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

[kirinan]

AAAHHHHH!!!! Snowed Inn Christmas with Andrew Walker and Bethany Joy Lenz is on Lifetime right now! It just started at 10 p.m. (ET) and is on again at 2 a.m. This is one of my favorites--it's an adorable movie--and Andrew Walker makes everything good. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it!

Edited November 19, 2018 by kirinan

[Irlandesa]

If you'd like a pleasant surprise, I recommend Christmas On The Coast.  It was made for the INSP network but aired on UPN tonight and I thought it was bloody delightful!  It's about a romance novelist who decides to go home to visit her mother in South Carolina to write her next novel.  The scenes of her writing her novel were funny.  She's played by Julie Ann Emery who was the fun super-controlled Betsy Kettleman in the first season of Better Call Saul and the main reason I made a point to check this out. Bonnie Bedelia plays her mother.  And the rest of the supporting cast is a lot of fun--especially her agent.

I was a little worried that it'd be super religious because of the Inspiration connection  but other than a quick bit about the founding of the town towards the end, it wasn't at all. 

The worst part about it was the need to make a metaphor between the character's main character in her books and her own life in that they both run from love.  The heroine in her novels falls in love with someone and then, in the next novel, falls in love with someone else.  She would not be a successful romance novelist if her main character kept ditching her "happily ever after" book after book. But that was a minor quibble in a movie I otherwise thought was fun.

[AnnaRose]

I watched a couple Lifetime Christmas movies yesterday...

The Spirit of Christmas (2015) - lawyer needs to facilitate sale of inn that is haunted by a ghost who is temporarily corporeal.  I thought I would really like this movie, but couldn't seem to get into it.

Love at the Christmas Table (2012) - childhood friends see each other on Christmas Eve every year.  I had high hopes for this one too, but I didn't like the short flashbacks from the past and didn't buy Danica as an 18 year old.  I know a lot of people here seemed to like/love this movie, but it just didn't appeal to me.  I ended up deleting it after only watching it for a short while.

Kristin's Christmas Past (2013) - Kristin finds her present adult self transported to her past, trying to convince her teenage self to avoid some of the mistakes she made that led to her being alone and miserable on Christmas Eve, and resolving her issues with her parents.  After a cringe-worthy beginning, I ended up really enjoying this movie.  All the acting was great, and Shiri Appleby was terrific as adult Kristin.  (Her 17 year old self was played by a different actress, which is something Love at the Christmas table should have done, instead of having Danica play her teenage self.)  This movie kept me entertained, and I liked how everything was resolved in the end.  I am planning to watch this one again.

[CarbonCopy]

1 hour ago, AnnaRose said:

I watched a couple Lifetime Christmas movies yesterday...

The Spirit of Christmas (2015) - lawyer needs to facilitate sale of inn that is haunted by a ghost who is temporarily corporeal.  I thought I would really like this movie, but couldn't seem to get into it.

Love at the Christmas Table (2012) - childhood friends see each other on Christmas Eve every year.  I had high hopes for this one too, but I didn't like the short flashbacks from the past and didn't buy Danica as an 18 year old.  I know a lot of people here seemed to like/love this movie, but it just didn't appeal to me.  I ended up deleting it after only watching it for a short while.

Kristin's Christmas Past (2013) - Kristin finds her present adult self transported to her past, trying to convince her teenage self to avoid some of the mistakes she made that led to her being alone and miserable on Christmas Eve, and resolving her issues with her parents.  After a cringe-worthy beginning, I ended up really enjoying this movie.  All the acting was great, and Shiri Appleby was terrific as adult Kristin.  (Her 17 year old self was played by a different actress, which is something Love at the Christmas table should have done, instead of having Danica play her teenage self.)  This movie kept me entertained, and I liked how everything was resolved in the end.  I am planning to watch this one again.

The Spirit of Christmas is my jam.  The ghost?  Oh my goodness.  Talk about eye candy.  And I liked the scenery and that it was actually filmed during the winter time, real snow and all. 

[methodwriter85]

I really enjoyed The Princess Switch. Just a lot of fun, and the chemistry worked for both couples.

[AnnaRose]

On 11/20/2018 at 5:10 AM, methodwriter85 said:

I really enjoyed The Princess Switch. Just a lot of fun, and the chemistry worked for both couples.

I watched the preview for The Princess Switch, and it made me wish I had Netflix.  I wonder if they will ever release it on DVD so that I can either buy it or borrow it from my library?  Does Netflix ever do that with their own productions?

I watched Last Chance for Christmas (2015) on Lifetime and enjoyed it more than I expected.  (I don't normally like Santa-is-real type movies.)  I thought Gabriel Hogan was adorable and funny as Santa's stableman in charge of finding a replacement reindeer in time for Christmas Eve.  The rest of the cast was good too.

[AnnaRose]

On 11/19/2018 at 2:27 PM, CarbonCopy said:

The Spirit of Christmas is my jam.  The ghost?  Oh my goodness.  Talk about eye candy.  And I liked the scenery and that it was actually filmed during the winter time, real snow and all. 

I hated his haircut - the way the bottom half was basically shaved.  Did men wear their hair like that 95+ years ago, or whichever time period he was from?  I found it distracting and thought it diminished his attractiveness.  Also, the ghost seemed like a jerk at the beginning, which made it more difficult for me to warm up to him later on.  For some reason, I also never really bought into the love story either.  (It might have been my mood though, so I may give it another chance and watch it again in the future.)

[methodwriter85]

9 minutes ago, AnnaRose said:

I hated his haircut - the way the bottom half was basically shaved.  Did men wear their hair like that 95+ years ago, or whichever time period he was from?  I found it distracting and thought it diminished his attractiveness.

They actually did. It kind of cracked me up that the way he was dressed and groomed could pass for both the late 1910's/early 1920's and now.

 

23 minutes ago, AnnaRose said:

I wonder if they will ever release it on DVD so that I can either buy it or borrow it from my library?  Does Netflix ever do that with their own productions?

Occasionally, but usually only for the series.

[AnnaRose]

27 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

They actually did. It kind of cracked me up that the way he was dressed and groomed could pass for both the late 1910's/early 1920's and now.

 

Occasionally, but usually only for the series.

Oh, that's funny.  Everything old is new again, huh?

Thanks for the info!  :)

[mikeb]

I saw some cast interviews for The Christmas Contract, which is airing Thanksgiving night on Lifetime and learned it features an interracial married couple as supporting characters.   Danneel Harris and Antwon Tanner play a lawyer and her husband.  I don't recall seeing this on any Hallmark movie.  It is also interesting how a lot of the supporting actors were cast - the producer called Hilarie Burton to ask her to star and asked her who she would like to work with - it was her idea to cast several of her friends from One Tree Hill cast.

[TVFan17]

I finally had a chance to watch one of UPs new movies, The Christmas Switch.  I think it was Irlandesa who said a page or two ago that it was good, and I agree.  I thought it was good for a Christmas movie with a wacky scenario (the "Christmas magic gone awry" story lines that we see pop up every now and then).    Or it at least held my interest.    I started to get a little bored with it in the last 20 minutes, so it ended at the right time.    But, to me, it felt like an asset to UP's collection of seasonal movies, and I liked it more than last year's Hallmark "switch" movie with Candace Cameron Bure.  

I would watch The Christmas Switch again, somewhere down the line.   It was fun.  And the little girl was adorable.

Edited November 22, 2018 by TVFan17

[MissyPoo]

13 hours ago, mikeb said:

I saw some cast interviews for The Christmas Contract, which is airing Thanksgiving night on Lifetime and learned it features an interracial married couple as supporting characters.   Danneel Harris and Antwon Tanner play a lawyer and her husband.  I don't recall seeing this on any Hallmark movie.  It is also interesting how a lot of the supporting actors were cast - the producer called Hilarie Burton to ask her to star and asked her who she would like to work with - it was her idea to cast several of her friends from One Tree Hill cast.

Oh thank you for this confirmation! I was hoping they would be, considering the promo pic featured both couples and I was hoping they were actual character couples. Yay! And you're right, Hallmark has yet to do an interracial couple as the lead. From that one article, they may be against it until folks (like myself) keep raising a fuss.

I still get a kick out of the fact that Daneel and Hilarie are best buds in this movie considering they were mortal enemies in Naughty or Nice. Operation Kill Jill haha.

Yikes, I'm already getting close to no room on my DVR and I still have some faves saved. Need to make room for the movie playoffs!

 

17 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

I watched the preview for The Princess Switch, and it made me wish I had Netflix.  I wonder if they will ever release it on DVD so that I can either buy it or borrow it from my library?  Does Netflix ever do that with their own productions?

If they do release it, I'd love a copy myself.

It looks like Netflix offers a free trial for a month. Unfortunately, they do need payment entry upon sign-up, but if you don't mind that it may be one option to check out their catalog for a few weeks.

Edited November 22, 2018 by MissyPoo

[Ubiquitous]

On ‎10‎/‎29‎/‎2016 at 9:41 PM, In2You said:

Trailer for Christmas with the Andersons which is currently on Demand and will premiere on ION Saturday December 10th at 9pm

 

Hey, it's Julie Brown!

[Stuffy]

Quote

I still get a kick out of the fact that Daneel and Hilarie are best buds in this movie considering they were mortal enemies in Naughty or Nice. Operation Kill Jill haha.

I don’t think their characters liked each other on One Tree Hill either. In real life they’re good friends. Plus I get the impression they weathered the creepy OTH creator’s harassment together. From what I understand they got the worst of it on the actresses side of things. 

It’s been a year since that information came out, so I may be remembering wrong. 

Edited November 23, 2018 by Stuffy

[mikeb]

12 hours ago, Stuffy said:

I don’t think their characters liked each other on One Tree Hill either. In real life they’re good friends. Plus I get the impression they weathered the creepy OTH creator’s harassment together. From what I understand they got the worst of it on the actresses side of things. 

It’s been a year since that information came out, so I may be remembering wrong. 

Yes, they were the two that went public with specific examples of being harassed by the showrunner.  In real life, not only are they good friends, but Daneel and her husband Jenson Ackles set up Hilarie with her husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

[Atlanta]

Was surprised to enjoy The Princess Switch" and "Christmas Wedding Planner." Tried "Christmas With A View," but got bored. With "Christmas Wedding Planner," how did they get a license and rings so fast?

[bijoux]

I hated Christmas Wedding Planner. That ending just topped my dislike for it. The leads felt like they were starring in two different movies and I found him stalkery and obnoxious. But I don't have nice things to say about the fiance or the dead dad either. That one was a controlling jerk from the grave and that takes some real dedication. The cousin really should have ditched them all. The only likeable dude was Joey Fatone. Oh, and the jealous bridesmaid was super entertaining. I could have found it in me to like the ending somewhat if they had her comment on it bitterly. 

The credits scene was hilarious. Kelsey oh, wows over Connor's place (or wherever he took her, could be the Bates Motel for all I know) and then they don't show the room? 😂

[NYGirl]

Last night I watched the Christmas Spirit and absolutely loved it although I had way too many questions at the end.  I was kind of perplexed all night afterwards.  LOL  The male lead really was eye candy and the female lead not too annoying.

After that I watched the Christmas Creek with Steven Weber and it was meh... He was the only good thing about the movie.  I wasn't too fond of the female lead or her parents.

This morning I Netflixed it and watch the Christmas Chronicles.  You Netflixers need to watch this movie.  Kurt Russell was outstanding as Santa Claus and the kids were very likable.  It was frenetic and I laughed out loud several times.  If you are looking to avoid the sappy love stuff you will enjoy this movie.

I am now watching the Princess Switch and it's slow going for me.  Hopefully it will pick up. 

The Christmas Calendar is on my horizon while I'm on Netflix and my house is already decorated and my shopping 3/4s done.

Edited November 24, 2018 by NYGirl

[emjohnson03]

I watched the Princess Switch last night and thought it was the cutest!

I thought she had chemistry with both leads so that made it even better.  I also liked there wasn't any fighting that broke them up as the movie went. 

Netflix really has done a great job with their films. Some can be hit or miss but I really enjoy the fact that they do them and they aren't afraid to pour on the sweetness.

[JasmineFlower]

Poinsettias for Christmas with Bethany Joy Lenz and Marcus Rosner on Lifetime. Let's start with the cast - it's one of the strongest we'll see all season most likely. It's smaller, but all are good actors. Her father is played by John Schneider, her mother by Sharon Lawrence, and Marcus' girlfriend/Bethany's tepid rival is played by Lauren London. 

Now, the acting may be good, but the premise is rather ridiculous. And let me also say, these adult children who barely visit their parents and their farms, but get up in arms when they think about selling is not a storyline I like and I think they need to revamp that thinking a bit since it seems to be one that is going to be used in these movies. Because honestly, running a farm is a ton of hard work, very long grueling hours, and these adult kids living in the city acting like showing up for short visits over the years and then for 2 weeks to help get them out of a tough spot is not remotely the dent they keep acting like it is. But even if I didn't mind that family/farm owning setup, we have the actual premise of the movie here - that the poinsettias aren't growing properly, delivery to all of their vendors and contracts is just a few weeks away and we need to call our daughter to come home to save this year's crops since she's always had a special touch with growing them. Now, what do I know about poinsettias besides where's the best place to buy them locally? But Bethany's character tells us in the beginning at the holiday party that the growing process is like 8-9 months. Bethany arrives at her parents house with Christmas decorations up around the house and property. It's literally a few weeks away. And she goes and makes these green leaves sprout red magically in 2-3 weeks? Come now. This is a ridiculous premise. They shouldn't have been so Christmas obsessed setting everything in December, had the mom call Bethany in like September or October when things weren't looking quite right and then done a fast forward and let this movie play out in a somewhat more reasonable and realistic timetable. To think that she could speed up the 9-month growing process in 2-3 weeks was oh so ridiculous and the unveiling of the perfect poinsettias even more so. It was just eye rolling ridiculousness.

So, there's a true storyline issue here. But Bethany and Marcus are a cute pairing, they play well off one another. Lauren London's face makeup in this is awful, whether incompetence or intentional, I'm not sure, but more often than not, she looks a good deal lighter than she actually is, which is a light caramel complexion. Her character is a lot, but that's intentional. For what they were going for, she's actually a more tolerable version than what we've been given other times. Despite how her character is, there is no real drama here in the relationship, it's all handled rather dignified.

This is not a hard movie to watch. There is enough surrounding the budding friendship/relationship between Bethany and Marcus that is somewhat apart from the growing poinsettias to enjoy watching this for the most part. But you are going to roll your eyes at the rest of the storyline. I'm not even clear on why you go ahead and tell us it takes 9 months to grow and then set the revival of your plants, which is about twice the size of your regular crop given an increase in contracts for them, to about 2 weeks. Sounds like a great plan! 🙄

[Irlandesa]

Lifetime wrap up:

A Christmas Contract with Hilarie Burton was very pleasant.  I expected a bit more longing and angst given that they were pretending but everything was pretty smooth except for a tid bit of silly drama at the end. The leads worked well together and I also liked Bruce Boxleitner and Cheryl Ladd as the parents. 

A Christmas Arrangement:  I only made it about 30 minutes in because it was so weird.  I almost wanted to keep watching because of how weird it was.  It started with the voices sounding like they were dubbed.  And then it moved onto the floral show where simple pine arrangements got oos and aahs, some (not all but some) of the contestants dressed in period costume and the judge was weirdly over-the-top.  But I stopped.

Poinsettias for Christmas: @JasmineFlower issued a lot of the critiques I had with the movie.  Bethany's character was an absolute brat.  She actually reminded me of a character she played when I first saw her--Michelle on Guiding Light. But she's an actress who can pull it off.  I did like her and Marcus Rosner together.  They had good chemistry.  And even though the movie had repetitive tropes, the overall construction was just a bit better in script and cast that I watched to the end even though I might not have if it were another cast.

But as soon as I saw where the poinsettias were, my first thought was "too much light."  So that they didn't realize they should be trying absolute darkness until over half the movie was over.  Another nitpick is why didn't she call her parents to tell her she's coming home?  Instead, she took a red eye---a red eye, people, from NY to Maryland?  C'mon.

And the movie I surprisingly loved---

Every Other Holiday:  This movie was a romantic religious angst bomb--and I was there for it even though I'm not religious.  It wasn't depressing and there were light hearted moments but it definitely had more angst and longing than other movies on offer.  So I found it to be a perfect change of pace.  It's about a divorced couple who go to spend Christmas with her parents at the request of their kids.  Good chemistry.  Good longing.  A good villain in the mother.  It even ended with a guy singing an original song I liked.  The dad was a pastor which is how they incorporated religion into things but his wisdom was contrasted nicely with his wife's absolute judginess. 

Edited November 24, 2018 by Irlandesa

[AnnaRose]

2 hours ago, JasmineFlower said:

Poinsettias for Christmas...

...Now, the acting may be good, but the premise is rather ridiculous. And let me also say, these adult children who barely visit their parents and their farms, but get up in arms when they think about selling is not a storyline I like and I think they need to revamp that thinking a bit since it seems to be one that is going to be used in these movies. Because honestly, running a farm is a ton of hard work, very long grueling hours, and these adult kids living in the city acting like showing up for short visits over the years and then for 2 weeks to help get them out of a tough spot is not remotely the dent they keep acting like it is. But even if I didn't mind that family/farm owning setup, we have the actual premise of the movie here - that the poinsettias aren't growing properly, delivery to all of their vendors and contracts is just a few weeks away and we need to call our daughter to come home to save this year's crops since she's always had a special touch with growing them. Now, what do I know about poinsettias besides where's the best place to buy them locally? But Bethany's character tells us in the beginning at the holiday party that the growing process is like 8-9 months. Bethany arrives at her parents house with Christmas decorations up around the house and property. It's literally a few weeks away. And she goes and makes these green leaves sprout red magically in 2-3 weeks? Come now. This is a ridiculous premise. They shouldn't have been so Christmas obsessed setting everything in December, had the mom call Bethany in like September or October when things weren't looking quite right and then done a fast forward and let this movie play out in a somewhat more reasonable and realistic timetable. To think that she could speed up the 9-month growing process in 2-3 weeks was oh so ridiculous and the unveiling of the perfect poinsettias even more so. It was just eye rolling ridiculousness....

Thank you for your detailed review, JasmineFlower.  I haven't seen Poinsettias for Christmas yet, and I'm not sure I will bother due to the issue you mentioned above (which would probably annoy me to the point of not enjoying it.)  As you said, it would should have avoided the timeline problem by changing the beginning to autumn. 

This is a particularly vexing problem with these types of movies.  I watched the Hallmark movie December Bride (from 2016) and that is another case in which they could have improved it by simply indicating a greater progression of time - in this case a year so that the main couple could have had their December wedding the following year, instead of requiring viewers to suspend their disbelief that they were able to throw their wedding together in a week or two. (Plus they faked their engagement and hadn't even been dating for real.)  I don't understand why the producers and writers are so reluctant to make these time adjustments.  It would have cost nothing but a bit of text on the screen.

[StaceyNotStacie]

The Poinsettias movie was enjoyable, but it also seemed a bit predictable. It reminded me of the Tulip movie on Hallmark a few seasons back. It just seemed like they pulled out every trope for this one: the small town, the failing family business, the unlikable girlfriend, the miraculous recovery of the flowers, the happy ending for the main character and their love interest, and they also threw in the brother in law who returned from overseas just in time for Christmas (which drives me batty because not everyone gets a Christmas homecoming IRL). 

[Sara2009]

Despite the issues mentioned above, I actually quite enjoyed “ Poinsettias for Christmas.” The cast made it work for me.

[twoods]

I really liked The Christmas Contract. Great chemistry with the leads (helped that they were on OTH together) and there was enough angst to keep me interested. I also liked her family and the banter. Plus, Robert  Buckley without a shirt will always get some points.

[Scarlett45]

7 hours ago, twoods said:

I really liked The Christmas Contract. Great chemistry with the leads (helped that they were on OTH together) and there was enough angst to keep me interested. I also liked her family and the banter. Plus, Robert  Buckley without a shirt will always get some points.

I’m an iZombie fan, and I forgot he was on the last two seasons of One Tree Hill!

[DanaMB]

23 hours ago, NYGirl said:

 

This morning I Netflixed it and watch the Christmas Chronicles.  You Netflixers need to watch this movie.  Kurt Russell was outstanding as Santa Claus and the kids were very likable.  It was frenetic and I laughed out loud several times.  If you are looking to avoid the sappy love stuff you will enjoy this movie.

 

 

 

Watched this last night and loved it. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did, but it was so enjoyable. Definitely highly recommend.

Edited November 25, 2018 by DanaMB

[Chas411]

Watching Holiday a Engagement with Bonnie Sommerville and Shelley Long - I'm surprised to actually really like it. I'm midway through it and I like both leads. I find the male love interest is often really bland but Jordan Beidges is really charismatic.

[twoods]

Starting Poinsettias for Christmas and Bethany’s character is such a bitch. What is wrong with her? I don’t want to keep going but I like the actors so will stick to it. 

[DanaMB]

16 hours ago, twoods said:

I really liked The Christmas Contract. Great chemistry with the leads (helped that they were on OTH together) and there was enough angst to keep me interested. I also liked her family and the banter. Plus, Robert  Buckley without a shirt will always get some points.

 

Just finished this and it's going to end up being one of my favorites.  I loved it (aside from the silly misunderstanding at the end). 

[shipmate]

I have never been into Christmas movies but this weekend I have watched 4 (or 5?). I refuse to watch any that involve ice sculptures in the plot, though! I have enjoyed them more than I thought I would.  We got rid of cable (yay!) so I am limited to the movies on Netflix.

Okay - the Spirit of Christmas - I need to talk about this one.  I enjoyed this one but the ending left me totally confused.  Exactly how do they plan to make this work?  Is he just going to show up every December for 12 days?  Is he allowed to stay there all the time now (but in his current form and never sleeping?), did he become totally human?  What is going to happen in, say, June when she wants to head to the beach - can he go?   I know it's fiction and not that deep, but I'd like a sequel to this one - so many unanswered questions!

[dalek]

Quote

I really liked The Christmas Contract. Great chemistry with the leads (helped that they were on OTH together) and there was enough angst to keep me interested. I also liked her family and the banter. Plus, Robert  Buckley without a shirt will always get some points.

I also enjoyed the movie, and thought all the actors were good.  I generally like Hilarie Burton's Christmas movies.  However, the premise was pretty similar to last year's Hallmark movie "The Mistletoe Promise," which I thought did a better job with the premise.  

[Sara2009]

3 hours ago, twoods said:

Starting Poinsettias for Christmas and Bethany’s character is such a bitch. What is wrong with her? I don’t want to keep going but I like the actors so will stick to it. 

She didn’t bother me,but I seem to be alone on that one.

[Enero]

Everyday Is Christmas  - Did anyone catch this one last night on Lifetime? It was a modern day spin on A Christmas Carol. Toni Braxton isn’t the best actress by any means, but she was passable in this. The story was descent too. It was completely understandable why her character was so adverse to Christmas, considering the tragedy she suffered in her youth on the holiday. 

Though I could understand her having to revisit her past to learn and make changes in the present, I thought it was pretty cruel of the ghost to make her relive every aspect of the tragedy she experienced. Surprising they wrapped up the Scrooge part of the story 45 minutes to an hour before the end of the movie with the remaining time being spent with her correcting her mistakes. In a sense that was good, a nice change from when other movies have explored a modern day Scrooge, but on the flip side wrapping the Scrooge stuff up so early seemed to make the story linger too long. 

Again, it was watchable. I’m really happy to see that Lifetime is showing several holiday movies this season with people of color. I think Hallmark has added a little more diversity to their new holiday movies as well, and not just in the role of wise confidant, but as the main protagonist who falls in love. Good to know they seem to be starting to recognize that people of color can fall in love at Christmas too. 😊

[anniebird]

On 11/21/2018 at 8:01 PM, TVFan17 said:

I finally had a chance to watch one of UPs new movies, The Christmas Switch.  I think it was Irlandesa who said a page or two ago that it was good, and I agree.  I thought it was good for a Christmas movie with a wacky scenario (the "Christmas magic gone awry" story lines that we see pop up every now and then).    Or it at least held my interest.    I started to get a little bored with it in the last 20 minutes, so it ended at the right time.    But, to me, it felt like an asset to UP's collection of seasonal movies, and I liked it more than last year's Hallmark "switch" movie with Candace Cameron Bure.  

I would watch The Christmas Switch again, somewhere down the line.   It was fun.  And the little girl was adorable.

That little girl was the best kid in a Christmas movie since Hayden Panettiere in If You Believe.

[In2You]

I really enjoyed Jingle Belle. I love a good black Christmas movie especially when all the characters feel authentic and not forced. The casting was solid. It's been so long since I've seen Tempestt acting again. And Tatyana has a beautiful voice. Nice to hear her writing music and singing again. It's been so long. And she and Cornelius Smith Jr had great chemistry. 

[Irlandesa]

52 minutes ago, Enero said:

Everyday Is Christmas  - Did anyone catch this one last night on Lifetime?

I did.  I mainly started it with the intention of deciding I didn't like it and deleting it from my DVR so I could clear some space.  I'm not a big fan of A Christmas Carol or any of its iterations.  In the beginning, I thought it was going to be a no-brainer, especially with how flat Toni's intonation was.  Then Gloria Reuben showed up and the movie started to improve.  Before I knew it, I was sucked in.  It moved at a nice brisk pace and Toni was just good enough. 

[twoods]

Has anyone watched Freeform’s new movie The Truth About Christmas? I haven’t had a chance to finish it but so far it’s pretty good and hilarious. 

[JasmineFlower]

Christmas Perfection on Lifetime I basically don't know anyone in this cast from other projects, but some of you might know the lead actress. Apparently she plays Madison on This Is Us. Not sure if she's a fan fave since she hardly got that role based on talent (she's married to Dan Fogelman) but if you like her at all, then consider checking this out.

I found this movie to be better than I was expecting, but not a favorite. If you are someone who likes things that are Irish or finds Irish things and accents charming, I think you'll like this more than me. Basically this girl had a "bad childhood" and used Christmas as a time to escape and got interested in Christmas decorations and getting them just right, but especially this Christmas village she creates, which is apparently an Irish Christmas village. She basically wakes up one day in her dream village and it's this perfect Irish town that celebrates Christmas everyday. She loves it and her dream guy is there, her parents are happily married, and she can eat whatever she wants and never gain weight and if she needs money, it's just magically in her pocket. It's truly a perfect place. But it's missing her best friend, who we meet earlier and know that he's likely in love with her and most who know them think he's perfect for her. But she doesn't think of him that way and is interested in her co-worker (the dream guy who shows up in the village). Christmas everyday is her ideal since it's been her escape forever, but even though each day is a new day in the village, every day is Christmas. But not in Groundhog Day way, it's just they consider every day Christmas. So every day has the same qualities the way that every Christmas sort of unfolds in a familiar pattern, but from my take, every day isn't a repeat of the one before. It can be December 26 and still be Christmas in this movie was how I interpreted it. But this gets old fast and she slowly begins to see the problem with this setup. The best friend shows up in the village eventually, through movie magic basically and you just kind of need to go with what they are selling at that point. But he's what I'd consider the male lead here, so he did have to get to that village somehow to be in the majority of the movie.

It's very watchable. I didn't love it, but enjoyed it enough. Her childhood wasn't bad enough for the setup imho, just arguing parents who eventually divorce and roll their eyes at memories of them bickering at their shared Thanksgiving with their daughter (yes, this movie features the now rare Thanksgiving scene). So for me at least, it's a weak setup for this adult to have such juvenile wishes like she missed her entire childhood due to unspeakable trauma. It may not have been ideal, but also didn't seem to be the worst ever, just some rough spots that many can relate to and still manage to not act like this woman. So, because of that part, some of this feels like it would've worked better as a 13 Going on 30 kind of setup where she gets trapped in this world dreaming of it as a teenager, not a grown adult as she actually is, if that makes sense.

But the lead girl and the best friend have a nice chemistry. I really enjoyed his character in this movie. The dream guy was kind of perfectly wooden. I didn't get it early on, he just seemed kind of underwhelming and why is he the dream guy exactly? But as it went on, he was exactly what the role called for and so that worked as well. There are several small issues I had besides what I've said, but they are relatively minor.  Worth watching if you see that it's on. I would especially think it's worth catching if you love all things Irish, there's a lot of accents and village charm that I'm guessing are particularly appealing.

 

Also, I caught Christmas on the Coast and I completely agree with @Irlandesa about it being a pleasant surprise. Really enjoyable and not at all religious as I had feared. Some truly fun and funny moments in this one and though I'm getting a late start on holiday movies this year and haven't watched a ton, this will be among my favorites this year. I think Julie Ann Emery is one of those people whose names you don't necessarily know but you'll recognize her immediately because she's been in so many things. The lead guy (Burgess Jenkins) is probably the same way as he's definitely been around, he was Billy on Y&R a few years ago, and he has been in several of these Hallmark type movies before just not too recently to my knowledge. So while maybe the actors names doesn't jump out at you outside of Bonnie Bedelia, it's a very solid cast all the way around and that contributes greatly to this being a good movie. 

[Happywatcher]

On Netflix: The Spirit of Christmas... strong pretty girl lawyer gets sent to an old fashioned inn/B&B to handle the sale, turns out there is a ghost--but a solid one.

The ghost ends up with the female lead (no shock there, it is a movie) but it is a little disquieting he turns down his old love/fellow ghost/mother of his baby in favor of the lead.

My big issue is that editing seems to have pulled about 20 minutes of important content from the middle parts of the movie. Boss was being a jerk, then he wasn't. Ghost was totally anti people, then he is bartending a party. No one is interested in the inn, all of the sudden much interest. 

[AnnaRose]

1 hour ago, Happywatcher said:

On Netflix: The Spirit of Christmas... strong pretty girl lawyer gets sent to an old fashioned inn/B&B to handle the sale, turns out there is a ghost--but a solid one.

The ghost ends up with the female lead (no shock there, it is a movie) but it is a little disquieting he turns down his old love/fellow ghost/mother of his baby in favor of the lead.

My big issue is that editing seems to have pulled about 20 minutes of important content from the middle parts of the movie. Boss was being a jerk, then he wasn't. Ghost was totally anti people, then he is bartending a party. No one is interested in the inn, all of the sudden much interest. 

I remember having a bunch of WTF moments when I was watching it a while back.  I kept thinking I accidentally missed a bunch of details as I was fast-forwarding through commercials, since I wasn't that interested and wasn't being particularly careful or paying close attention.  I expected to love the movie, but it didn't make much sense.  Now I'm thinking perhaps the main problem was poor editing. 

[In2You]

I didn't like Christmas Perfection. The main character was so unlikeable and the story felt tedious. It kind of dragged along by the halfway mark until the end.

[MissyPoo]

On 11/25/2018 at 5:40 PM, Sara2009 said:

She didn’t bother me,but I seem to be alone on that one.

Not so much. I thought she was kinda funny myself.

On 11/25/2018 at 6:14 PM, Enero said:

Everyday Is Christmas  - Did anyone catch this one last night on Lifetime? It was a modern day spin on A Christmas Carol. Toni Braxton isn’t the best actress by any means, but she was passable in this. The story was descent too. It was completely understandable why her character was so adverse to Christmas, considering the tragedy she suffered in her youth on the holiday. 

Though I could understand her having to revisit her past to learn and make changes in the present, I thought it was pretty cruel of the ghost to make her relive every aspect of the tragedy she experienced. Surprising they wrapped up the Scrooge part of the story 45 minutes to an hour before the end of the movie with the remaining time being spent with her correcting her mistakes. In a sense that was good, a nice change from when other movies have explored a modern day Scrooge, but on the flip side wrapping the Scrooge stuff up so early seemed to make the story linger too long. 

Again, it was watchable. I’m really happy to see that Lifetime is showing several holiday movies this season with people of color. I think Hallmark has added a little more diversity to their new holiday movies as well, and not just in the role of wise confidant, but as the main protagonist who falls in love. Good to know they seem to be starting to recognize that people of color can fall in love at Christmas too. 😊

I agree. TB seemed to struggle a bit at times but some moments she surprised me. I liked this one and will probably rewatch it again in the future considering it has some actors I've enjoyed in the past in it (Gloria Reuben, Michael Jai White, yummy Mike Dupod).

6 hours ago, twoods said:

Has anyone watched Freeform’s new movie The Truth About Christmas? I haven’t had a chance to finish it but so far it’s pretty good and hilarious. 

I really want to see this one. You're one of my movie markers so this is a good sign! I'm also looking forward to the no sleeping one from Freeform.

I also saw Christmas Perfection on demand although I think the description on Sling was for that Clare Coffee Lifetime movie a few years back. It turned out cute after a sketchy beginning. It kind of reminded me of Snowglobe with a side of Irish mixed with the christmas loop theme. I think it's a one and done for me though.

I think I may be the only one who didn't really dig The Christmas Contract much (and I was looking forward to it). I never watched One Tree Hill but I love Hilarie Burton christmas movies, even the mediocre ones (looking at you Christmas on the Bayou), but this one didn't grab me for some reason. I think the chemistry wasn't there for me and it was a struggle to care about the characters though I love some of the actors here. I paused it halfway through and haven't really felt like returning. I may give it another go before the season is over to see if it was just my mood at the time.

I still have to watch Jingle Belle but I'm looking forward to it. Watched My Christmas Inn a few times already and I can't wait until that's on DVD from Lifetime. I hope they pair it with Poinsettias for Christmas or Every Day is Christmas as I enjoyed both of those. Though I'm still WTF over Lauren London's hair and makeup in that movie. I also saw Christmas Arrangement and it was super jarring seeing Nikki Whelan as a chipper cheerleader type. I'm used to her being so cynical and snarky in her movies. Good seeing Daphne Zuniga again as I loved her in MP and her past movies On Strike For Christmas & A Family Thanksgiving. I did think it was weird how she unvillainized herself at the end though. I'm still debating whether or not I want to watch this one again. 

Over on Netflix the mister and I watched The Christmas Chronicles and freakin' loved it! We laughed so much throughout the film and nearly shed a tear in the beginning. Very well done movie. I think a few years ago, it would have fit perfectly on the big screen. We're looking forward to watching it again. As previously mentioned, I also loved The Princess Switch, & The Holiday Calendar. Netflix is kicking it out of the park this year.  Can't wait to see A Christmas Prince 2 this Friday.

I hope the Freeform and UP movies appear on some of the streaming sites so I can watch them. I'm glad a few have made it to Netflix.

[JasmineFlower]

1 hour ago, MissyPoo said:

I also saw Christmas Perfection on demand although I think the description on Sling was for that Clare Coffee Lifetime movie a few years back. It turned out cute after a sketchy beginning. It kind of reminded me of Snowglobe with a side of Irish mixed with the christmas loop theme. I think it's a one and done for me though.

I hope the Freeform and UP movies appear on some of the streaming sites so I can watch them. I'm glad a few have made it to Netflix.

Christmas Perfection was incredibly similar storyline wise to Snowglobe. The feel and tone were different to me and not nearly as youthful (Snowglobe was an ABC Family movie and felt like it to me), but definitely agree that's what this is like. 

If you can access Freeform online or the app, their movies are available to stream that way.  Older ABC Family movies have started popping up on Hulu recently and with Disney (aka ABC) set to take a greater ownership in Hulu, this could become more regular in the future but maybe not recent stuff. For instance, Angry Angel from last year is up in their own app, but not on Hulu. So for the time being, if you want to stream, the app does a pretty good job of making things available. The Truth About Christmas is already up.

Edited November 27, 2018 by JasmineFlower

[twoods]

The Truth About Christmas was very good. It went along the same trope as Angry Angel where there wasn’t a sappy, romantic ending and instead focused on the lead becoming a better person. I sort of wanted that Hallmark ending, but I still enjoyed it and it flew by.

The No Sleep Until Christmas movie makes me uneasy because it follows one of the tropes I hate- lead falling in love with another while she’s planning a wedding. I like the actress in Supergirl so maybe will watch it after the holidays.

Edited November 27, 2018 by twoods

[Irlandesa]

7 hours ago, JasmineFlower said:

Christmas Perfection on Lifetime I basically don't know anyone in this cast from other projects, but some of you might know the lead actress. Apparently she plays Madison on This Is Us. Not sure if she's a fan fave since she hardly got that role based on talent (she's married to Dan Fogelman) but if you like her at all, then consider checking this out.

I found this movie to be better than I was expecting, but not a favorite. If you are someone who likes things that are Irish or finds Irish things and accents charming, I think you'll like this more than me. 

It's very watchable. I didn't love it, but enjoyed it enough. Her childhood wasn't bad enough for the setup imho, just arguing parents who eventually divorce and roll their eyes at memories of them bickering at their shared T

I watched it.  It had a similar magical element to the Shoe Addict but I found this one more watchable.  Maybe it was the accents.  Or the fact that there was chemistry between the main couple but I watched it all.  I will say, though, that the main guy turned me off with his why don't you love meeeeeee as if she were doing something wrong for choosing not to take a chance on him.  She doesn't have to justify her decision whether or not to date him.  

As for whether or not her "bad childhood" justified her fantasies, that didn't bother me.  She seemed super type A. I don't think she needed much of a push to wish for a perfect Christmas.

8 hours ago, twoods said:

Has anyone watched Freeform’s new movie The Truth About Christmas? I haven’t had a chance to finish it but so far it’s pretty good and hilarious. 

Yes, I really enjoyed this one.  There were a few scenes that were absolutely hilarious and you could tell the level of writing when the scenes that were supposed to be funny (especially the scene at the charity event with her boyfriend's brother) were actually funny.  It also had a good and different ending that fits thematically with what happened recently in real life. Spoilers in the cut because, believe it or not, there are things that happen in this movie that aren't predictable. 

Spoiler

 

Her deciding to run for office was a surprise and aligns with the overall uptick in women deciding to run for office.  Although I do wonder if she was basically still going to be hampered by the fact that she's in politics.  Political wife or politician--the restrictions are there.

I'm very relieved that they didn't have her switch from one brother to another romantically.  She did tell her boyfriend that she loved him even when she was bound by truth but they showed her bonding with the brother so I was worried they'd pull a Hallmark any just go with it even though they didn't set it up well.  But thankfully, they didn't.  And both guys were there with her at the end.

@twoods I wanted a happy ending too but that's because the movie didn't vilify her boyfriend. And I kind of liked how patient he was overall with her sudden bout of honesty.  Or is the ending you wanted different? 

 

[twoods]

@Irlandesa, I sort of wanted the ending to be 

Spoiler

Her acknowledging there may be a future with his brother. I really enjoyed their chemistry and it would have sucked if he threw himself at her after his brother proposed, but I would have liked to see a “one year later” scene of them starting to date and her ex being ok with it. It was nice seeing a movie that didn’t end predictable, but maybe I’ve seen too many Hallmark movies. 

[MissyPoo]

10 hours ago, JasmineFlower said:

Christmas Perfection was incredibly similar storyline wise to Snowglobe. The feel and tone were different to me and not nearly as youthful (Snowglobe was an ABC Family movie and felt like it to me), but definitely agree that's what this is like. 

If you can access Freeform online or the app, their movies are available to stream that way.  Older ABC Family movies have started popping up on Hulu recently and with Disney (aka ABC) set to take a greater ownership in Hulu, this could become more regular in the future but maybe not recent stuff. For instance, Angry Angel from last year is up in their own app, but not on Hulu. So for the time being, if you want to stream, the app does a pretty good job of making things available. The Truth About Christmas is already up.

Thanks! It looks like the classics work for me but it makes me sign in via provider for the newer movies on the browser. Bummer. Sling isn't on their list though, argh. At least I can still watch some of my faves on there. Maybe it will pop up on Hulu later or something.

[JAYJAY1979]

I've not been watching any of this years offering as of yet (been watching some of my fav movies on dvd/youtube).  Any good ones this year thus far to check out?

[Silver Raven]

Newsweek ranks the top 50 Hallmark Christmas movies

https://www.newsweek.com/ranked-best-hallmark-christmas-movies-1233571?