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

[GeorgiaRai]

I'm rewatching Time for Them to Come Home for Christmas (again) and just noticed something for the first time. When Rebecca (Jessy Schram) & Paul (Brendan Penny) return the lost dog to Alison Sweeny, she gives them Christmas croissants from her bakery & says they're her husband's favorite.  Does this mean Katherine (Alison) & Jack (my boyfriend Lucas Bryant) from Time for Him to Come Home for Christmas are married? Did Rebecca & Paul's drive from Maine to SC lead them through Virginia where the prior movie was set? Mind blown! Now I'm wondering if there are Easter eggs in the other Time For movies?! (lol - yes, I do need to get a life, thank you very much!)

[Orcinus orca]

15 minutes into Holiday Road and I am ready to throw something at the TV.  That obnoxious Tik Tok woman is driving me nuts. I'm out.

[MerBearHou]

1 minute ago, Orcinus orca said:

15 minutes into Holiday Road and I am ready to throw something at the TV.  That obnoxious Tik Tok woman is driving me nuts. I'm out.

I too started Holiday Road and tuned out because of her as well.  From reading how much others loved the movie, I’m giving it a 2nd thought to perhaps watch, but I just cannot stand watching influencers — not sure I can do it.

[norcalgal]

On 11/26/2023 at 4:34 PM, Artsda said:

Catch me if you Claus was a fun caper movie, really enjoyed it.  Italia and Luke were great together! 

I guess that’s why it’s called acting, because I totally bought Luke as a hetero romantic partner for Italian’s character. Their kissing scenes were hawt - especially the first one in the car. 

[EtheltoTillie]

I’m watching the end of Holiday Road now. The influencer turns out okay 

[memememe76]

The Influencer shows growth throughout but she also displays her contributions to the group, both emotionally and practically. and the social media aspect allows the characters to reveal themselves in an economical but storywise consistent manner. 
 

I had my own misgivings with the Asian couple with the heavy accents but they are given their humanity and humour. It all works in the end, in my opinion. 
 

I too loved Bitmore Christmas, even though I am not one for time travel. Lenz is my favourite actor of this genre. Hallmark is kinda killing?

[Daff]

4 hours ago, Orcinus orca said:

15 minutes into Holiday Road and I am ready to throw something at the TV.  That obnoxious Tik Tok woman is driving me nuts. I'm out.

 

4 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I too started Holiday Road and tuned out because of her as well.  From reading how much others loved the movie, I’m giving it a 2nd thought to perhaps watch, but I just cannot stand watching influencers — not sure I can do it.

Those of us who have lived the majority of our lives “pre-digital” probably found the influencer to be obnoxious. However, she was kind of pivotal to the entire theme as it turned on her as she ended up receiving negative impact when she called out the opportunistic “do-gooders”. She learned the lesson that social media approval is no substitute for being in the present, appreciating those friends around her. In that light, she was easier to tolerate. I had absolutely no sympathy for the creeps who took advantage after offering to do the favor.

[absnow54]

Finally got to watch Holiday Road last night, and I really liked it. It's based on a true story of a road trip going viral, so the social media aspect was pivotal to the story (kind of like in #XMAS last year.) I thought all of the characters had great chemistry. Although, I've definitely seen the coffee spiel done way too many times before with the over complicated drink order.

Edited November 28, 2023 by absnow54

[Daff]

3 hours ago, absnow54 said:

too many times before with the over complicated drink order.

For me, too, and this one went on far too long!

[norcalgal]

15 hours ago, memememe76 said:

I had my own misgivings with the Asian couple with the heavy accents but they are given their humanity and humour. It all works in the end, in my opinion. 

Yeah, but given the couple were *from* Hong Kong, I can understand the decision to have them speak heavily accented English (well, the wife since the husband barely had lines in English). My favorite thing about the couple was their hilarious Jingle Bells karaoke!  Too funny!!!

 

[absnow54]

16 hours ago, norcalgal said:

Their kissing scenes were hawt - especially the first one in the car

The car scene may have been the sexiest scene I’ve seen in a Hallmark movie! Catch Me if You Clause was a definite highlight for the season. The two leads had fantastic chemistry, straight out of a screwball romantic comedy. When Hallmark gets the pairings right, they really knock it out of the park. 

[Irlandesa]

11 hours ago, absnow54 said:

Although, I've definitely seen the coffee spiel done way too many times before with the over complicated drink order.

Oh that's something that really bothered me.  It's lucky I have a short memory or it would have soured the movie for me.  I don't even remember his drink being overly complicated.  All he wanted was a non-dairy milk which, in this day and age, is not a huge deal. And there are people who have good reasons for not wanting dairy. 

So it rubbed me the wrong way that the lead actress was seemingly making a moral judgment about him not wanting black coffee.  Those are very different experiences and one isn't better than another.

 

[twoods]

7 hours ago, absnow54 said:

The car scene may have been the sexiest scene I’ve seen in a Hallmark movie! Catch Me if You Clause was a definite highlight for the season. The two leads had fantastic chemistry, straight out of a screwball romantic comedy. When Hallmark gets the pairings right, they really knock it out of the park. 

Yes! It’s up there with the hot springs (or was it hot tub) scene in Crashing Through the Snow. Another win for Hallmark.

[absnow54]

10 hours ago, twoods said:

Yes! It’s up there with the hot springs (or was it hot tub) scene in Crashing Through the Snow. Another win for Hallmark.

That's the other movie I was thinking about!

Back to Catch Me if You Claus, I laughed out loud at Luke MacFarlane's delivery of, "I'll be so ffffff-ar behind schedule!" It was so campy and fun!

[geekgirl921]

On 11/27/2023 at 7:18 PM, Orcinus orca said:

15 minutes into Holiday Road and I am ready to throw something at the TV.  That obnoxious Tik Tok woman is driving me nuts. I'm out.

Yes, I tried but the Til Tok woman drove me nuts too and I couldn't watch it!

[voiceover]

On 11/28/2023 at 1:33 PM, absnow54 said:

The car scene may have been the sexiest scene I’ve seen in a Hallmark movie

Ummmm I’m afraid I’ll need credit for pointing it out first 🤣🤣🤣 <see page 221>

It was both hot and hilarious.  The second time I watched I caught the moment they both seemed to notice that for a “fake”, that kiss sure was going on and on and onnnn…

For any TCM-ers: I thought Luke gave off serious Robert Montgomery vibes.

[Kaoteek]

Haven't posted in a month or so, and I gotta say I'm happily surprised by Hallmark's output, this year. On paper, the schedule did nothing for me, and yet...

The Santa Summit was fun and lighthearted (really liked the supporting cast in that one) ; A Heidelberg Holiday didn't take itself too seriously either, and the lead couple worked ; Catch Me if you Claus was an amusing caper-style comedy (even though I'm not entirely convinced this wouldn't have been better with another lead actress, I find Italia Ricci slightly bland) ; Holiday Road was a predictable but dynamic group version of that old "Christmas road trip" trope (should have used the Holiday Road song somewhere, though) ; I liked, not loved, Haul out the Holly 2 (but then again, I liked, not loved, the first movie too) - the ending felt a bit rushed, the new family too cartoonishly evil ; Biltmore Christmas was a solid time travel narrative - not without faults (what we saw of the 40s movie needed some work, tbh, it felt too "let's film our actors, remove the color, done", and the musical score was too uneven for me - I get what they were going for, but it still needed some work too), but overall enjoyable.

On the other hand, A Merry Scottish Christmas didn't really work for me (then again, I don't care at all for the Party of Five reunion and the usual Lacey Chabert-takes-some-vacation-time-and-shoots-a-HM-movie-there), especially since I had seen James Robinson in a similar role not long ago, in Saving Christmas Spirit) ; and Time for Her to Come Home for Christmas was basic (but I didn't expect anything else from this franchise).

[Trini]

I'm not really into these holiday rom-coms, so I count on y'all here to help me pick a few of the really good ones to watch.

So I did see Santa Summit; fun, and not the typical format. 👍  I've got Heidelberg on the DVR; and Catch Me If You Claus set to record.

---

FYI: TVLine started this feature to list the highlights/lowlights of the vast amount of christmas movies (I think they've done the past 3 or 4 weeks), the latest one: 'The Best & Battiest Moments From This Past Weekend’s Holiday Movies'

[kirinan]

I know the year is flying by, but this is just too soon, LOL.

Hallmark’s January Movie Slate to Star Katherine McNamara, Erica Durance and More — See the Full Schedule

[Chippings]

I was just checking and see only one comment about Christmas at Notting Hill which premiered last Saturday night.  (I was out so taped it, and have watched it in pieces since then.)  Liked the guy - a new, likeable Hallmark hero is always good.  Couldn't tell the two sisters apart, mostly, and the heroine was really quite unlikeable half the time.

In a couple of points they definitely paralleled the movie "Notting Hill", which was fun, but then they'd drop it.

I do like the way they use a foreign location and really lovingly show the streets and neighborhoods.  That was fun here.  But in the long bus tour  the family made complete idiots of themselves wearing the touristy hats and being conspicuous.  Also unlikable.

So although it had some good features and I do love a London movie, this one left me kind of 'meh'.  Too bad.

[CAM]

7 hours ago, Chippings said:

Christmas at Notting Hill

I watched it last night and it was ok. Definitely agree about it being hard to tell the sisters apart and about the bus ride (it gave off obnoxious tourists vibes.

William Moseley was decent and was nice to see him in something new. He was in the Chronicles of Narnia films and The Royal's with another Hallmark alumni Merritt Patterson.

[absnow54]

I was hoping to like Letters to Santa, but cut out about 3/4 of the way through to go to bed. I did like the scene where the kids were hanging out with "Santa" and their parents came to claim them, and the kids were like, "We've never seen these people before," much to their father's exasperation. 

[GeorgiaRai]

Re: Letters to Santa

As a big fan of the tv series Switched at Birth, it still surprises me when "Daphne" is no longer deaf.   

[Orcinus orca]

59 minutes ago, GeorgiaRai said:

Re: Letters to Santa

As a big fan of the tv series Switched at Birth, it still surprises me when "Daphne" is no longer deaf.   

Ditto.  I wonder if she had the cochlear implant for those with Meniere's.  I knew I recognized her but had to look up the actor to make sure it was her.  Apparently she had a voice coach to affect the "deaf accent" in Switched.

The movie was just OK in my book. I had it on in the background but it didn't keep my interest. I did like the abuela speaking in Spanish at times.

[norcalgal]

6 hours ago, CAM said:

I watched it last night and it was ok. Definitely agree about it being hard to tell the sisters apart and about the bus ride (it gave off obnoxious tourists vibes.

William Moseley was decent and was nice to see him in something new. He was in the Chronicles of Narnia films and The Royal's with another Hallmark alumni Merritt Patterson.

Didn’t watch Notting Hill Christmas and don’t plan to, but I *thought* it was him, based on the brief preview I saw.  LOVED him in the Narnia films.  Too bad he basically wasn’t in the third movie at all…

[Bronx Babe]

I'm a sucker for time-travel plots but only in movies, not Hallmark productions, where unfortunately I find them very, well....silly.

For instance, in  A BILTMORE CHRISTMAS they showed the 1947 director and some of their crew wearing 1920's style "newsboy" caps (like in A CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR, but even more inauthentic and glaring in that one because men had them on in the 1950 flashbacks) which was supposed to immediately telegraph (wrongly) the 1940's.  The lead actress thrown back in 1947 tells someone "I can deal with this because I've seen His Girl Friday 100 times" and then proceeds to talk like some hard-boiled noir dame.  Just ridiculous!   I was laughing so hard, lol.

Edited December 1, 2023 by Bronx Babe

[Irlandesa]

Norwegian Holiday wasn't overly brilliant but I got a kick out of it because Norwegian midwest is my "culture" so to speak.  And I kind of liked how they tried to add these really authentic bits but kind of sound weird to locals.  For instance, she talks about going out to Mille Lacs Lake (comes off like Millax).  Good for the very angle pronunciation but I've only ever heard it referred to as Lake "Millax." 

And then they show her making krumkake with the grandmother. I've made krumkake.  The thing you do not do is take a newly pressed shell and cup it as you wrap it around the cone-shaped mold.  If it gets to the point that you can put your whole hand on it, it's already too hard to mold. For virgin krumkake hands, she'd be shouting some expletives.

[KaveDweller]

On 11/27/2023 at 1:18 AM, Irlandesa said:

I did guess the "twist" about his death but I can't help but wonder how a man from the 40s is going to adjust to living 80 years later.  How is he going to get his papers? 

There was a movie a couple years ago that had the same twist. A woman worked at a museum made of some historical guys house, and the guy had disappeared at some point and no one knew why. Turns out he was transported to present time and never went back cause of the woman he met.

Biltmore Christmas was better though.

[absnow54]

10 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

There was a movie a couple years ago that had the same twist. A woman worked at a museum made of some historical guys house, and the guy had disappeared at some point and no one knew why. Turns out he was transported to present time and never went back cause of the woman he met.

Biltmore Christmas was better though.

I think the other movie was A Timeless Christmas with Ryan Paevey and Erin Cahill. 

Another good time travel one is The Spirit of Christmas.

Edited December 2, 2023 by absnow54

[Lugal]

11 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

here was a movie a couple years ago that had the same twist. A woman worked at a museum made of some historical guys house, and the guy had disappeared at some point and no one knew why. Turns out he was transported to present time and never went back cause of the woman he met.

I remember that one.  Well, I remember that was the one with the notorious "Christmas Blue Moon" when the second full moon of the month is on Christmas, which is astronomically impossible.

[Orcinus orca]

40 minutes ago, Lugal said:

Well, I remember that was the one with the notorious "Christmas Blue Moon" when the second full moon of the month is on Christmas, which is astronomically impossible.

Hallmark always blatantly ignores any type of facts.  Apparently they think we are too stupid to notice.  Like the lighthouse one where there are no waves yet the woman gets splashed in the face.  And they call what is clearly a boat horn as a fog horn - which is sounding on a clear day.  And fog horns go off constantly, not a couple of toots and it's done.  Makes me nuts.

 

[EyewatchTV211]

13 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

There was a movie a couple years ago that had the same twist. A woman worked at a museum made of some historical guys house, and the guy had disappeared at some point and no one knew why. Turns out he was transported to present time and never went back cause of the woman he met.

Biltmore Christmas was better though.

Biltmore Christmas was way better. 

I think I'm the only one who can easily handwave lack of papers in the present time. In addition to Hallmark, I watch a lot of mystery shows (mostly European ones). There's a such thing as criminals who can create documents for fake identities. Easy peasy. 😆

[GeorgiaRai]

23 minutes ago, EyewatchTV211 said:

Biltmore Christmas was way better. 

I think I'm the only one who can easily handwave lack of papers in the present time. In addition to Hallmark, I watch a lot of mystery shows (mostly European ones). There's a such thing as criminals who can create documents for fake identities. Easy peasy. 😆

Yes to all of this!  I usually don't try to apply real-world logic to Hallmark movies, but after this one, I actually wondered if Jack could steal his SSN the way criminals steal them from dead people!  Then his real identify & his false one would be the same - how convenient! 

[EyewatchTV211]

24 minutes ago, GeorgiaRai said:

Yes to all of this!  I usually don't try to apply real-world logic to Hallmark movies, but after this one, I actually wondered if Jack could steal his SSN the way criminals steal them from dead people!  Then his real identify & his false one would be the same - how convenient! 

Good point. I didn't think of stealing his own identity. I thought of using his own and how the ages wouldn't match up in the year 2023. But if they still do some falsifying of documents, he can be himself but have the details match better. 

[kirinan]

I just saw Window Wonderland for the first time (it’s been on my DVR since 2020 and I need room, lol). Such a cute movie! I really enjoyed it, and of course, it just firmly cemented my love for Paul Campbell. I’m glad I finally got to see it.

[Artsda]

I found Norwegian Holiday and Time for her to come home from Christmas kinda similar. I liked both they were heart warming.

Both had only child, no family left after their mom/grandma died and suddenly finds a long lost family member who is close/related to the potential love interest.  

[voiceover]

Just finished My Norwegian Holiday and — oh my goodness.  Let us now add David Elsendoorn to my list of charming Europeans (fr: get this guy in another movie ASAP).  And Rhiannon Fish is becoming one of my “Can’t miss” Hallmark heroines.

The story itself struck hard: two grieving loners, brought together by luck, bound by coincidence. The theme about “healing from the inside first”.  I was a goner long before Henrik broke into a run to gather JJ in his arms (I actually wept; first time that’s been true of me & any Hallmark movie in decades).  I even cried at the Anders discovery.  I should have seen that coming, but I did guess JJ’s mom’s name before she blurted it out.

Can’t wait to watch this one again.

Edited December 3, 2023 by voiceover

[Nacos for Rufus]

I almost gave up on My Norwegian Holiday and I'm so glad I didn't. Mr. Nacos for Rufus is Swedish, and so upon the first few minutes of watching, when Henrik was making a phone call, he was like, "That man is NOT Norwegian. I can't understand a word he just tried to say." (The actor is Dutch). Actually, not a single one of the actors is Norwegian, which is kind of odd. They couldn't find anyone??? Anyway, the beginning was rough and hokey, and no, just having the same name will not get you on an airplane for an international flight. KLM was clearly a sponsor.

That said, I LOVED the rest of this movie. It had so much heart and I liked all of the characters. All the storylines were purposeful. The latest batch of Hallmark movies have been pretty good at avoiding cookie cutter characters and I've really been enjoying the movies more because of it.

Edited December 3, 2023 by Nacos for Rufus
Had more thoughts!

[Trini]

So I enjoyed Heidelberg Holiday, except that I thought that the lead actress was kinda one note. Not that it was a bad note; but I was so glad when all the ornaments broke so she could do a second facial expression. Thought the love interest was more interesting.

Edited December 3, 2023 by Trini

[Kaoteek]

Funnily enough, I felt Norwegian Holiday was perfectly fine... until it lost me with the very predictable, very Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, "omg, the troll means my grandma fell in love with a Norwegian man that happens to be the ex-coach of the Norwegian man I just fell in love with and a close friend of the grandma I'm living with, everything is connected, it's faaaate !".

That was a bridge too far for me.

Edited December 3, 2023 by Kaoteek

[Ele]

I liked A Not So Royal Christmas well enough. Probably because I like Will Kemp in everything he’s in and he and Brooke had good chemistry. Even though they were both guilty of keeping secrets, her reaction made it seem like he was the only deceptive one. Other than that the movie was fine.

 

I had My Christmas Guide on this morning and the leads were great. I haven’t watched all of this season’s movies, but this is one of the better ones. Only two things bothered me.  Peyton’s boyfriend was unbelievably over-the-top stupid/annoying.  She must have been desperate.  Also, the way the school handled the bullying situation. I hope the boy was reprimanded for the bullying and not just the daughter who reacted to it. 

[kirinan]

30 minutes ago, Ele said:

I liked A Not So Royal Christmas well enough. Probably because I like Will Kemp in everything he’s in and he and Brooke had good chemistry. Even though they were both guilty of keeping secrets, her reaction made it seem like he was the only deceptive one. Other than that the movie was fine.

I agree, this movie on its own was okay, but for me it was all about Will Kemp—and I thought he raised the movie to a much higher level than it would have been with another lead actor. He is so watchable and charismatic; I have yet to see him play a character that I don't like (keeping in mind that I haven't yet seen that movie set in London where he played an American with a personal shopper; the movie didn't seem to garner much praise here, if I remember right). If you can get past some of the dumb plot points, it was a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.

[Mittengirl]

In My Norwegian Holiday, I didn’t get why everyone was mad at Henrik - he got badly hurt & didn’t win gold and somehow that was his fault?  Or did I miss something?

[Bronx Babe]

In My Norwegian Holiday, was the family just trying to fool the lead actress into staying with them by telling her The Viking Hotel was a mess?  Now, I'm not of that ethnic background and hope I'm not generalizing but somehow I cannot imagine any Scandinavian accommodation, tourist or otherwise, being anything other than very clean, friendly, and efficient.    

Why was the bride doing some sort of crazy "chicken" dance at her wedding?   That was insane, lol.  If it is some part of Norwegian tradition, then I apologize!

Landed on what I think was Holiday Road and saw an Asian girl give out to her neighbors what she called "Traditional Chinese Christmas cookies"  but they didn't show the toppings.  When I think of all the dubious and frankly bizarre Hallmark food concoctions (the most infamous of which must surely be A Cozy Christmas Inn's "cocoa cornbread stuffing -- as an entree -- God only knows what THAT was or looked like) I am not surprised....

And which was the one where a very proper British woman, upon meeting the lead actress for the first time, immediately drops her reserve to inquire in Hallmark fashion "So, my dear, what are your favorite things?"

They are really ramping up every script it seems, to expand on "what is your favorite holiday tradition" to include favorite foods and movies as well.  This obsession with lists, contests, competition is just so......corporate is the only word I can ever come up with.

 

[Nacos for Rufus]

1 hour ago, Bronx Babe said:

In My Norwegian Holiday, was the family just trying to fool the lead actress into staying with them by telling her The Viking Hotel was a mess?  Now, I'm not of that ethnic background and hope I'm not generalizing but somehow I cannot imagine any Scandinavian accommodation, tourist or otherwise, being anything other than very clean, friendly, and efficient.    

 

 

I have the sad misfortune of telling you that is definitely NOT the case.😁 I wish it was true, though!

[Bronx Babe]

Really??  Oh no!!

[DanaMB]

I’m halfway through Christmas in Noting Hill and enjoying it so far. But, my God, the sister’s vocal fry is driving me nuts. 

Edited December 4, 2023 by DanaMB

[EyewatchTV211]

1 hour ago, DanaMB said:

I’m halfway through Christmas in Noting Hill and enjoying it so far. But, my God, the sister’s vocal fry is driving me nuts. 

I think the actress playing the sister isn't actually American. She must have sadly learned from watching/listening to someone else talk that way. The father isn't American either, and it sounded like he had taken on some random southern accent as opposed to mid-western. I still mostly enjoyed the movie. 

[KaveDweller]

On 12/2/2023 at 11:33 AM, Orcinus orca said:

Hallmark always blatantly ignores any type of facts.  Apparently they think we are too stupid to notice.  

I don't think they think we are too stupid to notice.  They just think most people won't care.

Which honestly, it probably true. 

[EtheltoTillie]

Watching Christmas With a Kiss, and I’m not getting it. There are two guys with a rivalry but it’s just weird.