Hallmark Movies: Small Town Royalty Magically Celebrating Rekindled Love! - General Discussion

[Aliconehead]

Christmas Train was a Hallmark HOF movie. 

[Irlandesa]

21 minutes ago, Aliconehead said:

Christmas Train was a Hallmark HOF movie. 

Yes it was but I didn't particularly like it.

[TVFan17]

It's a movie that squeaked into Hallmark's line-up just as the Countdown to Christmas is coming to an end, but... I thoroughly enjoyed Christmas Getaway (with Bridget Regan and Travis Van Winkle).    They were great together.  The child was pleasant and not annoying.  The music/soundtrack was good.  As expected, the cabin was gorgeous.  Yes, as always, the plot was nothing all that different or unexpected, but sometimes everything just blends together and works better than in other movies that are similar in plot or setting.  It's worth watching (and rewatching for me).

Now I am very skeptical of this Sam Page-Jessy Schram New Year-themed movie that is airing next weekend, because Sam is using an accent.  Seeing that Hallmark usually gets British actors to play royalty, I haven't figured out why Sam is now the royalty and has a fake accent, but I'll try to keep an open mind.

Edited December 24, 2017 by TVFan17

[Irlandesa]

30 minutes ago, TVFan17 said:

I thoroughly enjoyed Christmas Getaway

I wanted to like this because I liked the stars but I just couldn't get into it.  Maybe it's because I'd reached my limit but I couldn't concentrate on it. 

[TVFan17]

14 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I wanted to like this because I liked the stars but I just couldn't get into it.  Maybe it's because I'd reached my limit but I couldn't concentrate on it. 

 

I can understand that.   I was surprised that I liked Christmas Getaway so much.    Even more than last year, there were a lot of movies in this year's crop of new ones (between both channels) that all just kind of blended together for me... in one big clump.    I mean, they were all pleasant enough, but not too many of them stood out above others.   Even the ones that I have watched more than once this year, or that I liked better than others, are not necessarily movies that I am chomping at the bit to get on DVD or to see again in July.  I will watch them again in the future at some point, but there was nothing that leaped out me as an "I LOVE this one" choice (and I usually like a lot of movies that other people can't stand!).  Some of the movies that I hoped to love, I didn't end up loving.

 

The new movies I have watched more than once (just because I happened to catch them when they were on again and didn't change the channel) include:

Christmas at Holly Lodge

The Christmas Train

Marry Me at Christmas

The Mistletoe Inn (it's mainly the first hour of it that I liked)

A Bramble House Christmas

Coming Home for Christmas

Christmas Next Door

Christmas in the Air

 

I wanted to love these, but didn't (they will be good for background sound)....

Christmas in Evergreen

Christmas in Angel Falls

The Sweetest Christmas

A Joyous Christmas

Sharing Christmas

Finding Santa

With Love, Christmas

The Christmas Cottage

 

I did not expect to love it, and I did not love it...

Switched for Christmas

 

And then there were others that got lost in the shuffle -- they were OK, but they just kind of fizzled out at some point.  A lot of the movies have good things about them -- they may even start off strong -- and then they just lose steam before the halfway point.

I even kind of thought that about the non-Hallmark Bethany Joy Lenz-Andrew Walker movie on Lifetime.  I thought that they were great together, and would like to see them paired up again.  I thought the first hour of the movie was strong.  And then I felt it began to lose some steam and slow down about halfway in.  I guess it's hard for a lot of these movies to keep up a certain pace.

[Suzysite]

6 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

I thoroughly enjoyed Christmas Getaway (with Bridget Regan and Travis Van Winkle). 

I, too, wanted to like this one, but the male lead character (who I kept telling what an a-hole he was) bugged me so much right from the start I couldn't watch more than half of it.  And I'm not normally a male-basher.   I don't know why Bridget had to sleep on the couch and let the a-hole take over when her half was paid for too.  I assume the movie got better and he got nicer, but it wasn't for me.

[Pickles]

Christmas Getaway--crazy how the world traveler travels with an ancient, hardsided suitcase covered with travel stickers. And what was up with her old car?

[Misslindsey]

15 minutes ago, Pickles said:

Christmas Getaway--crazy how the world traveler travels with an ancient, hardsided suitcase covered with travel stickers.

I thought this was odd as well. I kept thinking that wouldn't a world traveler want something a bit more practical?I guess not.

[VartanFan]

I CAN'T believe that SNL skit was cut for time.  It was genius.  (To be fair - I meant spot-on...I guess it's not genius to pick SUCH low hanging fruit.)

Edited December 24, 2017 by VartanFan

[Karen885]

I finally watched Christmas Train and hated it.  It was a pleasant enough movie until the end 

 

*SPOILERS*

 

 

 

 

I hated how the entire movie ended up being a play put on by the director to get the main characters together.  The entire movie was fake.  Not a fan.

[TVFan17]

4 hours ago, Pickles said:

Christmas Getaway--crazy how the world traveler travels with an ancient, hardsided suitcase covered with travel stickers. And what was up with her old car?

 

4 hours ago, Misslindsey said:

I thought this was odd as well. I kept thinking that wouldn't a world traveler want something a bit more practical?I guess not.

 

I thought that, even if she wanted to use that kind of old suitcase for whatever reason, it seemed very small to me.  It didn't look like it could hold much of anything, nor did the other bag she was carrying.  She had a bulky jacket and a coat, and probably more than one pair of shoes and more than one outfit.  I kept thinking she must have more luggage stashed somewhere in her car, or just off camera.

The car was confusing, especially since it was clear that it was not in top shape.

[methodwriter85]

On 12/22/2017 at 11:19 AM, In2You said:

I've come across a few folks who take Hallmark very seriously. Especially the people on the Its a Wonderful Movie blog. Hallmark is life for some of them and they dedicate alot of time to find details about new movies being filmed and when they'll air. And don't you dare say anything about those movies other than calling them family friendly masterpieces. 

I still couldn't believe it when I found the blog of someone who managed to interview Andrew Walker. It was like they were talking to a major star, and they seemed to know every detail of his career. Like, it really does seem like life for some of them.

The SNL Hallmark movie parody was awesome. It's a shame they cut it. It would have landed well, I think. It's almost got a million views. I bet SNL is regretting cutting it.

I love how James Franco just blandly smiles. And he's secretly Hot Young Santa like twice. Given that he already did a campy Lifetime movie and starred on GH, I'm totally rooting for him to take on a cheesy Christmas movie.

The only thing that sketch was missing was the career-minded single woman who wakes up to find herself married to a Canadian hunk and two adorable kids that don't in any way resemble what kids are like in real life.

Notice that both of the blonde leads in that movie have those pretty, loose flowing curls that every single fucking lead seems to have in these movies? I don't think a Hallmark heroine is allowed to have hair shorter than shoulder-length.

Edited December 24, 2017 by methodwriter85

[Shanna Marie]

14 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I wanted to like this because I liked the stars but I just couldn't get into it.  Maybe it's because I'd reached my limit but I couldn't concentrate on it. 

I turned it off when they were fighting over who got the cabin. I think I'd reached my limit not only on Christmas movies but on all the tropes. I'd had my limit on travel writers sent on assignment at Christmas to write a Christmas article -- for this year! I also found it really hard to believe that someone working in a travel-related business would leave it up to the guests he overbooked to sort things out for themselves when one of them was a writer for a travel publication whose cabin was booked by the publication, especially when that was the one booked first. I guess maybe he didn't care, since he was booked solid even without publicity, but I wouldn't think that getting publicity about screwing up the reservation would help matters. And wouldn't he have noticed the mixup when checking in the second party to the same cabin within just a few minutes?

Let me guess, the guy she broke up with at the beginning of the movie showed up half an hour before the end, throwing a temporary monkey wrench into things with the new guy. And her article probably read like some "how I spent my holiday" essay written by a sixth grader, something all about falling in love at Christmas, even though it's a travel publication.

7 hours ago, Pickles said:

Christmas Getaway--crazy how the world traveler travels with an ancient, hardsided suitcase covered with travel stickers.

Yeah, that got me, too. There's no way she wouldn't have a rollaboard that would fit in overhead bins. Or maybe a duffle bag, if she travels in situations where even a rollabout would be too much.

[TVFan17]

36 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

Let me guess, the guy she broke up with at the beginning of the movie showed up half an hour before the end, throwing a temporary monkey wrench into things with the new guy.

Nope.    He was gone.  There was another woman in the picture who threw the monkey wrench into things -- well, not really, but there was confusion because of how Emory misinterpreted what was happening, as is par for the course in these TV gems. 

But I still really enjoyed the movie.   It was good. 

Edited December 24, 2017 by TVFan17

[dcinmb]

International Business Times: Why Are Hallmark Movie Casts So White? We Asked The CEO

[EyewatchTV211]

This was retweeted by someone I follow on twitter. Sorry, can't link the exact tweet for some reason. But click the link - too funny. Actually by a writer from SNL Weekend Update; he must have contributed to the James Franco segment, seeing his knowledge of Hallmark Christmas movies.

Edited December 24, 2017 by VMepicgrl

[Luckylyn]

On 12/23/2017 at 0:13 AM, Irlandesa said:

Just recently I was thinking back to a movie I saw a few years ago called Fill The Void.  It's a story about a Hasidic Jewish girl* who is pressured to marry her sister's widow.  It followed, to the best of my [considerable lack thereof] knowledge, all traditional rules of courtship and even that movie had more sensuality than most recent Hallmark movies.

*And actually, when Hallmark forayed into this community, they also created one of their sexier outings with Loving Leah.  Gosh I miss that Hallmark.  And the one who did Follow The Stars Home. 

I love the film Fill the Void.  It’s a great example of a film keeping characters chaste but still being sexy.  I think of that scene where she tells him he’s standing too close and he replies “I could have been closer.”  You’re wondering if he’ll actually go for a kiss but he just walks away leaving her kinda stunned.   They don’t even touch but that moment sizzles.   This is why the lack of chemistry in the Hallmark movies is baffling to me.   I get that for Hallmark premaritial sex is not part of the brand but the characters can generate heat without being sexually explicit.    It starts with casting and then the right director/screenplay to build up the spark the actors generate.  Even when the actors spark I feel like Hallmark doesn’t try enough to get the most out it but diminish it instead.  I feel like if there is a spark it’s almost inspite of Hallmark.  The right actors and director can make characters heat things up with just a look and still keep things chaste.   There’s a great film called Dear Frankie and there’s a scene where the leads just stare at eachother for the longest time before finally kissing.  I’d love to see Hallmark make more of an effort to not only cast with chemistry in mind but to really maximize it.

edited to add: Loving Leah is an example of Hallmark getting it right.  I love their first kiss where they just look at eachother like they are having a silent conversation and then can’t take it anymore and basically jump each other.   I wish Hallmark still made movies like that.

Edited December 25, 2017 by Luckylyn

[kirinan]

39 minutes ago, Luckylyn said:

There’s a great film called Dear Frankie and there’s a scene where the leads just stare at eachother for the longest time before finally kissing.  I’d love to see Hallmark make more of an effort to not only cast with chemistry in mind but to really maximize it.

Ohhh, that film is just wonderful, and that moment? Yikes, I can't breathe when it happens because it is so...all I can think of is "electric," and that doesn't do it an nth of justice. Yes, Hallmark--watch more movies like Dear Frankie and see how it can be done. 

Now I have to go dig up my Dear Frankie DVD and rewatch it.

[TVFan17]

I actually think that when chemistry happens between leads in any of the current lower budget made-for-TV movies these days (in other words, not just on Hallmark, but on any network that premieres new movies), it is almost accidental.   It can happen -- we have seen it -- but the odds are against chemistry happening much of the time.

I mean, of course, the networks would like their leads to click on camera, but due to the rapid turnaround time of the whole thing -- from when casting begins to when filming begins and wraps up -- I think that a lot of the actors don't have a chance to make a connection.  Some of them don't even run lines or work out scenes together. 

In a movie that is being made for a major network with a bigger budget, the network probably spends more time and effort on casting (who they feel are) the right people, doing chemistry reads and tests and things like that.  They might even audition some people if they don't have specific actors in mind.  And for theatrical releases, of course there are auditions, screen tests, chemistry reads, rehearsals before production and during production, table reads, etc.    With theatrical movies/feature films, they might be away filming somewhere for 2 or 3 months, or even longer.  So the actors have a lot more time to connect, bond and build up some sort of rapport that can translate on camera.

Also, of course, bigger budget movies will reel in  different crop of actors, writers, directors, editors and beyond.

From all that I have learned and read about, in some cases the casting for Hallmark movies is rather last minute.  Last minute in the world of made-for-TV movies could mean 3 weeks before filming starts (which is what Paul Campbell has talked about), or a couple of days before filming (which Andrew Walker has mentioned).  Or the two leads might not even meet until they are just about to do a romantic scene together.   So I think it comes down to a matter of who is available to work when the filming begins, and who might be a decent enough match for a leading lady or leading man, visually or aesthetically and age-wise.  That leads to actors being paired up who might not be the best match for each other.

It's helpful if couples who have a proven track record of chemistry and sparks in previous movies can work together again, but sometimes their second efforts are not as strong as their first ones (I would say that is the case for Andrew Walker and Arielle Kebbel).

Edited to add:  Kristoffer Polaha (who just starred in Rocky Mountain Christmas with Lindy Booth) was on Home & Family the other day, and he talked about having a 'getting to know your co-star' dinner with Meghan Markle right before they filmed Dater's Handbook.   He said they kept in touch for a couple of months, until about February (right after their movie premiered), and then she met Prince Harry the next month or so.

Edited December 25, 2017 by TVFan17
typo -- as usual!

[Luckylyn]

The crazy amount a films per year and quick shooting schedule don’t leave enough time to make quality films.   There are a few gems here and there but it’s a huge contrast in quality from previous years.   Hallmark movies used to be an event that people talked about.  It had impact and were some of the best movies.  Now quanity is valued more than quality.

[GaT]

WHOO HOO!!!! The long Christmas nightmare is almost over, January 7th the mysteries start back up finally. 

[In2You]

4 hours ago, dcinmb said:

International Business Times: Why Are Hallmark Movie Casts So White? We Asked The CEO

And every year the CEO has a BS answer to this question. 1 movie out of multiple is not enough. I'm familiar with Melissa De La Cruz having read a couple of her books when I was a teen.  I remember liking Fresh off the Boat when it had been released. If you're gonna brag about incorporating non white writers how about incorporating diversity onscreen for the projects their names are attached to? Every year they give an answer about it being a process. They're doing movies almost every weekend during the year it shouldn't be that long or difficult of a process. They have no problem casting well known black actresses in their movies and having them take a backseat to their lesser known leads. And they really need to stop using Canada filming as an excuse like they don't cast American actors and actresses all the time and  as if Canada does not have non white actors.

[Jaded]

32 minutes ago, GaT said:

WHOO HOO!!!! The long Christmas nightmare is almost over, January 7th the mysteries start back up finally. 

I wanted to post this a couple days ago but chickened out. I've been thinking the same when it comes to "The long Christmas nightmare" finally being over though.

Edited December 25, 2017 by Jaded

[GaT]

Just now, Jaded said:

I wanted to post this a couple days ago but chickened out. I've been thinking the same thing about "The long Christmas nightmare" though.

I stopped watching this channel when the Christmas movies start (as I do every year), so it's been months since I even thought about Hallmark.

[Luckylyn]

The Canada excuse is ridiculous.  There are plenty of people of color in Canada.  The excuse that they already have deals with actors also doesn’t fly because although they like to reuse the same people a lot they do cast new people as leads too.  They make a huge amount of films a year.  The lack of diversity in leads is glaring.  They cast people of color as supporting players and so clearly they do have a talent pool they can tap into to have more diversity in leads.  They’ve taken supporting players from previous movies and given them the lead.  It’s just weird they way they act like casting people of color is so arduous.  

[Jaded]

7 minutes ago, GaT said:

I stopped watching this channel when the Christmas movies start (as I do every year), so it's been months since I even thought about Hallmark.

I haven't watched since they started either. It's been funny reading this thread, seeing the titles for all the movies and seeing them listed in the Titan TV Guide I use online (because AT&T got rid of theirs unless customers use their app). I commend those of you who can keep up with all the similarly titled movies because they are running out of Christmas sounding ones.

Edited December 25, 2017 by Jaded

[Sara2009]

On 12/11/2017 at 10:01 PM, TVFan17 said:

No problem!

Unlike the last couple of WInterfest events, this time around they seem to be heavily leaning on a tie-in with the Winter Olympics.  Love on the Slopes is very Winter sports-oriented.   Frozen in Love has a hockey element in it.   The Heart of the Mountain has a big skiing element to it.  So, because of that continuing sports theme, I'm not sure what I will think of them.   I have also felt that the Winterfest movies have been hit or miss in the past.

I would have never really thought to put Lacey and Andrew together in a movie, for some odd reason that I can't even pinpoint, but I have to admit that I am curious about how it will pan out.  

And the Danica-Cameron movie is another situation where I never really thought about those 2 actors paired up together, and yet I am intrigued to see it.  Cameron's last Hallmark movie, At Home in Mitford, got a lot of negative feedback -- largely because people did not like him with Andie MacDowell due to the age difference.  So, at least the Danica-Cameron pairing is more age-appropriate, I guess.

It seems like Hallmark is premiering Holly's reality series either right before or right after WCTH's season premiere.  I am guessing they're trying to lure in some of the WCTH audience and get them to watch her show.   That is an interesting programming choice to me, because I would not typically think "The WCTH audience will just love a reality series!!"    But her movie mystery series will be on the other channel, I think in January, and she'll be paired up with Rick Fox for that one.

 

I keep wondering what they are going to do with those two already-filmed royal movies.     It might be too much 'royal' to premiere them both for a 2-week Valentine event, I think.   But Andrew Cooper, the leading man in Family Royal (or whatever it ends up being called), said quite a while back that his movie with Cindy Busby and James Brolin would premiere in February.  And yet, the Bethany Joy Lenz-Will Kemp movie, Royal Matchmaker, sounds like it would fit into a Valentine event.

So that's what makes me wonder if Hallmark might be hanging on to the 2 royal movies for some sort of mini-movie event with a royal focus, to fill the gaps in between the bigger movie events -- like in either March or May.  Or, they could be planning to air one of them on the Hallmark Channel and one on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.   Or maybe one of them on Hallmark Movies Now, as new content for streaming.

I haven’t seen “ At Home in Mitford,” but I’m sort of surprised that people had a problem with the age difference. They’re only 11 years apart, which isn’t really a big deal at their ages IMO.

[In2You]

3 hours ago, GaT said:

WHOO HOO!!!! The long Christmas nightmare is almost over, January 7th the mysteries start back up finally. 

They should've done some Christmas themed mysteries

[In2You]

2 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

The Canada excuse is ridiculous.  There are plenty of people of color in Canada.  The excuse that they already have deals with actors also doesn’t fly because although they like to reuse the same people a lot they do cast new people as leads too.  They make a huge amount of films a year.  The lack of diversity in leads is glaring.  They cast people of color as supporting players and so clearly they do have a talent pool they can tap into to have more diversity in leads.  They’ve taken supporting players from previous movies and given them the lead.  It’s just weird they way they act like casting people of color is so arduous.  

Vanessa Morgan who is a Canadian actress and currently stars on Riverdale had tweeted her frustrations about it last year. 

[Kaoteek]

Bedridden for the past three days (yay Christmas !), I'm barely starting to catch up with the last few movies on my list (still have Angry Angel to watch !), so : Rocky Mountain Christmas. Meh. I liked the cast, it wasn't too cheap looking, it was clearly on the melodramatic/HM&M side of things, but overall, things were too by-the-book to make much of an impression on me. (I wish they'd give Paige McCulloch & Rhonda Dent some bigger parts, though)

[LegallyRed2]

Well, they could be like iOn (or the film distributor) and dump every ethnic character they can find in one terrible steaming piece of caca movie like A Christmas Cruise and call it a day, so let's be happy they don't dial it in like that. My God, was it bad....

[Kaoteek]

Christmas Getaway. Meh again. I usually like Travis Van Winkle, & I don't mind Bridget Regan, but I just didn't care for the overall tone of this one, which seemed to aim, early on, for light-hearted, laid back comedic romance (with a Psych director at the helm, not surprising), but ended up feeling forced (as in "wouldn't it be hilarious if Bridget just came out of nowhere and kicked Travis in the knee while making crazy eyes !? How's that for a meet-cute ?") and uneven to me, especially with the final half-hour going back to the usual Hallmark tropes and misunderstandings. Nothing awful, but it just left me cold.

[BrainyBlonde]

My fellow Hallmark lovers, hightail it over to the Passionflix site and watch The Trouble With Mistletoe, which stars Rachel Melvin and Thomas Beaudoin (hottie from The Spirit of Christmas, which aired on Lifetime a few years ago, and the upcoming Winterfest movie, Love on the Slopes). This movie was the perfect blend of cute, quirky, romantic, funny, and poignant. The actors had fantastic chemistry and love scenes that put all of these final scene peck on the lips kisses in Hallmark movies to shame! Mistletoe was based on a book by Jill Shalvis, so there was a good story and characterizations. Fingers crossed that Passionflix will keep making RomComs like this. If they do, they might just give Hallmark a run for their money!

[TVFan17]

1 hour ago, BrainyBlonde said:

My fellow Hallmark lovers, hightail it over to the Passionflix site and watch The Trouble With Mistletoe, which stars Rachel Melvin and Thomas Beaudoin (hottie from The Spirit of Christmas, which aired on Lifetime a few years ago, and the upcoming Winterfest movie, Love on the Slopes). This movie was the perfect blend of cute, quirky, romantic, funny, and poignant. The actors had fantastic chemistry and love scenes that put all of these final scene peck on the lips kisses in Hallmark movies to shame! Mistletoe was based on a book by Jill Shalvis, so there was a good story and characterizations. Fingers crossed that Passionflix will keep making RomComs like this. If they do, they might just give Hallmark a run for their money!

 

PassionFlix has another one coming up at some point in 2018, I suppose.  It is The Matchmaker's Playbook -- http://www.dogeareddaydreams.com/2017/12/passionflix-announcement-matchmakers.html

Edited December 26, 2017 by TVFan17

[Ashforth]

I kept getting the feeling this year that the streets of Christmas Valley, Pine Grove, and any number of remote snowy towns, or even big cities, were strewn with the bodies of mothers who died young under vague circumstances so that their adorable motherless children could immediately bond with the heroine of the movie while she and the widower fell in love, all topped off with a chaste kiss at the end.

 

Obviously, I watched them. I have no shame.

Edited December 26, 2017 by Ashforth

[twoods]

When I watched the Mistletoe Promise last year,  I thought it was a decent movie. After seeing so many subpar movies this year, I watched it again and appreciated it a lot more. The story was good and the chemistry was definitely there. Jamie King needs to be in more movies. 

 

I love Sam Page, but his accent in the New Years movie is terrible. 

Edited December 27, 2017 by twoods

[TVFan17]

Yes... the accent Sam Page is using in that snippet from the upcoming New Year's Eve movie is worrisome.   I am hoping that the accent either gets better, and that we just happened to hear a bad sample of it, or that there is some sort of reason why the character is faking an accent (badly) in the story, when he doesn't really have an accent at all.    Otherwise, if he is using that accent throughout the whole movie, then I have to wonder why Hallmark didn't recruit another British actor to play the royal character.

About The Mistletoe Promise -- I had a similar reaction, twoods.  Last year I thought it was decent -- nothing that cracked my Top 10 Favorite Hallmark Christmas Movies of All Time list or anything, but I certainly thought it was better than a lot of other people did.  This year, I liked it much more.  I didn't even necessarily plan to watch it again, but it appeared at a convenient time and I thought I would give it another shot, which proved to be a good decision.

That's what happens a lot for me.   If a new movie doesn't grab me on the first viewing, I might watch it again way down the road -- even a full year or two later -- and find that I like it much more than I did the first time, or that I even love it.  Just this year alone I have re-watched a lot of what I thought were the so-so movies from last year's new group ((Christmas Cookies, My Christmas Dream, A Dream of Christmas,  Every Christmas Has a Story, Love You Like Christmas. Christmas in Homestead and Looks Like Christmas) and liked each one of them much more than I did in 2016, which was a pleasant surprise.  And now I would happily watch them again if they popped up at a time that is convenient. 

I am predicting that, one year from now, if I re-watch some of the movies from the 2017 group that I thought were just so-so, I will like them a lot more than I did this year.    Now, don't get me wrong -- I'm not saying that every single movie, every year, is a gem.  There are plenty of them that I don't need to watch again and I am fine with continuing to believe they are "just OK" at best.  But I think that a lot of the movies are actually better than they seem, or better than I think they are, upon first viewing (when they are lumped into the whirlwind of chaos known as the TV Christmas movie season).  Sometimes, for me, not only do I need some time away from all Christmas movies, but I also need to be in a different mindset and different mood, under different circumstances, to watch something again and enjoy it.

Edited December 27, 2017 by TVFan17
forgot to add a title

[sacrebleu]

Quote

I thoroughly enjoyed Christmas Getaway

Me too! I really like Briget Regan -- she seems to be a better actress than the typical Hallmark heroine. Also, they get bonus points for ponying up the $$ to get the Darlene Love Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home). 

 

Quote

I kept getting the feeling this year that the streets of Christmas Valley, Pine Grove, and any number of remote snowy towns, or even big cities, were strewn with the bodies of mothers who died young under vague circumstances so that their adorable motherless children could immediately bond with the heroine of the movie while she and the widower fell in love, all topped off with a chaste kiss at the end.

 

My sister in law and I were joking about this over the holiday. She was the one who first introduced me to the Hallmark holiday movies. She started watching them a few years back when she was on maternity leave and as a new mother-- couldn't stand to watch anything too scary or traumatic. We kept joking how now that her kids were older-- it was just about the right time for her to pass away tragically so my brother could find love and their two adorable girls could bond with some career gal who learns the true meaning of Christmas.

It's even funnier because my sister in law really does love Christmas and always goes all out with decorations and Christmas music-- she is a perfect Hallmark movie dead wife. 

[Koalagirl]

On December 24, 2017 at 2:03 PM, Karen885 said:

I finally watched Christmas Train and hated it.  It was a pleasant enough movie until the end 

 

*SPOILERS*

 

 

 

 

I hated how the entire movie ended up being a play put on by the director to get the main characters together.  The entire movie was fake.  Not a fan.

I totally agree with you.  I thought the ending was a complete cop-out.  What a disappointment.

[JasminePhyllisia]

19 hours ago, twoods said:

When I watched the Mistletoe Promise last year,  I thought it was a decent movie. After seeing so many subpar movies this year, I watched it again and appreciated it a lot more. The story was good and the chemistry was definitely there. Jamie King needs to be in more movies. 

 

I love Sam Page, but his accent in the New Years movie is terrible. 

This is the one Hallmark Christmas movie I've (deliberately) watched in literally a few years. The last one I can remember watching was a few years ago, it had Neil Patrick Harris and Debbie Reynolds and I don't think it was new then. I didn't see the first half of Mistletoe Promise so didn't realize that was Jamie King until reading your post.  I kept thinking she looked like Kimberly Williams Paisley, who was in a TV movie mentioned up thread called Follow the Stars Home, a minor masterpiece (at least in the world of Hallmark movies) which I've watched many times.

[ButterQueen]

On 12/24/2017 at 1:04 PM, TVFan17 said:

I thought that, even if she wanted to use that kind of old suitcase for whatever reason, it seemed very small to me.  It didn't look like it could hold much of anything, nor did the other bag she was carrying.  She had a bulky jacket and a coat, and probably more than one pair of shoes and more than one outfit.  I kept thinking she must have more luggage stashed somewhere in her car, or just off camera.

The car was confusing, especially since it was clear that it was not in top shape.

I love how all the female leads have about 5-6 beautiful winter coats on hand.

On 12/25/2017 at 6:02 PM, TVFan17 said:

PassionFlix has another one coming up at some point in 2018, I suppose.  It is The Matchmaker's Playbook -- http://www.dogeareddaydreams.com/2017/12/passionflix-announcement-matchmakers.html

Is that a free site?  Their terms of service was very confusing.

[Luckylyn]

1 hour ago, JasminePhyllisia said:

This is the one Hallmark Christmas movie I've (deliberately) watched in literally a few years. The last one I can remember watching was a few years ago, it had Neil Patrick Harris and Debbie Reynolds and I don't think it was new then. I didn't see the first half of Mistletoe Promise so didn't realize that was Jamie King until reading your post.  I kept thinking she looked like Kimberly Williams Paisley, who was in a TV movie mentioned up thread called Follow the Stars Home, a minor masterpiece (at least in the world of Hallmark movies) which I've watched many times.

I love that older movie with Debbie Reynolds, Naomi Watts, and Neil Patrick Harris.  I think it was called The Christmas Wish or maybe The Christmas Gift.  I haven’t seen that one on tv in a while.  It checks so many cliche boxes but at the same time it is so well done.   It’s such a good movie.  I really liked Neil’s journey to discover his Grandfather’s secret.  I’m sad that older better quality movies have gone out of the rotation.  

[EyewatchTV211]

29 minutes ago, Luckylyn said:

I love that older movie with Debbie Reynolds, Naomi Watts, and Neil Patrick Harris.  I think it was called The Christmas Wish or maybe The Christmas Gift.  I haven’t seen that one on tv in a while.  It checks so many cliche boxes but at the same time it is so well done.   It’s such a good movie.  I really liked Neil’s journey to discover his Grandfather’s secret.  I’m sad that older better quality movies have gone out of the rotation.  

I didn't watch it this year, but I thought I did see it on the guide as being played.

[TVFan17]

1 hour ago, ButterQueen said:

I love how all the female leads have about 5-6 beautiful winter coats on hand.

Is that a free site?  Their terms of service was very confusing.

I wish I knew about PassionFlix!  Your guess is as good as mine.  I suppose I always assumed that PassionFlix was a streaming service with a charge of some sort -- like a Netflix type of situation, but for romance-oriented stories -- but I could be completely wrong.   I really didn't even hear about PassionFlix until early this year.  At that time I figured there would never be any reason for me to sign up for PassionFlix -- no content I would need to see -- so I never looked into it.   I recently saw something online about the Matchmaker's Playbook movie being made, so I had that link handy.    But now it seems like they are getting into the Christmas movie game, as well as making others too, so I wonder if it is anything worth looking into?

[twoods]

Christmas  Getaway was very pleasant. The chemistry between the leads was good and they both could act!  The kid was not annoying, and Bridget Reagan is absolutely gorgeous. I hope she's in some more movies. The usual annoying misunderstanding at the end nearly ruined it, but I will watch it again.

Edited December 28, 2017 by twoods

[TVFan17]

1 hour ago, twoods said:

Christmas  Getaway was very pleasant. The chemistry between the leads was good and they both could act!  The kid was not annoying, and Bridget Reagan is absolutely gorgeous. I hope she's in some more movies. The usual annoying misunderstanding at the end nearly ruined it, but I will watch it again.

Yes.  If I had to pick any one thing to gripe about in Christmas Getaway, it would be that completely unnecessary misunderstanding that popped up.  Now, we all know that there will be a misunderstanding of some sort in almost every movie, but this one seemed so out of left field because it was clear all along that the other woman (Alice) was not anything to worry about.  Scott/Travis wasn't into her.   He never acted like he was into her.    He kept insisting he was not going on dates with her.   He acted like he was interested in Emory/Bridget, so Emory should have known better.

But other than that little bit of silliness, it was a really enjoyable movie.   I  liked that their previous attempts at kisses had been interrupted, and she finally just grabbed him and planted one on him.  And I chuckled at the little almond bit at the end of the movie. 

I also liked Teryl Rothery as Scott's mom.  And I liked Alvin Sanders as Hal -- the candy and travel guy with the ATV.

One of the writers (but not the only writer) of this movie is Tracy Andreen, who wrote the delightful Snow Bride (she is Katrina Law's sister-in-law in real life).  And she wrote the new UP movie,  Christmas Princess.   She was one of the writers on All for Love, with Sara Rue and Steve Bacic, from earlier this year.   So she has some talent and potential to write more good stories.   But, then again... she also wrote Switched for Christmas (not one of my favorites this year), so, I don't know how to explain that one away.  LOL

Edited December 28, 2017 by TVFan17

[BrainyBlonde]

13 hours ago, ButterQueen said:

I love how all the female leads have about 5-6 beautiful winter coats on hand.

Is that a free site?  Their terms of service was very confusing.

ButterQueen, TVFan17, and anyone else who's interested, Passionflix is a streaming service that you pay a monthly fee for just like Netflix, Hulu, etc. They have a lot of old, classic, romance-oriented films on the site, as well as a few original movies (more of these are in the works). If you sign up for Passionflix before the end of December, the fee is $3.99 per month for the first year and you can cancel at any time. Go here to sign up at the discounted price: Passionflix at Discounted Rate

For me, it was well worth the $3.99 just to watch The Trouble With Mistletoe with Thomas Beaudoin who's pretty darn dreamy. It was one of the best RomComs I've watched in a while too. ***WARNING***There is adult material in this movie inc. steamy love scenes, a few curse words, and a brief flash of nudity (thanks, Thomas!). ;) I watched the movie on my computer. It was just as simple as signing into the site, finding the movie page, and pressing play. If you have a Smart TV , phone, or tablet, you can also download the Passionflix app and watch there.

[MissyPoo]

On 12/27/2017 at 11:18 PM, TVFan17 said:

Yes.  If I had to pick any one thing to gripe about in Christmas Getaway, it would be that completely unnecessary misunderstanding that popped up.  Now, we all know that there will be a misunderstanding of some sort in almost every movie, but this one seemed so out of left field because it was clear all along that the other woman (Alice) was not anything to worry about.  Scott/Travis wasn't into her.   He never acted like he was into her.    He kept insisting he was not going on dates with her.   He acted like he was interested in Emory/Bridget, so Emory should have known better.

But other than that little bit of silliness, it was a really enjoyable movie.   I  liked that their previous attempts at kisses had been interrupted, and she finally just grabbed him and planted one on him.  And I chuckled at the little almond bit at the end of the movie. 

I also liked Teryl Rothery as Scott's mom.  And I liked Alvin Sanders as Hal -- the candy and travel guy with the ATV.

One of the writers (but not the only writer) of this movie is Tracy Andreen, who wrote the delightful Snow Bride (she is Katrina Law's sister-in-law in real life).  And she wrote the new UP movie,  Christmas Princess.   She was one of the writers on All for Love, with Sara Rue and Steve Bacic, from earlier this year.   So she has some talent and potential to write more good stories.   But, then again... she also wrote Switched for Christmas (not one of my favorites this year), so, I don't know how to explain that one away.  LOL

I was totally just about to ask what was up with Switched For Christmas because I liked her other stuff but maybe she was having an off day or was pressed for time so she tossed that one out. Yeah, we'll go with that lol.

Alvin Sanders is kind of a Hallmark vet. I keep pointing him out as "oh, it's that guy!" whenever I see him. Thanks for the name mention. 

As for the left field misunderstanding, I totally agree. I think with this particular movie, since I enjoyed it so much (the characters were great, story was really good, chemistry was on point, and the comedy quips were funny). I headcannoned that part away because Emory was already scared of commitment and settling down that she made up this reason to distant herself until she was called out by her friend/editor/boss/BBF. Then she had to finally face her fear, not the made up relationship/attraction between Scott and Alice. Anywho, this was one of my faves of the year. A nice treat to round out the end of the marathon.

And thanks for the heads up about the PassionFlix discount, BrainyBlonde. Not too bad a price to check out the movie!

 

Btw, does anyone else have any faves or disappointments this year? Surprise faves or stuff that you were looking forward to but ultimately was let down?

For me:

My faves are: 

Magical Christmas Ornaments

Christmas Getaway

The Perfect Christmas Present

The Mistletoe Inn

A Bramble House Christmas

 

I Liked it:

Wrapped Up in Christmas (Lifetime)

Snowed In Christmas (Lifetime)

All the Lifetime Short Films

Christmas in the Air

Christmas Homecoming

A Gift to Remember

Maggie's Christmas Miracle

Coming Home For Christmas

 

Surprises:

Magical Christmas Ornaments - I didn't expect to like this one that much but I've watched it multiple times and it's become a fave I'll play over and over again.

Coming Home for Christmas - I expected to add this to my faves list. From the description, I was really looking forward to it and liked it upon first viewing but haven't watched it much since then.

Edited December 30, 2017 by MissyPoo

[twoods]

Faves:

Coming Home For Christmas

Wrapped Up In Christmas 

Miss Christmas

Snowed Inn Christmas

Christmas Getaway 

The Mistletoe Inn

Angry Angel (Freeform)

Considering almost half of them are movies that weren't on Hallmark, I'm hoping the quality doesn't decrease even more the next holiday season. At least Winterfest looks promising.

[emjohnson03]

Kudos to those who mentioned the earlier Hallmark movies. "Follow The Stars Home" is one of my favorite movies ever. I still need to read the book! I also do love "Loving Leah", that was a wonderful story and the leads were wonderful!

I will say one of my favorite movies of this year was "An Uncommon Grace." It was on Hallmark Mysteries channel this summer about a woman who was thrown into the Amish world and fell in love with an Amish man. It was beautiful. The book was even more amazing. I really recommend that one, if you can find it. I'm dying for them to do something like that again.

http://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/an-uncommon-grace

All the Christmas movies blend but I really enjoyed "Engaging Father Christmas," as Erin Krakow is one of my favorites. I did watch a few Christmas Hallmark ones but none really stick out to me, but if the lead is cute, I'll watch it.

"The Spirit of Christmas" on Netflix was a winner for me, and I love how it was on there. They need to put more of those movies on there because I would probably watch a movie again.

Looking forward to the "Winterfest" line up and can't wait to see Daniel Lissing's one with Rachel Boston, if only because he gets to use his natural accent. I think it was going to be a Valentine's movie but I heard it got pushed back so maybe not till spring.

Hallmark really won this year in the ratings so I think the formula is here to stay for now. The movies are produced quickly and they have a go-to actress they can always use, so why not?