Guilty as Charged Part 7

2016: Hallmark ratcheted it up to 20 Christmas movies, and unlike past years, there were really no standouts.  Most of them were "pretty good" (using my Hallmark scale, which is set a notch or 10 lower than my expectations for other forms of entertainment). In any event, let's forge ahead. Here are my past reviews (2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2009).

Common plot point: Marketing Exec/News Anchor/Actress Goes to Small Christmas Town 

Gosh, let's see if I can capture them all, because this plot point figured into no less than FIVE movies this year. 

In A Wish for Christmas, Lacey Chabert goes on a trip with her hot boss to a tiny town to do a big marketing pitch.  She's a timid doormat who has a chance encounter with Santa Claus, who gives her a gift: she'll now be able to stand up for herself.  But only for 48 hours (darn you, Santa!!).  Will her gift last her long enough to a) win the pitch b) solve her boss' daddy issues and c) nab the man for herself? 

In Christmas Cookies (not to be confused with 2014's A Cookie Cutter Christmas) a high-powered food executive (Jill Wagner from Wipeout, obviously) comes to a Christmas-themed town to shut down their beloved cookie plant. The plant also happens to be owned by a young bachelor who might make her forget she has a boring boyfriend at home.  

In Love You Like Christmas, a high-powered marketing executive's car breaks down in a small Christmas town (something that happens every other day in Hallmark world).  She then ends up falling for a single dad who owns his own struggling Christmas tree farm. But wait! She's a marketing executive!  But not a rocket scientist - it takes her 3/4 of whole movie to figure out that she can help him and until the very end to realize she loves him.

In Christmas in Homestead, a plot that owes Notting Hill's screenwriters big time, a famous actress and her costar (and ex-boyfriend) come to film a Christmas movie in a small town.  The town's innkeeper mayor (who happens to be a cute single dad as all innkeeper mayors are) isn't happy that they're taking over the town. 

In Every Christmas Has a Story, a news anchor blurts over the air that she doesn't like Christmas!  Horrors!  Now she has to go to a small Christmas town to renovate her image.  And her producer happens to be an ex-boyfriend. Lots of time to talk about old issues in a small Christmas town!

Who wore it best?  

Love You Like Christmas and Christmas in Homestead are the best of this batch.  

Common plot point: time travel and other mysticism

In Journey Back to Christmas, Candace Cameron Bure (Hallmark's newest Star of Christmas) is a nurse who travels forward in time...I don't remember why.  In any event, she 

In A Dream of Christmas, another marketing executive has trouble balancing her career with her marriage.  She ends up wishing she never got married.  After falling from a ladder, her wish is granted!  But she can't stop hanging around her husband trying to woo him all over again!

Who wore it best?  

A Dream of Christmas.  Candace Cameron Bure is starting to bug, plus her movie did not star hot Andrew Walker (above). 

The "Looking a Little Worse for Wear" Award: 

Is it Sascha Radetsky from a Nutcracker Christmas who first graced us in Center Stage??

Is it Dean Cain, in Broadcasting Christmas, who was Superman, for crying out loud? (not to mention Brenda's Parisian boyfriend Rick (aka "Reek") in Beverly Hills, 90210)

Doughy.

Hubba.

The "winner:"

Dean Cain. 

The "Wake Up and See What's Right in Front of You" Award:

Is it the Mistletoe Promise, where two executives meet cute in a food court and realize that a business arrangement to be each others' plus-ones could help them move ahead. Can Jaime King and her distracting eyebrows stop being stubborn and turn her fake relationship into a real one?  

Or is it My Christmas Love, which squanders Meredith Hagner's talent by making her into a dumb-as-rocks children's book author who keeps pursuing relationships with old acquaintances instead of her steady, adorable illustrator.

Not him, you idiot!!

Him!

Winner: Mistletoe Promise.

Who had the hottest male leads?

My Christmas Love - he's adorbs. 

Him!

And the Mistletoe Promise - he's a new addition to the Hallmark crew and spends most of his time in a suit and overcoat. Yes. 

It was the last straw for....

Alicia Witt and Danica McKeller.  I just can't with their movies anymore. 

On very thin ice...

Candace Cameron Bure and Lacey Chabert.  

Well, that's it!  And we didn't even cover Candace Cameron Bure's annoying intros to all the other Hallmark movies, hot Gregory Harrison (he's old!) in My Christmas Love, and Donna Mill's timeless face. Another time. 

Kristen's Best of 2016!!!

Best Reads

Anyone who knows me knows I love/adore my subscription to the NY Times.

NY Times: How Asking 5 Questions Allowed me to Eat Dinner With my Kids  We talk about the “5 Whys” at work, and I think you could apply them to any situation.  I loved this example. 

NY Times: The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare.  I love when news can bring attention to an issue in the form of a really gripping story.  This one - about a lawyer who won’t back down when he realizes DuPont has been poisoning a town’s water supply - is journalism at its best. 

Deseret News: When God Puts You in the Standby Line.

Angela Duckworth, “Grit.” This book tackles a topic that’s always been interesting to me: what is the difference between someone who succeeds and perseveres versus someone who, well…doesn’t?  The answer, says Duckworth, is GRIT.  And she says, based on her research, that we can all get more of it.  Her book is relatable and insightful. 

Mike Massamino, “Space Man.” I loved this book about a man who tries for 10 years to be an astronaut.  He’s able to describe technical concepts in a very relatable way, and his personal stories are incredibly inspirational.  I LOVED his description of going on a space walk and describing what it’s like to have an unobstructed view into open space, with not another soul around.  

Best Songs

Here are my favorite songs of 2016.

Best Podcasts

What I lacked in books read I made up for in podcasts listened to.  I must warn you that some of these have a little language.  It’s a tough balance in the podcast world.  

StartUp - If you’re not familiar with StartUp, it’s a podcast about….starting a podcasting company (called Gimlet).  And it’s riveting.  Season 1 is all about Gimlet, and the subsequent seasons are about other startups.  But each season they do updates on Gimlet, and those are my favorite episodes.  My favorite episode this season is S4E3, “Shadowed Qualities,” where Gimlet founder Alex Blumberg (whose voice I find attractive and Melinda finds awful) gets really blunt feedback about his management style and has to come to terms with what his career goals say he should do versus what he really enjoys doing. 

A note that the rest of the episodes in S4 I wouldn’t necessarily recommend…they’re about the founder of American Apparel and he’s a real skeezebag. 

Hidden Brain.  I don’t like all episodes equally, but when they get it right, it’s really fascinating stuff.  My required listening for this podcast is episode 3, Stereotype Threat, about a female poker player who uses the fact that she’s the only girl in the room to her advantage; episode 9, Aziz Anasari on Modern Love; and Episode 34, Google at Work. 

Human Race.  This is a podcast from Runner’s World that’s not really about running…it’s more about the human spirit.  Its episodes are awesome.  My favorites so far are Episode 1, Tin Man, about a man running with an artificial heart (and what it means on a psychological level to have your heart replaced by a machine).  Episode 7, The Barkley Marathons, is about a gonzo-level-crazy race that only 14 people have ever completed.  Incidentally, I used to work with a guy who is the only man to have finished 3 times…I remember writing a brief article on him but I really had no idea what the race was about.  It’s certifiably insane. 

Planet Money is consistently enjoyable.  Some of my recent favorites are #728, The Wells Fargo Hustle, with personal stories about the high-pressure culture that led to the scandal. #714, Can a Game Show Lose, about the one man who guessed - exactly - the price of the final Showcase Showdown on the Price is Right and how he did it. Also #562: A Mall Divided, about a shopping mall that straddles two city lines.  The kicker is that one city raised their minimum wage and the other city didn’t, and the workers had no idea the other half of the mall was making more money. 

Death, Sex, and Money.  Disclaimer that I don’t listen to all the episodes - based on the title you might guess that some are a little more scandalous than others.  But host Anna Sale has a gift for getting people to open up in really honest ways about the Big Things in life.  I especially like Chaz Ebert on Life Without Roger, and also Living Along and Liking It - Sometimes. I also enjoyed I Was More Angry at God, about a woman coping with the murder of her father and coming to grips with why bad things happen. 

Criminal. I liked Episode 51, Money Tree (about a woman who discovers something horrible when her parents’ identities are stolen), so much that I texted my sister-in-law immediately to listen to it.  Another good one was Episode 54, Melinda and Clarence, whose husband was put in prison for murdering her mother. She believes he’s innocent and starts investigating the murder herself, putting herself in sometimes dangerous positions (they say you need to listen to the previous episode to "get" this one - not the case).   

The Dave Ramsey Show. I just discovered Dave Ramsey and his Baby Steps this year, but listening to him changed the way I thought about my debt.  Because of his show, I decided to pay my car off early and refinance my home to a 15-year mortgage so I could get out of debt more quickly.  I don't listen to every episode - his radio show is three hours so he releases 3 1-hour podcasts a day - but listen to a few and you'll get a sense for his no-nonsense style (he will shut you right down if you come in with an excuse).   His approach is really simple and I like that it works with people of any income. 

Other Random Favorites

My Simple bank account.  If I could shout about Simple from the hills, I would do it.  Simple is an online bank that lets you set up savings goals and then it automatically directs money each day towards those goals.  I have used Simple to save for trips, new tires, and other stuff I want to save for.  It’s kind of a game changer. Their app is awesome.  And even their required emails - like the annual Regulation E Disclosure statement - is a joy to read (yes, I said it - a joy!).

This pillow. It’s just the right amount of firm and it’s awesome. 

Pick Your Plum on Instagram.  Every night they put something funny up and it usually always makes me LOL.  

Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey. We saw this at a rodeo this summer…a monkey dressed as a cowboy holding on for dear life as it rides a dog around the stadium.  It’s probably the greatest thing I’ve ever seen. Watch a video here.