Pour The Wine, It's Rom-Com Time

Hallmark's Snowbound For The Holidays

Garry & Amy

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0:00 | 42:05

Bundle up and join Garry and Amy for a cozy new episode of Pour The Wine, It’s Rom-Com Time as they head to the mountains to discuss Hallmark’s Snowbound for the Holidays.

As financial hardship threatens to force the sale of his family’s ski lodge, the owner (Marcus Rosner) does everything he can to keep it afloat. When a successful hotel executive (Vanessa Lengies) arrives to determine the property’s fate, their opposing interests lead to surprising discoveries, holiday cheer, and the possibility of a new beginning.

Garry and Amy dive into the Merry Meet Cute, share their favorite moments, and gush over the breathtaking mountain scenery and festive atmosphere. They also talk about how the film's cozy charm had them dreaming of a holiday getaway—curled up by the fireplace at the lodge with a glass of their favorite wine in hand.

Pour your favorite beverage, get cozy, and press play! Cheers!

Send us an email to pourthewineitsromcomtime@gmail.com! We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/abbynoise/mood-of-summer

Welcome And How To Reach Us

SPEAKER_02

Welcome to Pour the Wine. It's RomCom Time, where we'll sip some wine and review all things rom com on the Hallmark Channel. I'm Amy.

SPEAKER_00

And I'm Gary.

SPEAKER_02

And you can send us an email to Pourthewine. It's romcom time at gmail.com and let us know your thoughts about anything Hallmark related. We are deep into 2026. We've had some great movies.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, we have.

SPEAKER_02

Right? We are in Christmas in July right now. Oh so you can send us your thoughts. What do you think about the Christmas in July movies? We've had two original and two not original. Two that aired a couple years ago. So shoot us an email, let us know your thoughts. And if you have any recommendations for films that you would like for us to review, we would love to hear from you.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, we would, because we just dropped one.

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So we just go check it out.

SPEAKER_00

Anyhow, if you want to help other Hallmark fans find our podcast, you can do so by giving us a five-star review on Apple or Spotify. And if you like watching our podcast, you can head on over to YouTube at Pour the Wine is RomCom Time where you can click the bell, hit the subscribe button, and never miss an episode.

SPEAKER_02

Never, never miss it.

SPEAKER_00

So do you want to get into heard it on the grapevine?

SPEAKER_02

Or heard it through the grapevine.

SPEAKER_00

Or heard it through the grapevine.

SPEAKER_02

I heard it on the grapevine, in the grapevine, through the grapevine. I don't know. Where we talk about news, gossip, things we've heard, read, seen.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. Yes.

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On the world wide web. On the world. Or the TV or all right. So

Hallmark Turns 25 And Celebrates

SPEAKER_02

let's just start. I'll just talk about um the fact that the Hallmark Channel is gearing up to celebrate its 25th anniversary. It launched in August of 2001 and of course has in large part become known for its countdown to Christmas, which launched, which launched in 2009. Now they're doing a few things to celebrate this 25th anniversary. The first three all-new movie premieres in August will be a part of it. The final two movies will be a part of Fall into Love, so don't confuse the final two. The first three are Toast to Italy, starring Tori DeVito and Will Kemp, absolutely devoted to you, starring Kimberly Susted and Jesse Metcalf. And Aussie at Heart, starring Daniel Lissing and Rihanna Fish. Now we will go into more details of each of those movies during our August preview.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, we will.

SPEAKER_02

Which I guess we'll do all the August movies. Maybe we'll just do the 25th anniversary. Not really sure. It's another month where they've cut it, where they've kind of split it between two different themes. So we'll see.

SPEAKER_00

Well, we'll split it on our podcast.

SPEAKER_02

All right. Another part of the celebration, you've probably already seen this. We did talk about this. They are choosing the merriest Christmas town to actually film a Hallmark movie in. So you can submit your town. Um, they're searching for the official Hallmark Christmas towns, and the grand prize winner, like I just mentioned, will be featured in an upcoming Christmas movie. That's pretty cool. And you will be able to live stream their 25th celebration from 92nd Street Y, I guess it's 92 NY, on August 4th at 7:30 p.m. It's called Hallmark Channel's 25th birthday, a quarter of a century of feel-good television. There's going to be nearly two dozen Hallmark stars participating. Everyone you can think of.

SPEAKER_00

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02

That's according to Hallmark itself. Hallmark Channel itself. So they're going to have a big old celebration and you can live stream it. I do believe it costs some monies. Umies. So yeah, you could probably look up the details for that. What a celebration that's going to be. Holy cow. Holy cow. So it should be pretty good.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I think so. It's going to be the majority of any actor that you like.

SPEAKER_02

That you like. All the people. So those were read in alphabetical order and they were listed that way.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, that's probably a good thing.

SPEAKER_02

No preference to to anyone, or we didn't say someone first because they're a bigger star, but you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_00

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_02

So, all right. That's that's all I got for her to through the grapevine.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, well, let's talk about the movie

Snowbound For The Holidays Setup

SPEAKER_00

then. Let's do the intro on this one.

SPEAKER_02

All right. Today we're going to be reviewing Snowbound for the holidays. It originally aired on the Hallmark channel on Saturday, July 18th and is streaming right now on Hallmark Plus. It stars Vanessa Lenji's as Cassidy Evergreen. Evergreen is her last name. Just saying. Candy Green. Perfect last name for a character. And Marcus Rosner as Trey Sanderson. We last saw Vanessa on the Hallmark channel in Take Me Back for Christmas, one of our faves, and one that we just reviewed. Go check it out after you're done listening here. Marcus was in three of the four love club movies, and he was in 2024's Falling Like Snowflakes.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_02

Some of the supporting cast members include Catherine Greenwood as Joanne Evergreen, Ron Lee as Sam Linden, and the adorable Skywalker Hughes as Lily Sanderson. Oh Skywalker. I know. Love the name.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Right? What a fantastic name. And, you know, we just wrapped up, actually. We just finished watching the updated version of Little House on the Prairie.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And it's pretty good. Pretty good. And she's really good in it. She plays Mary. If you're familiar with, you know, the old television series, which we loved. I loved. I watched all the time as a kid. Um, and it's different. Oh, yeah. It's it's similar-ish, but but it's, you know, modernized-ish in terms of the storytelling. So it's pretty good. No, no, it was good. And Skywalker was so good in it.

SPEAKER_00

She was.

SPEAKER_02

As Mary, she's she's really, really good. Yeah. So go check it out if you haven't seen it. It is on Netflix. And also Warren Christie is in it. Another Hallmark star.

SPEAKER_01

There you go.

SPEAKER_02

So, and I have to just say, you know, the name of Mark Rosner's character, Trey, and then Skywalker Hughes's character, um, their last name is Sanderson. And you know, the Sanderson sisters are are who's in Hocus Pocus. So I wonder if the writers had any. Do they like Hocus Pocus? Is it just a pure coincidence? Could be. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So all right. The writers are Courtney McAllister and speaking of the writers.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Tim uh Stubiniski. Courtney wrote 2022's Christmas in Toyland, which all stars again, Vanessa Lyngis. This is Tim's third writing credit, and guess what? His Hallmark debut. Good for him. Goodness Graciers.

SPEAKER_02

Graciers.

SPEAKER_00

Now the cool dude who directed Snowbound for the holidays is Christopher Giroux. And if you don't know him, go listen to our podcast. We got a ch uh uh opportunity to uh interview him, and he does drop some good nuggets, and he was so kind and generous to give us his time, and we had a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02

He's fantastic. Oh my gosh. Yes, so great.

SPEAKER_00

He has directed a few shorts, but this was his feature film uh directorial debut, even though it aired after his film, Be My Love, which is a really good movie to watch it, um, which he also directed and wrote and exec and executive produced. So he had three hats going on this one. His last project on Hallmark was 2024's A 90s Christmas, where he was the executive producer. And guess what? He told us.

SPEAKER_02

What did he tell us?

SPEAKER_00

The movie was shot in Mettawa, Ontario.

SPEAKER_02

Ontario? Ontario.

SPEAKER_00

Ontario Ontario. Okay. Yeah, he said he's like a texture guy. So this was a great opportunity for him because he actually got to shoot in real in the in the elements, right?

SPEAKER_02

In the elements, yeah. It was real, real snow. When you hear the crunch, and boy, you can see their breath in this one. It was freezing. And we've seen interviews with Vanessa and Marcus, and it was really freaking cold.

SPEAKER_00

And you can tell. And you know, it just adds to the movie.

SPEAKER_02

So no, it doesn't. And I have to say about Christopher, you know, when we spoke to him, um, just a guy who loves the art of making films and and just really loves the rom-com genre. And I know he's done other things, but um, and like you said, when he talked about the texture, right? The snow, the community, all the aspects, and to be able to shoot when it's actually winter.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_02

Right. And I mean, I don't want to give away too many nuggets because I'd love for you to go listen, but yeah, it's good listen to the but he did say, you know, that they filmed in what in February.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_02

And the town kept up its Christmas decorations for them. So cool. Um, and they all kind of stayed in these lodges. And it's just a really cool, you know, you get really close during those times and it's pretty intimate. And um, I just just a really cool guy who just loves making films, and you can tell in the films that he makes. Yeah. It it totally comes across.

SPEAKER_00

So it does.

SPEAKER_02

I can't wait to see more from him.

SPEAKER_00

Me too. Yeah. I can't wait.

Synopsis Spoilers And First Impressions

SPEAKER_00

And now it's time to drop the synopsis.

SPEAKER_02

All right. A ski lodge owner faces financial ruin and possible loss of his family's mountain retreat. Isn't that always the case? Some business has about to go under as he grapples with mounting debt. A savvy hotel executive arrives to assess the property, setting the stage for an unexpected holiday adventure.

SPEAKER_00

Oh man. So here this is the part of the podcast where again we tell you if you haven't seen the movie yet, stop the podcast because we're going to drop some spoilers. So turn us off, go watch it, come back, let us know what you think, or just listen to us or watch us, and then go watch the movie and tell us what you think. What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_02

I think that sounds like a good plan.

SPEAKER_00

I think it's a great plan.

SPEAKER_02

Whichever way you go.

SPEAKER_00

Plans. All right. So let's pour it out. Let's pour it out. Yes. So go ahead. All right. What did you think? Oh, you want me to start? Yes, you start.

SPEAKER_02

I just thought, you know, uh one of the things that Christopher did say was that just was just a really fun movie. You know, you're gonna get fun out of it. And it was, it's really cute, funny, yeah, so cozy. The Christmas decorations were off the chain.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, loved it.

SPEAKER_02

Um, I I enjoyed the story. You know, I mean, okay, you're gonna say it's it's a Hallmark formula or a rom-com formula, right? Right. That we're used to seeing, but sometimes they just work and you want the light, the fun, the funny, you know, the super cute. And yeah, you're gonna know you kind of know how it ends, right? But yeah, how it's gonna end probably you think so. Um, but I just really enjoyed it. I I thought it was great, and the authenticity of the real snow, you can tell the crunch. I mean, you can tell the difference. You can tell the cold, you know, that it is freezing. You can see their breath as they're talking. Um, you know, we just love Vanessa and Marcus. And like I said, I thought Skywalker was adorable in this one.

SPEAKER_00

She was.

SPEAKER_02

Um, I thought she was, you know, and the supporting cast was great. So I I just I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, well, that's good.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. What about you?

SPEAKER_00

Um, I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_02

That's good. You said that's good. I'm glad you did it.

SPEAKER_00

I enjoyed it too. Again, like you said, I I love the the music because when it was, and I'll just give you a quick scene when the lights go off. Um, you you get this real serious music, but then the lights go off, and then you get like these violins. It's like ding, ding, ding, ding, you know, kind of silly music.

SPEAKER_02

The music was a little, yeah. For me, a little bit, you know, I like it a little less quirky.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. It worked. I mean, that's what this movie was. It was fun, it was playful. You know, they got to play in the snow, the br the breath you got to see. I mean, they look cold. There were some scenes where it was like, hmm, I bet you they had people standing by to wrap them up in some blankets because they look a little bit free. I don't like the cold. I don't like really.

SPEAKER_02

Oh gosh, I know, I know. I don't either.

SPEAKER_00

Is the wind. But yeah, no, I really I you know, I enjoyed it. I thought it was fun, it kept me engaged, you know. So, yes. And I thought the acting was good. Yeah, and I like the dry humor. The dry humor. Yes, and she is so good. Yeah. And Skywalker Hughes, congratulations.

SPEAKER_02

I thought you did a really good job. She's so good. And you know, I just I liked the um, and we'll probably get into this in cheers, but just, you know, it's a story about you know, analog versus the digital age, right? Like we're like we're bringing, you know, people who are I I wouldn't say stuck, just like the the classics. I mean, there's a difference in sound of a vinyl versus on a streaming music platform, right? Yeah, so it's so it it kind of doesn't play on that, but it definitely, you know, another another version of you can modernize and still sort of keep some things classic, right? Yeah, like Marcus's character Trey literally has like a Walkman there, right?

SPEAKER_00

I mean, that that was such a good um, you know, prop. I thought I mean you haven't seen a Walkman in a minute.

SPEAKER_02

I know.

SPEAKER_00

And those little those headphones, I remember them.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

There was like no padding.

SPEAKER_02

So I didn't have like a cassette, I guess. I don't even know what how he was okay. A cassette.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I mean, I just thought the play on all of that was cute. The funny thing was, is he was an IT tech, right? So was he really? Did that come out? That's what um Lily said. Wasn't it? Is that her character name?

SPEAKER_02

I was she being sarcastic.

SPEAKER_00

I you know, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, I thought maybe she's okay. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00

I don't know, but it was funny. I glossed over there. So anyhow.

The Meet-Cute Hot Chocolate Spill

SPEAKER_02

All right, so let's get into some favorite scenes.

SPEAKER_00

Um no, we're gonna unwrap Mary Mikute.

SPEAKER_02

We are gonna unwrap the Mary Mikute. You're right. I'm sorry. I jump usually it's you that jumps ahead. I jumped ahead. All right, so what did you think? All right, so Cassidy, Cassidy Evergreen. Um she's she's just checked into the lodge because she is there to assess the property, and she's had this great, cute little conversation with um what is Skywalker's character's name, which is totally Lily. Thank you. Sorry, I don't know, for a minute. So so Lily is the one who checks her in, and Lily's like, you know, 12 or whatever. So they have a great little conversation, and so you know, she gets some hot chocolate and she is Cassidy's drinking the hot chocolate, she's backing away from the the desk, the re the receptionist desk. And at the same time, is do the lights flicker at the same time? She's not flicker, yeah. She's backing up, and so is Trey. He's kind of looking up and seeing what's going on. They back into each other, right? Right. And then she spills her hot chocolate, of course. You know. So they have to clean it up. He offers to help her, and she's like, Okay, I'll let you do your job, you know. And he she doesn't know yet that he's what one of the owners or you know, his father-in-law. She thinks he's the bellhop. Yeah, and she doesn't know who he is. So, you know, and she talks about the computer system a little bit, nudges him a little bit about that. On their walk to the cabin, he he decides, you know, she she thinks he's the bellhop, so he's taking her luggage. He's offered to take her luggage just to be a nice person, yeah, but she thinks he's an an you know an employee of the hotel. And so they're walking and she's kind of sort of bashing the computer system, not knowing that he's one of the owners. And they get to her cabin and just when they walk in, I love the way it was shot where they come in the door and there's like this long hallway. I know, and the camera kind of backs up as they I thought that was pretty cool. It was and then they get into the cabin, it's just really cute, really cozy. Um, she offers him a tip, you know, and he's like, the boss doesn't allow tips. And what does she say? Well, the boss isn't here, ha ha. You know, she's gonna give him some cash, and so and then he leaves. So I that's that's the Mary Meat cute, as it were.

SPEAKER_00

It was cute. It was cute. Yes. So what would you give it?

SPEAKER_02

Um, so we have Mary and Bright. Ho ho no, or what is the middle one? Why am I drawing a blank? Why am I drawing a blank? Oh my gosh. Okay, Mary and Bright, Snow Much Potential or Ho ho no. I am so sorry.

SPEAKER_00

That's okay. I gotta copy that.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

So what would you give it? I'm gonna go with Snow Much Potential. I I thought it was cute. I didn't think it was, you know, um Mary and Bright.

SPEAKER_02

Totally original, totally original or something like that.

SPEAKER_00

But I thought it worked and it was cute and the way they kind of got in each other's way when they were cleaning up the mess. I thought that was a cute exchange. So yeah. That's what I'll go with.

SPEAKER_02

I would agree. I I would agree. So much potential. I thought it was cute. I thought it worked, you know, it was you know, it's one of those that just like we keep going back to just a fun element of the movie. It, you know, it wasn't totally original, of course, but it's hard to come up with, you know, an original one. Um but I I thought it worked. It was uh yeah, I enjoyed it. So I would go Snow Much Potential.

SPEAKER_00

There we go. Two Snow Much Potentials.

Favorite Scenes And Fun Details

SPEAKER_02

All right, so let's get into some favorite scenes. Let's talk about a couple.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

What you want? What you go first, what you got?

SPEAKER_00

Um, mine was again when Cassid checks into the hotel. I thought the conversation between her and Lily was really cute because she was like, Aren't you a little young to be checking people in? And isn't it always the case when you have a mom and pop um shop that the kids are like either manning the register or you know, getting helping out for people, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Right.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, so don't take them for granted. They know how they know how to do this. They know how to do it, and she's helping her dad. So I thought that was really cute. And the the fact that um Cassidy was giving her some pointers about, hey, you know, if you put the hot chocolate out here, because you know, Lily was like, and what's your name? And she's like Cassidy, and she wrote Cassidy on a mug with hot chocolate. And that's when Cassidy goes, you know, if you put that out here with their names already on it, when they check in, it's kind of a cool thing. And Lily agreed with it, you know.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So I thought that was just really, really cute. So what was one of yours?

SPEAKER_02

Um, like right out of the gate. So Cassidy is talking to her mom. And I I love, I kind of love how we found that out too. Cassidy is talking to her boss at the beginning, and they're walking. And I mean, this is within the first few minutes, so this isn't a super big spoiler, but you know. Um, so they're walking, and you think it, you kind of think it's just her boss for a little bit, and you're kind of like, well, they're kind of saying some personal thing. And then finally you find out that it is her mom that she's talking to, and Cassidy wants to move up. And um basically they come to the agreement Cassidy's gonna go check out this lodge. You know, there's some things that happened before that, but um, and her mom is like, because Cassidy's like, where is it? Cavo, you know, she's all excited because she thinks she gets to go to warm weather places because she hates cold and the snow and stuff. So her mom's like, Well, it's a ski lodge in a quaint town called Richford. And she's like, A ski lodge, did you say? That's Vanessa Lundies is so cute in that is so good at that. She's like, I hate the cold and I don't ski, you know. And it just, I just thought that that was so cute. Isn't it? And just such a really, you know, just cute introduction to her character. You get to know a lot about her in that scene, you know, what she wants to do, the things she wants to do with the company, um, and that she really doesn't like the cold and she's ready to go spend Christmas, you know, in the Bahamas or wherever they were supposed to go.

SPEAKER_00

Right. So Yeah, that was a that was a good scene.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, another one of mine is when she's she's always lurking around in the lounge. And and after she, you know, gets settled in and before she finds out that. Trey is actually a kill co-owner. She's kind of lurking around and she's listening to you know this the staff talk about the lights constantly going out. And then she finds out that Trey is a a co-owner and she kind of has that look like, oh, you know, and she kind of does that uh uh Simpson's uh Homer Simpson move into the bush where he kind of just oh where he goes back, yeah. She kind of does that in the hallway. She's like, oh and then there's a scene where um I think it's Sam, his father-in-law, is is talking to Trey at the front desk about you know selling the place, and she's sitting in a chair and she's kind of like listen trying to listen, you know how you try to listen from afar.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you try to listen to the case. Really cute.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I agree.

SPEAKER_00

What was another one of yours?

SPEAKER_02

Um, I really like um the moments between Cassidy and Trey. They had really fun moments in this movie. There's like, you know, there's some um what is it, snow tubing, right? That they do, and and there's some skiing in it, obviously. Um, but and so the the snow the the tubing was was cute and really fun. But I really liked the softer moments between them. Like you really get there's a a point where they're both in a restaurant and they and they talk about how they each want to give their guests personalized experiences, right? You know, and then he realizes they have more in common than what he thought, you know, because she's this big business person coming in. And it's not even her company that's buying it. I mean, they're just coming in. So, so that angle of the story was different, I thought. Right. Yeah, they're just coming in to give an assessment of the property to see if they're gonna get what fair market value for it, I think is the way I understood it. So they're not the big company coming in to take it over.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_02

So I guess in that respect, and I hadn't really talked that through my brain until just now, it was a little bit different, right? So she's not there to take it, she's there to to help a little bit, you know, to get them as much money as possible. Right, right. But anyway, so when they're in this restaurant, they're looking at a binder and they have this really great conversation, but then she's kind of he's got this big binder, right? And it kind of goes into this funny moment where she's like, What you got there? You know, he's got this binder and he gives it to her, you know, and she's like, you know, I could organize this, you know. She's trying to help. And what cracked me up was he's like, Well, I mean, if you want to add a table of contents, now this binder is not organized at all. At all. And he just thinks she means like a table of contents. That was really funny to me. That was so they have this like soft moment and then they go into this binder, you know, which I thought was really funny. Which there was a binder in last week's movie, too.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, little Christmas market. So yeah. Big on binders, those big on binders. Yeah. So that would be it. And then it just anytime they had sort of their softer moments in those discussions. I think there's another one in like the ski shop. Right. You know, where they're there. So and she, you know, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

What about you?

SPEAKER_00

Those would cute. Um, I thought another funny scene was, you know, they they every year they have this uh Christmas festival and they release lanterns. And Trey was so excited to show Cassidy the spot the epicenter of Christmas restaurants. Right. So you're thinking, okay, this thing's decorated. It's gonna be so cool. And then they get out there and the look on Cassidy's face, she's like, Oh, you know, she's like she's like, Where are the decorations?

SPEAKER_02

There's literally nothing there. It's snow and the little benches, and he's like, Look, this is the epicenter, and he's so excited. And she looks, she's got this like she's got this like big hood on, right? She's got this, you know, this cool coat, but it's one of those ginormous hoods because it's freezing there, right? And so the way she looks around and her whole body kind of moves because she's got to move her whole body because the hood is blocking her vision. And it's just she is so funny to me. She's so good. And we both cracked up during that.

SPEAKER_00

And then she asked where where the decorations were, and he said, Oh, you know, they're in the storage room. So they go there, and I I love this because it you don't see it too often, but she he hands her this huge ball of tangled lights.

SPEAKER_02

Don't we all have something like that?

SPEAKER_00

And I think she said, Um boxes, you know, you can untangle this, and then within seconds, she's like all tangled in them and everything, and just uh the her expressions and her timing of what she's saying was so good.

SPEAKER_02

Well, and even what she because he turns around and she goes, Oh, she just made a mess of it. It's uh it is, it's actually kind of cute.

SPEAKER_00

Oh man, all right.

SPEAKER_02

I'll bring that up a little bit later in something else, but yeah, so yeah, I'm glad you brought up the epicenter of the Christmas fest because I thought that was so funny. So um, there's a shot when you're talking about the decorations. I'm just gonna mention this, and they're they're they're carrying the decorations, they're kind of I think outdoors, but in a covered area. I mean I don't know, they're carrying the decoration, and there's a nighttime shot.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02

And you can see the ski slope just beyond the decorated cabins. It's a beautiful shot. We were both like, I want to go there. I want to go to those cabins, I want to do that. I don't want to ski because I will probably, you know, break some bones. But I would love to go and be in the cabin and drink some wine.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, because that would be you and me sitting in the lodge, waiting for whoever we were with skiing to come down the slope and join us because I'm not getting on the slope.

SPEAKER_02

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00

Maybe the kitty hill or slope, but I'm not getting on the adult one. Just not doing it. I'm not doing it.

SPEAKER_02

Not doing it. Did you have any other favorite scenes?

SPEAKER_00

Um, yeah, my last favorite scene was the Christmas tree made out of the snowshoes. Yeah, I thought that was so cool. That was something different. You know, yeah, I was gonna say in a Hallmark movie, it was different.

SPEAKER_02

Now, I I will say the snowshoes, I know there's only so much you can do, but it was kind of like just throw a bow on it and put it on the tree.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, but they decorated.

SPEAKER_02

I mean, some of them were a little bit, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, they had bows, they had um what do you call those cones, pine cones, and yeah, garland and stuff. And then they used them as the branches for the tree.

SPEAKER_02

And I just yeah, I thought that that was that was a unique thing. I wonder if people really do that. I thought that that was a cool take. Yeah, I don't think we've ever have we ever seen that thing. It is? Did you look it up? I looked it up. Oh, where you decorate a snow. Mm-hmm. You have a snowshoe tree. Yeah. Oh, that's cool. They actually have to decorate them. Of course, it's not like we're very wintery snow skiing people, so I wouldn't know them.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

But yeah, that's that's cool. Yeah. I really loved the the lantern release. I I always think that it was beautifully shot, it was beautifully done where you make a wish and then um, you know, release the lanterns. And you know, I know there are things where people are like, when the lanterns go, I get it, you know, the environment part of it, but it still was beautiful.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, well, you're in snow, you're in.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it was, it was, it was just it was really beautiful. It was really well done. Yeah, I felt like that that was scene was beautiful. I really um, you know, we gotta talk about when Lily and Trey are inside the ski shop, and um Cassidy is outside with her mom. And Lily and Trey are having a conversation, and Cassidy's out talking with her mom, and Lily's basically like, I know you like her, come on. And he's like, What? And she's like, What is this? And she's kind of pointing to both of them. That was one of the best scenes.

SPEAKER_00

That was so cute.

SPEAKER_02

She was so cute. What is this? Trey trying to be all. You know, and she's totally for it, you know, of course.

SPEAKER_00

But yeah, that was so cute.

SPEAKER_02

She was so cute in that she's uh she was adorable in this film. Yeah, she was. I I really liked her as well.

SPEAKER_00

Oh man.

SPEAKER_02

All right.

Chemistry Uncorked Estate Or Grand

SPEAKER_02

So let's just for favorite scenes for you, you said okay.

SPEAKER_00

All right, so let's go into chemistry uncorked.

SPEAKER_02

All right, one of our newest segments where we talk about the chemistry between Cassidy and Trey, what we thought. So, what bottle are we uncorking? Are we uncorking a house wine where it was sort of forgettable or lacking chemistry? Are we uncorking an estate wine, which is, you know, warm chemistry works for the movie, or grand reserve, which is fire chemistry or electric. So what do you think? Chemistry uncorked.

SPEAKER_00

Um, you know what are we uncorking? I I I thought their chemistry was good. Um, it definitely took a minute for it to show up. Um so I'm probably gonna go middle of the road with this one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Estate. Did you forget already? I did, I forgot.

SPEAKER_00

I forgot to write them down.

SPEAKER_02

Which is the middle.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I'm gonna go with this. I thought it I thought it was good. Yes, um, but I wanted more of it.

SPEAKER_02

I agree. I I would I would uncork an estate bottle as well, but we'd still have two bottles of wine, right?

SPEAKER_00

That's right.

SPEAKER_02

I thought it was I thought it was good. I thought they they got along, you know. You uh to me it was just more of like a you know, a friendship that was building into a a romance. So you you know, and then by the end, of course, you know.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_02

Lack is, but you know. Um so I thought it was building, I thought it was cute, I thought it worked. Yeah, I I too would be an estate wine.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. So we agree on that too. Yes. All right, so let's go into cheers.

Wait What Cheers Jeers And Ratings

SPEAKER_02

How about wait what?

SPEAKER_00

Did you have any wait what's the wait what's um just the whole power thing going on and off? Oh, you thought it was I don't know if if it needed to be in there or not, but you have this big old resort company coming in next door, and apparently they were sucking up all the energy, which caused um Trey's Lodge to lose power every once in a while. And they asked the power company what was going on and they weren't sure.

SPEAKER_02

So you don't believe that a power company wouldn't know that there's more energy.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, but you know, companies aren't gonna admit it.

SPEAKER_00

No, especially if you have a big company coming in. Yeah, you know, because the big guy always the little guy. But what about you? Did you have a way well?

SPEAKER_02

Um, just the even though it was a cute seeing the untangling of the of the ball of lights, I felt like, you know, I mean, I I get it, it worked for that moment. I'd be like, I mean, she because I mean, I guess once you start to undo it, it will totally come undone. But yeah, I mean, it's the beginning of this. It was, yeah, yeah. It was a little, you know.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah. All right. So let's get into cheers and jeers. Let's talk about cheers first.

SPEAKER_00

What did you have for cheers?

SPEAKER_02

Um, I really just like we said, it's just a fun, light, cozy. I mean, I like I mentioned at the top, I thought the decorations were really cool. Yes. I loved all the outside shots, and you know, I mean, you could be cozy in a big jacket. I I love the authentic look, you know, yeah, of the real snow shooting it in the winter. I thought I think that really adds something to it. And we can really tell.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_02

Like when you watch a movie that was not shot, you know, and you really do notice the difference. And I just thought, I mean, I just thought it was an enjoyable watch. I, you know, we laughed during it, you know. We we don't talk about it during it too much unless there's a part where we're like, oh my god, it was so funny or whatever, you know. But um, and you know, we just don't we you just have a smile on your face when you're watching it, I think. And you just take it for what it is, you know. And um, I just I I I I I enjoyed it. I I liked that you had the parallel stories of Cassidy and Trey. They both want to bring their companies, uh, make their companies more personalized. Right. They want to personalize the experience for their customers more instead of keeping it the status quo. Um I already talked about the decorations. I'm just kind of glancing at my nose. I want to go stay in a cabin. Yeah, I know, right near or around Christmas, you know.

SPEAKER_00

It was really cool.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I mean, I would love to go there and stay as long as, you know, like I said, I would not ski. I might tube though. That looked really fun.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I would probably do some tubing, you know, and I love going back to our interview with Christopher, you know, he said that he loves creating the world that we want to live in.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And I I think it's so true in his films for sure. You know, I mean, I would go there. I mean, you know, and you and I aren't winter people, really. You know, not snow anyway. I mean, we don't, you know. So um, I I would totally go there and live. What about you? What about cheers from you?

SPEAKER_00

Um, just the fact that uh Christopher and his crew utilized the the area, they had great aerial shots. Yeah, like you said, that one shot of the ski slope lit up at night with the um foreground of the lodge. I thought that was a beautiful shot.

SPEAKER_02

You know, um, not to interrupt you, which I just did totally did, but you saying that, and I have to say this or I'll forget the beginning shot of Trey, where he's outside, he's drinking a cup of maybe coffee, maybe hot chocolate, but he's looking outwards, and the trees behind him have ornaments, and it just sets the stage for them, and that's pretty much towards the beginning.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_02

But that kind of goes along with what you're talking about, the shots. Okay, go ahead. Sorry.

SPEAKER_00

And then the whole tubing scene, I really enjoyed that because I, you know, you all are when you first go down something like that and you and you never have before, you're kind of hesitant and scared. And I thought Vanessa did this so well. Yes, because it really looked legit that she was scared. And when she got down to the end, and Trey was like, What do you want to do?

SPEAKER_02

She's like, Let's go again, let's do it again.

SPEAKER_00

Like, look at that whole scene look, you know, um authentic. And yeah, and Trey, um, Marcus, he looked like he was having a blast. He was running and in Superman and on it, and just going down on his stomach. And I just thought that was like a really cool and fun scene. And um, just just the decorations and the cold and the snow and the breath.

SPEAKER_02

Um it just puts you in that moment in that holiday feel, right? Like the all the holiday feels. I know, yeah. And Skywalker Hughes, we've talked about her as Lily. She's so cute in it, so good. She's so great in the new little house in the prairie. Go check that out. Um, I love that they brought up snowpants. I haven't had snowpants since I was probably 12. You know, I grew up near Chicago, so I did my fair share of tubing and sledding and all of that because we got a lot of snow there. Yeah, but I was, I was the she brought up because over I think um her character Cassidy is like, I need to order snowpants, like right at the beginning. And I was like, Oh, I haven't thought about that in like forever, you know. I remember getting them on. Oh my gosh, yes, the memories that flooded back after that. And then, like I mentioned, you know, all the softer moments between Trey and Cassidy. I thought I thought were great. Any other cheers from you?

SPEAKER_00

Nope.

SPEAKER_02

All right. What about jeers?

SPEAKER_00

Other than the lights, I didn't have any going on and off.

SPEAKER_02

I um, and these are just commentaries. Um, where was the Christmas fest? Did we ever see it? Yeah, it was it was well they we saw the lanterns, but I'm like, was there like an actual festival that I met?

SPEAKER_00

Like, did we build that up and we didn't really well it was kind of like they had the hundredth shoe decorations? Yeah, or I guess when the mayor was talking, maybe the mayor was talking, and Cassidy. I thought that her speech was very nice.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, and then the lantern releasing of the lantern Cassidy's speech. Oh, I mean, I'm sorry, Lily's speech.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, Lily's speech, right? When they called Lily up. Yeah, I was like, I expected more, I think.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02

I think you're yeah, that would be one. And then the I would I would have liked to have seen a little bit more of the secondary romance between um Trey's father-in-law and Cassidy's mom. They kind of built that a little bit, and there was just enough there to like, you know, pique your curiosity, but I would like to have seen a little bit more there, you know.

SPEAKER_00

But and and just I guess I guess another year would have been um the what was it, Dave, the guy who was buying, wanted to buy the lodge. Um the the last scene where the mayor agreed to uh Cassidy's proposal. Um he walked away and he was like, This isn't over, I'll be right back. And I'm kind of like, it is over.

SPEAKER_01

It's what do you mean?

SPEAKER_00

Why are you coming back? You come back for the festival, but that's okay, but it's done. But yeah, other than that, I was good.

SPEAKER_02

All right, so what was your tinsel topped moment?

SPEAKER_00

Um I just liked the whole the whole lantern scene. I thought that was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

The fact that it was done, you know, for real. They they really did it. I thought that added to the movie.

SPEAKER_02

To the movie.

SPEAKER_00

What about you?

SPEAKER_02

Gosh, I don't I loved um for different reasons. Like I loved, I guess, yeah, I would probably pick the tinsel. I mean, there's a few that stand out, you know, in my brain. And I'm like, I would I would probably pick Yeah, the lantern scene. I thought that was great. I loved the restaurant, the little restaurant scene between Trey and Cassidy. Right. Just because that went into the binder. It was like a soft moment, then it went into the funny binder moment. I just thought it was well shot and well done. And yeah, so I thought they had some pretty pretty good moments.

SPEAKER_00

All right, so let's get to our ornaments. At five ornaments, how many are you gonna hang on their snowshoe tree?

SPEAKER_02

On their how many snowshoe ornaments are we hanging out of five. This is a little bit of a tough one. I would probably say, um I need to start writing these down because I'm in between like a like I would probably say like a 3.75. I mean, I I enjoyed it. I thought it was I thought it was good, you know. I thought it was just a fun, light Christmas movie that you can watch and get all the all the decor decoration vibes, you know, all the cozy vibes from it. Christmas vibes. Yeah, all the Christmas vibes. What about you?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I I too gave it a 375. 375. I enjoyed it. I thought the acting was good. I thought the scenery was good. So a 375 and the shots. You talked about the shots you liked. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, yeah, it fits on for sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Sure. And so that's mine.

SPEAKER_02

All right.

SPEAKER_00

So is that a wrap?

SPEAKER_02

That's a wrap.

Wrap Up And Listener Callouts

SPEAKER_00

All right. Well, thank you for listening. And if you want to help Halmark fans find our podcast, you can do so by giving us a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. Or if you want to watch us and listen to us over on YouTube, we're at Pour the Wine, it's rompcom time. Don't forget to hit the bell or the subscribe button so you don't miss our episodes.

SPEAKER_02

Or you can send us an email to pour the wine and rompcom time at gmail.com. Make sure you follow us on Instagram and TikTok so you don't miss a thing. Until next time. Cheers.