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Showing posts from September, 2021

Did You Notice THIS Change In Hallmark's "Raise a Glass to Love?"

Starring:  Laura Osnes and Juan Pablo di Pace Released:  2021 (Fall Harvest) Summary:  An aspiring Master Sommelier returns to her family vineyard to study and is intrigued by the natural methods of the handsome new Argentinian winemaker. Magic happens when Hallmark actually uses talented actors instead of inexperienced "newbies." Jenna's Boyfriend, Aidan, Isn't A Weiner When a female lead already has a boyfriend before she meets her true love, Hallmark traditionally casts the secondary male character as a bit of a jerk, someone homely, or a puny fella so viewers won't get attached to him and be upset when he's kicked to the curb.  A recent example is Callie's ex-boyfriend, Joe, in Roadhouse Romance . Played by Adil Zaidi, no one is heartbroken when Callie decides against rekindling her romance with high school sweetheart, Joe. In a refreshing change-up, Raise a Glass to Love pairs Jenna Savern (Laura Osnes) with Aidan Parker (Matthew James Dowden).  Aida...

Take This QUIZ On Hallmark's "Roadhouse Romance!"

Starring:  Lauren Alaina and Tyler Hynes Released:  2021 (Fall Harvest) Summary:  When Callie returns home from her deployment, she finds her hometown has changed.  Her high school sweetheart has a new girlfriend, and her family's barbeque restaurant is struggling.  When she meets a marooned film director, they both learn how to look forward instead of back and find love in the process. Roadhouse Romance kicked off Hallmark's Fall Harvest 2021.  Image: Crown Media Same Movie Formula With A Few Nice Twists Just like Matchmaker Santa , this plot relies on a car breaking down and stranding out-of-towners indefinitely.  It's funny that Hallmark treats small towns like remote, third-world countries that have no access to modern conveniences or supplies.  Finding a replacement switch for a classic car might be a little more challenging, but any service garage could track one down in a day and have it shipped overnight.   Regardless, Tucker's R...

Hallmark's "Journey of My Heart" QUIZ

Starring:  Rhiannon Fish and Darien Martin Released:  2021-Summer Nights Summary:  A wildlife biologist travels to Alaska where she finds inspirational guidance from a Native American family plus an unexpected romance with a rugged wilderness guide. Abby captures some great shots that will help her complete an updated eagle census.   Image: Crown Media Journey of My Heart Similar to Chasing Waterfalls Rhiannan Fish and Darien Martin score two thumbs-up from Hallmark fans who love this story about a study of the eagle population on Native American land. As always, Hallmark's focus remains on diversity, hence the inclusion of indigenous people in the script and cast, but non-woke fans enjoy it anyway. After all, the scenery is breath-taking, even though the movie is filmed in Vancouver rather than the story's Alaskan setting.   Image: Crown Media Just like Chasing Waterfalls where Cindy Busby falls in love with her rugged nature guide, Christopher Rus...

Wes Brown Delivers Perfection In Hallmark's "Sweet Pecan Summer," But Christine Ko Bombs

Starring:  Christine Ko and Wes Brown Released:  2021-Summer Nights Summary:  Sparks fly between a woman and her ex-boyfriend as they work together to sell her aunt's pecan farm. Wes Brown and Christine Ko definitely don't make a believable match.  Image: Crown Media Hallmark Rolls The Diversity Dice Instead Of Casting Couples With Chemistry After a long day, it's nice to unwind with a feel-good Hallmark romance movie.  Most of us don't care what race the couple is as long as the casting director paired two people together who can actually act and create sparks for the viewers. When Crown Media CEO, Wonya Lucas, vowed to include more diversity in Hallmark movies, one might have assumed that meant adding more couples who were black, Asian, Hispanic, Italian, or from some other ethnic group. We are finding that is not the case. These days, Hallmark often sacrifices good story-telling and smart casting for identity politics.  Roughly 10% of the American popula...

"A Little Daytime Drama" Quiz AND Vote For Your Favorite Jen Lilley/Ryan Paevey Movie!

Starring:  Jen Lilley and Ryan Paevey Released:  2021-Fall Harvest Summary:  In order to save her daytime soap drama from cancellation, head writer Maggie must convince Darin, her real-life ex-boyfriend, to return to the show. Jen Lilley and Ryan Paevey are cute together.  Image: Crown Media Lilley And Paevey Reunite Jen Lilley and Ryan Paevey stole our hearts in 2017 when they starred together in Harvest Love , the story of a doctor who visited her family's pear farm in order to reconnect with her son.  She also ended up falling in love with the farm manager. Fans were excited to see Lilley and Paevey coupled again for another Fall Harvest movie, especially since both actors were once soap stars themselves. Alice (Linda Dano) is getting ready to retire, and she hopes to pass the producer baton of her soap drama to Maggie (Lilley).  The ratings are dropping though, and the show is in danger of cancellation.  The top execs want to boost ratings by brin...

Vote For Your FAVORITE Hallmark Summer Nights 2021 Movie!

That's A Wrap!  Hallmark Summer Nights 2021   Hallmark fans were treated  to TEN new original movies during the Summer Nights 2021 season.  Since Christmas in July was sandwiched in the middle, summer movies seemed to last a little longer. Before we happily drown ourselves in pumpkin spice and all things Fall Harvest, let's recap the Summer Nights 2021 line-up and cast our vote for the BEST of the bunch. The 10 Summer Nights 2021 Original Movies 1.  You Had Me at Aloha Pascale Hutton and Kavan Smith delighted fans with their back-and-forth banter in their roles of two TV co-hosts grappling for control of their hit TV show, Next Destination . Filmed on location in Hawaii, we got to enjoy a taste of paradise.  Paige (Hutton) finally shed her mortification over being called The Goat Lady  and learned how to "chill," while Ben agreed to follow the script without too much ad-libbing.   If you loved this movie, you can take a trivia quiz on ...