Inhumans99

Aurora Teagarden films are back, kind-of…a prequel film will air next Friday with Skyler Samuels raking over the role as a young Aurora Teagarden. I will definitely give it a watch.

davidh777

Yeah, they’ve really been pushing the Aurora marathons hard lately, so much so that I scrolled past the new one in the cable guide thinking it was just another rebroadcast.

Watched a bunch of mehs lately. Dance Moms was probably the worst, with a couple of performers trying to recapture past glory. Hallmark music is usually pretty good, but their triumphant production number was… not.

Zion National Park with Cindy Busby was fine. In the Jane Mysteries, Jodie Sweetin actually sings torch standards pretty well, but the movie is not that interesting. Alison Sweeney’s new Carrot Cake mystery was also just ok.

Inhumans99

I would say that you are correct, quite a few Hallmark films from the past several weeks (including the originals they have started airing on Friday nights) have been meh at best. Kind-of not surprised that with so many films being churned out that a lot of them are just okay, or not particularly bad, but not very memorable or films I would eagerly continue watching if I turned on the TV and a re-airing of the film was taking place.

That being said, I am actually looking forward to the Aurora Teagarden film that airs tonight.

Inhumans99

Skyler Samuels is actually a decent Aurora Teagarden, but the actual storyline of the film was not very interesting.

Still, I would watch future installments and am glad they did not retire the series.

The recast characters did not bother me one bit, and I agree with the Decider stream or skip reviewer that the introduction of Roe's mentor Professor Lindo (a she) is a nice addition to the cast, and we get more insight on how Roe would become the detective we all know and love.

mk1

HOLLAND, Ohio, June 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- hoopla Digital, the only all-in-one app for public libraries, today announced the launch of a new BingePass in partnership with Hallmark Movies Now, Hallmark Media's subscription video on demand streaming service.

Library patrons with access to hoopla will be able to access a seven-day BingePass to Hallmark Movies Now's entire online content lineup. The new agreement marks an expansion of the BingePass offering, where each pass gives access to entire streaming collections with only one borrow.

Here is the full article.

JeffTheAlpaca

A Hallmark type movie airing on FOX Tues 6/27?

mk1

Christmas in July sale starts tomorrow on Vudu! Looks like next week not this one! It seemed like 6/27 was one week too early. But that's what I read...

Now seems to have fallen off the list...Hmm???

JeffTheAlpaca

Maybe FOX is running out of Gordon Ramsey shows and needed something to fill the time.

Inhumans99

As part of the Christmas In July promotion, Hallmark has an original Christmas film airing on July 8th. My xfinity box is already set to record the film, lol.

Also, I am not sure I mentioned that The Love Club series of films aired on Hallmark several weeks back, and I was able to watch them all. They were fun to watch, but I wish I had remembered to say something on this thread when they aired, because these were the films that were originally only viewable if you subscribed tot the Hallmark Streaming app (well, other than the 1 film that aired and was free to watch). If digital copies come up for sale they might be worth a purchase, but otherwise I would not go out of your way to watch the films until they end up on the Hallmark Channel again as free to watch.

ETA: I wanted to add that GAC is also doing a Christmas in July event and has an original Christmas film airing on July 8th. I will be recording this film also. It airs at 8 est so I guess on the Left Coast it airs at 5 pm pst.

Of course, both of these films will be re-aired when the Holiday season really is upon us, but watching Christmas films in July works for me.

davidh777

I’m about three weeks behind on movies lol.

That Love Club marathon happened on a busy weekend for me, and I completely missed them all. They didn’t replay them either, so they really did make it an event. I’ll catch up with them someday, but it’s not like the first one was that great.

I finally watched A Nashville Legacy from months ago. Pretty good, and the song was catchy. Maybe the most interesting one of their Mahogany line so far.

mk1

Live as of today I believe. Hallmark Christmas in July sale on Vudu. It is a good one. Lots of bundles and good titles!

mk1

I purchased the Hallmark 3 collection movie bundle with Mingle All the Way and Christmas Joy. Movies don't appear after the purchase nor are any movies available to view/watch within the bundle. I am sure it will eventually get fixed. E

davidh777

Yeah, it looks like there were a bunch of bundles released on June 13 (probably for this sale), and they didn’t link them up correctly. Usually on the bundle page you can scroll down and see which titles are included and click on them to see if you already own them, but you just can’t scroll down on these. The title I was hoping would be on sale was My Christmas Family Tree, and that’s in a two-pack so I bought it, but it doesn’t appear in my collection, I can’t watch it from the bundle page, and the single title says I don’t own it.

On the other hand, Sister Swap works fine because it’s an older bundle, and this is the first time it’s been on sale since they corrected the titles.

I’m not sure if I should buy more of these before they’re fixed. It’d be nice to lock in the prices, but who knows when they’ll be fixed and watchable. It’s too bad because there are so many good movies offered. The Lacey Chabert six-pack is another “bad” bundle. I already own half of them, though, so it’s a lukewarm deal for me anyway.

mk1

Looks like the bundles are fixed! It is a very good sale!

davidh777

Yay! My Family Christmas Tree is now in my collection and watchable, so I watched the first half-hour just to be sure. I also bought the Mingle All the Way triple, and the Double Holiday one with the Eric Mabius movie, now that I’m a Signed Sealed Delivered fan.

Funny that those 10-packs are now $10.99 on sale.

I could get some more but can’t help wondering if the Godwink and Time for… series might come out in cheap bundles at some point.

mk1

Check out the binge pass on Hoopla which allows you a 7 day pass to Hallmark Movies Now. It's pretty good and no cost thru Hoopla digital with your library card. Catching up on titles I have missed. E

davidh777

Wedding Season was another one of those “all my friends are getting married” things.

Love’s Greek to Me with Torrey Devitto had nice Mediterranean scenery, but an annoying meddling future mother-in-law (Star Trek’s Marina Sirtis). The Wedding Contract with Becca Tobin was Jewish-themed, but the conflict wasn’t with a gentile partner but with work commitments threatening the wedding prep. Because these two started with an established couple making wedding plans, they had to generate conflict somehow. Tobin’s not my favorite, but this was probably the best of this quick-delete trio.

mk1

Big Hallmark Summer Nights sale on begins today.

Inhumans99

Hallmark continues to air originals on Saturday nights, but what really caught my eye was when I was watching a mystery film on GAC (which I believe is something new they are getting into) that they mentioned that they are airing something like 21 original Holiday films, a slight increase from the 18 aired last year. Eeek, so many films coming in just a few months (hard to believe the Holdiay season is almost right around the corner), I am so glad that I rejiggered my Xfinity plan so I was able to double my DVR cloud space. It will be nice to be able to actually miss a day or two of catching up on Holiday films from Lifetime, UP, GAC, Hallmark, etc., and not worry that I am at near 100% capacity and running out of space.

Oh yeah, it bares repeating that GAC is dipping their toes into the water and recently released a mystery film. It was nothing special, just a pleasant means to enjoy a couple hours of tv. I actually hope they see the success that Hallmark has with their movies and mysteries channel, and continue down this path.

I googled, the film I watched is called The Abigail Mysteries, and it stars Ansley Gordon as True-Crime Podcaster who is going through a divorce, and recently suffered the loss of a child (a miscarriage). Again, not the most exciting film but still pleasant enough that I enjoyed watching and would be down for more films like this.

I used to groan at how many Holiday films would air in the final quarter of the year, but now I just roll with it as I just continue to enjoy watching as many of these types of films as I can.

davidh777

I kinda forgot about GAC. Will have to take a look at the schedule.

Great price on that new six-pack. Pretty sure I saw all of them and remember the comedies as being pretty good. Don’t remember the others.

davidh777

The Love Club stuff was on again today, but I missed it. The Hallmark app does show another airing in September.

I finally watched the Aurora Teagarden prequel, which was ok. But I never watched the original series, so any Easter eggs or fan winks were lost on me.

I also watched the last of the June wedding series, Make Me a Match, which like Mingle All the Way etc is about a dating service. Probably the most interesting aspect was the male lead, Rushi Kota, was Indian, and they touched on some Indian culture. Seems like any time they use Asian leads, they have to have True Blue American accents just to make them seem less foreign, but it’s still better than when their casting had no diversity other than the best friends.

davidh777

A Lifelong Love was kind of a generic title for Andrea Brooks road trip-lite movie as she tries to reunite her grandfather with his old flame.

Big Sky River The Bridal Path is the sequel to a 2022 Kavan Smith movie I barely remember. Spoiler alert: They got together at the end of that one, and this one is about logistics of getting married and merging families. So don’t expect a lot of magic here.

Aloha Wave has Taylor Cole hitting it off with an Oahu resort manager. I was just in Lahaina a couple weeks ago so I wasn’t sure I was ready for a Hawaii movie, but at least it took place on a different island.

All easy deletes.

Inhumans99

Agreed Davidh777, each film was mostly background viewing for me. I will say that I think someone in this thread said quite a while back that Taylor Cole is one of the prettiest actresses starring in Hallmark films, and I have to agree that she continues to age well and always stands out in whatever film she is in.

Hard to believe that in just a couple months the Fall Harvest (or whatever they decide to call it this year) film event that seamlessly blends into the Countdown to Christmas event will be upon us.

ETA: Does anyone on this thread subscribe to Hallmark Movies Now (the paid subscription service)? I ask because I would like to know if I can just as easily watch all the new Hallmark films and upcoming Countdown To Christmas films that will be airing on Hallmark and their Movies and Mysteries channel ad-free by being a member of the service. If there is a delay in the app getting a film that was scheduled to air on the weekend, that would blunt my interest in paying for the service, but I admit going ad free is mighty tempting. I did a search for Big Sky River, and while the first film is easy to watch ad free on the app, the sequel that aired this past weekend that I already watched is not available to air, which blunts my interest in paying for the service.

PhantomStranger

I know someone who subscribes to Hallmark through Amazon Prime and I believe they told me there is a delay for new movies which air on the Hallmark Channel.

davidh777

That seems kinda weird that they’d devalue their service, but clearly the emphasis is on broadcast, so that’s how it goes. I agree that not fast-forwarding through ads when I watch my Vudu copies is pretty nice.

And that very well may have been my previous comment on Taylor Cole. She and her cheekbones looked pretty nice in a Hawaiian dress.

A Safari Romance turned out to be one of the better ones lately. Good leads in Andrew Walker and Brittany Bristow, and the “villain” felt like Glee-era Becca Tobin.

Not sure if anyone watches Ted Lasso, but he had a funny bit about how Hallmark movies are kinda great and kinda terrible, “best watched with the sound off.” I don’t agree on that last point, but I guess you can get the gist of the snowball fights and town festivals without the sound.