#hallmark Archives – Jamie's Two Cents

Hallmark Movie Review: Hearts Down Under

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/hearts-down-under

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

I’ve watched this movie 3 times. All 3 times I get side tracked and find something better to do. And by better I mean, laundry, dishes, pet my friend Rem, etc. Anyhow, I’ve finally managed to watch the whole movie, but I’m left underwhelmed. Here’s a quick re-cap and my full two cents 🙂 Enjoy!

Movie Re-cap

Caroline’s Aunt dies and leaves her a restaurant in Australia. She travels to Australia and meets Cook (Simon Cook). Caroline has her own restaurant in New York, so she wants to fix up the Australia restaurant and sell it, but she ends up enjoying spending time with Cook. After the restaurant is fixed up, she needs to make the decision to sell or not to sell 🙂

My Two Cents

I feel like there have been a lot of chef movies in the past few months. There’s been Mix Up in the Mediterranean and Right in Front of Me recently. If I stretch, then As Luck Would Have It kind of counts, because he made liquor and there were cooking lessons. Maybe more? I’m not sure, but I think I’m a little tired of chefs.

One thing I’m not tired of though? Hot accents! I can listen to Tim Ross (Cook) talk all day. It didn’t hurt that he also had a rare half naked moment with no shirt! Woot Woot!

Spatch, Caroline’s Aunt’s dog, should definitely receive an award for his role. He was super adorable! Honestly, he stole most of the movie. I really liked Caroline’s insta-bond with him. I often wonder if dogs can smell family members. Like do we all have a similar scent? It makes me think of Vampires vs. Werewolves 😉

Sorry, back on track…

I don’t know y’all. There really wasn’t much else worth mentioning. I enjoyed all the beach shots and wish I could walk along the beach or go fishing.

Overall

This movie was cute and funny at parts – I’m totally going to steal the, “I have to go wash my cat” after looking at my imaginary watch line sometime – but overall it was lacking that IT factor. There were too many parts where I found myself bored.

I think you should watch it and let me know what you think? Am I having a crabby/off day? Should I try it again in a few weeks and see if I like it more? Leave a comment and let me know! Happy movie watching y’all!

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Hallmark Movie Review: Right in Front of Me

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/right-in-front-of-me

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I’m a die hard Pretty Little Liars fan, which by proxy makes me a Janel Parrish fan 🙂 I was dying to see Janel in a RomCom role and I’m super happy she didn’t disappoint. She’s adorable!

Now that you know about my girl crush on Janel, we need to talk about her movie costar. Who is Marco Grazzini and why haven’t I noticed him before? He was super cute in this movie. His role was perfect and I hope Hallmark pairs these two again!

Movie Re-cap

Carly (Janel) is a Bridal Stylist – not to be confused with a wedding planner. Say what? I didn’t know a thing like this existed. A bridal stylist ensures everyone wearing a dress or tux is wearing something they love and look great in, but she doesn’t get involved in the wedding details or designing the wedding itself.

Nick (Marco) is the chef at the hotel Carly is spending the weekend relaxing at with her friend.

Unbeknownst to Carly, there is a wedding happening at said hotel and the women she went to college with are all there for the wedding. Carly winds up helping the bride with some stylist tips and is invited to the wedding and wedding activities.

Carly finds out her college crush, Matt, is also in town for the wedding. While Carly explores what could have been she also finds out what could be with Nick.

My Two Cents

For the second week in a row, Hallmark hits the spot with a movie that you can turn on and watch any time. There’s nothing new or different about this movie. It’s a classic Hallmark RomCom, but these two have good chemistry and the movie is cute.

There were a lot of parts I enjoyed, but my favorite was probably when Carly convinced Nick and Matt to do the chicken wing challenge. While the two men were practically in tears from the heat of the wings, Carly gloatingly consumed hers to beat the challenge. This was so great!

Oh and Nick remembering to include the tiny fork with Carly’s dessert? Be still my heart! Men like this are keepers! They will always want to make you happy and they will remember these little things that make you happy. When you find a man like this, you hold on tight 🙂

This isn’t going to be one of those movies that you love so much you tell every person you know, but it will be one of those movies you are happy to watch and re-watch when ever you can. I hope you give this a try and enjoy it! Happy movie watching y’all.

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Movie Review: Two for the Win

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/two-for-the-win

Rating:

Confession time…I wasn’t looking forward to this movie. I’m not a huge fan of either lead in this movie. Also, I struggled to understand the plot from the commercials, but after the first 30 minutes, I was pretty hooked.

In case you struggled with the plot too…this movie is about Justin, a male skier, who is failing to come back from a knee injury. Sound familiar? It should, we saw a similar movie, Taking a Shot at Love, a few weeks ago about a hockey player who had an ankle injury.

That’s okay though, there are only so many romance plots. It’s the content that counts. Did you see the auction scene? I couldn’t help laughing! Kayla was a fantastic auctioneer. And the lady who bid against herself? Yup, that would be me. Totally excited and in the moment and forgetting what you’re doing.

Could you imagine if they auctioned off a day with our favorite Hallmark leads? I know many women who would drop money on Andrew Walker, Ryan Paevey, Luke Macfarlane, or Chad Michael Murray. I would actually consider dropping a few thousand on Ryan myself! I mean, if the money goes to charity, where’s the harm??

There definitely wasn’t any harm in the interview Kayla and Justin did together. How did Kayla not swoon when Justin softly gazed into her eyes, held her hand, and said, “I got you.” Be still my heart! I live for those Hallmark moments.

With all the sweet words, lingering gazes, and past history, it wasn’t surprising when there was a kiss just over an hour into the movie. These two had some serious chemistry brewing 🙂

Of course, shortly after the kiss was our climax where our two leads must decide which direction they want their lives to take. Unexpectedly, this is where we also get our second kiss! Did you hear that folks? Two kisses before the end of the movie. Hallmark, are you feeling okay? We’re getting a little riskaaayyy here.

I’m sure you’re now asking, is there a third kiss?? You’ll have to watch the movie to find out. I know, I’m mean. I’m told that almost every single day by at least one of my kiddos. Such is the life of a parent.

However, in between all the moments where I’m called mean are also the moments where I’m considered awesome, and this movie left me with an idea that will have them calling me awesome. Why? Because it left me wanting to run to the nearest ski hill! What’s more awesome than playing in snow?! Luckily being in Wisconsin, there are a few around here. I think we’ll be scheduling a trip really soon.

Before I leave on that trip, I want to encourage you to watch this movie. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. It was a lot better than I expected. Plus, there are previews for Snowkissed. They were really cute!! Woot woot! Something to look forward to 🙂 Happy movie watching y’all!

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Movie Review: A New Year’s Resolution

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/a-new-years-resolution

Rating:

 3.5/5

Well, right off the bat, I LOVED that this movie took place in Milwaukee!! It had all my favorite Wisconsin things…discussing Packers (GO PACK GO!), polar plunges, and discussions about favorite brat toppings (I’m a ketchup girl). But should you say YES to watching this movie?? Let’s talk about it!

Kelly is a producer who works for “‘Wake Up Milwaukee.” As a new year’s resolution, she decides she won’t say No to any social requests, because she felt she’s said no too often in the past year and isn’t happy about it.

Tom works for the marketing department of a popular bank. He is at the same restaurant as Kelly, when he makes a bet that he can pick anyone’s resolutions. He picks Kelly’s table and guesses everyone’s resolution except Kelly’s.

This is the start to a series of godwinks (without the annoying winking noise – THANKFULLY), Kelly and Tom wind up at many of the same activities over the next few weeks while Kelly is saying yes to social requests.

Then, Kelly is brought a story about accounts being opened for customers without their permission at Tom’s bank. Kelly decides to bring the story to Tom and the rest you’ll need to see 🙂

This movie is cute and sweet and everything you want to watch in a Hallmark movie. There was good chemistry between the two leads and lots of wonderful quotes. My favorite – “You’re worth making time for,” from Tom to Kelly. Awww!!! Swoon. Tom was adorable!

Plus there was an extra kiss! Yay Hallmark! I was super happy for this, because it was in line with these two characters. Tom seemed like a hugging, happy-go-lucky guy, which naturally extends to wanting to kiss a woman he’s falling in love with. And even though Kelly is closed off in the beginning, she was receptive by that point, so it was perfect.

With all this good, why did I only rate it a 3.5? Well, for me, the biggest issue was that it lacked the IT factor that I talk about. It was a solid movie and if it’s on, it makes good background movie watching, but it’s not a movie I’ll seek to watch again and again. In fact, it’s been 20 minutes since it finished and I’m already forgetting it.

Also, there were a lot of little things that irritated me. Someone said “Go Pack!” I hardly ever hear anyone say that. Real Wisconsinites yell with passion “GO PACK GO!” I’ll give them a little credit for not saying “Go Packers,” because I really never hear that.

Speaking of the Packers…have you heard about Wisconsin’s Frozen Tundra? Doesn’t that just sound cold?! Wisconsin in January/February could very easily be near 0 degrees. Unless I missed some serious clues, it didn’t look like anyone was actually cold at the polar plunge or in some of the other events. Sure, they were all fake shivering/trying to warm up, but in Wisconsin people actually shiver! And people “turtle” their heads into their coats to stay warm.

Beyond the shivering, I didn’t hear any midwestern accents. No one ended their sentences with “Hey?” or “…or no?” This would be like watching Steel Magnolias without Southern accents, but it’s easy to be nit-picky when a movie takes place somewhere you’ve lived.

Despite these issues, this was still a solid movie. You’ll have lots of opportunities to laugh or say “Awwwww…” So, don’t take the 3.5 as a negative. Sometimes these types of movies surprise me and over time they become movies you unexpectedly look forward to watching. Country Wedding (which was on after this movie) is one of those.

Give this a try and let me know what you think! Did you enjoy it? What was your favorite part? The game playing evenings? The chili cook off? Curling? I hope you enjoy it! Happy movie watching y’all!

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Movie Review: A Timeless Christmas

 4.5/5

Oh Ryan, Ryan, Ryan. I could really watch and listen to you all day. We need more summer movies of you on a beach shirtless. And I wouldn’t mind taking that portrait from the Whitley mansion and hang it in my house.

Stop drooling Jamie! Write your review! Ugh, fine…here we go…

Have you ever seen Kate and Leopold? If not, you totally should. It was better than this and has the same concept. A man who was about to marry someone he didn’t love comes to the future to meet his real love.

Ryan plays Charles, our time travelling man, who abandoned his fiance, Eliza. He comes to the future where he meets Megan, played by Erin Cahill.

Charles and Megan had great chemistry throughout the movie. I loved watching them fall in love, because they were so believable. I especially loved that Megan was Rosie’s (Charles’ housekeeper’s) great great grand daughter.

I also need to give a shout out to Megan’s parents. I think Megan’s mom literally swooned when she met Charles. I can totally sympathize with her reaction to him! But beyond her initial reaction, I loved how Megan’s family treated Charles as part of the family immediately.

I would have given this movie 5 stars, but the ending irked me a little. To be honest though, if the ending had been different, it would have probably irked me too. I don’t think there’s ever a perfect way to end a time travel romance movie. I feel like someone always loses. The people in the past will lose Charles without knowing what happened to him or Megan’s family will forever miss her and not be able to see her anymore. I’ll let you watch it to see which way this movie went.

If you’re a Ryan Paevey fan, I think you’ll enjoy this, because he was absolutely swoon worthy with all his 1900’s manners and such.

**SIGH** Ryan kissing my hand as he meets me for the first time, then that blue gaze meets mine…Ryan’s scruff rubbing…JAMIE!! Get back to the review!

Anyhow, if you don’t like fantasy / time travel romance, then I don’t think this is the right movie for you. Otherwise, give it a shot! There’s so much more to like than the basics I included here. Happy movie watching y’all!!

Movie Review: Meet Me at Christmas

Movie Rating:

 5/5

You need to know a few things about me.

First, one of my favorite romance plots is the second chance romance. Movies where the whole plot revolves around a romance that started when they were young, but was lost for one reason or another and now has a chance to blossom.

Second, I have always liked Catherine Bell AND Mark Deklin. Together, they are pure Christmas magic. I bet Cassie Nightingale had something to do with this match, but what took Hallmark so long to put these two together?!

Third, I have a strong belief in fate and “Love finds you when it’s suppose to,” which is a large theme in this movie. Joan and Beau were meant to come back together at this time, in this place and in this way.

Okay…Now that we’ve gone over things that make me say awwwww, hopefully you’ll understand a little better when I say, I. LOVED. THIS. MOVIE!! It hit me right in the feels time and time again.

The feels start right away with flashbacks to Joan’s past. I enjoyed seeing young Joan’s history with her husband to be and the man who first took her heart. This was done very well and helped set the stage for Joan and Beau’s reaction to figuring out who each other were, which had ME tearing up.

Be still my heart! This is Hallmark – it’ll all work out. Even at the climax when everything comes crashing down, and two people are acting like stubborn arses, hold onto that hope, because in the end, we get the love we want all along.

If all this sounds like your type of movie, please watch this! It’s such a sweet story of fate, new love, old love, lost love, and found love. I think it’ll hit you in the feels too. Happy watching y’all!

Movie Review: Christmas in Vienna

Movie Rating

 3.5/5

Instead of Christmas in Vienna, this movie could be called Christmas on Rinse & Repeat. The whole movie can be summed up as: Jess and Mark meet in the square, someone asks someone if they speak English, Jess steps out of her comfort zone, Mark shoots her down, Mark asks Jess’ opinion, Jess gives her opinion, Mark gets mad, Mark apologizes…RINSE & REPEAT.

Ahhh!! Christmas in Vienna…I don’t know what to think of you. You’re such a mixed bag, because there is so much I did enjoy, but Jess continuing to put herself out there and open her heart while Mark continued to shut her down got to me after the third or fourth time. She gave him so many opportunities. Granted, he did finally come around, but should it have really taken that many times? I’m just not sure.

Let’s take a minute to talk about the mistletoe scene. A kiss on the hand?! Come on Hallmark! That was a serious missed opportunity. I would have loved at least a kiss on the cheek. It’s mistletoe after all!

Now that you know what really bothered me about the movie, let’s get to some of the good stuff. Despite my frustrations, there was still lots to enjoy with this movie.

I loved Jess’s character! She’s adorable and quirky and, like me, can’t pronounce any German. Sprechen sie English? Yup, that’s about as much as I can say too Jess! I even butcher that.

More than the main story line of Mark and Jess, the story of Vincent and Tory is adorable too. I loved watching their chemistry. And how can you not like someone who references Gremlins in regard to taking care of children?! I’ve done that so many times in my life.

- Don’t feed them after midnight
- Don’t get them wet
- Don’t expose them to light

Speaking of the children. How cute were they?! Jess helped each child grow a little throughout the movie. The youngest learns how to play violin, the son learns to “hang his hat,” and the oldest performs her song at the end.

As you can see, Jess really made this movie shine through her amazing heart. Her speech to Summer was pure gold. I wish I could write down the whole thing and put it here, but it’s really something you need to watch. Plus, the presents she gave at the end of the movie. Each one was so perfect. It proves that cost doesn’t matter with a present – thoughtfulness does.

Without Jess, this movie wouldn’t have even made the 3.5 stars. Mark’s character was just blah. He didn’t make my heart say awww – except for the stocking scene – and I didn’t hold my breath hoping to see him come into the room so I could watch the chemistry. It could have been a movie about Jess and the kids and it might have been better than the romance movie it was suppose to be.

Should you watch it? I’ll leave that in your hands. Maybe you’ll enjoy it more than me. Good luck! Happy movie watching y’all!

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.