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Hello everyone.
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Welcome to the Forever Hallmark Christmas Podcast.
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We are a movie review podcast where we talk about Hallmark Christmas movies.
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As always, my good friend is here with me, Rich.
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How are you today?
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I'm doing good, Renee.
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We're living the uh the Hallmark dream.
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We're we're into fall.
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It doesn't feel like fall.
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I went looking for Christmas decorations yesterday, popped into Hobby Lobby, and uh the Hallmark store right next right next to it.
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I come outside, it's 103 degrees out, and uh yeah, not not feeling like like fall, that's for sure.
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Yeah, it's been uh very, very hot week.
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100 degrees pretty much every day.
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And it as the crow flies, I only live like seven miles from the ocean.
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It's like, how is it 103 degrees here?
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But uh it is what it is in October.
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Well, let's get right into this.
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Uh this week I picked Next Stop Christmas from 2021, starring Lindsay Fonseca as Angie Reynolds.
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Uh she was in uh the this year's Bears Love Story, which might be exciting for a lot of people.
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I'm ready, I'm excited for it.
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She's been in quite a few movies.
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Uh Chandler Massey as Ben Lee.
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Um he's been in quite a few movies with Tale of Two Christmases, Mystic Christmas, and a few other things.
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It's a really cool supporting cast with uh Leah Thompson as Evelyn and Christopher Lloyd as the ticket agent slash conductor.
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You might remember them from Back to the Future.
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I certainly do.
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A lady by the name who I wasn't too familiar with of Erica Slezak as Aunt Mert.
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She was a very interesting character.
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Uh this movie is directed by uh Dustin Reichart.
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He did this year's uh or last year's Bill's Love Story, which was a fun movie that I liked more than Rich liked, but it's a good movie.
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And uh this was written by Carrie Drake and Dwayne Poole.
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Now Dwayne Poole wrote A Timeless Christmas, and so that was one I think we reviewed if I recall.
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Yeah, he had he had the story for a timeless Christmas.
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Uh Ron Oliver came in and did a rewrite for it.
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Uh yeah, unfortunately, uh Dwayne Poole passed away in 2023.
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He he was in the middle of writing a movie Holiday Hotline.
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When he passed uh away, Julie Sherman Wolf came in and finished the uh the script off.
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But yeah, he was really popular amongst the Hallmark writing community.
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So um, yeah, we lost him back in 2023.
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Oh, I was not aware of this.
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I'm sorry to hear that.
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Well uh he left us with a nice movie.
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Uh the FHC log line for this movie is excuse me, a woman heading home for Christmas accidentally boards a magical train that sends her 10 years into the past, giving her a chance to rethink the choices that shaped her life, including the guy who may have been right in front of her all along.
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We could all certainly use this opportunity, I think, sometimes.
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So uh this movie has a pretty good high MDB rating of 7.0.
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Again, our average is 6.4.
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Yep, really good.
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And really eager to hear this from you this week.
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Uh, let's hear some fun facts.
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Yeah, so we uh you know, we say so often that a movie uh is shot in Canada.
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Well, this one was not, it was actually shot in the good old United States of America in the state of Connecticut in the summer of 2021.
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And the working title at the time was The Christmas Train.
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Um this is the seventh movie in which Christopher Lloyd and Leah Thompson, excuse me, Leah Thompson, have both co-starred.
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Of course, we have a little back to the future uh connection there with this movie.
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And if you're wondering about the train featured in this movie, it was the Essex uh Steam Train.
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It's a real train, it's a sightseeing train that if you're in Connecticut, you can go and take a scenic ride on.
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And during Christmas, it becomes the North Pole Express.
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Uh, I read an interview with Chandler Massey about this movie, and Renee he said his dad's favorite movie growing up was Back to the Future.
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So he was really excited that Chandler Massey was doing this movie.
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And Renee, it makes me feel very old because growing up, Back to the Future was also one of my favorite movies.
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So uh in that same interview, Chandler Massey also teased that Hallmark should turn the next stop idea into a franchise with next stop Halloween, next stop Easter.
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And I thought that sounded like a really fun concept that he had.
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Who knows?
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Maybe someday someday we'll see that kind of stuff.
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Uh, first Hallmark Christmas movie for both Lindsay Fonseca and Chandler Massey.
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And Hallmark actually has a one-minute behind-the-scenes video about this movie.
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And you do a little googling, you can find that on the Hallmark channel.
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And it'll some interviews with the actors and, like I say, a little uh behind the scenes about Next Stop Christmas.
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Uh, in terms of ratings, uh, 40 Hallmark Christmas movies in 2021, which is a great year.
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I mean, Unexpected Christmas, uh Kiss Before Christmas, a whole bunch of others uh in there.
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Uh this movie was tied for seventh uh out of the 40 in 2021.
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And I've said it before, if you're looking for like the top 100 Hallmark Christmas movies of all time, there's only one list you need to look at.
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That's Joe the Christmas aficionado.
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And he has this ranked number 81 all time, which kind of puts it around the top 15% of all the Hallmark uh Christmas movies in history.
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So I think that's pretty fair.
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And I'm gonna give a shout-out to our friends Gary Navy from Poor the Wine, it's rom com time.
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Um, they did a review of this exact movie back in May of 2026.
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Uh so after you listen to this one, go and listen to their review as well, and you can kind of see how different podcasters see different movies.
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And yeah, those are the fun facts.
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Yeah, I'll definitely go listen to them this week.
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Uh, I really like their reviews, so I can't wait to listen to that one.
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Rich, let's hear your overall thoughts on this movie.
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Yeah, I thought it was a fun, light-hearted movie, uh, easy kind of watch.
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I I kind of said, okay, how can I put this in a in a comp to some other movies?
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I got kind of vibes of Back to the Future Meets Polar Express, meets the Christmas Carol, or Christmas Carol.
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So that was kind of the vibe I got about it.
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But good acting, good directing.
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Uh, I really like the visuals, really good cinematography.
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In the end, I I really enjoyed the first 76 of the 84 minutes, although we'll talk about it as we go along.
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I do have some serious issues with the final
eight minutes of this movie, but all in all, a pretty good watch.
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Yeah, I thought this movie was very light.
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Number one, which I needed after last week's heavy movie, uh, though it was a great movie.
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And it was very funny.
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I mean, I was I really enjoyed this.
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I was laughing out loud so many times, and Lindsay was such a she has really good comedic acting, and her facial expressions are great, and it was such an easy watch.
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Um it was fun.
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If you were in in are in for a mood for something light and fun and enjoyable, again, we'll talk about that ending, but uh this is a one definitely to check out.
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Yeah, for sure.
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Give me some things uh we really liked about this movie.
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I'm I'm a sucker for uh for a good train ride, and I loved all the train scenes in this movie.
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I thought they were really well done.
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Um Christopher Lloyd and Leah Thompson, obviously, you and I both being Gen Xers, uh, those go back to kind of our past back when we're growing up.
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So it was great to see the two of them in a movie together.
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Uh, another one of uh this was number eight, I believe they'd done seven or eight.
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Uh the time travel Christmas magic was a lot of fun in this movie.
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Uh for the most part, I thought it was done pretty well uh throughout most of the movie.
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I like the real world stuff in this, very human stuff.
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Uh Kristen and Peter struggling to conceive their second child.
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Yeah.
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Uh Evelyn and George having issues adjusting to becoming empty nesters.
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I think that's those are real issues that people go through in life.
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And I think they they intertwine those kind of storylines very well into the movie.
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And I always talk uh when I we have some good youthful actors in a movie.
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Lindsay Fonseca was 34 years old when this movie uh was filmed, Chandler Massey, 31 years old.
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So I love seeing the youth in this movie.
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Uh a whole bunch of like, but those are some of the ones.
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I really like the I'm gonna go a little bit more specifics, like when the she's at the ticketing booth to buy a ticket, and uh Christopher Lloyd said to Angie, and he goes, You know what they say?
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The magic of Christmas will find you wherever you are.
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And she goes, and she replies, Oh, is that what they say?
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I thought that was such a funny interaction, but more importantly, Christmas magic.
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We love it.
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And like when Lindsay says, Oh, you know, when he says, Oh, I'm from the future, and he goes, And you're here to terminate me.
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Yeah, that was great.
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I thought that was so funny, and like you, I loved all the lovely shots of the train going through the snowed forest.
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Really, really nice.
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And you know, there's a Christmas tree lot scene, as you know.
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I love those.
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Um here are I'm really eager to hear this.
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What are some things uh we'd fix in a rewrite?
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Yeah, I have a feeling you and I are both gonna have a little uh something to say here.
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But I'll go through okay, I'll get through a few just things I think needed to be added first before I get to the big uh the big thing I want to talk about in this movie, which was the final eight minutes.
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But first of all, I think Hallmark really dropped the ball on this one.
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We needed a scene with Leah Thompson and Christopher Loy together.
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Um this is they're obviously selling the back to the future connection here.
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Give me a 10 or 15 seconds where they walk by one another.
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Maybe she's out, you know, shopping or whatever, and he's at the train station, they pass each other and give each other a quick little look.
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Like, who are you?
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Who are you again?
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Like, do we know each other kind of thing?
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I think that was a uh they dropped the ball on that.
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I think we needed that in the movie for sure.
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Uh, it would have been something really easy to add in if you could have made their uh their acting schedules work.
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I'm sure they were maybe in you know different scenes at different times in terms of the filming, but they had to get that in there.
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Um we'll talk about the mistletoe meter here, but for me, they needed one big kiss at the end of the movie.
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And for me, it would have been like in that last 10-15 seconds as the two of them were walking to their train down the platform.
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They should have been doing a big walking kiss, and then you still kind of flash the Christopher Lloyd, you know, pulls the newspaper down and kind of winks at the camera.
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That absolutely should have been in there as well.
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Um, that would have been a great way to end the movie because I was a little uh disappointed in the overall kiss uh towards the end of the movie, and that would have been a great way to end it.
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And now let's get to the last eight minutes, Renee, because this is where I really struggled, and I I shot you a text after I watched it.
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I said, Renee, I don't want to sound like an idiot here, so you have to tell me, is it just me or was the last eight minutes of this movie completely confusing?
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And you go, no, it was it was confusing, all right.
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So we had to rewrite the so I was very confused as is how the last eight minutes of this movie played out.
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Um I basically we're supposed to believe you know they're not gonna see each other for 10 years, or they're not, you know, that's when they're gonna meet again in the restaurant to see whatever happens.
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Uh, he knows it's for real.
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He's he kind of he's kind of the train disappear there, so he understands the future thing.
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He's a believer.
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But then when they do finally meet in the restaurant, 10 years later, it seems like they've basically been together this entire time.
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Although for some reason she doesn't remember any of it.
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And if they have been together for 10 years, we're supposed to believe they wouldn't already be engaged or married.
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I it just the whole thing felt very disjointed, unorganized.
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It's almost like the writers kind of got the first 76 minutes of the movie they wanted to, didn't know how to finish it off at the end, and just kind of threw it in there.
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But to me, it made absolutely no sense.
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Yeah, to piggyback on that, like, you know, number one, like you want she's like two hours late.
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And like, isn't the restaurant closing?
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They were packing up.
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I think they would why wouldn't they have not been kicked out?
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Number one.
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No way on Christmas Eve.
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At first, you know, I was like, no way do you wait two hours on Christmas Eve for someone?
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I didn't connect yet that you know, I guess they had been together.
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You know, at first I was like, have they been dating this whole time?
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It didn't seem like they lived together because they said, When's the last time I saw you?
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You know, dinner on Tuesday.
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So not this morning or something like that.
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But this this ending was so confusing to me.
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I guess they were together.
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That was not clear for how long, maybe 10 years, maybe I don't know how long.
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Yeah, well, but when she had the call with the family, I mean, obviously, they're all of course, you know, Ben, like like you of course you guys are together.
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I mean, they kind of made it feel that way without spoiling it, but yeah, I don't know.
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Yeah, so okay.
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I thought like like like you said, 10 years, they wouldn't have you wouldn't have proposed by then.
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I just was like, what's going on here?
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And like they just wrapped this up too quickly and oddly for me.
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I hate to say it, but this whole ending needed a whole rewrite, like completely, just to make it make a little bit more sense.
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Uh 100%.
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And in and I think with any time travel movie, it is hard.
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It's it's difficult to uh to make everything working.
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You have to have some suspension of disbelief, but the way this ended was just it was just the way bonkers just made no sense.
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Yeah, it was unfortunate because otherwise it's a really funny movie.
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And I have one little thing, and it is so dumb, but you know me, I have an eye for dumb little things.
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Sure.
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When Evelyn says to Hendrik, you get to hang the first ornament on the tree, and then the next shot is him placing the ornament next to an already placed ornament.
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I said to myself, What the hallmark is going on here?
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Come on, get that one right.
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That's an easy one.
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Easy, easy, easy.
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There was our he literally hangs it next to another ornament.
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I'm like, oh man.
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And I'm I'm gonna put it out with it.
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That was like the saddest looking Christmas tree I've ever seen when they did the big light reveal.
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It's like Yeah, it was.
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Hallmark does a really good job with their with their balsam hill and their Christmas trees.
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This just did not look good.
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Well, what is your favorite moment?
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So I like the scene at Aunt Mert's party.
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I just thought it was a lot of fun.
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Of course, we have you know, they're they're they're trying to get their parents back together and and uh you know rekindle that spark that they once had.
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Uh it goes full circle to them, you know, meeting for the first time.
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Everyone's there, everyone has a good time.
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Uh Leah Thompson looks absolutely incredible.
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I mean, even George, George wearing that suit.
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I mean, yeah.
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Everyone having a great time.
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Every all the different uh supporting characters are there.
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It was just a fun, fun party.
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That's my favorite scene.
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Mine, you know, as I was watching this, nothing stood out as like an absolute favorite moment for me.
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So I picked one Angie calls home towards the end, and everyone is there.
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Yep.
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The dad, the new niece.
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It wrapped up happily.
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The family was together.
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I was very happy to see that.
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To me, this that was the real happy ending of the movie.
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Everybody together, the family, the new baby.
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That to that was just such a nice, wholesome, warm-hearted feeling when I saw that.
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That was my favorite moment.
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I just love that scene.
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I wonder if we agree on this one.
00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:57.679
I gotta believe we do, but best supporting character who deserved more screen time.
00:13:57.919 --> 00:13:59.039
Is it Brutus a dog?
00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:00.080
Or I don't know.
00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:01.679
Uh I you know.
00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:05.360
I love Brutus, but that was not my pick.
00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:06.559
It wasn't mine either.
00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:09.759
Um, okay, so I I started looking around.
00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:14.320
There is a really big connection between Hallmark movies and the musical Wicked.
00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:27.039
Um, you know, Jenna Claire Mason, uh Patty Muren, Derek Clenna, Jordan Litz, and the supporting character I picked who I wanted more cream time, uh actress is named Allie Tim.
00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:29.200
And she played the role of Chloe.
00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:35.759
And Allie Trim just finished up a run on Broadway as Glinda in Wicked in uh April of this year.
00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.360
So uh I really liked the role of Chloe.
00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:42.799
Um, she was just really obnoxious.
00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:49.919
Um she every scene she was in, it just made me kind of giggle, kind of laugh, put a smile on my face, and I wanted more of her.
00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:52.879
And then we always say best supporting character who deserved more screen time.
00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:55.679
I wanted more screen time from Chloe, so that's who I'm going with.
00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:56.480
Yeah, exactly.
00:14:56.720 --> 00:14:58.240
Same thing, Chloe.
00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:01.200
Um, yeah, she's a the total theater actress.
00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:02.639
I looked up her credits, I was impressed.
00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:09.440
Not much uh on the you know, on the small screen or big screen, but her character was so insane and so crazy.
00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:11.919
Uh, I love crazy girl characters like her.
00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.480
She was just so awesome and made me laugh.
00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:19.600
She literally, I I wanted more screen time, screen time with her.
00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:22.559
I just loved her character so much, it was great.
00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:24.320
You pretty much said it all.
00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:24.879
Yep.
00:15:25.120 --> 00:15:30.480
Well, I'm sure we have I had a few things here, but uh, what are some of our are we sure's?
00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:40.480
Yeah, so the first one is uh when Angie gets kind of that golden ticket for the train and she hands it to the train ticket guy down on the platform, he's just like, Oh, I never seen a sport before before.
00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:41.759
Sure, hop on.
00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:43.039
I mean, are we sure?
00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:46.320
I mean, uh, New York train security's pretty tight.
00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:50.080
Uh, are we sure this guy would just say, Yeah, just get on the train, even though I've never seen this ticket before?
00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:51.200
I I don't think so.
00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:52.960
That was my first one as well.
00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:53.600
Yep.
00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:54.399
Yeah.
00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:58.080
Are we sure that George would go on a solo mission to find a tree?
00:15:58.159 --> 00:16:08.639
Now, now look, I get it that he and his wife are kind of drifting apart and he likes his alone time, but I mean, his daughter Angie's home for the first time, they're going tree shopping, something that they've done before.
00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:13.759
I don't think he does goes off on his own to find his own tree in that moment.
00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:14.480
Yeah.
00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:19.840
Um, and then my last one here is Tyler, who's a great character as well.
00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:29.120
Do we think are we sure that Tyler would think that bolting for Barcelona on one day's notice while he's there meeting her family would ever be a good idea?
00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:32.000
I mean, the dude's just asking to get dumped, Renee.
00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:34.399
I mean, uh, those are my are we sure.
00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:39.120
You know, he was one, like, well, you know, we've seen some characters where like, we're happy that they got dumped.
00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:44.960
I mean, I
wasn't necessarily upset that I wasn't, you know, happy that Tyler got dumped, but okay.
00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:50.320
Like, well, would Tyler absolutely not lose it when Angie dumps him before the trip to Barcelona?
00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:57.440
Understandably so, but they just got engaged, and like he's like, okay, walks off with even looks back and smiles at her.
00:16:57.519 --> 00:16:58.639
I'd be like, What?
00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:00.960
I would have been so mad.
00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:03.120
Even for a ring and everything, yeah.
00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:08.079
Yeah, even if I was wrong in like saying, hey, a day's notice, go to Barcelona on Christmas, that's insane.
00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:10.319
But like, I'd still be pretty darn mad.
00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:15.839
I don't I do not get how that tells me he didn't really care for her that much because he wasn't that mad.
00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:16.880
He should have been.
00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:23.359
And we've brought this up before, but are we sure Angie and Tyler would not have been sleeping in the same bedroom?
00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:23.839
Yeah.
00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:26.640
I mean, they've been longtime boyfriend and girlfriend, right?
00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:28.160
Now it's some engaged.
00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:31.839
I that was seemed silly, but we've talked about that before.
00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:32.880
So sure.
00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:34.720
This is kind of a moot point.
00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:36.960
Would the lead couple last 12 months?
00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:40.640
I guess well, I guess we'll they will they make it through their engagement, we want to say.
00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:43.039
And uh whether however we want to put it, I said sure.
00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:47.119
You know, it looks uh he uh she's a a doctor, he's a lawyer, they have really good chemistry.
00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:49.359
They had their first kiss at 11 years old.
00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:54.160
Um, so yeah, these these guys are gonna make it, they're gonna have a really good marriage.
00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:58.079
Uh and yeah, uh Angie and Ben are in it for the long haul.
00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:03.200
Yeah, they they've already been together for 10 years and probably longer in in love, so for sure.
00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:06.720
I have been waiting for this one this week.
00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:09.920
Let's rate the kiss A to F the mistletoe meter.
00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:11.440
So it was a really strange kiss.
00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:11.680
Okay.
00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:15.039
First of all, okay, I gave it a C.
00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:21.839
It's it's like their faces just mashed together for three to four seconds, and and that was it.
00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:27.200
And then I thought for sure we were gonna get another kiss after the proposal, but nope, no other kiss.
00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:29.119
That that was the only kiss we got.
00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:32.880
So they at least needed to have another kiss after he proposed to her.
00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:34.079
And then I've already said it.
00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:46.319
We needed a big kiss, the two of them walking to their train uh in the train station in that final scene of the movie, they're walking, they're passionately kissing, and then we get the little uh Christopher Lloyd uh train conductor giving a nod to the camera.
00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:47.759
That's how the movie should have ended.
00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:51.440
But all in all, I did not like this kiss, it just did nothing for me.
00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:52.720
It it got a C.
00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:55.119
You were nicer than I am gonna be.
00:18:55.359 --> 00:18:55.519
Wow.
00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:56.240
Wow, okay.
00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:58.000
Like this was hard to gauge.
00:18:58.079 --> 00:18:59.200
This was not a great kiss.
00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:05.119
I mean, he was surprised to get the kiss, and I was like, sure, like, okay, are they together, not together?
00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:09.279
But if they've been together all this time, still not a great kiss.
00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:14.880
And as soon as he she started kissing him, he should have engaged right away instead of acting surprised.
00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:15.279
Yeah.
00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:18.240
In either case, this kiss was lame.
00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:20.160
It's a D plus for me.
00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:22.079
I was not happy with it at all.
00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:25.759
Uh moving on, who or what won the movie?
00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:28.319
So for me, it's Lindsay Fonseca as Angy.
00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:29.599
Um, she was great.
00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:31.920
Uh, I kind of looked at her Hallmark history.
00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:38.079
Interestingly enough, she was she was in a non-Christmas Hallmark movie when she was 18 years old back in 2005.
00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:40.960
But this was her first uh role since then.
00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:45.680
So 16 years in between her first one and this movie in 2021.
00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:50.640
Uh obviously, her first lead role, uh we know was her first Hallmark Christmas movie, and she absolutely killed it.
00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:55.519
She was just so charismatic, so likable, great comedic timing.
00:19:55.759 --> 00:20:00.319
Uh, can't wait to watch her in the uh the holiday touchdown Bears love story here in a couple weeks.
00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:00.799
Oh, yeah.
00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:04.160
Uh Lindsay Fonseca, she is my MVP of the movie.
00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:04.799
Same.
00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:06.559
You pretty much said exactly what I was gonna say.
00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:07.359
She was so funny.
00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:10.160
I really enjoyed her acting, just hilarious.
00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:12.559
She really made me laugh many, many times.
00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:15.039
And I'm gonna say something kind of controversial.
00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:19.920
She might be giving for me, Jill Wagner, a run for her money.
00:20:20.079 -->
00:20:21.680
I just thought she was adorable.
00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:22.640
I really liked her.
00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:24.559
So that's I'm gonna leave that one there.
00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:25.200
All right.
00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:30.400
Only if Jill Wagner came back would she fully solidify her spot as number one for me.
00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:33.279
But you know, she's left Hallmark, so hopefully she comes back.
00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:36.240
Okay, Lindsay Fonseca or Bethany Joy Lindsey.
00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:36.960
Lindsay.
00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:38.160
Wow, okay.
00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:39.200
That's uh I know.
00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:42.240
I know that is that is uh rarefied air, Mary.
00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:45.440
I mean, that is that is a big time company when you put her next to BJL, but okay.
00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:50.960
I know, you know, if I watched a movie later today, I might switch that with Bethany.
00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:52.079
We'll see.
00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:58.319
So I had to think like, what am I gonna use for what are we gonna use for our overall movie rating?
00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:05.839
And I'm gonna say, how many time traveling trains do we give this movie on a scale of one to five?
00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:13.359
So 75 minutes in, I was ready to give this a 4.25 time traveling trains.
00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:19.279
But the last eight minutes of the movie, I had to knock it down a little bit because it just did not work for me.
00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:22.880
In the end, 4.0 time traveling.
00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:27.119
Excuse me, Renee, you gotta be time traveling trains for this one.
00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:28.880
A 4.0 is what I'm giving it.
00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:31.519
It is a tongue twister for sure.
00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:37.519
That ending really, really, you know, uh, it really bothered me.
00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:38.640
It was such a great movie.
00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:41.200
Otherwise, I'm gonna be a little bit harsher than you.
00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:42.720
I gave it a 3.75.
00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:47.039
I would have been with you at a 4.25 if the movie had ended better.
00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:49.680
A 3.75 time traveling trains.
00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:50.880
Still watch this movie.
00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:52.319
It's still worth the watch.
00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:53.680
I you'll really enjoy it.
00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:54.799
It's really, really funny.
00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:57.680
Just an unfortunate last eight minutes, as we've talked about.
00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:01.519
I mean, rewrite those uh last eight minutes, give us a better kiss.
00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:09.920
Um, when they're meeting in the restaurant, give us a one big kiss there in the train, walk into the train in the in those last couple seconds of the movie before the credits start rolling.
00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:12.960
And yeah, this is easily a 4.25, but you're you're right.
00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:13.279
Yeah.
00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:14.400
But still watch it.
00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:15.519
For sure, watch it, people.
00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:17.279
It's really, really enjoyable movie.
00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:18.400
Absolutely.
00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:21.119
And speaking of movies, what's our next movie, Rich?
00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:28.960
So, my last movie, Renee November Christmas, I picked arguably the most heavy emotional movie in Hallmark history.
00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:34.000
So I felt it is my duty to go the complete opposite with my next choice.
00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:36.720
And I'm I'm gonna pick a movie I think we've probably both seen.
00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:40.799
Every once in a while, I'll pick a movie that I have seen before because I just want to review it.
00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:45.200
And you know, now that we're reviewing these movies, looking at them a little differently, kind of breaking down everything.
00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:50.240
This is arguably one of the funniest, most lighthearted movies in Hallmark history.
00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:52.160
It has a huge fan following out there.
00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:54.079
We're going back to the year 2022.
00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:56.319
I can't call it a classic, it's only four years old.
00:22:56.480 --> 00:23:01.279
But Haul Out the Holly, Lacey Chabert, Wes Brown, that's the next movie.
00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:02.240
That is a good one.
00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:04.240
I think I just saw it within the last year.
00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:08.480
So uh I can't wait to watch this again with our critical eye.
00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:08.880
Yep.
00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:11.680
And uh, I'm very excited for this one in Lacey.
00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:12.079
Come on.
00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:14.480
It's kind of interesting in terms of our rating, Renee.
00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:16.880
This is way down there in terms of the IMDB rating.
00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:18.480
I mean way below average.
00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:23.680
Yet Hallmark fans, other podcasters, people that really follow Hallmark closely, they love this movie.
00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:34.079
So it's uh there's a big, interesting uh discrepancy between what this movie rates out to on IMDB versus I think what Hallmark fans think of it.
00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:36.400
So that'll be an interesting uh way to break it down.
00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:37.039
I can't wait.
00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:39.119
I can't wait to see where we end up with.
00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:41.359
So thank you for listening.
00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:52.720
Follow us on Instagram, uh, Forever Hallmark Christmas at Instagram, and you can email us at Forever Hallmark Christmas at gmail.com for the love of hallmark for the love of hallmark.