Magic in Mistletoe (Hallmark Channel - 2023)

[00:00:00] Hi, I'm Brian. I love Hallmark Christmas movies. I'm Brian. I like Hallmark Christmas movies I'm Dan, and I despise Hallmark Christmas movies, and this is the Deck The Hallmark Podcast Man, I really thought you would sound better today, and a day removed the next day

[00:00:34] I'm not gonna get that voice back, but not yet That's interesting. Let me see my best here, Brian We'll see what tomorrow holds That's true. Fingers crossed If there is a miraculous improvement, it's Christmas miracle It would be. Magic at that point That almost sounded worse than yesterday

[00:00:52] You do. And I wasn't gonna say anything Yeah, but medically that's not good Yeah, it's gone. T is gone T is gone. But what is the T? Do you have a T up to the bottom? I don't have any T up for you You finished the T

[00:01:05] Speaking of T, it's time for T's T. It's where Aaron gives us the T on Taylor Swift in this weekly roundup Any news this week on Taylor Swift that you would like to inform us on? I'm not up to date on all the Taylor shows

[00:01:23] You'll be busy this weekend flying back and forth to New York I mean, it is Wednesday I've just been catching up on other things But the one thing I do know is that there was a fumble when the newscaster this weekend called Taylor at Travis' wife

[00:01:38] Saw that. Tony Romo called And I'm thinking like, you know, he's a He knows something that we don't know He's an ex-player, players talk Maybe like, maybe he was, he knows something They eloped Yeah, I think it's a little early but you know, Christmas miracles happen

[00:01:54] Tony's kind of a goofus. He probably just said it by accident But who knows? I saw the end of that game Now the Chiefs have lost two in a row where Taylor's there That's tough. And that was a really tough loss because No Oh, wow

[00:02:07] Should they just take a pause so the Chiefs can get back on track The only thing I'm worried about is if it becomes like when Tony Romo was dating Jessica Simpson She got a lot of flack for how he performed Correct

[00:02:18] But they did not lose that game because of him Like what an amazing play that got called back Throw to him and then the little pitch back Perfect This way, how you want it Because Taylor was there they called it offside They called it offside

[00:02:33] Which offensive offside is never called Yeah So there you go He was but who are we? Who am I? Who am I? The rest were trying to like show off for Taylor I think we should see what happens if she's not at a game

[00:02:46] And if it's better than maybe I don't know, I'm just saying She's not doing any shows for the rest of the year I believe her next concert is the weekend after the Super Bowl Wow, so she's got plenty of time Kristen Jamberdina when I say never

[00:03:00] It's clearly hyperbole 11 times in 14 weeks Times 16 games is less than one in a good jillion Come on Of course it's called occasionally Yeah, prove, prove, come on She came in fast with that staff Like in all caps like God Man Oh boy How about that

[00:03:24] Speaking of the stats and stats You have on the top of your noggin Brian is about Philo Everything they can get from Philo How many channels? Dude, 655? The 1000? No, it's not that I mean it is a May this has We're in the 10s 75 plus 75 plus channels

[00:03:42] Plus the DH channel They're stuck on a handful Yeah You gotta be I've locked and loaded I also love and this is just another I don't even think we've talked about this feature before But you can save channels that you like

[00:03:55] And they show up at the top of your guide So instead of having to scroll for hallmark You save hallmark and then it's at the top You save deck the hallmark It's at the top Your favorites are right on it I was just watching this movie

[00:04:06] And enjoying the one button ad skip I saved it It was clutch It was clutch Let's talk about this movie Magic and Missalto We're in The town is called Missalto Magic or Missalto I think it's Ant It's magic Magic in Missalto And a town called Missalto And

[00:04:29] It's time for magic and Missalto Originally aired on December 8th, 2023 And it went a little something like this The movie kicks off with one of those Entertainment Tonight type shows Doing a segment on Harrington Davis An author who writes Christmas books The magic in Missalto series

[00:04:50] Right before his sixth novel is about to release He tweets out that he Just basically is over Christmas It's all about the money He's not having it The fans are peed right the o-off This puts April the publisher's PR person In a tough spot

[00:05:10] This is the definition of a PR nightmare Somebody who has made a career And loving Christmas Suddenly coming out and saying he hates Christmas Some might say that that's happened to me this year I say that's a lie That's fake news Don't believe it

[00:05:27] April's good at her job though She says I'm gonna convince Harrington to go to the magic in Missalto Convention The fans will love it She shows up and he is not pleased But after the word lawsuit is thrown out He basically his hands are tied at that point

[00:05:44] He is gonna go to this convention And all that stuff Missalto's the town he grew up in And he feels like these books are just being used For money Not for the love of Christmas He does show up to Missalto Much to April's surprise

[00:06:03] And he actually crushes the first event A Q&A He seems like he's actually enjoying himself And he apologized to April for being a jerk face They spend some time together eating cinnamon s'mores They bond over losing parents And he even shows her his original journals

[00:06:20] She's like I'm glad you came And I just want you to know That even though I threatened to sue you Never actually would have sued you And he goes nuts You lied to me You tricked me You're a swindler She's like whoa dude chill

[00:06:40] I'm sacrificing Christmas with my mom to be here I'll shoot it straight from now on And I guess they're cool The next day he's mobbed out in public The fans are all excited that he is there And I think he secretly loves this

[00:06:57] He judges a gingerbread house competition He does a Q&A with the press He is asked about the tweet by the press In a very direct way And he basically says there's no excuses I done goofed I'm not too big to say I done goofed

[00:07:12] He's having a good time And on his off day he takes April To a Christmas tree farm Where he used to like to write Early on in his career She leaves to go to the Christmas costume party An event that he wasn't planning on going to

[00:07:28] Because of the crowds He puts on a costume where they had in a beard And goes anyway And is stunned when April walks in As the Christmas fairy He's like ha-ba ha-ba They slow dance and she finally opens up About being a real fan

[00:07:48] She loves reading the books And has been a fan for a long time And he's like oh you shouldn't have When they get back to the place though It is fully decorated for Christmas And he did it while he was gone And he freaks out on her again

[00:08:02] And says I don't do trees I do a lot of things But I don't do trees He feels bad though And he flies out her mom So they can spend Christmas together It's time for the annual Missalto Christmas banquet It's different than a dance Don't? It's a banquet

[00:08:24] April provides a speech for him And he goes off notes And thanks April for being amazing And helping him remember the magic of Christmas Afterwards he finally apologizes For the I don't do trees thing They go to the Christmas lantern lighting Where Harrington does the honors

[00:08:42] Of lighting the first lantern And throwing it into space And causing global warming to speed up He then rushes her away From the pro-climate change rally And takes her to a special spot Where they can watch it from afar They look like fairies

[00:08:57] They both confess to liking each other And they kiss as the fairies go into space And now my friends was magic and Missalto And Missalto, we did it We did do it, let's take a quick break We'll come back, we'll break this movie down

[00:09:15] With four segments here on Deck the Hallmark Have you ever been listening to 12 days of Christmas And thought, boy I wish that Toto's Africa was in the mix I know I have That is why I love Straight No Chaser's version of 12 days of Christmas

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[00:10:11] Before they're sold out That is SNCMusic.com Welcome back We're talking about Magic and Missalto The first Hallmark Channel movie from last weekend Let's break it down We're gonna start with a hot tag We're gonna share exactly how we felt about this movie

[00:10:33] We're not gonna hold back and I will start with you, Brian Brian, what did you think about this joint? Yep, this joint I thought this was just okay actually I had pretty high expectations for the humor In this coming through And it just wasn't that funny

[00:10:46] I actually like the setup Of an author who experienced success young Had a really lengthy series I'm sure he signed a contract That was for too many books at that age When you were 18, you were like, sure I'll take probably got $250,000 cash payout

[00:11:02] To commit to a long term deal And he was just like, yeah, absolutely And then a lot of stuff happens throughout your life Your parents die You start to hate trees You gotta keep writing these books And you're just so sick of it

[00:11:12] So I actually, I believe that He hates trees, he doesn't do trees He doesn't do trees I don't know how else we could say this I don't do trees You're a liar and I don't do trees That's right, liar So I believe that whole...

[00:11:23] Like they had a really solid foundation With him being just disgruntled, fed up And then the threat of lawsuit Sure, that's a... I mean he had a contract, of course Like he's gonna have to... He don't wanna get sued Especially at Christmas time When you don't do trees

[00:11:37] So, but from there on It was just like, it just went to the town And it's like every event is based On his book series Is that all they do? Like everything was just about the book And I'm like, alright Can we do some other Christmas stuff? Anything

[00:11:52] And just not a lot of laughs for me And ended up, yeah, so just being okay for me A lot of questions about just the logistics Of a Christmas day Final and series book release So we'll get to that a little bit

[00:12:06] That was just really taking the next second out of it Took me out a little bit So yesterday's episode was sponsored in part By BetterHelp And we should have moved it to today's episode Because boy, does he need it

[00:12:22] This is, I don't think I've ever seen a movie With this many blow ups From one single character Just like the swings are so aggressive That it makes it hard to like... It's volatile It makes it hard to just sit and enjoy it

[00:12:39] Cause you're just, I always like kinda like What's the next one gonna happen? And I don't do trees I didn't see it coming I like, sure, yeah, she lied about the lot Like saying I'm gonna see you But also they could have It's not her final say

[00:12:58] Oh, whether or not they sue So it's not a lie Unless you know they won't Right It was just all, like all of the blow ups Were ridiculous And boy does this man, Harrington, whatever Harrington, betterhelp.com Get you hooked up

[00:13:13] Cause it was a tough character to cheer for I thought that she was great And I like a town that does a bunch of Christmas events I think, oh, that's fine and dandy But it's just tough to like cheer for Like these two at the end kissing

[00:13:31] Get out of here Like he even in the declaration of like Quotes his own book by the page number Correct He's a psychopath Like that's, this is a scary man So was not rooting for them But and I just, you know, it's Paul Campbell

[00:13:54] I want him to be in the funnies I want it to be very funny And there are certainly times where like Paul's humor And the way in line delivery like takes over Like that's always gonna happen Because he's a funny dude

[00:14:05] But overall just like one of the more Unlikeable characters I've seen In a Hallmark movie And so it makes it tough to cheer for them At the end to end up together So that's a tough one It was fine but tough to enjoy Dan?

[00:14:18] Yeah, this movie is unfortunately bad Paul Campbell is good at a lot of things He's written some of our favorite Hallmark Christmas movies He's really funny He has a dry wit A great comedic timing Good sarcasm And none of that's really present here

[00:14:35] And the guy that he plays Like I'm fine with creating a crabby Unlikable dude Like that's fine I think they could have gone harder Or not as hard I think where they put him was so Uncomfortable because He seems awful

[00:14:50] Then he shows up and he immediately can like Connect with the townspeople And it's like Where is this guy supposed to be? Because the way he's acting toward Lindy Greenwood is unacceptable But if he's like that to everyone Then you can see some healing And instead it's like

[00:15:07] He's caught in between There are a couple moments that I thought Were so surreal And were actually worked But by and large this movie is just A tough watch For all the reasons they mentioned But it's just not the best use of these characters

[00:15:21] And just a weird plot that Is kind of stuck in between something nicer Or something better And that's unfortunate This movie is better without the The second half blow up Like the blow up earlier on Like all the characters that we've Loved in the home-bought movies

[00:15:38] That have been crabby There is this crabiness early on And then it breaks out And then there's some sort of misunderstanding Like in the Noelle movie for instance Like at the end it comes out that He was the guy who was actually Upset with the kid

[00:15:56] And stuff like That was my kid That whole thing happens But at that point we are He's like thought And it's just like We're like We've already done the blow up about the lie thing And now we're like Okay, we're going along

[00:16:10] And then he says I don't do trees But I also feel like He hops back and forth When he gets back to the town He meets that little girl And he's like immediately Completely thought out And just like Yeah, I'm great And then he hops back over

[00:16:22] And so there's not a consistent Character growth Which is unfortunate It's time for all the feels When we talk about What this movie gave us As Christmas feels Brian? Yeah, I'm gonna sucker for Like a kitchen device Or a baking accessory

[00:16:34] And early on the mom is on a call With her daughter And she's got on an apron That says we whisk you a Merry Christmas And I would love an apron like that Because I have a nice denim apron Some other festive things But none that say

[00:16:48] We whisk you a Merry Christmas And that works really, really good for me I mean in a similar vein Something that is just set out loud And I go And I feel like that belongs to us He says to his sister And brother-in-law

[00:17:04] Or whatever that those two people are That they're the three Christmas tears Yes And I don't know like What we have to do to make that Like our reality Like do any Why can't it be Christmas tears? I guess Christmas tears Christmas tears Christmas tears Christmas tears

[00:17:20] Christmas tears I like We need like shirts Maybe a cage A sword Maybe even hands But the sword is a candy cane Like type of sword I think it's a lot that we could do there And I just wish that it would

[00:17:33] I wish we came up with it first Dana I'm doing this in the fields Because I'm being 100% sincere There is a moment in this movie Where Paul Harrison apologizes For his actions And it is so earnest and real That I legitimately appreciated it

[00:17:52] On a level I was not supposed to appreciate it on He literally was like I forgot what Christmas was about And the next time I get ordinary I'll just put my phone away And I honestly didn't know how to take Like I was blown away

[00:18:05] That this was in the movie And it felt very authentic and real And I appreciated it Let's take a quick break We'll come back And we'll break this movie down With two more segments here on DECTA HOME ARK Welcome back to the three Christmas tears

[00:18:26] Talk about Home Ark movies It's a longer name But I don't know I'm just trying it out Three Christmas tears Yeah You think we're gonna pivot We're gonna just change the name of our podcast Six years in I don't know man Three Christmas tears Three Christmas tears podcast

[00:18:39] Hey, we might have to That's actually not bad We should workshop that Workshop that a little bit I don't want it to change our name Three Christmas tears There's a lot you could do It's pretty good From a logo standpoint too Yeah

[00:18:52] Use that three as part of a tree kind of Whoa Jag it out to the side a little bit You say Jack it out to the side a little bit Jag Got it I was thinking like card I didn't know I don't know man

[00:19:06] It's time for the way what I'm talking about What this movie is Go wait what Brie Yeah Jack it out to the side Jack it right out there Her mom's again Ain't that pie right on her Aided on her So when the mom is on the phone

[00:19:25] Back to the mom being on the phone With her daughter She says you want brownies You only want brownies when you're stressed I'm just like How dare you How about like hungry Awake Yeah First of all how dare you Yeah How dare you

[00:19:39] My girl can't enjoy a brownie When she wants to eat a brownie Brownies are awesome Get out of here Who only eats it when they're stressed I'd be stressed 100% of the time If that's when I could eat brownies Releasing on Christmas day Come on Come on

[00:19:50] This is a what the hallmark for me Because I just have so many questions About logistics Of like everybody has to be on board With this That's all I'm going to say About it right now It's frustrating It seems like there was a lot of unauthorized merchandise

[00:20:04] Floating around this town Related to this book series That didn't say Had any copyright symbols No trade nothing Just mugs with the name on it Shirts It was dangerous To have the publisher there And that stuff sitting around The journal the mom gave him That 16th century journal

[00:20:22] Actually looks like He should not be scribbling in that thing I said he said it was the journal He wrote all of his stuff And I was like why is that From Lord of the Rings That thing could be valuable It was at least 300 years old

[00:20:34] I mean Thomas Payne wrote common sense In that like Those pages were made by hand His drawings were there To get out of here And like Aaron pointed out They looked moldy on the outside You look gross It seems moisture and Holy cow That was really funny

[00:20:52] And then he This was a big one for me It's just that his book is being released In a week by the time he gets there Nobody is asking him about the next book They love this series so much It has built up their whole town

[00:21:06] Nobody says to him hey Can we get a little Hey what's gonna happen Like a little preview No questions about the upcoming book Yeah What about that Yeah Brad you got anything Like for my white water You just want me to add on top

[00:21:18] Oh no I yes okay I do One did big cinnamon Sponsored this movie The amount of cinnamon There's cinnamon smores There's just constantly adding Cinnamon to stuff There's a lot of cinnamon mentioned in this movie Per capita They're at the Dance and What's that Sorry The dress up

[00:21:40] Something else Ball Costume ball There's not a dance in this movie There's a ball and there's a banquet You can't say about board here Don't do trees There is A guy who Is army And we know that Because he's wearing a green Jacket and underneath it is camo

[00:22:01] It's just a camo shirt It's not as uniform It's just a camo shirt And he has like a long sleeve shirt Over top of it Which is just like What I anticipate all military to do now Like just to give us

[00:22:17] So that we can thank them for their service Wear something at all times I always wear camo I'm army There's something that I can do It's camo time baby Last but not least They light the lantern And he's like let's get out of here

[00:22:31] And then they suddenly drive up A mountain Lanterns are moving slow And they are barely in the air Either they are Either they're moving at a record They're moving at a record speed Or the lanterns are moving at a record speed Everyone's moving at a record speed there

[00:22:47] Yes, it is an impressive job all around Dana We talked about it some Two things he gets mad about At Lindy Greenwood are both Absurd The first one is She's like well my firm wouldn't have sued you You don't know that

[00:23:02] You don't know that they wouldn't have sued you There's no way to know that For you to get mad about that Is crazy town And then the trees one That's like an all timer Like anything Like he turns around and basically says I don't do trees

[00:23:13] It's a classic They, you said this They are ten days from Christmas And they say We've planned our entire strategy Around releasing your book For the holidays No you have not You have not planned Your entire strategy around that Or it would have been released before Thanksgiving

[00:23:34] It would have been released like November 1st This is magic and mistletoe The epiphany Oh, it's four epiphany His buddy who's a DJ now That guy's never spelled DJ He goes out He says he has to You know because you spell it when you say it

[00:23:51] Yeah, I love that, that's funny He says he has to warm up the crowd And his version of warming up the crowd is I'm going to tell you the plot Of magic and mistletoe That's what I'm gonna do I'll do both of it I'll be like

[00:24:05] But you already know that You already know that But if you haven't Here's the entire plot beat by beat Yeah No stone unturned here Some of you have heard this before He agrees to a I guess a one question Q&A There's one question asked

[00:24:19] And then they're like, we're out of here Oh, there's a little girl that has a question And then We There is no world to decide how big this is There are seven members of the press That's how many That's a really weird number I don't know from

[00:24:34] Day to day how big a deal this actually is Because it's a book press conference But he just went viral for a tweet So it's like You'd think more would be there But also seven for a book press conference Seems like a lot

[00:24:47] And the publishing company has a check A giant check made out to cash To give to the winner of this baking contest I don't know if you know this The check, the giant one is not What you actually take to the bank Like they give you a paper

[00:25:05] It's just another lie Check It's another lie from the publishing company You could have waited and just gotten a Sharpie And put their name It looks worse to have a giant check They're not taking that bad boy into the bank I need a deposit Doing that funny bitch

[00:25:19] Trying to get through the door with that lie Yeah, no It would be good stuff to us The publishing company They can't stop lying They can't stop lying Between the It's in their DNA The suing and the big check It's in their DJ Everything they do What? Nothing

[00:25:33] It's time for what's the whole mark It's very one of what could have been Maybe having some clear questions to laugh Brian, what are you still wondering about buddy? Yeah, a big thing is the I don't understand how big this Book series is

[00:25:45] Like I don't understand the phenomenon around it But the big thing that I just driving me crazy Was and I felt like I'm going to get killed for it But it sounds like we're all kind of on the same page Just the logistics around this book release

[00:25:56] Like they talk about all the planning And all the stuff and everything he owes them And all this stuff And then they're planning it on a day When everybody is not working This like Apple is not helping you That Christmas Eve Get your e-book up there

[00:26:10] Like Barnes & Noble is not opening Christmas Day For your book release Yeah You're going to want the book under your tree I don't know how to do trees But other people do trees Other people do trees That's right So it just makes no sense at all

[00:26:23] And there's just no promotion around it And we don't find anything out about How big this book is To the outside in the world Like I don't know It's the same reason that like in nine Nine lives of Christmas The dog adoption on Christmas day

[00:26:36] Like people are at home They're not coming out to your events On Christmas day Yeah It could just do it earlier Like it would maybe be the worst time To release a book Absolutely because you're basically For next Christmas Christmas is over Like it's done You missed it

[00:26:53] Yeah So I have a couple One is the timeline of Book releases Mainly because This is going to be the sixth book In the frame Sixth the last one right Yeah, the sixth the last one But he hasn't been He hasn't been to mistletoe in five years And

[00:27:14] He is now tweeting out That he's like He hates Christmas The conversion of money and all this stuff Have books been released Since going to mistletoe last And now Like were there any other books Or has it been a five year one Since book number five

[00:27:30] That kind of ties in to mine My assumption was He was writing a book every few years And then after they got popular He saw what mistletoe did And never went back Which is a great idea for a movie by the way So my guess is

[00:27:42] Five years ago They released three books They said it was fifteen years since The first one My other one is Like does he stand by this Sixth book Because he writes this book Already like Angry about it Angry And then like it bubbles over into the tweet

[00:27:59] So like Is he proud of this work Like Does it hold up Is he able to like Put the frustration aside Knowing full well that he's putting out a book That is only going to further The commercialization of Christmas Like how does

[00:28:12] Like how does he kind of deal with that Right or situation Maybe, yeah Danum Mine is very similar So clearly the town took a lot of the books Aspects and sold them And sold like The likeness of them I just want to know At that point

[00:28:29] Why Harrison wasn't more involved In stopping it If he didn't like it Like you would think That if they're using the likeness of him Or the book series That they could come in and be like Hey You can't do that And so my curiosity is more like

[00:28:45] You saw this happen Why didn't you say something when it was happening Like five years ago Or what was the process like for you to go How is it legal for them to do this Yeah, that's what I got More than fair There's some arguments

[00:28:58] He doesn't do trees He doesn't do trees Any fist a cuffs though That's what I want to know It's time for a fighting chance With Vic Webster Fighting chance with Vic Webster Fighting chance with Vic Webster What's the fighting in the movie That someone you've heard is a

[00:29:15] Fighting chance with Vic Webster Fighting chance with Vic Webster Fighting chance with Vic Webster Vic Webster You know how much action this movie had? You guessed it A fighting chance with Vic Webster Fighting chance with Vic Webster Fighting chance with Vic Webster Are those listening at home?

[00:29:40] That is a shake now Yeah, stare and a shake is what it is They hate to see that I think it's frustrated But more than fair Really not like five or six changes Is really left at this point He was promised I think it's more than that

[00:29:53] It's four, it's seven It's eight Eight more It's kind of like five It's kind of like five or six Until next time We'll see how Dan's voice is Pray for him It's like getting in a war room

[00:30:02] until then may we the first to wish you a Merry Christmas. Thanks for listening or don't listen. It's really up to you at this point. Is that the end of the show? I mean, you're listening to me. Hi.

[00:30:47] But here they come. I promise they're coming. Yep. Here they are. Happy day.