Tag: Hallmark Christmas movies

📺 Christmas at Graceland | Hallmark Channel

Watched Christmas at Graceland from Hallmark Channel
Directed by Eric Close. With Wes Brown, Kellie Pickler, Tamara Austin, Ned Vaughn. A Chicago-based business executive travels to Memphis to secure one of the city's oldest family-owned banks. While in Memphis, Laurel reunites with an old flame Clay, a local music promoter with loftier aspirations.

Yes, Mister Hatcher…

Ugh. This is not how corporate America works. And there’s probably no way she’s working out of a cubicle and about to be promoted to VP of an organization that looks like this.

It’s not frequently that one sees an actress with an accent this deep appearing in television or film.

(0:14) As I watch this I’m wondering when we get a Pickler song, but Elvis Christmas songs seem to be dominating the soundtrack.

(0:39) We had a small singing tease about 20 minutes in, but it’s taken this long to hear an actual song? And dear God! Why did they opt to overproduce the music and have her lip sync? Blech…

(0:42) I’m really very distracted by the excessiveness of Pickler’s surely phony eyelashes.

Christmas at Graceland movie poster

📺 Reunited at Christmas | Hallmark Channel

Watched Reunited at Christmas from Hallmark Channel
Directed by Steven R. Monroe. With Tim Bissett, Beverley Breuer, Candus Churchill, Glynis Davies. Frazzled and struggling with writer's block, novelist Samantha (Deloach), along with her boyfriend, heads home to her late grandmother's home to spend Christmas. While at home with family, her grandmother's wise words reveal the true meaning of Christmas with Samantha at a time when she most needs encouragement.
Only watched the last third of this movie. Apparently when there isn’t a clear star, these movies are even more treacly.

Movie poster for Reunited at Christmas

📺 Coming Home for Christmas | Hallmark Channel

Watched Coming Home for Christmas from Hallmark Channel
Directed by Mel Damski. With Danica McKellar, Neal Bledsoe, Andrew Francis, Lindsay Maxwell. "Lizzie Richfield is at a crossroads when she lands a job as house manager for the exquisite Ashford Estate in the Virginia countryside. While preparing the place for sale, Lizzie plans one final Christmas Eve gala for the Marley family, though they seem to be a family in name only. There's Kip Marley, who never met a party he didn't like; Robert, the handsome but all-business executor of the ...
This one certainly follows all the rules from start to finish. Danica McKellar holds the whole thing together single-handedly. This wasn’t quite as good as Crown For Christmas, but at least the title didn’t quite kill the ending the way the other did.

📺 Crown for Christmas | Hallmark Channel

Watched Crown for Christmas from Hallmark Channel
Directed by Alex Zamm. With Danica McKellar, Rupert Penry-Jones, Ellie Botterill, Pavel Douglas. After getting fired from her job as a maid at a ritzy New York City hotel, Allie reluctantly accepts a temporary gig as the governess to a young girl who is part of a powerful family in Europe that lives in a castle.
Continuing on with our formulaic list:
If possible, the title should completely give away at least the entire plot if not the ending.

📺 Christmas at Pemberley Manor | Hallmark Channel

Watched Christmas at Pemberley Manor from Hallmark Channel
Directed by Colin Theys. With Jessica Lowndes, Michael Rady, Cole Gleason, Maddie McCormick. Loosely based on Pride and Prejudice, event planner Elizabeth Bennet is initially at odds with Mr. Darcy, the owner of Pemberley Manor, which she intends to be the venue of her next event, but soon finds herself irresistibly attracted to him.
This new Christmas movie premiered today. Just as treacle-y as you’d imagine.

I ought to map out a plotline of dos and don’ts for these movies as they’re quite formulaic.

Here’s a start:
A first kiss should be interrupted at least twice.
Women should have lost their first loves or spouses in natural accidents (car crashes or the like) so that they’re “pure”.
Someone in the film should be named Darcy.
Casting should feature one or more pseudo-stars from more than a decade prior. Everyone else should be complete unknowns.
Bonus points if casting can be done in Canada.
Solid working character actors should be eschewed at all costs.
Unlike standard romantic comedies, the “best friend” should never be the funny, comic relief.
Even when the plot is clearly open for it, the lead female should never be forward to get what she wants. She should always be able to retreat to have the man “win” her.
The big ending should feature fake snow falling.
Blatant rip-offs of plots of popular books and movies should be encouraged, but this should be heavily downplayed with the plot significantly weakened and overly-Americanized for the 1950’s. Example: “Die Hard meets Father Knows Best with a healthier helping of Christmas–and no guns.”

📺 A Gift to Remember | Hallmark Channel

Watched A Gift to Remember from Hallmark Channel
Directed by Kevin Fair. With Ali Liebert, Peter Porte, Tina Lifford, Kristin York. Based on the book by Melissa Hill, Darcy finds romance with a handsome stranger with amnesia.
It’s exactly what you’d expect. There aren’t enough people named Darcy in these movies…

📺 Switched for Christmas | Hallmark Channel

Watched Switched for Christmas from Hallmark Channel
Directed by Lee Friedlander. With Candace Cameron Bure, Eion Bailey, Mark Deklin, Natasha Bure. "Just because they are identical does not mean these twins even like each other. Estranged twin sisters get together for an obligatory pre-Christmas lunch, a year after their mother's death. Both women are unhappy and frustrated with their own lives. Though not close, each is envious of the other's life. What's a twin to do but take advantage of this? And who would be the wiser? They do what any ...
The best in cheeseball entertainment. How could you not watch this? Though I am a bit surprised they’re starting a week before Halloween!!