Unwrapping Christmas: Tina's Miracle (Hallmark+ - 2024) ft. Ryan Pappolla

[00:00:01] Hey, I'm Brian and I love Hallmark Plus Christmas movies. Hey, I'm Ryan and I like Hallmark Plus Christmas movies. Do I? I'm Dan and do I despise Hallmark Plus Christmas movies? You bet! This is the Deck The Hallmark Podcast. Deck The Hallmark, it's this podcast. And Friends host this podcast. We hope you like this jolly podcast. Hello everybody! Yeah! Hello!

[00:00:36] How are we? How are we? Ryan! Ryan, you're back! You're back! I'm here. How are you? I'm here. I'm great. This is, I think, like, uh, I haven't done a ton of, like, in-season Christmas stuff. It's a big deal. I gotta be honest. We always say Ryan Pappolla is our guy for Hallmark TV shows, Hallmark Plus shows, Star Wars and Fast and Furious. And we've, that has been consistent since we've done you. The contract is airtime. We said, like, we met with you. It's ironclad.

[00:01:05] It was two hours of negotiations and we said, you're gonna be Hallmark TV, Hallmark Plus, Fast and Furious and Star Wars. That's right. I'll tell you this real quick. I want to be mindful of the clock here today. But, like, listen, all of that's great. But, like, you know, if there's, we don't have to lock me into the Hallmark Plus Christmas films. Like, well, there's always room to negotiate on that. Well, I think what's tough here is you've done one. That's right. Yeah. You do, you show up for the next unwrapping. It's a tradition at that point.

[00:01:32] There's no way we bring somebody in for Olivia after not seeing Tina.

[00:01:39] You could not, if you don't understand the nuance that is Tina, there's no way you're gonna have a prayer understanding Olivia.

[00:01:45] You can't do it. No, I mean, so the train is off the tracks. But, no, listen, it's fine. Everything's great.

[00:01:52] Everything's fine. It's been a great week. Everything's gone according to plan.

[00:01:56] We're fine. You might be wondering, can you play Christmas movie magic to the Hallmark Plus Christmas movies?

[00:02:02] Yeah, you can. Nothing changes.

[00:02:07] It's a wonderful game. We would love for you to get it. People are beginning to get their copies and talking about how amazing it is.

[00:02:12] And you can get yours, too. Join the train, shall you? DecktheHallmark.com slash game.

[00:02:17] You can pick up your copy. And if you've gotten a copy from Amazon, please leave a review. It helps that.

[00:02:22] It does.

[00:02:22] I don't really know how Amazon works.

[00:02:24] No, I don't either. There's some algorithms involved, for sure.

[00:02:26] Yeah, but it helps with...

[00:02:27] I will say this, a couple things. First of all, Ry, if we're watching on Philo,

[00:02:32] where you should be watching, philo.tv slash DTH, it's the only place you really can watch this.

[00:02:36] Ry, you are set up in front of quite a display.

[00:02:40] Thank you.

[00:02:41] And somehow there's a bunch of what I believe are some nostalgic collector's items back there,

[00:02:46] but also the reflection of a Christmas tree, if I'm not mistaken.

[00:02:50] Oh, wow. Is that happening? That's great.

[00:02:52] I put the lights on at the last second.

[00:02:53] Yeah, this is my office.

[00:02:56] My office. It's sheer perfection.

[00:02:58] Ry guy.

[00:02:58] It looks really nice.

[00:03:00] It looks really nice.

[00:03:01] That's a nice little bonus.

[00:03:02] I didn't realize that was going to happen.

[00:03:04] I can't see it on my end.

[00:03:05] That's great.

[00:03:05] I think the other reason we have Ry guy on for this is because unwrapping Christmas is

[00:03:09] so similar to Love Club that if we had Brian on here, it would just be a love fest.

[00:03:14] And we don't need that.

[00:03:15] We don't need that.

[00:03:15] We don't need that.

[00:03:16] Dan and I were talking about this earlier.

[00:03:18] What are your thoughts on continuing to come on the show and in exchange for it,

[00:03:21] instead of paying you hard-earned cash, we buy something 90s related from eBay on your behalf?

[00:03:28] Well, I'll tell you this.

[00:03:29] I don't know if you thought that this was like an absurd question,

[00:03:32] but if I made a list of things that I'm eyeing, which currently exists,

[00:03:36] I mean, that's something we could absolutely talk about both on and off.

[00:03:38] But I don't think – well, I don't have to 1099 you.

[00:03:41] I do because we've already paid you some, but I don't have to 1099 you if it's just eBay.

[00:03:45] You know what I mean?

[00:03:46] eBay then takes the 1099.

[00:03:47] There's tons.

[00:03:48] There's like – there's tons.

[00:03:49] I've been buying so much just in the last week alone to fill out my Christmas display,

[00:03:52] which is also straight ahead off camera.

[00:03:55] I mean, all those things, like a couple of those things would equal my per-episode rate.

[00:03:59] This is something to consider.

[00:04:00] Yeah.

[00:04:00] Yeah.

[00:04:01] And now we're pulling back the curtain.

[00:04:02] That would be great.

[00:04:03] That would be great with Alyssa because then I could be like, I'm no longer buying the thing.

[00:04:10] I wouldn't be irresponsible.

[00:04:12] Right.

[00:04:13] Like, you know.

[00:04:13] We're helping you, honestly.

[00:04:16] Yeah.

[00:04:16] Yeah.

[00:04:17] I mean, I think this is something to ponder.

[00:04:20] Yeah.

[00:04:20] Right guy is just – he's loving it.

[00:04:22] It's interesting is all I'm going to say.

[00:04:23] Hey, let's talk about Unwrapping Christmas, shall we?

[00:04:25] Let's do it.

[00:04:25] Yeah.

[00:04:25] Unwrapping Christmas.

[00:04:27] Tina's Miracle.

[00:04:28] It originally started streaming on Hallmark Plus on November 7th, 2024, and it went a little

[00:04:33] something like this.

[00:04:34] We enter All Wrapped Up, a shop that specializes in wrapping presents with four employees.

[00:04:42] We got Mia, we got Olivia, we got Lily, and of course, Tina.

[00:04:48] Tina is – yeah.

[00:04:50] All right.

[00:04:50] We can chant her name if you want to.

[00:04:52] Tina.

[00:04:53] Tina.

[00:04:54] Tina.

[00:04:55] Tina.

[00:04:55] I'm on the way.

[00:04:56] Tina.

[00:04:56] Tina is put in charge of the Christmas gala that happens every year.

[00:05:01] So she's running around trying to gather everything needed for the event.

[00:05:07] She goes to the store and a girl just starts snapping Polaroid pictures of her.

[00:05:12] The girl then hands the photos to her father, Michael Alonzo, for later.

[00:05:20] Despite –

[00:05:21] Everything Brains said is true.

[00:05:23] Despite it being the busy season at All Wrapped Up, Tina spends most of her time working on

[00:05:28] the gala.

[00:05:29] She even has a to-do list.

[00:05:31] Lucky for her, when she drops that to-do list, Michael Alonzo is walking right behind

[00:05:36] her everywhere she goes.

[00:05:39] And he asks – he picks it up, gives it to her, and asks her out.

[00:05:43] She declines, saying that she's too busy.

[00:05:47] Okay.

[00:05:48] Tina goes to check out the venue where the gala is held every year, and there's bad news.

[00:05:54] It's been sold, and the new people are going to tear it down.

[00:05:58] She discovers that Michael Alonzo is the one responsible for the sale.

[00:06:02] Apparently, his company used to own the building, and they've sold it.

[00:06:06] The next day, Michael Alonzo visits her shop with his daughter, who snaps another photo of

[00:06:14] Tina without her consent.

[00:06:15] He asks her out again.

[00:06:18] And this time, she agrees to meet up because she has something to discuss.

[00:06:24] She confronts him about the sale of the venue and the fact that it's going to be torn down.

[00:06:30] Michael says that he'll talk to the buyer.

[00:06:32] I didn't know about the gala.

[00:06:33] In my defense, I didn't know about the gala, and I didn't know that it was going to be torn down.

[00:06:36] But only, I will talk to him, but only if you come over for dinner to my house that has plastic up for renovations.

[00:06:46] And not wearing other skin.

[00:06:48] No, it's definitely not a day.

[00:06:50] Don't worry.

[00:06:51] She agrees, and when she shows up, his daughter takes yet another picture.

[00:06:57] Snap, snap.

[00:06:57] That's two pictures.

[00:06:59] That's right, and it's four.

[00:07:00] Up to four.

[00:07:00] We're up to four.

[00:07:01] If you keep track of home, four photos of Tina.

[00:07:06] They end up having a great time together, though.

[00:07:10] They almost kiss, but then Daddy Doody calls.

[00:07:14] The Daddy Doody is, hey, where are we going to hang up the next two pictures?

[00:07:18] The next day, they do some charity work at a church, and their connection deepens a lot.

[00:07:26] I was going to say deepens deeply, but let's not do that.

[00:07:29] Deepens.

[00:07:29] However, when Michael finds out.

[00:07:32] Deeply deepens deeply.

[00:07:33] When Michael Alonzo finds out that Tina has done some research on him, he gets angry.

[00:07:38] Some recon about this monster.

[00:07:41] Tina later shows up at his house to apologize, admitting that she was wrong about him.

[00:07:46] They go out to dinner and share a slow dance in the snow.

[00:07:50] Meanwhile, Tina is doing some digging and discovers an old deed.

[00:07:53] Yes!

[00:07:54] Oh, thank God.

[00:07:55] We love it.

[00:07:56] Huzzah!

[00:07:56] Long story short, the house never belonged to Michael Alonzo.

[00:08:02] It actually belonged to the people, which means that it never was his to sell in the first place.

[00:08:09] So they can take it back.

[00:08:11] Michael decides, for some reason it's his decision, and he decides to open a school for his daughter in that building.

[00:08:17] We find out that his daughter is dyslexic, and that is why she takes pictures.

[00:08:24] And they can hold the gala there in the building.

[00:08:27] The event goes on, off as planned.

[00:08:30] And they share a kiss.

[00:08:32] And that, my friends, was Unwrapping Christmas, Tina's Miracle.

[00:08:38] Tina!

[00:08:39] Tina!

[00:08:40] Tina!

[00:08:40] Tina!

[00:08:41] Tina!

[00:09:01] Tina!

[00:09:02] Tina!

[00:09:23] Tina!

[00:09:24] Tina!

[00:09:24] Tina!

[00:09:24] So just real quick, because I'm not on here every single week, and I know that some people come in just for the holiday season here on Deck the Hallmark.

[00:09:31] Welcome.

[00:09:32] We appreciate you.

[00:09:32] You know, I am a big fan of these films, was before I ever started here on DTH.

[00:09:39] But for the record, I'm never watching, you know, all 77 of them, right?

[00:09:43] I'm watching a good amount, more than the average bear, but not every single one.

[00:09:48] Average bear.

[00:09:48] Yeah.

[00:09:49] Typically, Unwrapping Christmas, Tina's Miracle probably wouldn't have been on the old Rye guys list, right?

[00:09:56] For as big of a fan of the genre as I am.

[00:09:59] So all of that to say, because I don't want people thinking I'm a poser, I don't want them thinking I'm coming through, through, you know, unclear eyes, unclear hearts, unclear can't lose.

[00:10:08] Can't lose.

[00:10:09] Yeah, yeah, yeah, can lose.

[00:10:11] All of that to say that this is an unbelievably strange film.

[00:10:15] Very, very strange.

[00:10:17] However, I think I kind of liked it.

[00:10:19] I didn't think the performances were amazing, but I thought that was the vibe they were going for.

[00:10:25] I didn't think that the chemistry between the leads was really there, but I don't think I really cared.

[00:10:32] Everything seemed extremely exaggerated, but that felt like an intentional choice.

[00:10:37] The worst version of any of these films across the board from January to December, from the deckies to the deckies, is that they're boring.

[00:10:49] This film was not good, but it was not boring, and that is my hot take, Bran.

[00:10:58] So, friend of the show, Natalie Hall.

[00:11:00] We love Natalie Hall.

[00:11:01] Natalie Hall, we would consider her a friend of the show.

[00:11:03] She's been on.

[00:11:03] We love Natalie Hall.

[00:11:05] We love Natalie Hall.

[00:11:07] And, you know, call me crazy, but I was worried for her safety in this movie.

[00:11:14] You know, it's hard.

[00:11:15] You know, you see someone you know on the screen, and, you know, you know they're acting,

[00:11:21] but then there's also a part of it that's like, I think Natalie might be in, like, grave danger.

[00:11:27] And I didn't like it.

[00:11:29] I didn't like the way it made me feel every time this girl came up to her face and took a picture of her.

[00:11:38] It wasn't charming.

[00:11:39] If it was supposed to be charming, swing and a miss on the charm scale.

[00:11:48] Was that just me?

[00:11:49] Ryan, did you not find that to be deeply unsettling?

[00:11:53] That's in my weight once.

[00:11:54] I figured that we would get there before.

[00:11:55] Yeah, no, that didn't land.

[00:11:58] Deeply unsettling.

[00:11:59] And it was also Natalie Hall always had to seem, like, really psyched about it.

[00:12:02] Yeah.

[00:12:03] Like, she felt like a hostage victim.

[00:12:04] Yes.

[00:12:05] So that stuff didn't land for me.

[00:12:07] So that was happening, and Michael Alonzo is over there, and he creeps me out.

[00:12:15] And part of it is like, hey, Dad, here's another picture of Tina.

[00:12:19] For your personal collection.

[00:12:21] And he puts it in his pocket.

[00:12:22] It made me uncomfortable.

[00:12:25] And then, like, that mixed with the fact that she's supposed to be a one-fourth owner of a wrapping store

[00:12:31] that she, during the busiest time of the year, is just missing.

[00:12:35] Just never around.

[00:12:36] And that, you know, weirdly enough, I'm going to sound like Brian here, but I kind of want more wrapping store in the next three movies.

[00:12:44] We'll see what happens.

[00:12:46] You know, we haven't seen Natalie Hall in a while.

[00:12:48] It's great to see her back on screen.

[00:12:50] It's always, I think she always gives a solid performance.

[00:12:53] But overall, this movie was a bit of a miss to me.

[00:12:57] And part of that was just the fact that I, listen, you find out that your friend's in danger and your heart's beating and your stomach's dropping and you're waiting for that text that says, I'm okay, I'm good.

[00:13:11] We haven't gotten the text.

[00:13:13] And so I'm still concerned there's something wrong here.

[00:13:17] There's something wrong with Michael Alonzo and his whole operation.

[00:13:21] That's all I'm going to say about it.

[00:13:22] Dano?

[00:13:23] Yeah.

[00:13:23] As concerned about Ryguy's hot take, is he being held hostage?

[00:13:28] Like, are you okay?

[00:13:29] I didn't say I thought the film was good.

[00:13:30] I said I thought the film was not boring.

[00:13:33] Yeah, that's enough.

[00:13:36] This is the worst episode of Dexter I've ever seen.

[00:13:42] I'm troubled.

[00:13:43] I'm concerned.

[00:13:44] I'm also bored.

[00:13:45] I was not, it was not interesting at all to me.

[00:13:50] I, Natalie Hall deserves better than this.

[00:13:53] This movie spares all expense, giving you one of the worst stories I've ever seen.

[00:13:58] The pictures are unsettling.

[00:14:01] The leading guy is unsettling.

[00:14:02] The wrapping store, while actually my feels, which we'll get to, the way it is run and the lack of people there, also very unsettling.

[00:14:12] Well, it's not their busy season.

[00:14:14] No, it is not Christmas.

[00:14:16] And my thing is this, is we've been watching a lot of Hallmark Plus content.

[00:14:19] And, you know, when you think of Hallmark Plus and a streaming service when a TV network already shows you 40 movies in two months,

[00:14:28] you think of some stinkers like this.

[00:14:31] This is what you think of.

[00:14:32] Like, there's been some stuff on Hallmark Plus.

[00:14:34] Like, I hear Mistletoe Murders is amazing.

[00:14:36] And I'm angry because it's like, why did you put that on Hallmark Plus when it could have been on a channel called Hallmark Mystery?

[00:14:42] Or like Tyler Hines' new movie?

[00:14:44] Or the new Aurora Tea Gardens?

[00:14:47] Or this reality show?

[00:14:48] Like, all of this is fine.

[00:14:50] But when I think of Hallmark Plus and having Christmas movie premieres, this is what I think of.

[00:14:58] This has no business being on terrestrial television.

[00:15:01] Like, this has no business being on a linear network.

[00:15:04] This was a Hallmark Plus level budget, a Hallmark Plus level movie, and Natalie Hall is caught in it.

[00:15:12] And I can only hope the others are better.

[00:15:15] And Jake Epstein is in one, so that does give me a little bit of hope.

[00:15:19] But by and large, no, absolutely not for this.

[00:15:24] This was a tough watch.

[00:15:26] I liked all three Danube movies more than this movie.

[00:15:30] Stamp it.

[00:15:31] Put it on the board.

[00:15:33] Put it on the board.

[00:15:35] Wow.

[00:15:35] That's right.

[00:15:35] It's time for all the feels when we talk about what this movie gives feels.

[00:15:38] Raga?

[00:15:39] I'd be lying if I told you I had a lot here.

[00:15:44] You know, I really feel like it's a cop-out.

[00:15:46] You know, we're almost a decade into Deck the Hallmark if you round up.

[00:15:50] If you round up, we are.

[00:15:51] You're right.

[00:15:52] Yeah, if you round up.

[00:15:53] I feel like coming in here and saying the set deco was really nice.

[00:15:57] That's like very year one Deck the Hallmark.

[00:15:59] Especially with a movie where the set deco was not nice.

[00:16:02] Yeah, exactly.

[00:16:03] But like, so that's really all I had.

[00:16:05] The exterior of, I think it was the dad's house, kind of sort of looked like the Home Alone house if you squinted.

[00:16:13] Okay.

[00:16:13] It was like much smaller.

[00:16:14] And that was the best.

[00:16:16] Again, I didn't like this film.

[00:16:18] I just didn't think it was boring.

[00:16:20] And that's all I had, Brent.

[00:16:20] Okay.

[00:16:21] Let's talk about how great of a shop idea All Wrapped Up is.

[00:16:27] It's a place that you can go and you can get your presents wrapped, but they'll also ship it for you.

[00:16:32] And also you can create custom wrapping paper right there in the shop.

[00:16:36] A wonderful idea for a business.

[00:16:37] I think Dan and I are considering opening up our own All Wrapped Up franchise.

[00:16:41] Yeah.

[00:16:43] A wonder, for once, a wonderful store idea here on the Hallmark channel and you love to see that.

[00:16:49] And that was mine too.

[00:16:50] A vertically integrated gift wrapping store where they make the wrapping paper.

[00:16:55] They ship your gifts.

[00:16:57] They wrap your gifts.

[00:16:59] It's an all-in-one situation.

[00:17:01] And it's a great idea.

[00:17:03] When I saw Natalie Hall put that Polaroid picture down and out came wrapping paper.

[00:17:09] That's how I imagine people.

[00:17:10] I saw Michael Alonzo start to salivate.

[00:17:14] You could put any picture in there?

[00:17:16] Any Polaroid?

[00:17:16] That's how I imagine the cavemen felt when they made the fire for the first time.

[00:17:20] An amazing feat.

[00:17:22] An amazing feat.

[00:17:23] It's really great.

[00:17:23] They'll ship your gifts.

[00:17:25] You can do your pants or not?

[00:17:26] Oh, man.

[00:17:27] I ship my pants.

[00:17:27] Yeah, I ship my pants for sure.

[00:17:29] I think you can do that anywhere, anytime.

[00:17:31] Let's-

[00:17:31] That was nicely done.

[00:17:33] Let's take the hot take right now.

[00:17:34] That was really good.

[00:17:35] Let's take a quick break.

[00:17:36] We'll come back.

[00:17:37] We'll change our pants and we'll do the way we want.

[00:17:39] We shipped them.

[00:17:40] We just need new pants.

[00:17:41] Come on, man.

[00:17:41] Don't get your money out of the gutter.

[00:17:43] Deck the Hallmark.

[00:17:53] Tina.

[00:17:53] Tina.

[00:17:54] Tina.

[00:17:55] Tina.

[00:17:56] Tina.

[00:17:57] We love Tina.

[00:18:03] We're concerned about it.

[00:18:04] Yeah.

[00:18:05] Let's get to the way what and the what the Hallmark.

[00:18:08] The way what is where we talk about what this movie made us go.

[00:18:10] Wait, what?

[00:18:11] Ryan, what you got?

[00:18:12] So what's going to get lost in the shuffle of how unsettling the whole pictures Polaroid

[00:18:18] situation is, is that the teenage girl, you know, we're led to believe that she's like

[00:18:23] this next great art.

[00:18:25] Like she's an average photographer at best.

[00:18:27] And Natalie Hall has to keep going.

[00:18:29] Wow.

[00:18:30] What a picture.

[00:18:31] Like it's they're just they're just quick Polaroid snapshots of her face with her no time

[00:18:37] to prepare.

[00:18:37] They're not good pictures.

[00:18:38] And that bothered me.

[00:18:40] There's a scene at the dinner table where the leads explain they aren't attracted to

[00:18:45] each other and then they then have to explain chemistry to the kid.

[00:18:49] And I just thought it was hilarious because like these two have zero chemistry whatsoever

[00:18:53] and they're explaining what chemistry is.

[00:18:55] So I thought that was a fun really honestly a bit of meta humor from Tina's miracle here.

[00:19:01] There's this there's this exchange where I think Tina says to Alonzo not there all day.

[00:19:07] You have your flannel shirt.

[00:19:09] You're a wood carver.

[00:19:10] If I didn't know any better.

[00:19:11] I think you don't an axe.

[00:19:13] Now depending on where you live geographically and if you are a wood carver I don't think

[00:19:20] it would be that far fetched to think that a human being in that situation owns an axe.

[00:19:26] I don't like it just seems like that's like not like the smoking gun that Tina thought it

[00:19:31] was.

[00:19:32] And then last one there's this I don't like to talk about like sandwich there's like

[00:19:37] the land trust deed situation.

[00:19:39] Then there's this gift wrapping competition.

[00:19:41] I don't know did you even mention it in the synopsis.

[00:19:44] I don't think you got there.

[00:19:45] I didn't.

[00:19:45] Yeah.

[00:19:46] I was trying to get this.

[00:19:47] We're up against Christmas and see what happens.

[00:19:49] So so like so here's the thing though if they talked about it throughout the film I

[00:19:53] didn't really catch on.

[00:19:54] There's like four minutes left in the film.

[00:19:56] They haven't missed yet.

[00:19:57] There's still stuff to be resolved.

[00:19:59] And and Tina's she's in this gift wrapping competition and they want to try to make it

[00:20:03] suspenseful.

[00:20:04] And to me the only suspense was like are we going to finish this film on time.

[00:20:07] Yes.

[00:20:08] Like and so and then and then she she wins but then we also find out and again if they

[00:20:13] had mentioned this prior I missed it.

[00:20:14] She's a four time defending champion.

[00:20:17] It's literally a dynasty.

[00:20:19] Yeah.

[00:20:19] And they wanted me to think that there was any chance that Tina wasn't going to win

[00:20:24] this gift wrapping competition.

[00:20:25] Did you catch Ryan if that competition was speed based quality based or they still don't

[00:20:32] know.

[00:20:33] Wasn't clear to the right guy.

[00:20:34] It wasn't clear to any of us because they keep going times running out.

[00:20:38] Oh that's looking pretty good.

[00:20:40] Which is it.

[00:20:41] Does it matter if you finish.

[00:20:42] I think it is time primarily based on time.

[00:20:47] But if there's a tear you're disqualified.

[00:20:49] So whoever finishes the gift wrapping first.

[00:20:51] First without a tear.

[00:20:53] All right.

[00:20:53] So why did it matter.

[00:20:54] It could be terrible.

[00:20:55] It could be terrible.

[00:20:57] But as long as you have to have integrity.

[00:21:00] You have to go into it with a pure heart.

[00:21:02] You know.

[00:21:02] They mentioned that at any point in the film before the last three minutes.

[00:21:05] No.

[00:21:06] Yeah.

[00:21:06] I mean it makes sense that she would be the champion because she owns a gift wrapping.

[00:21:10] She shouldn't be able to compete.

[00:21:12] But also it's weird that she was like five for one for the thumb there.

[00:21:16] It'd be like Michael Jordan winning a pickup tournament.

[00:21:19] Yeah.

[00:21:19] Exactly.

[00:21:20] It doesn't seem right.

[00:21:21] Yeah.

[00:21:21] Yeah.

[00:21:22] I have a few.

[00:21:23] One.

[00:21:24] Her friends are the worst.

[00:21:25] Yeah.

[00:21:26] If you have a friend who tells you hey there's a guy.

[00:21:33] He has a daughter who continues to take Polaroid pictures of me.

[00:21:37] He I've told him no multiple times.

[00:21:41] They you need to have your friends back.

[00:21:44] You need to be like OK.

[00:21:45] Hey you tell if he comes in here again we'll tell him to get lost.

[00:21:49] All of her friends are like he's cute.

[00:21:52] He's cute.

[00:21:53] Just roll the dice.

[00:21:55] What's the worst that could happen?

[00:21:56] You die in his house with plastic on the walls.

[00:21:59] Yes.

[00:22:00] That's the worst that could happen.

[00:22:02] And it's pretty darn likely.

[00:22:04] I you gotta help.

[00:22:06] You gotta be better friends.

[00:22:07] The role of best friend being played by Tracy.

[00:22:09] No less.

[00:22:09] You gotta you gotta look out for your friends here.

[00:22:12] You gotta look out for them.

[00:22:14] Can you imagine you know yeah yeah yeah yeah finally have the the girl who you've been trying

[00:22:20] to kiss for a long time and she comes over to your house and you're about to kiss and

[00:22:24] your kid goes dad we're out toothpaste and you go all right well that's that's my call.

[00:22:31] I gotta wrap everybody.

[00:22:32] No way.

[00:22:33] You're yelling squeeze the toe.

[00:22:35] Squeeze it.

[00:22:36] There's always more.

[00:22:40] You are you are not being like safety pin.

[00:22:44] You gotta get out of here.

[00:22:45] You you you gotta you're not you're not handling that well.

[00:22:50] You're like Colgate.

[00:22:51] You're kidding me right now.

[00:22:53] We're out.

[00:22:53] You're we're never out.

[00:22:55] There's always more in the tube.

[00:22:57] Get figure it out.

[00:22:58] If you're old enough to snap a Polaroid you're old enough to figure that out.

[00:23:02] Dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball.

[00:23:07] They Michael a lot.

[00:23:08] She walks into the Michael Alonzo's office and everybody's buzzing and she walks into

[00:23:13] Michael Alonzo's specific office and is like what's going on out there is like everybody's

[00:23:17] so happy and he says they just received their Christmas bonus.

[00:23:22] Yeah.

[00:23:24] It gets better.

[00:23:25] He seems so sad.

[00:23:26] Go ahead.

[00:23:26] Then he says.

[00:23:26] What does he say?

[00:23:27] It's more than they anticipated.

[00:23:29] It's more than they anticipated.

[00:23:30] He seems so sad as if it was a mistake.

[00:23:34] As if he said I exit decimal point.

[00:23:37] I goofed and I gave him thousands more than I was planning to.

[00:23:41] He seems so sad.

[00:23:42] There's always more in the tube.

[00:23:44] There's always more in the tube.

[00:23:45] That's right.

[00:23:45] There's not always more in the bank account.

[00:23:47] And then they are at the house, the estate, and they want to take a picture of the wallpaper

[00:23:57] so they can make the wallpaper Christmas wrapping paper.

[00:24:00] And so she says go take a picture of the Polaroid.

[00:24:03] Make sure the camera's in focus.

[00:24:07] No.

[00:24:07] No.

[00:24:08] Polaroids are.

[00:24:09] You can't.

[00:24:11] They're known for not needing that.

[00:24:12] Yeah.

[00:24:13] You just.

[00:24:13] It's the one.

[00:24:14] It's the one button.

[00:24:15] That's right.

[00:24:16] One button ad skip on Philo.

[00:24:18] Philo.

[00:24:18] And it's one button to take a picture.

[00:24:20] The Polaroid is going to do the best it can.

[00:24:22] Well, it has.

[00:24:23] One button focus skip.

[00:24:24] And that's all that it can do.

[00:24:26] Make sure it's in focus.

[00:24:27] That's right.

[00:24:27] Dano?

[00:24:28] Yeah.

[00:24:29] At one point, the judge comes in with a box of like used toys.

[00:24:33] And he goes, my name is Judge.

[00:24:35] He goes, we need to get these overseas ASAP.

[00:24:39] And we could talk for a half hour about this scene.

[00:24:43] Why use toys?

[00:24:44] Typically, you buy new toys to send to people in need.

[00:24:47] Why do they need to get just overseas?

[00:24:49] We don't know where.

[00:24:50] But there has to be an ocean in between the toys here and there.

[00:24:54] Is she taking this on the chin financially?

[00:24:56] Is she paying for all the shipment?

[00:24:58] He doesn't pay her anything.

[00:25:00] He just shows up and he's like, we need to get these overseas ASAP.

[00:25:04] And that's the end of the scene, which is wild.

[00:25:07] Another thing that's wild is the use of the term cease and desist in this movie.

[00:25:11] I don't think they know what it is or they're intentionally breaking the law to throw parties.

[00:25:18] They hear that the place she's going to use for this party has been sold.

[00:25:22] And then the woman says, it's been sold and we have a wedding coming up.

[00:25:26] But then after that, it's been sold and we received a cease and desist on parties.

[00:25:32] And the only way that makes sense is if you heard it's been sold, you know it's been sold and you go, you know what?

[00:25:39] Screw them.

[00:25:39] We're throwing bashes here anyway.

[00:25:42] Screw it.

[00:25:43] You know, I know that the thing says that it's not our property anymore, but we're going to throw parties here anyway.

[00:25:49] That's what we're going to do.

[00:25:51] We're freewheeling.

[00:25:53] But if you bring the lawyer, bring the man, because I know it's not our property, but we're throwing parties.

[00:26:01] I don't know why a cease and desist got involved there.

[00:26:03] That doesn't make any sense.

[00:26:05] We also have to talk about Christmas trees in this movie.

[00:26:08] And I need to tell you, Big Johnson, that produced these movies, the Christmas tree is not an all-encompassing Christmas decoration.

[00:26:17] You cannot look in the cupboard and go, we have no Christmas decorations, but we do have a thousand Christmas trees.

[00:26:26] And just put them literally everywhere throughout your movie.

[00:26:31] In the hallway of the elementary school, there are five Christmas trees.

[00:26:37] I don't know if you've ever met a kid.

[00:26:39] Those Christmas trees don't stand a chance.

[00:26:42] And there are five of them.

[00:26:43] In the church, in the sanctuary, there are a dozen Christmas trees.

[00:26:49] In the sanctuary, there are houses in this woman's dad's house.

[00:26:54] There are rooms in his house that have three Christmas trees in them.

[00:26:59] It is just like we got a Christmas tree budget and we got to use all the Christmas trees.

[00:27:06] Couldn't believe it.

[00:27:07] I couldn't believe that.

[00:27:08] We also have to talk about this.

[00:27:09] How old do you think Michael Alonzo's daughter is?

[00:27:12] Just ballpark it.

[00:27:13] Nine.

[00:27:14] Thirteen, twelve.

[00:27:15] I was guessing around tween age.

[00:27:17] So, ten, eleven, twelve.

[00:27:18] Okay, great.

[00:27:19] Michael Alonzo says that he watches Love Actually with his daughter every year.

[00:27:28] So, now, I'm not here.

[00:27:30] This is a family show.

[00:27:31] I'm not.

[00:27:33] There are, I think, nine different stories in Love Actually.

[00:27:36] There is one of them about adult entertainment.

[00:27:40] About adult entertainment.

[00:27:42] Full stop.

[00:27:44] And Michael Alonzo is watching this movie with his child as a yearly tradition.

[00:27:52] Which hasn't started, even if she is twelve.

[00:27:54] Even if she's twelve.

[00:27:56] It had to say years.

[00:27:59] Yeah.

[00:27:59] It had to start when she was eight or nine years old.

[00:28:02] And I'm not telling you how to parent, but I am.

[00:28:06] You can't.

[00:28:07] What?

[00:28:08] What?

[00:28:09] In their defense, they don't say Love Actually by name.

[00:28:12] They say the Keira Knightley Christmas movie.

[00:28:14] So, they could be talking about the 2021 movie Silent Night.

[00:28:17] But then they specifically, after that, talk about the scene where Liam Neeson speaks Portuguese

[00:28:22] to the woman.

[00:28:24] Yeah.

[00:28:24] And they make it pretty clear.

[00:28:25] They make it very clear it's Love Actually and that this dude is sitting down with his

[00:28:29] daughter, his eight-year-old daughter, to watch Love Actually.

[00:28:33] And I couldn't get over it.

[00:28:36] I couldn't get over this.

[00:28:38] I was like, you know, that's tough.

[00:28:40] That's a tough one out there.

[00:28:41] And maybe there are parents that are doing this and maybe I'm just wrong.

[00:28:44] Maybe she's older.

[00:28:45] Maybe she's older.

[00:28:46] She is dyslexic.

[00:28:48] Yeah.

[00:28:48] Well, and that brings me to my next one, which is people with dyslexia, I have family and

[00:28:52] friends with dyslexia and I also know that accommodations for dyslexia have come a long

[00:28:57] way.

[00:28:57] You should hear Henry Winkler's story about this.

[00:28:59] It is so inspiring.

[00:29:01] He had dyslexia.

[00:29:03] Brian begs to differ.

[00:29:04] He doesn't think that.

[00:29:05] He has to differ.

[00:29:06] He doesn't think.

[00:29:07] We can get Brian's take later.

[00:29:09] I think he's put his take on the show for it.

[00:29:11] There's actually a font.

[00:29:12] And I've actually been meaning to try this with you because you probably, you would say,

[00:29:16] had undiagnosed dyslexia.

[00:29:17] I think it's pretty good.

[00:29:18] There's a font that they've created that people with dyslexia can read and it not cluster

[00:29:23] or flip on them.

[00:29:24] And Henry Winkler wrote a kid's book with it to help kids, which is awesome.

[00:29:29] It's amazing.

[00:29:32] Dyslexia is not a valid reason to let your child take close up Polaroids of random strangers

[00:29:38] whenever she wants.

[00:29:39] You have to teach your child that there is privacy and maybe you shouldn't be just snapping

[00:29:47] pictures of people you don't know to let your dad keep in his weird room.

[00:29:52] You can't do that.

[00:29:54] You can't.

[00:29:55] You cannot do that.

[00:29:56] There is not.

[00:29:57] That is not valid.

[00:29:58] I'm sorry.

[00:30:00] You can't do that.

[00:30:01] Absolutely not.

[00:30:03] No way.

[00:30:03] No how.

[00:30:04] We do get a.

[00:30:05] How pumped was he when he found out his daughter had dyslexia?

[00:30:08] So he just go take pictures and we'll blame it on the dyslexia.

[00:30:14] Oh, my gosh.

[00:30:15] You don't have to ask if you have dyslexia.

[00:30:19] Um, I have more and I know we got it.

[00:30:21] We are up against, but I have more.

[00:30:23] I like his her parents used to dance to.

[00:30:25] Oh, holy night.

[00:30:26] That was their song.

[00:30:27] I have to bring it up.

[00:30:28] I'm sorry.

[00:30:29] Like, can you imagine this hanging out and your parents are sitting around and all of a sudden

[00:30:32] you're.

[00:30:34] And your parents are like they grab each other's hand and they stand up.

[00:30:37] Hands are tied.

[00:30:38] Like what?

[00:30:39] What sheltered childhood did you live in?

[00:30:41] Uh, in the restaurant where she talks about.

[00:30:46] Oh, holy night.

[00:30:48] They he's like, we need to dance to this right now.

[00:30:50] And he they don't pay the check.

[00:30:52] And then they walk outside where you cannot hear an acoustic guitar and they dance silently.

[00:30:59] So the holy night's been playing inside.

[00:31:02] He's like, let's just dine and dash and go outside and dance to nothing, I guess, is what

[00:31:07] you're saying.

[00:31:07] And then at some point somebody says on behalf of St.

[00:31:11] Paul and the twin cities, that's the same.

[00:31:15] You St.

[00:31:15] Paul, Minneapolis.

[00:31:17] So you've already said St.

[00:31:18] Paul.

[00:31:18] You don't have to double it.

[00:31:19] You don't have to double it down.

[00:31:21] You don't have to say it twice.

[00:31:23] Uh, and that's all I got.

[00:31:24] On behalf of Greenville, Greenville.

[00:31:25] That's right.

[00:31:26] Yeah.

[00:31:26] On for on behalf of Greenville and GSP.

[00:31:29] That's right.

[00:31:30] You've already done it.

[00:31:31] You've already done the thing.

[00:31:33] All right.

[00:31:33] I'm done.

[00:31:34] It's time for what the hallmark is where we want to.

[00:31:35] What could have been?

[00:31:35] Maybe have it given us a clarity.

[00:31:36] Any questions that we still have?

[00:31:37] What are we still wondering about?

[00:31:38] I'll start.

[00:31:39] We do have three more films, so we'll see if they get answered.

[00:31:42] Uh, but you, you go ahead, right?

[00:31:44] Well, to that point, Mia is next week.

[00:31:46] Correct?

[00:31:47] Brand.

[00:31:47] That's right.

[00:31:48] I think that's right.

[00:31:49] Now I'll be honest.

[00:31:51] I didn't like really commit to memory, which woman, which lead was who, but as best I could

[00:31:57] tell, Mia was featured the least of the four of them.

[00:32:02] And you'd think if Mia is indeed next week, you'd think you'd give maybe Mia even just,

[00:32:07] I don't know, an additional 45 seconds of screen time to set up where we may be going.

[00:32:12] The star pairing of this quadrilogy is Cindy Busby and Jake Epstein.

[00:32:19] They have both had numerous roles on Hallmark in Christmas movies, and they're paired together

[00:32:25] in a movie.

[00:32:25] I would assume they're going to be last.

[00:32:27] And I would assume that so little care is going to be made, is going to be given for

[00:32:32] the next two movies.

[00:32:33] I get the feeling that installments two and three are going to be worse than what we just

[00:32:38] watched.

[00:32:39] Do you think if Mia gets married and she has kids, they'll call her Mama Mia?

[00:32:46] Wasn't Mia in the love club too?

[00:32:48] Isn't there a Mia in the love club?

[00:32:50] Let's get Brian, our love club expert in here.

[00:32:52] Love club expert, Brian.

[00:32:55] Yeah, I guess my question is about the school.

[00:32:59] No, it's Tara, Lauren, Sydney, and Nicole.

[00:33:02] Sorry.

[00:33:02] It's about the school.

[00:33:04] There's a season two of love club?

[00:33:06] God, no!

[00:33:08] Sorry.

[00:33:09] I'm sorry.

[00:33:10] Go ahead.

[00:33:10] There is one.

[00:33:11] It's coming.

[00:33:11] This school, just like, you know, he doesn't have a history in education, but he's like,

[00:33:20] we'll do it.

[00:33:21] And, you know, how does it go?

[00:33:25] Good.

[00:33:25] How does the school go?

[00:33:27] Dano?

[00:33:28] This guy's declaration of love to this girl he's going to kill slash.

[00:33:32] Not kill.

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

[00:33:34] It starts with, I was thinking about coincidences.

[00:33:41] And then he basically follows that up with Webster's dictionary, defines coincidences as, and then

[00:33:46] he reads the definition of coincidences from memory.

[00:33:50] And is it the worst one we've ever seen?

[00:33:54] I think it might be.

[00:33:56] That's my what the hallmark.

[00:33:57] Back to you, Brian.

[00:33:59] Fair enough.

[00:33:59] We did it, everybody.

[00:34:00] Congratulations.

[00:34:01] Tina.

[00:34:02] Tina.

[00:34:03] Tina.

[00:34:04] We're going to be back next week with Mia's Revenge.

[00:34:08] What is it?

[00:34:10] Points.

[00:34:11] Prince.

[00:34:12] Mama Mia, here we go again.

[00:34:14] Mia's Prince.

[00:34:15] Mia's Prince.

[00:34:16] Princess.

[00:34:16] Yeah.

[00:34:17] Prince.

[00:34:17] Yes.

[00:34:17] Yeah, no, I just, it's Tina's Miracle, and I thought it was going to be like another.

[00:34:21] Is that like, wait, is that like related?

[00:34:23] Because it's the same, it's the Twin Cities that like a Prince, like Purple Rain situation.

[00:34:27] Oh, wow.

[00:34:27] That'd be interesting.

[00:34:29] Yeah.

[00:34:29] Yeah.

[00:34:30] Yeah, I just didn't see Mia's Prince being.

[00:34:32] Mia's Prince.

[00:34:33] Prince in the pauper.

[00:34:34] What is it?

[00:34:35] Lily's Destiny.

[00:34:36] Uh-huh.

[00:34:36] Okay.

[00:34:37] And Olivia's Reunion.

[00:34:39] Ooh, Olivia's Reunion.

[00:34:40] Ooh.

[00:34:40] I think we should call it Mia's Revenge.

[00:34:42] Mia's Revenge is great.

[00:34:43] That sounds better.

[00:34:44] That sounds better than Mia's Prince.

[00:34:45] Mia's Revenge.

[00:34:45] All right, we did it, everybody.

[00:34:46] Congratulations to us.

[00:34:48] We'll be right next time with another one.

[00:34:49] Until then, we first wish you a Merry Christmas!

[00:34:52] The Hallmark's a Bramble Jam podcast is produced by Aaron Shea.

[00:34:55] What?

[00:34:55] For more information on Deck the Hallmark, you can go to deckthehallmark.com.

[00:34:59] For more information on the Deck the Hallmark family, you can go to bramblejamplus.com.

[00:35:03] Deck the Hallmark is presented by Philo TV.

[00:35:05] For a free trial of Philo, go to philo.tv slash dth.

[00:35:15] You're about to hear some ads that help keep the lights on here in the old studio.

[00:35:20] Thanks for listening or don't listen.

[00:35:23] It's really up to you at this point.

[00:35:25] It's at the end of the show.

[00:35:26] I mean, you're listening to me.

[00:35:28] Hi.

[00:35:29] But here they come.

[00:35:30] I promise they're coming.

[00:35:31] Yep, here they are.

[00:35:32] Happy day.