Movie #3462 ........................."To Barcelona, Forever" (Hallmark)

 Movie #3462 "To Barcelona, Forever'  (Hallmark)  This is the continuation of the previous one, "To Barcelona, with Love," and it has the same people --- the story gets a bit goofy, but still about writing and the beautiful locations and good acting by the women.  I just didn't like it as well --- it's a bit funnier because Ashley Williams is running it, and she is just funnier, but the conflict seem a bit stretched.  This one shows a lot more about the food and cooking it.  I'd give it a 4 out of 5.

"TO BARCELONA, FOREVER"       2025     HALLMARK

As 

Anna travels back to Barcelona, reuniting with Erica to celebrate her engagement to Nico, she mets a charming farmer and accidentally finds herself "engaged" to save his family's legacy.

Director:  Ron Oliver

Writer:  Julie Sherman Wolfe

Actors:  Alison Sweeney, Ashley Williams, Alexjandro Tous

Movie #3461 ........................."To Barcelona, With Love" (Hallmark)

 Movie #3461 "To Barcelona with Love" (Hallmark)  good humor, good acting, have two of my favorite and strongest female actors, and it's about writing and ghostwriting.   The only negative I saw here was that the film kept putting the translator into the same situations --- uncomfortable.  Overall, I liked it and the city --- ohmgod ---this goes on my bucket list!  I'd give this a 4.5 out of 5.

"TO BARCELONA,  WITH LOVE"  2025        HALLMARK

Erica, an American translator, secretly rewrites a Barcelona-set novel.   Complications arise when bookseller Nico invites Anna, the credited author, for a signing in the city. 

Director:  Ron Oliver

Writer:  Julie Sherman Wolfe

Actors:  Alison Sweeney, Ashley Williams, Alejandro Tous

Movie #3460 ........................."Hearts Around the Table: Josh's Third Serving" (Hallmark)

Movie #460 "Hearts Around the Table:  Josh's Third Serving" (Hallmark)  What a silly title --- I didn't see the first and second --- did I miss something?  Anyway, this one had stilted actors and as a result stilted dialogue ---- or maybe the other way around --- sometimes you can't tell which came first.  What I liked about it is it was math vs. athletics --- and the two teachers involved decided to pool together to make a pitch for more money in each of their areas.  The story is ho-hum -- the girls are strong --The story is built around a high school (which I liked) with students and teachers needing more money for their programs, and one of the programs, the arts, is near and dear to me, so for those reasons I kept watching.  I would give it a 3 and a weak recommendation --- 

"HEARTS AROUND THE TABLE:  JOSH'S THIRD SERVING"   2025  1 hour, 24 mins    Hallmark

When after school programs see their funding cut, Teachers Josh and Ella turn to fundraising before banding together in search of a larger donation, falling hard along the way.

Director:  Mike Donis

Writer:  Paula Tiberius

Actors:  Jake Epstein, Stephanie Bennett, Mindy Cohn

 

Movie #3459 ........................."Recipe for Love" (Hallmark)

 Movie #3459 "Recipe for Love" (Hallmark)  I didn't like this one because the guy was hot and cold --- he came across as a manic depressive.  And no matter how stressful someone's life is (and as a chef with his own show and a huge following) , he still needs to be human to the people around him.  When I feel one person is too good for the other, the movie doesn't work for me.  I'd give this a very weak 3 and would not recommend it.  It's a 3 because the girl was very good and believable.

"RECIPE FOR LOVE"     TV MOVIE      2014      1 hour and 26 minutes       Hallmark

An earnest, culinary school hopeful, clashes with a big shot celebrity chef when she is assigned to ghostwrite his cookbook.  As they struggle to get through each recipe together, their mismatched cooking styles and misunderstood pasts threaten to send the cookbook up in flames.  But after they both dig deeper into the heart of their shared passion, a romance becomes more likely to spark love.

Director:  Ron Oliver

Writer:  Michael J. Murray

Actors:  Danielle Panabaker, Shawn Roberts, Pascale Hutton

Movie #3458 ........................."Love on the Danube: Love Song" (Hallmark)

Movie #3458  "Love on the Danube:  Love Song" (Hallmark)  Shopping again for our next vacation destination, and I wanted to see what the Danube had to offer.  This was a very easygoing film, and the 4 leads (there were two young ones and two old ones) were interesting and competent in their roles.  Beautiful scenery, and the stage business was full of conflict -- based around the young folks  leaving the older folks together  alone a lot  because the younger folks think each of their parents are lonely , and their respective parents seem ideal for each other.   Irony is the young folks are more eager to  get together  than the older ones.   I'd give it a 4 for the way it plays on and the locations!

"LOVE ON THE DANUBE:  LOVE SONG"          t.v. move    2025    1 hour and 24 mins   Hallmark

A daughter traveling with her widowed mother and a son traveling with his widowed father meet on a cruise and decide that their musical parents would make the perfect couple.  As a result, they  try to engineer a romance only to fall in love themselves.  (you're kidding!)

Director:  Terry Ingram

Writers:  Agnes Bristow, Andrew Canning

Actors:  Nansen Contractor, Wes Brown, Kathryn Drysdale

Movie #3457 ........................."Blind Spot" (Hallmark)

Movie #3457 "Blind Spot"  (Hallmark)  I saw this was available on Hallmark, and I am a huge Joanne Woodward/Laura Linney fan, so I DVR'd it and just got to watching it.  I had seen a movie a little like it with Glenn Close and Mia Kunis --- both films are about a Mother trying to deal with her daughter on drugs --- the big differences with this one is that the mom is a public figure (a senator?) and her daughter is pregnant and newly widowed.    and the mother has just found out her daughter  has been using since high school.  Talk about being gobsmocked!    But the films (and most films on this subject) are the same in the trials and tribulations of tough love  in getting your child free from the drugs --- most difficult because the child has to want to be off the drugs, and thinks he can succeed in doing that.  It's a hard film to watch --- It's a difficult problem in our society and this film faces it head on and with beautiful acting to convey it to us.  I'd give this a 4 out of 5.

"BLIND SPOT"        TV MOVIE            1993     PG-13     2 hours

Drama about a couple (Woodward, Weaver0 and their problematic daughter (Linney) who is a cocaine addict.

Director:  Michael Toshiyuki Uno

Writers:  Michael McTaggart, Ellen M. Wiolett,  Nina Shengold 

Actors:  Joanne Woodward, Laura Linney, Fritz Weaver    

Movie #3456 ........................."Miracle Club" (Netflix)

 Movie #3456 "Miracle Club" (Netflix)  We got to wondering what was the last thing that Maggie Smith did , and found this little film so we watched it.  There isn't much of a plot, and there's not a lot of information given at the beginning of the film to easily jump into it --- viewer has lots of questions that are answered as the story goes forward --- for example, there's a little boy who doesn't talk, and his mom wants to take him to Lourdes for a miracle to give him his speech --- but we don't know for a long time why he is the way he is.  There are 4 main women, and they all have baggage;  they are all related in some way;  they all have reasons to go to Lourdes' and they are all very good actors.  Weave those all together and you have the story of this film.  Don't expect a lot of action.  In fact, it is a very quiet film, where people only say essential things to each other, and you have to guess about the rest.  But it could be powerful if you buy into their individual stories that brought them together.  I'd give it a 4.

"MIRACLE CLUB"        2023    PG-13    1 hour and 30 minutes      Netflix

There's just one dream for the women of Ballygar to taste freedom:  to win a pilgrimage to the sacred French town of Lourdes.

Director:  Thaddeus O'Sullivan

Writers:  Jimmy Smallhorne, Timothy Prager, Joshua D. Maurer

Actors:  Maggie Smith, Laura Linney, Kathy Bates ,. Agnes O'Casey

Movie #3455 ........................."The Phoenician Scheme" (movie theater)

 Movie #3453 "The Phoenician Scheme" (movie theater)  Well, normally I have been a Wes Anderson fan for years, and there are few movies that can top his best film so far "The  Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014) , but this one ...... well, near the bottom of his oeuvre for me.  I found little in it I liked.  Very little.  Something I always say about his films ?  Nice visuals, and he does that here.  .  He knows how to frame beautiful pictures.  But that's not enough to make a film.  Another thing I say about him is his company of actors he is able to get --- usually very good, and I can say that in this film, as well.  But I start to think, Scarlett Johansen?  Tom Hanks?  Bill Murray?  Aren't they wasting their time here?  I felt that in this film.  The one basic flaw here is not enough is given in the exposition to follow it.  And who is who would help.   Even "Star Wars" gave us a huge explanation before it started..... come on, Wes.  Give us something , anything.  Then, you can be quirky as much as you want, but give us some way to tie the scenes together.  Because I am thinking this is enough Wes Anderson for me, and I don't want to feel that way.  For the visuals and the little humor it had, I would give this a very weak 3 and not recommend it.  

"THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME"      2025       PG-13     1 hour and 41 minutes

Wealthy businessman Zsa-Zsa Korda appoints his only daughter, a nun, as sole inheritor of his estate.  As Korda embarks on a new enterprise, they soon become the target of scheming tycoons, foreign terrorists and determined assassins.

Director:  Wes Anderson

Writers:  Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola

Actors:  Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera

PS  Michael Cera was a hoot!  and the nun was good.  

Movie #3454 ........................"Hacks" (Season 4 - 10 episodes)MAX

Movie #3454 "Hacks" (Season 4 - 10 episodes)  MAX  --- this is the one season that kept me glued to my seat because there were lots of twists and turns along the way --- Jean Smart's character Deborah Vance is now working her way up the ladder of late night t.v. having to prove herself since she is the only woman in that position.  Her head writer Ava  and she don't get along a lot in this one, but the twists are in that relationship a lot.  It keeps its humor, and character development stays true to the characters, and there aren't stretches in believability for the same of humor, I didn't think.  It's a smart show with smart people running it and acting in it.  Highly recommend -- but not always squeaky clean in its language or situations.  Very adult.

"HACKS"      TV SERIES ON MAX        2021-2025,      10 episodes in Season 4, 30 mins each

This show continues to explore a dark mentorship that forms between Deborah Vance, a legendary Las Vegas comedian, and an entitled, outcast 25-year-old.

Creators:  Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky

Actors:  Jean Smart Hannah Einbinder (Lorraine Newman's daughter), Carl Clemons-Hopkins

PS  -- this show has won 9 prime time emmys so critics like it, too.

Movie #3453 ........................."Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning" (movie theatre)

 Movie #3453 ""Mission Impossible:  the Final Reckoning" (movie theatre)  Can I start by saying I am a big fan of this franchise, despite my attitude about most action films?  And can I  also say that I probably would like even a film bordering on the bad side in this franchise ?   Okay, well, this is somewhere a little above the worst..... mostly because it seems  a ridiculously (and for no reason) convoluted story....let's face it, we usually watch this franchise for the stunts --- and some emotional relationships tying in the small group gathered by head Tom Cruise.  And both work fairly well here --- there are two sequences that I thought were tremendous --- the plane stunt and the water sequence.  There are covert goodbyes and salutes to each other at the end, and that's good enough for me.  But the story?  Usually it's a bit easier to follow --- at least for me (John Q. Public, usually) and this was not.  It's like a game and we knew they had steps to go through to get to the winning prize, but they lost most of us on the steps.  Sorry, maybe it's just me, but it just lost me.  And got harder and harder to believe --- I don't want to give anything away, so I'll leave it at that.,  Because of the stunts, which were long scenes here, I would still give it a 4, but not recommend it to everyone --- I think this one will lose some people, and some audience members will stop caring after a while.  

"MISSION IMPOSSIBLE:  THE FINAL RECKONING"   2025      PG-13      2 hrs 49 mins

Our lives are the sum of our choices.  Tom Cruise is Ethan Hunt.  (and that's all IMDB says --- maybe they gave up, too?)

Director:  Christopher McQuarrie

Writers:  Bruce Geller, Erik Jendresen, Christopher McQuarrie

Actors:  Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames    

Movie #3452 ........................."Fountain of Youth" (Apple)

 Movie #3452 "Fountain of Youth" (Netflix)  I like these two actors, and I enjoy watching something historical, but this was a disappointment.  It was just another "action flick" - which I'm not a big fan.  The humor I welcomed --- the brother, sister relationship was an interesting twist, but not well used in my opinion, and the chase kin d of passed the "silly bar" for me --- i.e., I didn't care after a while, so it was one chase after another.  John K. delivered lines like Ryan Reynolds, but just wasn't him (might have liked the film better if he was -- don't know -- I think it's a script failure, though)  And I have to say, if you get to the end, well, my advice is don't --- because it was ridiculous --- the idea that a mother of a young child would let her son watch the ending of this in front of their very eyes?  RIDICULOUS.  But I do like Natalie Portman, and it was nice to see her in anything, but not this shallow --- I give it a 3 out of 5.

"FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH"       PG-13             2 hours and 5 mins.       2025      Apple

Two estranged siblings join forces to seek the legendary Fountain of Youth . Using historical clues, they embark on an epic quest filled with adventure.  If successful , the mythical fountain could grant them immortality.  (yeah, right)

Director:  Guy Ritchie

Writer:  James Vanderbilt

Actors:  John Krasinski, Natalie Portman, Eliza Gonzalez

Movie #3451 ........................."The Four Seasons" (Season 1 - Netflix)

 Movie #3451 "The Four Seasons: (Season 1 - Netflix)   We loved the movie, and we still can remember memorable moments from it, so we wanted to see what the t.v. show would do with the idea of married couples who vacation together travel through all the season together , and we watch how their lives change.  This is the same premise, but it's interesting to see the differences first from the movie -- for example, there's a gay couple instead of Rita Moreno and Jack Weston.  There's also a twist in this first season that will deviate sharply from the film, but I don't think it takes away from the effectiveness of the show and the excellent writing.  I found this very funny, poignant, emotional and somewhat complex in its characterization and relationship development.  In other words, it is a smart welcome to what is out there to stream these days.  I would give it a 5, and I am looking forward to what Season 2 will bring.

"THE FOUR SEASONS"      TV series --- 2025 ---- 30 minutes, 9 episodes

Three suburban couples vacation together each season, but tensions  arise when one couple splits up and the husband brings a much younger woman on subsequent trips.

Creators:  Tina Fey, Lang Fisher, Tracey Wigfield

Actors:  Tina Fey, Will Forte, Kerri Kenney, Steve Carrell, Colman Domingo, Marco Calvani

Movie #3450 ........................."Nonnas" (netflix)

Movie #3450 "Nonnas" (netflix)  What a gem of a movie this is!  We saw the documentary on "Sunday Morning" about this man who opened a restaurant using his Nonna's recipes, and then hiring Nonnas to take turns in the kitchen to serve up fantastic Italian family dinners in  Staten Island.  This film follows the story --- with the biggest conflict that Staten Island is way out there and has already established places, and he tries to be the new "kid" on the block.  This is the best we've seen Vince Vaughan in a long time --- the story brings out the soft side in him, and the actresses who play the grandmothers are priceless.  Worth the watch.  We loved it! 5 out of 5.

"NONNAS"         2025     PG     1 hr and 51 minutes              Netflix

After losing his beloved mother, a man risks everything to honor her by opening an Italian restaurant with actual grandmothers as the chefs.

Director:  Stephen Chbosky

Writers:  Liz Maccie, Jody Scaravellia

Actors:  Vince Vaughn, Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire, Susan Sarandon