Hallmark's Ghosts of Christmas Always

On this episode of Pour The Wine, It’s Rom-Com Time, Garry and Amy pour a cab and unwrap Ghosts of Christmas Always. This Hallmark standout gives the Dickens classic a modern spin: blending a little scrooging, family tensions, tough choices, and a romance that dares to challenge destiny. From a playful meet-cute to the final reveal that ties everything together, this holiday gem feels both timeless and refreshingly new.

Send us an email to pourthewineitsromcomtime@gmail.com! We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/abbynoise/mood-of-summer

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:07

Welcome to Pour the Wine. It's rom cum time where we'll sip some wine and review all things rom com on the Homework channel. Hi Mamie.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

And I'm Gary. And I'm pouring.

SPEAKER_03 0:17

You're pouring.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Another CapSA.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

Pour that cab. Pour that cab. Right. And then hand me my glass. Oh, so cute.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Today we're reviewing a Christmas movie and we have Our Christmas wine glasses. Here you go.

SPEAKER_03 0:33

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Enjoy.

SPEAKER_03 0:35

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_03 0:36

Today we're going to be reviewing Ghosts of Christmas Always. It originally aired on the Hallmark channel on Sunday, October 30th, 2022. Almost three years ago. You can find it from time to time on the Hallmark channel, but it is always streaming on Hallmark Plus.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

Yes, we would love it if you would click that follow button on your favorite podcast platform so you don't miss an episode. If you listen on Apple or Spotify, you can also leave us a review and stars. How about that? And stars. You can also find us on YouTube and all social media.

SPEAKER_03 1:13

Send us an email at pour the wine isromcomtime at gmail.com and let us know what you thought about Ghosts of Christmas always. I know it's the favorite of a lot of people.

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Yes, it is now one of my favorites.

SPEAKER_03 1:28

Christmas is one of ours. We're giving it away. Spoiler alert. Yes. Or just send us an email about anything homework related. We'd love to hear from you.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Yes, we would. So let's talk about who's in this one, shall we?

SPEAKER_03 1:42

Let's talk about the actors and actresses that are in this movie. And we'll talk just a little bit briefly about some of their homework work, not all of it. We're not going to go over every little detail. And if it's their homework premiere, I might mention a few of their other acting gigs. Okay. Yeah. Sounds good to me. Let's do it. Good. All right. Kim Matula plays Catherine. She plays the ghost of Christmas present.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Present.

SPEAKER_03 2:08

Correct. Her other homework work includes the finish line and checking it twice. She played Hope for 907 episodes on the bold and the beautiful. Ooh, another soap opera. Ooh, another soap opera. Ian Harding plays Peter Barron. We just saw Ian in Hallmark's Holidays, where he plays Josh Hill in three of the episodes, a great series. Yes, it is. Go watch it if you haven't seen it after you've finished listening to our podcast.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Right.

SPEAKER_03 2:35

Of course.

SPEAKER_02 2:36

Right.

SPEAKER_03 2:36

He was also in 2024's The Magic of Lemon Drops. That was really cute.

SPEAKER_02 2:41

Another good one.

SPEAKER_03 2:42

We just love him. I want to see more of him on Hallmark.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Me too.

SPEAKER_03 2:45

He was in the Netflix holiday movie Our Little Secret with Lindsay Lohan and Kristen Chennewith. Remember that?

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 2:51

We enjoyed that one as well. And fans of Pretty Little Liars know him best as Ezra Fitz, which he played for the run of the series. 159 episodes for him. Wow. The series was actually 160 episodes, but you know.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Hey, you know.

SPEAKER_03 3:06

He was there was one that he missed, apparently. Beth Level plays Susan Crane, and she is one of the ones who gets Scrooged. The Scrooging along with Peter, right? Right. Uh, this is her Hallmark premiere. She has 16 acting credits, and she was in an episode each of The Bite and ER.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

Oh, ER.

SPEAKER_03 3:29

Christopher Invar plays Robert Barron. He plays Peter's father. This is his Hallmark premiere as well. A few of his other work includes three episodes of The Sinner. We really liked that. Yeah. And The Blacklist, Redemption.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

We loved that too.

SPEAKER_03 3:44

And he was in two episodes of Madam Secretary.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

And we love that too.

SPEAKER_03 3:48

Yes, we did. Those are all series that we really, really enjoyed.

SPEAKER_02 3:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:52

Kate McCluggage plays Lily Barron. She plays Peter's Mom. This is her only Hallmark production so far. A few of her other acting credits include Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, which I think was out just a few years ago. Okay. 2023. And an episode of Madam Secretary.

SPEAKER_02 4:11

Oh, another Madame Secretary. All right.

SPEAKER_03 4:14

Justin Gamble plays Grandpa Bob and he is Peter's grandpa. This is his Hallmark premiere. A few credits of his other work includes 14 episodes of House of Cards. Okay. An episode of Gotham. An episode of Blue Bud Blue Blue Budem, Blue Bloods, and an episode of The Blacklist.

SPEAKER_02 4:35

Awesome.

SPEAKER_03 4:36

Blair Baker plays Charlie. She plays the Angel Handler.

unknown 4:40

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 4:41

Handler. You know, she kind of tells them where they're going to go. Right. Her homework premiere. This is her homework premiere as well. A few of her 17 acting gigs include two episodes of The Perfect Couple, which was on Netflix, which we watched. That was really good. And an episode each of Bull and Billions. Oh my goodness. Yes. Leanna Hunt plays Betsy. She has three acting credits. She was in this, a movie called Stag, and an episode of the undoing.

SPEAKER_02 5:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 5:16

Which we also saw. Right. Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant are in that. That's on HBO. That's really good. Lori Tanchin plays Arlene. I didn't see any other hallmark work for her for her. She was in six episodes of the series A Man on the Inside with Ted Danson. I don't know what streaming service that's on, though. 27 episodes of Aquafina is Nora from Queens.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

27 episodes of Orange is the New Black.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

All right.

SPEAKER_03 5:48

And I had forgotten about this, but she played the bus driver in What About Bob?

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Oh.

unknown 5:54

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 5:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

What about Bob?

SPEAKER_03 5:57

Reginald Vell Johnson plays Roy. He has over a hundred acting credits, but I didn't see any other homework work of his. But a few of his other gigs include six episodes of Turner and Hooch, 53 episodes of Heart of Dixie, and I went all the way back to the 80s.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 6:15

He was in Ghostbusters and Crocodile Dundee.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Oh man.

SPEAKER_03 6:19

Isn't that pretty cool?

SPEAKER_02 6:20

Two awesome gigs.

SPEAKER_03 6:21

And he's in the Christmas classic, Die Hard.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_03 6:25

I don't consider it a Christmas classic, but a lot of people consider that a Christmas classic.

SPEAKER_02 6:29

Gotta love it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:30

Yep. So that wraps it up. So oh and Roy, oh, I forgot to say Arlene, Lori Tanchin plays Arlene. She's Ghost of Christmas Pass. Okay. And Reginald Vell Johnson, who plays Roy, he is the ghost of Christmas future.

SPEAKER_02 6:44

All right.

SPEAKER_03 6:45

There you go.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

Love me some future.

SPEAKER_03 6:47

Well, yeah, me too. Hopefully we get lots of it, right? Yes.

SPEAKER_02 6:52

So Rich Newey was the director of Ghosts of Christmas Always.

SPEAKER_03 6:58

I know. Don't you want to say Pass? Ghost of Christmas Pass? I do. I want to say that every time we, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

His director credits for Hallmark include The Christmas House 2, Deck Those Halls, One Summer, Crashing Through the Snow, A Little Christmas Charm, Love in the Sun, Two Episodes of Good Witch, and A Song for Christmas.

SPEAKER_03 7:18

Lots of Hallmark work for him.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

I know.

SPEAKER_03 7:21

I know. Right.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

Zach Hug and Anika Marks were the writers in this particular movie. Zach's Hallmark writing credits include the five-year Christmas party, the two sister swap movies with Ashley and Kimberly Williams, two Christmas and Evergreen movies, and Jingle Around the Clock. He wrote the teleplay for the upcoming Countdown to Christmas 2025 movie, The More the Merrier, with Rachel Boston and Brendan Penny. It will air on November 28th.

SPEAKER_03 7:54

Very cool.

SPEAKER_02 7:55

Write it down.

SPEAKER_03 7:56

Write it down. The more the merrier.

SPEAKER_02 8:00

Anika has seven writing credits, and this, if you do not know, is her Hallmark writing debut.

SPEAKER_03 8:07

Aw.

SPEAKER_02 8:07

Good for her.

SPEAKER_03 8:08

She did a good job, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:09

Yes, they did do a really good job on this.

SPEAKER_03 8:12

Again, we're spoiling it a little bit about it.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

Oh well, this movie's been out, so I know.

SPEAKER_03 8:17

No, I mean about our opinion.

SPEAKER_02 8:20

I know, and we have them.

SPEAKER_03 8:21

We have them. We have opinions.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

That's synopsis, shall we?

SPEAKER_03 8:27

Maybe.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

Maybe.

SPEAKER_03 8:28

If I can find it. Here we go. Okay. Catherine, a ghost of Christmas present, helps one soul to rediscover his Christmas spirit, but this year has something unusual in store.

SPEAKER_02 8:40

Yes, it was unusual. And don't forget, we do drop spoilers. So if you haven't seen this movie yet, I suggest you stop our podcast. Go watch the movie, come back, listen, and tell us what you think. Or you can do it in reverse. Listen to our podcast, stop, go watch the movie, and come back and drop us an email or rate our uh review.

SPEAKER_03 9:03

There you go. Yeah. I think you're correct. You could do it either way.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

Well, let's get into this, shall we?

SPEAKER_03 9:11

All right. So what did you think?

SPEAKER_02 9:14

What did I think about this one? Well, that had a lot of thoughts, but hated it, right? No, I know. I did. No, I didn't.

SPEAKER_03 9:23

No, you didn't.

SPEAKER_02 9:24

Well, first of all, I just love the music.

SPEAKER_03 9:27

I know. I had that down. It was so good.

SPEAKER_02 9:30

Yes, it was so good.

SPEAKER_03 9:31

The music was so good throughout the whole thing. Okay, go ahead. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

Plus, we had the hallmark weather, you know, the snow. The snow. Yes. Can't you have to love that?

SPEAKER_03 9:40

They've been pretty good with the snow, actually, in this one.

SPEAKER_02 9:43

But it's one of those movies that left me feeling kind of peaceful.

SPEAKER_03 9:49

Oh, yeah. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 9:50

It was warm. It was loving. I really enjoyed the spin on a Christmas carol.

SPEAKER_03 9:55

Yes. Yeah. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

And it was so it was unique. It was the same but unique.

SPEAKER_03 10:02

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 10:03

And I really enjoyed it. What do you think?

SPEAKER_03 10:05

I totally agree with everything you said. I know I say it a lot, but I'm a sucker for a period piece. And this is sort of period piece adjacent, right? I mean, you still everybody knows the Christmas carol. You have, you know, past, present, future. So you're gonna visit different time periods. Right. And I'm all about that. I love that. It's kind of time jumping-ish, sort of. But this Hallmark Christmas movie is top freaking tier.

SPEAKER_02 10:30

Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_03 10:31

I mean, it is it's one of our faves, yes, for sure. It's been, we saw it several years ago. I mean, I think we saw it in 2022. Right. When it debuted. Um, and we've seen it occasionally on. Yeah. But then watching it again fresh for this review was just so cool. And and just I just love it. Love it, love it, love it so much. Perfect pace throughout the movie, great casting. I mean, how much do we love Ian Harding? I know. He's so good. And I want to see him in more homework movies, please. Um, and you mentioned the music, it was great throughout the entire movie. I mean, it was like a movie, like movie music. I mean, sometimes, I mean, we love homework, but you know, the music can be a little cheesy sometimes, but but this is just a movie school. And like you said, the story, it's it's a Christmas carol and it's a definite, you know, along those lines, but there are actually a couple twists in it, right? And he kind of flips it a little bit, and I just found it interesting, lovely, heartfelt, teared up, you know. I think we both teared up toward the end.

SPEAKER_02 11:43

I had something in my eyes, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:45

So it was just, it's just top tier for me. Yeah. One of one of my favorite up there with Biltmore Christmas, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

I agree. For sure. I agree. Almost, almost kind of the same premise, right? The time travel a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 11:59

A little bit, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:00

Only you're time traveling with ghosts as opposed to right, right.

SPEAKER_03 12:04

You're not really in the moment, right? Right in the past. You're kind of just a bystander witnessing the past. Gets to view present moments that already happened, but they happen in present, you know, in modern day. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:18

All right. So let's get into favorite scenes. What was it? Do you want to do the meat cute? Oh, you know what? I forgot about the meat cute. What did you think?

SPEAKER_03 12:27

I know you did. I thought it was cute. I thought the meat cute was cute. No, I just loved because it happens right away, right? Which it does in a lot of films, I know. But so they scrooged that it was the scrooging of Susan Crane, right? And they've the three ghosts finish up, and then they're in Hartford where Catherine is from.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

Right.

SPEAKER_03 12:47

So she hangs back while the other two ghosts go back to Ghostland or wherever. Ghost office. Ghost office. They go back to the ghost office, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:56

Right.

SPEAKER_03 12:56

So she's she hangs back and she goes into the bar that she used to go into that she's familiar with. Right. The root. But she's from that area. The Rudy Tootie. The Rudy Tootie. And she's in there and Peter comes in and he says something to her, and she's shocked because he can see her and he shouldn't be able to see her.

SPEAKER_02 13:15

Right.

SPEAKER_03 13:15

And we don't know why, and she doesn't know why.

SPEAKER_02 13:18

Correct.

SPEAKER_03 13:18

So they chat briefly and then she leaves. Right. Right. So I I just thought it was really just I I loved the way they did it.

SPEAKER_02 13:26

Yeah, I do too. I agree with you. I thought it was a great, great.

SPEAKER_03 13:30

And I love that that because you're instantly like, why can he see her? You know, when normally and only the person that they're scrooging at the time who's getting scrooged is supposed to see them. Is supposed to see them. So you're instantly like, huh, I wonder why that is. And you know you're gonna find out. And it's kind of you're curious right away. So I I really enjoyed it. I thought it was a great meet cute. What about you?

SPEAKER_02 13:53

I I I agree with you 100%. I felt the same way. I felt that hit um Peter, Peter being able to see her. Yes, I thought it was a great spin on this because you weren't expecting it. And she was kind of just sitting there like he can't see me. Right, right. Like she was gonna ghost him or something. And they did it. It is kind of funny because that comes up later on.

SPEAKER_03 14:16

That does come up later, I think.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

But he wants to talk to her and he puts the table down, and when he turns around, that's when she's gone. She goes back to ghost. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 14:24

Then she's gone. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 14:26

So yeah, that was a good meet cute.

SPEAKER_03 14:28

It worked. All right, so let's dive into favorite scenes. What is one of your favorite scenes?

SPEAKER_02 14:33

Um, I'm gonna go with the scene where when they're back at the ghost office, they're standing around, it's Arlene, Roy, and her. And she, as they're talking, she kind of looks off the into the distance across the hall, and she notices a door, and it says the unknown door, right?

SPEAKER_03 14:53

The great unknown. The great unknown. Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:55

And I was like, Oh, that's pretty interesting. Because you know, with religion, it's like go into the light. Yes, yeah, you know, all happiness. And she kind of goes back and forth with Roy about how do you know where you want to go? And he just, he's like, You know when is it?

SPEAKER_03 15:11

You know, you know when you know. Yeah. So she's like, what do you know about the unknown that I don't know? Yeah, I know. He's like, I know. I know he does know.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

So yeah, it was kind of a cute play on words, yes, and then and that was a a fun, a fun scene for me. So what about it?

SPEAKER_03 15:25

Yeah, that was really cute. I really my first one would have to be the scrooging of Peter Barron.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 15:31

So they go, we talked about the ghosts, they they're they're back in the ghost office, and then it's like a year later, right? Right? Right. And it's the next, it's the next Christmas, and he is the one that they have to go and scrooge with, right? And um, I just love when they first show up and he's kind of like, hi, and he's like, I think I'm actually, are you hot? I'm hot. Like he's so he's so Ian Harding is so good in this role, you know.

SPEAKER_02 15:58

But what's funny for at first is Catherine's hiding behind a Christmas tree because she knows that he he he's gonna know her.

SPEAKER_03 16:08

Right. Right. So she's kind of hiding and she hasn't told the other two ghosts that she's that he saw her when she was there. So the three ghosts are there, and they, you know, it's like a light bulb moment for him goes off and he's like, I know what this is.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 16:23

And I just love how they, and I was gonna talk about this later, how they totally recognize and acknowledge within the movie that it's a play on Dickens, a Christmas Carol.

SPEAKER_02 16:35

Right.

SPEAKER_03 16:36

You know, like he's instantly like, I know this story, yeah, you know, ghost of Christmas present, past, future, who's who kind of thing. And then he talks about how he likes the different versions of Scrooge. He likes Bill Murray's version, which we love.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

He loves Bill Murray's version.

SPEAKER_03 16:50

And he talks about Carrie Fisher's version. Um, you know, and then when Arlene is getting ready to take him to the past, of course, because that's always the first one. You go visit your past, and he wants Catherine to go with him because he recognizes her. He's basically like, I know you, you're coming with me, let's go.

SPEAKER_00 17:07

Right.

SPEAKER_03 17:07

And I just I thought that whole scene was really cute.

unknown 17:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:11

And I loved it. So that was one of my favorite scenes.

SPEAKER_02 17:13

Yeah, that's when he, yeah, you're right, because um Arlene's gonna take him to the past, but he also wants her to come along, he wants Catherine to come along, even though she's the present, right?

SPEAKER_03 17:24

So she's kind of like, I don't do that, I don't, I don't know, you know, and then she does go.

SPEAKER_02 17:29

So that was a good scene. That was one of mine too. Yes, one of my uh many favorites. I know, I I know, and and it's kind of hard because you don't want to jump around, but I do want to jump around.

SPEAKER_03 17:42

All right, what's another favorite um for you?

SPEAKER_02 17:47

I just I feel like um another one of mine is when Peter is is talking to the same time when he's talking to her and she knows that Bill Murray, um Catherine knows Scrooge is Peter's favorite movie. Yes, and Peter says, Who was the woman who totally ghosted me? And that's when he was talking about her.

SPEAKER_03 18:11

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

And he he remembers, and and I thought that was a funny playoff of the movie.

SPEAKER_03 18:18

That was, yeah. That he remembered ghosted. That was another favorite scene of yours when he talks about ghosts.

SPEAKER_02 18:23

It was cute.

SPEAKER_03 18:24

Yeah, they threw in a modern day. I guess you literally ghosted me.

SPEAKER_02 18:28

Yeah, what about you?

SPEAKER_03 18:30

I love so there's a scene where um I think it's it's when he's with it's when he's with Catherine, he goes to the present day and he has seen some some things that have happened relatively recently within the past like week, right? She takes him to a couple different scenes. So and those are great, but then they you know, it starts to snow when they're in the actual literal present moment. And she, you know, she's like, the snowfall puts you in the present. And then she tells him to close his eyes and let the snow hit his face, and she says, two to three seconds, that's all it takes to register the present moment. Oh, and I just loved that scene. I just love that phrase. I was like, that's all it takes. Put your phone down, just just enjoy it, soak it in.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Right.

SPEAKER_03 19:25

Right. And that's all it takes is just a few seconds literally for you to take a deep breath and just be there in the moment. And I just so that that was another one for me.

SPEAKER_02 19:36

Right. So I'm gonna go a little bit further into the movie, and it's when we find out um who Peter's grandmother is. Yes, and it's actually oh, the way the story all ties in is so good, and I it's so good, and it's when and we find out that it's Betsy who worked at the Rudy Tootie and was Catherine's best friend, right? But you don't know this until later on in the movie. And it's funny because Catherine goes in and she gets she orders a grilled cheese, and she's waiting for Betsy to get off, and as they're walking out, they come across a lay a woman with her two kids, and Catherine actually stops and gives her the grilled cheese, and she says, I'm sorry, this is all I could get for right now. And the woman was like, Oh, don't worry. Yeah, be sorry, this is more than enough, right? You've done enough. And I just thought it was so so well done. But then you're the next scene up, it's they meet the grandfather, right? When he was younger. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:44

So they meet grandpa by so Betsy and Catherine walk into a story. Now, in the meantime, you have Catherine watch Catherine and the other two ghosts, and Peter are watching the scene. Right. And this is where it all sort of culminates because you find out what Catherine's story is. Yes. Yes, and what happened, and because it's come up before, like, how did you die? What you know, when was your time and everything. And so you kind of know that it's coming, and then they do the this is the Scrooging of Catherine Marley. You find out her last name was Marley. Right. Which hilarious?

SPEAKER_02 21:22

I know. Twist after twist.

SPEAKER_03 21:24

Well, no, I mean Marley.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

Right. Yes, I get it. But it was like twist after twist after twist after that whole yeah, just during that whole scene, and I thought it was well written.

SPEAKER_03 21:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:36

So that was one of my other favorites. What about you?

SPEAKER_03 21:38

I had I had the same thing. That was my next, it was that whole closing, the whole sort of not final scene, but the whole the moment in the movie where it all comes together. That is, I I thought it was so well done. I just loved that, you know. Like I said, when they got to the scrooging of Catherine Marley, I was like, they're doing her now. I just thought it was so good. It was so well. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 22:08

What was going on at that moment. Yes. Because in the movie, earlier on in the movie, Peter said, I know you from somewhere. And he thinks it's from the uh Frog Hollow Angel uh building that his dad had.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

Right.

SPEAKER_02 22:23

Or his grandfather ran when he was younger. And he just kept thinking that. But in that same scene, when they went to the like they had a little party at the Rudy Tootie back then, and that's where Betsy had a picture of Catherine, and he saw the picture and he goes, That's that's where I recognize you from. That's why I recognize you.

SPEAKER_03 22:46

And you know, before that, I mean we kind of jumped to the end, but I also loved the twist of so the three ghosts, you know, they're kind of questioning like, why are we why is Peter Barron the one we're scrooging? He seems like a decent guy, like he's not terrible, you know, maybe needs to go around his family more, you know, like his mom and his sister, or his half sister or whatever more. But why are we, you know, and they kind of finish up and then they go back to the ghost office and they find out that they scrooged the wrong Baron, right? So he's Peter Barron, but they were supposed to be doing Robert Peter Barron, right? So they kind of made the mistake, or did they? Right, right. And they had destiny versus you know, is it destiny, is it not? That kind of was a theme. So so there was that sort of twist also that I thought really, really worked.

SPEAKER_02 23:41

Yeah, and that was funny because they could no longer they wouldn't Robert wouldn't be able to see them because they used up their scrooging powers, right?

SPEAKER_03 23:49

For the year, right? You have to wait like a year.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

You only get it to use it on one person once a year, yes. So they had to uh recruit Peter, Peter, not just Peter, but also Susan.

SPEAKER_03 24:02

Susan from the beginning, yeah. That was a good twist. And I that was well, she can't see them still, only Peter can still see them. Which is so good.

SPEAKER_02 24:10

That whole scene was another good one. But yes, yeah. So you have another one?

SPEAKER_03 24:16

Um, no, I stuck to the three. We tried to do three. Do you have another one?

SPEAKER_02 24:21

I have one more.

SPEAKER_03 24:22

One more, okay.

SPEAKER_02 24:22

Okay, and that's um when when she decides that she wants to go through the door now.

SPEAKER_03 24:32

Oh, yeah, at the at the very end, or towards the end, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:35

And you realize, like Charlie, who's like the head ghost at the ghost office.

SPEAKER_03 24:41

Right, she's the handler of the ghost office.

SPEAKER_02 24:42

They she tells them the strings she had to pull in order to get Peter to be able to see Catherine when they first met. Then you find out it was Roy was in on it, yes, and Arlene was in on it. Yep. And I thought that was a great way to wrap it up.

SPEAKER_03 25:02

Yes, yes. When she said that, you're like, I know.

SPEAKER_02 25:05

It's like no wonder he could see her. It is no wonder he could see her.

SPEAKER_03 25:09

Oh it was oh, so so good.

SPEAKER_02 25:14

Yes, and I just thought I thought that was really good. And then they ended up being Betsy's picture. They they swapped out hers, uh, Catherine's picture, the old time picture. Catherine and Peter. Right. Well, Catherine actually did, so I thought that was beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 25:30

No, yeah, they they swapped it out in the in the Rudy Tootie.

SPEAKER_02 25:34

Rudy Tootie, right? Right.

SPEAKER_03 25:35

When so they put Betsy's picture in there.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

Right. When she walked through the door, she wanted to be with him in the present. So she got to go back to that moment.

SPEAKER_03 25:44

Yeah, that was pretty cool. She wanted to be with Peter.

SPEAKER_02 25:46

Yeah, so that's all my my favorite scenes.

SPEAKER_03 25:49

Your favorite scenes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:50

All right, so what was your favorite cheer?

SPEAKER_03 25:53

My favorite cheer. Well, I have a few cheers. We've talked about it, just the story. I mentioned earlier that I love a period piece, and I know I said it was, you know, a period piece adjacent, but there was some time travel-ish sort of, which I absolutely love. So you have like a Christmas Carol meets hallmark, right? But they throw in some unexpected twists. I just love the weaving of the story and how it all leads back to one character was so well done.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

It was.

SPEAKER_03 26:22

You know, you you take a story that everybody knows and you you change it a little bit, you flip it, you turn it around. I just thought it was so, so good.

SPEAKER_02 26:31

Right.

SPEAKER_03 26:31

I loved it, loved it, loved it.

SPEAKER_02 26:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:33

That's my biggest cheer. What about you? I have more, but it was kind of mine.

SPEAKER_02 26:38

It was kind of mine too, because I felt like in certain parts of the movie, I was on the edge of my seat because I was like, what's coming next? What's coming next? You know, what are we gonna learn about? But in a good way, but in a good way, yeah. Right. So that was in the fact that they did a spin-off of a Christmas, you know, Christmas Carol. Yeah. So yeah. And then my other one was the fact that in the end, Betsy's picture was on the key. Oh, yes, and she was the Frog Hollows angel.

SPEAKER_03 27:07

And I just Well, there's another discovery, right?

SPEAKER_02 27:10

That they discover little treasure in the back of the picture frame.

SPEAKER_03 27:14

I mean, that's why I said they're all little tidbits in there that kind of come to light towards the end, and it's it's just a masterpiece. I loved, I already mentioned this also, how they gave a shout out to the Dickens classic. They're not afraid to mention it. They talk about it, they talk about the Bill Murray version, which is that movie is called Scrooge. Which is really good, which we love.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

Loved it.

SPEAKER_03 27:37

And the mentioning of Carrie Fisher, I thought was great because that was actually a Hallmark movie in 2012. It was called It's Christmas, Carol.

SPEAKER_02 27:48

That's so funny.

SPEAKER_03 27:49

So I just love that they give those little shout-outs, you know, to classic Hallmark films or movies. So I thought that was pretty cool. I love the music. We've talked about that. It was so good throughout the whole movie.

SPEAKER_02 28:03

I agree.

SPEAKER_03 28:04

Do you have any other cheers?

SPEAKER_02 28:05

No, that was it for me.

SPEAKER_03 28:07

So I have a couple more.

SPEAKER_02 28:08

All right, go for it.

SPEAKER_03 28:09

Um, one was another one was I love that they called it the scrooging of Susan Crane, the scrooging of, I just thought that was really cute. That was something new that we hadn't seen, but I was the scrooging of Peter, Peter Barron. Yeah, I thought it was really cute. And then just overall, the idea, you know, which we haven't really talked about, Peter's dad and his grandpa, right? So his grandpa was generous to a fault, right? And, you know, wanted to help everybody and ended up going broke.

SPEAKER_00 28:38

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_03 28:39

Basically, he he gave literally almost everything and he would have given the shirt off his back. And you see, his grandpa was kind and generous, and his dad, so Peter's dad then kind of went the opposite direction. He threw himself into work so that he could always provide for his family and they would always have money. Right. You know, not obnoxious money, but just so they wouldn't have to struggle like he did. And you know, and his and Peter's dad ends up saying that, you know, my dad didn't just give us money, he gave us time, and it took time away from me, and I never wanted to do that. But then he does take his time away from Peter because he throws himself into work.

SPEAKER_00 29:20

Right.

SPEAKER_03 29:20

It's Christmas, it's holidays, it's, you know. So and I like that Peter's sort of like a good combination of both. He knows he needs to be fiscally responsible. He wants to be a part of the family business, right? But he doesn't want that to be the only part. He wants to have a charitable part of it also, and he because he has the charitable heart like his grandpa. And I just liked the intermixing of all of that.

SPEAKER_02 29:43

And intertwining. Didn't he say something like, I'd rather be broke and and good than rich and broken?

SPEAKER_03 29:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

I thought that was powerful.

SPEAKER_03 29:50

Yeah, that's very, very powerful.

SPEAKER_02 29:54

Oh, his dad was broken.

SPEAKER_03 29:55

Yeah. Oh.

SPEAKER_02 29:56

But he was rich.

SPEAKER_03 29:58

I think there's a um Princess Diana quote that is something like they they say it is better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable, but how about a compromise like moderately rich and just moody? You know, and it kind of reminds me of it. Which I think is hysterical.

SPEAKER_02 30:16

That was awesome.

unknown 30:17

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:18

Because I want to be in the middle.

SPEAKER_03 30:20

I want to be a compromise. Yeah, we can compromise. We can we can do well, we can have money, but we can also be charitable.

SPEAKER_02 30:26

And that was Yes, we can. So did you have any jeers?

SPEAKER_03 30:31

I have no notes.

SPEAKER_02 30:32

Me either. I I loved it from beginning to end.

SPEAKER_03 30:36

And you know, I actually loved um Kim Matula as Catherine. I I wish we would see really, really well. Yes, I wish we would see more of her.

SPEAKER_02 30:46

And you know, and I'm surprised we haven't because oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 30:50

Well, the finish line was 2024, so that was just last year. So hopefully I didn't see any upcoming homework work from her. But I would love to see, she was so good in it. She was really good.

SPEAKER_02 31:01

Yeah, her and Ian just really they gelled really well. So yeah, come on, Hallmark, bring them back together.

SPEAKER_03 31:08

Bring them back together.

SPEAKER_02 31:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 31:10

They could do a period piece with them too. They would be so good.

SPEAKER_02 31:14

Yeah. Another period piece. Another period piece.

SPEAKER_03 31:16

Let's go, Hallmark. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_02 31:18

So, out of five ornaments, how many would you give this one? Or hang on the tree.

SPEAKER_03 31:23

You want to talk about our tinsel top moment first?

SPEAKER_02 31:25

I did forget about that. So, yes, let's talk.

SPEAKER_03 31:29

Let's talk tinsel topped moment. So, mine would be my tinsel top moment would be the snow scene where she's like, just let it hit your face. It only takes two or three. I just loved, loved that. Just because it's a good reminder to be in the moment. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:44

And you know, that's kind of funny because it it kind of also kind of reminded me of City of Angels.

SPEAKER_03 31:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:50

When um uh what's the actress's name?

SPEAKER_03 31:54

Meg Ryan.

SPEAKER_02 31:55

Meg Ryan is on her bike and she's just closed her eyes and her yeah, so so powerful. That would be one of mine, and just when she finds out that the Scrooging Yes, that's another one.

SPEAKER_03 32:10

Yes, that's just good.

SPEAKER_02 32:12

Just the expression on her face was so real.

SPEAKER_03 32:16

Yeah, that was I I would agree. I I would have to I'd have to ride on that also. Well, good. I'd have to copy you and say, Yes, that's that would be another tinsel top moment for sure. Those two stand out for sure.

SPEAKER_02 32:30

Okay, now we can get to the how many ornaments would you hang?

SPEAKER_03 32:34

Five.

SPEAKER_02 32:35

Um all day, every day.

SPEAKER_03 32:38

I'm telling you, it was so good. I could have that on all the time.

SPEAKER_02 32:42

Me too.

SPEAKER_03 32:43

In the background, and I'd probably stop and watch it, not do anything. Well, you know I would. Oh, I know you do. That's what you do.

SPEAKER_02 32:49

Stop it while we're cleaning on it. That's what you do. Like, what are you doing? I don't know. I want to see this part.

SPEAKER_03 32:54

I gotta sit down. I've seen it eight million times, so I gotta say it one more time.

SPEAKER_02 32:58

I know. Yeah. So is that a wrap?

SPEAKER_03 33:00

That's a wrap.

SPEAKER_02 33:01

If you really, really like the show, we would really, really appreciate your positive review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And if you didn't really, really like the show, we still appreciate your positive review.

SPEAKER_03 33:11

Like, really?

unknown 33:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 33:13

There's a lot of really's in that one.

SPEAKER_03 33:14

There are there are, there are. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts and on social media so you don't miss a thing. Until next time.

SPEAKER_02 33:21

Cheers.