TheBigDave

Has anyone else been watching Hallmark Channel's Countdown to Christmas? It's been non-stop Christmas movies since Thanksgiving week.

The movies are schmaltzy paint-by-numbers flicks. But they're enjoyable to watch this time of year. I love to just let it play all day while I work.

I think November Christmas has been my favorite. I also liked A Very Merry Mix-up, Help For The Holidays, and Angels Sing.

whotony

No.

Flatlander

I have to admit that I always enjoy them. So cheesy but for some reason it helps me get in the mood. That November Christmas gets me every damn time!

PhantomStranger

I liked that A Very Merry Mix-Up as well. I am always interested to see what once-relevant actors are now showing up as supporting characters in these movies.

mphtrilogy

The Anne Heche one was good, and the Candace Cameron burn one was also pretty good

GoldenJCJ

My wife watches these movies as well as the ones on the ABC Family Channel (are they the same movies?). I can't stand them but it is interesting seeing actors that the world has forgotten about turn up. It seems every one of these has at least a couple has-been actors in them.

Bluelitespecial

I dont have cable, but have become a fan of the Christmas movies shown on Ion Television. Some my favorites have been the Golden Christmas series, A Christmas Kiss, and the pretty cheesy Christmas Twister. I dont think Casper Van Dien had these movies in mind after making Starship Troopers.

Inhumans99

I watched them all (and have been doing so for the past several years), in fact, I watch so many Hallmark, UP, Ion, etc., network films, that I created a what is the last TV film thread to mention these films on DVD Talk. I find many of them to be guilty pleasures, although some are a real chore to get through due to the story/acting sometimes being really bad, even taking into account that we are talking about the Hallmark Channel, compared to say AMC or HBO.

xraybies

The Nine Lives of Christmas starring former Superman Brandon Routh, it was cheesy as hell but like a car wreck I was compelled to watch.

PhantomStranger

I didn't mind that one.

Patman

Whew, I thought I was the only one that watched "The Nine Lives of Christmas"... Ambrose was an awesome cat.

TheBigDave

I just watched this. It was a decent Rom/Com. Better than most of the made-for-TV Hallmark Channel flicks. But I was disappointed that it wasn't really a Christmas movie. There were Christmas decorations in the background. Other than that, it didn't have anything to do with the holidays.

I felt the same about A Royal Christmas and A Cookie Cutter Christmas. They just took standard Rom/Com scripts and added Christmas decorations to the sets.

PhantomStranger

That is a common formula, set a romance around the holidays without using any specific Christmas themes except the general time period.

A very touching Christmas movie getting aired is Signed, Sealed, Delivered For Christmas. It's a genuine Christmas movie and zigs when you expect the script to zag. The script is probably good enough to have been turned into an actual theatrical movie.

TheBigDave

I liked that one too. While watching it I was thinking the overall premise would make a good TV series. I looked it up and turns out it's already a Hallmark Channel show. I might check out a couple episodes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signed,...28TV_series%29
http://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysterie...aled-delivered

PhantomStranger

A Starry Christmas is great if you like Sarah Carter. I think this must be a new 2014 movie, I hadn't seen it before.

Bluelitespecial

I started watching the Nine Lives of Christmas on youtube, and its actually really good. I started looking to see if its on dvd, and it was only available as a Walmart exclusive this Christmas, then found it listed on Amazon for over $50. Hopefully it will be more widely available next year.

joliom

I ended up watching all of these over the holidays:


Hitched for the Holidays (2012)
Snow Bride (2013)
One Starry Christmas (2014)
The Nine Lives of Christmas (2014)
The Christmas Shepherd (2014)
Christmas Under Wraps (2014)
The Christmas Parade (2014)


No complaints about any of them. I thought they were all good and about what you'd expect from Hallmark Christmas movies.

Strapped4Cash

I haven't seen any Hallmark movies, but was asked to look for a decent price on the DVD of A Royal Christmas and was surprised. It seems a recent release that is already oos everywhere but ebay and a few Amazon market sellers who want big bucks. Does anyone have any familiarity with Hallmark dvd's? Any idea as to whether more stock might be coming or if this was a very limited release that is permanently gone would be greatly appreciated.

Bluelitespecial

That is what I was saying about the Nine Lives of Christmas, and it being a Walmart exclusive on dvd. It might be the same thing with A Royal Christmas. I think it might be repackaged with other movies next year, or be more widely available such as on Amazon.

TheBigDave

I think there were 4 Walmart-exclusive DVDs:

A Royal Christmas
Nine Lives Of Christmas
Cookie Cutter Christmas
Signed, Sealed, Delivered For Christmas

They were also available at Vudu.

TheBigDave

That was Christmas Under Wraps. I watched that last night and it was really good.

PhantomStranger

I loved that movie, I would probably buy it on Blu-ray if available.

Strapped4Cash

Thanks very much for the info and help from Bluelitespecial & TheBigDave . I'd already checked Wal Mart, but after hearing this I tried harder and located it here:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/40605990?w...tRedirect=true

I wish that there was a way to know if it was going to be repackaged, more widely released, etc. or if it's now gone for good. But I'm glad to at least have gotten this info, thanks again!

Bluelitespecial

I looked into some these movies a little bit more, and I dont think they will be OOP for good. They all aired for the first time on tv this year, and if they are hits in the ratings. They will find their way to dvd next year. That has been the trend I notice with made for tv christmas movies, I have collected them on DVD for several years now.

Strapped4Cash

Thanks again for the additional thoughts and info Bluelitespecial. I'd definitely like to believe these will be back in print (especially the one my friend wants). The Amazon mp sellers already are over $60 w/shipping, which is absurd. Maybe for a dvd 10 years oop. Since WM doesn't have a place to ask if customers want to be e-mailed then I'm guessing they're done, but hopefully, as you say, some of these will be popular enough to get a new printing and/or be included in a compilation.