AnnaRose

I'm so glad this show is back with new episodes - and this was another one that was jam-packed with hilarious lines and bits. As usual, it was even funnier when I rewatched it because there are so many little things that I missed the first time around. This is by far my favorite show this season.

Original Airdate: January 8, 2019

Thanks so much for your suggestions! I have already watched A Country Wedding and I LOVED it!! I knew Autumn Reeser from Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade a show she did called Valentine, but I was not familiar with Jesse Metcalfe (he's so cute!) They were wonderful together and I really enjoyed the story. I'm glad you mentioned it, because I don't particularly like country music, so I don't think I ever would have watched it if you hadn't recommended it. Thank you Twoods! I set my DVR to record all of those, and I'm really looking forward to them, especially since both you and MissyPoo liked them. I am not sure how many of the other ones I will have time to watch. I forgot that the small number of television shows (I watch) are back from hiatus... so much to watch and so little time for television viewing. ;)

Thanks MissyPoo! That's awesome!!

I just watched Love at First Dance tonight and really enjoyed it. Does anybody have any recommendations for don't-miss non-Christmas movies being shown in the next week or two on Hallmark or HM&M?

I just watched Hope for Christmas and I kind of hated it. Well, hate is probably too strong a word, but I was just so incredibly bored by the same old formula with plot points I have seen repeatedly this year: it was the fourth or fifth movie I watched this year that was largely set in a bookstore; and of course the successful career woman from a big city visits a small town and decides she has to stay; she inherited a house that she's planning to sell; and cute, single local guy is of course a widower; and the cute, busy bookstore has an owner who doesn't want to run it any longer. Ugh. I've seen all of those plot points this year, repeatedly, and often in the same movie. I know what you mean Myrrhine that sometimes, if you really like the main characters, you can overlook the fact that it's the same repetitive plot points and recycled drama. I liked this years Small Town Christmas, and liked it even more on rewatch, largely because I find Kristoffer Polaha so appealing and I thought he had nice chemistry with the lead actress. (Plus I liked that they had history which made it more believable for me.) I only watched Shoe Addict Christmas once because it was the beginning of the season, and after I had already watched most of my favorites from seasons past, I deleted it before watching it a second time thinking it wasn't quite up to par (compared to my favorites.) But looking back, after watching so many duds this season, I think it will probably end up being one of the more enjoyable 2018 offerings when I watch it next year. Like Myrrhine, I appreciate that the plot was refreshingly different, especially now that I'm so burned out on the same old formula. I think next year I will only watch my favorites and only new ones that have multiple rave reviews here (you guys don't mind being guinea pigs, right?)... otherwise I fear I may start hating these movies... I was teetering on the edge tonight, and if I have to watch one more gingerbread contest (or any other kind of town Christmas contest) I may be done with these for good. I'm sorry for the negativity. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood? Except I don't think I was in a bad mood before I started watching Hope for Christmas. I believe that is the last new one I had on my DVR. Only my favorites left to watch now, I think, until next year anyway.

I also watched a bunch of pre-2018 Christmas movies that were new to me and that I really liked. (Two were not on Hallmark, but since all the rest were, I'm just including the whole list here.) In order that I watched them: A Gift to Remember The Christmas Secret Christmas in Homestead The Christmas Ornament Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade A Christmas to Remember Christmas in the Air A Joyous Christmas Trading Christmas A Bramble House Christmas Journey Back to Christmas Christmas with Holly Holiday Engagement Christmas Dance/Come Dance with Me Kristin's Christmas Past (Lifetime) Dear Santa The Christmas List (1997 with Mimi Rogers) Holiday in Handcuffs 12 Dates of Christmas (ABC Family)

2018 new Hallmark Christmas Movies: These three were my favorites primarily due to the cast: Christmas at Pemberley Manor - with Michael Rady Mingle All the Way - with Jen Lilley Small Town Christmas - with Kristoffer Polaha ------------ I finished these and they were only okay... I might watch them again: The Truth About Christmas - this was probably my favorite of my second tier A Shoe Addict's Christmas - I will probably give this another try next year to see if I like it better. Christmas Around the Corner - I already watched this a second time, but didn't like it as much on rewatch. ------------ I finished watching these and they were okay too, but I probably won't watch them again: Christmas Joy Godwink Christmas Christmas Perfection Entertaining Christmas Return to Christmas Creek Reunited at Christmas A Very Nutty Christmas ----------- These I deleted without finishing: Christmas in Love Christmas at Graceland Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane A Christmas Arrangement A Christmas for the Books

Oh, that's a good idea! It would help to have the visual reminders. I may have to try that. Or maybe I'll just download the main image from IMDB or something, so I can easily move them among folders. The visual cues would be especially helpful as the names become more and more similar over time. (And a lot of the plots!) I haven't seen everything on your list, but of the ones I have, these are some of my favorites also: A Gift Wrapped Christmas (personal shopper for widower with young son) I love this one too. Nine Lives of Christmas (and I'm not even a cat person!)) I'm not either... but I may have to become one! The Christmas Secret (Tutor Girl saves a life & loses a locket) I watched this again the other night and loved it! Christmas with Holly (those uncles!!) Yes!! Such a sweet movie! Naughty or Nice (Peyton finds Santa's list) This one started my Christmas movie addiction/obsession. A Very Merry Mix-Up (I generally like Alicia Witt & this is one of her best, IMO) I generally don't like Alicia very much, but I love this movie. It reminds me of While You Were Sleeping.

I thought the same thing about the lack of chemistry, and I can't say I enjoyed it. It was one of my least favorite Christmas movies last year, as I recall. I gave up and deleted it after only watching a little bit, but I remember being alarmed at how thin the actress was. Extreme thinness usually doesn't bother me like it bothers some people... but here it just looked too much like some sort of disorder. I hope the actress is okay. I suppose it could just be her genetics/metabolism, but they really should try to camouflage it. When you consider how much weight the camera adds, it is quite disturbing. On an unrelated note, I watched Christmas with Holly again the other night and I think I loved it even more than when I first watched it. The little girl playing Holly, who stopped speaking when her mother died, is adorable and I loved her relationships with her uncles who were taking care of her. Plus the romance was great and very believable. Eloise Mumford plays the female lead, and she is as charming in this movie as she was in the time travel movie Just in Time for Christmas. I am having a hard time deleting most of these movies from the DVR. The good ones are so enjoyable to rewatch, plus I find them very soothing. (They're better than Prozac!) I may still be revisiting my favorites in April. ;)

The guy who hates Hallmark movies - it seems like he either has to hate them (even the very good and excellent classic Hallmark movies) or actually does hate them no matter what... and either way, he comes across like a tool to me. And it's insulting to people who enjoy them, frankly. I would prefer to just listen to the two guys who like or love them in general, especially if they allow themselves to speak honestly about any of the movies that are sub-par for them, or any of the aspects of a particular movie that bother them. That would be much more useful and interesting to me. I listened to just the beginning of the Deck the Halls podcast they did for Crown for Christmas, a movie that most people love and consider a classic, and hater guy thought it was terrible and said he thought it was a kids' movie. I also listened to part of the one they did for The Most Wonderful Time of the Year with two female guest podcasters, and they managed to diminish some of my enjoyment of one of my favorite Christmas movies. I decided not to listen to anymore of their podcasts after that, although I would if it were just the two guys who generally like or love them. I wouldn't mind a little snark and good-natured criticism if it was coming from viewers who actually overall enjoyed them, or at least were open to enjoying them... unlike hater-douche.

I listened to their interview with Kristoffer Polaha and liked that one because of Kristoffer. I tried to listen to a few others but got bored and really didn't care for them. I found them kind of annoying, to be honest.

They live in Westport because that school system has the special help that Anna-Kat needs, and they can't afford private school.

That's exactly how I feel, Kaoteek! I only watched a little bit of A Christmas for the Books before I deleted it. Seemed too same ole', same ole' and the leads didn't appeal to me. Then I watched Christmas Around the Corner, and although I wasn't particularly feeling the romantic relationship, I loved the kind, energetic, confident and feisty heroine and the actress that played her - Alexandra Breckenridge, who I would never have recognized from her role in this episode in the final season premiere of Buffy (even though I watched the entire Buffy series many times.) She looked so different in Christmas Around the Corner. My favorite part of this movie was her relationship with the teenage girl who she caught trying to shoplift a book. Everything about it that was so well done. I probably would have found fault with the premise of the vacation rental/manage a bookstore if I hadn't seen the link to its real life counterpart in Scotland before watching this movie. After that I watched Mingle All the Way, and the entire thing just really worked for me. I loved both the male and female romantic leads. Jen Lilley was fantastic (as she was in Spirit of Christmas) and I will try to catch any of her future movies. Although I have seen the whole pretend relationship thing before in other movies, I loved the set up in this movie, especially because I would love an app like that. (I have had to attend many fundraising events, parties and galas over the years and it would be so nice to not worry about finding an appropriate date when I'm not seeing anyone.) Lindsay Wagner played her mom, and the whole family aspect was also very well done for both main protagonists. And the business partner and best friend getting together was another nice touch. Bonus points for no widows, widowers, single parents or dead parents! (Actually... I have to double check on the male lead's side - we saw his sister, her husband and her daughter quite a bit, and I don't think their parents were deceased, but I could be wrong. It wasn't a major plot point though, if they were, since I don't even remember any details.) I use a spreadsheet that also has a brief description and the lead actors, but I still have to look a lot of them up.

Wow, you weren't kidding about the fake snow! I think in most of these movies they use some sort of snow machine to make fake snow, don't they? I have never noticed rolls of fabric standing in for snow before. (Maybe I'm just not that observant?) But in the last scene of this movie, when they're outside leading up to the big kiss... OMG! They had actual white blankets draped all over the landscaping that were supposed to be snow, but didn't look like anything other than fake snow blankets bunched up on the ground! (Plus they also had some trees covered up - I'm guessing they must have been blooming at the time of filming.) Wow! Just awful! I'd rather see green grass than fabric draped on the ground like that. The movie was pretty meh for me, even though I did like its "you don't have to be perfect" message. I've loved Brendan Fehr since Roswell, so I'm always happy to see him, but I just wasn't really feeling the chemistry between him and Jodie Sweetin in this movie. Then again, it may have had more to do with the cringey-ness of Jodie's character pretending to be something she's not, throughout almost the entire movie, and waiting for her to be found out. It's not my favorite type of plot and had me on edge, plus it's hard for me to root for a character who isn't being honest, even if her reasons for being deceptive are understandable. I recently watched A Christmas Kiss (2011), also featuring Brendan Fehr, this time with Laura Breckenridge as his love interest. I overall liked A Christmas Kiss quite a lot, (it was more entertaining than Entertaining Christmas) but it was difficult to accept the idea that Brendan's character kisses his girlfriend's assistant in the elevator, (in her building!) and doesn't recognize her when he sees her the next day, in the same building and the same elevator! How daft could he be? Heavy, glittery makeup didn't make her look that different, nor did her Clark Kent glasses. Other than that I liked the story, and Elisabeth Rohm as the villainous boss was fantastic. Thank you everyone who reviewed Christmas at Grand Valley... It didn't sound appealing at all, and I decided to just delete it instead of wasting my time.

Oh, that's interesting that those were both written by the same person. I just watched Trading Christmas again the other night for the second time, and liked it even more than the first time. I particularly enjoyed Faith Ford's character's story and her love interest, who was very laid back and seemed like such a sweet and kind person. All the couples had great chemistry, and all the storylines in this movie were enjoyable for me. I also watched Small Town Christmas with Kristoffer Polaha and enjoyed that one too, even though it wasn't super exciting or anything. The appeal was the cast, and I find Kristoffer so charming and thought he was very well-matched with his love interest in this movie. (Unlike Rocky Mountain Christmas in which I just couldn't buy that his character would be so head-over-heels in love with the lead actress.) I also liked that they had known each other previously, which made their connection much more believable.

That's the opposite of what I tend to like. I prefer the movies that are light on the Christmas stuff and movies in which Christmas is just kind of incidental to whatever else is going on. And the more of these movies I watch, the more I feel that way because it all gets to be increasingly repetitive.

There are. I guess some people would rather save the money it would cost to hire such people and try to cheat the system by buying, staging and then returning what was used. Or maybe it's also stagers who are buying, using and returning merchandise.

That's horrible! People who do that have no sense of decency, do they?

I know people have trouble saying certain sounds and pronouncing certain words, but I don't think we've ever seen any sign that Luke has any kind of speech impediment and he pronounces the "th" sound just fine. I don't think he couldn't pronounce it correctly. He just seemed to be confused about (or somehow unaware of) what the correct pronunciation is. I still think Claire correcting him is completely appropriate for a parent who is, let's face it, still preparing him for life, and not the least bit rude. (Especially since it was in private.) YMMV, of course.

That's an excellent idea, Possibilities!

Ah yes, thank you, I think that is exactly what my problems were with it. (Along with the ghost's stupid haircut, which I later learned was accurate for the period.) Thank you for reminding me why I didn't like it very much. I think I will pass on watching it again, because issues like that will probably bother me even more on rewatch.

I don't have UP channel, so no Christmas on Holly Lane for me. :( Do these movies tend to show up on other channels later? I mean, do they tend to be independent productions (outside of the ones Hallmark produces since they have a well-oiled movie making machine) that are then shopped to different channels over the years?

I should give that movie another chance if it's airing again this season on Lifetime. On paper I should love it, so I don't know why I couldn't seem to get into it. I even remember really liking the opening scene, but I can't even say why that movie was only okay for me. (It may have been early Christmas movie burnout or something.)

It doesn't seem odd to me since Zack has been a reoccurring guest throughout the series and is very well liked by the audience. I think most shows make an effort to bring back popular guest stars before they end, if they can. Edited to Add: Plus he's funny and I bet the writers like writing for him.