T&K's XMas (2024) Advent Calendar - Day 16: Holidazed, episode 1.

 2024, created by Claudia Grazioso - Hallmark/W Network

A little something outside the Hallmark seasonal norm, and showing the channel's commitment to not sitting still and resting on formulae alone, Holidazed is an 8-episode TV series that is, effectively, 6 intersecting Hallmark Holiday Movie stories, but not movies.

This is perhaps the evolution of the ensemble movie Hallmark has been trying more and more each year (think Haul out the Holly  or The Christmas House).  It's also maybe in direct competition with the Cherry Lane series of movies to see which format performs better: a series of movies or a weekly limited series?

Holidazed is set on a cul-de-sac and follows the six families that live in the neighborhood. Their lives naturally cross paths but each has their own specific story.  The first episode introduces all the families, their dynamics with each other, and their neighbours, and the complications that will need to be overcome.  Each family will have a dedicated episode, and I presume the finale will tie it all together somehow.

I recently wrote about the Netflix series Midnight Mass and what a masterclass it is in establishing its large cast, their relationships to one another, its setting, the series' ominous tone and hinting at what's to come. Holidazed isn't quite as deftly handled, but it does a decent job of weaving through the myriad of characters and how they relate to one another while setting up the complications that will drive their individual narratives.  What holds it back is it's almost too ambitious, with too many characters intermingling to keep every connection perfectly straightforward. As well, almost every premise is pretty cliche, so from the set-up it's like we know where it's going to go, based on Hallmarks of the past.

They are:
The Hill Family. Son Josh (Ian Harding) has returned home for the holidays, where his big city pretentiousness presents itself quite frequently. He's not an asshole about it, he's just a bit of an ass.  He apparently kept buying his parents new household gadgets for fitness or healthy eating and they were just too technical and non-traditional for them, but he kind of doesn't get it. He only sees his way. While heading out to pick up some healthy bowls for dinner in his parents car, he gets pulled over for talking on the phone not hands-free (he was talking to his fiancee who, to put it bluntly, is pretty emotionally cold and didn't care at all about joining him for Christmas). The cop is an old high-school acquaintance, Nora, who he says was always very "by the book" and she says he always though the rules didn't apply to him. He thinks he's charming and Nora is not charmed. Later Josh forgets to put the car in park and it crashes into a fire hydrant. He convinces Nora to get his penance immediately reduced to community service because he's supposed to be moving to Australia with the ice queen after Christmas. He also learns from his parents that Nora is a single mom after her husband died. So, big city big shot returns home to meet single parent he knew from his younger years and they clash at first. We know how this story will go, like every beat of it (especially since we see Josh connect with Nora's son over Legos briefly).

The Lin Family. Ted (Osric Chou) has brought his fiancee Marcus (Shawn Ahmed) home for the holidays. His mom (Sharon Crandall) is ecstatic to spend the time together and plan their wedding. Sister Ella (Jasmine Chen) brings up the topic of Nai Nai comes up and Dad (Stanley Jung) says he booked her on a trip to Palm Springs. Ted is relieved because he hasn't come out to Grandma yet, which Marcus is not thrilled with. Of course, the trip has issues and Nai Nai (Lucille Soong) is home for the holidays and eager to spend time with Marcus whom she believes is Ella's fiancee. Uh oh. Hijinks are bound to ensue before the truth has to come out (literally). Lucille Soong is a legendary character actor, and she's going to kill it in this hopefully not-too-contrived story.

The Woods Family. Lucy (Lindy Booth) runs an restaurant and has the total hots for contractor/handyman Cole (Steven Allerick). It seems mutual. But Lucy's estranged hard-travelling sister Sylvie (Rachelle Lefevre) is home for Hanukkah and she's already starting to dig her charming, worldly claws into Cole.  Lucy's daughter Annie has been best friends with neighbour Max Lewin forever, but now that they're teens things are changing. When popular girls Stephanie drops in, Max is all over her, which makes gives Annie new feelings. Two juvenile relationships, one which makes sense because teens are involved, the other is of the eye rolling middle-agers-shouldn't-act-like-teenagers variety. Hopefully it's more about the sibling drama than misunderstood romance cues.

The Lewin Family. It's going to be a tense Christmas at the Lewin household. Jennifer (Robinne Fanfair) has both her mother and father coming for dinner, but they divorced earlier in the year. Jennifer has just made partner at work and is tired of being put in the middle... and yet, mom Linda (Loretta Devine) manages to skirt having to tell Jennifer's dad, Robert (Dennis Haysbert) that she's bringing her new boyfriend.  Before the episode is over, the truth comes out (and that's before Linda arrives) and Robert seems more than happy that Linda has some other man to torture in his old age...except... when Linda arrives, her boyfriend is a strapping, handsome younger man (and not the Uber driver). This one is far fetched but seems like a great comedic set-up with both Devine and Haysbert... that's high wattage acting talent that should raise even mediocre material.

The Camarena Family. Manny (Tim Perez) has been in a long term feud with neighbour  Chuck Manetti-Hanahan (John C. McGinley) over the volume of Chuck's Christmas decorating. But the two are attempting (not really) to bury the hatchet as Manny's son Kevin has been dating Chuck's daughter Katie (Holland Roden). Chef Gaby (Noemi Gonzalez) returns home for the holidays with big news about her career, which is undercut by Kevin's love life which Gaby didn't know about. Turns out Katie was her high school bully, a fact that not even Katie seems aware of (as she is constantly hugging Gaby and trying to recall "old times" they shared). And then Gaby finds an engagement ring.... The trauma is deep here and I hope the episode featuring this family gets into it, and doesn't just cop out with Katie expressing what she was going through and playing on Gaby's sympathy. Own the damage you caused, Katie! This has so much potential, but I don't believe enough in Hallmark to deliver it. 

The Manetti-Hanahan Family. Chuck, as we've seen, thinks he owns the world, and is oblivious to how he impacts others. Connie (Virginia Madsen) is trying to organize the holidays and keep the peace at home and with the neighbours, and finds it exhausting. Clark (Giles Panton) returns home with his family in tow and from the second they exit the car they are mocked and berated for their trendy lifestyle choices (they're vegan now, but Rebecca [Lucie Guest] has brought all the food so she's no burden but it doesn't matter).  The Manetti-Hanahan household is an utter shit show and Katie is branded a traitor by her father and, like all the kids, finds being at home very difficult. She storms out and winds up staying at the Camarena's for the night (kicking Gaby out of her bed, because Kevin's parents are not letting them sleep in the same bed under their roof).  They're a lot. This is the only story that I don't know exactly where it's going. If we get Chuck having some sort of change of heart and self awareness I'm going to call bullshit, because he's not that kind of guy, I can tell already. Madsen is killing it in what I've seen so far from her, and McGinley is always fun to watch.

Will report back when all is said and done on how each story fared.

T&K's XMas (2023) Advent Calendar: Day 12 - Round and Round

d. Stacey N. Harding 

T&K Go Loopty Loo - Hanukkah Edition - Oh, we love a time loop. It's clear that we're not the only one. Round and Round is, no word of a lie, the best Hallmarkie I've ever seen. It's also a pretty great time loop movie. It's evident that the writer of this holiday romcom (Tamar Laddy) knows time loops well, and isn't just trying to ape other time loop movies. The script actually brings something new to the genre, both in lore and self awareness.  There were some definite surprises, so if you're interested in watching this (and it's worth watching) spoilers below.
 

How did the Loop Begin?
Rachel is awoken with a phone call from Mom, having slept in with too much editing to do (a Hanukkah gift from her boss at the publishing house).  She's tasked with picking up the special sufganiyot (a jam filled donuts) from a specific bakery for her parents anniversary celebration on the 7th day of Hanukkah. Her dick professor boyfriend, Adam, calls with an "airport cold" and cancels on the meeting-the-family gathering. It's the last Hanukkah in her family home before her parents sell it which is stirring up emotions. 

It's disaster at the train station when a stranger bumps into her, and sufganiyot goes flying everywhere.  The dude is in too big a rush to do much other than apologize. He drops his ornate box which Rachel picks up.  At home, there's a light with a flicker that bugs Dad. Sister Soshana, wife Bex and nephew are there  and uncles and cousins (including the snobby and posh moved-to-Britain-four-years-ago one) and Gramma Rosie all arrive.  

Gramma Rosie wants to set Rachel up with Zach, an artist and art teacher, who drove her to the party, and he turns out to be the guy she ran into at the station. Rachel is not impressed.  She returns his fancy box, it turns out he's a big D&D nerd (it's got special D20s in it from his Zayda). Crappy BF Adam butt dials her. Gramma Rosie gifts Rachel a beautiful antique dreidel that's been in the family for generations.  

The cousins play competitive dreidel, but when Rachel spins her heirloom one, some magic starts to happen, but is interrupted when the curtains catch fire from faulty stringlights. The fire department comes, and once all is said and done, the damage isn't substantial but enough Rachel's parents have to postpone closing the house. But the party is over and everyone is off to bed.

Rachel wakes up the next morning to a phone call from her mom, telling her to pick up sufganyot for the party... let the loop begin.

It was the antique, family heirloom dreidel.

What was the main character's first reaction to the Loop?
Rachel at first thinks she just woke up from a dream and is having deja vu. When she gets to the bakery, she's chatted up by the same woman from the first day and asks if they've met before (she says "people sometimes mistake me for Barbara Streisand"). When she gets to the train station and runs into the busker playing the same song as the day before, she asks if he knows any other songs ("sorry, no requests") and then she's bumped into again by Adam (sufganiyot goes flying), and she knows what's up. She tells Shoshanna who writes it off, and then tries to prove her time looping to her sister-in-law Bex who makes a Nicholas Cage in Next reference (!), and then... Montage. (I thought about 3-6 time loops went by but it was just the better part of one day). Late in the day, Rachel assumes that because Zach is a nerd, that she can confide in him about the loop. She's right.

WHY did the main character get put into the Loop? Can someone else be brought into the Loop?
So, it turns out that the dreidel is not just a family heirloom, but also something every member of the family line (Gramma Rosie, her dad, even Soshana) gets a turn at going through a time loop.  But before she learns any of this (which is only once she's out of the loop), she tries to bring Soshana and Bex in but they're seemingly too pre-occupied, but Liam quickly gets it. He tries to put his number in Rachel's phone and says for her to call him if she loops again, but she points out the obvious that if the day resets so does her phone (but neglects to even try to remember his number).

The next loop, she's waiting for Zach at the train station, and, despite precautions, the sufganiyot still gets spilled, but Rachel has learned in the previous loop they key things to get Zach on board...and he's on board quickly.  On the way to picking up Gramma Rosie together, Rachel's filling in Zach on all the things she's tried to change but keep happening anyway (the donuts, the fire) and Zach tells her that "in those time-loop movies, the main character always has a big change to make in their lives"

How long is this time Loop? What resets it? Can you force the reset?
Rachel is in the loop from wake-up to bedtime.  They make it past midnight in one loop so it's definitely not a calendar day, but going to bed resets it.  I can only think that if this weren't constricted to the sub-90-minute Hallmark format that we would see a bit more of them pushing these limits.

How long does the main character stay in the Loop? Does it have any affect on them, their personality, their outlook?
This is concrete, it's 7 nights. It seems like it should be more, but I get the thematic significance of it being 7 nights, and it really makes it quite special, tying it all in with the festivities.
Over the 7 days Rachel gets more confident, more proactive, and ready to do more in her life. 

What about the other people in the Loop? Are they aware? Can they become aware?  Does anything happen if they become aware?
Each time Rachel approaches Zach in a loop, he becomes totally into trying to figure out why Rachel is in a time loop, digging through treasures of her past, coming across her manuscript, and taking her to a local comic book store to see if they can help.  The comic shop nerds don't seem to even bat an eye, they are in! Seth, the comic store manager, goes directly to the "time loop" section of the store and gives Rachel her "homework" (I'm not going to say it's the production so much as the actor really doesn't know how comic shops work when he's selecting his comics).  Rachel protests, but then she's reminded that in Groundhog Day Bill Murray spent potentially more than 12,000 days in the loop, they're going to have to get to work.  They brainstorm, and logic that maybe the antique dreidel was the "inciting incident".  So Rachel, Zach and Seth head back to Rachel's folks to retrieve the dreidel.  They spin it, but nothing immediately happens. She gets butt dialed by dick BF, Zach and Seth suss out what bar he's at.  Zach wonders if dealing with him is what ends the loop. So they go to the bar, Rachel confronts Adam, and alas, no change, except she winds up having a great time with Adam, and she really regrets that he won't remember her the next day.

It's the seventh loop when Rachel's her most proactive and meets Zach at his home first thing in the morning, and it becomes the most difficult loop for him to accept her... the charming, natural rhythm they have had for the past six days seems more difficult, and things seem...different...

What does the main character think about the other people in the Loop? Are they real? Do they matter?
In the fifth loop at the comic store, Rachel, Zach, Seth and the other guy discern that time loop characters are "stuck" somehow, and they begin probing Rachel's life.  It's time for her to return to her young adult fantasy manuscript, and they are just the squad to help her refine it.  It starts her on a new path, but as much as they're helping her, and Rachel uses the time to learn more about the people around her, and maybe even help others make new connections. 

In the sixth loop, the nerds suspect that maybe it's getting the donuts to the party that will end the loop, so they put all efforts into getting those donuts to their destination. At the bakery, Rachel gets her usual call from dick boyfriend and decisively dumps him. Zach finds out that Mildred, the nosy lady in line at the bakery, is all alone on Hanukkah and coaxes Rachel into inviting her to the party. Turns out she's one of Gramma Rosie's old friends. On the way Zach and Rachel kiss.  She's really into him and he clearly gets that she knows him, and he likes it.  He's a positive, optimistic guy, so he's going with it.  But... the Hallmark complication.

Most memorable event in a Loop? Most surprising event during a Loop?
Adam has turned up at the party! (WHAT!?!) The dick boyfriend is now the dick ex-boyfriend who refuses to be the dumpee. I totally didn't see that coming...even though that's the total Hallmark formula, for the dick boyfriend who never has time for his girlfriend to show up in the third act.... but in a time loop it's so effing clever for it to be the anomaly.  Just a stunner.

This makes things ugly and awkward, but it's still a lovely gathering and family celebration and no fire! Gramma Rosie acknowledges that, yeah, she knows something is up with the dreidel but refuses to really say anything more. Gramma Rosie is kinda hilarious. Rachel spins the antique dreidel, magic happens, and she wins everything... except Zach leaves, feeling really down about this girl he's only known for half a day but clearly connected with.

The next morning Rachel wakes up...in her parent's house. She freaks out, so excited for the day to be moving on. Her dad comes in and spills the beans that he too had a time loop to win her mother's heart, and so did Soshana in finding true love with Bex. It's a freaking family tradition! I love it.

But even more, the reunion of Rachel and Zach is straightforward and charming, but even better when Rachel figures out that the special box Zach's been using to protect his dice given to him by his grandfather is the perfect home for the dreidel, and the combination allows Zach to get the memories of the past 7 days back. I love this suddenly very magical reality that exists, and I want to know and explore more!

How does this stack up in the subgenre?
It's a love letter to time loop movies. It namechecks Palm Springs, Edge of Tomorrow, Groundhog Day, even the Paper Girls comic. It really, really understands and likes time loops and timey-wimey things. On top of more nerdiness than ALL the Hallmarks in history combined, there's also a couple needledrops (I Melt Wtih You by Modern English most prominently).  It's not an epic production, it uses the time loop as the perfect vehicle for a holiday movie and a rom com. 

 Clearly Tamar Laddy is a fan of time loops, and understands the tropes very well. She's also clearly well versed on nerd culture (you don't just drop a Next reference), so what could have been very Big Bang Theory (remedial nerd) is sort of like Nerdity 102 (it's not super duper advanced, because she knows she's still playing in Hallmark territory, but she could go hardcore if she wanted to). She also wrote Crashing Through The Snow, one of my favourite Hallmarkies, she does romantic comedy very very well.  I think her scripts are so savvy in playing with subgenres that she could be writing feature films, but maybe she just enjoys playing in the Hallmark realm. Whatever her motivation, I'm a fan.

To be blunt, this was awesome. I enjoyed it immensely. It's probably the best movie Hallmark has ever made, or, if not, the best I've ever watched. The cast is not the usual stable of Hallmark actors. Rachel is played by improv comedian and actress Vic Michaelis. She's super charming, nails the comedy, aces connecting with her costars, and is cute as hell. I know Bryan Greenberg from later seasons of The Mindy Project (which he was on for the time loop episode as well, and he played a nerd there too). Dad is played by Rick Hoffman, who is a total "hey, that guy!" character actor who is best known for being on Suits). Paula Shaw plays Gramma Rosie, and she's been in so many Hallmarkies, but she's never stood out so wonderfully. I kept seeing Carrie Fisher or Debbie Reynolds in her performance. She save some extra special energy for this one.

I seriously, seriously loved this. This is, easily, my favourite Hallmarkie of all time. It's also the best holiday time loop I've seen so far. Yes. Just yes!