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Sister Swap: A Hometown Holiday · Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, Welcome to Girls Gone Hallmark, a bonus episode
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: of Long Story short the podcast I'm Megan, I'm Wendy,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: and today we are sharing our thoughts on Sister Swap,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: a hometown holiday from Hallmark Channels countdown to Christmas series.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: And if you want more Hallmark movie reviews from us,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: you can always join our Patreon, which you can find
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: at patreon dot com slash Megan and Wendy, where for
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: just three dollars a month, you will get bonus movie
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: reviews exclusively available to members of our Patreon community. You
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: can also follow us on Instagram where we are Megan
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: and Wendy LSS, and you can hop into our Facebook
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: group which is Long Story Shorties.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: And also you can send us an email Megan and
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Wendy at gmail dot com let us know.
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: If you want.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: Us to keep reviewing these movies. In twenty twenty two, Hey,
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: ring esteem No, no, no, I'm actually not And last
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: week I had published a post about all the new
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: movies that are coming out in January. On twenty twenty two,
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: I will leave a link to those in our show notes,
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: which are just if whatever platform you're in right now,
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: you can scroll and there should be a lot of
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: information there, or you can just come to our website
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: at Meganowindy dot com. Right, megano Right. Anyway, I had
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: written on there that we would likely be back in
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty two to review movies. Am I being presumptuous?
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: I'm ready?
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: I'm ready, I would say, though. I was looking at
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: that list of twenty twenty two New Year, New movies,
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: and I'm kind of interested in a few of them.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: I would me too, I would say, I am as well,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: so not all but no, no, But is this a
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: new dawn for Homewark? I don't know. After Fall Harvest,
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: which I think fell flattist for me in terms of
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: like series from the last year, I was my hopes
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: were not high.
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  Speaker 3: But I don't know.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I'm going into twenty twenty two feeling like
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Hallmarks headed in a new direction.
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: Okay, give a synopsis of this movie.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: I sure do. Sisters switch cities leading up to the holiday,
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: where they find a new sense of purpose and discover
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  Speaker 2: what they both truly need in life and in love.
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  Speaker 3: Okay.
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  Speaker 2: I will say, though that the synopsis that was given
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: on the Hallmark Channel app and website was very long,
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: and that was one sentence that I took out of
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: it because I was not going to read that whole
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: thing on here. Sure, yeah, yeah, there is a lot.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: Going on, so I could see why the synopsis would
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: have a lot going on.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: Oh you got to read a book to understand the movie,
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: is what you might be suggesting. We'll get there.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: Actually feel that way, we'll get there. Some news and
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: notes about this.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: Movie, all right, Okay, this movie was filmed in Utah
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: with some scenes shot in Vancouver.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Whoop in April.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, from like they filmed them back to back and
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: it looks like they filmed from April to May and
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: then from June to July.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: I'm happy that they were out of Canada briefly. Hey,
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: this is the first time sisters Kimberly Williams, Paisley and
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Ashley Williams have worked together. And apparently they pitched it
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: to the Hallmark Network five years ago and finally saw
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: it come together.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: Why did it take five years for it to come
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: I like, you know, I feel like we have been
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: told by Hallmark movie writers that like they just churned
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: this stuff out like they are written in one you know,
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: the same year that they're made, so I don't wow,
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: how's this one taken so long? Maybe they just needed
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: the right movie for them to work together on.
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: I know.
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  Speaker 2: But if they pitched this idea, why did it take
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: five years for it to get made?
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  Speaker 3: I don't know.
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  Speaker 2: Or did they produce it as well?
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: They did produce it as well as Neil Dotson, who
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: is Ashley William's husband. They were the three executive producers
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: on this movie.
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  Speaker 2: Is it a money thing you think? Do you have
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: that money to be a production company? I don't know.
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: I have no idea. Okay.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: Anna Holbrook, who is the actress who plays the mother
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: of the sisters in this movie, was the real life
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  Speaker 1: best friend of Kimberly and Ashley's mother, who passed from
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Alzheimer's five years ago.
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  Speaker 2: I read that too. That is so sad.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: It is and it's very sweet. And Ashley and Anna
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: were actually watching this movie together when it premiered last night,
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: which made me happy. They were in jammies and posting
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  Speaker 1: photos on Twitter.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: That's cute. Kimberly Williams Paisley was too busy with her
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: country rock star husband to come join the pajama fun.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: Who knows this movie was filmed.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: Under the working title Christmas at the Madison, which I
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: have some thoughts on. Okay, we'll talk about it in
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: a minute.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: So Neil Donson, who is the husband of Ashley Williams
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: and also one of the executive producers of this movie,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: was tweeting quite a bit last night during the premiere
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: of this movie, and he was dropping some gems including
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: do you recall the split screen sequence? Yes? I do,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: and I was actually quite impressed with how that came out,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: and he says it took so much for the sisters
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: to work out, and the two scenes were shot two
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: weeks apart. However, Kimberly Williams Paisley is actually on the
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: other side of Ashley's phone and vice versa, so they
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: were actually talking to each other when they filmed it.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: They were just not obviously recording at the same time.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: Mmm. Interesting acting. That's how the sausage is made.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: Huh Yeah, all right, So I am sensing from your
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: tone our first impressions are going to be quite different.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: So before you ruin mine, I'm gonna go first, okay,
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: which is to say that I thought they took a
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: challenging concept and made it work for the first half
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: at least, obviously, we will see what comes next week.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: I was very skeptical about this concept. If you've listened
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: to our Countdown to Christmas preview episodes. I wasn't sure
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: how this is going to work. And we have Ashley
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Williams stinker of a movie Never Kiss a Man in
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  Speaker 1: a christmasweater from last year. That made me extremely skeptical.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: But my first impression was positive. Now go ahead and
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: I'm prepared.
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  Speaker 2: It's not that bad. It's really not that bad. My
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: first impression was that I found one sister completely intolerable?
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: Why the other one super lovely?
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: Oh?
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: And I I think if I were to have heard that,
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: not having watched it myself, I would have guessed it
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: was one. Now that I have watched it, did you
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: find Ashley more enjoyable than Kimberly?
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, yes, yes, I'm not saying that I did.
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  Speaker 2: But my husband we were watching it together, and about
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Jen is.
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: That Kimberly Williams character's name. Uh huh?
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
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  Speaker 1: He was like, she just needs to hush.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: Okay, yes, that isn't my wish for we will get there.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: I will explain everything. Okay, let's talk about what we liked. Okay,
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: you think that I didn't like this movie. I actually
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: really did enjoy this movie.
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  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: I have a ton of things that I liked about it. Okay, First,
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: the concept. I was worried, like you said, the two parts,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: the different perspectives happening at the same time, with the
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: different stories. It was crazy, but it worked for me. Yes,
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  Speaker 2: So I like that it was different. I like that
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  Speaker 2: it was different from anything that we've seen this year.
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  Speaker 2: I yeah, I liked it. I liked this idea that
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: they came up with. I agree, I think it. I
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: think they did a good job. Again, we'll see next week.
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  Speaker 2: Like is there too much overlapping to make this second
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: movie enjoyable?
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  Speaker 3: Who knows?
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  Speaker 1: Like did Ashley get to short endother stick by being
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: the second movie? We will see? But I did find
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: them to be a delight together. I obviously they're sisters,
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  Speaker 1: They're super comfortable with each other. I enjoyed seeing them
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: as sisters playing sisters.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: I thought that worked really well. I have that note
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: as well. I thought they had obvious natural chemistry between them,
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: like they played off each other really well. They were
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: very comfortable with each other, obviously because they grew up
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: with each other. So I liked them a lot together
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  Speaker 2: and wish like, why haven't they been in a movie
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: together until now? So weird?
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, super weird.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: I liked several actors in this movie, uh huh, several,
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: But I thought that the kid who played Simon Jennifer's Sun.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: He has an actor named Jacob Buster, and I thought
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: he was really good. He wasn't this annoying teenager like,
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: he was like a pleasant teenager that you wanted to
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: be around. But I thought he was so good. And
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: I was looking at his Instagram and a few days
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: ago he posted a birthday picture he was turning eighteen,
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: and that caption read what's up Cougar's I'm legal now?
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  Speaker 2: Oh no, I was like, Oh, this guy knows who
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: his audience is. It's a bunch of all Hallmark biddies
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: who are a Yeah. Anyway, I thought he was really great.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: I thought he was really really great.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: My notes about Simon is is this the nicest teenager ever?
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: Right? Right?
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: But he played it without being annoying, and he does
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  Speaker 1: have one One of the things I liked is that
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  Speaker 1: as close as these sisters were, and I like that
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  Speaker 1: there's a brief disagreement that they have, and it's natural
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: sister's fight. They're going to get annoyed with each other.
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  Speaker 1: And there was a brief moment where we saw his
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: kind of teen attitude come in and then he flips
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: it around and he's just like, I just want you
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: to be happy. But the only thing I'd say about it.
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: Is highly unrealistic.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: There's no teenager that is this happy to participate in
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  Speaker 1: all these events and so happy about his mom's new
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: boyfriend's little child. Right, stepsister, Sure, let's go do that.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: Sure, let's go. I was like, no way, this guy's
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: going to be on his phone. He'd be like, get
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: out of here, a little kid.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but he was great.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: I liked him too, Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: What else did you like?
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: I like that there's no family guilt. When Meg stays
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: in the city and needs to stay for longer.
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: They you know, she's just no big deal.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: Great, come when you can. There's not the pressure from
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: the parents for the girls to take over the theater.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: There's no pressure to come home or to live your
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: life in a certain way. That's kind of a breath
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: of fresh air for Hallmark movies.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: I have a few more things me too. I really
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: liked the sweet moments of the handholding Jennifer and Eric
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: and it happens ya handholding, right, it happens twice to
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: the movie, and it it Legit gave me butterflies. I
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: was like, it's so nice because as an audience, we
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: don't usually get to see that natural progression, right. It's
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: usually just like they bicker and then they kiss at
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: the end and everybody lives happily ever after. This was
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: like such a nice, like sweet, innocent, like nothing even
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: needs to be said. He just grabs her hand and
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, melt I loved it. Everything you said
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: is exactly how I feel. And it was so real
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: because in both of those moments, they both kind of
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: look at their hands like, oh is this happening. It
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: felt like exactly how it would happen if you were
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: falling for somebody and they you know, things start to happen.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: Like you said, we don't just jump from like oh
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: I knew you in high school to boom kissing, We're
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: in love.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: I loved it.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: I was so happy to see that. And when it
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: happened again when they're sitting on the couch at her
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: parents' house.
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: I was. It was very swoony.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: I agree. And this is what I really liked about
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: this movie is because they could have been like former
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: high school debate team rivals that didn't like each other,
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: but they just like picked up like there was no
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: animosity between them. You know. It's like that's more like
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: real life. You're not gonna hold some grudge from twenty
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: five years ago or whatever. You know. I was very happy.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: And my next note is, hello, Mark Declan, where have
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: you been all my life? We are in sync because
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: my next note is Mark Declan is a wowie zowie.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: And we made a huge error, and you know what
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: that air is.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: I have a feeling.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: So listeners of the podcast may not know, but last
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: week we launched our first Girls Gone Hallmark merch which
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: is a Dude's of Hallmark shirt because we love nothing
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: more than objectifying the men of these Hallmark movies. And
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: it is simply you know, those stacked name teas with
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: some of our favorite Hallmark actors. But you know who's
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: not on it is Mark Declan and perhaps we need
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: an alternate version.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: Has he been in any other Hallmark movie that you've seen?
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: He's not new to me.
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: He was in.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: Meet Me at Christmas. Christmas in Evergreen. Oh interesting, which,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: by the way, Kimberly, excuse me, Ashley Williams was at
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: all four Evergreen movies Switched for Christmas, which is a CCB. Jam.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: Oh was he the lead in that?
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: That's a twenty seventeen movie, and yeah, huh there are
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: two leads in that because she plays sisters.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: Oh goodness, she plays like her own twins. Yeah god, well,
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: oh god. I saw that he was also in Grace
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: and Frankie. I don't remember him, but I did a
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: little Google research and found like a shirtless photo of him.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: I'm like, holy six pack. Wow, he's a hattie.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: Almost immediately when he came on screen, he was a
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: wowie zowie for me. His big smile, his very natural
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: way of speaking to everybody. I understood the big smile
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: on Kimberly Williams Paisley's face when he reached for her hand.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: I'm sure she was having a moment. I know she's
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: very happily married, But wowie zowie is all I gotta
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: say about that one.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: This is just an umbrella of the general things I liked. Yeah,
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: the clothes, the set, the Christmas tree decor. There were
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: several Christmas trees in this movie that I thought were
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: gorgeous and beautiful. I loved the story of the little
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: figurines that they were giving yes the mom and then
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: the kid finds the broken one. I love that. I
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: loved the diversity in this cast. We had a man
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: in a wheelchair, we had people of color, we had
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: people of different sizes and shapes and whatever. I loved it.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: And the last thing I like is a real little thing.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: But there's a moment where the sisters are on the
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: phone and they're having a back and forth did you
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: know moment? And one's like, did you know? Mom and
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: Dad put peppermint shops in their hot chocolate all season long?
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: And that other one's like did you not know? It's
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: just a real natural back and forth. Cadence of the
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: way sisters talk to each other when they're checking in
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: made me wish I had a sister in my life.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: I just I like that they may have potentially set
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: this up for a series. I mean, oh, don't we
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: want to see Jennifer Meg start the theater turned restaurant
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: thing business together that they were talking about.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: Hold on, I gotta tell you one of the tweets
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: I saved. It's from Caroline Richardson and it says, Sister
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: Swap Summer in the city, Sister Swap a hometown barbecue,
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: like those jokes bitballing like titles of future movies. Like
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: there were several saying like, we need a spring, Sister Swap,
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: we need a summer. So I agree. I think this
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: could totally be a series.
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: I think so too. I mean, I felt like they
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: set it up for that. But yes, I don't know
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: because I don't know what's to come off the second movie,
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: so we'll see. I don't know.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: Well, I think the second movie is runs parallel to
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: the first one, so I think, right, it's still gonna
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: we're going to end at the same place. Yeah, that's
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: my feeling.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, let's talk about what you wished for.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: So I only have one. I'm going to get it
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: out of the way and then we'll move on because
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: I think your list might be longer. And my only
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: wish is that I didn't have to wait a week
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: to see Sister Swap Christmas in the City.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: What do you mean it didn't have to wait a week?
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: Because the next one's on in a week.
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: I don't, I know a week. I didn't have to
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: wait a week.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: You wanted to watch them back to back? Yes, well,
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: didn't we talk about this earlier that we thought that
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: it made more sense that they broke it up by
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: a week than to play them in the same night. Sure,
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: I think that's the better move. I'm just saying I
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: liked it. I want to watch the next one.
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: I'm ready.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're like primed for it, right, yeah?
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: Okay?
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: What I wish for a few things. One better titles
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: for this movie because I think it's far too confusing.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: I could not remember the name of this movie, and
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: every time I have to pull it up on IMDb
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: and put Sister Switch or Sister swap whatever it is,
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: because I don't know what is after the colon. I
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: can't where are we at? Like, I just need more
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: definitive difference between the two titles.
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: I hear you.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: I think they should have kept the name of this
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: one Christmas at the Madison. It would have made much
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: more sense because the theater played such a big character in
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: this movie.
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: You know, Yeah, I agree. I can't remember the names
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: of these movies. Same thing. I have to look them up.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: I just wonder if this is more of like a
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: future thinking thing, like Christmas and evergreen tidings of joy
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: Christmas and evergreen letters to Santa. I have to wonder
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: if they did that, like, hey, we're gonna have all
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: these sister Swat movies and we if we're gonna start
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: with two, we want to have them commonly named so
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: that the future ones have something to build on. But
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: all right, I do think it's confusing, Okay, But Kimberly
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: Williams Paisley, I thought she was almost like maniacal at times,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: and like her pursuit of like opening the opening the
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: theater for one more night. I just thought she was
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: like too much, too over the top, Like dial it
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: back just.
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: A little bit. What did your husband say about her?
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: She needed to hush, She needed to hush.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, like just calm down. She was. It's
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: crazy crazy, and like all this stuff about like she
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: didn't want to sell to that, she didn't want to
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: sell the theater to like a chain. I'm like, no,
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: you got it. I love the idea of a small
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: theater in a city like that or a small town
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: like that, but like that's just not reality and like
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: that money it would probably go to like your mom
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: and dad, you know what I mean, Like think about
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: those things, you know.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: Well, and she kept saying they're going to turn it
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: into a multiplex with what space. It's a tiny little theater.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: It's not going to be a sixteen screen theater. And
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: if it is, all the better.
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: Now you have options in your town.
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: Do you have options in your town? I actually wished
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: for more Kevin Neelan in this movie Ies. When I
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: saw his name, I'm like, he's like a big star,
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: at least to me in my head. And then I
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: was like, he's just in these like memories or whatever,
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: like these flashback scenes. It was so bizarre to me
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: that they would have Like why wouldn't they have like
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: just the regular the actor in there. Well.
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: I saw some promos of this movie that featured the
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: two sisters plus Kevin Nilan, not promos but promo photos,
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: and so I expected to see more of him. I
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: wonder if we'll get more flashbacks of him in the
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: second movie, because it does seem like he had a
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: closer relationship with Meg and the second movie does center
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: around her.
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: Huh. Interesting.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: Okay, Now with that said, the biggest thing I wish
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: for in this movie is that I needed them to
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: set the movie up better at the beginning, because it
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: was confusing. I don't remember why Meg went to Salt
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: Lake City, like I have no idea why she was there,
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: And then for like Jennifer to like travel back to
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: Hazelwood with her son, like I needed, like there wasn't
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: just like one day they woke up and they were
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: in Hazelwood, like show me how they got there. I
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: needed movement to illustrate that they were now leaving from
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: Salt Lake City and going to Hazelwood. And I'm not
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: even sure why they went. Were they going for the holidays?
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah? And I think I think so. I agree that
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: some of that is not clear. And I did read
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: something about another scene that ended up on the cutting
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: room floor, so perhaps there's more world building that we
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: just don't see. But I don't know why Meg came.
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: To Salt Lake.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: I think the other sister was just going home for
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: the holidays. But it was when Meg kept staying in
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: Salt Lake and she kept saying, no big deal, no
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: big deal, I thought, but isn't Christmas coming, like you're
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: doing all these doesn't she need to come home for
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: Christmas at some point? Yeah, is she giving this family Christmas?
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: They had some conversation at her dining room table at
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: the beginning about like taking the space she needed or whatever.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: But maybe I just wasn't paying that close attention to
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: those details, so I'm not really quite sure, Like perhaps movie.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: Did you see that?
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: To see that? I only have two?
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: Okay, are we to.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: Assume that the theater has been closed for a while?
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, that is on my list? This is
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: unclear to me as well. I thought uncle died was
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: running the theater up until he died, and now they
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: have to close it because he's not here to run
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: it right. But then everything's broken and nothing works right,
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: nothing works, So then it kind of seems like, Okay,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: has it been closed up for a while? Regardless, there
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: is popcorn in the popcorn still, and that would have
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: just attracted tons of rodents.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: There's no way that there would still be popcorn left
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: in the pop like he closed up one night and
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: then died, you know what I mean? Like what happened here?
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: The projector doesn't work, the heater doesn't work, the lighting,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: the electricity is bad. But it was recent enough that
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: he had bought an upgraded projector with the entire of
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: upgrading their equipment, So clearly the theater was still running
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: up until fairly recently, and it just looks like it's
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: been shut down for so long.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I know. It was almost like they went
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: in there and they were like pulling the sheets off
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: things because it had been covered up in dusty right
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: so long, and they were yeah, it was okay.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: The opening scene where they start with home movies. Have
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: you seen Christmas Chronicles also starring Kimberly Williams Faisley No,
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: that also opens as a Netflix movie. There is a
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: Christmas Chronicles too.
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: It's terrible, but.
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: Christmas Chronicles the original is adorable. We have rewatched it
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: every year. I came out, I think in twenty eighteen,
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: and that movie also opens with home movies because the
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: dad had passed away and so they're rewatching their past
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: Christmas movies and so I don't know if that was intentional,
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: but same actress opening with family movies of family members
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: who are no longer with us.
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: Did you notice like those home movies were like so
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: out of like focus?
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: Yeah?
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: I just kept going like, why does this look so bad, Like,
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: is this gonna be like this the whole Like, oh yeah, yeah,
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: it just it just looked weird. It looked out of focus.
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: It looked graty. I get that we were supposed to
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: be watching like a home movie, but it looked bizarre.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: Just the filter they put on, it wasn't great.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I agree, agree, Okay. There was a line
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: in this movie, and I thought it was kind of
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: a wink and a nod to the Hallmark trope. I
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: can't remember who said it, and I don't remember the
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: exact line, but they made reference to saying just what needs.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: To be said.
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I heard it too. I don't remember
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: who said it either, but I noticed it. Yeah, and
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: it just was funny. I was like, oh, okay, all right,
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: I see you. I see what you're doing here. Yeah
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: mm hmm, all right, what else do you have? So
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: few little things? The Christmas scene that they built on
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: throughout the movie. At one point they add a red
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: truck to the scene, and as mentioned, Ashley Williams is
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: in all four Christmas and Evergreen movies. The red truck
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: is a prominent theme in those movies, and it's not
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: accidental that was done intentionally as a nod to the
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: Christmas and Evergreen movies. And Ashley Williams herself directed all
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: of the scenes in which they add those little figurines too.
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: The scene.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: Oh oh really, mm hmmm, oh interesting. I didn't know
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: she was a director on this too.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: I thought I read that her husband said that she
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: was allowed to handle She was allowed like they let her. Okay,
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: it was yeah, little thing. Why do Jen and Simon
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: have an industrial rank whipped cream.
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: Canister in their home?
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: Oh my god, thank you for bringing that up.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: I thought that was so bizarre and they it was
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: like so big and hard for them to handle it,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: like it's a Starbucks whipped cream canister. Why why do
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: we not have some ready Whip in our house?
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: How this is a missed opportunity for ready Whip. Why
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: didn't they get them as a sponsor for this movie?
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: You know? Yes, that's the same thing too that they're
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: Oh they're just sitting there on their couch run the
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: Christmas tree, but their restaurant grade whipped cream canister.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: Yes, at one point they walk in. I don't know
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: where they are, I don't remember what the scene is,
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: but there's a television above the fireplace, and the television
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: directly above the fireplace has a yule Log channel on
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: and the fireplace is off. And this is one of
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: my husband's biggest pet peeves. I do this on Christmas
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: morning and he was like, why aren't you turning on
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: the fireplace? Like why are you putting a picture of
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: the fireplace above the fireplace? And I'm like, sometimes it
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: gets too hot for the fireplace. I don't know, I
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: just want the pretty picture. It drives him bananas. He
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: was turn on the fireplace.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, but you guys never turn on the fireplace
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: in your house, right, No, we turn it on.
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: We use it, but it gets really hot and Christmas.
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: Morning, when we're all crowded in there and around our
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: fireplace gives off the ton of heat.
• 27:19
  Speaker 3: And so sometimes I just I don't know, but.
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: Hey, we live in southern California. Sometimes it's eighty degrees
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: on Christmas morning right at the fireplace.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: I just want the look. And some of the Ulog
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: channels have like the actual sound of a crackling fire.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: My fire doesn't crackle. Yeah, yah, fireplace, there's no crackling.
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: It's funny.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: This has absolutely nothing to do with the movie but
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: it happened during the movie. As we were watching, there
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: was a preview for an upcoming movie. I don't remember
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: what it was, it doesn't matter, but I'm watching it
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: and one of the actresses slashes briefly across the screen
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: and I said, oh, is that the actress from Roadhouse Romance?
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: And my husband goes, hold on, let me check my
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: list of things not to give a shit about. Yep,
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: it's there.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: It just okay, says the guy who wants to watch
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: every single one of these movies with you, but he
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: doesn't give a shit about who is in these movies.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: He does not care. He does not care about who's
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: in it. And then afterwards I said, what do you
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: think He goes it was okay, and I said okay,
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: I said easily, spoiler alert top three. And he goes,
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: what are the other two? And I said unexpected Christmas
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: Christmas sale and then this movie. And then of course
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: he goes which ones? What which ones? I doesn't remember anything.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: Oh my goodness. So I have a hypothetical question. Okay,
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: I want to know what you think we're going to
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: see play out in a second movie.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: I that's a good question. So I was trying to
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: figure out I did not look at IMDb to see
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: the cast in the order in which they are listed.
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: I didn't look at IMDb for the second movie. I
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: should say, I was trying to figure out who Meg's
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: love interest.
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: Is going to be.
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: It's Joe, that's for sent Joe, right, that's my Joe,
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: who is the manager of the restaurant. Yes, so I
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: think we're maybe going to see her like finding her groove.
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: What does she even do? Like, why is she all
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: of a sudden, like randomly coming to work at the
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: restaurant she helps.
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: Run the bakery, the family baker.
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: Oh so she lives at home. She's just coming to
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: visit in the city at some point and then stays there. Okay,
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: I'm with you. It still doesn't make sense, but yeah, okay,
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: So she is going to come into her own maybe
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: because they are planning this Christmas party. Maybe she's going
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: to realize she has a knack for running a restaurant
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: in these big events. Maybe she's getting out from like
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: under her parents' wing because she's been working in their
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: business and she's realizing that she can do her own thing.
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: There's this whole weird storyline about her going to France,
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: and then she cancels her trip to France and that
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden she has money to help buy
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: the Madison. Excuse me, how much money did your transplane
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: ticket costs that you now have the money to help
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: your sister purchase this. I don't know, restaurant slash movie theater.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: I don't know what do you think it's going to
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: be about?
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: Oh, I think it's gonna be something about like, oh,
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: along those lines for sure, But it still doesn't it
• 30:18
  Speaker 2: still doesn't make sense, Like, how is this going to
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: totally play out together? We already know the end. They
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: want to become built for Madison, but they live in
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: completely different cities they I mean, I'm to understand that
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: Hazelwood is in Utah as well, but they're not that
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: close to each other, Salt Lake City and Haaleslwood.
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: So well, I get the impression that Ashley Williams is
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: going to run the restaurant in Salt Lake and maybe
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: like help consult on the Madison, while Kimberly Williams will
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: be more on the Madison, but consulting on the restaurant.
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: So Kimberly Williams is going to uproot her teenage son
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: and move back to Hazelwood.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: But he wanted to. He kept saying like, I want
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: to stay here, which again doesn't track, but he seemed
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: to want to be there. So here's the other thing.
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: Kimberly Williams's husband had passed away, right, and it was
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: his restaurant. Sell the restaurant, Like, there's nothing tying you
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: to Salt Lake City except for that restaurant. Now that
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: you don't even you don't even have any like vested
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: passion into so sell the restaurant. Moved back to Hazelwood.
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: Do your restaurant theater, which are abundant here in southern California.
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: I mean, I like, I like going to the movie
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: theater and I can eat dinner there. I like it
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: a lot, so that works, but like still like, I
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: I don't get it's weird.
• 31:51
  Speaker 3: What did you rate this movie?
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: I think you're gonna be surprised. Okay, three and a
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: half stars?
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: Whoa, I gave it three point seventy five. This was
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: great movie for me.
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: I liked it. I told you I liked it a lot.
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: Now I watched a great score. I fell asleep for
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: like maybe ten minutes. Oh, did you, And I think
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: I fell asleep in the part where the kid found
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: the broken figurine.
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: You fixed it.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: It was like that one tiny little part, so it
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: wasn't like a major part that I missed. I liked.
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: I like these two actresses, like I've never really seen
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: them other than like a man in a Christmas sweater,
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: which I thought was so terrible. But maybe do I
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: need to revisit, because.
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: No, I think that's terrible. Go back and watch the
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: first Christmas in Evergreens starring Ashley Williams. She comes back
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: in all of them, but that's the one that she
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: stars in.
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: That's her love story.
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: Okay, And what about Kimberly Williams Paisley, Like, what's her
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: best movie that she's been in, Father of the Bride. Well, yeah,
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: I've seen that movie, but that was thirty freaking years ago.
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: Well she was in Nashville Christmas.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: Carol for a minute.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Spirit of Christmas Present. Uh, Well, she's in the
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: Christmas Chronicles. She's the mom. You know, the kids are
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: more the kids in Santa I have a bigger role
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: in that.
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: According to Jim, for eight years.
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: She was.
• 33:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah, she's the wife.
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, She's gotta have some syndication money from that.
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: Don't you think so? Yeah? She must. I mean she
• 33:20
  Speaker 3: was on it for eight years.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: Christmas Train, you know. Christmas Train is a movie that
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: we talked about very briefly when we had CALLI from
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: Hallmarks the Spot and that stars her and Dermott mulroney
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: and is based on a book by David Baldaccie. So,
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: and that's kind of a little bit not quite so hallmarky.
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: It's kind of just like a sweet Christmas movie. So
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: that might be a good Kimberly Williams Paisley Christmas movie
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: to revisit.
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: See, I was under the impression that she was like
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: a Hallmark Darling. I didn't realize that she really wasn't
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: she was in Nashville, that movie nash or that TV
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: show now the TV show. Yeah, I think Ashley is
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: more the other sisters got it.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, guys, thank you so much for listening to this
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: episode of Long Story Short the Podcast. If you want
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: more Hallmark episodes, you know, you can find them on
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: our Patreon, Patreon dot com slash Megan and Wendy. You
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: can find more information about everything we talked about in
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: our show notes, which can be found at Meganandwindy dot com,
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: slash podcast. Send us your thoughts on these movies at
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: Megan and Wendy at gmail dot com, and we'll be
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: back next week. Let us know what you're hoping to
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: see us review. Have a great week, everybody. Goodbye bye,