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

[twoods]

I agree about Christmas by Chance with  @norcalgal because despite the mean girl girlfriend and usual tropes it somehow worked and kept my interest. Plus that dog was so freaking cute. I can see this one as a second movie with Chance trying to live Will’s CEO lifestyle and getting overwhelmed. This was definitely one of the better Lifetime offerings.

[bybrandy]

Did anybody see Christmas For Keeps.  I'm all about the family you make/friend group story but this group was so toxic.  When one of the characters parent applies for a job on their behalf that was a huge, huge, huge overstep.  And that is acknowledged.  But when another characters friends brow beat him into starting a cookie business, start taking orders for cookies, and tell his wife?  That's fine.  That's just giving him a push!?!?!?     

Strong arming your friend into starting a business by starting to take orders on his behalf is the same as sending in a resume on somebody else's behalf.  It is the same.   

[anniebird]

I was scrolling through the online TV Guide and I saw Christmas With a Crow - as I scrolled further I saw that it was actually Christmas With a Crown. I thought Christmas With a Crow sounded a lot more interesting.

[Cetacean]

1 hour ago, anniebird said:

I thought Christmas With a Crow sounded a lot more interesting.

I bet the crow's nest would be decorated with stolen Balsam Hill ornaments it collected from the Christmas Crap McMansions in town.

Yep, that I'd watch.

[norcalgal]

18 hours ago, twoods said:

I agree about Christmas by Chance with  @norcalgal because despite the mean girl girlfriend and usual tropes it somehow worked and kept my interest. Plus that dog was so freaking cute. I can see this one as a second movie with Chance trying to live Will’s CEO lifestyle and getting overwhelmed. This was definitely one of the better Lifetime offerings.

This brings up a question I have:  Hallmark and Lifetime  (maybe other channels too?) have been making sequels of past movies (not all set during Christmas).

But my question is:  how is the decision made as to which movies get sequels? 

[KaveDweller]

On 12/18/2021 at 9:23 AM, Cetacean said:

Never try to apply logic to these generic offerings.  How does a store stay open all year (and in one story employ half the town) that just sells Christmas stuff unless it's Bronners in Michigan?  How does a tiny toy store make it when places like Toys Backwards R Us crashed?  A pumpkin ranch?

Not to defend the ridiculousness of these movies, but there are some year-round Christmas stores out there, so it apparently is possible to earn a living that way. I have been in lots them in tourist areas. I collect Christmas ornaments from places I travel too, so I always go in Christmas stores that I see on vacation. And they tend to be full of people in the summer.

But that may be less true in smaller towns that aren't full of tourists who like to shop.

[twoods]

I enjoyed Candy Cane Candidate for the most part, despite how terrible the lead was to Jake Epstein’s character for half the movie. Jake is an absolute gem and I love all of his characters. Did anyone watch his Christmas Village movie? The premise didn’t seem interesting but if he’s charming I will watch it.
I hope he’s in more movies next year. 

Edited December 25, 2021 by twoods

[absnow54]

15 hours ago, twoods said:

I enjoyed Candy Cane Candidate for the most part, despite how terrible the lead was to Jake Epstein’s character for half the movie. Jake is an absolute gem and I love all of his characters. Did anyone watch his Christmas Village movie? The premise didn’t seem interesting but if he’s charming I will watch it.
I hope he’s in more movies next year. 

I wasn’t interested in the description at all, but it was a lot less boring than I thought it would be. Jake Epstein plays his typically witty and charming love interest. He’s got a talent for elevating the material. 

[Darian]

Saving Single All the Way for our Christmas Eve cuddle-watch was one of my better life decisions. That was charming and funny and real (well, for one of these movies) with a terrific cast. I had to look up Philemon Chambers, who played Nick, because he was so good, and was shocked to see that this is his second acting credit, at least according to IMDB, and the first one was a short. I want to see what he does next.        

[twoods]

I liked A Christmas Witness on ION despite the low production budget. Colin and Arielle had nice chemistry and it was something different than the usual sappy stuff. The evil wife was such a terrible actress and probably the only bad link.

[Ms Blue Jay]

4 hours ago, twoods said:

I liked A Christmas Witness on ION despite the low production budget. Colin and Arielle had nice chemistry and it was something different than the usual sappy stuff. The evil wife was such a terrible actress and probably the only bad link.

Thanks, I am a fan of Colin and Arielle.

[Chippings]

Is this the right place to mention the Lifetime movie, Writing Around the Christmas Tree, with Krystal Joy Brown?  I recorded it on Christmas night when it was first on, and watched it last night.  Still very puzzled about what I thought.  She is really lovely, and her costumes were all to die for.  So that's  that.  The 'evil' person was silly and really only 'evil' for one (overdone) scene ..  the 'overheard phone call' wasn't really that serious a problem -- her assistant took his "this character is gay" note and overdid that --  The basic dilemma was just drowned in talking -- lots of talking -- does that make sense?  

Anyway, like her, liked him, just couldn't get involved.  But it was all very beautiful.

Puzzled-face emoji here.  

[pasdetrois]

On 12/25/2021 at 6:47 PM, Darian said:

Saving Single All the Way for our Christmas Eve cuddle-watch was one of my better life decisions.

I'm not one for Christmas movies, but I was charmed by this one. Najimy and Coolidge are treasures, and for once the story was not cloying and the cast was truly ensemble. The mother's obsession with signs was hilarious. Not to mention her quiet little one-liners.

[Bliss]

We watched Christmas is Cancelled last night (I'd taped it) and after a few minutes, hubby said, "This isn't your typical Hallmark movie, is it?!" LOL

Hayley Orrantia, Janel Parrish, Dermot Mulroney... a predictable plot of a dramedy triangle.

I know it didn't get the highest rating, and perhaps I was just in the right mood for some base (or is it bass) laughter. The best friend of the daughter was the star of the show IMO.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I just watched "Single All the Way" on Netflix and I LOVED IT!!!!!!

On 12/28/2021 at 9:08 AM, pasdetrois said:

I'm not one for Christmas movies, but I was charmed by this one. Najimy and Coolidge are treasures, and for once the story was not cloying and the cast was truly ensemble. The mother's obsession with signs was hilarious. Not to mention her quiet little one-liners.

It was a genuinely funny movie!

On 12/25/2021 at 6:47 PM, Darian said:

Saving Single All the Way for our Christmas Eve cuddle-watch was one of my better life decisions. That was charming and funny and real (well, for one of these movies) with a terrific cast. I had to look up Philemon Chambers, who played Nick, because he was so good, and was shocked to see that this is his second acting credit, at least according to IMDB, and the first one was a short. I want to see what he does next.        

He was so hot and good.

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 12/13/2021 at 7:54 PM, JenMD said:

I adore Naughty or Nice, it's just fun and silly and sweet, definitely in my top 5 favorite Hallmark Christmas movies.  It's one of those movies that I could pick apart for things that don't make sense or that having a budget would have improved, but because I find it so charming I don't really care.  I'm peeved that it's only on Prime/the Hallmark app right now.  Sadly, I seem to miss at least one favorite each year to things being exclusive to some service I don't have.

I like that one too!  I gave it a low rating, and yet I added it to my "Favourites".  LOL

On 12/5/2021 at 6:30 PM, DanaMB said:

I just watched Christmas on 5th Ave and thought it was really cute. Nothing new, but I still enjoyed it. 

Me too.

On 12/6/2021 at 10:17 AM, peachmangosteen said:

Me and my sister were just talking about how we miss ABC Family Christmas movies. Holiday in Handcuffs and Snowglobe are all-time faves. Has Freeform even done any? 

I love Holidaze starring Jenni Garth and Cameron Mathison.

[chitowngirl]

Snow and Snow 2 Brain Freeze are still favorites of mine!

[EyewatchTV211]

I saw on my guide that Lifetime was repeating Christmas Around the Corner, so I made sure to DVR. I just watched again last night, and I still really enjoy it. Lifetime needs to get back in the game this Christmas. 

[bankerchick]

On 1/9/2022 at 10:17 PM, EyewatchTV211 said:

I saw on my guide that Lifetime was repeating Christmas Around the Corner,

That's the one with the steamy (for these types of movies) handwashing scene with the hot blacksmith, correct?  I enjoyed that one as well and also have it on DVR.

[EyewatchTV211]

31 minutes ago, bankerchick said:

That's the one with the steamy (for these types of movies) handwashing scene with the hot blacksmith, correct?  I enjoyed that one as well and also have it on DVR.

You are correct. That scene was still hot. 🥰 I'm glad I caught it. I used to have it saved on an old DVR but then got rid of cable and lost it. I wish DVRs were more like DVD players that could follow us no matter what.

[marketdoctor]

Does anyone know what the ratings are like when they run Christmas specials in the off season?  I'm guessing if they were higher, someone would do that more often, but it seems like a way to stand out.

This would be especially useful for movies like Die Hard, where there's debate over whether it's a Christmas movie at all.

[Dr.OO7]

FYI, "The Ten Commandments" will be aired tomorrow instead of the typical Easter Saturday.

[Vermicious Knid]

And why the story of Passover became an Easter tradition I don't understand.

[Trini]

19 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

And why the story of Passover became an Easter tradition I don't understand.

Jesus died and resurrected during Passover.

[Vermicious Knid]

So it's Christians laying claim to something Jewish. 

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

So it's Christians laying claim to something Jewish. 

Here’s a lengthy article by a religion scholar from Boston University covering the history of the overlap of the customs: https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/was-jesus-last-supper-a-seder/

And here’s a brief article on the positive and negative implications of interfaith celebrations: https://amp.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2019/04/19/passover-seder-easter-rich-barlow

—–although that’s not likely what the network schedulers were concerned with. More likely purveyors of chocolates in rabbit shapes just want to start advertising early so as to clear inventory. Maybe tune in with the sound muted to see whether the advertising is for Eastery stuff 🐣 rather than Limu the emu?

IDK. Probably the network scheduler was ignorant of the cultural complexities.

[Cetacean]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Probably the network scheduler was ignorant of the cultural complexities.

Agreee.  I would seriously doubt schedules have any clue other than a vague idea of names of holidays and commercials that support them. 

[Trini]

15 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

So it's Christians laying claim to something Jewish. 

Um, I don't know about all that; but yes, Christianity came out of Judaism and I was just pointing out the correlation.

[Vermicious Knid]

Yes, I'm aware of the theory the Last Supper was a seder. I also used to read BAR for years and had to stop because they have tipped over to almost entirely pro-Christian articles. My point is, as far as Judaism is concerned Jesus and Christian holidays don't mean anything. So tying something so important in Jewish history and identity to Christianity is pretty insulting to Jews.

[Crs97]

We are probably moving beyond the scope of this thread, but Christians believe Jesus is both fully divine and fully human as a Jewish man.  He is also the fulfillment of all the promises God made to humanity.  St. Augustine described the Bible this way:  “The Old Testament is the New Testament hidden. The New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.”  I’m sorry you see it as Christians “conscripting” a Jewish holiday when, for us, the Jewish holiday is honored as an essential foundation of our salvation history.

[Trini]

4 hours ago, Crs97 said:

We are probably moving beyond the scope of this thread, but Christians believe Jesus is both fully divine and fully human as a Jewish man.  He is also the fulfillment of all the promises God made to humanity.  St. Augustine described the Bible this way:  “The Old Testament is the New Testament hidden. The New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.”  I’m sorry you see it as Christians “conscripting” a Jewish holiday when, for us, the Jewish holiday is honored as an essential foundation of our salvation history.

Yes, it has meaning in both religions.

Edited April 11, 2022 by Trini

[SusanwatchingTV]

I don't understand why showing The Ten Commandments (a movie about the historical first Passover) during the annual Jewish Passover celebration time (which this year is April 15-23) is in any way insulting to Jews.  In fact, moving it up to the week before is a bit weird, but at least it's close to the date of the event.

Last time I watched that movie, which admittedly was several years ago, it didn't mention Jesus or "Easter" at all.  How does showing that movie have anything to do with Christians "conscripting" anything?

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, SusanwatchingTV said:

I don't understand why showing The Ten Commandments (a movie about the historical first Passover) during the annual Jewish Passover celebration time (which this year is April 15-23) is in any way insulting to Jews.  In fact, moving it up to the week before is a bit weird, but at least it's close to the date of the event.

Last time I watched that movie, which admittedly was several years ago, it didn't mention Jesus or "Easter" at all.  How does showing that movie have anything to do with Christians "conscripting" anything?

It was more about scheduling. 
OP observed and remarked upon:

On 4/8/2022 at 10:19 AM, Dr.OO7 said:

FYI, "The Ten Commandments" will be aired tomorrow instead of the typical Easter Saturday.

 

[SusanwatchingTV]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

It was more about scheduling. 
OP observed and remarked upon:

 

I don’t think that helps my confusion.  

The movie is about Passover. 

The movie was/is shown during the Passover celebratory week/weekend.

It’s been done that way for years and years… who knows, maybe it was the Jewish guys who built Hollywood who wanted it shown on Sunday? I don’t know, and I don’t care.

My point is that it’s a Jewish story shown during a Jewish holiday.

I don’t know what Christianity has to do with it at all (other than that there are some who hate Christians and want to make an issue of it).

 

 

As a matter of fact, the more I think about it the more I think it could be the Jews who were conscripting Easter by showing a Jewish-centric film on Easter Sunday.   I mean, they could have shown it any other day during Passover, right? <smh> <lol>

Edited April 11, 2022 by SusanwatchingTV

[Door County Cherry]

This thread is getting a little heated so please be more careful with your posts and remember that the number #1 rule at Primetimer is Be Civil.  

You may continue to discuss the schedule of the 10 Commandments as it relates to Easter and Passover in the thread.  

However,  let's move on from discussing which religion owns this time of year as that's off topic.

 

[Dr.OO7]

Well, back on topic, I watched it as I usually do, and even as I'm always floored by its length, it is truly an epic and an excellent film.

[Spartan Girl]

It was funny watching people live-tweet it, commenting on how thirsty Sephora’s sister were, and how much of a silver tongue Moses had with the ladies. And as always, Yul Brynner. Stealing the show from Charlton freaking Heston is no easy task.

[argrow]

Somewhat OT, but for those in the Toronto area and vicinity, Jake Epstein's one man show 'Boy Falls from the Sky' will be on stage starting tomorrow. I recalled some of y'all lusting over him in his multiple holiday movies last year,..looks like this might be a good time?

https://www.mirvish.com/shows/boy-falls-from-the-sky

[Dr.OO7]

True to form, Hallmark will be starting its "Christmas In July" marathon. . .on JUNE 24. The fact that there are three new movies in the lineup created especially for this cements the fact that they're making this just as much a phenom as their "Countdown To Christmas".

[Spartan Girl]

Pat Carroll’s passing brought back memories of her voice work in the Garfield holiday specials as Jon’s badass

[Vermicious Knid]

Four holiday movies ordered for Discovery+, from HGTV and Food Network.
 

Quote

From Food Network, fans will be getting One Delicious Christmas featuring iron chef and channel main stay Bobby Flay and A Gingerbread Christmas featuring pastry chef and Ace of Cakes host Duff Goldman. Once Delicious Christmas will see Flay in a supporting role, playing a food critic who the film’s main characters must impress with their cooking skills to secure an investment from a restaurant mogul. A Gingerbread Christmas will have Goldman stepping into familiar shoes as he will play a food celebrity who is hosting a gingerbread house competition with a huge cash prize.

HGTV will be giving fans A Christmas Open House featuring Home Town hosts and real life married couple Ben and Erin Napier and Designing Christmas featuring designer and Love It or List It host Hilary Farr. In A Christmas Open House, the Napiers will be playing a pair of gifted home renovators who help the main character renovate her late mother’s home in time to sell it by Christmas. In Designing Christmas, Farr will be playing the wise mentor to the host of a home renovation show who struggles to separate work and love.

I'm trying to imagine Hilary in an acting role in my head and it's not working.

[twoods]

I am sort of optimistic about this movie. I will watch anything that Mena Massoud in is.

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2022/08/25/amazon-freevee-secures-first-original-holiday-film-hotel-for-the-holidays-starring-madelaine-petsch-and-mena-massoud-735411/20220825amazon01/

[Scarlett45]

I’m looking forward to The Noel Diary on Netflix. 

[Avabelle]

Would anyone recommend a few autumnal/Halloween tv films for me? I’m not ready for the thanksgiving/Christmas ones just yet.

[GeorgiaRai]

6 hours ago, Avabelle said:

Would anyone recommend a few autumnal/Halloween tv films for me? I’m not ready for the thanksgiving/Christmas ones just yet.

I'm not an Ashley Williams fan otherwise, but I like October Kiss.  
I think my favorite one, though, is Falling for Vermont (even though it's not an original storyline by any stretch)! 

[twoods]

Here is a list: https://itsastampede.com/2022/08/30/list-of-hallmark-fall-movies/

Along with Falling for Vermont, I also liked Pumpkin Pie Wars.

Edited September 11, 2022 by twoods

[Scarlett45]

On 9/11/2022 at 4:13 AM, Avabelle said:

Would anyone recommend a few autumnal/Halloween tv films for me? I’m not ready for the thanksgiving/Christmas ones just yet.

Harvest Moon was really good. 

[Dr.OO7]

Hallmark's plans for this year, which is going to start on Friday, October 21st, have a new movie every Friday/Saturday/Sunday, and include 40 new movies (which appears to be the quota the aim for each year):

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/hallmark-announces-full-holiday-movie-180010883.html

[Bruinsfan]

I wonder if Hallmark will switch Luke Macfalane to starring in same-sex couple romance movies like they seem to have with Jonathan Bennett now that the marketing for Bros will be reminding viewers that he's gay?

[Irlandesa]

25 minutes ago, Bruinsfan said:

I wonder if Hallmark will switch Luke Macfalane to starring in same-sex couple romance movies like they seem to have with Jonathan Bennett now that the marketing for Bros will be reminding viewers that he's gay?

Luke has said that this Christmas movie is probably his last one for Hallmark for a while. Maybe for good.  So probably not. 

I wish we'd have another Christmas House.  Those movies made me laugh, especially the second one. 

None of the descriptions really jumped out at me but I also didn't look closely at them.  Some of the casts seem intriguing, though. 

Edited September 23, 2022 by Irlandesa