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Our Top Five Movies of the Year · Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Girls Gone Hallmark, a Hallmark Review podcast. I'm Megan,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: and I'm a longtime Hallmark fan. I'm Wendy. I'm a
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: former Hallmark hater. On today's episode, we are sharing our
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: top five movies of 2026 right up. To Countdown to Christmas. Yo,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: have we ever done this before? I'm not sure that
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: we have. I don't think so. This is every movie
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: that is not a Countdown to Christmas movie was considered
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: for this episode. Just so everybody knows, these are going
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: to be shared in no particular order.
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  Speaker 2: Also, we didn't include, like, Paris is Always a Good
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: Idea or Hope Valley.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Correct. And.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: While looking through the entire 2026 release of movies, there
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: were two movies we didn't review. The Cupid movie and
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: the Easter movie, the Carlos Marx.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Well, I watched both of those movies. I did not,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: but we didn't review them either. Right. And I also
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: can confidently say that neither of those would have cracked
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: my top five, even though I have seen them. Okay.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: I went through the list. Yes. And I went on
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: like vibes only. Same. Same.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: What do I remember as being like a good movie?
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: And then what I did is cross checked my original
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: notes with what my rating was. And and I was correct.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: So I was these movies have left a mark on
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: me in some way, shape or form and got a
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: good rating from me.
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  Speaker 1: I had a similar process. I looked at the list,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: went off pure vibes. I did look up my ratings
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: as well. I didn't change anything based on my ratings.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: I did think it was interesting. And I think, like
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: you said, movies that left a mark on me, movies
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: that I think are important for a reason. Every one
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: of my ratings is of the movies that I'm choosing
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: is 4.25 or above, which, you know, anything over four
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: stars for me is a good Hallmark movie. Yeah. I
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: also want to say, as I look back over this list,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: as I saw Wendy's list, as we were recording a
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  Speaker 1: movie earlier, I was like, oh, yeah, I did love
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: that movie. But I'm going to stand by my top five. Okay.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: I also have an honorable mention. We do. That we share.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, when I put my list together, I had
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  Speaker 2: like seven, seven or eight movies.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: And did you ultimately cut it down to five? Uh-huh. Okay. Well,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: what's your very first movie? Again, no order. Exactly. No order.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: We do have some overlap on our lists as well.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: My first movie is Kentucky Roses starring Andrew Walker. Great choice.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: I really liked this movie. I loved this movie. I
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: gave it five stars.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: I loved it so much. My original notes say, and
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: then I talked about it on the podcast, that Andrew
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: Walker shattered the smooch-o-meter in this movie.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: Oh.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: Now, from memory only, I'm having a hard time... Might
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: have to revisit the smooch to get eyes on it again.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: I don't remember it. Same. I don't either.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: And Odette Annabelle, who was his co-star in this movie,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: was freaking great. She needs to be Hallmark regular.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: I loved everything.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: I loved the gardening aspect of this movie. I loved
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: that it was actually shot on location.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: It wasn't really about the horses. It was about like
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: other stuff. I just really liked it.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: I'm so glad that you included it on your list
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: because when I look back at my rating for this movie,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: I also gave it five stars. And it didn't end
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: up on my list. I couldn't explain why other than
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: when I was looking at the list, it didn't stand
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: out to me as much. But it was a great movie. And,
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: you know, Andrew Walker sent us those t-shirts. I wear
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: mine all the time. I wear mine. I wore it
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: the other day.
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  Speaker 2: I saw some other lady like looking at it. Like,
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: why are you wearing a Kentucky Downs? Is it called
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: Kentucky Downs?
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  Speaker 1: Churchill Downs, Kentucky Derby. Churchill Downs. That's what it's called.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: Why are you wearing a Kentucky Derby t-shirt in October?
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: Because I like it. That's why. Please. Are you kidding me?
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: People wear baseball hats year round, even when it's not
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: baseball season. This is true. The first time I wore
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: it out, it was like Derby weekend. And some guy
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: on Costco was like, Oh, Derby weekend. I was like,
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: I know. And then he started talking. I was like, Oh,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: that's the extent of my knowledge, buddy. Yeah. I don't
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: know anything either. Andrew Walker made a movie there. And
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  Speaker 1: the shirt is cute. That is what I like. Well
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: done on the merch.
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  Speaker 2: Also, finally, shout out to director Claire Niederperum, female director
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: on this movie.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: Love it. Well, the first movie on my list, once again,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: no particular order is I'll Be Seeing You. This is
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: a movie that you and I both gave five stars to.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Wendy said, easily the best movie from the spring lineup
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: in our review and one of the best movies of
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: the year for sure. The thing I love about it
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: and recently referenced is the ensemble chemistry is really well
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: done and the ensemble characters are really well developed. We've
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: seen the contrast of that in some of the movies
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: we've seen recently where we get supporting characters and who
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: don't have a lot of motivation, don't have a really
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: fleshed out character. And that is absolutely not the case.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: The pairings are so nice. Like we have grandmother, granddaughter,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: and Viv and Sue as best friends. And of course
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: the romantic pairing. And they're all fun to watch on screen.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: You and I are going to be Viv and Sue someday. Yes. Great.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: Living in our fun retirement community, playing mahjong. Love it.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: Road tripping. Yeah.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: That's the standout. Talk about leaving a mark on me.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: That relationship in that movie is what I was so
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: drawn to. I mean, yes, Tyler Hines and Stacey Farber
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: were fantastic in this too, but yeah, it's the female
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: friendship there.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: I 100% agree. That being said, Tyler Hines is... is
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: to quote myself exceptionally good in this movie, but it
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: wasn't the Tyler show. Everybody had the chance to shine.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: I felt like it was visually stunning to watch the
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: coastal Oregon field. The senior living home was the kind
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: of place I actually would want to live. Take me there.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: Question for you. Yeah.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: This movie is also my top five. Is it interesting
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: that our, our two movie choices so far star, the
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: network's like biggest stars.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: It's, unsurprising to me yeah you know from a big
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: picture standpoint of course but it's also like a chicken
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: egg situation Kentucky Roses was a tentpole movie it was
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: a movie that was announced very early in the year
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: they there was a lot of build-up to that movie
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: because of their Churchill Downs partnership and then of course
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: you know Tyler Hines is one of their go-to guys
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: so is it a surprise that they're to their leads.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: Interestingly enough, neither of these movies is led by one
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: of the Hallmark leading ladies. Oh, very interesting. Not the
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: case for all my movies. Don't you worry. Okay. Okay.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: My next movie is from early this year. Missing the Boat. Indeed.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: With one Christopher Palaha, my good friend Chris. Also with
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: Amelia Olerup.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I really like this movie. It was so joke dense.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: I will never forget Chris on the bed doing the
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: figure four stretch.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: I think about it every time I do that. So
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: freaking relatable. Which is most nights. Right? It was beautiful
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: to look at. It was fun.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: Her hat blows off and they're like on those donkeys
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: or I don't know, some sort of animal they're riding.
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  Speaker 2: I just, I really liked it so much, so much
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: physical comedy. I, I, I loved this movie and maybe
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: this is a personal thing. It's like, we got to
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: talk to Chris about this movie and then that led
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: to us going out and being invited to Reno, Nevada
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: for his premiere of his film. feature film like all
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: that stuff it just you know it's like good things
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: stacked on good thing on good thing good thing and.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah there's so much good associated with it yeah but
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: it's a great movie on its own yeah this of
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: course is in my top five as well i gave
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: it five stars you gave it 4.75 i thought both
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: chris and amelia were firing on all cylinders in this
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: movie there's a you talked about physical comedy there's like
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: a subtle physical physical comedy moment where Chris comes up
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: out of his chair in indignation when he finds out
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  Speaker 1: that Amelia's character has never seen the Star Wars movies.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: It's such a nice touch. I laughed out loud. This
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: was a really good time. Good. Good one. Next on
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: my list is Two for Tea, a movie that I
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: originally gave 4.5 stars to, as did you. It was
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: one of those ones I had to cut, but yes,
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: it made my vibes list, yes. Talk about Hallmark leading ladies.
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: Janelle Parrish stars in this with Chris McNally. Yeah, and
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: he was great in this. Yeah, this is the movie
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: that we want for Chris McNally, not like another movie
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: that I'm not going to name at this point. I
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: think this movie, not only was it fun to watch,
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: but I think it's important storytelling as part of the
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: Hallmark lineup, which goes in and out of their attempt
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: to celebrate diversity. Mm hmm. And I think this, it
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: did it really nicely. The story of T and her mom, Leanne,
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: they had a really lovely, beautiful, mutual respect relationship. Her
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: mom meddles in a really fun, not friction-laden way. They
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: use bits of Mandarin throughout the movie. There's a song
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: by a Hong Kong artist named Her name is X-I-E.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: I believe it's pronounced G. There's a lantern festival. He's like,
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: I brought the lantern festival to you. Ugh. There are
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: a lot of storylines in this movie. It's very layered.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: We've talked about doing things well and not doing them well.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: We've seen plenty of movies where there's a lot of
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: storylines and they just run into each other. In this case...
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: You in our reviews said it felt like real life.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: Real life has a lot of things happening. Singular experiences.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: You have all of these things happening at one time.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: I liked that movie, too. I liked it a lot.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: What I remember is Chris was.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: A parent to a teenager, and he was co-parenting. And
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: then the ex and Janelle Parrish had a nice friendship.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: There was no weirdness.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: Yes. These are layers to stories.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: I know a lot of our listeners, because we get
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: a lot of emails that say like, no, Hallmark needs
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: to be escapism.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: This is what I like.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: I like when we see real life reflected back on
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: my TV.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, me too. And escapism doesn't mean without death. Yeah, exactly.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: This story still has a happy ending, but it can
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: also reflect our world back to us. It doesn't need
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: to be all knights and princesses and There's never any
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: friction and you live in Schmigafrickin' Dune. Right. I liked it.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: My next movie, also from earlier this year, which spawned
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: a review from us of a PBS show. Oh.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: The movie is The Way to You. I gave it 4.75 stars.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: It stars Kim Matula and Aaron O'Connell. A movie that
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: maybe doesn't star... Are our biggest names. I mean, I
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: see Kim Matula is a big name. She feels like
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: a big name to me.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: Uh-huh. Missing from this year's Countdown to Christmas lineup also. Indeed.
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: This was a great movie. I love this movie.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: It had a strong premise, confident tone, real rom-com rhythm.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: Loved it.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: I thought Kim Matula was super great in this movie.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: I thought she had great chemistry. With Aaron O'Connell. They
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: referenced the account of Monte Cristo, which then for us
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: led into a review of PBS's account of Monte Cristo.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: If you guys did not listen or watch that series
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: on PBS, it was fan-freaking-tastic.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and you can stream it on the PBS app.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: That's a... Sam Claflin is... It is masterful. It's so
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: well done. You do not have to have... any knowledge
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: of the book. We had zero knowledge. None. We knew
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: it from this movie. I mean, we of course knew
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: the title, but like knew nothing. I didn't know the
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: story at all. And I agree with you. The Way
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: to You was a movie that I definitely had to
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: consider for my top five. I'm glad you considered it
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: because I think it's worth discussing. I think there's probably
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: a little bit of recency bias in my list because
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: that was very early this year. It's a good one.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: I gave it one quarter star less than you did
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: but still rated it very highly nice next up on
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: my list is the love heist and what i mean
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: by recency bias is if i were to compare the
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: love heist and the way to you i'm not sure
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: where you know i did rate the love heist lower
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: than i rated the way to you but I think
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: one of the things that I loved about the love
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: heist is the script is so snappy. There's some movie
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: quote banter where they're going back and forth on the line.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: It's like, have you never seen the movie? Because he
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: doesn't understand like any of her references, which I loved.
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: One of my favorite lines to come out of Hallmark
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: this year, I promise not to use your most vulnerable
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: moments against you. I mean, I'm going to needle point
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: that on a pillow. You should. Another thing I love.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: Their first kiss is almost interrupted, and he grabs her
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: and spins her back around and says, if you think
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: an interruption like that is going to stop me, top
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: five Hallmark kiss of all time. Lindsay Fonseca always delivers,
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: but she is unstoppable. At the top of her game
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: with her reactions and the movement she incorporates to her
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: character in this movie. That is one of those things
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: that's not on the page that is up to the
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: actor to bring. The chemistry in this is cute and
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: it's fun and it's playful. This aired near Texas Two-Step
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: and the chemistry in that movie is like real hot
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: and steamy. Yeah. And so those were a nice contrast,
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: I thought. And then nobody had to give up their
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: dream at the end and they both get to orbit
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: in the same space. This was a fun movie. And
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: if you missed it, all of these movies are worth
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: a rewatch. My final like is something that still stands
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: out to me when I think of this movie is
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: there's Nary a skinny jean in sight. She's wearing a
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: wide leg jean and she's wearing it well. Only we,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: only we would pick that up. We better see some
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: barrel jeans. Some wide leg jean representation. Yeah, how do
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: barrel jeans look on camera? They probably don't look great. No.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: Unless you're gen Z. You know what I mean? Where
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: you can wear them super baggy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: make that look work for you and not just look
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: like you're sloppy. As someone who has tried to photograph
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: an outfit, sometimes it's hard. I think barrel jeans look
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: best in motion. Oh, interesting. Unless good standing still. Okay.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: Hot takes. We love a barrel dream. Come listen to us.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: Wearing one right now from my favorite store, Walmart. The
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: W Boutique. Come listen to us on Patreon, guys. You're
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: missing out. Okay. Is this a hot take? The mysteries
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: lack this year? Yeah. With the exception of the return
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: of Garage Sale Mysteries. Who knew that you'd have a
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: new favorite mystery franchise? I'm so glad this made your list.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: It made my list because I think I'm a former
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: Lori Loughlin hater, too. Were you actually a Lori Loughlin hater?
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: Or in your mind, were you just like not a
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: Lori Loughlin fan? And so you're like, how good should
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: she be? How good could she be? She felt like
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: old school Hallmark to you.
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: Felt like old school Hallmark to me. Yes, you're right.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: And then all the whole college stuff, you know, kind
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: of put a dark cloud over everything. And I just
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: was like, I can't get excited.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: For Lori Loughlin. You know, I gotta say, I think
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: we might be outliers in our willingness to forgive her. Oh,
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: I'm forgiven. I know. I know. She went to jail.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: It's fine. She paid her due to society. I agree
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: with you, but I think people are like, why are
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: we giving this criminal another chance? I don't know, maybe
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: it's the bleeding heart liberal in me that is like
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: exactly what you said. She paid her dues. We got
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: bigger fish to fry out in the world, people. Plenty
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: of people who have not paid their dues. So yeah, anyway,
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: I've seen a lot of takes on her return. And
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: I think not everybody is as willing to welcome her
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: back to the network. But I will tell you that
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: based on the engagement that we get on our garage
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: sale mysteries-based posts on social media, I think a lot
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: of people are pretty happy to have Lori Loughlin back.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: So I don't know what that says.
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: Really, this movie surprised me on so many levels.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: And you went back and watched another one.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: I watched the first one. I will watch more, definitely.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: It's just now we're headed into a very busy season.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: In January. In January, yeah. Maybe I'm going to do that.
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: I was so stunned at the chemistry between Lori Loughlin
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: and Steve Basic. And Steve Basic, wowie zowie, like came
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: out of nowhere.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: I've seen him in a ton of movies before, but
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: it was this role that I was like, oh, hello. Yeah,
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: because the Steve Basic that I picture is the Steve
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: Basic from It's Time for Him to Come Home for Christmas,
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: which is a very wounded character.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: And he is not wounded in Garage Sale Mysteries. He's like,
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: you know, aging like a fine wine. Yeah. Loves his wife.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: Yes!
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: Makes some, you know, Hallmark-approved innuendos.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I just, I really enjoyed it. I gave it 4.75 stars.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: I'm really excited. I hope they make another one next year.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I really liked it a lot. The final movie
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: in my top five is The Spirit of Halloween, a
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: movie that we just reviewed. And I don't think this
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: is recency bias, me saying that this deserves a spot
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: in the top five. I rated it 4.75 stars, as
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: did you. I think more Halloween from Hallmark, please, because
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: we've seen it done well in the past few years.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: I don't need more Halloween.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: I just need one consistent Halloween. great Halloween movie a year.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: One is enough. That's what I agree with you. I
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: don't want a season of Halloween movies. No. But it's
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: only in the past few years that we've really done this.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: I mean, it was October Kiss and then it was
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: a Halloween dry spell for years. Years. And then I
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: do think Haunted Wedding kind of brought it back. Jeff
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: Beasley movie. Yeah, and Haunted Wedding isn't really a Halloween movie,
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: but I guess Autumn at Apple Hill that year was,
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: that's another good one. I've already watched Autumn at Apple
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: Hill this year. I love that movie with Wes Brown, yeah.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: Aaron Cahill, such a fun movie. The movie is at
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: its best when the ghosts are roasting Everly. The three
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: ghosts are so fun. Megan Ori and Kevin McGarry were
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: a surprise chemistry pairing for me. Jeff Beasley and the
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: way he manipulates a ensemble cast, Nicole Baxter and her
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: writing of this script. When Tracy says, set me ablaze
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: and he can put me out, it's so fun. It
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: is so fun. And it's a movie that has depth
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: and heart because really it's about Everly realizing that losing
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: her ability to... By being afraid to invest in these
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: relationships because she has been hurt in the past, she's
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: not only hurting the people around her, she's missing being
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: the kind of person who invests in those people. Like,
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: it's got depth. I agree. Made my list, too. Let's
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: talk honorable mentions. Okay. A movie that came with a
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: little bit of controversy. Indeed. And I think people might have,
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: you know.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: Saying that, I don't know how well this movie did. One,
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: because of the controversy. Two, because Hallmark didn't really promote
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: it because of that controversy.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah. It is all fair and love and mahjong. Yes.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: I really liked this movie. This, to me, was a
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: modern-day midlife Sex and the City. We got Melissa Peterman,
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: who was fan-freaking-tastic in this movie. Fiona Goldman was great.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: And I think maybe because of the stage of life
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: that she was in, I found it very relatable for
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: me as well.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: So it feels... personally.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: Relatable that way i love the subject of mahjong because
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: it's very popular.
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: Yes very of the moment of the moment have you
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: played lately no because i don't have anybody to play with.
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: No okay let's fix that in 2027 we're gonna fix
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: that in 20 i'm gonna get myself in a class
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: and figure out how to play and then we're gonna
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: start our own little group my library has a.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: Mahjong night i might go That's fun. Am I going
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: to be the only person showing up there by myself?
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: They're doing a lesson. Interestingly enough, they're doing a free
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: lesson there taught by the same people who I paid
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: $ 80 for my first lesson for. Oh, wow. I was like, oh,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: maybe I'll go for a refresher because Mahjong is complicated.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: And then my mom plays. And I'm so jealous because
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: my mom has this deep... She has a book club.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: She has a group of ladies she plays cards with.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: Now she has a Mahjong group. I'm like, I want that.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: Great question for you. You have a bunco club. I
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: don't think they would want to do it.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: My question is, do you feel like you're missing out
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: in like a consistent ladies night connection sort of experience?
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: No, you make a good point. Maybe it's just like
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: a guest can't have it all. I don't know. I
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: don't know. It is a good question that you ask,
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: and I don't know the answer. I think we're going
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: to talk about it on What's Good. Okay. Would it
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: surprise you to know that in terms of the way
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: our podcast review episodes performed, All's Fair in Love and
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: Mahjong is the number one listened to movie ever. episode
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: in 2026 it's what it's the number one downloaded episode
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: from all of 2026 for the entire year not we're
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: taking out the way home the way home and the
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: way home listener mailbag blows everything out of the water
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: that is our number one listen to.
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: Product but fair and love and mahjong is the number
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: one to date correct Really?
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: Do you want to know the top five movies listened
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: to in 2026? This is our behind-the-scenes podcast stats. Don't
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: give the numbers, but just tell us. Absolutely not. Number one.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: All's Fair in Love and Mahjong. Wow. Floored. Which is
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: the only movie, by the way, that comes in ahead
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: of a few Way Home episodes. I'm floored. Which includes
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: a couple, like, listen, little mirror bags. Anyway, next up,
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: this is also going to surprise you, I think. Best
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: Served Cold, a Hannah Swenson mystery. Shocked. Those Hannah Swenson
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: fans ride hard for this. Number three from us, Lost
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: in Paradise. Wow. Number four, People We Meet on Vacation,
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: which is a Netflix movie. And number five, The Greek Isle. Wow.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: And then just really quickly, the next five are Texas Two-Step,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: Kentucky Roses, A Melbourne Match, The Love Heist, and I'll
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: Be Seeing You. Wow. Isn't that interesting? Yeah. The top
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: five premiere night ratings, number one, Romance at Hope Ranch.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: Number two, Lost in Paradise. Number three, Caught by Love.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: I think there's the Rachel Lee Cook effect is something
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: that we might overlook a little bit. Number four is
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: The Way to You. And number five is Missing the Boat.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: So I do agree with you about All's Fair in
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: Love and Mahjong. While it was controversial, and we do
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: discuss that in our review, I thought the movie itself
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: was quite well done. It was a fun watch. Melissa
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: Peterman is a damn delight. The actual Ronnie Rice, who
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: the movie is based on, does have a cameo. Again,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: this was the movie that made me book my first
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: Mahjong lesson. I have a question for you. Yeah. I'm
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: kind of surprised. Well, okay.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: There's a couple of movies that scenes, there are scenes
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: in the movies that stand out to me as being
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: like great scenes.
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: And like the movie, but like didn't make the top
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: five list, right?
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So first one for me is Much About Love.
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: Is that what it's called? The Ashley Williams movie? Yes.
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: Also was a movie that I had on my radar.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: But that scene that they do with the overhead and
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: with the drawing on that, that was so good. And
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: then we actually learned it was her husband who was
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: sitting in on that scene. And it's based off of a.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: Real moment between the two of them. Yes. Excellent. Love
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: that scene.
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: Absolutely devoted to you when Jesse What's-His-Face jumps out to
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: do that performance at the end.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: Yes. Hotter than July or whatever the song was. Also great.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: A great scene. What's his name, Jesse What? Metcalf.
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I really liked that and how great. That was
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: such a great scene.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: Lost in Paradise was really funny with Ian Harding. And Lacey.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: And James Trevena. Yeah, being on that beach, there were
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: great scenes there. Can I remind you of the Lifetime movie,
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: When I Said I Do, that we reviewed, which wouldn't
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: have been eligible for our top five, but there's a
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: great fight scene in that movie. Yeah. With Sarah Drew. Yeah.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: There were some real memorable moments this year. Overall, how
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: do you.
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: Think Hallmark did this year? For movies this year. You
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: know what I think was a big stinker? Was the
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: Christmas in July.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: Agreed. And I think we talked about it at the time,
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: but I think that was a case of filling space.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: You know, two of those movies, though, had aired on
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: other networks. Yeah. You know, it was... I think the
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: Vanessa Lenge's Marcus Rossner movie was the standout. Yes, agree.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: But the others... It was a real... Womp womp of
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: a Christmas in July. And I'd rather not have it
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: at all. Me too. You know, don't feed me trash.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: Just re-air classic Christmas movies all month long. People are
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: going to watch them. Yeah, totally.
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: And finally, a couple of things. You know, of course,
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: we wrapped up The Way Home.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: And if you didn't know, The Way Home season four
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: just dropped on Netflix.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Yes. You should see the spike in our downloads right now. Welcome, friends.
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: Paris is Always a Good Idea was fantastic over on
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: Hallmark Plus.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Agreed. Hope Valley really surprised me on Hallmark Plus. A
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: real surprise. I thought we were going to have to
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: slog through those reviews. And now here I am looking
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: forward to it. Yeah, same. I don't know why, though.
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: I should have trusted Bethany Joy Lenz and Benjamin Ayers
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: to bring me something totally watchable. And we have some
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: exciting stuff for 2027. Indeed.
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: A new series that we're looking forward to. So I
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: think Hallmark overall, 2026, I think they were still trying
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: to like figure their stuff out a little bit with
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: all the changes happening over there in terms of like leadership.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: They were coming off the launch of Hallmark Plus. Things
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: didn't really go the way they wanted. They were trying
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: to course correct. I do think 2026 was a much
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: stronger year from Hallmark. than the previous years. I'm really
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: looking forward, honestly, to the Countdown to Christmas season. I mean,
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: talk to me Friday after Thanksgiving and we'll see how
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: I feel. But I think there's a lot to look
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: forward to. I said in our First Impressions episode of
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: the Countdown to Christmas season, all three of those episodes
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: are out if you haven't listened, that I was viewing
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: the season with rose-colored glasses because I'm looking forward to it. Obviously,
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: I'm a Christmas season lover. But even... You know, as
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: more comes out, I'm still feeling that way about it. Like,
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: the bloom is not off the Hallmark rose yet for me.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: For Christmas? Yeah. We're just starting. I know. Okay. Hey,
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: thanks for listening to this episode of Girls Gone Hallmark.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: If you love this podcast, we love your five-star ratings
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: and reviews, just like we gave some of these movies
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: five stars. So drop them in the Apple Podcast app.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: It is genuinely helpful as a discovery tool for people
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: finding new podcasts. And we'll be back next time with
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: more Hallmark reviews. Goodbye. Bye. All right, friends, before we go,
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: just a quick heads up. You're about to hear some ads.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: These little gems help us keep the show running and
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: the Hallmark love flowing. So do with that info what
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: you will. Grab a snack, hit the skip button, or maybe,
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: just maybe, listen in and discover your new favorite product. Bye.