Crown for Christmas

Winnie Cooper is all grown up! Danica McKellar trades suburbia for royalty in Hallmark’s 2015 hit Crown for Christmas - the network’s highest-rated holiday movie of the year. And yes… this royal romance actually hits different.

Allie heads to Europe for the holidays as governess to the spirited Princess Theodora and Rene loves how instantly likable the King is, while Rich connects surprising dots between this film and other favorite movies. And both agree: this is absolutely a top-tier Hallmark snowball fight.

But not everything gets the royal seal of approval. Rich isn’t crazy about the palace’s wine glass choices, questions that early “almost kiss,” and isn’t buying Fergus pulling off an FBI-level background check within a few hours. Rene’s wondering why Riggs is still employed, where Allie learned to waltz like that, and if there was a hidden romance between Fergus and Mrs. Claiborne.

The guys split (as usual) on supporting characters, debate whether Allie and Max actually go the distance, and even break down how camerawork affects the all-important kiss… pay attention Hallmark Directors! And when it’s time to crown an MVP? No consensus.

Fun, festive, and just the right amount of chaos - just how we like our Hallmark. 

Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/foreverhallmarkchristmas

Email: ForeverHallmarkChristmas@gmail.com

*** Not affiliated with Hallmark Media. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome everyone. It is time for the Forever Hallmark Christmas Podcast. That's right. We are a movie review podcast that talks about one thing and one thing only. That is Hallmark Christmas movies. My name is Rich. As always, I'm joined by my co-host Renee. How's it going, Renee?

SPEAKER_01 0:26

It's going very well, Rich. Nice to talk to you today.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Absolutely. You ready to talk a little uh crown for Christmas? Yes, I am. This was a nice one. It was a fun one. Yeah. Let's uh let's get a little Hallmark news out of the way first. Uh we have 25 weeks until countdown to Christmas 2026. 25 weeks, I can't believe it. But Ashley Williams, she is back directing. Uh, she's one of our favorite actresses, and uh she's been doing a little producing, a little directing, and she just directed a season eight episode of the ABC television show The Rookie. Uh it's uh show that I'm currently watching right now. I think I'm on season six, but she directed an episode titled Surviving in the Streets, and she also directed an episode back in uh season seven as well. So good to see that she's kind of mixing things up: a little acting, a little directing, a little producing, uh multi-talented Ashley Williams.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Yeah, she's great.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Love her. And this was kind of a fun one. Jennifer Love Hewitt and Lacey Shaber. They had a little back and forth on Instagram where Jennifer Love Hewitt said she'd like to play Lacey's sister in a Hallmark movie. And they were going back and forth. The fans were jumping in, going, hey, we we absolutely would love to see this. Now, if we remember the two of them, they were both part of the uh of the cast of the television series Party of Five from 1994 to 2000. And when you put them side by side, you go, you know what? I can actually see them being sisters, and so I think it would be a lot of fun if it ever happens. Fantastic. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Lacey Shaber, and a Hallmark movie, I'm all in.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

I would love to see Jennifer Love Hewitt come into the Hallmark uh atmosphere or sphere, I guess. That would be great.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

A couple weeks ago, you and I talked about a movie called The Christmas Loop, which was on board for 2026 filming in Vancouver. Well, that filming has wrapped, and we now know some of the people attached to that movie. Tyler Hines and Lacey J. Maley are gonna be our two leads. And they took a picture at the end of the shoot, and there was a bunch of the filmmakers there, producers, directors, and also in that picture was our favorite writer the last couple of years, Mr. Russell Hainlein, the man behind the Santa Summit. Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper. I gotta think he probably wrote this one. I mean, it didn't specifically say he did, I guess. He could have been an executive producer, but I'd I'd say there's probably a pretty darn good chance that he wrote this. So Tyler Hines, Lacey J. Maley, Christmas movie 2026, Russell Hainlein writing. I don't know about you, but I'm all in.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Yeah, that's he's he's really good. So anything with him is definitely worth the watch.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

That's gonna be a fun, fun movie. And uh Hallmark actor Jonathan Bennett has joined the cast of General Hospital. He will play the role of Joe Fitzpatrick on the soap, and he'll make his first appearance in May. So congrats to uh Hallmark actor th actor Jonathan Bennett uh on joining General Hospital.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Hopefully he has time to come back every once in a while to make some more Hallmark movies.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

I I have a feeling he he's not gonna let go of Hallmark anytime soon. So and a happy belated birthday to Hallmark actor BJ Britt, who turned 44 years young on April 20th, and we remember him from the movie Tidings for the Season just as past Christmas. Nice. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. All right, you ready to talk a little crown for Christmas? I am all right. So, crown for Christmas. This one uh dates back a few years, uh back to 2015. It stars Danica McKeller and Rupert Penry Jones. Uh the script, uh we have three credits on this one, and they're all very interesting. The story credit goes to a guy named Michael Damien, and I I never heard of him, but apparently he was a pop star in the 1980s. Uh I didn't really recognize any of his songs. You and I kind of both grew up in the 80s, but he did perform uh the theme song for the television show Saved by the Bell. Pretty interesting little fact there, and kind of uh did a lot of soap opera acting after that. But the script itself uh belongs to a married couple, Neil and Tippi Dobrowski. Uh they've been writing as a team for 35 years. They've written over 30 Christmas movies, a whole bunch for Hallmark. And the interesting thing, they're a Jewish couple that don't celebrate Christmas, but they write these fantastic Christmas movies. So go figure. Christmas?

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Uh welcomes everyone of all creeds, races, and nationalities.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Absolutely. They do a good job uh on all these movies and uh some fun writing credits on this movie. Uh, our holiday hook here, a down on her luck maid, lands a job as a governess in a royal castle and finds herself falling for a king. But winning his heart may be the easy part compared to surviving palace life. So this one has an IMDB rating of 6.9. Uh good solid rating of the 19 Hallmark Christmas movies in 2015. This was the highest-rated movie that year. Uh 4.3 million people turned in to watch this one 11 years ago. And uh Entertainment Weekly just uh this past year did their list of the all-time best Hallmark Christmas movies. This ranked number 12 for them. So uh uh really good solid movie in terms of uh the fans and everything out there. A lot of people wanted to watch it. And uh you said 12 all-time? Number 12 all everybody's got these rankings. Uh, you know, Variety did one that was getting a lot of publicity last year, Entertainment Weekly did one after them. Uh yeah, they ranked it number 12 all time.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

So I can see that. It's a good movie.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Yeah, and I guess you know, because uh you know, you and I'll talk about in a second. There are people that really love these royal movies. Other people, it's it's not their cup of tea. That's um but the royal movies are very popular with uh with a lot of people. So I guess a lot of people want to be a princess or something like that. Yeah, yeah. I guess I can't think of the whole Disney fairy tale thing, and yeah, people tune in for that for sure. Uh the some fun facts about this movie. It was filmed in Romania and Slovenia, mostly Romania. Uh the main castle used was Cantacasino Castle in Busteni, Romania. So uh Romania is a very popular uh location, especially for these royal movies. They get a lot of good tax credits. It's it's very economical for Hallmark to film there. So a lot of movies shot over there uh in Romania.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Yeah, I know that. That's very interesting to me.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Yeah, yeah. And if you remember the part of the movie where Allie was explaining fractions to Theodora using cookie pieces, that is a reference to Danica McKeller, who in real life is a mathematician. Uh, she's written a series of math books geared towards kids and teenagers, and she earned a degree in mathematics from UCLA in 1998. And I can proudly say, Go Baruans is I have a daughter in her second year at UCLA right now. So uh very cool little fun fact about Danica McKeller there and uh and her math skills.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

I'm impressed by that. I had no idea she was a I I mean I can tell she's a smart lady, but I had no idea she was a math person.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

Yeah, I mean going to UCLA, and she's obviously she she could have gone to the theater program there, but she went into math instead. So uh yeah, cool little fun fact. You and I have kind of talked uh in the past about some of these triple threat actors, you know, Hallmark actors like Derek Lena and Jordan Litz, who were kind of really talented athletes, then went to Broadway and then did Hallmark movies. Well, Ellie Boderell, who played Theodora, she's kind of along that same boat. Right before she uh filmed this movie, she was in Matilda the Musical on London's West End. Uh, she's also a two-time national gymnastics champion, and she was part of the Great Britain national team. And of course, she's an actress here in Hallmark's Crown for Christmas. So kind of a triple threat there for Theodora.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

That's very impressive.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Yep. And our last fun fact Danna McKeller's mom and son were both extras in the movie. They are credited as woman admiring Christmas tree and boy admiring Christmas tree.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

I'm gonna have to go back and read one go through the movie. I'd like to see if I can spot them.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

I don't remember that scene, but I guess you'd probably have to look up a picture of her mom, picture of her son, and then kind of yeah, see if you could you could uh spot the two of them, but uh they're definitely in there. That's nice. All right, what are what what's your overall thoughts on this movie?

SPEAKER_01 7:59

I kept my thoughts kind of short. I mean, it's super cute. This is one you could watch over and over again. I think it's very uh re-watchable. Uh I found it very easy and relaxing to watch. Uh it's a very just extremely likable movie, and the characters were all pretty likable. So very simple thoughts on it, but I liked it a lot.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

Yeah, I agree. Uh uh as I said just a couple of minutes ago, you know, royal movies aren't for everyone, and they're very they're very hit and miss me. There's definitely some a few that I've liked, but probably more misses than hits. Um and I really enjoyed this one. Uh I liked all of the actors in it. I liked that they that they shot over there in Europe and Romania instead of kind of you know trying to film this in Victoria or Vancouver and just using B-rolls of European castles. I like the fact that they filmed it on location over there. And I I was thinking of other movie ties when I'm watching a Hallmark movie, and I found a whole bunch in this one. The the whole relationship between Allie and Max kind of gave me a little bit of sound of music vibes. Uh, obviously, Allie and Theodora, it's hard not to think Mary Poppins uh that way. You know, the uh governess comes in to take care of kind of the mischievous little little princess running around. And the whole Theodora and Celia relationship, uh, how Theodora was questioning Celia on, you know, what are her intentions with her dad while Celia the whole time is kind of going behind her back, wanting to send her to boarding school and keep uh King Max all for herself. I was getting parent trap vibes in that one. So a whole bunch of little uh movie connections that I was making in in relations to Crown for Christmas, and of course, I I do think there's a very obvious Disney connection uh as well that I'll talk about uh uh a little bit later on. But yeah, this was a good solid movie for sure.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

You and I watch these movies so differently because I don't, you know, I'm just like duh, just enjoying the movie, and you're making connections that I don't even think about. But now that you say them, it totally makes sense. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

All right. What are what's the sense I have a whole bunch of things I really liked about this movie. Uh what what are some of the things you liked?

SPEAKER_01 9:56

Yeah, I liked early on in the movie how uh clumsy and goofy uh Danica was as a character. I thought she was very funny, she bumped into things, she was like insecure. Uh I thought that was made her very likable. Um I thought the king was actually quite likable as well. Generally, you know, sometimes you get these guys that are kind of rough around the edges or you know, snobby or something, but I found them likable. Yeah, I think it was really beginning.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

Yeah, very personable just from the very first scenes, very uh relatable.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Yeah, seemed like a good guy. And uh the butler was uh very nice. I liked him as well. I also like the this thing that they made called Mulligan Stew. I was interested in that, you know, because I I'm a guy who likes to have you know, sometimes I in my kitchen I I don't do good shopping, so I was like, what do I have in my kitchen that I can just throw together? And mulligan stew is just a bunch of vegetables and uh you know, usually a a beef or corned beef that you can make and just throw it in the pot. And I kind of like that idea. And I I you know I looked it up to see if it was a real stew, and it is, and it was traditionally it says you're made by hobos. Uh nobody cancel me for saying hobos, please. But as I've you know, that makes sense. You know, you're poor, you come across a little bit of meat, you got some vegetables lying around, and they would cook it open in an open fire.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

And it's just a hodgepodge, whatever you have, uh you know, just laying around. I'll just throw it in there and see what comes out of it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

Yeah, you and I do cooking like that sometimes too, because I know cook a lot. And then I like the Christmas decoration scene when they're they're making the decorations and then later they decorate the tree. It was kind of quick, but uh I like that. And one of my things I really, really liked was the grumpy Miss Wick. Uh that was played by Amy Martin. Um, I thought she was hilarious. I could have used a lot more of her. So so I like so uptight, yeah. Yeah, I love that. So I wanted more of her for sure. And the daddy, you know me, I like daddy, the daddy-daughter dance. Daddy daughter dance was very sweet and uh very nice, uh nicely shot and just very uh wholesome moment. I like that.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

Yeah, it's a great one. I'll talk a little bit about later on. I really like that scene as well. Um, I really like the very early on. You had the three siblings all taking care of each other when they were still there in Brooklyn. I I always liked, you know, siblings looking out for one another. I thought that was very cool. I loved it when Allie called out the three-second rule when the roll fell on the floor during that royal dinner, right? Even though you and I both know it should be the five-second rule, but still very uh a very funny scene. Um, I thought this was one of the better snowball fights in Hallmark history. Uh, you had a whole bunch of people joining in. King Max with a really good arm. I was uh he was launching those snowballs once he joined in. Uh so a really fun snowball fight there. Uh you get it in Hallmark movies. A lot of times it's just, you know, the two leads kind of tossing a snowball back and forth. But and though the whole staff was in on this one, so it was a really fun, fun scene there. I really liked how Allie gave Christmas gifts for all the staff at the end of the movies, even staff she didn't really care for. I thought that was very cute. And I I a lot of times we have kind of one person working against our protagonist, which in this movie was Allie, of course. But we had basically two different factions taking sides. You had three people working against Allie. You had Riggs, you had Miss Wix, and you had Celia, uh, uh all kind of anti-Allie. And then, of course, Allie had her team with Fergus and and Miss Clay, Miss Clareborne, and of course Max and uh and Theodora as well. So I like the fact that we had kind of these big factions taking sides, uh, you know, either Team Alley or anti-Allie. So that's kind of fun.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

Yeah, that is cool. And they're all and they were all different because they weren't working together, like the against, they weren't really working together, they just individually were working against her. I thought that was interesting.

SPEAKER_00 13:36

All right. In addition to to what we saying what we like, we always keep it real and say if we had a chance to rewrite a scene or two, anything uh we might jump in there and and and change up a little. What do you got on this one?

SPEAKER_01 13:48

For me, not much really. This this movie really worked for me. But uh the only thing is I wanted more indication that Fergus and Mrs. Clairborne liked each other. In the end, you see them uh I think he has an arm around her, so that you know it wraps up nicely, like, oh, these two are now together or something or gonna be together. Well, there's not too much that I saw uh indication that there was a flirtation going on there or anything like that. So I know it's typical of Hallmark to just kind of throw that in there at the end, but uh I would have liked to see a little bit more of uh what do they call that foreshadowing of that.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

Yeah, for sure. And I when I when I in a few minutes I'm gonna talk about that. Yeah, I wondered that as well about about Fergus and uh and Ms. Mrs. Clareborne there. It's uh yeah, I definitely thought something was up between those two, but they didn't really kind of give you too much on there, just kind of leaving that there making you wonder. Um a couple of things I'd fix that again, uh like you, I don't have a heck of a lot. I think it was a pretty well-written script. This really isn't a rewrite, probably more set decorators, but the dinner about 30 minutes, and I mentioned kind of when the the roll fell on the floor there, and Allie claimed the three-second rule. Um, that kind of royal dinner. They were serving wine, red wine, in these wine glasses that look like they were bought at the 99 cent store. You and you you you and I, we have a couple friends, uh Amy and Gary, they have a podcast called Pour Some Wine. It's rom com time. They they review Hallmark movies year-wine, uh year-round, and they do so with a glass of wine in hand. I think they're gonna agree with me on this one. We need to get Hallmark some proper stemware when it comes to a glass of red wine. If they're doing a royal dinner there, they they get a really nice stemware. It's not that expensive. Um let's let's invest in a little proper wine glasses if you're gonna serve some red wine in a royal setting, Hallmark. And I mean, you Hallmark, they I don't know if you know this or any, they have a division, a whole it's it's called Hallmark Wines. And yeah, so they they actually have a wine division, they should know better. So Hallmark Wines, let's get in, let's get in touch with Hallmark and make sure that they have the uh the proper wine glasses for these scenes that uh uh include a glass of wine. And but the really the only rewrite I had, the almost kiss after the horseback ride, it came very suddenly to me. Like I never even really saw them getting that close. I mean, they were they had some nice discussions and everything, a couple of looks, but just the fact that they almost I think we need a little build-up to their romance if we're gonna get an almost kiss right there after the horseback ride. That's probably the only thing that I would have rewritten either. I would have just cut out that almost kiss altogether, or I would have had a little bit more of that slow burn building up to that almost kiss before it actually happened.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

That was that was a scene that kind of stood out to me only because he grabbed, put his hands around her hips to help her off the horse. And that seems uh a little bit more intimate and familiar than I would expect from helping a lady off of a horse.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

I agree.

SPEAKER_01 16:33

Yeah. Who wouldn't want to try that with Danica McKeller, of course, you know, but still it was a little uh I think on borderline inappropriate, but uh obviously he was starting to like her.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

All right, favorite moment of the movie, what do you got?

SPEAKER_01 16:46

I like the talk that Allie and Theodora had uh on the side. It was very heartfelt. It was a short talk, but it was very heartfelt, and uh it was uh astounding at how uh how in touch she was with uh you know with the little girl. I mean, obviously she's been a little girl, but she was very good with kids, and I was surprised by that. And uh, you know, I suppose she had a way of understanding that being that they had lost her family had lost her parents. So, you know, it was her, and I don't know who raised who in that order, but it was her, her sister, and her brother. And so obviously she learned some skills and ways to deal with children and just family dynamics, and she's a good communicator. I really thought that was a nice heart. That was my favorite moment. You know what I mean? I like heartfelt moments, and I did like the silly snowball fight that was next on my list on there.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

Yeah, that was a great snowball fight. My favorite moment was the royal ball uh there towards the end of the movie. I I loved everything about it because sometimes when you get these big balls, you might see like 12, 15 people in there. Not this time, there was like 50 or 60 people in this royal ball. You had an orchestra, every single guy was in a tuxedo, you had these women in beautiful gowns. Uh, then of course, you already mentioned the the dance with King Max and Theodora. It was so tender, so sweet. Then you had a great dance after that with Max and Allie. I I really like that entire scene. It just blew me away. It was a great, great royal ball scene.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

Yeah, and the outfit and the out, you know, the costume design was nice for everyone. It looked really nice.

SPEAKER_00 18:15

And of course, Danica comes out in the dress, and that's the the big wow moment as well. I I specifically like when they announced her, you know, you know, Allie from Brooklyn, and some guy goes, Brooklyn? What's where where's Brooklyn? I had no idea.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

You know, what's what's kind of nice about that is that you know, usually they see uh the introduction of a character coming into a royal ball or something like that, and they're they always seem a little bit more poised, but I like that Danica still kind of looked nervous and slightly awkward in that dress. So I like it seemed very, you know, like what a real person would be like coming into that. So I thought that was kind of a nice little touch.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

We had a whole uh this was a tough one for me because we had so many great supporting characters in this movie. Who who who was your favorite that deserves some more screen time?

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Oh, it's hands down for me, Miss Wick. Why is she this way? I just love a grumpy character. I want to know, you know, you kind of get it a sense later on as to why, but not as much. I'd like can I like to know backstory on her a little bit more. Any little detail to give me an insight as to why she's this way would have for me would have merited more screen time.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Well, well, we know she worked for Celia once upon a time in some sort of capacity. They really didn't get into that, so maybe that's kind of why she's you know on team, Celia, team rigs, you know, working against Allie. Uh but yeah, they would it would have been nice because we really didn't get too much about her um but to find out why she is the way she is. Uh I'm going with Team Fergus. Uh I I like Fergus in this one. He was uh the cool butler, uh, just really looking out for Max when obviously you had other people working against him. Um, and obviously he is very much pro-Allie. Uh and yeah, we we talked about the the Mrs. Claiborne Fergus relationship. Is it or isn't it? They really don't give you too much insight to that. I kind of think that they were in a relationship and just kind of keeping it on the down low. But uh yeah, I I liked Fergus.

SPEAKER_01 20:08

Yeah, I did too.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

And that's a solid, you know, can't argue with that choice either. All right, one of my favorite segments, Are We Sure, uh, where we maybe some unanswered questions that we're we're just not quite sure that something would realistically happen in these movies, but what do you got?

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Well, my first one was that popped out to me was like Allie was really good at the dance in in a in a in a ball dance type setting. So my first like, are you sure are we sure that Allie was that good of a dancer? You know, maybe being from New York, maybe she had a little bit of dance stuff or something like that. But I was like, she's really good at this. That would seem like a hard dance to me.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

Yeah, you would you would expect the king to obviously be you know have plenty of dance lessons growing up, but yeah, maybe not as much Allie, so she she was good.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

And it's not like it's just him leading her, like she did some, you know, some movements that are not intuitive, I think. But yeah, I was one. And the other one was like, the chancellor gave the king such a hard time so many times and pushed back on him. I was like, can't like are we sure that the king can't just tell the chancellor to shut up? Like, hey, I'm the king, you're the chancellor, will you do what I say? Uh I guess that changed towards the end, but as I was watching it, I was like, why is he putting up with this guy pushing back on him all the time? Like, you're the boss. And uh, you know, so why did he have so much clout over the king? But in the end, he stood up and uh we learned uh you know that it was just him being kind of nice or submissive or whatever, but uh those were the two for me.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Yeah, I I kind of written down originally that same thing, uh between Max and Riggs there. I mean, yeah, like how is Max not already fired Riggs there? I obviously don't see eye to eye on just about anything. It's like, come on, just show the guy the door. So but uh I have three quick arweishers in in I I have three because they're all from the very same scene early on in the movie when Fergus shows up to Allie's apartment after she gets fired. And my first arwe should are we sure that Allie would really turn down the five thousand dollar check? Or you know, she's got a lot of bills to pay. Say thank you very much, we appreciate it. Uh, have a good Day, Fergus. Um, that's my first are we sure? And then my big are we sure is are we sure that that Fergus the butler could get an FBI FBI style background check on Allie within a few hours? Uh uh that I kind of I kind of questioned that one. And then my last are we sure is you know, Allie was debating whether or not she should go when Fergus offered her the job. Are we sure there was really a decision to be made? I mean, they're gonna fly her first class to Europe, she's gonna live in a castle for a few a few weeks, get paid very well to do it. I uh I'm I'm questioning, are we sure there was really a decision that she had to think about?

SPEAKER_01 22:33

Yeah, especially during Christmas. Like her and her sister got fired. So it's like two of them out of a job. So that's for sure she'd go and take that.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

All right. Would Allie and King Max last at least 12 months? What what do you say, Renee?

SPEAKER_01 22:47

You know, I I think she would struggle leaving her family. I think that's gonna be tough for her. Uh, you know, but what about them? Right? She's she she probably feels a little bit parental towards them and she has to watch over her brother and her sister. Absolutely. I think that would be a challenge for her. I think between just the king and and Allie, yes, they make it. I think she would miss her family, but maybe she can bring her family over and or you know, transition them over there or be able to see them more often. So in the end, I'm gonna believe love finds a way, and even though she'll miss her family, they'll be happy for her, and she'll be happy. So, yes, they will last 12 months.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

Wow, see you were a little uh non-committal at first there. I was getting a little worried because I'm definitely I for the first time ever, I might be a little more bullish on this one. I think for sure they're gonna last. Uh I mentioned that Disney connection. This is kind of the Cinderella story here. Uh, she can for sure bring her family over to visit. She can head back whenever she wants to, flying probably in a private jet. Uh yeah, they're they're they're definitely making it. This this is a this is a no-doubter uh in my mind. They're they're lasting 12 months and and beyond that. All right, so it is time to rate the kiss. We call it the missile toometer, we give it a letter grade, like we're back in school. Uh lay it on me. What do you got for this one? Because I I have some thoughts on this one.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

I know I'm sure you do. So I I I gave this an A in spite of sort of I would have liked to have seen slightly better camera work there. But the to me the the kiss was an A because when he walked up the steps, he went right for the kiss, and it was a strong embrace between them. I thought that was very nice and uh very demonstrative of his like his love and his affection for her. That's why I gave it an A, though I would have liked to have seen a little bit better camera work in that case.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

All right, I'm I am 100% with you, not quite on the grade, but um yeah, I loved how the kiss started. You know, it's this is a line in the movie that Hallmark fans seem to love. I see it quote all over the place when uh when Max says to her, You had me at Sewing Kit right before the kiss, which of course I believe was borrowed from Cameron Crow in the movie Jerry Maguire, where you know, you had me at hello. But when he grabs her and they start passionately kissing, I go, Oh my god, this is gonna be an A plus best kiss you and I have ever rated. But then the the camera panned out so far, I mean, it seemed like it was 20 feet away, you could barely even see their faces at all. Yeah. Um, and oh you and I are gonna have to start talking to these directors, and and we have a few followers on Instagram about from from some Hallmark directors, but when you start talking to them about how important the camera work is when it comes to this, because this isn't the first time you and I have had an issue where like it started off great. I remember in when we did Christmas under wrap, same thing when they were at the kind of their northern lights thing, how they started kissing, and next thing you know, like within a half a second the camera panned up and we didn't see any more. Same thing with this one. I mean, it panned out so far, you can hardly see. I I can't go any higher than a B minus just because I really didn't get I saw the passion that was gonna be there, but then the camera work kind of ruined it for me. Um I I know you're going A on this one. Um I think we're gonna be a little split. I'm gonna go with B minus, and just I again, it's because of the camera work, and we didn't really get everything that it could have been.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

Yeah, and I know Hallmark is a wholesome channel, it's part of what I love about Hallmark. A kiss, you can let a kiss, you know, it doesn't have to be a full-on make out session, you know, where it goes into PG 13 territory or something. But a nice kiss, I think, you know, even if you're watching this with your family, kids have seen their parents have a nice warm kiss. Not not making out, but just a nice lovely kiss.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

Absolutely tender. It can it can be tender, it can be romantic. Um, and but again, I I do think the camera work plays uh a lot in it. Obviously, we we talk about passion. Yeah, this one, this one I I had a problem with just that I that I didn't get to see it just because of the camera work on this one.

SPEAKER_01 26:39

So they've shown good kisses, like that Jill Wagner kiss we talked about a few movies back. Oh, and Christmas cookies, that was fantastic, yeah. Great kiss, like yeah, yeah. So if if that's if this movie could have done something like that, you know, easy A plus kiss. All right, who won the movie? No surprise from my standpoint, it was uh Danica McKeller. She was just so likable. Uh I just love seeing her big beautiful eyes and her absolute likability and charm. I just enjoyed seeing her. I liked her interaction with everybody. She didn't seem snobby at all. She seemed really down to earth. Someone that I would enjoy meeting in real life. Uh I just thought she was great. Her acting was good, uh, and she interacted very well with everybody. Uh, for hands down for me, Danica won this movie.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

Yeah, and I'm pretty sure this was her Hallmark Christmas debut. She don't know, maybe one or two other kind of non-Christmas movies before this, but uh, I originally circled her as well because I thought she was the easy answer. And I'm glad you I was stuck between two, and I'm in and she was one of the two. But in the end, I'm going in a different direction on this one. Because for me, this movie centers around one person. You have the the relationship between King Max and Princess Theodora. You also have the relationship between Allie and Theodora, you have the battle between Celia and Theodora. To me, this movie all circles back to Theodora. And for that reason, I am gonna go with Theodora and actress Ellie Botterall as the MVP of the movie. Can't dispute that. She did great. All right. Rating that moment of truth. What do you got this one?

SPEAKER_01 28:17

Solid, easy, 4.0, super enjoyable, charming. You don't need a lot of brain cells to watch it, which is perfect for my kind of viewing. 4.0 all the way, nope, no doubt.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

I was stuck between a 4.0 and a 4.25. Eventually I gave it to the the 4.25. I think maybe just in my mind, I'm inflating this a little bit uh up the quarter point because again, I I the royal movies don't really kind of hit home with me, and this one didn't. The fact that I got a royal movie that I maybe the best royal movie that I've seen with Hallmark that I really enjoyed. I think I gave it that extra quarter point and I'm okay with it. So I'm going 4.25 on this one.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

You know, and as as I as we're talking about it now, you know, I think about I really, really like the movie. So why am I hesitant to give it a higher score? Is because I try to put it in context of other movies and things like that, but maybe I should just look at it like because I really like this movie. So 4.0, 4.25, can't, you know, can't disagree with you on that one as well. I you know, just look at it from an ins I enjoyed it so much. You know, why would I hesitate to go higher or if I or if I didn't like it to go lower? So something I'm gonna keep in mind going forward. All right. Our favorite moment, you're on deck. What are we watching next? Oh, I have a good one. With news of the Good Witch potentially coming back, and we've already Oh, I know I know you're excited about the possibility of the Good Witch returning, yeah. Yes, I am. And we already reviewed a James Denton movie, which he's great. And so I'm gonna pick one with Catherine Bell in it and a gentleman named Eric Close, and it's 2017's Christmas in the air. Christmas in the air. All right. I I I I don't remember that one. I don't either, actually. So I'm I'm I just looked for her and I found I've you know I found that one. And I'll give you a hint. It does not take place in the air like I thought. Maybe it's on a plane or something like that, like that movie we had last year. But nope, it doesn't take place in the air, but it does occur during Christmas, and Christmas spirit is in the air.

SPEAKER_00 29:59

I'm I'm excited for it. So all right, everybody. Uh that's uh that's a wrap on uh trail for Christmas. Uh let us know what you think. Follow us on Instagram, Forever Hallmark Christmas. Uh, you can also send us an email, Forever Hallmark Christmas at gmail.com. Let us know what movie you'd like us to review. And Renee, until next week, let's keep it for the love of Hallmark.

SPEAKER_01 30:19

For the Love of Hallmark.