June 6, 2025 • 34 mins
Andrea and Eric are back—armed with hot takes, cool sarcasm, and more head-scratching than heartwarming—as they dive into Hallmark’s “May for Moms” movie lineup. Spoiler alert: it’s not exactly a love letter to motherhood… or good storytelling.
From balloon-based romances to castles with utility bills the size of small countries, they rate and roast all five flicks. Along the way, they dish on everything from Diagnosis: Murder finally hitting Hallmark+ to the ageism-fueled drama surrounding Love in the Clouds. Plus: how Poker Face got it right, why Kissing Stars fell flat, and what happens when Catherine Disher shows up (hint: everything gets better).
It’s snark, sincerity, and some solid film critique—all wrapped in one delightfully unfiltered episode. Tune in as they rank the best (and worst) of May, debate onscreen chemistry, and agree on… absolutely nothing.
🟢 Listen now if you love:
- Hallmark movies that forget their theme
- Fiery co-host banter
- Real talk on casting, chemistry, and cringey proposals
📍 Next week: They’re heading back to Mystery 101 and Private Eyes—so get ready for some actual mystery and (hopefully) fewer fascinators.
Follow us on social media:
Instagram and TikTok: @hallmarkmysteriesandmore
Youtube
Or visit our website.
This podcast was created by fans for fans and is NOT affiliated with or sponsored by Hallmark or the Hallmark Channel.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Andrea, we're going to talk about Hallmark's May for
Moms.
And I have to tell you, I triedgiving May for Moms to my wife
for Mother's Day.
And now she's since taken thekids.
She's moved out.
Hallmark did me a dirty.
Are you ready to talk about theMay for Mom movies?
SPEAKER_01 (00:19):
Let's do it.
All right.
SPEAKER_00 (00:21):
Well, this is Eric.
SPEAKER_01 (00:23):
And this is Andrea.
SPEAKER_00 (00:24):
And this is Hallmark Mysteries and more.
And more.
Before we get going, I just haveto say, I don't even understand
the May for Moms theme for thismovie.
It was random.
And now I'm sitting here allalone by myself in my house
because I thought I had a greatgift for my wife for Mother's
(00:47):
Day.
And it had nothing to do withmoms the entire month.
So Hallmark, I don't know whatthe hell's going on.
SPEAKER_01 (00:53):
I mean, maybe there's a mom in the movies, I
guess.
UNKNOWN (00:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (00:58):
Sure, we will go with that.
But we would
SPEAKER_01 (01:00):
agree.
They're not overly mom-heavymovies, so
SPEAKER_00 (01:04):
I'm not sure.
I think it's a chatty PT, like,hey, give us a title for the
month.
And there we go.
Just in line with the Hallmark,some of the Hallmark marketing
promotions.
Yeah, it definitely sounds
SPEAKER_01 (01:18):
like a marketing thing.
SPEAKER_00 (01:19):
I don't get it.
I don't get it.
SPEAKER_01 (01:21):
Do
SPEAKER_00 (01:22):
you have anything fun to talk about?
SPEAKER_01 (01:24):
Okay, so I have one.
You know how I've been saying Iwant a diagnosis murder on the
Hallmark Plus app.
And it was released on theHallmark Plus app.
So I'm very excited about that.
Maybe Murder, Shrote will benext.
The one thing that's nice isthere's no commercials.
And so you can just like bingethe episode without having the
thousand commercials that are onlike the regular Hallmark
(01:45):
channel.
So exciting.
Have
SPEAKER_00 (01:47):
you watched any of it?
I have not.
But you have been watching thaton Friendly, right?
SPEAKER_01 (01:52):
No, it was on the Hulu.
SPEAKER_00 (01:55):
Oh, Hulu, but it was the replay.
That's what it was.
Okay.
Okay.
So now you get three
SPEAKER_01 (02:01):
minute commercial breaks, you know, and now you
can just binge.
So I started with episode oneand I will say this.
I hadn't, I mean, I had, Iremember the first episode, the
first few, I would even say thefirst season, it's kind of
finding his legs.
It's a different, completelydifferent.
I mean, it's different cast ofcharacters by the last season as
well.
And the hospital looksdifferent.
SPEAKER_00 (02:22):
Was this one that's like, because I'll be honest,
I've never seen an episode ofit, ever.
It's kind of like Murder, SheWrote, right?
So is this one, though, thatwent on?
Maybe
SPEAKER_01 (02:33):
we'll have to do some reviewing of that.
SPEAKER_00 (02:35):
Okay, well, we have no new mystery.
I mean, I can pick
SPEAKER_01 (02:38):
out like five episodes like we did for Murder,
She Wrote.
That would be kind of fun.
SPEAKER_00 (02:41):
Okay.
And
SPEAKER_01 (02:42):
get people to watch it, because I do like it, and I
think people will just, I mean,it's not like people don't love
Dick Van Dyke, but.
You just fall in love with him.
Like as Dr.
Sloan is so good.
SPEAKER_00 (02:53):
Is it like murder?
She wrote though, where there's23 seasons.
Like, did it go on forever or.
I
SPEAKER_01 (02:58):
think there's, is there what I want to say?
Eight.
SPEAKER_00 (03:02):
Okay.
So not.
Not as many.
Definitely.
SPEAKER_01 (03:06):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (03:07):
Definitely.
You know, almost a decade soundslike.
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (03:10):
And there, yeah, the hospital changes.
And so this one, it's a muchmore stark contrast from start
season to finishing season.
Dr.
Mark Sloan's house.
vastly improved because he's adoctor in LA.
So of course he's probablymaking bank.
SPEAKER_00 (03:24):
I thought it was like a small town.
No, it's in
SPEAKER_01 (03:28):
Malibu.
No, it's out in Malibu.
SPEAKER_00 (03:30):
So, Oh, all right.
So
SPEAKER_01 (03:32):
yeah, it's a, it's a really fun.
And his son actually plays hisson in the show.
And by the end, hisgrandchildren are in there quite
a bit and he has the wholefamily.
So we can watch some of those.
I think that would be kind offun for, for you since you
haven't seen them.
Now I will say that, The otherthings that I'm watching,
because you had, I think yousent me this, the castle
renovation show.
(03:53):
All
SPEAKER_02 (03:53):
right.
SPEAKER_01 (03:54):
So I have been watching it.
They are not.
So just a heads up.
It's on HBO Max.
I think it might be on a regularlike HGTV.
And then they, you know, HBO Maxhas it.
And it's just one castle.
And so it's just this couple whomoved from California.
This lady, the gal inherited acastle and out.
(04:15):
just south of Paris.
Her grandmother still lives inParis and her grandpa had this
castle.
And so now they're trying torenovate it.
And
SPEAKER_00 (04:23):
so- Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Big step back.
She's a Californian whoinherited a castle in France.
This literally is a hallmarkmovie.
SPEAKER_01 (04:31):
Yeah.
Well, and the amount of moneythat they have for these
renovations is just mindboggling because they are
probably younger than me oraround my age.
And I'm like, how do you havethis much money to renovate
projects?
Because they're like, we've setaside 100,000 for this room.
We've set aside, you know,35,000 for the bathroom,
whatever.
They're just like going aboutthrowing these numbers out.
And so I've only watched, Ithink I'm on episode three, but
(04:53):
they kind of a teaser.
They have this castle.
They're actually not going tolive in this castle.
It doesn't sound like that'swhere they do the weddings.
So they renovated a room forlike a bedroom in the castle,
but the cost to keep theelectricity on month to month,
if they would live there, it's350,000 dollars.
SPEAKER_02 (05:12):
So
SPEAKER_01 (05:13):
needless to say, I don't think they're actually
going to be living in thiscastle.
And that's just like, I don'tknow if that was the electricity
or the heat.
That's just one of the bills.
So they are also renovating thisHunter's Lodge, which is on the
property.
And I think that's going to betheir main house.
It's still amazing.
It's still huge, but it's not acastle.
And this castle, again, has adungeon.
I mean, it's a fun little show.
(05:34):
So if you're into castles andyou want to see this, plus the
couples, like, fun enoughpersonalities that you're kind
of into it.
And then they have like friendsthat are coming in and they have
local contractors and it's, it'sa really, it's, it's kind of a
cute little show.
SPEAKER_00 (05:48):
Well, this is a great segue for, we're going to
be talking about love in theDanube a little bit.
And I have been on a couple ofriver cruises and one of the
highlights for me of rivercruise, first of all, you see
like 70,000 churches, right?
But it's, Every now and then youdo go to the castles that have
the dungeons and all of thosesort of things.
And for me, those are the mostfun.
(06:09):
So I think that that soundspretty cool.
And I have to assume when theymade a castle in 1560 or
whenever they made said castle,they were not really thinking
about their electric bill at thetime.
SPEAKER_01 (06:22):
Oh, no, no, no, not at all.
I mean, yes, I think you wouldlike it.
So if you like castles, thatwould be one.
And then my last show I wantedto mention, because I find
myself, I start shows and thenI'm like, stop them, I'm halfway
finished.
So I literally, with the castleone, I have to be in the mood to
watch it and just to chill laidback.
I've also been binging nowseason two of Poker Face.
(06:46):
And I don't know, did you everwatch Poker Face?
I
SPEAKER_00 (06:49):
watched season one.
SPEAKER_01 (06:50):
Did you like it?
SPEAKER_00 (06:52):
It...
was okay it kind of gotredundant-y for me with her like
always walking into said issuesbut i mean obviously it's the
theme it's
SPEAKER_01 (07:03):
and it's very predictable mystery so i would
think if you do enjoy mysteriesso i just started i'm now like
i've been binging it since lastnight so that's how much i i
loved the show in season one andi'm loving season two um i had
kind of pushed off watching itbecause i wanted to binge a few
episodes so now they're six deepand they're released every week
Is it Netflix?
No, it's Peacock.
SPEAKER_00 (07:25):
Peacock, okay.
SPEAKER_01 (07:26):
And so they have Brady from The Way Home is in
this last episode as like agator cop.
So he plays a very differentcharacter.
So he was kind of fun to see.
But I would definitely give thata go if you're kind of craving
some mysteries.
I enjoy it, especially likeMonk.
I mean, this is one where theyshow you you know what happens
and you are privy to that andthen you get to kind of go along
(07:49):
with the ride of how um the maincharacter how she figures it out
SPEAKER_00 (07:53):
well that's like essentially colombo that's the
premise of colombo is it's notthe whodunit it's the how
SPEAKER_01 (08:00):
how you did
SPEAKER_00 (08:01):
it right and yeah
SPEAKER_01 (08:02):
so if you don't like those mysteries you probably
wouldn't like it but if you doit's kind of a fun little show
SPEAKER_00 (08:08):
i'll say the one thing about it and i figure what
her name is like natashasomething Her personality, her
character, I think sometimespeople are just like, she annoys
me, I'm out.
So she does have a very boldpersonality.
So if you can jive with it,yeah, it's got some of those fun
(08:30):
mystery traits.
SPEAKER_01 (08:32):
Well, that's what I had for you.
SPEAKER_00 (08:34):
Well, I'm just sitting here, like I say, sad,
lonely man since my...
My family all left me thanks tothe May for Moms.
So what do you say we get anddiscuss those movies?
SPEAKER_01 (08:47):
We'll do.
And also one note, myTimberwolves are officially out
of the playoffs.
So unfortunately, I have a lotof free time now.
There's no more basketball towatch.
So hence why I got to watchthese shows this week because
they lost.
So no more Timberwolves updatesin case anyone's wondering.
All right.
So first movie that kicked offMay for Moms was on Derby
Weekend, Hats Off to Love.
(09:09):
Stella designs hats andfascinators for socialite
Rosalind and meets her sonChristian, who's training a
horse to compete in theLouisville Derby.
This stars Gina Clare Mason,John Clarence Stewart, and Holly
Robinson-Heat.
For me, I gave this four stars.
I really enjoyed this one.
I found the racing, the hats,the romance to really work for
(09:31):
me.
I am also going to 100%contradict myself if you listen
to our Private Eyes episode withthe horse racing.
Just a caveat there.
But I enjoyed all of the actors.
SPEAKER_00 (09:43):
You know what's funny?
I didn't even put two and twotogether.
SPEAKER_01 (09:45):
Oh, yeah.
That
SPEAKER_00 (09:47):
we have the two horse races.
SPEAKER_01 (09:49):
So my expectations for this movie were really low.
Like I just I thought I wasgoing to hate it.
And so I was pleasantlysurprised.
This is probably one of thetopper movies.
I would say fourth of the moviesfor me this year.
Cause they've been pretty low.
So I, I thought it was cute.
It was fun.
It's one that I would, Iwouldn't seek out to watch
again, but if it's on in thebackground, I wouldn't mind
(10:10):
tuning in.
What about you?
I
SPEAKER_00 (10:13):
think to be in this movie, you have to have three
names because as you said, HollyRobinson, Pete, Gina, Claire
Mason, and John ClarenceStewart.
I don't know.
Just a weird coincidence.
UNKNOWN (10:24):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (10:25):
It was really nice seeing Holly Robinson-Pete
again.
She's obviously just a lovelyperson who is not the ageism,
but her roles in the Hallmarkmovies is going to be changing.
Last few times we've seen her,she's been the mom and sort of
going in that.
And so it's always nice to seeher.
(10:46):
I thought she was a fun, nicecharacter in it.
I would say that Gina Clare...
mason is proving to be a prettysolid lead i don't think she's
been in personally oh you gaveit a four i would give it a
marginal three it it just wasyou know ho-hum for me it wasn't
(11:11):
terrible wasn't great but youknow it's gina claire mason i
think she is just proving like isaid to be a really good lead
she's likable she's got charismashe's fun Then we get to see
John Clarence Stewart, who thisis his first hallmark.
He seemed great despite...
I want to see him again becauseI don't know if he is kind of
(11:34):
cardboardy, but I don't know ifit was the role or him.
And I don't think it's him.
So I just think they didn't givehim a lot of fun to the
character.
It was just sort of a ho-humrole.
And then...
It's just for me, it's a no-win,with the exception of Crimes of
(11:56):
Fashion, the mystery with BrookeD'Orsay.
Hallmark just should stay awayfrom fashion.
It never, ever looks good.
I went back and I thought about,what's her name?
Rebecca Dalton was in the headover heels with the shoes, and
the shoes were just, looked likehe went to Target and got some
(12:18):
shoes.
And the shoes also...
head over heel or no, excuse me.
It was, but it designedChristmas by design.
Yeah.
Christmas by design where shedesigned those hideous pajamas.
It's like, they just, the hats.
I don't know.
They just were not what I wouldlike.
I've watched my wife is when shewas still with me was all into
(12:40):
the Kentucky Derby.
And so we watch it and you seeall these just actually watch
SPEAKER_01 (12:45):
this.
SPEAKER_00 (12:46):
No, she did not watch the show.
Oh, I was like...
No, she watches the actualKentucky Derby.
Oh, okay.
And we watch it for like, Idon't know, three hours because
they start coverage pretty muchshowing the owners drinking mint
juleps all the way through therace.
And she loves her horse racing.
Well, for the major things.
(13:06):
And the hats are just thesemagnificent things.
And these ones look like thelittle kitty hats or something
like that.
So I don't know.
It just...
It's a nice try, but they justnever can pull off the fashion
stuff.
And to me, it ends up being kindof like almost comical about how
they're not great.
SPEAKER_01 (13:27):
Well, let's see if you enjoyed Love in the Clouds
anymore.
So reporter Brooklyn travels tothe balloon fiesta to meet hot
air balloon pilot Jared, whooffers romantic balloon rides,
but is closed off to lovehimself.
This Dark, Paul Green, MackenzieWestmore, Gail O'Grady, and
Lorenzo Lamis.
(13:47):
I gave this one a four out offive as well.
And it's probably one of myfavorites of the year.
I know people hated this one,but I found it cute and
delightful.
I would watch it again.
I enjoyed both of the leads.
I liked the message overall andlike finding yourself.
I liked the balloons.
I think her TV boss was theworst ever and loved everything.
(14:11):
the rushed happy ending i meanthis is a very old hallmark vibe
so if you enjoyed the earlierhallmark movies like i actually
i don't mind the earlierhallmark movies so for me this
felt right in that likenostalgia feel for me so i
enjoyed it i know a lot ofpeople talked about mckenzie and
her looks which i find atrociouslike i don't ever comment on
(14:32):
people's looks i thought shelooked just fine like i never i
did not notice anything but thecomments online were brutal and
i'm like i don't she's like paulthey're the same age ish right i
didn't look it up but i thinkthey're in the same ballpark
here
SPEAKER_00 (14:47):
i think he's like three years and you know that's
a big thing for me right i wantto say i think he's like three
years older than she is so yeahtotally reasonable
SPEAKER_01 (14:56):
i don't understand that and i mean for me i liked
it because they are you know Ithink there's a lot of people
who are in their forties andwanting to watch Hallmark and
yeah, they might be having foundlove for the first time shocker
in their late forties.
That's okay.
It's okay to watch that onscreen.
Like that's where I kind of likereally took offense when people
(15:17):
kind of got up in arms aboutthat.
I'm like, I want to see that nowthat I'm also, you know, I'm in
my forties just turned 40,almost going to be 41, I guess.
But that is where I think theaudience is.
We want to see that.
And then of course, a lot of theladies online, maybe were a
little even older in the sixtiesand seventies who didn't want to
(15:38):
see that, which is alsointeresting.
It's just an interesting dynamicand like woman on woman crime.
Don't get me started here.
The patriarchy, Eric, I couldjust go on.
So this movie that it triggeredme in some capacity there
because I'm like, but I, I foundit delightful.
I know you didn't like thismovie, but for me, I enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_00 (15:59):
Well, before I go into my review, I'm going to
just comment on you.
I agree with everything yousaid, a thousand percent.
The other thing about it is whatI actually do like about the
movie is, as you said, they'reright around 50 years old, but
they handled the relationshipwell.
like they're right around 50years old he had this like
(16:21):
emotional baggage that he wasjust like I'm shut off I'm not
going to do it I've I've turnedit off and she you know talks
about how she always is pickingthe wrong guy she's you know
overly romantic and ends up youknow it never meets her, her
expectations.
And so I could see you gothrough life that way where you
(16:41):
just never quite get in thoserelationships.
Right.
And so I thought they dealt withthem as 50 year olds and I'd
much rather see this way of theway they dealt with the
relationship than when they havepeople of the same age and
they're showing them being like,Oh, I'm just like randomly
fallen in love waiting for you.
And it is sort of like thatfirst love type thing for people
(17:02):
who are this age because peoplewant to see their favorite, you
know, actors in that kind ofrole but that's a role where you
are when you're in your 30s okaybut when you are 50 and i'm
sorry like when yes you have anikki deloach who i love ellie
sweeney who i love they can'treally be in that same little
role because otherwise it'ssilly so i thought that they
(17:23):
agree with you they handled itvery nicely in that aspect But
let's get to what it was.
I thought I hit my head and Iwoke up and it was 2018 because
this, yes, is so old school.
I'm pretty sure what happenedwas Hallmark's like, damn it, we
need, you know, there's fiveweekends in May.
We need another movie, quickproduction company.
(17:45):
What do you got?
And the guy like walked over,looked to his filing cabinet,
dusts off the script and it'slike, you know, blows up.
Oh, well, let's just make thisone.
I don't know what it is.
And they made it because it isamazing.
Literally, like you said, oldschool Hallmark through and
through.
I have to say, I didn't reallybuy so much into the
(18:09):
relationship between the leads.
I did like the mom and dad.
I found them great.
And then the assistant and,well, I guess the both
assistants, I enjoyed those two.
So I thought the secondary...
two secondary relationships werethe most fun of the
relationships there.
And I will say positive for me.
(18:32):
I love flash forwards.
So when they gave it the flashforward, I'm like, okay, this
movie just redeemed itself.
Terrible.
I have to assume that's blue orgreen screen.
And they're in the thingsbecause it did not look real,
but whatever it is.
You know, it was fun.
It was cute.
(18:52):
A little cringy, though, doingthe proposal with, you know,
everyone watching.
I guess maybe I'm more of aprivate proposal person than
public proposal person, butwhatever.
And then speaking of cringy, Ithink if you were watching the
news and you saw her littlebroadcast on there, you'd be
(19:13):
like, what the hell am Iwatching?
This woman's making out with theballoonist dude.
And everything, it just was alittle bit, whatever, Hallmark
World-y.
So I don't know.
I give it 1.87.
Oh, gosh.
It was not up in the clouds forme.
(19:35):
It was like down in the dirt.
It was more when the basketlands and tips and falls over.
That's the feeling I hadwatching this.
I texted you, as you know, I waslike a third of the way in
there.
I'm like, How?
How did you love this one?
But you know what?
That's the beauty of Hallmark.
Everyone likes what they like,right?
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (19:56):
Well, now we're going to go to the Danube.
Love on the Danube.
SPEAKER_00 (20:01):
Love song.
You can beat me up now.
SPEAKER_01 (20:03):
Fellow cruise passengers Sarah and Jack play a
matchmaker with theirmusic-loving widowed parents as
they cruise down the Danubevisiting European cities.
This stars Nazneen Contractorand Wes Brown.
Two out of five.
Snoozefest for me.
Really didn't like this one.
I found it boring.
(20:25):
I usually enjoy both of thoseleads, and they couldn't save
the lack of anything going on inthis movie.
Shout out to Jenny, who does thepreviews with us on our
Christmas movies.
She was an extra on this one,and so if you paused it, I had
to have her tell me which part,because I really struggled.
(20:45):
It's a
SPEAKER_02 (20:45):
library, right?
SPEAKER_01 (20:46):
Yeah, I really struggled to pay attention in
this movie, so I totally missedit.
But I, yeah, these are not myfavorite.
I watched them and have notrevisited them since last fall,
I think, when they were onHallmark+.
I I liked one better than theother two.
It's not this one, though.
So this one is a no-go for me.
(21:08):
I will not watch it again, nordid I revisit it, nor did I have
any more notes on it because Idon't want to revisit it.
Eric?
SPEAKER_00 (21:16):
Well, I'll give it a three.
And I have to say, I think it...
Honestly, I think it was Januarywhen these came out.
I think they were all new year.
Not that because it was
SPEAKER_01 (21:28):
groomsmen.
I looked back through myInstagram to look at my notes
for my reviews because I waslike, wow, how long ago is these
air?
And they were right around theChristmas batch, which also poor
timing on Hallmark plus with allof these.
SPEAKER_00 (21:41):
I, my main thing, and this will go for the next
three movies.
I'm just disappointed that we'rereviewing quote unquote, new
movies that aired six monthsago.
Right.
And it just, I don't know.
It, it takes away the wholething of, Oh, Hey, we're getting
on plus to get this new, freshcontent.
(22:01):
You're not getting anywhere.
It's just, okay.
It's taken me a little whilelonger and I'll get it on the,
the, the channel.
So whatever.
Whole other, whole otherconversation.
Can I
SPEAKER_01 (22:10):
also say my Hallmark plus, I went to the Hallmark
store and I asked the lady howto use, I'm like, Oh, I have
Hallmark.
Cause they had the thing rightthere on the counter.
I said, Oh, I have Hallmarkplus.
don't I have rewards or points?
Cause I was buying cards and shegoes, Oh, I actually don't know
how to like find that or usethat.
And I'm like, what the heck?
I mean, I don't even, so I don'teither.
Cause I've never tried to useit, but I'm like, well, what's
(22:32):
the point of then this Hallmarkplus, like, isn't that supposed
to be a bonus of us going intothe store?
Your
SPEAKER_00 (22:37):
$5 a month.
SPEAKER_01 (22:39):
Right.
And she didn't know how to findit.
And I'm like, that's a bummer.
SPEAKER_00 (22:44):
I guess I enjoyed the movie for what it was.
It was, was, you know, Was itgreat?
No.
Was it terrible?
No.
But it was enjoyable.
Like I said, I'm not rushing outto watch it again or anything
like that.
Have you watched it again?
What?
SPEAKER_01 (23:00):
Have you watched it again since it
SPEAKER_00 (23:02):
originally aired?
I watched it twice.
I watched...
Yeah.
Well, I watched...
Unlike you, I prepared for this.
SPEAKER_01 (23:08):
No.
Eric, I'd rather watch PokerFace.
Sorry.
SPEAKER_00 (23:13):
And I will say, I think Nazeem...
She's a strong lead that'scompletely underutilized.
I like her.
I think she's really good, and Iwish she was in more.
I thought her and Wes had somegood chemistry.
I like the parents trying tohook up the parents and do that
(23:34):
whole thing, of which then theyfall in love.
It was fun.
And then Catherine Dishner,whatever, give me her in a
movie, and I think everything'salways just perfect.
better that she's in there andthen my final note was yeah we
got to see jenny hever cameo soyou know i guess i guess i say
three no three is actuallybetter i'll give it a 2.75
(23:56):
because it was just it was notterrible it was not great it was
just whatever if it's on it'syou like to call those those
background movie
SPEAKER_01 (24:05):
this is that's what this was no this is this was
like have it on
SPEAKER_00 (24:10):
make you know, on the iPad and make breakfast or
lunch and do all those sorts ofthings while you're going.
And then I'll be good.
So there you go.
Let's spin around and cruisedown the river again.
All
SPEAKER_01 (24:21):
right.
Now we're hitting the Royalgetaway.
A jilted art gallery managertakes her honeymoon cruise solo
and meets a charming Princeposing as a European gentleman
who shares her passion for art.
This star is Jessica Sipos, DanGiannette, Catherine Drysdale,
Catherine Buescher.
Well, another two out of five,another snooze fest.
(24:43):
I have less notes on this thanthe other one.
What would make this seriesworse for me?
Throw in the royal element withbad accents.
So this is it.
My highlight, I wrote CatherineDisher.
That is all the notes I have onthis.
I literally cannot recallanything else about this movie.
So I clearly was paying zeroattention and no, I will not
(25:07):
revisit it.
I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_00 (25:10):
Well, you know how I feel about royal movies.
SPEAKER_01 (25:13):
Yes, it just has to be your
SPEAKER_00 (25:14):
least.
They're not my jam at all.
But I have to say, I didn't hatethis one.
And the only reason why...
SPEAKER_01 (25:19):
Almost spit my coffee up.
SPEAKER_00 (25:21):
The only reason why is I thought the leads, the two
of them, were just enjoyabletogether.
They were just great chemistryindividually.
I liked them both.
I thought it was just a moviewith the two of them.
And I...
I couldn't tell you really,yeah, they were doing the art
stuff and all of that was justwaste for me.
(25:43):
Just have them sit around andchat.
And that was the thing becausethe two of them were just gold
together and everything else,whatever.
I thought, and they're callingit a honeymoon, by the way, it
was a year later.
It still is the fun trope.
You know, it's the two ticketsto paradise, which I love that.
Taking the honeymoon by yourselfafter you've been jilted.
But it is, she did take it likea year later.
(26:05):
So it's not like really rightthen.
It's like, oh, I'm not going tolet my, whatever, my ticket go
to waste kind of thing.
It's already paid.
So it was that.
And then, but Joe, Dan'scharacter, his beard at the
beginning was so fake.
It was like as bad as JodieSweeten's wig in Murder at
(26:26):
Mosby.
Now
SPEAKER_01 (26:27):
I did watch that movie again.
SPEAKER_00 (26:30):
So whatever.
Yeah.
Really just thought the twoleads were just magical
together.
And that's kind of all that I'mleft with after this movie.
SPEAKER_01 (26:43):
How many stars?
SPEAKER_00 (26:44):
2.751.
I love how
SPEAKER_01 (26:49):
you do.
Okay.
Can't just do a one, two, three,four or five.
All
SPEAKER_00 (26:54):
right.
It's not good enough to be athree and it's not bad enough to
be a two.
SPEAKER_01 (26:58):
Kissing Stars.
Savannah, a publicist,reluctantly works with Tripp, a
celebrity who is having troubleconnecting with his fans abroad,
a cruise promoting his latestfilm.
This stars Sarah Power, BrendanPenny, Catherine Drysdale, and
Catherine Bisher.
This is a three out of five forme.
This was my favorite of themovies.
Brendan and Sarah were able tocarry the movie.
(27:19):
And then I think Catherine andSarah being reunited felt like
seamless chemistry there fromGoodwitch.
And this was, this entire seriesis not one I'm going to revisit,
even this movie.
So I gave it the highest,mostly.
They also could have wore medown because sometimes when you
get these, like you're just kindof at the point where you're
(27:40):
like, okay, I see where we are.
The bar is not high.
So, I mean, you throw in though,you got Brendan Penny and Sarah
Power.
I prefer them of these leads.
Actually, I really liked WesBrown, but just hated that movie
so much.
So yeah, That's why I figuredthis has got to be my favorite
because I didn't hate it, justfound it kind of blah again.
SPEAKER_00 (28:03):
Well, I said earlier that Nazine was underutilized.
That is nothing compared toSarah Power.
She is lovely.
She's great.
I wish she was in a movie everyyear.
she's, she's great.
And like you said, it was funseeing the good witch reunion
with Abigail and Martha.
(28:24):
So that was fantastic.
I don't, clearly we don't watchthe same movies because I
thought there was absolutely nochemistry between the two of
them.
I thought like that was sort ofthe one thing at the two first
movies that I thought bothcouples had at least had good
chemistry that made those moviesa little bit better.
(28:45):
Whereas this one, I, I just,I'll be honest, I thought Brad
Penny was this kind of annoying.
Brendan Penny?
Excuse me, Brendan Penny, yeah.
I thought he was just supposedto be sympathetic, but he was
just kind of annoying and a jerkto me.
And I did not like his characterat all.
(29:05):
So for me, this one, you know.
I
SPEAKER_01 (29:08):
don't think we watched the same one at all.
SPEAKER_00 (29:10):
Yeah, this was the worst of the three.
This is when the boat is readyto get retired.
You're like, okay, we've hadenough.
Let's just pull it in to dockand retire this boat.
SPEAKER_01 (29:24):
Well, let's get over our favorites of the month.
Let's start with Best Romance,where I'm just going to pick up
where we left off, Brendan Pettyand Sarah Power.
Best Romance.
So again, that's why I was like,clearly we don't watch the same
movies because that was my pick.
SPEAKER_00 (29:41):
Well, to keep the theme going, mine was Joe and
Ava from Royal Getaway.
So my worst is your best andyour best is my worst or
whatever.
That's
SPEAKER_01 (29:53):
hilarious.
SPEAKER_00 (29:53):
Yes.
So we clearly did not have that.
And like I said, while the moviewas not great, I just thought
they had great chemistry anddespite the script flaws and
they were a plenty.
There were plenty.
SPEAKER_01 (30:05):
Let's see if we line up in any of the other
categories here.
Favorite character of the month.
I doubt you're going to havemine.
I have Mackenzie Westmore inLove in the Clouds.
I loved her play.
She's the lead, right?
She's the lead.
Yeah, yeah.
I found her tone of voice to beperfect for that reporter.
I loved her character's art.
And I found herself...
She found herself and she foundlove in the end.
(30:29):
And so for me, that's always awin.
I saw growth in her.
So...
I liked that character.
Again, I know many did not, butmy favorite of the month.
SPEAKER_00 (30:38):
We're not very far off.
Oh.
Mine was Catherine Dishner.
We are very far off.
Who found no love, had nocharacter arc, but she is just
so lovely that put her on thescreen, put her in like Bob
Ross.
That's the guy, right?
Who paints the little prettyflowers.
To have her take over thatseries, I will watch every
(31:01):
episode just because I willwatch Cash Conditioner no matter
what she does.
And she's just absolutely adelight.
And you know what?
Get her in a holiday movie.
Why has she not been in aholiday movie?
We need more.
Get her in one.
Put her and Sarah Power in aholiday movie.
SPEAKER_01 (31:21):
Well, favorite setting of the month.
SPEAKER_00 (31:23):
This has to be agreeing.
SPEAKER_01 (31:25):
Hats off to love.
SPEAKER_00 (31:27):
No?
How can it not be the Danube?
For as bad as the movies mayhave been,
SPEAKER_01 (31:33):
it's cruising
SPEAKER_00 (31:34):
through Europe and seeing castles and our old art
museums.
Country, farm
SPEAKER_01 (31:39):
setting, little cute shop where she worked on those.
Like that little farmhouse,loved it.
The Derby.
I was all in on that farmsetting.
Of course I'm going to pick HatsOff.
SPEAKER_00 (31:50):
Here's my note.
Is it even debatable?
SPEAKER_01 (31:53):
Yes, it is.
Clearly.
SPEAKER_00 (31:54):
Oh, boy.
May was just terrible.
Can we agree on that at least?
SPEAKER_01 (32:04):
Well, let's see if we agree on our ranking then.
SPEAKER_00 (32:06):
We don't.
I guarantee we don't.
SPEAKER_01 (32:10):
Before
SPEAKER_00 (32:11):
we go, here's what I will say.
There is not a single movie ofthese five that I ever think I
will intentionally watch again.
I
SPEAKER_01 (32:20):
would watch two again.
So there we go.
My top two I would pick again.
Number five for me, love on theDanube, love song.
SPEAKER_00 (32:31):
For me, mine also starts with love, but mine is
love in the clouds.
SPEAKER_01 (32:36):
Number four, love on the Danube, royal getaway.
SPEAKER_00 (32:39):
Love on the Danube, kissing stars.
SPEAKER_01 (32:44):
Number three, love on the Danube, kissing stars.
SPEAKER_00 (32:47):
I've got love on the Danube, love song.
SPEAKER_01 (32:50):
Number two, hats off to love.
SPEAKER_00 (32:54):
Oh, there we go.
We finally have some agreement.
Hats off to Love for me, too.
SPEAKER_01 (32:59):
And my number one, Love in the Clouds, your least
favorite.
SPEAKER_00 (33:03):
And once again, we match with the first word, love.
Mine was Love on the DanubeRoyal Getaway, which a royal
movie you know I hate.
And it really just comes down toI found the two characters,
chemistry and them, just greatamongst a month of just
completely blah, blah.
(33:24):
not too exciting movies.
Hats Off to Love actuallyprobably had a little more going
for it than I'll give it creditfor.
It just wasn't the strongest ofscripts and that fashion thing.
just made it kind of laughableto me at the end but it would
have been probably could havebeen number one if it wasn't for
(33:45):
that
SPEAKER_01 (33:46):
well next week we are heading back to mystery 101
with words can kill and privateeyes episode four from season
one so you can catch that nextweek all right thanks eric
SPEAKER_00 (34:01):
all right we're out of here this podcast was created
by fans or fans and is notaffiliated with or sponsored by
Hallmark or the Hallmarkchannel.
Andrea, we're going to talk about Hallmark's May for
Moms.
And I have to tell you, I triedgiving May for Moms to my wife
for Mother's Day.
And now she's since taken thekids.
She's moved out.
Hallmark did me a dirty.
Are you ready to talk about theMay for Mom movies?
SPEAKER_01 (00:19):
Let's do it.
All right.
SPEAKER_00 (00:21):
Well, this is Eric.
SPEAKER_01 (00:23):
And this is Andrea.
SPEAKER_00 (00:24):
And this is Hallmark Mysteries and more.
And more.
Before we get going, I just haveto say, I don't even understand
the May for Moms theme for thismovie.
It was random.
And now I'm sitting here allalone by myself in my house
because I thought I had a greatgift for my wife for Mother's
(00:47):
Day.
And it had nothing to do withmoms the entire month.
So Hallmark, I don't know whatthe hell's going on.
SPEAKER_01 (00:53):
I mean, maybe there's a mom in the movies, I
guess.
UNKNOWN (00:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (00:58):
Sure, we will go with that.
But we would
SPEAKER_01 (01:00):
agree.
They're not overly mom-heavymovies, so
SPEAKER_00 (01:04):
I'm not sure.
I think it's a chatty PT, like,hey, give us a title for the
month.
And there we go.
Just in line with the Hallmark,some of the Hallmark marketing
promotions.
Yeah, it definitely sounds
SPEAKER_01 (01:18):
like a marketing thing.
SPEAKER_00 (01:19):
I don't get it.
I don't get it.
SPEAKER_01 (01:21):
Do
SPEAKER_00 (01:22):
you have anything fun to talk about?
SPEAKER_01 (01:24):
Okay, so I have one.
You know how I've been saying Iwant a diagnosis murder on the
Hallmark Plus app.
And it was released on theHallmark Plus app.
So I'm very excited about that.
Maybe Murder, Shrote will benext.
The one thing that's nice isthere's no commercials.
And so you can just like bingethe episode without having the
thousand commercials that are onlike the regular Hallmark
(01:45):
channel.
So exciting.
Have
SPEAKER_00 (01:47):
you watched any of it?
I have not.
But you have been watching thaton Friendly, right?
SPEAKER_01 (01:52):
No, it was on the Hulu.
SPEAKER_00 (01:55):
Oh, Hulu, but it was the replay.
That's what it was.
Okay.
Okay.
So now you get three
SPEAKER_01 (02:01):
minute commercial breaks, you know, and now you
can just binge.
So I started with episode oneand I will say this.
I hadn't, I mean, I had, Iremember the first episode, the
first few, I would even say thefirst season, it's kind of
finding his legs.
It's a different, completelydifferent.
I mean, it's different cast ofcharacters by the last season as
well.
And the hospital looksdifferent.
SPEAKER_00 (02:22):
Was this one that's like, because I'll be honest,
I've never seen an episode ofit, ever.
It's kind of like Murder, SheWrote, right?
So is this one, though, thatwent on?
Maybe
SPEAKER_01 (02:33):
we'll have to do some reviewing of that.
SPEAKER_00 (02:35):
Okay, well, we have no new mystery.
I mean, I can pick
SPEAKER_01 (02:38):
out like five episodes like we did for Murder,
She Wrote.
That would be kind of fun.
SPEAKER_00 (02:41):
Okay.
And
SPEAKER_01 (02:42):
get people to watch it, because I do like it, and I
think people will just, I mean,it's not like people don't love
Dick Van Dyke, but.
You just fall in love with him.
Like as Dr.
Sloan is so good.
SPEAKER_00 (02:53):
Is it like murder?
She wrote though, where there's23 seasons.
Like, did it go on forever or.
I
SPEAKER_01 (02:58):
think there's, is there what I want to say?
Eight.
SPEAKER_00 (03:02):
Okay.
So not.
Not as many.
Definitely.
SPEAKER_01 (03:06):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (03:07):
Definitely.
You know, almost a decade soundslike.
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (03:10):
And there, yeah, the hospital changes.
And so this one, it's a muchmore stark contrast from start
season to finishing season.
Dr.
Mark Sloan's house.
vastly improved because he's adoctor in LA.
So of course he's probablymaking bank.
SPEAKER_00 (03:24):
I thought it was like a small town.
No, it's in
SPEAKER_01 (03:28):
Malibu.
No, it's out in Malibu.
SPEAKER_00 (03:30):
So, Oh, all right.
So
SPEAKER_01 (03:32):
yeah, it's a, it's a really fun.
And his son actually plays hisson in the show.
And by the end, hisgrandchildren are in there quite
a bit and he has the wholefamily.
So we can watch some of those.
I think that would be kind offun for, for you since you
haven't seen them.
Now I will say that, The otherthings that I'm watching,
because you had, I think yousent me this, the castle
renovation show.
(03:53):
All
SPEAKER_02 (03:53):
right.
SPEAKER_01 (03:54):
So I have been watching it.
They are not.
So just a heads up.
It's on HBO Max.
I think it might be on a regularlike HGTV.
And then they, you know, HBO Maxhas it.
And it's just one castle.
And so it's just this couple whomoved from California.
This lady, the gal inherited acastle and out.
(04:15):
just south of Paris.
Her grandmother still lives inParis and her grandpa had this
castle.
And so now they're trying torenovate it.
And
SPEAKER_00 (04:23):
so- Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Big step back.
She's a Californian whoinherited a castle in France.
This literally is a hallmarkmovie.
SPEAKER_01 (04:31):
Yeah.
Well, and the amount of moneythat they have for these
renovations is just mindboggling because they are
probably younger than me oraround my age.
And I'm like, how do you havethis much money to renovate
projects?
Because they're like, we've setaside 100,000 for this room.
We've set aside, you know,35,000 for the bathroom,
whatever.
They're just like going aboutthrowing these numbers out.
And so I've only watched, Ithink I'm on episode three, but
(04:53):
they kind of a teaser.
They have this castle.
They're actually not going tolive in this castle.
It doesn't sound like that'swhere they do the weddings.
So they renovated a room forlike a bedroom in the castle,
but the cost to keep theelectricity on month to month,
if they would live there, it's350,000 dollars.
SPEAKER_02 (05:12):
So
SPEAKER_01 (05:13):
needless to say, I don't think they're actually
going to be living in thiscastle.
And that's just like, I don'tknow if that was the electricity
or the heat.
That's just one of the bills.
So they are also renovating thisHunter's Lodge, which is on the
property.
And I think that's going to betheir main house.
It's still amazing.
It's still huge, but it's not acastle.
And this castle, again, has adungeon.
I mean, it's a fun little show.
(05:34):
So if you're into castles andyou want to see this, plus the
couples, like, fun enoughpersonalities that you're kind
of into it.
And then they have like friendsthat are coming in and they have
local contractors and it's, it'sa really, it's, it's kind of a
cute little show.
SPEAKER_00 (05:48):
Well, this is a great segue for, we're going to
be talking about love in theDanube a little bit.
And I have been on a couple ofriver cruises and one of the
highlights for me of rivercruise, first of all, you see
like 70,000 churches, right?
But it's, Every now and then youdo go to the castles that have
the dungeons and all of thosesort of things.
And for me, those are the mostfun.
(06:09):
So I think that that soundspretty cool.
And I have to assume when theymade a castle in 1560 or
whenever they made said castle,they were not really thinking
about their electric bill at thetime.
SPEAKER_01 (06:22):
Oh, no, no, no, not at all.
I mean, yes, I think you wouldlike it.
So if you like castles, thatwould be one.
And then my last show I wantedto mention, because I find
myself, I start shows and thenI'm like, stop them, I'm halfway
finished.
So I literally, with the castleone, I have to be in the mood to
watch it and just to chill laidback.
I've also been binging nowseason two of Poker Face.
(06:46):
And I don't know, did you everwatch Poker Face?
I
SPEAKER_00 (06:49):
watched season one.
SPEAKER_01 (06:50):
Did you like it?
SPEAKER_00 (06:52):
It...
was okay it kind of gotredundant-y for me with her like
always walking into said issuesbut i mean obviously it's the
theme it's
SPEAKER_01 (07:03):
and it's very predictable mystery so i would
think if you do enjoy mysteriesso i just started i'm now like
i've been binging it since lastnight so that's how much i i
loved the show in season one andi'm loving season two um i had
kind of pushed off watching itbecause i wanted to binge a few
episodes so now they're six deepand they're released every week
Is it Netflix?
No, it's Peacock.
SPEAKER_00 (07:25):
Peacock, okay.
SPEAKER_01 (07:26):
And so they have Brady from The Way Home is in
this last episode as like agator cop.
So he plays a very differentcharacter.
So he was kind of fun to see.
But I would definitely give thata go if you're kind of craving
some mysteries.
I enjoy it, especially likeMonk.
I mean, this is one where theyshow you you know what happens
and you are privy to that andthen you get to kind of go along
(07:49):
with the ride of how um the maincharacter how she figures it out
SPEAKER_00 (07:53):
well that's like essentially colombo that's the
premise of colombo is it's notthe whodunit it's the how
SPEAKER_01 (08:00):
how you did
SPEAKER_00 (08:01):
it right and yeah
SPEAKER_01 (08:02):
so if you don't like those mysteries you probably
wouldn't like it but if you doit's kind of a fun little show
SPEAKER_00 (08:08):
i'll say the one thing about it and i figure what
her name is like natashasomething Her personality, her
character, I think sometimespeople are just like, she annoys
me, I'm out.
So she does have a very boldpersonality.
So if you can jive with it,yeah, it's got some of those fun
(08:30):
mystery traits.
SPEAKER_01 (08:32):
Well, that's what I had for you.
SPEAKER_00 (08:34):
Well, I'm just sitting here, like I say, sad,
lonely man since my...
My family all left me thanks tothe May for Moms.
So what do you say we get anddiscuss those movies?
SPEAKER_01 (08:47):
We'll do.
And also one note, myTimberwolves are officially out
of the playoffs.
So unfortunately, I have a lotof free time now.
There's no more basketball towatch.
So hence why I got to watchthese shows this week because
they lost.
So no more Timberwolves updatesin case anyone's wondering.
All right.
So first movie that kicked offMay for Moms was on Derby
Weekend, Hats Off to Love.
(09:09):
Stella designs hats andfascinators for socialite
Rosalind and meets her sonChristian, who's training a
horse to compete in theLouisville Derby.
This stars Gina Clare Mason,John Clarence Stewart, and Holly
Robinson-Heat.
For me, I gave this four stars.
I really enjoyed this one.
I found the racing, the hats,the romance to really work for
(09:31):
me.
I am also going to 100%contradict myself if you listen
to our Private Eyes episode withthe horse racing.
Just a caveat there.
But I enjoyed all of the actors.
SPEAKER_00 (09:43):
You know what's funny?
I didn't even put two and twotogether.
SPEAKER_01 (09:45):
Oh, yeah.
That
SPEAKER_00 (09:47):
we have the two horse races.
SPEAKER_01 (09:49):
So my expectations for this movie were really low.
Like I just I thought I wasgoing to hate it.
And so I was pleasantlysurprised.
This is probably one of thetopper movies.
I would say fourth of the moviesfor me this year.
Cause they've been pretty low.
So I, I thought it was cute.
It was fun.
It's one that I would, Iwouldn't seek out to watch
again, but if it's on in thebackground, I wouldn't mind
(10:10):
tuning in.
What about you?
I
SPEAKER_00 (10:13):
think to be in this movie, you have to have three
names because as you said, HollyRobinson, Pete, Gina, Claire
Mason, and John ClarenceStewart.
I don't know.
Just a weird coincidence.
UNKNOWN (10:24):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (10:25):
It was really nice seeing Holly Robinson-Pete
again.
She's obviously just a lovelyperson who is not the ageism,
but her roles in the Hallmarkmovies is going to be changing.
Last few times we've seen her,she's been the mom and sort of
going in that.
And so it's always nice to seeher.
(10:46):
I thought she was a fun, nicecharacter in it.
I would say that Gina Clare...
mason is proving to be a prettysolid lead i don't think she's
been in personally oh you gaveit a four i would give it a
marginal three it it just wasyou know ho-hum for me it wasn't
(11:11):
terrible wasn't great but youknow it's gina claire mason i
think she is just proving like isaid to be a really good lead
she's likable she's got charismashe's fun Then we get to see
John Clarence Stewart, who thisis his first hallmark.
He seemed great despite...
I want to see him again becauseI don't know if he is kind of
(11:34):
cardboardy, but I don't know ifit was the role or him.
And I don't think it's him.
So I just think they didn't givehim a lot of fun to the
character.
It was just sort of a ho-humrole.
And then...
It's just for me, it's a no-win,with the exception of Crimes of
(11:56):
Fashion, the mystery with BrookeD'Orsay.
Hallmark just should stay awayfrom fashion.
It never, ever looks good.
I went back and I thought about,what's her name?
Rebecca Dalton was in the headover heels with the shoes, and
the shoes were just, looked likehe went to Target and got some
(12:18):
shoes.
And the shoes also...
head over heel or no, excuse me.
It was, but it designedChristmas by design.
Yeah.
Christmas by design where shedesigned those hideous pajamas.
It's like, they just, the hats.
I don't know.
They just were not what I wouldlike.
I've watched my wife is when shewas still with me was all into
(12:40):
the Kentucky Derby.
And so we watch it and you seeall these just actually watch
SPEAKER_01 (12:45):
this.
SPEAKER_00 (12:46):
No, she did not watch the show.
Oh, I was like...
No, she watches the actualKentucky Derby.
Oh, okay.
And we watch it for like, Idon't know, three hours because
they start coverage pretty muchshowing the owners drinking mint
juleps all the way through therace.
And she loves her horse racing.
Well, for the major things.
(13:06):
And the hats are just thesemagnificent things.
And these ones look like thelittle kitty hats or something
like that.
So I don't know.
It just...
It's a nice try, but they justnever can pull off the fashion
stuff.
And to me, it ends up being kindof like almost comical about how
they're not great.
SPEAKER_01 (13:27):
Well, let's see if you enjoyed Love in the Clouds
anymore.
So reporter Brooklyn travels tothe balloon fiesta to meet hot
air balloon pilot Jared, whooffers romantic balloon rides,
but is closed off to lovehimself.
This Dark, Paul Green, MackenzieWestmore, Gail O'Grady, and
Lorenzo Lamis.
(13:47):
I gave this one a four out offive as well.
And it's probably one of myfavorites of the year.
I know people hated this one,but I found it cute and
delightful.
I would watch it again.
I enjoyed both of the leads.
I liked the message overall andlike finding yourself.
I liked the balloons.
I think her TV boss was theworst ever and loved everything.
(14:11):
the rushed happy ending i meanthis is a very old hallmark vibe
so if you enjoyed the earlierhallmark movies like i actually
i don't mind the earlierhallmark movies so for me this
felt right in that likenostalgia feel for me so i
enjoyed it i know a lot ofpeople talked about mckenzie and
her looks which i find atrociouslike i don't ever comment on
(14:32):
people's looks i thought shelooked just fine like i never i
did not notice anything but thecomments online were brutal and
i'm like i don't she's like paulthey're the same age ish right i
didn't look it up but i thinkthey're in the same ballpark
here
SPEAKER_00 (14:47):
i think he's like three years and you know that's
a big thing for me right i wantto say i think he's like three
years older than she is so yeahtotally reasonable
SPEAKER_01 (14:56):
i don't understand that and i mean for me i liked
it because they are you know Ithink there's a lot of people
who are in their forties andwanting to watch Hallmark and
yeah, they might be having foundlove for the first time shocker
in their late forties.
That's okay.
It's okay to watch that onscreen.
Like that's where I kind of likereally took offense when people
(15:17):
kind of got up in arms aboutthat.
I'm like, I want to see that nowthat I'm also, you know, I'm in
my forties just turned 40,almost going to be 41, I guess.
But that is where I think theaudience is.
We want to see that.
And then of course, a lot of theladies online, maybe were a
little even older in the sixtiesand seventies who didn't want to
(15:38):
see that, which is alsointeresting.
It's just an interesting dynamicand like woman on woman crime.
Don't get me started here.
The patriarchy, Eric, I couldjust go on.
So this movie that it triggeredme in some capacity there
because I'm like, but I, I foundit delightful.
I know you didn't like thismovie, but for me, I enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_00 (15:59):
Well, before I go into my review, I'm going to
just comment on you.
I agree with everything yousaid, a thousand percent.
The other thing about it is whatI actually do like about the
movie is, as you said, they'reright around 50 years old, but
they handled the relationshipwell.
like they're right around 50years old he had this like
(16:21):
emotional baggage that he wasjust like I'm shut off I'm not
going to do it I've I've turnedit off and she you know talks
about how she always is pickingthe wrong guy she's you know
overly romantic and ends up youknow it never meets her, her
expectations.
And so I could see you gothrough life that way where you
(16:41):
just never quite get in thoserelationships.
Right.
And so I thought they dealt withthem as 50 year olds and I'd
much rather see this way of theway they dealt with the
relationship than when they havepeople of the same age and
they're showing them being like,Oh, I'm just like randomly
fallen in love waiting for you.
And it is sort of like thatfirst love type thing for people
(17:02):
who are this age because peoplewant to see their favorite, you
know, actors in that kind ofrole but that's a role where you
are when you're in your 30s okaybut when you are 50 and i'm
sorry like when yes you have anikki deloach who i love ellie
sweeney who i love they can'treally be in that same little
role because otherwise it'ssilly so i thought that they
(17:23):
agree with you they handled itvery nicely in that aspect But
let's get to what it was.
I thought I hit my head and Iwoke up and it was 2018 because
this, yes, is so old school.
I'm pretty sure what happenedwas Hallmark's like, damn it, we
need, you know, there's fiveweekends in May.
We need another movie, quickproduction company.
(17:45):
What do you got?
And the guy like walked over,looked to his filing cabinet,
dusts off the script and it'slike, you know, blows up.
Oh, well, let's just make thisone.
I don't know what it is.
And they made it because it isamazing.
Literally, like you said, oldschool Hallmark through and
through.
I have to say, I didn't reallybuy so much into the
(18:09):
relationship between the leads.
I did like the mom and dad.
I found them great.
And then the assistant and,well, I guess the both
assistants, I enjoyed those two.
So I thought the secondary...
two secondary relationships werethe most fun of the
relationships there.
And I will say positive for me.
(18:32):
I love flash forwards.
So when they gave it the flashforward, I'm like, okay, this
movie just redeemed itself.
Terrible.
I have to assume that's blue orgreen screen.
And they're in the thingsbecause it did not look real,
but whatever it is.
You know, it was fun.
It was cute.
(18:52):
A little cringy, though, doingthe proposal with, you know,
everyone watching.
I guess maybe I'm more of aprivate proposal person than
public proposal person, butwhatever.
And then speaking of cringy, Ithink if you were watching the
news and you saw her littlebroadcast on there, you'd be
(19:13):
like, what the hell am Iwatching?
This woman's making out with theballoonist dude.
And everything, it just was alittle bit, whatever, Hallmark
World-y.
So I don't know.
I give it 1.87.
Oh, gosh.
It was not up in the clouds forme.
(19:35):
It was like down in the dirt.
It was more when the basketlands and tips and falls over.
That's the feeling I hadwatching this.
I texted you, as you know, I waslike a third of the way in
there.
I'm like, How?
How did you love this one?
But you know what?
That's the beauty of Hallmark.
Everyone likes what they like,right?
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (19:56):
Well, now we're going to go to the Danube.
Love on the Danube.
SPEAKER_00 (20:01):
Love song.
You can beat me up now.
SPEAKER_01 (20:03):
Fellow cruise passengers Sarah and Jack play a
matchmaker with theirmusic-loving widowed parents as
they cruise down the Danubevisiting European cities.
This stars Nazneen Contractorand Wes Brown.
Two out of five.
Snoozefest for me.
Really didn't like this one.
I found it boring.
(20:25):
I usually enjoy both of thoseleads, and they couldn't save
the lack of anything going on inthis movie.
Shout out to Jenny, who does thepreviews with us on our
Christmas movies.
She was an extra on this one,and so if you paused it, I had
to have her tell me which part,because I really struggled.
(20:45):
It's a
SPEAKER_02 (20:45):
library, right?
SPEAKER_01 (20:46):
Yeah, I really struggled to pay attention in
this movie, so I totally missedit.
But I, yeah, these are not myfavorite.
I watched them and have notrevisited them since last fall,
I think, when they were onHallmark+.
I I liked one better than theother two.
It's not this one, though.
So this one is a no-go for me.
(21:08):
I will not watch it again, nordid I revisit it, nor did I have
any more notes on it because Idon't want to revisit it.
Eric?
SPEAKER_00 (21:16):
Well, I'll give it a three.
And I have to say, I think it...
Honestly, I think it was Januarywhen these came out.
I think they were all new year.
Not that because it was
SPEAKER_01 (21:28):
groomsmen.
I looked back through myInstagram to look at my notes
for my reviews because I waslike, wow, how long ago is these
air?
And they were right around theChristmas batch, which also poor
timing on Hallmark plus with allof these.
SPEAKER_00 (21:41):
I, my main thing, and this will go for the next
three movies.
I'm just disappointed that we'rereviewing quote unquote, new
movies that aired six monthsago.
Right.
And it just, I don't know.
It, it takes away the wholething of, Oh, Hey, we're getting
on plus to get this new, freshcontent.
(22:01):
You're not getting anywhere.
It's just, okay.
It's taken me a little whilelonger and I'll get it on the,
the, the channel.
So whatever.
Whole other, whole otherconversation.
Can I
SPEAKER_01 (22:10):
also say my Hallmark plus, I went to the Hallmark
store and I asked the lady howto use, I'm like, Oh, I have
Hallmark.
Cause they had the thing rightthere on the counter.
I said, Oh, I have Hallmarkplus.
don't I have rewards or points?
Cause I was buying cards and shegoes, Oh, I actually don't know
how to like find that or usethat.
And I'm like, what the heck?
I mean, I don't even, so I don'teither.
Cause I've never tried to useit, but I'm like, well, what's
(22:32):
the point of then this Hallmarkplus, like, isn't that supposed
to be a bonus of us going intothe store?
Your
SPEAKER_00 (22:37):
$5 a month.
SPEAKER_01 (22:39):
Right.
And she didn't know how to findit.
And I'm like, that's a bummer.
SPEAKER_00 (22:44):
I guess I enjoyed the movie for what it was.
It was, was, you know, Was itgreat?
No.
Was it terrible?
No.
But it was enjoyable.
Like I said, I'm not rushing outto watch it again or anything
like that.
Have you watched it again?
What?
SPEAKER_01 (23:00):
Have you watched it again since it
SPEAKER_00 (23:02):
originally aired?
I watched it twice.
I watched...
Yeah.
Well, I watched...
Unlike you, I prepared for this.
SPEAKER_01 (23:08):
No.
Eric, I'd rather watch PokerFace.
Sorry.
SPEAKER_00 (23:13):
And I will say, I think Nazeem...
She's a strong lead that'scompletely underutilized.
I like her.
I think she's really good, and Iwish she was in more.
I thought her and Wes had somegood chemistry.
I like the parents trying tohook up the parents and do that
(23:34):
whole thing, of which then theyfall in love.
It was fun.
And then Catherine Dishner,whatever, give me her in a
movie, and I think everything'salways just perfect.
better that she's in there andthen my final note was yeah we
got to see jenny hever cameo soyou know i guess i guess i say
three no three is actuallybetter i'll give it a 2.75
(23:56):
because it was just it was notterrible it was not great it was
just whatever if it's on it'syou like to call those those
background movie
SPEAKER_01 (24:05):
this is that's what this was no this is this was
like have it on
SPEAKER_00 (24:10):
make you know, on the iPad and make breakfast or
lunch and do all those sorts ofthings while you're going.
And then I'll be good.
So there you go.
Let's spin around and cruisedown the river again.
All
SPEAKER_01 (24:21):
right.
Now we're hitting the Royalgetaway.
A jilted art gallery managertakes her honeymoon cruise solo
and meets a charming Princeposing as a European gentleman
who shares her passion for art.
This star is Jessica Sipos, DanGiannette, Catherine Drysdale,
Catherine Buescher.
Well, another two out of five,another snooze fest.
(24:43):
I have less notes on this thanthe other one.
What would make this seriesworse for me?
Throw in the royal element withbad accents.
So this is it.
My highlight, I wrote CatherineDisher.
That is all the notes I have onthis.
I literally cannot recallanything else about this movie.
So I clearly was paying zeroattention and no, I will not
(25:07):
revisit it.
I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_00 (25:10):
Well, you know how I feel about royal movies.
SPEAKER_01 (25:13):
Yes, it just has to be your
SPEAKER_00 (25:14):
least.
They're not my jam at all.
But I have to say, I didn't hatethis one.
And the only reason why...
SPEAKER_01 (25:19):
Almost spit my coffee up.
SPEAKER_00 (25:21):
The only reason why is I thought the leads, the two
of them, were just enjoyabletogether.
They were just great chemistryindividually.
I liked them both.
I thought it was just a moviewith the two of them.
And I...
I couldn't tell you really,yeah, they were doing the art
stuff and all of that was justwaste for me.
(25:43):
Just have them sit around andchat.
And that was the thing becausethe two of them were just gold
together and everything else,whatever.
I thought, and they're callingit a honeymoon, by the way, it
was a year later.
It still is the fun trope.
You know, it's the two ticketsto paradise, which I love that.
Taking the honeymoon by yourselfafter you've been jilted.
But it is, she did take it likea year later.
(26:05):
So it's not like really rightthen.
It's like, oh, I'm not going tolet my, whatever, my ticket go
to waste kind of thing.
It's already paid.
So it was that.
And then, but Joe, Dan'scharacter, his beard at the
beginning was so fake.
It was like as bad as JodieSweeten's wig in Murder at
(26:26):
Mosby.
Now
SPEAKER_01 (26:27):
I did watch that movie again.
SPEAKER_00 (26:30):
So whatever.
Yeah.
Really just thought the twoleads were just magical
together.
And that's kind of all that I'mleft with after this movie.
SPEAKER_01 (26:43):
How many stars?
SPEAKER_00 (26:44):
2.751.
I love how
SPEAKER_01 (26:49):
you do.
Okay.
Can't just do a one, two, three,four or five.
All
SPEAKER_00 (26:54):
right.
It's not good enough to be athree and it's not bad enough to
be a two.
SPEAKER_01 (26:58):
Kissing Stars.
Savannah, a publicist,reluctantly works with Tripp, a
celebrity who is having troubleconnecting with his fans abroad,
a cruise promoting his latestfilm.
This stars Sarah Power, BrendanPenny, Catherine Drysdale, and
Catherine Bisher.
This is a three out of five forme.
This was my favorite of themovies.
Brendan and Sarah were able tocarry the movie.
(27:19):
And then I think Catherine andSarah being reunited felt like
seamless chemistry there fromGoodwitch.
And this was, this entire seriesis not one I'm going to revisit,
even this movie.
So I gave it the highest,mostly.
They also could have wore medown because sometimes when you
get these, like you're just kindof at the point where you're
(27:40):
like, okay, I see where we are.
The bar is not high.
So, I mean, you throw in though,you got Brendan Penny and Sarah
Power.
I prefer them of these leads.
Actually, I really liked WesBrown, but just hated that movie
so much.
So yeah, That's why I figuredthis has got to be my favorite
because I didn't hate it, justfound it kind of blah again.
SPEAKER_00 (28:03):
Well, I said earlier that Nazine was underutilized.
That is nothing compared toSarah Power.
She is lovely.
She's great.
I wish she was in a movie everyyear.
she's, she's great.
And like you said, it was funseeing the good witch reunion
with Abigail and Martha.
(28:24):
So that was fantastic.
I don't, clearly we don't watchthe same movies because I
thought there was absolutely nochemistry between the two of
them.
I thought like that was sort ofthe one thing at the two first
movies that I thought bothcouples had at least had good
chemistry that made those moviesa little bit better.
(28:45):
Whereas this one, I, I just,I'll be honest, I thought Brad
Penny was this kind of annoying.
Brendan Penny?
Excuse me, Brendan Penny, yeah.
I thought he was just supposedto be sympathetic, but he was
just kind of annoying and a jerkto me.
And I did not like his characterat all.
(29:05):
So for me, this one, you know.
I
SPEAKER_01 (29:08):
don't think we watched the same one at all.
SPEAKER_00 (29:10):
Yeah, this was the worst of the three.
This is when the boat is readyto get retired.
You're like, okay, we've hadenough.
Let's just pull it in to dockand retire this boat.
SPEAKER_01 (29:24):
Well, let's get over our favorites of the month.
Let's start with Best Romance,where I'm just going to pick up
where we left off, Brendan Pettyand Sarah Power.
Best Romance.
So again, that's why I was like,clearly we don't watch the same
movies because that was my pick.
SPEAKER_00 (29:41):
Well, to keep the theme going, mine was Joe and
Ava from Royal Getaway.
So my worst is your best andyour best is my worst or
whatever.
That's
SPEAKER_01 (29:53):
hilarious.
SPEAKER_00 (29:53):
Yes.
So we clearly did not have that.
And like I said, while the moviewas not great, I just thought
they had great chemistry anddespite the script flaws and
they were a plenty.
There were plenty.
SPEAKER_01 (30:05):
Let's see if we line up in any of the other
categories here.
Favorite character of the month.
I doubt you're going to havemine.
I have Mackenzie Westmore inLove in the Clouds.
I loved her play.
She's the lead, right?
She's the lead.
Yeah, yeah.
I found her tone of voice to beperfect for that reporter.
I loved her character's art.
And I found herself...
She found herself and she foundlove in the end.
(30:29):
And so for me, that's always awin.
I saw growth in her.
So...
I liked that character.
Again, I know many did not, butmy favorite of the month.
SPEAKER_00 (30:38):
We're not very far off.
Oh.
Mine was Catherine Dishner.
We are very far off.
Who found no love, had nocharacter arc, but she is just
so lovely that put her on thescreen, put her in like Bob
Ross.
That's the guy, right?
Who paints the little prettyflowers.
To have her take over thatseries, I will watch every
(31:01):
episode just because I willwatch Cash Conditioner no matter
what she does.
And she's just absolutely adelight.
And you know what?
Get her in a holiday movie.
Why has she not been in aholiday movie?
We need more.
Get her in one.
Put her and Sarah Power in aholiday movie.
SPEAKER_01 (31:21):
Well, favorite setting of the month.
SPEAKER_00 (31:23):
This has to be agreeing.
SPEAKER_01 (31:25):
Hats off to love.
SPEAKER_00 (31:27):
No?
How can it not be the Danube?
For as bad as the movies mayhave been,
SPEAKER_01 (31:33):
it's cruising
SPEAKER_00 (31:34):
through Europe and seeing castles and our old art
museums.
Country, farm
SPEAKER_01 (31:39):
setting, little cute shop where she worked on those.
Like that little farmhouse,loved it.
The Derby.
I was all in on that farmsetting.
Of course I'm going to pick HatsOff.
SPEAKER_00 (31:50):
Here's my note.
Is it even debatable?
SPEAKER_01 (31:53):
Yes, it is.
Clearly.
SPEAKER_00 (31:54):
Oh, boy.
May was just terrible.
Can we agree on that at least?
SPEAKER_01 (32:04):
Well, let's see if we agree on our ranking then.
SPEAKER_00 (32:06):
We don't.
I guarantee we don't.
SPEAKER_01 (32:10):
Before
SPEAKER_00 (32:11):
we go, here's what I will say.
There is not a single movie ofthese five that I ever think I
will intentionally watch again.
I
SPEAKER_01 (32:20):
would watch two again.
So there we go.
My top two I would pick again.
Number five for me, love on theDanube, love song.
SPEAKER_00 (32:31):
For me, mine also starts with love, but mine is
love in the clouds.
SPEAKER_01 (32:36):
Number four, love on the Danube, royal getaway.
SPEAKER_00 (32:39):
Love on the Danube, kissing stars.
SPEAKER_01 (32:44):
Number three, love on the Danube, kissing stars.
SPEAKER_00 (32:47):
I've got love on the Danube, love song.
SPEAKER_01 (32:50):
Number two, hats off to love.
SPEAKER_00 (32:54):
Oh, there we go.
We finally have some agreement.
Hats off to Love for me, too.
SPEAKER_01 (32:59):
And my number one, Love in the Clouds, your least
favorite.
SPEAKER_00 (33:03):
And once again, we match with the first word, love.
Mine was Love on the DanubeRoyal Getaway, which a royal
movie you know I hate.
And it really just comes down toI found the two characters,
chemistry and them, just greatamongst a month of just
completely blah, blah.
(33:24):
not too exciting movies.
Hats Off to Love actuallyprobably had a little more going
for it than I'll give it creditfor.
It just wasn't the strongest ofscripts and that fashion thing.
just made it kind of laughableto me at the end but it would
have been probably could havebeen number one if it wasn't for
(33:45):
that
SPEAKER_01 (33:46):
well next week we are heading back to mystery 101
with words can kill and privateeyes episode four from season
one so you can catch that nextweek all right thanks eric
SPEAKER_00 (34:01):
all right we're out of here this podcast was created
by fans or fans and is notaffiliated with or sponsored by
Hallmark or the Hallmarkchannel.
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