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

[Sara2009]

Do Netflix movies count as TV movies? If so, has anyone else watched “ Klaus” yet? It was predictable the way most Christmas movies are, but it was so sweet that I couldn’t help but love it. The animation was beautiful too.

[In2You]

17 hours ago, twoods said:

After all the crappy Lifetime movies so far, Wrapped up in Christmas was so much better after the rewatch. The chemistry was great and the storyline was not boring. When did Lifetime lose IT? And what is up with them having so many movies revolve around Christmas in the south? Christmas in the Bayou, Tennessee and Louisiana. Are they all a similar theme because I’ve refused to watch any of them.

That Christmas Princess movie looks really cute- what channel is it going to play on?

The Christmas Princess will air on ION on Dec 1

[TVFan17]

49 minutes ago, Sara2009 said:

Do Netflix movies count as TV movies? If so, has anyone else watched “ Klaus” yet? It was predictable the way most Christmas movies are, but it was so sweet that I couldn’t help but love it. The animation was beautiful too.

I have not watched it, but oh yes, it definitely counts!   Netflix, ION, UPtv, OWN, TV One, BET, Freeform, Lifetime, INSP, Hallmark's channels and streaming site, ABC, BYUtv, streaming apps such as Passionflix or Pure Flix, etc. (I'm sure I am forgetting something) -- basically any sort of networks and streaming services showing holiday content will count in this thread.  

As long as they're holiday-specific specials or movies, it all counts!  (But the Rankin Bass specials  are in a different thread.)

Edited November 16, 2019 by TVFan17

[sistersledge]

I thought Christmas a la Mode was terrible. I didn't feel any sympathy for Emily or her mom. I really felt like she should have sold to a developer and I really hated how villainous they made the sister, like she was from the 80s too. Weird.

[TVFan17]

Come through for me, Torrey DeVitto and Chad Michael Murray!   Don't let me down!   Write Before Christmas is probably the Hallmark Christmas movie I have been looking most forward to since the first preview special aired in July.  I have definitely enjoyed several other new movies this year to some degree or another, but that one has a story that interests me, as well as sparks flying everywhere between Chad and Torrey in the early promos.  

I don't want to get my hopes up, though -- it's better to keep expectations low.  But I am looking forward to seeing Write Before Christmas tomorrow night.  

I did like the Autumn Reeser-Jesse Metcalfe movie (Christmas Under the Stars) tonight, and there were a lot of things to appreciate about it, but I don't think I liked it quite as much as other people on Hallmark's Facebook page did.    I had a few minor issues with it, but it was enjoyable for the most part.

Edited November 17, 2019 by TVFan17

[Irlandesa]

28 minutes ago, TVFan17 said:

I did like the Autumn Reeser-Jesse Metcalfe movie (Christmas Under the Stars) tonight, and there were a lot of things to appreciate about it, but I don't think I liked it quite as much as other people on Hallmark's Facebook page did. 

This felt more like a Hallmark Movies & Mysteries or (I'm guessing) a Hallmark Drama movie than the more lighthearted Hallmark brand.  Tho they switch a lot, I do know.

I like Autumn Reeser and I like Jesse Metcalfe but I do not like them together as much as others seem to enjoy them.  This had some nice scenes but wasn't really engaging to me.

Winter Storm Megan made its return in Lifetime's Christmas In Louisiana.  Both of the couples--the daughter and her ex and her mother and the photographer, had charming chemistry so I mostly enjoyed this for what it was.  Not something I'd rewatch but not bad. 

However, I did think that the gentleman who played Moira Kelly's love interest had a passing resemblance with D.B. Sweeney and it made me wonder if the movie tried to get D. B. for a Cutting Edge reunion but had to go with a knockoff when they couldn't get him.  Had he been hired, this would be a movie I'd watch over again.

[TVFan17]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

This felt more like a Hallmark Movies & Mysteries or (I'm guessing) a Hallmark Drama movie than the more lighthearted Hallmark brand.  Tho they switch a lot, I do know.

I like Autumn Reeser and I like Jesse Metcalfe but I do not like them together as much as others seem to enjoy them.  This had some nice scenes but wasn't really engaging to me.

Winter Storm Megan made its return in Lifetime's Christmas In Louisiana.  Both of the couples--the daughter and her ex and her mother and the photographer, had charming chemistry so I mostly enjoyed this for what it was.  Not something I'd rewatch but not bad. 

However, I did think that the gentleman who played Moira Kelly's love interest had a passing resemblance with D.B. Sweeney and it made me wonder if the movie tried to get D. B. for a Cutting Edge reunion but had to go with a knockoff when they couldn't get him.  Had he been hired, this would be a movie I'd watch over again.

I sort of thought that they were trying to tackle too many things in Christmas Under the Stars -- they were working too many angles to get us to feel something, I suppose.

While I liked everyone in the cast, there were a lot of stories happening, between the growing Autumn-Jesse romance; Jesse losing his first job; Jesse working at the lot and then going after his second job;  Autumn's character being hounded by a debt collector; Autumn trying to organize the winter solstice nighttime event for her class;  Autumn trying to reach out to the girl who was late to her class; the save-the-tree-lot story; Clarke Peters/Clem's history and Clem's new injury; Jesse's dad, etc.

It was a sweet, good-hearted movie (definitely more of an HMM or Hallmark Drama type of story) and I get what they were going for, but they might have thrown in a couple of subplots or characters that we didn't really need.

[twoods]

I think all the subplots made the movie go quickly for me. Usually I’m staring at the clock about an hour into the movie wondering when it will end, but I was thoroughly enjoying this movie (except for Julie’s weird freak out about Nick investing for the company that bought her dad’s medical debt). I love Jesse and Autumn together, and I liked their interaction with Clem. There was an easy chemistry with all the characters, and the kid wasn’t annoying. So far it’s been my favorite this year.

Edited November 17, 2019 by twoods

[Chas411]

I watched A Christmas Prince and A Christmas Prince Royal Engagement back to back yesterday and I really enjoyed it. Lead was great and even though I thought the Prince was a bit of a snore I could still buy why they liked each other. I preferred the leads father in the first movie to the recasted father in the second movie but overall I really enjoyed it.

[Kaoteek]

Disney Plus' Noelle. About what I expected from the trailer : a mediocre, by-the-books Disney Channel-type movie, with an energetic Anna Kendrick, an underused supporting cast (Bill Hader, Billy Eichner), and a predictable story that brings nothing to the table aside from some mandatory, obvious "women can do everything men do" moments.

I'd say I was disappointed, but as I said, I didn't expect this one to be anything better, so...

(Kendrick still deserved better)

[anniebird]

When Autumn Reeser's character said she'd never been married, I thought that finally there was a realistic element to a Hallmark Christmas movie with an unmarried mother, but no, just a saintly foster mother who adopted. And her freak out over Jesse's job was ridiculous - instead of thinking he was part of the big, bad system I would have said, 'Great, so you know how this works - will you help me?"

Edited to add: The Jesse Metcalf character just said, "We might of came back..." That's a deal-breaker for me.

Edited November 17, 2019 by anniebird

[kirinan]

Watching Christmas Under the Stars and bawling my eyes out. Yes, it has its weaknesses, but because I have a 90-year-old Dad still with me who’s in good shape, knock on wood, but still pines for my mom, who passed away 13 years ago,  This one hit me smack in the feels. I think this is my favorite Hallmark movie so far this year. 

I do agree this seems more like a HMM movie, though. 

[Was-MArsenault]

Does anyone know when the new Patricia Richardson Lifetime movie comes out?

Edited November 18, 2019 by MikaelaArsenault

[TVFan17]

I watched Write Before Christmas in fear that it would end up not being good. 

It was good (to me).  I loved it.  It had flaws and things that baffled me, for sure, but I loved it anyway!   Chad and Torrey really didn't have a whole lot of scenes together, compared to other movies with lead couples falling for each other, but they had chemistry and it still worked for me anyway.

[ECM1231]

23 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

Come through for me, Torrey DeVitto and Chad Michael Murray!   Don't let me down!   Write Before Christmas is probably the Hallmark Christmas movie I have been looking most forward to since the first preview special aired in July.  I have definitely enjoyed several other new movies this year to some degree or another, but that one has a story that interests me, as well as sparks flying everywhere between Chad and Torrey in the early promos.  

I don't want to get my hopes up, though -- it's better to keep expectations low.  But I am looking forward to seeing Write Before Christmas tomorrow night.  

I did like the Autumn Reeser-Jesse Metcalfe movie (Christmas Under the Stars) tonight, and there were a lot of things to appreciate about it, but I don't think I liked it quite as much as other people on Hallmark's Facebook page did.    I had a few minor issues with it, but it was enjoyable for the most part.

Loved Write Before Christmas! Torrey and Chad had good chemistry and I enjoyed the lesser plot about her aunt and her brother in the service. Having Grant Show play an elder made me feel old but he is aging nicely!

I watch a lot of Hallmark Christmas in July movies and started to watch Christmas Under the Stars with Metcalfe and Reeser and realized I had already seen it.

[twoods]

It’s weird that some of the movies I enjoy star Chad Michael Murray, like Road to Christmas last year and The Beach House and Christmas Cupid and now Write Before Christmas. He was such a jerk in the One Tree Hill days but now seems like he has chemistry with all his leads in these movies, and he is a much better actor now. Kudos to him. I loved tonight’s movie even though I wish there were more scenes with the leads because they were great together. 

[Irlandesa]

I liked all three couples in Write Before Christmas so I liked the movie too.  I was a bit confused, though, why CMM wasn't singing at the end.  Wasn't he in the band?

I was also able to sneak in Christmas Cupcakes and A Random Act of Christmas tonight too.  (Whew--only A Godwink Christmas to go--a double up for Cindy Busby).  Christmas Cupcakes had a nice sisterly relationship but got a bit weird when we got to the TV competition part of the movie.  I'm amazed sometimes by how much time some of these movies spend on fake competition shows.  It feels like such filler.  And I liked the stars of Random Acts of Christmas so I thought it was decentish. 

I did have to laugh at both of those movies, though, when they did such basic things and presented them as if they were new and innovative.  For instance, in Random Acts of Christmas, Kevin McGarry's character said he has a twist to the hot cocoa for "adults."  I thought he was going to break out some alcohol or something but nope, he pours coffee into the hot chocolate and says "try this" as if she never in her life has had a mocha.  And in Christmas Cupcakes, the theme of a round was chocolate and one of the judges asks where the secret ingredient was.  Then it dawns on him that they used white chocolate.  Oh for goodness sake..as if an expert would have to take more than  second to think about it.

[Guest]

I enjoyed Write Before Christmas and I think it’s one of those movies I will like even more when I rewatch it. My only problem was the kiss happening early meant the misunderstanding also happened too early and was way too prolonged. Torrey DeVitto and Chad Michael Murray don’t even have a scene together for over 40 minutes. 

24 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I liked all three couples in Write Before Christmas so I liked the movie too.  I was a bit confused, though, why CMM wasn't singing at the end.  Wasn't he in the band?

No, he wasn’t. The band was only connected to the story because Jessica was a fan. Your version would have been better because I didn’t think that part of the story worked at all and felt like filler. 

[Irlandesa]

24 minutes ago, Dani said:

No, he wasn’t. The band was only connected to the story because Jessica was a fan.

But what was with his Brother/Manager then?  Didn't they reference breaking up a band?  Didn't the band come over and mention something about a solo career?  Didn't he write the song that was sung at the end (the one he wanted to sing while opening up for the 12 year old but was denied?)

Didn't he appear on a radio show?

Clearly I missed something, lol.  I was waiting for the big realization that he was part of her favorite band and....I don't think we ever got that. And then he wasn't singing at the end so I had no clue.

[TVFan17]

Surprisingly, I also found myself enjoying A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love with Cindy Busby and Benjamin Hollingsworth.  I say "surprisingly" because it's not exactly a breezy, fun Christmas romance in the way that I would prefer, although there are some lighthearted moments in it, for sure.   It's not one that immediately makes me feel super Christmasy and festive, although there are lots of trees, ornate decorations, stockings on cabinets and cupboards and things like that.  It's just more serious in tone.  But it was a pretty good story, and they kept those Godwinks coming all the way to the end!

Why do I have a feeling that Hallmark put the best movies of the season in the slots outside of Thanksgiving Week, and that the movies airing during the actual week of Thanksgiving won't be great?  I hope I'm wrong, though!

Edited November 18, 2019 by TVFan17

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

But what was with his Brother/Manager then?  Didn't they reference breaking up a band?  Didn't the band come over and mention something about a solo career?  Didn't he write the song that was sung at the end (the one he wanted to sing while opening up for the 12 year old but was denied?)

Didn't he appear on a radio show?

Clearly I missed something, lol.  I was waiting for the big realization that he was part of her favorite band and....I don't think we ever got that. And then he wasn't singing at the end so I had no clue.

That was a different character who was played by Drew Seeley. No one in the band had any direct interactions with any of the couples. 

Edited November 18, 2019 by Guest

[Guest]

I really like the cast of Random Acts of Christmas which was the only thing that kept me watching until the end. 

She was just so bad at her job and the more they talked about her great intuition the more ridiculous she looked. Her suspicion about “Cole” came about 90 minutes to late.   

I also thought that most of secret Santa’s actions were a letdown. Would anyone really even notice Christmas carols playing at Christmas. When the parachutes starting falling all I could think of was Mockingjay. I’m usually a sucker for this kind of sappy story but the overplayed it.

It did have the most natural Winter Storm Megan reference so far.

Overall I thought Netflix’s Good Sam did a much better job with the same basic plot. 

7 hours ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

Does anyone know when the new Patricia Richardson Lifetime movie comes out?

November 27th. 

Edited November 18, 2019 by Guest

[sistersledge]

4 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

But what was with his Brother/Manager then?  Didn't they reference breaking up a band?  Didn't the band come over and mention something about a solo career?  Didn't he write the song that was sung at the end (the one he wanted to sing while opening up for the 12 year old but was denied?)

I was confused too! I had it streaming on my phone while I worked on my computer, so clearly I missed something but I thought CMM was w Jax in all those scenes as the brother/manager. Then at the end, they called the brother up on stage and I'm all - who the hell is that? 😂🤷🏼‍♀️ I kept waiting for the scene where he takes her to meet the singer. 
 

Christmas Under the Stars. Did something happen to Autumn's face? I watched Love at the Thanksgiving Day parade a day before the new one so the contrast was jarring. But also, LATTDP is one of the best, so her acting is awesome in it. I kind of want a follow-up to it. CUTS was super dull for me and eye-roll at the foster mom thing. 

[absnow54]

I was only half paying attention to Write Before Christmas, and had assumed the brother/manager was Drew Seeley's love interest, so it was really jarring when they explicitly stated they were brothers around 2/3 of the way into the movie. Kind of bummed they didn't go for it (you know, without the whole brother part...) The movie was clearly a Love Actually ripoff, but it was still pretty fun.

[Was-MArsenault]

4 hours ago, Dani said:

I really like the cast of Random Acts of Christmas which was the only thing that kept me watching until the end. 

She was just so bad at her job and the more they talked about her great intuition the more ridiculous she looked. Her suspicion about “Cole” came about 90 minutes to late.   

I also thought that most of secret Santa’s actions were a letdown. Would anyone really even notice Christmas carols playing at Christmas. When the parachutes starting falling all I could think of was Mockingjay. I’m usually a sucker for this kind of sappy story but the overplayed it.

It did have the most natural Winter Storm Megan reference so far.

Overall I thought Netflix’s Good Sam did a much better job with the same basic plot. 

November 27th. 

Thank you!

[GeorgiaRai]

While watching Write Before Christmas, early on I thought the eye-doctor ex & the ex-boyband guy's brother were the same person!  Once I got it in my head that the only connection between the stories were the cards Jessica mailed out, it all made sense. I enjoyed the different stories lines and all the actors (though I kept wanting them to call Luke "Lucas"!)  This will be one I watch again, for sure.

[Kaoteek]

Christmas under the Stars would have made for a much better HMM movie, and I'm not the biggest fan of Metcalfe, but overall, I liked it more than most HM movies, this year.

Maybe because, aside from the last minute freak-out, it lacked a lot of the usual annoying tropes that I'm already sick of, that early in the season.

[ShelleySue]

Twenty minutes into Write Before Christmas and I had to restart it. I was completely confused.  I thought that I had missed the connection among the characters.  I had figured out that the military guy was the brother, but I thought that Jessica and Jax had some sort of a relationship.  I also thought that Luke worked at the restaurant taking pictures of couples as they were getting engaged since the restaurant was known as the place people went to get engaged.

[kirinan]

16 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

I watched Write Before Christmas in fear that it would end up not being good. 

It was good (to me).  I loved it.  It had flaws and things that baffled me, for sure, but I loved it anyway!   Chad and Torrey really didn't have a whole lot of scenes together, compared to other movies with lead couples falling for each other, but they had chemistry and it still worked for me anyway.

I really enjoyed it (and I got teary-eyed at the end; between this and Christmas Under the Stars it was an emotional four hours). I loved all the different stories, and the vehicle of the cards making them all happen). 

When I think of how much I didn’t like Chad Michael Murray’s Agent Thompson character on Agent Carter, it amazes me how much more likable he is in these movies. I’ve never seen him in anything else, although I know he was in some (90s?) popular show. But I really liked him here. 

Two good movies in a row—thanks, Hallmark!

ETA: Because I recognized the singer’s brother as Norman Dorman from the Signed, Sealed, Delivered movies (his real name is Geoff Gustafson), I had no problem keeping everyone straight. But I did think the guy that played Jax was too physically similar to Chad Michael Murray. I can see where confusion might have crept in.

Edited November 18, 2019 by kirinan

[Guest]

4 hours ago, ShelleySue said:

Twenty minutes into Write Before Christmas and I had to restart it. I was completely confused.  I thought that I had missed the connection among the characters.  I had figured out that the military guy was the brother, but I thought that Jessica and Jax had some sort of a relationship.  I also thought that Luke worked at the restaurant taking pictures of couples as they were getting engaged since the restaurant was known as the place people went to get engaged.

I had to do the same thing. I think it would have been less confusing if they used Jessica’s cards to introduce the other characters. The transition from Jessica looking at the picture of Jax to Jax and his brother was particularly confusing. Chad Michael Murray and Grant Show were the only men in the movie I could easily recognize. All the other men blended together. 

[twoods]

I like Drew Seeley from his teeny bop movies so I could tell the difference between him and Chad Michael Murray. This would have worked well as a multiple episode miniseries because all the storylines were interesting and needed more screen time. 

[Irlandesa]

20 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

Surprisingly, I also found myself enjoying A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love with Cindy Busby and Benjamin Hollingsworth.  I say "surprisingly" because it's not exactly a breezy, fun Christmas romance in the way that I would prefer, although there are some lighthearted moments in it, for sure. 

I enjoyed it quite a bit too.  I think it was better than last year's Godwink.  Because it follows a real life story, Christmas is mostly just the background which is how I prefer my Christmas movies. There were a lot of great twists based on real life.  The only thing I didn't love was that Hallmark was going to Hallmark with a stupid misunderstanding.  But the chemistry and story was good so I'll allow it.

13 hours ago, GeorgiaRai said:

Once I got it in my head that the only connection between the stories were the cards Jessica mailed out, it all made sense.

I understood the card thing but, because I was mistaking Drew's character for CMM's character, I was hella confused for a lot of the movie even though I was enjoying it. I was wondering why, when they met face-to-face, she didn't recognize her teen idol.  Or why he lied to his brother about what the letter said? 

[AnnaRose]

I just watched my old recording (from last year) of Naughty or Nice.  I love everything about that movie, and have watched it several times.  It was my original gateway Christmas movie - the reason I started watching tons of Hallmark Christmas movies two years ago.  Hillary Burton shines as Krissy Kringle (and no, she's not Santa's daughter... just unfortunately named,) who is going through a rough patch in her life, and Gabriel Tigerman is perfect as her hilarious new friend Marco.

It's being broadcast Wednesday morning at 2:09 a.m. Eastern... so if anybody here has never seen it (or would like to catch it again)... set your DVR. :)

Edited November 19, 2019 by AnnaRose

[Kaoteek]

I wanted to like UpTV's Christmas Cupcakes (because Erin Karpluk), but it was rough.

It was clearly intended to be a semi-comical Christmas movie, with broad, excentric characters and (over)acting, awful accents, and a pseudo-cooking competition, but it was just too awkward and somewhat cheap to really work, especially with the half-assed romance, the family drama and that clunky rhythm (seriously, if I wanted to watch a low-budget, caricatural parody of a cooking show, i'd watch Nailed It - here, those fake, excentric judges weren't funny, and the competition/judging segments just felt agonizing and plodding...)

(also, I'd have liked less Busby, and more Karpluk)

Edited November 19, 2019 by Kaoteek

[Veronica]

On 11/15/2019 at 10:39 PM, twoods said:

After all the crappy Lifetime movies so far, Wrapped up in Christmas was so much better after the rewatch. The chemistry was great and the storyline was not boring. When did Lifetime lose IT? And what is up with them having so many movies revolve around Christmas in the south? Christmas in the Bayou, Tennessee and Louisiana. Are they all a similar theme because I’ve refused to watch any of them.

That Christmas Princess movie looks really cute- what channel is it going to play on?

I figure they set them in the south because they film them in the summer and they don’t ha e to make fake snow, plus that explains why no one looks cold and why there are green leaves on trees (not really since our leaves  change color and fall off trees). It always cracks me up that Hallmark has snow scenes and every tree in the background is full of green leaves. 

Watching Christmas Joy cracks me up with scenes of snowy NC. If we got that much snow there would be no cookie crawl or whatever, parties, or anything else. The whole state would shut down. hurricanes we can handle, snow not so much  

As much as I loved the one white Christmas  i be had in my life, I’m not holding my breath for another one unless I’m in a different location. 

[Homily]

I rewatched Merry and Bright with my Mom, it's the new Hallmark starring Jodi Sweetin.  I liked it enough to see it twice but I am so shallow.  This time all I could see were the ridiculously long and overly contrived eyelashes on Jodi and the actress playing her mother (Sharon Lawrence).  Honestly who does the makeup for these movies?????  

Edited November 19, 2019 by Homily

[Misslindsey]

7 minutes ago, Homily said:

I rewatched Merry and Bright with my Mom, it's the new Hallmark starring Jodi Sweetin.  I liked it enough to see it twice but I am so shallow.  This time all I could see were the ridiculously long and overly contrived eyelashes on Jodi and the actress playing her mother (Sharon Lawrence).  Honestly who does the makeup for these movies?????  

I enjoyed this movie as well, but I thought some of the hairstyling choices on Jodi was verging on 80's or 90's hair. 

[TVFan17]

6 hours ago, Veronica said:

I figure they set them in the south because they film them in the summer and they don’t ha e to make fake snow, plus that explains why no one looks cold and why there are green leaves on trees (not really since our leaves  change color and fall off trees). It always cracks me up that Hallmark has snow scenes and every tree in the background is full of green leaves. 

Watching Christmas Joy cracks me up with scenes of snowy NC. If we got that much snow there would be no cookie crawl or whatever, parties, or anything else. The whole state would shut down. hurricanes we can handle, snow not so much  

As much as I loved the one white Christmas  i be had in my life, I’m not holding my breath for another one unless I’m in a different location. 

Since the upcoming Kristin Chenoweth Hall of Fame movie, A Christmas Love Story, was actually filmed mostly in North Carolina & partially in New York, way back in January/February, it will be interesting to see what the snow and tree situation is in the movie! 

Sometimes I will turn on a random channel (often slightly older movies from Lifetime or UP, pre-budget increases!) and find a movie that has such terrible fake snow that it actually has sharp corners and straight edges on it -- like it was freshly cut from a sheet of cotton to fit against the side of a building or something.   But then other times I watch a movie with lots of real snow, like Christmas Scavenger Hunt, and it feels like such a stark contrast to the movies with the sharp-cornered snow!  lol

Edited November 19, 2019 by TVFan17

[MissyPoo]

Christmas in Louisiana was such a sweet movie. I loved that there were three generations of love stories from the parents (Dee Wallace and Barry Bostwick - they were too cute together!), the mother finding love again (Moira Kelly -- oh man, Moira Kelly is in the mom stage now!  I still remember her in the girlfriend stage in Cutting Edge and Twin Peaks FWWM) and the main couple (Wallace from Veronica Mars! He looks so handsome!). There were no regional accents to be had and it could be my nostalgia bells ringing, but I loved seeing all these folks I grew up watching and enjoying. They played together really well as a family and Percy Daggs III and Jana Kramer were cute together after the initial head clashing. My only complaint was they never gave a reason for the initial breakup. Unless I missed it, somewhere, it would have been nice for them to have that chat.

Rewatching The Bridge as well and I'm disappointed that someone hasn't made a Christmas movie with Moira Kelly and Katie Findlay as mother and daughter. Hop on it, casting folks!

ETA: Watching Christmas a la Mode. I'm surprised how this was filmed with a more heavier and serious theme which was a nice break from all the fluffy movies. It was nice seeing Katie L again since I haven't seen her in anything since The Reckoning. I'm kinda disappointed the big flavor was apple pie ice cream. I though this had been a thing for a while now like Pumpkin Pie Ice cream. I thought they would have done something that screams Christmas in these movies and is something different. Like a scoop or two of candy cane ice cream in a mug, next filled with hot cocoa, topped with whipped cream, a stick of cinnamon and a dust of nutmeg. 

Nevertheless, this movie made me crave ice cream like crazy.

Edited November 20, 2019 by MissyPoo

[Kaoteek]

Random Acts of Christmas wasn't boring, mostly because I like the main couple, but it was nonetheless overall so-so.

I don't know if it was the "Bruce Wayne & Alfred decide to do cheesy, illegal displays of Christmas spirit instead of fighting crime" vibe of it all, the very uneven acting by the kid, the cheap sfx, or the (at times) overly enthusiastic but utterly incompetent reporter lead, but it didn't really work for me. Also, I've watched Good Sam not so long ago, so...

Edited November 20, 2019 by Kaoteek

[Homily]

Ok just watched another movie which, for the most part, I enjoyed.  The Christmas Note.  First one I've seen that didn't have a holiday romance.  But it has one thing I've noticed in a lot of these movies.  Kids of 10-12 age group who still believe in Santa.  Do kids usually still believe in Santa by this age?  My kids sure didn't - little cynics that they were!

Edited November 20, 2019 by Homily

[TVFan17]

2 hours ago, Kaoteek said:

Random Acts of Christmas wasn't boring, mostly because I like the main couple, but it was nonetheless overall so-so.

I don't know if it was the "Bruce Wayne & Alfred decide to to cheesy, illegal displays of Christmas spirit instead of fighting crime" vibe of it all, the very uneven acting by the kid, the cheap sfx, or the (at times) overly enthusiastic but utterly incompetent reporter lead, but it didn't really work for me. Also, I've watched Good Sam not so long ago, so...

Random Acts of Christmas is one of the Lifetime movies I was most interested in this year, but I have not finished watching it.   Now I was watching it when I was tired and should have been trying to sleep, so that might have colored my opinion somewhat. 

I am wondering if I should try to pick it up where I left off and finish the rest of it, or if I should just give up on it.  It wasn't grabbing me like I hoped it would, although I like Erin Cahill, Kevin McGarry and the story in general.

[Sara2009]

3 hours ago, Homily said:

Ok just watched another movie which, for the most part, I enjoyed.  The Christmas Note.  First one I've seen that didn't have a holiday romance.  But it has one thing I've noticed in a lot of these movies.  Kids of 10-12 age group who still believe in Santa.  Do kids usually still believe in Santa by this age?  My kids sure didn't - little cynics that they were!

I think I did just because I wanted to so badly. 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Homily said:

Ok just watched another movie which, for the most part, I enjoyed.  The Christmas Note.  First one I've seen that didn't have a holiday romance.  But it has one thing I've noticed in a lot of these movies.  Kids of 10-12 age group who still believe in Santa.  Do kids usually still believe in Santa by this age?  My kids sure didn't - little cynics that they were!

I think that pre-teens in Christmas movies to be extremely unrealistic most of time. My guess is those kids were written younger and than aged up to avoid filming restrictions for child actors. 

Edited November 21, 2019 by Guest

[In2You]

This one will air on UP TV

[Valentine]

I watched Our First Christmas the other day. I watch it every year because Dixie Carter. It's refreshing not to have romance-based Christmas movies. Usually movies featuring kids bug me, but this one doesn't. Grandpa for Christmas is in the same category for me. My husband and I like to mock them, but we appreciate their sweetness. My favorites are the romances, but I appreciate a little variety. The new ones all start to run together to me (maybe because there are so many movies, so few plots now).

[DanaMB]

I have watched UpTV’s A Christmas movie Christmas and Netflix’s A Knight Before Christmas and Klaus   I thought all 3 were cute and enjoyable but that’s about it. 
 

I have so many New 2019 Christmas movies waiting for me on my DVR and it’s not even December yet. This is insane. 

[Was-MArsenault]

So I checked to see if anymore airings of Snow Bride were coming up, because I thought that I saw one yesterday, but turns out there isn't.

[Dr.OO7]

Ovation TV's selections for its annual "Battle Of The Nutcrackers:

https://www.ovationtv.com/battle-of-the-nutcrackers/?video=&season=1

It looks like you can vote for your favorite even now before they've aired (which I don't see any date or time for).

I'm glad they've brought back some better selections--the Australian version is GORGEOUS--after the godawful ones from last year--though they have STILL included at least one of them!

[sistersledge]

On 11/18/2019 at 11:53 PM, AnnaRose said:

I just watched my old recording (from last year) of Naughty or Nice.  I love everything about that movie, and have watched it several times.  It was my original gateway Christmas movie - the reason I started watching tons of Hallmark Christmas movies two years ago.  Hillary Burton shines as Krissy Kringle (and no, she's not Santa's daughter... just unfortunately named,) who is going through a rough patch in her life, and Gabriel Tigerman is perfect as her hilarious new friend Marco.

It's being broadcast Wednesday morning at 2:09 a.m. Eastern... so if anybody here has never seen it (or would like to catch it again)... set your DVR. 🙂

I watched it last night purely bc of your post and loved it! Thanks!