumn Reeser grates.  There's this haughtiness about the way she portrays her characters.  I can't explain it. 

Yup.

[norcalgal]

3 hours ago, Pallida said:

Since you said above that you didn't finish it, it's even worse than that! He was going to propose to his wife's friend because his daughter needed a mother and she had promised to always take care of them...

The above was about Don't Forget I Love You.  Was anyone else aghast as I was when Taylor told her dad that she saw Lady Friend with the ring - when Neighbor Dad flat out told Taylor that wasn't his deceased wife's ring -  and it seemed Neighbor Dad was proposing to Lady Friend, then the dad told Taylor to tell Neighbor Dad she loved him anyway!!!   😲

Taylor doesn't know what kind of relationship Neighbor Dad and Lady Friend have (that the dad only thought of proposing because of the reasons posted in the quote above). For all Taylor knew, the two were in love (or close to it). But she's going to tell him ILY anyway?  What if Neighbor Dad and Lady Friend were indeed in love?  What was he supposed to do with Taylor's declaration...and the fact they are neighbors makes it extra awkward! It's just serendipity (and a stupid script) that Neighbor Dad was NOT in love with Lady Friend.

P.S.  anyone here recognize Taylor's dad as "Pusher" from the X-Files? 

[Cetacean]

11 minutes ago, norcalgal said:

(and a stupid script)

Describes what I saw to a T.  Glad I didn't bother with the rest.

Hallmark continues to stick with quantity over quality and it's getting so tiresome.

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, Pallida said:

Since you said above that you didn't finish it, it's even worse than that! He was going to propose to his wife's friend because his daughter needed a mother and she had promised to always take care of them...

Like many of you, I only watched the beginning of Don't Forget I Love You.  while not a direct copy, the description of the the mother giving "directions" from the dead felt too close to Lucky 7.  I figured a rewatch of Lucky 7 would end up being a better use of my time.

But, I did say to myself that it might have been cool for her to play matchmaker and hook the widower up with the platonic friend.  That'd be a new angle and surprising since we'd think she'd end up with him.

 

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Kemper said:

Emilie U - I never knew her name but have seen a couple of her Hallmark movies.  So.  I watched “Brazen” last week on Netflix and thought I had seen one of the actresses before. (it wasn’t Alyssa Milano). Turns out it was Emilie U; and her role was nothing like her Hallmark roles. So. When one of “their” actresses takes on a movie or tv role that is not in the network’s image … does that disqualify them from any further network roles?

No. Emilie is also one of the stars of Chesapeake Shores so Hallmark isn’t going to severe ties with her anytime soon. So many projects film in Vancouver that you’ll see the actors pop up all of the place and Hallmark never seems to care. 

Brazen also stars another Hallmark regular with Sam Page playing the male lead. 

5 hours ago, Cetacean said:

Describes what I saw to a T.  Glad I didn't bother with the rest.

Hallmark continues to stick with quantity over quality and it's getting so tiresome.

I really don’t understand why they even picked this one up. No on wanted it and it had only aired in Hungary when Hallmark decided to acquire it for some stupid reason. It’s like the awful Cindy Busby movie they acquired last year. 

16 hours ago, ShelleySue said:

Her hair looked like hair during the depth of Covid when salons were closed. 

This is probably exactly what it was. Plus she had just had a baby. 

[Daff]

13 hours ago, ctlady said:

  I may watch the final one with Allison Sweeney.  I don't know if it's her hair or if she lost a few pounds, but she looks stunning

 

I really like Allison Sweeney’s bouncy energy in the baked movies and in chronicle movies. Also liked her with Brendan Elliot in the recent seasonal movie where she found the old card he had sent in high school. In the Veil movie I thought she was so overly made up that it was distracting to her character/acting. I’m also not a fan of the super-straight blonde hair-miss all those wavy locks.  I do see what you’re saying about Reeser, but somehow it doesn’t distract my attention from the action (it was especially evident during that 2020 Christmas movie where she went to her hometown incognito). 

[ctlady]

17 hours ago, Cetacean said:

18 hours ago, Pallida said:

What is this, the 1880s?

Welcome to Hallmarklandia where women can only be happy and fulfilled by a man, a small town, and a cutesy business.

Well, in all fairness, I do find the small town premise more compartmentalized.  I'm not a 'big city setting' gal.  I do wish they'd branch out the female lead's profession other than interior designer, social media influencer, high-powered lawyer (at the tender age of 25!), ad agency exec, magazine editor in chief, etc, etc, etc.  I'd be perfectly fine with them showing a woman working a desk job as a bookkeeper, waiting tables, managing a convenience store, working in a daycare, the unglamorous ER nurse on the graveyard shift with her hair in a messy bun- things like that.  I personally feel the majority of viewers relate to those types of professions rather than a food & wine critic who struts around in 5 inch stilettos, designer clothes, airbrushed makeup and hair falling in beachy waves.  But....that's just me.

As for being 'fulfilled by a man' - I don't see it as them 'needing' a man in their life or to succeed because, hey - they'd been surviving and thriving in their business so far without one.  It's just a vehicle to get them together and discover true love, which I'm perfectly all for as opposed as needing to get a ring on their finger to have purpose