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

[mikeb]

On 12/8/2018 at 9:00 PM, TVFan17 said:

A couple of quick programming updates.... TWO new (additional) Christmas movies are being added in --

Out of the blue, Hallmark has suddenly added in a 16th Christmas movie to the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel line-up.  It is called "A Christmas for the Books" and it stars Chelsea Kane and Drew Seeley, and it is airing on December 22nd (it bumped the Danica McKellar-Brennan Elliott movie to December 21st).   I remember when this one was filming, but the title was slightly different.  I wondered why it had not appeared on any other channel's line-up.  Hallmark must have just acquired it.   https://www.facebook.com/hallmarkmoviesandmysteries/photos/a.435481080873/10156659822625874/?type=3&theater

And... the movie starring Bobby Campo and (Gregory's daughter) Lily Anne Harrison, "Christmas Camp," which had also not been assigned to any network even though it was referred to as a Hallmark movie back when it filmed in New York, has been added to the Hallmark website -- but it does not yet have a premiere date.  I cannot see a reason for them to add it to the website unless they plan to air it this season, so expect a premiere date to appear before the year is over.  Here is the page for it -- http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/christmas-camp

They tinkered with the HMM schedule yet again.  A Christmas For The Books was moved to Thursday December 20 and Christmas Bells Are Ringing starring Emilie Ullerup was moved from Sunday December 23 to Saturday December 22, with no new movie premiering on HMM Sunday December 23.  Although Christmas Camp is still on the Hallmark website without a premiere date.

[LexieLily]

21 minutes ago, mikeb said:

They tinkered with the HMM schedule yet again.  A Christmas For The Books was moved to Thursday December 20 and Christmas Bells Are Ringing starring Emilie Ullerup was moved from Sunday December 23 to Saturday December 22, with no new movie premiering on HMM Sunday December 23.  Although Christmas Camp is still on the Hallmark website without a premiere date.

Christmas Bells Are Ringing premiers Saturday 12/22, and has other airings on Sunday 12/23, Tuesday 12/25, Wednesday 12/26, Friday 12/28 and Saturday 12/29. That's six airings in only one week. Hallmark REALLY needs to do a better job of what movies they air when.

[Kaoteek]

At this point, tbh, I'm not even sure they're able to keep track of everything they're airing, and when. They're probably just as lost and overwhelmed by the sheer number of similarly-titled Christmas movies as their viewers are. ^^

[TVFan17]

On 12/13/2018 at 11:11 AM, TVFan17 said:

Every year I go over Hallmark's own (very handy and helpful) day-to-day/week-to-week schedules of Christmas movies, and I do a Word sort to alphabetize the titles for each network.   I remove the duplicates and then count how many individual titles there are.  And I also count how many showtimes each movie has -- just to get a sense of which movies are literally only being shown one time, and which ones are being shown 18 times in two months.    The goal is to see exactly how many different movies are in the rotation on each channel, whether they are shown a lot or just a few times, which movies were moved to the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel from the main channel, and which movies are not being shown at all that were shown the previous year.   

I have done this for the last several years.  Sometimes I just keep the lists to myself, for my own reference, and sometimes I share them on Facebook.   I would have happily shared them here in the past, but, to be honest, I didn't think anyone would be interested.    This has always been more of a critical thread than a fan thread, and I always assumed that the people who will most appreciate these kinds of lists and similar info are the ones who are actual fans!  lol  I don't mean any offense by that, but it's just a logical, understandable conclusion to draw.   So hopefully this will be of use to someone out there, somewhere...

Anyway, because Hallmark adds and removes showtimes a lot, it's hard to get exact/conclusive/final numbers for how many showtimes/repeats each movie will have.  They might start out with a plan to only air a movie 2 times in 2 months, and then they suddenly add in extra showtimes.  Or they might start out with a plan to air something 18 times in 2 months, and then they cut out a couple of showtimes.   They seem to change their plans and schedules every week.   So, the number of showtimes listed below may have changed since when I put together these lists over one week ago.

 

***Also keep in mind that the lists below only cover the time frame from Friday, October 26th -- Sunday, December 30th, 2018, BUT Hallmark is showing Christmas movies on each channel up to at least Saturday, January 5, 2019.  So the lists below do NOT cover the showtimes past December 30th, because their own handy lists only go up to December 30th.***

 

Hallmark Channel - Countdown to Christmas -- 94 separate movies are in the rotation in 2018, from 10/26 - 12/30/18.  I am not counting the specials (Amy Grant, Meet the Peetes or Candace Cameron Bure's special in a few days).   These lists include movies only.  

The titles in bold are the brand new movies/premieres.    There are 22 new movies and 72 movies from previous years in this year's Countdown to Christmas rotation, up to 12/30/18.

Source:  Hallmark Channel website and this list --  http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/christmas/countdown-to-christmas-2018-schedule/5#listheader

 

---12 Gifts of Christmas (10 showtimes)
---A Boyfriend for Christmas (5 showtimes)
---A Bride for Christmas (8 showtimes)
---A Christmas Detour (9 showtimes)
---A Christmas Melody (6 showtimes)
---A Cookie Cutter Christmas (7 showtimes)
---A December Bride (10 showtimes)
---A Dream of Christmas (10 showtimes)
---A Gift to Remember (12 showtimes)
---A Gingerbread Romance (6 showtimes)

---A Holiday Engagement (8 showtimes)
---A Majestic Christmas (8 showtimes)
---A Midnight Kiss (2 showtimes)
---A Perfect Christmas (7 showtimes)
---A Rose for Christmas (3 showtimes)
---A Royal Christmas (9 showtimes)
---A Shoe Addict’s Christmas (10 showtimes)
---A Very Merry Mix-Up (8 showtimes)
---A Wish for Christmas (10 showtimes)
---Best Christmas Party Ever (7 showtimes)
---Catch a Christmas Star (3 showtimes)
---Christmas at Cartwright’s (9 showtimes)
---Christmas at Graceland (10 showtimes)
---Christmas at Holly Lodge (11 showtimes)
---Christmas at Pemberley Manor (13 showtimes)
---Christmas at the Palace (9 showtimes)
---Christmas Connection (8 showtimes)
---Christmas Cookies (8 showtimes)
---Christmas Everlasting (4 showtimes on this channel, but there are additional showtimes on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel)
---Christmas Festival of Ice (4 showtimes)
---Christmas Getaway (12 showtimes)
---Christmas in Evergreen (10 showtimes)
---Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa (11 showtimes)
---Christmas in Homestead (9 showtimes)
---Christmas in Love (11 showtimes)
---Christmas Incorporated (7 showtimes)
---Christmas Joy (11 showtimes)
---Christmas Land (6 showtimes)
---Christmas List (8 showtimes)
---Christmas Made to Order (4 showtimes)
---Christmas Next Door (10 showtimes)
---Christmas Under Wraps (12 showtimes)
---Coming Home for Christmas (11 showtimes)
---Crown for Christmas (10 showtimes)
---Enchanted Christmas (10 showtimes)
---Entertaining Christmas (6 showtimes)
---Every Christmas Has a Story (8 showtimes)
---Family for Christmas (2 showtimes)
---Finding Santa (11 showtimes)
---Fir Crazy (4 showtimes)
---Hats Off to Christmas! (4 showtimes)
---Help for the Holidays (3 showtimes)
---Hitched for the Holidays (2 showtimes)
---Homegrown Christmas (7 showtimes)
---I’m Not Ready for Christmas (8 showtimes)
---Ice Sculpture Christmas (7 showtimes)
---It’s Christmas, Eve (11 showtimes)
---Jingle Around the Clock (5 showtimes)
---Just in Time for Christmas (3 showtimes)
---Let It Snow (8 showtimes)
---Looks Like Christmas (3 showtimes)
---Love You Like Christmas (8 showtimes)
---Marry Me at Christmas (9 showtimes)
---Matchmaker Santa (4 showtimes)
---Merry Matrimony (6 showtimes)
---Mingle All the Way (8 showtimes)
---Miss Christmas (10 showtimes)
---My Christmas Dream (10 showtimes)
---My Christmas Love (7 showtimes)
---Naughty or Nice (4 showtimes)
---On the Twelfth Day of Christmas (3 showtimes)
---Once Upon a Holiday (10 showtimes)
---One Starry Christmas (4 showtimes)
---Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe (9 showtimes)
---Reunited at Christmas (10 showtimes)
---Road to Christmas (12 showtimes)
---Royal New Year’s Eve (3 showtimes)
---Sharing Christmas (8 showtimes)
---Sleigh Bells Ring (5 showtimes)
---Snow Bride (8 showtimes)
---Switched for Christmas (12 showtimes)
---The Christmas Cottage (11 showtimes)
---The Christmas Cure (7 showtimes)
---The Christmas Parade (5 showtimes)
---The Mistletoe Inn (4 showtimes)
---The Mistletoe Promise (6 showtimes)
---The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (10 showtimes)
---The Nine Lives of Christmas (9 showtimes)
---The Sweetest Christmas (11 showtimes)
---‘Tis the Season for Love (4 showtimes)
---Welcome to Christmas (7 showtimes)
---When Call the Heart: The Greatest Christmas Blessing (1 showtime)
---Window Wonderland (5 showtimes)
---With Love, Christmas (10 showtimes)

 

************************************************

 

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel - Miracles of Christmas -- 94 separate movies are in the rotation in 2018, from 10/26 - 12/30/18 (I have not added in the showtimes from 12/31/18 - 1/5/19.  I am also not counting Christmas Everlasting in the total number for HMM, even though it is being shown on this channel too.  I am only counting the titles that are not also being shown on the Hallmark Channel).   These lists include movies only -- no one-hour specials.  

The titles in bold are the brand new movies/premieres.    There are 16 new movies and 78 movies from previous years in this year's Miracles of Christmas rotation, up to 12/30/18.

Source:  HMM website and this list -  http://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/miracles-of-christmas/miracles-of-christmas-2018-schedule/5#listheader

 

---A Bramble House Christmas (17 showtimes)
---A Carol Christmas (5 showtimes)
---A Christmas for the Books (4 showtimes -- This one is now scheduled to premiere on Thurs., 12/20)
---A Christmas to Remember (18 showtimes)
---A Christmas Visitor (5 showtimes)
---A Christmas Wish (7 showtimes)
---A Diva’s Christmas Carol (1 showtime)
---A Godwink Christmas (16 showtimes)
---A Grandpa for Christmas (1 showtime)
---A Heavenly Christmas (7 showtimes)
---A Joyous Christmas (10 showtimes)
---A Nutcracker Christmas (5 showtimes)
---A Princess for Christmas (14 showtimes)
---A Song for Christmas (5 showtimes)
---A Town Without Christmas (2 showtimes)
---A Veteran’s Christmas (18 showtimes)
---All I Want for Christmas (7 showtimes)
---Angel in the Family (6 showtimes)
---Angel of Christmas (7 showtimes)
---Angels and Ornaments (3 showtimes -- this was only shown at the end of October, and now it is on the Hallmark Movies Now streaming service)
---Annie Claus is Coming to Town (7 showtimes)
---Baby’s First Christmas (1 showtime)
---Charming Christmas (8 showtimes)
---Christmas at Grand Valley (7 showtimes -- currently scheduled to premiere on Fri., 12/21, but has been moved around a LOT!)
---Christmas Bells are Ringing (5 showtimes -- this has now been moved to Sat., 12/22)
---Christmas Dance (7 showtimes)
---Christmas Encore (8 showtimes)
---Christmas Everlasting (8 showtimes)
---Christmas Homecoming (14 showtimes)
---Christmas in Angel Falls (16 showtimes)
---Christmas in the Air (15 showtimes)
---Christmas Magic (6 showtimes)
---Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane (17 showtimes)
---Christmas Song (4 showtimes)
---Christmas with Holly (9 showtimes)
---Christmas with Tucker (4 showtimes)
---Christmas Wonderland (13 showtimes)
---Debbie Macomber’s Call Me Mrs. Miracle (7 showtimes)
---Debbie Macomber’s Dashing Through the Snow (11 showtimes)
---Debbie Macomber’s Mrs. Miracle (5 showtimes)
---Debbie Macomber’s Trading Christmas (6 showtimes)
---Engaging Father Christmas (12 showtimes)
---Finding Christmas (10 showtimes)
---Finding John Christmas (1 showtime)
---Hearts of Christmas (11 showtimes)
---Home for Christmas Day (10 showtimes)
---Hope at Christmas (19 showtimes)
---I’ll Be Home for Christmas (9 showtimes)
---Journey Back to Christmas (9 showtimes)
---Karen Kingsbury’s The Bridge (4 showtime)
---Karen Kingsbury’s The Bridge Part II (2 showtimes)
---Karen Kingsbury’s Maggie’s Christmas Miracle (12 showtimes)
---Last Vermont Christmas (16 showtimes)
---Love Always, Santa (10 showtimes)
---Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade (5 showtimes)
---Lucky Christmas (3 showtimes)
---Magic Stocking (13 showtimes)
---Magical Christmas Ornaments (13 showtimes)
---Marrying Father Christmas (14 showtimes)
---Meet the Santas (1 showtime)
---Memories of Christmas (9 showtimes)
---Mistletoe Over Manhattan (4 showtimes)
---Moonlight & Mistletoe (16 showtimes)
---Ms. Scrooge (2 showtimes)
---Northern Lights of Christmas (8 showtimes)
---Northpole: Open for Christmas (8 showtimes)
---Once Upon a Christmas (9 showtimes)
---Once Upon a Christmas Miracle (11 showtimes)
---Operation Christmas (9 showtimes)
---Our First Christmas (10 showtimes)
---Return to Christmas Creek (17 showtimes)
---Rocky Mountain Christmas (16 showtimes)
---Romance at Reindeer Lodge (13 showtimes)
---Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus (1 showtime)
---Small Town Christmas (8 showtimes)
---Sound of Christmas (8 showtimes)
---The Christmas Blessing (7 showtimes)
---The Christmas Card (9 showtimes)
---The Christmas Heart (2 showtimes)
---The Christmas Note (14 showtimes)
---The Christmas Ornament (12 showtimes)
---The Christmas Pageant (3 showtimes)
---The Christmas Secret (14 showtimes)
---The Christmas Shepherd (4 showtimes)
---The Christmas Spirit (2 showtimes)
---The Christmas Train (6 showtimes)
---The Perfect Christmas Present (9 showtimes)
---The Santa Incident (2 showtimes)
---The Thanksgiving House (2 showtimes)
---The Three Gifts (1 showtime)
---The Town Christmas Forgot (5 showtimes)
---Thomas Kinkade’s Christmas Cottage (1 showtime)
---Time for Me to Come Home for Christmas (10 showtimes)
---Twice Upon a Christmas (7 showtimes)
---When Angels Come to Town (2 showtimes)

***************************************************************

So there are 188 movies in the rotation this year, between the 2 channels.  If they suddenly add in Christmas Camp, it will be 189.

Anything that is noticeably missing from the line-ups this year (that was shown in 2017) is probably headed to the Hallmark Movies Now streaming service. 

 

1 hour ago, mikeb said:

They tinkered with the HMM schedule yet again.  A Christmas For The Books was moved to Thursday December 20 and Christmas Bells Are Ringing starring Emilie Ullerup was moved from Sunday December 23 to Saturday December 22, with no new movie premiering on HMM Sunday December 23.  Although Christmas Camp is still on the Hallmark website without a premiere date.

 

Yes.  I included both of those date changes in my list that I posted here the other day (see above).   I keep up with allllllll of these changes, whether I post them here or not.  But those dates I actually included in the above post.

[LexieLily]

22 minutes ago, Kaoteek said:

At this point, tbh, I'm not even sure they're able to keep track of everything they're airing, and when. They're probably just as lost and overwhelmed by the sheer number of similarly-titled Christmas movies as their viewers are. ^^

Surely they can take away at least half of the multiple airings of the 2018/2017 movies and put some of the older-but-goodies back into the lineup.

Also, they have Marrying Father Christmas (this year) and Engaging Father Christmas (last year) but not the first one, Finding Father Christmas, from 2016. Which is annoying for someone like me that hasn't seen the first movie, or someone that wants to watch again the first two before seeing the third in the series.

Edited December 16, 2018 by LexieLily

[mikeb]

1 hour ago, LexieLily said:

Christmas Bells Are Ringing premiers Saturday 12/22, and has other airings on Sunday 12/23, Tuesday 12/25, Wednesday 12/26, Friday 12/28 and Saturday 12/29. That's six airings in only one week. Hallmark REALLY needs to do a better job of what movies they air when.

It might have been even been more except HMM is showing the yule log for 24 hrs starting 5:00 PM Christmas Eve.

Another odd thing they are doing on both 12/22 and 12/23 in the early morning hours is shrinking two movies to 90 minutes each, instead of regular 2 hrs.  I remember they did this last year as well, with limited commercial interruptions.  Not sure if they also cut any scenes to fit into 90 minutes.

[TVFan17]

7 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

 

Agreed! I love this! I'm looking forward to seeing both of the special, the movie, and more of Rukiya as well. It's sad I'm more excited about the upcoming Winterfest movies than the next few Christmas movies. Except for Tia's.

Glad to see Autumn back, too! She's always a joy to watch. 

I'm surprised to see Natalie Hall again. I haven't seen her since those Love Comes Softly movies and The Seven Year Hitch. I'll keep an eye out for her movie promo.

Yeah I've been waiting on this one for a while now. Bummed there are no updates. 

Thanks for posting this though. I'm curious if there will be burnout with the usual leads doubling for both ongoing mystery movies and the Hallmark romantic comedies. 

I love Autumn, and I like Kavan... but not sure if I will love Autumn and Kavan together.  lol  That is a pairing I had never considered in the past, but I will keep an open mind.

I kind of wonder if making Taylor the leading lady in a new mystery series is a strategic move on Hallmark's part to lure in younger viewers to the HMM audience.   I suspect it is.   I have nothing against Candace, Lori, Kellie, Holly, Alison, Kimberly, etc., but they might not be attracting a younger demographic  -- or attracting the viewers who did not grow up with mystery series on TV (as many of us did).  Not to mention the fact that HMM usually runs really old mystery series like Murder She Wrote and Hart to Hart as filler (nothing wrong with those shows, but they are old), which can make the channel feel dated.

Making Taylor a new woman of mystery might bring in a slightly younger audience.   I am not younger, but I will tune in to at least one of the Ruby Herring movies.   And I also really liked Jill Wagner and Kristoffer Polaha together in Pearl in Paradise, so I will tune in for their new mystery series as well.    Likewise, I will tune in for at least one of the Crossword movies with Lacey and Brennan because I like them together in their other movies.

So whatever HMM is trying to do, it is working to get me more interested in their channel during the non-Christmas months.  I usually just watch HMM in the last 2 months of the year, and I mostly skip the mysteries, with very few exceptions (although, in 2018, I did watch one Emma Fielding, one Gourmet Detective, one Aurora Teagarden, one Garage Sale, one Morning Show and one Hailey Dean).  But they've now got me more interested in watching mysteries because of these new series, so we'll see if I am converted into a mystery fan all of a sudden!  lol

[mikeb]

7 minutes ago, TVFan17 said:

Making Taylor a new woman of mystery might bring in a slightly younger audience.   I am not younger, but I will tune in to at least one of the Ruby Herring movies.   And I also really liked Jill Wagner and Kristoffer Polaha together in Pearl in Paradise, so I will tune in for their new mystery series as well.    Likewise, I will tune in for at least one of the Crossword movies with Lacey and Brennan because I like them together in their other movies.

 

I think the announced plan to have Alexa and Carlos PenaVega star in a mystery series might also have been with a younger audience in mind, but as you mentioned above, that seems to be in limbo.

[twoods]

Whenever the PenaVegas are in movies, they seem to be lower budgeted and not as clean as the other Hallmark ones. Plus, I’m never interested in them and check out after 10 minutes. Do they get high ratings for their movies to warrant a mystery series? Taylor is a good one.

[TVFan17]

26 minutes ago, mikeb said:

I think the announced plan to have Alexa and Carlos PenaVega star in a mystery series might also have been with a younger audience in mind, but as you mentioned above, that seems to be in limbo.

Yes, exactly.  The Alexa-Carlos mystery series was/is definitely a move to not only attract younger viewers, but also most likely to attract a more diverse audience.   And it was supposed to have been filmed this year.   So it seems that Picture Perfect must have been delayed.  Of course, it could have just been delayed for scheduling reasons, but it could have also possibly been delayed for creative reasons -- perhaps Hallmark decided they wanted the script to be tweaked before starting production.   

That's something else to watch out for at the upcoming Winter TCA party that Hallmark hosts (to see if Picture Perfect is re-announced).   Those TCA events are always so fascinating to me, both for the surprise projects that are announced and for the projects that are not announced.  For example, we'll know that if nothing is said about another Darrow & Darrow at the TCA, then it's probably on hold or completely over.   If nothing new is said about Picture Perfect, we'll know that it's further delayed or on hold.

The TCA parties are also always fun to follow (in photos and videos) because there is always some random person who shows up that has not been in any Hallmark series or movies thus far, which is a blatant clue that they will be in an upcoming project, even if that project is not announced at that TCA, and even if that project doesn't see the light of day for another year or two.   At one of the last TCA events, Shawn Christian (Taylor Cole's former stepdad) showed up.  At the time I thought he was just there to accompany Taylor, but now we see that he is in the new Ruby Herring movie, so he must have had that project in development all year.  Steven R. McQueen was at the last January/Winter TCA, and we eventually found out that he was starring in one of the Spring Fever movies.     At the Summer/July TCA, both Jerrika Hinton and Erin Cahill were there (Erin has not been a regular at the Hallmark TCA parties although she starred in a movie for them a couple of years ago) -- and their projects were not announced at that point, but now we know that each one of them starred in a Christmas movie this year.   So I love looking for the random unexpected people who show up, because that means they will appear in something coming up!!

Edited December 16, 2018 by TVFan17

[Irlandesa]

17 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

I watched Entertaining Christmas and I liked it, I think mostly due to the leads. I appreciate that Jodie Sweeten has a different energy than most of the Hallmark leading ladies, so I hope they keep her around for some variety. And I'm a total sucker for Brendan Fehr since Roswell so I'm probably a little biased about their chemistry :-)

My main annoyance with the movie is that it didn't feel like a Christmas movie as much as a movie that happened to take place at Christmas. The dad could have been coming home in February or June or September, and the plot would be no different. I still liked it, but seems like more evidence that they need to calm down with quantity at Christmas. 

So many of their movies are like this, though.  At Christmas, the lead comes back to save her family's Christmas Tree Farm/Toy Store/Christmas Cookie Shop.  In the spring, it's the tulip farm.  In the summer, it's a winery.  In the fall, it's a pumpkin farm. 

I think what Entertaining Christmas did was a feature.  It was a story that could be extrapolated out to any other time of year--both the soldier coming home and the not-crafty daughter being caught at being not-so-crafty.  And yet everything about it was intentionally for the season.

I think Jodie Sweeten the best thing Candace Cameron Bure has brought to Hallmark. (Not that I know she brought her over but I think Jodie starting appearing in Hallmark movies around the time Fuller House kicked up.  )  I like her vibe too and she seems to develop good chemistry with her co-stars.

I gave up on Northern Lights.  I don't mind Ashley Williams as much as others here but that movie did nothing for me.

[Happywatcher]

A Gingerbread Romance... I have mixed feelings. Tia is larger than most actresses on Hallmark, but it wasn't jarring. The romance seemed sweet and real. The best friend coworker relationship was also fun.

The bitch boss was jarring because she was being mean for no good reason. The bakery/set design idea probably seemed a lot cooler in the writer's room, but they didn't really have the budget or time to do it right.

Edited December 17, 2018 by Happywatcher

[sistersledge]

I guess I’ll be only one over here who doesn’t like Jodie sweeten’s acting style or Taylor cole. Something about both of them bug me. 

Edited December 17, 2018 by sistersledge

[Woopwoopkitty]

I’m sure someone has done a drinking game, but has anybody done a cliche scorecard?

Let’s say we start with a common trope, such as big city girl with semi-jerk boyfriend goes home to a small town and encounters her high school flame.

then we add points for each of the following cliches:

• a town square tree lighting
• stranded at the airport in a winter storm
• parents died in a car crash when she was young
• making gingerbread houses
• ice skating
• A festival or craft booths
• kissing under the mistletoe
• a town factory closing (toys, cookies, hats, whatever)
• etc.

 

What did I miss?

edit: I missed

•  a character with a Christmas name such as Holly

Edited December 17, 2018 by Woopwoopkitty

[Jaded]

41 minutes ago, Happywatcher said:

A Gingerbread Romance... I have mixed feelings. Tia is larger than most actresses on Hallmark, but it wasn't jarring. The romance seemed sweet and real. The best friend coworker relationship was also fun.

The bitch boss was jarring because she was being mean for no good reason. The bakery/set design idea probably seemed a lot cooler in the writer's room, but they didn't really have the budget or time to do it right.

 

Tia had a baby in May of 2018 and this movie was filmed in Oct apparently from what I can find online. Lingering baby weight may have something to do with her size in this movie and the one she did for Lifetime. I didn't notice her being more shapely until the 2nd half of the movie. I liked her in both. I think this was 6th or 7th Christmas movie I've watched so far this year and it's one I don't regret spending two hours on.

I liked A Gingerbread Romance for the most part even if it did feel like they did too much in the first half so it felt like they were filling time at different points during the second. It was nice to see one of the female leads in these movies having to choose between two big cities with one actually being out of the country. I also liked that she didn't have to choose between two love interests. The little girl playing the daughter was really cute and played her part well. Melissa Peterman's boss character was like too many other obnoxious and overbearing characters that she's played in TV shows including her time as a contestant on Worst Cooks In America. 

Edited December 17, 2018 by Jaded

[Happywatcher]

4 minutes ago, Woopwoopkitty said:

I’m sure someone has done a drinking game, but has anybody done a cliche scorecard?

Let’s say we start with a common trope, such as big city girl with semi-jerk boyfriend goes home to a small town and encounters her high school flame.

then we add points for each of the following cliches:

• a town square tree lighting
• stranded at the airport in a winter storm
• parents died in a car crash when she was young
• making gingerbread houses
• ice skating
• A festival or craft booths
• kissing under the mistletoe
• a town factory closing (toys, cookies, hats, whatever)
• etc.

what did did I miss?

Mary Katherine Ham has A Christmas Ham podast where she and a changing cast of her Fox costars watch and comment on the movies. She has a 28 item scorecard that is really close to this.

[Irlandesa]

9 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

I love Autumn, and I like Kavan... but not sure if I will love Autumn and Kavan together.  lol  That is a pairing I had never considered in the past, but I will keep an open mind.

Making Taylor a new woman of mystery might bring in a slightly younger audience.   I am not younger, but I will tune in to at least one of the Ruby Herring movies.   And I also really liked Jill Wagner and Kristoffer Polaha together in Pearl in Paradise, so I will tune in for their new mystery series as well.  

1) Y eah, I don't see Autumn and Kavan being a great pairing.  My gut could be wrong but I'm having a tough time seeing it.

2)  I am really happy Jill Wagner and Kristoffer Polaha are going to be doing more movies together as PiP was one of my favorites from last year.

Kristoffer was the star of tonight's Smalltown Christmas movie and I think he's my holiday boyfriend.  He's just effortlessly charming.  Overall, I thought it was pleasantly watchable.  It's perhaps not unique enough to watch multiple times but it made me feel good.  Although, did they ever mention kringles for Kringlefest?  Because a Kringlefest in WI would be about these more than this.

[TVFan17]

1 minute ago, Irlandesa said:

1) Y eah, I don't see Autumn and Kavan being a great pairing.  My gut could be wrong but I'm having a tough time seeing it.

2)  I am really happy Jill Wagner and Kristoffer Polaha are going to be doing more movies together as PiP was one of my favorites from last year.

Kristoffer was the star of tonight's Smalltown Christmas movie and I think he's my holiday boyfriend.  He's just effortlessly charming.  Overall, I thought it was pleasantly watchable.  It's perhaps not unique enough to watch multiple times but it made me feel good.  Although, did they ever mention kringles for Kringlefest?  Because a Kringlefest in WI would be about these more than this.

 

I was really surprised when I first saw that Autumn was going to be the lead in Kavan's movie (Kavan wrote the movie they are doing).  It's not a match I ever would have considered.  

Kristoffer has really grown on me in the last year.   For some reason or another, I didn't really care about him one way or the other in his first couple of movies for Hallmark.   Ever since Rocky Mountain Christmas last year, now I find myself looking forward to his movies.  I loved Pearl in Paradise and I hope his fun interaction with Jill carries over to their mystery series.

I agree with you about Small Town Christmas.   It's not necessarily a movie I would go out of my way to watch every time I see that it's on, but I would certainly watch it again at some point.   It was very pleasant, and the leads were good together.    His charm really stole the show (I mean, they had to get someone reasonably charming in that role to make us understand why this beautiful woman with gorgeous eyes had been pining for him all those years!).

I noticed that some of the same background props were used in both A Gingerbread Romance and in Small Town Christmas (like the giant inflatable reindeer and the kiosk sign that I think said something along the lines of "Holiday Treats").  That reindeer has appeared in other movies for both Hallmark and Lifetime in the past too -- either that, or there is a warehouse full of giant inflatable reindeer that the production companies are pulling from.

 

And, of course, Folgers got some exposure in both last night's Jodie Sweetin movie and tonight's Tia Mowry movie!  I do love a good product placement.  (Did anyone catch the Jergens sighting in Mingle All the Way?  Winter causes dry skin, after all!!)   However, I wonder why we never see any placements for cocoa/hot chocolate.   Why isn't Swiss Miss stepping up to get in on that action?  What about Nestle?  

[MissyPoo]

16 hours ago, mikeb said:

I wonder if they may transition some of them to a Candice Cameron Bure workload.  She has only been doing the Aurora Teagarden mystery movies and Christmas movies - she has not been doing any non-Christmas romantic movies (although that may be to allow time for her non-Hallmark projects).    Danica will be 44 in couple weeks and I think some of her recent romantic movies haven't really fit someone in their 40s.

Oooh that's a good point. They seemed to have a new roster of folks from the Christmas movies to set them up for future rom com territory. I didn't realize she was turning 44 either (homegirl still looks younger) and their vets may double for Christmas and mystery movies. I noticed they did the same with Lori Loughlin. 

12 hours ago, mikeb said:

Although Christmas Camp is still on the Hallmark website without a premiere date.

Interesting bit about this one. I was looking at a list of feature length theatrical movies that were featured in an article from IMDB or somewhere. I just tried looking for it but I lost the page on my phone (arrgh). In any event, it looks like this one will be out in theaters at least as a premiere. There's a Christmas Day release date and from that article it said something about a limited release in a few areas. They even have a poster already.

 

5 hours ago, sistersledge said:

I guess I’ll be only one over here who doesn’t like Jodie sweeten’s acting style or Taylor cole.

 I'm not too keen on Jodie S. though she played my fave Full House character. I'm not really drawn to her Hallmark movies much. I felt the same way about Taylor Cole in her early movies but her later ones have been growing on me a bit.

[TVFan17]

Christmas Camp is supposedly premiering on Canada's Super Channel on December 19th.    Karen, the author, had not known that the movie had a page on Hallmark's website at first -- she only knew about Super Channel's premiere as far as the TV airing of it -- but I think that now she must  be trying to find out when or if Hallmark is actually airing it.   (It already premiered at a theater in Toronto, if I recall correctly, or it's just about to premiere.)

The way that Hallmark is handling the addition of A Christmas for the Books to the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries line-up is to say that it is part of the Miracles of Christmas "finale event" and to say that it is a "thank you" to the viewers for making the event a success, or however they are wording it.

So it is entirely possible that Hallmark has the same plan for Christmas Camp on the Hallmark Channel.  Perhaps they plan to air it towards the end of the Countdown to Christmas, or closer to the New Year, as part of the "finale event" and to "thank the viewers" again.  While it seems like these are last minute decisions on their part, it is possible that they have had these surprise last-minute additions planned for quite a while.  It's also possible that Hallmark might move the movie to their streaming service at some point and bypass the linear channels entirely (which they did with a Nicky Whelan--Greg Vaughan movie earlier this year).  We'll see.

 

As for Jodie Sweetin... I think my main issue with her is that I just don't see her as a leading lady.   There are some child stars who grow up and I can see past the cherubic, innocent faces they once had as kids to view them as fully grown adults (because their faces change enough to make me realize they are adults).  With Jodie, I cannot get past the fact that her face (to me) looks exactly like it did when she was a child on Full House.  I still see her as that same kid.   She is taller and has a different hairstyle, but she still looks like that little girl and I can't see her as a romantic lead because of it.

I had the same issue with Kimberly McCullough, an actress who plays/played the character of Robin Scorpio on General Hospital, when I used to watch that show.  She first joined GH when she was 6 years old, and her face stayed the same as she aged and became a fully grown adult involved in romantic relationships on the show.  I still saw her baby face and thought of her as 6 years old.  I could never see her as this object of desire in a soap opera romance!

Edited December 17, 2018 by TVFan17

[kirinan]

4 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

Kristoffer has really grown on me in the last year.   For some reason or another, I didn't really care about him one way or the other in his first couple of movies for Hallmark.   Ever since Rocky Mountain Christmas last year, now I find myself looking forward to his movies.  I loved Pearl in Paradise and I hope his fun interaction with Jill carries over to their mystery series.

Me, too, TVFan17! I tried to watch him in Dater's Handbook (which I never got through) and another movie I can't remember the name of offhand, and he just never made an impression on me. But he won me over with a twofer: Rocky Mountain Christmas, followed by his Deck the Hallmark podcast. He was so funny in the podcast, and doesn't mind poking fun at himself--or at the Hallmark movies, although he does that in a very gentle and affectionate way. You can tell he appreciates his good fortune. And then came Pearl in Paradise, and since I already like Jill Wagner I was hooked. I will definitely watch their HMM movies.

ETA: I enjoyed Small Town Christmas tonight, as well. It was a very likable movie, and I'm glad they didn't turn Brad the developer all the way to the dark side. Everything just kinda...worked out, and that made me happy. 

Edited December 17, 2018 by kirinan

[mikeb]

20 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

Christmas Camp is supposedly premiering on Canada's Super Channel on December 19th.    Karen, the author, had not known that the movie had a page on Hallmark's website at first -- she only knew about Super Channel's premiere as far as the TV airing of it -- but I think that now she must  be trying to find out when or if Hallmark is actually airing it.   (It already premiered at a theater in Toronto, if I recall correctly, or it's just about to premiere.).

 

I found the Super Channel's Christmas movie website https://www.superchannel.ca/christmas and it seems to be a mix of movies shown on Hallmark Channel and Lifetime Channel here in the United States, along with some others I don't recognize (maybe shown on Freeform, ION, etc?).  I thought that the W Network in Canada had exclusive rights to Hallmark Channel movies based on this press release from October https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hallmark-channel-makes-long-awaited-canadian-debut-on-w-network-in-landmark-content-deal-with-corus-entertainment-300738011.html but maybe that only applies to movies made BY Hallmark Channel instead of all movies shown ON Hallmark Channel.   In any event, it seems like there is an over-saturation of Christmas movies in Canada, just like here.

 

Folks interested in behind-the-scenes stories may want to check out "How My Book Became a Movie" by Robin Jones Gunn, a Kindle ebook available on Amazon.  It is written by the author of the "Father Christmas" books and details the long process involved in getting the books made into Hallmark movies.  The first one was first pitched to Hallmark in 2011 and was rejected twice before Hallmark finally was happy with adaptations made to script in 2015.

[Kaoteek]

Funnily enough, Christmas Camp is airing tomorrow, here in France. So it will be France, then Canada, then maybe, later on, the US ?

[TVFan17]

6 hours ago, kirinan said:

Me, too, TVFan17! I tried to watch him in Dater's Handbook (which I never got through) and another movie I can't remember the name of offhand, and he just never made an impression on me. But he won me over with a twofer: Rocky Mountain Christmas, followed by his Deck the Hallmark podcast. He was so funny in the podcast, and doesn't mind poking fun at himself--or at the Hallmark movies, although he does that in a very gentle and affectionate way. You can tell he appreciates his good fortune. And then came Pearl in Paradise, and since I already like Jill Wagner I was hooked. I will definitely watch their HMM movies.

ETA: I enjoyed Small Town Christmas tonight, as well. It was a very likable movie, and I'm glad they didn't turn Brad the developer all the way to the dark side. Everything just kinda...worked out, and that made me happy. 

 

He was great with the Deck the Hallmark guys!  He has a good sense of humor.   In fact, now that I think of it, even in print interviews and in other podcasts Kristoffer always seems to be a good subject/guest.   I don't know if it really quite clicked with him how much of a devoted following these movies have until just before filming Rocky Mountain Christmas.  All of a sudden he realized what he had tapped into.   Now he seems to be fascinated by the whole phenomenon.  When I hear him talking on various podcasts or see his responses in print interviews, I can tell that he is really paying  attention and soaking up what this whole Hallmark thing is about.  I think he is really interested in why it has caught on in such a big way.  He seems to be a good listener when his interviewers are explaining it, and you can tell he is absorbing what they are saying.  

But at the same time, he is fully aware of the kinds of fluffy, light content they (everyone working for Hallmark) are making, and I don't think he is taking himself too seriously.  

When Kristoffer was promoting Pearl in Paradise in the summer, he seemed equally fascinated by the fact that there was life beyond the Christmas movies, and that people were interested in watching movies with other themes too.  lol    He seemed to be paying close attention to who else was starring in the other summer movies and where those movies were filmed, whereas I suspect that a lot of actors probably don't bother looking into all of that.

Edited December 17, 2018 by TVFan17

[Kaoteek]

Yeah, Kristoffer Polaha clearly was the highlight of Small Town Christmas, which was otherwise very generic and by-the-book. Granted, I'm pretty indifferent to this type of plot, and to Ashley Newbrough (something has always bothered me about her style), so I didn't care much for the lead couple's romance, but aside from that, it was competent. Unmemorable, but competent.

Edited December 17, 2018 by Kaoteek

[Silver Raven]

I don't know who blackmailed Kristoffer Polaha into starring in the third episode of the Atlas Shrugged movies (he played John Galt), but he was the only standout in that pile of crap.

Edited December 17, 2018 by Silver Raven

[Sara2009]

I know most people here weren’t nuts about “Godwink Christmas,” but I liked it. It wasn’t one of my faves, but I enjoyed it.

[mikeb]

Hallmark is now changing their schedule so last-minute that my Verizon FIOS onscreen guide can't keep up.  It thinks Candice Cameron Bure's Christmas Across America special is on now, but instead they are showing her Switched For Christmas movie from last year.  Start times for movies rest of night will be off as well since the special is only 1 hour and the movie is 2 hours.

Edited December 18, 2018 by mikeb

[Happywatcher]

4 hours ago, Kaoteek said:

Yeah, Kristoffer Polaha clearly was the highlight of Small Town Christmas, which was otherwise very generic and by-the-book. Granted, I'm pretty indifferent to this type of plot, and to Ashley Newbrough (something has always bothered me about her style), so I didn't care much for the lead couple's romance, but aside from that, it was competent. Unmemorable, but competent.

Just watched on DVR while making cookies. The first hour is flirty time between lead girl, rich new guy developer and old boy friend who dumped her without a word. All of the sudden she decides and, wham, is a nasty bitch to the developer in front of his clients. Except it wasn't surprising-- given she had resting bitch face for 3/4 of the movie. 

Side note: The pregnant blond character got silly with her padding. But compared to the lead couple leaving book club with 8 people and there being a horse drawn carriage waiting covered with Christmas lights...

[MissyPoo]

1 hour ago, mikeb said:

Hallmark is now changing their schedule so last-minute that my Verizon FIOS onscreen guide can't keep up.  It thinks Candice Cameron Bure's Christmas Across America special is on now, but instead they are showing her Switched For Christmas movie from last year.  Start times for movies rest of night will be off as well since the special is only 1 hour and the movie is 2 hours.

 

Oh joy. Looks like it happened a few nights or so ago as well. I was trying to watch Memories of Christmas on demand via Sling and it showed Christmas in Angel Falls instead. Sigh.

 

31 minutes ago, Happywatcher said:

Just watched on DVR while making cookies. The first hour is flirty time between lead girl, rich new guy developer and old boy friend who dumped her without a word. All of the sudden she decides and, wham, is a nasty bitch to the developer in front of his clients. Except it wasn't surprising-- given she had resting bitch face for 3/4 of the movie. 

Side note: The pregnant blond character got silly with her padding. But compared to the lead couple leaving book club with 8 people and there being a horse drawn carriage waiting covered with Christmas lights...

I wasn't sure if I should continue this movie because I was so bored watching it last night that I left off and went to finish watching The Truth About Christmas (loved it). I guess I didn't miss much after all. I love the bookstore themed ones but this one didn't grab me as much as Hope at Christmas or the recently watched Christmas Around the Corner (Lifetime) which was so much better.

Edited December 18, 2018 by MissyPoo

[Sara2009]

What do people here think about Katrina Law? I liked her in the 2 movies I saw her in.

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Anyone happen to catch the movie Spirit of Christmas? 

[AnnaRose]

1 hour ago, Sara2009 said:

What do people here think about Katrina Law? I liked her in the 2 movies I saw her in.

Snow Bride is one of my favorites, and I also really like the one in which she is an artist who becomes a personal shopper.  I thought she was great in both of them.

 

1 hour ago, One4Sorrow2TooBad said:

Anyone happen to catch the movie Spirit of Christmas? 

That was on Lifetime, right?  I think there was some discussion about it in the Holiday Movies thread. (Maybe a few pages back.)  I didn't like it as much as I thought I would, but quite a few others here either liked it or loved it, I believe.

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, One4Sorrow2TooBad said:

Anyone happen to catch the movie Spirit of Christmas? 

 

1 hour ago, AnnaRose said:

That was on Lifetime, right?  I think there was some discussion about it in the Holiday Movies thread. (Maybe a few pages back.

It was a Lifetime movie but it also originally aired three years ago. I think it's well liked, in general, but most of the discussion about it was probably from three years ago.

[mikeb]

8 hours ago, Sara2009 said:

What do people here think about Katrina Law? I liked her in the 2 movies I saw her in.

I thought she did a good job in both the Hallmark movies she did and am disappointed she hasn't done any more for Hallmark or other channels since 2015.  Checking her IMDB page, she seems to have kept busy doing TV series since then.

Edited December 18, 2018 by mikeb

[TVFan17]

14 hours ago, Sara2009 said:

What do people here think about Katrina Law? I liked her in the 2 movies I saw her in.

 

I forgot to give my response to this when you first posted.  I really like Katrina -- Snow Bride is still one of my top 5 or 6 Hallmark Christmas favorites, even five years after its premiere.   It fits well into the "Christmas rom com" category that I tend to prefer.    I liked her second Hallmark movie too, although not as much as Snow Bride.

I know that Katrina is very pregnant right now, but I am not too surprised that we haven't seen her in any sort of a Hallmark movie  in three years.   She is always very busy, it seems.  Even when she is not working, she's traveling the world with her husband.  So I guess the timing has just been off -- I'm sure she has been offered some sort of scripts by Hallmark since 2015, but perhaps they asked her at times she was not available to film and it just hasn't worked out.   

If I saw Katrina doing lots of other made-for-TV movies for different networks (even non-Christmas movies), then I might think that Hallmark just hadn't offered her anything, or that she had decided she didn't want to work for them again.  But in this case, I think she has just been very busy.

I assume that, sooner or later, at some point in the future, we will see Katrina in something else for Hallmark.  Her sister-in-law, Tracy Andreen, is one of Hallmark's regular writers (she writes some Lifetime movies too, if I recall correctly), and she has a good relationship with them.  She can't decide who is going to be in the movies, of course, but she can make suggestions to Hallmark and sometimes they will listen (she is the one who suggested Katrina for Snow Bride).  So if Tracy writes a script with Katrina in mind, she can pitch it to the network and try to get Katrina back into the mix (if that's what Katrina wants).

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

12 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

 

It was a Lifetime movie but it also originally aired three years ago. I think it's well liked, in general, but most of the discussion about it was probably from three years ago.

I'm an idiot, you guys are correct, it is a Lifetime channel movie. I thought it was ok and had a bit of different storyline compared to the usual. 

[TVFan17]

Here is The Futon Critic's press release regarding the 5 Winterfest movies I told you about the other day --

 

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2018/12/18/if-its-saturday-its-hallmark-hallmark-channel-kicks-off-2019-with-winterfest-featuring-five-new-winter-themed-movie-premieres-in-january-486300/20181218hallmark01/

Edited December 18, 2018 by TVFan17

[sacrebleu]

Quote

Anyone happen to catch the movie Spirit of Christmas? 

I really liked it-- I think it was on Netflix for a while, but now I don't know. Also, I give Jen Lilly props for acknowledging when I tweeted at her about the movie and the amazing sweater she wears in the final scene that I was obsessed with. No fan interaction too small!

[AnnaRose]

14 minutes ago, sacrebleu said:

I really liked it-- I think it was on Netflix for a while, but now I don't know. Also, I give Jen Lilly props for acknowledging when I tweeted at her about the movie and the amazing sweater she wears in the final scene that I was obsessed with. No fan interaction too small!

I should give that movie another chance if it's airing again this season on Lifetime.  On paper I should love it, so I don't know why I couldn't seem to get into it.  I even remember really liking the opening scene, but I can't even say why that movie was only okay for me.  (It may have been early Christmas movie burnout or something.)

[Crs97]

I stumbled upon Finding Santa and immediately got to watch one of my biggest pet peeves.  Jodie Sweetin makes her world famous eggnog by just dumping milk and cream in a pot and then getting out a bag of sugar and pouring some of it in.  No measuring cup, just a huge bag.  She does the same thing with the spices.  She also adds the eggs and barely stirs before she declares it ready.  Aauugghh!  People measure ingredients, and it takes time to heat eggnog properly.  Seriously how would it have killed the scene to show her with a measuring cup and teaspoons?  I hate that!

[Happywatcher]

2 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

I should give that movie another chance if it's airing again this season on Lifetime.  On paper I should love it, so I don't know why I couldn't seem to get into it.  I even remember really liking the opening scene, but I can't even say why that movie was only okay for me.  (It may have been early Christmas movie burnout or something.)

I sat down to watch Spirit of Christmas, didn't have it on while doing something else like I usually do. It wasn't horrible, the actors were good. The issue was that about 20 minutes of important content must have been edited out.

Ghost hates people. Bam, bartending for a party. Boss is being jerkass. Bam, is pretty decent. Side characters go from mostly off stage to fully involved with no medium throttle scenes.

This part is me, but he only knew the lead for 2 weeks, so him choosing her over the love of his life and mother of his child seemed no bueno (I understand in these movies he has to end up with the lead, but still...)

[AnnaRose]

3 hours ago, Happywatcher said:

I sat down to watch Spirit of Christmas, didn't have it on while doing something else like I usually do. It wasn't horrible, the actors were good. The issue was that about 20 minutes of important content must have been edited out.

Ghost hates people. Bam, bartending for a party. Boss is being jerkass. Bam, is pretty decent. Side characters go from mostly off stage to fully involved with no medium throttle scenes.

This part is me, but he only knew the lead for 2 weeks, so him choosing her over the love of his life and mother of his child seemed no bueno (I understand in these movies he has to end up with the lead, but still...)

Ah yes, thank you, I think that is exactly what my problems were with it. (Along with the ghost's stupid haircut, which I later learned was accurate for the period.)  Thank you for reminding me why I didn't like it very much.  I think I will pass on watching it again, because issues like that will probably bother me even more on rewatch.

[MissyPoo]

On 12/17/2018 at 7:48 PM, Sara2009 said:

What do people here think about Katrina Law? I liked her in the 2 movies I saw her in.

Love her! I also wish she did more Hallmark movies. She was a staple for me during this season years ago.

13 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

I should give that movie another chance if it's airing again this season on Lifetime.  On paper I should love it, so I don't know why I couldn't seem to get into it.  I even remember really liking the opening scene, but I can't even say why that movie was only okay for me.  (It may have been early Christmas movie burnout or something.)

10 hours ago, Happywatcher said:

I sat down to watch Spirit of Christmas, didn't have it on while doing something else like I usually do. It wasn't horrible, the actors were good. The issue was that about 20 minutes of important content must have been edited out.

Ghost hates people. Bam, bartending for a party. Boss is being jerkass. Bam, is pretty decent. Side characters go from mostly off stage to fully involved with no medium throttle scenes.

This part is me, but he only knew the lead for 2 weeks, so him choosing her over the love of his life and mother of his child seemed no bueno (I understand in these movies he has to end up with the lead, but still...)

Don't worry. It wasn't really one of my faves as well. I couldn't grasp why since so many people here liked it but this sounds accurate for me.

Edited December 19, 2018 by MissyPoo

[Karen885]

I've been catching up on movies the past few nights. Apologies if any of these are Lifetime, I can't keep the channels straight.

 

Entertaining Christmas. The Jodie Sweetin movie. I really liked this. It didn't have much of a romance to it. More of a mother/daughter story. Mom runs this Martha Stewart like empire, wants to retire and make her daughter the face of the company only daughter doesn't know how to cook.

 

A Godwink Christmas. Boring.  Watched the entire thing because I like the lead actress.  

 

Christmas Pen Pals.  Average movie.  I liked the Christmas pen pal idea. I like the actress from Grey's Anatomy but didn't like her character in this movie.  

 

A twist of Christmas.  The Vanessa Lachey movie.  I really liked this movie.  It was kind of absurd that everything that happened in this movie took place in one day but I liked the plot of uptight single mom learns to chill out a little bit.  

 

mingle all the way.  Another winner for me.  It had the standard plot of fake relationship develops into something real but this one worked for me.

 

santa's boots.  Average movie.  The plot was kinda nonsensical but it was also cute. Probably wouldn't watch again.

 

Christmas Harmony.  I liked this movie.  I have a weakness for movies about jerk celebrities so this was basically made for me.  Women gets dumped by singer boyfriend, goes home to small town and gets roped into directing the Christmas pageant with the cute single man.

[Jaded]

[TVFan17]

17 hours ago, Jaded said:

 

LOL    That's hilarious!   I love that final title.     When you are lampooned on Saturday Night Live and on Jimmy Kimmel's show, you have hit the big time, I guess.     Even being made fun of and goofed on by them is a compliment, in a strange way.

Edited December 20, 2018 by TVFan17
typo

[EyewatchTV211]

On 12/16/2018 at 10:23 PM, Jaded said:

Tia had a baby in May of 2018 and this movie was filmed in Oct apparently from what I can find online. Lingering baby weight may have something to do with her size in this movie and the one she did for Lifetime. I didn't notice her being more shapely until the 2nd half of the movie. I liked her in both. I think this was 6th or 7th Christmas movie I've watched so far this year and it's one I don't regret spending two hours on.

I liked A Gingerbread Romance for the most part even if it did feel like they did too much in the first half so it felt like they were filling time at different points during the second. It was nice to see one of the female leads in these movies having to choose between two big cities with one actually being out of the country. I also liked that she didn't have to choose between two love interests. The little girl playing the daughter was really cute and played her part well. Melissa Peterman's boss character was like too many other obnoxious and overbearing characters that she's played in TV shows including her time as a contestant on Worst Cooks In America. 

I'm in the middle of watching now. The male lead is cute, but I'm not impressed with his acting at this point. It is kind of getting in the way of my enjoyment so far. In the scene where he is listing the different ways to make gingerbread, it sounded like he was literally reading from some invisible script. 

[Irlandesa]

20 minutes ago, VMepicgrl said:

I'm in the middle of watching now. The male lead is cute, but I'm not impressed with his acting at this point. It is kind of getting in the way of my enjoyment so far. In the scene where he is listing the different ways to make gingerbread, it sounded like he was literally reading from some invisible script. 

That's my issue too.  But there's nothing on tonight so I'll just keep watching while I work.

[twoods]

I think a part of why he’s so stilted in the movie is because he had to hide his English accent. Duane Henry was pretty charming and more relaxed on NCIS- it’s a shame he couldn’t have kept his real accent and maybe the movie would have been a little better. I preferred Tia’s Lifetime movie My Christmas Inn, and of course my favorite the Mistle-Tones. The gingerbread movie was decent but didn’t stick out like others had.

Edited December 20, 2018 by twoods