Tag: #carlomarks

Hallmark Movie Review: Scouting for Christmas

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/Scouting-for-Christmas

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

It’s been a long time since I relaxed on the couch, pulled out my Chromebook and watched Hallmark. But it’s Countdown to Christmas and I signed up for the Hall-GAC Christmas Movie Showdown again! 32 movies in the bracket this year. Yay!! I don’t know about you, but after watching 32 movies, I’m going to struggle to remember the first few. So I’m back! 😉

I was hoping I could come back to writing and have this awesome movie to gush about. Unfortunately, Scouting for Christmas isn’t that movie. It has it’s moments I’ll gush about later, but overall, it was a solid three star movie. Below is a quick recap and my two cents.

Quick Recap

Life is hard sometimes. Especially as a single working mom of a Sunny Scout who’s biggest wish for Christmas is for her mom to date someone and have her Dad visit home. Add in a Sunny Scout ball, a cute baker, and a surprise visit, and the scene is set for a sweet Hallmark Christmas movie.

My Two Cents

This movie runs right down the center of the road. There’s cute and funny parts and a few slow or annoying moments. But in the end, I still cried (happy tears of course). LOL.

There were a lot of good moments, but the highlight of the movie was Brooklyn’s Dad, Dakota, coming home early to surprise her. His fly by the seat of his pants/over the top attitude compared to Angela’s stick up her butt attitude was a nice change. Then add William’s timely appearance and Angela’s subsequent melt down into the mix and I loved it.

Luckily, this wasn’t the only good part of the movie. The sweet ending brought everything together in the classic Hallmark happy ending. Even the evil villain (Elizabeth) came around to the good side. 😊

Despite the great moments, there were several not so great ones too. I really wasn’t a huge Angela fan. She was too headstrong and kept denying her feelings for William due to how Brooklyn would handle their relationship, which was weird since Brooklyn wanted them together. Her fighting with Elizabeth was a little over the top for me too.

Overall, the movie was okay. I won’t be adding it to my must watch or top 10 list. But it’s a typical and solid Hallmark staple movie. They can’t all be like A Biltmore Christmas or The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. 😊

If you have a chance, try this movie! Let me know what you thought! Leave a comment!

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Hallmark Movie Review: The Wedding Veil Inspiration

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/the-wedding-veil-inspiration

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Oh man! I wanted to like this movie. But like the first movie, I wasn’t feeling it. Here’s a quick recap and my two cents 😉

Quick Recap

Emma’s career and Paolo’s new store aren’t doing well. Then Paolo wants to move back to Italy. How will Emma and Paolo overcome these new challenges?

My Two Cents

Uggghhhh! I don’t know what it is about this series, but I can’t get into it. Aside from the third movie (The Wedding Veil Legacy), I haven’t really been enjoyed the others too much. I think I liked Legacy because I really like Alison’s character and her leading man.

Don’t get me wrong…I love Autumn and Lacey! They are amazing women and they do well in these roles. I’m just not into these movies. I’d rather be sitting here reading my current book or watching something like Love on the Sidelines.

I’m hoping the next movie will be more my speed, since I liked Alison’s first one. But I also suspect one of the reasons I’m not a huge fan is because these ladies are already in love and married. Anything after this is just drama to have drama. I’m not that kind of girl.

I know there will be people who love this movie. There are a ton of people who love this whole franchise. Sadly, I’m not one of them. If you’ve liked the other movies, you will probably enjoy it. If you haven’t, then don’t waste your time.

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

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Hallmark Movie Review: A Kismet Christmas

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/a-kismet-christmas

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If Hallmark wanted to make a perfect movie just for me, this is it. And the best part was that it was completely unexpected! I really wasn’t looking forward to this movie. It looked too corny even for me. Anyhow, here’s a quick recap and my two cents 😉 

Quick Recap

There’s an old family legend that if someone receives a kismet cookie and sleeps with it under their pillow, then they will dream of their true love. As a teenager, Sarah did this. When her dream showed Travis was her true love, she went to him to tell him. Unfortunately, Travis was marrying someone else. Sarah ran away to become a writer. Now she’s returned to her hometown, and discovered Travis is the father of the child who won her writing contest.

My Two Cents

Wow! This movie really grew on me! I started watching it in a slightly crabby mood. And the opening scene with Sarah and Travis as teenagers didn’t help. It was all so fake with them playing their younger selves. It killed me. Normally like corny, but I was not in the mood.

Also, I don’t know either of these leads super well. So I was a little leery of this movie from the beginning. BUT how could I not fall in love with a movie that has a second chance romance plot, magic cookies, a scavenger hunt, and so much more!

By the time Travis helped Sarah with her writers block, I was so invested, it made me cry. I love when men show they love someone without telling them they love them. Travis was obviously head over heals.

This is a movie I’ll put on repeatedly throughout the holidays and enjoy every time. If you like the themes in this movie, then I think you’ll like it too. If you aren’t a magic/fate lover, then skip this movie.

Don’t worry if you skip it, we’re in full blown Countdown to Christmas most and there’s at least 2 movie premieres on Hallmark each weekend and I think GAC has one or two too. Pace yourself folks. There are lots of movies this season!

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

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Movie Review: Christmas with the Darlings

This movie has so much to love! Hot chocolate (huge Hallmark theme this year), tree decorating, building snowmen, a carriage ride, and so much more. Let’s dissect the movie a little – I’ll start with our leading characters…

Our leading lady, Jessica “Jess”, is played by Katrina Law. I loved her in Snow Bride! If you haven’t seen it, you should. It’s one of my favorites. She was fantastic! In this movie, she plays a list making, closed from love, yet very lovable woman.

Our leading man, Max, is played by Carlo Marks. He was in Moonlight in Vermont with Lacey Chabert. It’s another good movie! He’s quickly becoming one of my favorite leads and in some ways, reminds me of Andrew Walker. In this movie, he first comes off as a free spirited, partying, very non list making man.

Don’t they sound like the perfect polar opposite pair?? Yup! They sure are!

I’m sure you’re asking…how do two polar opposites come together?

Max and his brother Charles become guardians of their orphaned nieces and nephew and Charles wants to send them to boarding school, but Jess steps in and volunteers to watch them before they need to go to boarding school. Of course, Max offers to help! Combine this with Max wanting to do more at the family company and Jess wanting to change jobs and you have a wonderful mix of character growth to add to the movie.

As you can imagine, putting two polar opposites in a house together during Christmas yields interesting results from the very beginning when Jessica asks the kids to make lists and Max says to do things as they feel like doing them. 

As the movie continues, we see Max and Jess grow as characters – Jess becomes less structured and Max becomes a little more. We also see Max and Jess come together as co-guardians and love interests.

This is Hallmark, so you know there’s a happily ever after, which I won’t ruin for you, but it ends in the best way possible for everyone!

Now that we’ve covered the basics on the movie, let’s get down and dirty in the feels department.

There were some wonderful quotes in this movie! 

    • “Home feels like family” – one of Max’s Nieces
    • “Christmas has a way of bringing up a lot of memories” – Jess
    • “You should never settle” – Charles
    • “Wow! You just went down the analogy rabbit hole” – Jess

These quotes help show the character of the movie. It was fun, generally funny, and very sweet. There are some serious/slightly sad parts when talking about death, but they weren’t sad enough to bring me to tears.

With all this good, I didn’t feel an overwhelming amount of passion between Max and Jess. It seemed like they were more best friends than love interests. This left me torn, because I know that love isn’t always like my romance books where people are pulling off their clothes and jumping into the first empty closet, but I also feel like there should be MORE than what these two had.

Even though there was this lack of passion, there was still so much to love. I mean, this movie has a CARRIAGE RIDE! In other words, there was a HORSE in this movie. That almost guarantees movie success in my book.

All my Goodreads books get rated, which makes me feel like this needs stars too. So, are you ready?? Please keep in mind that I’m giving this a Hallmark rating, which CANNOT be confused with a romance novel rating. Okay Jamie, enough rambling, let’s get to it!

4.5/5

I’m taking off a half star for some of the slow spots in the movie that had me reaching for my phone instead of being actively engaged. The end of the movie had a super passionate kiss, so I’m letting them keep a star for that.

This is a super solid, cute, and funny Hallmark romance that will hit you in the feels and if you’re bored one night, I would put on your Hallmark movie watching sweatshirt, grab your cozy blanket, cup of hot chocolate, and settle in for a good movie.