Are you looking forward to watching Hallmark movies this holiday season?
Christmas is just a few weeks away and many Sacred Heart University students are getting into the holiday spirit by watching the latest offerings from the network.
“Christmas is my favorite time of the year,” said junior Calista Zahos. “I love decorating my tree and driving around my neighborhood looking at all the lights on people’s homes. My whole family gets together to celebrate the holiday season. Every year we end the night by watching a Hallmark movie together.”
This Hallmark season there are several new movies for people to get excited about. Some include “A Christmas Dance Reunion,” “The Christmas Contest,” and “A Very Merry Bride.”
People can expect to see some familiar faces on the screen, such as Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman from “High School Musical,” as well as Candace Cameron Bure from “Full House.”
“I think it is so cool that Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman are going to be in a movie together,” said junior Lauren Torres. “I love Christmas movies and I will definitely check this one out. They were great in ‘High School Musical,’ so it will be interesting to see them hit the screen after all these years.”
This will be the first time the two actors have reunited on a project since “High School Musical.”
According to Vulture, “Coleman will play a successful attorney named Lucy Mortimer who, along with her mother, returns to their old holiday getaway, the Winterleigh Resort, where she’s reunited with her childhood Christmas Dance partner, Barrett Brewster (Bleu).”
Fans will have to wait until Dec. 3 for “A Christmas Dance Reunion” to come to Lifetime.
“While it may seem like the Hallmark Channel has always owned Christmas, it’s only been about the last 10 years or so that they’ve fully taken over,” said Prof. James Barnes, advisor for the Film Club. “They’ve increased their production output almost every year to where they premiere more than 40 movies per year now. Compare that to a major studio like Universal, who is only distributing 31 films this whole year, and you get an idea of how Hallmark has achieved such dominance in the space.”
Candace Cameron Bure will be starring in her 10th Hallmark movie, “The Christmas Contest,” which came out on Nov. 28, alongside Fuller House castmate, John Brotherton.
According to Insider, “Exes Lara and Ben compete in a Christmas contest to win money for the charity of their choosing. The city watches them battle and choose what is more important, victory or love.”
However, before Bure was the face of Hallmark, it was Lori Loughlin.
According to the Los Angeles Times, “The ‘Full House’ veteran had been a long time regular for the Hallmark Channel’s programming, starring in a number of original romantic holiday movies, including ‘Homegrown Christmas,’ ‘Every Christmas Has a Story,’ and ‘Northpole: Open for Christmas,’ as well as the romantic drama ‘A Soldier’s Love Story.’”
After Loughlin’s involvement with the “college admission scandal” was made public in March of 2019, companies including Hallmark have dropped working with Loughlin for the foreseeable future.
Besides Hallmark, people can tune into Netflix this holiday season to catch some new Christmas movies as well.
Lindsay Lohan, who is best known for her leading roles in “The Parent Trap” and “Mean Girls,” will be coming back to acting for the first time in years.
According to Variety, “In this new movie, Lohan will play a newly engaged, spoiled hotel heiress, who gets amnesia after a skiing accident and finds herself in the care of a handsome, blue-collar lodge owner and his precocious daughter in the days leading up to Christmas.”
There are not many details on the movie itself, including the name or the release date, but fans can expect it to premiere on Netflix sometime in 2022.
Since Oct. 22, Hallmark has been releasing new holiday movies every weekend and will continue to do so for the rest of the year.
“My wife Kim, who is a former film producer and professional make-up artist, has Hallmark movies playing round the clock on the TVs in our house. While ‘excitement’ might not be the word, I love the vibe it gives our home,” said Prof. Barnes.
