Post 184: Rating Amazon Prime Hallmark Movies (Stack Channel - updated May 7th)

When I was going to work, I would usually need to leave the house by about 7:15am to get to work at 9:00am (mostly to get a parking spot at the station). Then, I would leave work at 4:30pm and would usually get home around 5:45-6pm. So, I spent about +3hours in commute. And because I was out of the house all day, I could only do chores on the weekend (or usually only did them then). Even more low maintenance, but time consuming things like laundry were a Sunday activity. But now that I can't go any where and my commute is basically 50 steps, I have gained a lot of time. I'd like to say that I have been using all of it to be highly productive, but some of it has been spent watching mindless television.

As of late I have been a particular fan of Hallmark style movies, i.e. predictable, formulaic even. But always with a happy ending and good people getting good things and bad people being punished or reforming.

So, to keep it from being a total time waste, I figured I would use it as an opportunity to get some writing in. There are so many and it seems like there are three new ones that pop up every weekend, I will only write a little bit about each. But I will rank them all below.

They are all from Amazon Prime, particularly the Stack channel (free-trial ending at the start of next month). After this free trial ends, I will try Super Channel. It has some Hallmark movies, but it has a lot that fit the same style under "Heart and Home" category. I will update as new ones come up, as long as I have a free trial. I don't know that it is worth the extra $10 a month for some Hallmark movies, especially at an additional $7-10 per channel on top of the cost for Amazon Prime.

EDIT: I will not be continuing with Stack channel. I considered it, but now that I am nearing the end of my free trial I started a Super Channel trial. Super Channel has some of the same movies, more selection, and so far there have been no commercials while most Stack movies and TV shows still have commercials. They are generally shorter, but since other channels with more selection don't have commercials it doesn't feel worth it.

Love at Sunset Terrace--He is a widower who runs a B&B, she is a corporate interior designer looking for some time away from work. Review: really cute, adorable little girl, good chemistry, minimal angst. Minimal communication issues. 8/10

Just My Type--She is a writer for a magazine who is tasked with interviewing a popular writer that hasn't done interviews in years. Review: sweet, very cute dog, interesting premise, some things a little unclear. Medium communication issues, but minimal angst. 7/10

You're Bacon Me Crazy--They both run food trucks and end up as competitors in a food truck competition. Review: communication issues actually resolved through communication, medium angst in one scene, good looking food, side characters could have had more of a role. 6.5/10

Easter Under Wraps--Her family owns a large chocolate company, she goes undercover in one of the factories where he works. Review: Medium communication issues, minor characters did play a role but could have had more focus, okay chemistry but could have ended as friends just as easily. 6/10

Fashionably Yours--She moved to the city to follow her dreams, but when they didn't work she decided to move home and he is her mover. Review: A little bit of an odd premise, but he was sweet. They had good chemistry, there was good use of the side characters and they actually influenced the ending. Medium angst and communication issues. 6.5/10

Bottled with Love--She wrote a love letter to her ideal partner, put it in a bottle and threw it in the ocean which he found. They turn out to be coworkers with very different ideals. Review: Medium communication issues, but they are actually resolved. Medium angst. Kind of similar in nature to You've Got Mail. 6/10

Love at the Shore--stressed single mother (divorced) takes her two kids to the seaside for some peace and relaxation to focus on her next novel, he is her neighbor and a bit of a loud one at that. Review: really sweet, loved the kids, couple had good chemistry and had the "being the best version of themselves with each other" thing. Communication issues were minimal at the end, but played a role in the beginning that made sense. Minor angst. 7.5/10

In the Key of Love--Former singing partners and exes meet at their friend's wedding (her best friend, his sister) and get reacquainted. Review: Medium communication issues, relationship very quickly changed and was awkward at times, sweet ending. Minor characters played a large role in the plot, but in a way that made them kind of unlikable. 5.5/10

True Love Blooms--she runs a community garden and he is the real estate developer that is looking to build on the property. Review: I found her mostly unlikable. She is meant to come across as a very sweet, selfless character but comes across as the opposite. She keeps pushing him to move elsewhere or block his development, but he owns all the other properties nearby and his whole team is depending on the job. Meanwhile, no one at the garden actually NEEDS their little patch of dirt (which is like a 2by4 plot per person and there are maybe 6-8 in total). She dismisses two of the people when they are trying to talk to her and then acts like they are betraying her when they decide to move their garden elsewhere rather than risking having their garden just destroyed. She gets mad at the guy selling the land because he wants to retire to be with his family. And she spends the entire movie trying to block the male lead by going over his head or trying to guilt him into it, but never actually looks at other locations or proposes solutions. Medium angst, medium communication issues. 3/10

Season for Love--She works at her family BBQ restaurant and he is a local chef in town to host a BBQ competition. Review: really cute, loved their dynamic. Side characters found love as well and people improve. Medium angst, minimal communication issues. 6/10

How to Fall in Love--She was the most popular girl in school who danced with another guy after they went to a school dance together as friends...with a group, years later he still feels like the awkward dork from school and doesn't know how to talk to girls so hires her to teach him to date. Review: Kind of like Love Don't Cost a Thing, but with adults who should know better. Angst was too high. Twenty years later he still can't date because she invited him as a friend to a dance and then when he didn't talk to her most of the night she agreed to dance with someone else? Like the most popular girl in school invited him to the dance and there was no prank or cruelty involved. She actually asked just to be nice. And yet he was still scarred for life? That doesn't make much sense to me. If she had been mean at the time and then years later had learned her lesson that would be one thing, but there was too much of a push for her to have been nice all along (though apparently she forgot everything that happened, which seems weird unless she had some sort of head injury) that it didn't seem like it should have hurt him so much for so long, the movie even brings this up but doesn't address it. Basically he goes, "I've probably been upset about this for longer than people think I should, but...oh well". And there is no moment where he says he was bullied or insulted by anyone prior to or after that moment not even for his appearance. So, it seems to have only ever been in his own head. And her "teaching him to get to first base" while he was dating someone else was kind of cringey and manipulative. Sure, he liked her at that point, but she didn't know that and it was using his eagerness (and desperation) to do well as an excuse to get him to do what she wanted. Especially when she said he needed practice kissing as an excuse to make out with him more, like...that just doesn't sit right with me. 3.5/10 (Also on Super Channel and on Super Channel there are no commercials).

Hearts of Spring--A mommy blogger meets a guy on her blog that has a different parenting style, they argue in the comments not knowing they are dating in real life. Review: I didn't love the concept. They are both claiming to be experts in parenting, but they are both such extreme opposites with no actual qualifications to be telling anyone what to do. And neither of them seem to be doing that great. One took a Emily Gilmore approach, the other a Lorelai Gilmore approach. As such you have a dictatorship parental situation and friends first, no leadership parental situation. He feels like he is losing control and she feels like she has none, but they're lecturing other people on what to do? Ridiculous. If she had a degree in childhood development (or really any experience beyond that her husband seemed to have left her enough money when he died that she could be a stay-at-home mom for her one daughter) that would be different. Multi-generational angst, medium communication issues. 4/10

Sailing into Love--A teacher takes her students on an annual trip to an island, he is the new captain sailing them there and together they have to save the island from developers. Review: could have been better, in the beginning something comes up that could have been a good way to resolve it, but then that is abandoned and it goes in a different direction. (spoiler: they are trying to save the island. Early on a bird is mentioned that hasn't been seen on the island for years, if they saw it they could have used that to lobby for the island to be a reserve to protect the bird, but the bird doesn't really ever come up again). Minimal communication issues, minimal angst. Cute couple, good chemistry. I like that despite thinking her ex is trying to get her back, that he actually fights for her (both in that even when he thinks he might not win her romantically, he still supports her rather than getting moody and leaving her to fight the battle on her own, but also that he lets her know that he thinks she can do better and he cares about her). 6.5/10

Love Once and Always--Former childhood sweethearts reconnect when they both inherit the same former historic home. Review: Confusing couple (i.e. it seems to suggest he broke up with her early on but still loved her and always got really excited when she came home to visit so he could see her again even from a distance but then it also seems to suggest that they broke up and hadn't been in the same place for years-but that means that they had been in a long distance relationship for years, so there was no reason they couldn't have stayed in one), but decent chemistry overall. Medium angst, major communication issues. 6/10

Love to the Rescue--At an adoption fair for animals, two households try to adopt the same dog and so the shelter has them take turns with the dog before deciding who keeps him. Review: I find the premise unlikely and found that their kids were basically mirrors of the other love interest weird (i.e. she has very practical and structured daughter who likes rules, just like he likes rules and structure. His son is creative and active, she is creative and active). Medium communication issues that are resolved too quickly. Minimal angst. 5.5/10

Rome in Love--She is an unknown actress playing a large role in a new movie, he is a journalist with an exclusive chance to interview her while they spend time sight-seeing in Rome. Review: Very cute, they were a really sweet couple. Good chemistry. Lots of chances to add communication issues and angst, but didn't go that way which was appreciated. Minor communication issue at the end. Minimal angst. 8/10

Love on the Menu--She works for a company that would like to improve their frozen food, he is a chef with a failing restaurant. She agrees to help him, if he agrees to help her company. Review: weird premise and didn't really make sense that someone as senior and talented as her in such a large company could spend so much time helping him with his restaurant and ignoring her actual job, but that aside it was very sweet and they were a cute couple. Ending was a little cringe. 6/10

Love Takes Flight--He is the new helicopter pilot at the hospital she runs. Review: Medium communication issues that don't make sense. In the end, she makes a decision and then justifies it, but the justification doesn't make sense (Spoilers: she says they shouldn't date because of the conflict of interest. There is a situation that arises where what makes sense for the patient is for him to land at their hospital despite the storm, but she tells him to fly to another hospital instead for a safer landing, knowing that the time to get the organ he is delivering will be increased likely to the point where it is no longer viable for transplant. Later, she says this was the right call, but that doesn't make sense. As the pilot, he knew the conditions and choose something more dangerous for him but better for the patient, while she wanted him to do something that was safer for him personally but would likely cause the patient's death and because of the importance of the surgery, be really bad for the hospital. It would have been better in the end if she admitted that she told him to take the option that was safer for him because she cared about him and then used that as a reason not to be together rather than what she actually did which was basically deny that what he did was in the patient's interest and she was in the wrong and fired him anyway). Medium angst. 4.5/10

October Kiss--She is a flake who ends up working as a nanny for a workaholic single dad. Review: How does she get all these jobs doing things with no experience? And she can't be getting good reviews it she never tries to learn anything new, quits immediately if she isn't good at something, and never stays longer than a week. How has she survived financially? How did she get a job teaching yoga when she didn't know what she was doing and her advice actually could have caused people harm? Didn't love her character, clearly. She basically has a "I wasn't instantly good at it, so therefore it isn't for me" attitude. She literally quits her first day of multiple jobs because she isn't instantly perfect. But aside from that it was okay. The kids were the real stars. 5/10 (Last I checked, also on Netflix commercial free)

Truly, Madly, Sweetly--She is a food truck owner who wants to be a baker, he was recently fired from an investment firm and together they inherit property. He inherits a bakery and she inherits the garage behind it. Review: Really sweet, like the ending. It could have added unnecessary conflict, being that he lost his job he could have been secretly trying to fix up the bakery just to sell it out from under her rather than letting her run it. Glad it didn't do that and kept it simple. Minimal angst and communication issues, don't think they (the actors) had the best chemistry. 6.5/10

All Things Valentine--She has an advise blog about love, advises his girlfriend to dump him, so he gets angry and starts insulting her through the blog. Not totally dissimilar in concept to The Accidental Husband. Meanwhile, he is also her vet. Review: Don't know how she has readers when she seems to flip flop on her ideas of love as a whole based on her mood and relationship status. I mean, I could see readers there for the drama, but who would take her advice?  Medium to high in angst. Medium communication issues. 5/10

Over the Moon--Former high school best friends meet years later and reconnect, but a client at her matchmaking business wants to be set up with him. Review: I found the premise annoying. The client came in and said she was tired of not finding love and she trusted the matchmaker to find her the right person via her process. Then ten seconds later she sees the matchmaker's former friend and declares that she is in love with him and that the matchmaker needs to make it happen. And the matchmaker instead of even just saying he isn't a client or he is married or coming up with a legitimate reason that she can't match them together (even just saying that she doesn't think they go together), she is a total pushover and basically tries to force him into dating her client (which if she was good at her job, she would know wouldn't work out and would be even worse than declining setting her client up with him).And he has basically been in love with her since high school so isn't a huge fan of that either. Overall, communication issues were high and angst was medium. 4/10

Love at Sea--A high strung event planner is helping with an event on board a cruise and must work with a free spirited cruise director. Review: Cute premise, liked most of it. Didn't like the ending, think that it was out of character and a little forced to come up with a happy ending. Minimal communication issues and angst. A couple of plot threads that were not fully utilized like they could have been. Several issues resolved for plot, but not in a way that would actually make sense in real life. 6/10

Midnight Kiss--Two siblings are taking over their parents' event planning business. The brother injures himself right before an incredibly important, short-notice event so the sister has to work with her brother's best friend to get it done. Review: Cute couple, worked well together. The right amount of opposites attract without them being too different to make sense. Minor communication issues, minor angst. 7.5/10

Love by Chance--A meddlesome mom tries to hook her daughter up with random guys she meets online. She meets a doctor and helps set up a meeting between him and her daughter. The daughter doesn't know that her mom brought them together. Review: Overall it was interesting, minor (considering how many people were lying to each other) communication issues. Minor angst. Some of the angst almost seemed forced at times though and a lot of private conversations happened in front of an audience. 6/10 (Last I checked, also on Netflix commercial free)

Feeling of Home--an entrepreneur gets pushed by her manager into hiding her upbringing just as she is on the verge of making a massive deal and has to return to her hometown where she meets her childhood sweetheart. Review: Seems like she could have easily corrected her manager if it actually mattered to her. The movie really tried to play it like she didn't want to do it, but didn't have a choice but she could have cleared the misunderstanding about her hometown up pretty easily. Like the guy says "oh you're from New England" and her manager is like "yes, she is!" and she says nothing. She could have easily gotten in touch and been like "my manager was a little confused, my mom was from New England but I am not". And that'd be it. Also, she was basically famous like she sells the product through her vlog. The manager had to be stupid to think that someone wouldn't have found out she wasn't from New England and then that would have hurt her reputation and the company's reputation. Overall though medium angst and medium communication issues. The biggest communication issue was really with her and her father, resolved a little quickly considering it seemed to be going on her whole life. 6/10

Dash of Love--She dreams of being a chef, but has never been to culinary school. He is a chef in a restaurant owned by former famous celebrity chef. They must work together after they are both fired. Review: She continuously applies for chef jobs despite having no experience or culinary training and seems disappointed and surprised when she doesn't get them. And her whole reasoning behind not going for training is because that culinary schools are too "by the book" and she can't be creative. But a certificate is like 6-months, a diploma is like a year. And even if it is "by the book", as soon as she graduates she would be able to actually get one of these jobs she keeps getting rejected by. And they aren't all "by the book". And if money is an issue she could get a student loan or part-time job. It made zero sense that she would rather work as someone's personal assistant in a restaurant and HOPE that the owner would suddenly make her a chef, instead of the sous chef (despite her job never needing her to cook) rather than actually put in the work to be a chef. Other than that, the antagonist was not the antagonistic until the last ten minutes and it was resolved way too quickly. Minimal communication issues, medium angst (but it also primarily occurred in the last ten minutes). 3/10

Matching Hearts--A woman working as a matchmaker for a dating site is tasked with matching up a writer/business owner/pet adoption worker who believes you should remain single to be successful. Review: Considering his whole shtick was "stay single to be successful" he didn't seem super successful. And I was not really sure what his job was. He seemed to write articles that got published in magazines, but he also ran a pet adoption center. And it seemed like only one location, so not sure why he would get featured on the cover of a magazine either. They were okay as far as couples go. I have trouble with the main leads dating other people until the last five minutes, for a sudden "well actually I love someone else" moment. Especially when it will go from "I'm not sure I love you" to one guy to a marriage proposal to someone else. Like...come on. You knew you didn't love them, which means you were basically stringing them a long on the premise of you not wanting to hurt them when you were really just to chicken to try to make it work with someone else. 5/10

Love in Design--A reality TV interior designer works with her ex-boyfriend, an architect, on a project. Review: Honestly, I think he is relatively attractive and they had good chemistry so the ending where the network is like "thanks, now we're done with you" was unrealistic. And I think it would have been more interesting (especially since her ratings had dropped at the beginning) if the big drama at the end had been them saying "we will keep her show, but only if you join" and then he has to decide whether to drop what he is doing to help her keep her job and whether he even wants to tell her that she only is keeping her show because he agreed to join, and then they actually go off and work together, rather than just the usual "she was only in town for a short time and we are just reminding you that she was always supposed to leave after this project was done and has her successful life elsewhere waiting for her" which comes up in so many of these movies. And I always cringe a little inside when she is like "I love my job where I am hugely successful, but I love you so I will give it up to be with you". And they try to play it off like "love is the real happiness" but it really seems to come down to "his career/life is more important" (or just "country=good, city=bad") because 90% of the time there is nothing stopping him from going to her. Like he will be a handyman or small town doctor or he will work on his parents' farm or something and she will basically be like VP of some major company or partner at a major law firm. There was one where she even had kids and its like you are moving your kids away from their father, changing schools, selling your place, and giving up your job that you seemed to enjoy previously for a lower paying, less prestigious job all to be with a guy who runs an antique store in the country that never actually seems busy anyway. Why? Why couldn't he just come to the city? You make enough he wouldn't even have to work and we see more about how much her job means to her and get nothing really about what his job means to him. If anything its usually some, "I tried to make it work in the city and was successful but just didn't feel as happy or connected". Like...okay, but you won't be alone in the city and if love=happiness then why isn't she enough for you to go back to the city? 5/10

Harvest Moon--A rich heiress and her father find out that he is going bankrupt and the only thing they really have left is a country farm he bought her years prior. She goes to the farm to try to sell it and see if she can't help her father, the family that owned the farm and sold it to him still lives there and wants to buy it back as cheap as possible. Review: Major communication issues. He is planning to make her life hard while she is there so she rushes to sell and does so cheap. But, he never actually put in an offer and even if he did that doesn't guarantee she will sell to them if she did decide to sell (unless the lawyer she talked to was in on it, but it never actually said she was). Meanwhile, she is supposed to be there looking to sell but 90% of what she does is totally irrelevant and seems like she decided not to do that. How does her helping fix a few fences or planting some flowers actually help her find buyers or sell the farm? She's selling the land not the crops. And she isn't very good at it so she is getting in the way more than helping. If she had told them she was looking to sell and why, they could have made an offer and she would likely have taken it because she needed the money and when she was in town the lawyer said there were like no buyers. So, they would be the only people actually offering to buy it. It could have been resolved in ten minutes if either of them had said anything. And then he thinks she is interested in his brother, but the age gap between him and his brother makes that seem kind of weird. His brother seems to have just finished high school (or maybe still is in high school it was kind of unclear), meanwhile he has a daughter who is like 10 who he had with his wife. So, even assuming a young marriage and fast pregnancy he is still probably like 30 at the youngest. While his brother is probably like 18-20. So, how old is she that she could so easily have dated either? Also there is basically a knock off Footloose scene. Not bad movie, but communication issues both between characters and the audience. 5/10 (Last I checked, also on Netflix commercial free)

Love in Store--two shopping network hosts compete for the same promotion while working as co-hosts. Review: It was cute and I liked it for the most part. The biggest issue I had was he went from being very spontaneous and expressive in the beginning to being sort of quite and reserved in the ending. The way it went down just didn't feel like it was true to his character. Minor angst, medium communication issues due to his weird change in behavior more than anything else. 7.5/10