Latest / Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews / Countdown to Christmas First Impressions - Part 2

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Countdown to Christmas First Impressions - Part 2 · Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Girls Gone Hallmark, a Hallmark Review podcast.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: I'm Megan, and I'm a longtime Hallmark fan. I'm Wendy.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: I'm a former Hallmark hater.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Today's episode is part two of our first impressions of
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the Countdown to Christmas lineup, and we are going to
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: jump right into that. If you missed part one, it
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: is currently available in the Girls Gone Hallmark podcast feed.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: All right, we're kicking this off on Friday, November 13th,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: My Christmas Cowboy, starring Amy Acker, Luke McFarlane, and Sarah Canning.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Sarah Canning is an actress who is one of the
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: many Hallmark actors appearing in the Netflix series Crew Girl.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: I couldn't place her right away. And then I remembered
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: she was in Christmas on Call, but she's back in
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: the countdown.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Is this a Jeff Beasley movie by chance? This is
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: not a Jeff Beasley movie. Because she was in his...
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: Christmas on Call. Yes, exactly. Mm-hmm.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: A Texas news producer still resents her college crush for
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: landing the TV job after her audition flopped. Now he's
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: a Hollywood host, lying low after an on-air blunder, and
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: she has to teach him to ride and rope before
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: he hosts the town's reindeer roundup. Luke McFarlane in boots
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: and a hat. Put it in my veins. I mean,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: I do see the picture here. He's wearing like a
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: bolo tie.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. And a nice crisp white shirt and a denim jacket. Look,
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: I love to look at Luke McFarlane. I think he's
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: a good actor. So I'm very excited. My Christmas cowboy.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Amy Acker. I'm having a heart. Who is Amy Acker?
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: I know the name. I can't place her.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Did you watch the movie Average Joe or Ordinary Angels
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: or the series The Watchful Eye? Or 9-1-1 Lone Star.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: She was in Crashing Through the Snow, which is a
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: movie we never reviewed, but was a Christmas in July
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: movie in 2021 that you might know. She has a
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: ton of acting credits, but she was in the series
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: The Gifted. Interestingly enough, Sarah Canning is not the love
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: interest in this movie.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: It's Amy Ocker. Are you surprised at all by, you know,
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: like a cowboy Christmas movie? No.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: I feel like we get one every year, but I
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: am glad it's Luke McFarlane. Might take the sting off
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: of it because a Cowboy Christmas movie on first glance
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: would not be my first choice. However, Texas Two-Step has
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: changed that all for me.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: Oh, man, if they're dancing in this movie. If they're dancing,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: I mean, he's got a rope and ride.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: I'm hoping for some licensed country music in here.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, that'd be good. We will see. I don't
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: I just I mean, I love Luke so much, but
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: I just I don't know. I don't know. Well, I
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: think you do now about this next movie. Oh, my God, guys.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: I'm so excited. Saturday, November 14th, The Nights Before Christmas
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: stars Tyler Hines and Lacey J. Mailey. Tyler Hines stars
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: as Marty, a man stuck in a rut who suddenly
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: finds himself reliving Christmas Eve over and over again. Along
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: the way, he falls for Chloe, played by Lacey J. Mailey, but...
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: Because she forgets him every time the day resets, Marty
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: has to figure out how to win her over and
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: what he needs to do to change in his own
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: life to finally make it to Christmas Day.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: So much to love about this, right? Like, you got
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: a time loop. I love a time loop.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Yep.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Tyler and Lacey, that's a pairing that I'm very excited
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: to see.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: Feels kind of electric. Yeah. And I'm only looking at
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: a picture of it right now. Right?
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: The Countdown to Christmas promo video opens with Tyler. There's
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: like a scene of him putting a song on a jukebox.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: And there is something about it. I'm like, I'm already
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: all in on this movie. It's just him having a
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: little moment.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: So freaking cute.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Directed by Lucy Guest. Written by Russell Hainline.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Stop! Stop! This is going to be the movie of
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: the season. Yeah. Yeah.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: I know everyone's like, Disney this, bears that. Give me
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: The Nights Before Christmas.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: I mean, I didn't know Russell wrote it, and I
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: didn't know Lucy directed it. Right? Yeah, this is a
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: five-star movie. Yeah. Yeah.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: Well, we're also going to be tuning in on Sunday,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: November 15th for Mistletoe and Mimosas, starring Tamara Mowry-Housley, Christopher Palaha,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: and Jennifer Robertson. Claire inherits her uncle's Christmas-themed bar, the
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Tipsy Reindeer, and takes on rival club owner BTW, the
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: club's name is Algorithm. In a 12 Days of Christmas-inspired competition.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: Directed by Linda Lisa Hader. Written by Russell Hainline.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: What?
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: Based on the holiday novella by Tara Sheets. It's back-to-back Hainline.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: It's a Hainline weekend. Everything's coming up, Russell. You got Tyler.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: You got Palaha.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: Like, this is the weekend for me and Luke McFarlane
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: on Friday.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: Come on. everything's coming up.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: Russell right now is too.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: Much for me. It is too much. Oh my gosh. Yeah.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: I'm on paper. This sounds so silly, but knowing that
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: Russell wrote it into a tipsy reindeer book, Is that
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: a throwback? Was that like an Easter egg to... Santa Summit? Yeah. Perhaps.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: I can't remember if that was like the name of
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: the bar or not.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: I feel like Haneline's movies often include some sort of
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: little Easter egg. So maybe we need to re-watch. Like,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: not for review purposes, but just give the Santa Summit
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: a revisit.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Because I'm so... What? I was just going to say,
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: that feels like where it all started.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: I know that's not his first movie, but that felt
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: like a big moment.
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: I hope that's fun. This movie is fun and not hijinx-y, because,
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: you know, me, I hate hijinx. But I'm excited to
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: watch Palaha, like, play with this a little bit. You
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: know what I mean? Yeah.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: I did have the chance to talk to Tamara Marie Housley.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: We were talking about her Haunted Harmony movie, but she
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: talked briefly about being on set with Mr. Palaha and Palaha.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: Tamara's a great time in an interview. We should have
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: her back for this movie. She was gushing about how
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: wonderful he was and, quite frankly, how hot.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: So, it should be a good time. Oh, was she?
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: I'm currently watching Chris in American Hostage right now. Are
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: all the episodes out or is it a week by weeker?
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: Week by weeker, baby. Of course. Okay. Actually, I actually
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: kind of like that. Yeah, me too. I got my
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: husband to watch it last night and then we're going
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: to watch it together going forward. So... Nice. I want
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: to start it. My friend Chris is in this movie.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: Full parasocial relationship here, guys. Yeah. Our buddy Chris. But
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: then I had to drop the other night because my husband,
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: total side note, was watching The Lioness. And I was like, oh.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: I was like, yeah, there's an actress named Jill Wagner
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: in here. And I was like, she's got short hair.
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: And he's like, oh, she's great. I'm like, yeah, baby. Hallmark.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: Mystery 101 with my friend Chris. Yeah. Anyway. Six degrees
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: of lioness separation. Exactly. Anyway, I'm looking forward. This is
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: going to be a great weekend. This 14th, 15th. Incredible. Yeah,
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: I'm super excited.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: All right.
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: Next up. Friday, November 20th. Our holiday playbook stars Taylor
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: Cole and Charles Michael Davis. Who Charles Michael Davis is.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: It's too close to Chad Michael Murray. You know what
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: I mean? The names. I'm going to need you to.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: I am DB, Charles Michael Davis. Okay, hold on, hold on,
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: hold on. Hello. I know you from something. Younger. Oh, yes.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: That's what he was in.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: He played Zane Andrews in 28 episodes of Younger. He's
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: also on NCIS New Orleans, The Rookie, For the People,
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: 92 episodes of The Originals. Welcome to Hallmark, Charles Michael Davis.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: Wowza. I do remember him from Younger. That's a great
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: show if you've never seen it. Taylor Cole stars as Lexi,
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: who returns home for Christmas just in time for her
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: family's fiercely competitive annual flag football game. When her team
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: needs a replacement player, she makes a deal with former
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: local football star Eddie.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: Ah.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: Played by Charles Michael Davis. He'll pose. Uh-oh. He'll pose
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: as her boyfriend. Oh. Fake dating. So she can join
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: the team. Hey, fake dating. And she'll help him beat
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: his brother in a family bake-off. But, of course, their
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: fake relationship starts feeling very real. I'm real team fake
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: relationship trope right now. So, yeah, you are. This sounds fun. Indeed.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: I like flag football at the holidays. Sounds fun. And
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: I like fake dating tropes. So it's kind of up
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: there for me, to be honest. I agree. I'm interested
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: in this movie and I like when we see.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: All of our favorites in the Countdown, but I'm a
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: big fan of introducing some newcomers that we can be
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: excited about. And right now I'm all in on Charles
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Michael Davis. On Saturday, November 21st, Christmas in Blue Dog
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: Valley starring Aaron Cahill and Andrew Walker. This is a
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: book to movie adaptation based on the novel by Annie
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: England Noblin. A Hollywood-onset veterinarian buys a small-town clinic and
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: has to win over wary locals. She gets help from
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: the former owner's son and a mysterious dog who keeps
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: showing up. Spoiler alert, this is going to be the
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: next Girls Gone Hallmark book club book after we finish
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: her night at the museum.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: Hopefully it'll be... easy for me to remember the title
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: of this one.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: What do you think about a movie with a dog
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: at the center of it?
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: Kind of worried. Are you? Yeah, a little bit. A
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: little bit worried about that. Just, you know, yeah. But
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: I see this picture of Andrew Walker and Aaron Cahill
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: and gorge come on this is a pairing i'm very
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: excited about you same same same same yeah this is
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: gonna be this is probably topping on cast alone is
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: topping my list of ones i'm looking forward to absolutely
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: sunday november 22nd we have double booked for the holidays
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: and it stars rachel lee cook Owen Yeoman and Stephen Hagen.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: Stephen Hagen is a familiar name. I can't place him
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: on the top of my head right now. Anyway, Rachel
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: Lee Cook plays identical twins, Abigail and Charlie, who spend
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: their first Christmas without their mom running a bookshop Airbnb
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: in a charming Welsh town. What is a bookshop Airbnb?
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: I think it is an Airbnb that contains a bookshop.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: While Abigail connects with the local barista and Charlie catches
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: the eye of a handsome lord, neither man realizes there
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: are actually two sisters, leading to mistaken identities, crossed romances,
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: and plenty of Christmas mix-ups.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: First of all, do you know who Stephen Hagen is?
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: He's Colin from Paris is Always a Good Idea.
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: Oh, interesting.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: Irish Colin. Owen Yeoman is a Welsh actor. Now, I
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: want to tell you some things about this movie. One,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: I do believe it was directed by Claire Niederbrum. That's
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: not officially posted anywhere, but it came up in a
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: Google search. It is written by Brisa Carlton and she
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: was inspired. There's a town in Scotland where you can
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: go and like you can run their bookstore for a week.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: And she was inspired by that story, but she wanted
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: to do something a little different. So she went to
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: Wales and she was trying to find like the inspiration
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: to inspire this story. And she found this town called Heianwi,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: and it's basically a town full of books.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: They're just, they love their books.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: So anyway, she also has a holiday book coming out
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: called Just Her Holiday Type, and the audiobook is read
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: by the audiobook goat, Julia Whelan. So I think Brisa Carlton,
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: our writer here, is one to watch. I have so
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: many questions. Why didn't they hire actual twins to play.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: I freaking love that Rachel Leigh Cook is playing both parts.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: I'm just waiting for like, you know, like in the
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: 80s where it was like a split screen and you
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: could like totally tell like when it was like the
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: same person. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But like Liv
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: and Maddie. I knew you were going to say it.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: I knew it.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: I was waiting for freaking Liv and Maddie.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: I love that show. To this day, it was a
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: big part of my children's childhood. She gets two love interests.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: Wow. I mean, like, I'm looking forward to this. This
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: is going to be interesting. This one's definitely going to
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: be interesting. I'm excited. All right.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: Now it's time for Merry Thanksgiving week. This year for
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: Merry Thanksgiving week, it's really Merry Thanksgiving long weekend. And
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: I got to say, I appreciate that. We're not getting
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday movie. We have 34 movies in
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: the countdown. And for Merry Thanksgiving week slash end week,
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: We have one Thursday movie, two Friday movies, two Saturday movies,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: and two Sunday movies.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: Oh, no. They're going to kill us this time. It's
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: the same, basically.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: So, kicking it off, Thursday, November 26th, Christmas Delivered, starring
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Autumn Reeser and Wes Brown.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: Pow, pow.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: A stressed out woman visiting her grandmother in Canada uses
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: her tech skills to rescue a tree farmer's glitchy Christmas
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: tree delivery app. Do you know how much I love
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: the idea of a Christmas tree delivery app?
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: Do you really? I do. This is giving Mingle all
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: the way, 2006. Bite your tongue. Wes Brown would never. Ugh.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: Directed by David I. Strasser, produced by Jennifer Aspin.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: And David O'Donnell. All right. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Does he have
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: a red truck for delivering trees? Indeed, he does.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: You know, Ben's a dreamer who never looks before he leaves,
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: according to this synopsis. And Kimberly is methodical and lives
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: her life based on practicality. The two couldn't be more different,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: I'm guessing. They're going to go to a coffee shop
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: at one point, and one's going to have a wild
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: and crazy coffee odor, and the other's going to be like.
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: I'll have a drip coffee, please. Oh, my God. And
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: then they're going to get whipped cream on their nose, too.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: She's going to be like, you got to try the
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: candy cane coffee.
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, is it she that's the crazy one? No, it's him.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: You know, of course, the buttoned-up person would not start
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: a Christmas tree delivery app service.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Wow. Wow. This one worries me a little bit. Oh, no.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: Bring it on. Bring it on. A little bit. But
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: this picture does look like they're actually sitting in real snow. So,
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: don't you think? Production value high? Perhaps. All right. Our
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: next movie, Friday, November 27th, is called The Christmas Eve Feast. Now,
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: this is a twofer on this night. So this one
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: airs at 6 p.m. Eastern Pacific Time. Daniela Monet stars
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: as Sylvie, a New York City chef who returns home
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: to Boston's North Italian end. Yo, been there several times.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: Great food. To help her Nona prepare the family's traditional
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: Feast of the Seven Dwarfs. There she meets Ethan, played
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: by Kevin McGarry, a photographer documenting holiday traditions. And as
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: the two grow closer, Sylvie begins to rethink both of
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: the kind of cooking that makes her happy and where
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: she truly belongs. Look, I love Boston. I love the
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: North End. I'm so excited for this movie. Are you?
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: I'd like to know, like everybody to know that I
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: had the best cannoli in Boston. Boston's North End and
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: everywhere else I've tried to have a cannoli and it
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: does not compare. Oh. And there's a real fight. There's
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: Mike's Pastry or Modern Pastry. And I would love if
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: listeners could email us and tell me which one you
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: like better. Where was your cannoli of your dreams? It
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: was from Modern Pastry. Got it.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: This was executive produced by Giada De Laurentiis.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: Oh, womp womp.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: Well, I think that'll point to us perhaps getting some
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: beautiful food scenes.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: Like, this is definitely going to focus on the food.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: And I just say womp womp because she got eliminated
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: from Dancing with the Stars. Oh. This last week, so.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: It was written by James LaRosa. Yeah, hopefully there's going
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: to be beautiful food. Beautiful food. And Daniela Monet is great.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: I love her. I do find this to be an
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: odd pairing. Why? I'm not sure. I can't see it. Oh,
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: wait a minute. Are we going to get a Boston
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: accent from Kevin? Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Didn't he get roasted for
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: it in like the wedding veil movies? Indeed he did.
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: Our second movie on Friday, November 7th in the 8 p.m.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: time slot is Return to Santa starring Paul Campbell and
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: Rachel Boston. Hopeful and dreamy eight-year-old Jake, played by Campbell,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: writes a letter to Santa with his most fantastical wishes.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: But when the letter gets lost in the North Pole,
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: young Jake wakes up disappointed and no longer a believer.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: Years later, Santa discovers the misplaced letter and immediately sets
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: out to make things right. Now an adult, Jake's life
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: is about to get turned upside down when the appearance
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: of his childhood wishes clash with his practical life. All
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: while his childhood best friend Julie, played by Rachel Boston,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: rather unexpectedly moves back to town. Paul Campbell is adult Jake.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: Paul Campbell's adult Jake.
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: God, guys, this is great already. This is great already.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: Paul Campbell and Rachel Boston are reunited after dating the Delaney's,
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: which they were absolutely delightful in.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: Wowza. Love it. This is directed by Panta Mosle.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: She has 59 acting credits, but she has 21 directing credits.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: Most recently on Hallmark, she directed Christmas with the Sings.
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: Oh, nice.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: That may be her only Hallmark directing credit, although she
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: has 18 directing credits. I liked Christmas with the Sings.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I remember. So did I. I like Paul Campbell
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: and Rachel Boston. Yeah, this one.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: The writer on this is Colby Jensen. who this is
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: his very first writing credit.
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: I'm interested in this.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: I do think this is, doing what we talked about earlier,
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: this is a different swing, a different take. We're trying
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: something new here. Yeah, I'm into it. I'm super into it.
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: Saturday, November 28th, another twofer. This one starts at 6 p.m. Eastern.
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: The Most Wonderful Secret. It stars Tamin Sursak and Peter Port.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Tamin is, to me, best known to me from Pretty
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: Little Liars. Oh. She stars as Vanessa, a burned-out art
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: teacher who visits her brother and niece for Christmas and
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: unexpectedly becomes the recipient of the town's secret Norma scavenger hunt.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: As she works to revive a holiday block party with
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: the help of her handsome electrician neighbor, Spencer, played by
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: Peter Port. Oh, wow, is that what it is? Vanessa
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: begins rediscovering her love for teaching and possibly finding a
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: little romance along the way. What's a secret, Norma? I
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: have no idea.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: The last time we saw Tam and Sursak on Hallmark
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: was in trivia at St. Nick's in 2024.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: May have been actually the first time we saw her
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: on Hallmark. Maybe Norma was like, you know, somebody special
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: in the town. Oh, it honors the memory of a
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: beloved teacher who once read... Joy through her secret Norma
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: gifts each holiday season. So yeah. Got it. How do
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: you feel about this one?
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: Well, sometimes I feel like I get a little bit
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: lost in the synopses.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: I don't really know what it's about. Like I have
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: to reread it. I'm like, what? What's happening here? Something
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: about like a burned out art teacher. And then I
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: think she finds the spirit of Christmas again.
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: I think the leads are incredibly beautiful. Of course, Peter Port,
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: we just saw in Love Heist. Sometimes you don't like
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: it when they have too many tasks to do, but
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: it can go one of two ways. Like they need
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: something to do. So sometimes it can be like our
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: entire movie is about completing these tasks and it's just
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: a checklist. And sometimes it's like, oh, that just gives
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: us a fun background for these two to have fun chemistry.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: And so I don't know which way that's going to go.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: But I kind of like the idea of the secret
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: Norma honoring their teacher.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: Next up, the moment many people have been waiting for, Saturday,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: November 28th, holiday ever after a Disney World wish come
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: true in the 8 p.m. time slot, starring Lacey Chabert,
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: Travis Van Winkle, Richard Kine, Christy Carlson Romano, Bryce Durfee,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: and Tegan Burns. Lindsay and her extended family head to
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: the Walt Disney World Resort to spend a magical Christmas together,
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: but the dream of.
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: A jolly holiday gets quickly dashed.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: When Lindsay discovers her room is next door to Phillip,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: a disastrous first date she recently had, who's also there
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: on a family trip. As Lindsay and Phillip's paths cross
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: throughout their stay, the frost starts to thaw as they
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: learn they're not so different from each other after all.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: I know you're looking forward to this one. I'm just
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: so long for the ride on this one. I think
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: this could go so many different ways. Obviously, they've been
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: promoting this All year. I do not want this to
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: feel like a Disney World infomercial.
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: It's going to.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: I also don't want it to feel like the cast
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: of Full House goes to Disney World.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: Oh, geez. Yeah. Look, Lacey is coming off of the
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: Paris series, which I really enjoyed and I really enjoyed her.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: I feel like the bar is so high. Yeah. If
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: you guys know anything about me, I don't love the
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: holidays and I don't love Disney. So this is, you know.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: You had a window there where you were like all
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: in on Disney. For a minute. For a very short minute.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: Bought an annual pass and everything. Yeah. I just, all
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: I see when I go there is like families. mad
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: at each other. Nobody's having fun. Everybody's getting yelled at.
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: There's kids crying. Like, it's not, like, I'm not seeing,
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: I don't see it. I don't know.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: Well, this will not be a Girls Gone Hallmark sponsored
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: by Walt Disney World this season.
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: Sorry. It absolutely... Changed my mind, Walt Disney World. Like, maybe. Okay,
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: let's move on. Sunday, November 29th. Here it is, guys.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: This is your.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: One and only Hanukkah movie you're going to get. And
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: I'd like to point out in the press release, Hanukkah
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: is spelled incorrectly. Great. Hunter King stars as Hannah, a
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: New York City auction house employee whose Hanukkah plans are
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: upended when her best friend Ethan, played by Dan Janot,
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: brings her a major new client. Things take a magical
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: turn when Hannah is given an antique menorah that transports
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: her back to different moments from her past each night.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: helping her confront some old fears and realize her feelings
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: for Ethan may be more than friends. Look, I think
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: I love the idea of this movie. I love the
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: idea of this movie too. A time loop situation-ish. Something
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: like that. I think it might like more, I don't
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: want to say Ghost of Christmas Past, but Ghost of
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Hanukkah Past.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: Yes, I like the idea a lot. I'm interested in
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: the stars here, Hunter and Dan. It is directed by
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: Max McGuire, who also did Winter Wonderlands.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: Number two movie for him this season.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: He also, his last Hallmark movies were two of the
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: unwrapping Christmas movies.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: No additional comment there. But the pieces are there.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: The pieces are there, and often these Hanukkah movies really deliver.
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: Like, round and round. Where the heck is Vic Michaelis? Yeah,
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: that movie was great. Indeed.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: Wrapping up Merry Thanksgiving week, we have Sunday, November 29th
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: at 8 p.m., Miles to Christmas, starring Ashley Williams, Steve Lund,
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: and Allison Sweeney. When an early snowstorm sweeps through the Midwest,
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: the punctual, straight-laced Cassidy Fields, played by Ashley Williams, is
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: forced to hitch a ride with free-spirited, music-loving Joe Woods,
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: played by Allie Sweeney, in her brother Chase's 18-wheeler to
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: the nearest airport to catch another flight.
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: Pause.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: Do we think Ali Sweeney's character has hijacked this 18-wheeler
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: in order to get this woman to the airport?
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: It's such a weird, is she driving her brother's? Or
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: is she in the passenger seat and he's driving? Like,
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: what's happening here?
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: However, when Joe's flight successfully takes off and Cassidy's is
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: canceled again, she joins Chase on the road back to
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: Tennessee from Chicago. Okay, so here's what I think is happening.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: I think Brother Chase is driving the truck. I don't
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: have any idea how Cassidy and Joe connected, but Joe
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: makes her flight. And Chase and Cassidy, played by Steve
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Lund and Ashley Williams, road trip from Tennessee to Chicago
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: to make it home in time to spend Christmas with
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: her father.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: Along the way, they lose the car keys. They stop
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: to partake in a Mrs. Claus parade. They have a
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: surprise run-in with Joe, whose plane got grounded mid-flight due
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: to weather. And Cassidy bonds with both siblings as they
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: all challenge one another's life philosophies.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: Well, you know I love Ashley Williams. Of course. Of
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: course I'm going to give this a chance. I'm a
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: little worried about hijinks happening here. And how much are
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: they in the truck? Are we watching like through the windshield?
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: You know what I mean? Like is that the three
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: of them in the front seat?
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: Well, and I think that's why we have so many
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: places where we get sidetracked.
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. So, okay.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: So many obstacles. You know, this wraps up Merry Thanksgiving weekend.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: I will be tuning in for this one.
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: Oh, of course. Of course.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: That's a wrap on part two of our Countdown to
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: Christmas First Impressions episode. Come back for part three where
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: we finish up the movies and we talk our two
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: special features.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: Bye.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: Bye.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: Bye.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: All right, friends, before we go, just a quick heads up.
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: You're about to hear some ads. These little gems help
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: us keep the show running and the Hallmark love flowing.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: So do with that info what you will. Grab a snack,
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: hit the skip button, or maybe, just maybe, listen in
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: and discover your new favorite product.
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: Bye.