Latest / Forever Hallmark Christmas Podcast / A Timeless Christmas

Transcript

A Timeless Christmas · Forever Hallmark Christmas Podcast

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Hey everyone, welcome to the Forever Hallmark Christmas Podcast, a movie review podcast where we talk about one thing and one thing only.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Our favorite genre, it's Hallmark Christmas movies.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Rich.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: As always, I'm joined by my I'm gonna call you my Christmas cousin, Renee.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: How's it going, Renee?
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's going wonderfully, Rich.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: How are you?
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to think, how can we, because we are family, uh, we're cousins by marriage.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: My wife and you are first cousins.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's how we know each other.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I go, we do a Christmas podcast.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: So Christmas cousins.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: I go, that uh, you know, maybe, maybe that's uh that can be uh our our our relationship, if you will.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and somehow we both fell into the hallmark atmosphere sphere, so that's very funny for me.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: All right, let's get right to it today because we're gonna do a Timeless Christmas, and we have a pretty big uh fun facts be uh stories behind the story section here.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: So let's get right into the movie.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh the movie is a Timeless Christmas, the year 2020.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: This movie stars Aaron Cahill and Ryan Pavey.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, this is written by, in terms of our credits here, it's based on a book by Alexis Stanton.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, there's a script credit that goes to Dwayne Poole, and the final script was written by Ron Oliver, who also directed the film as well as writing that final script.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Our little holiday hook here, after waking up in present-day Christmas, a 1903 businessman discover smartphones, peppermint mochas, and the possibility that true love really can stand the test of time.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: IMDB rating on this one, a flat 7.0.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, so very solid.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: 39 Christmas movies in 2020, and this film was tied for fifth in that year.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, where does the 7.0 put you all time?
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Tied for 37th with 19 other Christmas movies that are also at a 7.0.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: And Renee, I told you we had uh some fun facts on this one.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh are you ready for them?
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm ready.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: We do.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I reached out to Ron Oliver on Instagram and and asked him if I could ask him, you know, a couple questions about this film if he had the time.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: When I do that, sometimes people never even answer.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: And he came back right away and said, Absolutely, let me know what you'd like to know.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I never want to take up much of their time when I ask a question like that, especially when they agree.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I was just really hated.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Anything you want to tell me about, you know, the filming of the movie and maybe a favorite moment or two you had that we could pass along to the listeners.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I just I didn't want much of his time.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Well, apparently Ron Oliver didn't get that memo because he was fine to Hawaii.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: He sent me two pages single-spaced of information about this movie, just the most incredible story about how it all came to be.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: This was, of course, shot in 2020 during COVID.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: I knew that was going to add a different kind of element to it, but he was so gracious about literally Hawaiian Airlines 30,000 uh feet up in the air on his way to Honolulu, and he's typing me uh two full pages uh uh about this movie.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so thank you, Ron Oliver.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh absolutely incredible.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: This movie was originally written, and Hallmark had the script, uh, it had been written about a year before Ron Oliver even got involved in it.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: But they like they liked the idea of the movie, they just couldn't quite get it across the finish line, and and they were kind of ready to let it go.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: And Ron Oliver had worked with an executive at the Hallmark Channel who also worked with him on the movie uh Christmas at the Plaza.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Christmas at the Plaza, really popular Hallmark movie, also starring Ryan Pavey.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: So she got together with Ron Oliver, she had read the old script, thought they could make it work, got Ron Oliver involved in it, who dove into the original book itself, threw away the old script, and basically wrote an entire new script in one single week, just busted it out.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And if anybody's ever tried to write a script, Renee, as you know, I've I've attempted to write a couple Hallmark Christmas movies myself.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: 100, 105 pages, they usually come out too in the end.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: To do that in a week is quite the feat.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: And one week he busted out an entire new script.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: He had Ryan Pavey in mind for the lead as he wrote it because they worked so well together uh on Christmas at the Plaza.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, he got his wish.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: He did get Ryan Pavey uh as his lead character.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: I mentioned this was shot during COVID, and of course, you know, COVID kind of happened in March 2020.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: This film was fall uh shot over the following summer up in Vancouver and the surrounding area, and there was an incredible amount of health and safety protocols involved.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, they all had to quarantine in hotel rooms in Vancouver two weeks before the shoot, before they were even allowed on set.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then once that happened, they could only socialize with certain people that were in like what the remember we we called the bubble back then.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: You kind of didn't want a huge amount of people in your life, you just wanted kind of a select few.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that bubble with Ron Oliver was Ron Oliver, it was Ryan Pavey, uh, it was Nelson Wong who played the role of Kenny, uh, it was Aaron Cahill and Aaron's husband.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: So they basically quarantined together, they created a really special bond uh during that time, and they say they're really still good friends today because of that.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: The shooting of the movie, as you can imagine, it was really strict as well.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the lead characters all had on plastic face shields in between takes.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: All the other actors had on masks, and he said sometimes they would start shooting a new scene, and one of the actors would have forgotten him taken off their mask and they'd have to stay his cut and re-reshoot again.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: So uh a really difficult shoot, but they they got it across the line.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'll I'll end with this because he says the message of the movie is that the destination at the end of one's journey isn't really that important if one has been accompanied by the people that you love.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so really cool for him to give us all that information uh about what it took to get this movie across the line in a really difficult period of time for our for the entire world.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, movie production came to basically a shutdown, you know, everything stopped shooting during that time and and everything they had to go through to get a Hallmark movie made uh during the summer of 2020.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: But uh I mean I could he gave me a whole bunch of information.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: I know we only have so much time to work with here, but thank you, Ron Oliver.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, when we get to our favorite moments section, he's also given me uh a few of his his favorite moments of the movie as well.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: But uh just incredible for him to do that and tell us so much about what it took to get this movie made.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Very generous with his time, class act all the way.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, not only did he write it, but he also directed it, so really involved uh on both ends of that uh of the side of the movie.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: What'd you think of this one?
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: I it was a fun watch.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: It was light with emotional moments peppered in.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: Straight out.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: I enjoyed it.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, just straight up enjoyed it.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: Not nothing very basic, you know, my overall thoughts on it.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: It was a fun watch.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: I liked it.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: So, four things that I look for in a hallmark movie.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: I know I've told you in the past, I think the movie really hit on the first the two most important things that I look for.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, I want good acting between my two lead characters, in this case, Aaron Cahill and Ryan Pavey, as well as good chemistry between them as well.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I got definitely got that in this movie.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then I also look for a well-written script, um, something that I maybe I haven't seen before.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I got that as well.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: So those two are the most important things I look for in a script.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Three and four for me, the first is pacing of the movie.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: I found this one to be a bit on the slow side, but I was watching this with my wife, and she thought the pacing was just fine.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: So that might have just been me, Renee.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: I and I know sometimes you and I have talked about that.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: We're sometimes I think a movie was paced really well.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: You thought it was a little bit slow, and vice versa.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: So my wife thought it was it moved along just great.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: So that might have just been me.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: The one thing that my wife and I both agreed on is that and the the fourth thing I look for is Christmas vibes.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: We thought this thing could add a little bit more Christmas feel to it.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: We we, of course, we had the Christmas moon and we had the the Christmas clock, but we thought we could have used both used a little bit more Christmas, you know, intrinsic to the story, to the movie.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but other than that, I I I liked a lot about it, and especially those those first two things I mentioned.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well acted, two good leads, good chemistry in a well-written movie.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, we I'm sure we both liked uh plenty about this movie.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: What are some of the things you liked?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: The thing I really liked, and it almost made my my favorite moment, but it didn't, because I had another favorite moment, is when the I'll be home for Christmas song is playing against the different shots of Charles walking through the town by himself, right?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: After after having a conversation.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I thought that was well shot.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: The song was poignant.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: I thought it was just a it was patient, right?
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: It had two or three different shots, just him walking and walking and walking.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: And it really kind of set the the atmosphere and a tone.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I really like that scene.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: That song is by Brett Eldridge, by the way.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: I had to look it up because I wanted to hear that again because it's so beautifully sung.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Really quick one.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: I like when he said what the deuce.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know that was a common phrase back then.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: I meant to research that a little bit more, but I didn't get to that.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: When she said, uh you're gonna get arrested by the fashion police, and you get taken aback like there's such a thing as that now.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: That was hilarious, right?
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um their talk on the street about Eliza and how and how he was raised.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: Megan asked him some good questions that got Charles to open up about his life, you know, and his parents dying and having to step up at an early age.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: That was nice.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: A lot a lot of really serious conversations between between the two.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and uh I have a bunch, but I'll throw in one more.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: Is that I really enjoyed when Emily's watching towards the end, Jamie dance with the actress that played Eliza, um, and she's just observing him and she's looking at him so lovingly.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Her expressions were so well acted to me.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: I could just see that she was falling in for him or already had fallen for him.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: I really, I really enjoyed that.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I have many more things that I could throw in here, but we'll keep it short.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: Christmas tree ceremonies, I love those.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: So that was good.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: I wrote down the Christmas tree ceremony as well.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Always a good one in a Hallmark movie, and this one was well done.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like that he knew who he knew HG Wells in real life when they mentioned that he said, Oh, yeah, he's been to dinner at my house or something like that.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: I found there kind of like looking at each other, like, whoa.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, obviously, with any time travel movie, you get that fish out of water with the uh with the character who's time traveled, and of course he's looking up and seeing an airplane flying in the sky and is just amazed.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Cars, email, the internet, uh, everything.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: So and it didn't just happen at first.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it kind of went on through the whole movie.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: We kept getting the little nuggets about him being a fish out of water there.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the scene eating the pizza, uh, where he got the bill for$23 and just lost his mind.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, of course, you know, Renee, I had to look it up to see what$23 would be worth.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Back in 1903, it was 61 cents.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: So that pizza dinner would have cost them 61 cents.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I I guess he had good reason to be uh pretty upset about uh uh the pizza bill there.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: I like it when Charles brought a bottle of wine to Megan's mom and it was from 1899.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh great, great humor, very funny.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: That would not be a good wine, right?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, most don't wines go bad after that.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I don't know how you would have stored a wine quite that.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think it would have tasted like a pretty uh sweet, sweet syrup vinegar, maybe by then.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, maybe if it was a whiskey or something like that.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, that makes sense.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: But I mentioned the I'm not a connoisseur.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I mentioned the great chemistry between Charles and Megan.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: I really did like that.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: I I like that the end of the movie wasn't predictable right now.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know what was gonna happen.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: I I thought on a there was like maybe a 1% chance that he could go back while she stayed, I eating Hallmark.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't think that quite happened.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: But to be honest, I didn't know if they were both gonna stay in present-day 2020 or they were both gonna go back to 1903.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: I I didn't know.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: You said the exact same thing when I was watching that.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I go, I kind of I kind of liked that literally until that the last couple minutes of the movie.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know which way they were gonna go on that.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I really liked the visuals of this movie.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I I thought it was shot very well.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, I'd 1903 to 1920, so you had to kind of be visually appealing, both of those time periods there, but I thought it was directed very well by Ron Oliver, and I and I really liked the way it was shot visually.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: So anything you'd fix if uh we were rewriting this in 2026?
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: I I put a couple things.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um I like this is kind of my dorky technical side coming out a little bit.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: Who cares?
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I looked up a Christmas moon, and it's not two moons in December, it usually means a full moon during Christmas Day.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: So then I kind of pulled a U.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: I did what Rich would do is I went back and looked in 1903 in December.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: When did the full moon occur?
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: Because I was like, did we get two?
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if we had gotten two full moons in December, okay, I can see the use of that.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like, it works.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: But in 1903, the full moon occurred on December 4th.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: There was no two moons.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so the next full moon was on January 3rd in 1904.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: Look at you.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know, because I got technically, you know, that that little detail, I said, if that's correct, that's an amazing detail, right?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: But I understand.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: But there's always a little bit of, you know, um, what's that word?
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: Not elaboration, embellishment, you know.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I that was one.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, the moment where uh she went on about Eliza living a full happy life and that he should be happy for her, like it's only been about four to five days for him, right?
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: That's like twisting the knife in his gut.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like that news is devastating to him.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm surprised she didn't like catch on to that.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's something that I don't, you know, that's a that was a very uh hurtful scene.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: I would think it's a very hurtful scene for him.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: That would be very just like upsetting to me.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: But is that is that a rewrite or is that more of an are we sure?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like uh like are we sure she'd really do that?
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, you know, maybe that's an are we sure, but uh that's something that I kind of was like I would maybe like to try to write that differently.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um and my other one, it's like a little silly technical nitpick.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know that it's a rewrite, rather it's sort of like uh the people who set up the scenes.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: When the band was playing, there's no amps on the stage, there's no chords plugged into their instruments.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: I know it's a dumb little detail, but as a guy who's like into music, like just make it look like it doesn't cost much to rent amps.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure they have guitar amps and some cables lying around.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: Just plug it in, make it look like they're at least playing.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know why that stood out for me.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, maybe it's because I play a little bit.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh those were my my simple little rewrites.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I had a couple as well.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: So, first of all, I I think we needed to add a little bit of tension between the two, and I thought maybe that would have sped up the movie if we if we did that.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think I I I I think I would like Megan not believing Charles right away, literally on day one, you know, after she, you know, she finds that thing she's all bought into him.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think we need a little bit more like a kiss before Christmas.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe she wasn't 100% believing, but she's kind of willing to go along with it.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I'll talk a little bit about that more during Are We Sure, but I think maybe she needed to maybe not believe him right away and kind of add a little more tension that you know he she's him saying, Why isn't this woman believing me?
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: Of course I'm from, you know, uh of course I'm from 1903.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: How how's she not understanding this?
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's a hard one.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: That to me, I thought about that.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, that's a hard one to fix.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like that would take some pretty serious, uh, some serious writing there.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: As I mentioned, I wanted a little bit more Christmas into the movie.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: I I felt you know there was some, but I could have had a little bit more to make it really feel like a really strong Christmas movie.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: You and I both love those Christmas vibes.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: And this is a this is a tough one though, because when they're under the mistletoe, I I wanted a mid-movie kiss in that spot.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: But I understand this was 2020, COVID protocols.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's probably they were, and we're gonna talk about the final kiss in in in a little while and some of the stuff that happened during you know, what during COVID and the difficulty in shooting those things.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think they probably didn't do it for that reason.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like just trying to get a final kiss across the finish line was really difficult under those circumstances.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: But if I were to rewrite this in 2026, I would absolutely she would have initiated the kiss, like, and he would have been freaked out, like, oh my god, this woman is is jumping in and kissing me that would never happen back in 1903, and just see like the shock on his face, but at the same time breaking the ice between the two of them.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: And it didn't have to be like a make out kind of kiss, just a quick something on the lips.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: If I were to write into in 2026, I understand why they didn't do it in 2020.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: It makes 100% sense, but 2026, I add that in there.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that falls in line, like sort of when she's in his room and he like goes to exit the room.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, I'm not sure that you should be in this room unchaperoned, right?
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: So that kiss would have just floored him for sure if that happened.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: If she went in for it.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: I thought that was kind of cool.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: Favorite moment of the movie?
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: Let me know what you got.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, when Charles cut the spring and the clock, making it clear he's staying with Emily and his awareness of Eliza deserving her happiness, and you know, he he had said that he was just kind of doing it because that's what he was supposed to do.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: So he while he cared for Eliza, he didn't he was not in love with her the way she probably ended up being with uh Moran, I think was the last name of the guy.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um she ended up having that full life.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they were married like 60, 60, six years, like that's an absurdly amount of time, an absurd amount of time.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: So um his him making that decision to stay by cutting the clock, making it clear, I'm with Emily.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: I I love that moment, it was very beautiful.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Now, my favorite moment here is one that you talked about during the rewrite section, which I questioned should you have it during Are We Sure?
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: But it's it's when Megan finally let Charles in on what happened with Eliza and Harold Moran.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because he he'd kind of been wanting to know, and she finally decided, okay, I need to tell this guy.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: And just the acting between the two of them, because at first he was furious, but then you could just tell it, it was it just destroyed him.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: He was so hurt by it.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: But then she was kind of able to put on that historian hat of hers and educate him on their lives and how they did have such a happy marriage and they became very charitable, um, and that they they were good together.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: I just thought it was very well written, very well acted, and just a a really good, solid scene.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, he he walks through the town all by himself.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, um, I I I really had to hurt him.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wait, you can see the look on his face.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: He was just he was so upset in both, like I say, both anger, and then just it was just a gut punch to the guy.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I really like that scene.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: Best supporting character who deserved more screen time.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: What are you thinking on this one?
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, this was another movie where I thought there was good distribution here.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, I agree.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: I would like to see more of Rosie and flashbacks or something.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: She was a good supporting character.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: I would like to have seen how their friendship progressed over the years, something along those lines.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: So Rosie was my pick because she was a strong character.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: Could have used a little bit more of her, like I said, flashbacks, like him talking about, and also she would get to know uh about her great-great-grandmother, which I thought would be kind of cool for her.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I was kind of along the same lines.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: You I was thinking either Rosie or Eliza, but I just didn't know how they would work those flashbacks into the movie.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: I started thinking, God, where would how would I put them in?
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: Where would I put them in?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I just couldn't come up with a good answer for that.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: So in the end, I ended up going with Dan um because I really like the scene when Charles joins Dan at the counter of the pizza place after he's had his walkthrough town after um Megan has broken his heart about the whole Eliza news.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: They sit down at the counter there, have a really good, solid guy-to-guy talk.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: Really like the dialogue in that scene.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: Dan was really good.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna go with Dan.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good one.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: All right, we put suspension of disbelief aside, kind of a logic check here, a segment called Are We Sure.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: You got any on this one?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: I got a few.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's they're silly ones like in in 19 either 1903 or 1910, I forget what year he was from.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: But would would back then would Charles would have had a five o'clock shadow type beard gone?
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: Or, you know, whatever that was back then.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't I'm not sure about that one either.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so that's a good call.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: And when Charles gets put in the back of the police suburban, he's like, why is he not tripping out?
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what the heck is this contraption?
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: He's never been in a car, right?
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't get why they didn't actually arrest him, like you just got put, oh you know, oh follow me to the station.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: We just have a back seat here.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, okay.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: I thought that was kind of funny.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, a hundred years no one noticed the hollow floor in the office.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: I thought that was kind of funny.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought one of the things is are we sure he wouldn't be more anxious to work on his return?
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: He gets sidetracked into doing the stuff for the tour, going out to dinner.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I I would have liked to have seen a little bit more urgency of him, like, hey, I need to find a way to get back.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: I seem to be very relaxed.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like, are we sure he's not you know gonna be more have more of a sense of urgency for this?
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: I had a couple others, but I think that's plenty for now.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, my first are we sure is and I already mentioned this one, I guess it's kind of intrinsic to the story, but you know, mm would Megan, who literally has a doctor in front of her name, would she really believe him on day one?
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh that would that was my first are we sure?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: When they let him stay overnight in the museum by himself, are we sure that Kenny would approve of that?
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, Kenny, who's takes everything, I mean, everything in that museum has its place.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: He's cataloged every single item.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows what this guy could do, you know, by himself overnight?
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: So are we sure that's the one?
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: Kenny's a scene stealer, by the way.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: He is absolutely so are are we sure that Kenny would really approve of Charles staying overnight in the museum all by himself with no one else there?
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: And are the are they we are we sure that you know we have a Juilliard trained actress and a PhD?
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: Are we sure they'd be both working as costume tour guides in kind of this niche kind of museum in a small town?
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: They seem a bit overqualified.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: I agree with you.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I also had to throw in one more, are we sure really quickly?
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like, would she give up the job opportunity she had to work at the museum?
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: That was a tough one for me.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: I thought for sure you'd mention that one.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: I thought for sure you'd say this is the pay for this and this is the pay for that.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, I guess I I I didn't get that this time.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: But I was taken aback by that one.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: Another fun one we always call out, would our league couple here last?
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: 12 months, an entire year.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think on this one for uh for Charles and Megan?
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: This one I had to consider for a moment.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: I I really pondered it.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: I really took some time and was thinking about it.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: Ultimately I ended up with yes.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: He's a curious, smart man.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: She will explain the world to him.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: He will eventually get up to speed and probably start his own business or do something along those lines, something that will help his name or help the community or better the world or something along those lines.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I think they are a good match.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: And he'll they'll do something great together.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: Renee.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: I knew it.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: You have lost your should have known.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: Let's okay, let's be on, okay?
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: You and I are secure enough in our masculinity to look at Ryan Pavy and go, that's a good looking dude.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he is he really is a good looking guy, incredible voice.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: And there's gonna be a physical attraction for a few weeks, okay?
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: But she's gonna quickly learn that this dude has no idea how to use the internet, he has no money, doesn't know how to drive a car.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: The guy's never gonna be able to get an ID or a passport where he can get through TSA to an airport to fly anywhere.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: He has zero education, zero job skills that would be relevant in 2020.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, yeah, like I say, it's it's gonna be a couple weeks.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna enjoy their time together.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like I say, it's Ryan Frick and Pavey, the guy is really easy on the eyes.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but Aaron Cahill, she's she's kind of a stunner herself, and I think she's gonna be able to not she's gonna have no trouble finding a gentleman uh in her life who's a little bit more, you know, uh accustomed to the year 2020 and how things work.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: So unfortunately, I while I enjoyed this movie, they're not gonna make it.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: This is a good spot to tell people that they can email us at ForeverHallmarkChristmas at gmail.com and to tell us how wrong Rich is on this one.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, please, I want to hear from you on this one.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so we're gonna do the mistletoe meter here and Ray.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: I I spoke with you before on this one.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: We we don't talk about movies before we review them.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: We want everything to come out natural, as you can probably just see by the section we just covered will they last.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: But for the 2020 movies, we know how difficult kissing scenes were during COVID.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I've read articles about it, uh, how the actors literally had to like use alcohol sprays on their face in these really complex mouthwashes before and after the kisses.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's so much health and safety protocols during specifically 2020 that the kissing scenes had to be really, really difficult.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: I read one of Hallmark's other competitors out there, another Made for TV movie channel.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: You can guess who it was.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: They literally had a plastic divider between their actors as they did their final kiss, and then in their editing process, they were able to edit that divider out.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: So their lips never even really touched.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh that's how strict they were.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: So you and I decided for any movie shot during 2020, we would give a pass or fail uh to the kiss, just knowing how difficult they had to have been.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: So with that in mind, go ahead and let me know what you thought of this one.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: So I gave it a pass.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: And even though we said no grade, uh, I would give I would have given this in a normal time, still a B on the KISS.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: So just a pass.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: I it was I liked it.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I I gave it a C plus originally.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: I I probably just need a little more uh behind it, but I I totally get it.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, obviously I think they did a pretty good job with what they had to work with.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um I have no doubt that you know the kiss would have been you know a lot stronger, you know, had they been able to have free reign.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: But knowing everything that happened, yeah, absolutely a pass.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh they got it across the line best they could.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the kiss was very sweet.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: I thought it was a sweet kiss, right?
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: So there's there's a couple of kinds of kisses that I see, like steamy and then sweet, and this was a very sweet one.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: I liked it.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: Who or what won the movie?
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: Uh for me, Ryan Pavey.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, he was interesting to watch, he had a great presence in the scenes he was in.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: He was very likable, solid work, has an incredible voice, handsome guy.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: It to me was a no-brainer.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: I I liked both Ryan Pavey and Aaron Cahill in this movie, but I they didn't blow my socks off like the movie did last week, where Tyler Heinz and Bethany Joy Lance just absolutely blew us both away.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um for me, not only did he give us all the incredible stories behind the story of this movie, but I mentioned that I also really liked the way this movie was shot visually during a really tough time during COVID.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: I thought the script was really good.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, he wrote it in seven weeks.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna go with Ron Oliver, Hallmark legend.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh both wrote the final script and directed the film.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm gonna go with Ron Oliver and Renee.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: I I didn't know if I should include this during the favorite moments section, or since I knew I'd already picked Ron Oliver as my MVP of this movie.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: I want to talk about his favorite moments.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: I said, I'm gonna wait till after I declare him the MVP.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: So, because he did have some favorite moments in the movie.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: I said, I said, can you go ahead and give me your favorite moment, maybe two?
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: He gave me like four or five.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: He loved the moment where uh Ryan topples over the floor um uh during the time travel segment, the beginning of the movie.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: He just thought it was really well shot in the way it came out.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he loved it when Aaron's character tries to find the hollow spot in the floor of the office.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you look, like she's tapping around, like, I can't believe I'm doing this.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: What am I doing?
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: There is no hollow spot here in the movie.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: She's kind of looking around to make sure that nobody's seeing her.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, he really liked the way that it was shot.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, this is a moment I really liked as well.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: So when Ryan put the necklace around Aaron's neck, just a very romantic scene there.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: And he specifically loved the moment, the last moment of the movie, where they're dancing together and he asks, What are you doing on New Year's Eve?
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and yeah, those were the four moments of the movie he gave me that were his favorites.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's those are really nice.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: But he is an absolutely a Hallmark legend.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, maybe one of these days when we start doing interviews, we can cover another one of his movies and uh and actually uh interview him in person about that.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: But thank you, Ron Oliver.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think you won this movie, everything about it.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: And uh thank you for all the stories behind the story as well.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, no disagreement for me.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: He did a great job.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: All right, rating.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: What do you got on this one?
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_01: I had to think about this one as well.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: I went up and down a little bit up and down, and I settled on about a four.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: I liked it.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: I enjoyed it.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: It made me laugh.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I was I liked the characters, I liked the story, it was well done.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, solid four for me.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was I was judging between a 3.75 and a four.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um again, I think I was kind of stuck on that pacing, but you know, I think my wife's probably gonna convince me to bump it up a little bit because she told me I was wrong on this one, and you know, she's usually right.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um so knowing that, plus knowing how difficult the shoot had to have been.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, during COVID, I mean, yeah, to get a get a really good solid movie like this across the line during the those crazy shoots.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, like I said, they had a quarantine for two weeks before they even started shooting.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think uh everything considered, I'm with you.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's a a good solid four, and that's exactly the same score that I had.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: All right, we agreed.
• 30:18
  unknown: Yep.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: All right, uh, what's coming up uh next week?
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: I am excited for this one.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: This movie's called, oh, I didn't write what year it's from, I'm sorry.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: But it's called The Nine Lives of Christmas, starring Brandon Rose.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: Ruth?
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_01: He played Superman uh in one or two movies, and uh and Kimberly Sustad.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_01: And if you don't know who Kimberly Sustad is, then you're not a Hallmark watcher, but she has appeared in many movies.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper, Three Wise Men, Sense and Sence and S Sensibility, and Snowman.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: I stumbled over that one.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_01: So she's a very popular character.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she is hands down my wife's favorite actress.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh she she she loves Kimberly Sustad, and uh that should be a fun one for sure.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: So I will give you a hint.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_01: There are cats, and it's Christmas time.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: And a teaser here.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: There is a sequel called The Nine Kittens of Christmas, which is probably being reviewed sometime in the near future.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: You love your movies to have sequels too, though, for sure.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: All right, everyone, you know where to find us.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: Instagram Forever Hallmark Christmas.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: Shoot us a message, let me know why I am crazy thinking that Charles and Megan won't last 12 months.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: Who's right, Renee or Rich on this one?
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: Let us know Forever Hallmark Christmas at gmail.com.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: And until next week when we do the nine lives of Christmas, remember keep it for the love of Hallmark.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_01: For the love of Hallmark.