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mamachikn
Reviews
Holiday Hotline (2023)
New stories, same tired annoying tropes
This started out interesting. I didn't mind Emily's accent at all, I thought it was fine, and my mother was English. There are lots of Americans who are apparently experts on British accents, even accusing Brits of fake accents.
I didn't care for the physical side by side choreographed phone conversations. They were distracting to me as I watched them move back and forth in perfect synchronization.
I told my husband that it was going to be the same old same old "You lied to me, I cannot trust you" trope. He said no, it wouldn't be like that.
I was correct. It's the most annoying trope in Hallmark's arsenal.
A nice story with a blow up anger, walk away scene.
As I recall, that didn't happen in the classic movies from which these scripts copy. It's just Hallmark's standard endings. Ugh!
It's absolutely ridiculous that a guy would be offended because the 2 women he was falling in love with were the same person. He would be glad.
And to blame someone when there was no attempt to deceive. If it's coincidence, it's not deception..
Just to add an opposite view to the other hurrahs here. I would have possibly given this a 7 if it stayed pleasant and romantic. All the drama is just not necessary. The acting and characters were fine.
Joyeux Noel (2023)
Had possibility, but tedious, wrong casting.
I'm not sure how I watched this for 2 hours. I always like Brandt, but Jaicy, although fine in My Southern Family Christmas, is such a boring uncharismatic actress. She has this superior vibe in all her movies. Just not pleasant at all. Never happy, never laughs, rarely smiles.
The script was just okay. I think with another actress, it might have been a lot better. Kimberly should definitely have been in this, or any other actress except Jaicy.
I think Kimberly Daugherty chose Jaicy because there was no chance of any chemistry between them!
That's unfortunate, but casting is extremely important. Especially a lead in a romantic movie.
Not even close.
Mystic Christmas (2023)
Okay for the first half, then just boring
It started out okay, I liked the initial banter and the leads are cute together. The secondary gay romance wasn't interesting.
Jessie's haircut was unflattering, IMO.
The seal was cute, though, and the best part of the movie. But it wasn't enough to remain interesting.
I didn't finish the movie.
I still have 300 more characters, so I'll say that this movie is easy to forget and I don't remember what I saw even now.
It takes place supposedly in Mystic Seaport, Connecticut.
Jessie's character is cute but odd, socially challenged.
The seal's name is Peppermint.
There are some Christmas activities I don't remember.
Met the quota. Done.
Sweet Autumn (2020)
Nice Movie with Some Strange Casting Choices
This is a cute movie. We watched it first a couple of years ago and liked it, mainly because of the lead actors.
On this rewatch, we noticed that the woman who was playing the lead's younger sister seemed quite a bit older.
She has played older characters, and is in her early 50s, whereas the lead actress, who plays the older sister, is 10 years her junior.
The really bizarre casting is the man who plays the husband of the 50 something actress is 30 years younger! 30 years! He looks a lot older than his early 20s, but everywhere I checked has him born in the year 2000.
That's beyond cougar, lol!
I still liked the movie. Not great, but Andrew Walker and Nikki Deloche are always fun to watch.
The Dancing Detective: A Deadly Tango (2023)
Loved the duo. The scenery was gorgeous. The rest was disappointing.
Of course everyone was waiting for this pairing of Will Kemp and Lacey Chabert. And that part was good. He was very funny, the dancing was nice. Great chemistry, as we knew there would be.
The story started out interesting.
Beautiful scenery, a great advertisement for travel to Malta.
Lots of potential suspects.
The final half hour was disappointing.
Lacey is lovely but her hair and makeup in the final scenes are unflattering. Pasty lipstick and the hairdo which looked okay while moving was distracting in the initial close-up scene.
The ending was bizarre but funny with them dancing through the crowded dance floor.
It was wrapped up way too quickly.
The chase in the dark with high heels on a cobblestone street, yet the man says the ladies are too fast for him, is not believable. Lol.
A deflated ending, ordinary, rather boring.
But Will and Lacey were great, in spite of it.
The Professional Bridesmaid (2023)
Original profession, unoriginal script
I liked the main characters and the basic bones of the script.
Unfortunately, it was more of the same old, same old.
Main female lead, X, has to hide her true identity.
Main male lead, Y, falls in love with X but doesn't know she isn't who she says she is.
Y overhears a private conversation that reveals the identity of X.
Y gets offended and confronts X, then walks away without hearing the whole story.
Two other women tell Y that it's obvious he's in love with X.
Y returns and forgives X.
X is sorry.
They kiss.
Other side issue is resolved.
The end.
In between all these things is a lot of wedding planning mishaps and X has to jump through hoops to make everyone happy, including finding the hoops.
Just tiring to watch. I was glad when it was over.
A Playful Love (2022)
Had potential, but no chemistry and annoying characters.
This started out okay. The lead actress is attractive and talented, but her character was flawed.
She was a lazy mother, whose child was left to raise himself, because it was important that he learn to be "independent". Yet her mantra was be there to"support your family".
She professed one thing and did the opposite. Hypocrisy. The only reason she made the right decision at the end and went to her son's play was because she had to, after she overheard that she wasn't going to get a promotion. Otherwise " supporting your family" wasn't going to happen.
The two leads had absolutely no chemistry whatsoever.
The male lead was boring and so annoying! The script had him as a neurotic over protective father. He never changed.
Dull as dishwater.
The flamboyant drama teacher was way over the top for the first half of the movie.
He was better at the end.
The kids were okay.
The boy was a good actor.
The principal was good, also. A funny example of a junior high school principal.
I'm Glad It's Christmas (2022)
Another woman gives up her dream for a man. OMG
The movie had potential and Gladys Knight was great.
After 5 years waiting for her dream, Chloe finally has a call back from a famous Broadway producer.
Of course the audition conflicts with another commitment, and is an annoying but standard trope for conflict in these Hallmark, now GAF movies.
And she gives up her once in a lifetime audition to do a community music production.
Not only that, but she still gets the part, and says "Are you sure?"
To which the correct response would be, no, we're not sure, because if after 5 years, you still are unsure about your own talent, you are not ready for Broadway!
It's insulting to all those who work for their dreams for years with passion, to have a weak character as a lead female in a movie who has obviously given up.
The music was nice, though.
An Eclectic Christmas (2022)
Another Woman Gives Up Her Dreams For A Man
This is a very slow paced movie. The acting is fine. The guy isn't particularly attractive, so it was hard to believe she fell for him.
Here's a guy who stayed back when she wanted to follow her dream. They were engaged but he wasn't supportive, or he would have gone with her.
His excuse of not wanting to hold her back was nonsense.
At the end, he does just that...which is basically nothing.
He doesn't want to let her go again, but will not go with her back to LA.
She's the one who decides to stay and be basically a clone of her deceased manipulative aunt, who orchestrated the game to get her and her ex fiance back together.
Now she gets to live in the little town, doing good and being just like her aunt.
She got a chance to get her dream and turned it down. Ugh!
A horrible ending. Just ridiculous, imo.
The Christmas Book (2021)
Does anyone edit these movies?
The answer is no.
This was a very ordinary average same old same old romcom that threw in scenes of various activities but with no cohesion to the story.
The letter from the grandma to her granddaughter who inherited the farm was clearly visible in one scene.
It had the correct town, the correct salutation, the correct final "Love, Grandma".
But the letter was an analysis of the handwriting and font that beared no resemblance to what was supposed to be written.
I think the prop person or whoever wrote it had a fun joke. The fact that this was so obvious and unedited was stunning.
The error in the dialogue spoken by the female lead at her speech threw the whole thing off.
She clearly said it was TWO days before Christmas Eve, when it should have been 10 days. A whole festival had to be planned, and days and days went by, morning and evening.
Towards the end, at the planning meeting, the lead spoke the line that it was two days before Christmas Eve. That was correct.
A sound editor could have dubbed the word TEN in the beginning, so as to make sense to the story.
Gave this a 5.
We spent the final half hour playing games on our phones while the movie played, just so I could cross it off my watched Christmas movie list.
A Brush with Christmas (2022)
Was an okay watch until the horrible end
The story was a little bit different. I didn't mind the flat acting and the dialog.
Some of it was silly and unrealistic, like the friend taking the time to "help" her look for the red paint she needed in the only box of paint there.
But I watched all the way through.
Unfortunately, as with so many of these Hallmark type movies, the leads know each other for a few days before they decide to give up everything for "love", which is just lust, because love puts the other person's best interests first before anything.
True love knows you need to know someone more than a week, would be willing to have a one year long-distance relationship if necessary for the good of them both. They can get to know each other at least!
Wyatt gets an amazing opportunity to go to London for one year. They double the initial salary. He asks her to go with him, but she's too selfish to consider it. She intends to stay in the little town forever and ever, apparently.
He goes to leave, then turns down the job of a lifetime because she's "his dream." He doesn't even know her!
Absolutely ridiculous! With the money Wyatt made, they could start their lives with a good financial foundation. One year is not forever.
So stupid.
Ugh!
Rated down to a 5. Maybe should be a 4.
A Tale of Two Christmases (2022)
Makes more sense After you watch it!
I watched this for the first hour with my husband, then as it seemed a little boring, we skipped over and watched a few scenes until the end.
We decided to give it a 5, which means it was below expectations for a decent movie.
Reading the reviews and thinking about the storyline again made me realize it's better than it appears, but it takes some analysis.
The one error was the date on the phone at the end, when it was actually the next day, Christmas morning.
She had the dream after the whole day of Christmas Eve, when she missed her flight.
She dreamed that night that she had actually made the flight, after the not so perfect date with the guy she had wanted to know for a while. He wasn't as perfect for her as he first appeared to be, and she realized it.
She knew that helping the Santa guy with his luggage had made her miss her flight.
She imagined in the dream that she didn't stop to help and the whole scenario unfolds from there.
She had conformed to other people's expectations in the city. When the guy talked about plain ethically sourced chocolate, it made her think. She probably thought about the way she liked it when she lived at home.
She had changed and she realized it. The day with the "perfect" guy brought out all the things she didn't really like about her new city self. She realized she had compromised who she was for perceived acceptance by her peers.
So the whole dream played out in her mind that night and nothing worked the way she originally thought it would.
When she awakened Christmas morning she was relieved that it had been a dream.
She realized she loved Drew and intended to tell him. She realized who she really was and what she really wanted in her life.
I think on a second watch it may deserve a higher rating.
We almost turned it off at the beginning with the really dumb model fiasco! That was hard to watch, but I suggested we keep going. We only made it to an hour, but I like the movie better when I understand it, lol.
The Holiday Swap (2022)
Clever Movie Script and Fun to Watch
This was a unique story, with 3 chapters telling it from different viewpoints.
The audience knew what was up halfway or earlier into the first chapter.
Well done, and most of the acting was good.
Other than the strange attempt at snow and the obviously fake Christmas trees in the forest scene, where we had to stop to laugh, it was well done.
The dialogue and interaction between the characters was good, and humorous at times.
My husband rates it an 8, he liked it that much. So I rated it an 8 also. Definitely a 7, though.
There were noticably very long pauses for effect in the more dramatic scenes.
Still a lot of fun to watch.
The Royal Nanny (2022)
Very different and super cute movie!
The Royal Nanny.
It's one of the better movies this year.
Different storyline, mystery, comedy, romance. Very cute. Thoroughly enjoyed it!
Unrealistic, of course, because an English prince would never be in a romance with an orphan MI7 agent, lol. We viewers don't mind, though.
It was interesting and held my interest throughout. Super cute use of the "brolly".
Gave it a 7.
Good acting. I liked "Scary" Poppins, and everyone was of course English, so the accents were real. Though I know someone here will say they turned it off because of it!
It was filmed in Brussels, Belgium, so other than drone views of the London skyline and Tower Bridge, the street scenes and castle were in Belgium.
Love at the Christmas Contest (2022)
Boring, but with lots of amusing things to watch
Watchable and family-friendly, but boring.
Except for the funny friend, and all the strange scenes that were off and made us laugh.
Who would try to wrap a present like that??!! You would have to see that scene to believe it. 😂
There was no town shown, only indoor scenes and front of the house scenes.
If you look closely at the picture of the nursery in one scene, there are skyscrapers behind it.
That pot of stew was massive and would have fed a dozen people!😂
After watching 100 of these stories, it's still annoying when the misunderstanding you know is coming actually does. No one says anything. No one communicates. It just has to be like that. Sigh.
The acting was okay, the male lead is a good-looking guy.
There is a different feeling to GAC movies than the new Hallmark ones. So it's tame.
I laughed when I noticed that there's no drinking wine at dinner, because we watched A Magical Christmas Village last week and there were at least 4 or 5 episodes where everyone had their glasses - Hallmark was trying subliminal messages to get us to buy their wine. So that's funny.
The kisses are different. A very friendly quick pucker up and peck. 😂 Done.
We had fun with this one, and all the little things mentioned were entertaining. We laughed a lot.
I give it a 5 out of 10 for the get upset/non-communication trope.
A Christmas Masquerade (2022)
Cute but predictable
There were some interesting variables in the movie:
The first time I've seen a Polish family. The babcia looked Polish to me, as did Nora, the daughter. Although I'm half Polish myself, I never heard about the live carp in the bathtub. I had to look it up. It's a thing.
Instead of a prince, it's about a potential ambassador. So different profession.
And he grew up in the US, so no fake British accent! Yay!
Being that this is an Up movie, I thought it odd that a woman deciding to have a baby "by herself" without a father present, was an aspect of the movie. Yes, very 2022, but I'm not a fan of this trend. JMO. Kids need a father.
However, it is another difference about this movie.
The conflict is same old same old:
In the beginning, the lead didn't want to go to a masquerade ball using her boss's invitation, because she wanted to "be herself"...with a mask on...lol.
The entire movie is her and her boss switching identities, so they are as far from being themselves as one can get.
And predictably, when the male lead finds out, it's the same old " you lied to me!" offense and rejection. I never like those standard tropes, but I'm halfway used to it by now, since it's so common in many of these romcoms.
It was okay for one watching.
Catering Christmas (2022)
Nice movie, nothing special.
I liked the movie and the cast was good. Acting was okay, nice story.
I didn't see the need to put the 2 older people as a couple.
Aunt Jean looked older than her 70 years and Robert is just 60 years old.
There was no point in Molly being surprised by Aunt Jean's comment that she placed Carson in charge of the gala to get him to take a more active role in the foundation.
Carson told Molly she put him in charge! And he said he knew nothing about it. Then Molly gets offended and doesn't answer his calls, which is what always happens in half of these movies. Just an annoying trope that was totally unnecessary.
It was fine for one watching.
At least Carson was wealthy, so him giving up his career for Molly and the foundation was okay. He didn't need the fame or the money.
I always think it's silly to change your whole life after one week of knowing someone.
These two had an almost kiss, but never went on a date. They knew nothing about each other.
There was little chemistry between them.
Just a lot of smiles.
My Boss' Wedding (2021)
First half was better than the last half.
The movie starts out fine. Nicole is quirky and funny and sarcastic. Matt is a good match and it's enjoyable, though nothing new. Still the same co-wedding planners, promotion, etc, kind of story
When the conflict arises towards the end, I figured out what it was about right away.
I thought that Nicole's behavior wasn't like her. She needed a few days to figure it out?? How about a few minutes?
It ended predictably, and rushed. And I was distracted in the last 20 minutes, first by the horrible hairdo given to Nicole. Weird parting, half-braided, and messy long hair. Parts of her scalp showed.
And second, by her boss's horribly fitted and styled wedding gown. After seeing the pretty gowns earlier in the movie, this was the one chosen?? Side bodice holes and openings were unattractive to the actress with an unusually large bosom. I thought she might fall over at some point.
Poor acting was more noticable at the end.
I don't expect a lot from these movies, but this just wasn't consistent. Weak ending.
I gave it a 5, because of the distractions, lol.
A Country Romance (2021)
If I Only Had a Brain
This is one of the most boring movies I've watched all year, and I watch one every day.
The acting, script, and directing were pretty bad. The lead, Sara, had the same wide eyed, deer in the headlights expression throughout the movie. She talked in a monotone with few vocal inflections and moved slowly, part of the direction, perhaps to convey how peaceful she felt?
She doesn't know the word to use when researching on the computer to how to pick a lot of grapes. They made a specific point of that. The word is Harvest! Never heard that word, I guess. You can not know a lot about farming, yet have general common sense. She obviously had none.
She doesn't know how to open garden clippers. That was pointed out.
She throws a bunch of grapes into an empty basket from 5 feet away, so obviously she's never bought grapes before, or does she do that with her store bought produce?
There is so much work to do around the farm, because the grapes are ready to harvest, yet 5 minutes into the grape picking, they're tired and hungry. Then after lunch, they all decide to go to town to help Sara pick a grape harvesting outfit! End of day number one. Whew, a lot of work!
She had requested flour from Gabe, then forgets about it a few hours later when he comes by with "flours" and makes a joke. She looks gormless at him, not getting the humor. "I forgot, " she says.
The whole cast, other than the little girl, is stiff and stilted and robotic, as other reviewers here have mentioned.
They threw in a developer who wanted to buy the property for a hotel.
They threw in a Harvest Party, what else? Just for the heck of it.
SO boring. There was no point to grapes in the story, and the story would have had some cohesiveness if they were harvesting apples, as there were also apples from the apple tree her mother had planted and Sara made her mom's apple torte, then was going to make apple cobbler. No grapes were required anywhere, and no one was making wine.
We don't know where this place was, but because people called her ma'am, which Sara said they didn't do in the city, and the little girl had a southern accent, it appeared to be somewhere in the south. They filmed it in Oklahoma.
I don't know what was the point of the daffodils shown and mentioned, as daffodils arrive in early spring and grapes and apples are harvested in the late summer, early fall.
As one reviewer said, it must be the directing. So bad, so boring, no life anywhere except for the precocious young Mabel.
I made it about halfway through, before fast forwarding through the rest to see bits of it.
Romance at Crystal Cove (2021)
I read the reviews and watched it anyway. My mistake.
The scenery is nice. I usually like Jesse Hutch. Stephanie Bennett is pretty but smiles too much, like all the time, through every line.
Jesse wears a three piece suit, which was popular in the 80s. Maybe it's coming back in style or that's how they dress up in Canada?
In the beginning, my husband noticed the loud sound of empty paper coffee cups hitting the counter. That sound should have been cut out during editing. Lol
There are 2 conversations where people being talked about are about 10 feet away or less and the conversation is loud. The others would of course have clearly heard it. Reminds me of plays where the narrator talks to the audience.
Skye gives away lots of bath bombs. The ingredients would be very expensive if they're that good. No wonder the store is losing money! There are a zillion ingredients in each one. Almost.
The "misunderstanding" occurs when Skye hears Gavin arguing with his father. It's very obvious who said what and who's side Gavin was on. But no, she gets all accusatory and huffy. It's so annoying why these movies do that.
Then the father makes a 180 degree turn around in 5 second after he smells a bath bomb that reminds him of his dead wife's favorite scent. He actually has to explain the whole thing in case the viewers don't get it. It's the first time he's thought about his wife. Seriously??? He's suddenly repentant and likes Skye and says how talented she is and tells his son not to lose her. The most ridiculous scene in the movie. For those who turned the movie off early, you missed a doozie of a scene.
Just a bad movie and a waste of time.
Plus One at an Amish Wedding (2022)
Good movie about the two cultures. Much better than Follow Your Heart.
The two leads are married to each other and their previous Amish movie, Follow Your Heart, was one of my least favorite movies because it was unrealistic and rather disrespectful in its portrayal of the Amish.
This movie is so much better! I liked the script and the setting, and the leads were genuinely nice people throughout.
I found it amusing that there were no kisses during the movie between the leads, even though they were in love and had been dating for 6 months. No kisses allowed in these romance movies until the very end! It's a rule, I guess.
The Amish family was initially divided in their acceptance of April, as was expected, but everything turned out good in the end. No villains left. There was love and forgiveness. A sweet movie.
A Royal Queens Christmas (2021)
Totally unbelievable though it had some nice moments
This confirms why I dislike Hallmark royal movies.
I did like the authentic accent of the English lead, but it's silly that every fake country in these movies has to have an English accent. Most of these accents are awful.
There must be anger in every movie, why, I don't know. It's always "you lied", no matter if it's explained well or not, and always full of an unforgiving attitude. It's annoying and makes me dislike the angry person. Who would go after someone with that meanness? Doesn't make for a good relationship.
The scooter at the end was laughable. Really? A prince, unable to get a taxi, riding a scooter from Manhattan to Queens?
And the costume department was really bad, as has been mentioned. Not only was the prince wearing a Marine dress uniform, but it was one stripe!! A lance corporal, the third lowest rank. One year in the Marines. Seriously, those patches should have been removed. What were people thinking?
And apparently, the king no longer cared if his son didn't want to lead his country. The King was going to retire, anyway, eventually. Is that how it works? Not hardly. Not in any known monarchy. His cousin was going to take over the throne. Ugh. Just stupid.
Wedding of a Lifetime (2022)
Good script, great acting, leads work very well together!
I enjoyed this romantic comedy. When I mentioned this new movie I was going to watch, my daughter thought the leads would not be a good fit. They have very different personalities onscreen.
But I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the actors and their interactions together. I have a new respect for Jonathan Bennett as an actor. He is versatile, and this was a good fit. Brooke D'Orsay is always a great watch.
The couple had some serious and poignant moments for the first 20 minutes of the film.
Then the comedic situations arose and the two were excellent physical comedians. There were a few laugh out loud moments.
Towards the end there were some over the top situations which thankfully didn't last, and the final ending was perfect. These two were outstanding, imo.
Finding Love in Big Sky, Montana (2021)
Boring. Actress has no acting voice. Emotionless.
The story was okay. The pretty actress, while her acting was okay, had an emotionless voice, monotone, no feeling. There was no personality to speak of. The story starts with her narrating. There was no chemistry between the two leads.
The basic story was similar to many others, but the scenery was nice. I gave it a 6. No misunderstandings or big conflict, which was fine. Just nothing worth watching again.
I have to write 600 characters for this review to be published. So, hmm, did I say it was boring?
There were horses, trail riding, kids.
No empty coffee cups that I remember. I don't remember seeing any of the actors before.
There was money needed, and a loan was applied for. It was an extreme amount, which I thought was unlikely to be approved. And there was subsequent fundraising which of course came no where close to the large amount of money requested.
There were two couples who found romance.
I appears that we will be seeing fewer reviews here. I enjoy the short reviews, and rarely read a long one all the way through. If you got this far, you know I am trying to fill a character quota. Omg.
A Second Chance at Love (2022)
Good story, realistic, good acting.
I gave this a 6 for good for one watching.
I liked the younger female lead in last year's Deliver by Christmas. Her role in this was accurate though she played an annoying character. Quite typical of what her experiences had been.
There is a lot of explaining about the situations, in case the viewers don't understand.
The misunderstanding was a bit annoying but taken in the context of the characters perceptions, it was appropriate.
It ended well, and was better than I thought it would be. I liked the actors. There was no wokeness as one review said. Surprisingly well done. These last Hallmark movies are getting better.