Give Me Five! (Hallmark fun & games)

[GeorgiaRai]

Pick any Hallmark Movie topic and give us your top five! 
Sample categories:  Best/worst actor, best/worst storyline, best older movie, favorite lead pairings, favorite Christmas movie, worst/most common tropes, etc.
The only rule:  Don't judge (lol)!

I'll start with an easy one; reply with your list in this category or choose a different one.

Least Favorite Hallmark Lead Actresses:

5. Erin Krakow
4. Ashley Williams
3. Erin Cahill
2. Jill Wagner 
1. Ashley Newbrough

Honorable mention:  Eloise Mumford who was spared thanks to Christmas with Holly. 

[MissyPoo]

Oh fun!

I'll go with faves, although some of them have disappeared.

Fave Hallmark Lead Actresses

Heather Hemmens

Autumn Reeser

Tamera Housley

Katrina Law

Julie Gonzalo

Alicia Witt

Krystal Joy Brown

Taylor Cole (which is funny because she used to be on my least fave list)

 

[Woopwoopkitty]

Least faves:

cindy Busby

Erin Cahill

Ashley Williams

Jill Wagner

 

[GeorgiaRai]

Five Favorite Male Leads (always subject to change!):

5. Carlo Marks

4. Warren Christy

3. Lucas Bryant

2. Wes Brown

1.  Kristoffer Polaha

Honorable mention:  Cory Sevier. If the role is right, he can be great!!

[bankerchick]

Hallmark potential boyfriends/husbands (current or past:)

1. Paul Campbell
2. Travis Van Winkle
3. Andrew Walker
4. Benjamin Ayers
5. Antonio Cupo

Actresses who make me find something else to watch:

1. Erin Cahill
2. Autumn Reeser
3. Cindy Busby
4. Nikki DeLoach
5. Alison Sweeney/Jenn Lilley/Ashley Williams

 

 

[Orcinus orca]

Hallmark potential boyfriends/husbands (current or past:)

1. Sam Elliot
2. John Corbett
3. Courtney B. Vance
4. Edward Herrmann
5. Eric McCormack

Actresses who make me find something else to watch:

1. Cindy Busby
2. Erin Cahill
3. Autumn Reeser
4. Nikki DeLoach
5. Alison Sweeney

 

[Badsamaritan]

Hallmark potential boyfriends:

• Mark Ghanimé (he's sexxxxxyyyyyyyy!!!!!)
• Brendan Penny
• Wes Brown
• Travis Van Winkle
• Victor Webster
• Brant Daugherty
• Carlo Marks
• Warren Christie
• Luke MacFarlane
• Sam Page
• Will Kemp
• 'Honorable Mention' -  Ryan Paevey (he can't act but he sure is purty)

Actors/Actresses I can't abide:

• Cindy Busby
• Erin Cahill
• Katie Leclerc
• Alison Sweeney
• Meghan Ory (that damn red lipstick GIVE IT A REST)
• Ginna Claire Mason
• Eloise Mumford
• Cameron Mathison (he has dime eyes)
• Mark Rosner
• Christopher Russell
• Shenae Grimes-Beech
• David Haydn-Jones
• Steve Lund

[GeorgiaRai]

Someone else doesn't care for Autumn Reeser?!  I've spent all this time thinking I was the only one!

[Orcinus orca]

18 minutes ago, GeorgiaRai said:

Someone else doesn't care for Autumn Reeser?!  I've spent all this time thinking I was the only one!

Nope. you are not alone.

[MerBearHou]

Love this!  Ok, here goes:

Hallmark fave leading actors:

Marc Blucas

Kristoffer Polaha

Paul Campbell

Carlo Marks

Brendan Penny

Sam Page

Will Kemp

Wes Brown

Benjamin Ayres

 

Hallmark actresses I cannot watch (have watched / no can do ever again):

Alicia Witt

Jessica Lowndes

Ashley Williams

Jen Lilley 

Cindy Busby

 

Hallmark fave / most reliable leading actresses:

Kimberly Sustad

Mallory Jansen

Bethany Joy Lenz

Autumn Reeser

Lacey Chabert (esp when there’s a little humor to the role)

Alison Sweeney 

Taylor Cole (chemistry w leading man is often missing, but she’s always good)

 

 

 

Edited November 9 by MerBearHou

[GeorgiaRai]

Top 5 overused-and-predictable Hallmark movie tropes that I never get tired of, Christmas edition:

5. Switching or swapping (Trading Christmas, Finding Christmas, A Christmas Switch - though that one's not Hallmark)
4. Magic items (Shoe Addict's Christmas, Magical Christmas Ornaments, Letters to Santa)
3. Someone's dead or an angel (Nashville Christmas Carol, Heavenly Christmas, Ghost of Christmas Always)
2. Time Travel (Biltmore Christmas, Journey Back to Christmas, Next Stop Christmas)
1.  Alternate Reality (A Dream of Christmas, Take Me Back for Christmas, Round and Round)

[Orcinus orca]

1 hour ago, GeorgiaRai said:

Top 5 overused-and-predictable Hallmark movie tropes that I am sick to death of, Christmas edition:

Falling in love with a prince from some fictitious country where everyone has an English accent.  Apparently every American woman wants to become a princess.

[bankerchick]

Apparently mandatory tropes that still piss me off:

1. seeing a hug which involves no touching below the shoulders and (usually the lead actress) assuming he must be in love/back in love and she takes off, moves back to the city and refuses to take his calls
2. same as #1 but a platonic kiss on the cheek
3. refusing to update the bakery/bookstore/Christmas tree farm because it has to remain the way it was when Mom/Dad/Grandma was alive
4. Deciding to hold a major gala or fundraiser in less than a week, often to be held on Christmas Eve
5. Mothers whose only apparent interest in their daughters is their love life, or lack thereof

[Notabug]

1 hour ago, bankerchick said:

Apparently mandatory tropes that still piss me off:

1. seeing a hug which involves no touching below the shoulders and (usually the lead actress) assuming he must be in love/back in love and she takes off, moves back to the city and refuses to take his calls
2. same as #1 but a platonic kiss on the cheek
3. refusing to update the bakery/bookstore/Christmas tree farm because it has to remain the way it was when Mom/Dad/Grandma was alive
4. Deciding to hold a major gala or fundraiser in less than a week, often to be held on Christmas Eve
5. Mothers whose only apparent interest in their daughters is their love life, or lack thereof

Addendum to #3.  Everyone lamenting the loss of a locally owned business that has been failing for years and trying to prevent a corporation from evicting it; all the while doing NOTHING to improve the profitability of the mom 'n pop business. Then, once the evil corporation backs off on the purchase, everyone gets to celebrate holiday-style seemingly oblivious to the fact that the business is still going to fail sooner rather than later.  As long as Grandma's cookie shop doesn't close at Christmastime, it's all good. "But everyone in town loves Grandma and her cookies' is not a business plan.  If the town wasn't buying enough to keep the store going before this, it ain't happening now.

[Badsamaritan]

Since the current crop of HM holiday movies have been underwhelming so far, as I was watching A Merry Scottish Christmas yesterday, I started thinking about sequel storylines for the movies I do like. So that's my game for today - what favorite holiday movies would make for a good part 2, and what could that storyline be. For A Merry Scottish Christmas, my idea was:

• In the year after little Ainsley's first Christmas, Lindsay is working with Mac's mother at the clinic and they're working on expanding it since the nearest hospital is over an hour away
• Brad, Sarah, and Jo have been working on expanding the Glencrave Christmas to attract more visitors to help pay for the clinic expansion
• Lindsay and Mac are already married, perhaps there's a surprise xmas pregnancy that everyone figures out ahead of time except Mac
• Hijinks ensue

I also have ideas about A Christmas Melody since that was on recently too lol. Not sure anyone else's brains work like mine but I like to think up these scenarios as I'm trying to fall asleep. I create an entirely new movie in my dreams. Now if I could only pitch them to HM and get paid. 😊

[Woopwoopkitty]

Here's my whine about tropes:

1.  Inappropriate footwear.  My # 1 peeve.  The ladies can still look good in footwear appropriate for tromping through the snow instead of cute heeled-boots that are ridiculous when searching for a Christmas tree or running through the airport.

2. The forced fall/run-into-eachother-by-accident.  Sometimes it's the initlal meet-up spilling coffee on the other while colliding on the sidewalk.  Othertimes it's the stumbling off the ladder while hanging ornaments on the tree that forces the physical intimacy where they feel sparks.  SO overused.

3. The other forced intimacy where the woman has flour on their face from baking cookies and he has to delicately and tenderly wipe it off and we're supposed to swoon. Only the best of chemistry can pull this off.

4. Despite the fancy mansions, not one kitchen oven has a timer on it. The cookies go in the oven and the next thing you know smoke is pouring out and the alarms are going off.  

5. The give-us-the-best-markieting-pitch-and-you-win-a-job-over-your-rival.  If that's how HR at your company work, epic fail.  The ONLY movie this worked in was 12 Dates of Xmas (Tyler Hynes and what's her name) when it ended up actually being based on proven track record of performance and right personality for the job.

[GeorgiaRai]

^^ That post is an instant classic, @Woopwoopkitty!  ::standing ovation::

[EtheltoTillie]

Maybe this has been suggested before: a drinking game where you drink when they say the word Christmas.  I mean people like Christmas, but they don’t actually talk about it the way they do in these movies. So serious. So frequent. So obsessed. 

Edited December 1 by EtheltoTillie

[Orcinus orca]

33 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Maybe this has been suggested before: a drinking game where you drink when they say the word Christmas.  I mean people like Christmas, but they don’t actually talk about it the way they do in these movies. So serious. So frequent. So obsessed. 

Advance booking to a detox center would be advised.

In Hallmarklandia, Christmas is the ONLY time for togetherness, family, love, and community spirit. The rest of the year it's apparently every man for himself.

As someone who had to work every single Christmas (nurse), I guess I was cheated out of goodwill toward men for my entire career.

[GeorgiaRai]

My top 5 Bethany Joy Lenz Hallmark movies:

5. An Unexpected Christmas

4. Royal Matchmaker

3. Just My Type

2. The Christmas Secret

1.  A Biltmore Christmas

I didn't think anything would replace The Christmas Secret as my #1, then along came Bethany Joy & Kristoffer Polaha. And time travel. Sigh.

[bankerchick]

My Top 5 Paul Campbell Hallmark movies:

5.  Three Wise Men and A Baby

4.  A Godwink Christmas

3.  Christmas At Starlight

2. Window Wonderland

1.  Wedding Every Weekend (not Christmas but awesome)

[Woopwoopkitty]

On 10/26/2024 at 7:49 PM, Woopwoopkitty said:

Least faves:

cindy Busby

Erin Cahill

Ashley Williams

Jill Wagner

 

Quoting myself to add the 5th, Natalie Hall.

I was originally thinking Rhiannon Fish because I hated her in the first 5 movies I saw her in (whales, bald eagles, photograph, the inn w/fake boyfriend, and something else).  Then she did Norwegian Holiday which makes me sob and she was really good so now I can't hate her.

[Orcinus orca]

[Ele]

5 actors who should appear in more Hallmark movies:

Erin Karpluk: I know she was in a new Christmas movie but I didn’t watch it.

Brett Dalton

Emily Tennant

Emily Kinney: Love on the Sidelines was almost 10 years ago.🙄

Michael Rady: Good chemistry with his lead actresses.

 

 

[bankerchick]

On 12/5/2024 at 7:59 PM, Woopwoopkitty said:

I was originally thinking Rhiannon Fish because I hated her in the first 5 movies I saw her in (whales, bald eagles, photograph, the inn w/fake boyfriend, and something else).  Then she did Norwegian Holiday which makes me sob and she was really good so now I can't hate her.

I haven't seen the Norwegian movie yet, so I can hate her enough for both of us. The 'something else' movie might be the While You Were Sleeping knockoff.

I couldn't agree more on your inclusion of Natalie Hall.

[Woopwoopkitty]

On 12/5/2024 at 7:04 PM, Orcinus orca said:

While that’s funny, this is a fun forum about lists of 5.  Your disdain for the current version of Hallmark is evident in every post you make.  Can we keep this forum as intended?

[EtheltoTillie]

I’m so bad at this. I can’t make lists of five!  I’ll have fun reading everyone else’s. 

[Ele]

On 12/3/2024 at 8:07 PM, GeorgiaRai said:

My top 5 Bethany Joy Lenz Hallmark movies:

5. An Unexpected Christmas

4. Royal Matchmaker

3. Just My Type

2. The Christmas Secret

1.  A Biltmore Christmas

I didn't think anything would replace The Christmas Secret as my #1, then along came Bethany Joy & Kristoffer Polaha. And time travel. Sigh.

I had to look up the Hallmark movies she was in. I also liked Bottled with  Love.

Edited Sunday at 10:59 PM by Ele

[MerBearHou]

1 minute ago, Ele said:

I had to look up the Hallmark movies she was in. I also liked Bottles with  Love.

Bottled with Love is one of my favorites too — Bethany and Andrew were great together and it was a sweet story.  Plus I loved the cidery and its owner.  I watch every time I stumble on it.  

[Ele]

5 destinations Hallmark should film in:

New Orleans (Make it Mardi Gras related)

Montreal

Morocco

Bali

Spain