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| image: Hallmark Crown Media |
If you haven't had enough Summer, yet, don't fret - here comes Hallmark's second round of Summer Nights movies - starting in late July with Love, For Real (see here), and continuing all throughout August - with a retreat, a wedding, a trip to the farm and more! See all the details below...
NEW MOVIE PREMIERES in AUGUST:
Summer Nights #2 on the Hallmark Channel:
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| Autumn Reeser, Andrew Walker, Jen Lilley, and Ryan Paevey - images: Hallmark Crown Media |
The 27-Hour Day
Starring: Autumn Reeser and Andrew Walker
Premiere Date: Saturday, August 7, 2021 at 9pm/8c
Storyline: An entrepreneur takes a necessary break from developing her wellness brand empire and discovers that the work-life balance she needs won’t be easy. Will a new romance and relaxing retreat change her life forever?
Reviews:
☀ "Watched 27 hour day, it was ok. Not terrible but not great. Autumn was good, Andrew was good, just didnt really feel anything between them. This movie had the most diverse cast of people in the town in Montana. They went to the honey festival, and it was like they cast people of every race to play the side characters. The people that adopted the pig, asian. It was montana and I only saw one man with a cowboy hat on that looked like a rancher. everyone else was a quota to fill." ~Sabrina
☀ "Loved The 27-Hour Day! Completely family friendly and another Autumn Reeser winner. She is such a great actress and paired well with Andrew Walker." ~Jennifer R
☀ "27 Hour Day wasn't bad but somehow it never reached its potential. I love both Autumn and Andrew but the real star was the pig. After watching it once, I thought perhaps it was just me so I watched a second time. Will not be waiting for this DVD. It is definitely family friendly." ~kitkat
Sealed With a Kiss: Wedding March 6
Starring: Jack Wagner, Caitlin Stryker, Josie Bissett, and Nathan Witte
Premiere Date: Saturday, August 14, 2021 at 9pm/8c
Storyline: Before saying “I do” themselves, Mick and Olivia are hosting the wedding of an A-list actor and his fiancée. But when the low-key celebration morphs into an event that’s anything but that, they have to quickly pivot to pull it off. Meanwhile, when Mick gets an exciting opportunity Olivia won’t let him turn down, they’re faced with delaying their own nuptials until a last-minute change in plans gives both couples the weddings of their dreams.
Review:
☀ "Sealed With a Kiss: Wedding March 6 - is family friendly. I loved seeing Mick and Olivia together again in this 6th "Wedding March" film! Since they've been friends for years, Jack Wagner and Josie Bissett have such an easy-going flow to their relationship, on and off screen. At this point, Mick and Olivia's relationship is unwavering and rock solid, which I truly appreciated. No obstacle, big or small, was going to get in their way. In this movie they are helping another couple, Curt and Autumn, plan their wedding day at the inn, which is only a week before their own. This couple, however, have plenty of issues: Curt's a famous rising actor and Autumn's a children's author. His publicist thinks they need a big celeb-style wedding and the bride just wants simplicity, which causes lots of friction between the two. I wasn't overly fond of the on-going tension between Autumn and Curt, but I did enjoy all the sweet moments with Mick and Olivia. I missed seeing Mick's friend, Duke, and their daughters, but it was wonderful to see Olivia's mother, played by actress Susan Hogan (Time for Me to Come Home for Christmas, The Christmas Secret, etc...). Even with all the ups and downs, this trip down the aisle is a must see finale for the "Wedding March" movie series." ~Net
A Little Daytime Drama
Previous Title: Love in the Afternoon
Starring: Jen Lilley, Ryan Paevey and Linda Dano
Premiere Date: Saturday, August 21, 2021 at 9pm/8c
Storyline: In order to save her daytime soap drama from cancellation, head writer Maggie must convince Darin, fan-favorite actor and her real-life ex-boyfriend, to return to the show. The show’s producer, Alice, who created the series, wants to retire and hopes to pass the baton to Maggie, if the soap can be salvaged.
Reviews:
☀ "really enjoyed A Little Daytime Drama." ~Denise
☀ "It was so good to see Jen and Ryan together again. As veteran Soap Stars they made it more realistic. I enjoyed it. Btw, I haven't seen a soap since I was 16 years old - a long, long, time ago." ~Namegirl
Sweet Pecan Summer
Previous Title: Love at the Pecan Farm
Starring: Christine Ko, Wes Brown and Lauren Tom
Premiere Date: Saturday, August 28, 2021 at 9pm/8c
Storyline: Amanda must work with her ex-boyfriend, J.P., to sell her favorite aunt’s (Tom) pecan farm. Putting aside their differences, old feelings start to rekindle and they question their life paths.
Reviews:
☀ "Sweet Pecan Summer was a sweet movie." ~Denise
☀ "I absolutely loved Sweet Pecan Summer! I confess part of it is that I loved the setting - a Georgia Pecan Farm - because I'm from Georgia myself. Back in school, we always learned "remember your Ps" for the top three Georgia crops: peanuts, pecans, and peaches. Yep, peaches is actually third behind the other two even though we are the peach state! Hallmark has set other movies in Georgia but have missed the mark, making me groan at the mistakes, but this one felt like it really was in Georgia (maybe they filmed it here? Probably not, they film most in Canada). Anyways, the baseball, the pecans and pecan pie, the mason jars of sweet tea,the corn hole, the violent summer storm out of nowhere, the pickup trucks, and the country music. It was all spot on for rural Georgia. The storyline, though it's been done before, was like a fun family reunion. I loved the lead actress, and her chemistry with her costar was amazing. It was funny, too, especially Aunt Carol. It was really family friendly also. There were only three "blink and you might miss it" moments that might be questionable. In the first, Aunt Carol is looking at skimpy bathing suits (one pieces) online, presumably for when she moves to the beach. In the second, when the family arrives, she points to someone and says "you know where you're staying" - and it wasn't clear, but it seemed like she was saying it to her boyfriend suggesting that maybe he sleeps with her? And then at the end, she's clearly living with the boyfriend and it never says if they are married or not. Again, those were all very vague (you barely see the bathing suits on Carol's computer screen), and I may have misread them. Overall, this was a favorite for me! It took me back to family reunions and my grandmother's pecan tree in her backyard. To me, that cozy family feeling is what Hallmark is all about." ~melnewlife
☀ "Sweet Pecan Summer - I loved the farm setting and both leads were great, but I didn’t feel much chemistry between the two of them. Also, I loved seeing that quick scene with Wes Brown and his real-life daughter near the end on the baseball field. Very sweet, plus she looks just like her Daddy! Overall, the movie is cute and family friendly." ~Net
☀ "Sweet Pecan Summer I think I just happened to be in the right frame of mind as this was an unusual movie which I have to admit I quite liked - but not for the usual reasons! It was a light=hearted and amusing movie. Both the setting and the plot were interesting and Christine Ko and Wes Brown played their parts pretty well but I have to agree with Net that there just wasn't much chemistry between them it was more a gentle but somewhat lukewarm familiarity between them. To be honest I thought the stars of the movie were Lauren Tom as Aunt Carol and Chase Ramsay as Chris. The banter beween JP and his buddy Chris and between Amanda and her Aunt Carol was superb. I don't think melnewlife was wrong, there were a few non family-friendly moments which I picked on such as when Carol was allocating the rooms and she said to Walter "you know nwhere you're staying" - it was an obvious reference that he woulf be sleeping with her but again these were brief and you could easilky have missed them. The baseball scenes and the sudden storm and subsequenr pecan gathering all aded to the interest. I think it's something Hallmark should do more often but I like it at the end when they show a short scene a bit down the line showing the relationship is flourishing. Although I watch Hallmark for the Romance and that was low-key here I do have to rate this movie prettt highly because it kept me entertained." ~ Florence's rating - 7.5
Journey of My Heart
Starring: Rhiannon Fish and Darian Martin
Premiere Date: Saturday, September 4, 2021 at 9:00 PM / 8:00c
Storyline: A young wildlife biologist travels to a remote Alaskan nesting area of bald eagles where she receives inspirational guidance from a Native American family and help from a mysterious wilderness guide.
Review:
☀ "Journey of My Heart - I have to say... I just didn’t love this one. For me, the trip to find the eagles at the hidden canyon was not very entertaining. So many details were given about birds and migration, I kept feeling like a quiz was going to be given after the movie was over. Note: There was also a brief mention of Indian spirits, a spirit guide and eagles being a messenger from the Creator. Overall, it was family friendly and the outdoor scenery, water falls and eagles were all beautiful, but the story, especially the conflict, was a carbon copy of the movie, Chasing Waterfalls." ~Net
☀ "Journey Of My Heart A somewhat unusual movie for Hallmark but the theme of searching for eagles in a hidden valley is a bit dry and wouldn't have universal appeal. The reviews of this movie weren't great so I wasn't expecting much but actually I found it wasn't THAT bad. The one outstanding feature was the scenery which was magnificent. The beginning and the ending were on a par with most Hallmark movies - the problem was that the major part of it was given over to the two leads tracking through rugged terrain on their quest. While I liked both Rhiannon Fish and Darien Martin they just didn't have the abilty to hold the viewer's interest for such a long period of time although they did try to lighten the atmosphere with a few amusing incidents such as falling into the river and encountering a bear, but there really wasn't a great deal of chemistry between them and there was far too much detail given about the subject matter. What I found highly amusing was that they each carried a moderately sized backpack out of which they managed to produce tents, changes of clothing, various cooking utensils etc! As has been commented on by many part of the plot was similar to the recently aired Chasing Waterfalls. But I did enjoy parts of the movie and have seen many worse" - Forence's rating 5.5
So... what do you think of these NEW upcoming Summer Nights movies for August? I'm so glad we finally get to see Mick and Olivia's wedding day! Yay, finally! It's also nice to see Jen Lilley and Ryan Paevey paired together again; they were great together in Harvest Love. Since both Ryan and Jen have worked on soap operas in the past, this story seems ideal for them.
I'm also a big fan of Autumn Reeser and Andrew Walker, and Wes Brown - so I'm looking forward to their new movies, too. I always love a good movie set on a farm, and I'm quite intrigued to see the inner-workings of a pecan farm! How about you? Which one (or more) are you looking forward to???
Please note: I have not pre-screened these new movies. If you'd like to post a review on whether a film is family-friendly after they premiere, please share in comments.
Blessings, Net
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