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If I Only Had Christmas · Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hey, everybody. Welcome to Girls Gone Christmas, a bonus episode
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: from Long Story Short the podcast. I'm Megan, I'm Wendy,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: and today we're going to be diving in to if
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: I only had Christmas from Hallmarks countdown to Christmas. But
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: before we do that, Wendy, Yeah, I have an email
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: referencing a previous Girls Gone Christmas episode.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Let's hear it.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: The email is from Mary, who says, snow Angels. Yes,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: you can totally fall back blindly. The snow, at least
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: where I am from Idaho slash Wyoming, is usually three
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: to four feet deep, with a solid pack at the
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: base covered in soft, powdery snow, so you're not smacking
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: your head on anything on the ground. Bonus note, there's
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: no such thing as jingle bell flowers. What a tropical
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: plant called jingle bell which is a type of fuchia
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: and white flowering tree also called jingle bell that is
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: native to England. But I think based on the one
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: tiny picture you see of the jingle bell flower in
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: the movie, it might be a cluster of morning glories.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: The closest thing in real life is Amaryllis flowers, which
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: is in season in December, has striking red petals and
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: some of that sharp geometry. I love this deep dive
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: into the moral identification. Mary also let the snow Angel intel.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: I appreciate the email. Keep them coming.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: So I thought the jingle bellflower was real. I thought
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: we googled that. Maybe we just had that. You know,
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: Google's not always right, guys.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: I guess what she's saying is there is a jingle
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: bell flower, but it wouldn't grow in a cold climate
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: like Alaska because it's a tropical flower.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, gotcha.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: So what we're perhaps there was some creative license taken
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: with got it.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: I can't believe we're still to talking about jingle Bell Bride,
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: which was one of the worst movies this year. So
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: but you know, I love the deep dive.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: It was one of the worst movies this year. However,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: you didn't rate it as low as you rated A
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Timeless Christmas.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: I know I hated a Timeless Christmas. I'm sorry. I
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: still think, Hey, that was one of the worst movies.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Now today we are reviewing if I only had Christmas
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: starring Candice Cameron Beurret. Did I say her last name right?
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: I'm going with yes, okay, and Warren Christy did you
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: like this movie?
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: I enjoyed this movie.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: Hmm.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: Now, why don't you read the synopsis because I have
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: something to say. Okay, if I only had Christmas is
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: about at Christmas, a cheerful publicist teams up with a
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: cynical VP and his eclectic team to help a charity
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: in need. Did you like this movie, Megan?
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: I really like this movie. Okay?
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Oh no, oh no, I enjoyed this movie. Let me.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: I would like to say one thing. This movie was
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: created specifically for Candace Cameron Beret, and she is the
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: Queen of Hallmark Christmas Movies.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: She was also a producer on it.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Oh well, that does not surprise me, because I heard
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: a brief snippet of a promo she did where she
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: said that they created this movie for her because her
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: favorite movie of all time.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Is a Wizard of Oz.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: The Wizard of Oz. Now I knew that going in.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: I had heard that snippet ahead of time, that that's
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: where this movie, that what this movie was inspired by.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: There are so many Wizard of Oz references that I
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: made it a point to write down every time I
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: heard one, and I found that a little bit distracting.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: Okay, let me stop you there. It was not until
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: after the hour mark that my husband, who we watched
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: it together, goes, ah, look at they have a Wizard
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: of Oz themes. It took us an hour and then
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: after we realized it, it was like they were hitting
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: us over the head with all the references.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: So I'm not sure that I would have realized upfront,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: only because going in, I you know, we hear Darcy Gale,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: we hear William Austin, we hear Glenn Goodman, Glinda the Goodwitch.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Then her three helpers are Jackie Crow, bridget Tinsley and
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: Riley Lyons.
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: The charity is the Emerald Education Trust.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so after the movie, we were trying to figure
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: out what gum p R meant and I found it.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: Oh tell me so, Judy Garland's birth name is gum
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: g u m m. That's why they's name. Yeah.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: What about Winona Ooh.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: That I don't know.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: That's the reference I couldn't figure out. Do you know,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: did the Fiero PR reference mean anything to you?
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: No, it didn't. So.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Fierro was one of the main characters in Wicked, which
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: is the prequel in theory to the Wizard of Oz
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: and I've both read the book and I have seen
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: the musical three times. So Fierro is Alphaba, the Wicked
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: Witch of the West's love interest in Wicked, So that's
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: where that comes from. I don't know that he has
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: a role in the Wizard of Oz itself. That's right.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: In Wicked, he is transformed into the Scarecrow. So that's
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: not what happens the novel. The novel is much more
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: dark and political and not at all like the you know,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: happy dancing through life. Have you seen Wicked the stage
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: show me?
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: Yes, several times, so good.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: I loved it, but nothing like the book anyway. So
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: that's the Fierro reference. So the stepmom's name is Emma
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: Anti m Oh.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: I didn't catch that either.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: That would That didn't hit me until later. So I
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: wonder about what you loved about the movie? Oh go ahead, I.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: Was just gonna say, I wonder what the Winona references too.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: I couldn't figure it out. I was wondering if her
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: name was, if she was going to somehow be Alpha
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Ba related. There had to be something.
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: Right, I'm sure. I'm sure. If you guys know, leave
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: us an email, because.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: I would not say my Wizard of Oz knowledge is
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: tip top. I mean, I've seen the movie, no, but.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: I like it. I like it like they're little Easter
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: eggs that you had to like find and figure out.
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: That's what I kind of liked about this movie.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: I liked that too, But the and I did also
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: find it distracting. I found I was less focused on
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: the plot and more on the like, oh, like writing down,
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: you know. And at one point she says, go in
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: there and blow them all away.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: Oh I didn't catch that, but yeah.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: And then there was multiple lines at the end where
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: she was like, there's no.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: Place like home. Yeah, pulling back the curtain. They talked
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: about that several times. Yes, okay, So what I liked
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: about the movie, Yes, I really enjoyed the cast. I
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: really enjoyed Candice Cameron Beret or however you say that
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: last name. I now understand why she does a Hallmark
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: movie every year, because I thought she was a great actress.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: I really enjoy her in these movies.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: I really liked Warren Christy. He was easy on the eyes.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: I thought he was a poor man's Jason Bateman. He's
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: got a nice smile, and I thought he was a
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: great actor, and I did feel a little bit of
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: chemistry between the two of them. I figured it would
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: probably be very light on chemistry because she is married
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: and very conservative and religious, so I thought we definitely
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: weren't gonna get multiple kissing scenes or like sex jokes
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: or whatever, not that you would typically get those things
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: in a Hallmark movie. But I did really appreciate the
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: two of them together, and I really really enjoyed her.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: Even though I don't enjoy her as whatever her name
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: is on Full.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: House, I liked her in this movie more than I
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: like her DJ Tanner character Djanner, that's her name. I
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: just enjoy her as the Christmas queen I do.
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: She's too slapstick for me in Full House, and so
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: that's what I was anticipating with this movie. I enjoyed
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: that it wasn't like that, it wasn't full of high
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: jinks and kooky Christmas whateverness. I really liked it.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: I thought it was a solid movie, and that is
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: one of the reasons when I was going through Wendy
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: had me choose the movies that we were going to
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: review because I had no some of the backstory, and
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: I knew we had to do the Candice Cameron be
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: right like it was without a doubt we were going
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: to choose this movie because she is the Queen of Christmas.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: Fun fact, this is the only Countdown to Christmas movie
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: that did not premiere opposite a movie on the Hallmark
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: Movies and Mysteries channel. So typically there's simultaneous premieres on
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: the Hallmark and the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel. This
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: is the only one. Of course, there was a movie
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: on at that time, but not a premiere on at
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: that time, so they did give her the prime position.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: It was on the Sunday night after Thanksgiving. There were
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: movies on all week, and I do think they gave her.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: We talked about why did they have such a stinker
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: and jingle Bell Bride launching it. I think now Thanksgiving's over,
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: everyone's ready for Christmas. I think they gave her the
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: prime spot, got it. So I was really wondering how
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: much money she makes on these movies, especially with a
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: producer title. I'm gonna have to find out. I don't
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: know if that information is available online or not. I
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: hear typing, are you looking at it up? Yeah? I
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: can't find specifically, I would imagine she is among the
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: highest paid of the Hallmark actors.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Got it, especially with a producing title too. I'm sure
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: she yes takes home a little change.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: Okay. I loved the light maze at the Christmas Tree.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: I thought that was beautiful and well done.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: Me too, I've never seen anything like that before.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: No, I really liked it. I thought that was a
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: great attention to detail. I don't know if I assume
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: that was built for the movie, because this was filmed
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: in August, so we don't have Christmas light installations up.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: I enjoyed that, and I thought that was a little
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: bit of a nod to like the yellow brick road.
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: Well, there was a yellow bit. Excuse me, there was
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: a yellow brick road scene when they were at the
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: offices of what were they called, uh, what's it called
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: Austin Inc. And they were going up to the to
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: the receptionists and they were they were walking down a
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: yellow Did you catch that they were walking down a
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: yellow brick road?
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: I did not notice that.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: That is when we go ah, and I'm gonna say
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: it was my husband who caught it. So yeah, that
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: that was a yellow brick road scene. But I did
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: love that light installation. I thought how much work that
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: would have had to been to like make sure those
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: lights were, you know, taut enough taught. Is that the word? Yes?
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: You know lies? Yes, it was beautiful. I just loved
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: it so much. The other thing I really liked about
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: this is the clothes that she wore. She had loved
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: her jackets, beautiful jackets, beautiful, and I was like, Oh,
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: they had this really dusty rose one that was so pretty.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: I love those kind of drapy, big lapel open. You
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: need a jacket like that. Not that I have anyone
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: to wear it, doesn't know, but I am.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: It was beautiful that she wore these like really pretty,
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: like slim cigarette style black pants with a really nice
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: black high heel. I just thought it was so pretty.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: What did you wish for in this movie?
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: I wish for less dancing.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: Oh, I have a comment about the dancing.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: Their dance number that they did I thought was really terrible.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: And there was a moment that I thought it was
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: like a dirty dancing where she was like jumping up
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: into his arms, but it wasn't. It was a different
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: kind of lift. Then I wondered, had she ever been
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: on Dancing with the Stars.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: Yes, she was yes, ah, no, she was the runner up.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: So her partner was Mark Ballas. Oh that's how you
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: said her name, And he made a cameo on Fuller
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: House where they did a little dance routine. He was
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: in the club when she and the wolf Pack were out.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: So maybe she really enjoys that ballroom dance and that's
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: why they had it in this movie as well.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: Well, she's a better dancer than that. But she was
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: tweeting during the movie last night, and someone made a
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: comment why is she wearing those stilettos during their dance
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: because the dance was not good. It was very stilted,
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: and she said it was my decision to wear them
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: because she had those beautiful ruby slippers. And she said
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: the dance shoes were so ugly that she didn't want
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: to ruin the look. But as a result, it made
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: the dance number smaller. And I would agree with that,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: and I wish I understand the placement of the shoes,
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: but I think the dance could have been better.
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it wasn't great.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: I mean I just wrote that dance exclamation point, exclamation point,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: cringe face.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, a little less of that. Okay, what about you
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: did you wish for anything else?
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: No, I mostly have. Did you see that moment? I
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: do want to one more thing that I liked, And
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: I know this is out of order, but I in
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: my notes, I liked that bridget Tinsley made it a
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: point to focus on real issues facing classrooms, and she
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: talked about like, you can't throw computers at them when
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: half these kids don't have access to reliable internet. And
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: I did like that it wasn't just like, hey, let's
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: do a school supply drive and pretend like that's going
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: to solve all of our problems. I liked that. I
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: think the movie took an opportunity to make a good point.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: I thank so too, on too, Did you see that?
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: I'm so excited to talk about this with you because
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: I sent you a text message last night and I said,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: do you know who the Christmas Tree farm owner was?
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: Oh? Familiar?
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah? And he didn't said no. His name in the
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: show was Brian. His real name is Chris Gotier. Chris
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: Gotier was also in a movie twenty twenty Well The
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: Christmas House, where he played Marvelous Jim. Have you watched
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: that yet? That's not all going? Oh?
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: No, I haven't watched it.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: Yet he was also in a little show called Date
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: My Dad, where he played That's Todd.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: I don't recall. He looks completely different, right, he.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: Does look different, but I knew it was him when
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: I saw him in the Christmas House. And as we
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: were watching this, I said, who is that? And my
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: husband goes, He's the guy that was just in the
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: Christmas House. So then I go to his IMDb to
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: make sure because he does look a little different. But yes,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: he was also in Once upon a Time, which is
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: funny because there are he plays me in oneupon a Time.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: There's so many of these home movie characters. Sorry, one's right,
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: but he was in Date my Dad. He was also
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: in the Christmas House. He was also in If I
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: Only Had Christmas.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: When are we gonna get Barry Watson in a Hallmark
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: Christmas movie?
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: Well, Cindy Busby has been in Hallmark Christmas movies, but
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: I don't know that Barry Watson has crossed over. Although
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: I oh, he's it's coming perfect perfect place for him.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: Okay, I want to talk about leading man. Also, I
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: know we have a lot of digit see that, But
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: Warren Christie, we haven't talked about him. Much is he
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: in a lot of these Hallmark movies.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: He has been in other Hallmark movies, but he's not
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: a repeat every year. He was in several episodes of
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: The Girlfriend's Guide to Divorce. He's been in a lot
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: of He was, you know, in a lot of episodes
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: of Chicago Fire. He was on the TV series Alphas.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: He was also on Upon a Time get Out. He
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: only had one episode. He was only in the pilot.
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: Funny.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: I enjoyed him.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: Enjoyed him a lot too.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: His picture on his IMDb page shows him scruffy and
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: with a much shorter haircut. He looks completely different than
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: this kind of like slick William Austen character.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: I still like that. He's got a nice smile.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: He does. But explain to me how nobody knew who
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: he was. His father owned the company, right, and these
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: people don't know who I don't understand how that secret
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: could have been kept because they're not going to know
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: who the son is, right. I found that unbelievable that
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: he could be the man.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, he's like, I am the head of communications,
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: but like, really he's running the company like that, And
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: how how can you have.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: You were head of communications and your CEO be the
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: same person.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you can't know. It was there was a dumb,
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: dumb plot hole. They should have had somebody else playing
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: like the wizard role. And we kept asking. My husband
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: and I were like, it's going to be him, right,
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: It's gonna be him right, like, because there was no
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: other option of who it could be. But I think
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: it would have made the story better if it was
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: somehow I don't know, a twin brother. I don't, I
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: don't know, I don't.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: Know, I know I And then the wrap up is
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: so quick. I mean, he just shows a better house
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: and it's Eh. Did you notice the sponsored placement in
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: this movie?
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: I did, Balsam I noticed, and I wondered if Minnie
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: Cooper was a was a sponsor as well.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I noticed the placement of that car several times
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: out front of her house. I didn't notice any commercials
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: for it, because often when we have the placement in
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: the movie, we all so get a commercial, which we
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: did with Balsam Hill. All right, do you have any
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: other digitsy that moments?
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: Oh? Did you see the diversity in this cast? I did?
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: All supporting characters, Uh huh, they are baby steps but
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: you know, you've got the leading man and woman both
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: super white. Her family is super white. Of course, her
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: brother's significant others were both women of color, which I appreciated,
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: but they had very tiny rolls. Yeah, I mean, Hallmark,
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: these are steps in the right direction, but put them
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: in the main cast. Maybe next time, leading character, maybe
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: next year. I did notice that Holly Robinson Pete, who
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: is one of the supporting characters in the Evergreen movies,
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: has her own movie this year on Movies and Mysteries
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: where she is the lead actress. So that was exciting
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: for her niece count. Oh, I don't tell me zero. Oh,
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: I was gonna say that, I vince, Yes, the niece
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: count in this movie is zero.
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: I was a little bit surprised at about how much
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: they drank wine in this movie, which I'm no prude, like,
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: I just expected a real squeaky clean storyline from Candice Cameron.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: But I actually appreciate it when there's wine drinking in
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: the movies and they're.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: Not like, let's have egg nog, right, yes, exactly. And
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: I've really enjoyed that scene with them in the bar
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: when they didn't know who each other were at first,
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: and then they found out who they were. I thought
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: that was very funny.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: Did you see it coming in that moment? Of course? Yeah,
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: And she's going.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: On and on.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: I would have been mad if I were her, though.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: I don't like being the butt of someone's joke.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: No, me neither. So there's this there's this thing I'm
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: noticing in these movies that there's what I like to
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: call micro messaging. And she talked about being small or
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: feeling small and needing like she did, like recognition of
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: something bigger and better. And maybe that just spoke to
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: me personally, like I often feel small, you know, in
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: terms of like the work we do here or whatever.
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: And so I just kind of appreciate that messaging in
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: this movie, Like I was like, you don't have to
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: be if you're making an impact, even if it's small,
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: it's okay.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: You know, yes, And the messaging about how you know,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: she didn't win the award, but the good projects are
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: never the ones that are recognized that at hit for me,
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: you know, it's not it's not in the major market.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: It's not going to be the one that gets the recognition. Yeah,
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: there's value. Value is not based on the size of
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: your contribution. Or the size of your contribution isn't measured
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: by how many people acknowledge it exactly.
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: So that just makes me feel better when we have
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: our small Instagram following there. I don't know, I know
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: it's silly, but like I was like, well, look at
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: there is a takeaway from watching these movies, you know,
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: and I think that there should be.
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: I agree with that. I did. I did bump on
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: that as well, especially with her award. In the beginning,
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: they were trying to make her feel about her I
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: was like, oh, we've been there.
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: Did you see that scene too? She like walked away,
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: she was upset she didn't win. I'm like, she actually
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: has tears in her eyes. She's a real actress.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: I didn't like that scene. I thought that felt very real.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: To me, right And another real scene that I liked
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: was when he confessed that he was, you know, the
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: wizard or whatever, and she was pissed and walked off
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: the stage and they had a whole moment in a
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: hallway and she's like, I'm upset, and I was like, yes,
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: like this is awesome. Like she's telling him I'm upset,
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: Like there's no like miscommunication of like why are you
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: walking away or a misunderstanding you know, she just here
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: it is I'm mad that you lied, and how are
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: we going to rectify it?
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: Yes, I love communication as opposed to the oh I
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: misheard you and now I'm going to be mad at
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: you exactly.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: That's why my notes say, like, I love that there
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: wasn't like Cookie Christmas, no hyjiinks, like it was just
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: pretty straightforward. And I think that's those are the kind
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: of Hallmark movies that I like. I don't like like
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: the hokiness, and I think maybe that's why I didn't
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: like a Timeless Christmas or jingle.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: Bell Brude, but you liked a Nashville Christmas and that
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: definitely was Cookie Christmas.
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: But that was like adapted from Carol. That was adapted
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: from a Christmas Carol, And so yeah, like, okay, let
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: me ask you this. Do you notice like the Cookie
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: Christmas music that they'll play like in a scene like high.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: Jinks are coming.
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: Yes, I can't stand it. I uh, I know, it's
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: like a minor issue. I'm really enjoying these movies. It's
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: appointment TV for us now on the weekend.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: That's so exciting and your husband still watching. Yes, that
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: makes me really happy.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: I just personally, I just don't like, you know, like silly,
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: silly hyjiinks. So I appreciate the movies that are not
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: that way.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: Well, and you don't have to like every part of them.
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: I'm glad it doesn't feel like a slog for you
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: to do these reviews.
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: So I listened to another review podcast. Yes and they
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: thought this movie was the worst of the year.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: Oh, No, is it the Boys at Deck the Hallmark?
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: Oh and they did not like this movie?
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: No, they called it the worst of the year. I
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: couldn't believe it.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: I was I literally was like, no, because it doesn't
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: even come close to the worst for me. What didn't
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: they like?
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: I didn't listen to all. They just thought the acting
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: was bad, which I was like, are you kidding to me? Like,
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: I thought the acting was great from the leads. I
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: thought the acting was great from the leads.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I didn't like her brothers. Her brothers felt so
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: oddly cast to me. I didn't believe them even as
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: her brothers. I thought, I don't know what it was,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: but I didn't enjoy them.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: Well. At one point, I was like, I know she
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: has adult age children. I was like, those could be
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: her kids, you know what I mean, And there's supposed
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: to be her sister whatever. Yeah, And what I did
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: like too, is like they didn't really like focus on
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: her being like single, right, Yes, it was more about
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: the job and her her passion about the work and
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: the personal connections you should be making. That's all the
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: stuff that I really liked.
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: Yes, And I also liked that her family was in
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: support of whatever the career path she chose that was
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: going to make her happy. You know, when she she
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: was gonna miss Christmas, all the Christmas activities leading up
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: to it, to be out of town for this job,
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: they were all for it because they knew that this
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: is what she wanted to do. They weren't laying on
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: the typical Hallmark movie family guilt trip of family first,
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: you need to be home forget whatever else you have
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: going in your life. I really liked that they were
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: on her team whatever that meant.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, me too. I did think it was weird though,
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: that she would like call the parents like she didn't
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: have like a friend to call, you.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: Know, Yeah, that's just weird casting though she just didn't
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: know she didn't really seem to have friend. I don't know,
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: if that was intentional, so that you know, they would
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: focus on how into.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: Her job she was. What'd you think about him expanding
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: the business to Kansas City. I don't, I mean convenient.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: Yes, What I liked was, you know, she had always
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: talked about how she had put down roots, and she
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: felt torn about whether or not that made her life
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: small because it was physically small. Right, she hadn't gone
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: to the major markets where she maybe could have had
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: a more visible impact, even though obviously the message here
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: is that her impact was still as great even if
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: it wasn't as widely celebrated. And I think had she
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: moved to New York for the job, I think maybe
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: it would have negated some of that messaging that like
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: the size of your life outwardly isn't where it draws
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: its value. I don't know, but she spent so much
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: time talking about Kansas City, Kansas City, Kansas.
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: I think you could have driven home there's no place
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: like home, messaging without it being Kansas City just because
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: she's from Kansas.
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: Right, Okay, I have like a geographic dumb question.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: They kept saying how much she liked Christmas in New England.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: They were supposed to be in New York City? Right?
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: Were they in New York?
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: Hold?
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: I'm looking up what New England is. I don't know, Maine, Vermont,
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. She lands the
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: job of a lifetime hold on oh a company based
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: in Connecticut. So she goes to Connecticut, which is in
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: New England. Okay, Okay, what would you rate this movie?
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: Okay? So I have a hard time because I really
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: like this movie, and did I like it more than
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: a Nashville Christmas Carol just slightly less? So three point
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: two five. This gets a.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: Three from me. I'd like to point out that you
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: gave on the Twelfth Day to Christmas four stars.
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: Just I love that movie.
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: Just so we're clear, there has been a four star movie.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: This is a three star movie for me. I enjoyed it,
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: and my daughter loves the Candas Cameron Beret movie, so
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: I think I'll probably end up rewatching it with her
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: because she did not watch with us last night. She
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: especially likes a shoe Attics Christmas.
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: I set the recorder for that one.
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: It's a goot one. It's got one.
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: And we also watched a cookie cutter Christmas? Do you
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: know that one where it's like two teachers and they're
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: battling with a cookie.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: I feel like I've definitely seen it, Yes, I did.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: I'm looking at the pictures. I did see that one. Okay,
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: all right, guys, you can prepare for next week's episode
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: by watching Christmas and Evergreen bells are ringing. This is
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: the fourth installment in the Evergreen Holiday movie series, so
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: I am very much looking forward to that one. Maybe
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: Holly Robinson Pete is the lead in this one. Also
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: did she get two leads anyway?
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: Oh?
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: We also get a cameo from Ashley Williams in this movie.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: Who's the original Evergreen star? Don't forget to catch episodes
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: of our main podcast, which drop every Tuesday morning. And
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: while you're here, leave this podcast a rating and or
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: a review. Let us know what you think, especially if
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: it's nice, because that is what helps people find us.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: And we will see you very soon. Bye bye,