T&K's Xmas Advent Calendar: Day 11

A Toast to Hallmarkent

Christmas in Evergreen (2017, Hallmark)

Opening narration. Let's transcribe
"In Northern Vermont, so far north that on clear days that on clear days you might even be able to see the North Pole..."

[CUT! Jesus ... like yeah, Canada doesn't exist apparently, or Vermont has somehow annexed a pathway through Quebec, Baffin Island and the rest of Nunavut... I wanna tell this movie to fuck off already and it's only 17 seconds in.]

"... lies the magical town of Evergreen.  Some say it was the decorations that make this little town so special, but others believe it was  because of something else entirely...something you wouldn't expect at all.... A snowglobe!  But this wasn't just any snowglobe. No, they say that if you shake this one just so, and make one wish, the true wish of your heart, Christmas magic will make it come true.  Now I know what you're thinking, 'Could a snowglobe really grant wishes?', well maybe the story of Christmas in Evergreen will help you believe."

Cut to Evergreen Veterinarian Care and the town vet, Allie is carrying a basketful of pugs.  We learn that she is planning to move to DC because of a big opportunity.  But her hot mom is very upset about Allie leaving, and very selfishly doesn't condone the decision. Plus, some dude named Spencer is there, in DC, and he and Allie have been in an on-again/off-again/long-distance relationship.

"You're going to be spending Christmas with him Allie, and that is a very big deal" hot mom says. But before Allie leaves she makes a wish upon the snow globe...silently.  Then she runs into a man with a big, bushy white beard who is either Jesus, God or Santa.  You never know with these things.  Santa God makes a dire prediction about Allie's flight getting snowed in.

Spencer calls (he's envisioned as your typical bigwig douche with slicked back hair) talking about Christmas Eve in the Hamptons at his boss' cabin.  They can even use the helicopter to get there.  Oy vey.  Allie's still driving her grandfather's old ass old truck (that looks mint condition), which keeps breaking down, with a Christmas wreath and garland hanging off the front, because everyone in Evergreen lurves Christmas.  A quick stop-in at the local Christmas Festival being set up (which Allie used to always organize), and we get a sense of how tied-into the community Allie is with all the businesses.  Then she gets a call that farmer Henry's cow is in labor, so she has to check in. False alarm. Everything keeps delaying her getting to the airport.

A dude and his tweenage daughter are driving to the airport to catch a flight to Florida, but make a pitstop into Evergreen to catch lunch, and they have a brief encounter with Allie and her won't-start-again truck.  Allie recommends her parents diner, where the daughter gets the backstory on the magic snowglobe, and she makes a wish.  "I wish we could have Christmas here...in Evergreen," she thinks. And the Santa God, sitting in the diner, gives a little "make it so" nod.

At the airport, Allie encounters dude (Dr. Ryan) and his daughter, Zoe, agian as they're waiting for their planes. Allie encourages Zoe to wish even harder as the snow globe's power is far-reaching, and as she does, the airport announces that, due to heavy snow (which until now, looked like a light dusting), they are closing all runways and cancelling all flights. No audible cursing is heard, and while all the extras do have apt pained expressions on their faces, it's certainly not the rage-inducing furor it should be.  Everyone is going about their business as if it's all cool.  Allie and Dr. Ryan both exchange a meaningful glance   The doc and his girl get a hotel, Allie decides to head home, but her truck-with-a-mind-of-its-own decides not to start again.  She heads back inside and has lunch with her inevitable boyfriend and step-daughter, telling Zoe all about Evergreen.  More meaningful glances.

LOL, the exterior shots of both the Airport and the Hotel are different parts of the same building, and at the hotel they find out that everything is overbooked.  So, back to Evergreen they go and because they're all going together the truck starts.  (As they're driving, it's that same dusting of snow, definitely not a storm worth shutting the airport down).  Side trip to birth a calf for some real bonding time, and Allie feeling a pang of regret about leaving town.  More meaningful glances.

Allie books Ryan and Zoe in her BFF's brand new (not quite finished yet) B&B which she has decorated to the nines, except no tree...you know what that means... the hunt for that perfect Christmas tree! (But it happens off screen! What!?!)   But before that, deep conversation about Ryan's dead wife.

The next day the Airport is open, but the road is closed, because the "storm" caused a rockslide.  Not only can't people get out, but people can't come into the festival.  What a disaster.  And Spencer is mad-sad because Allie's going to miss out on douchebag Christmas (looks like things are about to be off-again).  Allie takes Ryan and Zoe out for fun in the snow, you know, snowmen and snow angels and selfie photographs with strangers.  Oh and the town mayor lets Ryan know that the town is on the hunt for a new doctor.

While decorating the Christmas tree at the B&B, some real fire starts happening between Allie and Ryan... and just as it starts to get really sexy and intimate they get interrupted. Some helping set up the Christmas festival, followed by a cookie baking montage and more meaningful glances.  Ryan needs to get pick up more cookie supplies and Zoe gets some quality "new mommy" time with Allie.  In town Ryan gets supplies from Allie's hot mom and has a run in with Santa God.  Allie and Zoe's talk is interrupted by the doorbell...

... OH SHIT! IT's SPENCER!!!

Uh, we don't want any, thanks.

I totally didn't see that coming.  He took the helicopter in.  I mean, in a different story that would be a huge romantic gesture, but here, it's made out for him to keep appearing like a huge douche.  The first encounter between Spencer and Ryan is awesomely awkward, because Ryan is obviously smitten (with Allie not Spencer...but what would that movie be like?), and Spencer is suspicious.  Ryan and Zoe go back to the B&B, and Allie and Spencer are walking over (because she's going to check if they can get Spencer a room there... that delights me, the thought of Spencer and Ryan bunking up in the same house -oh man, how awkward that breakfast would be- and also that Allie doesn't want her boyfriend staying in her house is so "Hallmark"...like not even entertaining the thought that there would be any unwedded boning happening).  On the walk over Spencer, disparages both Allie's hometown and Christmas then basically says to her "I know what I want, do you?"  We, the audience know what she wants, but she's just not there yet.

YES! Awkward breakfast! But cut too short by Allie showing up.  Boooo! More awkward Spencer and Ryan time please?  But, word from the mayor is the roads won't be open for another day.  Santa God suggests ice skating might be a good idea, and since Spencer has a conference call he sends his lady off with the competition.  At skating, Allie and Ryan have a deep conversation and even deeper staring into each others' eyes.   A medical emergency in town sends Ryan into action (just a panic attack, nothing too serious).  Ryan's delightful bedtime bedside manner sends Allie deeper into the smitten hole.

When the roads are open earlier than thought, the complication enters both Ryan and Allie's frame of view.  Ryan needs to decide if Florida or Evergreen is the right place for Zoe (and him) to be happy at Christmas, and Allie, of course, needs to decide between the home she loves and the boyfriend she doesn't even like enough to bone when he takes a helicopter to be with her.  Tough choice there Allie.  But Santa God talks her through it.  That guy is everywhere, and in everyone's business.

The breakup scene between Spencer and Allie is very, very mature, and well written.  Allie is staying home and committing to a life in Evergreen.  Meanwhile Ryan and Zoe get delayed at the airport, leaving them just enough time to reconsider their decision to fly to Florida, especially after a chance encounter with Spencer where Ryan learns they broke up. But Ryan, STILL waffling (Jesus, Ryan, get your shit together!), has the decision made for him when the flight is cancelled altogether due to technical difficulties.

Ryan and Zoe make it back to town for the festival, Zoe gets to sing in the choir while Ryan and Allie kiss and smile outside, with Santa audibly hohoho-ing and jingling bells overhead.  Then Santa narrates an epilogue which affirms the happy ending.


The Draw:
In preparation for our Advent Calendar I was perusing the schedule for upcoming Hallmark movies and noticed there were three "Christmas in Evergreen" movies.  While there are a few Hallmarks that have sequels, I haven't watched any of them.  But all three Christmas in Evergreen movies were playing back-to-back-to-back... so curiosity, really, was the draw.  Plus this first one co-stars Teddy Sears, who played Earth 2 Flash on The Flash Season 2, and people I know from CW superhero shows are, like, an easy entrance to Hallmark movies for me.


The Formulae:
Hmm... well, Allie needs to decide between small hometown life or the new life/career/romance in the big city, which is a common trope, but usually it's going from the big city back to the small town, not leaving the small town.  The single father is also a common trope, and the town Christmas festival/pageant/celebration is a staple. Mothers pushing their daughters towards the guy they're already thinking about getting together with, also fairly common.  Plus, the "is that *really* Santa" question (it almost always is) crops up a lot in these, and the jerky/douchey current boyfriend/girlfriend isn't always a staple, but it is pretty common.

Unformulae:
I like the paintings of Evergreen each time we come back from commercial.

Opening and closing narration is also not too common and is handled pretty well here.
So many Hallmark movies have the leading lady being so involved with finding family with the children of single fathers (or uncles or whatever) that the romance seems secondary, almost an afterthought.  But here the connection between Allie and Ryan is foremost in the story, while still finding room for Allie and Zoe to connect.

Well geez, they didn't even go Christmas Tree shopping on screen. Twice they bought trees off-screen. Wow.

True Calling?
It certainly is Christmas in Evergreen.

The Rewind:
 I spent a lot of time rewinding the opening narration, but mainly for the purposes of transcribing.

The Regulars:
 So many regulars.
-Ashley Williams is another Hallmark favourite.  She's in a bunch of these things (not just the sequels to Evergreen).  We just saw her in Holiday Hearts a few weeks back, which wound up winning me over despite having a pretty dumb setup. Williams has a cheerful effervescence that seems very natural and very winning, and she has a naturally big, wide smile that conveys warmth and friendliness.  She's a treat.

 -Teddy Sears doesn't really spend much time in these things, returning only for this year's second sequel.

-Holly Robinson Peete plays Allie's best friend Michelle, who takes over for her coordinating the Christmas Festival.  She's the star of Hallmark's Morning Show Mystery series of movies and the wife and I just watched her in the horrifying Angel of Christmas.

-Spencer is played by Marcus Rosner, a regular in these types of movies for Hallmark, Lifetime and others.  He's all over them.  He does a good job of being both kind of a dick but not really all that bad.

-Hot mom Barbara Niven lives in Hallmark land, spending much of her time as supporting cast in the mystery department.  She should really be romancing Dean Cain or someone like that in these.
-I thought for sure Rukiya Bernard's character was going to wind up in love with Peete's Michelle at the end, as they seemed kind of fated to be together but the movie chickened out and gave her a very lame happenstance run in with another dude wearing the same sweater at the Christmas festival, and he said "hey, let's get some hot chocolate".  So lame.  Poor Michelle.  Anyway, Bernard's been in a few of these Hallmarks as well as supporting characters.

Which one's the star and which one's the hot mom. So hard to tell.

Most of the cast wind up back in the sequels actually, so that's cool.  Kinda looking forward to watching them.

How does it Hallmark?
Really, really good.  This one is really quite enjoyable.  Sitting near the top of the Hallmark heap.  Even though Christmas is omnipresent it never quite feels like it's beating you over the head with any sort of Christmas messaging, and it really does center around Allie and Ryan's burgeoning affection, which sometimes Hallmark movies just forget to do.

How does it movie? 
Well, it never feels like a theatre-worthy movie, but it does feel like a legit TV romance/Christmas movie.  There's this thing Allie and Ryan do, which is an attempt at playful banter, that, out of everything,  is the only thing that feels forced... not by much, mind you, but it doesn't seem quite natural, whereas the rest of their chemistry does.  In a proper movie they would have more time to nail those takes.

T&K's XMas (2020) Advent Calendar: Day 17 - Christmas In Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing

 A Toast to Hallmarkent

(2020, d. Linda-Lisa Hayter - Hallmark)

The Story:

If you recall the events of last year's trip into the most Christmassy Town on Earth, Hannah found love with her best friend since childhood, Elliott, and Michelle was proposed to by Thomas.  Also, the end of last year's tale teased that the creepy elderly twins from Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events (and also the new Charmed series according to the many commercials that play between the Hallmark movies on W Network), the Cooper sisters, would be playing a central role in this year's Evergreen tale.

Turns out their involvement in this year's tale is largely tangential.  But we'll get to that.

As is the Evergreen formulae, we open with the storybook and narration from Evergreen resident Nick, who may or may not be the magical being Santa Clause.  Nick gets interrupted by Hannah who proceeds to woman-splain the events of the past three movies much more succinctly than I did.  Some storytelling needs a woman's touch.  Anyway.

Back in Evergreen, Elliott's management of Hannah's family tinker shop has been doing very well, so well that Elliott wants to expand to a satellite store(?shop?) in Boston.  He gets the grant he needs for the expansion.  Hannah is excited for Elliott, but not for herself.  Elliott seems to have found his purpose, Hannah is still searching.  They have a conversation about how the people of Evergreen see them.  I thought they were talking about maybe some deeper sort of racial thing, alas it's just as surface level as it appears. 

These two big questions are posed to Hannah in the first ten minutes and by minute 20, she's got her answers.  This is not a soul searching quest of a movie. At. All. Hannah talks with Allie's hot mom (Allie makes a return appearance, Ashley Williams dropping by for a day shoot for this scene and a cut-in later, and so does Allie's stepdaughter Zoe, who has gotten very teenagery... I thought for sure they were going to try and massage a puppy love story between Zoe and David) and asks her point blank how the townspeople see her.  Hot Mom responds with "Well, we see you as wonderful...you do so much. In fact, sometimes I think you do too much.  You say yes to everything....The job, the choir, any favor anybody ever asked of you.... You're so like your mama.  Ambitious, and passionate and caring. That's how the town saw her, and that's how we see you."

So that's one answer down. (Hannah then leads the choir into a very atonal rendition of Jingle Bells, that old church choir staple).  

Hannah then visits the work-in-progress Evergreen Christmas Museum, the brainchild of Mayor Michelle.  They talk about how people should know Evergreen's history and for a moment there I thought they were going to talk about some dark secret, but no, it's just about Christmas.  They're 10 days to the grand opening at the Christmas Festival and Michelle has had no luck finding a suitable applicant to be manager of the museum, and she's busy planning her Christmas Day wedding(seriously Michelle?!? I guess when practically everyone you know lives in Evergreen or comes back for Christmas you don't really think twice, but what about Thomas' friends and faamily?  Are you really forcing them to travel for Christmas?!  What did Jennifer from A New York Christmas Wedding say... "It is absurd...it is...it is selfish..." Effing right it is.) to manage the launch properly.  Of course Hannah nominates herself for the job, which Michelle enthusiastically accepts.  She basically tosses Hannah the keys and there's a cartoon dust trail as she races out the door so fast.

Back at the Tinker Shop, Hannah has the good news for Elliott that in the span of an afternoon she's become both self-aware and has found her true purpose (running the Museum...).  Elliott is committed to Boston so they decide it's time to take a break.  It would be a much bigger deal if there was any romantic chemistry between Rukiya Bernard and Antonio Cayonne... I mean, their characters were supposed to be lifelong pals, having grown up together, but their dynamic screams "brother and sister" not "lovers".

 Ex-mayor Ezra's also back for a cameo or two...he said Boston kind of sucks.  He's still looking for a job, and he broke up with his boyfriend ... Oliver, who if you recall, was Lisa's business partner from the second Evergreen.  Oliver was clearly gay but they never bothered to mention it at all... to the point that Oliver and Lisa's friendship was used as a reason to keep Kevin and Lisa apart.  Silly.  Likewise, this is the fourth film where Ezra appears and this is the first confirmation that he is gay as well, nevermind having hooked up with a previously introduced character.  Sigh. 

Meanwhile, Michelle is getting nervous since Thomas is skyping or facetiming or zooming her to let her know that inclement weather may keep him from Evergreen...and their wedding!  To soften the blow Michelle's sister Sonya shows up.  She's not into this Christmas town.  It's weird, but she gets one look at Kevin's dad, the Christmas tree farmer and starts thirsting.  But all it amounts for in this show is a few flirty glances between them.  Come on, Evergreen, get your shit together!

Later Michelle and Sonya's dad shows up.  Michelle was warned there was bad blood between her and her dad...and when he arrives with the white lady, well...that's the reason why right there.  Though sidestepping the race thing, it's because Sonya feels it's too soon after their mom passed (plus Sonya is hungry for that white man tree farmer so it's not a race thing).  Long story short, Sonya and dad's ladyfriend bond over watching It's A Wonderful Life while drinking cocoa with a candy cane in it.

Hm, what else.  Oh so despite being on a break, Hannah and Elliott kiss sitting at the church piano (like in the last movie, only sadder, and kind of grosser... like, your kissing siblings).  Thomas confirms the weather is going to keep him away from the wedding (good thing the sum total of people who traveled to Evergreen explicitly for Thomas and Michelle's wedding was 3).  Mayor Michelle is so bummed.

David and Michelle's family plan a romantic webcam visit with Thomas (not sure how Michelle did that hair all by herself, but well done!) which they surprise her with, and it's sweet, but it's not the Evergreen Christmas wedding we were promised, likely as a result of COVID.  Maybe they can do an Evergreen Christmas in July wedding special?

Oh and then this cantankerous old coot shows up, angry about what's happened to the Hat Factory (where the Museum resides) he ran into the ground decades earlier, and demands the museum shutter itself immediately.  As if Hannah didn't have enough of her plate, she has to deal with the Cooper twin's older brother who, somehow with a 1/3 share in the building, is able to railroad everything.  But a fateful breakdown in Allie's grandfather's red truck (still being driven around like the town whore) sends grumpy old man back to the factory to see a video of his sisters talking about what the hat factory and their brother meant to the town, and he has a change of heart.  The fact that Santa (who was most certainly not Nick was there to help fix the truck had not impact at all on what was actually the main storyline of the movie but I glossed over because it was pretty dull and stupid,

In the end, Hannah has her dream job, Elliott decides to compromise and commute between the Boston satellite and the Evergreen fix-it shop, like this was a sudden realization that never dawned on them before. Oh and Allie's pregnant.

The Draw:
It's Evergreen dammit.  I *had* to check in on this weird-ass little town. 

The Formulae:
So much hot chocolate. Supposedly playmantic snowball fight.  Someone getting delayed from a big event due to weather.  Real life complication resolved without taking into account real life complexity.  Someone who hates Christmas that the lead character has to help turn around.

Unformulae:
Well, the person delayed my inclement weather is actually delayed and can't make the thing.  Whaat?  The lead character's efforts to turn the old crank around backfires and it's a bit of magic and/or happenstance that inevitably does turn him around.  So many Black faces, so wonderful to see.  The town was so white 4 movies ago with token black roles.  I said then I wanted to see both Rukiya Bernard and Holly Robinson Peet front and center and they kept creeping up with each film to now dominating Evergreen.  Too bad the Wedding payoff was such a bummer, and that Hannah's love interest is dullsville.

True Calling?
Yes and no.  While it's always "Christmas in Evergreen", "Bells are Ringing" is a dumb subtitle which they try to make fit by shoehorning in some music bells into the choir for two quick scenes.  I've had enough of shitty pretend music bell playing for this year, thanks Feliz NaviDAD)

The Rewind:
I had to rewind the look Sonya was giving Kevin's tree-farming dad.  It's not as blatant as I first thought, yet she winds up sitting next to him at their family feast (I keep forgetting Thomas is Hannah's brother, therefore David is her niece and Michelle's going to be her sister-in-law).

Oh, and cranky old man was told by Santa to go fetch a wrench to help fix the truck, and he comes back with... a plumbers wrench.

The Regulars:
It's all regulars... we more need to talk about who's new.
Marci T. House as Sonya has been in Rocky Mountain Christmas in 2017 and this year's Cranberry Christmas and more.
Jerry Wasserman, as cranky Jeb Cooper, has just started his Hallmarkie career this year (probably due to COVID restrictions) he's in three of them.  A mid-season romance Love Under the Olive Tree  and another Hallmark Christmas with Christmas She Wrote.

How does it Hallmark?
It certainly feels like Hallmark. 

How does it Evergreen?
It's not great.  Diminishing returns it seems with each go around to this festive town.  I don't like that cranky old man plot took away from the Sonya and Kevin's Dad hookup, or the David and Zoe hookup.  Two plot lines (as well as a wedding, for real
this time) ready to go for the next one.

Oh and a spin off in Detroit where Oliver tries to win back Ezra's affections while Ezra is running Elliott's Boston satellite shop.  Make it work.

How does it movie?
Bad. Real bad.

T&K's Xmas (2020) Advent Calendar: Bonus Day 2 - Christmas in Evergreen

OK, Kent mentioned this one last year, and since its supposed to be a the first in a series of movies all set in the same PST, and what the PST it is, I had to go find it, and watch it. Also, its post-Xmas but I was in the mood for some cheer. The days in between Xmas and NYear's are always somewhat bleak to me.

P.S. The Peanut Gallery live-tweeted this, so she gets some embedded guest appearances.

We must begin, as Kent did, with the opening dialogue.

"In Northern Vermont, so far north that on clear days that on clear days you might even be able to see the North Pole..."

So a Hallmark movie called Christmas in Evergreen begins "In northern Vermont, so far north that on a clear day you might see the North Pole"
Unless Vermont has annexed Quebec and this town is located near Ivujivik, that would be a no.

— Marmy (@Marmalade_Girl) December 31, 2020

Seriously, did they just forget Canada exists? Or are they only familiar with Saskatchewan and assumed ALL of Canada would be so flat, that you can see all the way from the border to the Arctic?

ANYWAYZ, the town of Evergreen, which borrowed its "downtown" shots from a pioneer village in BC, so all the little shop fronts look like stalls in a Xmas Fair. Despite that, its rather charming. 

But for the diner. Chris Kringles. CHRIS ?!?!  I will never forgive that.

Anywho, the town vet Allie is packing up, closing down her business and moving to Washington, DC to finally see what life is like in the Big City. Apparently there are Big Vet Opportunities. Also, her slick Business Dude sometimes BF is there, so they can give it a go. Nobody wants her to go, especially when she usually runs the Xmas Event every year. So this year, it falls to Michelle, the token black woman, along with with the annoying, pestering Mayor. Oh wait, there's another black woman! And some Asians in the background. Apparently Evergreen is not as white washed as I expected it to be.

Allie hops into her life sized toy truck, a glistening red vintage pickup that her grampa left her, and drives it to the airport. She's coming back after Xmas, so I guess leaving it there is OK. But before she goes to the airport she goes to her parent's diner, and bumps into Ryan and Zoe. They are also on their way to the airport (in Burlington), so must also be from a small town. Zoe's mom died last Xmas so this year, they are avoiding the season by flying to Florida to board a cruise. Lunch stop in Evergreen first!

Lunch provides a brief moment of meetcute between the two, and a chance for Zoe to wish upon the magic snowglobe that Evergreen claims to retain. For a moment there, I believed that the entire movie was to take place inside the snowglobe. Alas, that is too magical for Hallmarkies. But they bump into each other, and then again at the actual airport, only to find out there is a large snowstorm coming in and all flights are cancelled. And all the Burlington hotels are booked. Back to Evergreen to avail themselves of the PST hospitality! Allie even knows of a brand new B&B that opened, and there will be room in the stable.

We also get a brief interlude where Allie, the only reliable vet in town, has to assist a farmer in birthing a calf.

In the movie, Christmas in Evergreen, a Jersey cow just gave birth to a Holstein calf. A Christmas miracle!

— Marmy (@Marmalade_Girl) December 31, 2020

The snowstorm continues to play havoc, delaying Allie and Ryan & Zoe from leaving Evergreen, playing into the fact that Zoe wished to spend Xmas in the PST. The pair continue to hang out, assist the ever stressing Michelle with the Xmas Event, and doing Xmas-y things like baking cookies and hunting down an Xmas tree for the B&B.

Now they are calling Evergreen "North Pole adjacent" and the suburbs of the North Pole, on the commuter line. I am guessing there is just a blank spot on the map where Canada should be that reads "Here be dragons...and Santa Claus."

— Marmy (@Marmalade_Girl) December 31, 2020

And finally, Mother Nature (or KRIS Kringle) has their way with the town and the road is blocked by a landslide. The SINGLE road in and out of town.

The town of Evergreen only has one road in or out. I am thinking it is encircled by an enormous gorge.

— Marmy (@Marmalade_Girl) December 31, 2020

Allie and Ryan continue to have longing stares into each other's eyes. Allie is really taken with nice guy Ryan, and his rather charming little daughter. And the town needs a doctor! And the more she spends another Xmas in Evergreen, the more she is debating why she ever wanted to leave.

And then Spencer, the Business Dude has flown in via a favour helicopter. Dude, that's a nice gesture! If Allie is to be stuck in Evergreen for Xmas, then he can come stay with her. And if they can leave, they can fly out together. Nice guy Spencer! Despite his slicked back hair, the guy's not a douche but he definitely throws a monkey wrench into Allie's heart, as I think she was already considering call the plans a dud, and staying. That might be supported by the fact that he stays at the same B&B as Ryan and Zoe.

Having the two male love interest engaging in the Hallmark version of a penis measuring contest, set to The Nutcracker Suite, is a choice.

— Marmy (@Marmalade_Girl) December 31, 2020

But Allie's heart is made up and Allie tells him to go home. Poor Spencer. But the roads are clear, and the airport is open so Ryan & Zoe head off to fly to Florida. Ryan has no reason to suddenly to cancel his Xmas plans, uproot his life and accept a doctor's position in Evergreen does he? BUT the decision is made for him by the wishing snowglobe and mysterious Nick Guy who is Totally Not Santa Claus, and the plane has mechanical difficulties cancelling it once again. They are staying in Evergreen and Ryan gets to find out that Allie is as well and... well... KISS !

One last thing of note. Michelle the Xmas Event leader is ever stressed, and supported by the other black woman in Evergreen, Hannah. Hannah gives Michelle the same longing looks as Allie was giving Ryan. Could it be? Could there be Xmas magic for everyone? Could Hannah find out the only other black woman in town is also a lesbian, and they are made for each other? BZZZZZT, no, just an another awkward guy in the same silly Xmas sweater as Hannah. Boo.

The Draw: Cuz Kent watched it and its the beginning of the Hallmark Cinematic Universe!

The Formulae: PST, possibly the most Xmasy PST in all the Hallmarkies! A Red Dress is replaced by a Red Coat and the occasional Red Sweater. Allie looks good in red. Zoe's Recently Dead Mom gives Dad Ryan a reason to bring his daughter to Evergreen. But I do wonder what PST they would be from. Also the Xmas Event is a big center of the story. And cookie baking! And tree decorating!

Unformulae: Both are from PSTs, though Ryan's is mysterious, but it still is definitely not a Big City, as why would be driving to Burlington airport to fly to Florida?

True Calling? Well, duh.

The Rewind: Did you hear that opening? No, you really have to hear this opening. Kent quoted it last year!

The Regulars: See Kent's post.

How does it Hallmark? Pretty classically, but also a bit more Xmasy, give the locale. Also, there really wasn't anyone not to like, but for the annoying Mayor.

How does it movie? Nopers.

NOTE: The poster is actually for a BOOK based on the movie, but I like it better as it highlights the life sized toy truck that she drives around. I like to think it was the truck that engineered all the Xmas snowstorms, and mechanical issues, to keep Allie around.

T&K's Xmas Advent Calendar: Day 21

A Toast to Hallmarkent:
Christmas In Evergreen: Letters to Santa (2018, Hallmark)

We start as the Evergreen movies start, with Santa reading from a storybook, only now it's a sentient storybook that wants to rush ahead.  "Our story" opens with "Jazzy rendition of "12 Days of Christmas" where we find Lisa and Oliver setting up Christmas merchandise in a store in "Boston".  It's a very confusing opening.  Are they a couple?  Is this their store?  They start talking about opening their own store some day...so... are they just...shopping?  It's weird, an absolutely terrible opening IMO.  And at first I don't like Oliver at all...he's got a fakey smile and v-neck sweater with no shirt underneath, and a slicked-back haircut which, in Hallmark movies, usually signifies the Dick Boyfriend/Fiance.  But they seem to be getting along very well.  So confusing.  In walks Polly, who is effusing praise on the (non?)couple. Ohhhh! It's her store and they're like interior decorators but for stores, helping improve flow and appearance and whatnot.  Polly is impressed and lets them know she's opening two more locations of whatever this shit is she's selling, she just needs to find the storefront spaces.  Lisa and Oliver are on their way...they figure three more years and they will have a store of their own?  But selling what? The very best in home decoration and design.  Erm, ok.

Not *quite* a screenshot of someone's phone, but there's an insert
of a screenshot of someone's phone.

Also, it becomes clear that Oliver is the gay BFF...well, "clear" for Hallmark, which doesn't really want to acknowledge anything other than "straight" on the spectrum of sexual identity.  But recognizing that he's not Dick Boyfriend but awesome GBPBFF (that's gay business partner and best friend forevergreen).  Anyway, Lisa we find out grew up in Evergreen but moved away at around 8 years old as her parents were military/scientists or something, and she's going back there because it's lived long in her memory as a treasured place at Christmas.

On the only road into Evergreen, listening to jazzy Christmas tunes, Lisa comes across a vintage cherry red pickup truck that Hallmark fans will recognize as Allie's from the last movie.  It's stalled on the side of the road with the hood up and a dude trying haplessly to repair it.  Lisa gets out of her car and struts over to the truck...long slim legs in tight, tight jeans and high heels wearing a ridiculously cool purple leather jacket looking  Cindy Crawford-esque supermodel circa 1993... compared to most Hallmark movies it's like she stepped out of the future.  She's a total boss and takes control of the situation, the dude, modestly handsome, easily acquiesces to her alpha dog personality and give her the wrench.  She pretends to do something, then hops in the truck and they get that sucker started.  They exchange smiles, Merry Christmases and theoretically witty banter before heading out mutually on their way into town.
 

It's not a great meet-cute, but great at establishing Lisa as a woman who takes charge.  And she steps into Evergreen and over the next 80 minutes makes that town her bitch.

She gets into town, parks on the main street (which has never looked like an actual driveable street but a closed off pedestrian market, but I digress) right in front of the Chris Kringle Cafe, you know Allie's parent's place from the first Evergreen.  Then she turns around to see the shuttered Daisy's General Store... woooooah FLASHBACK (!) We see Lisa as a little girl, super sad to be leaving Evergreen, getting help from Daisy at Daisy's General Store with writing a letter to Santa.  This town has a magic wishing snow globe and a magic letters-to-Santa box.  You guys, this place is magic.  Her wish from Santa is to have Christmas in Evergreen every year, but Daisy helps change it to she wishes to have Christmas like it is in Evergreen every year, that way she can take Evergreen wherever she goes.

Present day, Allie's Hot Mom tells Lisa that Daisy's store closed a little over a year ago and that Daisy just died!  She's dead!  Just dropping death on us in minute 10.  That's, like, a real bummer, man.  Hot mom and Lisa make friends as Lisa reacquaints herself with town, and Kevin arrives in Allie's truck delivering vegetables and he and Lisa get a formal introduction.  They depart again as Lisa checks into her B&B, where Kevin just happens to be dropping off a Christmas tree.  Wow, three meet cutes.

Just before dinner, Lisa heads back into town to reminisce about Daisy's General Store (another flashback with sweet Daisy telling little Lisa that Santa knows exactly where she is).  At the Cafe, Hot Mom seats Lisa with Mayor Ezra and Allie's BFF Michelle and they talk about Daisy's store, how they're having difficulty finding a buyer since it's in such disrepair (a freaking cross-beam fell down...that place isn't structurally sound), and they're trying to stave off big franchise retailers from entering town.  Ezra owns the place for now, but the bank is about to repossess if it doesn't get sold in the next month.  Allie, with the skillz to pay the billz, says she can whip that place into selling shape by staging it...all she needs is a contractor to help her with pretty much everything.  And the only contractor in town: Kevin, of course.

You guys, Evergreen IS magic.  Look how that cross beam crashed
through that display case without breaking the top. A Christmas miracle
(or inept set designer)

Both Kevin and Lisa are transient folks, they don't like to get tied down.  They both have jobs that take them different places where they only stay for a short time.  For Lisa it's because she moved around so much that it's sort of the lifestyle she's used to.  For Kevin it's been about avoiding his dad who he's not had the best relationship with since his mom died (when he was 8!). He's got firm ties to Evergreen compared to Lisa's loose ones, but he finds it painful being there.

They get to work on Daisy's General Store and, I guess, get closer? (As the script dictates they do).  Honestly, there's a lot of pleasant exchanges but no real chemistry between them.  I mean one morning Lisa and Allie's Dad shame Kevin into adding whip cream and caramel to his coffee, which he just wanted black (He doesn't want  hot chocolate? SHAME!SHAME!SHAME!).  Straight up coffee shamed him.  Who does that?  It's not festive, it's abuse.  What if he's diabetic?

Meanwhile Hannah (whose shallow meet-cute with a guy wearing the same sweater as her at the Christmas Festival --which was held at Kevin's dad's barn, IIRC -- seems to have turned out to be nothing more than hot chocolate) has her brother and nephew visiting town.  Hot Mom immediately sets up the only other black woman in town with the only black guy to come to town, and so we get a very weak secondary love story between Hannah's brother Thomas and Michelle (to be fair to Hallmark, though, secondary love stories in their movies are always pretty weak).  Hannah and her nephew, meanwhile, spend the entire movie looking for the right place in town to fit an old skeleton key.  The nephew tries jamming this monstrous key into modern deadbolt locks.  Something's wrong with that kid.  I think it's the script and the fact they got a 13-year-old mid-pubescent boy to play a role meant for a 6-year-old.

not even close to fitting dumdum

While cleaning up the old store, Lisa finds Daisy's letters to Santa box.  She brings it over to the cafe where her and Hot Mom discover what looks like a very old letter.  They open it to find that it's a letter from K.M., age 8, the year his mom died.  He wished that they could have Christmas like they used to with the candles and the carols and the bells.  Poor boy, never got his wish.  But who is K.M.?  Well, Kevin, of course.  Anyway...

Later Lisa is checking out the old ...church? shed? churchshed... where the town places all their homemade arts and crafts prior to the Christmas Festival's arts and crafts sale.  While inside Hannah's nephew notices the bells, which Kevin notes haven't worked in decades and his dad spent years trying to fix to no avail, nobody knows what's wrong with the mechanism (I'm guessing it's missing a key, but whatever).  He also lets slip that his mom used to organize the Christmas festival before she died and Daisy took over (and then at some point Allie took over and now Michelle...this timeline isn't totally working out).

Over cookie making with Thomas and Michelle and Hannah and her nephew (and Jazzy jingle bells montage...jeez), Thomas lets drop that he's been trying to hire Kevin for his logging company and he's expanding, and is waiting for Kevin's response on a foreman offer.  Just as cookie baking is done, the beam is up and secured, but there's a new problem, there's a hole in the bookshelf from the crossbeam which both Kevin and Lisa are mistaking as a pipe-bearing wall for some reason.  They have a little spat which is interrupted by Ezra, noting that a potential buyer is on the way and they need to get shit together fast.  "If you just want to get started on the wall, I'll get started on the shelves" Lisa commands, to which Kevin starts...sweeping.  Uh, Kev?  I'm beginning to suspect that you're not so great at this contractor stuff.

Yep, totally looks like that huge beam, in making that small hole
under those shelves totally could have damaged some pipes.
I'm not sure you're good at your job, Kevin.  It's never mentioned
again so I guess it was fine.

Then instead of working more on the place, they go shopping for the perfect tree at Kevin's dad's farm, then they decorate the tree out front and talk about Kevin's dad and their transient lifestyles and how settling down sucks so hard.  They touch hands and smile all goofy.  Then Michell, Thomas, Hannah and her nephew show up, and decide to help out with decorating the tree and the store.  Thomas lifts his seriously too big son up to put a hat (!) on the tree ("I'm seriously too big" he says after being lifted), then runs by some new plans by Kevin, namely that he's planning on opening up a new logging thing near Evergreen.  You know what makes for beautiful scenic terrain for a Christmas town? Clearcut logging.

The buyer shows up and looks over the place but decides not to purchase, dashing the hopes of the whole town.  Meanwhile Kevin learns about the letter, gets very emotional, and runs out, leaving Lisa worried.  Lisa makes a wish on the snow globe to come up with an idea to help sell Daisy's store.  David's letter ("Wow, that snow globe works fast.") In order to spice up the town for the next buyer coming through, they decide to ramp up the Christmas Festival by making it like it used to be, back when Kevin's dead mom did it...with the bells and candles and carols.

The next day, Kevin, back from his emotional breakdown, is keen to help reinstate the old traditions but those bells will be a problem (even Nick -- who it turns out isn't *really* Santa despite the impression we were given in the previous movie -- gives Hannah's nephew a clue that it's for the flipping bells!)  Kevin brings his dad in to work on this futile, maddening task once more.  Lisa meanwhile comes up with an idea on how to merchandise the store...sell all the town's arts and crafts shit in there.

Complications in the Kevin/Lisa pair bonding...Oliver shows up in town, with the suggestion of bringing Polly in to look at the store. Kevin, narrow-minded small-town boy he is, gets the wrong idea about Lisa and Oliver's relationship.  Lisa cotton's onto Kevin's stupidity and entices him to go skating with them. Oliver it turns out is a bronze medal figure skater (that's Hallmark code for "gay"), and Lisa outright tells Kevin he's an idiot and that Oliver is just her best friend.

Meanwhile Thomas is out skating and Allie's dad (there selling hot chocolate of course) shouts to him "Looking good, David."  Thomas smiles and waves off this microaggression... but it's not okay. Meanwhile Hanna says to Michelle "I'm really glad you and my brother seem to be getting closer."  She almost sells it.  Michelle says, "Yeah...you sure?  I mean, it's not like weird or anything for you?"  Remember, I suspected that in the last movie Hannah had the hots for Michelle and Michelle is just kind of oblivious.  "Why would it be weird?  I've never see you this happy."  That's how much Hannah loves Michelle, she cares only about her happiness.  Plus if she gets with her brother, it keeps her close to her.

NOT DAVID!
I can't tell, but Thomas may be flipping the old man off right here.

Honestly, the shot of the skating pond with the bridge all covered in Christmas lights is probably the most beautiful establishing shot in any Hallmark movie, and that bridge looks awesome.  Montage to "Jazzy Christmas music" of skating, leading to store decorating, to bells fixing, to chats in front of the fire, to a whole bunch of working and falling in love.

Actually, on freeze frame I can see how fake this is.

But seriously, the bridge looks awesome.

Allie comes back from wherever she was for Christmas to serve no narrative purpose except to tell Kevin that her and Ryan (from the last movie) took almost ten months to get settled together but for the right person any waiting is worth it.

Thomas and Michelle actually have a very sweet conversation in a closet (wait, is that a metaphor for Michelle?) when Polly shows up and she's is just so excited by everything.  "Oh Lisa this store this store is absolutely gorgeous I love it look at these gorgeous pillows they must've been hand-done what a cute touch I lo... and look! That's beautiful those nutcrackers are all lined up and ready to go oh my goodness and you got the maple syrup, which I love, oh everything is just...it's exquisite I just love it the way you mixed the antique items with the new items, it's very smart...."
Despite her excitement, Polly doesn't buy the store.  I think her cocaine problem has taken a toll on her finances, quite frankly.  She actually came to offer Oliver and Lisa jobs helping her expand, over time becoming co-owners and eventually having their own store.  There's something very flawed about this plan.  I think she's trying to grift some money out of them to fuel her coke problem.

Kevin, not learning his lesson from earlier, jumps to conclusions about Lisa and Oliver's plans to have their own store, and decides to leave town. But Lisa and Oliver decide to buy Daisy's with Oliver taking Polly's job and Lisa staying to run the store.  Lisa charges over to her Dad's farm to slap that idiot upside the head, again.  As they reconcile (reconciling Kevin's stupidity, that is) Hannah's nephew David FINALLY figures out where that key goes and he and Hannah get the bells going.

Oh and that note, turned out it was Kevin's dad who wrote it, on behalf of Kevin, and finding the note, and Lisa returning his mother's Christmas traditions to town, has healed their fractured relationship.  "I just wanted you to have what you asked for in the letter"
"You did.  You did. You did, son.  You did.  You both did."  I guess they did it.
 And FLASHBACK(!) it turns out that Lisa and Kevin both saw each other at Polly's store years ago when she was leaving town and Kevin's dad was putting the letter in the box.  Erm, ok.


The Draw:
I explained last time that I was curious about a Hallmark "sequel".  But rather than "sequel" lets use some comic book parlance and call it the Evergreen Annual.  Plus I wanted to see if they really did anything to follow up with Allie and Ryan (they were in Florida for Christmas at Ryan's family.  In the last movie Ryan and his daughter were going to Florida, not visit family, but to go on a cruise).

The Formulae:
The perfect tree, cookie making/baking/decorating montage, heavy emphasis on traditions, the need to save an establishment, stupid jumping to conclusions and making life decisions based off those stupid conclusions, that sort of thing.
Now the Evergreen formula is to have an opening and closing narrative sequence with a storybook, and Santa narrating.  As well the Evergreen formula has paintings of the town when returning from commercial, signifying a new page in the book.
And, of course, Evergreen is the PST (perfect small town).

Unformulae:
Honestly, as 90's and token gesture as it feels, giving Thomas and Michelle a romance seems progressive if only compared to almost every other Hallmark (that isn't about a romance between to African-American leads).  Also the coded gay BFF, again, not at all progressive by today's standards, but by Hallmark's standards, it's almost like trying.  Also really breaking the formula is all the return characters and whatnot, really giving a small town ensemble vibe to this that enriches an otherwise pedestrian Christmas romance.
Also, despite Thomas' insistence that this town really is magic, they kind of scaled back on the fantastical magic talk in this one, especially turning the possibly real Santa from the last one into just "local-old-guy-with-a-beard-Nick-who-plays-Santa" in this one.

True Calling?
It is Christmas in Evergreen, again, so that parts OK.  It should more be "Letter to Santa" rather than the plural "Letters to Santa" but regardless, it does paint a somewhat more accurate portrayal of what's possibly going on here.

The Rewind:
Did Allie's dad really get the only two black dudes in town confused?  And the one black dude is the other black dude's father and, like, twice the size of him?   Jeeeeeezuuuuus wept!

The Regulars:
Jill Wagner is one of Hallmark's princesses.  Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses this year, Christmas Cookies back in 2016 and a couple more even before that, plus four entries in Hallmark's Mystery 101 series this year.  Wagner took a bit to grow on me, the opening 10 minutes were pretty rough.  But I love her tough, take-charge attitude and she doesn't mince about when she's feeling emotional, she confronts those emotions head on.  Kind of refreshing and modern.  I liked her look coming into town, but she eventually started to look more and more Evergreen as the film progressed.
Also, Wagner is kind of a dead ringer for a younger Meredith Vieira which threw me off for almost the entire film until I figured it out (I thought at first maybe she was Lindsay Wagner's daughter and that what I was seeing in her).

Seriously, that's not the same person?

Mark Declan has only been in one other non-Evergreen Hallmark, that being the 2017 non-classic Switched for Christmas with Candice Cameron-Bure.  He's ok.

And then, yeah, a whole cast of characters returning from the last Evergreen, plus countless appearances in other Hallmarks.  I won't get into each one, but this one is almost all familiar faces.


How does it Hallmark?
I found this to be a bit tedious and a lot ridiculous, with too much going on and all of it predictable.  It would probably sit just above middle of the pack, so still better than most.   The Christmas Jazz certainly stood out when compared to other Hallmarks, but it was also awful synth Jazz, so painful.

How does it movie?
Nope, it doesn't movie at all.  It's like an overly extended 80's sit com episode where they try to do something bigger and less funny than they usually do.  It's overly ambitious (or perhaps not really ambitious enough).

How does it snow?
I had a hard time with this one.  There seemed to be a lot of real snow around.  There was definitely ice for skating on which had to be real.  Nobody wore scarves and I couldn't see anyone's breath so it couldn't have been too cold.  Mid-spring somewhere perhaps with a lot of chipped ice for snow to add to existing unmelted ground cover, maybe?  Nope, upon reinspection, a lot of batting and CGI snow, and I think that rink is just a composited shot of an indoor rink made up to look like an outdoor set.

T&K's Xmas Advent Calendar: Day 23

A Toast to Hallmarkent:
Christmas in Evergreen: Tidings of Joy (2019, Hallmark)

The Story:
On the previously established single train from NYC into Evergreen, Vermont, Katie bumps into Ben on the train. Katie is a writer taking a vacation in Evergreen, but also looking for inspiration for her next novel.  Ben was born and raised in Evergreen, but left for a time to be a journalist in Chicago.  So, you know, they get each other.

Katie enters town and beings to roam looking for a cel phone charger (because she dropped hers bumping into Ben on the train), in utter awe of the most Christmassy place on earth.  She bumps into Michelle who is now mayor, ex-mayor Ezra (who is moving to Boston), and Allie's dad.  On her way to the general store she runs into Allie (Evergreen 1's protagonist) giving Lisa (Evergreen 2's protagonist) pills for the dogs she's looking after while Allie and Ryan are in Paris for Christmas.  Lisa, who has lost ALL of her badass cool and style from Evergreen 2 gives Katie a cel phone charger and a free hat (the ones Hannah makes).  Allie calls Lisa out on being a terrible business owner.

Hannah gives Katie a lift to the Megan's B&B where they run into Elliott hanging decorations. Katie comments on the sparks that are flying between Hannah and Elliott and Hannah blushes but dismisses it.  Elliott's just her best friend from childhood.  Katie then makes her way to the library, run by Nan (Ben's foster mother), where Ben's doing story hour with the town's dozen children.  David, the town's only teenager, shows up leading Katie and Ben to the Kringle Kitchen for the Historical Society meeting, where she encounters the snow globe.  Discussion of a lost "Christmas time capsule" seeds the big catch for the film.  It was hidden in town by Hannah's parents and Allie's grandparents, but seemingly nobody knows where it is. Seemingly.  Allie interrupts to say goodbye for Christmas, and the well wishes and hugs she gets from family, friends and neighbours really solidifies the sense of community that Evergreen has established.

Ben's very wary that Katie's out to write a hit piece on Evergreen, noting that people just aren't cynical here.  From the outside, the Xmas obsession may seem like a joke, but it's the town's identity and he's worried of the outside world tainting it.  They're interrupted by a scream from the KK Cafe (whoof, close one there) where Hannah has dropped the snow globe!!!  (Nick, whose beard looks more and more fake each year, "accidentally" bumped her)

She takes the snow globe to Elliott (who now runs the craft center/repair shop her parents used to own) to see if he can't repair it and they start their love journey which, surprisingly, takes up almost as much screen time as the Katie/Ben, but is actually 10 times more effective.  It's really, really great.  The side trip to the glass-making place (to make the new dome for the snow globe) finds Elliott and Hannah having their own sensual pottery-scene-from-Ghost-moment.  It's probably the sexiest a Hallmark movie has ever gotten.  It's very, very intimate.  As they repair the snow globe, they find under the model sleigh that was in the snow globe a painted on key.  What could that mean?  A mystery is afoot, but young David, who is all about mysteries involving keys, is on the case.

A cookie baking montage leads to Nan giving David a few more clues as to the secret of the time capsule's whereabouts.  A visit to Henry Miller's tree farm finds the sleigh which was the inspiration for the one in the snow globe, which leads David to look underneath and find a secret apartment containing a key.  Later, Hot Mom looks at one of the photos Nan gave David and they find a keyhole, which, obviously fits the key David found under the sleigh.  They turn the key and all the wooden slats of the building fall away (in absurd CGI fashion) to reveal a two-story high advent calendar.  Nan and Nick were instigating the discovery of the capsule, for years teasing it out, all to make sure it's revealed on December 1st on its 50th anniversary.

This is about 40 minutes/half way into the film and what was a tedious and seemingly pointless film suddenly sparks to life.  The town gathers as Mayor Michelle opens the first advent calendar box (which is made of fiberboard and has slidey drawers, neither of which existed like this 50 years ago).

As the story goes, the town came together in a snow storm and decided to build a time capsule.  It so unified the town, that they decided to make Christmas their thing and use the capsule to ensure the spark of unity in town was maintained.  The town gathers every day, drawing a name from a hat to see who opens the calendar.  In a smarter movie, the advent calendar would have been revealed early in the film and the film's structure would take place around opening it and providing something meaningful to characters and the town.  Alas, they kind of montage over much of it, just pausing for brief moments meaningful to the major characters in town.

Early complication has Ben find a rough draft of an article Katie is writing about for her mother's big time business magazine, but as usual these complications are easily put to rest and the characters move on.  I hate that these films spend so much time setting up big complications only to find they're so trivially resolved, but at the same time, the resolution of these complications really should just take an adult conversation between two mature people.

While adding glitter to the snow globe with Elliott, Hannah finds her mother's long lost wedding ring (which is actually her engagement ring, people!).  Her excitement brings her and Elliott close to kissing.  It's a rather sweet moment.  Thomas returns from business early to surprise Michelle, providing a beautiful coda to the oversimplified love story they got in Evergreen 2.  Later Hannah gives her brother the newly found mom ring, you know, in case he has need for it.

I've never care so little about the A-plot of a Hallmark movie...the Katie and Ben love story is so superfluous to the things happening in town to characters we already know and like.  They sit together and talk over Katie's story when she informs Ben she's going back to NYC the next day.  In a well played moment, it's obvious to both this relationship isn't going to progress, despite the attraction.  They go out caroling with Nan and Hannah and Elliott, which is the worst caroling I've ever seen (mostly in the fact that it's the cast singing, but they play terrible prerecorded singing over top of it...it's an abomination).  At the Christmas marshmallow roast, Ben and Katie have a kind of tepid moment, Hannah and Elliott have a sweet moment, and Thomas and Michelle have a very beautiful moment.

After building snowmen, Katie heads back to NYC.  "Bye!" the townspeople say without any sense of connection or familiarity.  Hannah meanwhile runs into Elliott at the church, where he's playing a beautiful song on the piano.  They have an intimate moment after they sit down and play a rendition of "Heart And Soul" but as "Oh Christmas Tree" where they tell each other that they like each other, but are nervous about what it may do to their friendship.

Meanwhile, in NYC, who cares.

Days later, Ben is in NYC for a job interview and he has lunch with Katie, and she brings him to her mom's magazine holiday party. They share a kiss before he leaves, a sign of what could have been....

With 20 minutes left to go, they introduce the Cooper sisters (played by the creepy old lady twins from Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events).  They don't get a speaking role but in the coda Katie intones that they will be at the center of next year's Evergreen tale.

On the final advent calendar day, there's a stack of savings bonds which have accrued after 50 years, giving the town a sudden influx of resources (which Ezra says should be enough to perhaps build another road into town).  Nan and Nick hook up, and Nick's taking over Ben's job at the library so he can go get a big city job and be with Katie, who has returned to Evergreen with her mom to spend Christmas.  They kiss, and Ben gets a job interview at her mom's magazine.

At the Christmas Festival, David gets to open the last gift, and he cedes his time to his Dad to propose to Michelle.  It's a clumsy and awkward proposal, which kind of makes it good, but also a little shoehorned in when it could have been a much bigger, better moment.

Katie notes in the closing moment that Ben moved to New York a few months later and she wrote her second book which was literally just the first two Evergreen movies, with the tease of the twins story being her next book and next year's movie.  The end.


The Draw:
I said I would watch all three of these, and so I did. 

The Formulae:
Well, the big city girl going to the Perfect Small Town, of course. As well as cookie baking/decorating.  Seasonal traditions/activities (snowman building/skating).

Unformulae:
Honestly, because we're in sort of franchise mode, this one falls out of formulae pretty nicely.  I mean the fact that Katie didn't move to Evergreen and, in fact, took someone OUT of Evergreen with her is pretty groundbreaking.
Plus, Hannah and Elliott and Thomas and Michelle, as persons of colour, get rather great, well written story lines in this one, not just the dashed off afterthought like Thomas and Michelle in the last entry.  As far as romance goes, their stories as B and D plots (with the advent calendar being the C-plot) are quite exceptional and very romantic.  I'm still bummed that Hannah and Michelle aren't being brought together as a couple but this serves them both very well.  It puts them both as central figures in Evergreen and not just in token roles.  Even young David has become an integral part of the town, on his way to being town historian.
The advent calendar and how it unifies the town is a really cool concept.  It's perhaps underutilized but when they do use it, it creates some really sweet moments, like for Hot Mom and ex-mayor Ezra.


True Calling?
I think it should have been called Evergreen's Christmas Advent Calendar, but this is fine.  There aren't really "tidings" in it (definition of tiding - "the announcement of an event or occurrence not previously made known").

The Rewind:
Watching that wall fall away. They tried to make it look like there was some actual mechanism at play.


via GIPHY


The Regulars:
Obviously all the townspeople are regulars now.  Holly Robinson Peete and Rukiya Bernard both get well deserved bumps in this one (and Robinson Peete gets her own Hallmark lead this year, finally, in  A Family Christmas Gift.

Veteran Hallmark star Maggie Lawson is the ostensible lead in this one, and she's fine, but I don't think I've been less interested in a lead character who wasn't from Full House.  She's not an interesting character.  She's basically an outsider's gateway into Evergreen.  She brings nothing to the table, not like Allie or Lisa in previous years.

Paul Greene is also a veteran Hallmark lead and he too is fine, most of the time.  At times it seems like he's doing really, really bad improv, especially when he's responsible for exposition or a scene transition.  His character's connection to Evergreen brings a bit more to the story than Katie, but really beyond introducing Nan as another integral part of town, he brings little to enhance the town.  Really, this film could have been built entirely without these two characters.

How does it Hallmark?
It's so Hallmark, but it's the good kind of Hallmark which doesn't just rest on its cliches.  Evergreen is now a sweet damn community that I'm surprised myself I'm keen to revisit next year.  What's up with them twins?

How does it movie?
Oh, this is way to poorly plotted to be a real movie, but like I said last time, it's a good "Evergreen Annual", a nice place to visit for 84 minutes.

How does it snow?
I think there's real snow, mixed with cotton batting and fake snow.  It's obviously late-season, maybe mid-spring given how everyone walks around with their collars undone or jackets open.

T&K's XMas (2022) Advent Calendar Day 20 - Sister Swap: A Hometown Holiday

2021, Sean McNamara (Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa) -- download/Hallmark

The Draw: Entirely because of this.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dan Harmon (@danharmon)

HERstory: So, as the IG post above by Dan Harmon suggests, there is no guidance on which one you should watch first. So, we chose the proper PST one, where Sister 1, Jennifer Swift (Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Father of the Bride) decides to come back, from the Big City of Salt Lake City, Utah, to the PST of Hazelwood, just an hour outside the city. Being an hour, this is a situation where people can easily jaunt back and forth between The Big City and the PST. And they do. Anywayz, Sister Jenn decides to spend Xmas in Hazelwood, while Sister 2, Meg (Ashley Williams, Christmas in Evergreen), stays in her place in The Big City.

You see, their Uncle Dave (Kevin Nealon, SNL, in pretty much a less-than-a-cameo role only seen in memories, photos & family videos) passed away in the last year or so, leaving his beloved movie theatre, the Madison, empty. It was one of those hometown cinemas still running on an old film projector, selling popcorn & candy from a concession stand, and a place where everyone in town had their first kiss; and probably a few other firsts not family-friendly at all. The place is now run down, and Mom just wants to sell it off, as the memories inside are just too painful. Uncle Dave, ever the bachelor and childless, seemed to be a rock for the family. Its all been too much for Sister Meg, so Jenn offers to take care of it, so Meg can be alone with her grief, in the city.

The movie does do a brief opening in Salt Lake, to let us get to know the sisters via a couple of family traditions (red hats??)  and a terrible "Meg plays the french horn tuba" toss away scene and then its off to the PST. 

"Classic Aunt Meg!" <insert laugh track>

Mom & Dad run the cornerstone bakery in Hazelwood, but there also seems to be money in this family. Big money. Typical Hallmarkie upper-upper-middle-class money. Eric (Mark Deklin, Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa), the Leading Guy, is a single dad working with the town council to preserve the Madison in its original state, while also monitoring the deal between the local broker and the Big Cinema Chain rep. For a moment there, I thought there might be a Story B between the rep and the broker, but I guess they realized that would be too confusing, considering they are already being rather experimental by having a Story B in another movie entirely. Anywayz, Eric and Jenn are exploring the dilapidated cinema (she's handling the sale, to give her sister and mom a break from the grief it dredges up) when Jenn becomes obsessed with doing a "one more movie night" for the family, which after a brief confused moment, becomes a "one more movie night" for the entire town.

Like most of these movies, the Story A ("one more movie night") provides continuous interruptions that bring the two leads together. Like, at the tree lot, they argue about whether the movie nite should happen, as the ton of renos might jeopardize the sale, which is already in jeopardy as Big Cinema Chain rep guy (who always looks cranky; didn't he get get the "always be smiling" memo?) is the only potential buyer. Surprisingly, they are light on the potential romance, as each has a Dead Spouse, live in different cities and have lots of baggage. Usually that doesn't interfere with the making of the goo-goo eyes, but this movie lets it develop slowly.

Come the movie night, everyone is excited. They chose a random movie, the only film they could find that would run through the broken down projector, there is no heat and... ZAP, the power is shorted out and the popcorn machine catches on fire. Hearts broken all around.

But Jenn's not throwing in the towel just yet! Her son Simon finds a digital projector, and all the supporting tech, in a back room in boxes. Apparently Dave had been preparing to update the theatre when he got sick. Movie night is BACK ON ! I won't let my tech background comment on how difficult it would be to install a full digital system, but they finally have their chance to do it all right. Jenn and Eric share a kiss, and acknowledge they could have a chance together. BUT...

But, Meg shows up with news about Jenn's resto. Apparently they let the head chef up and quit on the week before Xmas. Suuuure, they are all about supporting their staff, but to let the chef just walk away during such a key period of the year? Way to go Meg ! Jenn is very (understandably) upset and rushes back to Salt Lake to take care of things, which pisses off her son (dude, its an hour away) and disappoints Eric (DUDE! its an HOUR ... AWAY) just as he was opening his heart. But don't worry your little heart, as a little intervening by a plot point from the other movie (we have the perfect underdog chef choice and he runs a... food stand?) and everything is back to being perfect. Everyone rushes back to the PST for the perfect digital movie night, which is not even dashed by the cinema chain deal falling through, because Jenn and Meg have an even better plan! Jenn will setup a movie theatre resto combo in the PST, while Meg will run the old resto because...some how she's qualified?

The Formulae: So so much! We got career gal Jenn (she owns a well known, profitable resto in Salt Lake) running back to her hometown PST to be challenged by a "well known seasonal event in jeopardy". And while dealing with said challenge, we get visits to tree lots, charity cookie deliveries, endless mountains of xmas cookies, a quaint little hometown bakery, a dead uncle, a dead husband AND a dead wife! We get decorating montages, we get pretty little red vintage truck toys in the background, we get red coats AND blue dresses. We get plenty of coffee cups held in two hands, AND we get hot chocolate galore. We get a mild misunderstanding, which is quickly reconciled so the two leads can kiss and be perfectly happy forever after.

Unformulae: Well, primarily in the experimental structure of the movies that are happening at the same time. Beyond that, everything is by the books.

True Calling? Why yes, as both sisters swap where they normally spend Xmas for the other's place.

The Rewind: "Classic Aunt Meg!"

The Regulars: Well, Kimberly Williams-Paisley has only really started doing these movies while her sister Ashley IRL (as well as in the movie) has done... well, fewer than I thought she had. She really got started with the first movie in the Evergreen Cinematic Universe, Christmas in Evergreen, and has been going strong since. Mark Deklin has also done far fewer than I expected. So... all new regulars, I guess?

How does it Hallmark? Again, despite the experimental release format of this and the other movie, the Hallmarkie formula and sincerity is strong in this one. 

How does it movie? I think I need to start shoe horning this post category into the, "Would I watch it again?" and honestly, maybe just maybe on the very cusp of, "If it was on in the background while I am baking cookies."

How Does It Snow? The snow in some scenes, like Hazelwood, all look inserted and fake and cotton batting land, but on occasion, usually when cutting to the shared-scenes between the two movies, we see real snow, as in properly shot while there was snow on the ground in The Big City. I almost feel this doesn't count for the movie set in the PST.