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

[twoods]

Bummed that I don’t have Hallmark Movie Channel because I’ve been crushing on Michael Rady for years and would have loved to hear him sing. Damn you Hallmark for having multiple channels!

 

Watched It’s Christmas, Eve because of the glowing review and it was very cute. The lead continues to be awesome in all his Hallmark movies and Leanne was pretty good as well.

[MissyPoo]

On 11/9/2018 at 4:58 PM, VMepicgrl said:

I didn't like the first Mrs. Miracle movie but love the 2nd. I forget why I disliked the first one so much at this point since I avoid watching it now, I just know that I didn't like it, lol. Something about it had bothered me a lot. But like I said, I really liked the 2nd. Not just because it introduced me to Eric Johnson, but that helped! Wish he was in a few more of these, although I don't think I cared for the 1 other (?) that he did.

You are not alone. For me, it was Dawson's sons in that movie. They just super irked me. I'm touchy about kids in these movies because they can sometimes get a bit obnoxious (looking at you My Christmas Dream) and if I watch this one out of boredom or otherwise, I try to fast forward through their scenes. Plus the scene where the teacher fell off the stage was just forced to me since the kids just watch wide mouthed without saying anything, but I digress. I do like the romance in that movie and I think someone a few ways back mentioned how the tension between the lead female and her man stealing family member was handled better than A December Bride (I agree).

But yeah, I like the second one much better as well. Was the other you mentioned Fir Crazy? He was also in a winter themed valentine movie with Autumn Reeser that was really good.

[CherryAmes]

I like Fir Crazy so much that I bought the DVD.  I agree about the Mrs Miracle movies too.  I do like the first one but I love the second one.  The first Christmas I came across it I had it in endless rotation there for awhile.  In terms of comparing book to movie I thought that one handled some key plot points better than the book did as well.  In the book the robot was the big Christmas seller but in the movie it turns out spending big bucks on a child's toy backfires and Findlay's Dept Store comes out ahead because they stayed true to the old fashioned Christmas toys instead (yeah it's corny but it worked for me!).

Edited November 11, 2018 by CherryAmes

[TVFan17]

For some inexplicable reason, Hallmark has banished certain movies to mornings only, or, even worse, to the middle of the night, and given them only a couple of showtimes.   On the Twelfth Day of Christmas (a quiet, sweet gem of a movie starring Brooke Nevin and Robin Dunne, from 2015) is one of them.   It seems as though they are deliberately trying to bury it, even though Brooke is starring in one of their new movies this year and you would think they'd want to expose newer viewers to her previous work.    I have not been able to catch it yet.  

Naughty or Nice (with Hilarie Burton) is another one that has been banished to morning showtimes only. 

Then there are the movies that were shown very early in the season, but are strangely not on the schedule again for all of November or December.  Angels and Ornaments (from 2014 - with Jessalyn Gilsig and Sergio Di Zio) is one of them.  It was shown within the last few days of October, and then it vanished from the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries line-up completely.

I don't understand why the people who put together the schedules for Hallmark have such a problem with simply rotating the movies around (on both channels) and distributing them more evenly throughout the 2 months, so that every movie gets a showtime in the morning, a showtime in the afternoon, a showtime in prime time, a showtime in the overnight hours and a showtime on the weekend.   Hallmark shows a lot of movies in 2 months (old and new), between the 2 channels, but I would bet that many viewers don't even know half of what is on because a lot of the movies are not shown when they can watch, and Hallmark does a very bad job of promoting the lesser-known movies shown at odd hours.    People who are on different schedules will not have the chance to discover some of the great movies that are only shown at the times when they are not available.

 

Despite Hallmark's questionable scheduling choices, I have managed to catch a lot of my favorites, including:

 

Mrs. Miracle #1 (I am a fan of the first movie;  not as big a fan of the second movie)

Nine Lives of Christmas (this one never gets old)

Christmas Getaway (from last year, with Bridget Regan and Travis Van Winkle -- absolutely delightful)

Let it Snow

I'm Not Ready for Christmas

Snow Bride

Crown for Christmas

The Christmas Ornament

My Christmas Dream

Christmas List

My Christmas Love

A Very Merry Mix-Up

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

A Christmas Detour

A Bramble House Christmas

A Bride for Christmas (although I am starting to get a bit tired of this movie, the chemistry and sparks between Andrew and Arielle are undeniable)

Matchmaker Santa (I love this for Santa more than for the romance)

 

I have also re-watched a couple of movies from 2017 and I liked them more this year than I did last year, including Christmas Next Door and Christmas at Holly Lodge.

I am still trying to catch Trading Christmas this year.  I love it, but it's never on at a good time for me.

I am wondering if The Santa Suit and Farewell, Mr. Kringle are getting banished to the Hallmark Movies Now streaming service in December, as they are not scheduled on the Movies & Mysteries Channel at all.

 

As for the new movies that have premiered so far this year, there is nothing that has really jumped out as one that I instantly love and need to watch again right away, but I also have not flat-out disliked any of them.   I will probably like some of them more over time.

Christmas at Pemberley Manor (it was better than I expected it would be, though flawed, and Michael Rady is growing on me -- he is very charismatic in this movie)

Christmas Joy (I tried watching it once and was bored and distracted.   I gave it a second chance and watched it again.   I liked it much more the second time around.  Plus, it has the mom from Let it Snow and the mom from A Very Merry Mix-Up in it, which is a bonus!!!)

Road to Christmas (I could not get into it when I tried watching the first time.  I gave it a second chance and enjoyed it much more.   It has a lot of good things about it, but I think they needed a slightly stronger and better reason/excuse for why the family at the core of the movie had not been as close in recent years, which would have made me more emotionally invested in their reunion.)

Marrying Father Christmas (I actually kind of liked the first and second movies in this series, but felt that this third one was just a bit blah.   It wasn't offensive or terrible, but the uncle story was silly and just a forced way of inserting some drama into the plot.   The actual wedding was sweet.  I think they should have just stuck the wedding into movie #2 and skipped making #3.)

It's Christmas, Eve (Much, much better than I expected.   I knew that LeAnn had done at least a couple of movies in the past, so she'd had some acting experience prior to this movie -- unlike Kellie Pickler, whose new movie is premiering soon.   I wasn't sure what LeAnn and Tyler would be like together, but I was pleasantly surprised.  And I thought the final scene of the movie, at his door, was really cute and well done.)

 

Tonight is the dilemma of  Christmas in Love (with Daniel Lissing and Brooke D'Orsay) vs. A Veteran's Christmas with Eloise Mumford and Sean Faris (which, by the way, is currently scheduled to air 18 times between tonight and the end of December!!!!!!!   Why?????).   I will probably watch Christmas in Love, because I prefer rom-coms and because I know I can catch A Veteran's Christmas on one of its remaining 17 showtimes.  lol

Edited November 11, 2018 by TVFan17

[LexieLily]

Why would they have any movie airing eighteen times?!

[Irlandesa]

Because people mentioned liking A Bride for Christmas, I watched it again not having seen it since it first aired.  It was stark compared to how sanitized the movies are these days.  A lesbian sister with a dating life (yay Kimberly Sustad).  And kisses that used tongue or at least looked like they used tongue.  Even a potentially suggestive fade out.

Leann Rimes was better than I anticipated.  It was a decent movie but not one I'd watch again.  I did love how she threw the coffee at him in the end.

On 11/10/2018 at 12:35 PM, JAYJAY1979 said:

Love at the Thanksgiving Parade should be studied by the writers/filmmakers interested in making movies for the Hallmark channel world before they get started.  It has all the elements of a Hallmark Channel movie, yet it works in this particular movie due to the setting (Chicago resident here :), the leads, and the fact it was about the Thanksgiving parade and not Christmas.. plus it didn't have a small town is grand element seen so often in holiday movies.

And actual chemistry between the leads. 

[TVFan17]

37 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Why would they have any movie airing eighteen times?!

Your guess is as good as mine.   I was truly baffled and bewildered when I went to the page for A Veteran's Christmas (on Hallmark's website) and counted the number of showtimes.  Now I am usually very lenient and understanding about the generous repeats -- except when they only show a movie I like two times in two months, at which point I become bitter and resentful of the other movies with many showtimes -- but only up to a point.   I can understand that, in a 2-month event, people will be tuning in at different points and might not be able to catch certain things if they only air a couple of times early or late in the season.   I have used the repeats to my own advantage.   I sometimes wish other networks were repeating movies a lot too, as I have missed movies I wanted to see on Lifetime and ION because of a lack of repeats.

However... that said, I see NO reason for 18 showtimes in two months, especially when other movies have so few showtimes.      Hallmark loves their "feast or famine" approach to scheduling, and I don't understand it.  They don't seem to know what balance is as far as that goes.

[mikeb]

Local paper's USA Today section has an article mostly focused on Kellie Pickler and her upcoming Hallmark movie.  It is also available online here https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2018/10/26/hallmark-countdown-movies-2018-kellie-pickler-christmas-graceland/1660973002/ .  She says had never acted before and was in disbelief when they approached her and offered her the role without even asking her to audition.  I guess they must think she has a lot of fans who will want to watch.   The end of the article also touches on the increased diversity this year and how it was a conscious effort on Hallmark's part.

[TVFan17]

7 minutes ago, mikeb said:

Local paper's USA Today section has an article mostly focused on Kellie Pickler and her upcoming Hallmark movie.  It is also available online here https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2018/10/26/hallmark-countdown-movies-2018-kellie-pickler-christmas-graceland/1660973002/ .  She says had never acted before and was in disbelief when they approached her and offered her the role without even asking her to audition.  I guess they must think she has a lot of fans who will want to watch.   The end of the article also touches on the increased diversity this year and how it was a conscious effort on Hallmark's part.

I think so.   Hallmark is going after the huge country music audience, between LeAnn, Kellie and the Time for Me to Come Home for Christmas movie on HMM based on a Blake Shelton song and a book written by Blake's mom.   

Kellie Pickler is probably not the only one in disbelief that she was offered the lead role without an audition.   I wonder why they didn't try her out as a supporting character in a movie first, before casting her as a lead who carries the movie.  

Well, I will hope for the best, although I don't think I will be watching Christmas at Graceland on the night it premieres.

[JAYJAY1979]

1 hour ago, TVFan17 said:

For some inexplicable reason, Hallmark has banished certain movies to mornings only, or, even worse, to the middle of the night, and given them only a couple of showtimes.   On the Twelfth Day of Christmas (a quiet, sweet gem of a movie starring Brooke Nevin and Robin Dunne, from 2015) is one of them.   It seems as though they are deliberately trying to bury it, even though Brooke is starring in one of their new movies this year and you would think they'd want to expose newer viewers to her previous work.    I have not been able to catch it yet.  

Naughty or Nice (with Hilarie Burton) is another one that has been banished to morning showtimes only. 

Then there are the movies that were shown very early in the season, but are strangely not on the schedule again for all of November or December.  Angels and Ornaments (from 2014 - with Jessalyn Gilsig and Sergio Di Zio) is one of them.  It was shown within the last few days of October, and then it vanished from the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries line-up completely.

I don't understand why the people who put together the schedules for Hallmark have such a problem with simply rotating the movies around (on both channels) and distributing them more evenly throughout the 2 months, so that every movie gets a showtime in the morning, a showtime in the afternoon, a showtime in prime time, a showtime in the overnight hours and a showtime on the weekend.   Hallmark shows a lot of movies in 2 months (old and new), between the 2 channels, but I would bet that many viewers don't even know half of what is on because a lot of the movies are not shown when they can watch, and Hallmark does a very bad job of promoting the lesser-known movies shown at odd hours.    People who are on different schedules will not have the chance to discover some of the great movies that are only shown at the times when they are not available.

 

Despite Hallmark's questionable scheduling choices, I have managed to catch a lot of my favorites, including:

 

Mrs. Miracle #1 (I am a fan of the first movie;  not as big a fan of the second movie)

Nine Lives of Christmas (this one never gets old)

Christmas Getaway (from last year, with Bridget Regan and Travis Van Winkle -- absolutely delightful)

Let it Snow

I'm Not Ready for Christmas

Snow Bride

Crown for Christmas

The Christmas Ornament

My Christmas Dream

Christmas List

My Christmas Love

A Very Merry Mix-Up

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

A Christmas Detour

A Bramble House Christmas

A Bride for Christmas (although I am starting to get a bit tired of this movie, the chemistry and sparks between Andrew and Arielle are undeniable)

Matchmaker Santa (I love this for Santa more than for the romance)

 

I have also re-watched a couple of movies from 2017 and I liked them more this year than I did last year, including Christmas Next Door and Christmas at Holly Lodge.

I am still trying to catch Trading Christmas this year.  I love it, but it's never on at a good time for me.

I am wondering if The Santa Suit and Farewell, Mr. Kringle are getting banished to the Hallmark Movies Now streaming service in December, as they are not scheduled on the Movies & Mysteries Channel at all.

 

As for the new movies that have premiered so far this year, there is nothing that has really jumped out as one that I instantly love and need to watch again right away, but I also have not flat-out disliked any of them.   I will probably like some of them more over time.

Christmas at Pemberley Manor (it was better than I expected it would be, though flawed, and Michael Rady is growing on me -- he is very charismatic in this movie)

Christmas Joy (I tried watching it once and was bored and distracted.   I gave it a second chance and watched it again.   I liked it much more the second time around.  Plus, it has the mom from Let it Snow and the mom from A Very Merry Mix-Up in it, which is a bonus!!!)

Road to Christmas (I could not get into it when I tried watching the first time.  I gave it a second chance and enjoyed it much more.   It has a lot of good things about it, but I think they needed a slightly stronger and better reason/excuse for why the family at the core of the movie had not been as close in recent years, which would have made me more emotionally invested in their reunion.)

Marrying Father Christmas (I actually kind of liked the first and second movies in this series, but felt that this third one was just a bit blah.   It wasn't offensive or terrible, but the uncle story was silly and just a forced way of inserting some drama into the plot.   The actual wedding was sweet.  I think they should have just stuck the wedding into movie #2 and skipped making #3.)

It's Christmas, Eve (Much, much better than I expected.   I knew that LeAnn had done at least a couple of movies in the past, so she'd had some acting experience prior to this movie -- unlike Kellie Pickler, whose new movie is premiering soon.   I wasn't sure what LeAnn and Tyler would be like together, but I was pleasantly surprised.  And I thought the final scene of the movie, at his door, was really cute and well done.)

 

Tonight is the dilemma of  Christmas in Love (with Daniel Lissing and Brooke D'Orsay) vs. A Veteran's Christmas with Eloise Mumford and Sean Faris (which, by the way, is currently scheduled to air 18 times between tonight and the end of December!!!!!!!   Why?????).   I will probably watch Christmas in Love, because I prefer rom-coms and because I know I can catch A Veteran's Christmas on one of its remaining 17 showtimes.  lol

 

Christmas Getaway was written by a former soap opera head writer, as well as, Christmas at Holly Lodge.

Hallmark Channel would be smart to employ lots of out of work soap opera writers to write their movies because they understand pacing, plot, and the tricks to getting a couple to fall in love without it being too corny... and they usually can write strong supporting characters/b plots.  Christmas at Holly Lodge had a lot of fun sub plots if I recall.

[JenMD]

2 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

Naughty or Nice (with Hilarie Burton) is another one that has been banished to morning showtimes only. 

I thought this was banished to the app, much to my annoyance.  I just tried looking for it and couldn't find it anywhere.  It's one of my all time favorites.  I'll have to keep an eye out.

From up above, I also adore Trading Christmas, that one always gets a re-watch each year.  Faith Ford needs to do more Hallmark movies.

And as much as I enjoyed Road to Christmas, I do have to agree on Jessy's unfortunate hairstyle for most of the movie.

I can't take LeAnn Rimes, I just can't so I skipped her movie last night.  Glad to see folks enjoyed it though.

I'm LOL at the schedule for A Veteran's Christmas.  The Hallmark people probably know exactly how many times my sister has re-watched Christmas with Holly and are scheduling accordingly.  Heh.  Our problem tonight is not that it's on against one of my favorites (Hi there, Daniel Lissing, you cutie pie), but Outlander and Poldark.  There just aren't enough hours in a Sunday evening (plus, The Great British Baking Show just dropped a new season on Netflix.  I really want to ditch everything to just watch that!).  Both Hallmarks will probably end up waiting until Mon/Tues for us.

[sistersledge]

21 hours ago, lkcraig316 said:

 

On 11/8/2018 at 8:42 PM, VartanFan said:

I liked Road to Christmas ok but...to be totally catty or whatever...I thought they made Schram's hair look TERRIBLE.  It was a limp, flat mess...and it stayed that way through the whole movie.  I also definitely appreciated the gay characters, a very very small sip of diversity, and that she was the one who planted a kiss on him.  

I am totally in agreement about the hair. I don’t know what they were trying to do with it but it was not flattering at all. 

 

It’s funny bc I finally watched this yesterday (still haven’t finished but I can guess the ending) and what bothered me the most for the first half was her skin! There was something really weird about it, like she had a bad sunburn they were trying to cover, or a really bad rash all over. And I wasn’t even watching it on HD! (Streaming on iPad)

Another thing that might get addressed toward the end (haven’t finished, have 20 min left), is just how everyone seems to agree how kind and loving not-Martha Stewart is... I guess I just found it to be over the top. 

 

Edited: bah! They got me - I thought there was going to be an evil twist to Julia, but alas no. It was actually pretty good (why do I sound surprised? Lol)

Edited November 12, 2018 by sistersledge
Finished movie

[EyewatchTV211]

18 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

You are not alone. For me, it was Dawson's sons in that movie. They just super irked me. I'm touchy about kids in these movies because they can sometimes get a bit obnoxious (looking at you My Christmas Dream) and if I watch this one out of boredom or otherwise, I try to fast forward through their scenes. Plus the scene where the teacher fell off the stage was just forced to me since the kids just watch wide mouthed without saying anything, but I digress. I do like the romance in that movie and I think someone a few ways back mentioned how the tension between the lead female and her man stealing family member was handled better than A December Bride (I agree).

But yeah, I like the second one much better as well. Was the other you mentioned Fir Crazy? He was also in a winter themed valentine movie with Autumn Reeser that was really good.

Yes, I was thinking of Fir Crazy. I forgot about the winter valentine movie. 

[LexieLily]

7 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

Your guess is as good as mine.   I was truly baffled and bewildered when I went to the page for A Veteran's Christmas (on Hallmark's website) and counted the number of showtimes.  Now I am usually very lenient and understanding about the generous repeats -- except when they only show a movie I like two times in two months, at which point I become bitter and resentful of the other movies with many showtimes -- but only up to a point.   I can understand that, in a 2-month event, people will be tuning in at different points and might not be able to catch certain things if they only air a couple of times early or late in the season.   I have used the repeats to my own advantage.   I sometimes wish other networks were repeating movies a lot too, as I have missed movies I wanted to see on Lifetime and ION because of a lack of repeats.

However... that said, I see NO reason for 18 showtimes in two months, especially when other movies have so few showtimes.      Hallmark loves their "feast or famine" approach to scheduling, and I don't understand it.  They don't seem to know what balance is as far as that goes.

ETA: I'm glad it's airing so many times because I was recording it tonight, went to my DVR page to delete another movie to make room for the Christmas ones, and somehow it ended up stopping A Veteran's Christmas halfway through the recording.

[AnnaRose]

I finally watched A Bramble House Christmas for the first time and totally loved it!  The acting is fantastic in it, especially Autumn Reeser. She had great chemistry with David Haydn-Jones who played Finn, a children's book illustrator who thinks Autumn's character may have conned his recently deceased father into leaving her his money.  The child who played her son Scout (Liam Hughes) was adorable and a seemed very natural in the role.  Plus Teryl Rothery played the innkeeper with a nice little story arc of her own.  I was quite captivated throughout and even shed some tears. 

It was nice to find one that I liked because I deleted quite a few others without finishing them.

Road to Christmas - A lot of people liked this movie, but I couldn't get into it at all. I gave up around the time they got to Boulder and deleted it from the DVR.  I just didn't care about the Christmas television special the characters were producing.  I think the problem for me is that there are so many channels these days and audiences are so small and fractured that I just don't buy it when a movie tries to convince me that some television episode is sooo critically important and all the drama and angst that goes along with that.  I just don't care.

A Princess for Christmas - the characters and acting seemed so 'off' to me that I deleted it after about five or ten minutes.

Mistletoe and Manhattan - I deleted this one very quickly too because I realized that I wasn't interested in a movie featuring a real life Santa Claus and his wife.  The only movie in which a real Santa didn't bother me was Naughty or Nice - probably because it was minimal and just at the end.

Miss Christmas - I had a feeling I wouldn't like this from the description - woman's job is to find the perfect tree - and I didn't.  When the main character was discussing killing a perfectly healthy 95 foot evergreen tree for a month-long celebration I realized I didn't want to sit through it.  I gave this movie a try and thought I might be able to get past it, but nope, it was too depressing to watch after that.  I hate that most of these movies promote cutting down real trees every year.  I'd rather see the characters take out their plastic tree that they reuse year after year, instead of the requisite happy tree killing scene.  It's been bugging me for a while, but this movie pushed me over the edge in my annoyance.

Christmas at Cartwright's - I managed to watch all of this one and it was okay.  Alicia Witt was good with the young actress who played her daughter, but the story was so stupid.  She basically snuck her way into a job as the department store Santa, but I couldn't understand how she was supposed to be getting paid since supposedly nobody with the store knew who she was.  And acting like it's some huge crime to be a woman playing Santa was ridiculous.  She was excellent in the job and could have sued them for gender discrimination.  And I hated that she didn't just tell the nice guy she started dating the truth when she had the opportunity.  I'm sure he wouldn't have cared that the job she got to support herself and her daughter was "gasp!" playing Santa.  Although when he found out later he went kind of overboard acting like the injured party, so maybe he wouldn't have taken it so well.  Sorry for the rant.  It wasn't completely terrible, but I didn't think it was particularly good either.

Wow, that got awfully negative!  To end on a positive note, I am happily surprised by how delightful and talented Autumn Reeser is.  The only thing I had ever seen her in before Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade and A Bramble House Christmas was a CW show called Valentine that produced only eight episodes. (Kristoffer Polaha was in that too.)  She is one of my favorites leads now, and I will make an effort to watch the movies featuring her.  She doesn't have a new Christmas movie this year, does she?

[Sara2009]

Has anyone else seen “ Home for Christmas Day?” I watched it yesterday and thought it was pretty good over all.

[Suzysite]

5 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

Miss Christmas - I had a feeling I wouldn't like this from the description - woman's job is to find the perfect tree - and I didn't.  When the main character was discussing killing a perfectly healthy 95 foot evergreen tree for a month-long celebration I realized I didn't want to sit through it.  I gave this movie a try and thought I might be able to get past it, but nope, it was too depressing to watch after that.  I hate that most of these movies promote cutting down real trees every year.  I'd rather see the characters take out their plastic tree that they reuse year after year, instead of the requisite happy tree killing scene.  It's been bugging me for a while, but this movie pushed me over the edge in my annoyance.

That one bothered me to no end.   Please cut down this huge tree with family significance - and by the way we won't even pay you for it - because I want it and my job depends on it.  Ugh.  I wanted to slap her silly.   The outcome was a good one, as usual, but the premise was tough to sit through.

[kirinan]

3 hours ago, Sara2009 said:

Has anyone else seen “ Home for Christmas Day?” I watched it yesterday and thought it was pretty good over all.

Yes! I watched it when it originally aired because Victor Webster is one of my auto-watch actors, although I didn't have great hopes for the movie itself. But I was pleasantly surprised, and even got teary at the end. 

[MissyPoo]

9 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

I finally watched A Bramble House Christmas for the first time and totally loved it!  The acting is fantastic in it, especially Autumn Reeser. She had great chemistry with David Haydn-Jones who played Finn, a children's book illustrator who thinks Autumn's character may have conned his recently deceased father into leaving her his money.  The child who played her son Scout (Liam Hughes) was adorable and a seemed very natural in the role.  Plus Teryl Rothery played the innkeeper with a nice little story arc of her own.  I was quite captivated throughout and even shed some tears. 

It was nice to find one that I liked because I deleted quite a few others without finishing them.

This is such a good one! Scout is too adorable for words. I wish Bramble House was a real inn.  :-)

9 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

Wow, that got awfully negative!  To end on a positive note, I am happily surprised by how delightful and talented Autumn Reeser is.  The only thing I had ever seen her in before Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade and A Bramble House Christmas was a CW show called Valentine that produced only eight episodes. (Kristoffer Polaha was in that too.)  She is one of my favorites leads now, and I will make an effort to watch the movies featuring her.  She doesn't have a new Christmas movie this year, does she?

Not at all! We all have our likes and dislikes. It's good to hear everyone's thoughts because I sometimes get numb to these flicks watching them as background noise. It's nice to see them through other people's eyes especially if they are seeing them for the first time. Autumn is a gem. She's also one of my faves that I follow whenever she has a new movie coming out. I was looking for her this season as well but as far as I know, she doesn't have a new one this year to my disappointment. If anyone has heard otherwise, I'd love to be wrong about that!

Not sure if you've seen her other movies but she's made some goodies like A Country Wedding, Valentine Ever After (finally remembered the name), Season For Love, I Do I Do I Do, and one of my all time faves Midnight Masquerade.

Checking her IMDB, it looks like she's co-starring in another movie with everyone's fave leading man for her, Antonio Cupo. Looks like they are playing a married couple in, get this, a horror/thriller movie based on the La Llorona myth.

4 hours ago, Sara2009 said:

Has anyone else seen “ Home for Christmas Day?” I watched it yesterday and thought it was pretty good over all.

 

1 hour ago, kirinan said:

Yes! I watched it when it originally aired because Victor Webster is one of my auto-watch actors, although I didn't have great hopes for the movie itself. But I was pleasantly surprised, and even got teary at the end. 

Agree! I didn't have very high hopes as well, but I ended up enjoying it with the mister and we both were a bit misty eyed at the end when we thought it went a certain way. It was a good one. Bring tissues. We also liked Christmas Homecoming which was surprising because I thought was going to be blah.

 

In recent watchings, I tried to watch Christmas in Love last night since I was looking forward to it, but ended up bailing part way. I had planned to come back since I switched rooms, but the interest wasn't there. I may check back in later but it felt like they were phoning it in from the writing down to the two leads. I know Hallmark loves the "this is a quaint small town and we don't like your big city ways around here" as an ongoing theme, but in this movie it felt particularly over the top and in the face that it turned me off of it. Both Brooke and Daniel looked bored and I was distracted by the mansion-to-job ratio more than anything. I did find it funny that Brooke's character was in Daniel's face about standing out appearance wise and she was the only one without a hair net or hair tied back and such.

[AnnaRose]

17 minutes ago, MissyPoo said:

This is such a good one! Scout is too adorable for words. I wish Bramble House was a real inn.  :-)

Not at all! We all have our likes and dislikes. It's good to hear everyone's thoughts because I sometimes get numb to these flicks watching them as background noise. It's nice to see them through other people's eyes especially if they are seeing them for the first time. Autumn is a gem. She's also one of my faves that I follow whenever she has a new movie coming out. I was looking for her this season as well but as far as I know, she doesn't have a new one this year to my disappointment. If anyone has heard otherwise, I'd love to be wrong about that!

Not sure if you've seen her other movies but she's made some goodies like A Country Wedding, Valentine Ever After (finally remembered the name), Season For Love, I Do I Do I Do, and one of my all time faves Midnight Masquerade...

Thanks for the recommendations MissyPoo!  I will try to keep an eye out for those.

[Jenniferbug]

59 minutes ago, MissyPoo said:

In recent watchings, I tried to watch Christmas in Love last night since I was looking forward to it, but ended up bailing part way. I had planned to come back since I switched rooms, but the interest wasn't there. I may check back in later but it felt like they were phoning it in from the writing down to the two leads. I know Hallmark loves the "this is a quaint small town and we don't like your big city ways around here" as an ongoing theme, but in this movie it felt particularly over the top and in the face that it turned me off of it. Both Brooke and Daniel looked bored and I was distracted by the mansion-to-job ratio more than anything. I did find it funny that Brooke's character was in Daniel's face about standing out appearance wise and she was the only one without a hair net or hair tied back and such.

I had that one on as background noise while working this morning, and I felt the same way. I was about halfway through it when I needed to make a phone call, and when I realized I didn't care enough to pause the movie, I knew it wasn't really a hit with me. I did finish it but can't say I was paying much attention. 

I'm running into the same issue with It's Christmas, Eve right now as well. There's nothing wrong with it, but it really isn't grabbing me or making me care about it. 

Maybe I'm getting burned out on these movies already.

Ooo, I really liked Valentine Ever After too! I read the description when trying to decide what to watch one day and thought "a bar fight? In a Hallmark movie? This I need to see!"

[AnnaRose]

37 minutes ago, Jenniferbug said:

I'm running into the same issue with It's Christmas, Eve right now as well. There's nothing wrong with it, but it really isn't grabbing me or making me care about it. 

Maybe I'm getting burned out on these movies already.

I think that should be a concern for Hallmark considering their strategy of going for huge quantity with suspect quality.  If people tune in for enough sub-par movies, they may just give up watching them in general.  Personally I get put-off of things relatively easily, especially when there are so many other entertainment choices.  One of the reasons I got into them in the first place was because I watched the movies most recommended here and really enjoyed them.  If I had started with some of the poorer offerings, I would have stopped watching them last year.

[Sara2009]

5 hours ago, kirinan said:

Yes! I watched it when it originally aired because Victor Webster is one of my auto-watch actors, although I didn't have great hopes for the movie itself. But I was pleasantly surprised, and even got teary at the end. 

My only beef with it was the IMO unnecessary plot twist.

[Jenniferbug]

1 hour ago, AnnaRose said:

I think that should be a concern for Hallmark considering their strategy of going for huge quantity with suspect quality.  If people tune in for enough sub-par movies, they may just give up watching them in general.  Personally I get put-off of things relatively easily, especially when there are so many other entertainment choices.  One of the reasons I got into them in the first place was because I watched the movies most recommended here and really enjoyed them.  If I had started with some of the poorer offerings, I would have stopped watching them last year.

I agree. I wish they would focus less on making new movies and more on better balancing the schedule (as someone mentioned upthread) so the old favorites aren't only on in the middle of the night. I think maybe 1 new movie each weekend per channel from the week before Thanksgiving till Christmas would be plenty. 

I guess my ideal Hallmark schedule would start November 1st and run till a few days after New Year's. In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, it would be nice to see them showcase their most popular older Christmas movies in the primetime spots, maybe in some sort of countdown (top 5? Top 10?). Then after Christmas, they could feature the highest rated movies from that year till New Year's (with a mix of old to keep the 24 hours a day thing going). 

I'm watching Christmas in Homestead right now and I'm liking it well enough. The cast is solid and I'm getting some good laughs out of what Hallmark thinks December in Iowa looks like!

[dalek]

I enjoyed A Veteran's Christmas.  It was pretty obvious where the movie was going, but you can't beat a happy ending with a dog.  I assume they chose Sunday Nov. 11th for the premiere since that's the original Armistice Day.  (I'm still annoyed it got changed to Veteran's Day and moved to a Monday.  It's the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month for a reason.). Even if Hallmark is assuming it is going to be one of the big hits of the season, I'm boggling a bit at how many times they're rerunning it.

Although, I have to admit, as a fairly introverted person, a town full of people being nice and insisting on inviting me everywhere would send me screaming into the surrounding woods. And considering they didn't know her all that well, I thought they were being a bit intrusive in terms of asking for details of her service in Afghanistan.  It be one thing if one of the other former service members had done so.   But that's just me.   I liked the two leads together.  I was a bit amused by how rapidly Eloise Mumford's wardrobe expanded as the movie progressed.

[redpencil]

3 hours ago, dalek said:

I enjoyed A Veteran's Christmas.  It was pretty obvious where the movie was going, but you can't beat a happy ending with a dog.

Totally predictable. But also, I cried like a baby. Something about people being reunited with beloved dogs--gets me every time.

Edited November 13, 2018 by redpencil

[CherryAmes]

Still working my way through some of the older films and just saw Christmas Under Wraps with Candace Cameron Bure.  Reading the blurb I wasn't expecting to like it but I actually thought it was Very Good.  No tiresome love triangle (so already better than average) and then the story itself was just sweet.  Perfect Christmas movie fare.  I'd watch it again.

[AnnaRose]

On 11/10/2018 at 1:35 PM, JAYJAY1979 said:

And I kind of like the Candace Cameron Bure movies (preparing to duck).. but my fav was Journey to Christmas (time travel and she looked good in the 40s clothes and wardrobe)

Hey JayJay, I just watched Journey to Christmas and loved it, so thanks again for the recommendation!  :)

Edited November 13, 2018 by AnnaRose
bold

[JAYJAY1979]

11 minutes ago, AnnaRose said:

Hey JayJay, I just watched Journey to Christmas and loved it, so thanks again for the recommendation!  :)

Anytime.

The writer of it wrote a few hallmark hall of fame movies like A season for miracles and Ellen Foster.. so that explains why it was so good.

 

The writer of love at the Thanksgiving parade wrote one of my favorite holiday tv movie called Christmas Every Day :)  explains why I like it :)

[Irlandesa]

On 11/8/2018 at 5:07 PM, Darlin said:

Are the movies on HMM any "better/more prestigious" than the ones on Hallmark Channel?

The more serious movies end up on HMM but they've also had some very Hallmark Channel type movies as well. 

12 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

I think that should be a concern for Hallmark considering their strategy of going for huge quantity with suspect quality.  If people tune in for enough sub-par movies, they may just give up watching them in general.  Personally I get put-off of things relatively easily, especially when there are so many other entertainment choices.  One of the reasons I got into them in the first place was because I watched the movies most recommended here and really enjoyed them.  If I had started with some of the poorer offerings, I would have stopped watching them last year.

This comes up every now and then and my response is always kind of similar.  Hallmark is going to keep doing this as long as it keeps working for them and, as of right now, it' still working for them.  Arguably not in terms of quality or memorable movies but in terms of branding and ratings, it's a money maker.  It's similar to Netflix's model, actually.  Netflix cares less about quality than they do about making sure you spend time on their device rather than anywhere else.

Netflix, Lifetime, UP, INSP and ION (and AMC's Christmas schedule) trying to copy Hallmark shows how much this is considered a successful business strategy by Hallmark.  Could it peter out?  Yes.  Everything has their trends.  But do I think making fewer, but better, movies would be a better business strategy than what they're doing?  Probably not.  They weren't really considered a powerhouse cable channel until they started doing this.

[Suzysite]

13 hours ago, dalek said:

 I was a bit amused by how rapidly Eloise Mumford's wardrobe expanded as the movie progressed.

Right?  I wondered just how many big (and dressy) winter coats she had stuffed into that bag.   And speaking of bags...when the sheriff got her off the bus, they didn't even bother to have the driver get her bags out.  So did they end up in Cincinnati without her?  I shouldn't obsess over details in these movies.

[llewis823]

9 hours ago, CherryAmes said:

Still working my way through some of the older films and just saw Christmas Under Wraps with Candace Cameron Bure.  Reading the blurb I wasn't expecting to like it but I actually thought it was Very Good.  No tiresome love triangle (so already better than average) and then the story itself was just sweet.  Perfect Christmas movie fare.  I'd watch it again.

THis is one of my very, very favorites. I also love a Very Merry Mix Up, where Alicia Witt goes home with the wrong family and also the one (can't remember the name) with her getting the job as Santa. I also liked Christmas Cookies. But my very, very, very favorite may not even be a Hallmark movie but I think it is. It is Holiday Switch with Nicole Eggert. I actually bought that one on DVD so I'd have it to watch every year. Now to remember where I put it...

Edited November 13, 2018 by llewis823
thought of one more!

[kirinan]

Well, color me surprised. I just watched A Royal Christmas, and I actually ended up enjoying it despite the two strikes that always made me avoid it: Lacey Chabert and the "royal" theme. I don't dislike Lacey Chabert, but I generally am bored by her movies. And other than A Crown for Christmas, I've just never cared for the Hallmark royal films (strange for a 50-plus-year-old woman who once gushed, "You've always been my favorite princess!" when I went to a Walt Disney World princess lunch and took a picture with Cinderella, but there you have it).

But I really liked this one! Yes, it was corny, and yes, it was predictable, but it owned all that and didn't pretend to be anything other than a fairy tale. I thought Lacey did a great job at playing a "regular" girl from South Philly. And Stephen Hagan, who played Leo, is such an appealing actor and actually seemed like a prince who would make a good king one day. Even my husband, who wanders in and out of my movies but doesn't watch them through, said, "He's the only prince so far who hasn't been a skinny, wimpy little guy." (He's never wandered in and out of A Crown for Christmas, so he hasn't seen the decidedly non-wimpy Rupert Penry-Jones yet.) And you know who gave Leo a run for his money? Victor! Talk about your silver fox. 

So yeah, chalk up another one in the win column this year. Now on to Christmas in Homestead, which I never watched but got caught up in the first few minutes of on Sunday. But I had to DVR it because we had plans that forced me to leave the house. Vacation day from work today, so we'll see how it goes!

[JasminePhyllisia]

I watched random snippets of Hallmark Christmas movies throughout the past week.  One lesson I've learned about the New England area: Vermont is where the Christmas spirit lives (but only in small towns) and Boston is where it is dead, apparently.  Sure, all big cities are bad and small towns are good in this Hallmark fantasy world, but these are the two places I seem to see most often.

[Myrrhine]

On 11/11/2018 at 11:57 PM, AnnaRose said:

I finally watched A Bramble House Christmas for the first time and totally loved it!  The acting is fantastic in it, especially Autumn Reeser. She had great chemistry with David Haydn-Jones who played Finn, a children's book illustrator who thinks Autumn's character may have conned his recently deceased father into leaving her his money.  The child who played her son Scout (Liam Hughes) was adorable and a seemed very natural in the role.  Plus Teryl Rothery played the innkeeper with a nice little story arc of her own.  I was quite captivated throughout and even shed some tears. 

It was nice to find one that I liked because I deleted quite a few others without finishing them.

Road to Christmas - A lot of people liked this movie, but I couldn't get into it at all. I gave up around the time they got to Boulder and deleted it from the DVR.  I just didn't care about the Christmas television special the characters were producing.  I think the problem for me is that there are so many channels these days and audiences are so small and fractured that I just don't buy it when a movie tries to convince me that some television episode is sooo critically important and all the drama and angst that goes along with that.  I just don't care.

A Princess for Christmas - the characters and acting seemed so 'off' to me that I deleted it after about five or ten minutes.

Miss Christmas - I had a feeling I wouldn't like this from the description - woman's job is to find the perfect tree - and I didn't.  When the main character was discussing killing a perfectly healthy 95 foot evergreen tree for a month-long celebration I realized I didn't want to sit through it.  I gave this movie a try and thought I might be able to get past it, but nope, it was too depressing to watch after that.  I hate that most of these movies promote cutting down real trees every year.  I'd rather see the characters take out their plastic tree that they reuse year after year, instead of the requisite happy tree killing scene.  It's been bugging me for a while, but this movie pushed me over the edge in my annoyance.

 

Some of my old favorites like Princess for Christmas definitely feel their age! I think The Most Wonderful Time of the Year is the same way. 

On 11/12/2018 at 5:26 AM, Suzysite said:

That one bothered me to no end.   Please cut down this huge tree with family significance - and by the way we won't even pay you for it - because I want it and my job depends on it.  Ugh.  I wanted to slap her silly.   The outcome was a good one, as usual, but the premise was tough to sit through.

For Miss Christmas, it didn't bother me that she made her pitch about getting the tree, and half the family was interested in donating it. But she was pretty pushy about something even once it was clear that the tree was very meaningful to them; that annoyed me. What saved it for me was the lead actor and the fact that there was a spark of intensity about the connection between the hero and the heroine at the end. Sometimes the range of emotion in these films is just mildest antagonism (to start) to a grand finale of pleasant affection (cause for immediate marriage obviously). It was nice to see a character who actually seemed to CARE if he ended up with his love interest or not. 

I'm watching Veteran's Christmas right now, and I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying it. One silly element I like is the heroine's hair. When she's just out of the military and traveling it's just in a messy ponytail and then she has it done by a stylist once and then the rest of the time it's been down but pretty casual. So often the heroine has a blowout (or at least an hour with a straightening iron) regardless of whether she is "stranded" somewhere during the holidays, surviving a car accident, just woke up, whatever. Also I was shocked that there was any snark whatsoever. 

[twoods]

@kirinan I’m interested to see if you enjoyed Christmas in Homestead. I liked that movie a lot, and thought Taylor and Michael had wonderful chemistry.

[MissyPoo]

10 hours ago, llewis823 said:

THis is one of my very, very favorites. I also love a Very Merry Mix Up, where Alicia Witt goes home with the wrong family and also the one (can't remember the name) with her getting the job as Santa. I also liked Christmas Cookies. But my very, very, very favorite may not even be a Hallmark movie but I think it is. It is Holiday Switch with Nicole Eggert. I actually bought that one on DVD so I'd have it to watch every year. Now to remember where I put it...

Christmas at Cartwrights, just in case you want to look for it again on the schedule. :-)

I loved Holiday Switch as well! I didn't expect much of it but I ended up really enjoying it. I hope Lifetime shows it again this year.

[Jenniferbug]

I watched Christmas in Homestead yesterday for the first time and really enjoyed it too.

I watched Magical Christmas Ornaments today on a whim, and was surprised how much I really enjoyed it! So much that I'll probably watch it again when it's on later this week.

I also caught December Bride this morning for the 2nd or 3rd time. I know that one isn't super popular, but I must enjoy it more than I realize, since I seem to watch every time it's on. Must be my guilty pleasure or something! 

I watched most of The Christmas Train this afternoon. I'm actually surprised that this one isn't getting more air time since I remember it being heavily promoted last year. I'm not completely done with it, but like what I've seen so far. Not a new favorite, but nothing I'd refuse to watch again. 

Any gems coming up the rest of this week I should try to catch? I base a lot of my viewing on what's recommended here!

[mikeb]

1 hour ago, Jenniferbug said:

I watched Christmas in Homestead yesterday for the first time and really enjoyed it too.

I watched Magical Christmas Ornaments today on a whim, and was surprised how much I really enjoyed it! So much that I'll probably watch it again when it's on later this week.

I also caught December Bride this morning for the 2nd or 3rd time. I know that one isn't super popular, but I must enjoy it more than I realize, since I seem to watch every time it's on. Must be my guilty pleasure or something! 

I watched most of The Christmas Train this afternoon. I'm actually surprised that this one isn't getting more air time since I remember it being heavily promoted last year. I'm not completely done with it, but like what I've seen so far. Not a new favorite, but nothing I'd refuse to watch again. 

Any gems coming up the rest of this week I should try to catch? I base a lot of my viewing on what's recommended here!

I don't recall seeing it mentioned here recently so I may be alone, but I liked Love Always, Santa which is airing Wednesday 3:00 PM on HMM.   The overall tone is more serious than most, but there are some comedic moments involving supporting characters.  I thought both the lead Marguerite Moreau and the actress playing her young daughter were very good.  I also agree with other posters that Snow Bride, airing Saturday morning 4:00 AM on Hallmark Channel, is worth catching.

[dalek]

Not holiday movie related, but Hallmark channels related.  My cable company added Hallmark Drama earlier this year.  I have not been super impressed with the offerings.  Reruns of Little House on the Prairie, Touched by an Angel and Seventh Heaven aren't really my thing, and they seemed to be showing the same 6-10 mediocre movies all the time (seriously, how many times does anyone need the see The Big Grab).  Recently, however, they've started showing a lot more of the old high quality Hallmark Hall of Fame movies, such as the Irena Sendler biopic, Foxfire and Breathing Lessons.  I'm hoping they show all the Anne Tyler novel adaptations that I was never able to watch first run because by then Hallmark Hall of Fame movies were on one of the premium cable channels and were no longer being shown on broadcast tv (CBS, iirc).

[Jenniferbug]

1 hour ago, mikeb said:

I don't recall seeing it mentioned here recently so I may be alone, but I liked Love Always, Santa which is airing Wednesday 3:00 PM on HMM.   The overall tone is more serious than most, but there are some comedic moments involving supporting characters.  I thought both the lead Marguerite Moreau and the actress playing her young daughter were very good.  I also agree with other posters that Snow Bride, airing Saturday morning 4:00 AM on Hallmark Channel, is worth catching.

Snow Bride is a favorite of mine too! I have not seen Love Always, Santa so will look for that either live or on demand. Thanks for the recommendation!

[MissyPoo]

Not sure if it was mentioned here but Charming Christmas is coming up this Thursday. I wasn't too keen on it the first time I saw it but after a few viewings, it's kind of grown on me and has become a guilty pleasure fave of mine that I'd also suggest. It's like three stories in one. Also The Perfect Christmas Present which is one of the few movies that take place in a big city (and is gorgeously shot as well).

I really liked The Bridge but I'm super baffled why Hallmark has broken them up this week. Part 2 was on this morning and the first part comes on Friday in the am (good job, Hallmark scheduling people). 

[Jenniferbug]

Added to the list, @MissyPoo Thanks!

I saw The Bridge part 2 was on and thought it was weird that I didn't remember seeing Part 1 air recently. Their scheduling is odd this year.

[kirinan]

On 11/13/2018 at 4:44 PM, twoods said:

@kirinan I’m interested to see if you enjoyed Christmas in Homestead. I liked that movie a lot, and thought Taylor and Michael had wonderful chemistry.

I liked it! Mostly on the strength of the leads; I really enjoyed Michael Rady and Taylor Cole. I also thought they had a ton of chemistry. I also liked his sister a lot, and the subplot with the photographer. The little girl annoyed me at times--she was a little too precocious--but when she dialed it down she was cute enough. The sets were fabulous. Some of the best ones I've seen in any of the Christmas movies. Although the drama was a little...manufactured, what Hallmark movie isn't? So I could handwave it.

I would definitely watch this again.

Edited November 15, 2018 by kirinan

[Darlin]

Full Disclosure:  I'm embarrassed to admit online that I am partial to Alicia Witt Hallmark movies.  Christmas at Cartwright's sounds UTTERLY RIDICULOUS on paper but . . . . it's such a CUTE movie!  I also like I'm Not Ready for Christmas (and of course A Very Merry Mix-Up).  Christmas List was a bit underwhelming and I liked most of Mistletoe Inn but I didn't love it.  I'm bummed that her newest Hallmark movie will be on HMM, a channel I don't have.

 

Has anyone seen Just In Time (I think that's the name of it). Eloise Mumford plays a successful author who THINKS she has to choose between her career and her fiancé?  I like that one a lot.  Other faves that I've suddenly remembered:  Naughty or Nice, A Holiday Engagement, and to lesser extents: With Love, Christmas and The Mistletoe Promise.

 

I am recording Best Christmas Party Ever as it appears to be a popular movie on this board.

[MissyPoo]

40 minutes ago, Darlin said:

Has anyone seen Just In Time (I think that's the name of it). Eloise Mumford plays a successful author who THINKS she has to choose between her career and her fiancé?  I like that one a lot.  Other faves that I've suddenly remembered:  Naughty or Nice, A Holiday Engagement, and to lesser extents: With Love, Christmas and The Mistletoe Promise.

 

I am recording Best Christmas Party Ever as it appears to be a popular movie on this board.

Freakin' loved Just in Time For Christmas. I'm sad they aren't showing it more. It's one of those movies that puts a smile on your face and I'm sad when it ends because I want to follow their story even after the credit rolls. Hmark did a really good job on that one. I may go grab a cup of cocoa and pop that one on.

I'd love to know what you think of Best Christmas Party Ever when you see it.

11 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

Added to the list, @MissyPoo Thanks!

I saw The Bridge part 2 was on and thought it was weird that I didn't remember seeing Part 1 air recently. Their scheduling is odd this year.

It really is indeed. They showed them a few weeks ago together which was smart but I guess they just didn't care this week. Bah. Hope you enjoy it though!

[redpencil]

I recorded and rewatched Window Wonderland yesterday (which I do every year). I can't get over how much I love that one. I feel like it wasn't that popular when it first aired (2013 I believe) and doesn't get mentioned much, but for me it could be my absolute favorite (and my first introduction to Paul Campbell). I could watch that one multiple times a year and not get bored of it.

[AnnaRose]

1 hour ago, redpencil said:

I recorded and rewatched Window Wonderland yesterday (which I do every year). I can't get over how much I love that one. I feel like it wasn't that popular when it first aired (2013 I believe) and doesn't get mentioned much, but for me it could be my absolute favorite (and my first introduction to Paul Campbell). I could watch that one multiple times a year and not get bored of it.

Yes, I was surprised how much I loved watching it again this year.  It's been interesting to find how other movies that I thought were favorites were not quite as good as I remembered upon rewatch, and some were the opposite.

[greekmom]

I watched A Veteran’s Christmas.  My gawd, it was like watching a Christmas with the Stepford Christmas.  A town that has absolutely no multi culturalism, the single hot bachelor that is related to everyone important, a single church that EVERYONE attends and EVERYONE celebrates Christmas. LOL. I don’t mind suspending some belief, but this one was over the top!  

But I did like the ending with the dog.

[EyewatchTV211]

35 minutes ago, greekmom said:

I watched A Veteran’s Christmas.  My gawd, it was like watching a Christmas with the Stepford Christmas.  A town that has absolutely no multi culturalism, the single hot bachelor that is related to everyone important, a single church that EVERYONE attends and EVERYONE celebrates Christmas. LOL. I don’t mind suspending some belief, but this one was over the top!  

But I did like the ending with the dog.

I felt the same. They just threw in one African American as the minister at the church, but no other diversity in sight. I also normally like Sean Faris but felt like he went too over the top here. Eloise was kind of the highlight, acting-wise. But I just felt like the whole movie was just too over the top. A lot of the dialogue was cringeworthy. This one got deleted right after watching.

I did like the ending with the dog, because dogs make everything better. Justice, the dog, was great also.