Chloe (Nina Kiri) is an aspiring music producer. She has worked at a recording studio for several years but her boss never gives her a chance to be anything more than a glorified secretary even though she has talent. Country singer Dustin (Connor McMahon) had one big album but since then has failed to make a hit record. Put them together and it’s kismet, or in this case, kiss-met when Writing a Love Song premieres on UP TV.

Dustin has writer’s block. He cannot write music or lyrics, and if he does not come up with a hit song in a week, his record label will drop him. Enter Chloe, whose boss is out of town and through chance, passes herself off as a producer when Dustin’s manager comes into the studio. Soon she is working closely with Dustin to create the hit song both of them need. Chloe is smart and intuitive, but Dustin is definitely blocked. Can she unblock his creativity and bring out another hit song? 

Chloe uses various techniques to help Dustin write the music she knows is buried inside him. He is a great songwriter, but since his last flop he has lost his confidence. She is able to gradually open him up and reignite the music. And, besides their great working relationship, there is a personal connection building between the two. 

Chuck (Kent Sheridan), Chloe’s father, was a famous country singer, and her sister Hannah (Brit MacRae) is a wonderful singer but instead of using her talent to make music she owns a coffeehouse/record store, combining her favorite things – coffee and music. Somehow it works. 

When Dustin’s old recording partner and girlfriend comes back into the picture, he finally realizes how to create his new song. He knows he has to let go of the past and look to the future. Hence, the theme of his new song. Voila.

Dustin’s road to his big hit is a roller coaster ride as he and Chloe experience good times and bad. But with the help of her family, they manage to succeed. It’s a family affair. Some might say it takes a village, but in this case it takes a family. 

This is a cute feel-good movie everyone can enjoy. Writing a Love Song premieres March 31, 2024 on UP TV. 

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 30 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA.

Image courtesy UP TV

Jules is a combination of ET, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Cocoon. It’s a cute story with many sentimental and emotional elements.

Milton (Ben Kingsley) lives alone and hardly has anything to do except garden. He attends every city council meeting to air his grievances – mainly that the town’s motto should be changed and he wants a crosswalk on a busy street. His daughter Denise (Zoe Winters) helps with his bookkeeping and visits when she can. Her brother does not have anything to do with his dad. Denise is getting worried that Milton is getting senile, perhaps too senile to continue living in his house.

One night a spaceship crashes into Milton’s backyard and a little alien gets out, bruised and stunned. Milton helps this little guy. He feeds him and keeps him company, realizing how difficult it must be to be alone in a strange world. 

Two fellow seniors, Joyce (Jane Curtin) and Sandy (Harriet Sansom Harris), discover Milton’s secret and soon the three of them are best buddies with this little guy they name Jules. Well, one of them names him Jules and the other prefers Gary. But Jules it is. 

Jules does not talk. He listens. And he feels. He and his three earthling friends are united, and as he starts to repair his spaceship they all spend their days together. What the trio come to realize is that Jules needs dead cats to repair his ship. Where will they get all those dead cats? 

As the three continue to help Jules, the government is on their trail. The officials realize a spaceship has landed somewhere in the vicinity, and as time goes by they pinpoint it to Milton’s location. It is a race against time for the three friends to help Jules repair his ship before he is apprehended by the officials. 

The story involves several themes. The main one is that being older and estranged, or partially estranged from family, is no fun. Getting old is no fun. Beginning to lose memory is no fun. The three seniors are very lonely people, but with Jules they find a purpose in their lives. And Jules helps them in many ways. His powers are amazing as he, at one time, helps save Sandy’s life through his thoughts and he helps Joyce’s ailing cat die in peace. 

The story takes elements of ET, as Jules is just as well-meaning as ET, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, because Jules offers to take his new friends with him in his spaceship, and Cocoon, because it shows the wonders that aliens can do for aging and aged seniors. 

In the end, Jules sets off for his home alone, but will he return to visit Milton? Spoiler alert: yes.

Jules is rated PG-13 for strong language. 

The movie is now available through many streaming platforms.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 30 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA.

 

courtesy image

Get your motor running. That’s the goal of the competition on the new Hallmark Channel movie Shifting Gears. It is all about cars, engines, paint jobs, and lost loves.

Jess (Katherine Barrell) is an amazing mechanic and she also excels at painting car bodies. Her passion is restoring the old classic cars – the ones that took families to drive-ins, weekend jaunts, and picnics. Jess works in her father’s garage and is happy working on cars and forgoing any romantic life. After all, cars won’t let you down the way her old flame Luke (Tyler Hynes) did many years ago.

Luke is also a genius mechanic and now works with his father in a business where he doesn’t wear overalls and, as Jess says, looks like he should be selling bonds. The two have gone their separate ways, but have their hearts?

Jess is offered a spot on a car restoration TV program, which she initially turns down. But when she discovers they might lose their business due to a rent hike, Jess joins the show in hopes of winning the prize money to save her father’s business.

It is a daunting idea, going in front of a television audience, however Jess knows she has to win the prize money to save the shop. But guess who else is among the contestants. Luke shows up on the set and the two discover they are pitted against each other in the competition of their lives.

As the days go by and they each undertake the daily challenges, it is anyone’s guess as to who will be the winner. Of course, with others also involved, it might not be either Jess or Luke. But, yes, you guessed it, it comes down to them and one other contestant.

So, as the deadline looms, things get a little more heated off the set as Jess and Luke rediscover their true feelings about each other. It is a Hallmark movie, after all, and this is why we all tune in. Viewers love to see their Hallmark characters find, or rediscover, love, and in this story it doesn’t take long for Jess and Luke to see that they make a great team – both on and off the TV set. This story has the two dealing with the competition as well as their personal history.

Then a wrench is thrown into the story, no pun intended. Has Luke been honest with Jess or is there a secret he’s keeping from her?

One of the themes running through this story is that of following one’s dreams and heart. And with work and dedication, those dreams can become a reality, as it did for Jess. She did not let the fact that most mechanics are men deter her from her dream of restoring old cars. She jumped into the drivers seat, again no pun intended, and took off. Her abilities were only matched by her dedication and love of her job.

Shifting Gears premieres Saturday, March 23, 2024 on Hallmark Channel.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 30 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA.

Being a food critic isn’t easy, especially when your latest restaurant review goes viral, and not in a good way. Sweetly Salted is a cute romantic comedy about two people who met for a few minutes years ago and now rediscover each other and yes, fall in love.

Alison (Lanie McAuley) is the food critic at a Chicago newspaper. The thing is, no one knows that. She is known in the paper and online as “Sweetly Salted.” She keeps her identity a secret so she won’t get any special treatment when she dines in restaurants. Alison wants to get the same treatment and food as her readers would. 

Years ago she tasted a Puerto Rican sandwich from a food cart. That taste stayed with her. It was delicious. So when a new Puerto Rican restaurant run by a famous chef opens in the Windy City, Alison is eager to try it out. She is also anxious to taste the authentic Puerto Rican sandwich she remembers from all those years earlier. Unfortunately, when she does, it is nothing like what she remembered. Plus, it isn’t even prepared the same way. That all goes into her column and the newspaper soon gets plenty of hate mail and hate comments online. After all, Sebastian (William Martinez) is a well-known and popular chef. So trashing his new restaurant in her column does not get a lot of love from the readers.

Alison is forced to take a few weeks off from the paper to let the unpleasantness calm down. So, during this time she returns to the restaurant and takes a job as a sous chef, even though she has never been one before. She talks her way into the job and starts to write about what it is like to work in a restaurant and with a famous chef. With a proposed book deal in the offing, this just might be the hook that will propel her writing career into a new direction. The problem is, the book editor insists she “out” herself. They need her to disclose her true identity. No longer with Sweetly Salted be anonymous. 

While she is working hard learning how to chop and mix ingredients, Alison and Sebastian, aka Seb, compliment each other in the kitchen and in their off-hours.

Alison also manages to teach Seb a new dessert recipe which he adds to his menu. And she finally learns why the sandwich she tasted that influenced her rough review, was not made the way she remembered or the way Seb planned to make it. 

There is an attraction that they cannot deny. But when he finds out she has lied to him, not to mention was the critic who almost cost him his new restaurant, all bets are off as to if he will forgive her or not. 

The only thing that this movie could use would be an accompanying recipe book because the food throughout the show looks absolutely delicious.

Sweetly Salted premieres March 17, 2024 on UP TV. Get your taste buds ready for some mouth-watering recipes.

note: The movie is also known as With Love, Your Sweetly Salted.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 30 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA.

Take three Manhattan twenty-something’s and put them on a working dude ranch in Yellowstone, Wyoming and what do you get? Yellowstone Romance is a cute little romantic story set amid the beautiful scenery of the West. 

Olivia  (Stephanie Bennett) works in an art museum in NYC. She just found out her roommate Amber (Aadila Dasani) is getting married and moving to a ranch out west where her fiancé lives. Olivia feels that Amber would be like a duck out of water living on a ranch so she hatches a plot to prove that to Amber. As maid of honor she plans a bachelorette getaway to a working dude ranch in Wyoming. Along with their friend Justin (Caleb Di Pomponio), the three embark on their adventure with Olivia positive her friend will realize she won’t be happy living away from New York. 

Baling hay, collecting eggs, corralling horses, mucking stalls and fixing fences are part of this delightful getaway. But to Olivia’s chagrin, both of her friends enjoy what they are doing. And to her surprise, Olivia also discovers enjoyment working on the ranch. She also is drawn to Travis but neither Olivia nor Travis realize their attraction for each other. However it is evident to Justin who does everything he can to make sure those two are together as often as possible.

Being on the ranch brings back Olivia’s desire to follow her heart and begin painting again. With encouragement from Travis, she reignites her artistic endeavors and paints the beautiful scenery around the ranch. Who knew that this scenery would rival the bright lights of the big city?

The laid back lifestyle of the west definitely has its advantages. But so does the hectic life of Manhattan. Which one feels the most comfortable?  

Viewers can guess what the outcome will be when Amber has second thoughts about moving from the city to a ranch and Olivia quashes her concerns.  After all, they are all getting used to this new life a little at a time. 

The hustle and bustle of fast big city life versus the laid back easygoing lifestyle of ranch life (even with the hard work) is not the only consideration for Olivia and Amber. Their personal feelings come into play too.

Yellowstone Romance streams on UP TV.

 

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 30 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA.

 

The story of a commoner being plucked from obscurity to take over the crown is an age-old tale. A Royal Makeover is another such story with some ups and downs as Ramone (Ricky Martinez), a young Floridian man is confronted with his destiny. Will he accept it or deny it? For someone who doesn’t know anything about his heritage, this is a decision that could go either way.

San Pablo is a small country near Spain, and thankfully Ramone, having been brought up in Florida, knows Spanish. But Ramone’s favorite things in life are tacos and baseball. So, when it comes time for the current king to abdicate, without kids of his own, the next in line is his nephew Ramone. 

Angelica (Veronica Long) lives for her job in Miami. She loves history and working in the museum. Her knowledge of world royalty is extraordinary, so when Ramone is tracked down by King Felipe and Queen Leticia, they hire her to groom him to be the next king.

Can Angelica transform this laid-back taco-loving, baseball fanatic into a respectable gentleman who can govern a country? First she has to convince him that this is no prank. Then she has to help him see the possibilities of being a king and what he would be able to accomplish. And the icing on the cake for her to dangle at him is the fact that as king he would own the country’s baseball team. That did it! 

Teaching him the history of his family and the country is one thing, but actually getting through to him and reaching his heart is another. Can she really get him to commit to this transformation and to undertake  a new future for himself? It seems like she can accomplish this task until a couple wrenches are thrown into the mix. Will Ramone change his mind and refuse to take the crown or will she be able to convince him to grasp his destiny?

This story is similar in many ways to The Princess Diaries. Taking a commoner  who does not know he or she is royalty and transforming him or her into respectable royal material is not an easy task. Ramone is a strong-minded man. But an unexpected attraction between Angelica and Ramone enters the equation. Come on, you knew this was going to be part of the plot. The two do make a cute couple, and with Angelica by his side, Ramone might just make one of the best kings in the history of San Pablo.

A Royal Makeover is now streaming on UP TV.

 

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 30 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA.