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

[twoods]

I thought that Netflix’s Knight Before Christmas was really cute. It kept my attention, unlike Random Acts of Kindness which I wanted to like because the leads had some chemistry but dragged so I ffed through the middle. 

[sistersledge]

I can't be bothered to learn their names, but the actor in Random Acts is so unattractive to me, I just can't with him. He's usually paired with pretty good actresses too. I think the only time I found him decent was in the Jen Lilley one where he's an author and he wore glasses the whole time. I think it was the same guy.

Edited November 22, 2019 by sistersledge

[Vermicious Knid]

Don't usually post in this thread, because I generally don't watch holiday movies, but I'm on Cost Plus World Market's email list and I got one today advertising this. Because this trend needed to be monetized, apparently.

I'll probably watch the Hannukah-Christmas movies if only to mock them for what they get wrong, but if they really wanted to do a Jewish holiday that lends itself to many of the same  themes somebody should do Passover.

As long as I'm here, NPR's Linda Holmes (some of you may remember her as Miss Alli from TWoP) has done her own viewing guide to the new holiday movies highlighted by themes like 'Moppet!' and 'Everybody cares too much about Christmas'.

[Kaoteek]

Not too impressed by Knight before Christmas.

Very derivative, half-assed writing (I'm really not expecting historical accuracy in my rom-coms, but still, it wasn't very convincing), and I felt the Knight was mostly bland, so I didn't feel much chemistry there, and ended up stopping the movie halfway through, only to finish it a few hours later, while doing some chores (very flat ending, btw).

[crimsongrl]

I liked The Knight before Christmas (Netflix) and there's a quick scene 10 seconds after the credits pop up.

I don't remember who recommended 12 Dates of Christmas (Freeform) but I say thank you! Amy Smart is the perfect amount of cute. I don't want my holiday movies syrupy sweet so I stick to Netflix, Freeform & my favorites from when I was a kid.

I did not enjoy Snowglobe (Freeform) which is mentioned a lot. Between the accents and the family who wouldn't respect boundaries I watched the second half on ff just to see how it ended.

If anyone gets airing times for the Battle of the Nutcrackers please post. My guide doesn't have any dates thru Dec. 6th. I missed it last year. 😥

[anniebird]

7 hours ago, Kaoteek said:

Not too impressed by Knight before Christmas.

Very derivative, half-assed writing (I'm really not expecting historical accuracy in my rom-coms, but still, it wasn't very convincing), and I felt the Knight was mostly bland, so I didn't feel much chemistry there, and ended up stopping the movie halfway through, only to finish it a few hours later, while doing some chores (very flat ending, btw).

I just felt like they did nothing with with any of the time-travel stuff -- he seemed to accept everything as perfectly normal. It could have been so much more entertaining but it was the same level of bland as most of the Hallmark and Lifetime movies.

[DanaMB]

5 minutes ago, anniebird said:

I just felt like they did nothing with with any of the time-travel stuff -- he seemed to accept everything as perfectly normal. It could have been so much more entertaining but it was the same level of bland as most of the Hallmark and Lifetime movies.

What I couldn’t get past was he had no problem leaving his family behind for what all he knows is forever. I mean he was all about returning to see his brother knighted but in the future there’s no reaction that his brother would be dead now. I tried to ignore that, because fantasy, but I couldn’t let it go. 

[Dr.OO7]

5 hours ago, crimsongrl said:

If anyone gets airing times for the Battle of the Nutcrackers please post. My guide doesn't have any dates thru Dec. 6th. I missed it last year. 😥

You didn't miss much. They all sucked. The only good one was the one from the Royal Ballet and that's been aired a gazillion times.

Last year it was the week before Christmas.

I couldn't sleep last night and found myself rewatching "Christmas In The Air" at 3AM. I think it's one of the better offerings. For starters, it turns the Uptight Loves Wild cliché around and actually has the uptight person teaching the wild person to get his act together--and he WANTS her to do this--instead of the usual "free spirit gets stick-in-the-mud to loosen up". There's none of the usual condescending "person has to leave the big city to come to a small town to learn the true meaning of Christmas", because they already both live there, and there isn't the subtle sexism of "woman has to give up her big city life and career to come to a small town to find love", because again, she already lives there, and the couple isn't madly in love within two weeks of meeting, even though they're clearly going to start a relationship.

My only complaint was that the Third Act Misunderstanding was poorly done. She goes to his house and is upset to find him. . . working? And that's reason enough to storm out? Huh? 

[MissyPoo]

Comfort and Joy has been found!  It's over at GetTv which is showing a TON of old school tv shows and movies including a few Christmas themed things. 

It's next airing December 7th. If you have FuboTV, it's coming to that streaming platform December 4th.

[jmonique]

Re: Knight Before Christmas:

I, too, found Cole and Brooke’s complete acceptance of the time travel of it all odd.

Also, the parts with snow on the ground and people walking around without coats. Pick a temperature.

Edited November 23, 2019 by jmonique

[Lisastrait]

Christmas in Louisiana mentioned winter storm Megan also. Was certain they could not work it in, and they did. Now, that being said, just watched The Magical Christmas Shoes from 11/22 and did not notice any reference to winter storm Meghan. I didn’t erase it just in case I can’t stand the thought that I missed it. Though, the lead actresses real name is Megan!!! Curious if anyone has watched this one and found winter storm Megan!

[Kaoteek]

Not as enthusiastic about Write Before Christmas as most people seem to be, but I'll admit I liked seeing something less by-the-book and more ambitious from Hallmark.

Sadly, an ensemble movie like this demands a charismatic cast and solid, all-around interesting writing to tie everything together : here, between the bland popstar in crisis, the lead couple that barely had 30 minutes of screentime overall (too bad, they had a nice chemistry, even though DeVitto's Christmas crazy character was kind of annoying during the first 15-20 min), the clunky structure of the script, and some underdevelopment here and there for the other storylines, it was a step in the right direction, but it wasn't there yet.

[sistersledge]

I watched Christmas Land last night and enjoyed it. Luke MacFarland is so good looking but I couldn't get over how stupid Jules was to sign the contract without reading it. I mean, she was already starting to learn how skeevy her boyfriend was, why wouldn't you at least have the estate attorney look at it? 

So while it all worked out (though I was hoping the grandmother would have hidden money in the old carriage), I didn't feel as happy for them because she literally was out over a million dollars at end because she was so dumb.

Edited November 23, 2019 by sistersledge
Bolding is your friend

[Irlandesa]

The best thing about Christmas Shoes on Lifetime was that Dear Santa was on after it.

And I thought for a while that Vanessa H's character was going to end up with the widowed father and the knight would only be a catalyst.   But nope.  It was just ridiculous but not in a good way. 

[Sara2009]

On 11/19/2019 at 6:20 PM, MissyPoo said:

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

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

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

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

Moira Kelly has been in the mom stage for a long time now. She played the mother of one of the lead teen characters on “ One Tree Hill,” and that was back in 2003.

[twoods]

Yes, the ending for the knight movie could have been much better and was too rushed and clunky. I preferred the Christmas Switch movie last year with Vanessa in it.

Finally watched Christmas a la Mode, and the lead was so nasty to the lead guy that I have no idea how he fell in love with her. At least when he wanted to explain she let him instead of huffing away, but I didn’t like how she snidely said she didn’t care about him at the end. He saved your stupid ass. I also don’t get that she gave all the money to her sister, but wasn’t she still in debt to the bank for taking out all those loans? I did want some ice cream after watching it, and I really liked the male lead and hope to see him in some upcoming Hallmark movies.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, twoods said:

Yes, the ending for the knight movie could have been much better and was too rushed and clunky. I preferred the Christmas Switch movie last year with Vanessa in it.

Finally watched Christmas a la Mode, and the lead was so nasty to the lead guy that I have no idea how he fell in love with her. At least when he wanted to explain she let him instead of huffing away, but I didn’t like how she snidely said she didn’t care about him at the end. He saved your stupid ass. I also don’t get that she gave all the money to her sister, but wasn’t she still in debt to the bank for taking out all those loans? I did want some ice cream after watching it, and I really liked the male lead and hope to see him in some upcoming Hallmark movies.

She was still in debt but the deal with the apple pie company would have gone a long way to paying off the debts. 

I did like the movie but I didn’t like that the solution was that the male lead and his father bailed her out.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Guest

[MissyPoo]

2 hours ago, Sara2009 said:

Moira Kelly has been in the mom stage for a long time now. She played the mother of one of the lead teen characters on “ One Tree Hill,” and that was back in 2003.

Ya, I skipped the whole One Tree Hill craze so I had no idea what it was or why there was a reunion on Lifetime, but cool for the fans who get to see their faves again.

Btw, FilmRise has been sneaky squirrels over on Youtube. They posted a few freebie Christmas movies including The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Marry Me For Christmas (first in the Chandler family movie series), and the "I can't believe it's a Hallmark movie" movie Pete's Christmas.

[Ashforth]

Twinkle All the Way, what a ridiculous plot in so many ways. The actors were okay, but the writing was abysmal. There are many bad things about this one, but I have to say that the scene in which the leads kissed and a big crowd of people applauded for a long, long time, was bizarre even for this genre. I did like that a gay couple was featured and they actually kissed at the end!

The male lead pinged my gaydar. Very Rock Hudson. Handsome and charismatic.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Ashforth

[DanaMB]

Just watched Let It Snow on Netflix and really enjoyed it. I don’t think I’ve watched a Netflix holiday movie that I did not like. Granted, I know I haven’t seen all of them., I just get tired of the G rated ridiculousness of Hallmark sometimes so it’s refreshing. 
 

Just starting to try and catch up on the Hallmark movies. First up is Merry Christmas Match and halfway through I’m still engaged. I like the leads together and the story seems to be advancing pretty quickly. 

[Silver Raven]

30 minutes ago, Ashforth said:

Twinkle All the Way, what a ridiculous plot in so many ways. The actors were okay, but the writing was abysmal. There are many bad things about this one, but I have to say that the scene in which the leads kissed and a big crowd of people applauded for a long, long time, was bizarre even for this genre. I did like that a gay couple was featured and they actually kissed at the end!

The male lead pinged my gaydar. Very Rock Hudson. Handsome and charismatic.

Not that it means much, but he has been married to a woman for years.

[Guest]

I like Erin Karpluk but Magical Christmas Shoes was really bad and it looked cheap. It felt really amateurish. At one point I happened to pause it when she was sitting crosslegged on a bench and I realized you could see up her skirt. There was another point when they focused on her wearing boots that felt a little pervy. 

Also every reference to this movie says that her character’s name is Kayla but in the movie it was Noelle. WTF is Lifetime doing if they get that wrong. 

 

I loved Twinkle All the Way. It was awesome. I am predisposed to liking anything with Ryan McPartlin but it also it all the right notes. The ending was cheesy but it was just the right kind of cheesy. 

I’m almost certain that is the first gay couple to kiss in one these movies. Way to go Lifetime. 

Edited November 24, 2019 by Guest

[Kaoteek]

Lifetime's Magical Christmas Shoes was a weird tonal mish-mash of a bland, low-energy storyline with a weirdly over-enthusiastic Erin Karpluk, a fun black BFF, way too many telegraphed misunderstandings, an uneven love interest (not the biggest fan of Damon Runyan as a romantic lead, even though he worked okay with Karpluk), a strange focus (that never really delivered) on those magical shoes, an insipid ex, daddy issues that were a tad too emotional, and... well... it wasn't as bad as I feared reading some reviews here and there, but it was on the mediocre side of things nonetheless.

[Jenniferbug]

5 hours ago, Dani said:

I loved Twinkle All the Way. It was awesome. I am predisposed to liking anything with Ryan McPartlin

You had me at Ryan McPartlin. Going to find this movie to watch later! 

[GeorgiaRai]

Do you experts know if Meredith Hagner is still involved in the Christmas-movie genre?  I rarely bother learning actors names, but I liked her so much in A Gift Wrapped Christmas & My Christmas Love - was hoping to see more of her.

In my yesterday viewings, A Song for Christmas easily won out over Twinkle All the Way and the Magical Christmas Shoes.  I'm a sucker for music & singer-themed movies (as well as book & author-themed movies) like some people are for royalty & princes. 

Edited November 24, 2019 by GeorgiaRai

[twoods]

I looked at Meredith’s IMDB page and it doesn’t look like she has any more projects. She got married in September so maybe she took some time off to plan her wedding. Hopefully she will be in some movies next year.

[kirinan]

10 hours ago, Dani said:

I loved Twinkle All the Way. It was awesome. I am predisposed to liking anything with Ryan McPartlin but it also it all the right notes. The ending was cheesy but it was just the right kind of cheesy. 

I’m almost certain that is the first gay couple to kiss in one these movies. Way to go Lifetime. 

He will always be Captain Awesome to me (I miss Chuck!), so when I saw he was in this movie I sat down to watch it. I enjoyed it, too, although I'll admit there were a couple of times my teeth ached, it was so sugary sweet. But it all worked for me, even though I'll agree with Ashforth that the writing left something to be desired. I liked that it had a diverse cast, that they showed his brother was married to a man (clutch those pearls, Hallmark Hausfraus!), and that it was unabashed Christmas cheese. I'd watch it again. 

BTW, Lesley Ann Warren, who I'm old enough to remember first-run as Cinderella on TV (I love, love, LOVE that version, and I really need to see if the soundtrack is available in the iTunes store because I no longer have a CD player in my car, where I used to love to belt it out), looks really good. Even my husband stopped on his way through the living room and commented that if she's had plastic surgery, they did a great job. 

[chitowngirl]

A Christmas Story is on TBS this evening. THAT’S FOR CHRISTMAS EVE & CHRISTMAS DAY ONLY!!!

Edited November 24, 2019 by chitowngirl

[MerBearHou]

1 hour ago, kirinan said:

BTW, Lesley Ann Warren, who I'm old enough to remember first-run as Cinderella on TV (I love, love, LOVE that version, and I really need to see if the soundtrack is available in the iTunes store because I no longer have a CD player in my car, where I used to love to belt it out), looks really good. Even my husband stopped on his way through the living room and commented that if she's had plastic surgery, they did a great job. 

I agree!  I cannot think of how many times I’ve watched Lesley Ann in Cinderella — one of my favorite TV memories in my life — just magical to me. I had to look her up on Wikipedia — she’s only 73 and was 18 when she filmed Cinderella!  It was wonderful to see her again on Twinkle All the Way.  I wasn’t familiar with Ryan McPartlin — my goodness, he is handsome.  This sounds grinchy but he almost smiled too big, too often!  But I really, really liked Ryan and thought the brother and his husband were great.  The little girls were a hoot, especially Ruthie, without being annoying.  The bride’s mother was so lovely.  

[Guest]

3 hours ago, kirinan said:

He will always be Captain Awesome to me (I miss Chuck!), so when I saw he was in this movie I sat down to watch it. I enjoyed it, too, although I'll admit there were a couple of times my teeth ached, it was so sugary sweet. But it all worked for me, even though I'll agree with Ashforth that the writing left something to be desired. I liked that it had a diverse cast, that they showed his brother was married to a man (clutch those pearls, Hallmark Hausfraus!), and that it was unabashed Christmas cheese. I'd watch it again. 

I always think of him first as Captain Awesome. Hallmark or Lifetime really needs to pair him with Sarah Lancaster. It really was overly sweet at some points. I wasn’t sold until the scene where he shows her how to paint. The two leads brought some actual heat to those scenes that saved it from being too over-the-top. The actors really elevated the weaker script. 

[MissyPoo]

6 hours ago, kirinan said:

BTW, Lesley Ann Warren, who I'm old enough to remember first-run as Cinderella on TV (I love, love, LOVE that version, and I really need to see if the soundtrack is available in the iTunes store because I no longer have a CD player in my car, where I used to love to belt it out), looks really good. Even my husband stopped on his way through the living room and commented that if she's had plastic surgery, they did a great job. 

Huh. I see this listed on my streaming sites but I keep bypassing it. I'll have to add it to my watchlist now based on the posts here. Maybe I'll have a back to back fairytale day with my nutcracker viewing (Baryshnikov/Kirkland ftw!) 🙂 (Btw, saw it on Amazon Prime & Tubi)

[kirinan]

23 minutes ago, MissyPoo said:

Huh. I see this listed on my streaming sites but I keep bypassing it. I'll have to add it to my watchlist now based on the posts here. Maybe I'll have a back to back fairytale day with my nutcracker viewing (Baryshnikov/Kirkland ftw!) 🙂 (Btw, saw it on Amazon Prime & Tubi)

Keep in mind, though, it's very stagey and 60s. Kind of the equivalent of coming to Doctor Who in the David Tennant era and then trying to watch old Whos from the 60s and 70s. However, the Warren Cinderella is much more charming than rubber monsters and cheesy (but fun) space station sets would be. 🙂 

And thanks for the tip, MissyPoo--I did find and buy the soundtrack on iTunes, and I have the DVD, but it's good to know when I finally graduate from DVD to streaming that I'll still be able to find it!

[absnow54]

Is Nancy McKeon still in You Light Up My Christmas? They haven’t mentioned her at all in any of the promos touting a Facts of Life reunion. 

[Guest]

I’m not enjoying Christmas 9 to 5. The leads have zero chemistry and to paraphrase the movie, the writer clearly doesn’t know the first thing about retail. I don’t expect these movies to particularly realistic but this is worse than normal. I think I’m going to try one of the Hallmark movies instead. 

22 minutes ago, absnow54 said:

Is Nancy McKeon still in You Light Up My Christmas? They haven’t mentioned her at all in any of the promos touting a Facts of Life reunion. 

According to an interview with Kim earlier this month she is. I’m only expecting them to be brief cameos. 

[twoods]

That’s a bummer because I really like Tiya Sircar from the Good Place and liked her as a reporter in Good Sam. Seemed like she was playing a similar character in this movie so I wanted to give it a chance.

[MissyPoo]

1 hour ago, kirinan said:

Keep in mind, though, it's very stagey and 60s. Kind of the equivalent of coming to Doctor Who in the David Tennant era and then trying to watch old Whos from the 60s and 70s. However, the Warren Cinderella is much more charming than rubber monsters and cheesy (but fun) space station sets would be. 🙂 

And thanks for the tip, MissyPoo--I did find and buy the soundtrack on iTunes, and I have the DVD, but it's good to know when I finally graduate from DVD to streaming that I'll still be able to find it!

Nice! Glad you found it!

That may work in my favor because I came from the Baker/Pertwee/Davison et al era into the Eccleston/Tennant Who era and I was kinda, eh. Hehe.

Looking at some stills, the 60s Cinderella kinda reminds me of the old school show Faerie Tale Theatre which I went nuts over as a kid. They definitely need to put that out for streaming as well!

7 minutes ago, Dani said:

I’m not enjoying Christmas 9 to 5. The leads have zero chemistry and to paraphrase the movie, the writer clearly doesn’t know the first thing about retail. I don’t expect these movies to particularly realistic but this is worse than normal. I think I’m going to try one of the Hallmark movies instead. 

Dang, that's a bummer. I too like Tiya Sicar and loved Good Sam like @twoods and I was also hoping this would be another like that. When I saw her leading guy I was a bit skeptical and somewhat disappointed but was still going to watch. Kinda iffy now.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, twoods said:

That’s a bummer because I really like Tiya Sircar from the Good Place and liked her as a reporter in Good Sam. Seemed like she was playing a similar character in this movie so I wanted to give it a chance.

1 hour ago, MissyPoo said:

Dang, that's a bummer. I too like Tiya Sicar and loved Good Sam like @twoods and I was also hoping this would be another like that. When I saw her leading guy I was a bit skeptical and somewhat disappointed but was still going to watch. Kinda iffy now.

I was looking forward to it too because I really like Tiya. She was the best thing in the movie but they really didn’t give her much to work with.

Oddly it felt like a weird mashup of her characters in Good Sam and Christmas Lost and Found without the mystery element. She’s an undercover reporter working as a temp in retail but for some reason she does nothing but decorate and spend time with boss. I’m hoping someone will say that it gets better in the second half but from what I saw it was going nowhere. 

Edited November 25, 2019 by Guest

[sistersledge]

Alicia Witt is no country superstar in her awful page-boy haircut. They should have gotten Jessica Lowendes (?) for this role. 

[MissyPoo]

Saw Holiday Hearts and thought it was okay til the required breakup scene. I love me some Paul Campbell cause he could bring the laughs and the seriousness and when he earnestly said he was leaving because "I want to help people" after telling Ashley Williams he was leaving for the usual 'out of town/promotion' job, she was like "yeah whatever, what about what you want?" I was like, dang I know they always have to have one of the leads keep the other in town but that seemed kinda messed up. Especially when he came back later and said, "my dad traveled and missed out, I'm not gonna do that. I'm staying." But what about helping people in Honduras...

I don't know. They had a whole scene with the doctor overseas and a setup and everything. I guess I was kinda hoping it would be like Recipe For Love or All For Love where one of the leads met the other in their respective places so that they still got to fulfill their career dream and have the partner as well. 

But this is Hallmark, sometimes I forget myself about the formula.

On the contrary, watching A Gift to Remember 2 I'm loving it a lot as a continuation. The writers are actually considering continuity! I have hope! I love how well the characters are interacting, how witty some of the lines are and how the dramatic notes are played. I'm still watching it on the DVR but I'm enjoying every minute of it. 

This along with A Christmas Miracle are prob my fave Hallmark entries so far. For Lifetime, my fave so far is Christmas in Louisiana. Netflix's Knight Before Christmas may be my fave of the year though. It had me rolling with some of the lines and how the knight played it so seriously at times. I didn't expect much accuracy, just a bonkers good time and it delivered. So many of Hallmark's entries this year has been super cereal in their delivery that they became so dull lately.  I missed the crazy, bonkers Christmas movie entries so 'Knight' satisfied my craving.

[Was-MArsenault]

I got an email back from Hallmark Channel about Snow Bride, and it looks like it's back on the cable guide schedule again.

[mikeb]

Alicia Witt jokingly tweeted after Our Christmas Love Song last night asking whether the 3 kisses in the movie were a new record.

[Was-MArsenault]

15 hours ago, absnow54 said:

Is Nancy McKeon still in You Light Up My Christmas? They haven’t mentioned her at all in any of the promos touting a Facts of Life reunion. 

So Nancy won't even be a main role and just a cameo?

[Jenniferbug]

I usually skip the Lifetime movies, so want to say thanks to @Dani and @MissyPoo for recommending Twinkle All the Way and Christmas in Louisiana!

I watched both today while working from home and really liked them! They may even be my favorites of the new movies this year (so far at least)! 

I'm watching A Gift to Remember right now because I've somehow never seen it and saw there was a sequel. I wish they would have aired them back to back- I would have watched both. 

[In2You]

I liked Christmas in Louisiana. I thought there was a lot of chemistry between our lead couple, the boat parade was something I hadn't seen in a movie before, and I liked that it was actually filmed in the town it was set in. 

[DanaMB]

Just watched HM&M’s Nostalgic Christmas and even though I know it’s a common trope, I just can’t with the heroine leaving a lucrative job in the city to buy her father’s wooden toy shop in small town America. I know I should suspend disbelief, but there’s no way that toy store would stay open in this day and age. Nevermind  most toy stores would struggle, but a WOODEN toy store? Just no. 
 

Starting to think I’ve become too cynical this year for most of these movies. 
 

Didn’t even finish Lifetime’s No Time Like Christmas. Boring. 

Edited November 26, 2019 by DanaMB

[bmoore4026]

Don't know if they belong here but I finally saw that episode of Cheers where everyone shows up at Carla's at Thanksgiving and things devolve into a food fight and the WKRP episode with the turkeys getting thrown out of a helicopter.  Richard Sanders was brilliant in his play-by-play of what was going on followed by him returning to the station and saying the turkeys "mounted a counter attack" against the humans.  And "As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly" is one of the best end lines in anything ever.

Edited November 27, 2019 by bmoore4026

[Annber03]

I also love the bit when Les is reading the banner out:

"Happy....Thanks...giving! From...W......K.......R......P!" 

The reactions of everyone back at the studio as they're listening in are hilarious, too. 

[Irlandesa]

I'm half way through A Christmas Duet and it's not grabbing me even though the leads are fine.  I will likely finish with it in the background while I work or read but I doubt I shall say more on the subject.

I actually mostly liked Our Christmas Love Song mostly because I liked Brendan Hines as addition to Hallmark leading men.  I started thinking what he'd be like some other movie-of-the-week leading ladies.  I didn't expect it but I ended up watching the whole thing.

Twinkle All The Way was okay.  I think its leads Sarah Drew and Ryan, are better than the movie they were given.  I wasn't sure how to take Sarah's character realizing she wanted to be with Ryan's character only after she needed him to town her out but whatever.

I didn't need a sequel to Cherished Memories even though I liked the lead from the time she played a sidekick in Love At The Thanksgiving Day parade.

I agree with everyone about Christmas 9 to 5.  The male lead was meh but I liked the female lead.  The story dragged.

The one I think I enjoyed the most was Christmas Recipe.  A nice British accent on someone NOT playing a prince or a knight for a change.

[bmoore4026]

Well, I came across these on Youtube and I hope to Christ they don't get taken down as they don't show these anymore and they really should be.

[redpencil]

Quote

I'm watching A Gift to Remember right now because I've somehow never seen it and saw there was a sequel. I wish they would have aired them back to back- I would have watched both. 

I have no memory of the first movie (though I'm sure I watched it). And I'm really annoyed that they didn't air the first one. I think they originally had it on the schedule, because I'm pretty sure I set my DVR to record it a couple weeks ago before the sequel, but then apparently it was gone. That makes me less motivated to watch the sequel at all that is sitting on my DVR.