A Castle of Our Own

[00:00:03] This is a Bramble Jam Podcast Are you alright? Hi, I'm Bran and I love sandcastles! Brian, I like sandcastles I'm Dano, I guess I despise sandcastles And this is Deck The Hallmark Deck The Hallmark, it's his podcast Friends host his podcast We hope you like this jolly

[00:00:37] Hello everybody! Hello! I don't despise sandcastles I mean, I don't really want to build one But I don't despise them I said that in the intro and I feel bad Do you want to build a sandcastle? Is this the summer frozen? Is that the third one, Frozen 3 summer? What? Like, is that from Frozen 3 summer? Oh! The musical we wrote Yes! Yes! Do you want to build sandcastle? It works! Yes! It's the same amount of syllables as a snowman

[00:01:05] Do you want to build sandcastle? Do you want to go and play? Let the sun glow! Let the sun glow! That's really good It's good We're still working on it So it's Hi! Hey! Everybody! How are we? It's great to be here! Happy summer! Happy 4th of July week! That's right! It is, yeah! June 30th! Big win! June flew by, guys! It sure did! Flew by! Flew right by! It did! Flew right by! That's right! This is what I'll say!

[00:01:35] Please don't! This is what I'll say about this! Say it! I am pumped for Christmas in July! Yeah, you are! I am pumped for it! We got a lot going on? We gotta do this sandcastle movie the day before Christmas in July, but... Well, Christmas for us, we're really doing it next week! Yeah, and then Bramble Fest is gonna be a big Christmas in July celebration! Absolutely! It's gonna be massive! It's gonna be very exciting! Build a sandcastle? I mean, there's some folks that are coming to town that are gonna get to play golf with Marcus Rosner and then watch his movie. Wow! Watch his movie. You're just putting it out there.

[00:02:04] You're gonna get to watch a Marcus Rosner movie with Marcus Rosner. Yeah, Marcus Rosner's gonna be at Bramble Fest, everybody. Damn. So, uh... I bet you're jealous. But virtual tickets are still available. DeckTheHomework.com slash fest. You can get your virtual ticket. It's gonna be a lot of fun, and we're very much looking forward to it. It's just in a couple of weeks. And, uh, yeah, Christmas in July is gonna be a lot of fun. We've got four Christmas movies. New movies. Two of them new. That's right. Um, uh, Patrick's gonna be bringing us some lifetime Christmas movies that we've never seen before.

[00:02:34] Rye Guy's gonna make you watch some of his favorite made-for-TV Christmas movies, including What? To Grandmother's House We Go. I didn't even know this was happening. It's gonna be a lot of fun this July. Is that a Mary-Kate-Nation? Yeah! It's gonna be a lot of fun this July. Just threw that in on air. But none more important, Dan, than season two of Christmas at Sea. That's true. Which kicks off this Wednesday on Hallmark Plus. And to give everybody time to figure out how to sign up for Hallmark Plus, we will start reviewing it next week. And I'm drawing again. You're drawing.

[00:03:03] I made four drawings last year. We said we were gonna sell them for charity. Nobody offered any money. So they're sitting up here in the office. This year? This is a true story. Yeah, we had a good talk on this. We did. I was wondering what we should use for coloring this year. Dude, I can't do this again with you. I can't do this again. Last year, Dan used color. I'm in my office trying to work on things I need to work on. Important business stuff.

[00:03:28] And Dan interrupts my busy, busy, busy business, big business stuff to ask me if I'm okay with using markers instead of colored pencils. Because it would pop more on. And I told him firmly, get out of my office. Get out. I don't care. You don't? I don't care. You don't care what you have to color with. No, I'm bad at it. Have you seen those? I don't color for a living. Yet. But markers are harder to color with. That's right. So I was looking. I didn't know.

[00:03:58] They're notoriously harder to color with? Yeah, because it's bigger. It's a bigger tip. I didn't know that. Bigger tip. Right. I didn't know that. You can do more shading with colored pencils. So does that change your answer? I mean, I guess we're pot committed at this point, right? We're pot committed. Aaron Shade's going to bring up markers for us. Cool. Are we going to do a ceremony? Like a delivery? A whole delivery ceremony. It'll be the start of the episode. We'll have music. It'll be a whole thing. And she'll bring them up. And she'll lay them on the table for us. It'll be wonderful. So anyway, lots to look forward to for Christmas in July.

[00:04:27] But we can't do any of that before we get sandcastles. That's right. That's exactly right. We're talking about a castle of our own. Is that the name of the movie? It sure is. A castle of our own? A castle all our own or of our own? I think it's of. Of our own. Great. It originally premiered on the Hallmark Channel. Sandwiched in between a bunch of Christmas movies. So Hallmark had switched to Christmas for Christmas in July. And they were like, what about the Sandcastle movie real quick? Uh-oh.

[00:04:55] So it was Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, Sandcastle. Christmas, Christmas, Christmas. So that's fun. On, what was that? July 20th. It's June 27th. June 27th. June 27th. And it went a little something like this. Do name Gordo is to go to sandcastles. Okay. Gordo the goat? He has been cleaning house at the Vero Beach Contest every year. But it's time for him to go home to Canyon Cove and return to his roots.

[00:05:21] It might be a smaller competition, but it's going to be nice to go home. Marley is an overworked... Who says you can't go home? You know what I mean? That is exactly right. I'm coming home. Coming home. Tell the world I'm... Tell Canyon Cove I'm coming home. Marley is an overworked mom. Her daughter Lily is over it. But it's not just her mom that's a workaholic. It's her dad as well. He's supposed to take Lily to Canyon Cove for the week.

[00:05:50] But he has a big work thing come up. So he asks if Marley could take a couple of days off work until he can get up there. She reluctantly agrees after he reminds her that she still owns part of the company. And so this is big for business. This is big for us. And so she's like, if I have to spend time with my daughter, I have to spend time with my daughter. Brian gets it. They get to the rental and the water isn't working.

[00:06:19] And so she has to call a plumber. And she has to tell her daughter. She can tell that her daughter is distracted by something on her phone. Won't tell her what. But the plumber shows up. And I'm not kidding you when I say he is significantly hotter than her ex-husband ever was. It's insane. His name is Adam Sullivan. Turns out, not a plumber. He is the neighbor next door who happened to have a toolbox in the bed of his truck. Heck, yeah.

[00:06:48] That was good enough for her to assume that he's the plumber. You got a truck. You got a toolbox. That's exactly right. Lily meets Adam's niece. Dr. Rage, you can dodge your ball. That's right. Lily meets Adam's niece, Paige. And they hang out. And she's going to be like, introduce her to friends and stuff. Maybe she'll show her what real friendship looks like. Because her friends at home are butts. Marley decides to sign her and her daughter up for the Sandcastle competition. She goes out to practice.

[00:07:18] It's harder than she thought that it would be. When she sees how good Adam is at building his house and also that he has experience with sand, she asks if he would be willing to help them get ready for the competition. He gives them a lesson and they come up with a name. Last One Sanding. That's good. And also they decide that they're going to go bold in round one with an Eiffel Tower inspired built.

[00:07:45] Because Lily is like, if my parents aren't going to bring me to Paris like they promised, I might as well see it in sand form. It's not going well. So Adam decides to take them to fly a kite. It's competition time. And they don't quite move on to the second round. But they had fun, right? They had fun. But turns out one of the teams that was moving on, they found a contraband in one of the castles.

[00:08:14] A contraband. What's that you got over there, Dale? It's a contraband. Which disqualifies that castle. So that means that they get to move on. Adam and Marley keep hanging out more. He keeps convincing her not to pick up her phone. And they end up kissing big ones. She decides that she's going to quit her job and go back into residential architecture. All thanks to Adam as her inspiration. It's scary, though. There's a lot of financial risk.

[00:08:44] Luckily for her, her ex-husband offers to buy her out of a chunk of the company that they own. Because he's just a good guy. He's just a good guy. And so it's great. It's time for the final competition, the championship, if you will. They decide they're going to go with pyramids. Yeah, man. Triangles. Our guy Gordo isn't concerned, but he should be because he loses.

[00:09:14] Gordo doesn't win. But last one standing also doesn't win. But they do get honorable mention. That's nice. Because Adam and Marley talk and decide that it's best that they break things off now because it's clearly not going to work between them because they don't even live close. But with the help of her ex-husband, he decides to shoot his shot and move to Seattle to be close to her. And they kiss some more down by the beach.

[00:09:40] And now, my friends, was a castle of our own. I thought we were saying castle of our own. It's not. Castle of our own. It's not. That's right. We did it. Let's take a break. We'll come back. We will break this movie down with I'm going to propose four segments. We can talk about it on the other side if you want, too. We talked about a new Wait What segment earlier. We did. It's called The Wait What? Take the homework.

[00:10:16] Come back. We're talking about A Castle of Our Own. Our final summer movie until summer. That's right. Yes. Until summer comes back for more. The August movie. Summer Part D. All right. Let's get to it. Let's break this movie down. We're going to start with a hot take. We're going to share exactly how we felt about this movie. We're not going to hold back. I'll start with you, Bride Guy. Bride Guy, a castle of our own. Was it a castle of your own? My own? Did you like it? Is what I'm trying to say?

[00:10:44] Well, it was great to see you bring him back, obviously. I mean, come on. Really fun. Missed him a lot. I liked him and Erica together in this. Their relationship to me felt like it was authentically awkwardly building, I thought, for me. And it felt like a good way to do it. It was they were trying to get to know each other. They're later in life. They've lived a lot in their lives. They're later in life? Later in life. They've lived a lot of their lives. They're old. They're not old. What are you calling Brendan Elliott? No.

[00:11:14] He is not. Are you later in life? I'm getting later in life. Yeah, I am. I feel it, too. But their relationship built nicely, I thought. There was just one slight, just like a tiny little thing that bugged me throughout this whole movie. It was freaking freezing outside. Real cold. It was real cold. So cold. My ideal summer. You could see them all uncomfortably cold the whole time. I swear, there was a scene at the beach.

[00:11:42] In the background, you could see snow on the mountains. It was freezing. So it was really hard to get into the summer of it. Yeah, it was really hard. They should have just stuck with Christmas, done it at Christmastime. Say, hey, it's still cold here. Lean into it. Put on some hats. It was freezing. And it was really hard to feel summery and warm watching them freeze out there on the beach. I really like, I thought we were going to get a little more art history, to be honest. I could have used a little more art history.

[00:12:10] You thought you could have used more what? A little more art history. It's interesting. When they're in the gallery, they're showing art. They're having conversation. Could use a little more art history. I enjoyed that part of it. If we're not going to get crazy. Sometimes I think you say things and don't think about the ramifications. There's no world where you mean this. If there was more art history, I think you would have heard of it. I like listening to people talk about their interpretations of art. I could, but I was watching this movie and I would have liked just a little bit. If we're not going to get impressive.

[00:12:40] It's such a small part of this movie. It doesn't. No one was promised art history. I know, but it was a nice surprise. I wanted a little more. It's a sandcastle movie. It was like you made a delicious dessert and it's like this is all you get to have. Here's a little taste. And I'm like, well, I want more. Isn't that how dessert works? You want more. You want a bunch more is what you want. That's all I'm saying. You go to lunch, you get yourself a softball size of fried ice cream and you're like, I wish I had two softballs.

[00:13:09] Can I have a soccer ball size? Actually, when I say it out loud, Dan, I get what Brian's playing. Oh, yeah. It's all just. I'm not knocking the movie for it. I'm just saying it would have been nice. It's a weird take. It just would have been nice. We didn't get crazy sandcastles. Like if we're not going to get really super impressive sandcastles, let's get a little more rehearsed tree. That's all I'm saying. It's a fair trade off. So I thought this movie was fine. I thought it was it was fine. They did a pretty good job here. It was just so freaking cold and it was hard to get over that.

[00:13:40] Yeah. Listen, this is a all time low stakes for Hallmark. This is a sandcastle competition. How's she going to start her own business with 12 percent of the million she owns in a company? With a sandcastle competition with two people, as Brian said, later in life. So it feels like two olds out there. Stakes are pretty low. They're at the peak of their life. I probably it seems like they're doing great. I am so happy to see Brennan Elliott again. He is so charismatic. He is easy to look at.

[00:14:10] He just makes me. There's something about Brennan when he is on my screen on the Hallmark channel. I feel warm. It's like a nice hug. And maybe it's because he's hugged me before in real life. And I could be it. And I feel that. He's a good hugger. He is a good hugger. But I'm so happy to see him back on the network. I wish that it was for something that mattered more than a sandcastle competition. I did find like the daughter kind of connecting with his niece.

[00:14:39] I found that storyline kind of interesting. Except you wanted more art history. You mean when they were talking about art history? Okay. No. But I felt like those two were giving good performances. And I could feel like the friendship forming. And I like that. But yeah. This is a sandcastle competition movie at the end of the day. And we've seen a lot of like ice sculptures. And we've seen a lot of snowman competitions.

[00:15:05] And we've seen this is the first sandcastle competition that I've seen on the screen. And it doesn't quite hit me like a Christmas competition would if you can believe it. But yeah. Movie's nice. Movie couldn't matter less. And sometimes that's what you need out of a late June movie on a Hallmark channel. I liked it okay. Dano? Yeah. So this movie does complicated relationships very well. And it does adult conversations very, very well. What it doesn't do is movie very well.

[00:15:31] There's not a lot of a good reason for this movie to exist. The guy that loves these movies was bored. And the guy that likes these movies wanted more art history. I think that that's pretty self-explanatory as to where we are in the calendar. I will say this. And I know that it sounds like a broken record at this point. Brendan Elliott's great. And I know that he's been on the show a bunch. And I know that we're friends in real life. The guy doesn't take a scene off.

[00:16:00] He, just how he very intricately acts toward his sister is like most Hallmark leads aren't doing that work. Not because they're not good leads, but because they're like, this isn't what this movie's about. We'll take this scene off. We'll do the lines. We'll get to the next one. But Brennan Elliott, he feels like he's had a lifelong relationship with his sister in this movie. And they don't have any scenes together. And it feels that way. His chemistry with Eric Acera is great. Eric Acera is also great.

[00:16:29] The movie is just sandcastle competition. Super duper wealthy people who live five hours apart not being able to crack the code on it. Just hard. Just real hard for us to care about any of this in any given way. They don't bother to make Gordo enough of a villain for us to really have something to root against. In fact, they just decide to stop writing about him entirely halfway through the movie. They start the movie with Gordo Pack and halfway through they're like, who?

[00:16:58] Never heard of him. So yeah, there's a lot left to be desired here. But if Hallmark's listening, don't hear what I said about the movie. Hear what I said about Brennan Elliott. Because I want to see that dude in a Henley with a flannel and a peacoat on, all three gloves on, talking Christmas, see his breath. That's where Brennan Elliott belongs on the Hallmark channel doing a Christmas movie. And same for Eric Acera for that matter. So that's what you should take away, not the fact that the movie sucks. Yes.

[00:17:27] If I don't get a Brennan Elliott Christmas movie this year, I'm going to be pretty frustrated. I understand, like last year was a weird year and they were down to 24 movies. Michael Rady, Brennan Elliott, only one of them gets one. You weren't a problem. That's your nightmare. Because Rady didn't get one either. Rady and Elliott deserve more love. Give me... Here's what I'll say. I mean, Andrew Walker got three. Tyler Hines got three. We love those guys. What are we doing? Give me one or none from those two and give me a Michael Rady and a Brennan Elliott.

[00:17:57] Right now. No, that's right. Write me out. Write me out. No, I need... Oh, man. I'm pre-mad that probably one of them is not going to get one, Dan. I'm pre-mad. You got inside track or you just thinking what we're thinking? No, I'm just assuming. I'm just assuming. Yeah. Yeah, you're assuming. I don't think... You and Adams, when you go assuming. Well, I think we'll get more than 24, but I don't think we're going back to 40. You think we're getting more than 24? I think we're getting more than 24. I don't think we're going back to 40. You heard it here first, guys. June 30th. You think we're getting more than 24? Yep.

[00:18:27] Early call from Bran. I'm going in even 30. Even 30? Yep. Man. Let's get to all the feels. This is where we talk about what in this movie gave us feels. I'll start with you, Bry Guy. Oh, thanks. I thought you had a pocket. I do not have a pocket. That was HR. Harry, you are... Right to the old Abercrombie there. Just right there on the old pectoral region. That's my fault. I apologize. A little weird. Whenever you're ready, buddy. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought there was a pocket there. There's nothing I can do about it. When everybody knows, and I feel fine saying this a lot, everybody knows that if you are

[00:18:56] wearing a pocket on your polo, you're allowed to go inside the pocket. That is a rule. That's a rule. Yes. That goes above and that's outside of HRs. And that's an all play, you're saying. Yeah, I guess so. What color dot do you need to wear at Rammel Fest? I think it's an all play. No, it's not an all play. You're going to walk that back just a little bit. You said what color dot? What color dot is that an all play? Yeah. Pink dot. It's a pink dot all play.

[00:19:26] I'm going to wind my back. Yeah. It's an all play. Okay. There it is. Yep. It's an all play. Yep. So just think about that. Add it to the rule book. Add it to the rule book, folks. Oh, my God. Oh, man. I'm going to start wearing more pockets, I think. You're just going to have to call HR or cancel the show, whatever it takes. What's that? Brammel Fest is canceled? Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Sorry. Apparently, we made the shirt this year a pocket shirt. Just one giant pocket. All of the T-shirts.

[00:19:54] If we hadn't already made them, that would have been gold. We hadn't already made this mistake. Can you imagine any festival giving out pocket tees as the shirt tee? Yeah. I mean. That is a move. What a move. I like that. Just as Brammel Fest real small. Like right where the Abercrombie is there. Brammel Fest. You're paying for the quality. That's right. You don't want to wear this on a golf course. Any feels? Yeah. I feel like I should just wear shirts with pockets all the time, first of all. Second. Of course.

[00:20:24] There was a scene where Eric Cesar's character is in like this observatory room. It has a telescope. It's all windows. Real nice. Yeah. You can see the beach. And she's in this leather chair that looks so comfortable. Like I love a comfy leather chair deep that you sit deep back into. It looked like that thing rocked a little bit. I wanted that chair. They had a bunch of them too. There were like six of those chairs. Here's what I'll say about this. If it didn't look so gosh darn cold, this movie would have successfully given off some summer vibes. 100%.

[00:20:53] If it would have not looked so, so cold. Yeah. That killed all of that. Yeah. But you're right. The chair did look comfy. Because if you're on the beach and their jeans are rolled up and people are wearing shorts in the background instead of pants and long shirts, it would feel great. Like that Rady's movie. Yeah. The fish one. Yeah. From last year. No, no, no. With what's her name? Amelia Ulerud. Fourth of July movie. Oh, the fish one. Oh, yeah, yeah. I thought you meant the fish. No, yeah. He was a fish seller. Like that one I could like feel like, you know. 100%.

[00:21:22] I smoked some baby back ribs this weekend. They were very good. Right? Had a full rack. First to ten. Yeah, I bought it from Costco and I thought there were two racks. There were three. So I was like, I'm smoking all these. I just handed a rack over the fence. Three for two deal. Three for two situation. If you can't toss your pal a rack. Or a full rack of ribs. You could have cut it in your pocket if you had. I even threw a little bit away of what I had because I was like, I can't throw him a rack plus some. Like I just felt like that was weird, right? Yeah, that's a little presumptuous. You're not going to, you know, do leftovers. No.

[00:21:52] You threw it away, what, the day of? Leftover ribs. He doesn't do leftovers. I don't do. Your kids won't eat that? My wife does leftovers. Leftover smoked ribs? Yes. No. Yes. Throw it on a pizza. I did it the next day. It was delicious. Yeah. Even for breakfast. 100%. Dude, they were so great. They fell off the bone perfect. They still fell off the bone, believe it or not. The next day? Yes. They were delicious. Did I smoke still? Yes. These taste of smoke. I don't think so. You've been living wrong, man. I'm telling you. Your brain's clouded with math. You're not living right. Yeah, that's it.

[00:22:22] That's it. Listen, I now have a new life goal, which is for Brennan Elliott to wave me down to a campfire on the beach. It's a new life goal that I have. And if I play my cards right, I think it might happen. Is he coming to Christmas Con? Has he been announced yet? I don't know, but he should be. We can invite him. Yeah. I'm going to try to do everything I can to make this dream and reality because- Brennan's going to be lighting fires all over Christmas Con. Yeah.

[00:22:50] I didn't know it was a dream of mine until I saw him do it. And then I'm like, oh, that would actually be really wonderful. He's in there. He's doing it. That would be wonderful. And I appreciate all the work you just did to not- It wasn't on camera at all. You want to do it again? I loved it. You got a lot of it. I loved it. Dude, I go to the middle of the convention center and I'm just making a fire. I've seen Survivor. It's a Brennan Elliott trap. Even Brennan Elliott. And it's a Brennan Elliott. It's a Brennan Elliott. Brennan Elliott. And it's a Survivor tryout. Yeah. All in all. Two for- Both hands.

[00:23:20] Dan? Yeah. So there's an early scene in this movie where Brennan Elliott's sister brings over a bunch of fish. Yeah. She's like, I got you a bunch of fish. And he goes, no thanks. I'm becoming a pescatarian. She goes, that means you're perfect. You only eat fish. And he goes, I'm doing the opposite of that. And did it fit in this movie? No. Did it sound like something like Rick Dilby has done on this podcast? Yes. But I loved it.

[00:23:45] I was like, this doesn't, this is a weird, like, non-sequitur bit that's happening in this movie. And it was my favorite part of this movie. I don't know if it worked for anybody else, but I had a blast with it. I thought it was funny. Yeah, it was funny. You know what I mean? Yeah. I know what you mean. Yeah. I know exactly what you mean. All right. Let's take a break. We'll come back. We'll get to the- Did you do your feels? I did. You did? Brennan Elliott invited me down to a bound. Yeah. You did the whole- I was making a fire. You made a fire awesome about that. You're kicking with the truck. All right. Let's take a break. We'll be right back.

[00:24:14] We'll get to the way one, the way the Hallmark here on Deck the Hallmark. We're back. I will say also, I feel like we should have probably done this at the top of the show, but happy anniversary to Deck The Hallmark. On- Oh, sure. Heading into- Into the ninth year. Heading into the ninth year. Which is basically 10. The ninth. Which is basically 10. Basically 10. You round it up. Basically at year 10. Yeah. Congrats, guys. What better way to kick it off than-

[00:24:43] Into the ninth. We did it. Our ninth season covering Christmas movies. Should we do the nine-inning challenge? You played that, dude. Yeah, nine for nine. That's next year at this time. We're all doing the nine-inning challenge. That's right. With ketchup on our dogs. That's right. What's the nine-inning challenge? Nine dogs, nine beers. Hot dogs, nine beers, and nine innings. Huh. Yeah. I mean, you don't- I've never had that much beer before. Yeah, the beer would have to be light. Sure. You couldn't- Barely beer. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Give me like a Modelo Chilada.

[00:25:11] Like, do you have to do like the- What are the- Can the hot dogs just be ketchup? Yeah. Okay, because that would be my preference. Yeah. The nine dogs would be harder than the nine beers for me. Interesting. Nine beers would be in three hours. I feel pretty good about nine hot dogs. Nine dogs? Oh. You feel good about that? Uh-oh. I think so. Uh-oh. We got a year to train here, I think, so. Yeah. Huh. Sounds like we're doing it. I mean, I can go like- Sounds like we're doing it live for some sort of- Some kickoff to the ninth?

[00:25:40] Some kickoff, some sort of fundraising. Semi-Quincentennial. Should we do it for- This guy says he's going to eat as many sugar cookies you can put in front of him. He says he's real good on nine dogs. I don't buy it for a second. And nine beers? No, I'm just trying to think. Like, I know for a fact I can do like four or five dogs without blinking because I do it regularly. Yeah. So- Leftover dogs either. You regularly eat five hot dogs in a sitting? That was judgmental. I felt the judgment. I'm afraid you shouldn't have had to deal with that. No, I don't believe you. You do whatever you want. I'm not judging.

[00:26:10] You've seen me eat a whole pizza. I'm just saying. You do that regularly? Semi-regularly. You eat pizzas for breakfast? Yeah. Semi-Quincentennially. I do that. So it's nine that much more than four or five. You didn't even finish that rack of ribs I sent you. You had more the next day. Well, because I had already eaten dinner. Oh, I got you. Fair. It's fair. I don't think I'd be able to do it, but I would try. The beer, I don't know what beer does to me as far as filling me up. I don't know. I don't drink a lot of beer.

[00:26:40] You have like a Bud Select 55. You know what I mean? What about the Ultra? Ultra would be heavier than a Bud Select 55. Well, it's Ultra. You could do Ultras. Yeah. Because I drink that. I like that. Yeah. I had a beer last night at a wedding that I didn't hate. I had never seen the beer before. Call it. You don't remember what it was at all? I just thought I would break it up. Did the bartender slide it over and it just said beer on it? It was like three options. It was like a Michelob, but then something else that I recognized. And then this one I didn't recognize. And I was like, flow me that one. Flow me that one. Great. Glad we did it. It was a hot outdoor wedding.

[00:27:11] The reception was inside, though. So that was nice. Thank you. Wait, what? What? We're going to talk about what in this movie made us go away. What? I'll start with you. Right, guys. Thank you. Yeah. Right. Let me pull this from the pocket. Wait, wait. How much did Big Popcorn invest in this movie? Big Popcorn. All over this movie. They're all over this movie. I thought we were done and then more popcorn talk. God. It was. It was. I love popcorn. I was fine with it. I like the inclusion of popcorn. The where. You and I play on popcorn. Is there any popcorn in front of you? You're good to go there? No.

[00:27:41] I don't like the cheddar popcorn, like cheddar cheese popcorn. Like the black bag with the yellow, whatever that's called. I forget what that's. Smart food or something like that. Oh, the smart pop. I don't want any part of the smart pop. But there's the cheddar cheese one. But for the most part. We had a popcorn sponsor once here. Oh, dude. That was so fun. Aunt Cheryl's. What was it? I remember. Go. Go fund me. What was the name of it? It was not go fund me. Popcorn. It was in Columbus, Ohio. Oh, really? Really? I think it was Shirley's Popcorn. Shirley's. Yes. It was Shirley's. Shirley it had to be. What did I say first? Aunt Cheryl's?

[00:28:10] Yes. So close. It was very close. Really close. Dude, Shirley's popcorn was so good. Is so good. That like spicy cheddar one they had, man? Shirley's gourmet popcorn. What was that one we really liked? It was like spicy cheddar, right? Do you know who this is in the office spinoff, the paper? Well, I like that one. They eat Shirley's popcorn. Remember who you told me that? Man. Boy, oh boy. What's that flavor we were? Oh, I'll get it. Come down. Damn, what's the flair? Oh, Buckeye was good. That's that chocolate and caramel. Yum. Yeah.

[00:28:40] Your son made some really good popcorn this weekend, Dan. Dude, my son created popcorn this weekend. Made it. And I think he's going to call it Jay's Party Popcorn. Obviously. And it was M&M's, Oreos, like ground up M&M's, ground up Oreos, white chocolate melts. Yeah. And then sea salt. Yeah. And then popcorn. And it was. And a popcorn base? I'm just telling you. I was like, son, you came. Like, he walks out with this. He's very proud. And I was like, son, you made this up.

[00:29:09] And he was like, he just looked at me like I was stupid. It was amazing. Like, so, so good. Came home in a dream. I mean. It was very good. That's where the best ideas come from. Yes. That sounds great. Yeah. Yeah. So big popcorn. Where I draw the line, though, in this movie, all the popcorn talk, great. Fine. I think I draw the line at hot tea and popcorn, though. Yeah. We don't do hot tea and popcorn. I don't. What? There was a scene where she poured a little cup of tea, a cup of, and grabbed a bowl of popcorn. That's crazy. Yeah. I don't see the spices on here anymore.

[00:29:38] I think it was. She was trolling. Afterburner. I mean, it's afterburner. What is that? Spicy? Yeah. No, Brian. It's really mild. All right, guys. Come on. Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb. Read the description. Yeah, let's hear it. Starts off smooth and sweet, but our afterburner popcorn lights up your taste buds only moments after hitting your tongue. Another of our founder's favorites. Founder's punch would probably go nice with that. We're doing a lot of legwork here for Shirley's Popcorn. They're not. Let's clip this and send it over. Clip it. I'm emailing Shirley right now. Sorry. Back to you, Brian. Yeah. So the popcorn, great.

[00:30:09] And then, all right, so my next wait, what? Wait, what? At some point, you got to run out of fish recipes, right? Yeah, man. Yeah. Fish was, it was a fun little bit, but I just feel bad they're going to start throwing out fish. I think that they're probably too much fish. They got to figure out another thing to do with the fish. Good one. This one, while you remember the scene where they're doing the kite and she's holding it and he's like, you know, kindly adjusting.

[00:30:35] I just thought how funny it would have been if Adam had an angry bone in his body, which he doesn't. He's just pure joy and great and relaxed and no anxiety and no stress. I would have been at a certain point. I would have said, just give me the kite. Yeah. Just give me the. I'll do it. I got it. I got it. Gosh darn. Just get off. Get off the shed. It was stressing me out how many times he had to keep reaching over and just, just like, just adjusting. I think he was doing it to add, like, I think he was doing it because he thought that's what his character would do. Oh, so he was just doing it naturally. Yes.

[00:31:05] Which probably, yes, because he's a helpful guy, thoughtful guy. He's showing her. But it was driving me crazy. Yes. I'm like, just, just give him the kite. Let him fly the kite. Let him fly the kite. Get off the shed. Get off the shed. Hey, bud. Bran. So he went over to, this is the last one. I'll stop here. This was a really fun one. In the morning, Adam went over to her house. Uh, he's like, Hey, you ready to go build sand castles? All right. I'm going to head home and shower. Dude, you're going to be crawling around in the sand. You're showering before sand castle? Are you kidding me? Before sand castle.

[00:31:34] Terrible move. Terrible. It's a wasted shower. Are you? Yeah. Well, unless he had been working on his house or grilling fish or something, gutting fish. Wasted. I don't think you take a shower. Wasted shower. Yeah. 100% wasted. You can't. You can't do it. No. Yeah. I'll stop there. I know that college is expensive. Okay. I'm listening. How expensive is the college she's wanting to go to? She has an amazing job. She's a workaholic.

[00:32:04] She says, I'm doing it for you. I'm doing it so that you can go to college. Her dad. Same thing. That's right. Workaholic. Yes. Says, I got to do this. Remember college guys. Guys, I'm starting to think it's not about the college. Yeah. I'm starting to think that both of you might just be workaholics. There is no world where they're making under a quarter million dollars a year. And that is an absolute floor. Yeah. And I also just think that saying-

[00:32:32] So people out there in that tax bracket, I don't want to hear you talk about college. I don't want to hear you talk about it. I don't. Sorry. Doing the thing where you are working so hard, your child is definitely feeling abandoned a bit. Like I just want to spend time with my parents. The whole like I'm doing this for you thing that we see all the time on Hallmark movies is so manipulative to the kids. It's like, oh, you're trying to make me feel bad. I'm doing this for you.

[00:33:00] Just admit that you freaking love working and you have a problem. I don't think it's about the college. One of you wants to do the bit. Both of you guys are making so much money. Well, where's she going to college? Mars? Yeah. Because they even say- It's really nice. Is it Mars? Is it Mars? Off of Earth? Lunar Rover University. Solar education system? They make a big deal out of- That's okay.

[00:33:31] We didn't need the last one to go. It was good. It was good. But I like solar education. It was good. It was a way to tack on. It was a good tack on. They make a- What's great is that they didn't see you do it the first time. It said now it just looked weird. Now it looks like, what's he doing? It's even better. They make a huge deal out of the fact that they can't go to France not because of money. Right. But because of time. Because of time. That's right. They're doing it for her. So it's not like they don't have the money to go on a French vacation. They're doing it for her. That's right. Yes.

[00:34:00] She wants to go to Paris! Yeah. No kidding. Just let her get in debt like the rest of them. She'll be fine. We're all fine. I will say this. There's nothing that parents love more than getting parenting advice from someone who's not a parent. That's true. Which our guy Brennan does the entire movie. It's like, oh, you just need to- As the uncle, here's something that I've learned in my every once in a while hanging out with a child that I could pass along to you, parent of a teenager. He, I don't know.

[00:34:30] They're like, they've hung out like two times before he picks her up and puts her on his shoulder. And I think it's too soon into the relationship. Yeah. I agree. There's like a certain level that you get to where it's like, you know, you do the thing where you're like, oh, I'm going to get you. Yeah. I think it was too early in the relationship. I mean, they decide to like try, like he decides to move to Seattle after knowing her week. 100%. So I guess, you know, by that standard, you've already picked her up. You know, you've already thrown it on your shoulders.

[00:34:58] You might as well just move, get married and live the rest of your lives together. So that's not an all play, but reaching in a pocket. Yes, that's right. All play. I did love that he gives them one lesson on sandcastle building and it is how to make a ball, how to make a snowball out of sand. That's the one lesson. And now let's go fly. And then let's Eiffel Tower this bee. Like that is just. First.

[00:35:24] And then also shout out to honorable mention getting announced after the winner. Usually you do like honorable mention first. No, no, no. So the winner gets the big all the praise for being, you know, first. No. Third, second, first. Honorable mention. We'll get them on stage last. Let them have the big, big hoorah. I think that's really nice of them to do that. Dano? Yeah. So at the beginning of this movie, we meet Gordo Peck, a character who's supposed to be

[00:35:50] the big villain, who's a professional sandcastle builder and is on the circuit, goes back to his hometown to win this measly $5,000 tournament. Each and every year, halfway through the movie, we decide he's not a villain, nor do we care. And he just disappears in the ether. He doesn't win at the end. But the weirdest part about that is, is when Erica Sarah's character gets to the town, a town she's unfamiliar with and decides to sign up for this particular sandcastle building contest.

[00:36:18] The woman that's registering everyone says, just a bunch of locals and a guy named Gordo Peck. He's a pro. And Erica Sarah's response is, I think I know him. Can I tell you why? Why? Come on. There was a news thing on in her office. The thing at the beginning that's Gordo, that's a news thing. It transitions. It's on in her office. And I think that's why they said that line. Like, oh, I think I know him.

[00:36:47] It's because it aired on the news the night before. That makes me feel a lot better. It was very passive and very quick. Fair. But that, I think, is why they put that line in there. Yeah. Good. Well, see, that's one of my white ones. It's gone. It's not even one of my big ones. Hey, thank you. Take care of that. Thank you. Yeah, that's right. All right. You know, we know it's too cold outside. Mr. Don't Look at My Phone, Live by the Beach, Wears Long Pants and a Button Down Tucked in every day. Yeah. You can't be both of those people. You can't be the, I don't need my phone. It's annoying.

[00:37:16] It's annoying. And, like, I am, like, very rigid in how I dress. Like, those two things on the beach typically don't go together at all. The weirdest scene in this movie is when they decide to name their team. And I just want to make sure I understand this correctly. They're trying to come up with names for their team. Yeah. And Brendan Elliott says Miami Sound Machine. Yeah. Okay? I'm not familiar. It seemed like it was a band or something.

[00:37:44] It's Miami Sound Machine, which was Gloria Estefan's band. Got it. 1975. Yes. He does a dance. I didn't get it, but. The kids don't get it. Okay. Right. They make fun of them. I assumed it was a thing. Yeah. All above board. And then each of those two youngsters pipes up with Sand and Deliver, a 1988 Lou Diamond Phillips movie. Or a song. Or a Stevie Wonder song. And The Sand and the Fury, a 1929 William Faulkner novel. So the two. Dan, they're into the arts.

[00:38:12] The two teenagers who have a problem with the Gloria Estefan reference are like, you're so old and dated, dad. What about this 1988 Lou Diamond Phillips Edward James Olmos movie? What about that? That's more with the times. What about a Roaring Twenties novel by William Faulkner? Those are the two that we've come up with. You're dated. And I stand by it.

[00:38:40] Are they flying a kite at eye level? Yeah. Well, because there's not a wind to be found. There's no wind in the area. And they are flying a kite. Go back to me real quick. They're flying a kite. And this is the angle they're looking. Yeah. Oh, look at that kite. So high up in the air. Does the curvature of the earth just bend off a mountain? Like, they are not. Well, it's flat.

[00:39:07] They're not looking up at the kite. They're looking here at the kite. And I don't get it. I don't understand it. It doesn't make any sense why they're doing that at all. They also decide to get ice cream before they go get barbecue. They do. I'm not telling you how to live your life. Do your thing. That sounds like a stomach ache to me. Like, it sounds like ice cream before barbecue is a stomach ache. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. There's only one way to find out. Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

[00:39:37] The 999 challenge coming your way next summer right here on Deck the Hallmark. Live on the YouTube. Of course. I would definitely struggle with the... I'm not a fast drinker. So, like, nine... Well, if the innings are long, hopefully you would have another time. I'd be sipping on a beer, like... Yeah, three beers an hour, basically. For multiple innings. You gotta do three beers an hour. That's tough. That's the tough part. Yeah. And then that hurts how much you can eat. It's a whole thing. 100%. Right. You gotta get out in front of the dogs.

[00:40:06] You gotta get, like, three or four dogs down quick. Can you... So, can you... You can do it in any order? Yeah. If you finish early, that's fine. I could do all dogs first. I don't have to be, like... I thought you had to wait. No. Really? I don't think I could get it. I remember, like, who was it? It was Jason Kelsey. So, you did the whole thing in four innings? Or something? Like, somebody relatively famous did it and was like, I knocked it all out in four innings. But I don't have to do, like, one dog, then one beer. No. I think you can do it however you want to do it. Really? Maybe you need to look up the rules on this. Maybe I'm wrong. I thought it was you had...

[00:40:34] You just had the inning, the whole inning, to finish a beer and a dog. And every inning, you had to do that. Oh, I think you can do it that way. But as long as you finish all nine of both, you're good. Okay. Oh. Maybe I'm wrong. I could be wrong. We could also make our own rules. Yeah, we could make our own rules. Just right. Just right. Whoever created this game came out with it before the pitch clock, I can tell you that way. Oh, no. It's a different animal now. Different animal now because those games could go three and a half hours. You go to a Yankees-Red Sox game. Could be four hours long. That's a man's high baseball. We could walk off with it. You could walk off with it for the fourth win in a row. You could. That's exactly right.

[00:41:03] At some point, that call has to go to voicemail. There is a phone ringing in this movie. And at some point... She hangs up before voicemail every time. That phone will start going to voicemail. She's truly the worst. It rings for a half an hour. I just couldn't believe it was still ringing. Couldn't believe it. And it still was ringing. Also, this is the ex-husband of the year. He's not the father of the year. He's the ex-husband of the year.

[00:41:30] This guy, who is no longer married to this woman, is like, I got your back. I'm setting you up. I'm your wingman. I'm buying half your company. You get to keep half as an investment. The other half, I'm giving you cash right now for. This is the ex-husband of the maybe of all time. He's going above and beyond in a manner that I just can't believe it's happening. But I need to point out this big one, which is this.

[00:41:57] An hour before the final round, this team of one sandcastle decorator and three noobs hasn't even decided what structure they're going to build yet. An hour before the competition is to start, they have not decided on the structure. Like, they're building these giants, like giant buildings. And then they're like, you know what's going to wow the judges? Pyramid singular. What's going to wow the judges? What about a shape?

[00:42:26] I know everybody else is doing stuff with windows and like ups and downs and art deco. What if we did shape? What if we did square base, triangle top? What if we did shape? It's all inside. All the intricacy is inside. One pyramid. That'll win it for us. Singular pyramid. One shape. We got an hour. Let's do it. That's what they do in this movie. To the movie's credit, they didn't win. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, the judges were also disappointed.

[00:42:55] One triangle. That's interesting. That's all I got. It's time for What the Hallmark? It's where everyone could have been. Maybe I think it's clearly what we should have. What are we still wondering about? I'll start with you, Brian. Yeah. I just, the whole time, why have a smartphone if you don't want a smartphone? No kidding. Just give the guy a flip phone. Yeah. Just have a flip phone and have him get, he can still get texts. You can, your phone can ring, but you could just have that as part of his character, who I feel like he is. He wants to be a little off the grid. He wants to be out of touch. He wants to be hard to reach a little bit. Off the grid, Gary.

[00:43:25] That's what they call him. So I just, I kept bugging me that he didn't have a flip phone. I thought it would have been cool. There's no need for him to have a smartphone. Why do it? There's no need. No need. No need. Um, I have to imagine Gordo was a bigger part of this movie originally. Gordo Peck. The movie starts with Gordo. It's like his first line on screen. Gordo's just how they start the movie is with Gordo. Gordo doesn't even place in this final competition. I think he was in a different category because this was the amateur. Oh, okay.

[00:43:54] Really? Yeah. There's a professional category. Yeah. All right. Well, that's my, what the homework is. What is this tournament? Like it's a $5,000 cash prize. Is that for the pro? That's a good question. I missed that. That there was, there's a, but I thought it was, it was an all play. And he's talking trash. I think there was a spot where she said you should join in the amateur. There's an amateur category. Like he competes in the pro. They're just all doing it together. Right. Right.

[00:44:25] Cause she says $5,000 and, but Gordon still shows up. Yeah. I think for bragging rights. Probably. That's tough. To shove it in their face. I just, to me, it felt like Gordo was going to be a bigger part of this movie. And then he honestly, he didn't really matter at all. He was funny too. His lines were funny. So what's up with Gordo? What's up with Gordo? Release the Gordo cut. I think that's what I'm getting out here. Dano? That's it. I did mine too. Oh, great. It's time for Double Decker of the Week. It's where we dive deep into a life of a double decker. We are in on 40 and 40. Was that it?

[00:44:55] 40 and 45? 45 and 45 days. Yes, that's right. We are, oh man, are we off to the races? Yeah, great start. Off to the races. I can't even tell you how many. Literally. Bramblejamplus.com. You can sign up. You get all sorts of goodies. It's the best way to support the podcast. We hear from so many people. This is true, Dan. We do hear from so many people all the time that have been fans of the show for the past eight years and aren't double deckers. There's people that listen to the show that aren't double deckers?

[00:45:25] What? Apparently it's true. Get out of here. If you want to support the show, bramblejamplus.com. We're trying to get 45 new double deckers in the first 45 days of summer. We are well on our way. Who do we have today, Dan? Yeah, we got Bradley Adams today. Oh, Brad. Brad Adams. Brad Adams. Brad. You know, there's a lot of- Brad Fed. Brad. Yeah. Okay. Bradley, but- Oh, Brad Fed. Brad Fed, Mass. Brad Fed. There's a lot of social movements happening in the world and in the country especially.

[00:45:55] Yeah, man. Brad out there leading one that he feels like is really equally important as the things that are going on. Great. And so he's out there. He's got his signs. He's trying to build up support and get people on board and bring to the attention of people the struggles of how size matter. Okay. Size matters. Size matters. Okay.

[00:46:20] There are people who communicate with size and they're judged harshly. Communicating. I got to be honest. I don't understand what that sentence means at all. What are you talking about? Like, so if you say something to somebody and Dan, for example, will probably react verbally. So take a side. And some people will be like, I got to do this now. And they get judged for sighing in that moment. And so size do matter as part of communication. Matter.

[00:46:51] Yes. Size matter. Size matter. So what is this is like a- This is justice for people that sigh. This is a course? Is she- No, it's like trying to get a group together to bring the- It's like, hopefully gets congressional legislation here to- Congressional legislation. Something to get something. As opposed to just your standard- Do people get in trouble for sighing? A hundred percent, Fred. One of my sons passive-aggressively sighs with the best of them. Yeah. Well, then he should join the group. He needs to be in this group because he needs-

[00:47:20] Size matter. Size matter. He's got to be represented because we should- I feel like I count myself among the people who sigh. Yeah. See? Yeah. And I feel like- Yeah. It does feel good to let it out. And so you should be able to sigh without fear of- You should be able to sigh when you want to. Yeah. Like, you shouldn't be judged because you're- You communicate that way. I love it. Thanks, Bradley, for sticking up for this call. Yeah, he's just doing it. Absolutely. It's the important stuff. It is. Join BrainballJamPlus.com to have your story told. We're going to be back tomorrow.

[00:47:49] Gilmore Girls Thursday preview show. Woo! Are you ready for Christmas in July? I'm excited. I'm excited. Are you kidding me right now? Jam packs. That's what I live for. Right down the middle. Until then, maybe the first to wish you a- Merry Christmas! It's Deck the Hallmark. It's a Bramble Jam podcast produced by Brandon Gray. And yeah, that's Greenville, South Carolina for more information on the show. You go to BrambleJamPlus.com and sign up for What Are You Doing? A little leg show. Sign up. Under the desk leg show. Woo! At three podcasts and live video watch songs. Follow us on Instagram at DeckTheHallmark. I got confused.

[00:48:19] I didn't know we were doing a leg show. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Yeah, why don't you go get yourself Diet Coke after that episode? You're about to hear some ads that help keep the lights on here in the old studio. Thanks for listening or don't listen. It's really up to you at this point. It's at the end of the show. I mean, you're listening to me. Hi. But here they come. I promise they're coming. Yep. Here they are. Happy day. Happy day.