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Kaoteek

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  1. Funnily enough, I felt Norwegian Holiday was perfectly fine... until it lost me with the very predictable, very Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, "omg, the troll means my grandma fell in love with a Norwegian man that happens to be the ex-coach of the Norwegian man I just fell in love with and a close friend of the grandma I'm living with, everything is connected, it's faaaate !". That was a bridge too far for me.
  2. Haven't posted in a month or so, and I gotta say I'm happily surprised by Hallmark's output, this year. On paper, the schedule did nothing for me, and yet... The Santa Summit was fun and lighthearted (really liked the supporting cast in that one) ; A Heidelberg Holiday didn't take itself too seriously either, and the lead couple worked ; Catch Me if you Claus was an amusing caper-style comedy (even though I'm not entirely convinced this wouldn't have been better with another lead actress, I find Italia Ricci slightly bland) ; Holiday Road was a predictable but dynamic group version of that old "Christmas road trip" trope (should have used the Holiday Road song somewhere, though) ; I liked, not loved, Haul out the Holly 2 (but then again, I liked, not loved, the first movie too) - the ending felt a bit rushed, the new family too cartoonishly evil ; Biltmore Christmas was a solid time travel narrative - not without faults (what we saw of the 40s movie needed some work, tbh, it felt too "let's film our actors, remove the color, done", and the musical score was too uneven for me - I get what they were going for, but it still needed some work too), but overall enjoyable. On the other hand, A Merry Scottish Christmas didn't really work for me (then again, I don't care at all for the Party of Five reunion and the usual Lacey Chabert-takes-some-vacation-time-and-shoots-a-HM-movie-there), especially since I had seen James Robinson in a similar role not long ago, in Saving Christmas Spirit) ; and Time for Her to Come Home for Christmas was basic (but I didn't expect anything else from this franchise).
  3. Honestly expected worse from Joyeux Noel. Don't get me wrong : it was laughably bad in its depiction of France, and it was a very american, Hallmarkian vision of Christmas in France, so I had plenty of laughs throughout ; and the romance aspect of it all was weak-ish (they had chemistry, but not necessarily romantic chemistry), but it was watchable. It did felt a bit more Hallmark Movies & Mysteries than pure Hallmark, though, with that investigation, and all that.
  4. I was all set to like Where are you Christmas, but something rubbed me the wrong way, mainly in everybody somewhat overacting/overreacting. And once the plot got going, it was a tad repetitive. On the opposite, I though I wouldn't care for Under the Christmas Sky, but Jessica Parker Kennedy made it work for me, despite the tropes and everything. As for Joyeux Noel, I hadn't planned on watching it, but... I can't help it, after skimming through it online, I wanna see the trainwreck where Rouen looks like every other Hallmark Christmas movie location, buried under fake snow and tons of cheap ornaments. I think I'll have a good laugh with it.
  5. Funnily enough, looking at all those Hallmark movies, I can't help but feel Hallmark is desperately looking to replace those actresses that left for "greener" pastures, and is kind of struggling to do so. I don't know, usually, when the HM holiday schedule drops, I can immediately tell that, based on the pitch or on the lead couple, I'll watch a decent amount of those in the last two months of the year... here, the opposite happened, and I'm surprised to realize that I can probably count on one hand's fingers the movies that appeal to me from now til December.
  6. Just finished Five More Minutes 2 : Electric Boogaloo Moments like this, and although i'm usually fine with Ashley Williams' movies (and acting), here, right from the start, something felt off. I don't know if it was the writing, the pacing, the editing, the energy, the flow or the direction, but it all felt clumsy and awkward, right from the opening, as if a lot of connective tissue had been edited out from the script, either during writing or editing.
  7. Can't say I really cared for Hannukah on the Rye, one way or the other. Better than the usual "Hannukah traditions vs Christmas traditions", but something bothered me in this one's writing (and not just the clear "that's nice, but make it 500 % more jewish" notes the writer seemed to have received here). I liked Twas the night before Christmas, mostly for the whole premise and the ghosts. Without those, not sure i'd have been quite as interested in this one. The Holiday Sitter was... okay. I didn't really care for Bennett's overacting in that one, and overall, it wasn't that memorable, aside from the queerness of it all.
  8. That was a rough season. Really felt like they had a bunch of ideas for a Santa Clause 4, tried to sell Disney on it, but got a "nah, but make it a series" reply that sent them scrambling to reshape their story into something easily chopped into 25 min segments. Which lead to empty filler, pointless characters, underbaked storylines and, overall, a weird flow to the story. Elizabeth Mitchell seemed to have fun, though, and Tim Allen's daughter was better than expected. That said, MVP is Matilda Lawler.
  9. Honestly ? I kind of disliked it, partly because it felt flat and Grammer was overacting like Jim Carrey on acid, but also because I remember enjoying the other 12 Days of Christmas Eve, with Steven Webber & Molly Shannon, so much more back then.
  10. So... didn't care much for The Royal Nanny, or A Royal Corgi Christmas. I think I'm just burned out on "Royal" movies, and neither the cute dog or the spy angle were enough to get me invested. My Southern Family Christmas was... atypical. The whole Louisiana, cajun schtick usually leaves me somewhat cold, but Bruce Campbell + the writing made it work for me in the end, despite some doubts during the first half. A Tale of two Christmases was bland. Just bland. At every corner. I think my mind just stopped working halfway through, cos I don't seem to remember much, already. Meh. Haul out the Holly was a nice surprise, though. Fun, goofy, lighthearted, with a decent amount of comedy and amusing writing. A nice change of pace from the usual Lacey Chabert movies.
  11. Really enjoyed Ghosts of Christmas Past, which had a very old school Hallmark vibe to it, before the usual tropes became too prominent. Three Wise Men and a Baby was also very enjoyable and lighthearted. Not perfect, but I like the fact that HM actors get to write their own stuff, and it ends up being better than most other HM movies. Lights, Cameras, Christmas was enjoyable, too, even though I'm not the biggest fan of Brotherton's broad acting. But then again, it was different enough from the basics to keep me entertained (also, Sustad). On the other hand, I strongly disliked Christmas Bedtime Stories, and its clunky writing. I liked the cast, but overall, the last third (and the ending) just killed it for me.
  12. As usual, I'm starting watching those movies mid-nov, so I've got a few to catch up, going back to July's Christmas in Toyland : I liked the leads, I liked the BFF, but overall, it felt like a big ole pile of Hallmark clichés from 10 years ago. Also, it kind of felt cheap (the snow, the graphics, the toy store...). Meh. Contrary to most, I liked Noel Next Door : the cast was solid, the tone was just light enough, the snow was nice, and although it wasn't without its writing faults, it worked for me. Cozy Christmas Inn bored me, tbh. I'm not a fan of CCB, but Christmas under Wraps was fine on its own, it didn't need an half-assed sequel, esp. without the fantasy bits. I still like Sweetin as a lead (although her Merry Swissmas, for Lifetime, didn't work for me either), though, and snowed in Salt Lake City somewhat worked as Alaska, but that's about it.
  13. I don't really share the outrage/hatred re: Molly (granted, I tolerate this type of peppy personality better than most, and i've only seen her on this show) but I can understand it. And "unless she botches big during the finale, the panic attack girl will win this thing, they seem to judge her much more leniently than the other" were my words to my s.o. while watching mid-season episodes. So not surprised by the result, or by my fellow frenchman throwing the towel when faced with (ew) sprinkles. However, as far as the multiple pointless changes and decisions done on a production level go, FN is really to blame : for the past two or three years, they've been trying to revamp most of their food competitions, whether through casting, format, rules, host or twists tinkerings/changes. And none of those 2.0 versions worked better than the original formula. Here, it barely was "spring" (despite the judges' constant "ooh, you brought spring with your plate") and it was mostly a dud. (i'm not expecting much from the upcoming Halloween shows, tbh)
  14. - A Royal Queens Christmas : clichés, clichés, clichés and I never really bought Megan Park as the daughter of this boisterous italian-american family. Meh. - A Dickens of a Holiday kind of lost me along the way, after a promising start. D'Orsay and Polaha had nice chemistry, and some bits, here and there, worked, but overall, it didn't grab me. Then again, I'm burned out on anything Christmas Carol-related, so... - Sister Swap pt 1 was a pretty basic Hallmark movie full of the usual tropes, really, with the sisters gimmick being nothing more than a vague subplot, but Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Mark Deklin made for a very believable and likeable couple. - Sister Swap pt 2, on the other hand, didn't work at all for me. I usually have a soft spot for Ashley Williams, but her ADHD character, here, was annoying, the writing felt half-baked and, to be honest, there was little to no chemistry with the male lead (i wish they had cast someone with more comedic chops and presence, along the lines of Dulé Hill, in that part). Also, weird how it sometimes felt like someone thought "hey, part 1 was a little too by the book, straight and white, let's turn part 2's energy to 11 or 12, have an interracial romance, a gay couple, a black dad subplot, a black chef, a latino one, and so on !"
  15. Can't say I really cared for A Very Merry Bridesmaid. Too many subplots with underdeveloped stakes (Wedding ! Birthday ! Lost wedding dress ! Sick dad ! House renovation ! Existential crisis ! Christmas ! Selling a house !), Frances Leigh's acting felt a bit stiff and flat (and not in a "passive agressive character" kind of way), the main character's "I'm 30, I've got a successful job and a home, but I accomplished nothing" schtick was annoying and overall, it felt like they decided to throw everything but the kitchen sink in this one, hoping it would make for a strong movie. That said, I still think Emily Osment deserves much better scripts, and the main couple had pretty decent chemistry.
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