Hallmark Mysteries & More

Hallmark Channel's May for Moms Complete Review

Eric Rutin & Andrea Claassen Season 3 Episode 53

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Andrea and Eric are back—armed with hot takes, cool sarcasm, and more head-scratching than heartwarming—as they dive into Hallmark’s “May for Moms” movie lineup. Spoiler alert: it’s not exactly a love letter to motherhood… or good storytelling.

From balloon-based romances to castles with utility bills the size of small countries, they rate and roast all five flicks. Along the way, they dish on everything from Diagnosis: Murder finally hitting Hallmark+ to the ageism-fueled drama surrounding Love in the Clouds. Plus: how Poker Face got it right, why Kissing Stars fell flat, and what happens when Catherine Disher shows up (hint: everything gets better).

It’s snark, sincerity, and some solid film critique—all wrapped in one delightfully unfiltered episode. Tune in as they rank the best (and worst) of May, debate onscreen chemistry, and agree on… absolutely nothing.

🟢 Listen now if you love:

  • Hallmark movies that forget their theme
  • Fiery co-host banter
  • Real talk on casting, chemistry, and cringey proposals

📍 Next week: They’re heading back to Mystery 101 and Private Eyes—so get ready for some actual mystery and (hopefully) fewer fascinators.

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This podcast was created by fans for fans and is NOT affiliated with or sponsored by Hallmark or the Hallmark Channel.

SPEAKER_00:

Andrea, we're going to talk about Hallmark's May for Moms. And I have to tell you, I tried giving May for Moms to my wife for Mother's Day. And now she's since taken the kids. She's moved out. Hallmark did me a dirty. Are you ready to talk about the May for Mom movies?

SPEAKER_01:

Let's do it. All right.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, this is Eric.

SPEAKER_01:

And this is Andrea.

SPEAKER_00:

And this is Hallmark Mysteries and more. And more. Before we get going, I just have to say, I don't even understand the May for Moms theme for this movie. It was random. And now I'm sitting here all alone by myself in my house because I thought I had a great gift for my wife for Mother's Day. And it had nothing to do with moms the entire month. So Hallmark, I don't know what the hell's going on.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, maybe there's a mom in the movies, I guess.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Sure, we will go with that. But we would

SPEAKER_01:

agree. They're not overly mom-heavy movies, so

SPEAKER_00:

I'm not sure. I think it's a chatty PT, like, hey, give us a title for the month. And there we go. Just in line with the Hallmark, some of the Hallmark marketing promotions. Yeah, it definitely sounds

SPEAKER_01:

like a marketing thing.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't get it. I don't get it.

SPEAKER_01:

Do

SPEAKER_00:

you have anything fun to talk about?

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so I have one. You know how I've been saying I want a diagnosis murder on the Hallmark Plus app. And it was released on the Hallmark Plus app. So I'm very excited about that. Maybe Murder, Shrote will be next. The one thing that's nice is there's no commercials. And so you can just like binge the episode without having the thousand commercials that are on like the regular Hallmark channel. So exciting. Have

SPEAKER_00:

you watched any of it? I have not. But you have been watching that on Friendly, right?

SPEAKER_01:

No, it was on the Hulu.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, Hulu, but it was the replay. That's what it was. Okay. Okay. So now you get three

SPEAKER_01:

minute commercial breaks, you know, and now you can just binge. So I started with episode one and I will say this. I hadn't, I mean, I had, I remember the first episode, the first few, I would even say the first season, it's kind of finding his legs. It's a different, completely different. I mean, it's different cast of characters by the last season as well. And the hospital looks different.

SPEAKER_00:

Was this one that's like, because I'll be honest, I've never seen an episode of it, ever. It's kind of like Murder, She Wrote, right? So is this one, though, that went on? Maybe

SPEAKER_01:

we'll have to do some reviewing of that.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, well, we have no new mystery. I mean, I can pick

SPEAKER_01:

out like five episodes like we did for Murder, She Wrote. That would be kind of fun.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. And

SPEAKER_01:

get people to watch it, because I do like it, and I think people will just, I mean, it's not like people don't love Dick Van Dyke, but. You just fall in love with him. Like as Dr. Sloan is so good.

SPEAKER_00:

Is it like murder? She wrote though, where there's 23 seasons. Like, did it go on forever or. I

SPEAKER_01:

think there's, is there what I want to say? Eight.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. So not. Not as many. Definitely.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Definitely. You know, almost a decade sounds like. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

And there, yeah, the hospital changes. And so this one, it's a much more stark contrast from start season to finishing season. Dr. Mark Sloan's house. vastly improved because he's a doctor in LA. So of course he's probably making bank.

SPEAKER_00:

I thought it was like a small town. No, it's in

SPEAKER_01:

Malibu. No, it's out in Malibu.

SPEAKER_00:

So, Oh, all right. So

SPEAKER_01:

yeah, it's a, it's a really fun. And his son actually plays his son in the show. And by the end, his grandchildren are in there quite a bit and he has the whole family. So we can watch some of those. I think that would be kind of fun for, for you since you haven't seen them. Now I will say that, The other things that I'm watching, because you had, I think you sent me this, the castle renovation show. All

SPEAKER_02:

right.

SPEAKER_01:

So I have been watching it. They are not. So just a heads up. It's on HBO Max. I think it might be on a regular like HGTV. And then they, you know, HBO Max has it. And it's just one castle. And so it's just this couple who moved from California. This lady, the gal inherited a castle and out. just south of Paris. Her grandmother still lives in Paris and her grandpa had this castle. And so now they're trying to renovate it. And

SPEAKER_00:

so- Wait, wait, wait, wait. Big step back. She's a Californian who inherited a castle in France. This literally is a hallmark movie.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Well, and the amount of money that they have for these renovations is just mind boggling because they are probably younger than me or around my age. And I'm like, how do you have this much money to renovate projects? Because they're like, we've set aside 100,000 for this room. We've set aside, you know, 35,000 for the bathroom, whatever. They're just like going about throwing these numbers out. And so I've only watched, I think I'm on episode three, but they kind of a teaser. They have this castle. They're actually not going to live in this castle. It doesn't sound like that's where they do the weddings. So they renovated a room for like a bedroom in the castle, but the cost to keep the electricity on month to month, if they would live there, it's 350,000 dollars.

SPEAKER_02:

So

SPEAKER_01:

needless to say, I don't think they're actually going to be living in this castle. And that's just like, I don't know if that was the electricity or the heat. That's just one of the bills. So they are also renovating this Hunter's Lodge, which is on the property. And I think that's going to be their main house. It's still amazing. It's still huge, but it's not a castle. And this castle, again, has a dungeon. I mean, it's a fun little show. So if you're into castles and you want to see this, plus the couples, like, fun enough personalities that you're kind of into it. And then they have like friends that are coming in and they have local contractors and it's, it's a really, it's, it's kind of a cute little show.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, this is a great segue for, we're going to be talking about love in the Danube a little bit. And I have been on a couple of river cruises and one of the highlights for me of river cruise, first of all, you see like 70,000 churches, right? But it's, Every now and then you do go to the castles that have the dungeons and all of those sort of things. And for me, those are the most fun. So I think that that sounds pretty cool. And I have to assume when they made a castle in 1560 or whenever they made said castle, they were not really thinking about their electric bill at the time.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, no, no, no, not at all. I mean, yes, I think you would like it. So if you like castles, that would be one. And then my last show I wanted to mention, because I find myself, I start shows and then I'm like, stop them, I'm halfway finished. So I literally, with the castle one, I have to be in the mood to watch it and just to chill laid back. I've also been binging now season two of Poker Face. And I don't know, did you ever watch Poker Face? I

SPEAKER_00:

watched season one.

SPEAKER_01:

Did you like it?

SPEAKER_00:

It... was okay it kind of got redundant-y for me with her like always walking into said issues but i mean obviously it's the theme it's

SPEAKER_01:

and it's very predictable mystery so i would think if you do enjoy mysteries so i just started i'm now like i've been binging it since last night so that's how much i i loved the show in season one and i'm loving season two um i had kind of pushed off watching it because i wanted to binge a few episodes so now they're six deep and they're released every week Is it Netflix? No, it's Peacock.

SPEAKER_00:

Peacock, okay.

SPEAKER_01:

And so they have Brady from The Way Home is in this last episode as like a gator cop. So he plays a very different character. So he was kind of fun to see. But I would definitely give that a go if you're kind of craving some mysteries. I enjoy it, especially like Monk. I mean, this is one where they show you you know what happens and you are privy to that and then you get to kind of go along with the ride of how um the main character how she figures it out

SPEAKER_00:

well that's like essentially colombo that's the premise of colombo is it's not the whodunit it's the how

SPEAKER_01:

how you did

SPEAKER_00:

it right and yeah

SPEAKER_01:

so if you don't like those mysteries you probably wouldn't like it but if you do it's kind of a fun little show

SPEAKER_00:

i'll say the one thing about it and i figure what her name is like natasha something Her personality, her character, I think sometimes people are just like, she annoys me, I'm out. So she does have a very bold personality. So if you can jive with it, yeah, it's got some of those fun mystery traits.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, that's what I had for you.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I'm just sitting here, like I say, sad, lonely man since my... My family all left me thanks to the May for Moms. So what do you say we get and discuss those movies?

SPEAKER_01:

We'll do. And also one note, my Timberwolves are officially out of the playoffs. So unfortunately, I have a lot of free time now. There's no more basketball to watch. So hence why I got to watch these shows this week because they lost. So no more Timberwolves updates in case anyone's wondering. All right. So first movie that kicked off May for Moms was on Derby Weekend, Hats Off to Love. Stella designs hats and fascinators for socialite Rosalind and meets her son Christian, who's training a horse to compete in the Louisville Derby. This stars Gina Clare Mason, John Clarence Stewart, and Holly Robinson-Heat. For me, I gave this four stars. I really enjoyed this one. I found the racing, the hats, the romance to really work for me. I am also going to 100% contradict myself if you listen to our Private Eyes episode with the horse racing. Just a caveat there. But I enjoyed all of the actors.

SPEAKER_00:

You know what's funny? I didn't even put two and two together.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah. That

SPEAKER_00:

we have the two horse races.

SPEAKER_01:

So my expectations for this movie were really low. Like I just I thought I was going to hate it. And so I was pleasantly surprised. This is probably one of the topper movies. I would say fourth of the movies for me this year. Cause they've been pretty low. So I, I thought it was cute. It was fun. It's one that I would, I wouldn't seek out to watch again, but if it's on in the background, I wouldn't mind tuning in. What about you? I

SPEAKER_00:

think to be in this movie, you have to have three names because as you said, Holly Robinson, Pete, Gina, Claire Mason, and John Clarence Stewart. I don't know. Just a weird coincidence.

UNKNOWN:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

It was really nice seeing Holly Robinson-Pete again. She's obviously just a lovely person who is not the ageism, but her roles in the Hallmark movies is going to be changing. Last few times we've seen her, she's been the mom and sort of going in that. And so it's always nice to see her. I thought she was a fun, nice character in it. I would say that Gina Clare... mason is proving to be a pretty solid lead i don't think she's been in personally oh you gave it a four i would give it a marginal three it it just was you know ho-hum for me it wasn't terrible wasn't great but you know it's gina claire mason i think she is just proving like i said to be a really good lead she's likable she's got charisma she's fun Then we get to see John Clarence Stewart, who this is his first hallmark. He seemed great despite... I want to see him again because I don't know if he is kind of cardboardy, but I don't know if it was the role or him. And I don't think it's him. So I just think they didn't give him a lot of fun to the character. It was just sort of a ho-hum role. And then... It's just for me, it's a no-win, with the exception of Crimes of Fashion, the mystery with Brooke D'Orsay. Hallmark just should stay away from fashion. It never, ever looks good. I went back and I thought about, what's her name? Rebecca Dalton was in the head over heels with the shoes, and the shoes were just, looked like he went to Target and got some shoes. And the shoes also... head over heel or no, excuse me. It was, but it designed Christmas by design. Yeah. Christmas by design where she designed those hideous pajamas. It's like, they just, the hats. I don't know. They just were not what I would like. I've watched my wife is when she was still with me was all into the Kentucky Derby. And so we watch it and you see all these just actually watch

SPEAKER_01:

this.

SPEAKER_00:

No, she did not watch the show. Oh, I was like... No, she watches the actual Kentucky Derby. Oh, okay. And we watch it for like, I don't know, three hours because they start coverage pretty much showing the owners drinking mint juleps all the way through the race. And she loves her horse racing. Well, for the major things. And the hats are just these magnificent things. And these ones look like the little kitty hats or something like that. So I don't know. It just... It's a nice try, but they just never can pull off the fashion stuff. And to me, it ends up being kind of like almost comical about how they're not great.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, let's see if you enjoyed Love in the Clouds anymore. So reporter Brooklyn travels to the balloon fiesta to meet hot air balloon pilot Jared, who offers romantic balloon rides, but is closed off to love himself. This Dark, Paul Green, Mackenzie Westmore, Gail O'Grady, and Lorenzo Lamis. I gave this one a four out of five as well. And it's probably one of my favorites of the year. I know people hated this one, but I found it cute and delightful. I would watch it again. I enjoyed both of the leads. I liked the message overall and like finding yourself. I liked the balloons. I think her TV boss was the worst ever and loved everything. the rushed happy ending i mean this is a very old hallmark vibe so if you enjoyed the earlier hallmark movies like i actually i don't mind the earlier hallmark movies so for me this felt right in that like nostalgia feel for me so i enjoyed it i know a lot of people talked about mckenzie and her looks which i find atrocious like i don't ever comment on people's looks i thought she looked just fine like i never i did not notice anything but the comments online were brutal and i'm like i don't she's like paul they're the same age ish right i didn't look it up but i think they're in the same ballpark here

SPEAKER_00:

i think he's like three years and you know that's a big thing for me right i want to say i think he's like three years older than she is so yeah totally reasonable

SPEAKER_01:

i don't understand that and i mean for me i liked it because they are you know I think there's a lot of people who are in their forties and wanting to watch Hallmark and yeah, they might be having found love for the first time shocker in their late forties. That's okay. It's okay to watch that on screen. Like that's where I kind of like really took offense when people kind of got up in arms about that. I'm like, I want to see that now that I'm also, you know, I'm in my forties just turned 40, almost going to be 41, I guess. But that is where I think the audience is. We want to see that. And then of course, a lot of the ladies online, maybe were a little even older in the sixties and seventies who didn't want to see that, which is also interesting. It's just an interesting dynamic and like woman on woman crime. Don't get me started here. The patriarchy, Eric, I could just go on. So this movie that it triggered me in some capacity there because I'm like, but I, I found it delightful. I know you didn't like this movie, but for me, I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, before I go into my review, I'm going to just comment on you. I agree with everything you said, a thousand percent. The other thing about it is what I actually do like about the movie is, as you said, they're right around 50 years old, but they handled the relationship well. like they're right around 50 years old he had this like emotional baggage that he was just like I'm shut off I'm not going to do it I've I've turned it off and she you know talks about how she always is picking the wrong guy she's you know overly romantic and ends up you know it never meets her, her expectations. And so I could see you go through life that way where you just never quite get in those relationships. Right. And so I thought they dealt with them as 50 year olds and I'd much rather see this way of the way they dealt with the relationship than when they have people of the same age and they're showing them being like, Oh, I'm just like randomly fallen in love waiting for you. And it is sort of like that first love type thing for people who are this age because people want to see their favorite, you know, actors in that kind of role but that's a role where you are when you're in your 30s okay but when you are 50 and i'm sorry like when yes you have a nikki deloach who i love ellie sweeney who i love they can't really be in that same little role because otherwise it's silly so i thought that they agree with you they handled it very nicely in that aspect But let's get to what it was. I thought I hit my head and I woke up and it was 2018 because this, yes, is so old school. I'm pretty sure what happened was Hallmark's like, damn it, we need, you know, there's five weekends in May. We need another movie, quick production company. What do you got? And the guy like walked over, looked to his filing cabinet, dusts off the script and it's like, you know, blows up. Oh, well, let's just make this one. I don't know what it is. And they made it because it is amazing. Literally, like you said, old school Hallmark through and through. I have to say, I didn't really buy so much into the relationship between the leads. I did like the mom and dad. I found them great. And then the assistant and, well, I guess the both assistants, I enjoyed those two. So I thought the secondary... two secondary relationships were the most fun of the relationships there. And I will say positive for me. I love flash forwards. So when they gave it the flash forward, I'm like, okay, this movie just redeemed itself. Terrible. I have to assume that's blue or green screen. And they're in the things because it did not look real, but whatever it is. You know, it was fun. It was cute. A little cringy, though, doing the proposal with, you know, everyone watching. I guess maybe I'm more of a private proposal person than public proposal person, but whatever. And then speaking of cringy, I think if you were watching the news and you saw her little broadcast on there, you'd be like, what the hell am I watching? This woman's making out with the balloonist dude. And everything, it just was a little bit, whatever, Hallmark World-y. So I don't know. I give it 1.87. Oh, gosh. It was not up in the clouds for me. It was like down in the dirt. It was more when the basket lands and tips and falls over. That's the feeling I had watching this. I texted you, as you know, I was like a third of the way in there. I'm like, How? How did you love this one? But you know what? That's the beauty of Hallmark. Everyone likes what they like, right? Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, now we're going to go to the Danube. Love on the Danube.

SPEAKER_00:

Love song. You can beat me up now.

SPEAKER_01:

Fellow cruise passengers Sarah and Jack play a matchmaker with their music-loving widowed parents as they cruise down the Danube visiting European cities. This stars Nazneen Contractor and Wes Brown. Two out of five. Snoozefest for me. Really didn't like this one. I found it boring. I usually enjoy both of those leads, and they couldn't save the lack of anything going on in this movie. Shout out to Jenny, who does the previews with us on our Christmas movies. She was an extra on this one, and so if you paused it, I had to have her tell me which part, because I really struggled. It's a

SPEAKER_02:

library, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I really struggled to pay attention in this movie, so I totally missed it. But I, yeah, these are not my favorite. I watched them and have not revisited them since last fall, I think, when they were on Hallmark+. I I liked one better than the other two. It's not this one, though. So this one is a no-go for me. I will not watch it again, nor did I revisit it, nor did I have any more notes on it because I don't want to revisit it. Eric?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I'll give it a three. And I have to say, I think it... Honestly, I think it was January when these came out. I think they were all new year. Not that because it was

SPEAKER_01:

groomsmen. I looked back through my Instagram to look at my notes for my reviews because I was like, wow, how long ago is these air? And they were right around the Christmas batch, which also poor timing on Hallmark plus with all of these.

SPEAKER_00:

I, my main thing, and this will go for the next three movies. I'm just disappointed that we're reviewing quote unquote, new movies that aired six months ago. Right. And it just, I don't know. It, it takes away the whole thing of, Oh, Hey, we're getting on plus to get this new, fresh content. You're not getting anywhere. It's just, okay. It's taken me a little while longer and I'll get it on the, the, the channel. So whatever. Whole other, whole other conversation. Can I

SPEAKER_01:

also say my Hallmark plus, I went to the Hallmark store and I asked the lady how to use, I'm like, Oh, I have Hallmark. Cause they had the thing right there on the counter. I said, Oh, I have Hallmark plus. don't I have rewards or points? Cause I was buying cards and she goes, Oh, I actually don't know how to like find that or use that. And I'm like, what the heck? I mean, I don't even, so I don't either. Cause I've never tried to use it, but I'm like, well, what's the point of then this Hallmark plus, like, isn't that supposed to be a bonus of us going into the store? Your

SPEAKER_00:

$5 a month.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. And she didn't know how to find it. And I'm like, that's a bummer.

SPEAKER_00:

I guess I enjoyed the movie for what it was. It was, was, you know, Was it great? No. Was it terrible? No. But it was enjoyable. Like I said, I'm not rushing out to watch it again or anything like that. Have you watched it again? What?

SPEAKER_01:

Have you watched it again since it

SPEAKER_00:

originally aired? I watched it twice. I watched... Yeah. Well, I watched... Unlike you, I prepared for this.

SPEAKER_01:

No. Eric, I'd rather watch Poker Face. Sorry.

SPEAKER_00:

And I will say, I think Nazeem... She's a strong lead that's completely underutilized. I like her. I think she's really good, and I wish she was in more. I thought her and Wes had some good chemistry. I like the parents trying to hook up the parents and do that whole thing, of which then they fall in love. It was fun. And then Catherine Dishner, whatever, give me her in a movie, and I think everything's always just perfect. better that she's in there and then my final note was yeah we got to see jenny hever cameo so you know i guess i guess i say three no three is actually better i'll give it a 2.75 because it was just it was not terrible it was not great it was just whatever if it's on it's you like to call those those background movie

SPEAKER_01:

this is that's what this was no this is this was like have it on

SPEAKER_00:

make you know, on the iPad and make breakfast or lunch and do all those sorts of things while you're going. And then I'll be good. So there you go. Let's spin around and cruise down the river again. All

SPEAKER_01:

right. Now we're hitting the Royal getaway. A jilted art gallery manager takes her honeymoon cruise solo and meets a charming Prince posing as a European gentleman who shares her passion for art. This star is Jessica Sipos, Dan Giannette, Catherine Drysdale, Catherine Buescher. Well, another two out of five, another snooze fest. I have less notes on this than the other one. What would make this series worse for me? Throw in the royal element with bad accents. So this is it. My highlight, I wrote Catherine Disher. That is all the notes I have on this. I literally cannot recall anything else about this movie. So I clearly was paying zero attention and no, I will not revisit it. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, you know how I feel about royal movies.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, it just has to be your

SPEAKER_00:

least. They're not my jam at all. But I have to say, I didn't hate this one. And the only reason why...

SPEAKER_01:

Almost spit my coffee up.

SPEAKER_00:

The only reason why is I thought the leads, the two of them, were just enjoyable together. They were just great chemistry individually. I liked them both. I thought it was just a movie with the two of them. And I... I couldn't tell you really, yeah, they were doing the art stuff and all of that was just waste for me. Just have them sit around and chat. And that was the thing because the two of them were just gold together and everything else, whatever. I thought, and they're calling it a honeymoon, by the way, it was a year later. It still is the fun trope. You know, it's the two tickets to paradise, which I love that. Taking the honeymoon by yourself after you've been jilted. But it is, she did take it like a year later. So it's not like really right then. It's like, oh, I'm not going to let my, whatever, my ticket go to waste kind of thing. It's already paid. So it was that. And then, but Joe, Dan's character, his beard at the beginning was so fake. It was like as bad as Jodie Sweeten's wig in Murder at Mosby. Now

SPEAKER_01:

I did watch that movie again.

SPEAKER_00:

So whatever. Yeah. Really just thought the two leads were just magical together. And that's kind of all that I'm left with after this movie.

SPEAKER_01:

How many stars?

SPEAKER_00:

2.751. I love how

SPEAKER_01:

you do. Okay. Can't just do a one, two, three, four or five. All

SPEAKER_00:

right. It's not good enough to be a three and it's not bad enough to be a two.

SPEAKER_01:

Kissing Stars. Savannah, a publicist, reluctantly works with Tripp, a celebrity who is having trouble connecting with his fans abroad, a cruise promoting his latest film. This stars Sarah Power, Brendan Penny, Catherine Drysdale, and Catherine Bisher. This is a three out of five for me. This was my favorite of the movies. Brendan and Sarah were able to carry the movie. And then I think Catherine and Sarah being reunited felt like seamless chemistry there from Goodwitch. And this was, this entire series is not one I'm going to revisit, even this movie. So I gave it the highest, mostly. They also could have wore me down because sometimes when you get these, like you're just kind of at the point where you're like, okay, I see where we are. The bar is not high. So, I mean, you throw in though, you got Brendan Penny and Sarah Power. I prefer them of these leads. Actually, I really liked Wes Brown, but just hated that movie so much. So yeah, That's why I figured this has got to be my favorite because I didn't hate it, just found it kind of blah again.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I said earlier that Nazine was underutilized. That is nothing compared to Sarah Power. She is lovely. She's great. I wish she was in a movie every year. she's, she's great. And like you said, it was fun seeing the good witch reunion with Abigail and Martha. So that was fantastic. I don't, clearly we don't watch the same movies because I thought there was absolutely no chemistry between the two of them. I thought like that was sort of the one thing at the two first movies that I thought both couples had at least had good chemistry that made those movies a little bit better. Whereas this one, I, I just, I'll be honest, I thought Brad Penny was this kind of annoying. Brendan Penny? Excuse me, Brendan Penny, yeah. I thought he was just supposed to be sympathetic, but he was just kind of annoying and a jerk to me. And I did not like his character at all. So for me, this one, you know. I

SPEAKER_01:

don't think we watched the same one at all.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, this was the worst of the three. This is when the boat is ready to get retired. You're like, okay, we've had enough. Let's just pull it in to dock and retire this boat.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, let's get over our favorites of the month. Let's start with Best Romance, where I'm just going to pick up where we left off, Brendan Petty and Sarah Power. Best Romance. So again, that's why I was like, clearly we don't watch the same movies because that was my pick.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, to keep the theme going, mine was Joe and Ava from Royal Getaway. So my worst is your best and your best is my worst or whatever. That's

SPEAKER_01:

hilarious.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. So we clearly did not have that. And like I said, while the movie was not great, I just thought they had great chemistry and despite the script flaws and they were a plenty. There were plenty.

SPEAKER_01:

Let's see if we line up in any of the other categories here. Favorite character of the month. I doubt you're going to have mine. I have Mackenzie Westmore in Love in the Clouds. I loved her play. She's the lead, right? She's the lead. Yeah, yeah. I found her tone of voice to be perfect for that reporter. I loved her character's art. And I found herself... She found herself and she found love in the end. And so for me, that's always a win. I saw growth in her. So... I liked that character. Again, I know many did not, but my favorite of the month.

SPEAKER_00:

We're not very far off. Oh. Mine was Catherine Dishner. We are very far off. Who found no love, had no character arc, but she is just so lovely that put her on the screen, put her in like Bob Ross. That's the guy, right? Who paints the little pretty flowers. To have her take over that series, I will watch every episode just because I will watch Cash Conditioner no matter what she does. And she's just absolutely a delight. And you know what? Get her in a holiday movie. Why has she not been in a holiday movie? We need more. Get her in one. Put her and Sarah Power in a holiday movie.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, favorite setting of the month.

SPEAKER_00:

This has to be agreeing.

SPEAKER_01:

Hats off to love.

SPEAKER_00:

No? How can it not be the Danube? For as bad as the movies may have been,

SPEAKER_01:

it's cruising

SPEAKER_00:

through Europe and seeing castles and our old art museums. Country, farm

SPEAKER_01:

setting, little cute shop where she worked on those. Like that little farmhouse, loved it. The Derby. I was all in on that farm setting. Of course I'm going to pick Hats Off.

SPEAKER_00:

Here's my note. Is it even debatable?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, it is. Clearly.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, boy. May was just terrible. Can we agree on that at least?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, let's see if we agree on our ranking then.

SPEAKER_00:

We don't. I guarantee we don't.

SPEAKER_01:

Before

SPEAKER_00:

we go, here's what I will say. There is not a single movie of these five that I ever think I will intentionally watch again. I

SPEAKER_01:

would watch two again. So there we go. My top two I would pick again. Number five for me, love on the Danube, love song.

SPEAKER_00:

For me, mine also starts with love, but mine is love in the clouds.

SPEAKER_01:

Number four, love on the Danube, royal getaway.

SPEAKER_00:

Love on the Danube, kissing stars.

SPEAKER_01:

Number three, love on the Danube, kissing stars.

SPEAKER_00:

I've got love on the Danube, love song.

SPEAKER_01:

Number two, hats off to love.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, there we go. We finally have some agreement. Hats off to Love for me, too.

SPEAKER_01:

And my number one, Love in the Clouds, your least favorite.

SPEAKER_00:

And once again, we match with the first word, love. Mine was Love on the Danube Royal Getaway, which a royal movie you know I hate. And it really just comes down to I found the two characters, chemistry and them, just great amongst a month of just completely blah, blah. not too exciting movies. Hats Off to Love actually probably had a little more going for it than I'll give it credit for. It just wasn't the strongest of scripts and that fashion thing. just made it kind of laughable to me at the end but it would have been probably could have been number one if it wasn't for that

SPEAKER_01:

well next week we are heading back to mystery 101 with words can kill and private eyes episode four from season one so you can catch that next week all right thanks eric

SPEAKER_00:

all right we're out of here this podcast was created by fans or fans and is not affiliated with or sponsored by Hallmark or the Hallmark channel.