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

[MissyPoo]

22 hours ago, Karen885 said:

Christmas Harmony.  I liked this movie.  I have a weakness for movies about jerk celebrities so this was basically made for me.

Slightly related, If you haven't seen it already, check out Strawberry Summer, an old school Hallmark movie from many years ago. It has this storyline and some nice scenery with a sweet story. Plus, Trevor Donovan eye candy. If you have Pixl, it's known as Easy Heart.

15 hours ago, Jaded said:

ROFL that title took me out, too. It's funny how everyone knows Hallmark movies where the parents are dead and the towns are overrun with hot widow(ers).

7 hours ago, twoods said:

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

So true. I wonder if it's also Hallmark's way of restricting their movies to stay in that cookie cutter mold. One thing I always agree with the podcast (Lifetime Uncorked I think) is that they blame the direction a lot of times. If they would let their actors relax more and bring some of their own originality to the characters and story, I think it would differentiate them instead of them feeling like carbon copies of each other. I think that's one reason they worked so well in the past. Well, that and the screenwriting. I would have liked to have heard both Duane Henry's and Daniel Lissing's accents in their movies.

[Kaoteek]

I enjoyed Northern Lights of Christmas less than I expected to, given my usual soft spot for Ashley Williams (& for reindeer).

My main problem, really, was the awkward writing : the first 15 minutes or so, especially, were so exposition-heavy that everything felt forced (thankfully, it got better later on, as AW & Corey Sevier started playing it looser with the dialog) which, combined to the cheap foamy sprayed-on fake snow (that stuck to everything, but "fell" everywhere except in the reindeer's pen, for some "magical" reason) and the fact that I'm sick of seeing that damn Seattle needle in almost every single Hallmark movie's opening credits, made the movie a tad frustrating for me. Watchable, but frustrating.

(on another hand, I liked the supporting cast - I could see Laura Miyata getting her own HM movie, someday)

[Scarlett45]

So this will make you all laugh- I had to catch A Gingerbread Romance on Hallmark over two sessions because I fell asleep, and I wondered why Tia Mowry was dressed so frumpily with giant props in front of her and I realized they were trying to hide her pregnancy!!😝 I’m always the last to realize when a woman is pregnant, I blame this on being childfree and assuming that everyone is just eating because that’s what I’m doing!!!

[Jenniferbug]

On 12/9/2018 at 2:17 PM, Jenniferbug said:

Mingle All the Way was cute! I think it's the first time I've truly enjoyed Jen Lilley and I thought she had good chemistry with the guy who played Noel Kahn on Pretty Little Liars. I wasn't blown away by this one, BUT it's one I could see growing on me when I watch it next year and I'm not so burnt out on cheesy Christmas movies. 

Quoting myself here because I happened to catch Mingle All the Way again, and I already love it more. I think when I watched it the first time, I was too concerned about getting "caught up" on these movies. I was a lot more charmed by it the second time around and am already looking forward to watching it again. 

Gingerbread Romance was disappointing because I liked the concept of decorating the life size houses and I like Tia, but everyone's acting just felt so stiff! I'll agree with whoever upthread suggested it was directing style that kept them all so stiffled. Also since its been commented on, I thought it was nice that Tia wasn't stick thin like most of the actresses are. 

Christmas by the Book may have some potential! The lead looks like she's got some quirky energy to her so that could be fun. Or annoying. But I'll find out when I get around to watching it tomorrow!

I'm a little sad that this is almost over. I like the year round Hallmark movies, but the Christmas ones really do stand out. Hopefully some of you will be around to discuss the others!

[Silver Raven]

What it's really like to write made-for-TV Hallmark Christmas movies

GUIDELINES FOR FEMALE PROTAGONISTS IN HALLMARK CHRISTMAS MOVIES

[ZootSuitWyatt]

15 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

What it's really like to write made-for-TV Hallmark Christmas movies

GUIDELINES FOR FEMALE PROTAGONISTS IN HALLMARK CHRISTMAS MOVIES

THIS: "Then she must bump into some guy she knew in high school. He knew her when was still young and carefree, before she’d had any meaningful life experiences and before her brain was even really finished developing. He knows the real her."

[twoods]

16 minutes ago, ZootSuitWyatt said:

THIS: "Then she must bump into some guy she knew in high school. He knew her when was still young and carefree, before she’d had any meaningful life experiences and before her brain was even really finished developing. He knows the real her."

Lol! I am literally watching a Lifetime movie right now when the lead bumped into her hometown ex and how she’s “changed.” Too funny.

[methodwriter85]

1 hour ago, twoods said:

Lol! I am literally watching a Lifetime movie right now when the lead bumped into her hometown ex and how she’s “changed.” Too funny.

That reminds me of the Andrew W. Walker movie called Appetite for Love, where he and Taylor Cole spark as two former loves who butt heads when she's brought in to turn his cafe into a bland corporate chain. My favorite part is where he literally feeds her like an apple or something that he grew in the cafe's garden in the back as proof of how good his farm-to-table method is. And of course, she declares herself "Willie Mae" again at the end instead of her big city name Mina.

I did like that Taylor was allowed to have a short bob instead of the loose, flowing curls that most of these protagonists have to have:

 

Beachy waves and/or Farrah hair are such a thing in these movies. I guess it's supposed to illustrate how carefree and charming they are, once they let themselves love the handsome small-town guy that wants to tame them for their city gal ways?

Edited December 21, 2018 by methodwriter85

[AnnaRose]

2 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

What it's really like to write made-for-TV Hallmark Christmas movies

Quote

They always like Christmas activities like gingerbread-making contests, snowman-making contests. They like to have that stuff scattered throughout the whole thing, so there’s always some sort of Christmas element going on.

We have one script that’s about to go over there, they’ve signed off on it, and one of their big notes — and this is a movie where people are basically doing Christmas activities in every scene – was there wasn’t enough Christmas!

That's the opposite of what I tend to like.  I prefer the movies that are light on the Christmas stuff and movies in which Christmas is just kind of incidental to whatever else is going on.  And the more of these movies I watch, the more I feel that way because it all gets to be increasingly repetitive.

[Kaoteek]

Ah, yes, the Hallmark hairdo. Funny thing is, I just finished Entertaining Christmas (awful, awful title, as usual), and I kept thinking that the hairdresser had a really heavy hand with Sweetin's hair, compared to her usual style. Aside from that, it was an okayish watch. I liked the lead couple, obviously, and Sweetin is always fun to watch, but I kept thinking there was something missing to make it really memorable, or to make the romance work.

It was just a little bit too flat, either in the dialog or in the overall pace (also, the rolls of fake snow on the floor with the fabric folds in plain sight... yeeesh).

I didn't hate it, but just like Northern Lights of Christmas, I expected something more.

[twoods]

I agree. It was okay and went by fast, but something was missing. I didn’t feel the main couple bonded as much as they could have. I preferred Brendan Fehr’s Wrapped up in Christmas last year to this one. 

[In2You]

Finally watched Memories of Christmas. I remember the lead actor from Seventeen Again with Tia and Tamers back in the day. He's aged like fine wine.

[TVFan17]

14 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

So this will make you all laugh- I had to catch A Gingerbread Romance on Hallmark over two sessions because I fell asleep, and I wondered why Tia Mowry was dressed so frumpily with giant props in front of her and I realized they were trying to hide her pregnancy!!😝 I’m always the last to realize when a woman is pregnant, I blame this on being childfree and assuming that everyone is just eating because that’s what I’m doing!!!

Nope.  She wasn't pregnant.  The movie was just filmed from late September into mid-October (various actors were posting photos during the production).  Tia had her baby like 7 or 8 months ago, as I recall.  She even had the baby with her during the filming, if I remember correctly (at least for part of the time).   She may have been carrying some extra baby weight during production, but not carrying a baby!

Somehow, someone decided that Tia was pregnant during the filming -- even though it is not true, unless she got pregnant again after having the baby earlier this year -- and they added that tidbit to IMDB.  So now people are seeing it on IMDB and spreading it around social media as fact.

Edited December 21, 2018 by TVFan17

[MissyPoo]

5 hours ago, Kaoteek said:

I expected something more.

 

Sadly this summed up most of the offerings this year for me. :-/ I was looking forward to them, too. I wonder if they will seem different upon rewatch in a few months or so.

[In2You]

Interesting read. This right here is why  I've watched less Hallmark in recent years.

 

"The woman basically has to be a saint, but she still has to be a take-charge kind of female until she basically submits to the guy at the end."

 

"This year we have heard that they have commissioned a couple of Hanukkah movies for next year which is interesting because once we used a character named Sid and we were told the name was too ethnic."

20 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

So this will make you all laugh- I had to catch A Gingerbread Romance on Hallmark over two sessions because I fell asleep, and I wondered why Tia Mowry was dressed so frumpily with giant props in front of her and I realized they were trying to hide her pregnancy!!😝 I’m always the last to realize when a woman is pregnant, I blame this on being childfree and assuming that everyone is just eating because that’s what I’m doing!!!

They weren't hiding a pregnancy. They were doing a bad job hiding her pregnancy weight gain. She likes to slowly lose the weight. Plus she hasn't been thin in a few years. 

[Scarlett45]

35 minutes ago, In2You said:

Interesting read. This right here is why  I've watched less Hallmark in recent years.

 

"The woman basically has to be a saint, but she still has to be a take-charge kind of female until she basically submits to the guy at the end."

 

"This year we have heard that they have commissioned a couple of Hanukkah movies for next year which is interesting because once we used a character named Sid and we were told the name was too ethnic."

They weren't hiding a pregnancy. They were doing a bad job hiding her pregnancy weight gain. She likes to slowly lose the weight. Plus she hasn't been thin in a few years. 

Oh! Thank you very much. I saw her youngest was born this March and I assumed she was still pregnant during filming. 

Well the costume department did a BAD JOB costuming her then- I’m sure they could’ve found something more flattering for her figure. No shade on Tia whatsoever, there’s no reason for a woman to look so dumpy just because she just had a baby. 

[JenMD]

13 hours ago, Kaoteek said:

Funny thing is, I just finished Entertaining Christmas (awful, awful title, as usual), and I kept thinking that the hairdresser had a really heavy hand with Sweetin's hair

My sister and I spent way too long trying to decide if she was wearing a wig or just extensions.  I think we came down on the side of extensions, but either way her hair looked odd.  And agree, yet another terrible title.

[TVFan17]

1 hour ago, Scarlett45 said:

Oh! Thank you very much. I saw her youngest was born this March and I assumed she was still pregnant during filming. 

Well the costume department did a BAD JOB costuming her then- I’m sure they could’ve found something more flattering for her figure. No shade on Tia whatsoever, there’s no reason for a woman to look so dumpy just because she just had a baby. 

I think that Tia's baby was born in May (which is why I mentioned that I thought she had the baby 7 or 8 months ago in my response above, where I was talking about the movie just being filmed in Sept-Oct).  I knew that March was too early, but I couldn't quite recall if the baby was born near the end of April/early May or later in May.  

[In2You]

2 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

Oh! Thank you very much. I saw her youngest was born this March and I assumed she was still pregnant during filming. 

Well the costume department did a BAD JOB costuming her then- I’m sure they could’ve found something more flattering for her figure. No shade on Tia whatsoever, there’s no reason for a woman to look so dumpy just because she just had a baby. 

I thought they dressed her very dumpy looking as well and it bothered me.

[JAYJAY1979]

19 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

What it's really like to write made-for-TV Hallmark Christmas movies

GUIDELINES FOR FEMALE PROTAGONISTS IN HALLMARK CHRISTMAS MOVIES

 

I love that Hallmark doesn't want their viewers to be offended, yet I'm sure someone will always be offended.

I was watching A Christmas Gift starring John Denver from the 1980s... and they had christmas scenes, etc.. but somehow it wasn't hitting you over the head with the whole Christmas thing either.  I think a movie like that would probably play well on Hallmark Channel.. except the two leads were kissing before the end of the movie LOL  

Every year the channel proves that they only care about quantity instead of quality.

Edited December 21, 2018 by JAYJAY1979

[Chippings]

Wow, I absolutely loved the interview with the writers who have actually done Christmas movies and laid out the requirements !   I'm not sure I can watch any more of them without snickering.

I was going to come here anyway today and say something about Most Wonderful Time of the Year, which has been on a few times, including yesterday, and is about my favorite of the genre.  Except, it doesn't fit in the genre in most ways, possibly because it's from 2008. Also the pivotal character is Henry Winkler, and the tenor of the whole thing arises from him, it seems like.   So much unusually snarky dialog, and I even wondered if there was some ad-libbing along the way.

I looked up the screenwriter, who was a person named Bruce Graham.   He had only done one other of these movies, which was Trading Christmas from a few years ago, with Tom Cavanagh and Faith Ford.  A little closer to the formula but not much and also snarky.  A very welcome break.

But mostly, kudos to Henry Winkler and my personal fave.  

[TVFan17]

38 minutes ago, JAYJAY1979 said:

 

I love that Hallmark doesn't want their viewers to be offended, yet I'm sure someone will always be offended.

I was watching A Christmas Gift starring John Denver from the 1980s... and they had christmas scenes, etc.. but somehow it wasn't hitting you over the head with the whole Christmas thing either.  I think a movie like that would probably play well on Hallmark Channel.. except the two leads were kissing before the end of the movie LOL  

Every year the channel proves that they only care about quantity instead of quality.

 

They used to air The Christmas Gift on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel/formerly Hallmark Movie Channel (even as recently as the 2017 holiday season).  I remember encountering it as I switched channels, but I did not watch it all the way through.  I think it used to be shown slightly more often, and then it got reduced to just one showtime last year.   I thought that it had possibly moved to the Hallmark Movies Now streaming site, but that does not appear to be the case.  I don't see it there.   

They've got a page for it on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries site, but no showtimes for it this year -- http://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/the-christmas-gift-1986

[AnnaRose]

2 hours ago, Chippings said:

Wow, I absolutely loved the interview with the writers who have actually done Christmas movies and laid out the requirements !   I'm not sure I can watch any more of them without snickering.

I was going to come here anyway today and say something about Most Wonderful Time of the Year, which has been on a few times, including yesterday, and is about my favorite of the genre.  Except, it doesn't fit in the genre in most ways, possibly because it's from 2008. Also the pivotal character is Henry Winkler, and the tenor of the whole thing arises from him, it seems like.   So much unusually snarky dialog, and I even wondered if there was some ad-libbing along the way.

I looked up the screenwriter, who was a person named Bruce Graham.   He had only done one other of these movies, which was Trading Christmas from a few years ago, with Tom Cavanagh and Faith Ford.  A little closer to the formula but not much and also snarky.  A very welcome break.

But mostly, kudos to Henry Winkler and my personal fave.  

Oh, that's interesting that those were both written by the same person.  I just watched Trading Christmas again the other night for the second time, and liked it even more than the first time.  I particularly enjoyed Faith Ford's character's story and her love interest, who was very laid back and seemed like such a sweet and kind person.  All the couples had great chemistry, and all the storylines in this movie were enjoyable for me.

I also watched Small Town Christmas with Kristoffer Polaha and enjoyed that one too, even though it wasn't super exciting or anything.  The appeal was the cast, and I find Kristoffer so charming and thought he was very well-matched with his love interest in this movie. (Unlike Rocky Mountain Christmas in which I just couldn't buy that his character would be so head-over-heels in love with the lead actress.)  I also liked that they had known each other previously, which made their connection much more believable.

[kirinan]

Dad Schools Daughter on Made-for-TV Christmas Movies - This is HILARIOUS and right on the nose. You should be able to watch it even if you're not on Facebook.

Hallmark movie-watching terms of agreement - Another good article from McSweeney's. 

And now off to read the articles Silver Raven posted!

Edited December 21, 2018 by kirinan

[Happywatcher]

On 12/20/2018 at 1:40 PM, Jenniferbug said:

 

Christmas by the Book may have some potential! The lead looks like she's got some quirky energy to her so that could be fun. Or annoying. But I'll find out when I get around to watching it tomorrow!

 

Watching on DVR. I know TV/movie cameras demand women be 10-15 lbs lighter than normal weights, but I was thinking the lead needs to drink some ensure. In particular the opening scenes dress made her look half starved.

I was thinking the hair and eyebrows were a little much, but it turned out the makeup people matched the affect the actress used--hyper quirkery cute.

I believed the couple were in a real 'fake for marketing' relationship, so good job show, the team sold it

[Suzysite]

Just watched Christmas for the Books with Chelsea Kane.   It was ok, but I have never noticed so many commercials in a Hallmark movie before.  Seriously, I started noting the time and there were about 5 min of commercials per 10 min of show.   It must have been shorter than normal, or else Hallmark is hard-up for cash.  It was super annoying.

[shoregirl]

1 hour ago, kirinan said:

Dad Schools Daughter on Made-for-TV Christmas Movies - This is HILARIOUS and right on the nose. You should be able to watch it even if you're not on Facebook.

Hallmark movie-watching terms of agreement - Another good article from McSweeney's. 

And now off to read the articles Silver Raven posted!

That video was so cute. I hope his daughter sat down and watched with him.

[Happywatcher]

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/early-draft-of-hallmark-movie-screenplay-christmas-for-christmas

[LexieLily]

Where can I watch Finding Father Christmas? It wasn't in the lineup this year and I need to watch the first one before I see the others.

[MissyPoo]

10 hours ago, Chippings said:

Wow, I absolutely loved the interview with the writers who have actually done Christmas movies and laid out the requirements !   I'm not sure I can watch any more of them without snickering.

I was going to come here anyway today and say something about Most Wonderful Time of the Year, which has been on a few times, including yesterday, and is about my favorite of the genre.  Except, it doesn't fit in the genre in most ways, possibly because it's from 2008. Also the pivotal character is Henry Winkler, and the tenor of the whole thing arises from him, it seems like.   So much unusually snarky dialog, and I even wondered if there was some ad-libbing along the way.

I looked up the screenwriter, who was a person named Bruce Graham.   He had only done one other of these movies, which was Trading Christmas from a few years ago, with Tom Cavanagh and Faith Ford.  A little closer to the formula but not much and also snarky.  A very welcome break.

But mostly, kudos to Henry Winkler and my personal fave.  

Nice! And those are two of my faves as well. Come back, Bruce! Hallmark viewers need you!

 

From the EW Writing for Hallmark article:

Quote

Normally there’ll be a black character that’s like a friend or a boss, usually someone benevolent because you don’t want your one person of color to not be positive — well, everyone’s positive in Hallmark land. You get the feeling that since they’re getting so huge now and since there’s suddenly all this competition that they may start to relax. I found out Meghan Markle had been in some and she’s biracial, but it almost seems like they’ve tightened those restrictions more recently. Everything’s just such a white, white, white, white world. It’s a white Christmas after all — with the snow and the people.

Never thought I'd hear anyone on the production end admit, but there it is. On the one hand, yay positive representation but on the other hand, tokenism. They even admit "your one person of color". At least they also admit they're going backward in time. Older Hallmark movies seemed like they were moving a bit forward. Inches would take years but still. If I had boatloads of money, I'd love to start a fam friendly network like Hallmark, only with more diverse characters and mixed couples. And I'd hire Bruce Graham to write screenplays.

 

3 hours ago, Happywatcher said:

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/early-draft-of-hallmark-movie-screenplay-christmas-for-christmas

This never gets old.

1 hour ago, LexieLily said:

Where can I watch Finding Father Christmas? It wasn't in the lineup this year and I need to watch the first one before I see the others.

It was banished to the app so they could make money just in time for the new ones to air. Nice, huh?

[LexieLily]

18 minutes ago, MissyPoo said:

It was banished to the app so they could make money just in time for the new ones to air. Nice, huh?

Well, that's rude. I don't suppose it's on YouTube? 

TBH I'll be glad when this Christmas event ends next week and we go back to our regularly scheduled programming. My DVR is groaning under the strain!

[MissyPoo]

^^That's an affirmative but has some problems. 

Yeah, I'm ready to move on to Winterfest for the OWW sequel. I wish Lifetime and the others had a similar event.

[Jaded]

I just finished watching The Christmas Cottage from last year. I almost watched it to the end without switching channels back and forth. Thirty minutes before it was over I was going between it and Colbert on The Late Show. If someone or a group of people played a drinking game each time someone said cottage while viewing that movie they'd end up in the hospital from alcohol intoxication. I admit to only half watching the first hour and a half because it was one of those by the book movies that didn't offer much if any divination from the required plot at all. In other words it was kinda boring.

I also watched Christmas Connection where Brooke Burns and Tom Everett Scott were the leads and liked it even though it was kinda corny at times. The little girl in it was cute without being obnoxious and Brooke's character wasn't in a "Which man do I choose?" situation. She played a character who's job was a stewardess with no family left so she spent her holidays doing things independently doing things most others wouldn't which I can kinda relate to. I don't do that much traveling though. It also wasn't set in a small town which was a fact I appreciated too. 

I've watched a few more movies in the past few days then the handful I had planned to throughout almost 2 1/2 months of Christmas movies. I've liked the movies on some of the other channels more because they were usually more diverse, not as straight laced and were a tad more realistic at times. I agree with others who've said that older Hallmark movies were getting more progressive then at some point they backtracked and ended up with requirements that have been posted about upthread. Those requirements especially in regards to race and women are what makes me feel kinda uneasy and mad if I think about it too much.

[LexieLily]

17 minutes ago, MissyPoo said:

Yeah, I'm ready to move on to Winterfest for the OWW sequel. I wish Lifetime and the others had a similar event.

I'm a strange one - it's mostly either Lifetime/Hallmark Christmas movies that I record or the Lifetime psycho/killer movies. Lol

[MissyPoo]

^^ Ha, that's what I used to do as well. Although thankfully Sling added a feature where you can go back a few days on the Hallmark channels so I can skip taping those (which is good or else I would have no room) but TCM won't. So that takes up most of my DVR space along with Lifetime which won't even let me fast forward. I liked it when Lifetime had their romantic comedies like I Do, But I Don't, Marry Me, and Confessions of An American Bride and I do like their older suspense dramas but their new movies are a bit too much on the horror end for me. I like when LMN shows the classics heh.

[scenicbyway]

20 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

 

They used to air The Christmas Gift on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel/formerly Hallmark Movie Channel (even as recently as the 2017 holiday season).  I remember encountering it as I switched channels, but I did not watch it all the way through.  I think it used to be shown slightly more often, and then it got reduced to just one showtime last year.   I thought that it had possibly moved to the Hallmark Movies Now streaming site, but that does not appear to be the case.  I don't see it there.   

They've got a page for it on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries site, but no showtimes for it this year -- http://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/the-christmas-gift-1986

It was shown on UP a couple of years ago.  It’s my all time favorite tv Christmas movie. (I was about the same age as the girl in the movie when it came out).  I haven’t seen it out anywhere this year either.

 

I was disappointed wit Christmas in Grand Valley.  How did Danica go from Crown for Christmas to this?  Thin plot, thin cast, just not much there.  I think the small cast and hardly any extras made it seem like something was missing. The leads chemistry was fine but they hardly spent anytime together before he was totally in love.

[Jenniferbug]

14 hours ago, Happywatcher said:

Watching on DVR. I know TV/movie cameras demand women be 10-15 lbs lighter than normal weights, but I was thinking the lead needs to drink some ensure. In particular the opening scenes dress made her look half starved.

I was thinking the hair and eyebrows were a little much, but it turned out the makeup people matched the affect the actress used--hyper quirkery cute.

I believed the couple were in a real 'fake for marketing' relationship, so good job show, the team sold it

I don't usually like to comment on people's bodies, but yes- there were a few profile shots of her where I kept focusing on how skinny her arms were, and she did not look healthy. My husband's cousin has the same build and has thyroid issues so maybe it's something like that. I think she would look nice with darker hair to match the eyebrows or at least less of a platinum blond. I did like a lot of her outfits though- the red pants and white shirt was cute.

I liked the movie until the snooty ex-girlfriend showed up and then I stopped paying much attention. I did like that it poked a bit of fun at the fad self help books (I have a friend who latches onto each new trendy one as its released). 

About the articles...the only thing that kind of bugged me was that I felt like the writers weren't very kind about the audience for their movies, like saying there would be riots if they deviated from the Mad Libs writing approach. And I don't think that's entirely fair considering that I see plenty of comments about these movies being the same. I know there's a brand to protect and that there's never going to be a ton of drama or high stress plots to these movies (which as someone who suffers from an anxiety disorder is why I like them), but I think there's probably some wiggle room there for diversity of plot without going straight for rape/kidnapping/murder/addictions, etc. I mean, Hallmark has mystery movies where presumably bad things happen, right? I also wasn't a huge fan of the "we just write everything white" comment. I'd love to see more diversity on Hallmark. I've made it a point to watch the movies this year with black leads. But they acknowledge the problem, and then acknowledge they're doing nothing to change that. I know they probably don't have a lot of control over casting but it seems like they must provide some vision for the characters, so if they want to write black or Asian or latino characters, then do it. At least try and see if Hallmark would go for it. I think Hallmark would probably benefit from hiring diverse writers and not always going to the same stable all the time. 

[Karen885]

Watched Christmas at Graceland. I didn't think it was as bad as some posters here do. The actress wasn't great but I liked the music. Wouldn't watch again though.  I did laugh at the end though when her new boss was offering her a job "we leave at 5 everyday and never work weekends", let me finish that sentence for you, "but we do work on Christmas".  

[Kaoteek]

1 hour ago, Jenniferbug said:

 About the articles...the only thing that kind of bugged me was that I felt like the writers weren't very kind about the audience for their movies, like saying there would be riots if they deviated from the Mad Libs writing approach. 

Then again, if Hallmark is going by social network feedback & ratings, then I get why they'd think that. There's a vocal contingent of viewers that oppose the slightest hint of change or slightly risky situations and dominate the discussion online (heck, one of the biggest fanpages online, if not the biggest, has a very religious bias), and as far as ethnic diversity goes, this season's "black" movies didn't really lit the ratings on fire (the Tatiana Ali one did okay, but the Tia Mowry, Christina Millian & the Jerrika Hinton ones pretty much bombed). So (sadly) I get where they're coming from.

[Happywatcher]

2 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

 

I liked the movie until the snooty ex-girlfriend showed up and then I stopped paying much attention. I did like that it poked a bit of fun at the fad self help books (I have a friend who latches onto each new trendy one as its released). 

 

I felt the real currentish/ex GF was doing a good job making us dislike her, but the writers let her turn human at the end, so that was nice. She had to be superior megabitch, otherwise we wouldn't have wanted him to end up with quirky.

Just now, Kaoteek said:

Then again, if Hallmark is going by social network feedback & ratings, then I get why they'd think that. There's a vocal contingent of viewers that oppose the slightest hint of change or slightly risky situations and dominate the discussion online (heck, one of the biggest fanpages online, if not the biggest, has a very religious bias), and as far as ethnic diversity goes, this season's "black" movies didn't really lit the ratings on fire (the Tatiana Ali one did okay, but the Tia Mowry, Christina Millian & the Jerrika Hinton ones pretty much bombed). So (sadly) I get where they're coming from.

In one of her recent murder movies they let CCB beat the bad person down with a chair in totally justified defense (being vague in case someone didn't see it). Plus they are going with ethic couples. So they are trying some stuff...

[Kaoteek]

I think in the end, they just don't have a choice, as far as "trying some stuff" goes : with more and more mainstream media (SNL, Fallon, etc) , websites & commenters jumping on the "Hallmark movies are a ratings success, let's mock them about their clichés, their lack of diversity, their conservatism, and so on" bandwagon, and with Hallmark's competition (Netflix, Lifetime, Up and so on) starting to really get into the game by offering what Hallmark doesnt, I think HM just has to change, or at the very least, to give the appearance of change. And if that doesn't pay off, they'll probably just slowly phase those underperforming black-centered movies out, by explaining "there's simply no audience for those diverse movies, but at least we tried. Oh, well.".

Edited December 22, 2018 by Kaoteek

[Shanna Marie]

I wonder when this switch to the Hallmark formula started. They haven't always been that paint-by-numbers. It wasn't too long ago that their Christmas movies were quite similar to what was on Lifetime or Family (at the time) and there was a lot more variety. I was kind of in a mood for variations on A Christmas Carol, remembered one I liked called It's Christmas, Carol, and found it wasn't streaming anywhere other than available for purchase on Vudu, but found it on Tube of You, and was surprised to see the Hallmark logo in the corner of the screen. It pretty much breaks every rule in that EW article. The whole movie takes place in Chicago, and there's never a mention of moving to a small town or going to a small town. Location isn't an issue. Carrie Fisher, being very Carrie Fisher, plays a major role as the ghost who handles past, present, and future, and it's hard to imagine late-stage Carrie Fisher fitting the current Hallmark brand. There's a lot of drinking -- at the company Christmas party, and Carrie Fisher's ghost character snags a bottle of champagne at one of the parties and carries it with her through the rest of the visits, drinking straight from the bottle. In the past, it's made very clear that the heroine is living with her boyfriend. There are none of the usual Christmas activities mentioned in the article. There's actually not much romance. Most of the movie is the interaction between the heroine and the ghost. We see the relationship with the boyfriend start and end in the past, and at the end it looks like he might give her another chance now that she's changed. She doesn't have to give up her high-powered career. She just has to stop being a bitch and using her career as an excuse to be a bitch.

Really, the whole thing was rather refreshing, and a lot of fun, and it looks almost like Hallmark is trying to bury it. I looked to see when it was made, and it was from 2012, so not that long ago. So when did they go from this kind of thing being acceptable on Hallmark to today's sea of extruded Christmas movie product with such tight rules to make sure it's all more or less the same? That would have been a bit before the other networks temporarily caved to Hallmark's holiday domination and before the Christmas movie thing became the overall cultural juggernaut it is now.

[Irlandesa]

I found Christmas For The Books to be a pleasantish surprise.  I did think there were some holes in the story but that could be because I was somewhat distracted.  But overall, I liked how the relationship developed.

And I don't even think they waited until the end to humanize the ex-girlfriend.  I liked that they told her the truth right away and she was willing to go along with it. She was perhaps too obsessed with "rules" but I think it made the movie interesting. 

The only thing I would change is that I think they spent a bit too much time with the lead actress and the "robotic" producer to the point that I almost wondered if they were going to re-pair the lead man and his ex and the lead woman with the other dude.

But in spite of all that, I was hoping for a mild little gem on a random Thursday and this delivered.

The best part of Christmas in Grand Valley was the interracial romance between Danica's cousin and her friend.  I like Danica and Brennan but they just couldn't elevate what we've seen  36 times this season.  And I found it hilarious that in the middle of the movie, I thought "well at least they're flipping the switch a little and are going to have the man decide to move to the small town to be with the woman as opposed to the big city girl giving up the city for the small town man" but then the lead man decides to move to the small town and she decides to move back to the city for an incredible professional opportunity---only to move back to the small town to be with the man. Just oy.

Edited December 22, 2018 by Irlandesa

[mikeb]

I saw part of Candice Cameron Bure's 2013 Let It Snow this afternoon and immediately recognized the actors playing the older couple who owned the resort from more recent Cameron movies.  The actor just played her father in this year's A Shoe Addict's Christmas while the actress played a killer in one of the Aurora Teagarden movies. 

Edited December 22, 2018 by mikeb

[TVFan17]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

I found Christmas For The Books to be a pleasantish surprise.  I did think there were some holes in the story but that could be because I was somewhat distracted.  But overall, I liked how the relationship developed.

And I don't even think they waited until the end to humanize the ex-girlfriend.  I liked that they told her the truth right away and she was willing to go along with it. She was perhaps too obsessed with "rules" but I think it made the movie interesting. 

The only thing I would change is that I think they spent a bit too much time with the lead actress and the "robotic" producer to the point that I almost wondered if they were going to re-pair the lead man and his ex and the lead woman with the other dude.

But in spite of all that, I was hoping for a mild little gem on a random Thursday and this delivered.

The best part of Christmas in Grand Valley was the interracial romance between Danica's cousin and her friend.  I like Danica and Brennan but they just couldn't elevate what we've seen  36 times this season.  And I found it hilarious that in the middle of the movie, I thought "well at least they're flipping the switch a little and are going to have the man decide to move to the small town to be with the woman as opposed to the big city girl giving up the city for the small town man" but then the lead man decides to move to the small town and she decides to move back to the city for an incredible professional opportunity---only to move back to the small town to be with the man. Just oy.

 

For the most part, I agree with your opinions on both.    I agree that A Christmas for the Books was a pleasant surprise -- because I expected very little from it, most likely.  I thought that there were some slow scenes here and there (see my comments about slow scenes in movies over in the Holiday movie thread!  lol), but there were also some funny lines exchanged between the leads, and some cute moments.  It was pretty decent, although the people ranting about it on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Facebook page are acting like it is the worst movie to ever be made.  It should have aired on the regular Hallmark Channel and not on HMM, but it was really not bad.

And I wanted to love Christmas at Grand Valley because I think Brennan is charming, as well as being a good actor in this kind of genre, and Danica is always likable.  The interracial romance was a surprise, and nice to see.   I also liked seeing Dan Lauria in another movie.   But the overall finished product did not fully win me over, especially when they got to the 'who is moving to which city' madness.  Something was just missing for me, from the whole movie, and I can't pinpoint what it was.

Edited December 22, 2018 by TVFan17

[KLovestoShop]

On tonight's premiere movie, Christmas Bells Are Ringing, I just heard the most awful rendition of The First Noel.  Disagree if you will, but I really dislike it when someone jazzes up a religious Christmas Carole to the point that it sounds nothing like it should.  I don't care one bit how someone sings a secular song, but a religious-based carole shouldn't be messed with. I feel the same when someone jazzes up the National Anthem.  Some songs should be sacrosanct.  

My sister pointed something out to me about these Hallmark movies.  When characters kiss, it's a very chaste, closed mouth kiss. No tonsil swabbing allowed. 

[AnnaRose]

On 12/20/2018 at 9:11 PM, Kaoteek said:

Ah, yes, the Hallmark hairdo. Funny thing is, I just finished Entertaining Christmas (awful, awful title, as usual), and I kept thinking that the hairdresser had a really heavy hand with Sweetin's hair, compared to her usual style. Aside from that, it was an okayish watch. I liked the lead couple, obviously, and Sweetin is always fun to watch, but I kept thinking there was something missing to make it really memorable, or to make the romance work.

It was just a little bit too flat, either in the dialog or in the overall pace (also, the rolls of fake snow on the floor with the fabric folds in plain sight... yeeesh).

Wow, you weren't kidding about the fake snow!  I think in most of these movies they use some sort of snow machine to make fake snow, don't they?  I have never noticed rolls of fabric standing in for snow before.  (Maybe I'm just not that observant?)  But in the last scene of this movie, when they're outside leading up to the big kiss... OMG!  They had actual white blankets draped all over the landscaping that were supposed to be snow, but didn't look like anything other than fake snow blankets bunched up on the ground!  (Plus they also had some trees covered up - I'm guessing they must have been blooming at the time of filming.)  Wow!  Just awful!  I'd rather see green grass than fabric draped on the ground like that.

The movie was pretty meh for me, even though I did like its "you don't have to be perfect" message.  I've loved Brendan Fehr since Roswell, so I'm always happy to see him, but I just wasn't really feeling the chemistry between him and Jodie Sweetin in this movie.  Then again, it may have had more to do with the cringey-ness of Jodie's character pretending to be something she's not, throughout almost the entire movie, and waiting for her to be found out.  It's not my favorite type of plot and had me on edge, plus it's hard for me to root for a character who isn't being honest, even if her reasons for being deceptive are understandable.

I recently watched A Christmas Kiss (2011), also featuring Brendan Fehr, this time with Laura Breckenridge as his love interest.  I overall liked A Christmas Kiss quite a lot, (it was more entertaining than Entertaining Christmas) but it was difficult to accept the idea that Brendan's character kisses his girlfriend's assistant in the elevator, (in her building!) and doesn't recognize her when he sees her the next day, in the same building and the same elevator!  How daft could he be?  Heavy, glittery makeup didn't make her look that different, nor did her Clark Kent glasses.  Other than that I liked the story, and Elisabeth Rohm as the villainous boss was fantastic.

Thank you everyone who reviewed Christmas at Grand Valley... It didn't sound appealing at all, and I decided to just delete it instead of wasting my time. 

Edited December 23, 2018 by AnnaRose
typos

[TVFan17]

2 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

On tonight's premiere movie, Christmas Bells Are Ringing, I just heard the most awful rendition of The First Noel. 

I was just watching the movie and when that song popped up, I laughed out loud because I had just read your comment.   Who was that person singing it?  I got the feeling that I was supposed to know that voice (or recognize the singer), but I couldn't place it from that.  

Edited December 23, 2018 by TVFan17

[Suck It Trebek]

On 12/21/2018 at 2:02 PM, AnnaRose said:

I just watched Trading Christmas again the other night for the second time, and liked it even more than the first time.  I particularly enjoyed Faith Ford's character's story and her love interest, who was very laid back and seemed like such a sweet and kind person.  All the couples had great chemistry, and all the storylines in this movie were enjoyable for me.

And there was kissing in the middle of the movie! Loved this one. 

[Crs97]

This is a sweet little story about the making of a Hallmark movie:

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/really-set-hallmark-christmas-movie-170000096.html