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

[JenMD]

I miss the old days when there wasent such a saturation of holiday movies.. there are so many, it's hard for any to really stick out to me.

http://www.chicagonow.com/confessions-coffeeholic/2015/12/top-10-list-of-christmas-tv-movies-1980s-1990s/

What a fun list!  I was actually just bemoaning to my sister the other day that I haven't seen Mom for Christmas, The Night They Saved Christmas, (both on the list) or, one of my personal faves, The Story Lady for ages.  So it's nice to see at least two of them mentioned.  And I love The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and would love to see that one again.

 

 

Stacey1014, on 17 Dec 2015 - 8:51 PM, said:  

I think I've hit the wall in regards to Christmas movies.  There are so many that are on every weekend and I just can't keep up.

 

This is where I'm at.  I am so glad we're nearing the end.  And I haven't even bothered with ION or UP or anybody outside of Lifetime or the 2 Hallmark channels for new movies, with the exception of the movie with Derek Theler everybody was recommending (taping tomorrow).  Partly that's because I've found ION and UP so cheaply made that I invariably sit there wondering if a Kickstarter campaign wouldn't have helped.  But mostly, there's just too many.  I can't even keep up names and faces straight of the all the ones just on Lifetime/Hallmark, although a few have made an impression (loved Crown for Christmas the most). 

For older movies, I have dvr'd a few for rewatching - The Mistle-tones, 12 Dates of Christmas (probably my favorite of all the ABC Family movies), Naughty or Nice (Hilarie Burton version), and Snow and Snow 2 (which are both kind silly, especially 2, but they're cute enough to wrap presents to and my sister didn't remember them), my all-time favorite, Season for Miracles and my sister's favorite, Christmas with Holly (which, I swear, she kept on the dvr last year for like 6 months).  Other rewatchable favorites that I'll watch when I come across them include Holly's Holiday, Holiday Engagement and The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

 

Regarding the recent discussion of romance vs. family, I generally prefer the movies that have romance as the central theme, but it's such a crapshoot of whether or not the pairing will work, and of course, the writing/production values have to be there, which is why I wish they wouldn't do so many.   But I do enjoy the occasional foray into non-romance, a la A Dog Named Christmas or Our First Christmas (I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this one upon recent rewatch).

[Kaoteek]

Maybe it's because I went in not totally convinced by my previous encounter with Meghan Ory (I didn't like some of her acting on Once Upon A Time) & was happily surprised, or maybe it's just because I'm in bed with a 102F fever, but I quite liked Dashing Through the Snow. It wasn't "movie of the season", or anything close, I'd even dispute its place under the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries brand, but it was likeable all the way through, Ory & whatshisname worked well together, it seemed to have an okay budget (see, Lifetime, there's no need to be cheap and to film your car scenes in front of a bad green screen, or an antiquated rear-projection system) and the incompetent FBI subplot wasn't much of a mystery or a believable storyline, but it was a fine, light-hearted distraction, although it kind of disrupted the overall flow of the movie, every now and then.

 

Also, already complained about it in here, but... soooo tired of the magical street santa that has profound advice for the lead character trope, and of the melancolic flashback montage before the big finish.

Edited December 20, 2015 by Kaoteek

[Luckylyn]

The cinematography for Christmas Melody for Mariah's close ups was extremely distracting. She chose some sort of soft focus lense or filter. I don't know which but there was a clear difference in how she shot herself vs. every other shot in the movie. It was like shots from another movie were being inserted and it didn't quite match.

[twoods]

So bummed I can't catch Dashing Through the Snow since I don't have the mystery channel on my package. The Spirit of Christmas seemed too much in the previews so I didn't DVR it, unless there is some love on here for it.

I'm sad that not one movie stood out this season as being one that I will watch over and over again. I may try Crown For Christmas again but I didn't like how there was so few scenes between the leads when they had nice chemistry. On the 12th Day of Christmas and Last Chance For Christmas was pleasant enough and may earn another viewing but I will probably forget about the plots by next year.

[Misslindsey]

I could not get into Dashing Through the Snow. I was not really that familiar with Meghan Ory (though I imdb-ed her while the movie was playing). She reminded me so much of Bellamy Young from Scandal which might have distracted me from the movie a bit. I might give it another try.

 

So far I enjoyed On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, A Crown for Christmas, and A Gift Wrapped Christmas best this year, but I still have some left on my DVR.

[EyewatchTV211]

I just finished The Spirit of Christmas, and I actually really liked it! It was very different from the other Christmas fare. They looked like they were headed to some of the annoying tropes, but they were handled quickly and/or unexpectedly. I sometimes have opinions that vary from others, but I actually thought this would have been pretty decent as a non-Christmas TV movie. I will save it on my DVR. Unlike Christmas Melody, which was immediately deleted. Anyone else watch?

[TVFan17]

I'll be back to comment further, either later tonight or tomorrow, but I am watching A Christmas Melody live -- which is rare for me, as I usually have to go the DVR route -- and I will be honest.  I didn't know what to expect from it... and I am finding it delightful!  It's a Hallmark movie.  It feels like a Hallmark movie.  So anyone who enjoys Hallmark movies would probably enjoy this one.  I LOVE Lacey Chabert and Brennan Elliott together in both of their Hallmark movies, and I hope they do more together.   Mariah's direction didn't change the feel of this movie, and her scenes are scattered here and there.  They don't dominate the movie.  The little girl is charming.  I like the mysterious Santa.  It's cute!  This movie is no worse than any other Hallmark movie, and it's probably better than quite a few of them.

[Irlandesa]

I just got Starz so I got sucked into a Party Down marathon.  Otherwise, I would usually watch both movies since there were only two.  I susected the Lifetime movie would be better so I have that sitting on my DVR for later.  A Christmas Melody has the dubious honor of being not as bad I thought it could be.  Lacey Chabert and Brennan Eliot still work well together so there's that.  Mariah Carey as an actress, though?  Oy.  It could have been a delightfully bitchy character. 

 

As for the good ones this season.  I would watch A Crown For Christmas again.*  And this may not be a popular opinion but I'd watch A Christmas Detour again.  Candace's character did have some issues but the movie didn't totally ignore them and the married couple/sidekicks were SO good that it really elevated the experience.  In fact, if I ever watch again, I could see myself stopping once they leave the movie.

And then there's How Sarah Got Got Her Wings.  I might have to record that one too. I was going to keep it but then I lost it when my DVR went kaput. 

 

*But really truly and honestly?  Most of these movies for me are a one and done experience. I might watch if they're on and I'm free but I think the only movies I actively seek out to rewatch or throw on my DVR are Love At The Thanksgiving Day Parade (*sob* Lost with my DVR), and the romantic Hallmark Hall of Fame movies The Magic of Ordinary Days, Loving Leah (*sob* Lost)  and Follow The Stars Home.

[TVFan17]

I am not going to bother with The Bridge, Part 1 until next year, but I can break down the other 16 new Hallmark movies like this:

 

Probable Favorites from This Year's Batch (in no specific order):

 

I'm Not Ready for Christmas

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

Crown for Christmas

Once Upon a Holiday

A Christmas Melody (mainly for Lacey and Brennan)

 

 

Would Definitely Watch Again and/or Have Already Watched Again (in no specific order), and May End Up Liking More Over Time:

 

Ice Sculpture Christmas

12 Gifts of Christmas

A Christmas Detour

Angel of Christmas

Charming Christmas (and only for the scenes with David Sutcliffe and Julie Benz together)

Christmas Land

 

 

 

May Watch Again, If Nothing Else Is On:

 

'Tis the Season for Love

 

 

Really Not Interested in Seeing Again:

 

Northpole 2: Open for Christmas

Christmas, Incorporated

Merry Matrimony

Just In Time for Christmas

 

 

Out of Lifetime's new movies, I probably liked Gift-Wrapped Christmas the best. 

 

 

Tis the Season for Love -- Flames on the sides of my face! Hate! Really, they gave this woman a guilt trip for ditching a volunteer gig directing a small-town children's play that she got thrown into at the last minute for a chance at Broadway, even as an understudy? I'm from a small town, so all the "small towns are perfect and wonderful, and you must return to your hometown" stories irk me. I also didn't like the guy at all. He wasn't that great an actor, so all his lines sounded like he was sounding them out while reading from cue cards, though I guess it would be hard to act a non-character who had no defining traits or personality. He was blander than the usual Hallmark hero, and he wasn't even that attractive.

 

I may have to start digging into the OnDemand options because my DVR is almost empty.

 

I was not that thrilled with the 'Tis the Season for Love couple -- I didn't feel that they had any chemistry, and you're right.  His acting was not that great.  It was just a so-so movie for me.  Snow Bride is a case in which I thought the 2 leads had a lot of chemistry.   Another example of really good chemistry would be the couple in A Bride for Christmas.

 

 

For older movies, I have dvr'd a few for rewatching - The Mistle-tones, 12 Dates of Christmas (probably my favorite of all the ABC Family movies), Naughty or Nice (Hilarie Burton version), and Snow and Snow 2 (which are both kind silly, especially 2, but they're cute enough to wrap presents to and my sister didn't remember them), my all-time favorite, Season for Miracles and my sister's favorite, Christmas with Holly (which, I swear, she kept on the dvr last year for like 6 months).  Other rewatchable favorites that I'll watch when I come across them include Holly's Holiday, Holiday Engagement and The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

 

Regarding the recent discussion of romance vs. family, I generally prefer the movies that have romance as the central theme, but it's such a crapshoot of whether or not the pairing will work, and of course, the writing/production values have to be there, which is why I wish they wouldn't do so many.   But I do enjoy the occasional foray into non-romance, a la A Dog Named Christmas or Our First Christmas (I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this one upon recent rewatch).

 

I love Naughty or Nice and The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.  And I just watched Holly's Holiday earlier this afternoon!

 

The cinematography for Christmas Melody for Mariah's close ups was extremely distracting. She chose some sort of soft focus lense or filter. I don't know which but there was a clear difference in how she shot herself vs. every other shot in the movie. It was like shots from another movie were being inserted and it didn't quite match.

 

Lol.  It was funny.  I enjoyed the movie, but the lighting of Mariah's scenes was amusing and different.  She was playing an old high school rival of Lacey's, and there is a 12-year age difference between them in real life.  Maybe they (the powers that be on the team) felt that with the soft filter/focus and odd lighting it would make her look closer to Lacey's age. 

 

So bummed I can't catch Dashing Through the Snow since I don't have the mystery channel on my package. The Spirit of Christmas seemed too much in the previews so I didn't DVR it, unless there is some love on here for it.

I'm sad that not one movie stood out this season as being one that I will watch over and over again. I may try Crown For Christmas again but I didn't like how there was so few scenes between the leads when they had nice chemistry. On the 12th Day of Christmas and Last Chance For Christmas was pleasant enough and may earn another viewing but I will probably forget about the plots by next year.

 

Although I am recording The Spirit of Christmas, I am almost certain it won't be a favorite of mine.  It doesn't look like my type of movie.  I will keep an open mind, as I always do with these movies, and give it a chance.

 

I could not get into Dashing Through the Snow. I was not really that familiar with Meghan Ory (though I imdb-ed her while the movie was playing). She reminded me so much of Bellamy Young from Scandal which might have distracted me from the movie a bit. I might give it another try.

 

So far I enjoyed On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, A Crown for Christmas, and A Gift Wrapped Christmas best this year, but I still have some left on my DVR.

 

I'm right there with you about Dashing Through the Snow.  As much as I like Andrew Walker and wanted to hang in there to enjoy him, I just was not into the movie.  I stuck with it, but I didn't like it very much.  I might give it another chance next year, after some time has passed.

 

I just got Starz so I got sucked into a Party Down marathon.  Otherwise, I would usually watch both movies since there were only two.  I susected the Lifetime movie would be better so I have that sitting on my DVR for later.  A Christmas Melody has the dubious honor of being not as bad I thought it could be.  Lacey Chabert and Brennan Eliot still work well together so there's that.  Mariah Carey as an actress, though?  Oy.  It could have been a delightfully bitchy character. 

 

As for the good ones this season.  I would watch A Crown For Christmas again.*  And this may not be a popular opinion but I'd watch A Christmas Detour again.  Candace's character did have some issues but the movie didn't totally ignore them and the married couple/sidekicks were SO good that it really elevated the experience.  In fact, if I ever watch again, I could see myself stopping once they leave the movie.

And then there's How Sarah Got Got Her Wings.  I might have to record that one too. I was going to keep it but then I lost it when my DVR went kaput. 

 

*But really truly and honestly?  Most of these movies for me are a one and done experience. I might watch if they're on and I'm free but I think the only movies I actively seek out to rewatch or throw on my DVR are Love At The Thanksgiving Day Parade (*sob* Lost with my DVR), and the romantic Hallmark Hall of Fame movies The Magic of Ordinary Days, Loving Leah (*sob* Lost)  and Follow The Stars Home.

 

If you're going to record HSGHW, make sure to set the DVR for it now.  I don't think it's going to be on more than one or two more times.

 

I would certainly watch A Christmas Detour again.  It was enjoyable.  I didn't have any problem with it.  Really, in all honesty, a lot of these movies were fine and only suffered from simply not being as good as other movies that are favorites, which is kind of an unfair way for me to view them.  In other words, A Christmas Detour mainly suffered from the fact that I think it's not as good as Let it Snow (which is my favorite Candace Cameron Bure Hallmark movie).  12 Gifts of Christmas is a cute Katrina Law movie, but -- in my opinion -- not as good as Snow Bride.  I'm Not Ready for Christmas is enjoyable to me, but certainly not as good as Alicia Witt's charming A Very Merry Mix-Up.    Once Upon a Holiday is probably not as good as Paul Campbell's previous Christmas effort, Window Wonderland.  Anything else that Danica McKellar does for Hallmark from this point forward will probably not seem as good as Crown for Christmas!

 

So I judge a lot of these movies unfairly when they star someone who has done another movie that is one of my all-time Hallmark favorites!  I can't help it.  That's kind of why I appreciate the sleepers that fly under the radar and sneak up on me, like Angel of Christmas and On the Twelfth Day of Christmas.  Those movies don't star anyone who has been in a previous favorite of mine, so I can kind of view them with fresh eyes and not compare them to anything else.

 

You could always get Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade on DVD.  It's probably available on Amazon for a low price.  It is sold separately, and as part of a collection of 4 movies.  I have it in the collection of 4 movies, because I also wanted A Bride for Christmas.  I think that Loving Leah might be on DVD too.

 

That's right -- not only will I watch and look forward to watching a lot of these movies again.  I will actually go so far as to get the DVDs (because most of them are under $15 when they're new, and as low as $2.00 when they're old)!  However, I have not cracked open any of the DVDs.  They are all still sealed, and are just a back-up for the inevitable time when Hallmark stops airing some of them, or when my cable company drops one of the Hallmark channels.

Edited December 26, 2015 by Sherry67

[methodwriter85]

Daniel in The Spirit of Christmas is painfully hot. I can see why Jen Lilley would be willing to wait for him every year for just a 12-day dalliance, but luckily, she doesn't have to!

 

It does really make me laugh that a guy who dresses like he's from the turn of the century doesn't look all that out of place in 2015.

[emjohnson03]

 

*But really truly and honestly?  Most of these movies for me are a one and done experience. I might watch if they're on and I'm free but I think the only movies I actively seek out to rewatch or throw on my DVR are Love At The Thanksgiving Day Parade (*sob* Lost with my DVR), and the romantic Hallmark Hall of Fame movies The Magic of Ordinary Days, Loving Leah (*sob* Lost)  and Follow The Stars Home.

"Follow the Stars Home" is such a win for me! I will watch that one over and over! Gah, what an amazing movie!

 

And as for the Christmas, I watched "A Christmas Melody" and it was great! The two leads were great (Lacey can do no wrong in my opinion, adorable and always have good chemistry with her leads) and Brandon was great too! Just enough restraint and good guy. He didn't fade into the background. Mariah did a great job directing but I agree, the camera on her was way too distracting (esp when she's first introduced, holy moley was that lighting and filter obvious!)

 

I enjoyed most of the movies but will always go to some of the oldies too. 

 

Who am I kidding, I'm just waiting for the "When Calls the Heart" New Year Event. CANNOT WAIT!

[Fostersmom]

The cinematography for Christmas Melody for Mariah's close ups was extremely distracting. She chose some sort of soft focus lense or filter. I don't know which but there was a clear difference in how she shot herself vs. every other shot in the movie. It was like shots from another movie were being inserted and it didn't quite match.

 

I'm just watching now and you hit this right on the head. Her shots are soft and gauzy with perfect lighting while the rest of the shots are barely in focus, dim lighting and full of shadows. 

 

I will say, this wan't as bad as I expected. It benefited from a lack of Mariah. I do fear her over the top stage mom character is a little to close to home for what her kids will endure though. The casting of the little girl was quite good. Usually the child actors are, shall we say, not good in these movies, but she was a wonderful little actress. 

[Shanna Marie]

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas was cute up to a point, but then the near-end crisis hit one of my least favorite romantic tropes (one of the reasons I had to give up romance novels entirely because it's endemic there): the jumping to the worst possible conclusion and refusing to listen to an explanation, followed by a reconciliation when the truth is revealed. For me, that would be a combination relationship red flag and dealbreaker.

 

I'm not sure I'd want to get into a serious relationship with someone whose way of dealing with a conflict is shutting down entirely, assuming he knows the whole story, and refusing to listen to the other side of the story. And even if he does eventually listen and come around, there's the problem that in a situation involving someone he supposedly likes, maybe even loves, he immediately jumps to the worst possible conclusion about her motives, with no evidence, and even going against the evidence (since he knew that the newspaper only got involved because his boss called them and her boss made her do the story, and she gave him multiple opportunities to opt out of participating in the story), and he was angry at her because he thought she benefited even though it had done no harm to him and had even helped him as much as it helped her. The only harm done was that his feelings were hurt, and his feelings were only hurt because he assumed the worst possible motives behind what she did, so he thought she was using him. In her shoes, I'd have been like, "So, that's what you think of me? Screw you!"

 

I just hate when movies/books/TV shows pull this, and everything's okay as soon as the angry person learns the truth, and the other person doesn't seem to be at all bothered by the fact that this person who supposedly loves them is so willing to believe the absolute worst of them and so convinced that they're right that they don't want to hear any explanation.

[JenMD]

What is with the wonky scheduling this year?  First, I had to wait a week to catch Dashing Through the Snow because I didn't have room on the first run and HM&M kept changing the encore.  Finally managed to catch it last night and it was cute enough.  That puppy, wow, he was awfully adorable.  The leads were cute, I've seen both in other things and enjoyed them and enjoyed them here as well; didn't mind the FBI subplot but the other subplot of the two young guys with the car was seriously trying my patience.  Way too much set up for the switched plates plot, imo.  Overall, I enjoyed it, although I wouldn't call it a favorite.

 

Second, my dvr is apparently exhausted of all the Christmas movies and decided not to tape the late night airing of The Spirit of Christmas, which I was really looking forward to.  Turns out, it currently isn't scheduled to be on again for some reason and I finally tracked it down on On Demand, on SD (I can't help it, I'm a snob, I like my HD).  Really enjoyed this one, despite some stilted acting here and there.  I think some of the actors had a bit of trouble with the old-fashioned dialogue but I was engrossed enough in the story and the setting that I didn't really mind.  I enjoyed the leads, the inn was lovely and, look at that, Real Non-Squishy Snow!  Like seriously, I was feeling bad for the actors at certain points because it looked absolutely freezing and they're running around in some scenes with little or no coats.  But it all looked so pretty and this kind of romance, where the past and present meet, we don't get all that much but I enjoy it (The Love Letter with Campbell Scott and Jennifer Jason Leigh is one of my all time favorites tv movies).

 

I did also watch, of course, A Christmas Melody and as has been said, it certainly wasn't as bad as I feared, or bad at all, really.  Loved the leads (and Lacey Chabert can be hit or miss for me), the little girl playing the daughter was a good little actress and I enjoyed all the music (Mariah must've brought a budget with her because there was a lot of background music and it wasn't all hers, heh).  I really enjoyed that the characters got to continuously snark on Mariah's character, like they knew she was as ridiculous as the viewers did.  And yes, the close ups and soft focus on herself did Mariah the Director no favors and was kind of hilarious.  Where they lost me was right at the end, with the daughter's original song - hated the staging.  Not a dig at the little actress, she sounded fine when it was just her and the music teacher earlier in the movie (although the song itself didn't do anything for me) but I hate what they did to it, it just sounded so electronic.  Plus it begged the question, since the music teacher was the only musical accompaniment we could see, where did the rest of the music on the song come from?  Pretty much the only thing I did like about the performance was her little red Christmas dress - completely adorable!  So way better than I thought and a keeper for all but the end.  Oh, I did roll my eyes at Lacey turning down the job with the department store without even investigating if she could work with them long distance, these days that should certainly be a possibility. 

 

Just one left! (Right?  Please tell me that's right...).  I'm actually looking forward to Christmas Land, so here's hoping they go out on a high note.

 

Oh wait, I taped the movie with Derek Theler earlier today, so yet one more for me...

[EyewatchTV211]

What is with the wonky scheduling this year?  First, I had to wait a week to catch Dashing Through the Snow because I didn't have room on the first run and HM&M kept changing the encore.  Finally managed to catch it last night and it was cute enough.  That puppy, wow, he was awfully adorable.  The leads were cute, I've seen both in other things and enjoyed them and enjoyed them here as well; didn't mind the FBI subplot but the other subplot of the two young guys with the car was seriously trying my patience.  Way too much set up for the switched plates plot, imo.  Overall, I enjoyed it, although I wouldn't call it a favorite.

 

Second, my dvr is apparently exhausted of all the Christmas movies and decided not to tape the late night airing of The Spirit of Christmas, which I was really looking forward to.  Turns out, it currently isn't scheduled to be on again for some reason and I finally tracked it down on On Demand, on SD (I can't help it, I'm a snob, I like my HD).  Really enjoyed this one, despite some stilted acting here and there.  I think some of the actors had a bit of trouble with the old-fashioned dialogue but I was engrossed enough in the story and the setting that I didn't really mind.  I enjoyed the leads, the inn was lovely and, look at that, Real Non-Squishy Snow!  Like seriously, I was feeling bad for the actors at certain points because it looked absolutely freezing and they're running around in some scenes with little or no coats.  But it all looked so pretty and this kind of romance, where the past and present meet, we don't get all that much but I enjoy it (The Love Letter with Campbell Scott and Jennifer Jason Leigh is one of my all time favorites tv movies).

 

I did also watch, of course, A Christmas Melody and as has been said, it certainly wasn't as bad as I feared, or bad at all, really.  Loved the leads (and Lacey Chabert can be hit or miss for me), the little girl playing the daughter was a good little actress and I enjoyed all the music (Mariah must've brought a budget with her because there was a lot of background music and it wasn't all hers, heh).  I really enjoyed that the characters got to continuously snark on Mariah's character, like they knew she was as ridiculous as the viewers did.  And yes, the close ups and soft focus on herself did Mariah the Director no favors and was kind of hilarious.  Where they lost me was right at the end, with the daughter's original song - hated the staging.  Not a dig at the little actress, she sounded fine when it was just her and the music teacher earlier in the movie (although the song itself didn't do anything for me) but I hate what they did to it, it just sounded so electronic.  Plus it begged the question, since the music teacher was the only musical accompaniment we could see, where did the rest of the music on the song come from?  Pretty much the only thing I did like about the performance was her little red Christmas dress - completely adorable!  So way better than I thought and a keeper for all but the end.  Oh, I did roll my eyes at Lacey turning down the job with the department store without even investigating if she could work with them long distance, these days that should certainly be a possibility. 

 

Just one left! (Right?  Please tell me that's right...).  I'm actually looking forward to Christmas Land, so here's hoping they go out on a high note.

 

Oh wait, I taped the movie with Derek Theler earlier today, so yet one more for me...

Alright, I have agreed with most of your favorite movies this season, so maybe I should give A Christmas Melody another shot since you liked it along with many others here. Maybe I let my early negative thoughts about Mariah's bad acting (even if she was not the main character, it was still too much for me) and the snow covering the full, leafy trees get in the way of enjoying the rest of the movie. I will try again. And people commented on Mariah being too old to be in the same graduating class as Lacey. Brennan is also a good amount older, although not quite as much. That pulled me out a bit, too, considering that Lacey looks young for her age as it is.

 

Agree with your thoughts on The Spirit of Christmas. I too felt bad for the actors when they were outside without their jackets. The social media for the actual inn that was used posted this: "The main filming location for #TheSpiritofChristmas was the Proctor Mansion Inn in Wrentham MA. It was filmed in January and February 2015 during the historic snow storms of New England USA! The snow fall broke historic records and a state of emergency was called in the end. The shots in the front lawn and on the porches of the Proctor Mansion Inn were done in -6degree weather and 5 foot snow piles! Despite the weather the cast and crew were amazing! Jen Lilley (as Kate), Thomas Beaudoin (as Daniel), David Jackson (director) & Michael Negrin (Director of Photography) stayed at the Proctor Mansion Inn during the weeks of filming." Sounds like the actors were good sports! Even though it was not the usual light Christmas movie, I tend to be drawn to historical-ish romantic movies or ones with people from different times as well (Kate and Leopold is a favorite), so this appealed to me.

Edited December 21, 2015 by VMepicgrl

[TVFan17]

I just watched How Sarah Got Her Wings -- at long last!  And I was able to watch it live, without having to record it, thanks to the fantastic Christmas gift of my upstairs neighbors not being home.  Hallelujah to Christmas miracles! 

 

I thought it was a really cute, solid movie.   I knew nothing of any of the actors in it -- if I have seen them in anything in the past, I am certainly unaware of where it was that I saw them -- but they were all adept in their roles, and not wooden.   There were funny moments, touching moments and a couple of tedious moments, but overall it was very good.  For ION it was a masterpiece. 

 

When I surrender to these sorts of movies and watch with an open mind, even though I know that they will all be predictable, if I don't try to focus too much on how I think I know what it is going to happen, then sometimes I am actually left surprised. This happened last year, with the Hallmark movie Angels & Ornaments.  I didn't read much about it beforehand and I put any preconceived notions out of my mind, so the "twist" in the movie ended up surprising me.

 

I was also surprised by the last few minutes of How Sarah Got Her Wings.  I didn't read any spoilers -- even when Irlandesa posted something with a spoiler tag a while back, I did not succumb to my curiosity and read the spoiler.   So I didn't see the last few minutes coming... and when the movie ended I was left with a couple of questions because of that ending.

 

I also watched The Spirit of Christmas on Lifetime.  I liked it more than I expected to -- it was a decent movie -- but I was bored in a couple of spots too. 

 

 

"Follow the Stars Home" is such a win for me! I will watch that one over and over! Gah, what an amazing movie!

 

And as for the Christmas, I watched "A Christmas Melody" and it was great! The two leads were great (Lacey can do no wrong in my opinion, adorable and always have good chemistry with her leads) and Brandon was great too! Just enough restraint and good guy. He didn't fade into the background. Mariah did a great job directing but I agree, the camera on her was way too distracting (esp when she's first introduced, holy moley was that lighting and filter obvious!)

 

I enjoyed most of the movies but will always go to some of the oldies too. 

 

Who am I kidding, I'm just waiting for the "When Calls the Heart" New Year Event. CANNOT WAIT!

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who enjoyed A Christmas Melody!  I'm not even going to say that it "wasn't as bad as I expected" or whatever.  In my opinion, it wasn't bad at all.   I thought it was pretty good.   Then again, I like these types of movies -- predictability, tropes, fake snow, corny stories and all -- so I am always watching them with the hopes of being entertained on a very basic, minimal level.   I didn't know what to expect of it at first, but when I originally learned that Mariah was taking a smaller acting role and that Lacey and Brennan would be the lead couple, I figured I would like the movie at least a little bit because I like them as an onscreen couple.

 

Up until recently, I didn't really have any idea who Brennan Elliott was.  I now know he did a Hallmark movie with Vanessa Marcil a few years back, but I barely remember the movie.  I know he was also on Cedar Cove, which I did not watch.  I mainly became familiar with him from his movie with Lacey earlier this year, All of My Heart, which I adored.  He hasn't done many actual movies for Hallmark -- I think that A Christmas Melody might be his third movie for the channel over a span of several years -- but now that Cedar Cove has been cancelled I wonder if Hallmark will snap him up to do more projects.  I think he is really good -- he seems to have enough acting talent, comedic timing and general charisma to be a good leading man.  I love him with Lacey, but I wonder if he would also be a good leading man for other Hallmark actresses too.

 

One question about A Christmas Melody, though -- that Santa-esque homeless person that Lacey Chabert ("Kristin") talked to at the beginning of the movie was not the same Santa janitor guy at the school, was he?  I didn't think they were the same guy and there was nothing to show the audience that they were the same guy, but then I thought it was odd that we had 2 Santa-like figures in the same movie.

 

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas was cute up to a point, but then the near-end crisis hit one of my least favorite romantic tropes (one of the reasons I had to give up romance novels entirely because it's endemic there): the jumping to the worst possible conclusion and refusing to listen to an explanation, followed by a reconciliation when the truth is revealed. For me, that would be a combination relationship red flag and dealbreaker.

 

I'm not sure I'd want to get into a serious relationship with someone whose way of dealing with a conflict is shutting down entirely, assuming he knows the whole story, and refusing to listen to the other side of the story. And even if he does eventually listen and come around, there's the problem that in a situation involving someone he supposedly likes, maybe even loves, he immediately jumps to the worst possible conclusion about her motives, with no evidence, and even going against the evidence (since he knew that the newspaper only got involved because his boss called them and her boss made her do the story, and she gave him multiple opportunities to opt out of participating in the story), and he was angry at her because he thought she benefited even though it had done no harm to him and had even helped him as much as it helped her. The only harm done was that his feelings were hurt, and his feelings were only hurt because he assumed the worst possible motives behind what she did, so he thought she was using him. In her shoes, I'd have been like, "So, that's what you think of me? Screw you!"

 

I just hate when movies/books/TV shows pull this, and everything's okay as soon as the angry person learns the truth, and the other person doesn't seem to be at all bothered by the fact that this person who supposedly loves them is so willing to believe the absolute worst of them and so convinced that they're right that they don't want to hear any explanation.

 

All of what you say makes sense in real life or even if we are applying logic to movies made by someone other than Hallmark.   But in Hallmark-land, Maggie was never going to tell Mitch "screw you" -- because she had been thinking about him for 10 years, and because she cared enough about him that she embarked on this massive, Herculean task of crafting and staging the whole '12 Days of Christmas/Secret Santa' plan.  She cared way too much about him to tell him "screw you," so she wanted to explain things to him in her specific, creative way.  Yes, he shouldn't have been in a snit about her being his Secret Santa in the first place, and that whole conflict should have never been a thing at all, but there always has to be a conflict in these sorts of movies.  It is a trope that will rear its head in almost every one of them. 

 

What is with the wonky scheduling this year?  First, I had to wait a week to catch Dashing Through the Snow because I didn't have room on the first run and HM&M kept changing the encore.  Finally managed to catch it last night and it was cute enough.  That puppy, wow, he was awfully adorable.  The leads were cute, I've seen both in other things and enjoyed them and enjoyed them here as well; didn't mind the FBI subplot but the other subplot of the two young guys with the car was seriously trying my patience.  Way too much set up for the switched plates plot, imo.  Overall, I enjoyed it, although I wouldn't call it a favorite.

 

Second, my dvr is apparently exhausted of all the Christmas movies and decided not to tape the late night airing of The Spirit of Christmas, which I was really looking forward to.  Turns out, it currently isn't scheduled to be on again for some reason and I finally tracked it down on On Demand, on SD (I can't help it, I'm a snob, I like my HD).  Really enjoyed this one, despite some stilted acting here and there.  I think some of the actors had a bit of trouble with the old-fashioned dialogue but I was engrossed enough in the story and the setting that I didn't really mind.  I enjoyed the leads, the inn was lovely and, look at that, Real Non-Squishy Snow!  Like seriously, I was feeling bad for the actors at certain points because it looked absolutely freezing and they're running around in some scenes with little or no coats.  But it all looked so pretty and this kind of romance, where the past and present meet, we don't get all that much but I enjoy it (The Love Letter with Campbell Scott and Jennifer Jason Leigh is one of my all time favorites tv movies).

 

I did also watch, of course, A Christmas Melody and as has been said, it certainly wasn't as bad as I feared, or bad at all, really.  Loved the leads (and Lacey Chabert can be hit or miss for me), the little girl playing the daughter was a good little actress and I enjoyed all the music (Mariah must've brought a budget with her because there was a lot of background music and it wasn't all hers, heh).  I really enjoyed that the characters got to continuously snark on Mariah's character, like they knew she was as ridiculous as the viewers did.  And yes, the close ups and soft focus on herself did Mariah the Director no favors and was kind of hilarious.  Where they lost me was right at the end, with the daughter's original song - hated the staging.  Not a dig at the little actress, she sounded fine when it was just her and the music teacher earlier in the movie (although the song itself didn't do anything for me) but I hate what they did to it, it just sounded so electronic.  Plus it begged the question, since the music teacher was the only musical accompaniment we could see, where did the rest of the music on the song come from?  Pretty much the only thing I did like about the performance was her little red Christmas dress - completely adorable!  So way better than I thought and a keeper for all but the end.  Oh, I did roll my eyes at Lacey turning down the job with the department store without even investigating if she could work with them long distance, these days that should certainly be a possibility. 

 

Just one left! (Right?  Please tell me that's right...).  I'm actually looking forward to Christmas Land, so here's hoping they go out on a high note.

 

Oh wait, I taped the movie with Derek Theler earlier today, so yet one more for me...

 

Yes, there is just one new movie left -- Christmas Land, tonight on the Hallmark Channel.  It stars Nikki DeLoach (who was recently in an ION Halloween movie with Ryan McPartlin) and Luke Macfarlane.  Oh, and Maureen McCormick.

 

I wondered if Mariah brought a bigger budget with her, or if her 'pull' and association with the movie was what got the approval/legal okay for certain songs to be used by Hallmark on the soundtrack of A Christmas Melody.  There was definitely a slightly better soundtrack than usual.

[JenMD]

Alright, I have agreed with most of your favorite movies this season, so maybe I should give A Christmas Melody another shot since you liked it along with many others here. Maybe I let my early negative thoughts about Mariah's bad acting (even if she was not the main character, it was still too much for me) and the snow covering the full, leafy trees get in the way of enjoying the rest of the movie. I will try again.

 

"The main filming location for #TheSpiritofChristmas was the Proctor Mansion Inn in Wrentham MA. It was filmed in January and February 2015 during the historic snow storms of New England USA! The snow fall broke historic records and a state of emergency was called in the end. The shots in the front lawn and on the porches of the Proctor Mansion Inn were done in -6degree weather and 5 foot snow piles! Despite the weather the cast and crew were amazing! Jen Lilley (as Kate), Thomas Beaudoin (as Daniel), David Jackson (director) & Michael Negrin (Director of Photography) stayed at the Proctor Mansion Inn during the weeks of filming." Sounds like the actors were good sports! Even though it was not the usual light Christmas movie, I tend to be drawn to historical-ish romantic movies or ones with people from different times as well (Kate and Leopold is a favorite), so this appealed to me.

 

I hope you'll enjoy A Christmas Melody despite Mariah.  Yeah, she's not really an actress but I thought it kind of worked for her character that she was a bit stiff and put people off.  And I really did love all the snark on her character.

 

Thanks so much for all the info on the inn where The Spirit of Chrismas was filmed, I adore backstage info!  And wow, they were in my neck of the woods, I had no idea.  Those poor film folks, so much sympathy for them.  I remember all that snow so very well.

[Kaoteek]

A Christmas Reunion. Boring. Just plain boring. Also, cheap. And acting-wise... eh. Typical Hybrid/ION production, in short.

I'm sure i've spotted Megan, the hyperenthusiastic tiny blonde model from the Face Off competition, as one of the extras, towards the end, though.

[JunebugWA]

I have been on what my hubby calls a "Christmas fluff" movie binge the last couple days. I finally watched "The Christmas Kiss II" and thought it was much much better than the first edition. No major (dreaded) misunderstanding and the plot moved along faster than the 1st one.  

Even though I enjoyed "A Princess for Christmas", I could not stand the female seemed to smile her way through the entire movie - very distracting. 

Just finished "Naughty and Nice" ( Haylie Duff version) and I liked it. 

I'd recommend "Chalet Girl" - not a Christmas movie but there is snow :) 

Edited December 21, 2015 by JunebugWA

[EyewatchTV211]

I hope you'll enjoy A Christmas Melody despite Mariah.  Yeah, she's not really an actress but I thought it kind of worked for her character that she was a bit stiff and put people off.  And I really did love all the snark on her character.

 

Thanks so much for all the info on the inn where The Spirit of Chrismas was filmed, I adore backstage info!  And wow, they were in my neck of the woods, I had no idea.  Those poor film folks, so much sympathy for them.  I remember all that snow so very well.

I actually forced myself through all of A Christmas Melody the first time despite the early issues. It just did not grow on me that time. Will try again when I have another chance.

 

If you liked those tidbits, the inn's social media also posted: "Little known fact is that the script called for a long distance shot of the front of the Inn. Since the Proctor Mansion Inn is in the heart of Wrentham's town center, the Harding Estate exterior was used for the distance shot (plus a garden scene and the bar). All the other shots- ball room, stain glass doors, grand stair case, bedrooms, kitchen, dinning room, parlor, front porches, etc etc are the Proctor Mansion Inn."

[Irlandesa]

That's right -- not only will I watch and look forward to watching a lot of these movies again.  I will actually go so far as to get the DVDs (because most of them are under $15 when they're new, and as low as $2.00 when they're old)!  However, I have not cracked open any of the DVDs.  They are all still sealed, and are just a back-up for the inevitable time when Hallmark stops airing some of them, or when my cable company drops one of the Hallmark channels.

I have a lot of unopened DVDs so I won't go that route.  Pretty much all of these will likely be on Hallmark's rotation in the coming year and I'll throw them on my DVR. 

 

There is also a movie on USA tonight called "Santa's Little Helper."  It looks like it's produced by WWE but it does star some actors who have appeared in Hallmark movie like AnnaLynn McCord, Eric Keenleyside....well many of them have Hallmark credits.  I'm throwing it on the DVR but I'm iffy on whether or not I'll watch it all.

[Kaoteek]

Yeah, don't bother, really. When I watched it late November, I posted this here :

 

 

the WWE/USA Network Christmas movie Santa's Little Helper leaked early, and it was pretty much what you'd expect from a WWE co-production : Miz is improving, but still isn't a good actor, Paige was surprisingly solid in her "mean elf" part, and AnnaLynne McCord was fine in a lighter role than usual, but the writing was pretty bad, spending almost an hour placing Miz in silly, Christmas-unrelated, California-filmed challenges... and during the final part of the movie, at the North Pole, pitting him against Paige in a treetop obstacle course recycled from WWE's latest Tough Enough season. Yay.

 

80% of it are mostly Christmas unrelated, and the other 20% really feel underbaked & rushed.

[Shanna Marie]

But in Hallmark-land, Maggie was never going to tell Mitch "screw you" -- because she had been thinking about him for 10 years, and because she cared enough about him that she embarked on this massive, Herculean task of crafting and staging the whole '12 Days of Christmas/Secret Santa' plan.

I think that would have made it hurt even worse -- to think so highly of someone and go to so much effort, and then his very first assumption was that she was only using him to get ahead. That would have been like a slap in the face. I hate it when movies do this because it's almost always such a manufactured conflict that comes out of nowhere, is out of character, and ruins the relationship. Considering how quickly and easily the conflict was resolved, anyway, they could have just had a big confrontation scene in which he asked for an explanation, then needed to go away to process it before he figured out what it all meant to him.

 

I've just about cleared off my DVR (except for last night's new movie on Hallmark), so I may have to resort to OnDemand for background noise for the marathon knitting session I'm going to need to finish my mom's gift in time for Christmas. Yesterday evening I wasted The Best Christmas Party Ever, and I found it surprisingly enjoyable. They avoided most of the cliches I hate in these movies (except for the big event on Christmas Eve, for which all the planning is done during December, which I suppose just comes with the territory for this genre). I liked both leads. They both learned something and grew up during the movie, and they got past most of their issues and spats early in the movie. The pretty blonde extraneous girlfriend was not only not an evil bitch but was sweet and helpful. Steve Lund was a little wooden in some of his line readings when he had to be serious, but he has a beautiful speaking voice that eased that, and he was really good with the comedy. I found that a little surprising since I've only seen him as the Colorado Kid in Haven, where he was painfully wooden in a very serious role. What I found kind of amusing was that I realized that this role was very similar to the "charming goofball" kind of role that Lucas Bryant has played in a couple of Lifetime Christmas movies, and Lucas Bryant played his father on Haven. The Haven casting was obvious for physical similarity, but who knew that the actors would be cast as similar types -- that are total opposites to their Haven characters -- in other roles.

 

Anyway, it's not exactly a classic that I will watch every year to get into the Christmas spirit, but it didn't make me shout at the TV.

[cinsays]

 What about November Christmas?  Loved it.  With Sam Elliot, Karen Allen, John Corbett, how can it not be great.

  Plus a cute and touching story, beautiful scenery, nice theme song, and adorable little girl as the main star.

  I have seen it several times and cry every time.

[twoods]

I can't get around to November Christmas because it sounds so sad and I don't like seeing kids really sick.

Best Christmas Party Ever was one of my favorites last year- nice storyline with good actors, just an unfortunate movie title.

How Sarah Got Her Wings was such a gem! Definitely one of my faves this year. Loved the storyline and actors.

Edited December 21, 2015 by twoods

[TVFan17]

Christmas Land was not bad at all.   I am not sure that it should have been the final new movie in Hallmark's Countdown to Christmas -- that honor probably should have gone to A Christmas Melody, just because it was a bigger deal due to Mariah -- but it was pleasant.  The lead actress, Nikki DeLoach, was decent -- she is not necessarily a smiley/extra chipper sort of Hallmark actress, but she is also not off-putting and cold like some actresses can be.   I don't see why Hallmark couldn't use her for something again.

 

Luke Macfarlane is an attractive, appealing guy, but I wasn't feeling the chemistry between his character and Nikki's character.  There were not enough bonding scenes between them, or enough scenes in which they were talking about personal things that could connect them.  So it was one of those cases where the romance was just thrown in there at the end because a Hallmark movie has to have a romance.  I thought the story was interesting enough on its own -- the granddaughter selling and then re-buying her grandmother's precious Christmas Land attraction -- without the romance.  And, being a Christmas nut I loved the idea of Christmas Land. 

 

 

I have a lot of unopened DVDs so I won't go that route.  Pretty much all of these will likely be on Hallmark's rotation in the coming year and I'll throw them on my DVR. 

 

There is also a movie on USA tonight called "Santa's Little Helper."  It looks like it's produced by WWE but it does star some actors who have appeared in Hallmark movie like AnnaLynn McCord, Eric Keenleyside....well many of them have Hallmark credits.  I'm throwing it on the DVR but I'm iffy on whether or not I'll watch it all.

 

Well, you know that you can definitely count on Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade running on the Hallmark Channel next year.  That is a given, because, quite frankly, there are not enough other Thanksgiving-themed romantic comedies made by Hallmark to push that one out of the rotation!  Lol. As they keep churning out more and more Christmas-themed movies, some of the movies from previous years are dropping to a light rotation or being moved over to Movies & Mysteries.  LATTDP is sure to stick around during the Countdown to Christmas for years to come. Also, it's popular.

 

A Christmas Reunion. Boring. Just plain boring. Also, cheap. And acting-wise... eh. Typical Hybrid/ION production, in short.

I'm sure i've spotted Megan, the hyperenthusiastic tiny blonde model from the Face Off competition, as one of the extras, towards the end, though.

 

I asked twoods this before but I don't think it was ever answered.  I noticed that Denise Richards looked kind of frail and 'off' in the UP movie, Christmas Trade.  Did she look that way in Christmas Reunion too?  In the still shots I saw from that movie I noticed a bright blonde hair color that seemed unnatural.  I just got the feeling that she wasn't well, or under a lot of stress, or something.

 

I think that would have made it hurt even worse -- to think so highly of someone and go to so much effort, and then his very first assumption was that she was only using him to get ahead. That would have been like a slap in the face. I hate it when movies do this because it's almost always such a manufactured conflict that comes out of nowhere, is out of character, and ruins the relationship. Considering how quickly and easily the conflict was resolved, anyway, they could have just had a big confrontation scene in which he asked for an explanation, then needed to go away to process it before he figured out what it all meant to him.

 

I've just about cleared off my DVR (except for last night's new movie on Hallmark), so I may have to resort to OnDemand for background noise for the marathon knitting session I'm going to need to finish my mom's gift in time for Christmas. Yesterday evening I wasted The Best Christmas Party Ever, and I found it surprisingly enjoyable. They avoided most of the cliches I hate in these movies (except for the big event on Christmas Eve, for which all the planning is done during December, which I suppose just comes with the territory for this genre). I liked both leads. They both learned something and grew up during the movie, and they got past most of their issues and spats early in the movie. The pretty blonde extraneous girlfriend was not only not an evil bitch but was sweet and helpful. Steve Lund was a little wooden in some of his line readings when he had to be serious, but he has a beautiful speaking voice that eased that, and he was really good with the comedy. I found that a little surprising since I've only seen him as the Colorado Kid in Haven, where he was painfully wooden in a very serious role. What I found kind of amusing was that I realized that this role was very similar to the "charming goofball" kind of role that Lucas Bryant has played in a couple of Lifetime Christmas movies, and Lucas Bryant played his father on Haven. The Haven casting was obvious for physical similarity, but who knew that the actors would be cast as similar types -- that are total opposites to their Haven characters -- in other roles.

 

Anyway, it's not exactly a classic that I will watch every year to get into the Christmas spirit, but it didn't make me shout at the TV.

 

Yes, a simple confrontation/discussion between Mitch and Maggie would have been the better route to go to get to the bottom of the conflict in On the Twelfth Day of Christmas.  I didn't see what he was getting so upset about.  They could have left out the conflict entirely and just gone on with Maggie keeping her Secret Santa status from him, as Mitch proceeded to date the yoga instructor or something.  And then the 'big reveal' could leak out accidentally, causing Mitch to reassess his feelings for Maggie and the silly yoga person. 

 

Best Christmas Party Ever (which is a very silly title) was not one of my favorites from last year (I didn't get the DVD), but I didn't dislike it either.  I think that both of the leads are attractive.  I think there was more chemistry between them than there was between Steve Lund and Shenae Grimes-Beech in Christmas Incorporated this year.  And I think I actually liked BCPE a little better this year, when I watched some of it again, than I did last year.  Sometimes that happens -- when I give something a second or even a third chance, I might like it more.

 

 

 What about November Christmas?  Loved it.  With Sam Elliot, Karen Allen, John Corbett, how can it not be great.

  Plus a cute and touching story, beautiful scenery, nice theme song, and adorable little girl as the main star.

  I have seen it several times and cry every time.

 

November Christmas is very good -- and it includes Halloween too, so it earns extra points for that!  I'll put it this way -- when I am in the rare mood for a serious-in-tone Christmas movie, or one with more depth and meaning, that one would be one that I watch.  I have always liked Sam Elliott (even as an old guy he has endless charisma).  I have always liked John Corbett (hello, Aidan!).  I like Sarah Paulson a lot too.

 

Generally, though, I gravitate more towards the light, fluffy, more upbeat movies (those that are shown on the main Hallmark Channel), and away from the serious, meaningful, thought-provoking movies (those that are shown on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel).  However, this year Hallmark has moved a couple of movies I really enjoy over to the HMM channel, and I have been forced over there to see them (such as The Christmas Ornament, which I absolutely adore).

 

 

I can't get around to November Christmas because it sounds so sad and I don't like seeing kids really sick.

Best Christmas Party Ever was one of my favorites last year- nice storyline with good actors, just an unfortunate movie title.

How Sarah Got Her Wings was such a gem! Definitely one of my faves this year. Loved the storyline and actors.

 

I don't want to spoil anything, but November Christmas is not as depressing as it may seem.  If you like the more serious movies I think you'd like it.

[KaveDweller]

Lol.  It was funny.  I enjoyed the movie, but the lighting of Mariah's scenes was amusing and different.  She was playing an old high school rival of Lacey's, and there is a 12-year age difference between them in real life.  Maybe they (the powers that be on the team) felt that with the soft filter/focus and odd lighting it would make her look closer to Lacey's age. 

 

It made me wonder if they were filmed at a different time/location than the others.  They were super-distracting. 

[StaceyNotStacie]

I watched Christmas Land, A Christmas Melody, and The Spirit of Christmas this past weekend.  I enjoyed all three movies.  I liked that  The Spirit of Christmas was different.  It somewhat reminded me of the movies on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries.  I enjoyed the acting and the scenery was beautiful.  

 

Christmas Land was cute.  I thought that the two lead actors had good chemistry and the story was pretty good.  I liked how everyone came together at the end to help save Christmas Land.  I thought that she should have made them partners in Christmas Land instead of telling them she would pay back their loan.

 

A Christmas Melody was also good.  I enjoyed the story and I enjoyed the two leads, along with the little girl who played Lacey's daughter.  Mariah Carey was somewhat unforgettable.  That role seemed like they could have cast it with any actor with an attitude.  I was glad that her character didn't have a meltdown when Lacey's daughter was performing her song.  

 

I also caught a bit of the movie Back to Christmas on Ion.  It was a late evening airtime, I caught the movie about halfway through and fell asleep before it was over.  It seemed enjoyable and I was hoping that Ion would re-air it, but I don't see it on my cable guide.  I'm sure that they will air it again next year.

[izabella]

I just watched Will You Merry Me?, a Lifetime movie with Wendie Malick and Cynthia Stevenson, an old one from 2008.  I remembered liking it when I first saw it years ago, and it's just as charming and fun this time around.  A young couple falls in love and wants both sets of parents to meet for the first time during the holidays.  One family is from LA and is heading to Aspen for Hanukkah, and the other family is extra Christmasy in small town Wisconsin and is trying to win this year's Best Christmas Decorations contest   Everyone is trying really hard to make this visit go well, but...hilarity ensues as worlds collide. 

 

Wendie and Cynthia were great as the two mom's, and seemed like they were really having fun with their roles.

Edited December 22, 2015 by izabella

[JenMD]

Count me in as also enjoying Christmas Land.  Nice enough way to go out.  Acting was good, sets were good (hey, more real snow!*) and it was indeed fun watching everybody come together to pull it off (Stacey1014, I was thinking partners, as well).  I also liked that Richard Karn's character was a shark, but good-natured about it.  He had the opportunity to make a quick 1.3M, so he took it and seemed genuinely happy that the group pulled off the win (I realize he just made 1.3M for doing nothing, but he wasn't a mustache-twirler about the whole thing, if that makes sense).  Overall, I enjoyed it.

 

*Apparently, they just finished filming this in November, taking advantage of snowy weather in Salt Lake City.  That is a quick turnaround.

 

And I finally got a chance to enjoy How Sarah Got Her Wings!  Many thanks to everybody who recommended it as it was indeed a whole lot of fun.  Great cast, funny, touching and just way above what I've come to expect from ION, to be honest.  I really, really liked the lead actress, she was just charming.  Always nice to see Derek Theler (and I cracked up that our first shot of him was shirtless, because, of course) and I was thrilled at seeing Kathleen Rose Perkins, she was as awesome here as she is on Episodes.  Loved the humor, it was much funnier than I'm used to for these cheesy Christmas movies.  Definitely one of my favorites this season. 

 

For anyone who might have missed something, Hallmark is running a limited commercial marathon on Christmas Day.  I'm taking the opportunity to tape a couple of old favorites listed at 90 minutes instead of the usual 2 hours.  Because I haven't seen them enough and really, who can resist less commercials . ;-)

[Kaoteek]

I asked twoods this before but I don't think it was ever answered.  I noticed that Denise Richards looked kind of frail and 'off' in the UP movie, Christmas Trade.  Did she look that way in Christmas Reunion too?  In the still shots I saw from that movie I noticed a bright blonde hair color that seemed unnatural.  I just got the feeling that she wasn't well, or under a lot of stress, or something.

 

Yeah, she is looking tired, these days. And plastic surgery probably doesn't help.

 

Wish Upon A Christmas would have been a perfectly fine, perfectly cute Christmas movie if it didn't feel so much like three movies put together in post. You had the nice romance between two likeable leads, taking place over that company restructuration situation : perfect Hallmark fare in and of itself. Then you had those magic santa scenes shoehorned in, with that bauble & that crash in the forest, and all those on-the-nose family names (Tomte, Marley, Donner) : kinda superfluous, really, but why not... if only that kid didn't bother me so much ; and then, Alan Thicke. Inebriated, filmed-all-his-scenes-in-one-sitting, shot-everything-at-home, couldn't-care-less, only-there-because-Lifetime-has-probably-promised-him-an-Unauthorized-Growing-Pains-movie Alan Thicke. In the end, it was a perfectly watchable movie, but also a perfectly forgettable one.

[jjj]

For anyone who might have missed something, Hallmark is running a limited commercial marathon on Christmas Day.  I'm taking the opportunity to tape a couple of old favorites listed at 90 minutes instead of the usual 2 hours. 

Wow, I just looked at the Hallmark schedule for Christmas Day, and it really is a different movie every 90 minutes, all day!  That is seriously commercial-lite.  Thanks for the alert on that, as I have not had time for any movies, and I 'll catch a few that you all recommend! 

[TVFan17]

It made me wonder if they were filmed at a different time/location than the others.  They were super-distracting. 

 

Yes, indeed.  I still enjoyed the movie despite the oddly lit Mariah scenes, but those close-up shots of her did seem sort of detached from the others.  She might have done her directing tasks every day and then filmed any of her close-ups at a separate time, with the special filters and lighting.

 

I watched Christmas Land, A Christmas Melody, and The Spirit of Christmas this past weekend.  I enjoyed all three movies.  I liked that  The Spirit of Christmas was different.  It somewhat reminded me of the movies on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries.  I enjoyed the acting and the scenery was beautiful.  

 

Christmas Land was cute.  I thought that the two lead actors had good chemistry and the story was pretty good.  I liked how everyone came together at the end to help save Christmas Land.  I thought that she should have made them partners in Christmas Land instead of telling them she would pay back their loan.

 

A Christmas Melody was also good.  I enjoyed the story and I enjoyed the two leads, along with the little girl who played Lacey's daughter.  Mariah Carey was somewhat unforgettable.  That role seemed like they could have cast it with any actor with an attitude.  I was glad that her character didn't have a meltdown when Lacey's daughter was performing her song.  

 

I also caught a bit of the movie Back to Christmas on Ion.  It was a late evening airtime, I caught the movie about halfway through and fell asleep before it was over.  It seemed enjoyable and I was hoping that Ion would re-air it, but I don't see it on my cable guide.  I'm sure that they will air it again next year.

 

You're absolutely right -- if The Spirit of Christmas were a Hallmark movie, or if Hallmark ever stole it away from Lifetime, it would most certainly end up on the Movies & Mysteries Channel.

 

I saw Back to Christmas on ION last year (I think it was also late at night!), and I remember thinking that it was pretty good -- but now I remember so little of it beyond the fact that the lead actress has to rewind the clock one year (I think) and do something over again.  It has not been on that much at all this year -- maybe 2 times, at most.

 

Count me in as also enjoying Christmas Land.  Nice enough way to go out.  Acting was good, sets were good (hey, more real snow!*) and it was indeed fun watching everybody come together to pull it off (Stacey1014, I was thinking partners, as well).  I also liked that Richard Karn's character was a shark, but good-natured about it.  He had the opportunity to make a quick 1.3M, so he took it and seemed genuinely happy that the group pulled off the win (I realize he just made 1.3M for doing nothing, but he wasn't a mustache-twirler about the whole thing, if that makes sense).  Overall, I enjoyed it.

 

*Apparently, they just finished filming this in November, taking advantage of snowy weather in Salt Lake City.  That is a quick turnaround.

 

And I finally got a chance to enjoy How Sarah Got Her Wings!  Many thanks to everybody who recommended it as it was indeed a whole lot of fun.  Great cast, funny, touching and just way above what I've come to expect from ION, to be honest.  I really, really liked the lead actress, she was just charming.  Always nice to see Derek Theler (and I cracked up that our first shot of him was shirtless, because, of course) and I was thrilled at seeing Kathleen Rose Perkins, she was as awesome here as she is on Episodes.  Loved the humor, it was much funnier than I'm used to for these cheesy Christmas movies.  Definitely one of my favorites this season. 

 

For anyone who might have missed something, Hallmark is running a limited commercial marathon on Christmas Day.  I'm taking the opportunity to tape a couple of old favorites listed at 90 minutes instead of the usual 2 hours.  Because I haven't seen them enough and really, who can resist less commercials . ;-)

 

Christmas Land is a movie I was keeping an eye on, waiting for info, for 2 months -- and it almost seemed like it wasn't going to be filmed.  Prior to September, many of the titles of this year's new Hallmark movies were floating around and info was leaking out.   Hallmark announced the titles of the new Christmas movies via their Home & Family show in September, and then they posted the titles on their website.  All of the titles had actors' names underneath them (because they had all been filmed)... except for Christmas Land.  There were no actors listed as being the stars of the movie, so it seemed as though it had not been cast yet, let alone filmed.   The person who wrote the Hallmark movie Merry Matrimony also had a hand in writing Christmas Land, and she was asked who would star in it.  She said she didn't know.

 

One interesting thing to note is that Luke Macfarlane -- the male lead in Christmas Land -- was not scheduled to be in that movie at first.  The Hallmark movie that he was supposed to be in this year -- and his name was already attached to it -- was The Magic Stocking, which aired on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.  Somehow Luke was suddenly no longer attached to The Magic Stocking, and Victor Webster was cast in the movie in Luke's place... and Luke was suddenly part of the Christmas Land cast. 

 

So I don't know if Luke Macfarlane had to bow out of The Magic Stocking for some reason, or if Hallmark suddenly decided, "He'd fit better in Christmas Land than in The Magic Stocking."  But Luke jumped ship from one movie to the other. 

 

Christmas Land, if I recall correctly, did not even get started filming until late, late October or early November.  And Hallmark didn't post the names of the actors in the movie on their website until early November, so there could have been a last minute casting scramble.  Hallmark has a habit of changing their plans even after making official announcements, so I really thought that Christmas Land would not make it into the Countdown to Christmas this year because it was so late in getting filmed.  Maybe they were waiting for Luke to be available?  Who knows?  But it was/is a good movie and I'm glad it made it to the final spot in the Countdown!

 

I only wish that Hallmark were showing some of the old favorites in the marathon on Christmas day.  They're only showing the brand new movies from 2015 that day.  In the past I have taken advantage of the commercial-free (or fewer commercials) broadcasts to save DVR space and record the favorites from that year's new movies.  I have a bunch of other 2-hour recordings and I wish Hallmark would re-air those movies from previous years at 90 minutes too!

 

Yeah, she is looking tired, these days. And plastic surgery probably doesn't help.

 

Wish Upon A Christmas would have been a perfectly fine, perfectly cute Christmas movie if it didn't feel so much like three movies put together in post. You had the nice romance between two likeable leads, taking place over that company restructuration situation : perfect Hallmark fare in and of itself. Then you had those magic santa scenes shoehorned in, with that bauble & that crash in the forest, and all those on-the-nose family names (Tomte, Marley, Donner) : kinda superfluous, really, but why not... if only that kid didn't bother me so much ; and then, Alan Thicke. Inebriated, filmed-all-his-scenes-in-one-sitting, shot-everything-at-home, couldn't-care-less, only-there-because-Lifetime-has-probably-promised-him-an-Unauthorized-Growing-Pains-movie Alan Thicke. In the end, it was a perfectly watchable movie, but also a perfectly forgettable one.

 

Poor Denise. She is such a pretty girl, but being associated with Charlie Sheen can't be easy.  She and Patrick Muldoon used to date a long time ago, so I would have expected that they'd have decent chemistry in Christmas Reunion... but I guess not.

 

I totally agree about Lifetime's Wish Upon a Christmas.  The kid annoyed me.  The whole bauble fiasco was pointless.  There really wasn't any reason for the mysterious Santa man to be creeping around all over town.  And Alan Thicke -- someone I normally like in these TV movies, such as his role in Let it Snow -- was not put to good use.  Why was he there?  It was a waste of a perfectly good TV actor.

 

And yet, it was a decent movie.  I thought that the premise of having to lay off a bunch of people right before Christmas was a decent one, but there were too many moving parts and things that didn't add to the story in any way.

Edited December 22, 2015 by Sherry67

[Enero]

 12 Gifts of Christmas is a cute Katrina Law movie, but -- in my opinion -- not as good as Snow Bride.  

 

So true. It was okay. I will say though I was completely floored at how amazing Donna Mills looked in this one. She doesn't look like she's aged since the 80s and I think she's probably in her mid to late 70s by now.  If she's had work done, she has a dam good plastic surgeon because she looked great.

 

I'm sorry to say I haven't found any of the new Christmas movies this year particularly memorable, fun, engaging or worthy of an encore. Some have had really good actors, but the stories just weren't doing it for me or the leads didn't have chemistry. Perhaps Hallmark has gone to the well too many times and are starting to deplete the source? I found many of the stories the same, woman finds love and must give up her career to be happy, woman must show hot guy who doesn't celebrate Christmas how important the season is; Woman is engaged to guy X who is obviously all wrong for her,  but gets stuck with guy Z and discovers he's her soulmate etc. Really it's almost the same story over and over again in some way or the other. 

 

Anyway, I watched Will You Merry Me? on Lifetime earlier today. It's an old one, came out in 2008, but it was funny, endearing and entertaining. I enjoyed it immensely. I always find that Lifetime's holiday movies are significantly better than Hallmark's. I don't know if they have more money to invest since they're not doing as many holiday movies and therefore can spend more time on developing a good story and casting actors that have good chemistry and that can actually act - at least a little bit or what, but their holiday movies have a little bit more diverse storytelling and therefore aren't as cookie cutter as Hallmark. 

 

Edited to add, I just finished watching The Flight Before Christmas another Lifetime original with Mayim Bialik and Ryan McParlin. I thought it was pretty good. Mayim doesn't have the typical look of the love interests that are generally cast in these holiday movies, usually they cast the status quo in these, a Hollywood beauty or bombshell. MB is neither, but she can act and worked well in this one with RM.Though the love story was unrealistically quick, like they all are in these movies, it did manage to hit nearly all the beats of the story which made it good and believable. 

Edited December 22, 2015 by Enero

[Misslindsey]

 

So I don't know if Luke Macfarlane had to bow out of The Magic Stocking for some reason, or if Hallmark suddenly decided, "He'd fit better in Christmas Land than in The Magic Stocking."  But Luke jumped ship from one movie to the other.

I wonder if filming for the SyFy series "Killjoys" where he is one of the main characters coincided with the filming or something. Though interesting information regardless.

[twoods]

Sorry Sherry67, I forgot to answer you. It wasn't that Denise Richards looked tired but more of the plastic surgery aspect. I recently saw her in a Friends episode and she used to be gorgeous. If her health hasn't been good lately, I hope she gets better. I'm not a big Patrick Muldoon fan because of all the work he seems to have done so it was an annoying combo.

I really enjoyed A Christmas Melody. I have to catch With All My Heart because I liked the easy chemistry between the two leads. Lacey looks fantastic and I swear she hasn't aged in the last 15 years. I liked the song at the end as well. I also recognized Mariah's movie daughter as one of those talented sisters that has videos up on you tube- she has a great voice and my kids love their videos.

[TVFan17]

 

So true. It was okay. I will say though I was completely floored at how amazing Donna Mills looked in this one. She doesn't look like she's aged since the 80s and I think she's probably in her mid to late 70s by now.  If she's had work done, she has a dam good plastic surgeon because she looked great.

 

I'm sorry to say I haven't found any of the new Christmas movies this year particularly memorable, fun, engaging or worthy of an encore. Some have had really good actors, but the stories just weren't doing it for me or the leads didn't have chemistry. Perhaps Hallmark has gone to the well too many times and are starting to deplete the source? I found many of the stories the same, woman finds love and must give up her career to be happy, woman must show hot guy who doesn't celebrate Christmas how important the season is; Woman is engaged to guy X who is obviously all wrong for her,  but gets stuck with guy Z and discovers he's her soulmate etc. Really it's almost the same story over and over again in some way or the other. 

 

Anyway, I watched Will You Merry Me? on Lifetime earlier today. It's an old one, came out in 2008, but it was funny, endearing and entertaining. I enjoyed it immensely. I always find that Lifetime's holiday movies are significantly better than Hallmark's. I don't know if they have more money to invest since they're not doing as many holiday movies and therefore can spend more time on developing a good story and casting actors that have good chemistry and that can actually act - at least a little bit or what, but their holiday movies have a little bit more diverse storytelling and therefore aren't as cookie cutter as Hallmark. 

 

Edited to add, I just finished watching The Flight Before Christmas another Lifetime original with Mayim Bialik and Ryan McParlin. I thought it was pretty good. Mayim doesn't have the typical look of the love interests that are generally cast in these holiday movies, usually they cast the status quo in these, a Hollywood beauty or bombshell. MB is neither, but she can act and worked well in this one with RM.Though the love story was unrealistically quick, like they all are in these movies, it did manage to hit nearly all the beats of the story which made it good and believable. 

 

I would have to agree -- I thought that The Flight Before Christmas was pretty good too.  I wouldn't say that it is a favorite TV Christmas movie, but I liked it better than I think others here did.  I appreciate that Lifetime went with a lead actress who is not the standard type of love interest in these movies.  She and Ryan McPartlin made kind of an odd match, and the love story was awfully quick and underdeveloped, but it was different and that's a good thing.

 

This year's Hallmark movies are puzzling to me because, although I liked several of them quite a bit and would certainly watch them again (and already have watched several of them again), in general I think the entire batch, collectively, was not the strongest.  There were a lot of movies in this year's group that -- even if I liked them -- were cute... or okay... or even good... but not great.  Or, as I've said here before, they didn't instantly grab me and make me think right away, "I love this movie!"  They had to grow on me.   I think that 2013 was a very strong year for Hallmark's movies, and there were several gems in that bunch that are better than this year's movies.  I don't know if the best holiday content is behind Hallmark, or if each year is kind of a hit or miss thing, where some years will be strong and others will be weak.  But this year, even the best movies of the bunch seemed not-as-good as others from previous years, relatively speaking.

[TVFan17]

Sorry Sherry67, I forgot to answer you. It wasn't that Denise Richards looked tired but more of the plastic surgery aspect. I recently saw her in a Friends episode and she used to be gorgeous. If her health hasn't been good lately, I hope she gets better. I'm not a big Patrick Muldoon fan because of all the work he seems to have done so it was an annoying combo.

I really enjoyed A Christmas Melody. I have to catch With All My Heart because I liked the easy chemistry between the two leads. Lacey looks fantastic and I swear she hasn't aged in the last 15 years. I liked the song at the end as well. I also recognized Mariah's movie daughter as one of those talented sisters that has videos up on you tube- she has a great voice and my kids love their videos.

 

Oh, no problem -- I figured that my question just got lost in the shuffle.  You're right -- Denise used to be gorgeous.  I remember -- maybe 2 years ago or so -- seeing a snippet of her on Extra or one of those entertainment news shows, and she looked very, very thin.  Her arms were very skinny.  She had been doing a lot of talk show appearances for a few years and always seemed to be in good spirits -- once she got past the whole Richie Sambora relationship.  But I think that she got caught up in some of the drama and mess involving Charlie Sheen's kids with another woman (Denise was trying to look after those kids too), and I suspect it took a toll.  Then Denise disappeared from the talk show circuit for a long time.  All of a sudden she popped up in the 2 Christmas movies this year, with extra blonde hair and some sort of 'work' done.

 

I just watched A Christmas Melody again, and I enjoyed it even more the second time around!  Mariah is not the best actress compared to Meryl Streep or someone of that caliber, but, really, for the kind of personality she had to play in this movie, she was fine.   It's just the odd look of her close-up shots that is so funny -- that weird lighting or filter or whatever it is.  Lol.

 

I hope you like All of My Heart.  It looks like it's on again on Sunday, January 10th - http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/all-of-my-heart.  It's probably my favorite non-Christmas Hallmark movie, or certainly one of them... and it has baby goats and a fun supporting cast!  But Brennan and Lacey together are great -- as you said, it's a very easy chemistry.  They're both likeable and appealing, so that helps too.

 

I wonder if filming for the SyFy series "Killjoys" where he is one of the main characters coincided with the filming or something. Though interesting information regardless.

 

Oh, that could be the case, for sure.  I didn't know he was doing a series, so maybe it somehow interfered with his Magic Stocking shoot, causing Hallmark to put him in something else.  And that could explain the late, late start in beginning the filming of Christmas Land.

[Kaoteek]

Can't say I was particularly convinced by A Christmas Melody, but it was more because I ended up focusing on the numerous directing issues (awkward staging, missed reaction shots & inserts, wrong camera angles, repetitive establishing shots, and of course, Mariah Carey's soft focus single shots & close-ups, which led to some pretty dodgy eyelines matches whenever she was in a scene... as if her stilted acting wasn't already a distraction), rather than due to the overall quality of the movie.

 

In fact, I'm sure that, with a more experienced director, and without the whole "Mariah" deal, it would have made for a fine regular Lacey Chabert movie (speaking of whom, I'm so glad she decided to step it up after seemingly be on autopilot in Family for Christmas). The ending could have been worked on a tad more, though.

[jjj]

National Public Radio had an essay today about A Christmas Melody:  "20 Things You Desperately Need To Know About Mariah's Hallmark Movie"  (by Linda Holmes, formerly Miss Alli at TWoP!)  It is funny without being mean, and highlights what several of you said here! 

 

http://www.npr.org/sections/monkeysee/2015/12/21/460561885/20-things-you-desperately-need-to-know-about-mariahs-hallmark-movie

[Irlandesa]

She's one of my favorites.  She's one of the few critics who is unabashedly into Hallmark movies. 

 

I didn't like Christmas Land as much as people here. It had a good cast and it looked great but I am a bit burnt out on the "must save failing Christmas tree lot/Christmas toy factory/Department store/Christas hats."   It's not that these are impossible to make successful---that was the premise of "Let It Snow" but the bar is kind of high for me since it's a premise that is so available. 

 

I did enjoy A Christmas Spirit quite a bit.  The lead was cute and, as others have said, it's different.  I liked the element of mystery to it.  

 

As for the season overall, I think it was fine.  But I don't get attached to many of these movies to begin with so I don't feel like not having one is any better/worse than previous years.  

 

I think my top 5 are:

 

1) How Sarah Got Her Wings:  Charming cast,   a plot that didn't follow the typical paint-by-the-numbers and a lot of humor that felt natural and not forced.

2) A Crown for Christmas:  Lush look, excellent cast, good chemistry between the leads...perfect fairy tale.

3)  Murder She Baked A Plum Pudding Mystery  I thought this was a fun, solid entry in the series. 

4)  A Gift Wrapped Chsitmas:  I liked the lead female in this. Her personality made this fly.  And even though the guy didn't seem super-charismatic, I like the way he wasn't super charismatic if that makes sense. 

5) A Christmas Detour:  This might surprise people but I really did think the older married couple helped make this movie.

[Pollock]

The cinematography for Christmas Melody for Mariah's close ups was extremely distracting. She chose some sort of soft focus lense or filter. I don't know which but there was a clear difference in how she shot herself vs. every other shot in the movie. It was like shots from another movie were being inserted and it didn't quite match.

Haaaaaaaaa, the infamous vanity soft focus (I think it's the name). "Aging" actresses are often treated with that one. God forbid we see a wrinkle or a pimple. They use the same thing with Calista Flockhart in Supergirl and I remember it for Marg Helgenberger in CSI and they began to do the same with Mariska Hargitay in Law & Order (or at least, I notice it now). Super distracting.

I don't know who requests it, the actresses or the executives but it does more bad than good I'm afraid, with HD tv and all that.

 

I just wanted to thank you for all your suggestions in the topic. I got a tons of movies who made me cry and be upbeat this month.

Everybody have a merry christmas and happy holidays !

[ShelleySue]

I finally watched Angels in the Snow which has been sitting on my DVR for a month.  I knew the ending as soon as the Mother Tucker used the past tense when she said she was a nurse.  Even knowing that, I absolutely hated the ending.  The overly-sweet sing songy youngest child/narrator said that it was their best Christmas ever.  Yes, it was a fantastic Christmas because a wonderful family died practically right outside your door.  It's not as if the family had passed away a hundred years ago and spent every Christmas traveling from troubled family to troubled family solving all of their problems (a movie I would enjoy).  This was a family that a few days ago was happy, alive and on their way to a skiing trip.  I'm not sure if I'm just too sensitive, but I just couldn't get over that.

[Shanna Marie]

I also liked Christmas Land quite a lot, though I'll agree that she should have made them partners instead of calling it a loan. They were as invested as she was. And I might have been screaming at the TV when she just signed a million-dollar contract at lunch without even reading it. I guess the plot required that she be too stupid to live, though I suppose the idea may have been that she trusted her lawyer boyfriend to be acting in her best interest. I must not be a good enough person to be in one of these movies because my instinct would have been to turn all that branding and marketing savvy into a weapon and steer the publicity toward calling the developer a grinch, conducting a big anti-PR campaign to highlight him agreeing to buy Christmas Land and keep it that way but lying about it, so there would be public pressure on him to either sell or cave on the development. In fact, I kind of thought that's how it would go, that he'd come on Christmas Eve and change his mind once he saw the place. But I liked the leads, I liked the low-key romance (it would have been weird if things had really heated up while she was still with someone else or so soon after a breakup), and I found myself wanting to visit that place.

 

Other things I watched during an OnDemand binge:

Holiday Reunion (or maybe Holiday High School Reunion -- the titles get wonky in the OnDemand listings) from Lifetime -- a cute movie, but not very Christmassy. I will give them points for putting the class reunion on Dec. 19 instead of the usual Christmas Eve. The outcome was rather obvious, but the actors seemed to be having fun with it, and it made me laugh in a few places.

 

Snow Globe Christmas -- not the ABC Family one with Christina Milian, but the Lifetime one with Christina Milian in a supporting role but Alicia Witt in the main role. It was okay, but it missed a huge opportunity. When I saw that the heroine was a director of cheesy TV Christmas movies, when she ended up in the snowglobe world and realized she was in her movie, I was all set for some serious fun with a genre-savvy heroine who knew she was in a Christmas movie. Just think of the fun they could have had with that, with her knowing that obviously the only possible right outcome was that she would have to choose marriage, kids, and no career in a small town and recognizing the "types" in the town. But they dropped that angle pretty quickly and it just became the standard-issue "the only good life is marriage, kids, and no career in a small town" message movie.

[TVFan17]

I don't know how the programming guides and menus are set up with other cable or satellite providers, but I have Time Warner and I was using their Search feature today to peruse the assorted Christmas selections.   I stumbled upon some other obscure channels that are showing random Christmas movies -- one channel seemed to be showing things that had been on ION or Lifetime and fallen out of the rotation.  So if you have the option to Search using a keyword, type in "Christmas" as the keyword and a plethora of results will pop up.  It's a good way to see if any overlooked movies are coming up that you want to catch before the season ends, on any channel.  The keyword "Holiday" yields some results too, but not as many relevant ones.

 

For example, I was wondering why the movie Christmas Angel from Lifetime (the one starring Bruce Davison, not the one starring Teri Polo and Kevin Sorbo) had seemingly only been on Lifetime once this entire season, and is not on the Lifetime schedule for the rest of the year.  When I searched the keyword "Christmas," I discovered that Christmas Angel is going to be on a totally different channel (don't even remember which one) coming up.  That is one of the few 'serious,' meaningful, message movies I will seek out -- even though the lead actress is kind of a pill for most of the movie.  It's good, and when I first saw it I was grabbing for the tissues to dab my eyes.  I had no idea what it was about or what happened in it before hand, so I went in with a blank slate and an open mind. 

 

 

Shanna Marie --

 

I liked everything about A Snow Globe Christmas -- including the cute little twist at the very end -- except for the whole 'save the land' part of it.  I even have the DVD for it -- but I got the DVD after, for some reason, totally blanking out on the 'save the land' subplot.  I think it was because the movie premiered in 2013 and it wasn't until 2014 that the DVD became available, so enough time had passed that I guess I only remembered the parts of the movie that I liked!  Lol.  If I had remembered that subplot up front, I may have hesitated in getting the DVD.

 

Even though she has now made 3 Christmas movies for Hallmark (and I am not ashamed to say I enjoy all of them, with A Very Merry Mix-Up being the favorite!), I always get the feeling that Alicia Witt is not a huge Christmas fan, or a huge Christmas movie fan.  She has done a lot of movies, songs and other projects that are quite a bit edgier than anything Hallmark puts out, and I have always had the feeling that the Christmas movie jobs are just to keep busy and to get extra experience in the TV movie world.   

 

So, Lifetime's A Snow Globe Christmas is actually the kind of Christmas movie that I envision Alicia Witt would probably most identify with -- specifically because of the irreverent way it starts out, lightly poking fun at the genre and Alicia's character generally not being a fan of Christmas.    My cynical (realistic?) side thinks that many Christmas movie actors are like that -- they probably dislike the movies; they only do the movies for a paycheck; and they may even hate Christmas as a holiday in general.  For example, although he has been in quite a few Christmas movies, I don't image that Christmas movie stalwart Patrick Muldoon is a huge Christmas fan or that he even enjoys watching made-for-TV Christmas movies.

 

 

ShelleySue --

 

I don't think I was as bothered by the ending of Angels in the Snow as you were (other than being bothered by just the sheer slowness of the movie), but you reminded me of the child -- and she was annoying.  In her eyes, though, it was the best Christmas ever because her parents were going to stay together -- that family came to them to help them stay together, essentially.   I don't think the annoying young child was supposed to be thinking of the harsh realities of how and why that family arrived at their door.  It's probably a rather intense subject for a child to ruminate on.

 

These made-for-TV Christmas movies generally have so few surprises and twists, and mostly everyone can figure out what it going to happen in a plot without a twist.   Whether or not a viewer can figure out an actual twist early on, I appreciate it when a movie at least tries to add in a little surprise.... especially UP movies, which can often seem painfully slow and sluggish.

Edited December 22, 2015 by Sherry67

[KLovestoShop]

I finally saw A Royal Christmad and liked it very much, EXCEPT for how they wrote Lacey's character in some parts. Why do they have to make her look like such an uncouth bumpkin, like when she first met the Queen and called her Mrs instead of Your Majesty or when she drank from the finger bowl. I'm sorry, but in this day and age, nobody is that stupid.

I found Christmas Angel will be on a network called BYU. This is the movie with Bruce Davidson. It's a tearjerker, but I've always liked it.

[jjj]

I found Christmas Angel will be on a network called BYU.

It sounds like that is the same channel as BYUTV (on Comcast), which is from Brigham Young University, so football and choral concerts and Christmas programming!

[EyewatchTV211]

Regarding Christmas Angel - I didn't immediately realize which movie you guys were talking about until I did a search like Sherry suggested. I liked that movie when it first aired! I wish more movies would follow how they did the happy ending - don't end with just a kiss or the wedding, end with the actual "happily ever after" and show their normal life. Sadly, it appears that I do not get the BYU channel.

Edited December 23, 2015 by VMepicgrl

[Shanna Marie]

I may have come to the end of my holiday movie marathon -- the DVR is clear (except for 12 Dates of Christmas, that I haven't rewatched yet for this year) and I've hit all the OnDemand movies I haven't already seen or that sound remotely appealing.

 

Today I watched A Gift-Wrapped Christmas, which I really liked. The female lead was utterly adorable, and she came across so natural, like she was just being instead of acting. I've never heard of the actress, but she gave me major young Meg Ryan vibes. The guy was a little stiff, but I think he was doing that on purpose. Normally I'm not big on cute kids, but the kid was sweet and came across as a real child rather than one of those child star-bots from the Disney child actor factory. Yeah, there was the evil significant other who only wanted money and status, but he did figure that out for himself, and she seemed to be a symptom of his issues, where he didn't really want to get close to anyone, so an ice queen seemed like a good choice at the time, and once he started thawing, he could see the problems.

 

Also, I want someone who can shop like that for me. I'm terrible at thinking of gifts, and in the rare cases when I find the perfect thing, they've already bought it for themselves.

 

This evening I went for The Spirit of Christmas, and I liked that it was different. I didn't figure out the ending ahead of time, which was nice. I think I'd have been okay with the once-a-year get-together -- seems like a good setup for someone devoted to her career who didn't really want a relationship. Just spend a cozy Christmas with a hot guy and then go back to your normal life. Where do I sign up for that? Or I would have been okay with her forgetting him and moving on to find another relationship with a guy who seemed remarkably similar to him. However, the guy was awfully stilted. I think he was going for "old-fashioned," but to me that sounded like he was reading from cue cards. I could never forget that he was an actor saying lines.

 

Also: the "twelve days of Christmas" actually start Christmas Eve night and go until January 1, for Epiphany. They aren't the twelve days before Christmas. Since they kept repeating the importance of twelve days and played the song a few times, that seemed to be what they were going for, and that's one of those pet peeves.

 

On another note, did SyFy stop doing their Christmas disaster movies? Up until a year or so ago, they used to do annual holiday-themed disaster movies. There was one about an evil snowglobe that caused disasters, and they did a 2012 "end of the world" one. Most of them are centered around a family, usually with a whiny teenage daughter who ends up fighting to survive and save the day, and the disaster brings the family closer together, with a warm Christmas moment in the aftermath. I always wanted to combine the holiday disaster movie with the Lifetime/Hallmark style romantic comedy and have the disaster movie center around a pair of singles who fall in love as they try to survive and stop the disaster. The final scene could be them kissing in front of the smoldering ruins of their picturesque small town as it starts to snow.

[twoods]

Stupid ABC Family- they play Holiday in Handcuffs and Santa Claus half a dozen times but they can't play Christmas in Boston once? So bummed that I won't be watching it this year. And if I see one more commercial of them switching to Freeform I'm going to scream!

Woo hoo finally get to watch 12 Dates of Christmas this year- absolutely adore that movie, and maybe Hallmark should steal Mark Paul Gosselaar for a movie or two- he has aged so well.