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

[roughing it]

On 11/21/2020 at 11:32 AM, norcalgal said:

YES!!!  Not to Alicia Witt exactly, but the same actors/actresses appearing over and over. Except for Corey Sevier*, I don't really have strong feelings (like/dislike) about any of the same crop of actors/actresses that are constantly rotated on Hallmark, but I do get tired of seeing the same faces.

And these same faces are getting older, way past the "ingenue" stage.  Not that mid-40s can't find true Christmas love with the single dad, but it seems to me these movies are more suited toward mid-30's characters.

[Ashforth]

1 hour ago, roughing it said:

And these same faces are getting older, way past the "ingenue" stage.  Not that mid-40s can't find true Christmas love with the single dad, but it seems to me these movies are more suited toward mid-30's characters.

I'm happy to see women in their 40's and 50's play lead roles. I think the problem is that the characters they play in these movies are written exactly the same as the ones played by actresses in their 20's and 30's. Same level of maturity, same inability to communicate, same never married with no kids life, same immediate connection with the widowed love interest's preferably 6 year old, but never older than 10 year old child. Same career insecurities. Same pressure to complete a new work assignment or save the store or save the town in the two weeks before Christmas. Same need to be taught about true love and the meaning of Christmas (i.e. true love). Not that the way the roles are written is okay for the younger actresses, either. It's pretty insulting to all.

We're not seeing a divorced woman with teenagers who is able to use her words when she has a question for her new beau. 

Edited November 23, 2020 by Ashforth

[memememe76]

Christmas With the Darlings is my favourite Xmas movie of the year so far. I found the central couple attractive and cute (I liked their banter involving lists and cookies with or without raisins), the kids didn't annoy, and I like Katrina Law. She can be a bit stiff, I concede, but I like how she can be kind and not cutesy. There is a scene at the end where she is questioned whether she can handle family and career, and her response was perfect.

[Bronx Babe]

It's a measure of progress that even the most inclusive storylines are still boring and dumb as far as I'm concerned, put through that Hallmark wringer.  Could barely get through A Christmas House; in fact I fell asleep about halfway through. I just can't deal with all those decorations.  

[Kohola3]

9 minutes ago, Bronx Babe said:

It's a measure of progress that even the most inclusive storylines are still boring and dumb as far as I'm concerned, put through that Hallmark wringer.  Could barely get through A Christmas House; in fact I fell asleep about halfway through. I just can't deal with all those decorations.  

DItto.  At a time when we really need something uplifting these are all as dull as dishwater without a single new idea.  I cannot tell one from the other, don't bother to finish any of them this year unless they are on in the background.  Couldn't name one that I remember to save my life.  So disappointing.

[ShelleySue]

2 hours ago, Ashforth said:

Quote

I'm happy to see women in their 40's and 50's play lead roles. I think the problem is that the characters they play in these movies are written exactly the same as the ones played by actresses in their 20's and 30's. Same level of maturity, same inability to communicate, same never married with no kids life, same immediate connection with the widowed love interest's preferably 6 year old, but never older than 10 year old child. Same career insecurities. Same pressure to complete a new work assignment or save the store or save the town in the two weeks before Christmas. Same need to be taught about true love and the meaning of Christmas (i.e. true love). Not that the way the roles are written is okay for the younger actresses, either. It's pretty insulting to all.

We're not seeing a divorced woman with teenagers who is able to use her words when she has a question for her new beau. 

I feel like they always do that to Danica McKellar.  She's 45 years old.  She's a very beautiful woman but they do her a disservice by putting too much make-up on her and trying to fit her into roles that are too young. I do like her in the Matchmaker movies and hope her holiday movie, Christmas She Wrote is good.  I think that Jill Wagner is a perfect example of someone who is cast age appropriate.  She was wonderful in the Angel Tree.

 

PS  How do I do a quote inside of a quote?  I just can't get it right.

 

Edited November 23, 2020 by ShelleySue
edited to ask a question

[WhyAmIHere]

I also was wondering if Trading Christmas was going to air this year.  I appreciate the info that it's available on the app, but I wish they would just air it on TV.   It's my favorite Hallmark Christmas movie.  The quality of the Hallmark movies has sure gone down since it originally aired. 

As for this weekend's movies, I only watched Christmas House and The Angel Tree.  I liked Christmas House, although I thought the reconciliation between Treat Williams & Sharon Lawrence's characters felt very rushed even for Hallmark.  As much as I like Jill Wagner, the Angel Tree didn't hold my attention at all.  I was looking at my phone through most of it.  

I'm cautiously optimistic for Christmas by Starlight since Paul Campbell & Kimberley Sustad wrote it.  But I'm sure they were still constrained by Hallmark guidelines so I probably need to keep those expectations in check. 

[Kohola3]

5 minutes ago, WhyAmIHere said:

I'm cautiously optimistic for Christmas by Starlight since Paul Campbell & Kimberley Sustad wrote it.  But I'm sure they were still constrained by Hallmark guidelines so I probably need to keep those expectations in check. 

Well, the description says that she needs to save her beloved family cafe before Christmas and the preview shows a Christmas tree lot, ice skating, a Christmas sweater, snow, and a big corporate guy.  Yep, looks radically different to me.

[roughing it]

47 minutes ago, ShelleySue said:

I feel like they always do that to Danica McKellar.  She's 45 years old.  She's a very beautiful woman but they do her a disservice by putting too much make-up on her and trying to fit her into roles that are too young.

ShelleySue, That was what I was trying to say, but you put it so much more eloquently.  And not just Danica, but many of the other Hallmark leads as well (Alicia, Candace, etc.).  

[In2You]

It's been awhile since I've been to the It's a Wonderful Movie blog and I see they're still being racist and prejudice over there while claiming to align themselves with Christian values. 

You may have noticed that I did not include the Tuesday night Thanksgiving week premiere. As a believer in traditional marriage and Biblical values I will not be promoting "A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado" since learning it's subplot will include a same sex couple. I wanted to be certain you all were aware of this as you are watching Christmas movies this week possibly with your families.

https://itsawonderfulmovie.blogspot.com/2020/11/happy-thanksgiving-week-counting-our-blessings-christmas-movies-hallmark.html

[Ashforth]

13 minutes ago, In2You said:

It's been awhile since I've been to the It's a Wonderful Movie blog and I see they're still being racist and prejudice over there while claiming to align themselves with Christian values. 

"You may have noticed that I did not include the Tuesday night Thanksgiving week premiere. As a believer in traditional marriage and Biblical values I will not be promoting "A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado" since learning it's subplot will include a same sex couple. I wanted to be certain you all were aware of this as you are watching Christmas movies this week possibly with your families."

https://itsawonderfulmovie.blogspot.com/2020/11/happy-thanksgiving-week-counting-our-blessings-christmas-movies-hallmark.html

Also from that very over the top website:

"“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." I guess the 'God as Santa Claus' approach is appropriate given the focus on Christmas movies. 🙄

My view is that one doesn't present lists of demands or grievances or wishes to your higher power. YMMV.

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, WhyAmIHere said:

As for this weekend's movies, I only watched Christmas House and The Angel Tree.  I liked Christmas House, although I thought the reconciliation between Treat Williams & Sharon Lawrence's characters felt very rushed even for Hallmark.

Yeah. I wondered if I missed some discussion when they decided to get back together.  Suddenly, they were back together.  The movie was not great overall but I did enjoy the stories featuring the brotherly rivalry and the adoption story--which was not the reason the movie was boring.

1 hour ago, Kohola3 said:

Well, the description says that she needs to save her beloved family cafe before Christmas and the preview shows a Christmas tree lot, ice skating, a Christmas sweater, snow, and a big corporate guy.  Yep, looks radically different to me.

For me, it's all in the execution and some of the earlier movies this season were better executed, IMO. On the 12 Date of Christmas didn't have a wildly different plot like Holly & Ivy but I thought the script was clever and funny.  And Deliver By Christmas wasn't something they have told over and over again. 

I think Hallmark started out strong this year but the past few weekends have been more traditionally dull. 

[DanaMB]

15 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I have to admit I was shocked that they kissed in The Christmas House.  I really thought they were going to play the game like Christmas With The Darlings did where they were gay but their romantic relationship wouldn't be full of displays of affection. 

I was wrong.

I'm watching it now and just saw the kiss.  I was pleasantly surprised, because I thought what you did that they wouldn't have displays of affection. I'm proud of Hallmark even though it was a long time coming.

I'm finding the movie very charming right now.

[Miss Bones]

9 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Good catch!  Altough even the green trees are fake despite the ubiquitous tree lot scene.  Gotta shill the Balsam Hill crap nonstop.

Oh I know.  They are shameless with that shit.

[EyewatchTV211]

5 hours ago, memememe76 said:

Christmas With the Darlings is my favourite Xmas movie of the year so far. I found the central couple attractive and cute (I liked their banter involving lists and cookies with or without raisins), the kids didn't annoy, and I like Katrina Law. She can be a bit stiff, I concede, but I like how she can be kind and not cutesy. There is a scene at the end where she is questioned whether she can handle family and career, and her response was perfect.

I liked this movie more than I expected to, and I can't fully put my finger on why overall. One small thing I liked was that he had had a crush on her since he met her but that they weren't necessarily friends. It's a slightly different background for the couple than the usual, where either they're friends but an obstacle keeps them from getting together, they were a couple but something pulled them apart, or they didn't know each other at all and it's a meet cute. 

[norcalgal]

14 hours ago, Ashforth said:

same immediate connection with the widowed love interest's preferably 6 year old, but never older than 10 year old child.

Here's something that I notice and roll my eyes. In the vast majority of Hallmark movies, the kid(s) of

1) either the lead character or

2) a sibling's kid(s)

almost always seem to be in the 6-11 age range. This means any kid(s) the two leads could have with each other and/or any cousins (from # 2 above) will have about a 10 year age gap. I know this happens IRL (heck - this is the situation in my own family, but at least I have big age gaps between sibs as an excuse), but the fact they strive so hard to keep the kids within this age range irks. Also, since the onscreen sibling/cousin seem to be close in age to the lead character, it seems as though the lead's sibling/cousin had their kid(s) at a youngish age (like early 20s) by the time the kids are whatever age they appear onscreen. I'm just saying that in my social circle, it's very rare for anyone to have had a child in their early 20s, but that's what seems to be the norm on Hallmark.

This popped into mind when I saw the UPtv holiday movie Dashing Home for Christmas (which I really, really liked btw). The lead has an older sister who is due to give birth to her 1st child very soon. So if the lead and her leading man were to have kids, the cousins would be fairly close in age. 

[MissyPoo]

On 11/17/2020 at 11:00 AM, Irlandesa said:

I've actually felt they've been better than in year's past.  It's Lifetime's movies that have really fallen off for me.

Same! Which is weird because it's usually the other way around for me. I really enjoyed the early premieres like Jingle Bell Bride, Deliver By Christmas & The Christmas Bow but Timeless Christmas fell flat for me for many of the reasons previously mentioned so I bailed out on that one. I tried to watch Cranberry Christmas but it was too dull for me to keep interest. I agree that Christmas With the Darlings lacked chemistry and charm which is a bummer because I was hoping the movie would be better than the previews. I'm double bummed because my Karina Law Hallmark movie list now has a miss on it (I loved me some Snow Bride and 12 Gifts of Christmas) I did enjoy The Christmas Edition over at Lifetime which gave me Christmas Under Wraps vibes for some reason. I'm being super picky this year with my movie watching. If the previews didn't grab me I didn't make a note to see it.  I agree with you here:

11 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I think Hallmark started out strong this year but the past few weekends have been more traditionally dull. 

 Yep! I've definitely lost interest as the weeks have gone on and there's only a few I'm really looking forward to coming up but my interest still remains low. I like that they are changing things up this year in the casting department but the movies seem especially bland this year. Sigh.

12 hours ago, In2You said:

It's been awhile since I've been to the It's a Wonderful Movie blog and I see they're still being racist and prejudice over there while claiming to align themselves with Christian values. 

You may have noticed that I did not include the Tuesday night Thanksgiving week premiere. As a believer in traditional marriage and Biblical values I will not be promoting "A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado" since learning it's subplot will include a same sex couple. I wanted to be certain you all were aware of this as you are watching Christmas movies this week possibly with your families.

https://itsawonderfulmovie.blogspot.com/2020/11/happy-thanksgiving-week-counting-our-blessings-christmas-movies-hallmark.html

Judging from their previous coverage, I agree. I doubt that's the only reason they're skipping that particular movie. Let's just say looking at the whole week of premieres, one of these things is not like the others...

 

On 11/19/2020 at 11:01 AM, norcalgal said:

As for the one redeeming thing about Meet Me at Christmas, I loved, loved, loved the sparkly green dress Catherine Bell wore for the wedding scene. I'm trying to find where I can buy it, or something similar to it. I tried the site As Worn on TV but that was no help. 

Can anyone here help?  Please....

I'm sad she hasn't updated her Festive Fashion section of her site, but Lolly Christmas is good at ID'ing clothes in the movies. She may be able to pinpoint the dress.  https://www.lollychristmas.com/category/festive-fashion/

 

13 hours ago, WhyAmIHere said:

I also was wondering if Trading Christmas was going to air this year.  I appreciate the info that it's available on the app, but I wish they would just air it on TV.   It's my favorite Hallmark Christmas movie.  The quality of the Hallmark movies has sure gone down since it originally aired. 

Yep, it's one of their oldies but goodies on the app along with A Nutcracker Christmas, A Majestic Christmas (went on the app shortly after it's premiere and has been hidden there since), Hitched For the Holidays & Call Me Mrs. Miracle. I notice there's been a rotation where some of the app offerings dash over to the channels, like It's Christmas Carol (love that one with my shero Carrie Fisher) was on the app but disappeared and is set to air on the channels. Hopefully, the same will happen with Trading Christmas in the next few weeks.

 

Random comment note: I just saw a preview of Lacey's second christmas movie this year (yup, she has one on each channel) and Leon co-stars in it. I'm tempted to see his role (which will prob be a small one) but I don't know if I can take two doses of Lacey this season.

[Kohola3]

5 hours ago, norcalgal said:

I'm just saying that in my social circle, it's very rare for anyone to have had a child in their early 20s, but that's what seems to be the norm on Hallmark.

The norm on Hallmark is life in the 1970's.  I think they would go back to the 1950's with housewives wearing aprons but then they'd miss out on the whole "woman works in big city but finds her real roots as a clerk/florist/baker in a small town" schtick.

4 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

As a believer in traditional marriage and Biblical values I will not be promoting "A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado" since learning it's subplot will include a same sex couple.

Just like a portrait of my family, married in a Christian church.  So that's definitely a watch for me.  Nice for the adopted kids to know that their families are as normal as the rest of the world.

Edited November 24, 2020 by Kohola3

[Kemper]

The Hallmark Christmas movies are usually not my cup of tea...but I do understand why they are so popular.  That being said.  After this last year of Covid, world-turned-upside down (at least for me, personally), and general havoc, I was planning to watch some of the movies this year.  It is hard to resist cookies, snow and a happy ending. 

One of the difficulties for me is the same actors popping up over and over again; especially the male leads.  For the most part they are handsome and check all the right boxes except....terminal Ken Doll blandness.  And Candice Cameron Bure is always a remote-click for me.  I used to feel that way about Lacey Chabert but she doesn't annoy as much as she used to because there are other actresses who are maybe just as tiring.  

I have been following this board and I agree with most of the comments about the same plots, people, etc.  But I think the main problem is starting these movies in October; same as Lifetime and the others.  By December (even before) the movies are into reruns.  Several times.  We (or maybe just me) are getting fatigued by them.  Starting them in mid-November, close to Thanksgiving, would help quite a bit.  More build-up, more anticipation.

 

 

[Irlandesa]

5 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

 Yep! I've definitely lost interest as the weeks have gone on and there's only a few I'm really looking forward to coming up but my interest still remains low. I like that they are changing things up this year in the casting department but the movies seem especially bland this year. Sigh.

Most of the casting change ups happened earlier in the season movies as well. 

I didn't make it through 20 minutes of last night's movie.  "Woman goes home and sees old boyfriend" is not a plot. I found her new boss/city boyfriend and the conflict there more intriguing.

But that's pretty typical for the Monday of Thanksgiving movie week.  Tonight's I'm not sure about.  But tomorrow we have Alison Sweeney and Marc Blucas--both who do have a history of having chemistry with their co-stars (although Marc is looking a little puffy in the ads I've seen for the movie).  Christmas By Starlight with Kimberly Sustad and Paul Greene is on Thursday.  Friday's movie is with Bethany Joy Lenz and Victor Webster.  They seem like an odd pairing but I normally enjoy them so I'll give it a go.  Lacy's Saturday movie is with Will Kemp again and there seems to be a lot of dancing. 

Usually at least one of the Thanksgiving week movies is a winner for me. 

[kirinan]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

But tomorrow we have Alison Sweeney and Marc Blucas--both who do have a history of having chemistry with their co-stars (although Marc is looking a little puffy in the ads I've seen for the movie).  Christmas By Starlight with Kimberly Sustad and Paul Greene is on Thursday.  Friday's movie is with Bethany Joy Lenz and Victor Webster.  They seem like an odd pairing but I normally enjoy them so I'll give it a go.  Lacy's Saturday movie is with Will Kemp again and there seems to be a lot of dancing. 

Usually at least one of the Thanksgiving week movies is a winner for me. 

These four movies, A Glenbrooke Christmas with Autumn Reeser and Antonio Cupo, and On the 12th Date of Christmas are my only must-sees this season (I don't have any on Lifetime or UP this year). And in each case it's due to the pair-up of the lead actors (okay, not Lacey so much, but I did love her with Will Kemp in Love, Romance & Chocolate). I do hope the other five live up to the standard 12th Date set. 

Edited November 24, 2020 by kirinan

[norcalgal]

4 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

But that's pretty typical for the Monday of Thanksgiving movie week.  Tonight's I'm not sure about.  But tomorrow we have Alison Sweeney and Marc Blucas--both who do have a history of having chemistry with their co-stars (although Marc is looking a little puffy in the ads I've seen for the movie).  Christmas By Starlight with Kimberly Sustad and Paul Greene is on Thursday.  Friday's movie is with Bethany Joy Lenz and Victor Webster.  They seem like an odd pairing but I normally enjoy them so I'll give it a go.  Lacy's Saturday movie is with Will Kemp again and there seems to be a lot of dancing.  

I can only recall seeing one Marc Blucas holiday movie (he played a soldier who falls in love with his comrade's sister). I've liked him ever since his Riley Finn days on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but that didn't translate to Must See on Hallmark.

2 hours ago, kirinan said:

These four movies, A Glenbrooke Christmas with Autumn Reeser and Antonio Cupo, and On the 12th Date of Christmas are my only must-sees this season (I don't have any on Lifetime or UP this year). And in each case it's due to the pair-up of the lead actors (okay, not Lacey so much, but I did love her with Will Kemp in Love, Romance & Chocolate). I do hope the other five live up to the standard 12th Date set. 

Ah yes...the couple pairing...  For me, Autumn and Antonio are It.  That's Must See for me, ever since they made that Hallmark Thanksgiving movie together. So I guess I'll be watching A Glenbrooke Christmas!  I really don't have any other fave actor pairing.

[kirinan]

1 hour ago, norcalgal said:

Ah yes...the couple pairing...  For me, Autumn and Antonio are It.  That's Must See for me, ever since they made that Hallmark Thanksgiving movie together. So I guess I'll be watching A Glenbrooke Christmas!  I really don't have any other fave actor pairing.

Autumn and Antonio are my only Hallmark OTP, too. The others are all favorite actors, paired with other favorite actors, but not necessarily for couple-ish reasons. I'm very much driven to watch movies and TV shows by the actors involved. It drives my husband crazy, because I'll watch them in the worst movies, no matter how bad or obscure they are. He's more driven by story and genre (although he'll watch any piece of sci-fi schlock, so he has nothing to be proud of, LOL).

[Shorty186]

Wow, I really liked The Christmas House, so now I'm seriously questioning my taste. Although I would probably watch Robert Buckley watch paint dry. The only thing that seriously bugged was the apparent off-screen conversation between the parents about getting back together. I heard Jonathan Bennett on Home & Family last week and he said something like 'I have a feeling this family is going to be with Hallmark for a while' or something similar, but maybe that's just his wishful thinking for continued employment.

[KaveDweller]

On 11/23/2020 at 1:25 PM, Ashforth said:

I'm happy to see women in their 40's and 50's play lead roles. I think the problem is that the characters they play in these movies are written exactly the same as the ones played by actresses in their 20's and 30's. Same level of maturity, same inability to communicate, same never married with no kids life, same immediate connection with the widowed love interest's preferably 6 year old, but never older than 10 year old child. Same career insecurities. Same pressure to complete a new work assignment or save the store or save the town in the two weeks before Christmas. Same need to be taught about true love and the meaning of Christmas (i.e. true love). Not that the way the roles are written is okay for the younger actresses, either. It's pretty insulting to all.

We're not seeing a divorced woman with teenagers who is able to use her words when she has a question for her new beau. 

They did this with Candace Cameron Bure last year. Her plot was about how she just got her first full time teaching job after years of working as a substitute.  Candace is 44. Most first time teachers are in their twenties, unless they changed careers. And I think her character had a subplot about whether her boyfriend was ready to have kids. I love Candace's movies, but the character was clearly supposed to be a lot younger than her.  

There's no reason why they couldn't write age appropriate scripts for their favorites, and then hire new young actresses for the young parts.

[MissyPoo]

11 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Most of the casting change ups happened earlier in the season movies as well. 

I didn't make it through 20 minutes of last night's movie.  "Woman goes home and sees old boyfriend" is not a plot. I found her new boss/city boyfriend and the conflict there more intriguing.

But that's pretty typical for the Monday of Thanksgiving movie week.  Tonight's I'm not sure about.  But tomorrow we have Alison Sweeney and Marc Blucas--both who do have a history of having chemistry with their co-stars (although Marc is looking a little puffy in the ads I've seen for the movie).  Christmas By Starlight with Kimberly Sustad and Paul Greene is on Thursday.  Friday's movie is with Bethany Joy Lenz and Victor Webster.  They seem like an odd pairing but I normally enjoy them so I'll give it a go.  Lacy's Saturday movie is with Will Kemp again and there seems to be a lot of dancing. 

Usually at least one of the Thanksgiving week movies is a winner for me. 

You noticed, too? I was trying to figure out why he looked so different in this movie. One plus about the promos is it looked like they allowed some goofiness and humor to shine through so hopefully it's not just a straight by-the-books Hallmark movie and it has some fun in it. Same with Christmas By Starlight which they said allowed them to have more humor in the script at least.  I'm looking forward to the Bethany Joy and Victor Webster movie. I usually like them in their movies but I'm curious to see how they will be together. 

  

13 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Just like a portrait of my family, married in a Christian church.  So that's definitely a watch for me.  Nice for the adopted kids to know that their families are as normal as the rest of the world.

That's strange, the post as me quoted as saying this but I was quoting the quoter who quoted the site lol. Not sure how that came through but just making a point that this quote seems to come from It's a Wonderful Movie blog site (a site that I try to avoid at all costs).

 

I forgot about the Antonio & Autumn movie. Looking forward to that one. I remember the hype around their reunion for I Do, I Do, I Do and they ended up being the break up couple which sent Hallmarkians screeching on FB. I guess they finally realized their mistake and course corrected many years later.

Oh ya and my fave pairing have always been Andrew Walker and Arielle Kebbell but I think Arielle is dunzo with Hallmark so we're probably not going to get a third movie with them. Love their chemistry and banter, though.

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

I forgot about the Antonio & Autumn movie. Looking forward to that one. I remember the hype around their reunion for I Do, I Do, I Do and they ended up being the break up couple which sent Hallmarkians screeching on FB.

So it wasn't just me flipping out about that?  Good to know I wasn't alone.  I mean, it might make me crazy and irrational but at least I wasn't alone.  That's all you can ask for in this messed up world. I know they've done a few other non-Hallmark movies together but in non romcom genres.

2 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

You noticed, too?

I didn't even recognize him. I had to look up who Alison Sweeney was sharing a movie with.  Speaking of OTPs, I would love her to do another movie with Jonathan Scarfe.  They were great together in Love On The Air.

I watched tonight's "controversial" movie A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado. I kept waiting for the controversial part and about half way through we find out a coworker of the lead female character is gay.  That is literally it.  One sentence.  Oh my.

So the story was basic. I'm not going try to pretend otherwise; although it did highlight adoption which was nice.  But I ended up enjoying it because I thought the leads were really strong. They were good separately and good together.  We also saw one of romance's romancy-ey tropes which we never see on Hallmark:  an argument turning into a kiss.  It looks like they're both newbies to Hallmark and I hope we see more of them.

Edited November 25, 2020 by Irlandesa

[MissyPoo]

2 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

So it wasn't just me flipping out about that?  Good to know I wasn't alone.  I mean, it might make me crazy and irrational but at least I wasn't alone.  That's all you can ask for in this messed up world. I know they've done a few other non-Hallmark movies but in a non romcom genre.

Nope not just you. Hallmark did a total bait-and-switch on fans and they didn't even make it clear they weren't the main pairing. Glad they are following through now for the fans, even though it's taken so long.

 

2 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

So it wasn't just me flipping out about that?  Good to know I wasn't alone.  I mean, it might make me crazy and irrational but at least I wasn't alone.  That's all you can ask for in this messed up world. I know they've done a few other non-Hallmark movies but in a non romcom genre.

I didn't even recognize him. I had to look up who Alison Sweeney was sharing a movie with.  Speaking of OTPs, I would love her to do another movie with Jonathan Scarfe.  They were great together in Love On The Air.

I watched tonight's "controversial" movie A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado. I kept waiting for the controversial part and about half way through we find out a coworker of the lead female character is gay.  That is literally it.  One sentence.  Oh my.

So the story was basic. I'm not going try to pretend otherwise; although it did highlight adoption which was nice.  But I ended up enjoying it because I thought the leads were really strong. They were good separately and good together.  We also saw one of romance's' romancy-ey tropes which we never see on Hallmark:  an argument turning into a kiss.  It looks like they're both newbies to Hallmark and I hope we see more of them.

I still need to watch Love on the Air as I heard good things about it in the past.

Watching A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado now and yeah, it's run of the mill, but nice background while I'm budgeting a home upgrade project. I'm glad to see Rochelle Aytes starring in one though. I'm not seeing much of the co-worker or their love interest so I'm not even sure what that site is going on about. I think the lead guy was with Christina Milian last year or so. Memories of Christmas, I think it was called. I rather liked that one though they cut out a good chunk of the movie on tv from the DVD version.

 

ETA: Okay just came to the argument turned to kiss scene and it was on the road to being kinda hot but it looks like they reminded themselves they were on the Hallmark Channel and toned it down before it got out of hand. Lol. Would've been interesting if they didn't!

Edited November 25, 2020 by MissyPoo

[Irlandesa]

30 minutes ago, MissyPoo said:

I think the lead guy was with Christina Milian last year or so. Memories of Christmas, I think it was called. I rather liked that one though they cut out a good chunk of the movie on tv from the DVD version.

You're right.  I didn't look far enough down his IMDB page.

[Kohola3]

8 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I watched tonight's "controversial" movie A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado. I kept waiting for the controversial part and about half way through we find out a coworker of the lead female character is gay.  That is literally it.  One sentence.  Oh my.

So the story was basic. I'm not going try to pretend otherwise; although it did highlight adoption which was nice.  But I ended up enjoying it because I thought the leads were really strong. They were good separately and good together.  We also saw one of romance's romancy-ey tropes which we never see on Hallmark:  an argument turning into a kiss.  It looks like they're both newbies to Hallmark and I hope we see more of them.

Was waiting to see the scandalous part and besides the gay declaration there was a split second hand holding at the end.  Shocking!  Bet the pearl clutchers had a cow at that.

I agree, it was pleasant enough.  Lots of "what-what?" moments but I thought the leads had a nice chemistry.  And the adoption angle was the first that I recall for Hallmark plus the kiss was early on, too.  Very attractive pair.

[ctlady]

Just watched The Christmas Edition  which I found light, fun and entertaining.  I'm not one to complain about movies now needing to have all the diversity boxes checked.  This one did have an interracial main couple whose chemistry was nice.  The guy didn't look straight off the cover of GQ, but had a rugged attractiveness about him

What did make me eye roll a bit was the lack of Inuit background/crowd characters - seeing as this took place in Alaska.  Now....this was set in a fictional small town located (I believe) in Juneau which is more city than the remote Alaskan tundra.  The cafe owner and his wife looked as if they could be Alaskan natives.  Other than that - nothing.

My other little eye rolls - the main character (Jackie) arrives from San Diego with only a small carry-on satchel and mid-sized suitcase, yet she wears about 4 different full-sized coats throughout the movie (not counting the poofy down coat she arrived in)  No way she'd have room to pack all 4 coats plus 2 weeks worth of clothes (which also included a red, crystal-encrusted, floor-length gown for a town Christmas party that hadn't even been planned.  But, you know - it's good to pack just in case!)  And for the love of Pete - I know it's a liability to put piping hot coffee in to-go cups, but can these actors at least ACT like there's liquid in these cups instead of waving them around at all angles?  Maybe fill them with just plain water.  This is a constant Hallmark/Lifetime movie gripe of mine

Marie Osmond played a scenery-chewing digital media head which didn't come across too OTT.  Other than being distracted by the mass of facial work Ms. Osmond has had over the years covered by obvious heavy makeup, it was a nice surprise to have her in the movie

[memememe76]

Ivy & Holly really turned things around for me. I was initially ready to delete it during the lead's "job" interview, where she was whining that she wanted a job and not a volunteer position because SHE HAS A MASTERS, but things turned around quick. I liked that both she and her boyfriend (Jeremy Jordan, who was charming here) learned along the way to temper their dreams with some practical short term solutions.

Christmas in Vienna made me sad because I was planning a trip to Vienna this year but it was cancelled because, well, you know why. I liked Sarah Drew but the male love interest was a bit of a dud. I also found the friend really selfish, having Sarah do her job during that time.

[norcalgal]

15 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

You noticed, too? I was trying to figure out why he looked so different in this movie. One plus about the promos is it looked like they allowed some goofiness and humor to shine through so hopefully it's not just a straight by-the-books Hallmark movie and it has some fun in it. Same with Christmas By Starlight which they said allowed them to have more humor in the script at least.  I'm looking forward to the Bethany Joy and Victor Webster movie. I usually like them in their movies but I'm curious to see how they will be together. 

I've been a Victor Webster fan ever since his time on Days of Our Lives and a series he did which was a rip-off of X-Men called Mutant X.  Still, that doesn't equal automatic watch for me just because Victor Webster is in it..

I forgot about the Antonio & Autumn movie. Looking forward to that one. I remember the hype around their reunion for I Do, I Do, I Do and they ended up being the break up couple which sent Hallmarkians screeching on FB. I guess they finally realized their mistake and course corrected many years later.

???  Can you elaborate?  How did Hallmark course correct?

15 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

Oh ya and my fave pairing have always been Andrew Walker and Arielle Kebbell but I think Arielle is dunzo with Hallmark so we're probably not going to get a third movie with them. Love their chemistry and banter, though.

OMG - how did I forget this actor pairing?!  OK, so besides Autumn & Antonio, Andrew & Arielle is another Must See for me. It's just so weird how my fave Hallmark actor pairings happen to have alliteration names...AND they are all "A" names!

[Kaoteek]

I kinda liked The Christmas House. It didn't take itself too seriously, and the family was likeable. However, both Jonathan Bennett's boyfriend and the lead character's love interest were particularly bland, so there's that.

Yadda yadda Christmas Sweater. Meh. I'm usually there for Ashley Williams' movies, but this one lacked energy, and most of the time, the lead couple's relationship felt more like friendship than romance.

Godwink Christmas 3 : The Godwinkening. Sam Page & Brooke D'Orsay worked well together... but that's about it. Didn't really work for me, and the recurring "Oooh, something godwinky is happening" chimes were more annoying than anything.

Heart of the Holidays. Tropes, tropes, and even more tropes. Barely made it to the end, despite liking Vanessa Lengies' energy as the lead. I probably would have prefered to watch a movie about the pregnant friend, or about the asian girl (yay diversity !) trying to awkwardly flirt with Corey Savier, she seemed likeable.

[Irlandesa]

54 minutes ago, norcalgal said:

Can you elaborate?  How did Hallmark course correct?

Autumn and Antonio starred in Love At The Thanksgiving Day Parade as the end game couple.  

In the next Hallmark movie they did with one another (and Ali Liebert too from LATTDP), Antonio Cupo played the "wrong guy" she is engaged to but she ends up falling for his brother played by Shawn Roberts.  While I'm sure it was a fun role for Antonio to play, it felt like such a waste of their chemistry.

So the "course correction" is that it really does look like they're end game love interests again in A Glenbrooke Christmas coming out in a few weeks.

[norcalgal]

2 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Autumn and Antonio starred in Love At The Thanksgiving Day Parade as the end game couple.  

In the next Hallmark movie they did with one another (and Ali Liebert too from LATTDP), Antonio Cupo played the "wrong guy" she is engaged to but she ends up falling for his brother played by Shawn Roberts.  While I'm sure it was a fun role for Antonio to play, it felt like such a waste of their chemistry.

So the "course correction" is that it really does look like they're end game love interests again in A Glenbrooke Christmas coming out in a few weeks.

Ah, OK thanks.  I only watched the next Hallmark movie A&A did together one time, so I couldn't remember who Autumn's character ended up with...but I thought it was Antonio's character!?  I guess that was my bias making me remember incorrectly.

[Mittengirl]

5 hours ago, ctlady said:

And for the love of Pete - I know it's a liability to put piping hot coffee in to-go cups, but can these actors at least ACT like there's liquid in these cups instead of waving them around at all angles?  Maybe fill them with just plain water. 

To me, the logical solution to the problem is to put jello in the prop cups.  That would give the heft of water, but no worries of spillage and could be used for hours.

[MissyPoo]

4 hours ago, norcalgal said:

???  Can you elaborate?  How did Hallmark course correct?

 

3 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Autumn and Antonio starred in Love At The Thanksgiving Day Parade as the end game couple.  

In the next Hallmark movie they did with one another (and Ali Liebert too from LATTDP), Antonio Cupo played the "wrong guy" she is engaged to but she ends up falling for his brother played by Shawn Roberts.  While I'm sure it was a fun role for Antonio to play, it felt like such a waste of their chemistry.

So the "course correction" is that it really does look like they're end game love interests again in A Glenbrooke Christmas coming out in a few weeks.

Exactly! (And thanks for mentioning the name cause I totally forgot it lol). It would be cool if Ali Liebert was in their movie, too, but I think she stepped away from Hallmark this year.

17 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

You're right.  I didn't look far enough down his IMDB page.

No worries! I notice sometimes they don't include their Hallmark movies at times so the site isn't always have it up-to-date. Glad they included that one cause it was a pleasant one.

4 hours ago, norcalgal said:

OMG - how did I forget this actor pairing?!  OK, so besides Autumn & Antonio, Andrew & Arielle is another Must See for me. It's just so weird how my fave Hallmark actor pairings happen to have alliteration names...AND they are all "A" names!

Haha I love it! :-)

3 hours ago, Kaoteek said:

I kinda liked The Christmas House. It didn't take itself too seriously, and the family was likeable. However, both Jonathan Bennett's boyfriend and the lead character's love interest were particularly bland, so there's that.

Yadda yadda Christmas Sweater. Meh. I'm usually there for Ashley Williams' movies, but this one lacked energy, and most of the time, the lead couple's relationship felt more like friendship than romance.

Godwink Christmas 3 : The Godwinkening. Sam Page & Brooke D'Orsay worked well together... but that's about it. Didn't really work for me, and the recurring "Oooh, something godwinky is happening" chimes were more annoying than anything.

Heart of the Holidays. Tropes, tropes, and even more tropes. Barely made it to the end, despite liking Vanessa Lengies' energy as the lead. I probably would have prefered to watch a movie about the pregnant friend, or about the asian girl (yay diversity !) trying to awkwardly flirt with Corey Savier, she seemed likeable.

These titles are epic. I agree about The Godwinkening movie. I like them both as leads (Sam Page in The Perfect Christmas Present is another fave of mine) but the theme was so bland and yeah those chimes were way over the top. I was hoping she'd go with her co-worker just to spice things up but then I remembered what channel I was watching and continued budgeting for house upgrades.

[Kohola3]

 

6 hours ago, ctlady said:

And for the love of Pete - I know it's a liability to put piping hot coffee in to-go cups, but can these actors at least ACT like there's liquid in these cups instead of waving them around at all angles?  Maybe fill them with just plain water.  This is a constant Hallmark/Lifetime movie gripe of mine

While I am loathe to defend bland, boring Hallmark, empty cups are a long time issue and there are even Empty Cup Awards for the worst offenders.

1 hour ago, Mittengirl said:

To me, the logical solution to the problem is to put jello in the prop cups.  That would give the heft of water, but no worries of spillage and could be used for hours.

Excellent idea!

[Ashforth]

1 hour ago, Mittengirl said:

To me, the logical solution to the problem is to put jello in the prop cups.  That would give the heft of water, but no worries of spillage and could be used for hours.

Logic? That's crazy talk!

Now I'm going to reach into my Mary Poppins satchel for my evening gown and go to the town's (maybe last) Christmas festival, where I'll have an almost-kiss with the potential love interest who is secretly behind the plot to destroy all that is holy, before learning the lesson of love from my high school boyfriend so we can save the town together. Now THAT is logical.

[EyewatchTV211]

Just watched Heart of the Holidays. My first recording was messed up. It was mostly boring, although I did watch to the end. I actually would have preferred Sam with Will and Noah should have gotten together with the other girl. Oh well.

[Chippings]

Hallmark performer spotted in Macy's Thanksgiving day parade - I was pretty excited for it!  Krystal Joy Brown, who played the 'best friend / Mayor of the heroine's home town' in One Royal Holiday, returned to her role as Eliza Schuyler in the "Hamilton" number early on !  I thought I recognized her, and double-checked.  She's awesome.   It was really wonderful to see performers performing .. (sigh)  

[Irlandesa]

Good Morning Christmas made choices that made me irrationally mad.  They're stupid things but they made it tough for me to watch which is a shame because I tend to like Alison's Hallmark movies.  She wasn't the problem.

Marc Blucas completely looked like an ex football player who had aged.  Aged being the operative word.  And had he wanted to break his contract because he got an opportunity to host a football show, I might have understood his position.  But no, he was going to leave his #1 rated morning show (and you know those are super lucrative jobs that, had he  left, famous people would have fought over) so he could have a lame reality show with the girlfriend he didn't even love?

And the producer telling her crew to turn on their microphones and put them on camera even though she knew that they likely were having a private moment was appalling to me.  If I were that duo, I'd use my clout to have her fired.

[EyewatchTV211]

3 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

Good Morning Christmas made choices that made me irrationally mad.  They're stupid things but they made it tough for me to watch which is a shame because I tend to like Alison's Hallmark movies.  She wasn't the problem.

Marc Blucas completely looked like an ex football player who had aged.  Aged being the operative word.  And had he wanted to break his contract because he got an opportunity to host a football show, I might have understood his position.  But no, he was going to leave his #1 rated morning show (and you know those are super lucrative jobs that, had he  left, famous people would have fought over) so he could have a lame reality show with the girlfriend he didn't even love?

And the producer telling her crew to turn on their microphones and put them on camera even though she knew that they likely were having a private moment was appalling to me.  If I were that duo, I'd use my clout to have her fired.

I totally agree with your last point. For the other - I might have missed something because my SlingTV has been having issues with my recordings. But I didn't think he was leaving the show specifically to be on the reality show with his girlfriend. I thought he didn't even know his girlfriend was working on that as a possibility until later in the movie and that it was coincidental. I took it that he was just over the show in general. He was tired of working with Alison's character and her pressure to be more prepared, to do things he didn't care about (like showing an interest in Christmas), etc. and just wanted to move on. Then, when he and Alison got to know each other and like each other, he had a renewed interest in the show and working with her. Again, I could be completely wrong. 

[Irlandesa]

13 minutes ago, EyewatchTV211 said:

Again, I could be completely wrong. 

You might be right.  But I was still annoyed. 😉

[memememe76]

I wanted to like Heart of the Holidays more than I did. I am big fan of Vanessa Lengies from her American Dreams days, but I didn't get caught up in it. It also doesn't help that I didn't think what his NYC boyfriend did was all that bad. I also felt bad for the bookstore owner who disappeared. The romantic lead lacked charisma.

I then watched Yadda yadda Christmas Sweater (great title, BTW). I couldn't get into it because the premise sucked so much. As a runner, I expect other runners to be mindful of their environment. If you're going to run near a Xmas tree lot, you should be aware of people lugging heavy Xmas trees! I didn't understand why she should be blamed. Ugh.

[WinnieWinkle]

1 hour ago, memememe76 said:

It also doesn't help that I didn't think what his NYC boyfriend did was all that bad.

I kind of liked that they had this twist.  It was a little original at least and didn't have the usual backstabbing colleague type thing going on.  I could understand how she felt as well, first day on the new job and she gets to stay on while long term employees are given the boot - not a position I'd want to be in either!

[Irlandesa]

I LOVED Christmas By Starlight.  (Thank goodness considering I was looking forward to this one and was afraid of being let down.)  It was Kimberly and Paul's best movie together yet. 

The essential log line of "big developers try to tear down a small town cafe; will small cafe owner win over man/woman in suit in time to save Christmas" is certainly not a new concept. But that's true of a lot of common tropes.

It just goes to show you how little things can elevate a movie and not make it seem tired.  For instance, it wasn't just that Paul Campbell's character was a "suit" but I thought having him be the heir apparent who just kind of went along and never really chose a direction and pushed himself to achieve that direction was a nice character note that eventually informed the inevitable moment of angst.  And facing that he could lose someone that actually mattered led to a change. 

Then there was actual humor, chemistry and genuine moments that made me smile.  I'll have to watch this again to be sure but I suspect this might be one of the movies that I watch annually. There really aren't a ton of those for me even if I find myself liking a movie.

Edited November 27, 2020 by Irlandesa

[norcalgal]

Hey fellow holiday movie watchers, I have a question: have any of the Christmas movies (Hallmark, Lifetime, UPtv, Netflix, etc.) been set in Canada? I ask because so many of the actors in these movies are Canadian and most are filmed in Canada. I just want the Great White North to be represented. 

[ECM1231]

44 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

LOVED Christmas By Starlight.  (Thank goodness considering I was looking forward to this one and was afraid of being let down.)  It was Kimberly and Paul's best movie together yet. 

 

I loved it too! They are a great pairing! I especially like Paul; he's not drop dead gorgeous but an attractive man. The 2 of them were great in Wedding Every Weekend but I enjoy them both as actors separately, too.