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

[jennifer6973]

Maybe not, but when they repeat during the day they are.

[In2You]

2 hours ago, jennifer6973 said:

Maybe not, but when they repeat during the day they are.

I can't imagine most kids sitting down actively watching these movies during the day either. Not with all their other options.

[magpye29]

They don't just recycle the actor couples, they keep re-using the same names.  Kavan Smith has played two different characters named Nick who end up with women named Molly.  Seriously, nobody noticed that and thought it was weird?  (TPTB, I mean)

[JAYJAY1979]

I will say at least CCB does slightly different types of Christmas movies every year... time traveling in 2016, playing twins in 2017, and now being a scrooge type of character (I'd love to see CCB playing a bitter person.. would require some acting ability for her) in 2018.  So at least she is choosing different types of movies to star in (and since her movies usually bring in the highest ratings usually... she has to at least have gotten some power to pick and choose... I would hope).

[ehall1052]

“Chabert will star in a different book adaption: Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe, which is based on Melissa de la Cruz’s book of the same name.”  It will be interesting to see how the writers change this story to make it more Hallmark-ish.  The original story isn’t exactly up to Hallmark’s usual moral standards.

[beadgirl]

I loved reading about the dos and don'ts for various movies and books series.  The "subtle" attempt at excluding Catholics, though -- I'd be offended if it weren't so stupid. Although now I want to submit a book proposal to that company where the female protagonist has an uncle/mentor/confessor/whatever who's an actual priest and see what they'd say.

I'm avoiding the heat by watching the HMM Christmas movies in my air-conditioned living room (... and stitching a Star Wars sampler). Maggie's Christmas Miracle is surprisingly well well-written and has some naturalistic dialogue, even if it's filled with cliches, probably because it's based on an actual novel (is there karaoke in the book???).  I'm not ready for the Christmas onslaught, however, and I wish they would do some Halloween movies, especially ones with a bit of spookiness and magic. I know there are Christians who think all things Halloween are evil, but I believe they are only a minority.

Edited June 30, 2018 by beadgirl

[MissyPoo]

On 6/18/2018 at 9:04 AM, Kemper said:

 And I wish someone would cut Hailey's hair...maybe a chin-length bob.  The makeup and hair length ages Kelly Martin.

 

Yikes. Not sure that may be the solution. They tried that in So You Said Yes and that made her look super matronly. Of course, the clothes didn't help any...

 

On 6/29/2018 at 11:39 AM, JAYJAY1979 said:

I will say at least CCB does slightly different types of Christmas movies every year... time traveling in 2016, playing twins in 2017, and now being a scrooge type of character (I'd love to see CCB playing a bitter person.. would require some acting ability for her) in 2018.  So at least she is choosing different types of movies to star in (and since her movies usually bring in the highest ratings usually... she has to at least have gotten some power to pick and choose... I would hope).

1

1

Surprisingly not so much! I caught an ep of her playing a dark witch type of character in Boy Meets World where she manipulates Jack away from his friends. Season 5 Episode 5. It's a pretty hilarious episode with some good quips and scary how good CCB plays such a character. Definitely not Hallmark friendly ha.

 

On 6/27/2018 at 12:53 AM, KLovestoShop said:

I get the feeling that Hallmark runs their business based on the old contract system the Hollywood production companies used in the 1940's on up.  You signed on with MGM, or Paramount or whoever and you made movies for only that company.   Maybe Hallmark makes their talent sign exclusivity contracts so they can control their actors.  

This would make so much sense. That would explain why Up was barred from showing The Tree That Saved Christmas last year and I had to hunt it down on Amazon to watch it.

 

As for the Halloween movies, I'm surprised their shying away from it because I thought it was popular when they started it up, but then again it started to die a little with the emphasis on Fall Harvest. They still showed that October Kiss one a few times this year already. Wasn't there like 3 or 4 Halloween movies other than the Good Witch ones? My brain is failing me right now.

On 6/28/2018 at 12:25 PM, LexieLily said:

Hallmark, Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, ION and UP. If there is another channel that does Christmas movies please no one tell me because I won't be able to take it! 

I won't mention that other channel that had that nice slew of feature-length and short Christmas themed films last year. Nope, not saying a word. ;-)

[LexieLily]

21 minutes ago, MissyPoo said:

I won't mention that other channel that had that nice slew of feature-length and short Christmas themed films last year. Nope, not saying a word. ;-)

Dang, I forgot about Lifetime! :-) No more! LOL!

[Irlandesa]

And now Netflix in their attempt to conquer all genres.

I haven't posted in a while but I've been watching. 

The Hailey Dean trilogy wrap up cracked me up---not that Chad Lowe's guilt was a surprise but the way he was all friendly throughout all three movies until he went Machiavellian villain at the very very end *evil cackle*.  It was such a bizarre characterization.

I have to give credit to tonight's Hallmark movie Yes, I Do for a few things.  First, the premise of a woman leaving her fiance two times at the alter isn't one that Hallmark has done to death so it already had my attention because of that.  The leads actually had real chemistry too, for a change, so it made it that much easier to tolerate whatever faults the movie had. 

Now, it did go back to its baker/chocolatier as a profession trope but that was offset by the bizarre "helicopter mechanic" profession of the male lead who randomly had two helicopters he was repairing in what looked to be his living room. That amused me greatly.

Hallmark censors also must have been sleeping at the wheel since we had gratuitous male toplessness. 

Now for its faults, once again the "bad girl" was just suddenly not bad in the end.  If this were a Lifetime movie, we'd all be yelling at the lead to not get in that woman's car.  But here, she gets invited to the wedding after all she has done.

Did we ever find out what happened with the competition? 

And finally, while a lot of it was glossed over with charm and chemistry, holy hell should that guy run.  The woman who gave herself an allergic reaction is just psychotic  but the fiancee who left him twice at the alter and otherwise stalked him isn't that much better. 

[In2You]

Even though we're on excessive heat warning it just started  being hot on a regular basis for the season over here. I have no urge to watch winter movies.

[MissyPoo]

7 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Dang, I forgot about Lifetime! :-) No more! LOL!

And I also won't mention--

Just kidding. That should be all of them lol ;-)

 

6 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Hallmark censors also must have been sleeping at the wheel since we had gratuitous male toplessness. 

Now for its faults, once again the "bad girl" was just suddenly not bad in the end.  If this were a Lifetime movie, we'd all be yelling at the lead to not get in that woman's car.  But here, she gets invited to the wedding after all she has done.

Did we ever find out what happened with the competition? 

And finally, while a lot of it was glossed over with charm and chemistry, holy hell should that guy run.  The woman who gave herself an allergic reaction is just psychotic  but the fiancee who left him twice at the alter and otherwise stalked him isn't that much better. 

2

Welcome back, Irlandesa. :-)

Yes indeedy and thank whatever distractions they had because the man candy made me troop on through this movie. 

I was right there along with them until some things didn't add up. Much of what you mentioned. The characters had me confused and lost with their motivations (wait, were there any?) and by the end I too was rooting for lead man to run for the hills away from both of those crazy women. Now I'm wishing for a Lifetime version of this movie. It'd be so much more entertaining.

[twoods]

Yes, there should have been a grounded, normal best friend that he fell in love with at the end. The poor guy had two loons to pick from and I felt sorry for him.

[Koalagirl]

Watched Yes I Do and can’t help commenting on the ill fitting outfit Nicole, the writer, was wearing when she met Charlotte.  The bust was way too tight, as was her skirt which creased in the wrong areas which she apparently tried to cover up with her tote bag.  The skirt was so ill fitting that it hiked a little and you could see the lighter lining.  

[EyewatchTV211]

17 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I have to give credit to tonight's Hallmark movie Yes, I Do for a few things.  First, the premise of a woman leaving her fiance two times at the alter isn't one that Hallmark has done to death so it already had my attention because of that.  The leads actually had real chemistry too, for a change, so it made it that much easier to tolerate whatever faults the movie had. 

It was surprising that the leads had the chemistry that they did considering that they didn't get to do much to build it. They weren't a new couple getting to do new cutesy things together. And while they were an established couple, outside of the few times he gave in to his feelings and tucked her hair behind her ear, he otherwise kept a lot of distance since he was expecting their relationship to be finished. So there weren't even many cute couple moments. They still managed to save the kiss until the very end, too, not even allowing it when he put the engagement ring back on her. 

The chemistry and the other positive aspects you mentioned definitely made me like the movie more than I felt like I should have considering the main plot and so much else that was still wrong with it. 

[JasmineFlower]

7 hours ago, twoods said:

Yes, there should have been a grounded, normal best friend that he fell in love with at the end. The poor guy had two loons to pick from and I felt sorry for him.

There was a grounded, normal best friend in the movie, but she wasn't a potential love interest unfortunately and the best friend of the runaway bride. She's also brown and this is Hallmark, so that wasn't happening anyways.

[twoods]

1 hour ago, JasmineFlower said:

There was a grounded, normal best friend in the movie, but she wasn't a potential love interest unfortunately and the best friend of the runaway bride. She's also brown and this is Hallmark, so that wasn't happening anyways.

So true. I meant him having a female best friend. 

I agree that the chemistry with the leads was good to overlook the movie’s tiresome premise, but I probably won’t watch it again. Jen Linney has such great chemistry with all of her leads- I don’t remember the last time she had bad chemistry with her love interest. I also like the best friend and wish they would finally give her the lead in a movie because she always does well as a sidekick.

[MissyPoo]

47 minutes ago, twoods said:

I also like the best friend and wish they would finally give her the lead in a movie because she always does well as a sidekick.

Agree! I'm tired of seeing her holding the bridesmaid bouquet. Even in Mr. Write where she was co-lead with some agency and her own story, she was still a bridesmaid. Although I must say, after watching Mr. Write recently, she looked like a ghost in this one. I have to say I feel some type of way with how Hallmark whitewashes some of their POC actresses. 

[twoods]

Liking Love At First Dance so far. I am a sucker for Niall Matter and think he can generate decent chemistry with most of his leads. I just wish she didn’t fall in love with an engaged guy- same old cliche I don’t like but she didn’t seem into it as well so I liked it.

Edited July 3, 2018 by twoods

[Irlandesa]

24 minutes ago, twoods said:

Liking Love At First Dance so far. I am a sucker for Niall Matter and think he can generate decent chemistry with most of his leads. I just wish she didn’t fall in love with an engaged guy- same old cliche I don’t like but she didn’t seem into it as well so I liked it.

Ooo forgot to talk about this one in my catch up.  This movie was okay.  I liked the leads.  And even though I've railed against the premise of a love story when one of the duo has a serious significant other, it didn't bother me as much this time.  I think setting it up as two people who really liked each other but for whom their engagement was almost a marriage of convenience thing/business arrangement helped the transition move smoothly.

[ehall1052]

“Bure will anchor a book adaptation of Beth Harbison’s A Shoe Addict’s Christmas. The Fuller House star plays Noelle, a holiday hater who toils in a department store in which she is accidentally locked on Christmas Eve. There, she meets a woman who identifies herself as Noelle’s guardian angel and introduces her to several “ghosts” of Christmases past, present, and future.”

  I hope “A Shoe Addict’s Christmas “ turns out to be a good movie, I really enjoyed the book.

[magpye29]

I've been watching the marathon on HMM and I'm just wondering why so many of Hallmark's leading ladies have "Joker" mouth.  I don't know all their names, but I really noticed it today and it's very distracting.  Erin Krakow has my two least favorite features:  Joker mouth and a smile where her top gums show over her teeth, but for some reason, I still find her adorable.  Some of these others, though? Not so much.

[Happywatcher]

Dashing Through the Snow on the 4th of July, got done getting everything ready for the BBQ first.

The actors are pretty and pretty good at acting. Cute together. The least nice part was the first kiss, the actress wasn't feeling it. The shadow play on the bed divided by a vertical sheet curtain was fun.

Not even the silly 'FBI hunting them' story ruined this.

Where was the pupper when they were taking long aimless walks in the faux snow?

[Happywatcher]

Finding Christmas. Tricia Helfer. She is sent to North Carolina and an army guy she is matched with is deployed with goes away after flirty sexy time. then true romance.

I had no idea she could do a romance role

Edited July 5, 2018 by Happywatcher

[twoods]

I got the free week subscription of the Hallmark movie app so hope to finally watch some of the movies that I have missed not getting the Movies and Mysteries channel. Any suggestions? 

[ShelleySue]

Does this happen to anyone else when there is a holiday movie marathon?  My brain just can't handle one movie going right into another movie.  I'm anticipating the musical theme to The Golden Girls and it just isn't there.  Sometimes I swear that I hear it even though it's not on.

[catrice2]

On 7/1/2018 at 2:11 AM, Irlandesa said:

And now Netflix in their attempt to conquer all genres.

I haven't posted in a while but I've been watching. 

The Hailey Dean trilogy wrap up cracked me up---not that Chad Lowe's guilt was a surprise but the way he was all friendly throughout all three movies until he went Machiavellian villain at the very very end *evil cackle*.  It was such a bizarre characterization.

I have to give credit to tonight's Hallmark movie Yes, I Do for a few things.  First, the premise of a woman leaving her fiance two times at the alter isn't one that Hallmark has done to death so it already had my attention because of that.  The leads actually had real chemistry too, for a change, so it made it that much easier to tolerate whatever faults the movie had. 

Now, it did go back to its baker/chocolatier as a profession trope but that was offset by the bizarre "helicopter mechanic" profession of the male lead who randomly had two helicopters he was repairing in what looked to be his living room. That amused me greatly.

Hallmark censors also must have been sleeping at the wheel since we had gratuitous male toplessness. 

Now for its faults, once again the "bad girl" was just suddenly not bad in the end.  If this were a Lifetime movie, we'd all be yelling at the lead to not get in that woman's car.  But here, she gets invited to the wedding after all she has done.

Did we ever find out what happened with the competition? 

And finally, while a lot of it was glossed over with charm and chemistry, holy hell should that guy run.  The woman who gave herself an allergic reaction is just psychotic  but the fiancee who left him twice at the alter and otherwise stalked him isn't that much better. 

I just can't deal with Christmas in July when it's 102 degrees outside my door. I like holiday movies around holiday time so I'm not there with that.

 

I have yet to watch the final Hailey Dean that's on my DVR because I'm just so annoyed that they made the villain so obvious from the beginning and he was just as Bland as everybody else. I guess I still need to watch it to figure out why she said that she realized she was the target at the end of one of the First movies but I guess now Will was the Target? Or was the intent to kill her so Will would be so sad that whatever reason he was getting in Chad Lowe's way would be gone?  Does this mean we get to stop hearing about will and how great he was and about her moving on in every scene?

[jennifer6973]

1 hour ago, catrice2 said:

I just can't deal with Christmas in July when it's 102 degrees outside my door. I like holiday movies around holiday time so I'm not there with that.

 

I have yet to watch the final Hailey Dean that's on my DVR because I'm just so annoyed that they made the villain so obvious from the beginning and he was just as Bland as everybody else. I guess I still need to watch it to figure out why she said that she realized she was the target at the end of one of the First movies but I guess now Will was the Target? Or was the intent to kill her so Will would be so sad that whatever reason he was getting in Chad Lowe's way would be gone?  Does this mean we get to stop hearing about will and how great he was and about her moving on in every scene?

The intent.was to scare her, because of some newspaper story, but the person who killed Will did it accidentally.

[twoods]

There are some pretty good movies on the Hallmark movies app. Saw Cup of Love that seems to actually take place in Colombia, and was not the typical Hallmark movie because there was humor, a kiss that happened wasn’t at the end of the movie, and a pretty crazy ex. 

Now I’m  watching Love Under the Stars which is very good. Probably one of the best Hallmark movies I’ve seen. Why can’t they make more of these types of movies? I may splurge for the 6 bucks a month to keep this channel on Prime.

Edited July 5, 2018 by twoods

[MissyPoo]

23 hours ago, twoods said:

I got the free week subscription of the Hallmark movie app so hope to finally watch some of the movies that I have missed not getting the Movies and Mysteries channel. Any suggestions? 

 

11 hours ago, twoods said:

There are some pretty good movies on the Hallmark movies app. Saw Cup of Love that seems to actually take place in Colombia, and was not the typical Hallmark movie because there was humor, a kiss that happened wasn’t at the end of the movie, and a pretty crazy ex. 

Now I’m  watching Love Under the Stars which is very good. Probably one of the best Hallmark movies I’ve seen. Why can’t they make more of these types of movies? I may splurge for the 6 bucks a month to keep this channel on Prime.

I co-sign Cup of Love. That was kind of cute and gave me a mad craving for coffee throughout the hour and a half. I plan on watching Swing Away once I take a break from the channel marathons.

I was looking forward to How to Train Your Husband, but it wasn't what I expected. I think they could have done a bit more with the story logic and characters, though the premise was interesting.  I agree about Love Under the Stars, that was a good one. A lot of the movies in their catalog were pretty meaty. It'd be nice to mix up those types with the fluffy rom coms sometimes. 

Here are some oldies but goodies that I think are pretty good on the app:

How to Fall in Love

Nearlyweds

Kiss at Pine Lake

Midnight Masquerade

Love Finds You in Valentine

Smooch

Growing the Big one

The Magic of Ordinary Days

Remember Sunday

Freshman Father

Some people like Loving Leah a lot, but it's not really one of my faves

Firelight

Little John

Front of the Class

Come Dance at My Wedding

Once Upon a Winter's Date could have been better than it was but the premise was intriguing (I'm a sucker for the Groundhog Day themes)

The Perfect Summer (this was an Up movie I think- one of my faves)

4 Wedding Planners (Another UP movie -though not originally since this one has some language and stuff)

My First Love (I really like this one - just wish the end was a little less rushed)

Meddling Mom

Love By Design (Another fave of mine)

See Jane Date

My Other Mother

And some fun Christmas movies if you're in the mood:

A Cinderella Christmas

Dear Santa

Marry Me For Christmas

Merry Christmas, Baby! 

Back to Christmas

[In2You]

A Cup of Love wasnt a Hallmark movie. They must've picked it up just for the app. I saw it on Marvistas on Demand a few years ago. I figured it was too different for Hallmark to air. They're was actually adult like banter for one. 

[Crs97]

I have two favorite Hallmark Hall of Fame movies (from back when Hall of Fame meant something so they might not be available on the app):

1.  Decoration Day - James Garner is sublime as a retired judge who confronts old memories as he helps a family member with a legal problem.  A young Lawrence Fishburne (who may be credited as Larry) is in it.  Ruby Dee is wonderful.  There is a romance, but it is (gasp!) not the main point of the story.

 

2.  Follow the Stars Home - Kimberly Williams, Campbell Scott, Eric Close.  Beautiful story - two brothers, woman falls for the wrong one, he deserts her when she won’t abort the baby she is carrying after they find out baby will have significant special needs, other brother stays. Just as much about mother-daughter and family love as about romance.

[chitowngirl]

What the Deaf Man Heard has always been my favorite HOF movie.

[twoods]

Thanks guys! Since power is out at my office, I get another half day to watch movies until my kids are back from camp Grandparents!

I need to be in the mood for Follow the Stars Home because it seems pretty heavy and sad. Speaking of sad, I finally saw the Ultimate Gift (I don’t think it’s Hallmark but was on the app) and it was really good, but sad. The actor makes a great lead and can’t understand why he’s not in other Hallmark movies (I liked him in Perfect on Paper). 

[Irlandesa]

10 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

What the Deaf Man Heard has always been my favorite HOF movie.

I do love that one and wish it were on more.  Other faves for me are Loving Leah (trivia: with a young Timothee Chalamet), Follow The Stars Home and The Magic of Ordinary Days.

8 hours ago, twoods said:

need to be in the mood for Follow the Stars Home because it seems pretty heavy and sad.

Have you never seen it before?  I think you'll like it.  Is it heavy and sad?  Surprisingly, even given the description and all that happens, much of which is serious, there's a lot of joy in the movie.  Good performances and pretty great chemistry (IMO) between Campbell Scott and Kimberly Williams Paisley. I couldn't rewatch this movie as often as I have if it left me feeling heavy and sad.  But I won't lie, there are some tear jerker moments. 

Darn.  Now I want to watch it and I don't have it on my DVR the way I have the other two movies.  (Not the Deaf Man, unfortunately.)

Edited July 6, 2018 by Irlandesa

[JAYJAY1979]

My fav Hallmark Hall of Fame movies are Season of Miracles, The Secret Garden (from the 1980s), and Remember Sunday :)

Edited July 6, 2018 by JAYJAY1979

[catrice2]

On 7/5/2018 at 10:25 AM, jennifer6973 said:

The intent.was to scare her, because of some newspaper story, but the person who killed Will did it accidentally.

Thanks! I finally watched it it was as underwhelmed as I expected to be. I like Kellie Martin but these movies are hard for me to get through.  

[twoods]

I went on a mild Sean Farris movie marathon last night. Watched him in a movie where he was Amish (forgot the name but enjoyed it), and also enjoyed him in White Hot. I was surprised that I also enjoyed Shenae Grimes. She’s overacted in other Hallmark movies, but she did surprisingly well in this one. 

[kathyk24]

There will be a new Signed Sealed Delivered movie on July 15th. The title is To the Alter.

[JenMD]

12 hours ago, twoods said:

I went on a mild Sean Farris movie marathon last night.

Sis, is that you?  Heh.  You really do sound just like my sister where Sean Farris is concerned.  She just finished rewatching Christmas with Holly for the millionth time.  I think that's her favorite, and I'm sure it'll sit on the dvr for a while to be rewatched.   You're right about Shenae in White Hot, I remember expecting to not like her and she was fine. 

As for HOH, my favorite, going way back, was always Caroline? with Stephanie Zimbalist.  I wish they'd bring out the classics, I haven't seen that one for ages.  Oh, and The Love Letter with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Campbell Scott, which at least sees the light of day every so often.  My holiday favorite is Season for Miracles, with runner up A Dog Named Christmas, and I'm still peeved both of those have been relegated to the app.

[Happywatcher]

I like the mysteries and the Christmas movies. Watching A Joyous Christmas.

The lead actress is pretty and talented. However, Rachel, played by Natalie Knepp, is such a nasty bitch the first 15 minutes I almost turned it off. The script writer and director made a real mistake. Even when she asked questions of the male lead her character should be asking, she was unlikable. They got so bad they had her mean facing when she passed happy holiday kids.

Then they saved it when she got to the home for the poor/mentally challenged and was decent to them (mainly Bonnie Bedelia in a difficult role).

Edited July 7, 2018 by Happywatcher

[In2You]

They need more Christmas themed mystery movies. Surprised there's so few on HMM. 

[kirinan]

On 7/7/2018 at 11:20 AM, JenMD said:

Oh, and The Love Letter with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Campbell Scott, which at least sees the light of day every so often. 

The Love Letter will always and forever be my favorite HHoF movie, and one of my favorite movies in general. I have the DVD and watch it at least once a year. Then again, I'm a super-sucker for time travel movies (even though this technically isn't time travel, I suppose, so more like time travel-ish). I miss original storylines like this; even the HoF presentations are teetering perilously close to the Hallmark Movie and Actor Factory writing and production model these days.

Time to watch The Love Letter again, methinks, and pine for the days when I could count on Hallmark to unexpectedly gift me with a new movie favorite...

Edited July 8, 2018 by kirinan

[AAEBoiler]

Mrs. AAEBoiler and I enjoy trying to predict the plot ahead of time when we watch a new one. We did fairly well with the Lacey Chabert "My Secret Valentine" movie that they re-aired yesterday.

I think we've watched enough of these that we could write one! My current idea is to go big and have Lacey Chabert and Candace Cameron Bure star in the same movie. Let's see, they could both accidentally book the same chalet for a ski trip with their respective boyfriends and start to clash with each other. They each start to argue with their boyfriend and start to form a link with the other's boyfriend. Hijinks ensue and they end up happy at the end each leaving with new boyfriends. The end credits could show a montage of polaroids showing that they became fast friends and even had a double wedding. Boom, movie!!! Can someone greenlight this? Now, we just need a title and for Chris Bearstick to star as one, or both, of the boyfriends!

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, AAEBoiler said:

The end credits could show a montage of polaroids showing that they became fast friends and even had a double wedding. Boom, movie!!! Can someone greenlight this? Now, we just need a title and for Chris Bearstick to star as one, or both, of the boyfriends

Why have the weddings be polaroids when the first movie can be the holiday or winter movie and the second movie is the June weddings movie.....where they swap their partners back at the alter? 

[MissyPoo]

On 7/6/2018 at 4:14 AM, In2You said:

A Cup of Love wasnt a Hallmark movie. They must've picked it up just for the app. I saw it on Marvistas on Demand a few years ago. I figured it was too different for Hallmark to air. They're was actually adult like banter for one. 

Yeah, they seem to have grabbed a ton of MarVista stuff for the app. Which is surprising because a lot of them are so unHallmark-like. I didn't know they had their own On Demand place though. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

 

On 7/6/2018 at 5:12 AM, Crs97 said:

I have two favorite Hallmark Hall of Fame movies (from back when Hall of Fame meant something so they might not be available on the app):

1.  Decoration Day - James Garner is sublime as a retired judge who confronts old memories as he helps a family member with a legal problem.  A young Lawrence Fishburne (who may be credited as Larry) is in it.  Ruby Dee is wonderful.  There is a romance, but it is (gasp!) not the main point of the story.

 

2.  Follow the Stars Home - Kimberly Williams, Campbell Scott, Eric Close.  Beautiful story - two brothers, woman falls for the wrong one, he deserts her when she won’t abort the baby she is carrying after they find out baby will have significant special needs, other brother stays. Just as much about mother-daughter and family love as about romance.

I think I see Decoration Day pop up over at Pixl from time to time. I usually bypass it, but it sounds like a good movie. I may have to check it out on their next rotation.

Follow the Stars Home is indeed on the app. 

 

On 7/7/2018 at 8:20 AM, JenMD said:

Sis, is that you?  Heh.  You really do sound just like my sister where Sean Farris is concerned.  She just finished rewatching Christmas with Holly for the millionth time.  I think that's her favorite, and I'm sure it'll sit on the dvr for a while to be rewatched.   You're right about Shenae in White Hot, I remember expecting to not like her and she was fine. 

As for HOH, my favorite, going way back, was always Caroline? with Stephanie Zimbalist.  I wish they'd bring out the classics, I haven't seen that one for ages.  Oh, and The Love Letter with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Campbell Scott, which at least sees the light of day every so often.  My holiday favorite is Season for Miracles, with runner up A Dog Named Christmas, and I'm still peeved both of those have been relegated to the app.

I've been shuffling my feet on White Hot because of Shenae Grimes. I just can't flow with her, but I may check it out anyway since the story sounded interesting. And since you guys say she isn't her usual overacting self here.

Speaking of Sean Faris, (Random Thought Alert) I remember thinking he reminded me of a young Tom Cruise in Christmas with Holly. But my fave movie with him is The Joneses Unplugged. So good. If you can get your hands on it, check it out. It's usually on Pixl but has a tendency to show up on another site (that starts with Y and ends with tube). 

My fave HOFs are A Season For Miracles (which should definitely not be app banished), Remember Sunday, Firelight, Little John, The Magic of Ordinary Days, and Just in Time For Christmas. Oh! Also, The Lost Child was good, too, and although The Russell Girl was well put together, I couldn't sit through it more than once because it was way too depressing for me.

Dang, I miss when Hallmark had some edge and wasn't afraid to tell different types of stories.

On 7/8/2018 at 11:30 AM, kirinan said:

The Love Letter will always and forever be my favorite HHoF movie, and one of my favorite movies in general. I have the DVD and watch it at least once a year. Then again, I'm a super-sucker for time travel movies (even though this technically isn't time travel, I suppose, so more like time travel-ish). I miss original storylines like this; even the HoF presentations are teetering perilously close to the Hallmark Movie and Actor Factory writing and production model these days.

Time to watch The Love Letter again, methinks, and pine for the days when I could count on Hallmark to unexpectedly gift me with a new movie favorite...

Have you seen Edge of the Garden? It's kind of time travel-ish (hehe) with an adorable ending, great cast and story. I remember wondering how they would resolve everything by the end.

Now I have to go hunt it down since it's been awhile since I've seen it.

[In2You]

1 hour ago, MissyPoo said:

Yeah, they seem to have grabbed a ton of MarVista stuff for the app. Which is surprising because a lot of them are so unHallmark-like. I didn't know they had their own On Demand place though. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

They used to have an On Demand channel on Youtube before Youtube did away with channels. I at the time said A Cup of Love is more along the lines of the type of rom coms I want to see on Hallmark but it's not sanitized that they'd ever air it. 

Edited July 9, 2018 by In2You

[shoregirl]

On 7/9/2018 at 12:27 PM, AAEBoiler said:

 

I think we've watched enough of these that we could write one! My current idea is to go big and have Lacey Chabert and Candace Cameron Bure star in the same movie. Let's see, they could both accidentally book the same chalet for a ski trip with their respective boyfriends and start to clash with each other. They each start to argue with their boyfriend and start to form a link with the other's boyfriend. Hijinks ensue and they end up happy at the end each leaving with new boyfriends. The end credits could show a montage of polaroids showing that they became fast friends and even had a double wedding. Boom, movie!!! Can someone greenlight this? Now, we just need a title and for Chris Bearstick to star as one, or both, of the boyfriends!

Maybe the boyfriends could be twins. The hijinks would be endless.  

[dalek]

I miss the Anne Tyler adaptations that used to show up as HOF movies.  They don't seem to show any of them anymore, although at least Saint Maybe got played at Christmas a couple years ago even though very little of the movie has anything to do with Christmas.

 

Count me among the people peeved that A Season for Miracles is relegated to the app.

[Happywatcher]

22 hours ago, shoregirl said:

Maybe the boyfriends could be twins. The hijinks would be endless.  

Plus puppies. 

[voiceover]

Yahtzee!!  It's that time of year again -- Christmas in July on Hallmark -- and my favorite (Crown for Christmas) is on tonight!

Best early birthday present* ever.

 

*Nordstrom's Half-Yearly Sale is #2