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

[Bronx Babe]

2 hours ago, Kemper said:

And.  All of this is why so many people get depressed during the holidays.  I am not blaming Hallmark (but yes, the 24/7 Christmas movies for months drive me crazy) - they are a business and the over-the-top holiday/romance themes are their bread and butter.  

But it seems as though they may have reached a wee bit of a saturation point.  The fact that they are a bit one-sided in their choice of holidays doesn't seem to impact their bottom line. And who could blame them; I guess.

The strange thing I find is that all this saturation is just a cover for, imo, the absence of anything relatable in terms of the human experience.  It's as though scripts were written by automatons who can only replicate emotion through the most superficial of aspects.  I watch these productions as though they were horror movies.

[GeorgiaRai]

18 hours ago, Bronx Babe said:

Was fascinated by Reunited at Christmas.

I am not exaggerating when I tell you that IN EVERY SENTENCE out of each character's mouth, Christmas was mentioned.  And mentioned.  And mentioned.   

There was one scene in particular - 6 family members sitting together and each said Merry Christmas individually to each other and back.  After about the 172nd "Merry Christmas", I yelled "Good night, John Boy!" and covered my ears. 

I mostly liked the movie, though; usual formula, but not 100% cookie-cutter.

[Kohola3]

19 hours ago, Bronx Babe said:

I am not exaggerating when I tell you that IN EVERY SENTENCE out of each character's mouth, Christmas was mentioned.  And mentioned.  And mentioned.

Interspersed with liberal sprinklings of "this is AMAZING".

[Bronx Babe]

1 hour ago, GeorgiaRai said:

There was one scene in particular - 6 family members sitting together and each said Merry Christmas individually to each other and back.  After about the 172nd "Merry Christmas", I yelled "Good night, John Boy!" and covered my ears. 

I mostly liked the movie, though; usual formula, but not 100% cookie-cutter.

lol, The Waltons crossed my mind as well.

Were the writers being deliberately referential to that iconically wholesome t.v. series?  

It's always more like One Step Beyond or The Outer Limits at Hallmark as far as I'm concerned.....

[Bronx Babe]

50 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

Interspersed with liberal sprinklings of "this is AMAZING".

Yes, lol, the automaton/alien/pod people writers love this word.

Also, starting out every sentence with a drawn-out "So...…."  (I have previously wondered if this is a Canadian thing, along with the strange, halting, overly-enunciated speech patterns)  

[Was-MArsenault]

And look at what’s back once again.

[Kohola3]

Quote

And look at what’s back once again.

Apparently Hallmark's target audience is the over 65 crowd.

[In2You]

On 7/28/2019 at 3:19 PM, Happywatcher said:

Was on a gossip site. Jen Lilley went into labor while on the red carpet at the Hallmark new shows reveal event for the Television Critics Association this week.

It sounds like a movie script

[Happywatcher]

10 minutes ago, In2You said:

She is way calm for this being her first birth. #actingskills

[Happywatcher]

Watching the Gourmet Detective movie on now. These were really good, given the Hallmark restrictions of no real violence, no blood, and no overt sex or drug abuse.

Hopefully they get another now that the Garage Sales are off.

Side note: Honestly, I feel like they overcharged Lori, if they should have charged her at all

[Irlandesa]

Jen Lilley is a pro.  She shouldn't have to be that much of a pro but she's a pro.  I guess it's a distraction at least.  Should we put money down on whether or not she ends up doing a holiday movie?

1 hour ago, Happywatcher said:

Hopefully they get another now that the Garage Sales are off.

Sounds like we will.  I enjoy them too.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

Jen Lilley is a pro.  She shouldn't have to be that much of a pro but she's a pro.  I guess it's a distraction at least.  Should we put money down on whether or not she ends up doing a holiday movie?

She also just adopted a 3 year old and is in the process of adopting a 1 year old. I would think we won’t see her on Hallmark for a while but I’m fully expecting her to prove me wrong. 

[Woopwoopkitty]

12 hours ago, GeorgiaRai said:

I mostly liked the movie, though; usual formula, but not 100% cookie-cutter.

Reunited at Christmas is one of the better ones in my opinion.

first of all, I think Nikki s the best actress amongst the regular Hallmark stable.  She and her fiancé in this one have a more mature relationship than the typical script.  I thought the divorced mom and dad tentatively finding their way back to each other felt genuine not forced. Best of all, no asshole boyfriend or bitchy girlfriend mucking things up for the leads.

I related to the concept of Grandma’s house being the hub of family life.  My gram’s house was the center for our family with large gatherings at Xmas Thanksgiving New Year’s and Easter.  We had a big going away party for the house when we finally moved her in to assisted living. Once gram and the house were gone, family quickly drifted apart.

i come from a family where Xmas was not much of a religious observation but was commercial for the kids and family centric for the adults.  It was considered to be a special time of year even though nativity scenes and church were not part of the mix.  I miss that which is probably why this movies touches me the way it does.

[ShelleySue]

Did anyone see the Summer Nights preview?  I'm not sure what they did with Danica McKellar's make-up, but she looks much better.  I've always thought that her make-up was too heavy and gave her a harsh appearance.  I looked her up and she was born in 1975, which makes her 44.  That's not old, but they have her playing parts that are much younger and I think that they attempted to use make-up to camouflage (pun intended)  her real age.  But in the previews for the movie she's in this coming weekend, Love and Sunshine, she looks wonderful.

[Happywatcher]

18 hours ago, Dani said:

She also just adopted a 3 year old and is in the process of adopting a 1 year old. I would think we won’t see her on Hallmark for a while but I’m fully expecting her to prove me wrong. 

I read a few weeks ago that they are now filming the Canadian only movies in 7-10 days. That is very doable for a new mom for next year, she could start filming Jan/Feb for 1 week, come home, bounce again for a spring filming...rinse and repeat.

[dalek]

THey're airing some of the Jane Doe movies at 5pm this week.

It's a fun series.

[rainsmom]

20 minutes ago, dalek said:

THey're airing some of the Jane Doe movies at 5pm this week.

It's a fun series.

Really glad to see them! I'm recording them all.

[Bronx Babe]

I thought a cup of cocoa was the stereotypical beverage of choice only for their Christmas movies.

Imagine my surprise, watching Summer Villa, when that was the drink whipped up at night by our  otherwise surly romantic lead to cure the heroine's insomnia that he didn't even know she had.  And this was supposed to take place in the South of France during a hot weather vacation season.

[Happywatcher]

On 7/30/2019 at 9:04 PM, Bronx Babe said:

I thought a cup of cocoa was the stereotypical beverage of choice only for their Christmas movies.

Imagine my surprise, watching Summer Villa, when that was the drink whipped up at night by our  otherwise surly romantic lead to cure the heroine's insomnia that he didn't even know she had.  And this was supposed to take place in the South of France during a hot weather vacation season.

Building on this, unless you have lived in Europe, you don't understand the downwind effect of the Atlantic.

No matter what the latitude is, Europe is way warmer. The south of France and northern Italy are Mobile Bay, Alabama. Germany, except the Alps foothills, is north Alabama/west Tennessee, and the Alps foothills are eastern Tennessee.  London is Cincinnati, Ohio

 

Watching Summer Love while having an extra glass.

Had some Hallmark star morality thoughts.

Rachael Leigh Cook is in this one, and she was in some stuff that was pretty salacious in her middle initial career (ie, 11:14). Then Tricia Helfener had her clothes off as much as on before Battle Star. But the same company kicked Lori over the side as soon as she was charged.

[Pickles]

17 minutes ago, Happywatcher said:

Watching Summer Love while having an extra glass.

Had some Hallmark star morality thoughts.

Rachael Leigh Cook is in this one, and she was in some stuff that was pretty salacious in her middle initial career (ie, 11:14). Then Tricia Helfener had her clothes off as much as on before Battle Star. But the same company kicked Lori over the side as soon as she was charged.

Well, Lori has been charged with a felony and most likely will be serving time in prison. Hallmark pretty much had to cut ties with her. Being naked or almost naked is not a felony. 🙂

[Guest]

18 hours ago, Happywatcher said:

Watching Summer Love while having an extra glass.

Had some Hallmark star morality thoughts.

Rachael Leigh Cook is in this one, and she was in some stuff that was pretty salacious in her middle initial career (ie, 11:14). Then Tricia Helfener had her clothes off as much as on before Battle Star. But the same company kicked Lori over the side as soon as she was charged.

I don’t think you can really compare things done for a role to being charged with a felony. The only Hallmark actress with a background that would even come close is Jodie Sweetin. Even then it’s not really equivalent because Jodie was never arrested and she got clean and sober well before she started working for Hallmark. 

Edited August 1, 2019 by Guest

[Lisa418722]

There is a big difference in committing a felony and doing "salacious" scenes when you are an actress. 

[Bronx Babe]

Love Blossoms

"I...remember...my....father...bought...me....a....pair....of.....rainboots.....and....after.....he....

died...I....wore....them....all...the....time....."

[Kohola3]

I nominate the blond wig in A Country Wedding as the worst wig in the Hallmark inventory.  It's not even a color found in nature.

[formerlyfreedom]

Your eyes are not deceiving you - the topic title has gotten a wee update, just for fun! Continue your discussion of all things Hallmark Channel Movie related here!

[WendyCR72]

3 hours ago, saoirse said:

Your eyes are not deceiving you - the topic title has gotten a wee update, just for fun! Continue your discussion of all things Hallmark Channel Movie related here!

Much better than my original title. If only there was a way to incorporate fake snow and the evils of city life in the title. Oh, well!  😉

[rainsmom]

Does discussion of the mysteries still go in this thread, or is there a different one for that now?

[formerlyfreedom]

1 hour ago, rainsmom said:

Does discussion of the mysteries still go in this thread, or is there a different one for that now?

Nothing else has changed, continue all discussions as you have been.

[Bronx Babe]

If those sleek female villains who are constantly undermining the perky overworked heroine had mustaches, I'm sure they would twirl them.  

Are there any other characters so comically overdrawn?  I think not!

[LuvMyShows]

How pathetic am I that I am already excited about Sunday's new Aurora Teagarden movie....not so much because I'm a giant CCB fan, but yay for more new mystery movies!  And with other mystery franchises filming new movies, it looks like Lori Laughlin's loss is our gain!

[Irlandesa]

Interesting that the Matchmaker mystery movies are being advertised in the list of the "every Sunday a new movie" commercial airing on HMM.  That would make it seem to me that they're planning to air it in the fall even though I can't find any info about it.  (Not that I've dug deep.)

Also interesting is that the Aurora Teagarden movie is going to air on both HMM and Hallmark on Sunday.  I get Candace is one of the actresses who brings in the ratings but I'm a bit irritated that they're doing that for her but couldn't do it for their HOF movie which aired over the holidays.  They usually do but that one had two POCs in lead roles so they counterprogrammed.

9 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

How pathetic am I that I am already excited about Sunday's new Aurora Teagarden movie....not so much because I'm a giant CCB fan, but yay for more new mystery movies! 

I like Niall Matter so I'm kind of looking forward to it too.  I think he brings more personality to his roles so I think he'll be a good addition/replacement.

[In2You]

I love the new thread title

[BrainyBlonde]

8 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Interesting that the Matchmaker mystery movies are being advertised in the list of the "every Sunday a new movie" commercial airing on HMM.  That would make it seem to me that they're planning to air it in the fall even though I can't find any info about it.  (Not that I've dug deep.)

The first Matchmaker Mysteries movie has been filming for the last two weeks up in Canada and is scheduled to air on HMM Sept. 29th. The series stars Danica McKellar, Bruce Boxleitner as her retired cop father, and Victor Webster as the police detective the heroine works/butts heads with while trying to solve crimes. This is the series idea/concept Patti Stanger a.k.a. the millionaire matchmaker brought to Hallmark a few years back.

Danica has set up a special Insta account for this new series where she's posting pictures/stories of the making of the movie: The Matchmaker Mysteries

[Kaoteek]

Catching up with a few of this year's Hallmark movies...

Love, Romance & Chocolate : okay-ish, but aside from Bruges, nothing really memorable. Your standard Lacey Chabert movie.

Love on the Menu : an enjoyable, light-hearted one, and Reeser/Kavan worked for me, but I'm still not too sure about the recipe-related conflict, and the boss' heel turn.

Love under the Rainbow : again, an okay-ish one, and I still enjoy Jodie Sweetin's energy, which is different enough from your usual Hallmark lead to be appealing.

Flip That Romance : I usually like Julie Gonzalo, but I didn't care much for this one, and for her character's overly hostile and biting attitude, during the first half of the story. Also, tbh, home renovation doesn't do much for me.

True Love Blooms : Kinda same thing, here - I like Sara Rue, I've nothing against Jordan Bridges, but the writing was very expository and heavy-handed, as evidenced by those mandatory, last-minute misunderstandings that just rubbed me the wrong way. It ended the movie on a sour note for me.

Love to The Rescue : I enjoyed that one - likeable characters (both adults and children), cute dog, Nikki DeLoach, a light-hearted, light on tropes story, a laid-back tone, non-antagonistic exes... I liked it.

(so tired of the Love something or Something something love titles, though...)

[Dr.OO7]

24 minutes ago, Kaoteek said:

so tired of the Love something or Something something love titles, though...)

Heh. I had the same complaint about all the Christmas movies having the word "Christmas" in them.

[MerBearHou]

Ugh, Mark Deklin and Victor Webster look like they could be Danica McKellar’s father.  I prefer them over her — shes too babyish for me.

[rainsmom]

I was bored today and decided to watch the Hailey Dean marathon. I had watched the first one when when it first aired, but barely finished it. I despise Nancy Grace, and although I love Kellie Martin, I just didn't find the show interesting or the characters likable.

Today I was SO bored, I was willing to watch, even with all that going against it... and I liked it. I still hate Nancy Grace passionately -- Good GOD that woman's voice is IRRITATING -- but the characters had gelled, and the mysteries were interesting. (I guessed who killed Will in his first appearance, though I didn't know why, so I won't go so far as to say the movies were surprising. But they were interesting.)

[Irlandesa]

17 hours ago, BrainyBlonde said:

The first Matchmaker Mysteries movie has been filming for the last two weeks up in Canada and is scheduled to air on HMM Sept. 29th. The series stars Danica McKellar, Bruce Boxleitner as her retired cop father, and Victor Webster as the police detective the heroine works/butts heads with while trying to solve crimes.

Thanks.  Cast info was what I was wondering about.  I like Victor Webster and Bruce Boxleitner so those are a plus for me.  Victor Webster is only two years older than Danica so I think it'll be fine.

I actually liked tonight's movie.  There was only one mild misunderstanding in the movie and the relationship progressed in a natural way.  I guess Hallmark feels that the threat of re-deployment is enough angst for the movie without a misunderstanding.  So the breakup was actually a little moving.

But for silly things:

People kept changing their minds about whether or not Jake should date the "new girl." The mom raised her eyebrows in a knowing look when she first heard him talk to her.  Then she was all worried about him getting hurt but seemed to be back on board the next time it came up.  The brother was later wondering if his good mood was because of "the girl" only to turn around and basically push Jake towards his ex. 

The ex was an asshole throughout the whole movie but was suddenly nice with about a quarter of the movie to go--not that I mind because I like the actor.  I like that the Donna person was always good. 

I think when Danica's character was trying to help at the party, she was going around and collecting what looked like paper plates. 

[Happywatcher]

On 8/3/2019 at 7:35 AM, BrainyBlonde said:

The first Matchmaker Mysteries movie has been filming for the last two weeks up in Canada and is scheduled to air on HMM Sept. 29th. The series stars Danica McKellar, Bruce Boxleitner as her retired cop father, and Victor Webster as the police detective the heroine works/butts heads with while trying to solve crimes. This is the series idea/concept Patti Stanger a.k.a. the millionaire matchmaker brought to Hallmark a few years back.

Danica has set up a special Insta account for this new series where she's posting pictures/stories of the making of the movie: The Matchmaker Mysteries

She has been making a big twitter push, too. 

[Kohola3]

8 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Victor Webster is only two years older than Danica so I think it'll be fine.

So is he the love interest?  I know that they are close in age but he looks older with the graying hair.  Nothing wrong with aging but the pearl clutchers might take offense with pairing up a seemingly "young girl" with an "older man".

[EyewatchTV211]

1 hour ago, Kohola3 said:

So is he the love interest?  I know that they are close in age but he looks older with the graying hair.  Nothing wrong with aging but the pearl clutchers might take offense with pairing up a seemingly "young girl" with an "older man".

If they were okay with Summer Villa, they should be fine with this one. That was a bigger age difference. Of course Hilarie's real life husband is way older, too. Hopefully, those pearl clutchers can figure out that Danica is older by considering her time on the Wonder Years and that people can dye their hair (not that I know Danica for sure dyes hers).

I liked the new movie. I was relieved that deployment was apparently enough drama to leave out a dumb misunderstanding. And the leads seemed to have good chemistry.

[Bronx Babe]

Love Unleashed -- The phrase "puppy party" must have been mentioned about 250 times throughout by the main characters.  "So....." apparently their Christmas scripts aren't the only ones indulging in this Orwellian verbal brainwashing.

Summer Love -- "Pitch Fest".  The usual worker-drones-find-romance storyline, and of course only in the most unironic, soulless Hallmark way.  Sample dialogue between corporate honcho and female intern:  "I want to build a duck pond" -- "Ducks are good" -- "I knew you would get that"

I know I've said this a million times, but these productions are more like horror/science fiction movies than "romance".

Stick to Whit Stillman films (Metropolitan, Barcelona, The Last Days of Disco, etc.) for true, witty, sophisticated, ironic, literary takes on young urban professionals.

Forget Hallmark -- their only worth is the snark value, imo.

[ehall1052]

1 hour ago, Bronx Babe said:

The phrase "puppy party" must have been mentioned about 250 times throughout by the main characters. 

Believe it or not, a local upscale hotel is offering a special deal for $200/night ...a room, meal and a “puppy party “.  They actually used that term. They showed all these puppies sitting on the bed.

[sistersledge]

Fine, twist my arm, I'll admit it. I sobbed like a baby at the end of Love and Sunshine. And I don't usually watch the military ones, even though I love the military. I'm also not a dog person. 

That might be why I didn't see that ending coming. And of course the happy follow-up.

I have a soft spot for Danica, we are the same age and I remember watching the wonder years.

[RedInk]

My carrier doesn't include HMM, and this is the first time I've caught one of the mysteries on regular Hallmark. I'm kinda nerdily excited! Does anyone know if this is going to be a regular thing? 

[Bronx Babe]

55 minutes ago, ehall1052 said:

Believe it or not, a local upscale hotel is offering a special deal for $200/night ...a room, meal and a “puppy party “.  They actually used that term. They showed all these puppies sitting on the bed.

I like that!

The Hallmark version, not so much, lol.

[Bronx Babe]

I could barely get through Rome in Love.

Like wading through molasses.

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, sistersledge said:

Fine, twist my arm, I'll admit it. I sobbed like a baby at the end of Love and Sunshine. And I don't usually watch the military ones, even though I love the military. I'm also not a dog person.

I am a dog person but I usually don't watch the military ones either.  They're like the last twenty or so minutes but more heavy handed throughout the whole movie. I have a lower tolerance for heavy-handed drama than comedy.

1 hour ago, RedInk said:

My carrier doesn't include HMM, and this is the first time I've caught one of the mysteries on regular Hallmark. I'm kinda nerdily excited! Does anyone know if this is going to be a regular thing? 

It looks like it's just this week.  Next week Hallmark has a repeat of one of their movies on the channel.

[Happywatcher]

3 hours ago, sistersledge said:

Fine, twist my arm, I'll admit it. I sobbed like a baby at the end of Love and Sunshine. And I don't usually watch the military ones, even though I love the military. I'm also not a dog person. 

That might be why I didn't see that ending coming. And of course the happy follow-up.

I have a soft spot for Danica, we are the same age and I remember watching the wonder years.

We were active duty, a long time ago. In the old days the military was just as dangerous, but the media covered for Bush sr and Clinton.

Team Spirit 1989, 47 people died. For an exercise. And the media yawned.

I was glad they made the dog handler enlisted. Although 12-18 months for a dog to max out on his deployment time is a little short/

[Kohola3]

2 hours ago, Happywatcher said:

Although 12-18 months for a dog to max out on his deployment time is a little short/

But do we know that was the dog's only deployment?  I know they often do multiple tours with different handlers (I am with an Angel group that supports MWD units) so maybe Sunshine was due to retire.  I confess I didn't watch that closely.

And did they ever explain why the mother didn't foster the dog?  Again, I kind of had it on in the background.  All the gooey, lovey stuff kind of gets on my nerves.