Hallmark Christmas movies are getting inclusive

[CellarDweller]

Well plus, how dare he take one of the few roles that could go to straight actors. They have enough trouble getting cast as it is without cultural appropriation.

I remember when Rupert Everett came out and was told his career was ruined because he'd always be cast as gay men and he said that was fine with him because "we're not, contrary to popular belief, all alike." I thought that was a cool answer, but years later I believe I heard that he now felt his career was ruined.

You are correct on that.


Rupert Everett: being gay stifled my career

Hannah Jane Parkinson - Fri 4 Jul 2014


The actor Rupert Everett has re-stated his belief that being gay stifled his acting career, telling the Daily Telegraph "there’s only a certain amount of mileage you can make, as a young pretender, as a leading man, as a homosexual. There just isn’t very far you can go”.

The My Best Friend Wedding's star, promoting his be appearance in Peter Schaffer's Amadeus in Chichester, said: "You can only understand the disaster of your own case yourself. You can’t ever expect the world to see everything about yourself in the way that you do – certainly in terms of conducting a career as a homosexual in show business. Not so much now, maybe, because I’m older. It’s not such a threatening problem. But all through my career it was a huge issue."

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jul/04/being-gay-was-a-huge-issue-in-my-career-says-rupert-everett-gay-actors-closet

[CellarDweller]

One of Hallmark Network's new holiday movies this year features a gay couple at the center of the story.

In prior years, Hallmark Network aired a pair of holiday movies, The Christmas House (2020), and the sequel in 2021, The Christmas House 2:  Deck Those Halls.  Both movies featured a gay couple, but in these movies they were not the center of the story, and were already a married couple who happened to be looking to adopt.

This year,  Hallmark Network is giving us the first movie to show a gay couple that is following the usual plot of a holiday movie, a couple meeting and falling in love.

On Sunday, they will air The Holiday Sitter.   This movie stars Jonathan Bennett as Sam.   Sam is about to leave for a Hawaiian vacation, when he receives a call from his sister and brother-in-law who have to leave town, and need him to watch their two children.

Sam is not good with kids, and he finds a helping hand in next-door neighbor Jason, played by George Krissa.  Of course, sparks fly between Sam and Jason.

The Holiday Sitter airs this Sunday, December 11th at 8:00 Eastern.

[CellarDweller]

[Front-Ranger]

Thanks! I'll watch for it!

[CellarDweller]

A Christmas To Treasure

Taylor Frey and Kyle Dean Massey are donning their gay apparel! The beautiful couple is bringing more LGBTQ+ representation and love into everyone's homes on their new film A Christmas to Treasure. As the third Lifetime holiday movie centering on a gay holiday romance, the couple is beyond excited to showcase their love on screen. "It's been a bit of a hot topic issue in the last couple weeks. Any type of queer representation in holiday movies is apparently not allowed, so the fact that we have this movie coming out... I'm so proud of it. I want everyone to watch it," Massey tells Out. A Christmas to Treasure follows a group of friends as they reunite for one final hometown holiday treasure hunt. As the search unfolds and fond childhood memories are relived, sparks fly once again between Frey and Massey's characters. "It's a love story. It's a classic holiday love story. What's really exciting about this one is coming out and all of those things aren't at the forefront. This is a normal relationship. It's pretty true to our personalities and the roles were kind of written for us," Frey adds. You can see A Christmas to Treasure on the Lifetime network, on Dec. 20th at 6:00pm Eastern, and again on Christmas Day at 10:00pm Eastern. A Christmas To Treasure

[southendmd]

I love Kyle Dean!

[CellarDweller]

Hallmark Channel Has Two Queer Christmas Movies Coming Out This Year

By - Mey Rude - September 21 2023

Jonathan Bennett and Vincent Rodriguez III are fast becoming icons of the queer Christmas content!

Bennett, who starred in the network?s first holiday film to feature an LGBTQ+ storyline (The Christmas House) and first LGBTQ+-led Christmas film (The Holiday Sitter), and Vincent Rodriguez III, who stars in the Prime Video holiday-themed series With Love, are teaming up to play the latest gay couple in a Hallmark Christmas movie.

Also starring Catherin Bell, John Brotherton, Erin Cahill, and James Denton, Christmas on Cherry Lane sees three stories intertwining: a young couple preparing for their first child, an empty nester and her fiance ready to start a new chapter in life, and a couple (Bennett and Rodriguez III) ?who unexpectedly have the chance to expand their family on Christmas Eve.?

For queer women, Hallmark also has an all-new lesbian romantic comedy coming out this Christmas.

Friends & Family Christmas sees queer Canadian actor Ali Liebert and queer Ginny & Georgia star Humberly Gonzalez taking part in the beloved ?fake dating? trope.

?Daniella (Gonzalez) has recently moved to New York to pursue an art career and decides to stay in town to share the holidays with her circle of artist friends, instead of going home to see her sweet, if overbearing parents,? the description reads. ?Amelia (Liebert) is a talented entertainment lawyer trying to stay focused on her work after a broken engagement.?

https://www.out.com/film/hallmark-gay-christmas-movies-2023

[southendmd]

No Luke McFarlane?

[Front-Ranger]

Truman posted  this today.

[CellarDweller]

I can remember just a few years ago, watching Hallmark Christmas movies, and thinking I would really enjoy seeing one with a gay storyline.

Well, now we've got 'em!

2020 seemed to be a breakthrough year, when we got "The Christmas House", "The Christmas Set-Up" and "Dashing In December".

Since then, a number of Christmas movies have been released that feature LGBTQ stories/characters.  Sometimes they're the main stories, sometimes a side story.

I can't vouch for how good these movies are, I haven't seen them all.  I'm sure they're not Shakespeare, but they could be good fun and "feel good movies" for the holidays.


Christmas on Cherry Lane - The trials and tribulations on three Christmas Eves twenty-five years apart of the owners of the house at 7 Cherry Lane are presented. 1973. It's day two of John and Lizzie Hamilton, eight and half months pregnant with their first child, living at the house. Not yet having unpacked anything, they just want a quiet first Christmas in the house together.  1998. Widowed Regina Johnston has made the decision to accept the marriage proposal of her boyfriend of one year, Nelson King, sell the house and move to Florida.  2023. Same-sex couple Mike and Zian Harrelson are spending their first Christmas together in the house by hosting a small Christmas Eve dinner with friends. While the three families inhabiting the house are different in these three Christmas Eves, other ties between them beyond the house itself are shown.  (Streaming on Hallmark +)

The Holiday Sitter - Sam babysits his niece and nephew before the holidays, and when he recruits help from their handsome neighbor Jason, he finds himself in an unexpected romance.  (Streaming on Hallmark +)

The Christmas House - Bill and Phylis Mitchell have been married for many years. They invite their two adult sons, Mike (single) and Brandon (and his husband Jake) to stay with them for the two weeks leading up to Christmas, to revisit an old family tradition. They will transform the family house into "the Christmas house", with the entire home, inside and out, extensively decorated for Christmas.  (Streaming on Hallmark +)

The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls ? The Mitchell Family reunites in this sequel, where brothers Mike and Brandon find themselves on a realty TV show about which brother can create the better ?Christmas House?.  (Streaming on Hallmark +)

Friends & Family Christmas - Overwhelmed by Christmas events and a surprise visit from her parents, photographer Dani asks lawyer Amelia for help. Pretending to date is the perfect solution -- until real feelings develop.  (Streaming on Hallmark +)

Single All the Way - Desperate to avoid his family's judgment about his perpetual single status, Peter convinces his best friend Nick to join him for the holidays and pretend that they're now in a relationship.  (Streaming on Netflix)

Dashing in December - After Wyatt finally comes home for the holidays to try to convince his mother to sell the family's Colorado ranch, he finds romance with Heath, the dashing new ranch hand who dreams of saving the property and its magical Winter Wonderland attraction.  (Streaming on Amazon Prime Video)

Under the Christmas Tree - Maine Governor's office employee Charlie Fremont seeks the perfect tree for the state's holiday celebration and finds it on the property of Alma Beltran, the owner of a struggling Christmas business. Despite initial friction over the tree, romantic sparks fly between Charlie and Alma, leading to a blossoming relationship intertwined with the future of Alma's family business and the annual tree-lighting event.  (Streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime Video)

Christmas at the Ranch - Sparks fly between a woman and a female ranch-hand when she returns home to Nashville, Tenn., to try and save her family's land from the bank.  (Streaming on Tubi and Amazon Prime Video)

Carol - Christmastime, New York, 1952. Surrounded by New York's cold winter and strict social norms, bright-eyed aspiring photographer Therese Belivet crosses paths with elegant mother-of-one Carol Aird: a charming, sad-eyed woman going through a difficult divorce. Against all odds, Carol and Therese embark on a forbidden affair as their undisguised interest grows into profound affection.   (Streaming on HBO Max, Hulu, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video)

Let It Snow - A snowstorm hits a small midwestern town on Christmas Eve, bringing together a group of high school students. They soon find their friendships and love lives colliding, and Christmas morning, nothing will be the same.   This tale of three entwined stories features a lesbian story that takes place at the Waffle Town diner. (Streaming on Netflix)

Tangerine - Transgender sex worker Sin-Dee Rella, who has just finished a 28-day jail sentence, meets her friend Alexandra, another trans sex worker, at a donut shop in Hollywood on Christmas Eve. Alexandra reveals that Sin-Dee's boyfriend and pimp Chester has been cheating on her with a cisgender woman. Sin-Dee storms out to search the neighborhood for Chester and the woman. (Streaming on Peacock, Hulu, Roku, Amazon Prime Video, Apple, Netflix)

The Unattainably Perfect Gay Christmas ? (original title ?Red Lodge?) A man proposes to his boyfriend. The offer of marriage is accepted, and then quickly rejected -- all in the days leading up to Christmas.  (Streaming on Amazon Prime Video)

Christmas on the Farm ? Poppy Montgomery plays Emmy, a New York writer who lands a potential book deal when she passes off her Australian mother?s journals about Christmas on their farm as her own. Things get tricky when the publishing house wants to visit Emmy?s farm for an authentic Christmas experience.  Emmy?s gay cousin David gets brought into the fold alongside his husband Miles and chaos ensues.  (Streaming on Netflix, Peacock)

Happiest Season - Meeting your girlfriend's family for the first time can be tough. Planning to propose at her family's annual Christmas dinner--until you realize that they don't even know that she's gay--is even harder. When Abby learns that Harper has kept their relationship a secret from her family, she begins to question the girlfriend she thought she knew.  (Streaming on Hulu, Disney +)

The Christmas Setup - New York lawyer Hugo returns home to Milwaukee for the holidays and is set up by his matchmaking mother with his high school crush, Patrick.  (Streaming on Roku, Fandango, Amazon Prime Video)

Season of Love - A queer lady holiday romantic comedy that follows the lives of three very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set right before Christmas through New Years.  (Streaming on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video)

Looking for Her - Taylor is headed home for the holidays and her family is finally ready to meet her girlfriend Jess--but Jess isn't her girlfriend anymore.  (Streaming on Tubi, Roku, Fandango, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video)

The Holiday Exchange - Wilde must cope with vacationing as a bachelor, so he decides to swap houses on an LGBTQ app with Oliver. In their efforts to escape their woes, they end up meeting two locals who set romance on fire from LA to the charming town of Brilfax.  (Streaming on Tubi, Roku, Amazon Prime Video)

Make the Yuletide Gay - Olaf `Gunn' Gunnunderson, an out-and-proud gay student, locks himself back in the closet to survive the holidays with his parents. But when his boyfriend Nathan shows up unannounced, Gunn must put on a charade to keep the relationship a secret.  (Streaming on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video)

Scrooge & Marley - film adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, which is retold from a gay perspective  (Streaming on Tubi, Fandango, Amazon Prime Video)

A Holiday I Do - When a single mom and country girl falls for her ex-husband's beautiful and sophisticated wedding planner, she'll need some Christmas magic to fix the chaos  (Streaming on Fandango, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video)

Shared Rooms - A romantic comedy feature film that brings together three interrelated tales of gay men seeking family, love and sex during the holiday season.  (Streaming on Tubi, Roku, Fandango, Amazon Prime Video)

A Christmas to Treasure - The passing of a beloved old neighbor reunites six friends for a hometown holiday treasure hunt, where sparks fly once again between brand strategist Austin and his former best friend Everett.  (Streaming on Fandango, Amazon Prime Video)

City of Trees - A 20-something woman goes back to her hometown for the holidays for the first time in several years and is not only met with people from her past, but she?s forced to deal with unresolved feelings too.  (Streaming on Amazon Prime Video)

The Bitch Who Stole Christmas - A 2021 drag-themed Christmas comedy film featuring RuPaul and twenty RuPaul's Drag Race contestants, among other celebrities.  "In the draggiest Christmas movie ever made, a workaholic big-city fashion journalist is sent to a Christmas-obsessed small town to dig up a story when she finds herself in the middle of cut-throat housewives, a high-stakes "winter ball" competition, and a sinister plot that could destroy Christmas fore-evah!"  (Fandango, Google Play, Amazon Prime Video)

Some of My Best Friends Are... - On Christmas Eve 1971, in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, a group of gay men and lesbians meet at the mob-owned Blue Jay Bar to talk about their lives and relationships (Streaming on Roku, Sling, Amazon Prime Video)

The Syed Family Xmas Eve Game Night - All cards are on the table when a queer, Muslim, South Asian American woman introduces her Latinx partner for the first time at a family game night.  (Streaming on Just Watch)

A Jenkins Family Christmas - After burying their father earlier in the year, two sisters attempt to carry on his Christmas traditions without strangling each other. When an unknown half-sister arrives at the family festivities, more than just Christmas presents are exchanged.  (Streaming on BET +, Roku, Sling, Apple TV, Fandango, Amazon Prime Video)

Walk a Mile in My Pradas - A magic Christmas ornament turns two men's lives upside down when homophobic Tony starts preferring men two weeks before his wedding and his gay co-worker Steve finds himself blossoming into a ladies' man.  (Streaming on Roku, Tubi, Amazon Prime Video)

The Perfect Wedding - Home for the Christmas holiday, a gay man starts falling for his ex-boyfriend's lover, not knowing that the relationship is a mere pretense.  (Streaming on Roku, Apple TV, Fandango, Amazon Prime Video)

Tokyo Godfathers  (animated)  - Middle-aged alcoholic Gin, teenage runaway Miyuki, and former drag queen Hana are a trio of homeless people surviving as a makeshift family on the streets of Tokyo. While rummaging in the trash for food on Christmas Eve, they stumble upon an abandoned newborn baby in a trash bin. With only a handful of clues to the baby's identity, the three misfits search the streets of Tokyo for help in returning the baby to its parents.  (Streaming on Tubi, Roku, Apple TV)