Fall 2023 Cheesy Romance Triple Play

Big Sky River (2022)

Honestly, I don’t know where the title comes from. A recent divorcée travels from New York to spend the summer in Parable, Montana. While there, she falls in like with the widowed sheriff, make some friends, and is enamored by the beauty of Montana. There’s a slight complication because her stepdaughter who comes to visit, feels emotionally attached to her and abandoned by her father. I’m sure you can guess what happens in the end. This movie is based on a book written by one of my favorite romance authors, Linda Lael Miller. The cast features Kavan Smith, frequent Hallmark romantic lead, Lochlyn Munro, who you’ve seen if you watch any TV, and Lucia Walters, who was on the last season of Virgin River! 

Production: Authentic production and styling and a really good but terribly under-used supporting cast. Maybe that means there will be a sequel.
Tropes: Career vs. Love
Diversity: Some representation of BIPOC, but I’m not sure if that’s what Montana looks like!
Production: Front Street Pictures and released by Hallmark Channel.

How’d you watch it: DVD checked out from my local library.

To Her with Love (2022)
I’ve never done this before, but I want to analyze the DVD cover before I watch the movie: This is a Hallmark Mahogany production, Hallmark’s Black or African American line of films. There are two attractive Black people on the cover, and in the background is the brick façade of some kind of institution. There’s some kind of mural (I hope not graffiti) that fades up into the photo of the couple. So I am thinking that they’re playing on the Sidney Poitier classic To Sir, With Love, and the institution-like building is a school. The closer I look at the mural on the cover, I notice that it might have students or kids or people sitting at desks or maybe in an auditorium. I see some hands up in the background so maybe a classroom? But I hope its not an inner city classroom. Please no basic stereotypes!
The movie: Yes! This is an excellent Hallmark cheesy romance movie! No they did not fall for the basic stereotypes! A teacher fills in as the art teacher at her old high school, while she hopes for a job at a better-funded school and/or her dream of teaching abroad comes true. Of course, she meets another very dedicated teacher who also happens to be a handsome single man. I thought the story was unique and I love the throwback to To Sir, With Love. I like that in the end she didn’t have to give anything up and that it wasn’t just romance, but also friendship that she gained. Brittany L. Smith from Sweet Magnolia fame plays the friend in this movie!

Production: The acting was on par for a cheesy romance. The locations and styling looked authentic and the people comfortable in them. The only really bad thing was the lighting, which was off in many scenes. You would think they wouldn’t have such a hard time lighting Black folk since this is a Mahogany.
Tropes: Shared Goal • Return to Hometown • Career vs. Love
Diversity: Yep.
Production Co.: Evergreen Film Productions and released by Hallmark Mahogany
How’d you watch it: DVD checked out from my local library.

Pumpkin Pie Wars (2016)
The children of feuding bakers take up the mantle to win the annual baking competition for their respective parents’ bakeries. In the process, they learn that each of them has a skill that could help the other, so they trade to try to win the contest, and to succeed in their endeavors beyond the contest. Acting is on par with a good Hallmark movie. I found the story charming and somewhat unique with different-than-expected ending. Pumpkin Pie Wars is a good Hallmark movie that I watched on a DVD checked out from my local library.

Production: The production and styling gives a sense of authenticity: The actors look comfortable and familiar with the sets and costuming.
Tropes: Friends to lovers • Secret Contract/Agreement • Family Feud
Diversity: Nope.
Production Co.: Crown Media Productions and released by Hallmark Channel 

How’d you watch it: DVD checked out from my local library.

Movies: Dark River (2017) and Wild Mountain Thyme (2020)

What these two movies share: Images of the beautiful English countryside, farms, farm animals, rain, two people who don't communicate well and don't know how to deal with their emotions in a healthy way. They are two very different movies though. Dark River being a sad drama and Wild Mountain Thyme a funny romance. 

Dark River, 2018 ***

A sad story about a woman who returns to her family farm after running away from the man then the memories of her father‘s abuse. She struggles with her brother for control of the farm, but no one wins. Starring Ruth Wilson who I recognize from so many things, especially Luther and Jayne Eyre, and Mark Stanley from many things, too, especially Game of Thrones and Sanditon, and only in flashback scenes as the abusive father, is Sean Bean, also of Game of Thrones fame. Trigger warnings: Sexual abuse and sheep shearing, which can be scary to some. Don't judge. I watched this on Amazon Prime. 

Wild Mountain Thyme (2020) **** kept popping up in different algorithms and lists because I clearly love  romance movies and British shows. Yes, I do know this movie is set in Ireland. So there. I finally watched it and was so anxious with the characters acting out in such a lovely way the stereotypical act of hiding emotions of human connection while overly expressing emotions that cause or maintain rifts that is soooo associated with British (and Irish) people. But this was as much heartwarming as it was heart-wrenching. I can watch Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan over and over in this movie. Surprisingly, Christopher Walken and John Hamm show up as an excellent and entertaining supporting cast. 

Reviewer Christie Lemire sums this movie up well:

"A slight from childhood, which we see in an early flashback, and the rights to a small piece of land connecting their families’ properties serve as insurmountable obstacles to the fact that they’re clearly meant for one another. Besides knowing everything about each other, sharing decades of history and enjoying a lively chemistry, they’re the only single, gorgeous people of their age around. And so we must wait 102 minutes for them to acknowledge they’ve secretly been in love with each other all this time."

Trigger warnings: Christopher Walken being himself while pretending to have an Irish accent. 

I watched this on Hoopla. 

Photo by TimHill

Movie: A Very Country Wedding (2019)

This movie is unique to me in that it is a non-holiday sequel to a holiday romance movie: A Very Country Christmas. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as that holrom, in fact, it really suffers from bad writing and bad acting. After meeting and falling in love in the first movie, Zane and Jeannette are finally getting married - actually minutes from walking down the aisle, when mean record exec from the first movie calls and says Zane needs to ditch his wedding in order to make it to a gig on time and if he doesn’t go he’ll be in breach of contract. There is soooo much wrong with that premise and the multiple plot lines that follow. I fast-forwarded through unnecessarily long dialogue and was able to get the gist of this movie in less than 30 mins. 

I only watched this to set up the next installment in the A Very Country movie series, which is another Christmas movie. Hopefully it’s better than this one. 

How did you watch it: DVD

Movie: Calling for Love (2020) **

A music-themed podcast host’s show is on the line due to low followers. Cut to a mechanic helping a young woman with her car, getting her number, then losing his phone. Cut to the podcast host having to guest host the love connections podcast when the mechanic calls in looking for his lost customer. Then the podcaster starts a relationship with her co-worker. Then the production company pressures the podcaster to take missed-connection-mechanic story to the next level. Then the mechanic and podcaster start to fall for each other. Then they find the missed-connections customer. You might be able to guess the end, but it doesn’t matter. I didn’t like this one bit. Story was all over the place. Dialogue stunk.

Boss: How do you expect people to continue to listen to Music Thread if you keep talking about obscure instruments and the details in the liner notes. People don’t need to think about music. They need to feel it.
Podcaster: I like to think about music. I know everything there is to know about music.
Boss: And I know everything there is to know about Microsoft Excel, but that doesn’t mean it makes a good podcast. You can’t be afraid to let your guard down. Maybe that’s why you won’t consider my suggestion. You’ve been here three years. That’s three years of Nacho Ordinary Thursday and not once have you brought a date. 

Podcaster: How am I going to find the love of my life on a blind date?
Boss: It could spark something!
Podcaster: Sparks burn houses down, Greta.

Two stars. I watched, but, nah. **

• Production: low-budget cheesy movie with an almost homemade banner as the lobby sign for the podcast company.
• Suspension of belief: High
• Tropes/sub-genres: Belated Love Epiphany, Woman experiencing career pressure
• Diversity: Colorful. 
• Production Co: Film Rise
• How'd you watch it: DVD checked out from my local library

Movie: Hearts Down Under (2020) ***

 This movie is also called Romance on the Menu. 

A fancy NYC restaurateur, Caroline, inherits a café in Australia. She visits Down Under and decides to sell the café because she doesn't think she can maintain both restaurants. The staff decide to mount a campaign to get her to maintain ownership, and the cafe's cook, is a handsome fellow. You know what happens. At the climactic point in the movie, her ex from NYC, Nathaniel, shows up in Australia and professes his love. Nathaniel wasn't trying to be controlling or overstep, he just thought he was being romantic, but instead of treating him like a misunderstood man, Caroline treated him like he was an asshole, literally kicking him to the curb in another country. 

The writers let this trope play out like normal, but it would have been a breath of fresh air if Caroline would have turned to Cook and explained the misunderstanding before she took Nathaniel aside to explain to him her feelings. This actually goes back to the beginning: Caroline should have just explained how she felt abandoned and wasn't interested in him anymore instead of avoiding and putting off Nathaniel. But yeah... I know that feeling of wanting to avoid hard conversations, so that's relatable. 

Anyway, this was an enjoyable film. I like actress Cindy Busby (Heartland, Christmas In Royal Fashion). I like travel stories. I like women discovering and pursuing their happiness. 

Movie: The Photograph (2020) ****

Afro bubble gum romance at its best. A reporter stumbles upon the lost story of a photographer and in writing about her finds a love interest. They struggle with honesty and being there and their struggles parallel the life of the photographer. This is one of those romances you can watch over and over. The writing takes romance in a different direction by doing a study in honest dating. The acting was authentic. I liked all the characters. I wanted to hang out with them, sip a good rum and listen to music. The soundtrack was unobtrusive, but mood-perfect.
It was so comfortable and comforting and I would recommend this to so many people. I’ll give The Photograph four stars****

Movie: Love On the Rise (2019) *

Nineteen minutes in and not only am I bored, but I’ve come upon a storyline much like True Love Blooms. A local baker is working hard to make a name for herself when she meets a cute “waiter” at a wedding she created a cake for. Turns out the “waiter” is really a developer who was in the wrong place at the right time to meet her. It also turns out his development company is planning to bulldoze the building where her shop is so they can build condos. Her and her bestie plan a protest. This is where I pressed stop.
Love on the Rise is a Mar Vista production, meaning that it has a 85% chance of being a good quality b-level romance movie. This one was not. The writing was boring. The production looked and felt thrown together and I just didn’t like it.

• Cheesy or sentimental: Cheesy 
• Production value: Bad Mar Vista production 
• Suspension of belief: high 
• Trope: Enemies-become-lovers 
• Diversity: I didn't see any in the 19 minutes I watched. 
• Paranormal: None 
• Clownish character: None

Rating: Not Fun; One star*
I watched this on Hoopla.

Movie: Falling Inn Love (2019) **

Falling Inn Love It is about a woman who suddenly looses her job, then wins an inn in close order. The inn is in New Zealand and when she gets there she finds its in terrible disrepair and has way too much pride to hire the local, handsome contractor to help her to restore it. 

I've had this movie saved on my Netflix watchlist for a while as a potential movie for my spring romance movie marathon. When I finally watched it it was a slapstick silly mess with people rolling off beds, dropping things down stairs, an intrusive goat, and of course the standard shelf that falls when someone leans in it. The story was interesting and I was getting into the characters, but the silliness was way too distracting. I was supposed to be amused, but I was just greatly annoyed.

• Cheesy or sentimental: Cheesy
• Production value: Good Mar Vista production 
• Suspension of belief: high
• Trope: Enemies-become-lovers-ish. Like I said, the story was interesting and I haven't been able to identify a trope that fits this movie well. 
• Diversity: Afro-Latina lead, interracial gay couple. They represented!
• Paranormal: there was a mention of a ghost, but I didn’t stick around long enough to find out if it played into the story. Although I suspect if i waited long enough the antagonist character would somehow fake a ghost so as to scare the main character away only to be foiled by the pesky goat. 
• Clownish character: About half the cast was silly and clumsy.

Rating: Not fun; Two stars **

I watched this movie on Netflix. 

Movie: True Love Blooms (2019) *

True Love Blooms is a Hallmark production about a happy woman named Vikki who loves plants and community. She runs a community garden and soon finds out the owner of the land has sold it to a developer who plans to build condos on the site. She meets the developer, Chase, played by Jordan Bridges, and clearly they are going to fall in love. She decides to get the other gardeners together to protest.
Boring acting, bad pacing, transitions between scenes were milder than jolting. The lines that are supposed to be kickers are so bad:

Vikki George: When I put my mind to something it usually happens.

Chace Devine: Well when I set my mind to something it happens as well.

Vikki: Well good! We have one thing in common.

Chace: Yes, but that means we have an impasse, too.

Vikki: But there a way over any impasse (she says with a confident smile as she walks out the door. He watches her leave with a smitten and impressed chuckle.)

At 27 minutes in I didn’t see any way this movie could improve so I pressed stop. I was sad it didn’t work out because I am a fan of Jordan Bridges.

• Cheesy or sentimental: Cheesy 
• Production value: Low-ball Hallmark 
• Suspension of belief: high 
• Trope: Enemies to Lovers 
• Diversity: colorful supporting characters 
• Paranormal: None 
• Clownish character: None 

Rating scale: Not Fun; One star*

I checked this DVD out from the library. 

Holiday Romance Movie Marathon Part II: I forgot some

So, there's now a part II because I remembered two other movies I watched that were notable! I'm getting old, people.

Same Time, Next Christmas (ABC, 2019)- A great title that is indicative of an engaging and definitely fun holiday romance movie. While on annual Christmas vacations to the same Hawaiian resort, a boy and a girl fall in love. They grow up and find themselves in other relationships, in other cities and with conflicting obligations, but they also find themselves back at the resort for family Christmas vacations, year after intermittent year. Can the love of childhood sweethearts grow up? Of course it can! This movie spans decades and locations across the country. All of the side stories add to an overall sense of family, love and dedication. The writing and acting were both top notch. Star power includes Nia Vardalos of My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Brian Greenberg of How to Make It in America. The lead actors I somewhat recognized, but I don't think I've seen them in TV or movies before. I caught this movie when it premiered on live TV,  December 5, 9 pm on KABC.

• Cheesy or sentimental: Sentimental
• Production value: High quality ABC production
• Suspension of belief: low
• Trope: Destined-to-Be-Together + Second-Chance-at-Love + Belated Epiphany
• Diversity: A virtual rainbow
• Paranormal: None
• Clownish character: None
• Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist? Yes.

Christmas In Evergreen: Letters to Santa (Hallmark DVD, 2018)- For Christmas, a retail designer returns to the town and place where she had the most memorable times of her childhood. She puts her skills to work to help stage and sell the former general store, enlisting the help of a handyman who is also equal in his search for a sense of home. This could have been an amazing movie if the writers would have taken a different path and allowed the characters to communicate instead of jumping to conclusions in order to cause unnecessary conflict. There's also the super obvious solutions to problems, such as the main character wanting to own her own store and the store of her childhood memories being up for sale. Hmmm, I wonder what's going to happen in the end of this Hallmark movie? Just focus on the romance and people and stop trying to set up a semi-complex plot. Star power includes Holly Robinson-Peete from 21 Jump Street and weight-loss supplement commercials. 

• Cheesy or sentimental: Sentimental with some cheese because of the B-level writing. 
• Production value: High quality Hallmark production
• Suspension of belief: Medium. Again, the writing. 
• Trope: Returns to hometown 
• Diversity:  a good amount of color
• Paranormal: None
• Clownish character: None
• Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist? No. 

Holiday Breakup (Amazon, 2016)- This is the story of a couple that met when their cars and hearts collided at a stop sign in Los Angeles. They come from different backgrounds – Los Angeles and Orange County. He's goal-oriented and business-minded... with the pressure of family expectations. She is free-spirited and passionate... with commitment phobia. They break up. They get back together. The end. This is definitely a cheesy movie: Cheesy music, cheesy acting, silly storyline and silly flashback segments. But I enjoyed it. Its cute and shot well-enough to make you appreciate good cheese.

• Cheesy or sentimental: Definitely cheesy
• Production value: Medium. They seemed to use actual locations in the LA area, so nothing looked staged. And the actors might as well have been wearing their own clothes and doing their own styling.
• Suspension of belief: Medium. The cheese.
• Trope: Opposites Attract + Fake Relationship + Belated Love Epiphany
• Diversity: They miss the mark. This is Los Angeles and only a few background colorful people make it in the frame.
• Paranormal: None
• Clownish character: The movie opens up with the female lead literally jumping up and down wearing a clown nose. That should say it all.
• Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist? Maybe!

Holiday Romance Movie Marathon 2019

'Twas the season and I, yet again, watched a ton of holiday romance movies (HRMs) from Thanksgiving all the way to a little past midnight December 26th. This year, I managed to see all six new holiday movies that Ion Channel featured. I also started another list: Annual holiday movie playlists, with movies I really enjoyed and want to watch every year. I also did research on romantic story tropes because I enjoy identifying tropes!
Thanks to Ion, I could watch marathons of holiday movies while puttering about the house, but with the many options available to stream or checkout DVDs from the library, I had to be more discerning and I stopped the bad ones instead of trying to watch them through. I found a cache of non-Hallmark, but well-made movies this year. Finally, I'm applying my new Romance Movie Checklist to each movie I watched this year.

Holiday Rush (Netflix, 2019)- A morning radio show host is out of a job after the station he works for is acquired by a bigger company. He realizes he is broke and has to move his four kids from their posh home and neighborhood to their old house on the other side of town. The DJ and his producer are also planning a way to get back on the air and be true to their roots. Cute story, good production, appropriate acting and a bit of star power with Romany Malco (Weeds) and Darlene Love (20 Feet From Stardom). I only had one issue: bad grammar. The screen text was counting down the days and it said “x day till...” Wrong! I watched it, I can easily watch it again and will happily recommend others watch it too. I like the direction of diversity the HRMs are heading in.

• Cheesy or sentimental: Lightly cheesy, but mostly sentimental
• Production value: This is a high quality Netflix production
• Suspension of belief: low
• Trope: Friends to Lovers
• Diversity: almost entire black cast
• Paranormal: None
• Clownish character: None
• Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist? Maybe next year. 

Holiday Road Trip (Netflix, 2013)- A marketing executive is forced to take the company mascot, a dog, on a holiday road tour with the boss’ son. I didn’t finish this one. Patrick Muldoon is possibly on par with Tommy Wiseau from The Room. He is terrible and brought Ashley Scott, who was cute in Christmas Mail, down. It’s too bad because it looked like I was in store for an all-star supporting cast including George Hamilton, Shelley Long, Donna Pescow and Mindy Cohn. Oh well!

Christmas Calendar (Hoopla, 2017)- A woman returns to her small town after going away to school to become a lawyer. She takes over her grandma’s bakery, but soon learns the business is in financial trouble especially with a new, chain store that has its own bakery and cute a French baker just across the street. Oh yeah, it’s called Christmas Calendar because the woman mysteriously receives a Christmas calendar. Soon news spreads that she has a secret admirer that will be revealed when she opens the last calendar door on Christmas Eve. there was a basic story here that was muddied by lots of unnecessary plot vectors that never got flushed out. The story itself didn’t know where it was going. At one point the two bakers were getting ready for a bake-off, but then for no reason the editor skipped past that event and the main characters went bowling instead! The acting was b-level at best and therefore appropriate. I finished it, but there’s no reason to make watching this HRM an annual tradition. There is another movie called The Holiday Calendar on Netflix. This movie should have been called A Christmas Baked Fresh and a Warm.

• Cheesy or sentimental: Unequivocally cheesy. 
• Production value: Okay
• Suspension of belief: high
• Trope: muddled version of enemies-to-lovers
• Diversity? There are some colorful extras
• Paranormal element: none
• Clown character: they were all acting silly
• Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist? NO.

2nd Chance for Christmas (Hoopla, 2019)- A stuck up pop-star is acting like a horrible brat to everyone and is visited by the ghost of her grandfather, played by Mark McGrath, telling her to clean up get her act together before she ends up like him, referencing an uncomfortable afterlife. This was heading into a version of A Christmas Carol that was off to a lousy start, so I stopped it. Mark McGrath as a deceased grandfather of a twenty-something?! Too bad because this one also boasted an all-star supporting cast including Tara Reid, Vivica Fox and Mark Christopher Lawrence.


Christmas Contract (Hoopla, 2018)- A winner from Hoopla, finally! This is a familiar story of a single woman who returns to her hometown for Christmas with a fake boyfriend in tow. This time the fake boyfriend is really her best friend’s brother and they signed a contract that if he acts as her boyfriend over Christmas, she will create an author feature website for him. He’s a writer. She’s a web programmer. This started down a rocky road, but soon smoothed out. The writing was surprisingly good and most of the story was believable. Acting and production value were good, too. Star power includes Jason London of Dazed & Confused fame.

• Cheesy or sentimental? Light cheese because of the trope, but nicely sentimental
• Production value? Good. Originally produced by Lifetime. 
• Suspension of belief required? Medium
• Trope(s): Enemies-to-Lovers + Fake Relationship
• Diversity? 1 colorful person
• Paranormal/science fiction element? none
• Clownish character(s)? none
• Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist? Yes. Easily enjoyable. 

Christmas Homecoming (Hallmark DVD, 2017)- I haven’t seen many HRMs that include the military, so at least for me, this was a unique film. Starting Julie Benz from Dexter and Michael Shanks who looks almost exactly like Erik Thomson the actor from the Australian show 800 Words. The story is about a widowed army wife who rents out her ADU to an injured Army sergeant. They manage to fall in love but along the way, they both have tackle loss and deciding to move on from the past. Acting is well done, there is little need for suspension of reality. Some side stories are handled better than others and for some reason the cheese is ramped up leaving the ending a soggy gooey mess, kind of like Florida Project. I shudder at the thought. I don’t have to see this again, but I wouldn’t turn the channel if it came on.

• Cheesy or sentimental? Mostly sentimental, but ends cheesily. 
• Production value? Good
• Suspension of belief required? Low until the end. 
• Trope(s): Combo of modified Second-Chance-at-Love and Belated Love Epiphany with a military theme
• Diversity? Supporting characters are authentic and colorful
• Paranormal/science fiction element? None
• Clownish character(s)? None
• Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist? No
• Paranormal/sci-fi: no

Christmas at the Palace (Hallmark DVD, 2018)- This was a cute little predictable tale about two ice skaters who are asked to stay in the fictional country of San Segovia in order to plan and execute a skating show for the country’s founder's day. Yes, both lady ice skaters respectively fall in love with the king and his assistant and are smitten with the young princess. The conflict between the main character and the king is that they think they are too different and want different things, but lo and behold, they really want the same thing: each other, the palace and the princess.

• Cheesy or sentimental? Light cheese
• Production value? Good. Hallmark makes pretty movies. 
• Suspension of belief required? Medium. 
• Trope(s): Royalty + Invisible Barrier
• Diversity? Not really
• Paranormal/science fiction element? None
• Clownish character(s)? None. 
• Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist? No. 

The Knight Before Christmas (Netflix, 2019)- Trying to find a different kind of stories this year, I decided to watch this film about a 14th century knight who time travels to modern day 2019 to fulfill his life’s quest where he meets a modern day school teacher and of course, falls in love. Let's face it, with star power like Vanessa Hudgens, who was in 2018's Holiday Calendar (also Netflix) and Josh Whitehouse from Poldark fame, this was a can't miss movie for holiday romance movie buffs like myself. Time travel, British knights, Netflix productions.... a winning combination!

• Cheesy or sentimental? Cheesy, but touching
• Production value? Good. Netflix brings the A game.
• Suspension of belief required? High. The 14th century knight takes traveling into the future surprisingly well! He learns how to use a remote without assistance the first night there. And only after a day or two, she lets him drive her car by himself. 
• Trope(s): Fish-out-of-water + time travel + Cowboy (namely a knight)
• Diversity? Yes. That's the good thing about Netflix productions. Color abounds.
• Paranormal/science fiction element? Time travel, a magic medallion and a crone, aka witch
• Clownish character(s)? None. 
• Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist? Maybe. 

12 Pups of Christmas (Ion, 2019)- A recently broken up canine therapist leaves her practice in NYC to Move to Silicon Valley to take up a job at a failing doggy-tech firm. A combination of acting and writing led the two main characters to be fraught with mood swings and uneven personalities. It felt like the actors didn't have time to develop their characters. Story became muddled with weird and unnecessary plot vectors.

• Cheesy or sentimental? Cheesy!
• Production value? Good. Great choices of locations. 
• Suspension of belief required? Medium-high. There were some weird situations that i found hard to swallow. 
• Trope(s): Enemies-to-lovers 
• Diversity? Sprinkling of color. 
• Paranormal/science fiction element? Nono
• Clownish character(s)? None. 
• Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist? No 

A Christmas Crush- (Ion, 2019)- A woman makes a wish to have her neighbor fall in love with her. The wish comes true, unfortunately she didn’t specify which neighbor and the magic hits the wrong neighbor. So while she fights off the neighbor under the spell, she’s still trying to get to know the neighbor she likes. It was too goofy and it went on for too long. I was praying for the ending. Can’t complain about the acting.

• Cheesy or sentimental? Cheese.
• Production value? Good.
• Suspension of belief required? Medium-high. The whole wish thing. 
• Trope(s): Love spell
• Diversity? Nah. 
• Paranormal/science fiction element? Yes! Wish magic.
• Clownish character(s)? The neighbor under the wish spell
• Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist? No 

Holly Star (Netflix, 2018)- A failed puppeteer returns to her home town for Christmas and has to get a job at the Christmas tree lot to make ends meet. During a near death experience, a memory of seeing her grandpa bury a treasure comes up and she and her close friend become obsessed with finding it. At the same time she begins remembering the friendship she had with the tree lot attendant and has to sort out her feelings for him. Started rough, but quickly became fun, with interesting characters, and fun side stories. This felt very authentic as if the actors really live in this town, went to that bar and were wearing their own clothes. This can easily spin off a sequel. I’d watch this over and over again. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

• Cheesy or sentimental? Sentimental with a sprinkling of cheese
• Production value? Authentic
• Suspension of belief required? Medium
• Trope(s): Buried treasure mystery + friends-to-lovers romance
• Diversity? N! But it was authentic to this town, pretty sure
• Paranormal/science fiction element? No. 
• Clownish character(s)? The main character's best friend was a clown, but there were many goofy characters
• Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist? Absolutely

Holiday In the Wild (Netflix, 2019)- A recently separated wife and mother takes a safari vacation by herself to an African resort where she meets a rugged pilot and animal rescuer. A former veterinarian, She decides to stay past her return date and contribute to the elephant rescue efforts. Starring Kristin Davis of Sex In the City fame and Rob Lowe. Acting and story were well done.

• Cheesy or sentimental? Sentimental
• Production value? on-location authentic
• Suspension of belief required? low
• Trope(s): Scars + modified stranded
• Diversity? Yes. This film is set in Africa, so it would be mighty sad if I said no.
• Paranormal/science fiction element? None
• Clownish character(s)? None
• Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist? No

Christmas Love Story: Love at the Christmas Table (Hoopla, 2012)- Super cute story of childhood friends who grew up and apart as adults but came together each year at the kids table of a Christmas Eve party. Despite years of joking and fighting, love and truth won them over in the end. This film included a fun dance sequence. This was amazing! I can’t even call this cheesy because it was an excellent story with great dialogue, fun elements that weren’t distracting and great original holiday music. I would call this an overall good movie and I was surprised to learn that this is the same production company that brought the world the Sharknado series as well as a slew of rip offs and cheesy action/horror flicks. They put their foot into this one, though.

• Cheesy or sentimental? Sentimental
• Production value? Excellent. Authentic sets and personal styling. I really enjoyed the camera work and film techniques used and you would think this was a production on par with Home Alone.
• Suspension of belief required? Low
• Trope(s): Star-crossed/ soul mates
• Diversity? No
• Paranormal/science fiction element? None
• Clownish character(s)? None
• Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist? For sure!

Christmas at Graceland (Hallmark DVD, 2018)- A Memphis native who moved to Chicago for her career is sent back home to seal a business deal. While there she reconnects... with everything! Friends, music, love, and hometown values. It all works out in the end, but in a nice smooth, entertaining Hallmark kind of way. Not to cheesy and not too sweet. Acting was on par, but the voice dubbing in the music scenes was slightly jarring.

• Cheesy or sentimental? Sentimental
• Production value? Good. It’s a Hallmark.
• Suspension of belief required? Low
• Trope(s): Return to hometown + reunion + flame never went out
• Diversity? Key characters are colorful and I think Memphis folks was represented well.
• Paranormal/science fiction element? None
• Clownish character(s)? None
• Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist? No

A Christmas Movie Christmas (Hoopla, 2019)- The story of two sisters facing another unfulfilling Christmas when they make a wish for something more on Christmas Eve. Santa makes that wish come true by transporting them into their own Christmas movie! Cheesy plot and you can see all the standard storylines coming a mile away, but it still doesn’t work out as the sisters might have expected. Can they ruin Christmas in a Christmas movie?

• Cheesy or sentimental? Cheesy, but sentimental
• Production value? Mar Vista Productions are 50/50,  but this one was quality with authentic sets, lovely personal styling and wardrobe.
• Suspension of belief required? High, based on wish magic and the fact that they were transported into a Christmas movie, that’s understandable
• Trope(s): Be-careful-what-you-wish-for + love triangle + self-realization
• Diversity? Key characters are colorful and I think Memphis folks was represented well.
• Paranormal/science fiction element? Yes! Another wish magic movie
• Clownish character(s)? Kind of. Paul the baker has amazing supply of red envelopes and talks to his cookies
• Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist? No

Movie: A Royal Winter (2017)***

A Recent law school graduate goes on vacation to the fictional country of Calpurnia.  After an accidental meeting she starts getting to know a native Calpurnian guy, whom she later finds out is the soon-to-be king of Calpurnia. They both have to decide to continue going along with the life their families have planned for them or forge their own path made somewhat easier with white and class privilege. This was a cute, simple romantic tale with a small very surmountable conflict.

Romance Movie Checklist

• Cheesy or sentimental: Definitely cheesy with its predictable and simplistic story. 
• Production value: Mid-level on the Hallmark production spectrum. Costumes and personal styling was good. the sound on the disc was subpar; editing was amateur, and the indoor and outdoor locations were lovely.
• Suspension of belief: High. Royalty running around in this day and age without security?! Yeah right. 
• Trope: Secret-Royal turns Invisible Barrier of prescribed obligations 
• Diversity: A bit. The best friend who invites her along to Calpurnia is black. 
• Paranormal/ sci-fi: none
• Clownish character: none

Rating Scale: Fun; Three stars***
I checked this DVD out from the library.

Romance Movie Checklist

I'm a librarian. Making lists, charts and putting them in order if I can is what I do. So here's a new list since I've become such an fanatic about romance films, but first, some thoughts.

I have written that cheesy holiday romance movies "have a low production value, usually subpar acting and the storylines have a ton of holes and therefore require viewers to suspend some of their realistic expectations," but the past couple of years I've seen that many Hallmark and Netflix productions have been allowed to spare no expense on their films. Also, I've found several films that I have a hard time considering cheesy. It's come to the point where I am removing the adjective "cheesy" and going to call all these films "romance movies," and properly labeling the cheesy ones. 

I've Googled "What's cheesy?" to see if anyone else has tried to digest this and lo, I've found some good discussions on Urban Dictionary and Reddit. Basically, cheesy often includes poorly written dialogue that is unsubtle and in authentic, predictable and simplistic stories that are cliche ridden, and cheap production and effects. I especially want to note this comparison from Urban Dictionary:

The word cheesy is often defined simply as "sentimental", but there is a key distinction between the two. A situation is cheesy when the characters, their motives, and/or their emotions are not believable. It is a sentimental moment (it could be extremely sad or happy), but there is a weak connection to the characters or their situation, thus making it cheesy.
Many people confuse the two, and it is a matter of opinion to a certain degree, but things can be sentimental, emotional, or dramatic without being cheesy. 

All this means is that I'm going to have to go back and relabel some posts "romance movies" instead of cheesy.
Another element on the checklist is determining the tropes the films fit into.  I was interested in getting to know romance genre tropes so I can give a name to many of the similar storylines. So I looked up some trope compilations and added a couple of my own trope descriptions when necessary. That was fun!

Romance Movie Checklist
Cheesy or sentimental?
Production value?
Writing?
Acting?
Suspension of belief required? Low/medium/high
Trope(s):
Diversity?
Paranormal/science fiction element? Y/N
Clownish character(s)? Y/N
Added to the annual holiday romance movie playlist?

Holiday Cheese 2018 Marathon Part II: Not Good Cheese

Cheesy movies have a low production value, usually subpar acting and the storylines have a ton of holes and therefore require viewers to suspend some of their realistic expectations. I like cheesy, b-level romance and this is my 2nd cheesy holiday romance movie marathon. The bar is set low, but the cheese level is high. On my scale, Good Cheese falls onto the So Good It’s Bad side of the scale and is obviously fun for me. Bad Cheese is not fun. Click here to read about 2018 Good Cheese.

Didn’t Finish

Homeless For the Holidays-This was a c-level production, crappy writing, terrible acting (Amazon)

A Christmas in New York- Stopped it 29 minutes in because it still felt they were setting up the stories of six couples in a NYC hotel. Good luck! (Amazon)

Home for Christmas- Stopped it 22 minutes in. Felt like they were trying too hard to be Girls-Judd-Appatow-like. And then there were very annoying close-up dialogue scenes. I don’t think this was intending to be cheesy. (Amazon)

Christmas Next Door- I gave this about 20 mins, but it just didn’t hook me. Granted, I watched this after Christmas, and by then I had had my fill of holiday romance. Even so, this just sucked.

And finally.... Bad Cheese!

Christmas Wedding Planner- For her first job, A wedding planner is working on her cousin’s Christmas wedding. She finds herself teaming up with her cousin’s ex to find dirt on the fiancée. Of course, they fall in love. Production value wasn’t bad, but the music supervisor should never be allowed to work again. The music was silly, obtrusive and often didn’t match the visual tone. There’s a lot of realism-suspension involved in watching B romance movies, but the ending of this movie called for too much. (Netflix)

Christmas with a View- Vivica Fox, Patrick Duffy, and Kaitlyn Leeb, who plays Cassandra on my favorite Canadian TV show, Heartland, star in this movie about a failed-restaurant-owner-turned- restaurant-manager who falls in love with a visiting celebrity chef looking to settle down. The potential for a successful b-holiday romance movie was there: good cast, good locations, good styling and costuming, but the writing was awful. So many incomplete scenes and conversations that went... Click here for a trailer. (Netflix)

Shadow Island Mysteries: The Last Christmas- I was a little perturbed that I actually finished this because I fell asleep the first time so I finished it a second night. So much time wasted. The fist thing that bugged me was that they used horror or edge-of-your-seat thriller music that was completely inappropriate. There was some bad editing. And overall it was cheesy in a bad way. (Amazon)

I’ll Be Homeless for Christmas- I’m actually hoarse from laughing so hard at this movie. It was the worst movie I have ever seen. The sound and editing and everything was so exceptionally bad that at less than five minutes in, I paused the movie and called my best friend to laugh with me. We ended up watching the whole 54 minutes together. Who in the hell would plan a heist to rob a homeless shelter?! Why are all the characters and extras suffering from lack of peripheral vision. Everyone’s clothes were ill-fitting. This was a hot, but entertaining-because-it was-awful mess. (Amazon)

Christmas With a Prince- Kaitlyn Leeb stars in anther sub-par holiday romance. A pediatrician is thrown off her game when she agrees to host an injured prince in her hospital ward. So many story lines were thrown in and quickly resolved it was like a 21 episode sitcom cobbled together into a 90 minute movie. Everything was a bit off: The editing, the acting, the writing, the production and costuming. Also, it was too long. There were at least two endings and the first one would have been just fine. This is produced by the same company (Brain Power Studio) that did Christmas With a View, which was also poopy.

A Firehouse Christmas- This one wasn’t all bad, but it turned into bad comedy toward the end and now it lives in Bad Cheese land. 

Holiday Cheese 2018 Marathon Part I: Good Cheese

Cheesy movies have a low production value, usually subpar acting and the storylines have a ton of holes and therefore require viewers to suspend some of their realistic expectations. I like cheesy, b-level romance and this is my 2nd cheesy holiday romance movie marathon. The bar is set low, but the cheese level is high. On my scale, Good Cheese falls onto the So Good It’s Bad side of the scale and is obviously fun for me. Bad Cheese is not fun. To read about 2018 bad cheese, click here. 

Good Cheese

Dashing Through the Snow- This Hallmark movie was about a professional crafter who misses her flight and decides to share a rental car with a handsome stranger heading in the same direction. There’s a Homeland Security twist to this story. Good production and acting, but the writing could have used some help. (DVD checked out from the library)

Desperately Seeking Santa- Starring Laura Vandervoort (Character actor and cheesy romance star) as an executive seeking to increase holiday sales at the mall she manages and earn herself a promotion. She contrives to hire a sexy Santa as a marketing campaign, but then she falls for him and finds a cause to stand up for. Good production and writing, but on-screen chemistry was at a minimal. I watched this with Amazon Prime.

A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding- This Netflix production was spared no expense. It was really well done, top of the line cheese, complete with blooper-lined credits. We return to the story of Amber and King Richard of Aldovia who are getting ready to get married. Royal protocol keeps getting in the way of wedding bliss and to boot, there’s something fishy going on with Aldovia’s economy. Can Amber and Richard make thing s right? Of course! This is s cheesy romance. A happy ending is guaranteed! (Netflix)

Holiday Calendar- This movie was holiday Afrobubblegum: A movie about people of color that is fun and made little to no mention of race or class issues. A photographer stuck in a nowhere job is inspired to go for her dreams by the return of her best friend and the gift of a magical Advent calendar.  A Netflix production that was well done with a charming story that required little suspended belief. The diverse cast did a great job as well. (Netflix)

Dear Santa- This might have been the best cheesy holiday movie I’ve ever seen. A spoiled rich girl finds a dear Santa letter written by a little girl asking for love for her father. The rich girl takes it upon herself to provide. Along the way she finds herself genuinely giving of herself instead of by false pretense. It just seemed like there was relatively little need to suspend reality while watching this. As far as acting goes, everyone did a good job, even the little girl. The production was as good as a network TV movie. This might be my favorite. (Netflix)

Christmas at Holly Lodge- This was a really great holiday cheesy romance from the innovators of cheesy romance at the Hallmark Channel. And it stars Jordan Bridges, son of Beau. A winter lodge owner is in arrears when a real estate developer comes to investigate the property. He falls in love with the property and the owner she finds out his original intentions and plays silly games instead of just confronting him. a classical American romance movie. (DVD checked out from the library)

Switched for Christmas- Another Hallmark hit starring Candace Cameron-Bure as middle-aged adult twin sisters (she plays two roles... remember Full House?) who have fallen out of touch with each other, so they decide to switch lives to see how the other is living. Of course their relationship is rekindled and so is romance for the both of them. This was deliciously easy to swallow cheese! A sweet movie and with Hallmark on the production there are no complaints. (DVD checked out from the library)

A Holiday Engagement- This one also stars Jordan Bridges. A recently fired and dumped reporter hires an actor to play her fiancée to attend her family’s Thanksgiving dinner. The farce continues when she announces the wedding will be a week before Christmas! This was one of those storylines that made me had to suspend my logic, but it was cute and the writing, acting and production weren’t bad. (Netflix)

Princess Switch- So much royalty! So many switch-ups! This was a cute sweet colorful-people having, prince-charming, cake baking cheesy holiday romance. A Chicago-based baker is invited to participate in the Belgravia (fictional country) baking competition. When in Belgravia, she finds that her identical doppelgänger is a duchess betrothed to the prince of Belgravia. The decide to switch lives for a couple of days of course they fall in love with the men in the switched lives. (Netflix)

A Princess for Christmas- Starring Sam Heughan from the awesome Outlander series, this movie wins the prize for cheesiest-but-goodest. An out of work antique expert and aunt to two orphans, gets the opportunity to take her niece and nephew back to their father’s home country where they are royalty. She falls in love with their uncle, the prince, melts the icy heart of their grandfather, the duke, and befriends the staff. It started and I almost gave up because of the bad cheese, but I’m glad I stuck it out because those lumps smoothed out in about 30 mins. My only complaint is that the music sounded too synthesized. (Amazon... and I paid for it! Darn you, Heughan!)

I also watched and enjoyed Southern Christmas aka Heartland Christmas  and Christmas Town.

Movie: Royal Matchmaker (2018) GC

Royal Matchmaker is a thoroughly cute Hallmark movie about a professional matchmaker who takes on a prince as her latest client. Of course, they fall in love.
Stars: Bethany Joy Lenz and Will Kemp
Obstacles: Tradition and a woman more befitting of a prince
Quality: All the levels are set at good: Plot, writing, art direction and acting.

I would definitely re-watch this and recommend to any fan of cheesy romance, so it gets a rating of Good Cheese.

I checked the DVD out from my local library.