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Reviews
Royal Matchmaker (2018)
This movie changed my life
I was a struggling male nude artist who was struggling a bit, not getting much work and beginning to lose hope, but then I came across this movie on a whim and now I feel that I can conquer the world!!!
Thank you Royal Matchmaker and in particular Joy Lenz whose optimistic character was probably what ignited this change the most in my life.
Love in Design (2018)
Another bomb from Hallmark
I only watched this because Danica McKellar-always Winnie Cooper to me- was in it and she is a real cutie. Just like all of her other movies that I have seen(at least with Hallmark), she plays the same predictable sweet, hard-working/career-driven type of character. Although these are admirable qualities, too much of anything can be sickening since it delineates predictability to the extreme. And when you combine Danica McKellar and Hallmark in a movie, you know exactly to the "T" the kind of movie you are getting. Based on interviews and her personal youtube videos, I think the way she is portrayed on movies is her real persona, so it is hard to change her and/ or the casting people want her to always be that cute girl from The Wonder Years. But it would be nice to see her, for a change, as playing the naughty sexy girl that guys secretly like.
To me, this movie of Danica's was one of the worst since besides you know what is going to happen before the credits roll, the storyline is ridiculous and, to be honest, I have no idea what this movie was even about or what it was attempting to achieve. From watching this half-asleep, they were previous lovers and she likes change and is a career-driven woman, while he does not like change, etc.-you get the picture.
This movie has really no pragmatic twists or turns that the viewer cannot predict. The characters had no chemistry and no sexual tension-you know the kinds of things that make male-female relationships fun and interesting. Just act like a sycophantic gentleman and BOOM-you get the girl. Give me a break.
The worst part about these types of Hallmark movies is that they paint an unrealistic picture for young men(and even women for that matter) that by acting the way these guys do in almost all of these movies-that is put a woman on a pedestal and make her your world-that ultimately in the long run you will get the girl. Unfortunately in today's society that is not reality and will put a young guy in a the friend's zone and cause him extreme frustration. Of course this type of ingratiating behavior has worked in the history of mankind-more so several decades ago- it is never in a man's best interest to act in this kind of manner to get a woman. 99% of the time it will not work out for him. It is normally best to state your intentions to a woman upfront so she cannot manipulate you. If she is receptive and likes a guy then she will let you know if you state your intentions from the beginning and if she is not receptive then you can move on and she as well. That way no one wastes their time. It is also in a guy's best interest to live his life and focus on his career and/or passion, and let go of the craving and desire for women that run most young men these days. Ultimately when you focus on your passion and let go of wanting a woman, she will ultimately show up in your life (a paradox, but true). As the adage says: You find life when you least expect or looking for it; so cliche, but true.
The Beach House (2018)
Not much of a story and pretty bad acting-even for Hallmark movie
I only watched this movie because Minka Kelly is beautiful to look at, of course. I will never forget the first movie I saw her in the lame yet funny"horror" movie, The Pumpkin Carver, where she had that real little girly girl voice which only added to her sex appeal. Unfortunately, or fortunately(depending on your preference), much of that little girl voice is gone in this movie. As adorable as Minka is, she is not a good and believable actress in the least.
Not to digress, the overall cast is fairly well-known. Despite her being an actress for a long time and her prominence in the movie industry, I have never found Andie MacDowell interesting, funny or a decent actress -she always seems so disingenuous in anything I have seen her in and this movie is no exception. I thought the overall acting among all the characters in this film not terrible but definitely below par-even for a Hallmark movie.
Surprisingly, I probably found Chad Michael Murray to be the most believable, genuine, likable and down to earth for his character role. And the young pregnant girl who lived with Andie MacDowell was a decent actress and her character was likable as well; unfortunately, she was not in much of the movie.
The movie itself just starts off kind of strange with Minka going to visit her mom, played by Andie, whom she has not seen in about 15 years. In the initial meeting scene, those 2 characters meet and seem to have no real genuine reaction/chemistry for a mother-daughter relationship in the least-it is like watching 2 strangers, meeting for the first time, react with one another on set who have never seen each other or read the script. (They might as well had a staring contest during their first meeting scene instead-would have been more entertaining.) There was no genuine loving chemistry of a mother-daughter dyad. Both characters were pretty wooden which was like watching two cardboard cutouts "acting" and at points where real emotion was required when finding out about Andie MacDowell's condition, for example, her children's reaction was quite abysmal and felt forced with little to no tears. The young pregnant girl was much more believable with emotion concerning Andie MacDowell than her own biological children. And the guy who plays Andie MacDowell's son was a pretty lame and arrogant actor as well- a Bradley Cooper wannabee if you will.
The worst part of this movie was the ending which was totally anticlimactic-in fact they passed right over it(the tear-jerker scenes, probably because the son and daughter could not muster up the tears) where we see Andie MacDowell drop a photo which we can only reckon is indicative of her death. There is no funeral, memorial for her, a tribute to her life, reaction/tears of her children or anything regarding her death; hence, absolutely no tears. They just skip to the one year later bit with everything being back to normal as if nothing ever happened with everyone playing with turtles on the beach. Apparently, there is some kind of analogy with rebirth/life/life after death message with the turtles on the beach and the newborn/new life of the pregnant girl's baby and Andie MacDowell's death and/or life after death. However, the analogy and parallels between these two stories are weak and makes the story no more touching or interesting in the least.
This movie could have been much better if the characters had chemistry and they could actually look like they were really crying or upset when necessary. Or, as much as I dig Minka, if they recast the mother and daughter roles since they were the 2 main characters.
I did not care for this movie and the highlights are basically the beautiful scenery of Tybee Island and if you are into turtles, the turtle scenes.