Countdown to Christmas 2024

[ECM1231]

13 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I really liked the Yonder Star movie even though it was religious. Brooke D’Orsay is a fave since Royal Pains, and the stars had great chemistry. This weekend Hallmark hit a triple.  

I recorded it on my DVR, as I do with most Hallmark movies. As I was watching later that evening and zipping through the commercials, my DVR started acting wonky. It just kept showing me circles spinning around. I tried rebooting. Nothing worked. Even today, hours later, I cannot forward the recording to be able to watch the rest of the movie. I guess I'll just have to search to see when it will air again. 

[Irlandesa]

I like that the Dayspring movies tend to be 'real world' religious where it's a part of the lives of the characters, but they aren't expecting great miracles from it.  Even though I'm not religious, it doesn't matter because the movies are pretty grounded.

The leads in Yonder Star had great chemistry.  I was disappointed they did the third act misunderstanding, though.  The movies this weekend had largely avoided that. 

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Loved Yonder Star, may be the best ,most realistic acting I've ever seen from Brooke and John. Agree with Irlandesa, that 3rd act misunderstanding could have been omitted from the script and the movie would have just fine.  

[twoods]

I haven’t laughed so hard in ages watching a Hallmark movie- The Santa Class was an absolute treat. This is probably my favorite one for the past few years because it had a fresh storyline, great chemistry with the leads, and a nice sentimental story with the Santa. Plus, we got multiple kisses! Paul Campbell’s character was absolutely perfect. 
 

The only thing I hand-waved was how a Santa class can be profitable when they only had a few Santa’s, but I guess that’s why they were in debt. 

[EtheltoTillie]

7 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I like that the Dayspring movies tend to be 'real world' religious where it's a part of the lives of the characters, but they aren't expecting great miracles from it.  Even though I'm not religious, it doesn't matter because the movies are pretty grounded.

The leads in Yonder Star had great chemistry.  I was disappointed they did the third act misunderstanding, though.  The movies this weekend had largely avoided that. 

It occurs to me that the Hanukah movies are religious in the same way in that the characters recite a prayer each day. 

[EtheltoTillie]

8 hours ago, ECM1231 said:

I recorded it on my DVR, as I do with most Hallmark movies. As I was watching later that evening and zipping through the commercials, my DVR started acting wonky. It just kept showing me circles spinning around. I tried rebooting. Nothing worked. Even today, hours later, I cannot forward the recording to be able to watch the rest of the movie. I guess I'll just have to search to see when it will air again. 

I hate when that happens. Looks like you missed a rerun last night but Spectrum says there are three more airings plus on demand. 

[Notabug]

8 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

It occurs to me that the Hanukah movies are religious in the same way in that the characters recite a prayer each day. 

Considering that both holidays are attached to important religious events in history, it seems only natural to me that at least a few of the movies use that as part of the story.

[EtheltoTillie]

8 minutes ago, Notabug said:

Considering that both holidays are attached to important religious events in history, it seems only natural to me that at least a few of the movies use that as part of the story.

Yes both holidays celebrate a miracle for believers. 

[FunnyFace]

On 11/30/2024 at 2:11 AM, Irlandesa said:

Somewhat interesting double-header tonight. 

A 90s Christmas was okay for a time travel movie.  It's not my favorite genre. I think the only one I've liked recently is Katie Findlay's movie for Hallmark. I really struggled with the decision to set the movie in 1999 and have the same actors play the 17-18 year olds and 44-45 year olds in the present day when the actors didn't look like they could pull off either age.  Just a strange choice.   But hey, at least there was some good family content in this movie and a coming out story. 

Deck The Walls surprised me. I had very little interest in this because the home reno theme kind of bores me but I instantly loved the lead's connection with her brother and her aunt.  Her brother, by the way, stole the movie for me.  I loved every scene he had with his sister, his good friend (male lead) and his love interest.  I was excited that it seemed like they were almost giving as much time to the gay love story as they were to the main love story and felt severely let down that we didn't get a kiss from them. Like it's good that as the season goes on, we're seeing more gay representation but it still feels like quite a step back from the days of The Holiday Sitter.   They were cute and we couldn't even get a little chaste kiss?

I thoroughly enjoyed Deck the Walls and agree that the brother stole the movie. This one will get a rewatch. So far, Deck the Walls and the Christmas meets Indiana Jones with Polaha/Chabert are favorites. I adore Will Kemp but could not get into the Austrian chocolate shop movie.

On 12/1/2024 at 8:17 PM, Ele said:

I like Matula and Mirchoff a lot, but I was kind of disappointed. Matula’s character was way too uptight and came off as kinda annoying. She could have had the competitive and uptight characteristics without coming off as over the top. I stuck with it because the movie was engaging enough. 
 

I watched a bit of the Hemmens movie on HMM that was  reairing at the same time. It seemed decent. 

In the Finnish Line, the lead actress was not 'kinda' annoying, she was flat out obnoxious. I did not care about what happened to her character but did love the scenery in this movie.

[Ele]

6 hours ago, FunnyFace said:

I thoroughly enjoyed Deck the Walls and agree that the brother stole the movie. This one will get a rewatch. So far, Deck the Walls and the Christmas meets Indiana Jones with Polaha/Chabert are favorites. I adore Will Kemp but could not get into the Austrian chocolate shop movie.

In the Finnish Line, the lead actress was not 'kinda' annoying, she was flat out obnoxious. I did not care about what happened to her character but did love the scenery in this movie.

I was looking forward to it before it aired. It was one of the few new movies I watched this season and her obnoxious personality was a letdown. 

[giovannif7]

I watched so you don't have to - below is the sum total of the talent brought by Finding Mr. Christmas winner Ezra Moreland to his holiday movie Happy Howlidays.

*Note to the Finding Mr. Christmas producers - if there is another FMC competition going forward, do everyone a favor and schedule some time between the end of the competition and the start of filming for intensive acting and screen presence training, in case you wind up with another non-actor as the winner.

 

[DanaMB]

2 hours ago, giovannif7 said:

I watched so you don't have to - below is the sum total of the talent brought by Finding Mr. Christmas winner Ezra Moreland to his holiday movie Happy Howlidays.

*Note to the Finding Mr. Christmas producers - if there is another FMC competition going forward, do everyone a favor and schedule some time between the end of the competition and the start of filming for intensive acting and screen presence training, in case you wind up with another non-actor as the winner.

 

I’m trying to watch it now. It’s bad…

[Irlandesa]

The most frustrating part about Finding Mr. Christmas is that I pegged the winner as a nonentity.  The second runner-up and the runner-up both were better actors. I'm not saying a movie with them would have been the best thing ever but they'd at least acquit themselves well.  

So I was shocked when Ezra won.  

[EtheltoTillie]

But how were the dogs?  I'm going to be watching for the dogs.  I had no expectations for this actor. 

[giovannif7]

The dogs are cute, and do their jobs - I was more interested in the canine love triangle than the human equivalent. The male lead was so wooden, I was waiting for the dogs to go over to him and lift a leg. 🐕🎄

Edited Monday at 04:08 AM by giovannif7

[Notabug]

Ezra is cute, but that is about it.  No spark, no chemistry; not with his supposed love interest, not with anyone else in the cast, either.  It was a dumb idea to think they could find a big hunk of man candy and cast him in the lead of a Christmas movie.  A 2 minute cameo would've been much better.

It didn't help that the story itself was a muddled mess.  Was I understanding that, at the end, the woman, an accomplished surgeon, was going to chuck it all and go to veterinary school?  How was that going to happen?  Why?  

PS: I did attend medical school with a guy who went to vet school first and worked on puppies and kitties for a couple of years before switching, but that is far different than chucking 10 or more years of school and training to become a surgeon for vet school.

[DanaMB]

Trying to watch Five Gold Rings (HM&M) but the lead actress’ vocal fry is driving me nuts. Not sure how long I’ll last. This and Scouting for Christmas are the only two I missed the first time they aired. 

[giovannif7]

According to People - Hallmark has renewed the Finding Mr. Christmas competition series for Season 2. Its a good move, as Jonathan Bennett and Melissa Peterman are great ringmasters for the fun, and it has potential - but in case the producers missed my note above:

Quote

*Note to the Finding Mr. Christmas producers - if there is another FMC competition going forward, do everyone a favor and schedule some time between the end of the competition and the start of filming for intensive acting and screen presence training, in case you wind up with another non-actor as the winner.

 

[BrainyBlonde]

15 hours ago, giovannif7 said:

According to People - Hallmark has renewed the Finding Mr. Christmas competition series for Season 2. Its a good move, as Jonathan Bennett and Melissa Peterman are great ringmasters for the fun, and it has potential - but in case the producers missed my note above:

 

This makes me happy because I thought the show was good, goofy, mindless fun, and Jonathan and Melissa were terrific together! Plus, it was an interesting group of guys who seemed to bond and get along well.

I will say that I was baffled by the choice of Ezra out of the final three as the other two guys both had legit acting experience (Elijah was in a touring production of Hamilton for years!) in addition to charm and charisma and they handled the different challenges well. All I could figure is that they gave Ezra the win because he was eye candy and they thought they could hold his hand through the filming of the movie. He needed a leading lady who could cover up his lack of skills in Happy Howlidays (he did okay-ish on the show when he was working with bright lights like Nikki DeLoach and Brooke D'Orsay). Unfortunately Jessica Lowndes is stiff and one-note herself, so . . . 

As much as I enjoyed the guys this season, I was kind of hoping they'd do a Finding Ms. Christmas for the second season. I guess they know the actresses carry these films and they couldn't center an entire movie around an amateur though.

 

[EtheltoTillie]

I didn't realize Melissa Peterman was also involved.  I may have to go back and watch the contest.  I also like Jonathan Bennett.

[LakeGal]

Early on I expected Ezra to win Finding Mr Christmas.  He just looked the part.  He was pleasantly handsome in a non-threatening kind of way.  But he was never the best actor of the bunch.  He really did get the role on his looks.  In a lot of the movies the leading man is just a prop for the lead actress.  They probably thought he didn't really have to do much more than stand there.

I watched the movie.  The pups were cute.  But that was about it.  I wonder if they will use him again after some acting lessons?

I did think it was cute that Jonathon showed up in the movie to call Ezra Mr Christmas.  

[Irlandesa]

3 hours ago, LakeGal said:

He really did get the role on his looks. 

I have heard people say this but I guess I don't see it.  Maybe I'm a poor judge of Hallmark handsome but while I think he's a smoke show in his modeling shots, he's the kind of model I find less attractive in motion.  Not ugly, mind you, just bland unless the camera catches him at the right time. 

I certainly didn't find him more handsome than Elijah or Hayden.  Actually, I thought Hayden's stunning blue eyes made him stand out more on screen while acting. 

And I guess I felt they lost an opportunity to go with someone like Elijah. In fact, I thought maybe that was the plan--to go against the current crop of successful Hallmark leading men.  A show like Finding Mr. Christmas is the perfect opportunity to get Hallmark's regular audience to connect with a new leading man. 

[coffeebean]

On 12/24/2024 at 10:40 AM, BrainyBlonde said:

Unfortunately Jessica Lowndes is stiff and one-note herself, so . . . 

 

Funny you should mention Jessica Lowndes being "stiff". I do agree but I happened to catch the beginning of one movie which recently aired with Lowndes. Her character is awoken by the alarm clock, she begrudgingly makes it out of bed and then she is struggling with the tippy end of the tube of toothpaste. As she gets about 1/4 inch of toothpaste out of the end of the tube, she quickly laps it up with her tongue and immediately began brushing her teeth. Jessica actually made me laugh out loud. Funny scene.

[Ele]

Now that all the new holiday movies have aired, how many did you watch?

Some of the movies I mention are partial watches. 

Hallmark Channel: The Finnish Line, Hanukkah on the Rocks, The Christmas Quest, and Follow the Yonder Star

Movies and Mysteries: Christmas Under the Lights, A Dance in the Snow

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, Ele said:

Now that all the new holiday movies have aired, how many did you watch?

Ha, for me it's which ones didn't I watch.

I try to at least start every movie.  Some I watch full on.  Most I watch as background noise.  A few I give up on or never started. 

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

I try to give them all a try ,but if I'm not feeling it due to acting or writing after 30 minutes, it's change to another channel.  Actually found some older Christmas movies before on other channels that I liked. Found one called Prancer that was very well done. Last year I found one called Blizzard that was so endearing,especially for the kids. 

[DanaMB]

I watched (even if it was just background noise) all but one. Only a very few seemed to stand out. 

[absnow54]

I still have a handful left on my DVR. Some of the later ones actually looked decent, but I was burnt out by Thanksgiving! They should stack their headliners in November and hide all their fillers in December in between repeats. There’s just too many to keep up with and the quality has really gone downhill. 

[twoods]

I’ve only watched a few that everyone enjoyed on here-Santa Class, Holiday Crashers, Christmas Quest and Hanukkah on the Rocks. I have to watch Sugarplummed this weekend and that’s pretty much it. Not sure if there were others that I missed out on.

[GeorgiaRai]

Here's a reminder of what premiered this year to help us remember what we watched, avoided, hated and loved (or at least didn't hate) - in the approximate ordered they aired:

 ‘Twas the Date Before Christmas (Robert Buckley/Amy Groening) Takes fake boyfriend to family Christmas

Holiday Crashers (Lyndsy Fonseca, Chris McNally) Fake lawyer gets found out

Scouting for Christmas (Tamera Mowry-Housley, Carlo Marks) Single mom teams with local baker to cater daughter’s scouting event

Operating Nutcracker (Ashley Newbrough and Christopher Russell) Someone lost their nutcracker, I assume.

The Christmas Miracle (Rachel Skarsten, Corey Sevier)  Librarian crashes an undercover FBI operation

The 5 Year Christmas Party (Katie Findlay, Jordan Fisher)  Theater kids’ shenanigans and struggles over the years.

A Carol for Two (Gina Claire Mason, Jordan Litz) Two singers’ shenanigans and struggles, with a touch of Cyrano de Bergerac.

Our Holiday Story (Nikki DeLoach, Warren Christie) Never ask “How did you two meet?” 

Holiday Mismatch (Caroline Rhea, Beth Broderick) Sabrina’s aunts play matchmaker.

Trivia at St. Nicks (Tammin Sursok, Brant Daugherty)  Trivia team shenanigans & struggles.

Santa Tell Me (Erin Krakow, Daniel Lissing) Home Reno Show host must fall in love with someone named Nick.

‘Tis the Season to be Irish (Fiona Gubelmann, Eoin Macken) House flipper’s shenanigans and struggles in Ireland.

Christmas with the Singhs (Anuja Joshi, Benjamin Hollingsworth)  Girl takes BF home to meet her mom and horrible dad.

Jingle Bell Run (Ashley Williams, Andrew Walker) Shenanigans and struggles, Amazing Race style.

Confessions of a Christmas Letter (Angela Kinsey, Alex Santos)  Family hires a stranger to write their annual Christmas letter.

Christmas on Call (Sara Canning, Ser’Darius Blain)  Shenanigans and struggles [First Responder Version]

Three Wiser Men and a Boy (Paul, Tyler, Andrew).  Are they really wiser, tho?

To Have and to Holiday (Madeleine Arthur, Eric Close)  Girl takes BF home to meet her mom and horrible dad.

Debbie Macomber’s Joyful Mrs. Miracle (Rachel Boston).  Mrs. Miracle is now young & has a magical Barney Bag as she helps 3 siblings after the death of their grandmother.

A 90’s Christmas (Eva Bourne, Chandler Massey)  Party like it’s 1999.

Deck the Walls (Ashley Green, Wes Brown, Danny Pellegrino)  Siblings and bro’s best friend rehab a house for charity.

Believe in Christmas (Meghan Ory, John Reardon)  Christmasland (could have been called “Hallmarkville”) - where worn out movie tropes go for one last  hurrah.

Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story (Hunter King, Tyler Hynes)  Director of Fan Engagement meets Fan of the Year, with a magic hat thrown in.

The Finnish Line (Kim Matula, Beau Mirchoff)  There are shenanigans and struggles even in Finland.  Who knew?

The Christmas Quest (Lacey, Kristoffer)  Exes reunited to search for hidden treasure only they – and her mom before  her – can find.

Private Princess Christmas (Ali Skovbye, Derek Klena, Erica Durance)  Recruit and the Captain’s boot camp shenanigans.

Sugarplummed (Maggie Lawson, Janel Parrish)  Beloved TV character comes to life and both ruins and saves the day.

Leah’s Perfect Gift (Emily Arlook, Evan Roderick, Barvara Niven).  Boy brings (Jewish) GF home to meet his dad and horrible (or maybe just neurotic?) mom.

Hanukkah on the Rocks (Stacey Farber, Daren Kagasoff, Marc Summers)  What Would You Do if you lost your lawyer job and didn’t want to tell your parents?

The Santa Class (Kimberley Sustad, Ben Ayres)  Training a variety of characters – including actual Santa – to be Mall Santas.

Follow Yonder Star (Brooke D’Orsay, John Brotherton)  TV actress helps with small town Christmas pageant.  Also, astronomy.

Happy Howlidays (Jessica Lowndes, Mr. Christmas)  Dogs. 

 

[Badsamaritan]

1 hour ago, GeorgiaRai said:

Here's a reminder of what premiered this year to help us remember what we watched, avoided, hated and loved (or at least didn't hate) - in the approximate ordered they aired:

 ‘Twas the Date Before Christmas (Robert Buckley/Amy Groening) Takes fake boyfriend to family Christmas

Holiday Crashers (Lyndsy Fonseca, Chris McNally) Fake lawyer gets found out

Scouting for Christmas (Tamera Mowry-Housley, Carlo Marks) Single mom teams with local baker to cater daughter’s scouting event

Operating Nutcracker (Ashley Newbrough and Christopher Russell) Someone lost their nutcracker, I assume.

The Christmas Miracle (Rachel Skarsten, Corey Sevier)  Librarian crashes an undercover FBI operation

The 5 Year Christmas Party (Katie Findlay, Jordan Fisher)  Theater kids’ shenanigans and struggles over the years.

A Carol for Two (Gina Claire Mason, Jordan Litz) Two singers’ shenanigans and struggles, with a touch of Cyrano de Bergerac.

Our Holiday Story (Nikki DeLoach, Warren Christie) Never ask “How did you two meet?” 

Holiday Mismatch (Caroline Rhea, Beth Broderick) Sabrina’s aunts play matchmaker.

Trivia at St. Nicks (Tammin Sursok, Brant Daugherty)  Trivia team shenanigans & struggles.

Santa Tell Me (Erin Krakow, Daniel Lissing) Home Reno Show host must fall in love with someone named Nick.

‘Tis the Season to be Irish (Fiona Gubelmann, Eoin Macken) House flipper’s shenanigans and struggles in Ireland.

Christmas with the Singhs (Anuja Joshi, Benjamin Hollingsworth)  Girl takes BF home to meet her mom and horrible dad.

Jingle Bell Run (Ashley Williams, Andrew Walker) Shenanigans and struggles, Amazing Race style.

Confessions of a Christmas Letter (Angela Kinsey, Alex Santos)  Family hires a stranger to write their annual Christmas letter.

Christmas on Call (Sara Canning, Ser’Darius Blain)  Shenanigans and struggles [First Responder Version]

Three Wiser Men and a Boy (Paul, Tyler, Andrew).  Are they really wiser, tho?

To Have and to Holiday (Madeleine Arthur, Eric Close)  Girl takes BF home to meet her mom and horrible dad.

Debbie Macomber’s Joyful Mrs. Miracle (Rachel Boston).  Mrs. Miracle is now young & has a magical Barney Bag as she helps 3 siblings after the death of their grandmother.

A 90’s Christmas (Eva Bourne, Chandler Massey)  Party like it’s 1999.

Deck the Walls (Ashley Green, Wes Brown, Danny Pellegrino)  Siblings and bro’s best friend rehab a house for charity.

Believe in Christmas (Meghan Ory, John Reardon)  Christmasland (could have been called “Hallmarkville”) - where worn out movie tropes go for one last  hurrah.

Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story (Hunter King, Tyler Hynes)  Director of Fan Engagement meets Fan of the Year, with a magic hat thrown in.

The Finnish Line (Kim Matula, Beau Mirchoff)  There are shenanigans and struggles even in Finland.  Who knew?

The Christmas Quest (Lacey, Kristoffer)  Exes reunited to search for hidden treasure only they – and her mom before  her – can find.

Private Princess Christmas (Ali Skovbye, Derek Klena, Erica Durance)  Recruit and the Captain’s boot camp shenanigans.

Sugarplummed (Maggie Lawson, Janel Parrish)  Beloved TV character comes to life and both ruins and saves the day.

Leah’s Perfect Gift (Emily Arlook, Evan Roderick, Barvara Niven).  Boy brings (Jewish) GF home to meet his dad and horrible (or maybe just neurotic?) mom.

Hanukkah on the Rocks (Stacey Farber, Daren Kagasoff, Marc Summers)  What Would You Do if you lost your lawyer job and didn’t want to tell your parents?

The Santa Class (Kimberley Sustad, Ben Ayres)  Training a variety of characters – including actual Santa – to be Mall Santas.

Follow Yonder Star (Brooke D’Orsay, John Brotherton)  TV actress helps with small town Christmas pageant.  Also, astronomy.

Happy Howlidays (Jessica Lowndes, Mr. Christmas)  Dogs. 

 

Of the more recent, The Santa Class is turning into a favorite, I really enjoyed the humor, Kimberley and Ben had great chem (the car scene had some heat to it), and the scene when they walk into the lodge after that and accidentally reveal to the sister and Skinny Santa that Nick is the real Santa was laugh out loud funny to me. 

I've also come to really enjoy Following Yonder Star, and I need to formerly apologize to John Brotherton, I wasn't really familiar with his game. He's a great physical comedian and the way he portrayed his character being starstruck with Brooke's character was funny and endearing, which in turn suddenly made him sexy. I get it now. I'm not a church goer any longer but I still have my personal beliefs and I didn't feel the storyline was overly preachy. And Brooke and John had nice chemistry. 

I finally watched Hanukkah on the Rocks and it was decent. It was no Round and Round but I would watch it again if nothing else I liked was on. 🤷🏽‍♀️

I haven't watched the whole list and probably won't. Some I tried to watch and couldn't get through and for the others, the storylines just didn't sound appealing to me and didn't have actors I love to help make up for it. We won't even discuss that Happy Howlidays abomination. All in all, a rather disappointing season for me. Far too many weird lead combos, too many stories with awful, overbearing parents ruining my enjoyment, too many new faces with no charisma or screen presence or acting ability. I've started looking at reviews on their app to try to get a sense of how this season has fared for them but it appears they do a lot of censoring so who really knows. Man, I'd love to see those ratings though....