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The show writing probably also explains why so many are assuming that Penelope did what she did out of jealousy instead of that she did it to protect her friend. In her book, as she talks about her long history with Colin, Penelope acknowledges over and over that she has never had any chance with him and had no expectation of reciprocated feelings. She isn't stupid, she expected him to end up with someone. Of course she felt pain seeing his attentions elsewhere, but she didn't have Lady Whistledown spill the beans in a naive attempt to have a chance with him. Like Blackberry Jam, I think ultimately her goal was to protect Colin. And like Marina made youthful mistakes, Penelope also did in how she ultimately resolved the situation.

Same. And Chippings, I'm not surprised you found the male hero to be the one decent aspect of the movie. He has actually been in a regular Hallmark movie and I think some other shows and seems to be a decent actor. Not sure how he ended up with all these other smaller-time actors in this cheap movie. I wasn't surprised to find out that the female lead is actually English, as her American accent was definitely off at times. They should have just had her be from London and keep the rest of the story the same. There wasn't really a need for her to be American specifically.

Agree about Christmas at the Castle. I probably shouldn't have bothered to watch the whole thing. I appreciate Lifetime for continuing to air "new" movies this week since I'm a secular Jew, not working this week, live alone, am not visiting family like I normally do thanks to the pandemic, and have little better to do. This is exactly when I have more time to watch, but there's understandably less on. Even Hallmark doesn't bother. Unfortunately, they seem to have chosen some of their lower quality movies to show now, I guess because they aren't expecting a large viewing/buying audience. So they are smartly trying to be the network with new content but with little risk or effort. Oh well. We'll see what tonight's tomorrow night's movie brings.

Thanks. Another show that I haven't watched, but I remember seeing advertising for it on Twitter. It sounds like that show has worked out well so far, based on what you shared. Very interesting.

So I'm kind of weird with these shows. I actually do not watch the Bachelor or the Bachelorette. I think the only full episodes I ever saw were the last one or two of the first season of the Bachelor a million years ago. Generally, I'm not into the melodrama of these sorts of reality shows. But I seem to get curious towards the end or after the end when I see stuff on social media, and I end up reading about it. Related to the long distance dating - I guess there would be less options and drama for the show in terms of casting, but I feel like they should have seasons where the cast is from a certain region of the country. I know the whole basis of the show is unrealistic, but I think the couples would have a slightly better shot if they lived somewhat close to each other in real life to start with. While there might be claims of being so in love, etc. on the show, when they get back to the real world, distance dating just adds another complication. How often are they so bought in right after the show that they immediately uproot their lives and make a move somewhere else? Just have each season shift regions in the country. Though I know the producers, etc., don't really care so much about relationship success after the show airs and there probably isn't any motivation to doing this. This random non-watcher thinks it's a good idea, though. 😛

To be fair, this year Hallmark has had all the things @Darian listed except for having "a man follow a woman to another country because she got the big promotion." I've liked more Hallmark movies this year than I have in awhile, and I haven't been thrilled with many of the Lifetime ones although there have finally been a few.

I already commented on the other new movies that you referenced. Too Close for Christmas just bored me. I don't have a lot to say about the movie besides that. It's funny, I also liked A Christmas Exchange, but I had the same issue with it at the start of the movie as I did with Christmas Ever After. The female lead annoyed me at first and was very over the top. Her forgetting to leave her house keys for the guy who came all the way from England to stay there and then chatting his ear off when he called her about it and told her how tired he was. However, the movie improved once she calmed down and I ended up really liking it, which is also what happened with Ever After. It was another movie that I did not expect to like from the preview.

I actually liked the Lindy Booth one more than I expected.

Eh, I wasn't really into it even before it got to the annoying tropes. I didn't really feel any chemistry between the leads, and Neal's fake English accent messed with his acting or something. I didn't like him as much as I did in the movie he did with Danica.

The lead in Christmas Ever After started off a bit over-the-top and silly but she does settle down after a bit and is actually very sweet and more normal. I ultimately liked the movie, like Callietwo. I liked it more than I expected to.

I posted most of my thoughts on the holiday movie thread since it was on Lifetime. But related to the steamy scene, it's definitely up there. There's another similar one from a different older Lifetime movie - I'm blanking on the name right now. The female character was helping a company that goes public and it doesn't go well, she finds a cute Christmas-y town to escape to that her mother had been to (I think), and she lives above and is temporarily in charge of a bookstore, and she starts changing the bookstore. It's a terrible description, I know. But there's a similar scene where the male lead is leaning over her from behind and helping her wash soot off of her hands.

Sugar & Spice was decent, but what stopped me from liking it more was that they included too many of the usual obstacles, and you knew they were all coming. The unsaved work plans, him being mad at her for sharing his ideas to help his career without telling him, a work misunderstanding about who got the job, and then the potential issue of whether they could be together if she went to Australia (though I'm glad they resolved that by having him go with her). I feel like there was another that I'm forgetting. They weren't major, but it was enough to annoy me each time something else happened. ETA what I did like: I thought it was hilarious that her dad spoke with the southern American accent after learning English by listening to country music or Johnny Cash or whoever it was. That cracked me up almost every time. And they did have good chemistry and other funny moments. The movie included some things that aren't typical for these movies with the dessert references, grandma appearing from her imagination to guide her, etc. It's just frustrating to me that there are some movies that are so close to finally being "good" for what they are and completely enjoyable, but they don't quite get there because they have to throw in one of the usual, annoying tropes.

I hope you find a way to watch. Like I said, I really did enjoy it. I saw an interview with the leads about working with Fran, and they talked about how she took things that weren't necessarily funny in the script and found ways to play it in a funny way. I could definitely see that. I think the movie benefited from having a longtime sitcom actress in that role that differentiated it from the other parental actors. Her acting style (and voice) might have bugged some people, but I really enjoy it. I also found out that the lead couple are actually married in real life, and several other people involved in the project are also homosexual, so they apparently helped craft the movie in a way that would be sensitive to that storyline. ETA: I don't want to forget to acknowledge Ellen Wong, who played the best friend, Madelyn. I really enjoyed her as well. She was also funny and a good friend. Really, like I said in the first post, I think the main cast was all solid.

We didn't do Peking Duck, but yes the Chinese. And don't forget going to the movies! She may not go for a full 6 weeks. But when her father suggested that she visit him in Italy, and the exchanges that followed, I think they were implying that Christina might join David for a little bit to go see her father. I forgot to include someone else's quote, but whoever said she looked mid-30s - I think I'm insulted. I am 35 myself. I think the way they filmed her/the lighting, etc. softened her up a bit and maybe made her look a little younger than she is, but the Botox or fillers or whatever made her look terrible. As someone else who recognized her from other things and knew what she used to look like, I was so distracted by it the whole movie. Not to say that David was the hunkiest of leads, but it just wasn't a good look. She probably would have looked better as her natural self. She isn't even that old. It's sad. It kind of took me out of a lot of the movie, so I may have to rewatch to see if I can get past it and enjoy it more. This is a nitpick for me as well, but I'm pretty sure that I read it's intentional. I think it's part of their attempts at "wish fulfillment" for the viewers. In addition to having the fairytale romance, you can pretend to have the perfect house, too. It does the reverse for me. It frustrates me to see the unrealistic houses, especially for people with careers that you know could never afford those houses in the areas that they supposedly live (and no indication that family left them money). Seeing those homes sometimes takes me out of the movies a bit as well as I scoff at the silliness, although I've gotten better at ignoring it.

I'm also Jewish, although I jokingly say now that I'm a "bad Jew." Growing up, we were reform at most, and at this point my family would probably consider ourselves secular Jews. I agree with some of this but disagree with some, though I could be wrong about my thoughts since I didn't grow up sticking rigidly to traditions. I don't see building snowmen and drinking hot chocolate as Christmas-specific activities, but more winter activities that we see a lot in Christmas movies because people like them and wintery/cold/snowy associations with Christmas make people feel good. As a chocoholic who comes from a line of chocoholics, I have always loved hot chocolate. I grew up in an area with a good-sized Jewish population, so I don't think I would attribute it to just being pulled into the Christmas world around me. I definitely don't remember a large menorah-lighting, like you mention. I've seen large menorahs in towns I've lived in as an adult, but I never attended any sort of event and don't remember seeing events publicized. And the mother's decorations were definitely Christmas decorations with Hanukkah colors. I think companies are trying to get Jewish customers more recently, as I have seen some lights targeting Hanukkah that look Christmas-y. My mom has some hanging outside of my parents' house currently. I forget if it's just blue/white lights or if they have little menorahs or Jewish stars hanging off. The decorations definitely are not traditional Jewish, though. With Christina, I assume the restaurant is doing well. It was her mother's and now hers, so it has obviously been in business a long time and has been successful. David's lukewarm review was relatively recent, so its business probably wouldn't have been tied much to it, and we find out her cooking wasn't as good around that time because her grandmother had just passed and she was off of her game. Other references suggest that she normally was an excellent chef. So I can buy the success, though she definitely still seemed to have a lot of money and I don't know what her plan is for the restaurant while she's away if she's the head chef.

i apologize in advance, but I need to complain about two minor things repeated in these movies that drive me crazy. 1. The super fake snowmen. I really hate the styrofoam-looking, overly round bodies of the fake snowmen in so many of these movies. Or really, it's the same one or two. I appreciate the few movies that have ones that look real. If I remember right, Christmas With the Darlings had better snowmen. 2. People holding and eating food out of gloved hands. Is this one just me? I imagine my gloves are covered in dirt and germs in between washings, whereas at least my bare hands are washed frequently and more easily before eating. Yet they do it so much in these movies, and it makes me cringe every time.

I watched The Christmas Setup. I liked it a good amount, and it was definitely one of the better Lifetime movies this holiday season. I guess I shouldn't be surprised with Fran Drescher involved. Some people don't like her or can't get over her voice, but I was a huge fan of The Nanny growing up as a Jewish kid in New Jersey. The movie seemed to go further with the humor than a lot of the other movies. Fran definitely plays a mother differently from all of these other constantly rotating actors who play the parents in these movies. The actors all worked for me. The storyline was mostly the typical Christmas tropes (outside of the LGBTQ storyline being front and center), but it worked for me overall. Though I wished Fran and her sons played Jewish and the love interest was Christian. But maybe that would have been a step too much in a movie with the LGBTQ storyline and the interracial storyline with the brother and best friend. Or maybe it just would not have allowed Fran's character to be in charge of some of those Christmas festivities.

For some reason, I can't quote Chippings' post. But I agree and would also add that the James might have seen it as "fate" or "destiny." That this woman that he is falling for also happens to be the amazing nurse who helped his father and took such great care of him. And it was meant to be.

It's funny - I'm usually one of those who doesn't like facial hair on a man. But Warren Christie is one that it does actually work for. I did like his look in The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

Just finished Christmas She Wrote. It was just okay. There were definitely problems with it, as others have said. The best part was the Goo Goo Dolls' Christmas song at the end.

I agree, the movie was "just OK" or even a little blah and not sure the story made sense much of the time. It's funny, the shoes stuck out to me, too. Possibly because it aired so soon after the waltz movie, where they commented specifically about how you need ballroom shoes. And in If I Only Had Christmas, I thought her earlier shoes did look more appropriate for dancing and thought maybe she had given that feedback. And Warren Christie's character comments on getting shoes from an actual place that sells dance shoes, so I was expecting new appropriate ones. Then magically, the ruby slippers end up being insane stilettos that are absolutely not for dancing. So the movie ended up losing even more points there after all, when it seemed like it might get that right at first. Not that the shoes played much of a role in how good/bad the movie was.

I enjoyed it also, so I guess I will have to rewatch it to see how I missed that explanation initially. Hopefully I can get it to play without it skipping around a ton. So what was the girlfriend's surprise then, if he knew about the show?

I totally agree with your last point. For the other - I might have missed something because my SlingTV has been having issues with my recordings. But I didn't think he was leaving the show specifically to be on the reality show with his girlfriend. I thought he didn't even know his girlfriend was working on that as a possibility until later in the movie and that it was coincidental. I took it that he was just over the show in general. He was tired of working with Alison's character and her pressure to be more prepared, to do things he didn't care about (like showing an interest in Christmas), etc. and just wanted to move on. Then, when he and Alison got to know each other and like each other, he had a renewed interest in the show and working with her. Again, I could be completely wrong.

Just watched Heart of the Holidays. My first recording was messed up. It was mostly boring, although I did watch to the end. I actually would have preferred Sam with Will and Noah should have gotten together with the other girl. Oh well.