Mistletoe Moments

There's very little purpose in critiquing the low production values for each movie, the similar 6 or so storylines used over and over again and the halting, bumbling style of the romances in Hallmark movies. I have seen these productions being made from around 2010 to present day and 90% of them all have the same general low-budget, repetitive storyline, cringe-inducing approach.

I turn a blind critical eye to all of this and just ask for a couple of things:

1. Do the leads seem casted for match in terms of physical appeal?

2. Despite the script always requiring romantic hesitancy, does the male lead at least act like he has 2 X chromosomes throughout the movie?

3. Does some overt romantic chemistry develop throughout the movie or do we have to view 90 minutes of nothing only to get a surprise kiss as the credits roll?

I think this movie rates a grade B- on my scale.

I am afraid this film just "couldn't get there." Their acting was ok, I guess, but the awkward moments were forced and it was totally lacking in chemistry. It was slammed together, like it was a weekend student film project, and it had no real substance or good conflict.

It snowed continually, I guess for effect, but the snow never built up.

AND the fact that they were having to put all those decorations up and there were no helpers, was a bit ridiculous.

Unfortunately, I didn't feel anything in this movie, not even Christmas.

PS - Lip synch went out the last 15-20 minutes of the film. Sorry. A for effort, F for failed.

I enjoyed this movie for most of it due in large part to the chemistry between the leads Susie Abromeit and Liam McIntyre, that is until each of them started letting their own insecurities get in the way. The development of their relationship was slightly unusual. In their first anonymous meeting, the meet-cute, they got along quite well despite her hitting him by accident with a snowball. The usual formula in rom/coms is an antagonistic first meeting, although there are exceptions. But then instead of following the formula of building their relationship after the first meeting, once they are assigned to work together there is some conflict. This of course, is quickly disarmed and the middle of the movie is mostly upbeat. It does follow the common formula of the two working together to plan a Holly Ball.

Another slight deviation from formula is the conflict. Most movies would have done the misunderstood overheard conversation as the only part of the conflict between them. But then Colbie gets hit with a double whammy which without giving it away is huge. BTW, one part of that double whammy was never really dealt with to reconcile it. The end is much as you would expect since you really can't have it any other way in this kind of movie.

The acting is good. The dialogue is good.

I had one issue which is one of my biggest pet peeves but most people will either not notice or not care. Why are the text message exchanges so small? They were as meaningful as the rest of the dialogue. I had to pause and rewind then pause and play a little at a time because each tiny message appeared in place of the previous one, instead of listing down the screen. This was a huge annoyance to me and there was another brief tiny text later. I deduct 2 stars for this.

In summary, the story had some of the usual formula but with some minor modifications. But I enjoyed most of the movie thanks to the relationships.

Yes, you guessed it, of course I had never heard about the 2023 movie "Designing Christmas With You" (aka "Mistletoe Moments") prior to sitting down to watch it here in 2024. I happened to have the chance to add it to my 2024 Christmas movie marathon, and since it was a movie that I was unfamiliar with, of course I did so.

Were I harboring grand expectations to Jo-Anne Brechin's 2023 movie? No, not really, as the movie's cover seemed rather generic and sappy. But then again, doesn't the vast majority of these movies essentially have the same cover of a woman and a man looking all cozy and Christmassy? And this movie was no different.

The storyline in the movie is generic, so very, very generic. Our leading actress stumbles into a stranger and it is an instant attraction, and she has to work on a huge Christmas event, but lo and behold the guy opposing her plans happens to be the leading actor, the stranger she bumped into in the beginning of the movie. Will they work out their differences and make Christmas a reality? And will they fall in love along the way? I think we all know the answers and the exact outcome of the story. So writer Ansley Gordon played it safe and put all bets on all the archetypical sappy Christmas movie tropes in history.

But of course, this means that the diehard fans of sappy Christmas movies will enjoy the movie a lot more than us casual viewers will. No doubt about that.

I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, and that is actually something I do enjoy when I sit down to watch a movie. The acting performances in the movie were fair.

Hardly a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time, but it was entertaining enough for what it was.

My rating of director Jo-Anne Brechin's 2023 movie "Designing Christmas With You" lands on a five out of ten stars.

It's all about decorating and the decorating budget must have been forgotten about?... Maybe less fake snow and more vintage, Victorian design. Not realistic at all. Seems like the same bows were used in every scene. My home looks better than the Chapman house🙃 Definitely not a holly ball to remember. This is the cheesiest hallmark movie I've ever seen. Why make such a terrible movie if you don't have the budget to make it authentic to the script? The am new to Hallmark movies but there are some I do like but again, this takes the cake for the worst one I've seen. No drama, unrealistic timeline and again the budget and decor for the holly ball falls flat. Walmart decorates better than that!!