Well, Here We Are

It’s December which means it’s time for our annual made for TV Christmas movie party. This year we’re exploring the significance of movies where women return to their small hometown for the holidays. Everyone knows Christmas can’t be celebrated in the big city! 

The movies we watched this year are: 

• The Christmas Contract (2018)
• Poinsettias for Christmas (2018)
• Hope at Christmas (2018)
• Christmas Pen Pals (2018)
• Christmas Love Letter (2019)
• Rediscovering Christmas (2019)
• Rebuilding a Dream Christmas (2021)
• A Cowboy Christmas Romance (2023)
• Christmas With a Kiss (2023)

Want to hear us talk about Hallmark even more? Here's some of our other "According to Hallmark" episodes!

According to Hallmark: Being a Christmas #Girlboss (Our most popular Hallmark episode!)
According to Hallmark: The Monarchy & Christmas (Our first Hallmark episode!)
According to Hallmark: Small Town Boys (The spiritual cousin of this episode!)

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In this spookiest of seasons, we're here to discuss real life frights and what draws us to (or repels us away from) horror.

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The theme of today, and every day!, is friendship. In this episode Hannah and Suzanne air some grievances and celebrate some accomplishments.

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In this Feminist Book Club episode, we read Jessica Valenti's 2024 book Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win.

Want to learn more about Jessica Valenti? Follow her substack!

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In 2025, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan reprised their roles from When Harry Met Sally for a Superbowl commercial and co-presented at the Academy Awards, also referencing their movie together. What makes the legacy of this almost 36-year old film endure and how do we look at that legacy differently in what some scholars refer to as a "post-romantic" age? 

Suzanne monologues, Hannah encourages, and they both get a little sad about the state of millennial romance. 

Suzanne's film recommendations
Sleeping With Other People (2015) - aka WHMS where the attraction is explicit
Plus One (2019) - aka WHMS with more millennial angst (and Meg Ryan's son!)
Rye Lane (2023) - aka WHMS as strangers
Max and Molli in the Future (2024) - aka WHMS in space

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This year's According to Hallmark episode features 8-different cinematic masterpieces, all which incorporate magic and/or fantasy elements. We're talking snow globes. We're talking time travel. We're talking not one but TWO ice sculptures come to life. Is Christmas actually the most magical time of the year? And what does magic do for the women protagonists in these films?

Movies we watched this year:
A Snow Globe Christmas (2013)
Christmas Perfection (2018, Lifetime)
The Knight Before Christmas (2019, Netflix)
A Christmas Movie Christmas (2019, Lifetime)
A Timeless Christmas (2020, Hallmark)
A Biltmore Christmas (2023, Hallmark)
Hot Frosty (2024, Netflix)
Enchanting Christmas (2024)

Interested in our other According to Hallmark episodes?
 
The Monarchy and Christmas
Being a Christmas #Girlboss
Merry Queer Christmas!
Small Town Christmas Boys

Want to give us some dollars? We'll allow it. Link goes to a donation platform on our website.

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Over These Walls by Hope and Social is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

It's spooky season! And we're reviewing the ghoulish tale of a woman with a decorative taste that doesn't align with the aesthetic of her vacation home. How terrrrrrrifying!

If you'd like to donate towards a food and supply distribution center in Western North Carolina you can do so here: https://donate.mannafoodbank.org/ 

To find other ways to help or just learn what's going on you can go here: https://www.bpr.org/ 

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Over These Walls by Hope and Social is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Congratulations, Lord Elgin! You've won the prize of being a historical figure that Hannah would fight if she could.

Listen to get on our scrappy side and learn how why most excuses institutions make for NOT repatriating artifacts (looking at you British Museum) are a whole bunch of bunk.

Related episodes you may enjoy include Hansplaining: A Beginner's Guide to Provenance and Confronting Our Creative Industry Fears

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Over These Walls by Hope and Social is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Want to give us some dollars? We'll allow it. Link goes to a donation platform on our website.

Come say hello on our socials (but be nice): Instagram

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Over These Walls by Hope and Social is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Warning! Consider yourself warned! Suzanne's audio sounds like she is talking through a tin can in a separate room maybe underwater on a submarine. But Hannah's dulcet tones come through loud and clear. Listen for Hannah! Tolerate Suzanne! (Suzanne is writing this just to be clear.)

Gasp! What is this? Another episode? Hannah and Suzanne introduce a new series to the show that is guaranteed 80% more nonsense than previous episodes. Love you, miss you, and we'll talk to you in five minutes!

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Hannah's in Seattle! And Suzanne's never seen the 2005 Pride and Prejudice. So...let's drink sparkling rosé and watch it I guess? And if this episode sounds like two women hunched around one microphone...that's because that's what we did. 

Want to give us some dollars? We'll allow it. Link goes to a donation platform on our website.

Come say hello on our socials (but be nice): Instagram

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Over These Walls by Hope and Social is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.