Thursday, March 24, 2022

Happy 9 Months 'til Christmas!🎄



As we celebrate 3 months since Christmas day and 9 months to go, we can enjoy two Christmas movies this week on both Hallmark channels. Check out details on these 2 movies below, plus the many wonderful reviews shared. If you aren't one of these reviewers, you can still share your thoughts on these films in comments below. We would all love to hear your take, too!


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Christmas Thursdays...

March 24, 2022:





Inspired by Scotty McCreery's song, "Five More Minutes,” a woman’s Christmas wish is answered in unexpected ways when her late grandfather’s journal turns up and reveals an untold romance.

See an encore of
Thursday, March 24, 2022
at 7pm/6c. on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries


Movie Reviews:

🎄"Oh my goodness! Not only is Five More Minutes family friendly it is soooo good! It's got a little mystery, lots of family love and honors our military too! This one is a keeper! Warning...have tissues close by!! Thank you Net and all who come here to write reviews for these movies!" ~Joyce in Carolina

🎄"Five More Minutes" is also family-friendly, but I'm not sure what to make of the story. I'm still trying to decide if I liked it or not. On one hand, there were some touching things about the story, and I like David Haydn-Jones. On the other hand, there wasn't enough of David Haydn-Jones' character, and I found an aspect of the story (I'm trying not to spoil anything) a little too unbelievable or odd for me, even though I usually love stories that have a fantastical element to them. I also saw the "twist" coming from the beginning, so it wasn't a big surprise." ~Amy Lama

🎄"Just finished watching Hallmark Five More Minutes. It reminded me of the old Hallmark Christmas movies. Great movie, Great family theme. I was putting off watching this movie because Hallmark disappointed me so much this year." ~Anonymous

🎄"I watched Five More Minutes this evening, no regrets!! It is family friendly and amazing!!! My personal opinion, the best one on movies and mysteries so far this year, and it might remain the best for the rest of the year too! One thing that surprised me in a very good way is it had a bit of a military theme which we haven't really seen this year like we used to, so that was wonderful!! I don't want to give anything away so I won't say anything else, but it is definitely a new favorite for me!!! It is a VERY special Christmas movie!!" -brother in Christ

🎄"I watched Nantucket Noel, A Kindhearted Christmas and Five More Minutes. They were family friendly. I would watch A Kindhearted Christmas and Five More Minutes again. I really like David Hayden-Jones. I had to grab tissues for that last movie." ~Mary

🎄"I just want to share my impressions of Five More Minutes. It was was such a wonderful and touching story. One of the best. Watching it was such a joyful experience for me, I felt so warm and happy. I like Nikky Deloach, she was just amazing in this movie, her emotions were real. And thank Scotty Mccreery for such a wonderful song, which was the inspiration for this movie. It is indeed a very beautiful song. This movie will become a Hallmark classic, for sure." ~Oksanka

🎄"Watched 5 More Minutes last night. Very family friendly. Dealing with loss at this time of year touches all of us in different ways. I think an earlier comment mentions a fantasy element that was used in a good way I thought. In some ways it reminded me of 2002s A Christmas Visitor with William DeVane and the 2004s Angel in the Family with Meredith Baxter and Ronny cox. (I think these were the titles). They also had elements of wanting more time to get closure that used supernatural means." JoCo

🎄"Five More Minutes is everything the other comments have said. Finally watched it last night and I was blown away, not only by the acting but also the story. This movie is at the top of my favorites. The mystery is awesome; the ending unexpected. I left this movie full of joy." ~kitkat

🎄"Angel Falls Christmas", "Much Ado About Christmas, "Five More Minutes". "My Family Christmas Tree" was interesting and good." ~Namegirl

🎄"FIVE MORE MINUTES Family friendly. What a tearjerker. Many great reviews already but I agree that this was one of the better ones this year. Heartbreaking and deep. This might be my favorite Nikki DeLoach movie yet. Great pairing with David Hayden-Jones. The only thing is that I personally have never been a fan of love triangle, especially that Clara was in a serious relationship. Although I could see how Clara was struggling with her feelings, she also definitely spent too much time with Logan, no matter how innocence it might seem. I do understand that sometimes that’s just how a love story is formed. I did love the ending. Without wanting to spoil too much, the way they conclude Grandpa & Clara’s relationship was beautiful and touching." ~CH Mom

🎄"This beautiful movie truly touched my heart! If only we could all have just 5 more minutes with our loved ones. Heartwarming and family-friendly." ~Net



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Christmas Fridays...

March 25, 2022:

 


In "A Kiss Before Christmas," real estate development executive Ethan Holt (Denton) is a married father with two teens. On Christmas Eve, he is disappointed to learn he’s losing out on a promotion and laments that his “nice guy” way of doing business has held him back in his career. Thanks to some Christmas magic, Ethan’s casual wish that his life had taken a different course becomes reality. He wakes up the next morning and is shocked to find everything is different – he isn’t married to Joyce (Hatcher), he doesn’t have two teenaged kids, and he’s CEO of his company. Joyce is the key to Ethan being able to reclaim his original life and the family he loves; he must convince her that their happily-ever-after is waiting for them — and he only has until Christmas Day.

See an encore of
Friday, March 25, 2022
at 8pm/7c. on the Hallmark Channel



Movie Reviews:

🎄"A Kiss Before Christmas is family-friendly, and I liked it very much. One of my favorites so far. James Denton and Teri Hatcher were great in their roles and great together. Stories from a male character's point of view seem to be rare on Hallmark, so I enjoyed that aspect of it. I love this type of "It's a Wonderful Life" story, even if it has been done many times before, and this one did not disappoint." ~Amy Lama

🎄"A Kiss Before Christmas is family friendly, and I really enjoyed this movie. James Denton and Terri Hatcher are good together, plus I loved the story. Another keeper for me. The stories have been told before in both of these movies (including A Kindhearted Christmas), but I never tire of seeing good deeds and life changing things happen. When you leave a movie feeling happiness and joy, it is a good thing. That is how I felt." ~kitkat

🎄"Kiss Before Christmas was not bad or good, just ok. Kind of what i expected." ~Sabrina

🎄"A Kiss Before Christmas - I really wanted to like this movie, but I felt like it took James Denton’s character way too long to want his old life back. For a while there, he seemed to like his fortune and successful career more than his family. Plus, I wasn’t crazy about all of the political pictures that were supposed to be impressive behind his desk at work. I did, however, like the cute chemistry between James Denton and Teri Hatcher." ~Net

🎄"A Kiss Before Christmas was pretty good. As has already been shared, it is Family friendly. I was hoping for it to be a little bit better, but it was still a nice Christmas movie!" ~brother in Christ

🎄"A Kiss Before Christmas" was very good. I teared up toward the end of the movie - and I rarely cry at these movies." ~Namegirl

🎄"A Kiss Before Christmas Family-friendly: Yes Keeper: Yes I love how the focus of this movie is on the relationship between two "older" people. (FYI - both James Denton and Teri Hatcher are in their early 50's, though they both look much younger!) And the chemistry between them was right on! They have acted together before in Desperate Housewives, and it looked like they were having a lot of fun making this movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it!" ~Mark 25




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So... that's the two Christmas movie choices this week. Will you be watching one or both, as we "Mark the 25th" day of the month on Friday, March 25th in our Countdown to Christmas, or something else?

Once again, I must say, I'm so thankful for all of your comments. Thank you all so much! It's always interesting to hear everyone's different opinions, likes, and dislikes, too! For this week's movies - one must suspend their disbelief in the possibility of traveling through time. My movie pick for the week is "Five More Minutes!"


I hope you all have 5 or more minutes to enjoy watching a little Christmas this week!

Happy 9 months 'til Christmas day!🎄

Blessings, Net


16 comments:

  1. Joyce in CarolinaThursday, March 24, 2022

    I will definitely be watching "Five More Minutes"! That is such a great movie! Thanks Net for the heads up each week. I love that you are putting the reviews back up on these movies too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joyce, Wonderful choice! I so appreciate everyone's fantastic reviews; I want to be sure to highlight them all as much as possible! You were the first to review Five More Minutes, and we were all grateful to hear it was family friendly. Enjoy watching this heartwarming story again! :)

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  2. Net, while part of me wishes that it was only 3 months until Christmas, it is actually 9 months until that wonderful day! Hopefully a quick 9 months...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, yes... it's 9 months 'til Christmas! I was thinking about it being 3 months *since* Christmas when I wrote this. I, too, wish it was only 3 months... with everything going on in the world today, we certainly need the peace that Christmas brings even more! :)

      Delete
  3. Um, I think you mean '9 months' until Christmas. :) -Maria

    ReplyDelete
  4. Also appreciate all the reviews, like Joyce said. Where can I see all the rest of the reviews you had at Christmas?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous, Good to hear you enjoy seeing the movie reviews again, too!

      You can see ALL of the 2021 Christmas movie reviews here:
      https://itsawonderfulmovie.blogspot.com/2021/10/which-2021-christmas-movies-made-its.html

      And, if you're interested in the non-holiday TV movie reviews, visit the link below and click on the movie titles that interest you.
      http://itsawonderfulmovie.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-made-for-tv-movies-2016.html

      Delete
  5. Holly Robinson signs multi picture deal with Hallmark

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/deadline.com/2022/03/holly-robinson-peete-multi-picture-deal-crown-media-1234985308/amp/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm afraid none of the recent multi-picture deals appeal to me - I know many here don't agree with me but imo Hallmark should be aiming for younger stars.

      We didn't even bother to watch Ms Robinson Peete's Our Christmas Journey as we didn't like the content - Florence.

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  6. Now this is very interesting.

    Nikki DeLoach is a class actress who rarely turns in a sub-par performance and I was delighted to see the return of David Haydn-Jones.

    I have mixed feelings about Five More Minutes - in many ways, yes, this is a rich and warmly emotional movie but for me it is NOT family-friendly (although only CH Mom has made a reference to my point) but it also demonstrates how much Hallmark has moved from its traditional values.

    Many times we have seen one of the lead characters in a committed relationship when they meet up.

    Sometimes they unintentionally get caught up in a " moment" but the red line is never crossed.

    However despite the fact that Logan knows Clara is in a long-term relationship he makes a determined move on her.

    So, "is all fair in love and war"?

    I personally found this rather upsetting and it left me with rather a bad taste in my mouth.

    I would seem to be the odd one out though - Florence

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Florence, I understand your perspective on this. Sometimes, it differs per movie for me and how committed the actors seem to be in the beginning. I felt a similar feeling you described with the newest Godwink movie, "A Godwink Christmas: Miracle of Love." Joy was nearly engaged to a man she's been in a long-term relationship with and then she leaves town, meets Eric, and they suddenly fall in love. Even though they weren't engaged, yet, I still really felt bad for the original boyfriend. However, since they weren't married, is it still family-friendly, but it still didn't leave me feeling all warm and fuzzy as a happy ending love story should.

      Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Florence. I'll be sure to post your review on the Christmas Movie Review page.

      https://itsawonderfulmovie.blogspot.com/2021/10/which-2021-christmas-movies-made-its.html

      Delete
  7. Is 5 more minutes based on a true story?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris, The movie was inspired by country singer Scotty McCreery’s song, ‘Five More Minutes,’ which he wrote for his grandaddy after his passing.

      In the movie, Nikki DeLoach’s character, Clara, also loses her grandpa. All of the characters in the movie are fiction, but they are loosely based on the real story in the song.

      Also, Nikki lost her father before filming this movie and she shared this heartfelt comment in an Instagram post:

      "In the depths of my own grief over the loss of my dad, God brought me this story, this character. And I was reminded, yet again, that I’m being carried and held. If writing a song could help Scotty feel closer to his grandfather every time he performed it, maybe this movie could help me feel like my dad is never far away too.

      What I wouldn’t give for 5 more minutes with my dad. What we all wouldn’t give for 5 more minutes with our beloveds who we’ve lost.

      This is a story about enduring love."

      Delete
  8. Harmony from the Heart was air on GAC Family late morning yesterday

    ReplyDelete

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