(And I'm not referring to all the Christmas baking & goodies! lol)
I slogged my way through my first Hallmark Christmas movie on Boxing Day -- "Project Christmas Wish." (It was on the W Network here in Canada, and aired on the Hallmark Channel in the U.S. on Dec. 20th.) Not my usual viewing fare. The incentive for watching, for me, was that parts of it were filmed in the town where my parents live (other parts in Winnipeg), with familiar, utilitarian storefronts spiffed up with elaborate Christmas lights & decorations (which nobody who lives there could ever afford...!). The niece of one of my best friends from high school was an extra in a Christmas market scene near the end.
(My sister's boyfriend does a lot of work with production companies making movies locally -- Manitoba is apparently known as the Hallmark movie-making capital -- and says the powers that be were very impressed with my parents' town as a shooting location. A couple of other movies have been made there in recent years, and this bodes well for more.)
But it WAS a slog. The paper-thin plot, the cutesy dialogue, the overacting, the photo-session perfect hair & makeup & outfits...! How do people watch this schlock?? And not just this movie specifically, but all the others like it?? (I know they do -- I have several friends who can't WAIT for these movies to air, every year!)
(Dh went to bed early, lol.)
Hallmark Christmas movies -- yay or nay?? (And if you saw this one, I'd love to know what you thought -- of the locations, if nothing else, lol.)
You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here.
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| A scene near the end of the movie, filmed in the town where my parents live. This is an actual existing structure in a downtown park by the river, all dressed up with lights and garlands to amazing effect. It was previously the site of an old hotel that burned down some years ago. (My friends & I used to frequent the bar there during the year I lived in town with my parents before I got married, lol.) |
Nay!! Especially when Hallmark gets their hands on Janette Oke's books. Barf. They ruin them.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch them either. I just think it gives a lot of wantabe actors work.
ReplyDeleteI say Nay. There are too many other more "main dish"y options vying for my attention than these sugary desserts.
ReplyDeleteVery cool that the filming is done in a place you know!
I watch the rare one, but usually end up rolling my eyes! So I'm mainly a Nay too. "Platitudinous" should be a word if it isn't already.
ReplyDeleteIt's very cool seeing your own settings on TV or in movies, though, isn't it? Perhaps like you, we grew up seeing other lands on movies, so it is wonderful to see places I know in movies. Even when they're pretending to be Japan, or the US, or Middle Earth.
I most definitely grew up on American movies... but many of them are now being made in Canada (TV shows too!). Toronto has been a stand-in for U.S. cities for years now. ;) The little town in NW Minnesota where my grandparents lived can be seen in a certain scene in the movie "Fargo!" It was pretty cool to see my parents' little town on screen in this one, though -- and so beautifully decorated too!
DeleteHa! Nay, unless you're watching specifically to make fun of it. Which we did with this one about an inn with a hot ghost who didn't want it sold and the big city realtor/lawyer in charge of clinching the deal. If you haven't seen it, this is a hilarious send up of Hallmark Christmas movies...
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/Fa7baSCfl4U
Bahahahaha!!!
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