Holiday TV Movies & (Non-Rankin Bass) Holiday Specials - General Discussion

[methodwriter85]

I've always found Sam Palladio to be incredibly cute but I couldn't stand the general writing for his character on Nashville (and then the show altogether) so I'm happy I can just see a movie where I can turn off my brain and enjoy his cuteness.

Maybe Netflix will finally be the one to put out a fluffy Hallmark style Christmas romantic comedy aimed at the gays. (Yes, I'm aware of Make The Yuletide Gay.)

Edited November 8, 2018 by methodwriter85

[Popples]

I'm disappointed that Freeform isn't going to air Angry Angel again, however I just looked it up and it's OnDemand!

[twoods]

So much cuteness on Netflix that I can’t handle it! Excited about The Princess Switch and looking forward to seeing the Calendar one today. I am not looking forward to Ethan Peck getting his heart broken.

[Irlandesa]

I do like the promo for the new royal movie.  It looks like we'll get two whirlwind romances. 

A Gift Wrapped Christmas is on Lifetime tonight.   I remember liking that so I'm going to watch it again.

[AnnaRose]

1 minute ago, Irlandesa said:

I do like the promo for the new royal movie.  It looks like we'll get two whirlwind romances. 

A Gift Wrapped Christmas is on Lifetime tonight.   I remember liking that so I'm going to watch it again.

I have my DVR set to record that one.  I LOVED that movie last year!

[Mountainair]

On 11/8/2018 at 9:46 AM, Popples said:

I'm disappointed that Freeform isn't going to air Angry Angel again, however I just looked it up and it's OnDemand!

I really liked Angry Angel last year and still have it saved on my bedroom DVR. I'm thinking of changing cable providers and I hate that my DVR recordings will go too :( 

I was hoping for some sort of sequel to Angry Angel but I guess I'm out of luck, huh?

[twoods]

I also like the movie prior to Gift Wrapped Christmas today called Christmas in the City. Ashley Williams wasn’t as annoying as usual in it.

[Irlandesa]

55 minutes ago, AnnaRose said:

I have my DVR set to record that one.  I LOVED that movie last year!

I think it's two or three years old* but still a good one.

*I don't mean to be nitpicky but with these movie titles and premises being so similar**, I wanted to be clear which movie about a personal shopper falling in love with her client I was talking about.

**Hallmark had a movie that same year with a similar personal shopper story.

[AnnaRose]

38 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I think it's two or three years old* but still a good one.

*I don't mean to be nitpicky but with these movie titles and premises being so similar**, I wanted to be clear which movie about a personal shopper falling in love with her client I was talking about.

**Hallmark had a movie that same year with a similar personal shopper story.

Yes, I think that's the one with Katrina Law who is an unemployed artist with two nieces who becomes a personal shopper.  I really liked that one too, although I think I enjoyed the Lifetime version a little more.  The actress in that movie was so delightful and even the love interest's little boy was adorable, as I recall.

Edited November 9, 2018 by AnnaRose

[MissyPoo]

12 Gifts of Christmas, yeah! Love that movie. :-)

[EyewatchTV211]

3 hours ago, Mountainair said:

I really liked Angry Angel last year and still have it saved on my bedroom DVR. I'm thinking of changing cable providers and I hate that my DVR recordings will go too :( 

I was hoping for some sort of sequel to Angry Angel but I guess I'm out of luck, huh?

I HATE this! I love rewatching some of my favorite movies and shows, so I keep a lot on my DVR long-term. When I've moved or whatever, it has been a little painful for me to lose things on my DVR. Why couldn't DVRs be the exact progression from DVD players and be electronics to own personally? I actually still buy a lot of DVDs for this reason.

[Irlandesa]

6 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

The actress in that movie was so delightful and even the love interest's little boy was adorable, as I recall.

I like the actress, Meredith Hangar, too.  She's in another movie that airs on the 18th that I liked called My Christmas Love where she gets depictions of the 12 Days of Christmas showing up at her dad's house.

Edited November 10, 2018 by Irlandesa

[Crs97]

I watched A Christmas Inheritance, and it was okay.  Several nitpicks:

Ellen is climbing into bed and her foot touches something fuzzy.  She screams and Jake enters to make her feel stupid that she didn’t know they use hot water bottles.  Everyone rolls their eyes that the city girl is so dumb.  It was a 2 minute scene, but annoyed me so much that I watched with an attitude after that.  If my foot touches fur in bed, I am yelling, too.

At the end Santa is Uncle Zeke and he essentially reveals himself and starts talking about the company.  Were there no kids at the party who still believed?  

Finally, is Andie MacDowell known as a singer?  Because making her character a retired singer who gets called up for a special song at the end left me perplexed.  She can’t sing very well.

[twoods]

For the new Christmas movie viewers, another really good movie is playing Monday morning on Lifetime called Recipe For A Perfect Christmas. I watch it at least twice a year. Wrapped up in Christmas is another good one from last year that is replaying in the evening on Lifetime. 

Holiday High school Reunion is playing later that day. I forgot if I liked it or not, but I like Rachel Boston so will try to DVR it.

[MissyPoo]

I'm so glad Lifetime is showing their movies now. I need a break from Hallmark's offerings in between a few viewings and this is just the thing.

Wasn't Holiday High School Reunion also called Christmas Crush? I know I've seen that sometime ago but I can't remember if I liked it either. I'll await your thoughts, twoods, if you see it soon.

I also spotted a few movies that I passed by in the past that I may watch. A Very Merry Daughter of the Bride, His & Her Christmas, Holiday Spin. Has anyone seen these before? I'd love to know your thoughts. 

I also saw some faves that I watch every year like 12 Wishes of Christmas, All About Christmas Eve, A Perfect Christmas List, Last Chance For Christmas, and The Flight Before Christmas. Man I need to clear my DVR out!

[redpencil]

Watching Chandler Christmas Getaway on Up, and I cannot get past the setting. Where the heck are they that there are mountains at Christmas where it's basically summer weather (and all the trees are still green)? Not saying there has to be snow, but at least make it look like fall? I know they film all these things in the summer, and usually I can get past these types of issues, but this one is killing me.

ETA: Okay, seriously. Now they're actually swimming and apparently it's 90 degrees. Did I miss something at the beginning about this taking place in the mountains in the southern hemisphere or something? Or are they celebrating Christmas in July? I'm so confused.

Edited November 12, 2018 by redpencil

[twoods]

Has anyone watched Christmas with a View on Netflix? I’m not feeling it and the acting is pretty terrible, but will stick to it if you guys liked it.

[MissyPoo]

9 hours ago, twoods said:

Has anyone watched Christmas with a View on Netflix? I’m not feeling it and the acting is pretty terrible, but will stick to it if you guys liked it.

I tried watching it but I couldn't hang in there for the same reason. I'm on the fence as to revisit it or call it a loss.

 

13 hours ago, redpencil said:

Watching Chandler Christmas Getaway on Up, and I cannot get past the setting. Where the heck are they that there are mountains at Christmas where it's basically summer weather (and all the trees are still green)? Not saying there has to be snow, but at least make it look like fall? I know they film all these things in the summer, and usually I can get past these types of issues, but this one is killing me.

ETA: Okay, seriously. Now they're actually swimming and apparently it's 90 degrees. Did I miss something at the beginning about this taking place in the mountains in the southern hemisphere or something? Or are they celebrating Christmas in July? I'm so confused.

I hope this isn't a bad entry for the franchise. I've been loving this series and looking forward to a new one for a while now. Bah.

[Luckylyn]

10 hours ago, twoods said:

Has anyone watched Christmas with a View on Netflix? I’m not feeling it and the acting is pretty terrible, but will stick to it if you guys liked it.

I wasn’t into Christmas with a View.  The Holiday Calendar movie was more engaging.

[mikeb]

Lifetime is going on all-in on Hilarie Burton on Thanksgiving night.  They are showing her 2013 "Christmas On The Bayou" at 6:00 PM following at 8:00 PM by premiere of her new "The Christmas Contract", which co-stars some of her former "One Tree Hill" co-stars,  and then finally at 10:PM a "One Tree Hill" cast reunion show.  Hallmark is countering with yet another  Christmas royalty movie "Christmas At The Palace" starring Merrit Patterson (who actually starred in an unrelated Hallmark royalty movie "A Royal Winter" last year).  It will be interesting which does better in the ratings that night.

[Chas411]

Any recommendations for any decent Thanksgiving themed movies? 

[twoods]

I don’t know why I wasted my evening watching Holiday High School Reunion. It was terrible, and I stuck with it because I like both leads. What a waste on their talent, but I did like their chemistry so maybe they will be in a less sucky movie together in the future.

Edited November 13, 2018 by twoods

[MissyPoo]

On 11/13/2018 at 5:05 AM, Chas411 said:

Any recommendations for any decent Thanksgiving themed movies? 

A Family Thanksgiving was good if you don't mind a Family Man theme with a twist.

What's Cooking is also good.

Also the Home For the Holidays with Holly Hunter was always a fave of mine. It used to be on Amazon Prime but I think Starz may have souped it up this year (not sure). It's a funny one if you don't mind family dysfunctional comedies.

As for Hallmark, in addition to AFT (sadly now on the app), they also have The Thanksgiving House which I thought wasn't as good as it could have been but may be worth a check out if you come across it. There's also Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade, but that feels a little more Christmassy. May still be worth a check out if you haven't seen it before.

I'm also a sucker for the Charlie Brown thanksgiving themed movies myself.

 

ETA: A slew of previews are up over at the Lifetime site. 

Tia's movie My Christmas Inn

 

 

The One Tree Hill (and Naughty Or Nice) reunion movie 

 

 

Bethany Joy's new movie with Marcus Rosner

 

 

Toni Braxton's A Christmas Carol themed movie

 

 

Ashley Banks, Rudy and Vanessa Huxtable's movie

 

Penny Proud's movie

 

Clarissa Sabrina's movie

 

And Vanessa Lachey's movie

Lifetime knows how to grab us 80s & 90s kids!

Edited November 15, 2018 by MissyPoo

[EyewatchTV211]

I'm home during the day for once due to winter weather (already)! Lifetime is replaying their movie The Spirit of Christmas at 2PM today if anyone is interested. It had been relegated to Netflix last year it seemed, so if anyone wanted to see it and doesn't have Netflix now is the time. It had some issues but is one of my favorites. Love the real snow, the lead actors, and the unique storyline. 

[dcinmb]

[MissyPoo]

Woo hoo! Finally a trailer! Thank you @dcinmb!

I'm enjoying all the new Netflix christmas movie so far. Just saw The Princess Switch and loved it! Will probably watch it again later. It's prob my other fave so far this year.

Edited November 16, 2018 by MissyPoo

[Was-MArsenault]

Does anyone know when the new Lifetime movie with Patricia Richardson will be on?

[mikeb]

36 minutes ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

Does anyone know when the new Lifetime movie with Patricia Richardson will be on?

It is called A Christmas In Tennessee and will premiere Sunday, December 9th.

[Was-MArsenault]

3 minutes ago, mikeb said:

It is called A Christmas In Tennessee and will premiere Sunday, December 9th.

Thank you.

[Chas411]

Anybody see Christmas Inheritance with Eliza Taylor? 

[Crs97]

I saw Christmas Inheritance and thought it was fine.  Had some huge nitpicks I mentioned in an earlier post, but it was enjoyable.

I watched Christmas with a View today and really enjoyed it.  Their chemistry was good and the dialogue was fun-good banter and funny moments.  I will definitely look for those actors again.

Looking forward to the Christmas Prince sequel!

[Chas411]

50 minutes ago, Crs97 said:

saw Christmas Inheritance and thought it was fine.  Had some huge nitpicks I mentioned in an earlier post, but it was enjoyable.

I read back on your post and agree about the furry hot water bottle.

Im midway through and think it's ok so far. I'm getting serious Lindsay Lohan vibes from Eliza Taylor.

[Scarlett45]

On 11/13/2018 at 6:37 AM, mikeb said:

Lifetime is going on all-in on Hilarie Burton on Thanksgiving night.  They are showing her 2013 "Christmas On The Bayou" at 6:00 PM following at 8:00 PM by premiere of her new "The Christmas Contract", which co-stars some of her former "One Tree Hill" co-stars,  and then finally at 10:PM a "One Tree Hill" cast reunion show.  Hallmark is countering with yet another  Christmas royalty movie "Christmas At The Palace" starring Merrit Patterson (who actually starred in an unrelated Hallmark royalty movie "A Royal Winter" last year).  It will be interesting which does better in the ratings that night.

I’m so excited for the Christmas Contract!

[MerBearHou]

I stumbled upon “Love At The Christmas Table” from 2012 on Lifetime last night and absolutely loved it.  It has a little quirkiness to it; it’s warm, smart, subtly funny and touching without being sappy.  I loved the cast — Scott Patterson from Gilmore Girls and Lea Thompson — hard to go wrong with those two.  But the leads were the biggest surprise for me:  Dustin Milligan from “Schitt’s Creek” (one of my favorite quirky shows) was so cute, smart and dear; Danica McKellar was wonderful in a non-baby-voice, growing through the years role — it’s the most I’ve enjoyed her in any of her adult roles.  There is a dance sequence to a cool Terrie and the Carlas song that I could watch over and over and over.  I recommend this movie so highly.  

Edited November 17, 2018 by MerBearHou

[AnnaRose]

9 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

I stumbled upon “Love At The Christmas Table” from 2012 on Lifetime last night and absolutely loved it.  It has a little quirkiness to it; it’s warm, smart, subtly funny and touching without being sappy.  I loved the cast — Scott Patterson from Gilmore Girls and Lea Thompson — hard to go wrong with those two.  But the leads were the biggest surprise for me:  Dustin Milligan from “Schitt’s Creek” (one of my favorite quirky shows) was so cute, smart and dear; Danica McKellar was wonderful in a non-baby-voice, growing through the years role — it’s the most I’ve enjoyed her in any of her adult roles.  There is a dance sequence to a cool Terrie and the Carlas song that I could watch over and over and over.  I recommend this movie so highly.  

Thanks!  I had just programmed my DVR to record it, and I was wondering if anybody here had watched it and if it was any good.   The IMDB description piqued my interest, but those can be misleading... so I'm happy to read your endorsement!  (I have been recording a lot of Christmas movies lately that I don't watch past 15 or 20 minutes before deleting them.)  

This Sunday on Lifetime, in addition to Love at the Christmas Table, I am also going to record Spirit of Christmas, which I think was positively reviewed here; Kristin's Christmas Past, with Shiri Appleby; and Crazy for Christmas, which I don't think I've read anything about.  Does anybody have any feedback about those movies? 

PS: A Gift-Wrapped Christmas is also on Sunday, on Lifetime.  I loved it last year, and watched it again the other night... I still liked it, but not as much as I did the first time I saw it.  Meredith Hagner and Travis Milne have great chemistry though, and the little boy is pretty adorable.

[MissyPoo]

11 hours ago, Crs97 said:

I saw Christmas Inheritance and thought it was fine.  Had some huge nitpicks I mentioned in an earlier post, but it was enjoyable.

I watched Christmas with a View today and really enjoyed it.  Their chemistry was good and the dialogue was fun-good banter and funny moments.  I will definitely look for those actors again.

I've been iffy on watching Christmas Inheritance (though with Netflix showing their characters always watching it, I felt like they were telling us something...) but I may check it out now.

I'll probably keep going with Christmas with a View. Maybe it will pick up for me later. I like good banter.

[Luckylyn]

9 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I stumbled upon “Love At The Christmas Table” from 2012 on Lifetime last night and absolutely loved it.  It has a little quirkiness to it; it’s warm, smart, subtly funny and touching without being sappy.  I loved the cast — Scott Patterson from Gilmore Girls and Lea Thompson — hard to go wrong with those two.  But the leads were the biggest surprise for me:  Dustin Milligan from “Schitt’s Creek” (one of my favorite quirky shows) was so cute, smart and dear; Danica McKellar was wonderful in a non-baby-voice, growing through the years role — it’s the most I’ve enjoyed her in any of her adult roles.  There is a dance sequence to a cool Terrie and the Carlas song that I could watch over and over and over.  I recommend this movie so highly.  

That’s one of my all time favorites.  I also love the dancing scene.

[CherryAmes]

Am in the middle of Mistletoe Inn right now and taking time during the million commercials to post that so far I am loving it!!  And kudos for a nice twist on the love triangle by making the ex a total jerk!  Garth is a great character - I am loving hating him!

Edited to add:  This one is a keeper!  Liked the whole concept, thought the leads were excellent and really liked the Happy Ending.  When I have a smile on my face when a movie ends, well, that's a good thing :).

Edited November 17, 2018 by CherryAmes

[MissyPoo]

Lifetime is showing one of my faves this weekend: Last Chance for Christmas with Hilarie Burton. In short, Santa is down a reindeer and sends his trusty reindeer wrangler/stable dude down to HB's farm to agree to borrow one of hers It has a small romance subplot but the real MVP is Mrs. Claus and how she handles things. She's hilarious.

Snowed Inn Christmas is also this weekend on Sunday. It was a fan fave last year so i thought I'd give the good folks here a heads up in case you guys want to get your DVRs ready.

[MerBearHou]

3 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

That’s one of my all time favorites.  I also love the dancing scene.

OMG, thank you for this!  I think you and I are now friends :)

[Sara2009]

12 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I stumbled upon “Love At The Christmas Table” from 2012 on Lifetime last night and absolutely loved it.  It has a little quirkiness to it; it’s warm, smart, subtly funny and touching without being sappy.  I loved the cast — Scott Patterson from Gilmore Girls and Lea Thompson — hard to go wrong with those two.  But the leads were the biggest surprise for me:  Dustin Milligan from “Schitt’s Creek” (one of my favorite quirky shows) was so cute, smart and dear; Danica McKellar was wonderful in a non-baby-voice, growing through the years role — it’s the most I’ve enjoyed her in any of her adult roles.  There is a dance sequence to a cool Terrie and the Carlas song that I could watch over and over and over.  I recommend this movie so highly.  

I thought this one was pretty good.I wasn’t as invested in the young relationship as I wanted to be,though.

[twoods]

6 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

Lifetime is showing one of my faves this weekend: Last Chance for Christmas with Hilarie Burton. In short, Santa is down a reindeer and sends his trusty reindeer wrangler/stable dude down to HB's farm to agree to borrow one of hers It has a small romance subplot but the real MVP is Mrs. Claus and how she handles things. She's hilarious.

Snowed Inn Christmas is also this weekend on Sunday. It was a fan fave last year so i thought I'd give the good folks here a heads up in case you guys want to get your DVRs ready.

I swear we have the exact same taste in movies. I loved Last Chance for Christmas! It was a nice story and we got to see the leads fall in love. 

Really excited to watch the Christmas Switch tonight. Glad that people enjoyed this movie. 

Edited November 17, 2018 by twoods

[In2You]

I lvoe that Tatyana Ali has two movies premiering next weekend. 

[Irlandesa]

22 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I stumbled upon “Love At The Christmas Table” from 2012 on Lifetime last night and absolutely loved it.

For some reason, I thought this was a Thanksgiving movie but I remember really really liking this movie when I saw it when it originally aired.

12 hours ago, CherryAmes said:

Am in the middle of Mistletoe Inn right now and taking time during the million commercials to post that so far I am loving it!!

I think that was my favorite from last year. 

I just watched A Princess Switch on Netflix and I really really liked it.  While I didn't really get into any of the couples, I thought the dialogue was a lot of fun and I did like both love interests even if I didn't find myself connecting with either relationship.  (But I think it's because I kept getting interrupted by my dog.  Grr.)

Edited November 18, 2018 by Irlandesa

[twoods]

I absolutely loved A Princess Switch (sorry thought it was called Christmas Switch). The beautiful scenery, dialogue, characters, chemistry with the couples- it was all perfect. I preferred it to the Holiday Calendar because it drew me in from the beginning, while the Calendar took a while to get good. I can’t wait to watch it again. 

Edited November 18, 2018 by twoods

[dcinmb]

Wow. Just cringed my way through Lifetime's "It's a Wonderful Lifetime" preview show. It was stupendously awful and exponentially more awkward and painful than any of Hallmark's preview shows. (Yes, even the Kellie Pickler ones.)

[MissyPoo]

15 hours ago, twoods said:

I swear we have the exact same taste in movies. I loved Last Chance for Christmas! It was a nice story and we got to see the leads fall in love. 

Really excited to watch the Christmas Switch tonight. Glad that people enjoyed this movie. 

 

Ha, too true! That's one reason I usually keep an eye out for your recs! :)

Looking forward to seeing what you think!

 

6 hours ago, twoods said:

I absolutely loved A Princess Switch (sorry thought it was called Christmas Switch). The beautiful scenery, dialogue, characters, chemistry with the couples- it was all perfect. I preferred it to the Holiday Calendar because it drew me in from the beginning, while the Calendar took a while to get good. I can’t wait to watch it again. 

D'oh! I replied before finishing the thread heh. Glad you liked it! I think they may have had a last minute change when they noticed UP had one with almost the exact same title. I think the same thing happened when The Christmas Calendar was changed to The Holiday Calendar since a movie from years ago already grabbed that title. I have to wonder what will these channels do in the near future when the title options start running out. Especially when Hallmark starts their countdown to Christmas in September to premiere 50 new movies.

Anywho, glad you liked it! I'm looking forward to watching it again as well. I feel like Netflix is giving us subliminals with their characters watching Christmas Inheritance. Maybe I need to check that one out next time I do a short Netflix xmas marathon.

Edited November 18, 2018 by MissyPoo

[twoods]

I wasn’t interested in Christmas Inheritance because the trailer didn’t appeal to me, and the lead’s weird combover hair was turning me off. Shallow I know, but with so many movies to choose one didn’t want to waste my time.

[Chas411]

I thought The Holiday Calendar was kind of boring. Nothing really seemed to happen for the first half hour.  Then they introduced Ethan Peck and vilified him so she'd realise that the best friend was the guy for her. Then between the best friend being mad she couldn't make the cinema and that ridiculous plot with the deleted pictures. It was just so stupid. 

[Crs97]

I didn’t think Ethan Peck was really vilified; I actually liked when she wanted to rehash the relationship and he just stopped her with a smile and  “You’re not the first person to break up with me.”  They just weren’t right for each other.