New Christmas movies premiered this year on the streaming service discovery+ in November. One of them, A Christmas Open House, has already aired on TV, on HGTV, and the second one, Designing Christmas, will air this upcoming Wednesday night, December 14 at 10/9c.
Now, I want to inform you that Jane, a wonderful reviewer and member of the It's a Wonderful Movie family, has alerted us that their first movie, A Christmas Open House, was not family-friendly. I've included Jane's review of this movie below if you'd like more details.
Designing Christmas movie details...
Designing Christmas storyline via HGTV: Interior designer Stella (Jessica Szohr) and contractor Pablo (Marco Grazzini) have charmed millions as co-hosts of their popular home renovation show. Although Stella is planning her wedding with fiancé Jack (Mykee Selkin), a last-minute production change means that she and Pablo must work overtime to keep their hit show on schedule. Stella confides in her mentor Freddy (Hilary Farr) about her complicated feelings for Pablo, which could jeopardize everything. Directed by Pat Mills from a screenplay by Michael J. Murray, Designing Christmas is produced by MarVista.
The leading stars in Designing Christmas are Jessica Szohr (who you may recognize from the Hallmark movie, Lucky in Love), Marco Grazzini (who has starred in several rom-com TV movies, including: Right in Front of Me, Christmas Unwrapped, Lonestar Christmas, The Story of Us, etc...), and Hilary Farr (host of HGTV's Love It or List It).
Trailer video clip:
(May take a few seconds or minute to load)
Designing Christmas
premieres Wednesday, December 14, 2022
at 10pm/9c. on HGTV
Jane's review of A Christmas Open House:
A Christmas Open House. On HGTV. Not family friendly. When I get the chance, I’ve enjoyed watching Home Town with Ben & Erin Napier on HGTV over the years. I thought their new Christmas movie would probably be sweet with a nice, decorative, attention to detail. But I couldn’t make it past the first five minutes. The movie starts at a beautiful outdoor wedding where we find out the lead actress has temporarily acted as a wedding planner but will soon be going back to her real gig as a home stager. We meet her friend, James, who says “I’d get married again, if I knew my reception would look this good.” And then he calls “Hey, sweetie” to his husband who comes over and we see just how in love they are, blah blah blah… social credit scores for HGTV… delete for me!! ~~Jane
Thank you so much, Jane, for sharing this review with us. Frankly, I was very disappointed to learn of the content, especially with Ben and Erin Napier's involvement. I'm so grateful you took the time to share and let us know.
If any of you would like to share a review, like Jane did, of any of the new Christmas movies this year, please do so in the comment section under any post here at It's a Wonderful Movie, and I'll share your review on the main Movie Review post - here.
Merry Christmas, everyone! Net
There has been shows that I used to love to watch like Fixer Upper and the Property Brothers, but unfortunately I've seen a lot of LGBT issues with this channel (and that was years before Hallmark had the same issues). I will be passing on this one.
ReplyDeleteAlso, watch this video of Tim Allen talking about putting the "Christ" back in Christmas. It's very encouraging. More Christians need to support him!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pCu_Xb4gVEY
Abigail, I heard Tim Allen made a comment like that, which I thought was very encouraging. Thank you for sharing the video - it was nice to see him actually say it, and it gives me a sliver of hope for "The Santa Clauses" series.
DeleteFreeform, ABC, and other channels are going to be showing the first two eps of the new series, "The Santa Clauses," beginning this Friday night. I've heard from family who've seen it, and they said it was good. So, even though I'm not liking Disney's woke direction lately, I will be checking this out and sharing it in my upcoming post. Maybe, if they see the incredible support behind a series like this, then they will realize what people really want to see. That's my hope, anyway. Older movies like The Santa Clause, Eloise, Cinderella, Snow White, etc... still hold a special place in my heart, as I'm sure they do many of you, as well.
Thank you, again, for sharing! Merry Christmas!!! :)
I might give this a try. Marco Grazzini has been great in his past movies. Don;t recognize the woman.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advance notice. HGTV is not one of my watched channels. I'll have to add it to my lineup. Everybody is getting into the act with more channels than ever providing Christmas movie competition to Hallmark.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty new here, but this is the first movie review I've seen for a movie that is on a streaming service. So I wonder, will we see any reviews for Falling for Christmas which is a Netflix movie?
ReplyDeleteJG
Did you all hear?!! Hallmark is making a second trilogy Wedding Veil movies with the same cast. I can't wait! It'll be great to see the three women play the same roles again. Praying it's family-friendly like the first three! Woohoo!
ReplyDeleteAbigail, Yes, that's right, three more Wedding Veil movies are coming in January. I have details on all three in my January Hallmark post, here:
Deletehttps://itsawonderfulmovie.blogspot.com/2022/11/hallmarks-january-2023-movie-schedule.html
Designing Christmas is family friendly about If having to work under a tight filming schedule wasn’t enough, the feelings between Pablo & Stella become harder to deny. This turns everything upside down. Speaking of flipping, Hilary Farr of Love It or List It is along for the ride as Stella’s mentor Freddy. New feelings may threaten everything between co-hosts of a home renovation show during the holidays.
ReplyDeleteA Royal Christmas Match is family friendly about Princess Camille travels to America to create a college exchange program and falls for a handsome professor. When she discovers he was hired by her father to watch out for her, she wonders if he cares more about her or his career.
ReplyDeleteDesigning Christmas is family friendly about Stella Murphy & Pablo Belmonte have been co-hosts of the renovation show “House Sweet Home” for six years, entertaining viewers with their sharp banter and often opposing styles, while thrilling homeowners with stunning transformations. But their latest makeover hits a lot closer to home…and this time it’s personal.
ReplyDeleteAfter many successful seasons, “House Sweet Home” could be on the brink of cancellation as ratings have fallen. Everything is riding on the all-important Christmas episode…when the prospective homeowner suddenly backs out. With no time to find another option—and over Stella’s strong protestations—Pablo & their show’s producer, Zoe, decide on a new plan of action: they will renovate the house on which Stella just closed escrow: a Victorian home in Lexington, Virginia, that was built by her great-great grandparents in 1910. Adding to the draw, Stella’s fiancé, Jack suggests they combine the reveal with their own onsite wedding…live on Christmas Eve.
With only a few weeks to transform the early-20th-century house that, in the early 21st century, has essentially gone to ruin, not to mention plan a wedding, Stella knows she needs reinforcements. She enlists her friend and mentor, Frederica “Freddy” Greene, who is not only an expert on historic homes but also shares Stella’s design aesthetic, which clashes with Pablo’s. Stella wants to restore the once-beautiful house, where she has so many happy childhood memories. Pablo, whose standard approach is summed up in his nickname, “The Sledgehammer,” wants to take down walls and paint or replace…well…everything.
However, as the two work closely together & uncover hidden truths, about the house & each other, the foundation of their relationship begins to shift. And what began as another renovation project just might become a labor of love.