howie14 Reviews

Taking the Reins (2021 TV Movie)

I wish I could rate this higher

[5/10 · 1 February 2022]

They actually found a couple with chemistry and showed a deft touch with the family relationships, thanks to Corbin Bernsen. If this were just a romance/family movie, it would have been fine.

Unfortunately, the riding is an important part of the story and this movie just doesn't make the equestrian scenes interesting or realistic. This might be a Hallmark film that would have been better made in Canada. Maybe then they could have gotten some of the experts from the CBC series Heartland, who know how to shoot realistic versions of all styles of horsemanship.

One Summer (2021 TV Movie)

A successful effort...

[7/10 · 19 January 2022]

...from the new more serious Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. I like how the background story was revealed, but I am not giving anything away. While Madeline Grace Popovich is a bit old to play a fifteen year old, she gets the attitude about right.

A nice film about a family moving on without "letting go."

A solid 7, at least.

The Vows We Keep (2021 TV Movie)

Not perfect, but...

[6/10 · 19 January 2022]

I like Hallmark recommitting itself to serious family films under its Movies & Mysteries banner. It is a nice break from TV mystery reruns, although new Hallmark Signature mysteries are always welcome.

Leave the fluffy, formulaic romances on regular Hallmark and give this service more depth.

They are off to a fair start.

Hearts Down Under (2020)

For those ripping this film and Hallmark...

[6/10 · 10 May 2021]

...please note this was a Netflix film. Hallmark just bought and retooled it a year later to fill out the schedule.

Chasing Waterfalls (2021 TV Movie)

Standard Hallmark plot...with some wonderful visuals

[7/10 · 23 March 2021]

Girl gets her big career chance, falls in love, something happens to cause strife. It happens in all the Hallmark movies. There are times I wish Hallmark would go back to making movies less formulaic as they did a decade or so ago.

Still, Cindy Busby and Christopher Russell pull this off as they always do. Russell has done everything at Hallmark from romantic lead to self serving rat. And I have to strongly disagree with the reviewer who heavily criticized Ms. Busby's performance. To say that her lead characters in Hallmark films are anything like the always selfish rich girl she played on Heartland shows the reviewer either doesn't watch these films closely or didn't watch Heartland very closely. She was the villain most of her time at Heartland and is, of course, playing solid leads for Hallmark. The characters aren't close to being the same.

The falls they used are lovely, the little girl is charming, and I wish Miranda Frigon would get a lead and not play the jealous rival sometime.

A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado (2020 TV Movie)

A basic Hallmark family film

[6/10 · 11 December 2020]

An average, run of the mill Hallmark movie. I figured out an answer to their conundrum about the tree in the first twenty minutes. The cast was generally competent, the material ordinary. The little girl was especially a treat.

I am getting a little tired of people getting upset here about Hallmark not sharing their bigotry. Christian values involve loving ones neighbor and in Hallmark films the populace usually does that quite nicely. Those are the values I hope my now grown son has. I believe he does.

People spouting off about family values should start by looking in their own backyard. In the Hallmark world, they most certainly act as Jesus would have...with love.

Love Under the Olive Tree (2020 TV Movie)

I hate when I can name the other Hallmark film being copied...

[5/10 · 22 June 2020]

This film wasn't unpleasant to watch, just a little lacking in energy. It also was weird that a film that was obviously created for the channel's Fall Harvest promotion wound up on the air in June.

A lot of these films do the Romeo and Juliet family squabble thing, but this one directly steals almost its entire setup from last year's Fall Harvest entry, Love, Fall, and Order as a it involves a dispute over property lines.

Nurses (2020–2021)

Wow! Somebody on Nurses did something to somebody...

[7/10 · 11 February 2020]

This is one of the most interesting shows ever reviewed . Reviewers really like each individual episode, but the people reviewing the entire series HATE it.

I think it is a TV show with a good cast and interesting plots. I wasn't looking for a documentary on modern Canadian medicine, just light entertainment for 45 minutes or so. Nurses delivered on that. I especially like Tiara Skovbye and Jordan Johnson-Hinds in their roles.

One reviewer went so far as to complain that an individual who committed a particular crime was a white male, which is somehow PC because only individuals of some other race commit such crimes according to the reviewer. A quick internet check showed that three of the most recognizable cases of this type of crime were committed by an angry white male.

So my advice to people is to take all these reviews with a grain of salt, this one included. We all bring our prejudices to this task. In this case, it seems a lot of nurses were upset because the show doesn't resemble their lives and at least one individual who looks hard for political agendas thought they found one.

I just thought I found a pleasant TV show.

Christmas Cupcakes (2018 TV Movie)

Perfect if you like a minimal amount of Christmas in your Christmas movies!

[7/10 · 10 December 2019]

A cute, low budget Canadian film led by the always pleasing Cindy Busby and Erin Karpluk trying to keep their father's struggling bakery open. Diana-Marie Stolz, who I had never seen before, has a nice turn as an old lady who regularly buys Remo Bakery's egg bread. I also never recognized Heartland's Social Services officer Clint (Greg Lawson) as the pompous Chef Paolo until I looked him up here.

One word of warning, if you are looking for Christmas feels, this isn't the film. Except for a couple of minor references, this film could have been set at Labour Day for all it mattered.

A Christmas Arrangement (2018 TV Movie)

The least Christmasy movie of the season

[5/10 · 24 December 2018]

This film about a floral arrangement competition is extremely lacking in Christmas feelings. There is a 30 second segment where the leads make a holiday arrangement together, but that isn't much.

Please note this was a Lifetime effort, not a Hallmark one. Lifetimes aren't as formulaic, and that is often a good thing. In this case, however, a little more formula would have been helpful.

Overall, the weakest of the 30+ holiday films I have watch this season.

The Young Country (1970 TV Movie)

The Young Country:The (first failed)Pilot Episode of Alias Smith and Jones

[7/10 · 23 March 2010]

I remember seeing this TV movie as a child and really enjoying it. I wish it would show up again so I could compare it to the series it fostered.

This is the pilot that ABC passed on. Apparently, they thought the movie to be a little too Maverick-like (a reviewer at the time actually described Davis's lazy student turned drifter to be a cross between Maverick and another Warner Brothers cowboy, Sugarfoot) and wanted a little more action/brawn and a buddy relationship.

Exit Roger Davis, for the time being. Enter Ben Murphy and the second successful pilot, now called "Alias Smith and Jones".