Hallmark Christmas Movies (+ other channels) ❤️ comfort & joy

[PrincessShmoo]

Will you watch her if she's back on Hallmark?

I never watched her before all this. I doubt that I'll start now - if she does come back.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I watched Spotlight on Christmas. I liked it. I paid more attention to look for Kimberly as you mentioned she was in it. I almost missed her as she really was a blip on the screen near the beginning.

I *think* I may have the answer as to why Kimberly was in it at all. I think she is good friends with the director, Ali Liebert. Ali is mainly an actress. My favorite Hallmark movie of hers is when she plays a person working in a bookstore. She rides a bicycle to work and accidentally mows down the male lead, who ends up with amnesia. They spend the rest of the movie trying to get his memory back, while falling in love.

When Kimberly was starring as the lead in movies years ago, I noticed Ali played the best friend. Then when Ali started getting the starring roles, I noticed Kimberly was cast as her best friend. They've been in a few movies together. So they may have become actual friends in real life.

Ali may have cast Kimberly and it was originally a bigger role. Paying more attention due to your post, I noticed that there was another reporter staked out at the hotel towards the latter half of the movie that could have been a dead ringer for Kimberly. Same hair color and length, and she looked a lot like her. If viewers didn't recognize Kimberly as the paparazzi reporter, they might have thought it was the same actress and the same character.

When Kimberly filmed her scene, it was a crowd scene, with a lot of other paparazzi around. So, it may have been shot pre-COVID. Production may have stopped filming mid-movie, and when they started shooting again, Kimberly may have been busy filming her own Hallmark film at that time, or she wasn't willing to leave her pandemic bubble in which she and fellow actor/writer/producer Paul Campbell were in together, possibly still writing, to do the rest of Ali's film. She would have probably had to quarantine again before going back to her other pandemic bubble, and have lost too much time.

So, Ali re-cast the reporter role at the end with another actress.

That absolutely makes sense! Great theory, and I’m sure you’re right

 

[Imzadi]

These previews for When Calls the Heart showed up on my YouTube suggestions, for anyone interested. The second one is a 13 min interview from Entertainment Tonight.

 

[Imzadi]

Anyone still watching the Christmas movies? I'm still working my way through some. I mute the sound during the Christmas carols though. I'm definitely over them.

A Glenbrooke Christmas: I liked that while they made her an heiress she was not the spoiled must have everything this way one. She was community oriented and wanted to use her money and connections for good. I also liked that the grandfather was very supportive and wasn't the "you must follow in line" mean kind of grandfather. Overall I enjoyed it.

I liked the female lead in this one. Not so much the guy. I LOVED Autumn Reeser's hair in this movie, especially the first scene of her in the limo. Been seeing too many movies and Zoom interviews of people with scraggly COVID hair. Autumn had fabulously sleek and shiny hair that was beautifully styled. It certainly screamed that she had an expensive stylist. One an heiress would have. Meanwhile, I have bushy "Hermione Granger" hair. So, I'm definitely envying Autumn Reeser's hairdo.

 

[Imzadi]

The Christmas Setup: One of my favorites of this year. This comes from Lifetime and has two male leads. Fran Drescher is in this as the meddling mom. Now if her voice annoys you...it'll probably annoy you in this one lol but I thought she played a realistic meddling mom. And I loved the branching out not only in who the leads are but that they seem very everyday people too. It had predictable parts to it but was still sweet to watch. And a factoid I found out the two male leads have been married to each other since 2016

The Christmas Setup is my favorite Lifetime movie this year. I wasn't sure I was going to have a favorite on Lifetime this year, as most of the movies I've seen have been kind of average, IMO. But, Lifetime really hit it out of the park with this movie. (More about it in a little bit.)

It's interesting because I had mentioned, a couple pages back, a movie on the Paramount network, Dashing In December, that also has two male leads. It also has almost all the same supporting characters. One of the male leads goes to visit his mom. He meets the other male lead. He has a best female friend.

Unfortunately, that's where the similarities end. Dashing tried hard to be what The Christmas Setup is but missed the mark. Dashing was about sad, awkward people in awkward circumstances. Sure, that happens in real life. But, a movie can't have ALL awkward people ALL having awkward situations. It makes the movie kind of slow and plodding and well. . . awkward. I'm not even sure that the two lead characters even liked each other or whether they were together because the female best friend mentioned that there was no other gay males within a couple hundred miles. So, this was basically IT for both guys. They kind of had to make it work out of desperation. And the movie resolved in the last 34 seconds, which didn't seem emotionally realistic. It takes longer than that to process through an emotional turnaround of events.


On the other hand, The Christmas Setup was very well written. The characters and the relationships were believable. (Except a brother. I felt he was kind of generic.) I really didn't think I was going to like Fran Drescher. Especially with that voice. But, she actually added a brightness and quirkiness to the movie. She loved, Loved, LOVED her son. So she was always skirting that line between meddling, and backing off, and always just wanting the best for her son. All the characters had a great affection for her, so they all took her zaniness in stride in a very believable way.

The best female friend really was a BFF. There was such an ease between her and one of the leads. So when he went home for Christmas, of course his BFF was going home with him. She added a lightness and spontaneity to the movie.

The two male leads: Not sure if it was due to how well written it was, or that the actors are both good actors, or if it's because they are actually married to each other in real life, but it was evident that the characters really liked each other. They had a slight history in high school. So that made it more natural to find ways to talk to each other. In spite of their awkward moments at times, and the obvious ways the mom created opportunities where they'd "happen" to meet, they really did keep gravitating toward each other. They liked being together. It was a very sweet movie.

 

[RangerPooh]

I’m still watching, although DH wishes I wasn’t. He’s over my recent obsession.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Anyone still watching the Christmas movies? I'm still working my way through some.

I'm still watching one here and there, but really do have more in the DVR than I will probably get to before I'm ready to switch back to regular TV. But I was just wondering this morning which to keep and which to delete, and couldn’t decide, so they’re all still there.

I watched “Christmas She Wrote” yesterday. It didn’t have a particularity high IMDb rating, but I enjoyed it. I really like Danika McKeller (though I wasn’t sure the male lead actor quite fit) and there were cute side-romances.

I’m still watching, although DH wishes I wasn’t. He’s over my recent obsession.

I think mine gets a laugh out of it too. Christmas is over to him on December 26th.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I have about 45 left, some from last year. I watch them as the mood strikes me, all year long.

 

[Imzadi]

I’m still watching, although DH wishes I wasn’t. He’s over my recent obsession.

I'm still watching one here and there, but really do have more in the DVR than I will probably get to before I'm ready to switch back to regular

I have about 45 left, some from last year. I watch them as the mood strikes me, all year long.

The Hallmark Christmas movies are over today.

This was a fun thread.

The new winter movies start on Hallmark at 9pm ET tonight.

I say we continue this thread. We can still review the Christmas movies if and when we get to watching them. I am starting to feel the pull towards a Netflix binge of some thrillers or murder mysteries. I never realized I was so blood thirsty.

Meanwhile, non-Christmas/year round movies are a bit more varied when it comes to quality, especially the earlier ones. Probably as there is no "formula" other than that they are romances. And Hallmark didn't have the budget to spend for better writing on some of the non-Christmas movies. Yet, there was some good ones mixed in to their "themed" seasons.

It will be fun to compare notes and give recommendations on which ones to watch, old or new.

 

[mandy200587]

I'm excited for all the mystery ones to start back, I love those!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I love the mysteries! There is a little romance going on slowly, but the major focus is on who did it

 

[mandy200587]

And if anyone likes good chocolate....i highly recommend the hammond candy bars they sell at the hallmark store...the smores one is amazing and my coworker raved about the cookie dough one

 

[mandy200587]

I think the aurora teagarden ones are my least favorite of the mystery series i've watched

 

[Imzadi]

Here are some of my recommendations I see coming up next week.

(NO, you do not have to get so detailed or list the times. That can get overwhelming and a turn off to feel you have to do all that. This is supposed to be fun.) Just give a shout out for a movie title (or description - as most of us know the descriptions more that the titles, ) if you see or remember one. It will re-air enough times and we'll be able to catch it.

As stated, the new winter movie premiere, Taking a Shot at Love, starts at 9pm ET.

Right after that at 11pm, is a winter movie from last year, One Winter Proposal. If you haven't seen it already, record it, but save it. It's actually movie #2 of what will be a 3-4 parter.

Movie #1 of that series is One Winter Weekend, which will actually be shown next Sat 1/9 at 7pm ET. According to the IMDb.com, movie #3 is in pre-production. Since Hallmark movies film in about 3 weeks, they may actually get #3 out before all the snow melts. Since there are 2 couples, there may be a Part 4 next year.

I like these two movies. It's about two female friends who rent out a ski cabin for vacation. ⛷ Turns out, they accidentally only rented out half the cabin and two male friends rented out the other half.


Quickly scanning though some of the upcoming movies, I recommend:

All of My Heart - Sun 7am ET. This is a Lacey Chabert movie. This one is actually one of my favorite non-Christmas Hallmark movies.

HOWEVER, skip All My Heart, Part 2. YUCK! (IMO.) This was when Hallmark got the bright idea to add sequels to some movies that weren't originally written with a sequel in mind. This shouldn't have been one, in my opinion. In Part 1, Lacey's character was strong, ambitious. She was going to start a B&B on her own.

In Part 2, the writing made her whiny and complaining. She became spoiled and entitled. MEANWHILE the guy is traveling and working overtime to help her get HER dream up and running. But, she can't handle him being away for a FEW weeks working overtime. Or what strangers think of the two of them and him not being around. Like, emotionally she's twelve. The second movie was almost enough to make me stop liking the first movie. (And Part 3 (IMO) was barely better than Part 2. Yet, it was watchable to finish out the story line.)


Amazing Winter Romance - Sun at 3am ET. It has a huge snow/ice maze. I thought the only land mazes are corn mazes. It's worth it just to take a peek at that. Some farm actually made the maze, and Hallmark rented it for the movie.

Winter Castle - Sun 3pm ET. It was filmed at an actual ice hotel. It isn't make believe. And they didn't create it for the movie. I thought these only existed in fantasy movies. But this one actually exists. It's The Hotel de Glace in Quebec City, Canada. The only ice hotel in North America. There are others in Sweden, Norway, and there's an Aurora Ice Museum in Alaska.

I also liked:
A Royal Winter -Wed 8pm ET. A movie with a prince, before that story idea started to go stale.

Rome In Love - Fri 1pm ET.
Bottled With Love - Fri 6pm ET.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I enjoyed most of the new Christmas movies this year. I kept putting off the one about Time Travel via the Christmas clock, but when I finally watched it, I think it was one of the ones I enjoyed the most!

 

[Imzadi]

I love the mysteries! There is a little romance going on slowly, but the major focus is on who did it ☺

Me too. I think my favorite are the Mystery 101 series. I like Jill Wagner. She's got a sass to her. If she thinks someone's dumb or is playing her, you can see it on her face.

I think the aurora teagarden ones are my least favorite of the mystery series i've watched

Agreed. Although, sometimes as I watch them, I like them better than I thought I would. I guess, it's because I expect Candace to play her usual, "unknowing" character that she does a lot. And Aurora actually is smarter than I was expecting. Although, at times she can still be annoying.

 

[Imzadi]

I enjoyed most of the new Christmas movies this year. I kept putting off the one about Time Travel via the Christmas clock, but when I finally watched it, I think it was one of the ones I enjoyed the most!

I still haven't seen it yet. Or the Starlight one that people kept recommending. I wonder if I'll get them in before I do a Netflix binge?

 

[skeeter31]

I still haven't seen it yet. Or the Starlight one that people kept recommending. I wonder if I'll get them in before I do a Netflix binge?

They’re worth it. I re-recorded both of them on Christmas Eve so I can save them for future watches without commercials.

 

[Imzadi]

They’re worth it. I re-recorded both of them on Christmas Eve so I can save them for future watches without commercials.

I re-recorded several too on Christmas eve, including these. Then prayed that my cable wouldn't go out. I hadn't thought about keeping the other recordings until I knew the new ones were definitely recorded. It was too close to the end of the season for some of them to be showing another time.

 

[mandy200587]

I ended up missing most of the Christmas movies this year, I got in a bah humbug mood halfway through