Murder in the Vineyard – Review

Murder in the Vineyard – Lifetime – 2 hours and 0 minutes

Emma gave up her company and headed back to her old stomping grounds to take over her grandfather’s vineyard.  She enrolls her daughter, Beatrice, in high school and runs into her high school sweetheart, Luke.  Luke is a teacher and a soccer coach.  After a brief conversation, they make a date.  The principal assigned Chloe to show Beatrice around the school.  During the tour, a loose ball bumps Beatrice.  Soccer player, Bryan runs to get the soccer ball.  They exchange quick hellos and go back to their previous activities.  The next day, Emma focuses on winemaking while Beatrice walks into chemistry class. The teacher makes Bryan her lab partner.  Bryan’s girlfriend, April, is enraged.  She tells Bryan he can never be alone with Beatrice, so Bryan breaks up with April and starts dating Beatrice.  April decides to make a slam site (a digital slam book) about Beatrice (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer).  At first, Beatrice stays level-headed and goes to a party.  But, the party turns sinister.  Beatrice is drugged, then provocative photos are taken with the soccer team.  When the stalker posts the images online, Beatrice’s fog lifts, and she remembers how she got a large bruise.  Someone attempted to rape her.  Emma tries to defend her daughter, but the cops blame Beatrice.  They worry more about the players’ reputation than Beatrice’s safety.  Now the school knows, and Beatrice is an outcast in danger.  Someone is in the bushes, at the school, and orchestrating sneak attacks to bring Beatrice down.  Just like they did two years ago.

This storyline is fascinating to watch.  In the first minute, you see a woman running away before someone grabs her.  Then, it becomes a Hallmark movie for 15 minutes.  Next, it becomes an HMM movie.  The plot introduces you to several suspects with convincing motives.  You are reminded it’s a Lifetime movie when they address cyberbullying, rape culture, and the stalker’s reason for the crime.  The stalker’s motive is boring and pointless.  With a compelling mystery, the plot gets your attention.  However, the ending will leave you wanting a better understanding of the stalker.  By the way, the website is real.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars

I hate you – April

They’re the ones who should be ashamed of themselves – Beatrice

This has to get shut down – Emma

If you were doing your job there wouldn’t be a missing girl right now – Luke

Why? Why her? – Emma

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The Wrong Wedding Planner – Review

The Wrong Wedding Planner – LMN – 2 hours and 0 minutes

An excited Ashley and Brad are planning their wedding.  While Brad wants to show up, Ashley wants to plan out all the details on a budget.  During her friend, Clarissa’s wedding reception, Ashley bumps into the wedding planner, Mandy.  Ashley explains they can not afford a Clarissa-style wedding, but Mandy says Clarissa couldn’t either.  Mandy explains she can work with any budget.  Ashley hires Mandy and uses Clarissa’s reception as the only reference needed.  They start to work together, and Ashley promptly opens her home to Mandy.  She even gives Mandy the key to her house.  When Brad meets Mandy, Ashley can see something is wrong.  Brad looks as if a truck hit him.  He brushes it off as bad manners.  But, after several strange incidents, Brad comes clean.  Brad and Ashley were engaged and expecting their first child.  However, he broke off the engagement when he learned the pregnancy was a lie.  Since then, Mandy has been stalking him.  This wedding planner doesn’t want to plan the wedding; she wants to be the bride.  And she won’t let anyone stop her.

The next movie in “The Wrong” series offers an intriguing antagonist but not much else to the story.  You don’t care enough about Brad or Ashley to feel an urgency for their lives.  You may laugh at their consistent and detrimental attempts to thwart Mandy’s intrusive ways to no avail.  It follows “The Wrong” format, so the movie offers nothing new.  It has a few good one-liners but that’s not enough to redeem it.  This movie is a background noise movie.

I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars

My body is just shoved into places it was not supposed to – Clarissa

She gets zero say in the bachelor party – Brad

No, not at all.  Weddings bring out the crazies, no thank you – Detective Jones

I’m trusting you with my wedding, I trust you with my life – Ashley

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Psych 2: Lassie Come Home – Review

Psych 2: Lassie Come Home – Peacock – 1 hour and 28 minutes

While recovering from 6 gunshot wounds and a stroke, Chief Carlton “Lassie” Lassiter saw ghosts and dead bodies from his recovery room.  He calls Shawn and Gus for their help.  If others on the force hear about Lassie’s vision, he could lose his job for good.  He tells Shawn and Gus, but makes them promise to keep it quiet.  At first, Gus and Shawn decide not to take Lassie’s case, but they change their mind when Lassie’s dog, a gift from Shawn and Gus, finds a human severed hand.  While keeping that case a secret, Juliet is covertly investigating Lassie’s shooting.  She shows Lassie a picture of the suspect in custody, but something in Lassie’s face tells her she has the wrong guy.  In the past, Shawn would not have an issue looking into a case behind Jules’s back.  Now, however, he isn’t comfortable lying to his wife.  With two secret investigations, the pressure mounts when Shawn finds a positive pregnancy test in Jules’s car.

Psych 2 is what you would expect from the creators of Psych (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer).   It’s funny, heartfelt, surprising, and full of nicknames while being true to its core fans and continuing where the first movie left off.  Chief Vick has her eye on a Commissioner position, Juliet and Shawn are adapting to married life, and Selene and Gus are still together and trying to find boundaries.  Psych 2 has a special meaning for all the Psych-Os.  After Timothy Odmunson suffered a stroke, the writers wrote the stroke in the script and allowed Psych fans into the trials and tribulations of recovery.  It’s the most honest script ever written for the show.  Psych 3 can’t come fast enough.

I give it 5 out of 5 stars

Gus, don’t be the night your dad fell asleep inside your mom – Shawn

Oh, you wanna bumble with the bee huh – Gus

Not my problem – Henry

You need medical attention.  And I need that bullet in your leg – Juliet

Deal, we gotta be honest with each other – Carlton

You know what? I may have overreacted slightly  – Selene

Never lie to me. Even if you think it’s for my own protection – Chief Vick

I’m not sure if I understand anything right now – Buzz

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Obsession: Her Final Vengeance – Review

Obsession: Her Final Vengeance – Lifetime – 2 hours and 0 minutes

Madison moved to Chicago, got a promotion, and joined a support group.  In the support group, she talks about the trauma Nick, her ex-boyfriend, put her through when he held her captive.  After the support group, Courtney approaches Madison and introduces herself.  Months ago, Courtney received a phone call.  Her brother’s girlfriend murdered him.  The two chat until Madison’s date, Wesley, arrives.  The two strike up a quick friendship.  Soon after, Madison experiences dizzy spells, sees Wesley on a dating app, and feels extremely confused.  She doesn’t know that Courtney is Lisa, Nick’s sister.  She is furious for two reasons.  First, Madison killed Nick.  Second, Nick picked Madison over her to leave the country.  She gets close to Madison to find out why Nick fell for her.  Then, Lisa plans on ending Madison’s life.  She will manipulate, drug, and steal to get her revenge and it all comes down to a WiFi password.

The best advice: root for the killer.  Lisa is a very cunning adversary.  She uses modern technology and simple gaslighting to mess with Madison’s head.  But using both tech and talk, Lisa’s manipulation is plausible in this plot.  Unlike most Lifetime movies, this movie comes to a satisfying conclusion for all the characters.  It’s easy to see why producers split this movie into a Thrillogy.  This third installment redeems the second.   The first installment gave you the story, and the second installment defined Lisa’s rage.  You will be satisfied with the conclusion.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars

Believe it. And I’m about to do it again – Lisa

Even though I survived, I still fell like he took a lot away from me – Madison

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Love in Harmony Valley – Review

Love in Harmony Valley – UPtv – 2 hours and 0 minutes

Emma is a bundle of nerves returning home to Harmony Valley.  She knows pain and recovery await her.  The last time she visited, Emma and her best friend, Tracy, were in the car together, and a truck struck them.  While Emma had a few bumps and bruises, Tracy was in the ICU for thirteen days and had three surgeries.  Now, Tracy is relearning how to walk.  After some prompting from her grandmother, Rose, Emma goes to the recovery center to visit Tracy.  However, only immediate family can see the patients.  Emma decides to stay in the waiting room until they relent and let her inside to see her friend.  While waiting, Emma sees Tracy’s brother, Will, arrive.  When they where kids, Emma believed she and Will would get married.  Now he can’t stand the sight of her.  He is upset Emma left right after the accident and abandoned his sister.  No one knows that while Emma doesn’t have a reminder of physical scars, she has emotional scars.  She has panic attacks and night terrors of the crash.   Emma keeps her pain quiet but tries to mend fences.  Tracy has already forgiven her, but Will will take more work.  Emma discovers Will and his friend, Flynn’s proposal for a new vineyard.  This vineyard will bring in tourists, create jobs, and improve the physical appearance and technological communication of the town.  When Flynn and Will present their idea to the board, Rose and the other committee members notice the plan is missing key elements like the town’s ice rink, bike path, bandshell.  Also, Rose doesn’t believe the winery will last based on experience.  She and the board members turn it down.  Emma, trying to get in Will’s good graces, makes Rose an offer.  Let Flynn and Will redo their proposal and include the town’s landmarks and needs, then present the new plan in a few weeks.  Emma and Will’s newfound partnership will spark forgiveness, love, and healing.

Based on the novel Dandelion Wishes by Melinda Curtis, this movie is the first of an eleven book series, so it takes a while to reveal the plot (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer).  Like any first book, the storyline focuses on character development and intricate relationships.  The first hour will be very slow-paced, but the second hour picks up.  During this time, this movie gives good advice on forgiveness and strength.  This movie, with a little eye candy, is good for the whole family.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars

You have to mend your past before you can move toward your future – Rose

If only life was as simple as paper mâché – Emma

That’s a funny joke coming from you – Will

He’s my brother and I love him, but he is very smothering – Tracy

I was going to ask him to do the same.  That’s why – Flynn

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