Hallmark Movies ❤️ comfort & joy

[Imzadi]

Thanksgiving Weekend - Friday

Friday night starts 3 nights of double features on the Hallmark Channel.

FRIDAY, at 6pm ET / 5CT

Hallmark Channel Double Feature:

Hallmark Channel: #Xmas (<- that's the name.)
Re-airs: Fri 11/25 at 4pm ET
Sat 11/26 at 10:01 ET
Wed 11/30 at 10pm ET
Sun 12/4 at 2pm ET
Starring: Clare Bowen and Brant Daugherty.
Description: To win a design contest, a single woman enlists the help of her friends to pretend to be her family in order to pose as a social media “momfluencer.”

⬇ AND right after ⬇

A Royal Corgi Christmas at 8pm ET / 7CT
Re-airs: Sun 11/27 at 10pm ET
Sat 12/3 at 2pm ET
Starring: Hunter King and Jordan Renzo.
Description: Prince Edmond plans to win his mother over with the gift of a cute but out-of-control corgi. He turns to American dog trainer Cecily to help get the pup ready for the Christmas Ball.

Lifetime: Steppin’ Into the Holiday at 8pm ET / 7CT
(re-airs 4 hours later, 12:01am <-- Not a typo)
and Sat 11/26 at 6pm ET
Fri 12/2 at 10:03pm ET
Starring: Mario Lopez and Jana Kramer, Cheri Oteri, Mario Cantone, and Mario’s wife, Courtney.
Description: A Broadway star turned reality TV judge is fired and returns to his hometown in disgrace, where his precocious nephew leads him to a local dance teacher who just might be his ticket back to the big time.

GA Family: Christmas at the Drive-In at 8pm ET / 7CT re-airs at Sat 11/26 at 10am ET
Sun 11/27 at 4pm ET
Mon 11/28 at 8pm ET
Tues 11/29 at 12pm ET
Thurs 12/1 at 2pm ET
Starring: Danica McKellar and Neal Bledsoe.
Description: A woman returns to her hometown to start over as a law professor and finds herself in a fight against her high school ex to save the local drive-in.

 

[Imzadi]

Welcome all of you who waited until after Thanksgiving to start watching Christmas movies.

You can scroll back a few pages to see some recommendations many of us gave for this season's movies which aired already and will re-air again soon.

 

[Imzadi]

5 movies are premiering Saturday. I've included some re-air dates if you'd rather record them later.

Hallmark Channel Double Feature:

SATURDAY, at 6pm ET / 5CT:
Hallmark Channel: A Tale of Two Christmases
Re-airs: Sun 11/27 at 2pm ET
Thurs 12/1 at 8pm ET
Starring: Katherine Barrell, Chandler Massey and Evan Roderick.
Description: Christmas magic allows a woman to experience what her holiday is like if she stays in the city to pursue a crush, or goes home to see her family for the holidays

⬇ AND right after ⬇

Haul Out the Holly at 8pm ET / 7CT
re-airs: Sun 11/27 at 4pm ET
Fri 12/2 at 6pm ET
Starring: Lacey Chabert, Wes Brown, Ellen Travolta, Peter Jacobson.
Description: A woman pays a surprise holiday visit to her parents, only to find them on a vacation of their own. Forced to spend the holidays alone at her parents' house, their HOA insists that she participate in its many Christmas festivities. (Filmed in Cottonwood Heights, Utah.)

Also at 8pm ET:

Lifetime: The Twelve Days of Christmas Eve
(re-airs Sun 11/27 at 12:01am ET
Sun 11/27 at 10:03pm ET <-- Not a typo
Mon 11/28 at 2:04am ET <-- Not a typo
Starring Kelsey Grammer and daughter, Spencer Grammer.
Description: A Scrooge-like businessman gets 12 chances from Santa to relive the day and make things right with his estranged family. (Filmed in and around Mystic, Connecticut.)

GA Family: I’m Glad It’s Christmas
Re-airs: Sun 11/27 at 10am ET
Sun 11/27 at 6pm ET
Weds 11/30 at 12pm ET
Weds 11/30 at 8pm ET
Fri 12/2 at 12pm ET
Fri 12/2 at 4pm ET
Sat 12/3 at 2pm ET
Starring: Jessica Lowndes, Paul Greene and Gladys Knight.
Description: A Broadway hopeful falls for a jingle writer, while a real estate mogul tries to get them both to sing at a holiday concert.

At 10pm ET:
Hallmark Movies & Mysteries: Time for Him to Come Home for Christmas
Re-airs: Sun 11/27 at 6pm ET
Tues 11/29 at 8pm ET
Sat 12/3 at 6pm ET
Tues 12/6 at 6am ET
Starring: Tyler Hynes, Holland Roden and Tenille Townes.
Description: (This is the fifth in the series of the holiday movies executive-produced by Blake Shelton, following 2018′s Time for Me to Come Home For Christmas.) Four days before Christmas, Elizabeth receives a voicemail from a number she doesn't recognize. On the message, a man she doesn't know makes one final plea to the love of his life. The mis-delivered voicemail prompts Elizableth to go on a journey to find the sender.

 

[Imzadi]

As I was out of town last weekend, I only just watched Christmas Bedtime Stories. While I thought Pierce just wasn't the right guy, I was totally blind-sided when Colby was still alive. That aside, I think the actor playing Colby needs some acting lessons. He was so flat in his delivery of lines that I felt like the whole "I'm still alive" ending felt like her wishful thinking.

I started watching Christmas Bedtime Stories, vaguely remembering someone on the thread didn't like the movie. About a quarter through the movie, I'm also feeling the movie is weird and off. I ended up not finishing it.

I really like Erin Cahill. I think she's kind of underrated on Hallmark. I've seen her on movies that end up on UPtv or Lifetime that turn out to be really good. I also like Steve Lund, who plays her fiance. So, I start out thinking it will be a good movie. But as the movie goes on, the chemistry is "off" with the two. YET, Hallmark didn't cast one of the actors who usually plays the boyfriend that gets dumped, and we all agree with why, he's just not "the one," and it's clearly obvious to all, except to the female lead.

So, it's weird that Steve Lund is cast as the "boyfriend" role. Yet, clearly, there is another man in the picture, the female lead's dead husband. Whom she keeps talking about and having memories of, so much so, that even though he's dead, he's clearly a major third person in this relationship, and she's not over him AT ALL.

That's when I head to the IMDb.com to see their ratings score and the reviews. It received a 5.1 in the ratings. That's one of the lowest rating for a Hallmark movie, of all time. The lowest I sometimes watch is 5.4, which is barely watchable. Almost all the reviews bashed the movie. (Spoiler alert!) . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nobody liked it BECAUSE the dead husband is still alive, and he comes back in the last 5 minutes of the movie. And it comes so out of the blue, that like PrincessShmoo said, it totally blind-sided everyone, and not in a good way. Those in the military said it makes a mockery of the way the military couldn't find him, declared him dead - without finding a body, and when found, didn't alert the next of kin properly. He just show up at a dance looking for Erin.

If Hallmark had cast one of those actors that usually played the "boyfriend" maybe people would have had a clue. But Steve Lund usually is cast as "The One." So, that didn't make sense either.

After reading all that, I didn't finish the movie.

 

[disney4us2002]

I'm not at my home so I cannot watch any GAC this weekend. I watched the HMM movie last night with Beau Bridges and I thought it was new but I'm not sure. I really liked it. BB character has beginning stage Alzheimer's and the movie is sweet with his extended family & their relationship issues.

Tonight I'm watching the Kelsey Grammer movie as I like the typical A Christmas Carol type of movies. I'm just 20 minutes in so no opinion so far.

Most of the channels replay so many of their Christmas movies, I figure I will catch up with the ones I've missed. I'm kinda bummed about missing CCB tomorrow night. I'm not heading back home til Monday so I'll be sure to catch it next week at least.

 

[disney4us2002]

I started watching Christmas Bedtime Stories, vaguely remembering someone on the thread didn't like the movie. About a quarter through the movie, I'm also feeling the movie is weird and off. I ended up not finishing it.

I really like Erin Cahill. I think she's kind of underrated on Hallmark. I've seen her on movies that end up on UPtv or Lifetime that turn out to be really good. I also like Steve Lund, who plays her fiance. So, I start out thinking it will be a good movie. But as the movie goes on, the chemistry is "off" with the two. YET, Hallmark didn't cast one of the actors who usually plays the boyfriend that gets dumped, and we all agree with why, he's just not "the one," and it's clearly obvious to all, except to the female lead.

So, it's weird that Steve Lund is cast as the "boyfriend" role. Yet, clearly, there is another man in the picture, the female lead's dead husband. Whom she keeps talking about and having memories of, so much so, that even though he's dead, he's clearly a major third person in this relationship, and she's not over him AT ALL.

That's when I head to the IMDb.com to see their ratings score and the reviews. It received a 5.1 in the ratings. That's one of the lowest rating for a Hallmark movie, of all time. The lowest I sometimes watch is 5.4, which is barely watchable. Almost all the reviews bashed the movie. (Spoiler alert!) . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nobody liked it BECAUSE the dead husband is still alive, and he comes back in the last 5 minutes of the movie. And it comes so out of the blue, that like PrincessShmoo said, it totally blind-sided everyone, and not in a good way. Those in the military said it makes a mockery of the way the military couldn't find him, declared him dead - without finding a body, and when found, didn't alert the next of kin properly. He just show up at a dance looking for Erin.

If Hallmark had cast one of those actors that usually played the "boyfriend" maybe people would have had a clue. But Steve Lund usually is cast as "The One." So, that didn't make sense either.

After reading all that, I didn't finish the movie.

I usually love the military theme in HM movies. How long was the husband presumed dead? I guess sorta long if the wife had a boyfriend....Those types where you are rooting for one or the other is so hard. I was traumatized (yes, I exaggerate here) with the ending of Cast Away when Tom Hanks character comes home to discover his wife is remarried with a daughter......

 

[bobbiwoz]

Just finished A Royal Nanny and I really enjoyed that one! I thought the plot was really interesting and I liked that it wasn't the typical storyline.

….

we just finished A Royal Nanny and I enjoyed for the same reasons you did.

 

[mandy200587]

Can we get more Melissa Peterman in Christmas Movies??? i liked tonight's Haul for the Holidays

 

[Marrila]

Can we get more Melissa Peterman in Christmas Movies??? i liked tonight's Haul for the Holidays

She was so fun! I like the romcom Christmas movies.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I finished Three Wise Men & a Baby this morning. Enjoyed it!

/ 5

 

[PrincessShmoo]

The 12 Days of Christmas Eve. I liked it. I thought Kelsey Grammer was a bit stiff/odd at the beginning, one minute an old, miserly curmudgeon, the next smiling and benevolent. It sort of evened out as the story progressed though. The end was very nice.

And I liked the multi plaid outfits.

 

[Imzadi]

Can we get more Melissa Peterman in Christmas Movies??? i liked tonight's Haul for the Holidays

She was so fun! I like the romcom Christmas movies.

Watched this last night. Lacey, as usual, hit another one out of the park. Her being executive producer kept the writing very high. She had an excellent cast assembled - I love the two surprises.

Lacey & Wes Brown worked very well together, even though they had never been in a Hallmark film together before. You could tell they had a blast working together, as did the whole cast, (and probably the crew too.) There was a real lightness and fun quality about the whole movie.

Yes, Melissa Peterman was great. She was able to really thread that needle between playing a character so annoying that one just annoyed by the character and actor period and instead, she gave her character multi-facets so she stayed interesting to watch.

 

[RamblingMad]

So far the best ones this year have been: All Saints Christmas, Three Wise Men and a Baby, and Ghosts of Christmas Always. Any other standouts for you guys?

I did like the Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

So far the best ones this year have been: All Saints Christmas, Three Wise Men and a Baby, and Ghosts of Christmas Always. Any other standouts for you guys?

I did like the Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special.

The ones I've been able to see thus far (I'm competing with golf and football games) that I've really liked:
The Royal Nanny
A Royal Christmas on Ice
Santa Bootcamp
Love at the Christmas Contest
Ghosts of Christmas Always
Inventing the Christmas Prince
In Merry Measure
Destined At Christmas
Christmas at the Golden Dragon
Baking All the Way
The 12 Days of Christmas Eve

 

[Imzadi]

I usually love the military theme in HM movies. How long was the husband presumed dead? I guess sorta long if the wife had a boyfriend....Those types where you are rooting for one or the other is so hard. I was traumatized (yes, I exaggerate here) with the ending of Cast Away when Tom Hanks character comes home to discover his wife is remarried with a daughter......

I think the husband was presumed and announced dead for about 3-4 years. I hadn't thought of it as a Cast Away type movie. That would be interesting if the writer & producers had that in mind when coming up with the concept.

While I know that Hallmark is trying to branch out and do different stories than the usual, this movie, and the casting sounded too far out of left field and too unexpected. Maybe it would have worked as a Netflix movie. (There's an old Chris Evans movie, Before We Go, that I like that I saw on Netflix a while back. It was before he became Captain America. It was his first time directing and a low budget sleeper. It was a small, intimate movie that doesn't quite end up the way we would have liked. Yet, the ending is, in the end, more realistic to real life, so it does work as is. And because it was on Netflix, the audience was game for whatever direction the movie went in.)

I think casting Steve Lund was probably the biggest problem. He's usually the romantic lead who GETS the girl. Maybe if they had cast Peter Benson, who usually plays the boyfriend who gets dumped, the audience would have gone along with it. But, basically, for 1 hour and 55 minutes, the audience watches Erin & Steve not quite get along and then SURPRISE! dead hubby is not dead after all didn't work. Maybe if the not dead hubby had turned out to be Ryan Paevey, (or Tom Hanks ) the audience would have been happy for Erin after all.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I think the husband was presumed and announced dead for about 3-4 years. I hadn't thought of it as a Cast Away type movie. That would be interesting if the writer & producers had that in mind when coming up with the concept.

While I know that Hallmark is trying to branch out and do different stories than the usual, this movie, and the casting sounded too far out of left field and too unexpected. Maybe it would have worked as a Netflix movie. (There's an old Chris Evans movie that I like that I saw on Netflix a while back. It was before he became Captain America. It was his first time directing and a low budget sleeper. It was a small, intimate movie that doesn't quite end up the way we would have liked. Yet, the ending is, in the end, more realistic to real life, so it does work as is. And because it was on Netflix, the audience was game for whatever direction the movie went in.)

I think casting Steve Lund was probably the biggest problem. He's usually the romantic lead who GETS the girl. Maybe if they had cast Peter Benson, who usually plays the boyfriend who gets dumped, the audience would have gone along with it. But, basically, for 1 hour and 55 minutes, the audience watches Erin & Steve not quite get along and then SURPRISE! dead hubby is not dead after all didn't work. Maybe if the not dead hubby had turned out to be Ryan Paevey, (or Tom Hanks ) the audience would have been happy for Erin after all.

I ditched this from the DVR after your review. I want no part of this one!

 

[Imzadi]

The ones I've been able to see thus far (I'm competing with golf and football games) that I've really liked:
The Royal Nanny
A Royal Christmas on Ice
Santa Bootcamp
Love at the Christmas Contest
Ghosts of Christmas Always
Inventing the Christmas Prince
In Merry Measure
Destined At Christmas
Christmas at the Golden Dragon
Baking All the Way
The 12 Days of Christmas Eve

I had a chance to also watch:
Santa Bootcamp
In Merry Measure
Baking All the Way

I liked them.

My favorite movie so far is Ghosts of Christmas Always, with A Royal Nanny a close second.

Haul for the Holidays, last night with Lacey was also good.

And Time For Him to Come Home for Christmas, with Tyler Hynes, had a mystery that kept it going throughout.

 

[Imzadi]

I ditched this from the DVR after your review. I want no part of this one!

Yeah, there are about 90 new Hallmark, Lifetime & GA Family movies this season. Let's not waste 2 hours where we could be watching other movies that many here have said they like.

 

[Allison]

And Time For Him to Come Home for Christmas, with Tyler Hynes, had a mystery that kept it going throughout.

I liked this one. Tyler Hynes is one of my favorites. I figured out the twist and thought it was interesting.

 

[Imzadi]

I watched #Xmas. It's one of those plots based on deception, that I am never fond of. Yet Hallmark likes to have at least one or two per season. Yet, where the deception is usually just the leading man, in this movie, it involves another couple, their business, an international competition and whomever is on social media who entered the competition.

Still we go along with watching these movies each season. However, in this one, the female lead was always one breath away from a nervous breakdown. She was high strung, high emotional maintenance, had mommy and daddy issues she just couldn't get past, and whined throughout the whole movie.

She didn't like or love herself. Her family & friends loved her more than she did herself. Which was the problem with the movie. Why are WE watching someone who doesn't like herself, and because of that is, indeed kind of unlikeable. Her family (and the lead guy) is always around to try to remind us she IS lovable. I do get that IS her lesson in the movie. But, I didn't like watching for 2 hours someone who doesn't like herself. And yeah, I stuck with it. I felt it just doesn't quite work.