Irlandesa November 26, 2015 Share November 26, 2015 (edited) I also forgot to mention that the same person who wrote Merry Matrimony also wrote or co-wrote Christmas Land, which is the final new movie on Hallmark on December 20th. I don't know what that tells us, but I'm just puttin' it out there! Lol. Eeek. Why did they tap that writer twice? There is literally not much I can say about Merry Christmas. Even the bad isn't worth discussing. I liked Once Upon A Holiday the best out of the batch this year (maybe tied with Ice Sculpture), probably solely on how awesome Paul Campbell is. The actress took a bit to get used to but I liked her in the end. I liked the way the movie flowed, but thought their three day love thing was a bit too quick. It felt rushed by the end like all Hallmark movies, but I will watch it again. The actress was a touch low key for me. Good, just low key. And I kept get annoying texts from things I needed to deal with while I was trying to watch the movie so the flow got interrupted a lot for me. But otherwise, I agree with you. I really enjoyed the movie and a lot of it had to do with Paul Campbell who was throwing out so much personality that it was immediately enjoyable. He was the same in Surprised By Love. It also helped that there was a goal in the movie that involved a lot of action. The princess didn't want to go back and there were people chasing her to try and bring her back. It seems silly but having more scenes helped the show have more energy. There were also good secondary characters. However, there was no need to rush that ending to "happily ever after." It was one of the few movies this season where I wish it had been longer. Edited November 26, 2015 by Irlandesa 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1750665
TVFan17 November 26, 2015 Share November 26, 2015 (edited) I really, really enjoyed Once Upon a Holiday! I liked it more than Ice Sculpture Christmas and probably a smidge more than I'm Not Ready for Christmas, but those 3 are my favorites so far. I could overlook some of the usual Hallmark plot inconsistencies and implausible plot developments, and I totally agree that the "spend every day together for the rest of our lives" thing at the end seemed to come out of nowhere. The characters hadn't even discussed any feelings for each other before "Katie" went back home. They only kissed the first time because she was being chased and had to hide from the people chasing her. All of a sudden "Jack" was suggesting that they spend the rest of their lives together. How? Was he going to move to her country? Was she going to move back to the city to be with him? Hallmark can have the happy endings that it wants -- the couple can get together in the end -- without a "forever" situation being presented when they haven't even acknowledged that they have feelings for each other. That's one thing I love about the movie The Christmas Ornament (with Kellie Martin and Cameron Mathison). Kellie's character has to actually think about the situation and then come to the realization that she is ready to get involved with Cameron's character, after some hesitation and misunderstanding. When they get together at the end, they don't promise to spend forever together. They just kind of know that they are going to get involved and see what happens -- and that is perfectly fine! Paul Campbell ("Jack") stole the show in both Window Wonderland and Surprised by Love, and he didn't disappoint in this role either. He is not exactly 'cookie cutter leading man handsome' in the standard sense (such as some of the Hallmark men, like that Christopher Russell dude who was in Merry Matrimony), but he is certainly cute -- and he is a more realistic boyfriend choice. I think that a lot of girls would end up with a guy like Paul -- he is very, very tall and very skinny. He was probably a bit gangly and awkward as a kid, I would guess. He is funny, though (especially in his first 2 Hallmark movies, even more than this latest one), which goes a long way, and he comes across as a sweet, caring guy. I like that Hallmark is using some of the former TV heartthrobs and/or sitcom stars of the late '70s or '80s in its movies, and most of the men have aged well. I believe they used John Schneider (from Dukes of Hazzard) in a movie a few years back. They use Gregory Harrison (Trapper John, M.D.) here and there. Now they've nabbed B.J. and the Bear star Greg Evigan. They also used Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross from Family Ties in a film a few years ago. I saw Greg Evigan and Briana Evigan (father and daughter) on Home & Family yesterday, and I am not sure they ever even mentioned Paul Campbell during the discussion of the movie. The interview seemed to mainly be about working together as father and daughter, and what their holidays at home are like. Briana ("Katie") has a very husky/raspy voice, obviously, and it was sometimes hard to hear her because she speaks in a low, soft tone. She is different than most Hallmark actresses in that she is not super perky. She is not extremely animated. She doesn't come off as unlikeable, but she is also not as immediately likeable as, for example, Danica McKellar, Lacey Chabert or Candace Cameron Bure. She is probably, dare I say, a bit sexier than most Hallmark actresses, or she has more sex appeal. She does have a bit of an edge to her that makes her seem more mature and possibly aloof, but then when we -- the audience -- get to know her in the role, I think she is likeable. She did a fine job in the role -- her acting was capable. Her timing was good. I don't think I'd mind seeing her in another Hallmark movie, but I didn't really like the previous non-Hallmark Christmas movie she did, A Star for Christmas, so I may eat my words if she does another one for Hallmark. In any event, she is somewhat different from the norm that we see in Hallmark movies, which is a positive thing. She adds something different to the mix. There is room for everyone -- Lacey, Candace, Danica, Alicia, Katrina, etc. -- but it never hurts to add an unexpected ingredient into the stew to spice it up. I loved all of the scenes of Katie and Jack (Briana and Paul) together. I thought their chemistry was not of the electric, molten hot variety, but more of the tender, sweet, getting-to-know-you-because-I-like-you variety. She saw that he was a good, caring, thoughtful person who wanted to help her when he thought she needed help, and he saw that she was mysterious, intriguing girl who needed something -- though he wasn't really sure what. My main nitpicky issue with the movie -- I wanted her to get her camera back (it was the one that her mom gave her -- wasn't it??)! That camera meant so much to her, and it bugged me that she didn't pursue getting it back. I could relate to her love of photography -- the joy on her face as she wandered along the street, snapping pictures of buildings and various subjects, reminded me of myself when I get on a roll with taking pictures. I will do the same thing, wander along a street with a goofy grin on my face and giddily snap hundreds of photos of everything, as passersby look at me like I'm crazy for taking a photo of a potted plant or something. So, as a shutterbug myself, it drove me nuts that she didn't try to get that camera back because it had personal and creative meaning to her! If the camera was not the one her mom gave her then it doesn't matter. Lol. This movie was 100 times better than Merry Matrimony! Merry Matrimony had the potential to be better, but I think they chose the wrong lead actress. Edited November 26, 2015 by Sherry67 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1750823
TVFan17 November 27, 2015 Share November 27, 2015 (edited) Commentary on two holiday movies: From the UP Channel -- Angels in the Snow, starring Kristy Swanson and Chris Potter. I recommend this movie for those who don't want the light, frothy romps that the Hallmark Channel provides. In fact, if this were a Hallmark movie it would clearly be airing on the Movies & Mysteries Channel and not on the main channel. This movie is pretty much a no-frills story (there really can't be any frills, as these movies are so cheaply made) about a bickering couple and their family. We're supposed to believe that the two teenage kids are mean to each other, but they just seemed like normal teens to me -- and only mean in an 'UP Channel kind of way.' The movie, in my mind, was really about the failing marriage at the center of it all, and the dad who can't quite be present and live in the moment. He is also a hypocrite, as he demands that everyone put their electronic devices away, and yet he is constantly on his phone. While UP's movies suffer from the same sorts of issues from which many a Hallmark movie has suffered (leaving questions needing to be answered, spending too much time on one thing and not another, and just generally implausible scenarios), a lot of them have a deeper, more heavy-handed meaning behind them. This movie was a little slow at times, but it was pretty good in general, and I appreciated the twist. From the Hallmark Channel -- 12 Gifts of Christmas, starring Katrina Law and Aaron O'Connell. Another good one from Hallmark! I did not like it as much as I liked Snow Bride, but it was good. Even though Aaron O'Connell provides some nice eye candy for us ladies, Katrina was really the star, in my opinion. She is pretty, but down to earth. She seems sweet and kind-hearted. She can deliver her lines well and handle the dialogue with no problems. In fact, I realized that there is a reason why Hallmark wants many of the same actresses to appear in these movies, especially the ones who have been in previously successful Hallmark movies -- it's because they do a fairly decent job with the roles and can make the most of the (sometimes flimsy) dialogue. Hallmark knows what to expect from them. Lacey, Candace, Alicia, Katrina, Kellie Martin, Autumn Reeser, Erin Krakow, Rachel Boston, Lori Loughlin, etc. - they all do a capable, reliable job. Whereas, the new actresses thrown into these roles do not always do a capable job. That's why I like seeing the movies with the familiar actors and actresses too -- I know what I am going to get from them. I never quite know what to expect from the first-timers! Lol. I am often left disappointed. Anyway, I was expecting Donna Mills' character in 12 Gifts to be one of 'those' mothers -- looking down on the new girl in her son's life because she didn't feel she was good enough -- but she did not play that role at all. Instead, she was warm and welcoming. The only real conflict to speak of in this movie was early on, when "Marc" (Aaron O'Connell's character) didn't like the choice of gift that "Anna" (Katrina's character) picked out. She seemed hurt by that. Later on there is more conflict involving Anna's art and how Marc wants to use it. Otherwise, I thought the scene when Marc unexpectedly showed up at Anna's place was amusing, as she scrambled to quickly clean up the mess before opening the door, taking way too long and making him wait outside. I would have done the same thing. They were cute together, though the ending was a little "forever-ish" again, and that is a continuing problem in many of these movies. Also, I watched I'm Not Ready for Christmas again, and I still like it -- in fact, I think I might like it even more now than I originally did. At first I thought that George Stults might not have been the right choice as a leading man for Alicia Witt, and I felt that the romance was kind of the weak link in the movie. However, their romance has grown on me more. It's a good movie. Edited November 27, 2015 by Sherry67 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1752522
twoods November 27, 2015 Share November 27, 2015 I also liked 12 Gifts of Christmas and probably would watch it again. Not as many times as I've watched Snow Bride, but it was pleasant. Leads had a lot of chemistry, and I'm glad she apologized for being overly dramatic, and he apologized for going behind her back. It was nice. I also liked that there was no bitchy family member, and everyone was warm and welcoming to eachother. Katrina Law is great. I think her and Paul Campbell, or that guy from Chrismas Incorperared, would work well together. She has great chemistry with her leads, and I hope she's in more movies next year. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1752780
KLovestoShop November 27, 2015 Share November 27, 2015 (edited) If you have GET TV, and you're a fan of old style variety shows, they're showing the Christmas specials from Judy Garland, Perry Como, Andy Williams, Merv Griffin and others now through December. These shows are from the mid 1960's through the mid 1970's. I watched a couple of them today and they made me long for the days of great variety shows with iconic stars. Another movie they're not showing is Borrowed Hearts with Roma Downey. I always liked that holiday movie along with The Christmas List. Edited November 27, 2015 by KLovestoShop 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1752990
StaceyNotStacie November 28, 2015 Share November 28, 2015 I watched Once Upon a Christmas and 12 Gifts of Christmas and enjoyed both of them. I was pleasantly surprised by Once Upon a Christmas since I'm growing a bit tired of the "princess" movies. I think it helped that the actors and the characters were very likable. I wasn't impressed with the movies with the former 90210 actresses. I had a hard time following both movies and ended up giving up within the first half hour of the movies. I've liked a lot of the older movies on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. I wonder about the future of the Hallmark movies. Considering how successful they are, I can't help but wonder what actors we will get in future movies. After the successful movies by actresses such as Candace Cameron Bure, Lacey Chabert, and Kellie Martin, I wonder if we will get more former primetime/soap actors/actresses trying to rebuild their careers with holiday movies or if we will get lesser known actors who won't cost as much as established actors. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1753105
Irlandesa November 28, 2015 Share November 28, 2015 Another movie they're not showing is Borrowed Hearts with Roma Downey. I always liked that holiday movie along with The Christmas List. Bummer. I liked that one too. I really liked Crown For Christmas. These royal movies always pleasantly surprise me by how much I enjoy them, although I will admit the cast had me looking forward to this one a lot. Still, it lived up to my expectations. And I think a lot of the reasons why go to casting. Not only do I like Danica, but you really needed a strong actor to play the male lead in this. So many of the male leads can run the risk of being bland and when you combine that kind of actor with a character who is supposed to be upper-crust and "stoic," it could lead to the movie being an absolute disasater. However, Rupert Penry-Jones is a pretty darn good who can use facial expressions and body language to convey so much even when his character isn't saying a word. Plus, it had probably one of the best movie kisses on Hallmark--or at least the best in a long time. As of late, the Hallmark movie channel kisses tend to be so chaste and even awkward looking when the only things touching are their lips and maybe their hands. Max actually took Allie into his arms and kissed her hard. I'm not asking for tongue but it's nice to see a little more passion. This movie had some nice relationships and perhaps one of my favorite little moments was when the mean head housekeeper got her gift. Her reaction made me aww a little. 4 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1753520
Misslindsey November 28, 2015 Share November 28, 2015 I tend to skip any movie with Candace Cameron Bure. I just can't with her. I won't be watching A Christmas Detour because of that. Normally I give most Hallmark movies a chance. I enjoyed A Crown for Christmas as well. I should be getting tired of these royal storylines, but I do not. I thought all the leads worked well together. It is always nice to see a person of color in these Hallmark movies, but of course he had to be the villain. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1753554
TVFan17 November 28, 2015 Share November 28, 2015 I have to watch Crown for Christmas early in the morning, when my neighbors are either sleeping or gone. There is no way I can watch it when they're home and making noise. From what I can see, most of the incoming comments about this movie on the Hallmark Channel Facebook page are positive. It seems to be a hit. I wasn't sure I'd like it because: 1) I am not as much into the 'royal movie' theme as I should be; and 2) To be honest, Danica McKellar's Hallmark wedding movie in June was my least favorite of the 3 new wedding movies. But, after reading all of the good reviews I have hope that I will like it. Irlandesa mentioned that it was likely there would be some gems in this block of 5 back-to-back movies, as Hallmark seems to be pretty strategic as to when certain things air. They started out strong with Once Upon a Holiday and 12 Gifts of Christmas. They know that they will get a lot of viewers for Candace Cameron Bure's movie tomorrow night -- even if it's not good, a lot of people will tune in because they are still all hoping for another gem like Let it Snow. Apparently tonight's movie is a winner. So... this makes me wonder if the quiet, under-promoted, barely-know-anything-about movie on Sunday is going to be a "sleeper" hit -- Angel of Christmas. It's the final movie in the 5-night block (though we will still have 5 more new movies to enjoy up until December 20th), and I wonder if Hallmark wants to cap off Thanksgiving week with another strong movie. I wonder if Angel of Christmas is a gem just waiting to be discovered. It doesn't really have any super-familiar actors (even by Hallmark standards) in it, other than the guy who was just in Love on the Air. It also doesn't appear to have anyone from the cast of 90210, so that's a good thing! Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1753577
KLovestoShop November 28, 2015 Share November 28, 2015 What's interesting is that Hallmark seems to use more familiar actresses in their movies and the men are ones I've never heard of before. But it's obvious they have their go to's for many of their movies. I liked Danica, but there was one thing did bug me throughout, and that was her way overdone eye makeup. IMHO. Way too dark eye shadow and her fake lashes looked beyond fake. I did like the little Princess in the movie. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1753629
twoods November 28, 2015 Share November 28, 2015 (edited) I liked it as well but wish we got more scenes with the leads. They had only a handful of interactions but were falling in love? Their chemistry was fantastic but wish there was more. Danica does well in romantic movies- I taped Love At The Christmas Table so I can watch her again. Rupert Penry Jones was hot as always- I did not know he was in this movie so it was a pleasant surprise. He makes the perfect Prince. Interested to see how Angel at Christmas will be- I liked the male lead in Love On The Air movie. Anyone catching any of the Lifetime movies? Seems as if there is another royal themed "Prince For Christmas" on tomorrow night as well as a few others that are waiting to be taped on the DVR. Edited November 28, 2015 by twoods 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1753710
Kaoteek November 28, 2015 Share November 28, 2015 (edited) Out of the 2015 Hallmark season, so far : - Tis The Season for Love was very average. Nothing particularly horrible, but nothing worth revisiting either. - Ice Sculpture Christmas was about the same. On some points, it was much better (I enjoyed the fact that the male lead's BFF & colleague has no romantic interest in him, and wasn't your typical jealous gf ; I like Rachel Boston & Brenda Strong), on others, not so much (wasn't a huge fan of the male lead, or of the caricatural evil sous-chef girl). - Charming Christmas was too serious, and not particularly charming (on one hand, I liked the fact that the secondary characters were fleshed out, but on the other, they ended up very distractingly slowing things way down, and killing any momentum and rhythm of the main storyline/couple), but it felt more comfortable, budget-wise, and Sutcliffe pretty much saved the movie for me. So far, three movies in, three very average outings. - I'm not Ready For Christmas never really managed to get out of the Liar, Liar shadow cast on it, which made it even more predictable than usual. Nothing awful, though, and the kid was adorable. - Christmas Incorporated left me somewhat cold. I like Shenae & Lund, but the overall storyline just didn't interest me much, and the overal production felt a bit on the rough side, if not half-assed. It needed a bit of polishing, and the script needed maybe another draft. - Northpole 2... eh. The cast was fine, but I couldn't help but feel they just took the Thanksgiving House script, refurbished it, Xmas'd it, and added some expensive sfx, et voilà. The Northpole franchise could be akin to the old-school Disney or ABC family Christmas movies, but in the end, it's just another generic Hallmark script with Clementine the Elf shoehorned in. (I liked the fact that they replaced Robert Wagner as Santa, though) - I couldn't get through all of Merry Matrimony, I just didn't like the overall vibe, or the lead couple. Weakest one of the bunch, so far. - Really happily surprised by how understated & low-key Once Upon A Holiday was, especially since I didn't care at all for Evigan's previous Xmas outing, "A Star for Christmas". But here, everything kinda worked (ending was a tad rushed), and Paul Campbell certainly helped. - 12 Gifts for Christmas. I didn't hate it, the movie was fine, the storyline was fine, the main couple was more than fine, but there was something weird about the whole endeavour, something very artificial & forced - I don't know if it was the directing, the acting, the writing, or the obvious ADR, but something didn't felt right, production-wise. But again, I didn't hate it, it just kinda missed the mark for me. I'm hopeful about Crown for Christmas, even though that Xmas/Royalty crossover isn't really my cup of tea, but I have a soft spot for Danica McKellar, and Love at the Christmas Table is still a favorite of mine (despite being a rushed Asylum production). Edited November 28, 2015 by Kaoteek Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1753842
Shanna Marie November 28, 2015 Share November 28, 2015 Not only do I like Danica, but you really needed a strong actor to play the male lead in this. So many of the male leads can run the risk of being bland and when you combine that kind of actor with a character who is supposed to be upper-crust and "stoic," it could lead to the movie being an absolute disasater. What is the deal with the men they cast for these things? The women tend to be loaded with personality -- I guess because "perky" and "spunky" are requirements for heroines in this kind of movie -- but the men tend to be so very bland. They're physically attractive in a generic kind of way, like animated Ken dolls, but with no personality they end up being not that attractive to me. There are a few exceptions: David Sutcliffe may not be the best looking man ever, but he brings some personality to his roles that makes him very attractive. Lucas Bryant has done a couple of the Lifetime Christmas movies, and he's got a goofy charm that makes his characters memorable. But for the most part, you could rotate the usual crop of male leads within the same movie without anyone even noticing that the leading man was played by five different men through the course of a movie. I have to admit that I mostly watched A Crown for Christmas because I saw Rupert Penry-Jones in the credits in the listing. He's one of my favorite PBS hunks. It was a cute movie, but I realized that it was essentially The Sound of Music with fewer kids, no nuns, no Nazis, and no musical numbers. We've got the aristocratic widower whose friend/adviser is pushing him to remarry a wealthy, aristocratic woman he doesn't love. We've got the kid(s) who are neglected by widowed dad and acting out in a way that means a revolving door of governesses. We've got a desperation hire of an unlikely woman as governess. The spunky governess goes against all the stiff protocol of the household and bonds with the kid(s) while making the widowed dad realize he needs to try interacting with his own kid(s). Widower and governess fall in love as they dance at a party. Aristocratic other woman schemes to send kid(s) to boarding school after she marries dad and realizes she's losing her chance at him when he watches dad and governess dance. It's not just a similar story, it's practically beat-by-beat, except for the stuff about the convent and the Nazis. I was amusing myself by mentally inserting the appropriate musical numbers in the obvious spots. Still, I enjoyed it, and it actually looked like winter instead of like so many of these movies, where they stick some cotton in green shrubbery and have the actors throw scarves around their necks. 4 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1754158
TVFan17 November 28, 2015 Share November 28, 2015 (edited) Rupert Penry-Jones is not my type as far as lust-worthy leading men, but he did a good job in the role. I finally watched Crown for Christmas this morning and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a Christmas fairy tale, and, predictable though it was, I didn't mind. Danica McKellar -- although I still did not like her new movie back in June -- fits into the Hallmark pool of actors perfectly. She is attractive, and yet still seems approachable. She has a sweetness about her that comes across on camera. She can deliver her lines well when she needs to. I suspect that Hallmark will use her in these movies a lot more often from now on. I liked it as well but wish we got more scenes with the leads. They had only a handful of interactions but were falling in love? Their chemistry was fantastic but wish there was more. Danica does well in romantic movies- I taped Love At The Christmas Table so I can watch her again. Rupert Penry Jones was hot as always- I did not know he was in this movie so it was a pleasant surprise. He makes the perfect Prince.Interested to see how Angel at Christmas will be- I liked the male lead in Love On The Air movie.Anyone catching any of the Lifetime movies? Seems as if there is another royal themed "Prince For Christmas" on tomorrow night as well as a few others that are waiting to be taped on the DVR. So far the only new Lifetime movie that has aired is Turkey Hollow from last weekend. There is a new movie tonight (A Gift Wrapped Christmas) and another one tomorrow (The Christmas Gift), so I have them set to record. A Prince for Christmas is an ION movie, and one of the supporting actors in it is Aaron O'Connell, who was just in 12 Gifts of Christmas with Katrina Law. It premieres tomorrow night. I think it's also tomorrow that Christmas in the Smokies -- with Sarah Lancaster and Jill Wagner (who was just in Hallmark's Autumn Dreams) -- debuts on INSP. UP continues its onslaught of new movies as well (and, again, I recommend Angels in the Snow, though it is a bit sluggish, saccharine and heavy-handed with its meaning from time to time), so there will be a new one tomorrow night, My One Christmas Wish, starring Amber Riley from Glee. Edited November 28, 2015 by Sherry67 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1754399
EyewatchTV211 November 29, 2015 Share November 29, 2015 I enjoyed Ice Sculpture Christmas. Once Upon a Christmas was cute, a little different, and seemed to avoid a lot of things that tend to annoy me slightly about the other movies. However, I may need to re-watch to see if what Sherry said about their chemistry being "getting to know you" really works well in that way. They definitely did not have that immediate on-screen chemistry, so I feel like that took away a little from what was otherwise one of the better movies. But oy, the crazy ending! 12 Gifts of Christmas was very cute as well. The ending was a little rushed, but it was not to the crazy extent as Once Upon a Christmas. I took it that they were all hoping the couple would still be together the following year. I didn't really love I'm Not Ready for Christmas as much as some others. I know it was somewhat the point of the movie, but I had difficulty getting over the type of person she was at the start of the movie. I know she learned her lesson, etc., but it was just hard to really root for her along the way. Kevin's character forgave her and trusted her pretty easily after that. And I know she commented in the movie about how the "truth-telling" wish seemed to go beyond it to her spilling everything in her head, but that still bugged me since that wasn't really what was wished for. There's a difference between telling the truth in response to a direct question or statement being made versus telling everything in your head. I truly enjoyed Crown for Christmas. While it had some of the cliches, the leads had excellent chemistry. And I already liked both actors, although I had only seen him in Persuasion. The little girl was good. And I really got into the scenery of the movie and being in a bit of a different world along with the fairytale. Like Shanna Marie mentioned, it actually seemed like winter. Also liked that there wasn't really a huge amount of drama related to any misunderstanding between the leads. I WAS a bit disappointed by another somewhat rushed ending, though. I hoped he didn't mention being in love with her after 5 days or whatever. Maybe falling in love or something like that. I will definitely be rewatching. The other movies were pretty forgettable.... 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1755144
Shanna Marie November 29, 2015 Share November 29, 2015 Once Upon a Holiday was cute. Paul Campbell (what else has he been in, other than Hallmark movies?) fits into that category of male leads with actual personality. Though I think the girl was horribly miscast as a princess. She struck me as very California, which was odd for a princess from what looked like a rather Germanic European country. I also thought it was odd that she didn't seem the least bit bothered about losing the camera her mother gave her. She was just sort of "oh well, never mind" about the whole thing. This one seemed to be loosely based on Roman Holiday, and maybe they'd have done better to mimic more of the beats from that movie, though with a happier ending. I felt like it needed maybe a little more oomph, like maybe them having to find a way to sneak her back before the concert in order to foil the reporter's attempted story about her being missing, or something. Still, there was nice chemistry between the leads. I wasn't crazy about I'm Not Ready for Christmas. I thought Alicia Witt handled the dialogue in the truth-telling bits really well, and the casting of her and Brigid Brannagh as sisters was brilliant. Otherwise, we had one of those bland male leads, and the plot made absolutely zero sense. You can tell that the writer has never been anywhere near an ad agency, ever, because they don't work that way, but it's pretty much common sense that no one would launch a major ad campaign for a winter clothing line on Christmas Eve, and they wouldn't be hiring the agency for that when decorations were already up and schools were doing Christmas programs. People have already done their shopping then. You're not going to sell a lot of sweaters if you don't start advertising until Christmas Eve. Not to mention, it takes time to book ad space -- you're looking at about six months out for the major monthly magazines. The work for a holiday ad campaign would happen during the summer. Then the relationship didn't do much for me. It was rather bland. I can't imagine that Northwestern would hire an elementary school music teacher to be the band director, and they certainly wouldn't be having a major faculty function on Christmas Eve. But then I felt pretty bad for the guy that the kid's final wish messed with his life without giving him any say in the matter. Why should he give up a dream job for a woman he'd known for maybe a couple of weeks? Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1755179
Irlandesa November 29, 2015 Share November 29, 2015 (edited) Edited because I intended to quote the post above me and respond but it ended up just posting what the person above me posted making it look like I was totally plagiarizing AND responding to myself. Something weird happened. Edited November 29, 2015 by Irlandesa 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1755289
Irlandesa November 29, 2015 Share November 29, 2015 (edited) I wasn't crazy about I'm Not Ready for Christmas. I thought Alicia Witt handled the dialogue in the truth-telling bits really well, and the casting of her and Brigid Brannagh as sisters was brilliant. Otherwise, we had one of those bland male leads, and the plot made absolutely zero sense. I agree wholeheartedly with your critiques of I'm Not Ready for Christmas. I liked the story with the family but the movies that get repeat viewings from me are usually about the romance and that one fell short. I watched both the Hallmark and Lifetime movies. Tomorrow the real craziness starts. I'm DVRing reruns when I can but I think I'll need to take time off from work to catch up on them all. I'm sure they won't mind. The Thanksgiving week experiment is paying off for me because I enjoyed A Christmas Detour quite a bit. The main couple had pretty good chemistry. (The male lead wasn't bland--yay!) And I didn't hate that they were kind of falling in love while she was still engaged because that engagement was a poor fit. This movie was a step above others in that department because they threw in a little bit of an explanation as to why she'd be chasing that guy an that engagement. Bad choice on her part but it was rooted in her childhood. But the real kicker for me was Frank and Maxine. I would have watched a movie about just them and it probably would have been easily my favorite movie of the season. The actors were great, they had a great chemistry, they were funny and they were believable. They were older and not model perfect looking so no way would Hallmark cast them as the leads in something---but they should have. I'd watch the movie again for them. I also watched A Gift Wrapped Christmas. It was my first Lifetime movie of the season and it was another one I enjoyed. They did the "personal shopper" twist much better than 12 Gifts for Christmas. The lead character was a delight and I slowly warmed to the lead male. He didn't have a ton of personality but he wasn't super bland either. He made me feel sorry for him and I grew to like him towards the end. The kid didn't even annoy me. Edited November 29, 2015 by Irlandesa Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1755321
Misslindsey November 29, 2015 Share November 29, 2015 I also watched A Gift Wrapped Christmas. It was my first Lifetime movie of the season and it was another one I enjoyed. They did the "personal shopper" twist much better than 12 Gifts for Christmas. The lead character was a delight and I slowly warmed to the lead male. He didn't have a ton of personality but he wasn't super bland either. He made me feel sorry for him and I grew to like him towards the end. The kid didn't even annoy me. A Gift Wrapped Christmas was my first of the Lifetime movies this season as well. I enjoyed it also. I thought the female lead was great and charming. I agree the male lead did not have tons of charisma, but it still worked for me since it seemed like they wanted him sort of bland in the beginning. I preferred it over 12 Gifts for Christmas with the personal shopper angle. At least the female lead did not make Christmas art for fun, which was unintentionally funny for me in 12 Gifts for Christmas. I did think the kid was annoying and not great, but everything else worked for me, so I can disregard the kid. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1755691
Kaoteek November 29, 2015 Share November 29, 2015 Enjoyed Crown for Christmas, despite the fact it was clichéd as hell, and very derivative. But overall, it still worked. A Christmas Detour, though, was a chore to get through. 30 minutes in, all I wanted was to strangle Candace Cameron Bure's unsufferable character, and to kill the composer responsible for that dreadful, permanent, grating, mickey-mousing score during every moment of every scene of the movie. Needless to say, it only got worse. I liked Sarah Strange's couple, though, but they easily outshined the lead couple, which really was counter-productive in the end. Also watched Christmas Trade, which was made very awkward by Baldwin acting (once switched) as an hyperactive 6 yo boy for most of the movie, when his kid originally was a calm, smart & somewhat collected 11 yo kid. Kinda killed the whole concept of the body swap, right there. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1755818
StaceyNotStacie November 29, 2015 Share November 29, 2015 I enjoyed both the 12 Gifts of Christmas and a Gift Wrapped Christmas, although I preferred the Lifetime movie more to the Hallmark movie. I enjoyed A Christmas Detour a bit more than I thought I would. I found CCB's character a bit annoying in the beginning and was very tempted to change the channel, but the movie became more enjoyable the longer that I watched it. I enjoyed that the married couple also had a pretty good story in the movie. Crown for Christmas was also a good movie. It was enjoyable, but I think that the casting was a bit off. There was a scene in the beginning where the little girl asked the lead character how old she was and she answered 31. Having watched Danica McKellar since the Wonder Years, I knew she was closer to 41 than 31. Outside of that little tidbit, I enjoyed the movie and thought that everyone did a good job. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1755960
WendyCR72 November 29, 2015 Share November 29, 2015 A reminder to all who may like A Charlie Brown Christmas: tomorrow night, Monday the 30th, ABC is having a one-hour special, It's Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown!, at 8:00 p.m. ET followed by A Charlie Brown Christmas at 9:00 p.m. ET! 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1756130
TVFan17 November 29, 2015 Share November 29, 2015 (edited) ...Another interesting article, this time specifically about Hallmark's Christmas movie success -- http://fortune.com/2015/11/27/woman-hallmark-holiday-movies/?xid=soc_socialflow_facebook_FORTUNE. It appears that there will be at least 18 new movies for the Countdown to Christmas next year (which I assume means just for one channel alone, with another 4 or 5 new ones on the second channel), and that they are aiming for 29 new movies by 2018 (spread across both channels), as opposed to the previously reported 28 new movies (in the Los Angeles Times). I have not yet watched Gift Wrapped Christmas -- the DVR has been too overloaded and I have not been able to watch things and clear them off to make more room as quickly as I'd like. So it's on tap to record late tonight, along with Lifetime's next new movie, The Christmas Gift (starring Michelle Trachtenberg) in the wee hours of the morning.. I know that I have ION's Prince for Christmas set to record on some day or another (can't recall which day), and I have the UP movie with Amber Riley (the one where she rents a family for Christmas from Craigslist) -- My One Christmas Wish -- set to record at some point as well. The Christmas Note -- with Jamie-Lynn Sigler and super-hot Greg Vaughan -- is on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel tonight, but I have to wait until a later showtime to record it. Tonight is a crazy night of TV, so I can only record a couple of things at a time. I am going to record Angel of Christmas on the Hallmark Channel tonight, so hopefully I will be able to watch it by tomorrow morning. By the way, after tonight's new movie there are only 5 more new movies in this year's Countdown to Christmas. They have plowed through them pretty quickly, and time has flown by. I watched Christmas Detour and I liked it. It's not as good as Let it Snow is to me, but I liked it better than Candace's new movie last year, Christmas Under Wraps. Candace's character was annoying at first, but I think the point was that she was supposed to be annoying. I liked the other couple too -- especially the husband, Frank. This was a case in which the supporting characters in the movie actually enhanced the story and made it more interesting, which is not always the case in Hallmark movies -- such as Charming Christmas, when the supporting characters and their stories took much-needed time and momentum away from Julie Benz and David Sutcliffe screen time together. I thought that Candace's fiancé in the movie looked like a cross between Tom Cruise and Hugh Grant at times. He was clearly not a good match for her, but this was another situation in which she should have known long ago that he wasn't her soulmate and wasn't The One. It shouldn't have taken her going through that specific incident to finally figure it out. Of course, that 'delayed discovery' thing always happens in these movies so I'll forgive it. One thing I really liked about Christmas Detour was the end. We have been talking about the hasty "Let's spend the rest of our lives together" endings in these movies when the characters have barely just realized they have feelings for each other -- some of them are more forever-ish than others. But in this movie they didn't do that in such a big way. In fact, when "Dylan" teasingly suggests to "Paige" that he is her soulmate, she even says, "I don't know." And then she basically tells him, more or less, that if he is willing to stick with her she will figure it out. So they didn't promise each other that they would spend eternity together, or that they would be doing a family portrait for Christmas one year later. They just kind of agreed to go on the journey and see where it leads, more or less. Did anyone happen to notice a scruffy Luke Perry pop up in the commercial for Winterfest 2016 (which is the segue between the Countdown to Christmas and the Countdown to Valentine's Day)? I am pretty sure that's who it was. I think it was Luke. I guess all 90210 actors -- distant past and more recent -- will always have work on the 2 Hallmark Channels. Edited November 29, 2015 by Sherry67 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1756207
Irlandesa November 29, 2015 Share November 29, 2015 ...Another interesting article, this time specifically about Hallmark's Christmas movie success -- http://fortune.com/2015/11/27/woman-hallmark-holiday-movies/?xid=soc_socialflow_facebook_FORTUNE. Is that woman really claiming that Hallmark invented Christmas programming and that their competitors are imitators? C'mon. They are the only ones to do the 24/7 model and go heavy with the branding but holiday programming pre-dates the Hallmark channel. It shouldn't have taken her going through that specific incident to finally figure it out. Of course, that 'delayed discovery' thing always happens in these movies so I'll forgive it. Yes. But at least they did explain things just a bit more than they usually do. One thing I really liked about Christmas Detour was the end. Yes. I forgot to mention this. I liked how they ended it. Did anyone happen to notice a scruffy Luke Perry pop up in the commercial for Winterfest 2016 (which is the segue between the Countdown to Christmas and the Countdown to Valentine's Day)? I am pretty sure that's who it was. Yep. That was him. I think I also saw Holly Marie Combs. I can't find anything online about those movies, though. There was a scene in the beginning where the little girl asked the lead character how old she was and she answered 31. She looks for 41 but I don't quite get the point of having her be 31. RPJ's Prince was only supposed to be about 33 too. (I believe they mentioned how his wife died before he was 30 years old and that was four years prior.) Even though RPJ is 45. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1756463
JenMD November 29, 2015 Share November 29, 2015 Can I just say how impressed I continue to be that posters here can remember all the various generic titles and plots and actors in each of these movies? It has to really make an impression (either good or bad) for me to remember which is which. So kudos! Commenting on just this last batch of Hallmark movies we've gotten - I didn't make it past the 20 minute mark on the one with Brianna Evigan. I thought she was such an annoying character, both whiny and not so bright. She lost me at her reaction to being robbed, completely clueless. I agree with someone upthread that Brianna was playing it low energy but she also had not an ounce of charm to her performance, nothing at all to make me root for her. I only know the lead guy from the store window one and he was fine in that, but not enough to make me keep watching this one. I really like "12 Wishes for Chrismas", it was cute and had much less drama than usual, so that was a nice change. I liked Katrina Law in "Snow Bride" and am a fan of hers from "Arrow", as well so it was nice to see her again. Not familiar with the lead actor, but I thought he did a nice job with a character that reacted a bit less predictable than the norm; once he realized his friend loved the gift, he kind of just went along without a fight and embraced the gifting. Also, nice to see Donna Mills not be the dragon lady one is expecting. Nothing earth-shattering, but cute enough. "Christmas Detour" almost the bit dust, but my sister wanted to keep watching. I was fine with everything except Candace's character, she was beyond just annoying. Has she never flown before? Have the writers never flown before? Her bringing the board on the plane was just silly. At least her character acknowledged she was self-involved, but it sure wasn't fun for me to watch. Loved the couple accompanying them, like the lead guy. Missed a little in the middle to go do a few things (sis filled me in) and don't feel I need to watch again. Fiance was a Ken doll and his mother was appalling with her rudeness. Appreciated the ending left on them beginning their romance, but I think, even with the explanation for why Candace's character was the way she was, they took it too far with her for me to care if she got her happy ending. Now, "Crown for Christmas" (stupid title), I absolutely loved! Rupert Penry-Jones in white tie? Yes, please. Oh, I do like him so, so much. I thought he lent a real grounding quality to the production, I believed him as a king. He was both warm yet regal. I really like nearly everything about this. And yes, I agree with others, it's all been done before. But it was just so lovely. Most of all, I think I liked that this was obviously a movie with a real budget. Lots of extras, a nice, wintry location, pretty clothes and a really good cast. I thought everyone really acquitted themselves very well. I adored Fergus and Helen, Theodora was an absolute delight (imdb says it's her first role, I'm impressed) and I enjoyed the leads, of course. Lady Celia was a bit too on-the-nose evil for my taste, but the actress was fine. A few minor quibbles - not "Highness" but "Majesty", that was a biggie; why the costume designer thought a peach bow was the perfect accent to Theodora's red and white dress will remain a mystery and yes, Danica had way, way too much make-up on throughout the whole thing. Otherwise, we had one of those bland male leads, and the plot made absolutely zero sense. You can tell that the writer has never been anywhere near an ad agency, ever, because they don't work that way, but it's pretty much common sense that no one would launch a major ad campaign for a winter clothing line on Christmas Eve, and they wouldn't be hiring the agency for that when decorations were already up and schools were doing Christmas programs. People have already done their shopping then. You're not going to sell a lot of sweaters if you don't start advertising until Christmas Eve. Not to mention, it takes time to book ad space -- you're looking at about six months out for the major monthly magazines. The work for a holiday ad campaign would happen during the summer. This is one of my pet peeves in the Christmas movies. I didn't watch that one (I don't really care for Alicia Witt), but there have been a couple that have done Christmas fashion shows, ad campaigns, etc. as the plot in the movie taking place at Christmas. Total logic fail. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1756561
TVFan17 November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 Is that woman really claiming that Hallmark invented Christmas programming and that their competitors are imitators? C'mon. They are the only ones to do the 24/7 model and go heavy with the branding but holiday programming pre-dates the Hallmark channel. Yes. But at least they did explain things just a bit more than they usually do. Yes. I forgot to mention this. I liked how they ended it. Yep. That was him. I think I also saw Holly Marie Combs. I can't find anything online about those movies, though. She looks for 41 but I don't quite get the point of having her be 31. RPJ's Prince was only supposed to be about 33 too. (I believe they mentioned how his wife died before he was 30 years old and that was four years prior.) Even though RPJ is 45. Lol. I noticed that it seemed the overall message was that Hallmark invented holiday TV. I mean to their credit, they have certainly taken it and done something big with it -- 2 full months of all day/all night programming and many new movies (more than the other channels) -- but there certainly was Christmas programming before they ever started doing the Countdown to Christmas. I grew up watching Rankin-Bass Christmas (and Easter) specials, Peanuts specials, etc. Okay, so that was Luke Perry and I wasn't going crazy. Just from the 1 second that he was onscreen I thought, "I bet this movie is going to involve a ranch, a prairie or a cowboy or all of the above." I don't know what made me think that, but we'll see what it turns out to be. And yes -- Holly Marie Combs too! I am guessing she's not in the Luke Perry movie -- probably a different one. I know that one of the Winterfest movies in January is supposed to be Unleashing Mr. Darcy (it may get a new name from Hallmark), but it neither stars Luke Perry nor Holly Marie Combs. I am guessing there might be another Hall of Fame movie sometime in January. This past January Hallmark aired the Hall of Fame swan movie (with Jason Lee and Minka Kelly), Away and Back. It was not my type of movie -- I like humor, romance or different types of dramas -- but I guess other people liked it. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1757383
Shanna Marie November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 This is one of my pet peeves in the Christmas movies. I didn't watch that one (I don't really care for Alicia Witt), but there have been a couple that have done Christmas fashion shows, ad campaigns, etc. as the plot in the movie taking place at Christmas. Total logic fail. It drives me nuts when they have these big events on Christmas Eve. I guess they feel that the climax of the movie has to happen on Christmas Eve itself, so they stretch logic to have the big event then. But no one would have a fashion show or launch a holiday ad campaign on Christmas Eve. Who would have a big corporate party for all their major customers on Christmas Eve night? I've seen that plot a few times -- heroine is event planner having to put it together, or assistant to the boss and having to put it together, putting her job ahead of her family. And then there are all those Christmas Eve weddings, which strikes me as a selfish jerk move unless it's a very small wedding at home with just your family around, and you do it that day because all your family are there. But if it's a big wedding you expect people to attend, then you're asking people to give up Christmas with their own families and loved ones to be at your wedding, and you're expecting people to travel at an expensive time of the year. Good luck finding a church to have a wedding in on Christmas Eve, since that's a religious holiday when they're actually having services -- my church has four services in the sanctuary on Christmas Eve, starting at 3 p.m. and going until midnight, and I doubt you'd even be able to book it for the morning because they want to be ready for the services, not resetting after a wedding, and the pastors need the morning off if they're going to be working until midnight. If you could find a facility and caterers willing to work on that evening, you'd pay extra for it. But in these movies, Christmas Eve is apparently a perfectly reasonable time to schedule a major party, corporate event, news announcement, or wedding. And worse, there's a good chance that wedding won't actually happen because one member of the couple will realize that he/she is making a big mistake when he/she falls in love with someone else at the last second. I'd be really pissed if I was a guest at that wedding who'd given up my own holiday to be at my friends' wedding, and then one of them made a big speech about realizing their true feelings rather than go through with the wedding. Though that would actually make a good set-up for one of these movies: the bridesmaid who put her life on hold for her friend's Christmas Eve wedding that ends up not happening, and then she bonds with one of the groomsmen in the aftermath as they frantically try to make it back home for Christmas after the failed wedding. I suspect Hallmark wouldn't be that keen on it, because it would blow up too many of their other movies. 6 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1757601
Myrrhine November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 I have missed a lot of the films from previous years, so this far some of my favorite 2015 viewings premiered in previous years. My repeat views were The Most Wonderful Time of the Year and A Princess for Christmas. My new-to-me favorites are A Very Merry Mix-up and the Nine Lives one. I like how A Very Merry Mix-up feels like a low budget While You Were Sleeping ) which I love. There is a mistaken engagement to an absent brother, falling for a brother who is a woodworker, and a family that wins over the heroine. I thought Nine Lives was just demonstrably better than a lot of the other Christmas films. Some of them, especially some I have checked out on Netflix or Amazon really show the seams in their thin budgets. In the hallmark article, the lady claimed they were the first cable network to do Christmas programs. I don't know if that's true, but obviously the (non-cable) networks were at it long before them. I'm glad they find them so productive. Hopeful they can employ slightly higher budgets since I think that really does affect the feel of the show. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1757881
twoods November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 A Gift Wrapped Christmas was really good- better than 12 Gifts of Christmas. I also liked that the lead was on Rookie Blue, and was the sister on 7th Heaven? This is how nice I think Hallmark movies could be if they cared more about quality than quantity. Looking forward to the other Lifetime movie that aired tonight. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1758001
TVFan17 November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 I have missed a lot of the films from previous years, so this far some of my favorite 2015 viewings premiered in previous years. My repeat views were The Most Wonderful Time of the Year and A Princess for Christmas. My new-to-me favorites are A Very Merry Mix-up and the Nine Lives one. I like how A Very Merry Mix-up feels like a low budget While You Were Sleeping ) which I love. There is a mistaken engagement to an absent brother, falling for a brother who is a woodworker, and a family that wins over the heroine. I thought Nine Lives was just demonstrably better than a lot of the other Christmas films. Some of them, especially some I have checked out on Netflix or Amazon really show the seams in their thin budgets. In the hallmark article, the lady claimed they were the first cable network to do Christmas programs. I don't know if that's true, but obviously the (non-cable) networks were at it long before them. I'm glad they find them so productive. Hopeful they can employ slightly higher budgets since I think that really does affect the feel of the show. I totally agree with you about A Very Merry Mix-Up -- I love love love that one. And it's weird because it didn't grab me the first time I watched it in 2013 -- I am guessing I must have been distracted, or not in the mood for it or something. When I watched it again I realized I loved it. I love the little story of the clockmaker and his true love, and how that fable kind of vaguely manifests in the present day story. I love the whole Mitchum family and how fun they are. I love the antique store that Alicia Witt's character runs. I mean, yes, of course it's a little soon for the two leads to be declaring that they are each other's destiny at the end of the movie, but I was okay with it. It's a great movie. And I totally agree with you about Nine Lives of Christmas -- that one was the true surprise for me last year. At first I thought, "Eh... I don't want to watch a pet movie, where the cat is up to wacky shenanigans, or talking, or cracking jokes." But it wasn't like that at all. That movie jumped out at me upon first viewing last year, and really stood out above all the other new movies of 2014. It was sweet and funny. I liked the firemen. I liked the cats. I liked the 2 leads. Another great movie. I also love The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. I mean, if I'm going to take the story seriously, the plot is crazy -- uncle/ex-cop meets a handsome drifter on the plane and brings him home with the family. Said drifter cooks wonderful meals, hangs Christmas lights, bonds with child, thwarts robbery attempt, gets up on the roof and plays Santa, helps pretty single mom score sought after toy for child, helps single mom annoy neighbor, and generally embraces Christmas and Christmas décor. In the real world, that drifter -- "Morgan" (Warren Christie) -- could be a drug addict, thief, killer, etc. But in Hallmark-land he is heaven sent. And I bought into it, hook, line and sinker! Lol. 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1758175
Irlandesa November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 Though that would actually make a good set-up for one of these movies: the bridesmaid who put her life on hold for her friend's Christmas Eve wedding that ends up not happening, and then she bonds with one of the groomsmen in the aftermath as they frantically try to make it back home for Christmas after the failed wedding. I suspect Hallmark wouldn't be that keen on it, because it would blow up too many of their other movies. I love that idea for a film. But not only are big events scheduled for these big holidays, all of the sudden people are free to spend it with whoever they'd like and wherever they'd like. For instance, in both A Gift Wrapped Christmas and Angel of Christmas, the female lead ends up going to a cabin where the male lead is on Christmas Eve and apparently stays there into Christmas Day. Now, I don't think one is required to spend the holidays with your family but both of these women were quite close to their families. I would think there'd be somewhat of an urgency to go back on Christmas Day. In the hallmark article, the lady claimed they were the first cable network to do Christmas programs. I don't know if that's true, but obviously the (non-cable) networks were at it long before them. Lifetime did Christmas movies before Hallmark. As did ABC Family who even had a 25 Days of Christmas event where they some Rankin Bass specials and some original movies. Thanks to UP starting their movies early, I was able to sort of catch My One Christmas Wish. This movie has an audience, I'm sure, but I don't think I'm it. I did enjoy Angel of Christmas because I liked both of the leads. I also liked the mystery of the angel. But what is with Hallmark's obsession with artists? And adding paint all over his face to show that he's an artist? Oh Hallmark. I'm just finishing A Prince for Christmas. It's just okay. I'm not turning it off the way I did with My One Christmas Wish but it won't be memorable in any way for me. Can I just say how impressed I continue to be that posters here can remember all the various generic titles and plots and actors in each of these movies? It is impressive. 9 times out of 10, I have to IMDB the actors/movies. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1758200
twoods November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 Angel of Christmas is about another artist? That makes 3 out of the 5 movies this weekend that had one of the leads be a painter. Craziness. It's so late so it took all my power not to stay up and watch 12 Men of Christmas. I loved that movie and I liked how unique the theme was. Maybe next weekend. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1758247
TrininisaScorp November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 I always try to catch 12 Men of Christmas and Christmas with Holly and Lifetime and Hallmark Movies/Mysteries had both on this weekend. I'm a big book nerd, so I love the take on Pride and Prejudice in 12 Men. I think Kristen Chenoweth is makes a good Elizabeth or EJ and Josh from CougarTown is a passable Darcy (eh, kind of). The supporting cast makes this one shine. It was nice to see Anna Clumsky before she found a home at Veep. I also really liked Calendar Girls, so I like the concept here. All around, this is fun Christmas movie. Christmas with Holly is a sweet one. About a man trying to raise his niece and a girl trying to find her dream after a "left at the altar" scenario. The scenery is gorgeous and the lads are fit. Our main lead actress is quite good and endearing and our lead actor (hey, Sean Faris, hey) is interesting to watch. The little girl that plays the niece is adorable. Her side eye game to her uncles and his uncle's gf is on point. LOL. The princess for Christmas is a little played, but I admit, I like the Katie McGrath/Sam Heugan (Outlander Jamie!) one and even the Lacey Chabert one. I didn't intend to watch Crown for Christmas, but I like Danica and I didn't know her royal was Rupert Penry-Jones. Once I saw him, I was pretty much in. He is, after all, Captain Wentworth, one of my fav Austen men. The movie was nicely shot and I enjoyed how the predictable storyline played out. Rupert is good with a look (a requirement for anyone who does well at Austen) and heavy meaning expressions. They worked nicely here. I thought he and Danica had some good chemistry and he and his daughter were too cute. I'm awaiting the one with Andrew Walker (he's adorable) and Meagan Ory (Red!) Dashing Through the Snow (or some such thing). I think it should be a fun one. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1758330
Irlandesa November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 Looking forward to the other Lifetime movie that aired tonight.I so wanted to like this, especially since I like that it was more 'daring' with its lead, interracial couple. (Not that such a thing is daring but it sometimes feels that way based on Hallmark movies. )But I thought it was boring. And poorly acted. And kind of awful. I watched 4 new Christmas movies on Sunday. And The Affair. I have a problem. 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1758382
emjohnson03 November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 It drives me nuts when they have these big events on Christmas Eve. I guess they feel that the climax of the movie has to happen on Christmas Eve itself, so they stretch logic to have the big event then. But no one would have a fashion show or launch a holiday ad campaign on Christmas Eve. Who would have a big corporate party for all their major customers on Christmas Eve night? I've seen that plot a few times -- heroine is event planner having to put it together, or assistant to the boss and having to put it together, putting her job ahead of her family. And then there are all those Christmas Eve weddings, which strikes me as a selfish jerk move unless it's a very small wedding at home with just your family around, and you do it that day because all your family are there. But if it's a big wedding you expect people to attend, then you're asking people to give up Christmas with their own families and loved ones to be at your wedding, and you're expecting people to travel at an expensive time of the year. Good luck finding a church to have a wedding in on Christmas Eve, since that's a religious holiday when they're actually having services -- my church has four services in the sanctuary on Christmas Eve, starting at 3 p.m. and going until midnight, and I doubt you'd even be able to book it for the morning because they want to be ready for the services, not resetting after a wedding, and the pastors need the morning off if they're going to be working until midnight. If you could find a facility and caterers willing to work on that evening, you'd pay extra for it. But in these movies, Christmas Eve is apparently a perfectly reasonable time to schedule a major party, corporate event, news announcement, or wedding. And worse, there's a good chance that wedding won't actually happen because one member of the couple will realize that he/she is making a big mistake when he/she falls in love with someone else at the last second. I'd be really pissed if I was a guest at that wedding who'd given up my own holiday to be at my friends' wedding, and then one of them made a big speech about realizing their true feelings rather than go through with the wedding. Though that would actually make a good set-up for one of these movies: the bridesmaid who put her life on hold for her friend's Christmas Eve wedding that ends up not happening, and then she bonds with one of the groomsmen in the aftermath as they frantically try to make it back home for Christmas after the failed wedding. I suspect Hallmark wouldn't be that keen on it, because it would blow up too many of their other movies. WORD to all of this! *clap, clap* I love how people are running around and SO busy on Christmas for big events. Some even leave their kids and go to these parties and then arrive home and realize their love was there all along (I'm looking at you "mistletoe over Manhattan" which is one of my faves) but man does that BUG. Who is going out and doing all these things? Aren't people home?? On another note, I did see "Princess for Christmas" Danica is like Candace Cameron Buree. Hallmark can't do any wrong with her in these films. I enjoyed it! I have to catch up on alot of the films this year as I've been out when they premiere. I like that there's always a new film but so are so awful that you wonder if they just made a few great ones even better! There was one film called "Christmas in the Smokies" but I don't get that channel. I want to see that. Does anyone get that channel, INSP? I didn't think it was too popular and wonder if anyone saw it. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1758661
Kaoteek November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 I strongly, strongly disliked A Gift-Wrapped Christmas, which not only had all those usual clichés I've come to expect from those Christmas movies, but also had that nosy, headstrong, over-enthusiastic (& sometimes borderline rude) lead character (also, acting & attitude-wise, the actress kinda felt like a discount Emily Osment, with none of the charm) and her forced Christmas Spirit & perkiness, and a bland cast. In fact, I disliked it so much that it made the similar 12 Gifts of Christmas look better in comparison... (so far, as far as i'm concerned, with the mediocre Turkey Hollow, Lifetime is 0 out of 2, this season) Also, the WWE/USA Network Christmas movie Santa's Little Helper leaked early, and it was pretty much what you'd expect from a WWE co-production : Miz is improving, but still isn't a good actor, Paige was surprisingly solid in her "mean elf" part, and AnnaLynne McCord was fine in a lighter role than usual, but the writing was pretty bad, spending almost an hour placing Miz in silly, Christmas-unrelated, California-filmed challenges... and during the final part of the movie, at the North Pole, pitting him against Paige in a treetop obstacle course recycled from WWE's latest Tough Enough season. Yay. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1759203
TVFan17 November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 emjohnson03 -- I get the INSP channel. I didn't have enough room on the DVR to record Christmas in the Smokies on the first couple of airings, so I will have to record it in a future week. As I've mentioned here before, Sarah Lancaster (a Hallmark favorite) and Jill Wagner (fresh off the recent Hallmark movie, Autumn Dreams) are in it, so it is certainly worth a viewing (even if it turns out to be awful). I've been planning all along to watch it, but I didn't realize it would air on a day/night that conflicted with so many other TV shows and movies I wanted to see! So I had to pick and choose what to record. I have Gift-Wrapped Christmas saved on the DVR but have not watched it yet. I had to cancel the recordings of The Christmas Gift and The Affair knowing that the former one will be repeated on Lifetime and the latter one I can catch On Demand. I had to leave enough room to record Angel of Christmas, The Walking Dead and Talking Dead. So I watched Angel of Christmas and I loved it! It was a really good, solid movie with a little twist at the end, and the 2 leads were good together. I think that this movie will eventually make its way to the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel -- it has that feel to it -- but maybe not until next year. One thing I liked about Angel of Christmas was that the leads actually kissed before the last 30 seconds of the movie, which was important in showing that there was an attraction between them and that they were developing feelings. In so many of these Hallmark movies the couples don't kiss until the last scene. Another thing I liked about it was that they agreed to continue seeing each other but there was no hasty marriage proposal or promise to spend eternity together. If anything, "Susan" was overly cautious the whole time -- not wanting to hold "Brady" back from his work in Los Angeles. They adopted a kind of "let's see where this goes" approach that I liked. It did bug me that there was such a conflict about Brady needing to go to L.A. to work. I mean, yes, L.A. is on the other side of the country from New York, and long distance relationships are not ideal. But, presumably, if they fell in love, Susan could get a writing job in L.A. (we have all kinds of creative jobs here in L.A., Susan -- this is a rather large city with all sorts of 'artists' of different types running wild in the streets!). Or, she could fly out to see Brady here and there. Or, he could fly back to NYC to see Susan. In other words, yes, it would be inconvenient for a while, but it's not like moving to Los Angeles is akin to moving to Antarctica... or Mars. But these movies need a bit of a stumbling block -- it cant be smooth sailing all the way -- and the whole "conflict," such as it was, was what ultimately led Susan to her discovery at the cabin. Anyway, it was a good way to end the 5-night marathon-within-the-marathon. If Hallmark had ended the 5 nights with Christmas Incorporated or Merry Matrimony, it would have been a bad decision and anticlimactic. This coming weekend on Hallmark we have Just in Time for Christmas (with William Shatner and Christopher Lloyd) and Karen Kingsbury's The Bridge (the latter of which does not look the least bit interesting to me, but I will give it a chance). All tolled, there are only 5 more new movies on the Hallmark Channel, and 2 more new movies on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries (The Magic Stocking is on HMM on 12/6). Lifetime has more new ones as well. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1759338
StaceyNotStacie November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 So many Christmas movies last weekend. My dvr has a bunch of them waiting to be watched. I watched The Christmas Note last night. It was on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. It was sort of a continuation of The Christmas Secret. It was set in the same town, but with different leads (the store was still part of the setting, and the woman who owned the bakery was in the movie). I really enjoyed the movie and was pleasantly surprised by the story. The lead character (played by Jamie-Lynn Siegler) played a woman whose husband was injured while deployed overseas and in a military hospital; she moves back to her hometown to be near her family. She begins a friendship with the woman who lives next door; the neighbor's mother has passed away and she finds a note from her mother telling her that she gave up a child for adoption years ago. The two women search for clues through the town trying to find the woman's sibling. I was very happy that the story focused more on the search for the sibling instead of whether or not the husband came home in time for Christmas. I have three other movies from Sunday night waiting to be watched. While I like the Hallmark Movies that have been on recently, I'm enjoying the movies on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries a bit more. The stories have a different vibe to them compared to the normal "romantic comedy" type of movies on the Hallmark Channel. The ones that they are advertising for this year all look good. I'm also noticing that Lifetime seems to be trying harder with their Christmas movies. There's one premiering on 12/13 called Becoming Santa that looks like it could be good based on the cast. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1759611
SonofaBiscuit November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 (edited) I'm guessing that Candace Cameron-Bure must be very popular, but unfortunately, I'm not a fan. She always comes across as too wide-eyed and enthusiastic about everything ever. I generally enjoy the movies she's cast in, but I wish that Hallmark wouldn't feel the need to cast her in so many. HATED Once Upon a Holiday. I thought I would love it since Surprised by Love (starring Paul Campbell) is one of my favorites, but Briana Evigan was absolutely terrible in this movie. She came off as a complete idiot when Paul Campbell's character was trying to get her to call the police because her purse had been stolen. I also remarked to my mother that she had this weird, inappropriate flirty vibe with the lawyer, and now I find out that is her father in real life! Oh lordy, not good. With Rupert Penry-Jones, Crown for Christmas looked the most promising, and it didn't disappoint. Apparently, Danica McKellar was on Home and Family last week, and she talked a bit about the little girl that played Princess Theodora, Ellie Botterill. Ellie was having some math troubles, so Danica (who has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from UCLA and who has written several math books aimed at girls) was able to help her out. I guess they even wrote some of that into the movie with the cookie fractions. This was Ellie's first role, so Danica talked about how they filmed late at night, and she would tell Ellie to snuggle up to her and rest her eyes, etc. I thought that the little girl was so good, and I was blown away to find out that this was her first movie. She's very lucky to have been cast in a movie with someone that was looking out for her, and the entire experience sounds like it was probably a lovely time. Whoever is in charge of pairing up leads in these movies needs to do a better job. I find myself liking either the lead guy or lead gal, but not both. How about Katrina Law and Greg Vaughan? Autumn Reeser and Paul Campbell? Alison Sweeney and Antonio Cupo? Andrew Walker and Sarah Lancaster? I'm majorly bummed that I don't get the Hallmark Mysteries channel. I would like to watch the movie with Greg Vaughan in it, but I guess that won't be happening. I had to Google his name just now...we just refer to him as the hot firefighter guy, ha! Loved him in Second Chances with Alison Sweeney, but darn, I can never remember the name of that movie, either! Edited November 30, 2015 by SonofaBiscuit 2 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1759852
Shanna Marie November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 I'm a fan of the fluffy romantic comedy Christmas movies. I don't care much for the more dramatic or maudlin ones. I think maybe my all-time favorite is The 12 Dates of Christmas from ABC Family a few years ago. It somehow managed to avoid all my least-favorite tropes of these movies. There's no obvious Miss/Mr Wrong that one of the leads is still with while falling in love with the love interest (the "Mr Wrong" is actually an ex she's trying to get back with at the start, and he's not blindingly obviously wrong, he's just moved on). There's no career vs. love/family conflict where a character is treated like the devil for caring about his/her job. There are no adorable plot moppets. There's no city vs. small town tension, no conflict of hating Christmas vs. being utterly obsessed with Christmas. No one acts like someone is going straight to hell for having an artificial tree. The heroine has a problem in her life she needs to work out, but it's not like she's an utter bitch to begin with. I like both the leads. The heroine really grows through the course of the story and ends up helping people outside her usual circle. I get the major warm fuzzies from this movie. Last time I checked, it wasn't up yet OnDemand. I usually watch this one on Christmas Eve between services because it's the perfect length for me to get home from singing in the early service and then eat a snack and drink tea before leaving for the late service. Second on my list would probably be The Christmas List (the one with Mimi Rogers). It does have a plot moppet, but he's a fairly realistic kid, not TV cute, and there are the obvious Miss and Mr Wrongs, though the Miss Wrong isn't actually with the guy, just scheming to snag him, and the heroine figures out that Mr Wrong is wrong before she gets involved with the hero. The main plot of the story is the heroine getting her life together, and I find that movie very inspiring. Otherwise, I have to admit that while I enjoy watching these, a lot of my enjoyment comes from snarking about them. I only got the Hallmark Channel last year, so I have a lot to catch up on there. I'd pretty much made it through all the old Lifetime movies. 3 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1759964
zivadanielle November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 I totally fell asleep during Angel of Christmas, I will try to catch it again based on the positive comments here. I though A Christmas Detour was OK, not as lame as it could've been but admittedly I fell asleep for part of that as well. :o However, I enjoyed re-re-re-watching snippets of Christmas Under Wraps as well as Let It Snow before and after... I don't have a huge problem with CCB I guess. Also, I don't recall if this show had been discussed last year or previously (or on another thread??) but another one of my yuletide favorites The Great Christmas Light Fight will be back on ABC starting on 7 December apparently. Looks like there are new hosts/judges however. Carter Oosterhouse? Yes, please. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2015/10/22/the-great-christmas-light-fight-returns-for-a-third-joyous-season-with-new-judges-carter-oosterhouse-and-taniya-nayak-and-a-special-episode-where-neighborhoods-compete-732511/20151022abc03/ Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1760159
Maizie131 November 30, 2015 Share November 30, 2015 Has anyone watched The Christmas Note with Jamie-Lynn Sigler? (Oh how I miss The Sopranos!) Anyhow, I DVR'd it but haven't watched it yet...was it any good? To Shanna Marie - I love, love, love The Christmas List, too - in fact I bought it last year. I really like Mimi Rogers (she was great in Someone To Watch Over Me). Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1760263
Kaoteek December 1, 2015 Share December 1, 2015 Angel of Christmas wasn't awful, but boy did it lack energy & rhythm. It certainly did feel like a Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, though. And I had a good laugh at the kilotons of fake snow they felt they needed to dump on the actors during every. single. outside. scene. (also, that wooden angel ornament ? Pretty ugly) Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1761731
Misslindsey December 1, 2015 Share December 1, 2015 I think one of the minor things that can irritate me in these sort of cheesy Christmas movies is when they give the lead character a Christmas-y sounding name like Mary, Holly, etc. I think there was one movie this year where the character had "Holiday" as her last name. Of course all of these names are pretty common, so it isn't that bad, but for some reason in a Christmas movie it feels extra cheesy for me. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1762111
zivadanielle December 1, 2015 Share December 1, 2015 I strayed to Lifetime last night and watched The Christmas Hope. Mr. zv was NOT happy as he does not like the "depressing" movies even if I tell him over and over there will be something uplifting at the end. I guess this one is/was tied to The Christmas Shoes or another film? I think I've seen at least one or two of the other ones...anyway. Anyway. Madeleine (sp) Stowe kind of bothered me in this...I guess it was intentional? i.e. she was on the surface a sympathetic character who was not really that sympathetic. Also I spent some time trying to decide whether or not she had plastic surgery or not. AND I have always found James Remar hott. Then, *yawn* I stayed up until midnight watching The 12 Gifts of Christmas --very cute and it took away the "sad movie" vibe of the evening. Now, during this I had no trouble deciding whether or not Donna Mills had plastic surgery. It seemed like she had that talking-through-clenched-teeth thing going on or similar. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1762680
BatmanBeatles December 1, 2015 Share December 1, 2015 My son was in a high school musical based on the 2004 A Christmas Carol. It was the one with Kelsey Grammer and Jennifer Love Hewitt. In the past I heard bad things about it and when I saw the play, I can kind of see why. The songs were just OK. The Fezziwig song went too long and it got on my nerves. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1763012
Shanna Marie December 1, 2015 Share December 1, 2015 I love, love, love The Christmas List, too - in fact I bought it last year. I should probably buy it because I'm pretty sure my VHS recording of the original airing got tossed when I purged all my VHS tapes. I think that was the first Christmas movie of that type -- the fluffy romance -- I'd seen. Up to that point, they were all either aimed strictly at kids (generally about Santa) or were the heavy tearjerking sort of thing, often involving poor pioneer families. I saw that movie and wanted more like it, but there weren't too many at that time. I guess I like these movies because that's where I get my romantic comedy fix these days. I love romantic comedies, but most of the ones they make now are either hard-R gross-out movies or of the "overgrown manchild" variety, where the guy would rather hang out and smoke pot with his friends but he falls in love with a shrewish harpy who forces him to grow up. I snark a lot about the Hallmark movies, but generally the men are actual men who are at least trying to have careers and who don't have panic attacks at the thought of commitment. I may hate the "if you love your job and ever choose a work-related event over even the most minor family function, you're Satan" trope, but I'd rather watch a movie about someone needing to learn that work isn't everything than about an adult who resents having to support himself. I've been recording movies that sound interesting, and then I've searched for and scheduled recordings of movies mentioned here -- and then discovered that this means I sometimes end up with two recordings of the same movie. At least that frees up some DVR space. Now to find time to watch them. My weekends are going to be pretty full from now until Christmas. 4 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1763506
Benedictine December 2, 2015 Share December 2, 2015 I have to admit to enjoying the long-ago "Family Christmas Specials" you would see during the 1970s, like "The Pat Boone Smile-Time Family Christmas Hour" or "The Bing Crosby Family Holiday Special" or "The Kathie Lee Gifford Happy Family Gathering (And-Don't-You-Forget-It-Frank!) Christmas Special!" You know how they were: the celebrities' family gathered around a fake Christmas living room set with heavy festive sweaters on (even though it was most likely filmed in July and under hot studio lights) and be all smiles as they either sang or leaned forward to laugh along with Bing telling some humorous story about him and Bob Hope during Christmas 1943, or Kathie Lee Gifford singing or Pat Boone smiling enough to show the contrast between his white teeth and spray-on tan. A lot of happy cheer, especially if you were one of Bing's children (smile, or else!). Along the way, some guest celebrity would show up knocking on the door to bring presents and join in the holiday cheer. There'd also be an occasional guest celebrity who was Jewish, so you'd get some Borscht-Belt Hanukah kitsch thrown into the special. There might also be a guest appearance from Donny and Marie Osmond, roller or ice skating onto the set. The special would then end with a huge family and guest sing-along, with the camera zooming across each sweating face. Bing would look quite wrinkled, Pat would still be smiling (seriously, his family was always happy!) and Frank Gifford looked like he couldn't wait to get out of there. Sigh! They do not make them like that any more. 6 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1767185
twoods December 2, 2015 Share December 2, 2015 I really liked The Christmas Gift on Lifetime. It was a nice story and I liked how feel goo it was. Plus, it was nice to see an interracial relationship portrayed, something that Hallmark rarely does. 1 Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1767226
Shanna Marie December 2, 2015 Share December 2, 2015 I have to admit to enjoying the long-ago "Family Christmas Specials" you would see during the 1970s Our local PBS station used to run old Andy Williams Christmas specials during the week leading up to Christmas. Ah, the turtlenecks. So, last night's Christmas movie from the DVR for background noise for knitting Christmas gifts was Finding Christmas. I'm not sure if that one was new this year or from last year, but I recorded it in mid-November. It's basically a low-budget, more G-rated, gender-flipped version of The Holiday (the Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black movie about swapping homes for the holidays). Or, really, remake. I mean, they didn't even just use the house swap as a jumping-off point. They copied most of the major plot points and only changed the genders and the locations. In both movies, the ones going to the city were leaving town because an ex they always hoped to end up with got engaged and became romantically involved with the homeowner's business colleague, who's in an iffy relationship with someone who has other priorities. And in both movies, the ones going to the small town were successful and work-obsessed business owners who never took vacations who suddenly wanted to leave because their significant others had cheated, they got involved with the single-parent sibling of the homeowner, they planned to leave very soon after arriving until they met a love interest and changed their minds, and the single parent hid the fact that they were a parent. The big switch up was that they moved the ex showing up to barge in on the vacation from one storyline to the other. I think I would have liked this one more if it hadn't been for the fact that The Holiday is one of my favorite movies, so I just about have it memorized and got distracted by spotting all the parallels. Tricia Helfer made a surprisingly good down-home girl-next-door type (when usually she plays steely glamazons). But it lacked most of the heart that I find in The Holiday (along with the drinking, sex, and swearing) and the relationships felt a lot more rushed and superficial. The Holiday may be about half an hour longer, but it also had the additional subplot of the screenwriter neighbor, so I'm not quite sure how one movie seemed to get so much more done than the other one did. However, I will give this one points for having the big launch of a Christmas-related product and ad campaign two weeks before Christmas rather than on Christmas Eve. It's still too late for realism, but it's better, and I can pretend that the big party at the beginning was celebrating a successful launch that happened earlier rather than a real launch event. Link to comment https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/17461-holiday-tv-movies-non-rankin-bass-holiday-specials-general-discussion/page/8/#findComment-1767356
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