Bronx Babe

I did like the male and female leads in Hanukkah on Rye but have to agree with an IMBD poster that the actor did not particularly act as though he were attracted to women in general. (not that there is anything wrong with this; just not in a rom-com with opposite sexes) I don't think they had any real chemistry but did appreciate the fact he looked like an ordinary guy, not some paint-by-the-numbers boring Hallmark handsome wooden model type.

Oops, just saw your above post about 5 minutes ago and of course you are right -- the writers threw in almost every stereotype which they do with all other ethnic groups portrayed in these basically synthetic Hallmark movies. Nothing feels truly authentic. Yes!!!! My favorite is turkey-off-the-frame with Thousand Island on rye.

Watched it again last night and you guys are correct. He seemed to be just taken off guard by the seemingly out-of-the-blue reference to Tevya, then remembered the name but told her he didn't see the Broadway show/movie. This is because the scriptwriters love to make these cultural allusions for every ethnic group portrayed; in this case it was Jewish=Fiddler on the Roof.

So sorry about your beloved grandma. My own passed away in 1989. Reizl is wonderful as Izzy's bubbe. (and when you see Hanukkah on Rye's matchmaker, she is, to say the least, nothing like Sylvia Miles in Crossing Delancey, lol)

I would be very happy with Sam, because I naturally just love pickles anyway. Sour, sweet, mixed, they make life worth living! (along with Haagen-Daz ice cream, freshly squeezed orange juice, chopped liver, and anything chocolate) Me too. Similar but more, well, human, lol.

I also thought the place was too clean for a NYC Lower East Side deli in business for 100 years but attributed that to the fact it was to my eyes recognizably Canadian. They don't do shabby.

I thought Jacob really didn't know anything about Fiddler, not just the movie, but you might be correct. I'll watch it again just to make sure. I think you will love it! LOL

I've never had poutine but it sounds delicious to me -- french fries, gravy and melted cheese, what's not to like, lol? I prefer regular strip bacon myself. An egg cream is just chocolate syrup, milk and seltzer in certain time-honored proportions. I never cared for Lisa Loeb. Have you seen Crossing Delancey?

Ah, thanks. I had relatives living in Brooklyn, Queens, and North Miami. They're all gone now. I've been in South Florida for some time now. Still looking for decent bagels and a good whitefish salad. You lucky girl! I was under the impression from his reaction that he never even heard of Fiddler on the Roof. Oh well, when they run the movie again I'll take a second look. I hope I'm wrong, lol.

I'm still recovering from Hanukkah on Rye. And sure enough: "Our latkes are the best!" "No, OUR latkes are the best!" (sigh....Hallmark and their everlasting obsession with competition....) And even: "This rye bread is the best I ever had!" Where do I begin -- Jacob, whose Jewish family runs a Jewish deli in California, has never heard of Fiddler on the Roof. Really???? Molly, whose family has been running their Jewish deli from 100 years ago, struggles to make a simple egg cream. (they got the authenticity correct with what was clearly U-Bet chocolate syrup. The actress strategically folded her hands over the logo. She put in too much milk) Lower East Side Jewish deli has a Hanukkah floor show, complete with Lisa Loeb and guitar. Sure, I'll buy that. NOT. Apparently the winter holidays are celebrated in summer. Styrofoam snow cannot distract from leafy green foilage on real trees. Oh I almost forgot -- @bankerchick will appreciate this, I think -- a family member from the Zimmer Los Angeles Jewish deli is arguing that they should eliminate poutine from their international menu. Another family member counters this with "What's wrong with people wanting to feel they are eating something from home? What do you have against Canadians?"

Happy Hanukkah, @EtheltoTillie! Are you from Brooklyn? Ahh, Zabar's......my tastebuds still tingle......

Don't remember the name of a Hallmark movie I was watching a few days ago where the lead family goes into a diner and grandpa intones "You don't get service like this in the city" I think it was because the owner served them her special Hungarian goulash. Big deal.

This nice Jewish girl from NYC is looking forward, for better or worse, to Hanukkah on Rye tonight, lol. I just know they will screw things up. Who wants to bet there will be a Bingo card "This is the best food item I ever ate!" with either latkes, brisket, jelly doughnuts, chopped liver or corned beef sandwich?

Boy oh boy, the Lifetime movies make Hallmark look like Citizen Kane. Saw A Country Christmas Harmony yesterday. I am not familiar with lead actress Brooke Elliot but she was a crashing bore. Full-figured or skinny, these characters have no connection to reality, however "groundbreaking" the scriptwriters feel they are being.

I wouldn't watch it again either to check, lol. If I recall, his parents and other relatives spoke with a New York accent. But of course I could be be wrong.

Was it ever established why Lacey's dance instructor in Christmas Waltz spoke with an English accent? He was supposed to be Russian (or Russian-American or something) and his family lived in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. I am still confused.

You're right! I always, however, think of that in terms of the lead couple and their upcoming wedding, lol. Just another business deal but with a double bed. Now I know how these stinkeroo Lifetime Xmas movies get made (held my nose throughout The Magical Christmas Shoes last night) -- the scripts are Hallmark rejects.

Let us not forget another important Bingo moment: a science-fiction reference that comes figuratively and literally out of the blue.

Then there are the Bingo words and phrases: Amazing, impressive, Christmassy, pitch, we make a great team, I sense a 'but', you/I got this, I will have you know, do you always, no no no no no we are not a couple, wait, what?, do you two know each other?, it's my favorite movie, I can't remember the last time I took a vacation, so how's the new plumber -- is he cute?, I don't do Christmas, this is the best (fill in food item) I ever had!

I've got The Holiday Sitter on in the background. (it has Susan's Christmas Bingo card #11 -- Sam slips on the snow and into the neighbor guy's arms; why should Hallmark's gay audience be deprived of this silly trope, lol?) The obligatory wtf moment: apparently Sam and his sister have no problem with their divorced father (who would probably be, judging from the age of these "kids", at least in his 60's or possibly 70's) living most of the time alone in the family lakeside home according to the daughter "with no access to services". I'm guessing this also means zero cell phone connection -- what happens if Dad has a heart attack? Such concerned children.

Thanks, Makai. Thought so but wasn't sure. Really makes me appreciate Hallmark, lol.

Everyone is a tight-ass. And the scripts -- we can debate Canadian or American -- give me literal tension headaches. I am not kidding -- all the contests, lists, competitions, the leads constantly asking each other "What's your favorite this and that?" Nothing is spontaneous in Hallmarkland. It's all so corporate.

I'm on a roll, forgive me, lol. Does anyone regard these movies as truly romantic? I do realize the main characters "need" to be workaholic Scrooges in order to create a template/blueprint for dramatic conflict so they can achieve reclaimation or whatever, but even when the lead actor and actress "change" they are still somehow Type A personalities who incessantly babble corporate business lingo: "I'll swing by", "We make a great team", even as they (or he/she) reject Big City Life and return to the Bucolic Small Town.

Is My Christmas Prince Hallmark or Lifetime? Worst Royal/Commoner story EVER. (which makes me think it's Lifetime) The mythical kingdom is Maldevia. I could not relate to anyone in Christmas Class Reunion, who were celebrating 2007, according to one character, "the good old days" 15 years ago. I graduated high school in 1966.

Definitely, Giovanni! I rarely, if ever, get, um, excited in a hubba-hubba way about a Hallmark male lead, but Russell is certainly an exception.....