Tag: #brookedorsay

Hallmark Movie Review: A Fabled Holiday

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/a-fabled-holiday

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was in a funk when I started watching this movie and didn’t give it a fair chance. I’m really glad I gave it a second chance! I re-watched it before writing this, because I had a feeling my original low rating was a me issue. I was right.

The first 15 minutes of this movie are very important, so make sure you pay close attention to the story or you’ll have to do what I did. Here’s a quick recap and my two cents 😉

Quick Recap

As a child, Talia and Anderson use to read a story about a town called Wunderbrook. It was magical town where people would go who lost their way and forgot who they were. When Talia was 10 her father passed away. Talia and her mom moved away to be closer to other family, and Talia gave her copy of Wunderbrook to Anderson as a reminder of their time together.

As an adult Talia moved back into her childhood home and opened a bookstore while trying to be a writer. Unfortunately, she hasn’t been able to find a publishing company interested in her work. Feeling down about where her life is going, she’s looking forward to some time away from her store.

At the same time, Anderson is going through some issues at work and decides to take a break from work. They both wind up on a journey in the mythical Wunderbrook.

My Two Cents

I really enjoyed the fairy tale feeling of this movie. From the narrator to the hand drawn looking book pages and chapter introductions, this movie took it’s name to heart. Which I found endearing during my second viewing!

I can’t continue reviewing this before squealing like a little girl over this being the FIRST RYAN PAEVEY movie of the season!! EEEK!!! Elf Ryan was the highlight of my evening!!

Sadly, I think it’s his only movie this Christmas season. But I’m glad it’s a good one. I know I scored it the same as Coyote Creek Christmas from last year, but I enjoyed this one more! It’s more on par with A Timeless Christmas.

I also really enjoyed Ryan’s pairing with Brooke. If this isn’t the first time they’ve been paired together, then you need to tell me which other movies I need to add to my watch list! I hope we see them together again in the future!

Okay, enough about my guy and girl crushes. Lets get to the actual movie!

In some ways, this movie reminded me of the old ABC series Once Upon a Time. All these people are in a mythical town. Some of them know what’s really going on, while others are there for another purpose.

Mildred was like the Evil Queen, Judy was like Snow White, and Talia was like Henry, the believer/writer. I suppose all fairy tales are similar with the good, bad, and people who need to learn something or overcome an obstacle to move forward in their life. At least these people aren’t cursed to never be able to leave Wunderbrook 😉

Anyhow, I liked that this movie had the other couple and Charles who also had issues to overcome instead of the movie solely focusing on Talia and Anderson. It added substance instead of taking away from the main characters.

It feels like Hallmark is branching out a little more from their usual plots this year. I enjoyed this movie and would like to see more like this in the future. If you aren’t a fairy tale lover, then this definitely isn’t the right movie for you. If you love fair tales, fate, and general magic, then give this movie a try.

Did you watch this movie? Let me know what you thought! Leave a comment!

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Hallmark Movie Review: Wedding of a Lifetime

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/wedding-of-a-lifetime

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Yes! I’m in ROMCOM heaven over here! I wish there was a new romcom every week! Here is a quick recap and my two cents 😉 

Quick Recap

Darby and Jake are childhood sweethearts who have been engaged for 10 years. Unfortunately, life kept getting in the way of them marrying. Now, their entire town nominated them for Hey Good Day’s competition, Wedding of a Lifetime. With their businesses failing, they decide to enter the competition in hopes of saving the town’s small businesses.

My Two Cents

I was a little worried when this movie started out sad and heavy. I wasn’t in the mood for a sad/heavy movie tonight. But when the competition started, so did the fun. I absolutely loved Darby and Jake together!

Also I loved all the familiar faces! So many of the supporting cast have been in other movies! Did you notice them? Wish I knew some of their names, but it’s often difficult to get full cast lists. 🙁

Holy fun competition! I wish Jeff and I could do something like that. I like to think we would kick butt. Even if we didn’t, we would definitely laugh 99% of the time and love it. For Darby and Jake, I loved how every game brought them closer together. They had a significant advantage, because they had been together the longest, but they wouldn’t have done so well if they didn’t love each other.

I loved when Darby and Jake sneak out of the hotel and go to the pie shop. Pie for a meal should really be a thing. Sometimes I have dessert for dinner where I eat a hot fudge sundae or cake for dinner (don’t judge, I’m sure most of us have done this at some point in our lives!). I would happily eat pie if we had a pie place, but there is a disturbing lack of pie stores where I live. 😊

Fan picked wedding my butt. I highly doubt the fans would have chosen anything that wound up in their wedding. I’m glad that worked out the way it did. If I had walked into my wedding like that, I would have put an immediate end to it.

Despite the weird fan picked wedding and the sad/heavy opening, I really enjoyed all the romcom and funny moments sprinkled throughout. Jeff and my son even enjoyed quite a few parts. So, I think most people will like this too. If you enjoy silly romcom’s, then give this a shot!

Did you watch this movie? Let me know what you thought! Leave a comment!

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Hallmark Movie Review: A Dickens of a Holiday

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/a-dickens-of-a-holiday

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Oh man 🙁 I’m really bummed about this movie. I have generally liked past Dickens plot movies. Unfortunately, this didn’t do it for me. Here’s a quick re-cap and my two cents.

Quick Re-Cap

Recently divorced Cassie Pruitt is directing A Christmas Carol in the 100 year anniversary of Dickens Days in Dickens, Ohio. Unfortunately, Scrooge comes down with laryngitis and they need to find someone new. They insist on choosing someone from Dickens. They ask big time actor Jake Dorsey to come home and help.

My Two Cents

I’m having one of those, “is it me or the movie?” evenings. I’ve been watching this movie for 1.5 hours and other than the quick re-cap, I haven’t written down ANYTHING about this movie. Normally by now I have at least half my review completed.

As a side note…there was something that gave me a quick thrill and distracted me for a little bit of the movie. Did you see the beautiful Inn where Cassie and Jake are staying? Did it look familiar? It should! I think it’s been in a few different Hallmark movies, but I remember it from Good Morning Christmas! In the video clip below, you can catch it at about the 14 second mark 🙂 I absolutely love this Inn. It’s so beautiful! I’d like to spend a weekend away there.

Okay, back to the actual movie. So, I really like versions of A Christmas Carol like It’s Christmas, Carole! that actually have a real Scrooge, ghosts, tiny Tim, etc. This take on the movie wasn’t really my cup of tea.

Maybe this would have been better if Jake had been more Scroogey and less jerky? I don’t know, but I liked Jake’s story line and how he kind of forgot himself when he became a big time actor and had to go through this process of improving himself so he could land the part of his dreams. The best improvement he made was him repairing his relationship with his family 🙂

Aside from fixing his family relationship, there wasn’t much else that captured my attention with this one. I mean, this movie was so blah that I’m not even gushing over the horse drawn carriage. Probably because Jake made such a big deal about that book being in the carriage instead of the horse driving it. Come on Jake! You’re in a carriage with the woman you’re starting to love! Don’t get all mushy about a book.

On top of not mentioning the carriage ride, I also didn’t mention the adorable small town appeal of the movie. I love small towns. Towns where everyone knows everyone and people help each other when they’re in need. There should have been more small town feeling in this book. There was some with everyone knowing Cassie had been directing Broadway and a few other little things, but I felt it could have been played up more.

Alrighty, so tell me folks, was it just me? Am I cranky tonight? Should I give this movie another try? As of right now, it’s definitely NOT on my Countdown to Christmas must see list for the season. Leave a comment and try to get me to change my mind! What did you like about this movie?

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Movie Review: Beverly Hills Wedding

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/beverly-hills-wedding

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lost loves/second chances. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before…I have a thing for lost loves and second chances. I didn’t know this was going to be one of these movies! What a happy surprise!

Childhood sweethearts galore! Jordan + Sofia and Cory + Molly were all childhood sweethearts, but Cory and Molly grew apart as they grew older. Over the years, Jordan and Sofia grew closer and become engaged in the beginning of the movie. Molly, a photographer and Sofia’s sister, offers to be their wedding planner.

Molly knows Sofia and Jordan are on a budget, so she enters them into a free wedding contest in Beverly Hills, and she wins! This earns a free planning trip to Beverly Hills for the foursome. The catch? The wedding is pre-scheduled to be on Valentine’s day, which is only 6 weeks away. Will the shortened engagement pull Jordan and Sofia apart? Or will being in close quarters bring Cory and Molly together? Watch and see!

Here’s my two cents. Fair warning, there will probably be a few spoilers.

First, lets talk about the leads.

Brandan Penny isn’t one of the leads that typically makes me drool or fantasize about being stranded on a deserted island with (sorry Brandan!), but dang – I could get lost in those blue eyes! Do they do extra touch-ups on his eyes during his movies or are they that beautiful? I could lose myself in them for days.

Equally as impressive as Brandan’s eyes was Brooke’s hair. I wish I had her stylist! In the era of COVID hair, Brooke is my idol! Plus, her outfits were adorable. She always looks so classy!

I think we’ve established that both leads are beautiful in their own right, but together, they’re fantastic. This was a great Hallmark pairing. They had beauty, chemistry, and bantered very well. Plus, you found yourself wanting them to be together. I think I actually moaned at one point when they almost kissed, but at the last minute, Molly pulled away shouting, “Seating charts!” Ugh! Molly!

Don’t worry though folks, because this is Hallmark. And in being Hallmark, of course there are happy endings for everyone. BUT…I did need a few tissues. Maybe I’m just hormonal or maybe the ending was that good. You can be the judge. Either way, I definitely had tears during the speeches at the end of the movie. They were so sweet and perfect.

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Movie Review: A Godwink Christmas

3.5/5

I’m really frustrated with this movie. I wanted to love it, but I just couldn’t. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it. I have a feeling that if I don’t write this review right now, I’ll forget most of this movie by morning.

So, let’s start with a quick synopsis. Pat is a divorced Dad who returns to his hometown of Boise from Hawaii. Margie is the woman he left behind about twenty years ago. 

That was quick, right? Haha, it’s late and I want to tell you all my thoughts before I go to sleep.

I’ve mentioned before that I LOVE second chance romance movies. Pat and Margie are exactly the type of couple that makes my romantic heart say “aaawwww…” They broke up when they graduated, because Pat got a job in Hawaii and Margie wanted to go to college and stay local. Now they’re both in the same city at the same time.

Next, I LOVE fate movie themes. I consider godwinks a form of fate. The thought is that God keeps giving you a nudge in the right direction. Pat and Margie keep accidentally meeting where ever they go. Also, Pat keeps finding Margie’s jewelry like he’s a jewelry magnet/metal detector. Pat and Margie just can’t help being together.

Finally, I loved all the actors and actresses in this movie, but I really loved the two leads. Sam Page, who plays Pat is handsome and delicious. They could keep showing him in his pajamas (or shirtless) all day please! Let’s not forget Brook D’Orsay. She’s beautiful and played Margie with such sincerity. She was fantastic.

With all these wonderful things, I’m sure you’re wondering why I didn’t LOVE this movie? This is going to sound nitpicky, but the godwink sound really annoyed me. I don’t remember watching the other godwink movies, so I don’t know if this is a thing or if it’s new to this movie? Either way, it wasn’t for me.

More than the godwink sound, there wasn’t really a climax per se. Yes there was a part where it sounds like things aren’t going to work out, but you can tell from the very very beginning of the movie how much Pat and Margie like each other. They literally could have stopped the movie when they reconnected for the first time. The looks they gave each other made it clear where that relationship was headed. And that first hug?! Did you all see that?? In real life they would have ran for a hotel room. 

Overall, this is a decent movie. It stresses the importance of finding the person you can’t live without and not settling for someone, which definitely connects with my romantic heart. If you watch it, I hope you enjoy it. Happy movie watching y’all!