As I said in last week’s Word on the Street story, no winner was determined in the Best Actress division of the Gold Sally Awards. Because of this, I decided to re-post the Best Actress poll, so people who are interested in voting can have a second chance to choose among the ten nominees. Like the previous polls, you’re allowed to vote for more than one actress. However, you can only vote once per person. This poll starts today, March 20th, and ends on March 26th.
The Gold Sally Awards makes an effort to recognize the best actors and actresses of the previous year. Throughout the month of March, the individual acting polls of the Gold Sally Awards will take place. The first of these four polls is to determine the Best Actress! For this poll, you’re allowed to vote for more than one actress. But you can only vote once per person. This poll starts today, March 6th, and ends on March 12th.
The fourth poll of the 2020 Gold Sally Award is here! This poll is meant to crown the Best Ensemble out of the movies I saw in 2019! Like the previous polls, you’re allowed to vote for more than one ensemble. But you can only vote once per person. This poll starts today, February 28th, and ends on March 5th.
It’s time to vote for the Gold Sally Award’s Best Story of 2019! In this poll, you will help determine which movie I saw in 2019 had the best story. You’re allowed to vote for more than one story. However, you can only vote once per person. This poll starts today, February 21st, and ends on February 27th.
Happy Valentine’s Day! Because today is February 14th, I decided to change things up a little bit. Instead of posting the Best Story poll as the second poll of this year’s Gold Sally Awards, I decided to post the Best On-Screen Couple poll earlier than I did last year! In this poll, you’ll be voting on who was the best on-screen couple from movies I saw in 2019. Similar to the previous poll, you are allowed to vote for more than one on-screen couple. But you can only vote once per person. This poll starts today, on February 14th, and ends on February 20th.
With the 2nd anniversary of 18 Cinema Lane comes the start of voting for the 2nd Annual Gold Sally Awards! The first poll is to determine the best movie I saw in 2019! Just like last year, you are allowed to vote for more than one movie. But you can only vote once per person. This poll will run from today, February 7th to Thursday, February 13th. Below is the poll and the link where you can vote. If you’re having any difficulties, don’t hesitate to mention it in the comment section.
Last week, Zoe, from Hollywood Genes, nominated me for my third Liebster Award! It was such an unexpected surprise, as I just happened to notice my name while reading Zoe’s Liebster Award post! Thank you so much, Zoe, for this nomination! It amazes me how, in only two years, I’ve becoming a multi-award-winning blogger! These awards would have never been earned had it not been for the nominators who believed in me. If you want to visit Zoe, please visit her blog at this link:
And now, for the official rules of the Liebster Award!
Thank the nominator in your award post.
Place the award logo somewhere on your blog.
Share 11 facts about yourself.
Answer the questions your nominator provided.
Nominate up to 11 nominees.
Ask your nominees 11 questions.
Since steps 1 and 2 are completed, let’s move on to step 3!
The 11 Facts
I’ve never won a trophy before
My favorite style of pizza is Deep Dish
I only went on one out-of-country trip
I’m a proud owner of a cardboard standup from the movie theater (it’s of Bucky from Captain America: Civil War)
I’ve participated in 40 blogathons (and counting)
Once, I went Black Friday shopping (and I wasn’t a fan of it)
I’ve donated my hair to charity twice
I, sometimes, journal in my spare time
I attended the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
I love Fuze Iced Tea in raspberry flavor
I own two books that were signed by their respective authors
Since this is an award post, I thought this royal image of Bucky was an appropriate choice. Screenshot taken by me, Sally Silverscreen.
My Answers to Zoe’s 11 Questions:
1. What is the strangest or most off-brand topic/thing you’ve blogged about?
Out of all the 325 articles I’ve ever published, there’s only two I can think of that are the closest to being off-brand. The first is my entry for the Murder, She Wrote Cookalong. While I have talked about Murder, She Wrote before, that was the first and, so far, only time I ever talked about cooking on my blog. The second is my review for California Angel by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg. Yes, I occasionally talk about books on 18 Cinema Lane. However, this was the only time where my review was completely negative. In the case where I review a movie I don’t like, I always try to share the things I liked about it. This is to show my readers how to find the good in almost any film. When it comes to California Angel, I just couldn’t find anything good to say about it. If you want to check out these articles, I’ll provide the links to them here:
I’ve shared this before, but I’m more than happy to share it again! In R.J. Palacio’s book, Wonder, Auggie says “Everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their life because we all overcometh the world”. That quote is what gave me the initiative to start 18 Cinema Lane! It also has become a statement that I try my best to follow as I continue to blog. With 176 followers, it looks like Auggie’s message has resonated with others as well!
3. & 4.Recast one of your favorite classic movies (pre 1970s) with modern actors & Recast one of your favorite modern movies with classic actors
For questions three and four, I decided to take a different approach. Instead of picking my favorite movies (because the acting is one of the reasons why they’re my favorites), I picked two movies that I didn’t dislike, but could be improved with certain casting choices. The movie I chose for question number three is Edward, My Son. In my review of that film, I shared that I wasn’t a fan of Edward’s absence. To correct this creative error, I would cast Charlie Plummer in that role. Because he’s in his early 20s, Charlie would be old enough to portray Edward in his teenage and young adult years. Also, he has a good amount of experience acting in films and television shows.
The film I chose for question number four is The Christmas Card. While this movie had stand-out performances, I feel the performances from the leads were not as strong or memorable as they could have been. So, I would switch them for Cary Grant and Carole Lombard. Two weeks ago, I reviewed In Name Only for the Carole Lombard Memorial Blogathon. While watching that film, I enjoyed seeing Cary and Carole’s individual performances and felt their on-screen chemistry was really good! If cast in The Christmas Card, I could totally see Cary portray a soldier in the military and Carole as the small-town woman with a big heart!
5. What is a book that you would love to see adapted into a film and why?
As I said in my post, A Movie Blogger’s Christmas Wish-List 2019, I would love to see Murder on Ice by Alina Adams become a Hallmark Movies & Mysteries film! In fact, I think it would be great if the entire Figure Skating Mystery series were adapted into a Hallmark Movies & Mysteries series! If you want to learn more about why I feel this way, check out my Wish-List at this link:
6. What do you consider the biggest misstep behind the scenes in the cinema world (i.e. not casting someone for a role, a specific directorial choice, a remake that shouldn’t have happened, an interview that went on to haunt someone, etc.)
In the mid to late ‘90s, Dreamworks devoted a lot of time, effort, and talent to one of their earlier releases, The Prince of Egypt. Because of this, it caused another project of theirs, The Road to El Dorado, to become an afterthought. This led to the movie receiving several setbacks, from a delayed release to a poor advertising campaign. These things resulted in a box office failure. If Dreamworks had given both films an equal amount of attention, maybe they both would have been successful. Years after these missteps, however, The Road to El Dorado is remembered more fondly than The Prince of Egypt. So, I guess The Road to El Dorado didn’t completely lose.
7. What do you consider the most fascinating film community scandal (past or present)?
In 2013, Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return arrived in theaters to scathing reviews and a disastrous box office. At that time, however, the public wasn’t aware of the behind-the-scenes issues that led to the movie’s premiere. Years later, it was revealed that the entire operation was a scam. As of 2019, a lawsuit was filed against the creators of the film. If this lawsuit turns into an official case, more legal action could take place. Despite all of this happening, very few people have shed light on this situation. If you’re interested in learning more about this incident, AniMat, from the Youtube channel, ElectricDragon505, created two very informative and well documented videos about it on his channel. These videos are called “The History of Legends of Oz: Animation’s Biggest Scam” and “The UPDATED History of Legends of Oz: The Scam’s Return (including Noah Centineo)”.
8. Which actor or actress do you think died way too soon and where would you have liked to see their career go had they lived?
For this question, I have two choices. They are Heather O’Rourke and Judith Barsi. For those of you who don’t know, Heather portrayed Carol Anne in the Poltergeist trilogy and Judith provided the voices for Ducky in The Land Before Time and Ann-Marie in All Dogs Go to Heaven. Both of them passed away before they became teenagers. According to a post I found about Judith, she “loved voice acting, and wanted to do it into adulthood”. So, I’m guessing that, had she lived, Judith would have become a successful voice actress and probably one of the most beloved in that field. As for Heather, I honestly can’t say where her career would have gone. In a video from the Youtube channel, Daze with Jordan the Lion, it was said that Heather had a successful film and television career. Also, there’s always the possibility she could have fallen in love with a different profession. If you want to watch Jordan’s video, you can find it on their channel under the title, “#1185 What Happened to HEATHER O’ROURKE of POLTERGEIST Grave (11/4/19)”. You can also check out the post about Judith Barsi I referenced at this link:
9. Which actor or actress missed their calling in a specific genre and why do you think they would or would have excelled in this vein?
According to his IMDB filmography, Burl Ives has several voice acting credits to his name. However, most of these roles consist of narrating or singing a song. I think it would have been fascinating if Burl had devoted his acting career to voice acting. The characters he could have voiced and the movies he could have starred in would have been interesting!
10. Which 6 guests would you invite to your Hollywood party and why these specific 6?
After thinking it over, I chose these six people based on their impact on me or because I feel they deserve more recognition. These people are the following:
Sebastian Stan (He portrays my favorite superhero in the MCU, Bucky Barnes)
Vincent Perez (Despite watching only two of his movies, I’ve come to appreciate Vincent as an actor)
Cree Summer (She provided the voice for Kida, my favorite Disney princess)
R.J. Palacio (the author of Wonder)
John Christian Plummer (one of the screenwriters of Hallmark Movies & Mysteries’ Mystery 101 series and Charlie Plummer’s dad)
Jonathan Hall Kovacs (he portrayed my favorite character from Little House on the Prairie, Matthew Rogers)
11. Which onscreen outfit would you wear everyday if you could and why did you pick this one?
I gave this last question a lot of thought. In the end, though, I chose the outfit Jesse wore in the climax of Queen of the Damned! The primary components of this outfit consist of a red tank top and a long black skirt with gold sequins and embroidery. What’s great about this outfit is how it’s a good choice for warmer weather. When it’s cold out, layers can be added to the outfit. If the weather is too hot, you can just stay indoors.
Just three days ago, 18 Cinema Lane received 175 followers! It still amazes me how successful this blog has become in such a short amount of time. To all of my followers, thank you for exceeding my expectations! You are the reason why 18 Cinema Lane keeps going! As I was about to find a movie that premiered in January of 2003, I realized I had a 2003 release on my DVR. Even though A Time to Remember first aired in November, I thought it would be a good choice for this particular review! I’ve been taking advantage of UP Network’s decision to air older Hallmark films, as I have been trying to see as many of them as realistically possible. Also, the last time I reviewed a Hallmark movie for a blog follower dedication review was last July, when I talked about a Western called Desolation Canyon. Before I end this introduction, I’d like to share that this is my 150th movie review! I’ll be publishing a special post to commemorate this achievement in early to mid-February, as there are some blog posts I’d like to publish before the end of January.
Since I wasn’t able to find a poster for this film on Crown Media Family Networks’ website, I just took a picture of the poster that appeared on my television. Screenshot taken by me, Sally Silverscreen.Things I liked about the film:
The acting: While the cast in this film was good, the two stand-out performances came from Doris Roberts and Dana Delany! I’m more familiar with Doris’ comedic talents on Everybody Loves Raymond. Because a show like that mostly relies on humor, there aren’t many opportunities for the actors and actresses to pull off any dramatic performances. As I was watching A Time to Remember, I was very impressed with Doris’ portrayal of Maggie Calhoun! What stood out to me was how Doris’ eyes contained emotion throughout the movie, even when Maggie was experiencing the symptoms of Alzheimer’s. Any time I see an actor’s performance, I always focus on their eyes to determine how much emotion is in them. For me, this usually makes or breaks the quality of an actor’s talents. This aspect of Doris’ performance not only helped bring a sense of realism to her character, but it also made her portrayal of Maggie effective. As for Dana, she displayed a variety of emotions in her portrayal of Britt Calhoun. What worked in her favor was how well she was able to seamlessly transition between these emotions. In a scene where Britt and her friend are sitting by a pond, Britt is happy to be spending time with this friend one minute and then overwhelmed at being a single parent the next. Similar to Doris’ performance, Britt felt realistic as a character because of the quality of Dana’s acting talents!
How exposition was incorporated: Hallmark movies usually devote the first twenty minutes to delivering the exposition to their audience. This is done through lengthy conversation or drawn out montages. In A Time to Remember, the exposition was brief, subtle, and wasn’t just reserved for the beginning of the movie. Towards the middle of the film, the backstory of Billy, portrayed by Louise Fletcher, is revealed in a conversation with Britt. What Billy shares provides enough information for the audience to know this character to a satisfying extent. Another way that exposition was incorporated was through natural sounding dialogue. In a phone conversation between Britt and Valetta, portrayed by Megan Gallagher, the audience learns about the strained relationship between Britt and her mother. Through tone of voice and specific choices of words, it also reveals how the sisters view one another. The conversation itself sounds typical, but realistic. It also lasts long enough to get straight to the point.
The horse-riding scene: In one scene, Britt is riding horses with her childhood friend. I really liked this scene because of how well it was executed! It starts with a beautiful sunrise, which was simply picturesque. The locations surrounding the characters, from a grassy field to an isolated pond, appeared peaceful and serene. Their appearance is the result of how well they were captured on film! Speaking of film, the horses were sometimes filmed in slow-motion when they were running. This made them look majestic and powerful! All of these elements helped create a scene that was truly memorable!
Too many storylines: A Time to Remember contained six major stories. Personally, I think this was too many for one script. Because of this creative choice, it felt like all six stories were competing against each other to win the attention of the viewers. It also felt like there wasn’t enough time for each story to be fleshed out. This caused their conflicts to be resolved way too quickly and easily. Just one example is Valetta and Julian’s marital issues. The script tries to accomplish too much in two hours.
The discussion of Alzheimer’s: Historically, Hallmark has incorporated serious, real-life issues into their films. A Time to Remember attempts to shed light on the complicated and life-altering condition of Alzheimer’s. While I commend this movie’s creative team for addressing this particular medical situation, I think this discussion could have been executed better. For most of the film, the members of Britt’s family are either hiding Maggie’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis from Britt or trying to find the right time to tell her about the diagnosis. This makes the script look like it is unintentionally skirting the issue. This also ends up doing a disservice to the audience, especially those who have been affected by Alzheimer’s in some fashion. When Alzheimer’s is finally acknowledged in the story, within the last forty minutes, the characters’ conversations consist of talking about a game plan instead of actually coming up with one. These discussions didn’t feel productive or proactive.
The small presence of Thanksgiving: On my list of The Top 10 Worst Hallmark Movies of All Time, I talked about a movie called A Family Thanksgiving. One of the reasons why I don’t like this movie is because of how few references the Thanksgiving holiday received in that story. A Time to Remember, unfortunately, makes the exact same mistake. Throughout the movie, Thanksgiving is barely brought up by the characters. The story itself doesn’t really make a big deal out of the special occasion. The film’s last thirty minutes is when Thanksgiving finally gets the recognition it deserves. This aspect of the movie disappointed me because I was hoping this holiday would be given more emphasis in the story, similar to An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving or any of Hallmark’s Christmas films. If A Time to Remember took place in any other time of year, it wouldn’t change that much.
A Time to Remember made me feel the same way When Calls the Heart: Home for Christmas did, as both films tried to say so much, but ended up saying so little. Another thing these films have in common is how they have too many stories featured in their respective scripts. For A Time to Remember, this choice hurt the film’s potential impact on its audience. Personally, I think the movie should have kept its primary focus on Maggie receiving an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. This way, the story could have explored the idea of finding adversity, hope, and the love of family in a time of hardship and uncertainty. It also doesn’t help that Thanksgiving plays such a minor role in this film. Since the three women of the Calhoun family, Maggie, Britt, and Valetta, are mothers, it would have made more sense for this movie to have been Mother’s Day themed. This choice would have better reflected the landscape of the project, as all the locations in this film looked more like springtime than autumn. It also would have been better reflected through the film’s messages and themes.
Overall score: 6.1 out of 10
Have you watched any of the films from UP Network’s current collection? Are there any older Hallmark films you’d like to me to review? Let me know in the comment section!
In my post called ‘Goodbye 2019, Hello 2020!’, I shared that every time I publish 100 posts, I coordinate a double feature in honor of the accomplishment. Because I published 300 posts at the end of last year, I scheduled the double feature for January. In my aforementioned post, I also mentioned the reason why this series of reviews and articles were focusing on youth-led films. This is because January’s theme for MovieRob’s Genre Grandeur is “Youth-Led Movies”. Since I’ll be participating in that blogathon, I figured it would a good idea to use my achievement to highlight my involvement.
While creating my first blogathon, “Siskel and Ebert at the Blogathon”, I came across a video on Youtube of one of their episodes of “Sneak Previews”. While watching that video, I became fascinated by how two youth-led films, Rich Kids and Over the Edge, were not only released in the same year, but also around the same time (according to the Siskel and Ebert video). Not knowing whether or not this scheduling choice was intentional, I chose these two films for my next double feature! While I had never heard of Over the Edge before, I was aware of Rich Kids‘ existence. When I watched Siskel and Ebert’s discussion of this film, I was surprised to discover that it was about a completely different story from what I expected. Before choosing to watch this film, I thought the movie was a documentary style film about a group of rich kids growing up over a period of time.
For these reviews, I’ll be answering a series of ten questions related to the movies I watched. However, the three questions that will receive primary focus are the following:
Is there any aspect of either film that could be seen as relevant today?
Besides having young actors as the leads, do these films share any similarities?
Do the socio-economics of each film’s world affect the characters or the story?
Before I end this introduction, I’d like to say that there will be no pre-movie thoughts and/or questions for this double feature.
If you want to watch the video I referenced in this introduction, type ‘WTTW Channel 11 – Sneak Previews – “Real Life, Rich Kids, & More” (Complete Broadcast, 9/20/1979)’ into Youtube’s search bar. Siskel and Ebert’s discussion on Rich Kids starts at 1:41 and ends at 7:01. Their discussion on Over the Edge starts at 21:48 and ends at 24:49. If you are planning on watching this video, I just want to let you know there are sensitive topics that do get brought up at some points of the episode.
Last week, I received a special surprise from fellow blogger, Ospreyshire! They gave me my second Blogger Recognition Award! What a great way to start the new year! For those who don’t know, Ospreyshire created the blog, Iridium Eye Reviews. Films that don’t often get talked about are covered there. You might say that Ospreyshire is trying to give those projects their “standing ovation”. Before I list the rules for the Blogger Recognition Award, I just want to thank my nominator for their thoughtfulness. It’s nice to know that, in the movie blogging community, fellow bloggers look out for one another. If you want to read Ospreyshire’s articles or pay them a visit, here’s the link to their blog:
Now, it’s time for me to list the official rules, which are the following:
Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
Place the award banner somewhere on your blog
Share the story or history behind the creation of your blog.
Provide two or more pieces of advice for new bloggers.
Nominate 10 other bloggers and link their blogs.
Share the exciting news with your nominees
Since I completed the first and second rules, let’s move on to rule number three!
Because I have won this award before, I already shared the reason why I started 18 Cinema Lane. I also talked about this in my very first blog post. I’ll provide links to both of those articles:
The first piece of advice is to stay true to yourself. The internet is a vast and expanding place, filled with thousands of movie related content. But, when everything is said and done, there will only be one you. Create a blog and a series of posts that truly reflect the unique individual that you are. The second piece of advice I’ll give is to always be on the lookout for inspiration. For me, I turn to other forms of media when I’m searching for ideas for future blog posts. There have even been times where I’ve gotten inspiration from Youtube videos. Be open to any and every possibility where inspiration may present itself.
The next ten nominees who will receive the Blogger Recognition Award are the following:
Maddy from Maddy Loves Her Classic Films
Pale Writer from Pale Writer
Eric from Diary of a Movie Maniac
The Classic Movie Muse from The Classic Movie Muse
Zoe from Hollywood Genes
Hannes from Wandering Ambivert
Mark from Mark Arnold Blog
Lou from Space Time Bae
Meg from Hallmark in Real Life
Anglo from PassiveDough.com
Congratulations to these newly nominated bloggers!
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18 Cinema Lane 