A Little Romance — fangirl, interrupted

Jun 23

Jun 23 A Little Romance

With COVID-19 hitting everyone, my beloved Hallmark channel has also seen a huge gap in their programming. So what would have been Countdown to Summer, has been essentially cancelled. Instead, they managed to get 3 movies out — or advertised that they did under the banner of “A Little Romance” — what that means? I don’t know. The unifying theme? Those that made it before lockdown?

What’s funny is, that out of the 3 promised, only 2 were screened. What happened to Country At Heart? I don’t know, but it still plays in the promos, just doesn’t have a schedule anymore. Strange times! So really, the theme could not be more apt because we get so very little (quantity) of movies this time around.

Love in the Forecast

Love in the Forecast. While on a break from dating to focus on her career as an aspiring meteorologist, Leah befriends her neighbor Mark, who teaches her the importance of trusting nature and each other. Stars Cindy Busby and Christopher Russell.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t Cindy Busby’s biggest fan pre-Heartland viewing but now that she’s grown on me thanks to the beloved equine-themed show that Chinggay got me hooked on, Cindy now has a special place in my heart.

I’m glad we get to see her shine as an aspiring weather girl who’s really pulling out all the stops and enjoying her single life. The character was so relatable to me. Hitting speed bumps in her quest for a relationship, she puts it on hold to focus on herself and voila! Of course she gets a guy now.

Christopher Russel is handsome, country boy neighbor experimenting in the city life and he had so much potential in Nature of Love that wasn’t met, so I was sceptical for him. But he powered through. Their chemistry and their banter as neighbors who are just friends (please, eyeroll here) was palpable. Even the parents could see the sparks!

I don’t know if it’s the lack of new movie but I really enjoyed this one.

Quarantine Feels: 🦠🦠🦠🦠🦠

Love Under the Olive Tree

The prize of Sunset Valley's annual olive oil contest is a land parcel with disputed ownership. When feisty Nicole and competitive Jake face-off, they never expect sparks to fly. Starring Tori Anderson and Benjamin Hollingsworth.

We’ve seen the trope of competitive leads vying for something and this time we get that with an olive oil theme and some feuding grandpas. I actually was pleasantly surprised by Taylor Swift carbon copy Tori Anderson — I swear they styled her in the style of Red/1989 Taylor era and I like it a lot. Benjamin Hollingsworth also was pretty adorable in it.

There’s banter, lots of banter and longing from afar because they are the Montagues and Capulets of the olive oil world. And of course, despite the misunderstandings, all is well in the end. This film made me want to break out some bread, some balsamic vinegar and throw some olive oil in for fun, it’s good I had some dinner.

Also, props to Hallmark for sneakily featuring some LGBT characters even if not explicit — that best friend/ranch hand/right-hand guy and the restaurant owner were definitely an item and I like it. Now we need more of this.

Quarantine Feels: 🦠🦠🦠🦠

Maybe I am a sucker, but the two that did make it out alive from this “interim season” were not bad at all. I can’t wait till production comes back into full swing because I need my June Weddings, my Summer Nights and so on.