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

[ctlady]

Regarding Wedding of a Lifetime:

”Jake and Darby have been engaged for 10 years”

10 years?  Commitment issues?

[GeorgiaRai]

7 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I'm going to miss him but I wish him well.

Same! Maybe he'll return in a few years for the kind of roles Gregory Harrison & Treat Williams are filling now. :)  

[Woopwoopkitty]

So, interesting that there is repeated complaining about a lack of diversity on Hallmark, (which I disagree with somewhat) and then Mahogany is promoted ad nauseum (as are many previews), shown in prime time on 3 channels and yet nary a peep about it here.  I didn’t watch it, despite being bi-racial I’m not their demographic.

i finally watched the Yosemite one and it wasn’t as horrid as I expected.  I spent a lot of my spring breaks and summer in Yosemite back in the 70’s anditwas nice to see it.  I’ve hiked to the top of everyone of those waterfalls multiple times.

On 9/10/2022 at 5:13 AM, ctlady said:

Regarding Wedding of a Lifetime:

”Jake and Darby have been engaged for 10 years”

10 years?  Commitment issues?

Looks awful.  I hate Jonathan Bennett as anything other than the gay best friend (and even then only in small doses) and barely tolerate the lady with the bouncy hair.

i am looking forward to Marry go Round - I like the storyline I don’t care that it’s a rehash, Brennan Elliot is always enjoyable, and I lovedAmanda from  Center Stage.

Edited September 11, 2022 by Woopwoopkitty

[Bronx Babe]

Marry Go Round.

"That was the best crispy cookie caramel ice cream I've ever had!"

[Bronx Babe]

Hi, guys!

I've noticed there are a number of piggy-nosed actors on Hallmark that oddly also go along with prominent cheekbones.

I'm the last person of course sawto know their names.

Saw an "autumn" one where one character extolls the town's Fall festival, which is put on every year but apparently viewed as reverently as the Second Coming.   This person actually says:  "Your festival is so....monumental!"

Also:  "Your mother loved to name pumpkins.  That was a gift she had"

So the interfering mother in Marry Go Round is apparently forgiven in a heartbeat.  Opens daughter's mail, breaks up daughter's marriage by convincing the newlywed husband that leaving would be in the daughter's best interest since she just got accepted at Princeton, keeps this secret FOR TWENTY YEARS.

Jesus!

[Bronx Babe]

On 8/24/2022 at 8:46 PM, bankerchick said:

I'm so happy when I find a movie that just seems to gel.  The leads are likeable and have real chemistry, the secondary characters add to the story and the premise is realistic enough that I can overlook some of the silliness.  I have a lot of movies saved on DVR 'just in case' but I tend to watch the same 3 or 4 over and over.

Who knew there were so many 'Inn Love' movies, not all of them Hallmark...  My guess is you are referring to Brennan Elliott (All of My Heart Inn Love) or Jesse Hutch (Inn Love by Christmas.)  Both are in a lot of movies and I'm meh on both.

   

Ryan Paevey?  

Thanks, bankerchick, I do believe Ryan's the one I'm thinking of.

The nice, non-piggy nosed actor I sort of like is Brennan.  He's no sexy male model which I find refreshing.

Oh, as a sidenote, I saw parts of Always Amore.  (I forgot to add Autumn Reeser to my short list of Hallmark actresses I can actually stand)

[Kemper]

Brennan Eliot is about my favorite Hallmark actor. But for some reason the movie last night fell flat for me.

[MerBearHou]

I watched the first half of Marry Go Round because of my fondness for Brennan Elliott and Zak Santiago.  And I usually am fine with Amanda Schull.  But I tuned out because I realized I have a real problem with movies where someone is engaged and seems so happy with a terrific person and yet falls back in love *quite quickly* with someone else.  It just feels so much like cheating and while watching, I realized how distasteful it is for me to watch and be asked to cheer on the old love situation.  I feel it in those “let me teach you how to dance for your wedding” or “let me help plan your wedding since we used to be best friends” movies too.  I also saw a couple of moments where the very bright, capable character Amanda was playing acted like a middle-schooler — not cute to me.  So I tuned out.  Did I make a mistake?  Should I have hung in there?  

[Cetacean]

2 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Did I make a mistake?  Should I have hung in there?

No and no.

[MerBearHou]

21 minutes ago, Cetacean said:

No and no.

Good to know — thanks, Cetacean!  

[Woopwoopkitty]

3 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

But I tuned out because I realized I have a real problem with movies where someone is engaged and seems so happy with a terrific person and yet falls back in love *quite quickly* with someone else.  It just feels so much like cheating and while watching, I realized how distasteful it is for me to watch and be asked to cheer on the old love situation. 

This bugs me a lot too.

but in this movie, like Bronx Babe, I was far more bothered  by Amanda being so quick to dismiss and forgive her mother’s actions. Mother or not I would not have   Done so.  Interfering to the point of destroying her marriage and taking away choices about her future would have created an estrangement that would take far more time to heal and regain trust.

[Irlandesa]

My issue with Marry Go Round is that I couldn't help feeling like she was a victim of Stockholm Syndrome.

From the minute her mother opened up her acceptance to Stanford (Or Princeton?), multiple people conspired to remove her ability to control her life. 

Her mother was wrong to suggest to her daughter's husband, behind her back, that being married might keep her from school.  I don't know why it was never discussed that he should follow her to college.  He was a painter, for goodness sake.  At 18, he likely didn't have the kind of career that would lock him in their hometown.  But heck, her being married AND applying to go to school without discussing what getting accepted into college would mean for them is just a gaping hole in the story.

But she didn't force him to do it.  Or blackmail him.  She just suggested it. It was softball parental interference at worse. Her silence after was worse than her talking before it happened.  The decision to basically ghost his wife was his and his alone, though.  He never told her why.  Even 20 years later, he never came out and said that he did it because he was afraid she wouldn't leave him to go off to school.  He never had to throw his mother-in-law under the buss if he didn't want to but he could still share his reasons.

And then some lawyer decided that this 18-year-old woman should be tied to her 18-year-old husband who ghosted her until he got over what he was going through. 

In one final blow, her ex refuses to sign the papers to make it official at the courthouse because he just wasn't feeling it even though he's the one who left her 20 years earlier.

All of this compared to her decent fiance who was just so solid.

And I also realized that while I like Brennan Elliot, he has this very weird casual/aloof affect in his acting that makes his roles seem very similar.

I mostly enjoyed To Her, With Love until the unnecessary misunderstanding at the end. 

Edited September 12, 2022 by Irlandesa

[ctlady]

On 9/10/2022 at 8:11 PM, Woopwoopkitty said:

So, interesting that there is repeated complaining about a lack of diversity on Hallmark, (which I disagree with somewhat) and then Mahogany is promoted ad nauseum (as are many previews), shown in prime time on 3 channels and yet nary a peep about it here

IMO, the 'elephant in the room' question from me is why HM had to create a separate sub-genre for movies with predominately black actors/actresses.  Rather than show how inclusive and diverse they are by featuring more black/asian/disabled/plus-sized/whatever characters within the two genres they already have (Drama/romance; mysteries) they instead create a separate sub-network.  That's not diversity/inclusivity - that's segregation, plain and simple

12 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

But I tuned out because I realized I have a real problem with movies where someone is engaged and seems so happy with a terrific person and yet falls back in love *quite quickly* with someone else.

So much YES to this.  I didn't watch it and will not, but I'm going to guess that AS's character wound up going back to BE's character - leaving her fiance in the dust.  It's insulting and hurtful.  It may be 'romance' on their end and (unless they contrived for fiance to turn out to be a massive dooooosh which would give her the green light to dump him for ex) 'heartbreak' on the fiance's end

I guess it's okay when doing this from the woman's POV.  Imagine if it were a male lead engaged to a perfectly stable, loving, attentive young woman and decided to ditch her for an ex he thought he was divorced from in the span of a headspin?  I'm going to go out on a limb and say that, because he's a man, he'd probably be bashed silly

It's been really hard finding original content to enjoy and with pumpkin spice latte/Ugg boot wearing fall movies they're going to saturate the channel with until they begin shoving Christmas movies down our throat as soon as Halloween is over, I guess I'll be rewatching some oldies or HOF movies on On Demand

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, ctlady said:

I didn't watch it and will not, but I'm going to guess that AS's character wound up going back to BE's character - leaving her fiance in the dust. 

The fiance so graciously stepped aside when he realized she had unresolved feelings.

[Cetacean]

3 hours ago, ctlady said:

IMO, the 'elephant in the room' question from me is why HM had to create a separate sub-genre for movies with predominately black actors/actresses.  Rather than show how inclusive and diverse they are by featuring more black/asian/disabled/plus-sized/whatever characters within the two genres they already have (Drama/romance; mysteries) they instead create a separate sub-network.  That's not diversity/inclusivity - that's segregation, plain and simple. 

This x1 million, @ctlady (I added the bolding).  I don't know who makes these decisions but this one is just egregious!

[Miss Bones]

On 9/12/2022 at 8:59 AM, ctlady said:

IMO, the 'elephant in the room' question from me is why HM had to create a separate sub-genre for movies with predominately black actors/actresses.  Rather than show how inclusive and diverse they are by featuring more black/asian/disabled/plus-sized/whatever characters within the two genres they already have (Drama/romance; mysteries) they instead create a separate sub-network.  That's not diversity/inclusivity - that's segregation, plain and simple

So much YES to this.  I didn't watch it and will not, but I'm going to guess that AS's character wound up going back to BE's character - leaving her fiance in the dust.  It's insulting and hurtful.  It may be 'romance' on their end and (unless they contrived for fiance to turn out to be a massive dooooosh which would give her the green light to dump him for ex) 'heartbreak' on the fiance's end

I guess it's okay when doing this from the woman's POV.  Imagine if it were a male lead engaged to a perfectly stable, loving, attentive young woman and decided to ditch her for an ex he thought he was divorced from in the span of a headspin?  I'm going to go out on a limb and say that, because he's a man, he'd probably be bashed silly

It's been really hard finding original content to enjoy and with pumpkin spice latte/Ugg boot wearing fall movies they're going to saturate the channel with until they begin shoving Christmas movies down our throat as soon as Halloween is over, I guess I'll be rewatching some oldies or HOF movies on On Demand

Last year (and maybe the year before) they didn't even wait until Halloween was over, which I find absolutely ridiculous and downright infuriating, actually.  

[Woopwoopkitty]

On 9/11/2022 at 4:58 PM, MerBearHou said:

But I tuned out because I realized I have a real problem with movies where someone is engaged and seems so happy with a terrific person and yet falls back in love *quite quickly* with someone else.  It just feels so much like cheating and while watching, I realized how distasteful it is for me to watch and be asked to cheer on the old love situation. 

This bugs me a lot too.

but in this movie, like Bronx Babe, I was far more bothered  by Amanda being so quick to dismiss and forgive her mother’s actions. Mother or not I would not have   Done so.  Interfering to the point of destroying her marriage and taking away choices about her future would have created an estrangement that would take far more time to heal and regain trust.

[Woopwoopkitty]

On 9/12/2022 at 5:59 AM, ctlady said:

IMO, the 'elephant in the room' question from me is why HM had to create a separate sub-genre for movies with predominately black actors/actresses.  Rather than show how inclusive and diverse they are by featuring more black/asian/disabled/plus-sized/whatever characters within the two genres they already have (Drama/romance; mysteries) they instead create a separate sub-network.  That's not diversity/inclusivity - that's segregation, plain and simple

I see it differently of course.  There is a difference between making movies with black actors and making black movies. Diversity mean different things to different people.

Here’s an example.  I just rewatched Caribbean Summer, which stars the luminous and drop dead gorgeous Heather Hemmens.  The entire cast, with thee exception of a minor secondary role, is POC.  The leads are pretty, the scenery is pretty, the story isn’t silly and there aren’t the usual tropes.  It’s a movie that I would see having broad appeal.  The leads being black had nothing to do with the story. 

Contrast that with the Mahogany previews.  These are black movies, made to be more culturally relevant to a black audience.  For some people,it’s not diversity unless the stories are culturally focused.  They want stories that better reflect the way the act, dress, speak, style their hair, with stories that represent issues in their lives.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  The problem is that the more culturally focused the narrower the audience.  There will be some people who will say they will watch and enjoy anything about anyone because they are culturally astute and the usual virtual signaler.  But a lot of people, like me, won’t watch because I don’t relate to the characters. 

it doesn’t matter whether we’re talking race or other area. There’s a difference between making a movie where someone happens to be in a wheelchair versus one that is about someone in a wheelchair.

i would be interested in seeing the ratings for Mahogany, my guess is they won’t do well and I don’t see them as a good fit for this channel. I’d rather see mainstream movies with more diverse cast, and Hallmark has made progress.

[Irlandesa]

I watched both Mahogany movies.  I enjoyed the second more than the first even though the first had the Italian scenery. 

I didn't think they were more culturally niche than anything else Hallmark Movies & Mysteries has done since they started showing more non-mystery movies. 

I think the only movie where I really felt like they wrote without any attempt to make everyone sound the same as they do in movies on similar subjects was with Christmas In Harmony last year.

[Scarlett45]

On 9/4/2022 at 6:05 PM, MerBearHou said:

I just watched The Sweetest Heart which I’ve seen several times and really like.  For some reason, this time I decided to Google and see if Chris McNally is married.  Imagine my surprise when I read that he and his co-star Julie Gonzalo have been together ever since this movie and they just had a baby in June this year.  Knowing this, it made it extra-cool to watch their expressions and what they said to each other, just watching them fall in love in real life.  Gorgeous duo — they are two I always seem to enjoy.  Both have a low-key energy that I like.  

I always thought that was precious too. 

[DanaMB]

I thought Wedding of a Lifetime was really cute. It made me laugh, the leads had chemistry, and the story was a nice change of pace from what we usually see. 

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, DanaMB said:

I thought Wedding of a Lifetime was really cute. It made me laugh, the leads had chemistry, and the story was a nice change of pace from what we usually see. 

I enjoyed it too. 

And they even had a couple who had been engaged ten years actually living together.  I didn't understand why, though, when they decided to break up, he felt he had to live at the store.  It was going to be a very amicable breakup and their house was rather big.  Him deciding to sleep in a tent at his store made no sense. 

[twoods]

Good to know it’s a decent movie because I will watch anything Brooke D’Orsay is in since she tends to have good chemistry with her leads. I still watch How To Fall In Love at least once a year because it’s so good. 

Edited September 19, 2022 by twoods

[bankerchick]

11 hours ago, twoods said:

I still watch How To Fall In Love at least once a year because it’s so good. 

I watch it every time it's on.  Except I hate the little girl.  'You're the man of her dweems!'

[norcalgal]

The emotional beats of the movie The Secrets of Bella Vista are good, but there were things I had a problem with about this movie:

• the city view outside of Tess's home's window was so ridiculously fake
• for an orchard/property that was on the brink of foreclosure, the homes/stables/etc. looked really modern and showed no signs of deferred maintenance
• Isabel volunteered to bake bread for some event and seemed to bake a TON of it in just a few hours, and the kitchen looked immaculate for such a big baking job
• so there was a long drought?  You can't tell it from the overhead view when the male lead pointed out the property to Tess when they were in the airplane. Orchard looked really green and lush
• I still had a problem with the grandparents knowing of Tess's existence but not reaching out until they had died

And I finally got around to watching As Luck would Have It, and wow - color me surprised how much I loved it!  The tropes were kept to a bare minimum  (locals hostile to outsider but that doesn't last too long). Other than that, because many of the tropes were missing, I found this a refreshing, delightful movie with rootable characters and beautiful scenery. Also, love the myth about the Cliffs of Mohar!

Only problem I had was I couldn't help thinking of "Brennan" as Tom from Downton Abbey.  Sorry - the actor is just too indelibly tied to that role. I also kept thinking of him as Tom when I saw him in  the movie The Imitation Game.  As for JoAnna Garcia Swisher, too bad she looks sooooo much like Amy Adams who also made a movie (Leap Year) set in Ireland and found love there with a guy who works in an Irish pub. I couldn't help comparing the two characters and the two movies. Each was wonderful but I just felt the chemistry between Amy Adams/Matthew Goode (another Downton Abbey alum!) was more tangible.

Edited September 20, 2022 by norcalgal

[Scarlett45]

I keep seeing ads for Bros staring our Luke McFarlane- I am so intrigued to see him in a different kind of role. 

[luvthepros]

19 hours ago, norcalgal said:

The emotional beats of the movie The Secrets of Bella Vista are good, but there were things I had a problem with about this movie:

• the city view outside of Tess's home's window was so ridiculously fake
• for an orchard/property that was on the brink of foreclosure, the homes/stables/etc. looked really modern and showed no signs of deferred maintenance
• Isabel volunteered to bake bread for some event and seemed to bake a TON of it in just a few hours, and the kitchen looked immaculate for such a big baking job
• so there was a long drought?  You can't tell it from the overhead view when the male lead pointed out the property to Tess when they were in the airplane. Orchard looked really green and lush
• I still had a problem with the grandparents knowing of Tess's existence but not reaching out until they had died

And I finally got around to watching As Luck would Have It, and wow - color me surprised how much I loved it!  The tropes were kept to a bare minimum  (locals hostile to outsider but that doesn't last too long). Other than that, because many of the tropes were missing, I found this a refreshing, delightful movie with rootable characters and beautiful scenery. Also, love the myth about the Cliffs of Mohar!

Only problem I had was I couldn't help thinking of "Brennan" as Tom from Downton Abbey.  Sorry - the actor is just too indelibly tied to that role. I also kept thinking of him as Tom when I saw him in  the movie The Imitation Game.  As for JoAnna Garcia Swisher, too bad she looks sooooo much like Amy Adams who also made a movie (Leap Year) set in Ireland and found love there with a guy who works in an Irish pub. I couldn't help comparing the two characters and the two movies. Each was wonderful but I just felt the chemistry between Amy Adams/Matthew Goode (another Downton Abbey alum!) was more tangible.

JoAnna Garcia will always be Cheyene for me. LOVE her in Reba.

[kirinan]

A rundown of the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Christmas movies and the Hallmark Channel Christmas movies for this year. Some look promising.

Edited to add: I don't care how good or bad it may be, I am SO excited for Three Wise Men and a Baby!

Edited September 22, 2022 by kirinan

[Scarlett45]

7 minutes ago, kirinan said:

A rundown of the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Christmas movies and the Hallmark Channel Christmas movies for this year. Some look promising.

I’m going to get the Frndly subscription again the month of Dec to be able to watch a few of these. I haven’t read many of the descriptions yet. I trust you all here to tell me what looks good. 

[norcalgal]

2 hours ago, kirinan said:

A rundown of the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Christmas movies and the Hallmark Channel Christmas movies for this year. Some look promising.

Edited to add: I don't care how good or bad it may be, I am SO excited for Three Wise Men and a Baby!

Thank you, thank you, thank you @kirinan for these links.  Since there are always millions of these holiday movies every year  (slight exaggeration, I know), reading the synopsis REALLY helps me decide what to watch/not watch.  Count me in on Three Wise Men and a Baby.

[luvthepros]

I'm most looking forward to Three Wisemen and a Baby. Looks like a lot of fun. Great cast.

Antonio Cup has the most handsome photo followed closely by Andrew Walker.

The Lacey Chabert movie looks good. Melissa Peterman is in that one!!!!

Glad to see Will Kemp in a movie this season.

Luke MacFarlane teamed with Allison Sweeney. Looking forward to that one.

[Scarlett45]

Here's what looks good to me:

Jolly Good Christmas : I love Will Kemp.

A Magical Christmas Village : I think Christmas Villages are PRECIOUS so I am bias towards this, a fan of Luke McFarlane.

Lights, Camera, Christmas! : Looks like a fun premise of a local shop owner doing costumes for a film.

All Saints Christmas: Christmas and NOLA- enough said.

Inventing the Christmas Prince: I will watch anything Tamara Mowry-Housley is in.

Three Wise Men and a Baby: such fun and handsome leading men. I am in! I am always up for a fun sibling story.

Hanukkah on Rye: Is Jeremy Jordan going to sing???

A Royal Corgi Christmas: corgis and Christmas?? Shut the front door!

**A Fabled Holiday: This looks boring AF, but RYAN PAEVEY 

[nokat]

I'm watching the Hallmark Mahogany movie, "To Her, With Love." The usual Hallmark predictable fluff, but I'm enjoying it well enough.

[nokat]

15 hours ago, luvthepros said:

I'm most looking forward to Three Wisemen and a Baby. Looks like a lot of fun. Great cast.

Antonio Cup has the most handsome photo followed closely by Andrew Walker.

The Lacey Chabert movie looks good. Melissa Peterman is in that one!!!!

Glad to see Will Kemp in a movie this season.

Luke MacFarlane teamed with Allison Sweeney. Looking forward to that one.

I'll have to watch that one. I also usually like Lacey in mystery movies. Someone posted about how Hallmark has a formula so can crank out the movies. I like that I know what I'm getting if I watch, but it is nice to find the occasional gem. That's why I'm here, because you all point me to the best movies.

[ECM1231]

On 9/18/2022 at 10:04 PM, DanaMB said:

I thought Wedding of a Lifetime was really cute. It made me laugh, the leads had chemistry, and the story was a nice change of pace from what we usually see. 

Yes, I really enjoyed it too. Finally got around to watching it tonight. I always enjoy seeing Paula Shaw in her grandmotherly roles. Also, that other actress....the one who made those kale smoothies and was helping the couple prep for the competition. She's in a lot of Hallmark movies.

[Cetacean]

The thing that struck me was Hallmark cranking out forty new movies.  Quantity over quality at it's very worst.  

[Bronx Babe]

FLY AWAY WITH ME

The parrot was cute.

[ehall1052]

Fly away with me: her apartment was unbelievable! It had to be extremely expensive. Was that supposed to be in Chicago? Do they really have an apartment lottery?

Edited September 25, 2022 by ehall1052
Misspelling

[Clawdette]

I think the implication was that THAT apartment building held a lottery.  Unique to it.  

I hadn't seen the male lead before.  It's nice to see new faces.

[norcalgal]

5 hours ago, Cetacean said:

The thing that struck me was Hallmark cranking out forty new movies.  Quantity over quality at it's very worst.  

But that’s nothing new, right?  Hasn’t Hallmark prioritized quantity over quality for a while now?  So that makes me think it must be working, that people are indeed watching just about every holiday movie hallmark churns out.  
But not me….I heavily rely on the synopsis to determine if I watch a movie or not. 

[Artsda]

So the 'Fly Away with Me' apartment was amazing, didn't she still have to pay for it? That had to cost a lot then she quit her job to be a script writer without any feedback.

Gill was cute and Zoey. Especially when they tag team against the boss.

[bankerchick]

2 hours ago, norcalgal said:

7 hours ago, Cetacean said:

The thing that struck me was Hallmark cranking out forty new movies.  Quantity over quality at it's very worst.  

But that’s nothing new, right?  Hasn’t Hallmark prioritized quantity over quality for a while now?  So that makes me think it must be working, that people are indeed watching just about every holiday movie hallmark churns out.  
But not me….I heavily rely on the synopsis to determine if I watch a movie or not. 

Agreed.  If you are going to cover 24 hours a day from the end of October until the first week of January, you need a lot of material.  I always check the movie coming on, but like norcalgal, I check the synopsis (and the actors) before deciding whether or not to watch.  Having said that, the movies are often on in the background when I'm not really paying attention.

The Fly Away With Me apartment was definitely beautiful and the parrot was totally cool (but would probably freak me out in real life.)  I was no fan of the lead's wardrobe though.  I hated the pastel short shorts with platform sandals outfits, and what's with all the skin tight knits?  The actress looks to be a size 0 but the clothes did her no favours.  

[Irlandesa]

6 hours ago, Bronx Babe said:

FLY AWAY WITH ME

The parrot was cute.

Dog too.  I loved the evil eye she was giving the two when they were going to board the parrot.  She was very anti-boarding.

2 hours ago, Artsda said:

So the 'Fly Away with Me' apartment was amazing, didn't she still have to pay for it? That had to cost a lot then she quit her job to be a script writer without any feedback.

I thought the movie was pleasant overall.  I liked the cast.  Cute pets.  Amazing apartments.  But it all sort of fell apart at the end.  She quit her job with nothing lined up and then both of them left the apartment building with no living situation set up?

3 hours ago, norcalgal said:

But that’s nothing new, right?  Hasn’t Hallmark prioritized quantity over quality for a while now?  So that makes me think it must be working, that people are indeed watching just about every holiday movie hallmark churns out.  

It does.  I think about the movies I've enjoyed the past year and those that were different.  And I think about those that have been so bland and cookie cutter.  It's the cookie cutter movies with the Hallmark faves that get the most viewers.

[norcalgal]

Wow, just found out Mr. NorCal knows someone who will be in this movie as an extra portraying a cable car operator (which is his IRL job): 

The extra is actually in the transportation industry and it’s through that that Mr. NorCal knows the guy.

[andromeda331]

On 9/20/2022 at 2:25 PM, norcalgal said:

The emotional beats of the movie The Secrets of Bella Vista are good, but there were things I had a problem with about this movie:

• the city view outside of Tess's home's window was so ridiculously fake
• for an orchard/property that was on the brink of foreclosure, the homes/stables/etc. looked really modern and showed no signs of deferred maintenance
• Isabel volunteered to bake bread for some event and seemed to bake a TON of it in just a few hours, and the kitchen looked immaculate for such a big baking job
• so there was a long drought?  You can't tell it from the overhead view when the male lead pointed out the property to Tess when they were in the airplane. Orchard looked really green and lush
• I still had a problem with the grandparents knowing of Tess's existence but not reaching out until they had died

I liked the moving but I agree. Why would the grandparents who were already raising one granddaughter and taking in refugees never reach out to their other granddaughter? Eva lost all of her family in the Holocaust and then her only child wouldn't seek out Tess? It makes no sense. It would have made more sense if Tess's mother refused to let them be part of Tess's life. It really would have made morse sense since her mother knew he had a family and had knew Tess's father was dead but let her think he just took off when he learned she was pregnant. That would fit more with her mother's character since she left her daughter with her mother in Ireland and took off but dared to be mad at Tess because Tess loved her grandmother more than her. Of course she did. Her grandmother didn't take off or pop in and out of her life. I don't like how the movie comes off like Tess was at fault for her bad relationship with her mother. Nope that was all her mother's fault.

I wish there had been more time for Tess to deal with the father she thought abandoning her had been dead the whole time. She really doesn't and it all shifts to saving the ranch. That should have been something for her to deal with. 

I liked her sister. 

[Cetacean]

11 hours ago, Artsda said:

So the 'Fly Away with Me' apartment was amazing, didn't she still have to pay for it? That had to cost a lot then she quit her job to be a script writer without any feedback.

Which is why the slapdash, crank-it-out-without-it-making-sense writing is so annoying.  But gotta have a stash ready even if it's drivel.

Maybe I missed something (because it was so bad I only looked up when the pets were on screen)  but didn't the girl put a plant and the parrot in the car after the eviction and drive away and the guy went to her apartment immediately afterward and it was stripped bare?  Is there an Uber Moving Van service that can pack up an entire apartment in five minutes?

[bankerchick]

Andrew Walker, Paul Campbell and Tyler Hynes in one movie??!!  Three Wise Men and a Baby will be amazing, even if the story is hackneyed and dumb.  If they could find a way to get Travis Van Winkle in this movie, I could watch it 24 hours a day, on a loop.  Here's hoping for a normal hairstyle for Tyler for a change.  Last night I watched Always Amore.  His hair alternated between the 'Caesar cut' that George Clooney wore in the early seasons of er, and looking like someone slapped a toupee on the top of his head and combed it all forward, thinking it would look natural.  Hint:  it doesn't.

[Irlandesa]

18 hours ago, Cetacean said:

Which is why the slapdash, crank-it-out-without-it-making-sense writing is so annoying.  But gotta have a stash ready even if it's drivel.

I don't think most viewers nitpick that kind of thing though.  Unrealistic apartments never stopped Friends from being a hit.

Edited September 27, 2022 by Irlandesa

[ShelleySue]

On 9/25/2022 at 4:53 PM, ehall1052 said:

Fly away with me: her apartment was unbelievable! It had to be extremely expensive.

On 9/25/2022 at 7:37 PM, Artsda said:

So the 'Fly Away with Me' apartment was amazing, didn't she still have to pay for it? That had to cost a lot then she quit her job to be a script writer without any feedback.

Maybe it's a good thing that I was so distracted by all of these problems that I wasn't as bothered as I usually would be by a weak plot. So I'll just start at the top and work my way down.

Angie worked at a PR firm doing whatever her boss/ex-boyfriend asked her to do. It must have been very lucrative since she was able to

(a) keep a whole apartment worth of furniture in storage while living in friend's apartment (including more patio furniture than most people have in their house, (b) quit her job on a whim without seeming to worry about having a source of income while writing her script.

On 9/25/2022 at 9:33 PM, bankerchick said:

The Fly Away With Me apartment was definitely beautiful and the parrot was totally cool (but would probably freak me out in real life.)  I was no fan of the lead's wardrobe though.  I hated the pastel short shorts with platform sandals outfits, and what's with all the skin tight knits?  The actress looks to be a size 0 but the clothes did her no favours.  

I spent a good part of the movie afraid she was going to fall off of her shoes and break her leg.

On 9/26/2022 at 7:33 AM, Cetacean said:

Maybe I missed something (because it was so bad I only looked up when the pets were on screen)  but didn't the girl put a plant and the parrot in the car after the eviction and drive away and the guy went to her apartment immediately afterward and it was stripped bare?  Is there an Uber Moving Van service that can pack up an entire apartment in five minutes?

The same uber moving company that moved her in must have moved her out. They obviously put her things back into storage since she didn't seem to be frantically looking for a new apartment.

And a few other questions  -- What was with the guy at the office who kept dancing? Did I miss something? I didn't understand why Ted didn't have his pilot's license at the beginning of the movie. Did it bother anyone else that the exterior shots of the building showed “normal” balconies but when they were on the balconies they were bigger than my living room (in a 3,000 square foot house)?

Edited September 28, 2022 by ShelleySue
I forgot something.

[ctlady]

On 9/25/2022 at 9:33 PM, bankerchick said:

The Fly Away With Me apartment was definitely beautiful and the parrot was totally cool (but would probably freak me out in real life.)  I was no fan of the lead's wardrobe though.  I hated the pastel short shorts with platform sandals outfits, and what's with all the skin tight knits?  The actress looks to be a size 0 but the clothes did her no favours.  

I wouldn't go as far as saying she was a '0' - especially in that awful yellow knit dress and cris-crossy knit pink skirt she wore in a later office scene where you could see her thong right through the back.  And the yellow dress was so tight it made her butt cheeks look droopy.  The shorts were cute, but not with those sky high wedge sandals.  I did like the lavender skirt minus the crop periwinkle blue sweater she wore with it.  The minuscule blue handbag with useless scarf tied to it was clearly only for show.  

And what was up with all the flower clips her friend put all over her hair and tacky matching earrings?

The apartment manager was just way too caricature and OTT to be taken seriously.  And do they just use their master key to waltz into apartments for non-emergencies (feeding fish is not an emergency) without contacting tenant first?

On 9/26/2022 at 1:07 PM, Irlandesa said:

I don't think most viewers nitpick that kind of thing though.  Unrealistic apartments never stopped Friends from being a hit

But was the reason two 20-somethings were able to afford that apartment was because of some grandfathered rent-control clause?  

I didn't understand the lottery (I zoned out during this so I may have to rewind).  Did it offer a year's free rent?  Or were these apartments just so exclusive and sought after with a long waiting list?  I would think a high rise, luxury apartment in the heart of Chicago would be some boku bucks that even flight instructor Ted couldn't afford

17 hours ago, ShelleySue said:

The same uber moving company that moved her in must have moved her out. They obviously put her things back into storage since she didn't seem to be frantically looking for a new apartment.

Again, because I had zoned out during this scene, but for some reason I thought the apartments were furnished.  No way did cartoonish, mustache twirling apartment manager tell her to pack and she'd be ready to go end of day because Angie was wearing the same outfit

The actress who played Angie looked like a young Genie Francis or could be the younger sister of the actress who plays Bree on Chesapeake Shores (Emilie Ullerup)

Gil and Zoe made the movie enjoyable.  And kudos to Louis for keeping all the pets a secret.