Kaoteek

Yeah, that one was a disaster. In fact, I've liked Ashley Williams in everything i've seen her in, from Good Morning Miami to How I Met Your Mother to that Hallmark Halloween movie, but... Love on a Limb just doesn't work, and the writing was a big part of the problem. Pushy, self-entitled characters rarely work, especially with Hallmark-type writing. I think i'm gonna skip the Christmas Train (not a big fan of Mulroney), and maybe CCB's movie (one CCB is enough, no need for twins).

Kinda underwhelmed by Mistletoe Inn. I don't know if it's Witt's acting (granted, she toned it down compared to last year, but she's still overreacting a lot, and she tends to default to a recurring half-smirk when she's acting), the awful fake snow spewing horizontally from the sides of the screen every time the characters get outside (Hallmark should really drop a couple of movies from their schedule, and up the artificial snow budget), the overall plot (there was kind of a disconnect, for me, between the big speeches on the craft of writing, the importance of needing a great title and having detailed characters that feel real, the seriousness of some parts, etc, and the fact that in the end, it was a very basic & simplistic Hallmark holiday romance, by holiday romance writers, about holiday romance writers, without much depth or originality, and with a lead character that hasn't written or published anything in her life, but can't help to pout & nearly give up when people tell her she should rework her first draft), the so-so pace, or the romance (I like David Alpay, he's a good and likeable actor, but every now and then, I can't help but feel a "sassy gay bff" vibe from him, instead of romantic leading man), but it bugged me a bit. Didn't hate it, but I probably won't rewatch it. (the father's dog was adorable, though. The movie would have been better with 200% more dog, and 200% less cliché ex-boyfriend)

Just finished this summer's Christmas Cure, and it was very... ZZZZZZZZzzzZzzzzzzzz. I liked the family, the cast, the atmosphere, but.... ZzzzzZzZzzzz.

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I struggle so much with ad agency-based movies : more often than not, the characters are supposed to be those brilliant ad creators, but the movie writers are really not, and the "ads" tend to be mediocre, at best.

Can't say I've been particularly convinced by With Love, Christmas. I liked both leads, but the supporting cast was unmemorable, & the overall Secret Santa meets You've got mail plot just left me really cold. Also, ad agencies with office rivalries are amongst the settings I just don't care for, in a rom-com, so it didn't help. (on another note, the snow was all over the place... real, fake, none, stock shots, foam, cheap artificial snow... and let's not forget the occasional close-up with digital snow added on top)

Really liked a Bramble House Christmas. The cast was great, the atmosphere felt right, the writing & acting were somewhat more subtle than usual, and aside from the cheap children book illustrations, and the last-minute usual dramatic shenanigans (which really felt forced, and should have been fixed with an adult conversation between those nuanced characters), it was probably the most satisfying Hallmark movie this year, as far as i'm concerned. I had the same thought during the movie. I think they didn't really know if they wanted to go in such a serious & realistic direction, à la HM&M, and so on, or if they'd rather have it be more comedic, with the kooky Christmas-obsessed landlord, and a more klutzy, lighter lead (that said, at least there was a mixed couple in the movie, yay !)

ION movies keep airing early around here, so we just got Snowmance (Nov 26th movie), in which Ashley Newbrough sculpts a snowman every year with her childhood bff-who-loves-her-in-secret Adam Hurtig. Until the day the snowman disappears and is replaced by Jesse Hutch, who seems to be Ashley's dream man. Aside from the magical snowman concept, the fact that it didn't take itself too seriously every now and then (sadly, not frequently enough) & the early childhood scenes (though I don't remember kids takings selfies 18 years ago...), I was left cold (pun intended) by this one ; but then again Adam Hurtig & Jesse Hutch don't really work for me as romantic leads (Hutch is better here when he's clowning around as the clueless/goofy snowman-turned-person). Newbrough was likeable enough, her weird, tough, rural redhead bff/colleague was amusing (a tad derivative & sitcomy, though) and overall, it was harmless, but... eh. ---- As for The Christmas Calendar, it was okayish, mainly due to Laura Bell Bundy, the supporting cast and the overall lighthearted vibe of the movie. That said, the "mystery" wasn't particularly mysterious (it was very derivative), and I gotta say I had to roll my eyes at the pseudo-french love interest with his pseudo-french accent and his pseudo-french baking, scored with accordion.

I'm not sure what to think of A Gift to Remember. On one hand, I really liked Ali Liebert as the lead, the dog was adorable, the supporting cast was likeable, and it wasn't a bore to watch, but on the other hand, the writing was really on the nose (it was exposition central, most of the time), the amnesia gimmick is always a stretch (and the overall mystery identity plot was very predictable), Christmas was barely more than set dressing for most of the movie, and it sometimes really felt like the cast & crew got one single note "be whimsical, light-hearted & energetic, at all costs". A mixed bag, as far as i'm concerned, but once again, I didn't hate it, and I want more Liebert movies.

Didn't hate Coming Home for Christmas, but it felt very been there, seen that, and it didn't help the déjà vu that Andrew Francis was already in one of the previous 2017 Hallmark Christmas movies. Also, the fake snow and the Folgers/Balsam Hill product placement were kinda obvious (seriously, opening the first scene on a product placement shot ? *sigh*). There was chemistry between the characters, though, and I liked seeing Chelan Simmons in a small part. So, all in all, it was okay, nothing more. (holy poop, 10 Christmas movies, next week... O_o )

Just finished The Spruces & The Pines (ION's December 3d movie, aired early in my country) : a small budget version of Romeo & Juliet/Hatfields & McCoys (both mentioned in the movie), that was thankfully dynamic & lighthearted enough to make me care about the lead couple, their playful dynamics and the rest of the cast. Nothing extraordinary, but I was happily surprised to see something somewhat less formulaïc than the standard Hallmark fare, especially since I didn't care much for any of the previous Christmas movies the writer wrote (Christmas on the Bayou, Wish Upon a Christmas, The Christmas Cure and a bunch of Lifetime thrillers).

That's a good question. If it were up to me, I probably would keep all Christmas movies discussion in this thread (be they Hallmark, UpTV, ION or Lifetime), but apparently, there doesn't seem to be a hard rule about it, so... *shrug*

Yeah, A Very Country Christmas was just bland. Too many pointless characters, too much redundant talk, not enough story, meh. As for Netflix's A Christmas Prince, I really had to check twice if it wasn't an old script repurposed, because despite the likeable Rose McIver as the lead, it just felt like the writers (one of whom wrote S. Darko... yeesh) took all the Hallmark Royal/Princess/Prince/Crown Christmas tropes, and copy/pasted them in Final Draft before changing the names and the places. Not particularly impressed by Ben Lamb, either or by most of the supporting cast (the kid was fine ; she was in Sherlock, I think). The locations looked nice, though.

Eh, I like Alicia Witt, but... she was overacting like crazy in her last Christmas movie, to the point of appearing half-drunk all the time, and it only seems to get worse as years go by, so i'm kinda fearing the worst for the 2017 movie. On another note, I'm trying to get through Up's A Very Country Christmas, and i'm struggling to stay awake (and yet, it seems to be better produced and/or have a bigger budget than some Hallmark movies... maybe it's just the fact that there were tons of real snow when they shot it) (hey, just noticed a new movie, A Christmas Prince, on Netflix, with Rose McIver as the lead. I like her.)

Well, it ended up losing me not long after that point, when it started laying it thick with the usual Hallmark tropes, with the dancing, the weird lighting, and with the awfully cheap fake snow rolls that, in some outside scenes, they didn't even bothered to cut or to hide properly. Too bad, cos I really liked the cast and the latino vibe.

Yeah, I saw that earlier, but I think they've already renamed it "Christmas Solo". Or at the very least, that's the title Up is promoting it under.

Happily surprised by A Song for Christmas. It's nothing outstanding, but it worked nonetheless, and i liked all the characters. Also, tons of real snow is always a plus. Didn't care at all for Engaging Father Christmas. Granted, Finding Father Christmas did left me more than cold (too much sob story, not enough Christmas), but this sequel just tried to work in a bland obvious mystery and some usual romance tropes, but both felt half-assed, and Krakow seemed to overact a tad, here and there, in an effort to sell the meh. I'm about 40 minutes in Enchanted Christmas, and so far, I like what I've seen, despite the weird, almost soft-focusy lighting, every now and then.

Never really cared for Window Wonderland either, despite liking both leads. Something just never clicked, it always felt kinda cold and not festive enough to me. As for the 2017 movies I've watched so far... I've already forgotten most of Marry Me at Christmas (bland), The Perfect Christmas Present was fine for what it was, Christmas Festival of Ice was a bust, I enjoyed Miss Christmas more than I thought I would (for once, the two leads had chemistry and seemed to enjoy themselves), Christmas in the Air almost felt like a Good Witch movie with Bell giving generic advice on how to improve your life (in fact, I enjoyed the Eric Close/his job/his family side of thing much more than anything pertaining to Bell) and The Sweetest Christmas was very much by-the-book and unmemorable (just like the two male leads - now, had "Ralphie" been the male lead, that would have made for a totally different, and probably much more interesting & amusing movie).

Watching The Sweetest Christmas. Hey, two spunky redhead side-characters (the sister, and the assistant) ! The streak goes on ! (on another note, man, the casting for those male characters is weaker and weaker...)

Catching up on a few 2017 Hallmark Christmas movies, I find it funny that the usual "caucasian lead with an ethnic bff" that used to be the Hallmark norm has been, at least in the few recent HM movies i've watched, turned into "caucasian lead with somewhat kooky redhead bff & ethnic boss".

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that that was the original pilot they shot, until they retooled the show to make it more compelling by having past contestants in.

Isaacs & the Discovery don't appear until episode 3, according to some of the reviews that got un-embargoed.

Relieved to see that, overall, everything was mostly the same, and had the same kind of energy. That said, since early rounds are always messy and somewhat underwhelming (and also since I'm on a Bake-Off kick, this summer, and I just came out of watching a couple of our french Meilleur Pâtissier seasons), I wasn't too impressed by most of the cakes produced this week. It's bound to get better, though.

Yeah, I clearly don't share their idea of what fun, amusing and friendly aliens should look like. And even Nelson's, which was the most overtly "fun & friendly" of them all, bothered me with its cheesy/cartoony latex mask w/baked-in dopey expression. I didn't expect too much going in, though : Face Off contestants seem to struggle with whimsy & fun characters, most of the time, so fun aliens vaguely inspired by random space noises... it wasn't going to produce masterpieces. Next week is monsters based on Glenn Hetrick's haunted house concepts, I'm expecting Andrew to do very well, but we'll see.

TBH, I fast-forwarded through a good half of that one. I'm just tired of zombies, be they fungal, viral, undead or cursed, and those make-ups were just not interesting enough, this week, for me to really pay attention all the way through their creation. Next week's Amusing Aliens, I'm hoping for some whimsical make-ups...

I wish I could say i'm surprised by everything Fuller says in that interview, but i'm not. I would have preferred an anthology-type series, maybe even with seasons tied together by a common threat, or something (it worked for the book crossovers, why not build two or three time periods around said threat, and have a big timey wimey crossover in season 4, or something) ; i don't really like the uniforms and some of the current esthetics of the show ; i would have loved to have something bolder in terms of direction, and apparently writing ; in short, i think I would have enjoyed Fuller's Discovery much more than I will enjoy the one CBS meddled with. (however, even though she's Fuller's choice, I'm still not on board with "Sonequa Martin-Green, hidden adoptive sister of Spock"... I hope she'll convince me through her acting.)