Hallmark Movies ❤️ comfort & joy

[Imzadi]

Speaking of more location shots of Italy, along with a real romance for the country, it's people and it's food, CNN is re-airing their absolutely wonderful series: Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy.

If you didn't see it last year, this is a DO NOT MISS series.
Season 1 is re-airing all six episodes in a marathon starting
Saturday night, Feb 26 - Feb 27 (Sunday early morning) 9pm - 2am ET/PT.
(Some episodes are already On Demand on Spectrum Cable.)

Season 2 is slated to premiere on Sunday, March 13 at 9pm ET/PT.

It's a strange show to find on CNN, which one usually only associates with news. This is NOT a news show. Nor is it a normal "travel show" like on PBS-TV that just shows a glossing over of pretty landmarks and architecture to visit. This show is a ROMANTIC JOURNEY of Stanley and his deep love of Italy. It is a down to earth blend, detailing the rich history of Italy and it's people with today's very real culture, food, and some current events in the different cities he visits. The places Stanley visits aren't traditional tourist spots. (Although they probably have become since the series aired.) The different personalities of each city is quite evident. Just when I've fallen in love with one city and it's food, the next episode teaches us another place to fall in love with and want to visit.

I started a separate thread for it since it's on CNN and not Hallmark:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/s...or-italy-is-returning-for-season-1-2.3872795/

 

[Imzadi]

I watched Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone. It aired last summer. It's with Tom Everett Scott as the lead, and doesn't really have a normal female lead. The movie is quite different than the usual, formulaic Hallmark movies. No boy meets girl and they have sparks at the beginning.

Instead, the movie starts out with the male lead as being married for 10 years already. His wife wants to take a break from each other as there are some problems in the marriage and she feels they somehow got stuck and trapped with things being as they are. Of course, he doesn't want a break, but he agrees to give her some space as he hopes they can work things out.

His 16 year old niece suddenly and mysteriously shows up on his doorstep one night and wants to stay with him for a while. We slowly watch as her visit and presence slowly gets the male lead "unstuck" in ways he wasn't planning.

Actor, Peter Benson directed this. It is a little slow at times. And the mystery of the niece suddenly showing up could have been written better. But, I liked the movie well enough to watch once.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

LOL, we could have a Hallmark movie game. Glad to see that about Lacey. Thank you, Imzadi for the lodge info. There were, as you know, so many lodge/movies! Some of them, I would so love to visit at Christmastime, too.

 

[Imzadi]

Reminder:

On Saturday, keeping with the Italian wedding veil theme for this month, Welcome to Mama's premieres at 8pm ET on the Hallmark Channel.

Starring: Melanie Scrofano, Daniel di Tomasso and Lorraine Bracco.
Description: After she inherits an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn, manager Amy teams up with a master chef to relaunch the establishment and make her loved ones proud.

Starting at 9pm ET is the 6 hour marathon of Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy on CNN.

 

[Imzadi]

I also keep skipping over watching Cut, Color, Murder now that I know it ends with a cliffhanger. Anyone else feel that way?

For what it’s worth, the story as presented ends. I think the cliffhanger is really more a tip off to the next story, but that’s just me.

I finally saw Cut, Color, Murder. Thanks @Worfiedoodles for letting me know the cliffhanger had to do with the next story. I thought it was a cliffhanger like TV series have during a season finale and we have to wait all summer for the end, during the fall season premiere.

I liked the movie. I thought Julie Gonzalo is a fresh addition to the mystery series, if this does become a series. She and the male lead had a good, quick rapport with each other. They didn't spent too much time having sparks fly.

I liked that her character knew the chief of police really well and he didn't have a problem with her getting involved in the investigation and the fact that people gathered and gossiped at her hair salon was used as a plus. Normally, I find that in many female mystery series, the female lead usually comes off as a nosy busybody, thought by the police as interfering in the investigation. Whereas, male leads may do the same actions, but they are often just thought of as "curious" and wanting to be helpful. It was nice to see the female lead here as being thought of as strong and intelligent.

On the downside, a major problem with the movie is that they didn't follow proper police and legal procedures. Julie picked up major DNA evidence and handed it to the police chief. That would never be allowed to happen in a real investigation as her handling it may have corrupted the evidence. Legally, it breaks the chain of custody. The police should have been the first and only people handling it. I get that the writer was Ryan McPartlin, an actor. But, he should have done his homework on that part and interviewed experts to find out what is accurate and real. I just watch a lot of mysteries and legal drama and knew that was wrong. If the series continues, hopefully that kind of stuff will be fixed.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I finally saw Cut, Color, Murder. Thanks @Worfiedoodles for letting me know the cliffhanger had to do with the next story. I thought it was a cliffhanger like TV series have during a season finale and we have to wait all summer for the end, during the fall season premiere.

I liked the movie. I thought Julie Gonzalo is a fresh addition to the mystery series, if this does become a series. She and the male lead had a good, quick rapport with each other. They didn't spent too much time having sparks fly.

I liked that her character knew the chief of police really well and he didn't have a problem with her getting involved in the investigation and the fact that people gathered and gossiped at her hair salon was used as a plus. Normally, I find that in many female mystery series, the female lead usually comes off as a nosy busybody, thought by the police as interfering in the investigation. Whereas, male leads may do the same actions, but they are often just thought of as "curious" and wanting to be helpful. It was nice to see the female lead here as being thought of as strong and intelligent.

On the downside, a major problem with the movie is that they didn't follow proper police and legal procedures. Julie picked up major DNA evidence and handed it to the police chief. That would never be allowed to happen in a real investigation as her handling it may have corrupted the evidence. Legally, it breaks the chain of custody. The police should have been the first and only people handling it. I get that the writer was Ryan McPartlin, an actor. But, he should have done his homework on that part and interviewed experts to find out what is accurate and real. I just watch a lot of mysteries and legal drama and knew that was wrong. If the series continues, hopefully that kind of stuff will be fixed.

I agree, it’s obvious they didn’t have a law enforcement consultant on board with the project. I assumed it was just a reflection of the low budget…but I really hope it does continue, we’ve lost so many mystery series

 

[Imzadi]

NO new movie tonight.

Later in the month, another Saturday, will also not air a new movie. If Hallmark is using the monies they usually spend just to crank out a (sometimes mediocre) movie for Saturday night so they can buy better scripts and take more care on better movies, I'm all for it.

A rerun with Ryan Paevey, A Summer Romance, is on tonight instead. So we get some eye candy tonight. I liked this movie.


Sunday: The season premiere of When Calls the Heart starts at 8pm ET.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I’m dealing with a nasty cold (thankfully not Covid), and it’s time to watch some movies. Yesterday I did the 2 with the Williams sisters. They weren’t bad, but I wouldn’t rewatch either one.

I’m watching Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas. It’s really good if you enjoy gospel music, a nice storyline, and decent acting to boot. I’m pleasantly surprised!

 

[Imzadi]

I’m dealing with a nasty cold (thankfully not Covid), and it’s time to watch some movies. Yesterday I did the 2 with the Williams sisters. They weren’t bad, but I wouldn’t rewatch either one.

I’m watching Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas. It’s really good if you enjoy gospel music, a nice storyline, and decent acting to boot. I’m pleasantly surprised!

Sorry you are feeling bad. I just finished working overtime this week. My body feels all achy. I'm happy to be able to watch some movies this weekend.

A couple weeks ago, I finally deleted the one Williams sisters movie I had recorded. I needed the DVR space. I figure I'll catch it during Christmas in July. Glad to know I didn't miss anything special.

 

[Imzadi]

Danica McKellar is one of the judges on Domino Masters which premiered on FOX last night. (They will have the episodes On Demand on Spectrum Cable.) Part of the reason she decided to do the show is that the really complex domino structures the contestants build require a lot of math to figure out how to build them right and then to get them to topple perfectly. Of course, math is Danica's thing, being a math genius.

 

[Kennywood]

Will Hallmark PLEASE give Danica McKellar a movie that showcases her math skills?? Perhaps she could play a math teacher who helps, tutors, and inspires one of the children in her class. Of course, the child's widower father will eventually come to fall in love with the teacher.

 

[Imzadi]

Will Hallmark PLEASE give Danica McKellar a movie that showcases her math skills?? Perhaps she could play a math teacher who helps, tutors, and inspires one of the children in her class. Of course, the child's widower father will eventually come to fall in love with the teacher.

She actually did play one in Campfire Kiss. She said in an interview it was her first time producing, so of course, she'd make sure her character was a math teacher. She sang a Pi song that she made up to the Sugar Plum Fairy song. There isn't a clip of it online, which is a shame because some math kids might have used it to remember many of the Pi digits, but she does a few seconds of it in this interview with Harry Connick Jr.

 

[Imzadi]

Reminder:

Saturday: Feeling Butterflies on March 12 on the Hallmark Channel at 8pm ET
Starring Kayla Wallace and Kevin McGarry.

Description: Kayla plays a butterfly expert. She runs Butterflies Inc., a business that releases butterflies at weddings and other special events. She meets Garrett Thorson (McGarry), a single dad who hires her for his daughter Amanda’s birthday.

Fun trivia: Kayla and Kevin appear together on When Calls the Heart AND they’re also a couple in real life. The two have been dating since 2020, according to a report from ET.
Their romance appears to still be going strong. On Valentine’s Day 2022, Wallace shared a video of herself singing on Instagram that ended with McGarry giving her a kiss. In December, she took to social media to share of photo of herself and McGarry on vacation in Mexico.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Just finishing up “A Christmas Dance Reunion,” with Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman. When they said dance they weren’t kidding, really a ton of it. Some huge plot holes but a lot of heart and so nice to see Corbin acting with his wife, who played a reporter. Won’t watch again, but worth a single watch for sure

 

[Imzadi]

A movie I liked is re-airing tomorrow at 4pm on the Hallmark Channel.

Here is what I said about it after watching it the first time:

I liked Her Pen Pal. It could have had a better name. The two leads actually had some chemistry and sizzle between them. Most Hallmark movies seem like they are made to be shown at convents. I'm all for people falling in love with each other's minds and getting to know each other first. But, these are romance movies, it's nice when they have a bit of sizzle.

Info about the movie again:

Tonight's Hallmark movie, Her Pen Pal, is a destination movie, set in Paris!

Interestingly, the four leads are neither American, Canadian or French. The actress, Mallory Jansen, is Australian. The leading man, (new to Hallmark movies,) Joshua Sasse is British. As well as Lachlan Nieboer. And the actress, Jayne Wisener, who plays the female lead's best friend is from Ireland.

The two leads were together in the musical TV series, Gallavant.

Preview of Her Pen Pal:

 

[Worfiedoodles]

A movie I liked is re-airing tomorrow at 4pm on the Hallmark Channel.

Here is what I said about it after watching it the first time:




Info about the movie again:

I agree, this was a good one with a weird name. Glad to see it’s airing again!

I watched “A Christmas Village Romance,” with Jake Epstein. A slightly more unique plot, and he was good. I didn’t see much chemistry with the actress, so one and done for me.

 

[Imzadi]

Reminder:

Sunday: The Presence of Love is on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries at 9pm ET.
Starring: Eloise Mumford and Julian Morris

Description: Professor Joss travels to England to visit the farm where her late mother grew up and bonds with single-father, Daniel, whose family now runs it.

Also, a new episode of When Calls the Heart is on the Hallmark Channel at 8pm ET.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Just saw a commercial for a Hallmark movie I thought was called something like "Second Time Around" (I wasn't really paying attention).

I tried looking it up by the actors, Gloria Ruben & Eriq La Salle (gee, what a unique combo). On IMDB, it's called I Do Again.

EDIT: It has a new name - A Second Chance at Love.

Personally, I didn't think they were much of a match back in their ER days.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I gave “A Match Made in Mistletoe” 29 minutes of my life I’ll never get back. Nope. Awful chemistry and the heroine looked 15 years older than the male lead

 

[Imzadi]

I give Welcome to Mama's a hard NO. Too many problems. And that is just with the female lead. She had personal problems. She had a problem with Mama. She had a problem with the male lead. She had a problem running the restaurant. She came off as an unlikable, overbearing witch.

The male lead, of course had problems with the female lead. He's a chef, but had problems cooking.

Mama was deceased at the beginning of the movie. There were lots of flashbacks, all to better times than the present.

I'm really getting annoyed with all these male & female leads have "sparks fly" in the beginning. Can't Hallmark come up with another plot line? The sparks one lasted 3/4 of the way through the movie. I purposely looked at the clock when she finally realized she was in the wrong. And that was before they have the misunderstanding right before the end, that temporarily separates them. Yet, they never seemed to have enough moments building up to a relationship together.

Hallmark movies are supposed to be my escape to a "happy place." There was so many sparks flying and problems throughout, NO ONE was happy in the movie. I finally turned on an old favorite that I re-recorded last week, Royal Matchmaker, when it was on, to get that "happy place" hit.