Confessions of a Christmas Letter (Hallmark Channel - 2024)

[00:00:00] Hi, I'm Brian and I love Hallmark Christmas movies.

[00:00:03] I'm Brian and I like Hallmark Christmas movies.

[00:00:05] I'm Brian and I despise Hallmark Christmas movies and this is the Deck The Hallmark Podcast!

[00:00:09] Deck The Hallmark, it's his podcast.

[00:00:13] And friends host his podcast.

[00:00:19] We hope you like this jolly podcast.

[00:00:28] Oh hi everybody, welcome to another episode of Deck The Hallmark. How about that?

[00:00:34] Confessions of a Christmas Letter is what we're talking about today.

[00:00:37] Can you believe that? Sunday Night Jam.

[00:00:41] That's exactly right.

[00:00:43] Hopefully you watched it. If you didn't, I'll read a synopsis in just a little bit.

[00:00:46] Don't you worry.

[00:00:47] Pretty little face.

[00:00:48] Probably gonna wanna watch it.

[00:00:49] Pretty little face! Don't you even worry about it.

[00:00:52] The Office Reboot is another name for this movie.

[00:00:55] You can say it. It's a little office.

[00:00:56] The Office Reboot is a name for this movie.

[00:00:58] There was rumors about them rebooting The Office and doing like a new thing and they said no, no, no, we got it.

[00:01:04] They took it from here. One 83 minute Christmas movie.

[00:01:07] Yeah, with Angela and then a minute of Brian.

[00:01:10] Brian. Yeah.

[00:01:12] Great.

[00:01:12] No chili.

[00:01:12] No chili drop. I kinda appreciate that actually.

[00:01:15] Yeah. Respect.

[00:01:17] Before we do that really quickly everybody, a quick reminder, Christmas Movie Magic is here.

[00:01:23] And what better time to do it than right now?

[00:01:26] Right now.

[00:01:27] We are a week out from Thanksgiving.

[00:01:30] So order now, get it in time for the movies next week because there's a thousand of them.

[00:01:35] In a great way to kind of, I don't know, enjoy that a little bit more.

[00:01:39] Sometimes it can feel a little overwhelming.

[00:01:42] Sometimes.

[00:01:42] Sometimes it can.

[00:01:43] Yeah.

[00:01:43] It doesn't have to.

[00:01:44] It can feel fun and competitive and cutthroat.

[00:01:46] That's right.

[00:01:47] That's what Christmas Movie Magic is for and it's sweeping the nation.

[00:01:50] That's what I'm being told.

[00:01:51] And so get it while you get it while you still can.

[00:01:54] Get it while you still can.

[00:01:55] That is a threat.

[00:01:56] That is a threat.

[00:01:57] There is a limited number printed.

[00:01:59] So.

[00:01:59] It's true.

[00:02:00] Sell us out.

[00:02:01] When they're gone, they're gone.

[00:02:02] Sell us out.

[00:02:02] We wanna be sellouts.

[00:02:03] We wanna be sellouts in this case.

[00:02:04] Ryan.

[00:02:05] This is the one.

[00:02:05] I'm not a poser.

[00:02:07] I'm a sellout.

[00:02:08] But only with your help.

[00:02:09] Big difference.

[00:02:09] Dig the Hallmark dot com slash game.

[00:02:13] And speaking of sellout, one thing we won't sell out of is Philo because it's unlimited.

[00:02:18] Just like their DVR.

[00:02:20] That's right.

[00:02:20] Philo dot TV slash DTH.

[00:02:21] You can save all of the Hallmark Thanksgiving week movies to your DVR and that won't even

[00:02:28] scratch the service of what's available on the platform, including our show.

[00:02:31] You can watch us if you've ever wondered what we look like.

[00:02:34] A lot of people do.

[00:02:35] It's a mystery.

[00:02:36] They come up.

[00:02:37] People come up to us at events like Christmas Con and they're like, you're just

[00:02:39] a smaller person or who are you or what happened to Panda?

[00:02:43] And so like stuff like.

[00:02:44] I don't know if any of those questions would be answered by watching us, but I think you

[00:02:47] should still watch it.

[00:02:48] I do.

[00:02:48] Well, I think you would piece it together.

[00:02:50] You would piece it together a little bit.

[00:02:51] You'd piece it together a little bit.

[00:02:53] Follow it out to be such DTH.

[00:02:54] You can do that today.

[00:02:56] Y'all I'm real excited about this weekend because there's a lot of fun things you can do

[00:03:02] in Greenville, South Carolina.

[00:03:04] And one of the fun things that I've started to enjoy is the children's theater in downtown

[00:03:09] Greenville.

[00:03:10] Oh, yeah.

[00:03:11] It's a beautiful facility.

[00:03:12] Sure is.

[00:03:12] But two, my kids have really enjoyed it.

[00:03:15] I took them to see a play over the summer.

[00:03:17] They really liked it.

[00:03:18] And this week I'm taking them to see the play version of The Greatest Christmas Pageant

[00:03:22] Ever, which I'm excited about.

[00:03:23] It's very cool.

[00:03:24] And it's a beautiful theater.

[00:03:25] And that's only one of many things you can do in downtown.

[00:03:27] It's almost a theater.

[00:03:28] I wonder how you do a play version of that book.

[00:03:30] I'm going to see it.

[00:03:31] It's a play within a play at that point.

[00:03:33] It's a play.

[00:03:34] It's meta.

[00:03:34] It's meta.

[00:03:36] You're the play.

[00:03:37] You sit.

[00:03:37] You're the play.

[00:03:38] And you're part of it.

[00:03:40] It's a part of it.

[00:03:41] You're the guest of the play and the play within the play.

[00:03:42] So come to Greenville.

[00:03:43] Greenville, South Carolina is all I'm saying.

[00:03:44] Jim, the recording player, will be there.

[00:03:46] What were you going to say, Dan?

[00:03:47] You were going to say something?

[00:03:48] I was going to say that there was a write-up recently where the hotel, the Westin, got

[00:03:52] a big write-up for the Home Alone tour they're bringing back this year.

[00:03:54] They're bringing it back.

[00:03:54] I think so.

[00:03:56] We did it.

[00:03:57] If you haven't watched that video, go check it out.

[00:03:59] It's on our socials from last December, but also it's on YouTube.

[00:04:03] It is a ton of fun, the Home Alone tour that we did last year.

[00:04:08] And I hope that they're bringing it back because it was a blast.

[00:04:10] I know.

[00:04:11] That was a fun time.

[00:04:12] The people that got to experience it really enjoyed it.

[00:04:14] And we're one of the lucky ones.

[00:04:15] We sure are.

[00:04:15] We're one of the lucky ones in the words of Ben Folds 5.

[00:04:20] And is it Amy Grant who wrote a song called Lucky One?

[00:04:23] I believe so.

[00:04:23] Do you think they wrote it together?

[00:04:24] Do you think Ben Folds and Amy Grant got together?

[00:04:26] I think my guess would be Amy Grant's song came out first.

[00:04:28] Interesting.

[00:04:29] Look that up while I'm doing a synopsis.

[00:04:32] Yeah, great.

[00:04:32] What came out first?

[00:04:34] Lucky by Ben Folds, Lucky by Britney Spears, or Lucky by Amy Grant?

[00:04:39] A good question.

[00:04:40] 94 for Lucky One Amy Grant.

[00:04:42] Okay, hold on.

[00:04:42] That teaser will do the rest.

[00:04:43] Hold on, hold on, everybody.

[00:04:44] Jesus Christ.

[00:04:45] Confessions of a Christmas Letter originally premiered on the Hallmark Channel on November

[00:04:49] 17th, 2024, and it went a little something like this.

[00:04:52] Jesus Christ.

[00:04:52] The movie kicks off with Angela and Brian from the office trying to convince us that they

[00:04:57] can play other characters.

[00:04:58] We're at the Holly Hills Post Office where every year Brian and the other postal workers judge

[00:05:05] the best Christmas letter from the town.

[00:05:09] The winner goes on the wall of fame.

[00:05:11] It is Setti's dream to win, but the same person has won 18 years in a row.

[00:05:18] Her name is Sue.

[00:05:19] Cut to years, a year later, sorry, not years.

[00:05:22] A year later, and Setti sits down to write her annual letter.

[00:05:26] To her surprise, it doesn't just write itself.

[00:05:29] And she thinks, if only I had this famous author of this book that I really like to come and

[00:05:35] write my Christmas letter, then I would finally win.

[00:05:38] And this author, Juan, wrote her current favorite book.

[00:05:42] So she decides, you know what?

[00:05:43] I'm going to shoot my shot and email Juan's people offering to pay him to come to her town

[00:05:49] and write the letter for her.

[00:05:52] Juan, who was a bit in a bit of a funk.

[00:05:54] Are you sure it's not Juwan?

[00:05:58] No, it's not.

[00:05:59] We're not.

[00:06:01] It's not Juwan.

[00:06:02] You made me second guess myself.

[00:06:04] Don't.

[00:06:04] That was so mean.

[00:06:05] You know what's happened in my life.

[00:06:08] You know you are here.

[00:06:10] You know how words affect me.

[00:06:13] Juan, who was in a bit of a funk, agrees to take the gig.

[00:06:17] When he arrives, he gets into a ride share with Setti's daughter, Lily.

[00:06:21] He doesn't know that at the time, though.

[00:06:22] When Setti's rival Sue shows up, they lie and tell that Lily and Juan are engaged.

[00:06:35] Juan agrees to stay.

[00:06:37] It's a boxing movie.

[00:06:37] Duck at Ratchee.

[00:06:39] Well done.

[00:06:40] Duck at Ratchee.

[00:06:41] That's right.

[00:06:41] There was a lot of that.

[00:06:42] Tyson could have used it.

[00:06:43] Tyson could have used the Duck at Ratchee.

[00:06:44] He didn't have to, though.

[00:06:46] Nothing was going on.

[00:06:47] Juan agrees to stay, though, completely confused as to what's going on.

[00:06:53] But he meets Sue and realizes that he can't stand her.

[00:06:56] So he is going to stay and write the letter.

[00:06:59] Soon enough, sparks begin to fly between Lily and Juan for real this time.

[00:07:04] But Juan is still struggling with writer's block, even when it comes to the Christmas card.

[00:07:09] When is the Christmas card airing?

[00:07:11] Dude, I think it's 6 a.m. one of these days.

[00:07:13] Usually it's a 6 a.m.

[00:07:15] It's always 6 a.m.

[00:07:15] Fingers crossed.

[00:07:16] If somebody could look up, if it's airing any time soon, that'd be really great.

[00:07:19] But Juan is, sorry.

[00:07:21] Meanwhile, Sue has been running things in town for too long.

[00:07:25] She even has rules about how people can or cannot decorate for Christmas.

[00:07:31] So to surprise Setti, Lily and Juan and the rest of the family stay up all night decorating Sue's yard

[00:07:38] with Christmas decorations and lawn ornaments that Setti has in her garage from past years,

[00:07:46] where she's tried to decorate.

[00:07:48] They love the result.

[00:07:49] It's big fun.

[00:07:50] But the night isn't over.

[00:07:51] Lily and Juan run lines for a play that she's auditioning for, a play that involves a kiss.

[00:07:57] They share a kiss, but it's purely for the love of the art.

[00:07:59] Yeah, love of the art, for sure.

[00:08:00] It is not.

[00:08:01] Nothing else.

[00:08:02] Anything else, everybody.

[00:08:04] Sue thinks that she figured out who Juan really is and confronts him at a Christmas party.

[00:08:09] She thinks that he's in the mafia, but she's wrong about that.

[00:08:13] He's not in the mafia at all.

[00:08:15] In the mafia.

[00:08:16] Not the mafia, but the mafia.

[00:08:17] It's not in the mafia.

[00:08:17] However, it is revealed at this party that Sue doesn't actually write her own Christmas

[00:08:22] letter at all.

[00:08:23] It's her husband that's writing it.

[00:08:25] Oh, twist!

[00:08:26] What a twist.

[00:08:26] After the excitement of the party, Lily and Juan share some big kisses for real this time.

[00:08:33] Not even for the love of the game.

[00:08:35] Juan gives Setti the Christmas letter she asked for, but she decides that she wants to

[00:08:40] write the letter on her own because she realizes that she's fallen back in love with the holiday

[00:08:46] season and spending it with her family.

[00:08:48] So the next day, Setti reads the letter that she wrote out loud.

[00:08:51] It is perfect.

[00:08:52] It's honest.

[00:08:53] It's heartfelt.

[00:08:54] And it even admits that she hired a ghost writer to write this originally.

[00:08:58] She also explains how she fell back in love with Christmas and how her family's Christmas

[00:09:02] traditions aren't are perfect just the way that they are as crazy as her family is.

[00:09:08] The letter ends up winning the Christmas contest.

[00:09:11] She's on the wall of fame and we all cheer.

[00:09:14] And that, my friends, was Confessions of a Christmas Letter.

[00:09:20] We did it.

[00:09:21] Mm-hmm.

[00:09:22] Let's take a quick break.

[00:09:23] We'll come back and we will break this movie down with four segments here on...

[00:09:27] Take the Hallmark.

[00:09:35] Bran, Canada's Prince of Christmas isn't just a name.

[00:09:39] It's a lifestyle.

[00:09:40] When you're Tyler Shaw, you walk around and Christmas follows you.

[00:09:44] I know.

[00:09:45] We had the joy of talking a little bit with Tyler last week on the show.

[00:09:49] And had so much fun getting to know him.

[00:09:52] And it all makes sense.

[00:09:53] This guy just oozes Christmas.

[00:09:55] And if you have no idea who we're talking about, we're talking about Tyler Shaw, who has

[00:09:58] a brand new album out, A Tyler Shaw Christmas, which is an album full of Christmas songs that

[00:10:03] he's been releasing over the past few years.

[00:10:05] And all of them, Dan, are certified bangers.

[00:10:08] We just got them in.

[00:10:09] Oh my goodness.

[00:10:10] The bangers voted.

[00:10:11] They certified all of them.

[00:10:12] And they certified them all.

[00:10:13] Yeah, 12 tracks on that vinyl.

[00:10:15] All of them hits.

[00:10:15] There's originals.

[00:10:16] There's some classics.

[00:10:18] It's the best rendition of Silent Night I've ever heard.

[00:10:20] The guy's voice is smooth as silk brand.

[00:10:23] If you're in Canada, you should also check him out on his tour.

[00:10:26] He's touring all through Canada over the holidays.

[00:10:28] But if you're here in the States, go to your music player.

[00:10:31] Type in A Tyler Shaw Christmas.

[00:10:32] You won't be disappointed.

[00:10:33] I can't wait to listen to it more.

[00:10:36] And you should too.

[00:10:36] A Tyler Shaw Christmas is available right now wherever you listen to music.

[00:10:45] Hey, when do we find out about the word lucky?

[00:10:48] Lucky one, Amy Grant, 94.

[00:10:51] Lucky, Britney Spears, 2000.

[00:10:53] The luckiest, Ben Folds, 2001.

[00:10:56] Wow.

[00:10:57] Yeah.

[00:10:58] Okay.

[00:10:58] All right, let's talk about three bangers.

[00:11:00] Let's talk about conflying today, Brian.

[00:11:02] What do you think that is?

[00:11:03] I don't know.

[00:11:03] Who can say really?

[00:11:04] I'm excited to talk about this one.

[00:11:06] Yeah, of course you are.

[00:11:07] Confessions of a Christmas Letter, Hallmark Channel, the Sunday Night Movie, a little office

[00:11:14] in there.

[00:11:15] People were excited about that.

[00:11:17] Lots of intrigue about what this movie was going to be like.

[00:11:20] Let's break it down.

[00:11:21] Let's start with a hot take.

[00:11:22] Let's share exactly how we felt about this movie.

[00:11:24] We're not going to hold back.

[00:11:25] Brian, what do you think about the Confessions of a Christmas Letter?

[00:11:27] Yeah, I feel comfortable speaking for all of us here in saying I love this movie.

[00:11:33] We all love this movie.

[00:11:35] You love this movie.

[00:11:36] You love this movie.

[00:11:38] You love this movie.

[00:11:38] We're all loving this movie.

[00:11:41] The big fear was this is going to be gimmicky.

[00:11:43] This is just riding the coattails of the office thing.

[00:11:46] Not at all.

[00:11:46] It wasn't that at all.

[00:11:49] I didn't get any of those vibes.

[00:11:50] It was its own thing.

[00:11:52] And it was genuine and had the depth and they put the time and effort into it.

[00:11:56] It was really, really, really funny.

[00:11:58] And that's what gets me is the funny.

[00:12:01] Lillian Doucette Rocher, Doucette Rocket, sorry, was so good in this.

[00:12:08] Like she was so fun.

[00:12:09] And Alec Santos as one.

[00:12:12] So good.

[00:12:13] Everybody was so good.

[00:12:14] It's the the Hall of the Holly thing here where the ensemble just kills when the people who are not the main characters do little things that just elevate the movie.

[00:12:25] And so that was a blast.

[00:12:26] If you're going to compare it though, this is definitely like a C team.

[00:12:30] Yeah.

[00:12:31] It's not to the level of Hall of the Holly, but I would love for them to be on the same block and all get together and have a time.

[00:12:37] Uh, mocking the, the, the, the mocking the Christmas letters is beautiful.

[00:12:43] Like that is just, that's so nice.

[00:12:45] Like those things get out of control.

[00:12:47] They're ridiculous.

[00:12:48] So it was really a fun thing to base the movie around.

[00:12:50] So, um, some wait, what's a little bit, uh, some things are a little out there, but I just, I, this is what I want in a movie, a Christmas time movie.

[00:12:59] I had a blast with this movie.

[00:13:00] I didn't want it to end.

[00:13:02] Um, so let's go, let's go forever.

[00:13:06] Um, I will say to the point of not wanting it to end, I do feel like this movie could have been longer and, uh, I would have been okay with it.

[00:13:15] I do feel like we were, we were dropped into this movie and they do an interesting thing that homework is not known for.

[00:13:24] And it's like, Hey, you'll figure it out.

[00:13:26] Figure it out.

[00:13:27] Figure it out as you go.

[00:13:28] And at first I didn't like that.

[00:13:31] I didn't, I, well, okay.

[00:13:34] A few things.

[00:13:35] You looked at me three minutes in and said, this, this, is this the worst movie?

[00:13:39] Yes.

[00:13:40] By the end of it, I loved it.

[00:13:43] Yeah.

[00:13:43] I had an absolute blast with this movie.

[00:13:45] It won me over and it's the, in my opinion so far, you know, I think we're about halfway through at this point.

[00:13:51] The surprise of the season, a movie that, uh, I just didn't anticipate moving me one way or the other, had a full range of emotion for me of this movie is ridiculous.

[00:14:04] I don't like it too.

[00:14:06] I love it.

[00:14:06] And I think a lot of it has to do with this to be, to your point, Brian, the ensemble ends up working really well.

[00:14:12] And I didn't, didn't expect it to, to work.

[00:14:16] And you know, I, I said at the beginning of, uh, the synopsis that Angela and Brian from the office are trying to convince us that they can play other characters.

[00:14:24] And I gotta be honest.

[00:14:25] And I'm going to give, uh, as the kids say flowers to, to miss Angela.

[00:14:31] Absolutely.

[00:14:31] Thank you.

[00:14:32] I, at first I was like, this, this is Angela from the office by the end of the movie.

[00:14:38] I was like, this is, this is a fully fleshed out character.

[00:14:42] This is setty Rose.

[00:14:44] And so I want to give credit there.

[00:14:46] Cause I didn't, I honestly, I haven't seen her in anything else other than Angela from the office.

[00:14:51] I know her from Angela from the office and I know her as from Angela, uh, from office girls talking, uh, talking about the show, the office.

[00:14:59] And so I know her from one thing.

[00:15:00] And I, you know, I found out that she was bringing in Brian to do a cameo.

[00:15:04] And I was like, we're just going to do the office thing here.

[00:15:06] And to my surprise, uh, really ended up liking her.

[00:15:11] And I didn't see it coming, but as she's reading this letter at the end of this movie, I'm like that gummit, this movie is moving me.

[00:15:19] And I didn't expect it.

[00:15:20] That's what they call it.

[00:15:21] Um, so I was really impressed by her performance overall, especially by the end of the movie.

[00:15:25] Shut up.

[00:15:26] And you got to send them the next few plays out.

[00:15:28] I just, I can't.

[00:15:30] You were 100% right.

[00:15:31] Um, the romantic relationship in this movie, uh, between Juan and Lily, uh, the sparks happen fast.

[00:15:40] And I think that was a good thing because they, they, they kiss early on, but it's a play kiss.

[00:15:44] Yeah.

[00:15:44] All of that worked really well.

[00:15:46] I can't believe how well this movie worked for me.

[00:15:48] It was so much fun.

[00:15:49] Yeah.

[00:15:50] Really enjoyed it.

[00:15:51] We'll watch again.

[00:15:53] Same.

[00:15:53] Confessions of a Christmas letter surprises the season so far.

[00:15:56] Dano.

[00:15:56] I don't know what to do with this movie.

[00:15:58] I full, full disclosure.

[00:15:59] I don't know what to do with this movie.

[00:16:00] There was a movie years ago that we watched called holiday date.

[00:16:03] It was one of these weird Christmas Hanukkah mashups and our boy, Matt Cohen in it and

[00:16:08] Britt Bristow in it.

[00:16:09] And by the end of the movie, we all were laughing, but it was like, they decided they knew they

[00:16:14] didn't have a good movie.

[00:16:14] So they made a screwball comedy and some of the bits landed.

[00:16:18] This movie like is about writing Christmas newsletters.

[00:16:23] And for the amount of time that they take that portion of the movie seriously, it's

[00:16:29] really terrible.

[00:16:29] I like, like the font is on like, I hated the font of the credits and I didn't buy any

[00:16:37] of that.

[00:16:38] And then there's some screwball stuff early in this movie that kind of takes over this

[00:16:43] movie.

[00:16:44] So like early on, I felt like they were trying to make us care pretty seriously.

[00:16:48] And then there's the screwball antics, like the grandma serving the burnt cinnamon roll,

[00:16:53] like just serving just burnt.

[00:16:56] Like, like it was like, like family recipes.

[00:17:01] Like there's so much of this stuff in this movie that is so just wackadoo crazy that it, it

[00:17:08] dares you to try to take this movie seriously.

[00:17:10] If you are trying to take this movie seriously, you're in for a really tough time.

[00:17:17] The, the comedy stuff occasionally does work in the movie.

[00:17:21] It is not, it's not always hitting.

[00:17:24] I think it worked more often than I will say this.

[00:17:26] The, the, the areas that I was scared the most about this movie is number one, Angela

[00:17:31] Kinsey.

[00:17:31] I basically said in the preview episode, she's not an actor.

[00:17:34] And I'm, I didn't say that out loud, but I basically inferred it.

[00:17:38] I was wrong.

[00:17:39] Angela Kinsey does what's needed to be done in this movie.

[00:17:42] So good for her.

[00:17:43] Uh, Alec DeSantos, whom we saw in one of the unwrapping movies and he said he was a serial

[00:17:48] killer.

[00:17:49] All of a sudden you let him speak in his native tongue and be someone who is Hispanic.

[00:17:53] And he's like more than passable, like does a solid job.

[00:17:57] Lillian do say Richer has never been better, but the movie is shoddy.

[00:18:01] Like that's the thing that shop is, is it is a shoddy production.

[00:18:05] Like it's just disheveled and unkempt and barely kept together.

[00:18:09] And I'm having a hard time in my brain figuring out if that was on purpose to make fun of the

[00:18:16] idea of a Christmas newsletter being that serious.

[00:18:19] And if that's the case, then kudos because you did it.

[00:18:22] But if it's not the case, then the movie like is really bad.

[00:18:28] I, at the end of the day, the number of times I laughed in this movie, plus the shock of Alec

[00:18:34] DeSantos, Lillian do say Richer and Angela Kinsey, those things I think win the day for

[00:18:42] me.

[00:18:42] And so right now it's in my top five.

[00:18:46] Yeah.

[00:18:47] I don't know.

[00:18:49] Like the movie.

[00:18:54] Didn't.

[00:18:55] Here's the thing is, and this is great.

[00:18:56] Nice dude.

[00:18:57] You know, yesterday.

[00:18:58] Go ahead.

[00:18:59] It's really good.

[00:19:00] Keep going.

[00:19:00] We don't have anywhere to be.

[00:19:01] I don't want this to end.

[00:19:02] It's all good.

[00:19:02] Go right here.

[00:19:02] Go right here.

[00:19:05] God.

[00:19:06] We gotta, I think we gotta bleep like blur that or something.

[00:19:09] R rated.

[00:19:09] Yeah.

[00:19:12] You're exhausted.

[00:19:13] Yeah.

[00:19:13] We'll be right back here.

[00:19:14] Yeah.

[00:19:15] So first of all, did not take that back.

[00:19:19] Second of all.

[00:19:21] Yep.

[00:19:21] Reverse.

[00:19:22] Reverse.

[00:19:22] Yep.

[00:19:23] Go to that one.

[00:19:24] Yep.

[00:19:27] Blur that up.

[00:19:28] Oh my God.

[00:19:28] No.

[00:19:30] Nobody needs to see that.

[00:19:32] Um, first of all, did like it.

[00:19:34] Second of all, Christmas with the Sings, the first movie I did like yesterday.

[00:19:37] Oh, we didn't even see what we're talking about.

[00:19:39] And I want to be very clear.

[00:19:41] This movie is like, don't.

[00:19:43] Out of respect we didn't.

[00:19:44] Absolutely.

[00:19:45] Please hear me for what I'm saying.

[00:19:47] Not what I'm not saying.

[00:19:47] I don't think it's been a great crop of movies so far this year.

[00:19:50] It's been great.

[00:19:50] I got this movie.

[00:19:52] If you take it seriously, doesn't work.

[00:19:55] But if you accept that it is a movie making fun of itself, making fun of Christmas newsletters

[00:20:01] and doing.

[00:20:02] It's the Scotty effect.

[00:20:03] When Scotty first watched Hall at the Holly, he was like this.

[00:20:06] But what is happening?

[00:20:07] And then he understood.

[00:20:08] And he went back and he watched it.

[00:20:09] He was like, it's really funny.

[00:20:10] I just don't know how much credit to give them.

[00:20:13] And Brian gave them all the credit.

[00:20:16] And here's the thing is, is if you tell me this movie is a satire about Christmas newsletters

[00:20:21] and it's made for $100,000, then all of a sudden like the degree of difficulty is through

[00:20:25] the roof and I'm raving about this movie.

[00:20:27] But like the first 10 minutes of this movie were like a movie we watched that Roku Channel

[00:20:32] picks up.

[00:20:33] I don't know.

[00:20:34] They had a pretty banger movie last year.

[00:20:37] Serious.

[00:20:37] Did they?

[00:20:39] Yeah.

[00:20:39] Yeah.

[00:20:40] But the movies that they pick up are Christmas in Carolina.

[00:20:42] That's what I'm talking about.

[00:20:44] Again.

[00:20:44] You're acting like we didn't have a feature.

[00:20:46] Yeah.

[00:20:46] Yeah.

[00:20:46] Yeah.

[00:20:48] I'm not.

[00:20:49] Guys, I know people in the comments are like, I did not like that is a brain is not

[00:20:54] correct.

[00:20:55] I did not like this movie.

[00:20:57] All of the complaints that you would make about this movie, I think are all adequate

[00:21:01] complaints to make about the movie.

[00:21:03] What I'm saying is Christmas movies for homework are a dime a dozen.

[00:21:06] This movie doesn't try to do those things.

[00:21:09] It definitely tries to do something different.

[00:21:11] Now, whether that worked for you or not a different story, but it is a shoddily made

[00:21:16] movie that if it is pure satire works a lot better than I think it really should.

[00:21:21] I don't know where this is going to end up right now.

[00:21:23] I think I have it fifth.

[00:21:24] I'm a mess and I drafted this movie.

[00:21:27] It would be really easy for me to overrate this movie, put it up really high to help

[00:21:30] myself win the draft.

[00:21:32] And I'm just not doing that.

[00:21:33] But I also I watched with Brian.

[00:21:36] I can't lie.

[00:21:37] I laughed half dozen times.

[00:21:39] There are half dozen times this movie that I did laugh out loud.

[00:21:42] I don't really know what to do with that information.

[00:21:46] There you go.

[00:21:46] It's time for all the feels.

[00:21:47] We're talking about what in this movie gave us feels.

[00:21:50] Brian.

[00:21:51] Yeah, I have to believe they this is intentional.

[00:21:54] There were so many little things that were written in and this seemed to be planned out

[00:21:58] that made to me it felt really authentic.

[00:22:00] But every time you think that there's these like long like he's overwrought about writer's

[00:22:05] block or about her like wanting to be like them making the movie a message movie about

[00:22:11] how she wanted to portray her family better than they were.

[00:22:14] Like that's a real that's a real movie.

[00:22:17] That's like a thing that they try to do in these movies normally.

[00:22:20] And I think that was my issue is totally we I would have rather just jumped all in on the

[00:22:27] on the crazy.

[00:22:28] Yeah, they don't they don't completely leave that.

[00:22:31] Well, you still heavy handed with the emotional.

[00:22:34] Yes.

[00:22:35] Yeah.

[00:22:35] For sure.

[00:22:36] The the funniest scene of the year so far was when the grandmother walked in with the

[00:22:42] cinnamon buns on fire.

[00:22:44] I laughed so hard.

[00:22:45] Steven Toblowski.

[00:22:47] Oh, yeah.

[00:22:48] Yeah, it was so neat.

[00:22:50] Like I felt so good after that laugh.

[00:22:52] Like I just needed that laugh.

[00:22:53] And that was so perfect.

[00:22:55] My favorite moment of the season.

[00:22:58] It's really funny.

[00:22:58] If you hated this movie and you didn't find the way that she doesn't even it doesn't

[00:23:04] even it doesn't even fit.

[00:23:04] That's how they're supposed to put some out.

[00:23:06] Let's just blow that out.

[00:23:07] There's fire.

[00:23:09] Perfect.

[00:23:10] It was so great.

[00:23:11] And I laughed so hard.

[00:23:12] And so thank you.

[00:23:13] The dad the dad calling burning before the alarm goes on.

[00:23:16] That's the thing is like burning and then the alarm goes off.

[00:23:19] Yeah, all of it.

[00:23:19] Like all of it was exactly what it should make up the words to Jingle Bell.

[00:23:23] Like it was just real little things.

[00:23:25] It's really funny.

[00:23:26] Really funny.

[00:23:27] My mom growing up would write a newsletter every year.

[00:23:31] And it was a thing that every year she would write it and me and my brothers would read

[00:23:39] it and we would laugh and be like, Mom, you're ridiculous.

[00:23:42] Yeah.

[00:23:42] And then one year she stopped writing the newsletter.

[00:23:45] Oh, no.

[00:23:46] And she's still with us.

[00:23:48] But she's her newsletter.

[00:23:51] Yeah, that's right.

[00:23:52] Yeah, she's still.

[00:23:54] And we realized, oh, man, really missed the newsletter, Mom.

[00:23:59] And so there is something in this movie about the craziness of newsletters and how you do write

[00:24:09] them.

[00:24:09] And everyone's kind of BSing it a little bit trying to make it's like social media where

[00:24:14] you try to put your best foot forward and make it.

[00:24:18] But to the families that they're written about, once it's like, you know, the son that was

[00:24:24] left, he's like, I don't want to do this anymore.

[00:24:26] And he comes back and he's like, I kind of missed it.

[00:24:29] There's something about it that really rang true to me and it worked.

[00:24:34] Dano?

[00:24:34] Yeah, I, the more that they stuck with the absurdity of the newsletter, the better this

[00:24:40] movie was to me.

[00:24:41] So when they, like Sue's character is probably my feels because this woman, they don't pull

[00:24:48] their punch.

[00:24:49] They don't make her look mean and then actually be nice.

[00:24:52] She's mean to the core.

[00:24:53] Like she is a mean, mean human being.

[00:24:56] Bad apple.

[00:24:56] She's a villain to the core.

[00:24:58] And it's all about a newsletter competition that is unofficial.

[00:25:02] Yeah.

[00:25:03] And she is playing it so straight.

[00:25:06] And so like, this is serious that those are the moments that worked the most for me

[00:25:11] is Sue believing that the most important thing is that her newsletter is better.

[00:25:16] Her husband secretly writes it.

[00:25:18] She wants to be on a wall of fame.

[00:25:19] The stakes couldn't be lower.

[00:25:21] She, the, like, I feel like Hallmark movies really are like hesitant to have a real villain.

[00:25:29] And this has a real villain in it.

[00:25:30] And that, that does, that does help it.

[00:25:33] A good deal.

[00:25:34] Let's take a quick break.

[00:25:35] We'll come back and we'll get to the, uh, wait, what?

[00:25:37] And the what?

[00:25:37] The Hallmark here on deck, the Hallmark.

[00:25:47] Oh boy, brand.

[00:25:48] It's that time of year.

[00:25:50] And you're going to want to try the best pastry in the United States.

[00:25:54] It's Racine Danish Kringles, Kringle.com.

[00:25:57] They're the best.

[00:25:58] We've been up to the factory.

[00:25:59] We know we've been up there, Dan.

[00:26:00] There's been a lot of great things that have come out of doing this podcast for the last seven holiday seasons.

[00:26:05] But I think number one on that list is our introduction into the world of Kringles and not just any Kringle.

[00:26:11] The Racine Danish Kringle company.

[00:26:13] That's exactly right.

[00:26:13] This is a pastry and it is filled.

[00:26:15] You can get some fun, festive flavors like the eggnog flavor, gingerbread, which is amazing.

[00:26:21] I personally like the cinnamon.

[00:26:23] I like the cheesecake.

[00:26:24] Traditional almond is great.

[00:26:26] They are iced by hand at the factory in Racine, Wisconsin.

[00:26:31] They're shipped in a freezer and dry ice all over the country.

[00:26:34] It's amazing.

[00:26:34] Just for you.

[00:26:35] And right now, brand.

[00:26:36] What?

[00:26:36] You're going to get 10% off your entire order.

[00:26:39] Really?

[00:26:40] For only the next two weeks.

[00:26:41] Oh, wow.

[00:26:41] This code's only good for two weeks until December 4th.

[00:26:44] It's Hallmark 24.

[00:26:46] Hallmark 24.

[00:26:47] You use that code at checkout.

[00:26:49] You go to Kringle.com.

[00:26:50] You use Hallmark 24 at checkout.

[00:26:52] You're going to get 10% off your entire order.

[00:26:55] Get yourself a bundle of Kringles this holiday season.

[00:26:57] They're great for breakfast.

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[00:27:01] Tis the season for Kringles.

[00:27:09] Welcome back, everybody.

[00:27:10] We're talking about the Christmas newsletter time with the Confessions of a Christmas letter.

[00:27:16] That's right.

[00:27:16] Let's get to the Wait What?

[00:27:18] Where we talk about what in the film.

[00:27:20] We just go with what and I'll start with you, I guess.

[00:27:22] Brian.

[00:27:23] Brian.

[00:27:24] Man, I thought it would be me.

[00:27:25] I was hanging in the balance.

[00:27:25] I thought it was going to go first for the first time since 2018.

[00:27:29] Not today, Dan.

[00:27:29] You remember when we used to just do it randomly?

[00:27:31] Yeah, I do remember that.

[00:27:32] Yeah, those are the days.

[00:27:33] And we had two dams on the show.

[00:27:35] Do you know how many times my hot take and Wait What's your take and I'm just making crap up?

[00:27:37] I mean, I really deserve an award.

[00:27:39] That's true.

[00:27:41] Well, let me continue the tradition.

[00:27:44] Go ahead.

[00:27:44] But Lily, at one point, I think when she gets in the car, she says, I'm surprising my family.

[00:27:48] I'm two days late.

[00:27:50] And then she texts her mom, I'm in the car.

[00:27:52] I'm on my way.

[00:27:53] Yeah.

[00:27:54] Like, come on, man.

[00:27:55] Ruin that surprise.

[00:27:56] Him blind.

[00:27:57] I mean, this is just the gotta be the Wait What?

[00:27:59] Is him blindly traveling to Connecticut from Puerto Rico to stay with strangers.

[00:28:05] This is when it has to be a screwball comedy.

[00:28:07] Yeah.

[00:28:08] Because...

[00:28:08] You can't explain this away.

[00:28:09] Like, it's just not in his nature, I don't think, to do something like that.

[00:28:12] So the fact that he would just blindly go and stay with these people...

[00:28:15] Like, at least have him try to stay in a hotel and then it gets worked out where it's

[00:28:19] easier for him to stay with them.

[00:28:20] Like, maybe they planned to and just for time you couldn't.

[00:28:23] I did love...

[00:28:23] I should have put it in my feels.

[00:28:24] The grandfather and the uncle, one of them says misery and the other one's like, what

[00:28:28] are you talking about?

[00:28:28] And they're like, the movie Misery, that's where it takes place.

[00:28:30] I thought that was really, really funny.

[00:28:31] Oh, okay.

[00:28:31] I laughed in too.

[00:28:32] Sorry, go ahead.

[00:28:32] Okay, that's a good one.

[00:28:33] Yeah, thanks.

[00:28:34] So you do have your own...

[00:28:35] I'm trying here.

[00:28:37] You know, try to bring something to the show.

[00:28:39] Oh, and this one, I'm really confused by this.

[00:28:43] When they discover the shed...

[00:28:45] Get off the shed.

[00:28:46] Get off the shed.

[00:28:48] Juan says, meet me...

[00:28:50] He says, we meet tomorrow at midnight to set out all the things.

[00:28:55] Does that mean like that night?

[00:28:57] Like, that was such a confusing line.

[00:28:59] Like, when you say, let's meet tomorrow at midnight, which...

[00:29:02] That is tomorrow.

[00:29:03] Which midnight are we talking?

[00:29:04] Usually you would say tonight at midnight, which is actually tomorrow at midnight.

[00:29:07] Exactly.

[00:29:08] So does he...

[00:29:08] Yeah, you don't say tomorrow at midnight.

[00:29:11] No, just say like at midnight.

[00:29:12] Yeah, tonight at midnight.

[00:29:14] So also it could have been like just a language thing, like just a weird, like, I don't know.

[00:29:19] But that's super confusing.

[00:29:20] People are showing up at different times.

[00:29:22] Oh, and that was it for me.

[00:29:24] I mean, I...

[00:29:25] What do you do?

[00:29:26] What do you do with a movie like this?

[00:29:28] Where everything is...

[00:29:29] Joy can just be like, hey, it's just silly, fun times.

[00:29:33] Obviously, she just has...

[00:29:35] Did she buy stock in those onesies?

[00:29:37] Like so many onesies.

[00:29:39] Where is she getting all these onesies?

[00:29:41] She's got a printer, I think.

[00:29:41] That's the big question.

[00:29:42] Oh my God.

[00:29:44] Oh wow, how about that?

[00:29:46] Yeah.

[00:29:47] I would...

[00:29:47] Is she printing them herself?

[00:29:49] So maybe?

[00:29:50] Maybe.

[00:29:50] Maybe in the middle of the night.

[00:29:51] She's up all night and she's just making onesies.

[00:29:55] I don't know...

[00:29:55] A lot of onesies.

[00:29:56] Where she's getting them.

[00:29:57] And nor do I really care because I loved it so much.

[00:30:01] When the abuelo and Tio show up and they have onesies, that was when it hit.

[00:30:05] It hit.

[00:30:05] That was when I was like, oh, she's got a...

[00:30:07] We should have got onesies for this one.

[00:30:08] That's great.

[00:30:08] And then I guess it's more of a What the Homework, so I'll save it.

[00:30:11] Go ahead, Dan.

[00:30:13] Yeah, there's so many things that you either have to give for the movies, like craziness,

[00:30:18] or you have to be willing to say, no, this shouldn't have happened.

[00:30:22] But this guy does travel on a moment's notice to Connecticut, sight unseen, to do something

[00:30:28] that is crazy and stay in someone's house.

[00:30:30] And then tells Lillian Duchet-Rochet's character to follow his lead, which is rational, not rash.

[00:30:36] And you can't do both of those.

[00:30:37] You cannot claim to be a rational human being after doing exactly what he did.

[00:30:43] Yeah.

[00:30:43] That's crazy.

[00:30:44] There's a wreath-making contest and six people are trying to work on one wreath.

[00:30:48] Oh, boy.

[00:30:49] No.

[00:30:49] That's my nightmare.

[00:30:51] I'm going to sit the next few plays out.

[00:30:53] You put meat at the end of the buffet.

[00:30:55] Have you lost your mind?

[00:30:57] The plates are down here.

[00:31:00] All the sides, the meat is down there.

[00:31:03] Are you asking for World War III?

[00:31:05] Like, you're going to get all your sides.

[00:31:07] There's not going to be any room.

[00:31:09] Yeah.

[00:31:09] That's the point.

[00:31:11] That's a mess.

[00:31:11] That's what you do.

[00:31:12] You put all the good stuff at the end.

[00:31:14] No.

[00:31:14] So people fill up their plates with the junk.

[00:31:17] In all my years of covered dish at the church, potluck, Thanksgiving dinners where we go buffet-style because there's 17 people in a 1,500-square-foot house, I've never seen the meat not be first ever.

[00:31:31] And I just couldn't get over it.

[00:31:33] That's why they call it a meet and greet.

[00:31:34] Ah.

[00:31:35] I see what you did there.

[00:31:37] Now you're talking.

[00:31:38] That's why they call it a movie.

[00:31:38] I'm totally fine with somebody going, oh, you write poetry.

[00:31:42] Let me hear one.

[00:31:43] It is weird for you then to stand up, clear your throat so the whole restaurant watches you, and then you give the poem as though you're on stage somewhere.

[00:31:54] That was his moment.

[00:31:54] That was his moment.

[00:31:55] Clearly it was his moment.

[00:31:59] And yeah, that's it.

[00:32:00] That's all I got.

[00:32:01] It's time for What the Homework is where we wonder what could have been maybe it was in clarity questions we still have.

[00:32:05] What are we still wondering about?

[00:32:06] Yeah.

[00:32:06] Brian?

[00:32:07] Well, obviously I'm wondering how much he got paid for this.

[00:32:09] It's just a big one.

[00:32:11] But I think another big question is did Sedi get fined for all those lawn ornaments?

[00:32:18] Yeah, so many lawn ornaments.

[00:32:19] Yeah, I think it was against the rule.

[00:32:21] Can I ask you this though?

[00:32:22] Because this was part of what the homework is, the setup of the...

[00:32:28] Because when they walk out, the ornaments are on Sue's yard, is my understanding.

[00:32:35] They took them to Sue's house.

[00:32:38] Correct.

[00:32:38] And so...

[00:32:39] And then people are touring them.

[00:32:40] Yeah.

[00:32:41] For some reason.

[00:32:42] And so...

[00:32:42] Put out the cones.

[00:32:43] Unless, you know, Sue is like, I have a memory of all of the...

[00:32:48] Yeah.

[00:32:49] Unless they admit to it, who's getting the fined it.

[00:32:52] How do they know?

[00:32:52] That was the whole prank was we put them on Sue's yard.

[00:32:55] What is she going to do?

[00:32:56] Yeah.

[00:32:57] Yeah.

[00:32:57] Yeah.

[00:32:57] Yeah.

[00:32:57] Yeah.

[00:32:58] Yeah.

[00:32:59] So the overall just setup of this neighborhood was very confusing.

[00:33:05] Like, I never got a good idea of how the house is...

[00:33:08] It didn't...

[00:33:09] They made it seem like it was a cul-de-sac, but it wasn't a cul-de-sac.

[00:33:13] I was confused by the layout of the street for sure.

[00:33:15] Dano?

[00:33:16] Mine is really about the wall of fame and the letters.

[00:33:20] Maybe I missed it because it feels like you're just thrown right into this movie.

[00:33:24] What's...

[00:33:24] He keeps at...

[00:33:25] Like, he reads the letter.

[00:33:27] The guy, Brian, reads the letter and then puts it in a submissions box.

[00:33:33] Yeah.

[00:33:34] And then who selects which one goes...

[00:33:36] The other postal workers.

[00:33:37] Can more than one go on the wall of fame or can only one?

[00:33:40] No, only one.

[00:33:40] They pick one, I thought.

[00:33:41] And it's been Sue the last 18 years and he's related to Sue.

[00:33:44] Does she get anything?

[00:33:45] I think just so.

[00:33:45] Or it's just a by vote, all the postal workers that aren't from the post office because they

[00:33:51] can't say that.

[00:33:51] No.

[00:33:52] They all are voting on which letter is the most impressive?

[00:33:57] Yeah.

[00:33:57] So you want to know what my take on this neighborhood was?

[00:34:00] Is that it's one of those neighborhoods that has everything you need in the neighborhood.

[00:34:06] And I think it's a post office that's only for like...

[00:34:10] But it said Holly Hills, so it's in the city, not the neighborhood.

[00:34:13] I understood that Holly Hill was the name of the...

[00:34:15] Holly Hills is the name of the neighborhood.

[00:34:17] So it's like that neighborhood they were trying to get off and running off Verde, you know?

[00:34:22] Yes.

[00:34:23] And they were trying to have everything there.

[00:34:25] The fact that Holly Hills is a neighborhood would make this movie make more sense.

[00:34:29] That's...

[00:34:29] I think...

[00:34:30] I'm pretty sure it was.

[00:34:31] That's how I took it.

[00:34:32] I love it.

[00:34:33] I'll take it.

[00:34:33] I'll take it.

[00:34:34] Anyway.

[00:34:35] We did it everybody.

[00:34:36] Congratulations to us.

[00:34:37] And the good news is we're gonna be back tomorrow with another...

[00:34:39] Thank God.

[00:34:40] Another episode.

[00:34:40] Until then, maybe we're the first to wish you a...

[00:34:42] Merry Christmas!

[00:34:43] Deck the Hallmark is a Bramble Jam podcast.

[00:34:45] It's produced by Aaron Shea.

[00:34:46] What?

[00:34:47] For more information on Deck the Hallmark, you can go to deckthehallmark.com.

[00:34:51] For more information on the Deck the Hallmark family, you can go to bramblejamplus.com.

[00:34:54] Deck the Hallmark is presented by Philo TV.

[00:34:56] For a free trial of Philo, go to philo.tv slash DTH.

[00:35:05] You're about to hear some ads that help keep the lights on here in the old studio.

[00:35:11] Thanks for listening or don't listen.

[00:35:13] It's really up to you at this point.

[00:35:15] It's at the end of the show.

[00:35:17] I mean, you're listening to me.

[00:35:18] Hi.

[00:35:19] But here they come.

[00:35:20] I promise they're coming.

[00:35:21] Yep.

[00:35:22] Here they are.

[00:35:23] Happy day.