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

[Irlandesa]

I thought there was chemistry in the beginning but it oddly faded.

[twoods]

Same Time Next Christmas has been the best holiday movie by far. Great chemistry with the leads and I liked the storyline. So THIS is what a quality movie looks like- it’s been so long!

[BuckeyeLou]

I watched "Time for You to Come Home for Christmas" with Alison Sweeney(I always enjoy her) and Lucas Bryant....it was sweet & even made me tear-up at the end.  It was on Hallmark Movies&Mysteries

[Kaoteek]

Quite liked Holiday Hearts, and the easy chemistry Paul Campbell & Ashley Williams had in this one. Also, the kid was likeable, the supporting cast was dynamic, and overall, the usual tropes were used with enough energy and smarts that they didn't fell too forced, or on auto-pilot.

(that said, I gotta say that between the cheap driving scenes and the CGI snowman construction, I had a good laugh at the not-quite-there sfx)

[twoods]

Tried watching Best Christmas Ball Ever but it was so terrible that I stopped after 10 minutes. I had to cleanse the palate and switched to MistleTones. I have watched that movie maybe a dozen times but it still puts a smile on my face. Thank you, ABC Family, for such a gem.

[absnow54]

On 12/18/2019 at 9:19 AM, SusanwatchingTV said:

Is it me, or are the movies getting worse the closer we get to Christmas? My favorites were Christmas Scavenger Hunt and Picture a Perfect Christmas, with The Christmas Club and this year's Christmas in Evergreen right behind.

I've found the quality has not only gone down hill as we get closer to the holiday, but that my favorites from this year's stock have only been okay. I wish instead of trying to churn out 100 movies a season, they'd dial it back and focus on producing some quality movies that people look forward to playing every year (like Nine Lives of Christmas and Snow Bride.) I can't think of a single movie I've watched this year that I'd remember next year.

[Jenniferbug]

2 hours ago, absnow54 said:

I've found the quality has not only gone down hill as we get closer to the holiday, but that my favorites from this year's stock have only been okay. I wish instead of trying to churn out 100 movies a season, they'd dial it back and focus on producing some quality movies that people look forward to playing every year (like Nine Lives of Christmas and Snow Bride.) I can't think of a single movie I've watched this year that I'd remember next year.

This has been my problem. Most of the ones airing close to the holidays haven't interested me at all (Christmas at Dollywood, for example). And of the ones I have watched, I really don't think I'd care if I watched them next year. Last year didn't have a ton that I loved, but there were a couple I liked enough to want to see again this year. I think they really need to loosen the reigns a bit on the formula, and I agree quality over quantity would serve them better now that they have some competition. 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

This has been my problem. Most of the ones airing close to the holidays haven't interested me at all (Christmas at Dollywood, for example). And of the ones I have watched, I really don't think I'd care if I watched them next year. Last year didn't have a ton that I loved, but there were a couple I liked enough to want to see again this year. I think they really need to loosen the reigns a bit on the formula, and I agree quality over quantity would serve them better now that they have some competition. 

I feel the same way. Even the movies I enjoy enough to finish are really just ok. They are all just so bland.

I’m holding out hope for Andrew Walker’s second movie, Christmas on my Mind. How ridiculous is it that this year plots are so stale that amnesia is the most unique plot line?

Edited December 19, 2019 by Guest

[Kohola3]

2 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

Most of the ones airing close to the holidays haven't interested me at all (Christmas at Dollywood, for example). And of the ones I have watched, I really don't think I'd care if I watched them next year.

I give them ten minutes then move on.  And that's happening most of the time.  Same tired plots over and over. Nothing I'd watch more than once, that's for sure.  The few that are perennial favorites are no longer shown.

They have sacrificed quantity for quality.  We don't need a zillion crappy movies just so they can start showing them right after Labor Day.

[SusanwatchingTV]

1 hour ago, Dani said:

I feel the same way. Even the movies I enjoy enough to finish are really just ok. They are all just so bland.

I’m holding out hope for Andrew Walker’s second movie, Christmas on my Mind. How ridiculous is it that this year plots are so stale that amnesia is the most unique plot line?

I adore Andrew Walker, but I'm not looking forward to the amnesia thing. I hate that trope.  Maybe he'll rescue it for me.  We'll see.

[twoods]

Noelle was so charming. Yay for Disney plus! Definitely a movie that I will watch again.

I also liked A Christmas Love Story. The twist was surprising and I definitely shed a tear or two. I really enjoyed hearing the kid choir- they sounded amazing.

[Kohola3]

39 minutes ago, SusanwatchingTV said:

I adore Andrew Walker, but I'm not looking forward to the amnesia thing. I hate that trope.

And I rank that one right up there with the "I'm dead but I'm not" or the "alternate universe" tropes.  SO tired and overdone.

[Kaoteek]

Sense, Sensibility and Snowmen. I have absolutely no point of reference as far as Jane Austen goes, but I liked seeing Krakow more enthusiastic, energetic and dynamic than in her usual movies. However, this one quickly lost my interest, and the french couple's accents were awful (about as awful as the ADR in some of the exterior scenes).

[Kohola3]

Christmas 9 to 5 on Lifetime wasn't awful.  It did make my quite nostalgic for the big department stores of my childhood and the characters were all likeable.

[Mittengirl]

Hoopla, available through some public library systems, has recently added 9 of Lifetime’s 2019 Christmas movies.

[Guest]

After nearly two months of mediocre Hallmark movies why did they have to put the only two movies I was interested again against one another?

So far I’m enjoying Double Holiday. Kristoffer Polaha makes everything better plus no one is acting like being Jewish is something odd. 

[dalek]

I really enjoyed Double Holiday.  I liked the leads and the supporting actors.  And Hallmark didn't do anything stupid with Hanukah, which was a huge relief.

[TVFan17]

12 hours ago, dalek said:

I really enjoyed Double Holiday.  I liked the leads and the supporting actors.  And Hallmark didn't do anything stupid with Hanukah, which was a huge relief.

I liked it too.  I think that Kristoffer Polaha is one of those types of actors who has chemistry with most of his co-stars (although he and Jill Wagner together are my favorite).  He always makes it very believable that he is falling for them, or at least very interested in them.  (He is in the upcoming Wonder Woman movie, and I think that he, Pedro Pascal and Chris Pine in the same movie is a lot of sizzle and smolder for people to handle in one film!  lol)

I know that Kristoffer, Carly Pope & writer Nina Weinman are proud of what they did with Double Holiday, while staying within Hallmark's usual guidelines and formulas. 

I think the movie kind of got lost in the shuffle, as the focus has been on the controversy that Hallmark has been embroiled in for the last week, and Hallmark has reduced their social media activity quite a bit.

Hallmark basically stopped promoting this weekend's 4 new Christmas movies on social media, for the most part, and have not posted very often this past week at all.   So Double Holiday did not get the same kind of push that it would have normally gotten from the network, nor did the Holly Robinson Peete-Dion Johnstone-Patti LaBelle movie (A Family Christmas Gift) that is airing tomorrow night.   The Eric Mabius-Tricia Helfer movie (It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas) airing tomorrow and tonight's Andrew Walker-Ashley Greene movie (Christmas On My Mind) were not promoted too much in the last week either.  So the casts and crews have to rely on the fans remembering that the movies are airing, or hope that they are seeing the TV ads for them.

And, of course, Hallmark pulled this year's one and only New Year movie -- A New Year's Resolution (with Aimee Teegarden and Michael Rady) -- from the schedule completely, so it is not airing on December 28th or on any other date in the near future.  There is no new Hallmark movie on 12/28 at all.  It's the first year in a long time that they will not be airing a New Year-themed movie to end the Countdown to Christmas, but they just suddenly removed it from the schedule and probably hid it in the same hiding place they stashed the 2 lost Fall Harvest movies that they pulled a couple of months ago.

Edited December 22, 2019 by TVFan17
forgot to clarify something

[Irlandesa]

I've seen two movies that incorporated Hanukah in a significant way.  One was on Hallmark and one on Lifetime.  I didn't see the first Hallmark Hanukah movie.  I know there were some complaints about Hallmark's Hanukah movies but I thought Double Holiday did the best at incorporating Hanukah in a natural way. 

It might not have been 100% Hanukah but there were more Hanukah traditions, it seemed.  And it didn't involve anyone having to really learn each other's holidays. 

The leads did have some good chemistry. 

[twoods]

Thank you guys for the recommendation. I have been waiting to see Carly Pope in a Hallmark movie and with Kristoffer who has chemistry with everyone? I stopped DVRing the rest of the movies this year because of all the controversy but will try to catch this the next time it’s airing.

[absnow54]

Double Holiday is a definite highlight from this season. Great chemistry with decent plot!

[TVFan17]

 

A couple of Hallmark Christmas movie-related things, in case anyone is interested and hadn't already seen this info:

1) In January 2020, Hallmark is going back to the 2 Christmas-movies-per-week schedule they have been following since February or March of this year.  Once again, there will be a Christmas movie on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel on Thursday nights, and a movie on the Hallmark Channel on Friday  nights.  I haven't heard whether or not they plan to do anything like that with the Hallmark Drama Channel.;

and

2) After showing Naughty or Nice (with Hilarie Burton) only 2 or 3 times this holiday season, they have moved it back to Hallmark Channel Everywhere (where it has been in the past), along with The Christmas Train, Christmas Scavenger Hunt, Road to Christmas, Christmas Everlasting and the original A Gift to Remember.  A Holiday Engagement, It's Christmas, Carol, various holiday preview specials, a couple of Thanksgiving movies and the Christmas Cookie Matchup series from Hallmark Drama can be found there as well.    http://www.hallmarkchanneleverywhere.com/#/movies

I think you need an existing cable, satellite or Philo subscription to access these movies on Hallmark's site, though, but some of the specials are probably available to watch without a subscription.  If you have On Demand through your cable or satellite providers, you can probably find all of these movies there as well.

 

 

[Shanna Marie]

I caught up with ION's Beauty and the Beast Christmas on the DVR. It was cute and a bit weird, and I get the feeling we weren't meant to take it at all seriously. And then it went totally out of control. I never did figure out which was the beauty and which was the beast, but maybe that was the point, that they were both a little of both. I suspect she was the beast because of the rash, and she was the one hiding away in the mansion while he was brought there almost as a prisoner. I don't think it followed the fairy tale as closely as the previous "fairy tale" movies did, though. Given how bizarre the Snow White one was, that's not entirely a bad thing.

However, it bothered me that she was in this mess because she couldn't make videos, but then she was able to make videos about the fake relationship. So why not put on a hat or scarf and make videos to begin with? I also thought that her friend/assistant was the most interesting character, like it would have been a better movie if it had been about her, the reasonably sane person dealing with these crazy influencers, and maybe she met her Mr. Right while trying to keep things on track.

Also, the ION movies don't cast men well. The leading men are kind of blah, nothing too interesting, and it's not even like with Hallmark, where they manage to de-hot the men and make them bland. There, you can see the hot potential. The ION guys are more like they were stuck hiring their neighbor's nephew. But at least in this movie there weren't two identical guys. Most of the ones I've watched there have had two guys I couldn't tell apart, whether it was the soon-to-be-ex and the leading man or the best friend and leading man.

Meanwhile, I've discovered that Amazon has last year's Lifetime movies. Christmas Pen Pals was cute, but fairly trite. I mean, did the hometown old boyfriend have to wear plaid flannel? Were they trying for the cliche? I rather liked Christmas Around the Corner. It hit the beats you expect in a way that seemed more satisfying than "oh, yeah, this again." I think the leads really sold it, and I liked the setting. That's one I might even watch again next year.

[SusanwatchingTV]

On 12/20/2019 at 4:57 PM, Kaoteek said:

Sense, Sensibility and Snowmen. I have absolutely no point of reference as far as Jane Austen goes, but I liked seeing Krakow more enthusiastic, energetic and dynamic than in her usual movies. However, this one quickly lost my interest, and the french couple's accents were awful (about as awful as the ADR in some of the exterior scenes).

I'm a HUGE Jane Austen fan, so I was very irritated by SS&S. She was playing Eleanor, but acting like MaryAnn. The gal called MaryAnn had the personality of Eleanor in the books.

I like Erin Krakow alright, but that guy is horrible. He doesn't seem to have any chemistry with anybody.  I just find him yucky, so I really hated SS&S overall.

[DanaMB]

I watched an older Netflix one last night, Christmas Wedding Planner. I really liked it until the end where it felt like everything happened so quickly, and I’m not even referring to the wedding which had me rolling my eyes and talking out loud to the television. 

[Irlandesa]

16 hours ago, twoods said:

I stopped DVRing the rest of the movies this year because of all the controversy but will try to catch this the next time it’s airing.

I deleted the movies from last week but put them back on as a way to support the reinstatement of the ad.  Not that my little message will carry to corporate in the end but it worked in my mind's calculus.  That's how I ended up starting both of the movies this Saturday.  Double Holiday was worth it.  Christmas On My Mind was sadly not.

I liked the leads and I thought the plot set up had potential but it just fizzled.  A woman gets amnesia and thinks she's still engaged to her ex in her home town but she's actually engaged to her business partner in Portland.  You think there would be some angst or heartache on her part for feeling love for someone she's not with.  Or on the fiance's part that his fiancee doesn't recognize/love him.  But no, she takes this news in relative stride and decides that what she needs to do to get back her memory is---do her town home Christmas things like make snowmen, bake pies and decorate.

All the while she's somewhat aghast when she hears who she has been in the past two years.  She wears suits which I guess is horrible.  She also has takeout with her fiance.  That evil Portland will suck the soul out of you every time, I guess. 

She didn't change because she was hit on the head or anything.  This is who she was while she had full use of her faculties.  She and her boyfriend split.  She went to take over an arts foundation.  Circumstances led her to be become who she became.  A bump on the head had her revert and she when she remembers everything, she realizes that she's the two year ago her.  But is she?  Is she really?  I'd love a sequel where it turns out that her evolution in the past two years was a natural progression of who she'd eventually be. 

The scenery was gorgeous, though.  And even though I love Andrew Walker, I was kind of rooting for her fiance.  That would have been a twist.  But no, he gracefully bows out a week before the wedding, even though she still doesn't remember who she is.

[In2You]

2 hours ago, Shanna Marie said:

I caught up with ION's Beauty and the Beast Christmas on the DVR. It was cute and a bit weird, and I get the feeling we weren't meant to take it at all seriously. And then it went totally out of control. I never did figure out which was the beauty and which was the beast, but maybe that was the point, that they were both a little of both. I suspect she was the beast because of the rash, and she was the one hiding away in the mansion while he was brought there almost as a prisoner. I don't think it followed the fairy tale as closely as the previous "fairy tale" movies did, though. Given how bizarre the Snow White one was, that's not entirely a bad thing.

However, it bothered me that she was in this mess because she couldn't make videos, but then she was able to make videos about the fake relationship. So why not put on a hat or scarf and make videos to begin with? I also thought that her friend/assistant was the most interesting character, like it would have been a better movie if it had been about her, the reasonably sane person dealing with these crazy influencers, and maybe she met her Mr. Right while trying to keep things on track.

Also, the ION movies don't cast men well. The leading men are kind of blah, nothing too interesting, and it's not even like with Hallmark, where they manage to de-hot the men and make them bland. There, you can see the hot potential. The ION guys are more like they were stuck hiring their neighbor's nephew. But at least in this movie there weren't two identical guys. Most of the ones I've watched there have had two guys I couldn't tell apart, whether it was the soon-to-be-ex and the leading man or the best friend and leading man.

Meanwhile, I've discovered that Amazon has last year's Lifetime movies. Christmas Pen Pals was cute, but fairly trite. I mean, did the hometown old boyfriend have to wear plaid flannel? Were they trying for the cliche? I rather liked Christmas Around the Corner. It hit the beats you expect in a way that seemed more satisfying than "oh, yeah, this again." I think the leads really sold it, and I liked the setting. That's one I might even watch again next year.

ION doesn't produce their movies in house. They just buy the rights to air some movies from different studios. 

[JenMD]

I tried, but I didn't make it through The Best Christmas Ball Ever!.  I did, however, fast-forward to the end because I wanted to see the ball.  It really wasn't worth the trouble (my dvr kept trying to delete it before I got to the end, it clearly knew better than I did).  One question though, why was Amy in costume at the ball?  I made it just past 45 minutes in, I think, before I gave up.  I've liked Elizabeth Harnois in other things but I didn't care for her here, or care for the love interest very much.  Vienna was pretty, though.

I've probably skipped as many movies as I've watched this season.  My favorite was the first one, Two Turtle Doves and speaking of the lovely Michael Rady, I'm more than a little peeved to find out I'm not getting his second movie.  Bah humbug to you, Hallmark.

I'm just glad I manage to dvr recordings of my tried and true favorites and have been doling them out all season (A Season for Miracles, Naughty or Nice, A Dog Named Christmas) and made sure to catch 12 Dates of Christmas and The Mistle-tones On Demand.  Palate cleansers, one and all.

I am looking forward to catching up with Double Holiday; nice to have a movie getting so many positive comments for a change.

[PennyPlain]

While I was at my mother's she was flipping the channels and we caught a bit of a Christmas movie that I've never seen.  I tried googling with my few clues to what the movie might be but couldn't find it.  Help!!  It seems to be about a couple who have split up but get together to find their lost dog.  They have flashbacks to previous Christmas's when they were still a couple.  It was on in the background and I wasn't really following it but it seemed pretty good and I wouldn't mind watching the whole thing.  Does it sound familiar to anyone?

[EyewatchTV211]

1 minute ago, PennyPlain said:

While I was at my mother's she was flipping the channels and we caught a bit of a Christmas movie that I've never seen.  I tried googling with my few clues to what the movie might be but couldn't find it.  Help!!  It seems to be about a couple who have split up but get together to find their lost dog.  They have flashbacks to previous Christmas's when they were still a couple.  It was on in the background and I wasn't really following it but it seemed pretty good and I wouldn't mind watching the whole thing.  Does it sound familiar to anyone?

Christmas Unleashed on Lifetime.

[PennyPlain]

8 minutes ago, VMepicgrl said:

Christmas Unleashed on Lifetime.

Awesome!  Thank you so much!

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I deleted the movies from last week but put them back on as a way to support the reinstatement of the ad.  Not that my little message will carry to corporate in the end but it worked in my mind's calculus.  That's how I ended up starting both of the movies this Saturday.  Double Holiday was worth it.  Christmas On My Mind was sadly not.

I did the same thing. I agree with you on both movies.

2 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I liked the leads and I thought the plot set up had potential but it just fizzled.  A woman gets amnesia and thinks she's still engaged to her ex in her home town but she's actually engaged to her business partner in Portland.  You think there would be some angst or heartache on her part for feeling love for someone she's not with.  Or on the fiance's part that his fiancee doesn't recognize/love him.  But no, she takes this news in relative stride and decides that what she needs to do to get back her memory is---do her town home Christmas things like make snowmen, bake pies and decorate.

All the while she's somewhat aghast when she hears who she has been in the past two years.  She wears suits which I guess is horrible.  She also has takeout with her fiance.  That evil Portland will suck the soul out of you every time, I guess. 

She didn't change because she was hit on the head or anything.  This is who she was while she had full use of her faculties.  She and her boyfriend split.  She went to take over an arts foundation.  Circumstances led her to be become who she became.  A bump on the head had her revert and she when she remembers everything, she realizes that she's the two year ago her.  But is she?  Is she really?  I'd love a sequel where it turns out that her evolution in the past two years was a natural progression of who she'd eventually be. 

The scenery was gorgeous, though.  And even though I love Andrew Walker, I was kind of rooting for her fiance.  That would have been a twist.  But no, he gracefully bows out a week before the wedding, even though she still doesn't remember who she is.

I thought it was a perfect example of a good concept hurt by the new Hallmark formula.  It just made me want to watch Just in Time for Christmas which did a much better job with a similar concept. 

Edited December 23, 2019 by Guest

[DanaMB]

12 hours ago, absnow54 said:

Double Holiday is a definite highlight from this season. Great chemistry with decent plot!

Agree! I love love love KP and any Hallmark movie he is in. I just love his style of acting and his connection to his love interests. He’s so charming. 

[Woopwoopkitty]

I agree Holiday Date isn’t great but I liked seeing Brittany in a leading role and I found Peter Benson to be hysterical.

[SusanwatchingTV]

Well, I guess I'm an oddball because I shockingly didn't hate Christmas on My Mind. I think two things saved it for me:  1) Andrew Walker (It's official, I could watch him read the phone book and be happy) and 2) The play on my all-time Christmas favorite movie, While You Were Sleeping (available on Disney+ though I own the DVD, of course).  I got a huge kick out of her name being Lucy and his being Callahan.  The amnesia thing was hilarious and not as awkward as I thought it would be. Her faux life was like Peter's (in WYWS) and her real life was like Lucy's in WYWS.  Andrew was a lot like Jack.  It was just so perfect.  I know it's weird, but I loved it. lol

I agree with y'all on Double Holiday.  It was good, mostly because of Kristoffer Polaha.  He has really grown on me the last few years. He's so sweet and natural, and he really knows how to look at his costar like he's in love with her.  The girl was better than I expected, too.

Edited December 23, 2019 by SusanwatchingTV

[K-9]

12 Pups of Christmas (2019) debuted on ION.  Yes, lots of puppies. But after 90 minutes into the movie, the main human character Erin still had an off-putting attitude.  I chose to change the channel; felt like watching something else more upbeat.  Maybe will catch the last 30 minutes some other time. 

Christmas Crush (2019) also premiered on ION this weekend.  The main character Addie has to repeatedly fend-off a suitor who is accidentally under her own magic wish to pursue her.  However, Addie meant that wish for her true crush who she then goes after.  Complications ensue.

Throughout the movie, Addie is busy organizing an important party for her work called something like "The Donner Charity Event."   At one point in the planning phase for the event, a character refers to it as "The Donner Party." Another character immediately corrects the words back to The Donner Event.   I appreciated that there was no explanation to the viewing audience about why calling it "The Donner Party" could be a poor choice of words.  I savor it when a movie has a little nugget like that.

Edited December 23, 2019 by K-9

[Crs97]

I saw Christmas Crush.  The leads were likeable, but it went all in on the “female can’t stand up for herself” syndrome.  I understand the lead felt she caused the problem with her vague wish, but a firm discussion, especially after wrong guy showed up at her work, would have ended a lot of heartache.  And how bad were the other events that that was considered the best one ever?!?

[K-9]

Quote

I saw Christmas Crush.  The leads were likeable, but it went all in on the “female can’t stand up for herself” syndrome.  I understand the lead felt she caused the problem with her vague wish, but a firm discussion, especially after wrong guy showed up at her work, would have ended a lot of heartache.

No matter what Addie tried (messing up her hair, eating ketchup, playing bagpipes), the wrong guy was still under the power of the wish to be enamored by her.     

Edited December 23, 2019 by K-9

[Ashforth]

10 hours ago, K-9 said:

Throughout the movie, Addie is busy organizing an important party for her work called something like "The Donner Charity Event."   At one point in the planning phase for the event, a character refers to it as "The Donner Party." Another character immediately corrects the words back to The Donner Event.   I appreciated that there was no explanation to the viewing audience about why calling it "The Donner Party" could be a poor choice of words.  I savor it when a movie has a little nugget like that.

I really, really want "A Donner Party Christmas" on Hallmark. Delicious!

[Crs97]

1 hour ago, K-9 said:

No matter what Addie tried (messing up her hair, eating ketchup, playing bagpipes), the wrong guy was still under the power of the wish to be enamored by her.     

Yes, but I thought those were dumb things to try to end the spell.  Bed head ends true love?!?  Rolled my eyes hard on that montage.  The movie would have been short if she had just said no at the beginning, but I hate the trope of a woman so afraid to hurt someone’s feelings that she puts her career and future in jeopardy just to appease someone else.

[K-9]

Yes, Addie was not direct with him  However, imo telling off that guy would not have worked; shooting star had too much power : )

[kirinan]

Did anyone watch The Christmas Temp on Lifetime this past week? It was kind of scattered and silly, and it seemed like whoever wrote/directed it cut some stuff out of the story (it seemed to jump ahead with no explanations in certain parts). But I still liked it, mostly because of the two leads. Robin Dunne has become a favorite of mine, and as free-spirited/ditzy as the main female character, an artist, was (normally a type I don't care for that much), I just liked her and all her insecurities. It's the first time I've seen Sara Canning, the actress, and I would watch her in other movies.

I doubt it will be on anyone's "Best Of" list this year, including mine, but I must have been in exactly the right frame of mind for it, because I'm still reflecting pleasantly on it a few days later. It kind of charmed me.

[Direwolf]

Robin Dunne is on a roll. After a hiatus of three years, Christmas Crush is his third holiday movie this month! Along with the Christmas Chalet earlier this month on UPN, The Christmas Temp premiered last Friday on Lifetime. 

He also has a 2019 NYE movie with Erin Karpluk called New Year's Kiss. Not sure if its being shown in the US and when. 

 

[MerBearHou]

21 minutes ago, kirinan said:

Did anyone watch The Christmas Temp on Lifetime this past week? It was kind of scattered and silly, and it seemed like whoever wrote/directed it cut some stuff out of the story (it seemed to jump ahead with no explanations in certain parts). But I still liked it, mostly because of the two leads. Robin Dunne has become a favorite of mine, and as free-spirited/ditzy as the main female character, an artist, was (normally a type I don't care for that much), I just liked her and all her insecurities. It's the first time I've seen Sara Canning, the actress, and I would watch her in other movies.

I doubt it will be on anyone's "Best Of" list this year, including mine, but I must have been in exactly the right frame of mind for it, because I'm still reflecting pleasantly on it a few days later. It kind of charmed me.

I saw The Christmas Temp.  I like Robin Dunne and at first, I thought the main female character was kind of fun to watch, but then she became beyond annoying with her ditziness and lack of decision-making and should have been fired.  She was in way over her head and frankly, I didn't find her to be that talented.  Definitely would not watch this one again.

[Direwolf]

17 minutes ago, kirinan said:

Did anyone watch The Christmas Temp on Lifetime this past week? It was kind of scattered and silly, and it seemed like whoever wrote/directed it cut some stuff out of the story (it seemed to jump ahead with no explanations in certain parts). But I still liked it, mostly because of the two leads. Robin Dunne has become a favorite of mine, and as free-spirited/ditzy as the main female character, an artist, was (normally a type I don't care for that much), I just liked her and all her insecurities. It's the first time I've seen Sara Canning, the actress, and I would watch her in other movies.

I doubt it will be on anyone's "Best Of" list this year, including mine, but I must have been in exactly the right frame of mind for it, because I'm still reflecting pleasantly on it a few days later. It kind of charmed me.

I had it on while wrapping some presents late Friday night. I kept saying I would switch the channel to see what other holiday movies or specials were on, but kept me mostly interested the whole time. I was a little confused by his assistant who seemed like she wanted to sabotage the hired artist (Sara Canning) but seemed fine with her later on. Maybe I missed a scene? 

I always remember Robin Dunne as Joey's college boyfriend on Dawson's Creek in S3.  Still need to watch Christmas Crush. 

[MollyMelrose]

2 hours ago, Ashforth said:

I really, really want "A Donner Party Christmas" on Hallmark. Delicious!

 

[Guest]

50 minutes ago, Direwolf said:

Robin Dunne is on a roll. After a hiatus of three years, Christmas Crush is his third holiday movie this month! Along with the Christmas Chalet earlier this month on UPN, The Christmas Temp premiered last Friday on Lifetime. 

He also has a 2019 NYE movie with Erin Karpluk called New Year's Kiss. Not sure if its being shown in the US and when. 

 

He also directed Magical Christmas Shoes on Lifetime. 
 

New Year’s Kiss is available on Tubi. 

Edited December 23, 2019 by Guest

[Irlandesa]

As much as Robin Dunne is becoming one of my favorite male leads, I couldn't hang with A Christmas Crush.  It was the combination of the magical aspect, the ridiculous way she tried to reverse the wish/curse and all over holiday movie fatigue.  I did manage to get through A Christmas Temp, though.  There were some silly parts but there was enough good for me to keep with it.

I also watched A Christmas Wedding Runaway.  It was okay but what kept me watching to the end was to see how thirsty the runaway bride's sister was for the jilted-at-the-altar fiance. I was shocked at how brazen she was semi-throwing her sister under the bus, pushing her at her ex-boyfriend and puffing up the (ex) fiance about how she would treat him like a king.  Don't get me wrong, it's not like she was portrayed as a villain, but her manipulations amused me.

The Hallmark Sunday entries were meh.  Holly Robinson Peete's love interest was better than Rick Fox in her mystery movies but I only let A Family Christmas run in the background as I took a shower and did other chores.  I liked It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas more mainly for the leads and the novel fact that, while Tricia Helfer's character was a divorced single mother, her ex was actually present in her life and her son's life instead of living off somewhere else.  He was friendly with both his ex-wife and her love interest.

I've got A Date By Christmas Eve still to watch and Away in the Manger and then I will have survived the holiday season, especially if they're not doing a new year's movie.

 

[In2You]

It always makes me laugh when they do colorblind casting for the family members in these movies. Ashanti having a white mother, Vivica Fox as mom to those obviously Eurasian girls,  Tiya Sircar having a black mom and white dad in a movie. 

[JasmineFlower]

Christmas Crush on ION with Robin Dunne and Cindy Sampson - So, this is a fairly ridiculous movie, but it worked for me until the last 10 minutes.  I thought it was entertaining though I can easily see why others wouldn't like it. As stupid as this premise tends to be (Christmas wish comes true without a living in a dream aspect), I like that this one was incredibly off the cuff, just like putting thoughts out there jokingly and not expecting a thing from it. The lead actress doesn't have stars in her eyes, so I thought the approach worked because I wouldn't buy her as some young ingenue seriously making a wish upon a star. Her personality worked for me, very confident and likable and self sufficient in her work, just shying away from asking out the guy she likes. Loved the general tone and humor of the character. When the fiancee Gina says her and Pete call themselves Gete and Addie reacts with an "Ooh. No." I couldn't have been more on board with her character in that moment. There are plenty of little moments like that which made me like the movie.  The mistake that happens with the wish was a good set up for a lighthearted comedic tone. 

Are her attempts to undo the wish stupid? Many of them are, but nothing that gets too unbearable to me, it didn't go into true ridiculous territory that some of these ION movies have favored over the years until the last 10 minutes when it's like they just couldn't help themselves. I thought the way she was exasperated that it wasn't being undone ended up working along with Robin bearing witness to the nonsense to make him that much more confused. Also, her friend really added to the scenes. I don't watch Private Eyes so I'm not familiar with Cindy, but I'd love to see her in another of these movies. Her and Robin being the stars helped this one a great deal, I think it could've been much sillier and harder to watch with different casting. So while this was far from perfect and has things that even while enjoying it are a bit too much (did she just have bagpipes lying around her apartment and why do you put a scarf that you're allergic to, back on?), the overall movie was one that I can easily say I enjoyed watching. The last 10 minutes filled with unnecessary embarrassment were unfortunate, but don't make me regret watching.  Not sure others will like it, so not one I'd really recommend going out of your way to catch it unless you like Robin or Cindy.

 

Christmas Love Letter with Ashley Newbrough  on Lifetime - I liked this one a lot. Liked the chemistry between the characters. The daughter didn't annoy which is always a bonus, and she played her child genius part very well. I truly enjoyed best friend Demi, hope to see her much more in the future. The dad was a nice supportive character. I think the writer likely saw Runaway Bride more than a few times and lifted an idea from it. Also had some similarities to Hallmark's My Christmas Love. But that didn't distract me much and didn't affect my enjoyment of the movie. One I'd recommend others trying to catch.