Hallmark For All Seasons

A Slew of Mini-Reviews, Pt 4

Fourth round! Slowly chipping away at the movies that have already aired! Here are a few more mini-“reviews” of several movies that have come out since May, in the hopes of catching up by the time Christmas movies start in a few weeks. I won’t be reviewing all of them, but I will be SCORING all of them and adding the scores to the list at the bottom of each post.

“Love in the Limelight” starring Alexa PenaVega and Carlos PenaVega

This one aired on Hallmark Channel on August 6, 2022. Written by 1980s tv star Willie Aames and his wife Winnie Hung and additional writer Rich Tabach, based on their own true story, and directed by Ron Oliver. It was filmed in Salt Lake City, Utah. Knowing it was based on a true story, and that Oliver was directing, I expected this one to be a cut above the typical Hallmark fare.

The Plot of “Love in the Limelight”

Pen pals with Nick for years, Summer is reluctant for her relationship with him to go public when the former boy band singer comes to town for a comeback concert.

General Thoughts

I liked this one, but not as much as I hoped I would. I really liked the Nick character, but the Summer character (and her motivations) fell flat. She wanted her friendship with a pop star to be private, and yet – knowing he’s a pop star – she gets mad when their relationship gets outed? She gets mad because her dad shares a story about her inability to sing in public when she was a kid? To quote her abuela, “Don’t be so stupid.”

This movie was based on the true story of how actor Willie Aames met his wife through a fan letter she wrote as a kid. Over 30 years later, after a lot of friendly letters and phone calls, and after Aames recovered from his dip into drug addiction and homelessness, they finally met in person, happened to fall in love and got married less than a year later. I think it’s an amazing story and worth of the telling.

And for the most part, “Limelight” hits all the right notes. The cast is great, the music is great, and the story is great and well-written. I just think the conflict was not enough, and of the two main characters, I really only liked one of them. But still, I enjoyed the movie.

“To Her, With Love” starring Skye P. Marshall and Tobias Trovillion

This movie aired Sept 11, 2022 on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel. Tyler Straessle (Sweet Autumn) provided the script while Stan Foster directed.

The Plot of “To Her, With Love”

Two teachers fall for each other while saving their school’s art department.

General Thoughts

This movie spoke to me mainly because my own daughter, currently in college, wants to be an art teacher. She plans on getting a degree in Art Education for that very reason, and so I was deeply invested in a school saving the arts program since that could be my own daughter fighting for her career some day!

This movie could have been good, but it was 100% ruined by the constant music playing beneath every single scene. Maybe I just never notice it in other movies, but the soundtrack to this movie was ridiculous and VERY noticeable versus being what it should have been: background music. Despite the awful music, I liked the actors, and I liked the story. I felt like the romance was an afterthought, and while I loved Jordan passing a note to Kayla to ask her out, it was the one bad note to the movie. I wish this had stuck with being a “teachers save the arts” movie rather than shoehorning in a romance at the 1 hr 20 min mark.

“Caribbean Summer” starring Heather Hemmens and Ser’Darius Blain

This movie premiered June 11, 2022 on Hallmark Channel during their “Summer Nights” string of movies. Kelly Bowe and Arlene Gibbs wrote the script based on a story by Rob Loos. Multi-time Hallmark director Steven R. Monroe led this movie, which was filmed in Belize.

The Plot of “Caribbean Summer”

Jade, a news producer heads to the Caribbean for relaxation, only to fall victim to a rental scam. Serendipitously, she befriends the real owner, Ford, and discovers fun and romance.

General Thoughts

First of all, let me say welcome to Hallmark, Ser’Darius Blain! It took me a few to realize I was watching Fridge from the newer Jumanji movies, but he was the perfect Hallmark leading man. I thought he was engaging, handsome and had great modest comedic timing with the little bits of funny stuff the script allowed. I also thought he and Heather Hemmens had great chemistry together.

I kind of wish this one had just stuck to being a fun summer movie instead of turning into a mystery as to who Ford was. This movie was a total win for me while it was a lighthearted romp. I kind of got bored about 3/4s of the way into the movie because it was no longer just a fun summer beachy romance. But it still made it to the Top 10 so far of all the 2022 movies I’ve watched up to this point.

The Rankings

Two Tickets to Paradise (air date: June 25) – 664 pts – weighted score: 111.4 (78.1%)
Just One Kiss (air date: Apr 2) – 660 pts – weighted score: 111.2 (78.0%)
The Presence of Love (air date: Mar 13) – 650 pts – weighted score: 110.9 (77.8%)
Wedding of a Lifetime (air date: Sept 17) – 640 pts – weighted score: 108.2 (75.9%)
Dating the Delaneys (air date: Aug 20) – 638 pts – weighted score: 106.5 (74.7%)
Love, Classified (air date: Apr 16) – 624 pts – weighted score: 106.1 (74.4%)
A Royal Runaway Romance (air date: Apr 9) – 617 pts – weighted score: 105.9% (74.3%)
Rip in Time (air date: May 22) – 622 pts – weighted score: 105.3% (73.9%)
Campfire Christmas (air date: July 16) – 621 pts – weighted score: 104.9 (73.6%)
Caribbean Summer (air date: June 11) – 636 pts – weighted score: 104.7 (73.5%)
Always Amore (air date: Apr 3) – 618 pts – weighted score: 104.5 (73.3%)
Love in the Limelight (air date: Aug 6) – 604 pts – weighted score: 100.0 (70.2%)
A Tail of Love (air date: Apr 23) – 557 pts – weighted score: 94.4 (66.2%)
The Perfect Pairing (air date: Jan 15) – 563 pts – weighted score: 92.7 (65.0%)
Christmas in Toyland (air date: July 23) – 544 pts – weighted score: 92.4 (64.8%)
The Wedding Veil Legacy (air date: Feb 19) – 543 pts – weighted score: 92.0 (64.5%)
Welcome to Mama’s (air date: Feb 26) – 540 pts – weighted score: 91.9 (64.5%)
Butlers in Love (air date: Jan 29) – 527 pts – weighted score: 91.3 (64.0%)
Feeling Butterflies (air date: Mar 12) – 542 pts – weighted score: 91.2 (64.0%)
To Her, With Love (air date: Sept 11) – 536 pts – weighted score: 89.4 (62.7%)
The Wedding Veil Unveiled (air date: Feb 12) – 515 pts – weighted score: 86.9 (61.0%)
My Grown-Up Christmas List (air date: July 9) – 514 pts – weighted score: 86.9 (60.9%)
Road Trip Romance (air date: May 14) – 492 pts – weighted score: 85.9 (60.3%)
Don’t Forget I Love You (air date: Jan 22) – 508 pts – weighted score: 85.8 (60.2%)
The Wedding Veil (air date: Jan 8) – 508 pts – weighted score: 83.3 (58.4%)
Where the Heart Belongs (air date: Jan 1) – 435 pts – weighted score: 74.5 (52.3%)
14 Love Letters (air date: July 31) – 420 pts – weighted score: 73.5 (51.6%)