Lifetime, LMN, and Hallmark

[Wales2004]

A good, bad, or corny t.v. movie discussion along with anything else related to those channels. I hope this is the best location for this thread.

I'll start with two of the better movies about teens. Speak with Kristen Stewart was a decent movie about date rape. I liked her in the movie. Odd Girl Out with Alexa Vega was a good movie about wanting to belong so badly to the in clique and online bullying leading to suicide (in this case the suicide attempt failed) and the girl got back her self esteem. I could also throw in Ophelia which deals with teens and abusive boyfriends and mistaking possessiveness for love.

One of the worst I can recall seeing on LMN is Her Married Lover. My problem was the manipulative writing in which the main character was used to show a series of flashbacks which would lead viewers to a specific conclusion. However, the flashbacks turned out not to be flashbacks at all but the imagination of the main character. The technique is similar to a Regina King movie Truth Be Told aka Turnaround in which she used flashbacks which turned out to be completely made up in order to mislead viewers as well. I'd rather the writing be clever and not rely on tricking viewers by painting false memories.

I don't like how Hallmark takes up a quarter or third of the bottom of the screen for advertising as it sometimes blocks scenes. It even occurs on their premium movie channel. It makes no sense to pay extra for a channel and have to see ads that size. One of the better films they show is The Outsider with Naomi Watts and Tim Daly.

I hate when LMN airs marathons of Lifetime shows. It's the movie channel--show movies and leave the Lifetime shows on Lifetime.

Lifetime is premiering two movies this weekend: the remake of Steel Magnolias and a movie based on a true story Abducted: The Carlina White Story.

[frequentsoapfan]

Another recent teen movie they had was Walknig the Halls which starred Jamie Lurner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOmXqxR1Mu8

It wasn't great but it was interesting and different. It was a story about a highschool senior who joins a prositution ring run by the school police officer.

I also enjoyed the one with Alexa Vega where she fakes a pregnancy as a part of school project I think it's called The Pregnancy Project.

[Wales2004]

The Pregnancy Project and The Pregnancy Pact were based on real stories. I found the reactions in The Pregnancy Project interesting even though I was on the fence about the way in which she deceived people to obtain her data. Lifetime seems to churn out a lot of movies about teen issues lately. Prior to that they were few and far between and mainly related to the handling of teen pregnancies with the exception of Cyberseduction about a boy get hooked on online porn and the occasional runaway movie.

[dragonflies]

I love Hallmark they have the best movies

[jcar03]

This reminds me of another TV-movie called "Obsessed" starring Jenna Elfman. I haven't seen the two movies you mentioned but in "Obsessed" there came a point when you knew that something was up because Elfman's character makes a friend in prison (played by Lisa Edelstein) and when there was another person involved in the scene Edelstein's character never interacted with them. Just like those two movies you mentioned it turns out she made the whole thing up and if I am remembering correctly Elfman's character had a chance encounter with the guy and they barely knew each other.

AGREED! It has gotten worse. I normally watch Golden Girls at night and the AD pops up and takes up the entire bottom half of the screen plus they use a color for the font that you can barely see.

I have noticed the Hallmark/HMC have had many TV movies recently with former/current soap stars.

[dragonflies]

I just hate how Hallmark butchers shows though, especially the theme songs. THey show Mary Tyler Moore recently and they butchered the opening theme

[frequentsoapfan]

I disliked Cyberseduction it was too cheesy for me.

[All My Shadows]

On a rainy Saturday afternoon, nothing beats watching a marathon of Lifetime movies (unless, of course, there was a channel that gave us classic primetime soaps). My faves are The Perfect Neighbor, The People Next Door, Normal Adolescent Behavior, To Be Fat Like Me, Odd Girl Out, Intimate Encounters, and Dead at 17.

[SFK]

My mother and my brother and their damned Lifetime movie marathons. The only ones I really remember are the one about Gwen A. (?), the real-life story of a transgendered lateeno, and the Judy Davis one about Sante Kimes. Mary Tyler Moore did one on network TV about Sante Kimes years earlier, and I believe Elizabeth Montgomery (who was one of the telefilm queens) did one years before MTM.

Oh, and of course Ebbie!

ETA: My bad, the Elizabeth Montgomery movie I'm thinking of was about Ruth Coe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOjEZFUiq70&feature=relmfu

[SFK]

BTW, this thread is conveniently giving me lovely Steel Magnolia banner ads for this Sunday.

[All My Shadows]

The Gwen Araujo story was "A Girl Like Me," which is another favorite of mine! So, so sad.

[SFK]

Yeah, it really was sad, total flipped Boys Don't Cry.

[frequentsoapfan]

Oh my friend and I were half watching a really bad oen today staring Camille Belle. Had no idea what it's called or what it was about but the acting was horrific and even worse there was a scene where a father was trying to rape one daughter that turned into a slwo motion strangling montage coutesy of the other daughter. It was so bad I burt out laughing.

[~bl~]

I'm one of those who is obsessive about their holiday flicks and from Thanksgiving to New Year's I'm watching those channels way too much.

[All My Shadows]

Hallmark Channel was truly made for people who enjoy each season. Every time I watch, it's like stepping inside a Michaels store.