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All's Fair in Love and Mahjong · Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Girls Gone Hallmark, a Hallmark of You podcast.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: I'm Megan and I'm a longtime Hallmark fan.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: I'm Wendy. I'm a former Hallmark hater.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: On today's episode, we're discussing All's Fair in Love and Majong,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: which originally aired on Saturday May ninth, twenty twenty six,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: and is currently available to stream on Hallmark Plus. Hey,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: make sure you are following us over on Instagram. We
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: are Girls Gone Hallmark. That's where we drop our weekly schedule.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: The schedule for the week went up Sunday nights. You
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: can see what we're doing another five days of episodes
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: around here. You can always see what's coming up on
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: the podcast over there on Instagram. You can also play
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: along with our weekly first Impressions post, which drop as
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: the movie Straw. I just grimaced at like five days
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  Speaker 1: a week post big week.
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  Speaker 2: I know, I go.
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  Speaker 1: But then I forget, like, oh, it's mail bag, and
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: not that those are easy to record, but it doesn't
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: require me watching something in addition, but there are four
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: watched things this week plus Patreon plus Mailbag the way
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Holme already went out. That's why you're making that.
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  Speaker 2: Oh okay, I'm like, I'm making like a what face.
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  Speaker 2: I only have three things? Okay, good, then we're good.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I'm kind of happy for those who are listening
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  Speaker 1: to our PBS content. I am glad that that it
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: has this week will end. Yeah, Valley ends this week
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: in terms of podcasting, So I'm glad that we're gonna
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: get just like a little bit of breathing away. Yes, yes, yes,
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  Speaker 1: And I got to tell you, I did see a
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: commercial for that Mom's the Bride and thought for a
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: second and then I was like, nope, nope, nope, Wendy, no, no.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: I have been waiting to just turn it on for
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: myself because I like Aaron Khill a lot. Yeah, but yes,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: you're right, and because also do you know what starts
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: next week?
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: The City? Yeah?
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, The City is a Bravo reality TV show that
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: we are covering on our other podcast, Last to the Party.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: Hopefully that won't be like too difficult to recap, but
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: and we'll see how long. We'll see how that goes. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: you're thinking we're not gonna make it all the way
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  Speaker 1: through the season. No, I think we'll make it all
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  Speaker 1: the way through the season because I have a lot
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  Speaker 1: of opinions about it, but kind of feel that that
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  Speaker 1: might only be.
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  Speaker 2: Like a one seasoner. Oh that show show, and then
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: we'll see what's next. Yeah, exactly, But let's talk Majong Baby.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: Let's hear a synopsis.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: A school nurse finds unexpected hope through teaching Majong, the
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: centuries old Chinese game, which helps her build community and
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: open her heart again. Jessica Harmon directed this movie. This
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: marks her twenty fourth directing credit, and she recently directed
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: I'll Be Seeing You, starring Tyler Hines. Nina Wineman and
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: Betsy Morris share writing credit. Nina Wineman is a longtime
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: Hallmark writer with faves like We Met in December, Haunted Wedding,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: and Pumpkin Pie War. Betsy Morris is also one of
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: our favorites. She recently wrote to for Tea as well
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: as Villa Amore. In Guiding Emily, Fiona Googleman stars as
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Ronnie Rice. We last saw her in a Royal Montana Christmas.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Paul Campbell stars as Ben. Paul was last in Christmas
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: at the Catnip Cafe. Friend of the show, Crystal Lowe
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: appears as Shelley. Melissa Peterman. Melissa Peterman appears as Melissa.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Melissa is currently co starring opposite Riba and Happiest Place
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: on NBC. Tamara Moorehousley appears as Carly. Tamara will start
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: in the upcoming Haunted Harmony mysteries Key to the Castle
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: later this month. For a complete cast list, please visit
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: our website at Girls Gone Hallmark dot com, which is
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: also linked in our show notes. Hey, Wendy, what was
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: your first impression of All's fair in Love and Majong?
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Was this Hallmark's version of Sex and the City because
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Melissa Peterman was two cosmos away from becoming Samantha and
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: I did.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: I didn't hate it was Let's break it down. Who's Carrie?
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: Carrie is Ronnie yeah, and I think Carly is the
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: redhead I can't remember her name, Miranda with Miranda yeah,
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: and Shelley is Charlotte. Charlotte Yeah, yeah, very cute.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: I think that's I think I think it.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: I think that fits. What's your first impression? My first
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: impression is, well, couldn't resist booked a Majong lesson?
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  Speaker 2: I love it, you guys.
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  Speaker 1: She invited me too, and I can't go, and I'm
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  Speaker 1: disappointed because we'll go again, we'll go again. And our friend,
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: you know, Sharon Garoffalo, she has like a Majong group.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: She had post.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: Didn't know that, Yeah, she posted and she was like,
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: are there any local OC ladies looking for a mason group?
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: And I was like, wait me, but like I don't
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: actually know how to play, and she was like, oh,
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  Speaker 1: we're beginners. And she was the one who told me
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: where to take the lesson. Wow, she was like, after
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: you take a lesson, reach out because she said it's
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: sometimes it's hard to get to four every time they
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  Speaker 1: need it.
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  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's so fun.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: I think it would be fun to try and start,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: not a regular game, not like a we meet every
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: month on this day, but like playing with some regularity
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: with people.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: I love it. Let's talk what you liked about All's
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: Fair in Love and maj On.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: I liked it a lot. I liked the movie a lot.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: I want to talk. Can I talk about all my
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: likes and then I'm going to talk about like the
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: hallmark component of it being like the controversy compones. Okay,
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: the number one thing I liked about it is I
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: thought the female friendship dynamic felt lived in.
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  Speaker 2: I loved it.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: I liken it to Sex and the City because I
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: have always been drawn to like your core group of
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: girlfriends and very easy to talk to, and you talk
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: about things like you wouldn't talk to sure your husband about,
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: or your next door neighbor about or whatever. This was
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: probably my favorite part of the movie. The scenes with
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: Ronnie and her girlfriends worked in a way that doesn't
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: always work on Hallmark. Yes, and and I thought, you know,
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: they were talking about things like divorce and dating and
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: money troubles and parenting older kids, kids going away to college,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: like you know, it all was like very much my
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: season of life, and that's what I was drawn to.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: I want more of that from Hallmark because I think
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: midlife female friendships is an interesting topic, interesting in the
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: way of we should see more of it in our entertainment.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: And if I could just go one step further. Melissa Peterman,
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: I don't know if she was ad libbing or if
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: just her comedic timing is beyond like operating in a
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: different level, Like I wanted to see some outtakes, yeah,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: because I just think she's so damn funny, uh huh.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: And I truly don't know if the lines that she
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: recited were lines that were written for her or if.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: She was just playing riffing? Yeah, I just love it her.
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  Speaker 2: She's so good. She's so good.
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  Speaker 1: Please put this woman in a lead role on amek
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: in a Homewark vieah, absolutely, or a series please, I'm
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: begging you. Wouldn't a series? A comedic series with Melissa
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: Peterman as the star just absolutely kill on Hallmark?
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: Ye don't you think so? Yes?
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: Please somebody listening to us, please, she's she's very very good.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: I mean she's she's making that happiest place money on
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: NBC right now.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: But please, I'm begging.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yes, look I let The friend group is my
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: favorite thing too, and I found it both relatable and
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: aspirational their friend group and of course they are in
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: my phase of life, Like yeah, felt like a shout
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: out to all the college moms and the moms of
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: young adults. When up top, we start with Melissa being like,
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: if you want to take off your location services, you
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: could pay the bill and I'm like, wow, do you
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  Speaker 1: live in my house?
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  Speaker 3: Right?
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: Right?
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  Speaker 2: I rewind it. I was like wait a minute, wait
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: a minute, you know, like.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: Nina and Betsy know what they're talking about with this
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: dialogue and then they say one of my favorite lines
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: is these kids want to be so independent until it's
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: time for the hard labor.
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: Yep.
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  Speaker 2: And I just think that's so relatable to every mom
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: parenting these young adults who that's what they want.
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  Speaker 1: They want that independence, but they don't want to actually
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: do it themselves.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: Did I not just complain about like they want?
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: It's so funny because they don't want you to have
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: any say over their actions, but they do want you
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: to step in and do it all and yes, and
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: facilitate it. So I just this friend group was great.
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  Speaker 1: They showed up for each other in many different ways.
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  Speaker 1: It's the kind of friend group I would want in
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  Speaker 1: my life. When they're just downstairs playing Myjong and her
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: daughter's popping in and out and she's like, Hi, I
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: mean you and I both know that life. Yeah.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: So what do you think about the karaoke scene?
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Oh?
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: I have some thoughts about the karaoke scene?
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: Oh?
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: Not so good thoughts?
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: No, not bad thoughts. Which element of the karaoke scene?
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  Speaker 1: I have a feeling you had like secondhand embarrassment, like
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: watching people seeing No.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Okay, I was sweet.
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  Speaker 1: I was glad that they because we have this friend group,
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: and we have this romance, and we have this story
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: about like midlife changes. There's a lot happening in an
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: eighty four minute movie, and so the one thing I
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: think is hardest is to give each of.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: Those friends their moment.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: Sure, and I have a wish about that, but I
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: did like that Tamara's character, Carly got that moment on
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: stage to express herself that way, and I thought it
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: was so sweet. My first impression was almost, I won't
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: sing for you, but I am here to support you
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  Speaker 1: in this next moment with your daughter.
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: Oh you're talking to me.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: Oh no, we're going out for karaoke and you're gonna
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: get up and sing unwritten. This one's for you, Andy. Yeah,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: I want to see it. Look, they got the rights
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: to that song. I thought it was shocked great that song.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: It is having a real moment on TikTok. It has
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: had a moment on TikTok for the last couple years,
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: I would say, But like I think, just recently I
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: saw TikTok where it was football related and they were
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: hyping up with that song or something like that, and
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: I just thought, Oh, that's so cute.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: It worked so well here, I thought. I thought it
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: was sweet.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: I thought it was like, you know, this is about
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: you and your next phase of life. I thought it
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: was very sweet. The moment while we're talking about that,
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: I can't decide how I feel about Ben showing up.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: What I loved it.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: Torn because she's like, I'm having a girl's night. We're
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: going to Tequila Mesa for karaoke. And he was like, oh,
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: maybe I'm going to Tequila Masa with my friend. And
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: I thought people are going to be like, just just
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: have fun.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: Pardoner was like, she said it was a girl's night.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: Let her have her girl's night.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: On the other hand, she clearly wanted him to be there,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: and he brings his buddy, so Shelley gets her moment.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And so I liked it in that regard.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: Once I see Shelley making that connection, I thought, Okay,
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: this is all good, and the friends are happy to
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: see him there and it doesn't feel like he's crashing
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: or taking away from her moment with her girlfriends. Looking
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: at this from me old married woman, married woman perspective,
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: if if we were single and ready to mingle, I
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: think we would be very excited that some handsome dudes
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: are coming out like, oh what happened upon you at
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: Tequila Mesa after a few little margharita's and some karaoke? Probably,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: But I also still, even if I were single and
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: ready to mingle, would want respect for my time with
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: my girlfriends.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: Well you don't think now you want to be like nobody.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: I made my own time fun together, okay, but I
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: also want to know that like alone time with my girls.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: I got my girls, it's going to be in the mix.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: I like it.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: Let's drink some tequila and have some fun, share some laughs. Yeah, No,
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: I liked it. I like that saying, and I really
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: enjoyed the karaoke. Let's talk about Fiona and Paul. Fiona
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: makes Ronnie incredibly easy to root for for me. Fiona
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: Coolman is not one of those Hallmark actors where I'm like, oh,
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: it's a Fiona Google movie, right, right. But the last
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: movie she was in that Montana movie with Lauren Chrissy
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: and they had that fire kiss like ever since then,
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, kind of enjoy her. I think the
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: character of Ronnie could have come across as very controlling
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: and frantic, because I thought she was kind of white.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: Knuckling her life interesting. I don't think she does come
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: across like that. Maybe that's just like my trauma that
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: I'm putting on it, you know what I mean, Like
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: things are kind of spinning out of control, and like no,
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: she was like very like warm, and I could understand
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: why she would spiral. But and there were moments she had,
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: like not great moments. The scene with her and Paul
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: after she learns that she doesn't her and Paul this
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Ronnie and Ben. They're at her house and she doesn't
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: get the loan. Yeah, and he kind of like is like, well,
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: what can I do to help? And she's she gets
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: mad at him, like and I I thought it was
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: very realistic as somebody who's like, look, you can't. It's
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: just kind of misdirected. She's just mad at this situation.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: Human reaction totally.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: And that's what I loved about it, Like it wasn't
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: it wasn't some whacked misunderstanding that ended up Like that's
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: what their whole I'm quoting, like breakup or fight is about.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: It's you know, she has a moment. She got overwhelmed,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: she got upset, and I love that. Ben the character
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: is just like I'm going to give you some space. Yeah,
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: and then when he sees.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: Her again, he's not like, well, I'm gonna punish.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: You for that reaction hate, right, which makes him so
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: much like more likable. I really loved Paul Campbell as
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Ben in this movie Me too. I think he plays
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: the character as exactly the kind of person you would
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: want to meet in midlife.
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: Right, he's comfortable, he's understanding, he pays a ten, he listens,
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: he's thoughtful. Of course, I knew that they were going
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: to offer the measurement chart in some Oh my god.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: I knew it.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: I was like, Oh, he's a contractor, he's going to
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: cut it out of the wall. And then but I
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: had freaking about it. And then when he presents it
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: framed and beautiful, yeah, I mean, of course it was predictable,
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: but it was lovely. And he's just so settled in
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: this role. Paul Campbell can play the funny guy, like
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: when he plays himself in the Santa Clas It's exceptional. Yeah,
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: but I really love this Paul Campbell. The Wedding Every Weekend,
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: Paul Campbell. You can see him falling for that person.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Paul Campbell in that movie and wedding every weekend. I
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: remember there was a moment where he got his heart broken,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: and he kind of had that moment in this movie.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: I can envision his face kind of crumpling at one point.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: And I like this Paul Campbell a lot.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: I agree.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: I enjoy this Paul Campbell too. I'm drawing to like
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: funny characters. I've talked about this for weeks when we
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: review Hope Valley, Like, I like Ben Airs as the
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: funny guy, right. I like Paul Campbell as the funny
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: guy too. But so so this was but this was nice,
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: like it was like believable. Yeah, I enjoyed it too.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: I enjoyed it too.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: I like a little bit of both. But I like,
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: I liked. I thought he had some funny in this too,
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: but it wasn't like you.
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: I love the joke every like second overly serious at all.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: He is funny. I just I like a combo. I
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: like some warmth. I agree.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: This movie makes me think we would be friends with
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: Nina and Betsy, because not only do they get what
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: it's like parenting young adults, there's a therapy mentioned very
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: casually Fiona and Ben are talking about.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, lots of therapy.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: And then there's a through line about being the default
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: parent and the default child, that is, I am both
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: of those things. That is very relatable and I kind
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: of liked that we saw both sides of it. Fiona
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: doesn't really have the opportunity to pass along like a
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: need for help, but Ben does, like his brother. You know,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: Fiona's divorced. She can't really be like step In in
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: this role ex husband of mine, but Ben does, and
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: he does finally say to his brother, like, yo, I
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: need you to take the reins on this. And you
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: and I have talked about it's not always easy to do.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: Sometimes it's more work, and he was like, it wasn't
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: actually more work. Sometimes it is more work. Yeah, sometimes
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: you end up doing some of the groundwork to pass
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: that off. But that's a very realistic thing. And I
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: think in every relationship, you've decided, well, your job is
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: more important and therefore all take on this role. Right.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: My brother and I are like that, right, I'm like, well,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: you work full time, so ill plan mother's day. It's
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: not that I don't have other stuff to do. I
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: felt very scene as a woman of a certain age,
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah and shout out to Nina and Betsy, including those
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: elements to the story. I agree.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: I want to talk about the majong a little bit.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: What surprised me about this movie is it wasn't really
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: about majong. No, it was just like the that's a vehicle,
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: the vehicle exactly. But I loved like the connection in
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: the community and the women gathering together. It felt very
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: current and refreshing for Hallmark. I thought, if you didn't know,
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: the majong boom is real, Yes, in suburban households, absolutely, Yeah,
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: of midlife women. So they pay homage to the cultural
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: heritage multiple times. Yeah, well, that's what I want to
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: talk about. The controversy leading up to this movie. Do
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: you think it was fair? I think it's not fair
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: for me, as a white person to weigh in on
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: an Asian American's perception of the movie.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: Agree.
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: But from my perception, what I think worked is they
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: didn't try and brush over the fact. They didn't act
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: like these white suburban ladies found this game. They talk
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: about its Chinese cultural heritage, and they talk about that
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: this is American majong, which has some differences. I don't
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: pretend to know what those are. And the final point is,
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: as we've discussed before, this movie was based on a
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: real person. We didn't just decide to make this some
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: white suburban This person exists. Yeah, and it's in my
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: digit see that. So we'll talk about it now. Crystal
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: low is friends with the Ronnie Rice Rice, Yes, and
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: has been for many years, and so that connection is
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: there as well. And Crystal Lowe talked in an interview,
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: which thank you to Girls Gotte Hallmark team member Mackew
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: for sending us the link to that interview about how
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: Crystal grew up in homes where Majong was played shocked
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: about falling asleep under the kitchen table, and that's one
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: of the ways in which she connected with Ronnie. And
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: so I don't think it's fair to say this is
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: like straight up cultural appropriation. I loved the cast. Could
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: the casting perhaps have been a little bit different? Sure,
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: what do you think? I think you hit most of
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: it on the head. I do think Hallmark mishandled the
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: optics here a little bit, you know, leading up to
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: the movie when the cast was announced, and then that's
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: when like people on the internet were like upset about things.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: I don't think Hallmark should have backed away from it,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: which to me, they did because there was like zero
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: promotion for this movie, and even people involved with the
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: movie were saying it was I'm not going to name them,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: but they were saying, you know, it was a shame
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: Hallmark didn't promote it. So nobody's talking about it, right,
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: and I don't think that they needed to. I think
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: was there was nothing to be ashamed about it. The
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: movie was still yeah, the movie was still going to
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: come out, and I thought it was good. And I
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: am I you know, I'm trying to tread lightly because,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: like you said, I'm a white woman who probably shouldn't
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: have like a I don't have a shouldn't have much
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: to say about it.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: But I also just.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: Think that I thought the movie was I thought they
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: paid you know, homage to the cultural part of it.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: I just have one more thought. I do think that
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: Hallmark does continue to miss opportunities to build richer, more diverse. Absolutely,
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: we have said that since twenty twenty, and I find
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: it incredibly frustrated as a podcaster and a Hallmark movie
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: reviewer that.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: They won't make those changes.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: It's like, you know, we had Mahogany, we got five
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: movies and then it went away, right, it's gone.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: I think you're right.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: We could have a richer experience across the board. Hallmark
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: walks a walks a line, and I don't. There's a
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: lot of room for improvement there. Yes, yes, yes, you
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: want to talk. Let's take a quick break and we're
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: going to come back and talk about our wishes. All right, Wendy,
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: what are your thoughts on your wishes for this movie?
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: My biggest wish is a smooch oh meter barely moved friends.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: I enjoyed Ronnie and Ben together. And if I could
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: just add side note, one of my favorite podcasts is
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: called Watch What Crappens. It's a Bravo recap podcast and
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: it's hosted by Ben and Ronnie, and so every time
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: I see Ben and Ronnie Fannie, it's killing me. Anyway,
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: I enjoyed Ronnie and Ben from this movie together. I
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: thought they had warmth and ease, but I thought their
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: chemistry was like the kisses were not doing it for
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: me personally, not to personally justice for Melissa. Shelley and
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: Carly really get their own moments, but Melissa doesn't. Well,
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: I love her so much, so I really would have
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: liked to see her have at least a little bit
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: of a story to tell. I mean, you know, she
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: kind of does get her story woven through because she's
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: everyone's real estate agent. Give me a spin off with
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: Melissa's the real estate Agent. Yes, I need it, I
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: need it.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: I love her.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Well.
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: I want to talk about Ronnie for a second. Ronnie, Ronnie, Ronnie,
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: how do you calm? How do you?
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: How are you a teacher? And you have one board?
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: And it happens twice, like she goes to like a
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: big group and she's like, I don't have enough boards.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: And then she goes to another hang and she's like,
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: I don't have enough boards. I'm like, you need to communicate. Yes,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: she should have come with more supplies, just in case,
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: just in case.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: Yes, yeah.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: And then they're like she's like, what's a rat sheet?
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: I'm like, what do you mean? What's a rate sheet?
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: What more information? It's a rat sheet? Like I understand
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: being like, oh, I don't know what I should charge,
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: like turn to the internet, but.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: You know what a rat sheet is?
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean you're an educated woman, yes, nurse. Yeah.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: My other last wish is Ronnie's ex husband sucked.
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. Absolutely.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: The kid is driving out of the driveway for college
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: and he turns and says, well, we need to talk
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: about the house. My new wife and I need a
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: new place to live.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: And then he comes to her and he's like, you
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: got a month to figure out if you have financing.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: This is what pass me off because he wants to
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: sell the house so we can have the money from
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: the house.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: And she's like, I'm gonna buy you and he's like,
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: you what a month.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: There's no guarantee that your house would sell in a
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: month and that you would have the money if you
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: went that route. You're wanting her to get all of
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: these repairs made, then get the house listed, then get
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: the household. You're not going to have that money in
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: a month, bro, Yeah, get she should have. Okay, now
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: she has six months to figure it out after her
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: kid graduated. Yeah, the pivot that he expects her to make.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: He just kept talking about his new wife.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: I know, I felt like, what did this have been
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: decided on in a divorce? Yeah, there would be a
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: time frame like you guys could live there and then
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: X amount of time after.
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, But anyway.
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: I did like I just needed him to eat some
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: humble pie, like he was a real dickhead.
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: Sorry. Yes, And I also I kind of I'm surprised
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: they didn't drive her to college.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: She didn't want them to, okay, ma, I mean she's
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: like going, like did they say where she was going?
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: Is she going locally? I don't know where this this
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: movie took place at. I don't either.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: I mean she drove there and she drove home, so
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: I don't think it's like around the corner, but it's
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: drivable because her mom's like.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: What are you doing home?
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: I don't know. Yeah, let's talk to you to see that.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: I only have two yep, the real Ronnie Rice had
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: a cameo and Liz. And the only reason I know
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: why is because I don't know if we were on MIC.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: But I was telling you how my stepmom and her
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: friends had a lesson from a yes from a Majong teacher. Right,
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: And so I went onto the website Ronnie Rice's website,
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: and I took a screenshot and I sent it to
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: my stepmom. I said, is this the lady who taught you?
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: It wasn't. But then I saw who Ronnie Rice was,
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: and then LO and Behold.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: As I'm watching the movie, I see Ronnie Rice. She
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: was part of the book club that didn't read. She
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: was at that I got it, at that party, that
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: teaching that teaching night or whatever, and they showed her
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: several times and she had a line.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: I mean she's like, I don't know what I'm doing
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: here something like that.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: Anyway, my other digit see that is I had forgotten.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: But the gift that beIN brings Ronnie the Majong set
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: is the one that Hallmark is selling.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: Uh huh. I had to look it up.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: They got a little merch this year, a lot of
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: merch tied to their movie.
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: So I looked it up. It is three hundred and
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: fifty dollars. It's beautiful though.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: It's the tiles are really pretty. It's like a design
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: on It is really pretty.
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: Three hundred and fifty dollars. I got normal.
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: I think Majong sets are expensive. I mean there's no
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: way that every I don't know, like if you google
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: Majong set, my fair Majong three hundred and sixty five dollars.
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: Although there's a target game twenty nine nine Purlescent Starter
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: Kit seven hundred and forty dollars. Oh, my gosh, A
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: bunch on Ali Baba sixty dollars, you know, one hundred
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: and sixty five dollars on Etsy. So I think there's
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: a enormous range of what they cost. Four hundred dollars
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: from Bamlet's Majong Wow. But then there's one at Cohle's
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: forty one to twenty five. So I think there's a
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: there's a huge range. But I guess the nice ones
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: do cost that much. I wonder if there's like a
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: little bit of a keeping up with the Joneses and
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: the Majong circuit. Oh, I think I could roll in
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: with your forty one ninety five one from Holes and
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: not your seven hundred dollars one, you know what I mean. Yeah,
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: the Hallmark one, it's like pre order. It does not
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: ship until December. So I'm wondering if they're like, well,
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: let's hold off on production of these, Let's see if
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: we can sell any first before we make them.
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm afraid that now my TikTok feed is going
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: to be all Majong. Need a point in Majong, need
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: a point in Majong.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: So, speaking of Majong, as mentioned, I don't know how
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: to play the game. I've never played it before. But
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: I was reading some of the comments on Facebook about
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: this movie, and people said that the Majong itself with
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: one lesson, you're not actually able to play a game
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: in most cases, like you're learning.
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: Some of the basics.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: But they were like, hah, nobody would ever be playing
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: a game at their first lesson. Oh not that interesting
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: to watch people play, though, so I totally understand that.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: My only other digit see that is there's a weird
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: dub in the beginning in ADR, Ronnie Fiona Googlman is
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: talking to her principal and she says something.
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: I rewound it.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: The ADR is Majong. She's saying. Maybe she's saying that Majong.
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: Maybe she says it weird. I can't tell exactly what
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: she's saying, but it's very clearly like, oh, you.
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: Want me to teach my majong. Oh you know, one
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: of those interesting just to did you see that?
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: That's all I did. Like the joke about the overbearing
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: PTA moms.
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: Too at the very beginning. Oh yeah, just relatable, laid
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: I've been there, I've been there. What did you rate
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: this movie? I have no shame like. I liked it
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: a lot. I gave it four point two five stars.
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: I hat it four stars. I liked it. I thought,
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: good movie, what a good time. I would absolutely watch
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: it again if it was on.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: I got a new cozy blanket for Mother's Day and
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: I was laying under my blanket with the acon watching
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: the movie from.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: My dopamine menu. Love it our Patreon, love it.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Hey, thanks for listening to this episode of Girls Gone Hallmark.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: If you love this podcast, do you know we love
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: your five star ratings and reviews, and we'd love to
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: see new ones pop up over on Apple Podcasts.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: We'll see you next time.
• 28:24
  Speaker 3: Goodbye, bye.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: All right friends, before we go, just a quick heads up,
• 28:39
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• 28:42
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• 28:54
  Speaker 3: Bye