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The Santa Stakeout · Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews

0:10
Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, Welcome to Girls Gone Hallmark, a bonus episode
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Speaker 1: of Long Story Short the podcast. I'm Megan, I'm Wendy,
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Speaker 1: and today we're here with our very first review of
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Speaker 1: Hallmarks countdown to Christmas twenty twenty one season, and we
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Speaker 1: are discussing the Santa stake out. Before we hop into
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Speaker 1: our review, wanted to let you know that you can
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Speaker 1: find all of our show notes as well as tons
0:34
Speaker 1: of holiday content from us on our website, which is
0:36
Speaker 1: megananwndy dot com that's always linked in our show notes.
0:41
Speaker 1: You can find all of our gift guides, plus we're
0:44
Speaker 1: talking Thanksgiving over there and holiday planning. Head on over
0:49
Speaker 1: take a look. You can also get even more from us.
0:54
Speaker 1: If one Hallmark movie review a week isn't enough, head
0:58
Speaker 1: on over to Patreon where we are going to be
1:00
Speaker 1: adding two bonus Hallmark movie reviews every month, and you
1:04
Speaker 1: can find that at patreon dot com slash Megan and Wendy.
1:07
Speaker 1: It costs less than you can buy a cup of
1:10
Speaker 1: coffee for to sign up for that, and that's a
1:12
Speaker 1: great way to support the creators that you love. And finally,
1:16
Speaker 1: you can follow us on Instagram where we are Megan
1:19
Speaker 1: and Wendy LSS. Of course that is also linked in
1:22
Speaker 1: our show notes if you forget. But the fun thing
1:25
Speaker 1: about Instagram right now is you can vote on the
1:27
Speaker 1: movie that we will be reviewing. However, we do reserve
1:31
Speaker 1: the right to vetail your choice yep. Or should you
1:35
Speaker 1: be led astray.
1:37
Speaker 2: Like a stray cat? Nope, not doing anything of its
1:40
Speaker 2: stray cats guys or whatever it is.
1:43
Speaker 1: But this week you did exactly the right thing, and
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Speaker 1: overwhelmingly the vote was for The Santa Steakout, which I'm
1:50
Speaker 1: thrilled about because that was the movie I was most
1:53
Speaker 1: excited about going into this weekend.
1:55
Speaker 2: M hmmm.
1:57
Speaker 1: So, Wendy, do you have a synopsis for us?
1:59
Speaker 2: I do, But before I jump into that, I just
2:02
Speaker 2: want to ask you what are your thoughts since they
2:05
Speaker 2: put out three movies so early in October? Hm, what
2:09
Speaker 2: did you think of like the kickoff weekend? Overall?
2:13
Speaker 1: I thought it was a very strong kickoff weekend for Hallmark.
2:17
Speaker 2: Did you get enough Christmas as opposed to you know, Fall,
2:21
Speaker 2: We didn't get much fall. Did you get enough Christmas
2:24
Speaker 2: in these pies?
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Speaker 1: Yes? Yeah? And I didn't feel beaten over the head
2:30
Speaker 1: with it. Hmm. It's early in the season. We're three
2:35
Speaker 1: movies into forty one from Hallmark, so I reserved the
2:39
Speaker 1: right to change my mind because Homework are not the
2:41
Speaker 1: only Christmas movies you watch in our house. But I
2:46
Speaker 1: loved it. It felt First of all, I think they
2:49
Speaker 1: came out of the gate strong. I think they put
2:51
Speaker 1: three strong movies up top. None of these were stinkers
2:55
Speaker 1: for me spoiler alert. I have lots of thoughts on
2:57
Speaker 1: all of them, but I thought, this is Hallmark twenty
3:01
Speaker 1: twenty one. I'm here for it.
3:03
Speaker 2: Okay, But did you also see Instagram was hoppen just
3:10
Speaker 2: hoppen like with Hallmark content? I don't know if you
3:14
Speaker 2: were looking that specifically. I was, but people were like
3:17
Speaker 2: all over these movies this weekend, Like people were very
3:20
Speaker 2: excited that they were out early.
3:23
Speaker 1: You know, I noticed that too, But I all, I
3:26
Speaker 1: also wonder if that has anything to do with the
3:28
Speaker 1: fact that we follow a lot of fellow Hallmark recappers
3:33
Speaker 1: like that, that's our circle. So I'm really curious for
3:37
Speaker 1: people who don't have that in their algorithm. Was your
3:41
Speaker 1: feed also hoppen with Hallmark content? Because I did notice
3:45
Speaker 1: a lot of talk about it, and you know, again,
3:49
Speaker 1: not just from Hallmark people who were in the biz.
3:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
3:54
Speaker 1: Lots of people were setting their DVRs. I think we're
3:58
Speaker 1: all a little ready for some holidays. What was your
4:01
Speaker 1: first impression overall of the Santa steakout? Overall, overall, I
4:07
Speaker 1: was really looking forward to it. I was out of
4:10
Speaker 1: town this weekend, so it was a little bit more
4:12
Speaker 1: difficult to like I didn't get to like snuggle up
4:16
Speaker 1: on the couch and like, you know, get all into it.
4:19
Speaker 1: So I was watching it, you know, on the Friendly
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Speaker 1: app on my phone, you know, in bed after hours
4:25
Speaker 1: after it had premiered, and I didn't get to watch
4:27
Speaker 1: all of them like in one full shot, like you know,
4:31
Speaker 1: I had to put it on pause and then come
4:33
Speaker 1: back to it. And so anyway, overall, I thought it
4:36
Speaker 1: was a good weekend. I thought it was a really
4:40
Speaker 1: good weekend. Are there other weekends I'm looking more forward to, Yes,
4:45
Speaker 1: But overall I thought it was a good weekend. Well,
4:48
Speaker 1: that's fair. And I think comparing it to last year's opener,
4:52
Speaker 1: which was Jingle Bell Bride, that was a big flop
4:54
Speaker 1: for me personally, and I felt like this was leaps
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Speaker 1: and bounds ahead of that start.
5:02
Speaker 2: Well, good for Hallmark do they do they release their
5:09
Speaker 2: their ratings? Do you know?
5:12
Speaker 1: Well, I actually did see those numbers this morning. What
5:16
Speaker 1: on Twitter? If you're not following Sleepy Kitty pot on Twitter,
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Speaker 1: this person has all of the insider holiday movie info.
5:26
Speaker 1: You Me and the Christmas Trees got two point to
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Speaker 1: two million viewers. Okay, Boyfriends of Christmas Past had two
5:35
Speaker 1: million viewers, and by the way, You Me in the
5:38
Speaker 1: Christmas Trees was fifteenth of the night. Okay, Boyfriends of
5:42
Speaker 1: Christmas Past was twelfth of the night with slightly fewer viewers.
5:46
Speaker 1: Interestingly enough and Weird Santa stakeout two point one one
5:52
Speaker 1: million viewers, putting in an eleventh place on Sunday night.
5:56
Speaker 2: Wow, that's interesting.
5:58
Speaker 1: It is a seventeen percent drop. This is all from
6:01
Speaker 1: Sleepy Kittie Pop from last year's opening on Hallmark Channel,
6:04
Speaker 1: which again this was a week earlier than it started
6:06
Speaker 1: last year. However, they report that broadcasts have reported a
6:12
Speaker 1: sixteen percent drop year over year. So this is an
6:16
Speaker 1: argument for Hallmark. We are going to get into this movie.
6:20
Speaker 1: But I want to say, Hallmark, if you are listening,
6:22
Speaker 1: and I know you are not, but if you are,
6:24
Speaker 1: I beg of you to take this time to revamp
6:27
Speaker 1: your Hallmark Movies now, app you are losing an audience there.
6:31
Speaker 1: Hallmark Movies now, for anybody who does not know, is
6:34
Speaker 1: not the Hallmark Movies now. It is old Hallmark movies.
6:38
Speaker 1: It's some movies that weren't even created by Hallmark. You
6:41
Speaker 1: can't get most of last year's Hallmarks movies there. You
6:44
Speaker 1: cannot get any of this year's except for the two
6:47
Speaker 1: that were released directly to the streaming platform. And it
6:50
Speaker 1: feels like such a missed opportunity. That's my plea.
6:53
Speaker 2: So let's jump into the Santa Steakout. Tanya is a
6:57
Speaker 2: police detective who is reluctantly partnered with fellow detective Ryan
7:02
Speaker 2: to solve a recent string of heists taking place during
7:06
Speaker 2: high profile holiday parties around town.
7:11
Speaker 1: Let's jump into news and notes on this movie.
7:15
Speaker 2: Uh Shocker. It was filmed in Vancouver, Canada.
7:19
Speaker 1: It was, and we're gonna see a lot of that
7:20
Speaker 1: this season. And it was filmed in August, which means
7:23
Speaker 1: we've got a lot of light layers on the cast,
7:25
Speaker 1: which is unfortunate. I one of the things that I
7:30
Speaker 1: dislike about having done so many of these reviews is
7:33
Speaker 1: that when we dig into the information. We see so
7:36
Speaker 1: many behind the scenes photos of the actors with like
7:39
Speaker 1: blotting papers and in front of a fan, and all
7:42
Speaker 1: I can think about is how hot they are and
7:45
Speaker 1: they're cute winter coats, and instead of enjoying like the winter, Senior,
7:49
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, they're sweating.
7:50
Speaker 2: Oh you saw how the sausage is made, right, So
7:54
Speaker 2: you don't like seeing all that stuff now, it's messing
7:57
Speaker 2: up your fantasy. What is that call? I know you
8:00
Speaker 2: know what I'm talking about.
8:02
Speaker 1: Where you have to suspension of belief. I don't know. Yeah,
8:07
Speaker 1: I know what you're talking about. I do know what
8:08
Speaker 1: you're trying to say. Yes, And it's only mildly distracting,
8:13
Speaker 1: but I do find myself thinking about it as I
8:15
Speaker 1: watch it.
8:17
Speaker 2: I gotcha, all right, This is where I did my
8:20
Speaker 2: own little detective work. Tamara Maori Houseley. Wow, that is
8:27
Speaker 2: quite a mouthful of name. She's married to Adam Houseley.
8:33
Speaker 2: And do you know what he's known for?
8:36
Speaker 1: No idea.
8:37
Speaker 2: He used to be a Fox News correspondent, oh mmmm,
8:42
Speaker 2: and he left in twenty eighteen over the direction and
8:44
Speaker 2: the tone of the network. Oh however, he now owns
8:53
Speaker 2: It's called Barnhouse, Napa Bruce. It's a coffee place, a
8:58
Speaker 2: coffee spot up in Nap Valley, which is in the
9:03
Speaker 2: central California coast for those who don't know anyway. On
9:07
Speaker 2: his website, he thanks Rick Leveenthal for I don't know,
9:13
Speaker 2: getting married up in that area. So I don't know
9:16
Speaker 2: if he was at the Rick Leventhal Kelly Dodd wedding
9:18
Speaker 2: and then found this spot and that's why he opened
9:21
Speaker 2: a coffeehouse. Now, regardless, these are all people I don't like,
9:27
Speaker 2: so I don't know how I feel about all that,
9:32
Speaker 2: And it has nothing to do with this movie. I'm
9:34
Speaker 2: just these are just side notes. News and notes, guys,
9:36
Speaker 2: news and notes.
9:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm not a fan of Kelly Dodd, and therefore
9:39
Speaker 1: I'm not a fan of Rick Leventhal by association.
9:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, see how it goes down the line here it does.
9:46
Speaker 1: I'm going to pretend that I don't know that because
9:48
Speaker 1: I love Tamra very much. So well, I have a
9:51
Speaker 1: question for you. Yeah, Joe Pantaliana, who plays Francis Miller
9:55
Speaker 1: in this movie, how many acting credits would you guess
9:58
Speaker 1: he has to his name? One hundred, one hundred and
10:03
Speaker 1: fifty three, Oh, I was kind of close, but wow, yes,
10:07
Speaker 1: according to IMDb. Of course, this man has been in
10:11
Speaker 1: so many things. I actually was not expecting to enjoy
10:16
Speaker 1: him in this movie. I mean I had no expectations,
10:17
Speaker 1: but I wasn't going into this like yay Joey Pants.
10:20
Speaker 1: I spoiler alert adored him in this movie. He was fantastic, excellent.
10:26
Speaker 2: Yees in this movie. I thought I was like, well,
10:28
Speaker 2: this I felt like kind of bad. Like I was like, oh,
10:30
Speaker 2: this Hallmark movie is a little beneath him, but I
10:33
Speaker 2: thought it was really good.
10:35
Speaker 1: So it's funny that you say that beneath him. I
10:38
Speaker 1: used to be a fan of Kathy Griffin. I wouldn't
10:41
Speaker 1: say I'm not a fan anymore, it's she's just not
10:42
Speaker 1: on my radar. But I used to watch her show
10:44
Speaker 1: Life on the D List, and she would say, like,
10:47
Speaker 1: the reason I have so much money is not because
10:49
Speaker 1: I'm like such an indoman actress. It's because I say
10:51
Speaker 1: yes to everything. You want me to host your dog show, yes,
10:54
Speaker 1: you like, I will work. I am in the business
10:56
Speaker 1: of making money, not in the business of being the
11:00
Speaker 1: most popular person in the room. And so she's like,
11:04
Speaker 1: I just want to work. I just want to be successful.
11:06
Speaker 1: I want to be able to take care of my
11:07
Speaker 1: mom and do all of these things and take care
11:09
Speaker 1: of the people that I love. So perhaps he has that,
11:12
Speaker 1: like I just want to work, Give me a job.
11:14
Speaker 1: I don't need to be Yeah, I don't need to
11:16
Speaker 1: be in a blockbuster.
11:18
Speaker 2: I got you. I mean he was in the Matrix
11:20
Speaker 2: that was a blockbuster, right.
11:21
Speaker 1: Uh huh uh. I don't need to be in Dune.
11:24
Speaker 2: Is he in Dune?
11:25
Speaker 1: No?
11:26
Speaker 2: Bad boys? What's bad? Oh with Will Smith? That? Bad boys? Well,
11:32
Speaker 2: it was a long time ago.
11:33
Speaker 1: Three of them.
11:34
Speaker 2: I saw that he was hit by a car in
11:36
Speaker 2: May twenty twenty. Oh no, yeah, his twenty twenty was real,
11:40
Speaker 2: bad guys. You got hit by a car and it
11:43
Speaker 2: said that he had chest trauma and a concussion which
11:47
Speaker 2: he recovered from.
11:47
Speaker 1: But that's awful. It is awful.
11:51
Speaker 2: Can you imagine being hit by a car? No your body?
11:54
Speaker 1: No, no, thank you.
11:55
Speaker 2: I mean that's how I read it. It didn't say
11:57
Speaker 2: it like he was in like a car collision, you know, right,
12:01
Speaker 2: could have been chess trauma from a car collision when
12:03
Speaker 2: that airbag comes shooting at out you, you know. But
12:07
Speaker 2: whatever Tamara was on the mass singer in twenty twenty one,
12:11
Speaker 2: a show I don't really watch ever. I don't know
12:15
Speaker 2: if she won.
12:17
Speaker 1: Oh she said that, because I feel like we've talked
12:18
Speaker 1: about that several times on the podcast, and then the
12:20
Speaker 1: mass singer watch it. Yeah.
12:22
Speaker 2: Well, okay, here's what I do. I don't watch it
12:25
Speaker 2: from week to week, but when I hear who has
12:29
Speaker 2: been on it, then I will like watch their performance
12:33
Speaker 2: or like fast forward to the end of the episode
12:36
Speaker 2: just to see the reveal of who it is. But
12:38
Speaker 2: it's currently airing right now. I have no idea who's
12:40
Speaker 2: on it. I don't think I watched the season that
12:44
Speaker 2: she was on it.
12:46
Speaker 1: Maara made it into the Super Eight, which I'm guessing
12:48
Speaker 1: is the Final eight.
12:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I mean, she's
12:52
Speaker 2: a beautiful singer. She's sang in this movie. I thought
12:54
Speaker 2: she was great. I thought she was great. Do you
12:57
Speaker 2: have any more news and notes? That wraps it up
12:59
Speaker 2: for me? All right?
13:01
Speaker 1: I like about this movie.
13:03
Speaker 2: We didn't do our first impressions, baby girl, right, I
13:06
Speaker 2: have don't even have that in my lineup.
13:08
Speaker 1: Hold on first impression, all right, go ahead.
13:12
Speaker 2: I will say that I was really excited for this
13:15
Speaker 2: movie and a little bit let down by it.
13:17
Speaker 1: Oh no, yeah, you know, this movie has the benefit
13:22
Speaker 1: of being earlier in the lineup because a lot of
13:23
Speaker 1: the holiday tropes, like Santa coffee and decorating the tree
13:28
Speaker 1: and the many things that they do in the course
13:31
Speaker 1: of this ugly Christmas sweaters. I just so I'm charming
13:34
Speaker 1: and enjoyable, and I thought it was very funny too,
13:40
Speaker 1: and so funnier than the Hallmark movie typically is. So
13:43
Speaker 1: I really enjoyed it. That's my first impression.
13:45
Speaker 2: I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it. I just had
13:48
Speaker 2: really high expectations I hear. So, Okay, I'm not sorry,
13:52
Speaker 2: your first impression is wrong. I'm just that's mine, all right.
13:55
Speaker 2: So what'd you like about it?
13:56
Speaker 1: I liked a lot, but one thing that I loved
13:59
Speaker 1: was the slow mow elf costume entry scene into the party.
14:05
Speaker 2: Hilarious. That was hilarious.
14:08
Speaker 1: Yes, I loved every second of that. Well done hommark.
14:13
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, that is funny. Okay. What I liked
14:16
Speaker 2: about it is that the story wasn't romantically driven. Yes,
14:22
Speaker 2: you know, it was a rom calm caper mystery that
14:29
Speaker 2: I was kind of interested in rather than like you know,
14:32
Speaker 2: reunited love or whatever. Yes, that's the first thing I
14:36
Speaker 2: liked about it.
14:36
Speaker 1: I liked when they're doing their wall where they're mapping
14:41
Speaker 1: out their suspects. They're talking about all the suspects and
14:45
Speaker 1: he goes and then there's Alicia. She's just super into me,
14:47
Speaker 1: my husband.
14:50
Speaker 2: I totally did that too, and I laughed out loud too,
14:54
Speaker 2: and I wrote down the female neighbor hitting on Ryan
14:57
Speaker 2: was so funny and uncomfortable at the same time that
15:01
Speaker 2: I thought it was perfect.
15:02
Speaker 1: I thought.
15:03
Speaker 2: I thought I was trying to think, like, would would
15:07
Speaker 2: that be totally appropriate if it was like a dude
15:09
Speaker 2: hitting on Tamara. Let's say.
15:13
Speaker 1: I think you're right. I think it might have read
15:15
Speaker 1: a little more creepy the opposite direction.
15:17
Speaker 2: Creepy, right, But it was actually pretty funny. I thought
15:20
Speaker 2: it was so funny.
15:22
Speaker 1: What else did you like?
15:23
Speaker 2: I liked that I didn't see I couldn't figure out
15:27
Speaker 2: who the actual criminal was until the very end.
15:29
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, me too. I did not guess I was.
15:34
Speaker 2: I was thinking it was like the neighbors, like, not
15:38
Speaker 2: mister Miller, that's his name, right, mister Miller.
15:41
Speaker 1: Right, I mean we pretty much knew the second they
15:42
Speaker 1: moved in next to him that it wasn't him. Well,
15:45
Speaker 1: I didn't know that, but I like, it was too
15:48
Speaker 1: obvious for it to be him, But any idea who
15:51
Speaker 1: it was.
15:52
Speaker 2: I thought it was like the neighbors because they were
15:54
Speaker 2: kind of, you know, suspicious at some points. But I
15:59
Speaker 2: was like, no, well, I had no idea it was
16:01
Speaker 2: going to be like that agency lady. No me either,
16:04
Speaker 2: no idea. I also really liked in this movie that
16:06
Speaker 2: it was comedy, Like it was funny throughout, Like when
16:11
Speaker 2: they were at that Christmas party and he's like, yeah,
16:12
Speaker 2: I'm a chiropractor and he's like. The other guy's like,
16:15
Speaker 2: oh I could get adjusted and she's like, oh, you
16:16
Speaker 2: don't want to do that, and then they cracked his back.
16:19
Speaker 2: It was so funny. I just thought it was funny.
16:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was. The humor was strong throughout. As I
16:26
Speaker 1: mentioned before, I loved Joe Pantleiano in this movie, and
16:29
Speaker 1: he just broke my heart. And the scene when they're
16:32
Speaker 1: arresting him and he's like, I I really believe that
16:36
Speaker 1: he serious slipsey, that he had been framed, and I
16:40
Speaker 1: just felt like, oh, this this man is your neighbor
16:43
Speaker 1: and he didn't do anything wrong, let him go. I
16:46
Speaker 1: really he really sold me in that moment.
16:49
Speaker 2: Well, and then when he tells a story about like
16:50
Speaker 2: how his wife and you know, before she died and
16:55
Speaker 2: they would like to help these people, like I was
16:58
Speaker 2: very invested, did yeah, very invested in him. Yeah.
17:03
Speaker 1: I thought that storyline played out well too. I liked
17:08
Speaker 1: that that wasn't just a throwaway, that's what they had
17:10
Speaker 1: been doing with their time. I yeah, I thought they
17:13
Speaker 1: saw that all the way through.
17:15
Speaker 2: I have a question about the the Santa What was
17:20
Speaker 2: that drink called that? She was like a family favorite.
17:23
Speaker 1: I thought she just called it Santa Coffee.
17:26
Speaker 2: Okay, so it has chocolate, cinnamon and coffee in it.
17:30
Speaker 2: Isn't that just what is Isn't that like I'm like
17:32
Speaker 2: a cinnamon I.
17:35
Speaker 1: Mean she was good chocolate in it. Yeah? Yeah, I
17:39
Speaker 1: mean it does sound good.
17:40
Speaker 2: But and then when he busted out his eggnog I
17:43
Speaker 2: thought that was hilarious too.
17:45
Speaker 1: Mm hmmm.
17:46
Speaker 2: Do you know what I'm talking about? When he's like,
17:48
Speaker 2: this was our family you don't remember, You're all uh huh,
17:53
Speaker 2: And he's like, let me show you our family favorite,
17:56
Speaker 2: and it was like eggnog, and she takes a drink
17:59
Speaker 2: He's like, She's like, whoa, this has a kick, and
18:01
Speaker 2: he was like, yeah, I don't remember.
18:03
Speaker 1: Did I dream this?
18:04
Speaker 2: I swear it was part of the movie.
18:06
Speaker 1: No, my mind wanders, I believe you. I like this
18:11
Speaker 1: had a great diverse cast throughout and it wasn't just
18:16
Speaker 1: a token person of color as the lead. They carried
18:19
Speaker 1: that throughout the entire cast. And I enjoyed that. And
18:22
Speaker 1: I also liked that there was kind of a diversity
18:24
Speaker 1: of lifestyle and you had I can't remember the name
18:27
Speaker 1: of the kid who was kind of like rehabbing from
18:32
Speaker 1: his former bad boy ways as well. Yeah, as well
18:35
Speaker 1: as Francis. I like that it's not just like, oh,
18:37
Speaker 1: this is my kind old man ex neighbor. You know,
18:40
Speaker 1: they showed this redemption story. I enjoyed that.
18:42
Speaker 2: Yeah. There was also a same sex couple, which I think, yes,
18:45
Speaker 2: you're referring to a part of me. They didn't address it,
18:49
Speaker 2: But then a part of me is like, Okay, well
18:51
Speaker 2: that's fine, you don't need to address it because right life,
18:56
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. So I kind of feel
18:59
Speaker 2: like torn in a way.
19:03
Speaker 1: So I hear what you're saying, and I think, like,
19:09
Speaker 1: is Hallmark trying to hide that they had it in there,
19:13
Speaker 1: or are they just trying to make it like, Hey,
19:15
Speaker 1: there's lots of different people in our neighborhood, right right.
19:19
Speaker 2: I don't know.
19:19
Speaker 1: The last thing I liked. I think they did a
19:21
Speaker 1: great job building the relationship between Ryan and Tanya. I
19:24
Speaker 1: felt like I could see the ice thawing between them.
19:28
Speaker 1: You could see the moment where they went from antagonistic
19:30
Speaker 1: to kind of friends who enjoyed, you know, giving each
19:35
Speaker 1: other a hard time, but they no longer disliked each other.
19:38
Speaker 1: And then I thought that grew into like a fun,
19:40
Speaker 1: flirty relationship. I believed it throughout.
19:47
Speaker 2: Well, that's a great segue into what I wished for more.
19:51
Speaker 2: I the two detectives who like hate each other, right,
19:56
Speaker 2: and I hate is a strong word. Maybe just very
20:00
Speaker 2: annoyed with each other. And then we're giving each other
20:02
Speaker 2: such a hard time and then they fall in love.
20:07
Speaker 2: I just like, I hate that Hallmark trope, Like I'm
20:13
Speaker 2: just tired of it. It's in every movie. And if
20:16
Speaker 2: you really think about, like realistically, like how many people
20:21
Speaker 2: actually dislike the person they fall in love with? Like,
20:24
Speaker 2: is that right?
20:25
Speaker 1: So when people start, yeah, the enemy is still love.
20:27
Speaker 1: Her storyline very common in Hallmark movies, very common in
20:30
Speaker 1: romance novels. It's not typically my favorite. Yeah, I did
20:35
Speaker 1: believe it here, though, I will say I believed it here.
20:38
Speaker 1: There was one point that I thought, like, maybe they're
20:41
Speaker 1: not going to end up together.
20:43
Speaker 2: Well for a couple of reasons. One, they work together.
20:46
Speaker 2: They're detectives. Like that's like a recipe for disaster. I
20:49
Speaker 2: think if you work together and then you're together as
20:51
Speaker 2: a couple, especially in like right.
20:54
Speaker 1: Because they were going to have some partners, yes, yes, yes, yes,
20:58
Speaker 1: it's a lot of togetherness, right, So.
21:00
Speaker 2: I thought, maybe they're not gonna end up together, and
21:02
Speaker 2: maybe he is going to hook up with that neighbor
21:04
Speaker 2: after all, and then they were just gonna be like
21:06
Speaker 2: great partners, great working partners, and I thought, well, that's
21:14
Speaker 2: kind of cool. But then they ended up you know, smoochin.
21:17
Speaker 1: So I felt the chemistry.
21:20
Speaker 2: Gotta tell you, I did not so much.
21:24
Speaker 1: Well here's what I wished for.
21:26
Speaker 2: Okay, go home.
21:28
Speaker 1: Digital snow.
21:29
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I hate digital snow. And I saw
21:33
Speaker 2: a lot of it this weekend.
21:34
Speaker 1: Yep, all three movies used it, and even my husband,
21:38
Speaker 1: who does not like it. When I say negative things
21:41
Speaker 1: about his beloved Hallmark movies was like fake snow, computer snow.
21:47
Speaker 2: Is this the first time he's ever seen it?
21:48
Speaker 1: The first time he's ever noticed it. I think it
21:50
Speaker 1: was particularly egregious in these movies because it is very
21:54
Speaker 1: obvious that snow is not falling, and he goes, there's
21:59
Speaker 1: not any snow on they're clothes. Yes, Hallmark thinks you're
22:03
Speaker 1: real dumb. That's what Hallmark tells me when they use
22:06
Speaker 1: this fake snow and they don't even bother ahead of
22:08
Speaker 1: time to kind of dust them. Never mind, nothing's falling
22:11
Speaker 1: on them, but there's nothing on them to begin with.
22:14
Speaker 1: That's another thing that takes me out of the moment.
22:16
Speaker 2: I really really noticed that in the You and Me
22:19
Speaker 2: and a Christmas Tree movie. It was so obvious in
22:23
Speaker 2: that movie. Yeah, but the digital snow, it's come on
22:28
Speaker 2: like show it in like wide scenes, not when it's
22:33
Speaker 2: actually like would be hitting their faces, you know.
22:38
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, I agree, that's a great point. Not when
22:41
Speaker 1: they're up close and I would normally be able to
22:43
Speaker 1: see it in their eyelashes. Yes, exactly, it's time for
22:47
Speaker 1: did you see that? I've got one? After they go
22:50
Speaker 1: Christmas caroling, they're having a hot chocolate moment, and it's
22:55
Speaker 1: a bit of a hot chocolate bar situation. And on
22:58
Speaker 1: the table in front of them are giant marshmallows that
23:01
Speaker 1: are basically the size of the mugs, and I could
23:05
Speaker 1: truly your entire hot chocolate would spill out around these marshmallows.
23:10
Speaker 1: I found them distracting. Did you see that?
23:12
Speaker 2: I did not even see it. No, I love a
23:16
Speaker 2: hot chocolate bar too, I do know. I didn't see that. Yeah,
23:19
Speaker 2: I love a marshmallow.
23:20
Speaker 1: I just found those distractingly large.
23:23
Speaker 2: Where do you get really large marshmallows like that?
23:26
Speaker 1: Well, they do sell jumbo marshmallows. I've seen them, but
23:31
Speaker 1: those might have been like artisanal marshmallows.
23:34
Speaker 2: Oh god, so fancy homework. I prefer those like freeze
23:38
Speaker 2: dride marshmallows, and my hot chocolates.
23:41
Speaker 1: I love those, like a Lucky Charm style marshmallow.
23:44
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely absolutely. This is not quite a did you
23:48
Speaker 2: see that? But it's the question that I'm putting in
23:50
Speaker 2: this category. Wouldn't a theft of this caliber be more
23:58
Speaker 2: of a job for like like for like the FBI,
24:02
Speaker 2: like were they still in like van Goes or something
24:06
Speaker 2: like crazy like that?
24:09
Speaker 1: That's a good question. I mean, I think the FBI
24:11
Speaker 1: is federal crimes. I think it all depends on how
24:14
Speaker 1: that plays out. But yeah, it doesn't seem like the
24:19
Speaker 1: job for two local detectives the whole thing. I don't know.
24:27
Speaker 1: We've got these holiday party heists happening, and you guys
24:29
Speaker 1: are like moving into a house and you're undercover. But no,
24:32
Speaker 1: first of all, you're on a stakeout and then you're undercover.
24:35
Speaker 1: I don't can you do both things at once? That?
24:38
Speaker 1: That seems odd to me? And then they're like, we
24:40
Speaker 1: gotta get someone to watch the house so we can
24:41
Speaker 1: go Christmas shopping in that same vein? Am I supposed
24:50
Speaker 1: to believe that they're undercover at that party where they're
24:52
Speaker 1: dressed as elves? Do those costumes make them invisible?
24:57
Speaker 2: Doesn't? I thought the same thing. I was like plese
24:59
Speaker 2: to only gonna see you guys and ask what you're
25:02
Speaker 2: doing there? Like that doesn't They were supposed to be
25:05
Speaker 2: working the party, right.
25:07
Speaker 1: Yes, they were fake waiters.
25:09
Speaker 2: So mister Miller dressed up as Santa is going to
25:14
Speaker 2: notice these people there and be like, those are my neighbors?
25:17
Speaker 2: What are they doing here?
25:18
Speaker 1: Yes? What is my chiropractor doing? This holiday party, and
25:24
Speaker 1: they weren't even like behind the scenes servers because at
25:26
Speaker 1: one point the host asks them to get on the
25:28
Speaker 1: dance floor to encourage more oh, to start dancing.
25:31
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yes, yes, it was weird, super weird. Okay,
25:39
Speaker 2: here I have one more. Did you see that? But
25:40
Speaker 2: it's not really this is just one of those things.
25:44
Speaker 2: There was some missed opportunity in this movie. Okay, do
25:48
Speaker 2: you know where it could have happened at? No, She's like,
25:53
Speaker 2: I gotta meet up with my sister.
25:55
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, yes, one hundred percent.
25:59
Speaker 2: I was like, let it wouldn't that have been amazing?
26:03
Speaker 1: Now.
26:03
Speaker 2: I understand probably with COVID and Canada and whatever, it
26:09
Speaker 2: was difficult to get another actor her sister there, but
26:14
Speaker 2: but come on, that is a missed opportunity that would
26:17
Speaker 2: have been great.
26:18
Speaker 1: I won one hundred percent agree When she said that
26:21
Speaker 1: exact line, I had that exact thought. I know Tia
26:23
Speaker 1: is in her own holiday movie, so perhaps with quarantine
26:26
Speaker 1: rules they weren't able to make it happen. And I
26:28
Speaker 1: know that people play siblings that aren't actually siblings in
26:33
Speaker 1: real life, but these two are twins. They are known
26:36
Speaker 1: for working together. Yes, and what would have been funny
26:40
Speaker 1: about this, And Hallmark is doing so many like cheeky
26:43
Speaker 1: moments this year, like you've got the Wonder Year's mini
26:47
Speaker 1: reunion and you get the Back to the Future mini
26:50
Speaker 1: reunion happening that I would have been a perfect little
26:54
Speaker 1: surprise moment. Yeah, I have one last question for you,
26:59
Speaker 1: and I wish I had before you, because yours was
27:01
Speaker 1: a much better finishing point. But when they have the
27:04
Speaker 1: hot chocolate flight, when Francis brings that to them, are
27:07
Speaker 1: they sharing the hot chocolate?
27:09
Speaker 2: I don't know.
27:10
Speaker 1: I don't know there's four mugs. I don't know that
27:16
Speaker 1: that they're sharing. I don't know. We only ever see
27:19
Speaker 1: Ryan drink from it.
27:20
Speaker 2: So okay, listen, I don't know. And I'm going to
27:25
Speaker 2: suspect that you did not read my show notes for
27:29
Speaker 2: our second part preview episode. I did not, Okay, Well,
27:36
Speaker 2: in it, it says this would be news to you.
27:40
Speaker 2: I'm adding a new category for the Christmas movies.
27:43
Speaker 1: You did actually see that, And I actually saw the
27:46
Speaker 1: line where you said this is new to Megan. I
27:49
Speaker 1: did see that. I know exactly what you're gonna say.
27:54
Speaker 2: Was there a wowie zowie in this movie for you?
28:00
Speaker 1: I actually wrote in my notes for another movie that
28:03
Speaker 1: we are going to record our thoughts on so and
28:07
Speaker 1: so is a wowie zowie for me?
28:11
Speaker 2: Okay, explain what the wowie zowie is for the people
28:13
Speaker 2: who did not listen to our preview episode.
28:16
Speaker 1: In our second half of our preview episode, I objectified
28:21
Speaker 1: some of the men of the Hallmark movies because they
28:24
Speaker 1: are handsome, and I used the phrase wowie zalie to
28:29
Speaker 1: refer to them so that it took off, and that
28:32
Speaker 1: is how we are referring to our hunks of Hallmark. Now, Ryan,
28:37
Speaker 1: what's this man's name?
28:38
Speaker 2: Pavy? Oh, no, wowie zowie. I thought you were talking
28:43
Speaker 2: about Ryan. Baby.
28:44
Speaker 1: Sorry, Paul Campbell. His name is Paul Campbell. I think
28:50
Speaker 1: he's very attractive, he's cutie. I enjoyed him.
28:54
Speaker 2: He didn't give me wowie zowie by yeah, me neither.
28:57
Speaker 2: I'm so sorry.
28:59
Speaker 1: I'm so sorry, but I really enjoyed him in this movie.
29:01
Speaker 1: I would be happy to see more of him in
29:03
Speaker 1: additional Hallmark movies.
29:05
Speaker 2: He made me laugh.
29:07
Speaker 1: Agree, he's very funny. Fully enjoyed him. What did you
29:11
Speaker 1: rate this movie?
29:15
Speaker 2: I'm gonna give this movie two point seven five stars.
29:20
Speaker 1: Wow. I gave it three point five.
29:23
Speaker 2: Wow.
29:24
Speaker 1: I know, and it's look, we always say we're not
29:27
Speaker 1: going to compare these movies to other movies. So that's
29:32
Speaker 1: a big ranking right out of the gate. But I
29:34
Speaker 1: liked it. Okay. So next week there are three movies
29:39
Speaker 1: on the Hallmark Channel. There's a fourth on Movies and Mysteries.
29:42
Speaker 1: We're not discussing that simply because the movies are Christmas
29:47
Speaker 1: and Harmony, Coyote Creek, Christmas and Christmas Sale. Two of
29:51
Speaker 1: these I'm looking forward to. I'm not going to say
29:53
Speaker 1: you have to go back and listen to our preview
29:54
Speaker 1: episode if you want all our thoughts. But two of
29:57
Speaker 1: these I'm excited about. One maybe not.
30:00
Speaker 2: Y m hmm.
30:01
Speaker 1: Follow us Megan and Wendy Lss on Instagram to vote
30:07
Speaker 1: for the movie you would like to hear us recap
30:10
Speaker 1: next week on the podcast. Do you have one you're
30:13
Speaker 1: hoping for? I do, yes, don't swaye both. I'm not
30:17
Speaker 1: going to I won't say a word. But if you
30:20
Speaker 1: want an additional Hallmark movie review from us this week,
30:23
Speaker 1: head on over to Patreon again. This is linked in
30:27
Speaker 1: our show notes Patreon dot com. Slash Megan and Wendy
30:31
Speaker 1: and you can sign up for the Girls Gone Hallmark
30:34
Speaker 1: Tier where you can get those bonus episodes. You can
30:37
Speaker 1: also sign up to get other additional bonus episodes from us.
30:41
Speaker 1: There's lots of opportunities for you to support the podcast.
30:43
Speaker 1: We would love to see you join that community. And
30:46
Speaker 1: until next week, everybody, have a great weekend, happy viewing.
30:50
Speaker 1: Goodbye bye,