AnnaRose

Usually both - it seems like the vast majority have at least a spouse or parent that is recently deceased and sometimes more than one. It's starting to bum me out. True. But these kinds of movies are so disposable and ubiquitous, that I think I have a much lower tolerance for unlikable characters. I find myself calculating whether I want to keep spending/wasting my time while I'm watching these, unless they really grab me from the start. Not fair perhaps, but that's my response to the deluge of Christmas movies. On one hand I can handwave and forgive a lot because they are light-hearted, cheesy movies, but on the other hand I am probably less tolerant of annoying characters and other grievances.

I tried to watch Reunited at Christmas, and though I like the cast, it was just so boring. I made it through about 70 minutes (which felt like three hours) and then fast-forwarded to the end. I agree with the poster above that dad was nice, mom was a bitch, and grown daughter was being pretty ridiculous toward her boyfriend of one year who had just proposed. And the family was so pushy about everything. Other than that, it was almost as boring as my real life holidays... plus I think I just saw this same basic plot in several other movies recently... so Bah Humbug! Then I tried to watch Christmas on the Coast, which had some glowing reviews here... I don't know if I am in a bad mood from forcing myself to sit through so much of the first movie, but the female best-selling romance author is such a biatch that I don't know if I want to finish watching it. Bonnie Bedalia is great as usual, but I feel sorry for her character having to put up with such an arrogant, entitled, awful daughter. The guy who I presume will be the love interest is cute, but I want him to run far away from rude, nasty author. ETA: I was interrupted very early on while I was watching Christmas on the Coast (company stopped over) and I had only gotten to the part in which the main character was extremely obnoxious about the marshmallows in the store and at her mother's house... but I've so far watched the first half or so, and she has already started acting like a decent human being, so I will probably finish it tomorrow. (Also, apologies - I just realized this movie was not on Hallmark like most of the ones I watch. Sorry for putting my comments in the wrong thread.)

I remember having a bunch of WTF moments when I was watching it a while back. I kept thinking I accidentally missed a bunch of details as I was fast-forwarding through commercials, since I wasn't that interested and wasn't being particularly careful or paying close attention. I expected to love the movie, but it didn't make much sense. Now I'm thinking perhaps the main problem was poor editing.

I finally watched Rocky Mountain Christmas all the way through, mainly because my love for Kristoffer Polaha knows no bounds... but I'm sorry to say that no matter how sincerely he tried to sell it, I just couldn't buy that such a gorgeous, wealthy, famous, successful movie star would be so attracted to the lead actress. I'm sorry to be so shallow, but I thought the casting was terrible - they didn't look like they belonged together at all to me, which made it impossible to believe that he would be so into her after spending a few days making decorations, drinking hot chocolate and have the requisite snowball fight. It seemed even more over the top than usual for Hallmark in the fantasy-fulfillment casting aspect. (I'm trying hard to buy that the people on my screen are falling madly in love in a few days or weeks in these movies... can you help me out and at least make it look a little more believable Hallmark? Thanks a bunch!) Lindy Booth did look more attractive in the second half of the movie though, so maybe they were having lighting and makeup issues in a bunch of the scenes. Full disclosure: I have had a terrible migraine for the past two days, so it may be coloring my opinion. I also didn't like A Shoe Addict's Christmas as much as I hoped I would, either. Jean Smart was great in it though, Candace looked beautiful, and I liked the actor who played the firefighter. I thought they had nice chemistry and looked like they belonged together, so that was nice. There wasn't really anything I hated about it... I just got kind of bored halfway through. I'm not sure if that's because I've already exceeded my tolerance level for these kinds of movies (and it's not even December yet!) or because I feel so awful. One last note: I feel you firefighter-guy... I don't get the shoe thing either!

I edited my post above. You are correct that it is the summer of 1972.

You're referring to the opening credits, right? Okay... I'm editing this because I just went to check the opening credits and they only say "The 1970's..." rather than a specific year. And biakbiak is correct that this particular episode specifies the summer of 1972. Edited again because it's the episode after this one that has the voiceover at the beginning saying it's the summer of 1972. I'm not sure if this episode mentions that time specifically, but I would assume it's suppose to be around the same time.

Hey Sara2009, I have one more recommendation for you, except this one is on Lifetime instead of Hallmark... but it has only a tiny bit of romance and the rest is more about family dynamics and life choices. Kristin's Christmas Past turned out to be one of my favorites, and a welcome break from the same ole', same ole' romantic plots:

I don't know why, but that made me laugh! :D

Thank you for your detailed review, JasmineFlower. I haven't seen Poinsettias for Christmas yet, and I'm not sure I will bother due to the issue you mentioned above (which would probably annoy me to the point of not enjoying it.) As you said, it would should have avoided the timeline problem by changing the beginning to autumn. This is a particularly vexing problem with these types of movies. I watched the Hallmark movie December Bride (from 2016) and that is another case in which they could have improved it by simply indicating a greater progression of time - in this case a year so that the main couple could have had their December wedding the following year, instead of requiring viewers to suspend their disbelief that they were able to throw their wedding together in a week or two. (Plus they faked their engagement and hadn't even been dating for real.) I don't understand why the producers and writers are so reluctant to make these time adjustments. It would have cost nothing but a bit of text on the screen.

That's Snowed-Inn Christmas. I just watched it again last night, and I really like that one. I also rewatched Christmas in Homestead, which I liked a lot the first time I watched it (I love Michael Rady!)...and I actually liked it even more the second time. (The little things that bugged me the first time around didn't seem to bother me any more, and I was completely charmed by it.) I finally watched December Bride (2016), and you guys weren't kidding about how awful the fiance-stealing cousin and her mother were to Jessica Lowndes' character - constantly chiding her to get over it and attend her horrible cousin's wedding to her ex-fiance! I also thought the house decorating stuff was pretty lame, so the whole thing was basically a big 'miss' for me.

Huh. That's interesting! It never occurred to me Hallmark would have an uncut version. Oh, and I know what you mean about her mentally kicking herself... I noticed that too and was glad they included that little nuance... it made my nitpick issue less annoying. Mostly though, the movie was just so darn enjoyable that I ultimately didn't care that it should have been resolved with a conversation right there at the restaurant.

Oh, that's funny. Everything old is new again, huh? Thanks for the info! :)

I hated his haircut - the way the bottom half was basically shaved. Did men wear their hair like that 95+ years ago, or whichever time period he was from? I found it distracting and thought it diminished his attractiveness. Also, the ghost seemed like a jerk at the beginning, which made it more difficult for me to warm up to him later on. For some reason, I also never really bought into the love story either. (It might have been my mood though, so I may give it another chance and watch it again in the future.)

I watched the preview for The Princess Switch, and it made me wish I had Netflix. I wonder if they will ever release it on DVD so that I can either buy it or borrow it from my library? Does Netflix ever do that with their own productions? I watched Last Chance for Christmas (2015) on Lifetime and enjoyed it more than I expected. (I don't normally like Santa-is-real type movies.) I thought Gabriel Hogan was adorable and funny as Santa's stableman in charge of finding a replacement reindeer in time for Christmas Eve. The rest of the cast was good too.

Oh, I see. Thank you for the explanation. :)

Last night I watched Just in Time for Christmas, in which Eloise Mumford plays a woman who is offered a tenure-track job at Yale moments before her boyfriend proposes to her. She says no, but then is transported three years into the future to experience how her life turned out. Mumford did a great job in the role and I found the movie more engaging than most others I have watched recently. My nitpick is that it was silly to act like the choice was only between her dream job at Yale and marrying her true love. But I enjoyed how the story played out, (Christopher Lloyd was great as Grandpa) and was satisfied with the outcome. It's a cute movie that I would watch again. I also finally watched Return to Christmas Creek, and didn't like it as much... for some reason it was just okay for me, but Tori Anderson was luminous in the movie and I hope they feature her again in the future. One thing I didn't understand was why the uncle broke up with his girlfriend because his brother's family moved away. That seemed strange, although I may have missed (or misunderstood) the explanation because I wasn't particularly engaged while watching this movie.

Wasn't it Eddie, in this episode, who said that their mom never left the house except for church? I guess that could be one of the reasons why she didn't felt she needed to drive.

I watched it for the first time this year and loved it!

I watched a couple Lifetime Christmas movies yesterday... The Spirit of Christmas (2015) - lawyer needs to facilitate sale of inn that is haunted by a ghost who is temporarily corporeal. I thought I would really like this movie, but couldn't seem to get into it. Love at the Christmas Table (2012) - childhood friends see each other on Christmas Eve every year. I had high hopes for this one too, but I didn't like the short flashbacks from the past and didn't buy Danica as an 18 year old. I know a lot of people here seemed to like/love this movie, but it just didn't appeal to me. I ended up deleting it after only watching it for a short while. Kristin's Christmas Past (2013) - Kristin finds her present adult self transported to her past, trying to convince her teenage self to avoid some of the mistakes she made that led to her being alone and miserable on Christmas Eve, and resolving her issues with her parents. After a cringe-worthy beginning, I ended up really enjoying this movie. All the acting was great, and Shiri Appleby was terrific as adult Kristin. (Her 17 year old self was played by a different actress, which is something Love at the Christmas table should have done, instead of having Danica play her teenage self.) This movie kept me entertained, and I liked how everything was resolved in the end. I am planning to watch this one again.

A Godwink Christmas was very pleasant but kind of boring, even though I love the leads. I'm not sure if I would watch it again, which saddens me because it was the new movie to which I was most looking forward. Maybe my high expectations lowered my enjoyment. At least I made it all the way through though, which is more than I can say for Christmas at Graceland, Holiday Engagement, or Mrs. Miracle. (In Mrs. Miracle the young boys were too obnoxious and I hated that they, and the other kids, let a teacher slowly back up and fall off the stage, without saying anything and then laughing at it. I just didn't care to keep watching after that. Sorry Dawson.)

Yeah, that Murphy Brown pop up was beyond annoying. If I had any interest in watching Murphy Brown, that obnoxious, intrusive ad during Young Sheldon would have killed it.

Oh wow, I didn't realize the actress from No Tomorrow is in Return to Christmas Creek. I watched quite a bit of that show and really liked her. I have the movie recorded, but haven't had a chance to watch it yet. It seems promising.

I thought the fence to which Cam was referring was the one at the place where they bought the hen. (And when he returned it, he just threw it over the fence there.)

I prefer they do that, rather than ruin the sweetness of Young Sheldon.

Did anyone see the 2012 movie Christmas Dance, starring Andrew McCarthy as a finance broker who falls in love with his dance instructor played by Michelle Nolden? The acting was great, especially the lovely Michelle Nolden, and I really enjoyed watching the romance slowly develop between the leads. Andrew McCarthy's character was dating his boss's daughter, who was a horrible match for him. IMDB has the title listed as Come Dance With Me though, I'm not sure when they changed the title.