Latest / Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews / Christmas in July Preview
Transcript
- 0:10Speaker 1: Hey, everybody. Welcome to Girls Gone Hallmark, a bonus episode
- 0:14Speaker 1: of Long Story Short the podcast. I'm Megan, I'm Wendy,
- 0:17Speaker 1: and today we are previewing Christmas in July on the
- 0:21Speaker 1: Hallmark Channel. First of all, we'd like to invite everybody
- 0:24Speaker 1: who's listening. If you want to talk all things Christmas
- 0:26Speaker 1: in July every day in July, you can do that
- 0:28Speaker 1: in our wonderful Facebook group also called Girls Gone Hallmark,
- 0:33Speaker 1: which you can find by searching Girls Gone Hallmark or
- 0:36Speaker 1: by clicking the link in our show notes. It is
- 0:39Speaker 1: the beginning of July as we're recording this. Have you
- 0:42Speaker 1: watched a Christmas movie yet?
- 0:45Speaker 2: No?
- 0:46Speaker 1: No, How are you feeling about Christmas in July as
- 0:49Speaker 1: a whole?
- 0:50Speaker 2: I mean, I think it's a cute idea, and I
- 0:53Speaker 2: saw some commercials when watching the other movies that we've
- 0:57Speaker 2: been watching. Yeah, I don't know if I'm going to
- 1:00Speaker 2: make time for it though, I don't know. Maybe we'll see.
- 1:05Speaker 1: Is it far enough out from countdown to Christmas for
- 1:09Speaker 1: you to be able to stomach Christmas movie?
- 1:13Speaker 2: Well that's an interesting thought because I don't really like
- 1:16Speaker 2: Christmas and the Christmas seasons. So when you have, like
- 1:20Speaker 2: movies plus Christmas obligations plus gift rapping plus this it
- 1:25Speaker 2: makes me hate it so much more. So maybe I
- 1:29Speaker 2: can stomach it during summertime.
- 1:32Speaker 1: Yeah, like you like the season right now, so yeah.
- 1:35Speaker 2: But also I just had this thought the other day.
- 1:37Speaker 2: I was like, Ugh, it's the middle of the year,
- 1:39Speaker 2: which means it's almost Christmas. Okay, am I the only
- 1:46Speaker 2: one who thinks like that.
- 1:48Speaker 1: You're definitely not alone. I guarantee you're not alone. They're not.
- 1:51Speaker 1: Everybody is a Megan. And you know I love Christmas,
- 1:54Speaker 1: but I'm not ready for it to be Christmas. I
- 1:58Speaker 1: have two things to say about Hallmark right now, and
- 2:01Speaker 1: what is their website? Sucks?
- 2:03Speaker 2: Agreed one hundred percent.
- 2:05Speaker 1: You are a multime media corporation. You've got stores, and
- 2:11Speaker 1: you make products, and you produce television, Like, surely you
- 2:15Speaker 1: could hire someone that would make your website not suck.
- 2:19Speaker 1: It's in my mind it's the equivalent of walking through
- 2:21Speaker 1: a casino, Like they make it intentionally confusing, so you
- 2:25Speaker 1: can't find your way out, so you'll like, oh, trip
- 2:27Speaker 1: and stumble on a slot machine while you're trying to
- 2:29Speaker 1: find the buffet. Right. Interesting, Okay, last week I was
- 2:34Speaker 1: looking at the Hallmark Channel website, and there was a
- 2:37Speaker 1: schedule of every Christmas in July movie every day. It
- 2:40Speaker 1: was like July first, and it would list all of them.
- 2:44Speaker 1: I cannot find that list. I can find the primetime
- 2:48Speaker 1: list of movies, which is the movies at air at
- 2:51Speaker 1: eight pm every night. I can find the new movies.
- 2:56Speaker 1: But that other list, and I looked all over last
- 2:59Speaker 1: night and again this morning. I cannot find it, Like,
- 3:02Speaker 1: is it still there? Did they just remove links to it?
- 3:05Speaker 1: Where did I find that list? I don't know, but
- 3:07Speaker 1: it is not something I could navigate to on their website. Also,
- 3:12Speaker 1: Hallmark has something on their website called the Christmas in
- 3:16Speaker 1: July Movie Guide, and it says click to download. And
- 3:18Speaker 1: I got very excited, thinking this is what I was
- 3:20Speaker 1: looking for. Do you know what your guide is?
- 3:24Speaker 2: Yes?
- 3:24Speaker 1: Yes, it is a one page pdf with images of
- 3:29Speaker 1: the three movies, their names, their release dates, their stars.
- 3:32Speaker 1: That's it. That's not a guide Hallmark.
- 3:37Speaker 2: I thought the same thing. Terrible.
- 3:40Speaker 1: I was thinking with me, like a multi page pdf, right,
- 3:44Speaker 1: schedule or information about all of the movies. Nope, no, no,
- 3:49Speaker 1: I should have non.
- 3:50Speaker 2: Here's the thing. Maybe they go, you know what they
- 3:53Speaker 2: know their demo, and their demo is not online.
- 3:57Speaker 1: Looking for this.
- 3:58Speaker 2: Stuff, I don't I don't know. I don't know. I'd
- 4:01Speaker 2: be curious to see what their ads in a TV
- 4:04Speaker 2: guide look like.
- 4:05Speaker 1: You know, oh yeah, a TV guide.
- 4:08Speaker 2: I don't even know if they make TV guides anymore.
- 4:12Speaker 1: I have a like a recommendation and an anti recommendation
- 4:15Speaker 1: for the Hallmark Checklist app, because in that app you
- 4:18Speaker 1: can search the title of any movie and it will
- 4:20Speaker 1: tell you when it is next airing, which is great,
- 4:23Speaker 1: but if you click on Christmas in July, it will
- 4:25Speaker 1: show you some, but not all, of the movies. It's
- 4:28Speaker 1: just everything feels unfinished. And I think this is a
- 4:31Speaker 1: byproduct of a Hallmark running production up until the very
- 4:35Speaker 1: last second. They don't have time for all this other stuff.
- 4:39Speaker 1: And I think for the casual viewer it probably doesn't matter.
- 4:44Speaker 1: But for someone like you or I who was trying
- 4:47Speaker 1: to run down information so that we can talk about
- 4:50Speaker 1: these things in an informed way, it makes our jobs
- 4:52Speaker 1: a little bit harder. I agree, all right, Moving on,
- 4:56Speaker 1: this year, Christmas in July has three premieres, which I
- 5:00Speaker 1: I'm very excited about. Last year there was just one,
- 5:02Speaker 1: So we're going to talk about the three premieres, and
- 5:04Speaker 1: then we're gonna give you a couple quick recommendations for
- 5:07Speaker 1: some past movies we recommend you checking out this month.
- 5:10Speaker 1: As of the airing of this episode, Christmas in July
- 5:14Speaker 1: is well underway. They kicked off with a fan favorite weekend.
- 5:18Speaker 1: Even Hallmark Movies and Mysteries last week of June did
- 5:22Speaker 1: a marathon of Christmas movies. But don't worry because Christmas
- 5:26Speaker 1: movies are airing all month long. And even if you
- 5:28Speaker 1: look at the primetime like we've missed some of the
- 5:32Speaker 1: primetime movies, but they're airing again. So again, if you
- 5:36Speaker 1: want to figure out when your favorites are airing and
- 5:37Speaker 1: you can't quite figure it out because the website stinks,
- 5:41Speaker 1: search that movie and the Hallmark Checklist app and it
- 5:44Speaker 1: will let you know when it is next on. Let's
- 5:46Speaker 1: start with these premieres. Okay, first step, we have My
- 5:49Speaker 1: grown Up Christmas List premierees Saturday, July ninth. It stars
- 5:54Speaker 1: Kayla Wallace and Kevin McGarry.
- 5:57Speaker 2: Have we seen Kayla Wallace in anything before?
- 5:59Speaker 1: Oh? Yes we have, because Kayla Wallace and Kevin McGarry
- 6:02Speaker 1: start alongside each other in feeling Butterflies earlier this year.
- 6:05Speaker 1: Oh that's right.
- 6:07Speaker 2: Oh, I wonder if that's one of these movies like
- 6:09Speaker 2: at that production company.
- 6:10Speaker 1: Oh oh, oh mm hmm, Yeah, I have fel They
- 6:14Speaker 1: also star together in one calls the Heart. So they
- 6:21Speaker 1: either like to work together or the production company they
- 6:24Speaker 1: work with likes the two of them together. But they
- 6:27Speaker 1: work together quite a bit. I think two movies with
- 6:29Speaker 1: the same stars twice in a year is a little
- 6:32Speaker 1: unusual for Hallmark. I mean, we certainly get repeat stars,
- 6:35Speaker 1: but same co stars.
- 6:37Speaker 2: Yeah, kind of weird. And I don't I don't find
- 6:40Speaker 2: them like, you know, especially steamy together an you know
- 6:47Speaker 2: what I mean, Like their chemistry isn't like off the charts.
- 6:51Speaker 1: Feeling Butterflies was a real stinker of a movie. I
- 6:53Speaker 1: didn't even finish it. But they have not been given
- 6:56Speaker 1: killer material to work with. I will be watching my
- 6:58Speaker 1: grown up Christmas List? Do you like to read a
- 7:00Speaker 1: synopsis of this movie? Sure thing.
- 7:03Speaker 2: Taylor, a journalist, and Luke in the military share a
- 7:06Speaker 2: special bond that grows between them over the course of
- 7:09Speaker 2: several Christmases.
- 7:11Speaker 1: That they spend together, and a part is the end
- 7:13Speaker 1: of the synopsis I have.
- 7:15Speaker 2: So I'm in the Hallmark Checklist.
- 7:18Speaker 1: That's the end of my sting. This is from the
- 7:21Speaker 1: Hallmark website. See what I mean, no consistency. I kind
- 7:26Speaker 1: of like the idea of this occurring over the course
- 7:29Speaker 1: of several Christmases, kind of a will they or won't
- 7:32Speaker 1: they situation.
- 7:34Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not like that into this. I like Kevin
- 7:37Speaker 2: McGarry a lot. I would like to note that in
- 7:40Speaker 2: the Hallmark Checklist app there's already a review for this
- 7:43Speaker 2: movie and it hasn't even aired. Come on, it's sorry
- 7:47Speaker 2: to God. Let me read it to you from Roy Why?
- 7:52Speaker 2: This subject says honor the service As a veteran, it
- 7:56Speaker 2: bothers me that the actor didn't think enough to look
- 7:59Speaker 2: the part. His less than regulation haircut made it hard
- 8:04Speaker 2: to take him or it seriously. So he's written his
- 8:10Speaker 2: review like he has seen the movie.
- 8:12Speaker 1: No, Yes, Is it possible that Hallmark has sent out
- 8:16Speaker 1: screeners to Roy? Why? Random imbab reviewer?
- 8:20Speaker 2: I don't Maybe, I don't know, weird.
- 8:23Speaker 1: That is not a detail I would have bumped on.
- 8:25Speaker 1: But you and I find all sorts of things to
- 8:29Speaker 1: care about in these movies, So who am I to
- 8:31Speaker 1: say that that's not a detail to carry about care
- 8:33Speaker 1: about now. Kevin McGarry does star on One Calls the Heart.
- 8:38Speaker 1: That show has been renewed. He has a specific look
- 8:42Speaker 1: on that show, so perhaps a Marine Corps buzz cut
- 8:46Speaker 1: would not have worked for his Wind Comes the Heart character,
- 8:50Speaker 1: and they were not able to do that. I don't know.
- 8:54Speaker 1: Perhaps I just didn't care. What's next?
- 8:57Speaker 2: Campfire Christmas premieres on Saturday, July sixteenth. Stars Tory Anderson,
- 9:02Speaker 2: Corbyn Blue, Jeffrey Bauer, Chapman, Caitlyn Striker, Matt Hamilton. This
- 9:09Speaker 2: has a big cast Alex Santo's Yeah Big One. Let
- 9:13Speaker 2: me read this synopsis. Romance rekindles for Peyton and her
- 9:17Speaker 2: closest friends when her parents decide to host a holiday
- 9:21Speaker 2: themed reunion before selling their family owned summer camp. Now,
- 9:26Speaker 2: based off that alone, seems pretty cute.
- 9:30Speaker 1: Yes, I agree.
- 9:32Speaker 2: I don't know if I like the title Campfire Christmas.
- 9:34Speaker 2: Maybe they should have called it Camp Christmas or something instead.
- 9:38Speaker 1: Okay, I like that we're getting a Christmas in July movie.
- 9:41Speaker 1: In Christmas in July. I think it's obviously the most
- 9:45Speaker 1: easy to relate to, as opposed to like, let's pretend
- 9:47Speaker 1: it's snowy outside.
- 9:49Speaker 2: Mm hmmm, yeah, good point.
- 9:51Speaker 1: Here's what I'm excited about. Look, Corbyn Blue has sixty
- 9:54Speaker 1: six acting credits to his name, although he is certainly
- 9:56Speaker 1: best known for his high school musical Run. But Tory Anderson,
- 10:02Speaker 1: who stars alongside him. She played a character named Evie
- 10:07Speaker 1: in a show called No Tomorrow, which I'm certain that
- 10:09Speaker 1: almost no one has seen. I believe it was a
- 10:11Speaker 1: wb c W show. I never saw what was on television.
- 10:15Speaker 1: Netflix serted it up to me one day. It's one season,
- 10:19Speaker 1: eleven or twelve episodes, and here's the premise. And I
- 10:23Speaker 1: think I've discussed this with you before. Evie, a risk
- 10:27Speaker 1: averse quality control assessor, falls for a free spirited thrill
- 10:30Speaker 1: seeker Xavier, only to find out he lives his life
- 10:34Speaker 1: that way because he believes the apocalypse is coming. Sounds
- 10:39Speaker 1: like a ridiculous premise for a show. It is certainly
- 10:42Speaker 1: a ridiculous premise for a show. I really liked it.
- 10:45Speaker 1: I have not seen her in anything else since that,
- 10:49Speaker 1: so I am looking forward to this movie in a
- 10:51Speaker 1: lot of ways. Okay, excellent. Next up, Christmas in Toiland,
- 10:56Speaker 1: which is my least favorite title of these movies, premiers Saturday,
- 11:01Speaker 1: July twenty third stars Vanessa Langis and Jesse Hutch.
- 11:08Speaker 2: I don't know either of these actors, that's all.
- 11:11Speaker 1: So Vanessa is brand new to the Hallmark landscape as
- 11:15Speaker 1: far as I can tell. Jesse's done a ton of
- 11:18Speaker 1: TV movies but isn't recognizable. He's certainly not a Hallmark star.
- 11:24Speaker 1: So we've got real fresh faces in these movies. This
- 11:29Speaker 1: is like classic Hallmark with the synopsis, Oh.
- 11:33Speaker 2: Let me read it for you. A toy store data
- 11:36Speaker 2: analyst attempts to save hundreds of jobs right before Christmas
- 11:40Speaker 2: to help keep the inn store experience alive.
- 11:44Speaker 1: I don't know what it is about the title of
- 11:46Speaker 1: this movie. It does absolutely nothing for me. I don't
- 11:50Speaker 1: hate the synopsis. It sounds very classically Hallmark. I wonder
- 11:54Speaker 1: if we're going to get the big bad, corporate Christmas ruiner.
- 11:59Speaker 1: Hallmark does not have a press release out about this movie.
- 12:01Speaker 1: That's what I was just looking for. This does very
- 12:04Speaker 1: little for me.
- 12:05Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, honestly, all three do very little for me.
- 12:09Speaker 1: The problem here is like, there's no recognizable faces. There's
- 12:12Speaker 1: nothing that stands out about the storyline to me. I
- 12:16Speaker 1: appreciate that there's a new movie. I just wonder if
- 12:19Speaker 1: this was the best place for it, because I feel
- 12:22Speaker 1: like for these Christmas in July movies, you're getting the
- 12:27Speaker 1: diehard Christmas fans and perhaps to throw in two relative newcomers,
- 12:33Speaker 1: maybe it is not the place to do it.
- 12:35Speaker 2: So you would prefer like a big name in one
- 12:37Speaker 2: of these movies.
- 12:38Speaker 1: If you want to get me excited about Christmas in July,
- 12:41Speaker 1: get me excited about Christmas in July.
- 12:44Speaker 2: You want to like a Lacey Shaverar movie.
- 12:46Speaker 1: Yeah, although I'm sure she would never do that, they must.
- 12:49Speaker 1: I would assume they have bigger budgets for their Christmas
- 12:51Speaker 1: movies simply because they get bigger advertising dollars, they do
- 12:54Speaker 1: bigger numbers during the holiday season. My prediction is that
- 12:58Speaker 1: the best of these three movies is going to be
- 13:00Speaker 1: Can't Fire Christmas. Ooh, interesting.
- 13:03Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't really have a prediction. I
- 13:06Speaker 2: mean I could throw dirt at it and let me
- 13:08Speaker 2: see which one. I think they all sound pretty mediocre. Ooh,
- 13:16Speaker 2: Can't Fire Christmas might be the cutest though, because it's
- 13:19Speaker 2: going to be like full of activities and you stuff.
- 13:23Speaker 1: Like that, keep it moving. We love a montage.
- 13:25Speaker 2: Yeah, so I'm gonna agree with you Can't Fire Christmas
- 13:28Speaker 2: might be the one to watch.
- 13:30Speaker 1: So over the course of this month, Hallmark, as we said,
- 13:33Speaker 1: we'll be reairing some of their Christmas favorites, some that
- 13:35Speaker 1: we loved, some that we wonder why they're still in
- 13:38Speaker 1: the air. Hello, nine Lives of Christmas? What are you doing?
- 13:43Speaker 1: Do you have a few just to recommend that people
- 13:45Speaker 1: should revisit this month if perhaps they've missed them.
- 13:48Speaker 2: Absolutely. Number one of my lists an Unexpected Christmas with
- 13:51Speaker 2: Tyler Hines and Bethany joy Lyns.
- 13:53Speaker 1: That also makes my list absolutely.
- 13:56Speaker 2: I really love my Family Christmas Tree at Garden is
- 14:01Speaker 2: such a good movie. Also with a surprise minds on.
- 14:04Speaker 1: That movie Oh Yes, Yes, Yes, and Hate.
- 14:07Speaker 2: Yo another Tyler Hines movie on the twelve Day to Christmas.
- 14:11Speaker 2: I recommend that one as well.
- 14:12Speaker 1: Well. All of those made my list as well. I
- 14:16Speaker 1: also have a recommendation for a movie that we did
- 14:19Speaker 1: not review last year but I did watch, and that
- 14:22Speaker 1: was the new Christmas in July movie for twenty twenty one,
- 14:27Speaker 1: Crashing through the Snow. It tells the story of divorced
- 14:30Speaker 1: parents who are navigating the holidays post divorce. That dad
- 14:34Speaker 1: has a new girlfriend, they end up all spending the
- 14:37Speaker 1: holidays together, calamity ensues. It is solid Christmas, but I
- 14:42Speaker 1: think it is just enough outside of what Hallmark usually does.
- 14:47Speaker 1: I think it was if you include it as part
- 14:50Speaker 1: of the whole Christmas season, I think it's easily in
- 14:53Speaker 1: the top five or six movies of the season.
- 14:57Speaker 2: Any stinkers on this list that you would say, don't
- 15:00Speaker 2: even bother, don't waste your time with.
- 15:02Speaker 1: Look Nine Lives of Christmas. Not into it. There's a
- 15:06Speaker 1: lot of great movies on here. Christmas Treasure was good,
- 15:10Speaker 1: A Kiss Before Christmas was good. Skip Christmas at Castle
- 15:13Speaker 1: Heart yep, Skip Christmas Contest. Leanne Rymes is in a
- 15:19Speaker 1: movie with Tyler Hines. It's Christmas Eve. I gotta tell
- 15:22Speaker 1: you I hate LeAnn Rymes as a Hallmark movie actress. Oh.
- 15:26Speaker 2: I don't know if I've ever seen her in a
- 15:28Speaker 2: movie period. I didn't know she was an actor.
- 15:31Speaker 1: Hm in quotation marks, Okay, skip a timeless Christmas, Skip
- 15:36Speaker 1: a crown for Christmas. As a Dana com A Keller joint,
- 15:38Speaker 1: She's just if you want real, classic original, this is
- 15:47Speaker 1: what Hallmark does with a formula. Twenty Fifteen's a Christmas
- 15:51Speaker 1: Detour starring Candace Cameron. Beret is real classic, like Christmas hyjinks,
- 15:57Speaker 1: they miss their flight, they don't know each other, share
- 16:00Speaker 1: a rental car, et cetera, et cetera. It has the
- 16:03Speaker 1: world's worst future in laws in it. It's a fun
- 16:07Speaker 1: romp Okay see.
- 16:09Speaker 2: I also I remember seeing on the list and I
- 16:11Speaker 2: can't find it now. A shoe Attics Christmas was going
- 16:14Speaker 2: to air as well. That's a good one. I like
- 16:17Speaker 2: that one.
- 16:18Speaker 1: I like that one as well. Yeah, if you want
- 16:20Speaker 1: to see your favorites Hallmark check List app, open it up,
- 16:23Speaker 1: give it a search. It'll tell you when it next
- 16:26Speaker 1: airs and at what time, and you can set those DVRs.
- 16:30Speaker 1: And then as soon as Christmas in July is over,
- 16:31Speaker 1: in fact, before Christmas is in July is over, we
- 16:34Speaker 1: kick right back into Summer Nights at the end of
- 16:38Speaker 1: July on the thirtieth and thirty first. However, Hallmark is
- 16:42Speaker 1: not promoting Summer nights at all at all right now,
- 16:46Speaker 1: Like it's not on their website. You can't navigate to it.
- 16:48Speaker 1: It's completely bizarre. So we will transition back to that
- 16:52Speaker 1: for the month of August.
- 16:53Speaker 2: Yeah, and I have an update. Remember I think it
- 16:56Speaker 2: might have been. Last week. I was telling you how
- 16:58Speaker 2: Lacy Shaver was in Hawaii filming a movie. It's not
- 17:02Speaker 2: a Christmas name movie, and it makes me wonder if
- 17:05Speaker 2: this is going to be premiere during the later half
- 17:09Speaker 2: of Summer Nights.
- 17:10Speaker 1: I saw I believe it is on August twentieth.
- 17:15Speaker 2: Oh, you saw a premiere.
- 17:17Speaker 1: Date Saturday, August twentieth.
- 17:19Speaker 2: Yes, it's called ground Swell. That was the working title.
- 17:23Speaker 2: I don't know if they've changed it.
- 17:26Speaker 1: Perhaps do a part two Summer Nights preview prior to
- 17:30Speaker 1: the month of August once we have a little more information.
- 17:32Speaker 1: There's not a lot out there. Homework has put all
- 17:34Speaker 1: their eggs in a Christmas in July basket at the moment,
- 17:37Speaker 1: So we will be back to talk about more Summer
- 17:39Speaker 1: Nights late Summer edition next month. All right, all right, everybody,
- 17:46Speaker 1: thank you so much for listening. If you love our podcast,
- 17:48Speaker 1: we love your five star ratings and reviews. You can
- 17:50Speaker 1: do that right in the Apple podcast app. They make
- 17:53Speaker 1: a huge difference to us. Happy watching, everybody, goodbye, right,
- 18:00Speaker 1: The Blacks