'Story of Us' (2018) - Scott Smith.

No butchers, bakers, or candlestick makers but an earnest small-town bookstore owner who discovers that her beloved store is under threat from corporate property developers. Much like the durability a generic plastic chair, Hallmark's success/ubiquity is undeniably down to their dogmatic adherence to formula. Not always compelling, often anodyne, but modestly appealing if you are in the right mood for sugary, treacle-thick sentiment. The Story of Us is genuinely sweet, with amiable protagonists, aggressively small-town charm, and the erstwhile lovers O'Dell Sawyer (Sam Page) and Maggie Lawson's (Jamie Vaughn) inexorable romance feels far less contrived than usual.

 'L.A Heat.' (1989) - Joseph Merhi.

PM Entertainment's low-budget, bullet-shredded, late 80s shoot 'em up, L.A Heat is greatly elevated by the charismatic presence of big Jim Brown. LA Cops go hard after a violently  gunhappy drug dealer which affords bargain bucket action impresario Merhi plentiful opportunities for soft-boiled B-Movie badinage and righteous amounts of slo-mo squibage! The skeezy downtown L.A setting is grungily atmospheric, and there's a boisterously old school Blaxsploitation vibe throughout that I really dug. Straight-shooting detective Lt. Chance (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs ) is a tough, likable good guy, and psycho cop-killer Clarence (Kevin Benton ) makes for a convincingly malign street thug.

Recipe for love 2014. Ron Oliver.

An attractive, altogether edible food taster is tasked to ghost write for a muscular boorish celebrity chef whose strident alpha demeanor belies a sensitive side. Watching this prototypically telegenic couple fall in love served up a surprisingly digestible romance. Flavourfully garnished with two appealing leads, cutsey chat, touchy feely schmaltz, and the perfect amount of cheese! Zesty, rather than stodgy, this eminently snackable foodie romance won't leave a bad taste in your mouth! Frothier than a cappuccino, sweeter than mom's pumpkin pie, Recipe for love, while undeniably a familiar  dish, is, for me, one of the more appetizing Hallmark confections. This 'chalk and cheese couple who inevitably become cheese & cheese lovers won't immediately have you reaching for the pepto bismol!

'Shotgun' (1989) Addison Randall.

This enjoyably goofy  PM Entertainment cop socky features a horribly shrill soundtrack, lashings of cornball chat, and plenty of piping hot squibage! I dug it, and the tall, foofy haired shotgun Jones dude provides a wealth of unintentional levity! This Schlockgun delivers a  double-barrelled barrage of bullet-blasted bellicosity. The score sucks, but the sleazy villain is propah brillo B-movie misanthrope! 

The Amazing Dobermans (1976) - Byron Chudnow.

Fred Astaire, James Franciscus and Barbara Eden star in the family friendliest installment of these charismatic, sleek-limbed  daredevil dobermans! Happily, these kooky canine capers playfully continue in a barking mad fashion in The Amazing Dobermans. The bustling circus location is fun, with Franciscus and Eden making for amiable, wise-cracking protagonists. Director Chudnow certainly nose that you most certainly can teach an old dog new tricks! Even in in its more cutesy form, there's snout quite like these dynamic Dobermans!

'The Daring Dobermans' (1973) - Byron Chudnow.

While it has oft been said that the sequel to the cult crime classic is a little ruff, I lapped it up! The continuing saga of fiercely obedient,  cash-heisting canines is, perhaps, a little more Disneyfied than before. That said, this pilfering pack of perspicacious pooches perpetrate the perfect crime! The audacious heist itself got me a little hot under the collar, and the exciting climax should give the naysayers paws for thought.

The Doberman Gang 1972. - Byron Chudnow.

Some regard this shaggy dog trilogy to be a bit of a dog's dinner, but I think the original is a bona fide winner!! The Doberman Gang remains a pedigree 70s crime flick with real BITE! These deadly, dough-getting Dobermans make the Reservoir Dogs look like Pekingese  poodles!