Change Your Image
eleanor-mendes
Reviews
The Secret Gift of Christmas (2023)
This reboot doesn't quite cut it
This seemed to be a reboot of 'A Gift Wrapped Christmas' and boy did it fall short.
I generally don't mind Meghan Ory, but her performance was such a disappointment. Her high pitched, sing-songy voice was grating. Meredith Hagner's delivery was much more believable and I found her character more endearing in the original movie.
The romantic relationship between Ory and Christopher Russell was a stretch. Where was the chemistry? Also, the feel-good, sisterly bond between Ory and Aria Publicover felt so forced.
Lastly, Costumes was a huge letdown, right along with Hair. YIKES! Meghan is quite beautiful, but they did her dirty.
I'm glad to be able to cross this off my list, but that's the only positive take-away. Skip this and watch the original Hallmark movie if you still can!
A Biltmore Christmas (2023)
Going to watch this every year!
Ugh, I love the two leads. They somehow have managed to make the usual over-the-top Hallmark emoting bearable and loveable!! How?? It's usually like listening to nails on a chalkboard, but not this movie. What a joy to see these two play off each other.
NGL, they are two of my favourite Hallmark-y actors. Why? Well, they are just both so good. She understands physical comedy so well and can also make me tear up. I guess I missed the One Tree Hill series when it originally aired, but will probably get to it now because of her.
The supporting cast also nailed it. Kudos to them, too! PS Costumes did a beautiful job!
Can't wait to watch this one year after year.
A December Bride (2016)
A laundry list of Movie DON'Ts!
Wow, I didn't think I could loathe a Hallmark Christmas movie, but here we are.
Let's begin with the main storyline. On what planet would anyone root for a lead who has no backbone? Also, let's talk about the extremely manipulative Aunty. Good grief, let's have her put on a sickly sweet voice and smile whilst she bullies her niece into making up with her fiance-stealing daughter. She never seemed to acknowledge that minor detail either. Layla doesn't seem to ever stick up for herself. She appears to let the Aunty, fiance-stealing cousin and dirtbag ex-fiance just walk all over her. Everything is Layla's fault!
The bitchy boss plotline coupled with the career hungry plotline seem quite typical of Hallmark, so you can credit my one star rating to those.
Casting felt way off, too. I am never a fan of filler-face. It will always be a distraction whether in a Hallmark movie or on any other show. Give me a natural face that can emote. I thought Jessica's delivery of Layla was quite one note. You can still knock it out of the park even with a terrible script. There are several other Hallmark movies that have managed some great leads who were given horrid scripts.
Lastly, the CrEaTiVE directing and editing choices tanked this one even more (if that's at all possible). Most of the scene transitions seemed off and whether they were written that way, shot that way or edited that way just didn't make sense. The scene where Seth unstraps the Christmas tree and tosses the strap over his car.... COME ON! There was a metal clasp thingy on the end. WHO WOULD TOSS THAT OVER THEIR CAR and he did that TWICE. Man alive! You could have blocked that scene any other way. She didn't need to be beside him. The tree didn't knock them both into each other. Sigh... I just can't anymore.
Bad, bad, bad.
The Christmas Heart (2012)
Not your typical Hallmark movie these days!
Wow, how refreshing to see something so "real" and completely different from typical Hallmark Christmas movies of this day and age.
From the heartbreaking storylines, the real snow dressing (and not the laughable use of snow blankets and snow machines), the practical wardrobe and sets, and the great casting (leads and day players). The emotional performances by Teri and Paul were lovely. The stunt scene with the car crash... just wow. Great timing, great editing.
The ending may have been the only typical ending for a Hallmark movie, but it just hit differently. I wish they'd model future Hallmark movies after the positive takeaways of this one. Great job by production.
A Maple Valley Christmas (2022)
Feel free to watch this whilst multi-tasking (doesn't deserve your full attention)
Rating this a 5/10 because of great locations and decent set dressing. Costumes could have used an alternate to that red dress - YIKES! Everything was fine and not the average over-the-top-Hallmark-Christmas-costume-y until that dress! I will always appreciate Andrew Walker in any Christmas movie, but Peyton's character was one of the worst. I don't want to watch a 40-something year old person behave horribly from start to finish. No thanks. She "redeems" herself far too quickly at the end (even for a Hallmark film) and I wasn't buying it. Once a brat, always a brat, especially if they are an older brat. I guess the script did Peyton dirty. Glad to cross this off my Hallmark list, but won't be rewatching any time, which is something I usually do with some of the better ones.