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

[susannot]

Kellie Martin is not a beautiful actress, IMO.  She looks about 5 years younger than the woman playing her mother.  Watching the movie now and it is at least holding my interest.

[GaT]

3 hours ago, susannot said:

Kellie Martin is not a beautiful actress, IMO.  She looks about 5 years younger than the woman playing her mother.  

This is really shallow of me, but Kellie Martin did not age well. She was always more"cute" than "beautiful" but now she's not looking good at all.

[Jaded]

I've read multiple times over the years that Kellie Martin was a smoker. If true it looks like she could have done it long enough for it to take a toll on her looks. 

[Crs97]

Are we sure it wasn't the makeup for the show?  She just had their second child in February so I know this picture is pretty recent, and I wouldn't mind aging like this:

[twoods]

She does look better in that picture. I remember when she was in a movie with Cameron Mattison a few years ago when she was a widow and she looked so haggard. I felt bad for how the makeup crew made her look so terrible.

[MerBearHou]

I just think Kellie Martin looks "hard" and humorless.  Even when she smiles, it lacks warmth.  I enjoy the Hailey Dean movies though and Nancy Grace's characters' momentary appearances crack me up, especially when she was the gossipy receptionist who swore she never gossiped.  Knowing she's the author of these stories adds another little wink to her appearances. 

[MissyPoo]

I wonder if it's the clothes and makeup as well because they do her no favors with the haircuts they give her. The wedding one made her look so schlumpy and she does look older than she is in the Hailey Dean movies. I thought she looked really pretty during her Mystery Woman movies but I have no idea what happened since then. If it's true about her being a smoker, that would make sense. But makeup does wonders (pointing to the pic above) just as it can be tragic (that wedding movie I can't remember the name of).

 

Btw, did anyone catch the last Fall Harvest movie? I can't for the life of me remember what it was about but it'd make a great background noise movie for laundry and the like. The lead chickie looked older than Andrew Walker and I thought it was going to be a May/December movie but I think they were supposed to be the same age. According to Google, they're two years apart which surprised me. Maybe AW just looks younger than he is? Anywho, I like the poster...

[EyewatchTV211]

Don't forget - with photographs you have the magic of photoshop. So makeup may have made her look worse in the movie but the better photograph may have been touched up. Who knows. 

Regarding the last Fall Harvest movie - I also thought there was a big age difference and would have liked acknowledgement of a May/December romance. I was surprised that they were supposed to be the same age. Now I'm even more surprised to find out they are only 2 years apart. I guess AW really does just look very young.

[susannot]

The Mystery Woman movies I think are 10 years old at least.

[kirinan]

12 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

Btw, did anyone catch the last Fall Harvest movie? I can't for the life of me remember what it was about but it'd make a great background noise movie for laundry and the like. The lead chickie looked older than Andrew Walker and I thought it was going to be a May/December movie but I think they were supposed to be the same age. According to Google, they're two years apart which surprised me. Maybe AW just looks younger than he is? Anywho, I like the poster...

I didn't really notice that he looked younger than her, but I did notice I enjoyed his character much more than hers. The actress seemed to think that constant grimacing stood in for acting. That bothered me, although it wasn't a movie-ruiner; she was okay. As was the movie, which I watched while I was doing other things--you nailed it, MissyPoo. But Andrew Walker really made the movie for me. He was much more appealing; natural and funny. He's never been an automatic watch for me, like my Holy Hallmark Trinity of Paul Greene/Antonio Cupo/Victor Webster, but he could be a contender, since I tend to like him whenever I see him. 

[MissyPoo]

20 hours ago, susannot said:

The Mystery Woman movies I think are 10 years old at least.

Right. I was more or less responding to the suggestion that she has never been "beautiful" but more "cute" and imho she looked really pretty in those movies.

9 hours ago, kirinan said:

I didn't really notice that he looked younger than her, but I did notice I enjoyed his character much more than hers. The actress seemed to think that constant grimacing stood in for acting. That bothered me, although it wasn't a movie-ruiner; she was okay. As was the movie, which I watched while I was doing other things--you nailed it, MissyPoo. But Andrew Walker really made the movie for me. He was much more appealing; natural and funny. He's never been an automatic watch for me, like my Holy Hallmark Trinity of Paul Greene/Antonio Cupo/Victor Webster, but he could be a contender, since I tend to like him whenever I see him. 

Yes! AW stood out much more and I was kind of bummed he only showed up now and then which wasn't represented in the trailer (but then again Hallmark likes to throw us off with those). I like your Hallmark Threefer, I might add Trevor Donovan on my list though his last movie was a bit of a waste. Hoping his new Christmas movie is a good one.

[beadgirl]

Quote

What's even funnier is that all 5 trees are tiny ones. They didn't even try for any bigger trees. 

They're like the Autumn equivalent of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. I watched the first Inn movie, and it was ok, but it doesn't sound like the sequel is worth it.  As for the realism of running an inn, that's what drives me bonkers about the Good Witch tv series -- unless she's sending her laundry out and hiring lots of invisible cleaners and cooks, there's no way she's running an inn with just her step-father-in-law, let alone a store, too.

I just can't watch the Nancy Grace movies; I dislike her too much.

[Jaded]

The Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Facebook page posted saying the Xmas movies on that channel are starting in a week. So that means Oct. 27th. ?
 

Edited October 20, 2017 by Jaded

[GaT]

16 minutes ago, Jaded said:

The Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Facebook page posted saying the Xmas movies on that channel are starting in a week. So that means Oct. 27th. ?
 

Well, that means it's time for my annual "avoid Hallmark Movie & Mysteries for 3 months" routine. 

[Jaded]

2 minutes ago, GaT said:

Well, that means it's time for my annual "avoid Hallmark Movie & Mysteries for 3 months" routine. 

Me too. That post already has almost 5,000 likes.

[Lisa418722]

15 hours ago, GaT said:

Well, that means it's time for my annual "avoid Hallmark Movie & Mysteries for 3 months" routine. 

 

15 hours ago, Jaded said:

Me too. That post already has almost 5,000 likes.

Me three.  I don't mind Christmas, but I want to enjoy Halloween and Thanksgiving before having 24/7 Christmas.  

[wilsie]

I'm so glad that I'm not the only person who likes Christmas movies a lot but hates the saturation of them from right after Halloween to after New Year's Day.  24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Relentless.   And the loss of the shows they supposedly replace makes it so much worse.  I didn't watch any Christmas movies last year and I won't this year.  

[In2You]

3 hours ago, Lisa418722 said:

 

Me three.  I don't mind Christmas, but I want to enjoy Halloween and Thanksgiving before having 24/7 Christmas.  

Hallmark was better when they didn't start Christmas until after Thanksgiving. And why must it dominate 2 channels.  The mystery movies are usually based off cozy mystery series and most of the series have Halloween and Thanksgiving themed books. Other channels are doing Christmas movies but Halloween and Thanksgiving are fair game.

http://cozy-mysteries-unlimited.com/halloween-list

http://cozy-mysteries-unlimited.com/thanksgiving-list

[sistersledge]

Not only did she look so much older than him (Love Struck Cafe? I’m assuming), they were supposed to be 29 years old, if the ‘12 years in the making’ line was supposed to mean that. So, when did he have time to meet, marry and have a 7-8-9 year old child? (Not sure how old she was supposed to be)

[In2You]

Do they even do many mystery themed Christmas movies for HMM? 

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, In2You said:

Do they even do many mystery themed Christmas movies for HMM? 

Many?  No.  Murder She Baked did a holiday themed movie once. 

[MissyPoo]

Aww so I'm going to be alone tackling the onslaught of sap and sleighbells? It's like my Superbowl, I get to see which ones choke and which take home the trophy. I see Hallmark has a fantasy game incentive now on their site for the whole season. Even they're treating it like Superbowl season. 

Tonight's Harvest Wedding wasn't too bad! It kept my interest and was funny in some parts. I also liked that the leads acted like normal, functional, communicating adults. I loved the dinner scene and the end was really sweet (they didn't waste any time getting 'reacquainted' heh). I think this was the best of the fall premieres. I can see myself watching this again soon.

[Mountainair]

11 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

Aww so I'm going to be alone tackling the onslaught of sap and sleighbells? It's like my Superbowl, I get to see which ones choke and which take home the trophy. I see Hallmark has a fantasy game incentive now on their site for the whole season. Even they're treating it like Superbowl season. 

Tonight's Harvest Wedding wasn't too bad! It kept my interest and was funny in some parts. I also liked that the leads acted like normal, functional, communicating adults. I loved the dinner scene and the end was really sweet (they didn't waste any time getting 'reacquainted' heh). I think this was the best of the fall premieres. I can see myself watching this again soon.

I’m here! I can watch Christmas movies any time of year and lately Hallmark’s mid year offerings have been a big miss for me. I can apparently only stomach the sap if there is a Christmas tree or snow in the background :)

A Harvest Wedding was decent though and I stuck it out until the end but I liked the leads so that helped. I’ll probably turn it on again as background noise at some point which is saying something since most of the others I would not even do that for. 

[scenicbyway]

I thought the Christmas preview show was awkward, like they were shooting without a script.

I'm excited for the Christmas movies to start, it's nice to have an easy escape from work, politics, etc.

[Irlandesa]

I didn't watch the preview.  I did watch Darrow & Darrow and the Harvest Wedding movies this weekend.  I really liked the chemistry Tom Cavanaugh and Kimberly Williams Paisley had. I wish they had more scenes together.  I do think I'll like this movie series but I wish they would spend a little less time on the daughter and the work "love triangle."  And like has already been said, Harvest Wedding was pleasant largely because of the leads. 

I still haven't watched the movies from last week yet.  If I don't get around to them by the time the Christmas movies start, I will need to delete them from my DVR.

[ShelleySue]

I liked Harvest Wedding right up to the very last scene. It was a total non-sequitur.  Jill Wagner kept talking about how much she missed Williamstown and was planning on visiting more often.  Victor  Webster kept talking about how much he loved being a farmer.  Hallmark movies are usually so predictable that I know how it will end before the half-way point.  I had expected that she would decide to turn the farm into a wedding venue with farm-to-table catering operation.  But instead they have a roof top corn field in Manhattan?!  It just made no sense to me.

On another note, I realize that Hallmark is trying to make their characters/cast more diverse, but why is every assistant Black or Asian or gay?  Why aren't the main characters more diverse?

[chitowngirl]

Loved Darrow and Darrow! My husband was upset that it was going to be 6 months until the next one.

On October 21, 2017 at 5:25 PM, Irlandesa said:

Many?  No.  Murder She Baked did a holiday themed movie once. 

I think there is a Signed, Sealed, Delivered Christmas movie this year.

[In2You]

11 hours ago, ShelleySue said:

I liked Harvest Wedding right up to the very last scene. It was a total non-sequitur.  Jill Wagner kept talking about how much she missed Williamstown and was planning on visiting more often.  Victor  Webster kept talking about how much he loved being a farmer.  Hallmark movies are usually so predictable that I know how it will end before the half-way point.  I had expected that she would decide to turn the farm into a wedding venue with farm-to-table catering operation.  But instead they have a roof top corn field in Manhattan?!  It just made no sense to me.

On another note, I realize that Hallmark is trying to make their characters/cast more diverse, but why is every assistant Black or Asian or gay?  Why aren't the main characters more diverse?

Still waiting for this evidence of making their casts more diverse. Because they've been doing the token non white assistant who disappears shortly after the beginning of the movie for years. That doesn't scream working on diversity to me. They have openly gay assistants now? Their conservative viewers  will have a melt down.

[susannot]

19 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I didn't watch the preview.  I did watch Darrow & Darrow and the Harvest Wedding movies this weekend.  I really liked the chemistry Tom Cavanaugh and Kimberly Williams Paisley had. I wish they had more scenes together.  I do think I'll like this movie series but I wish they would spend a little less time on the daughter and the work "love triangle."  And like has already been said, Harvest Wedding was pleasant largely because of the leads. 

I still haven't watched the movies from last week yet.  If I don't get around to them by the time the Christmas movies start, I will need to delete them from my DVR.

I really liked Darrow & Darrow.  I was a trial lawyer before I retired and I found the trial scenes well done, for a Hallmark movie.  Wendie Malick as the mother was insufferable!

[chitowngirl]

1 hour ago, susannot said:

Wendie Malick as the mother was insufferable!

I think she was supposed to be!! ?

[GaT]

3 hours ago, susannot said:

 Wendie Malick as the mother was insufferable!

 

1 hour ago, chitowngirl said:

I think she was supposed to be!! ?

The mother was a problem for me, I didn't like her character at all & if the movies are going to be all about her mother wanting to do things her way, then they lost me as a viewer for this series.

[Irlandesa]

So I started to watch Love Struck Cafe...until I fast forwarded it.  The leads were fine but the story was boring.  The minute she spent more than one day wearing a waitress uniform when she is a corporate woman was already two days too many.

Then there was her boyfriend who was show to be the worst from the minute we saw him.  Seriously--he doesn't even know her assistant's name or what she does.

And I didn't understand the development.  Neither of the plans made sense for the area.

Shallow:  I love Andrew Walker's jaw line.

Edited October 24, 2017 by Irlandesa

[Jaded]

 

[Irlandesa]

Even though the season has just started, a lot of shows have aired reruns this week so I did find time to watch the Hailey Dean movie.  I thought it was a pretty good mystery.  I mean, I knew who had done it after their first scene ended but I still found the journey to be put together.  And that app sounds like it'd actually be kind of good.

[Kemper]

I think that of all the Mystery Movies actors/actresses, Kellie Martin is probably one of the best they have cast as is Kimberly Williams/Paisley.  They have been at it for awhile.  And I love Wendy Malick...too bad she is wasted and has an unpleasant role.  Lori Laughlin is also good...but her family is like nails-on-a-chalkboard for me...ruins the mystery.  Never got into the Allison Sweeney ones or the Candace Cameron-Bure.  

I noticed that this morning, the Matlock reruns were all Christmas themed.  I guess they were getting a jump start.  Too bad.

[voiceover]

Aaaaiiiieee!!! Christmas time!

If anyone sees when "Crown for Christmas" is playing, please pass it along.  

Why can't they make a sequel to that one??  I don't think Rupert P-J is busy...

[Irlandesa]

16 minutes ago, voiceover said:

If anyone sees when "Crown for Christmas" is playing, please pass it along.

This is probably the wrong thread but I'll answer the question here. It will air on Sun. Nov 5th at 11 p.m. Central and Friday Nov. 10th and 3 p.m. Central.

[voiceover]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

This is probably the wrong thread but I'll answer the question here. It will air on Sun. Nov 5th at 11 p.m. Central and Friday Nov. 10th and 3 p.m. Central.

*smooches hem of Irlandesa's garment*

[JAYJAY1979]

Eek...harsh..but I do agree.

 

http://www.chicagonow.com/confessions-coffeeholic/2017/10/hallmark-channel-countdown-to-christmas-halloween/

[EyewatchTV211]

On 10/22/2017 at 0:02 AM, MissyPoo said:

Aww so I'm going to be alone tackling the onslaught of sap and sleighbells? It's like my Superbowl, I get to see which ones choke and which take home the trophy. I see Hallmark has a fantasy game incentive now on their site for the whole season. Even they're treating it like Superbowl season. 

Tonight's Harvest Wedding wasn't too bad! It kept my interest and was funny in some parts. I also liked that the leads acted like normal, functional, communicating adults. I loved the dinner scene and the end was really sweet (they didn't waste any time getting 'reacquainted' heh). I think this was the best of the fall premieres. I can see myself watching this again soon.

I meant to respond to this. I always tackle all of the Christmas movies and plan to again. The only thing I wish is that, instead of starting the movies earlier (before Halloween with Halloween being on a weekday), I'd rather they save some and maybe have multiple movies in one day or have them on some of the days closer to the holiday where they do not have new ones. My response to the movie is helped by my feeling like it's that time of year, and before Halloween is just a little too hard for that. Especially as someone who grew up where winter is cold and snowy (though Christmas wasn't always snowy), with climate change making it feel like spring right now. 

[MissyPoo]

 I hear ya VMepicgrl. I fear next year may be even earlier since it keeps inching up every year.

I felt similar about the autumn movies when the temps changed. Towards the end of the month, we were getting triple digits when earlier in the month it was feeling so nice and cool. 

 

19 hours ago, voiceover said:

Aaaaiiiieee!!! Christmas time!

If anyone sees when "Crown for Christmas" is playing, please pass it along.  

Why can't they make a sequel to that one??  I don't think Rupert P-J is busy...

 

Nuuuuuu. Until they finally get some writers who understand how to do sequels instead of requels (reboot-rehash-retread/sequels), I don't want them to sully the awesomeness that is Crown for Christmas. If they do get some good writers who can continue the story while being true to the characters, I definitely agree!

I do find it interesting they are waiting like a week into the shindig to show one of their best. Some of their other heavy hitters they brought right out the gate.

[In2You]

10 hours ago, VMepicgrl said:

I meant to respond to this. I always tackle all of the Christmas movies and plan to again. The only thing I wish is that, instead of starting the movies earlier (before Halloween with Halloween being on a weekday), I'd rather they save some and maybe have multiple movies in one day or have them on some of the days closer to the holiday where they do not have new ones. My response to the movie is helped by my feeling like it's that time of year, and before Halloween is just a little too hard for that. Especially as someone who grew up where winter is cold and snowy (though Christmas wasn't always snowy), with climate change making it feel like spring right now. 

I'm now starting to feel like its fall because we're finally getting some colder weather though there has been a few warm days between.

Edited October 29, 2017 by In2You

[twoods]

1 hour ago, In2You said:

I'm now starting to feel like its fall because we're finally getting some colder weather though there has been a few warm days between.

103 this past week and finally "cooling down" to 70's this week. Feels weird watching Christmas movies in this heat. 

[voiceover]

Watching "Fir Crazy" because it's a great way to avoid what I'm *supposed* to be doing.

I guess it wasn't really supposed to be a romance -- she starts up with The Guy, 40 minutes in?

Seems like her love interest should've been Scrooge's attorney, or the store manager, or her cousin (obviously made into a Not!cousin).

[ehall1052]

Marry me at Christmas was OK. I read all of Susan Mallery’s books and of course, the book was better. At least it really seemed to be filmed in the winter, as vapor was coming out of their mouths. But some of the snow still looked fake, maybe they had to enhance it. Maddie’s curls drove me crazy, though, and I like curly hair! But hers were a bit much.

[VartanFan]

Quote

Tonight's Harvest Wedding wasn't too bad!

Grrr..I was on a cruiseship, didn't set this to tape and now will have to wait months (a year?) to see it.  And I actually like the leads.  Effing Christmas.  

[MissyPoo]

Aww that sucks (but the cruise sounds awesome, though). Wish I could lend you a copy of my tape so you can see it. 

Edited November 2, 2017 by MissyPoo

[Myrrhine]

I’m watching A December Wedding for the first time. I’m mostly enjoying it. But I don’t care for the attitude of the main character’s family that she is pretty much a selfish cow indulging in melodrama when she’s a bit salty about her cousin taking up with her fiancé. 

[MissyPoo]

I so agree. Even in Snow Bride everyone held the brother accountable for breaking the cardinal dating rule where family exes are involved. Plus, he learned his lesson. The aunt should have laid off, the cousin should have been told off and then everyone should have had turns raking the ex through the coals.

[twoods]

I love Snow Bride! Can't wait until a rewatch. I couldn't sit through the December Wedding movie.

I wonder how many of these holiday movies will have the big city lead leave their high profile life for the quaint small town love life. Any takers?