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

[kirinan]

10 minutes ago, voiceover said:

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

Ha, I just posted that in the Holiday Movie topic and was coming over here to post it. We're a good team, voiceover!

[voiceover]

Another year; another screening of CfC; another time to relive my favorite moments (Ally hitting Max with the cleaning cart! Ally's off-the-cuff dinner toast: "Here's to those who've seen us at our best & at our worst...and can't tell the difference!"  Ally and Max, trapped in the greenhouse: "You're not going to hit me with that, are you?" he asks his shovel-wielding governess)...

Another layer to peel off: both leads are thrust, via tragedy, into big-time responsibility.  Ally's forced to become head of the Evans family after her parents die; the unexpected deaths of his wife & his father leave Max a widower/ king before he's 30.  Maybe that's why there's such an immediate kinship.

[Happywatcher]

Watching Christmas with Holly while making breakfast, first time seeing it all and without any wine. Mid20s uncle brings his orphaned niece to a family home in a typical Vancouver island town where he meets the sugary cute owner of a toy store.

The first 10 minutes are horrific. The child appears to be 5-6. She is totally nonverbal after her parents die. She has an absolute flat affect. The school system doesn't start an IDEA plan, but just tells the uncle they are holding her back. No diagnosis. Uncle calls some distant relative who is a principal who tells him to relocate her from her lifetime home to the island town.

No psychologist or psychiatrist. The child is staggeringly mentally ill, and no one in her life cares very much. 

I have seen it before and she is cured by the power of being around the cute sweet blond, but seriously, WTF?

[Crs97]

Another good HOF movie is Sarah, Plain and Tall.  Glenn Close and a surprising Christopher Walken.  I cannot imagine a Hallmark movie deserving of this kind is acting talent these days.

Edited July 17, 2018 by Crs97

[MissyPoo]

Voiceover, I hope you have an epic day when it arrives. :-)

Hot dog! I'm so going to watch Crown For Christmas. I'm catching up on all the goodies they've shown and I'm glad they're streaming some great ones. Happily enjoying Snow Bride for the umpteenth time. I wish Hallmark still made clever movies like that with natural humor and great chemistry between the leads without trying too hard.

Just saw that Naughty or Nice was relegated to the app. Dangit! One of my faves. Though, tbh, I was surprised it lasted on the main channel this long since it had a near miss curse from the main character in one of my fave hilarious moments.

[JenMD]

5 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

Just saw that Naughty or Nice was relegated to the app.

Noooooo!  That's one of my all time goofy favorites.  Now they're just being mean.

[Kemper]

Watched one of the Gourmet Detective movies last night; I hadn't seen it before.  It really reminded me how much I enjoyed this particular series.  Why aren't they making them anymore?  Contract problems with the leads?  Too much chemistry/kissing?

[Scarlett45]

http://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/morning-show-mysteries-murder-on-the-menu/videos/preview-morning-show-mysteries-murder-on-the-menu

i saw this on my inbox. I guess Holly Robinson peete is being added to the rotation of actresses. 

[GaT]

4 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

http://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/morning-show-mysteries-murder-on-the-menu/videos/preview-morning-show-mysteries-murder-on-the-menu

i saw this on my inbox. I guess Holly Robinson peete is being added to the rotation of actresses. 

They've already had a movie from this series, it started last year.

[Scarlett45]

1 hour ago, GaT said:

They've already had a movie from this series, it started last year.

Oh I did not know thank you! Where have I been?. 

[Happywatcher]

Watching the Hailey Dean marathon. Between the next to most recent, and the newest, A Will to Kill, Kellie Martin must have had something done. She looked her age before, and now she looks 10 years younger. You can really tell when the movies are back to back.

The mystery is fun, too.

[GaT]

I just finished watching the latest Billie Blessings movie, & the chemistry between Holly & Ian has not improved at all. Also, the story & acting are not so great.

[catrice2]

On 7/21/2018 at 8:44 AM, Kemper said:

Watched one of the Gourmet Detective movies last night; I hadn't seen it before.  It really reminded me how much I enjoyed this particular series.  Why aren't they making them anymore?  Contract problems with the leads?  Too much chemistry/kissing?

 although I like the movies I never thought the leads  had any chemistry at all

[Kemper]

Well, maybe "chemistry" is too strong of a word.  But they seemed to be a cut above some of the other Barbie/Ken couplings.  This series was a little different than the others - maybe I liked the male lead more in this one than in the other mysteries and movies.  Especially the Garage Sale ones.

But good grief....as we  were watching this, the lead actress (Brooke something) was walking along in a pair of tight jeans/pants - the camera was panning her from a little distance away.  You could see her legs - and those are some of the skinniest ones I have ever ever ever seen.  Even Mr. Kemper looked up from his iPad and commented (before I did).  Truly, scary skinny.  I guess the rest of her is like that, too - I just never noticed until this particular shot. Seriously, if anyone can get a look, please do.

[mikeb]

HMM announced a new mystery movie with Susan Lucci https://deadline.com/2018/07/when-calls-the-heart-svod-spinoff-series-when-hope-calls-by-hallmark-susan-lucci-mystery-movie-1202434845/

Between this and the previously announced new mystery movie series starring Alison Sweeney, Lacey Chabert, and Alexa PenaVega, I wonder how many of the existing mystery movie series have been discontinued.

[JAYJAY1979]

19 hours ago, mikeb said:

HMM announced a new mystery movie with Susan Lucci https://deadline.com/2018/07/when-calls-the-heart-svod-spinoff-series-when-hope-calls-by-hallmark-susan-lucci-mystery-movie-1202434845/

Between this and the previously announced new mystery movie series starring Alison Sweeney, Lacey Chabert, and Alexa PenaVega, I wonder how many of the existing mystery movie series have been discontinued.

I knew Susan Lucci would eventually be tapped to star in one of these.  

[LexieLily]

20 hours ago, mikeb said:

HMM announced a new mystery movie with Susan Lucci https://deadline.com/2018/07/when-calls-the-heart-svod-spinoff-series-when-hope-calls-by-hallmark-susan-lucci-mystery-movie-1202434845/

Between this and the previously announced new mystery movie series starring Alison Sweeney, Lacey Chabert, and Alexa PenaVega, I wonder how many of the existing mystery movie series have been discontinued.

Flower Shop and Murder, She Baked have been cancelled, right? I like the Garage Sale (Aunt Becky) and Aurora Teagarden (DJ Tanner) ones the best, the other can go, IMO. What about Gourmet Detective? I liked those too.

On another note, I fail to see what is so appealing about Alexa PenaVega or her husband.

[MissyPoo]

The publishing arm just released book cover reveals of their fall titles. What's interesting is they are all Christmas ones. I guess they are going full out the gate Christmas with their original fiction. The time travel one may be intriguing.

I was hoping they would coincide their book seasons with the movie themes but considering they just released A Country Wedding book, I'm thinking that ship has sailed and it's only Christmas in their eyes until the new year.

[ehall1052]

I have some questions for those of you who have subscribed to Hallmark Movies Now because I’m thinking of subscribing:

1. Do they show any of the new releases, in case I’ve missed some?

2. Do they cycle the movies through? In other words, if I don’t watch one now, it might be gone from the list in a month?

3. Are the older Hall of Fame movies part of the subscription?

4. Would you say the subscription is worth the money?

[twoods]

I don’t think it’s worth the money. None of the new movies are on there, and there may be one “new” movie per month. This month was Love On the Air, which aired 2-3 years ago. All of their series are on there if you’re interested. There are a ton of movies so you can get it for a month like I did, watch the movies you want, and then cancel it after the month is over. 

[MissyPoo]

Yup. I'm with Twoods. If it was 24.99 a year like it was back when it was called Feeln, it's worth it. At 60 a year, it's not. They do have some good old school Hallmark Hall of Fames that they used to show on the channel. You can check out the movies on the site without signing up or logging in. So, if you're interested, I suggest checking out the site each month (especially the "Coming in {Next Month} selections to show the coming soons) and see if there is anything in particular you'd like to watch and then get it for a month. As far as I can tell, the movies that go on there stay on unless they're seasonal (then they disappear temporarily unless you keep them in your watchlist). Also, there aren't only Hallmark movies in the catalog. Some are licensed from other companies, so if you're just looking for something to watch, it's has a good selection. If you're looking for strictly Hallmark titles, especially new ones, you may find it lacking a bit.

I do like that they added most of the westerns from years ago. They used to have Rough and Ready Saturdays on the Hallmark Channel with some good western dramas that would probably shock some of the newer watchers of the channel.

They really need to cut the price for the value.

[dalek]

Did anyone else watch the latest Aurora Teagarden movie?  What did people think?

I liked it when Aida handled the idiot/evil father herself. "what? I live alone. I took self-defense classes"

[VartanFan]

Love on Safari - Came and stayed for the scenery.  That was truly amazing.  

They keep getting more and more farcical on the ‘bad’ boyfriend actor selections.  Brad the spreadsheet guy’s hair was a cartoon.

There was far more chemistry between Tom and the stepsister than there was between him and Chabert.  

[Kaoteek]

Yeah, funnily enough, i had huge reservations (no pun intended) about Love on Safari, and the first half hour did nothing to reassure me - bland, been-there seen-that setup, the usual clichés, the caricatural boyfriend, the lack of chemistry, and some sort of weird "too many white people (with no accent) for a movie set in South Africa" vibe at times - but in the end, I didn't hate the movie. Probably because it ended up somewhat ditching the romance halfway through to focus on saving the reservation, on the animals, on the scenery, and so on. Also, it didn't take itself too seriously, which is always a plus, and Chabert felt like she enjoyed herself more here than in some past Hallmark movies.

[MerBearHou]

11 hours ago, dalek said:

Did anyone else watch the latest Aurora Teagarden movie?  What did people think?

I liked it when Aida handled the idiot/evil father herself. "what? I live alone. I took self-defense classes"

I liked it fine.  Good to see Aurora and team back for a new movie.  My observations (some very superficial!):

1.  Enjoyable mystery -- I didn't figure it out until the money drop.

2.  The new next door neighbor / future love interest is ok.  Not super wild about him but I know this guy is a Hallmark staple. 

3.  As you did, I liked when Aida took down the evil father with her self-defense skills.  I am amused when she (reluctantly) gets involved in solving the crime with Aurora.

4.  I am SO glad that the sour chief of police is nowhere to be seen.  She was one of the most unpleasant characters on Hallmark and I think much of that has to do with the actress.  I didn't care for her a bit.  I like her husband but now they're making him the sour one -- wish they wouldn't. 

5.  Superficial comments:  the college-age nephew had such a stupid haircut.  Aida's white face makeup is too cadaverous.  She needs a little color and contrast. 

6.  I'm always surprised at the writing on these mystery shows when no one is just "rocked to the core" when their loved one is killed or is missing.  It just seems that normal people would not be able to put one foot in front of the other or string together a coherent sentence at a time like that, but these folks don't show a lot of real emotion.

Edited July 30, 2018 by MerBearHou

[LegalParrot81]

12 hours ago, dalek said:

Did anyone else watch the latest Aurora Teagarden movie?  What did people think?

I liked it when Aida handled the idiot/evil father herself. "what? I live alone. I took self-defense classes"

I watched.  It was pretty good, better than the last one.  I do miss John and , while many didn't care for him, I miss Martin.

New guy is okay.  

So, where's the nephews mother when he gets kidnapped?  The other kids mother showed up.  Thought that was weird.

[Writing Wrongs]

I know this is Hallmark, but it drives me nuts that every mother on my mystery shows are always trying to force their daughters to find husbands. 

What happened to Aurora's old boyfriend? 

Edited July 30, 2018 by Writing Wrongs

[mikeb]

Quote

What happened to Aurora's old boyfriend? 

The actor that played him did not want to continue in the role, so in the last movie they wrote him out by saying he re-joined the CIA and moved away.

[mikeb]

Quote

17 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

4.  I am SO glad that the sour chief of police is nowhere to be seen.  She was one of the most unpleasant characters on Hallmark and I think much of that has to do with the actress.  I didn't care for her a bit.  I like her husband but now they're making him the sour one -- wish they wouldn't. 

 

I think you will be disappointed to hear her absence in the 2 most recent movies was due to recently having a baby in real life, and she is planning on returning.

 

On unrelated note,  it appears that 'Jason Dell' has replaced 'Perry Dell' as recurring character - I think it is a downgrade as he seems blander albeit more competent.

 

One plot point that confused me is that the evil father ended up saying he had expected Aurora to tell the police about the kidnapping and Aurora thought that meant he wanted the police to follow him to the ransom drop-off location.  Not clear to me why since that would have made it obvious to police that it was staged.

[MerBearHou]

4 hours ago, mikeb said:

I think you will be disappointed to hear her absence in the 2 most recent movies was due to recently having a baby in real life, and she is planning on returning.

Noooooo.....  Oh well, thanks for the heads-up.

[twoods]

The scenery in Love on Safari was absolutely stunning and made the movie watchable. They blew all their summer budget on this movie which is why the Vega couple movie looks so cheap (by the commercials). The chemistry wasn’t so great with the leads but I enjoyed the story enough, and agree that Tom had better chemistry with the other ranger (that was his stepsister?).

[Happywatcher]

On 7/30/2018 at 2:39 AM, dalek said:

Did anyone else watch the latest Aurora Teagarden movie?  What did people think?

I liked it when Aida handled the idiot/evil father herself. "what? I live alone. I took self-defense classes"

I liked it overall, and she is better without a constant boyfriend. Plus it gave mom an early reason to be around and added a new dimension to bringing in Professor McHotty.

The best friend character is hitting her stride, the actors are good but the writing has been so so before. The actors playing the college kids could have been more skilled, but nothing that broke the movie.

Two issues: The baddie was pretty obvious, and they really needed Miranda Frigon. I thought her character was a little bitchy when she was in these, but it provided a real balance for the movie between her character and the overly helpful cop-- and the lack is obvious.

[Myrrhine]

I really liked the Aurora Teagarden installment. I guessed some of the solutions, but there were enough developments to keep it interesting. I enjoyed Roe’s old boyfriend, but a CIA agent always seemed tonally out of place for a small town, fairly lighthearted mystery series. I liked that they gave the new guy a compelling reason to participate in the amateur detecting other than unbridled curiosity. 

The Safari movie, like everyone I loved the scenery. These on location films are delightful at least in terms of the visuals.

I’ve also caught up on some older movies. I just watched Wish for Christmas— and I ultimately did not love it. Not sure a boss should require an employee to silently endure sexist, deliberately diminishing language even from a client. Yet also the employee acting like “so I submarined the company’s last chance at avoiding bankruptcy and cost all my friends their jobs. Bygones?” grated as well. 

I did enjoy Love Blossoms (I think), the one about perfume making in Bruges. Maybe because I really like Bruges? But I liked the heroine as well. 

[JAYJAY1979]

16 hours ago, Happywatcher said:

I liked it overall, and she is better without a constant boyfriend. Plus it gave mom an early reason to be around and added a new dimension to bringing in Professor McHotty.

The best friend character is hitting her stride, the actors are good but the writing has been so so before. The actors playing the college kids could have been more skilled, but nothing that broke the movie.

Two issues: The baddie was pretty obvious, and they really needed Miranda Frigon. I thought her character was a little bitchy when she was in these, but it provided a real balance for the movie between her character and the overly helpful cop-- and the lack is obvious.

I agree that the lack of Miranda Frigon as the overly annoyed chief is noticeable.. just like when Aurora's best friend missed a movie.

I prefer Aurora when she isn't being distracted by a man and focusing on solving the crime without the stupid will they, won't they question that plagues all these cozy mysteries.  

[WarmSkull]

On 7/30/2018 at 8:09 AM, VartanFan said:

There was far more chemistry between Tom and the stepsister than there was between him and Chabert.  

I’m glad they had Lacey’s character ask halfway through because I saw the chemistry too. I could have sworn I saw her and the brother walk away from Lacey’s character’s room, arms linked. 

And I’m glad the writers made her the step-sister because biological sister would have been ultra creepy. Though it’s still a bit creepy in hindsight. Some of the glances and banter they exchanged had a bit of flirtation, even after the reveal that they are step siblings. 

 

If I recall correctly the step-sister played the BFF/work partner in Royal Matchmaker. In that movie she also had quite bit of chemistry with the actors, most notably that I thought they were going to pair her with the prince’s valet. I would love to see her as a lead for Hallmark. 

[GaT]

On 7/29/2018 at 11:39 PM, dalek said:

Did anyone else watch the latest Aurora Teagarden movie?  What did people think?

I liked it when Aida handled the idiot/evil father herself. "what? I live alone. I took self-defense classes"

I finally got around to watching this, & I have to say Roe kind of pissed me off this time. The whole thing with them staking out the ransom money instead of telling the police about the kidnapping was too much. If this was a real kidnapping, they would have been responsible if something went wrong.

On 7/31/2018 at 4:18 AM, mikeb said:

One plot point that confused me is that the evil father ended up saying he had expected Aurora to tell the police about the kidnapping and Aurora thought that meant he wanted the police to follow him to the ransom drop-off location.  Not clear to me why since that would have made it obvious to police that it was staged.

 I didn't understand this either, why did he bring in Aurora at all? Also, what were they planning on doing with the 2 kids? They couldn't keep them forever, were they planning on killing them?

[VartanFan]

Just watched Summer to Remember.  More beautiful scenery.  I liked that the kid wasn’t a jerk.  I loved JAG - I mean, saw every episode.  I haven’t watched anything with Catherine Bell in it since then and she looks...um, different.  

[Irlandesa]

A Summer to Remember was a pretty straight forward family vacation story. And yet, it wasn't as bland as I was expecting it to be.  There was nothing surprising or edgy about it but I do think the scenery made it a pleasant watch. 

I'm cautiously optimistic about the movie in two weeks where they're looking for a pearl.  That's a bit of a twist on their traditional plot lines.

[magpye29]

I have to agree that Catherine Bell's current hairstyle is the exact opposite of flattering.  It really drags her whole face down.

[Kemper]

I see where the daughter on the Garage Sale mysteries has found her very own Hallmark Ken Doll; well, why wouldn't she.  I especially loved the "cute" non-date where she and Ken ate tacos bought from a food truck; and didn't get anything to drink with them...no water, soda, tea, etc.  Who would want to eat a taco without something to wash it down?

I still like this series; and noticed that the husband looked better; more non-Ken like.  Until my husband mentioned he looked like a young Wayne Newton. !!!  Lori Laughlin has obviously had some work done - but it is really well-done.  If you didn't know she was 54, you wouldn't be looking for the "update" signs.  She is really attractive; love her clothes.  I especially love the police lieutenant - kind of schlubby, humorous. And his line.... "And heeere we go" when she found the body.  Her kids look more like him than her husbands; Hallmark missed the mark on casting for this one.  

Sorry, all the rain has made me extra critical; and has me watching more tv than usual.

[kirinan]

I had no intention of watching A Summer to Remember initially, but there was nothing else on that looked good and I didn't feel like searching for something on the backed-up DVR shows. So I watched it...and surprised myself by enjoying it. As others have said, the scenery...sigh, so pretty. The conflict was low-key, as were the angst and manufactured drama, and everyone acted like adults (or teens, as appropriate). And I found I could overlook any inconsistencies or potential eye-rolling situations. All in all, a good way to spend a Saturday evening. Thank you, Hallmark. More like this, please!

[twoods]

I caught The Wedding Dress with Neil Patrick Harris on the Hallmark app and it was very good. Is this how good Hallmark movies were in 2001? The story was unique and it was very diverse. 

[Luckylyn]

1 hour ago, twoods said:

I caught The Wedding Dress with Neil Patrick Harris on the Hallmark app and it was very good. Is this how good Hallmark movies were in 2001? The story was unique and it was very diverse. 

The Wedding Dress is one of my ultimate favorites.

[Irlandesa]

Heya, an Antonio Cupo sighting in the latest Garage Sales Mystery movie. 

That was a pretty good entry, although I could do without the daughter's side plot.  I found myself fast forwarding her love story.  It was pointless and filled with stupid misunderstandings that are old even for their romcom movies.

[JenMD]

13 hours ago, twoods said:

I caught The Wedding Dress with Neil Patrick Harris on the Hallmark app and it was very good. Is this how good Hallmark movies were in 2001? The story was unique and it was very diverse. 

This was a CBS movie, I think, not Hallmark, from back when the networks used to produce/air them regularly (before the explosion of a billion cable channels/streaming).  I adore The Wedding Dress mostly for Margaret Colin and Peter Wingfield flirting, but the whole thing is really enjoyable. 

[kirinan]

14 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Heya, an Antonio Cupo sighting in the latest Garage Sales Mystery movie. 

I'm going to have to go home and DVR the next showing--thanks for the heads-up, Irlandesa! He seems to be a ways down the guest list on the IMDB listing. Is he onscreen a fair amount of time?

[Irlandesa]

45 minutes ago, kirinan said:

I'm going to have to go home and DVR the next showing--thanks for the heads-up, Irlandesa! He seems to be a ways down the guest list on the IMDB listing. Is he onscreen a fair amount of time?

Not really.  He plays the estranged brother of the husband whose wife is killed.  He shows up for a few scenes.   Not a huge part but not a cameo either.

[JAYJAY1979]

12 hours ago, JenMD said:

This was a CBS movie, I think, not Hallmark, from back when the networks used to produce/air them regularly (before the explosion of a billion cable channels/streaming).  I adore The Wedding Dress mostly for Margaret Colin and Peter Wingfield flirting, but the whole thing is really enjoyable. 

And most of the network made tv movies had much higher budgets, as well.  I do like The Wedding Dress.. it was well done, had a connecting thread that made sense (since lets face it.. clothes get donated to the salvation army, consignment shops, etc), good performances, and it wasn't sappy.

[twoods]

That explains why it was so good. Thanks guys!

I’m contemplating watching the summer movie since you guys liked it. Catherine Bell’s face is unrecognizable with all the botox and didn’t think I could handle looking at her for an hour and a half. I know that’s bad of me to think that, but after watching Jag I get so sad. 

Edited August 8, 2018 by twoods

[Gizkok]

Maybe it's just me but I couldn't help but think Catherine Bell looked like Cher with a fuller face!