December 3, 2025 • 23 mins
Strap on your snowshoes and pack a little emotional baggage, because An Alpine Holiday gives us exactly what we crave in a Christmas adventure: breathtaking French Alps scenery, festive nostalgia, and just enough sibling strife to keep things spicy. Faith and Kelly - estranged sisters with matching stubborn streaks - reunite to retrace their grandfather’s first magical trip to the mountains. Between frosty feelings, thawing hearts, and a very charming guide named Frederic, this one brings the holiday vibes and the family fireworks.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Maybe like they need to invite us out. Let's get together, guys.
This is a bramble Jam podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Welcome to Girls Gone Hallmark, a Hallmark review podcast. I'm
Megan and I am a longtime Hallmark han.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
I'm Wendy, I'm a former Hallmark hater.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Today on Girls Gon Hamark, we are discussing an Alpine
Holiday which originally aired on Saturday, November twenty ninth and
is currently available to stream on Hallmark Plus. We invite
you to check out our website, Girls Onhollmark dot Com.
There you are going to find our latest gift guides
for the Hallmark fan in your life. You are going
to find at the top of the page a shop
(00:59):
tab which will link you to our shop where we
have the cutest holiday merch. Get yourself a main character
energy sweatshirt or an I Believe in meet cutes mug
adam to your Christmas list. And we also all of
our detailed show notes as well as tons of additional
content are there over on Girls Gonehallmark dot com.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Hey, we'd love for you to give us a follow
on Instagram, on Threads in Blue Sky on Facebook. We
are at Girls Cone Hallmark virtually everywhere everywhere. A grandmother's
last wish brings two strange sisters, Faith and Kelly back
together to travel to the French Alps for Christmas to
recreate her first trip there with their grandfather. Facing all
(01:45):
the challenges and wonder this unique holiday adventure brings, they
learn to cherish their sisterhood above all.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Luzy guests directed in Alpine Holiday. Lucy also directed Christmas
at the Catnip Cafe, which also aired this weekend, as
well as the Providence Falls series and last year's The
Santa Class Twofer A Twofer Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Blaine Chiapetta wrote the script for an Alpine Holiday. This
appears to be Blaine's first Hallmark script, although his previous
credits include many Hallmark adjacent titles.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Ashley Williams stars as sister Faith. This also marks ash
This marks Ashley's eighty ninth acting credit. This year, she
also appeared in both To Barcelona Forever and To Barcelona
with Love.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Lacey J. Maylee plays sister Kelly. Since Lacey's run as
Jess on Chesapeake Shore, she has appeared in Betty's Bad
Luck and Love and The Perfect Setting. Who's going to
start a petition to get Lacey featured more frequently on
Hallmark Is It Going to be You? My Good Lindsay
(02:49):
from the East Coast.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Out of the list, Julian Somanni plays Frederick. This is
Julian's first Hallmark movie. However, he has appeared in the
Netflix holiday film Holiday, as well as the series Tiny
Beautiful Things and Shrinking.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Oh yeah, one of your favorites, one of my faiths.
Diana Hardcastle plays Grandma Rebecca. Diana's career has spanned over
forty years and includes the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Shakespeare
and Hathaway, and Belgravia.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Let's take a quick break and come right back with
our first impressions. Hey, Wendy, what is your first impression
of an Alpine Holiday?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I'm scared right now.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
We have not talked about this at all.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Yeah, and before we jumped on, Mike, You're like, I
can't wait to hear your impression of this movie.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Let's hear it.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
I expected cute sister quest, I got emotional accountability.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
My first impression is does Blaine Chiapetta have a sister?
Because these two are written to perfection?
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Right?
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, I absolutely agree with that. Okay,
let's talk about likes. Well, let me start with my
first impression. Please, This sister relationship feels so real to me.
I don't have a sister, so maybe I don't know
what I'm talking about, but to me, it's clear. They
paint the picture that they have a lifelong relationship, that
(04:17):
they have a deep amount of love for each other
even when they're fighting. I saw some negative reviews of
this movie, and I am fired up because I think
people are missing the point. It is at times frustrating
to watch the women communicate with each other because they're
behaving in frustrating ways. However that's intentional. They hate each
(04:41):
other where it hurts, Yeah, because they need someone to
say the hard things. Yeah, humans are flawed. They both
have changes they need to make. They both need to stretch,
and these things are painful to do. Exclamation point, exclamation point,
exclamation point.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
I agree with you. I absolutely agree with you. I'm
fired up to you. I've seen some negative things. I'll
just say that I've seen some negative things. Why, Okay, whatever,
I agree. The sister storyline was fantastic. Faith and Kelly's
arc like it. I have a sister. We have a
very big age gap. Yeah, we don't have this kind
(05:17):
of relationship, like we don't have you grew up bickering
with each other kind of relationship. It got me like
right in the feelings.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Like I it was very well written, and to be honest,
I thought the writer was a female, so same, I'm
shocked how well it was done, you know. I actually
because I was watching and taking notes for so many movies.
In my mind, I thought it was Tracy Andren who
had written this movie, who wrote another movie I was
watching the same day, and so I was like, oh, yeah,
(05:47):
of course, like Tracy Andrene is so great, She's a
master and my I originally like wrote my notes. I
was like, does Tracy Andrene have a sister? And then
I had to go back and rewrite. I was like, oh, interesting,
very well.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Let me tell you what else I liked. I love
the quest that their grandma left behind. It's fun on
the surface, but it was designed to push the sisters
out of their like comfortable boxes. That's what I really
related to. There was a part in this movie where
it dawns on me like, oh, Faith runs away from
(06:22):
things and Kelly is too scared to start things. And
I found that very painfully relatable. Sure, I cried more
than once watching this movie because I saw myself in
these characters. You know when they have a conversation at
one point and Faith says to Kelly, I love you
so much, but literally everything is outside of your comfort
(06:42):
zone and that felt like being punched in the gut.
And Kelly says back to her, you live out of
a suitcase and call it free spirited. You just keep
moving around so you don't have to feel anything. And
Ashley as Faith is like, hey, like, yeah, she hit
her where it hurts. Yeah, that's such great writing right there.
Like these two sisters are punching below the belt totally.
(07:05):
And I to your point, the quest was fun and
the quest had one purpose like let me take you
on the quest to revisit these places that were important
to your grandfather and I as a way to reconnect,
but that it had a purpose not only for the
sisters but for Frederick as well. Really nicely done to
have those layers in the trip. I think so too.
(07:27):
I think so too. What did you think about Ashley
and Lacey cast as sisters.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
I thought they were believable. I loved them as sisters.
I thought they had such great chemistry together.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
You know what's funny. Remember when we talked to Ashley Williams.
It was earlier this year, right in January.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
It was January, yeah, because we or early February, we
were talking about her dating show.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
And I don't remember if we asked her officially or not,
but we were asking if she was going to do
another movie with her sister, and she's like, oh, we're
trying to work on something. And I thought, oh, wonder
if this was supposed to be it? No, maybe, I mean,
it doesn't matter. I thought Lacey did a great job
as her sister too. So that was just a side
(08:10):
note from our conversation that we had had with her.
I gotta tell you, I had a personal epiphany while
watching this movie. Yeah, and you know we both are
like such Ashley Williams super fans, huge, huge, Like I've
loved her. Jingle Bell Run we talked about last year
was like my favorite movie, right, and we have talked
(08:32):
about her this year quite a bit. We interviewed her
earlier this year. She's so damn likable and I just like.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Her more and more every single time I see her.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Same. The epiphany that I had was She's just so
naturally fun and light and she laughs at things and
things are funny and I don't naturally have those things
nop me either, And I think that's what I find
so likable about her, And like, I'm ready to fight
(09:06):
anybody who has.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Somebody something negative to say about her. Yeah, yeah, I
think she's such a bright light. And you're right when
I see social media clips of her or videos of her,
she's just always having a good time. Yeah, she's humans.
I'm sure she has bad days. I'm sure she's not
always at a ten, but I feel like she comes
at the world from such a genuine, joy filled place,
(09:29):
from a place of positivity. I just really like her,
And yeah, I am an Ashley Williams defender till the end.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
I'm like, she's somebody I want to go out with
because she's gonna like turn things up, you know what
I mean, Whereas like I might at a level two
all the time and I would like to be at eight,
but I need a ten to get me there, you know.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Yes, Yeah, my brain just was like, are we having
a parasocial relationship with Ashley Willis? And maybe maybe, but
not in a way you should be afraid of Ashley.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Oh no, no, no, no, no no no.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Just so she's so likable. She is so likable. I'm
gonna start a fan club. I think this movie did
a nice job of balancing the seriousness with the comedy,
especially up top. It's real comedic up top, the way
Ashley talks to her teeth to say, wow, he's even
not her in person. I really wound it to rewatch
her do that again. It's great, Kelly says, I prefer
(10:30):
to stay at a steady level of anxiety when I travel.
You and me both sisters. Yeah, relatable. Actually says by
the way that Onesie is a walking jump scare. Loved
that line. And also, are you having a Bridget Jones moment?
Some great dialogue? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (10:45):
All good. There's one line later I'm gonna talk about it, and
I digit see that that I really liked. But you
know what, I you know what I liked about this.
This wasn't trying to be like a traditional Christmas movie.
It takes place at Christmas time, it's not drowning in
like it's a Christmas story. You know. I was drawn
to that. Yes, like I like when we have some
(11:06):
of these movies sprinkled and through the season. That isn't
like this is a Christmas movie, you know. I liked it.
And the scenery stunning.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
The scenery was stunning. The French Alps. Look, my kid's
studying abroad next year and one of his options with Switzerland,
and he chose not to go there. The school has
a view of the French, Italian and Swiss Alps, and
I will never understand. I'm like, why why would you
not go to school here? Now he's not a forty
six year old woman, so that's probably why he chose
(11:39):
not to go to school there. But I was watching this,
I was like, man, we could have we could have
been there. Yeah, we could still go there. But I
have one more like, yeah, tell me it's the opening
credits home video. Oh good, it's really well done. And
the attention to detail as it changes through the years.
First of all, the date is in the bottom right
hand corner, which is great because it marks the time,
(12:01):
but also the style of video changes through the year,
so it's like from cham order yes, a little grainy
right yes. And then like the way the letters are written,
and then on the final screen it says like four
k up at the tip top right.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
So just the way that it changes over time, just
those tiny little details. I actually watched the beginning of
this movie twice because I started it and then restarted it,
and I didn't notice that the first time, and I
did the second time. And I liked those attention to details.
Miss Lucy Guests.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Lucy Guest does and get talked about enough.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
I love her. When you look at what she's done,
I'm like, she she's another one who I think would
be a good time. Oh yeah, I think she's a
good time.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Well, maybe like they need to invite us out. Let's
get together, guys.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
I mean, I mean, I think Ashley is southern California.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Bas oh, I mean we're uh, you can reach us,
sick girls, Gone Hallmark at gmail dot com.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Let's talk wishes.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I needed the mountain climbing stuff to be a little
bit more believable, and here is why.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Interesting. No, I look, I thought the snowstorm was well done.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
No no, no, no, no, I believe all that stuff, Like
I think they were out in real weather like that.
But the scene where it was like the wind is blowing,
they have nothing on their faces to protect their faces.
All I could think about. Was that Finding Mister Christmas
scene where like Davy had those big, huge like goggles on.
(13:28):
I'm like, that's what they needed in this scene. Uh,
there's no way you would be out in that frigid
weather with no face protection on.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, because it looks like real weather, right, It didn't
look like Sophie snow blowing all over. But their faces
weren't like bright red like they were being wind blown.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
There was one point where I did notice like Ashley
had like a red nose.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I'm like, okay, they are cold, yes, but that looks
like there's no way they were out in like a
storm like that though. That would have been dangerous, Like
how do you guarante there's going to be a storm
and there's a storm in your screen?
Speaker 1 (14:01):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
I had to have I don't know manufacturing. But it
was well done because I wasn't like, Okay, here comes
the abominable snowman snow right like that at all?
Speaker 1 (14:12):
No, And when I talk believable too, I'm like, wouldn't
you have had to train for something like this?
Speaker 2 (14:20):
I looked it up because isn't that like the highest
peak in Europe? They said it in the movie.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Okay, you know that's not just something you just go
do on a random day.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Well, but they didn't. They took they took the cable
car almost all the way to the top. They didn't
like hike all the way up here. Yeah, but yet
I don't know. I don't know how far they were hiking.
I don't know the difficulty, but yeah, it seemed even
that multitude I think would have been difficult.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
That's all. That's all I have really for my wishes,
except I do have one more. I wish we could
have spent a tiniest bit a little bit more time
on faith relationship with Ben is that his name?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Ben? I wanted just a touch more like context, Yes, just.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
A touch, especially when you get the end where you
fast forward to she's pregnant. Yeah, it's like, are we
rooting for them? What do we don't only care about faith? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (15:16):
I didn't. I didn't didn't know. And you know what,
we didn't even talk about Lacy and Frederick, did you
that's not their names, Kelly and Frederick. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I thought that was sweet. I thought it was well done.
I thought they start from a place of why don't
you come visit me? It was nice. It served a
purpose for her to be like stretching outside of her
comfort out and doing things that are hard.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Yeah, but this story is definitely about the sisters, right, Assistan?
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (15:43):
I agree? Yeah, agree? What were your wishes?
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Really struggled to come up with anything? And the only
thing I have is you mentioned it in your likes.
But for me, I do maybe wish the holiday vibes
were und up just a tiny git, just a t
that's the difference between you and I. I really the
thing is, this is like a if I have to
wish something, this is what it's going to be. Because
is this a Christmas movie? To me? The answer is no,
(16:08):
it's a winter movie, which is fine, but we're calling
it a holiday movie. Oh we're splitting hairs here. It
just was like a light dusting of Christmas than a
full snowstorm of it. And it didn't ruin anything for me,
but I would have taken more.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Yeah, it's kind of interesting. I was trying to think, like, oh,
if I were these characters and we don't really have
any family, right.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Yeah, would you be willing to be gone for Christmas?
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yeah? I would?
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Yeah, me too.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
I have no problem with that too.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Let's talk. Did you see that. I have a lot.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Oh good, Okay, I only have two. One is would
you have gone onto that? Like nope, step into the
there is okay. Here in Orange County, in Newport Beach,
there is a by the library. There is some sort
of stare situation where you can do you know where
(17:00):
I'm talking about. It's off of MacArthur. It's by the
Newport Beach Public Library. But there's like the stair situation
with like an overhang like that that goes over a park.
I took my daughter to it one time when she
was little, and I did have like a slight panic
attack where I had to like slowly sit down because
(17:20):
I was afraid. There's no way I would have gone
on this thing, even though in my mind this is
where I would need Ashley Williams level ten to drag
me out there.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Yes, you know what was very interesting. I watched that
scene twice. First of all, I do think Ashley, if
you look at their faces, lazy does look apprehensive. Now
maybe that's acting. Ashley just looks happy about it, like
she doesn't look like she's hiding nerves. She's like this
is amazing.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Uh huh.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
And you know, it's like Ashley as Kelly. I think
that was good casting Ashley Ashley as Faith. Yeah, I
think that was good casting because I think her vibe fits.
Kelly's like free spirited. Yeah, find the fun vibe. I
also really love that drone pullback that they do. That's
a nice shot.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
When we were in New York a couple weeks ago,
we went to a place called The Edge, which is
just a tall building. I mean, there's a lot of
stuff going on in the Edge, but you go to
the top. It's a tall building. I think it's better
than the Empire State Building MM in terms of the view,
not as iconic. But they have a plexiglass floor in
the middle of the platform and my daughter went on
(18:27):
it and I did not, but she took a picture
on it, and I was like, okay, get off.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Now do you have to tell your brain like this
is safe? They wouldn't. It wouldn't be here if it
wasn't safe.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Yeah, But then my brain's also like hearing the non
existent sound of it cracking. Yeah, like, which I feel
like has happened in like horror movies. Oh, I'm sure,
what else did you see?
Speaker 1 (18:49):
There was one line and I don't know it exactly,
but Kelly says to Faith, you want me to apologize
for my anxiety? Do you remember this? Like Faith was
like going in on her about like you're too anxious
about this and that, and she's like, I'm not going
to apologize for my anxiety or it was something along
those lines, and which I just it made me stop
(19:11):
in my tracks. I was like, that is such a
good line. You know you and I spin out occasionally, right,
and we shouldn't have to apologize for it.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Anyway, I thought it was great.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
In the beginning of the movie, the final scene from
the home videos with their grandmother and Grandma's like, oh
we forgot Grandpa.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Is not the sweetest thing ever.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
It is the sweetest thing ever. Was there a split
second where you thought she's gonna grab his ashes? No,
that's what I thought.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
I didn't. No, I didn't even think about it.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
But I love that I grabbed his photo.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Was sweet. I feel like I've seen that before, like
family pictures and then.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah family. Oh yeah, it was sweet. It
was very sweet. But for a split second, I was like,
can you grab his ashes? When they go to the
fromage Shop, the Cheese Shop and tremony. Yes, the font
says Fromage in comic sans no. While they're in their
small cabin on their final hike, their respite from the storm,
(20:12):
they ad r a line that Lacy as Kelly says.
What you hear her say is Grandma would rather us
be late than hurt. What you see her say is
Grandma would rather us be late than dead. Oh really
I saw. I was like, that was awkward, and I rewound.
And while I can't say for sure, I'm very certain
(20:35):
that what she says is dead and not hurt. And
someone was like, we're gonna, We're gonna what that is? No,
it would not have bothered me. Who's feathers were that
of ruffles? I don't know. Finally, at the end of
the movie, maybe I have forgotten, but the credits roll
over the screen. They roll over the final scene. While
(20:57):
there it's the grandmother voice over, and it's the flash forward.
It's not a cut to black credits roll. The credits
are rolling on the screen.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
I don't think I noticed.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
So I need to know, Lucy guest, did this movie
run thirty seconds long and you needed that time? And
you roll the credits on the screen instead of after
that's im her and I ask, is this something that
happens all the time? And I just know because I
watch a lot of Hallmark and sometimes I'm trying to
pull details from the credits and it's always running on
a black screen. Yeah, and it's it they run fast, yeah,
(21:28):
and so it's almost it's always like a game of
pausing it in time to be able to see it.
And so I noticed when they were on the screen.
We live the same way the video as opposed to
just a black screen. Cool, We're fun. What did you
rate an Alpine Holiday?
Speaker 1 (21:46):
I gave it four stars?
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Fight me, I gave it four stars too. This was
unexpectedly good. Yes, hey, thank you for listening to this
episode of Girls Gone Hallmark, a bramble Dam podcast. If
you love this podcast, you know what to. We love
your five star ratings and reviews. Leave them in the
Apple podcast abb We'll see you next time.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Goodbye bye.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
All right friends, before we go, just a quick heads up,
you're about to hear some ads. These little gems help
us keep the show running and the Hallmark love flowing.
So do with that info what you will. Grab a
snack hit the skip button, or maybe just maybe listen
in and discover your new favorite product. Bye.
Maybe like they need to invite us out. Let's get together, guys.
This is a bramble Jam podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Welcome to Girls Gone Hallmark, a Hallmark review podcast. I'm
Megan and I am a longtime Hallmark han.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
I'm Wendy, I'm a former Hallmark hater.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Today on Girls Gon Hamark, we are discussing an Alpine
Holiday which originally aired on Saturday, November twenty ninth and
is currently available to stream on Hallmark Plus. We invite
you to check out our website, Girls Onhollmark dot Com.
There you are going to find our latest gift guides
for the Hallmark fan in your life. You are going
to find at the top of the page a shop
(00:59):
tab which will link you to our shop where we
have the cutest holiday merch. Get yourself a main character
energy sweatshirt or an I Believe in meet cutes mug
adam to your Christmas list. And we also all of
our detailed show notes as well as tons of additional
content are there over on Girls Gonehallmark dot com.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Hey, we'd love for you to give us a follow
on Instagram, on Threads in Blue Sky on Facebook. We
are at Girls Cone Hallmark virtually everywhere everywhere. A grandmother's
last wish brings two strange sisters, Faith and Kelly back
together to travel to the French Alps for Christmas to
recreate her first trip there with their grandfather. Facing all
(01:45):
the challenges and wonder this unique holiday adventure brings, they
learn to cherish their sisterhood above all.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Luzy guests directed in Alpine Holiday. Lucy also directed Christmas
at the Catnip Cafe, which also aired this weekend, as
well as the Providence Falls series and last year's The
Santa Class Twofer A Twofer Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Blaine Chiapetta wrote the script for an Alpine Holiday. This
appears to be Blaine's first Hallmark script, although his previous
credits include many Hallmark adjacent titles.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Ashley Williams stars as sister Faith. This also marks ash
This marks Ashley's eighty ninth acting credit. This year, she
also appeared in both To Barcelona Forever and To Barcelona
with Love.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Lacey J. Maylee plays sister Kelly. Since Lacey's run as
Jess on Chesapeake Shore, she has appeared in Betty's Bad
Luck and Love and The Perfect Setting. Who's going to
start a petition to get Lacey featured more frequently on
Hallmark Is It Going to be You? My Good Lindsay
(02:49):
from the East Coast.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Out of the list, Julian Somanni plays Frederick. This is
Julian's first Hallmark movie. However, he has appeared in the
Netflix holiday film Holiday, as well as the series Tiny
Beautiful Things and Shrinking.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Oh yeah, one of your favorites, one of my faiths.
Diana Hardcastle plays Grandma Rebecca. Diana's career has spanned over
forty years and includes the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Shakespeare
and Hathaway, and Belgravia.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Let's take a quick break and come right back with
our first impressions. Hey, Wendy, what is your first impression
of an Alpine Holiday?
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I'm scared right now.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
We have not talked about this at all.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Yeah, and before we jumped on, Mike, You're like, I
can't wait to hear your impression of this movie.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Let's hear it.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
I expected cute sister quest, I got emotional accountability.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
My first impression is does Blaine Chiapetta have a sister?
Because these two are written to perfection?
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Right?
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, I absolutely agree with that. Okay,
let's talk about likes. Well, let me start with my
first impression. Please, This sister relationship feels so real to me.
I don't have a sister, so maybe I don't know
what I'm talking about, but to me, it's clear. They
paint the picture that they have a lifelong relationship, that
(04:17):
they have a deep amount of love for each other
even when they're fighting. I saw some negative reviews of
this movie, and I am fired up because I think
people are missing the point. It is at times frustrating
to watch the women communicate with each other because they're
behaving in frustrating ways. However that's intentional. They hate each
(04:41):
other where it hurts, Yeah, because they need someone to
say the hard things. Yeah, humans are flawed. They both
have changes they need to make. They both need to stretch,
and these things are painful to do. Exclamation point, exclamation point,
exclamation point.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
I agree with you. I absolutely agree with you. I'm
fired up to you. I've seen some negative things. I'll
just say that I've seen some negative things. Why, Okay, whatever,
I agree. The sister storyline was fantastic. Faith and Kelly's
arc like it. I have a sister. We have a
very big age gap. Yeah, we don't have this kind
(05:17):
of relationship, like we don't have you grew up bickering
with each other kind of relationship. It got me like
right in the feelings.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Like I it was very well written, and to be honest,
I thought the writer was a female, so same, I'm
shocked how well it was done, you know. I actually
because I was watching and taking notes for so many movies.
In my mind, I thought it was Tracy Andren who
had written this movie, who wrote another movie I was
watching the same day, and so I was like, oh, yeah,
(05:47):
of course, like Tracy Andrene is so great, She's a
master and my I originally like wrote my notes. I
was like, does Tracy Andrene have a sister? And then
I had to go back and rewrite. I was like, oh, interesting,
very well.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Let me tell you what else I liked. I love
the quest that their grandma left behind. It's fun on
the surface, but it was designed to push the sisters
out of their like comfortable boxes. That's what I really
related to. There was a part in this movie where
it dawns on me like, oh, Faith runs away from
(06:22):
things and Kelly is too scared to start things. And
I found that very painfully relatable. Sure, I cried more
than once watching this movie because I saw myself in
these characters. You know when they have a conversation at
one point and Faith says to Kelly, I love you
so much, but literally everything is outside of your comfort
(06:42):
zone and that felt like being punched in the gut.
And Kelly says back to her, you live out of
a suitcase and call it free spirited. You just keep
moving around so you don't have to feel anything. And
Ashley as Faith is like, hey, like, yeah, she hit
her where it hurts. Yeah, that's such great writing right there.
Like these two sisters are punching below the belt totally.
(07:05):
And I to your point, the quest was fun and
the quest had one purpose like let me take you
on the quest to revisit these places that were important
to your grandfather and I as a way to reconnect,
but that it had a purpose not only for the
sisters but for Frederick as well. Really nicely done to
have those layers in the trip. I think so too.
(07:27):
I think so too. What did you think about Ashley
and Lacey cast as sisters.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
I thought they were believable. I loved them as sisters.
I thought they had such great chemistry together.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
You know what's funny. Remember when we talked to Ashley Williams.
It was earlier this year, right in January.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
It was January, yeah, because we or early February, we
were talking about her dating show.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
And I don't remember if we asked her officially or not,
but we were asking if she was going to do
another movie with her sister, and she's like, oh, we're
trying to work on something. And I thought, oh, wonder
if this was supposed to be it? No, maybe, I mean,
it doesn't matter. I thought Lacey did a great job
as her sister too. So that was just a side
(08:10):
note from our conversation that we had had with her.
I gotta tell you, I had a personal epiphany while
watching this movie. Yeah, and you know we both are
like such Ashley Williams super fans, huge, huge, Like I've
loved her. Jingle Bell Run we talked about last year
was like my favorite movie, right, and we have talked
(08:32):
about her this year quite a bit. We interviewed her
earlier this year. She's so damn likable and I just like.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Her more and more every single time I see her.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Same. The epiphany that I had was She's just so
naturally fun and light and she laughs at things and
things are funny and I don't naturally have those things
nop me either, And I think that's what I find
so likable about her, And like, I'm ready to fight
(09:06):
anybody who has.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Somebody something negative to say about her. Yeah, yeah, I
think she's such a bright light. And you're right when
I see social media clips of her or videos of her,
she's just always having a good time. Yeah, she's humans.
I'm sure she has bad days. I'm sure she's not
always at a ten, but I feel like she comes
at the world from such a genuine, joy filled place,
(09:29):
from a place of positivity. I just really like her,
And yeah, I am an Ashley Williams defender till the end.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
I'm like, she's somebody I want to go out with
because she's gonna like turn things up, you know what
I mean, Whereas like I might at a level two
all the time and I would like to be at eight,
but I need a ten to get me there, you know.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Yes, Yeah, my brain just was like, are we having
a parasocial relationship with Ashley Willis? And maybe maybe, but
not in a way you should be afraid of Ashley.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Oh no, no, no, no, no no no.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Just so she's so likable. She is so likable. I'm
gonna start a fan club. I think this movie did
a nice job of balancing the seriousness with the comedy,
especially up top. It's real comedic up top, the way
Ashley talks to her teeth to say, wow, he's even
not her in person. I really wound it to rewatch
her do that again. It's great, Kelly says, I prefer
(10:30):
to stay at a steady level of anxiety when I travel.
You and me both sisters. Yeah, relatable. Actually says by
the way that Onesie is a walking jump scare. Loved
that line. And also, are you having a Bridget Jones moment?
Some great dialogue? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (10:45):
All good. There's one line later I'm gonna talk about it, and
I digit see that that I really liked. But you
know what, I you know what I liked about this.
This wasn't trying to be like a traditional Christmas movie.
It takes place at Christmas time, it's not drowning in
like it's a Christmas story. You know. I was drawn
to that. Yes, like I like when we have some
(11:06):
of these movies sprinkled and through the season. That isn't
like this is a Christmas movie, you know. I liked it.
And the scenery stunning.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
The scenery was stunning. The French Alps. Look, my kid's
studying abroad next year and one of his options with Switzerland,
and he chose not to go there. The school has
a view of the French, Italian and Swiss Alps, and
I will never understand. I'm like, why why would you
not go to school here? Now he's not a forty
six year old woman, so that's probably why he chose
(11:39):
not to go to school there. But I was watching this,
I was like, man, we could have we could have
been there. Yeah, we could still go there. But I
have one more like, yeah, tell me it's the opening
credits home video. Oh good, it's really well done. And
the attention to detail as it changes through the years.
First of all, the date is in the bottom right
hand corner, which is great because it marks the time,
(12:01):
but also the style of video changes through the year,
so it's like from cham order yes, a little grainy
right yes. And then like the way the letters are written,
and then on the final screen it says like four
k up at the tip top right.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
So just the way that it changes over time, just
those tiny little details. I actually watched the beginning of
this movie twice because I started it and then restarted it,
and I didn't notice that the first time, and I
did the second time. And I liked those attention to details.
Miss Lucy Guests.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Lucy Guest does and get talked about enough.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
I love her. When you look at what she's done,
I'm like, she she's another one who I think would
be a good time. Oh yeah, I think she's a
good time.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Well, maybe like they need to invite us out. Let's
get together, guys.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
I mean, I mean, I think Ashley is southern California.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Bas oh, I mean we're uh, you can reach us,
sick girls, Gone Hallmark at gmail dot com.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Let's talk wishes.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I needed the mountain climbing stuff to be a little
bit more believable, and here is why.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Interesting. No, I look, I thought the snowstorm was well done.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
No no, no, no, no, I believe all that stuff, Like
I think they were out in real weather like that.
But the scene where it was like the wind is blowing,
they have nothing on their faces to protect their faces.
All I could think about. Was that Finding Mister Christmas
scene where like Davy had those big, huge like goggles on.
(13:28):
I'm like, that's what they needed in this scene. Uh,
there's no way you would be out in that frigid
weather with no face protection on.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, because it looks like real weather, right, It didn't
look like Sophie snow blowing all over. But their faces
weren't like bright red like they were being wind blown.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
There was one point where I did notice like Ashley
had like a red nose.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I'm like, okay, they are cold, yes, but that looks
like there's no way they were out in like a
storm like that though. That would have been dangerous, Like
how do you guarante there's going to be a storm
and there's a storm in your screen?
Speaker 1 (14:01):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
I had to have I don't know manufacturing. But it
was well done because I wasn't like, Okay, here comes
the abominable snowman snow right like that at all?
Speaker 1 (14:12):
No, And when I talk believable too, I'm like, wouldn't
you have had to train for something like this?
Speaker 2 (14:20):
I looked it up because isn't that like the highest
peak in Europe? They said it in the movie.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Okay, you know that's not just something you just go
do on a random day.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Well, but they didn't. They took they took the cable
car almost all the way to the top. They didn't
like hike all the way up here. Yeah, but yet
I don't know. I don't know how far they were hiking.
I don't know the difficulty, but yeah, it seemed even
that multitude I think would have been difficult.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
That's all. That's all I have really for my wishes,
except I do have one more. I wish we could
have spent a tiniest bit a little bit more time
on faith relationship with Ben is that his name?
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Ben? I wanted just a touch more like context, Yes, just.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
A touch, especially when you get the end where you
fast forward to she's pregnant. Yeah, it's like, are we
rooting for them? What do we don't only care about faith? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (15:16):
I didn't. I didn't didn't know. And you know what,
we didn't even talk about Lacy and Frederick, did you
that's not their names, Kelly and Frederick. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I thought that was sweet. I thought it was well done.
I thought they start from a place of why don't
you come visit me? It was nice. It served a
purpose for her to be like stretching outside of her
comfort out and doing things that are hard.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Yeah, but this story is definitely about the sisters, right, Assistan?
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (15:43):
I agree? Yeah, agree? What were your wishes?
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Really struggled to come up with anything? And the only
thing I have is you mentioned it in your likes.
But for me, I do maybe wish the holiday vibes
were und up just a tiny git, just a t
that's the difference between you and I. I really the
thing is, this is like a if I have to
wish something, this is what it's going to be. Because
is this a Christmas movie? To me? The answer is no,
(16:08):
it's a winter movie, which is fine, but we're calling
it a holiday movie. Oh we're splitting hairs here. It
just was like a light dusting of Christmas than a
full snowstorm of it. And it didn't ruin anything for me,
but I would have taken more.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Yeah, it's kind of interesting. I was trying to think, like, oh,
if I were these characters and we don't really have
any family, right.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Yeah, would you be willing to be gone for Christmas?
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yeah? I would?
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Yeah, me too.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
I have no problem with that too.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Let's talk. Did you see that. I have a lot.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Oh good, Okay, I only have two. One is would
you have gone onto that? Like nope, step into the
there is okay. Here in Orange County, in Newport Beach,
there is a by the library. There is some sort
of stare situation where you can do you know where
(17:00):
I'm talking about. It's off of MacArthur. It's by the
Newport Beach Public Library. But there's like the stair situation
with like an overhang like that that goes over a park.
I took my daughter to it one time when she
was little, and I did have like a slight panic
attack where I had to like slowly sit down because
(17:20):
I was afraid. There's no way I would have gone
on this thing, even though in my mind this is
where I would need Ashley Williams level ten to drag
me out there.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Yes, you know what was very interesting. I watched that
scene twice. First of all, I do think Ashley, if
you look at their faces, lazy does look apprehensive. Now
maybe that's acting. Ashley just looks happy about it, like
she doesn't look like she's hiding nerves. She's like this
is amazing.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Uh huh.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
And you know, it's like Ashley as Kelly. I think
that was good casting Ashley Ashley as Faith. Yeah, I
think that was good casting because I think her vibe fits.
Kelly's like free spirited. Yeah, find the fun vibe. I
also really love that drone pullback that they do. That's
a nice shot.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
When we were in New York a couple weeks ago,
we went to a place called The Edge, which is
just a tall building. I mean, there's a lot of
stuff going on in the Edge, but you go to
the top. It's a tall building. I think it's better
than the Empire State Building MM in terms of the view,
not as iconic. But they have a plexiglass floor in
the middle of the platform and my daughter went on
(18:27):
it and I did not, but she took a picture
on it, and I was like, okay, get off.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Now do you have to tell your brain like this
is safe? They wouldn't. It wouldn't be here if it
wasn't safe.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Yeah, But then my brain's also like hearing the non
existent sound of it cracking. Yeah, like, which I feel
like has happened in like horror movies. Oh, I'm sure,
what else did you see?
Speaker 1 (18:49):
There was one line and I don't know it exactly,
but Kelly says to Faith, you want me to apologize
for my anxiety? Do you remember this? Like Faith was
like going in on her about like you're too anxious
about this and that, and she's like, I'm not going
to apologize for my anxiety or it was something along
those lines, and which I just it made me stop
(19:11):
in my tracks. I was like, that is such a
good line. You know you and I spin out occasionally, right,
and we shouldn't have to apologize for it.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Anyway, I thought it was great.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
In the beginning of the movie, the final scene from
the home videos with their grandmother and Grandma's like, oh
we forgot Grandpa.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Is not the sweetest thing ever.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
It is the sweetest thing ever. Was there a split
second where you thought she's gonna grab his ashes? No,
that's what I thought.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
I didn't. No, I didn't even think about it.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
But I love that I grabbed his photo.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Was sweet. I feel like I've seen that before, like
family pictures and then.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah family. Oh yeah, it was sweet. It
was very sweet. But for a split second, I was like,
can you grab his ashes? When they go to the
fromage Shop, the Cheese Shop and tremony. Yes, the font
says Fromage in comic sans no. While they're in their
small cabin on their final hike, their respite from the storm,
(20:12):
they ad r a line that Lacy as Kelly says.
What you hear her say is Grandma would rather us
be late than hurt. What you see her say is
Grandma would rather us be late than dead. Oh really
I saw. I was like, that was awkward, and I rewound.
And while I can't say for sure, I'm very certain
(20:35):
that what she says is dead and not hurt. And
someone was like, we're gonna, We're gonna what that is? No,
it would not have bothered me. Who's feathers were that
of ruffles? I don't know. Finally, at the end of
the movie, maybe I have forgotten, but the credits roll
over the screen. They roll over the final scene. While
(20:57):
there it's the grandmother voice over, and it's the flash forward.
It's not a cut to black credits roll. The credits
are rolling on the screen.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
I don't think I noticed.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
So I need to know, Lucy guest, did this movie
run thirty seconds long and you needed that time? And
you roll the credits on the screen instead of after
that's im her and I ask, is this something that
happens all the time? And I just know because I
watch a lot of Hallmark and sometimes I'm trying to
pull details from the credits and it's always running on
a black screen. Yeah, and it's it they run fast, yeah,
(21:28):
and so it's almost it's always like a game of
pausing it in time to be able to see it.
And so I noticed when they were on the screen.
We live the same way the video as opposed to
just a black screen. Cool, We're fun. What did you
rate an Alpine Holiday?
Speaker 1 (21:46):
I gave it four stars?
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Fight me, I gave it four stars too. This was
unexpectedly good. Yes, hey, thank you for listening to this
episode of Girls Gone Hallmark, a bramble Dam podcast. If
you love this podcast, you know what to. We love
your five star ratings and reviews. Leave them in the
Apple podcast abb We'll see you next time.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
Goodbye bye.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
All right friends, before we go, just a quick heads up,
you're about to hear some ads. These little gems help
us keep the show running and the Hallmark love flowing.
So do with that info what you will. Grab a
snack hit the skip button, or maybe just maybe listen
in and discover your new favorite product. Bye.
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