GeorgiaRai

For many years, I only watched Hallmark Christmas, and still watch more of the holiday movies than anything else, so I really appreciate having separate threads! As for keeping track of movie names, plots and actors, I've been using Pinterest for that over the last few years. I save an image of movies I like, then I can scroll through and refresh my memory as to what's worth re-watching or recording. Like this one:

My top 5 Bethany Joy Lenz Hallmark movies: 5. An Unexpected Christmas 4. Royal Matchmaker 3. Just My Type 2. The Christmas Secret 1. A Biltmore Christmas I didn't think anything would replace The Christmas Secret as my #1, then along came Bethany Joy & Kristoffer Polaha. And time travel. Sigh.

I was so confused at that point! I expected a person to be waiting in there for them - because how else could the lights be burning?! But even with that "hmmmmm" moment, I enjoyed it. I thought it was a sweet, fun movie, and a nice change of pace for Hallmark. I'l I missed some of the inside jokes/movie references though so I'll have to pay closer attention next time.

^^ That post is an instant classic, @Woopwoopkitty! ::standing ovation::

In the early years Janelle handled bill paying, etc.; did she claim to continue that after the show became successful and their income was funneled through the LLC? I also didn't assume, based on what she said, that Janelle hid financial matters from Meri. My impression is that Kody often threw Jannelle under the bus to the other wives where finances were concerned, all the while knowing he was making those decisions in his (and Robyn's) best interests. I think Robyn and, at the time, Meri were happy to accept his lies; Christine, not so much.

It took me a few minutes into To Have and to Holiday to realize Celeste was ghost Ruby from 3 Bed. I liked her in both!

I agree! So much of it was good - the couple, the town's people, the bootcamp events, even the ex; cute, quirky & fun. But they took the dad way beyond skeptical & protective to mean and spiteful. It's the same reason I didn't like the Singh movie.

Based on what we see and think we know, it's logical to conclude that Christine is fairly permissive, as some parents are. Having grown up in a loving but ultra-strict family, I went into parenthood knowing that when I erred, it would be on the side of too permissive, never too strict; that was a conscious choice I made. What leads Christine to parent her way is most likely complicated and deep-rooted, but I believe she is always well-intentioned where her kids are concerned.

Yes, it's unacceptable, so to the extent any action of our children is "on us" for not teaching them better, I agree. I'm just not on the bandwagon that says the minutes of footage we've seen, gleaned from who knows how many hours of filming, is enough to (1) fairly judge Christine's parenting, or (2) determine "something's wrong" with Truely either as a result of her upbringing/bad parenting or a mental disorder.

Since everyone's dying to hear my opinion on Truely (lol!), here it is: She sometimes seems a little immature for her age, but that's not uncommon for the youngest child (and she is the youngest in her immediate family). I also think I could count on one hand the number of minutes we're shown of her over a year's time. Ok, maybe two hands. People of all ages sometimes act differently when they are with new people, on camera, at an unusual outing or event, etc. I have no idea what Truely's life is like nor how she behaves in general. I think the person who DOES know and can decide if there are issues that need to be addressed is her mom. When my own parenting turned out to be imperfect (I'm still shocked, I tell you!!), I decided not to judge how others parent unless/until there is evidence of abuse or neglect.

By the end, I loved it, too! It felt kind of Haul-Out-the-Holly-ish to me in that it was so over the top and unserious, but beneath all of the frenzy were characters who were generally kind and likeable. I usually go for the more dramatic HMM movies, but this one was fun and made me laugh (as did HOTH).

Top 5 overused-and-predictable Hallmark movie tropes that I never get tired of, Christmas edition: 5. Switching or swapping (Trading Christmas, Finding Christmas, A Christmas Switch - though that one's not Hallmark) 4. Magic items (Shoe Addict's Christmas, Magical Christmas Ornaments, Letters to Santa) 3. Someone's dead or an angel (Nashville Christmas Carol, Heavenly Christmas, Ghost of Christmas Always) 2. Time Travel (Biltmore Christmas, Journey Back to Christmas, Next Stop Christmas) 1. Alternate Reality (A Dream of Christmas, Take Me Back for Christmas, Round and Round)

Someone else doesn't care for Autumn Reeser?! I've spent all this time thinking I was the only one!

Agreed. (She also had a cameo in another of the "Time...to Come Home for Christmas" movies as the same character.) She's not my least favorite but more often than not I don't care for her characters/roles.

I was hoping for an Aaron win but by the end, felt it couldn't be anyone but Manny. I also got dinosaur vibes (Reptar from Rugrats, anyone?) but I've never seen a vampire so for all I know, he could be spot on!