It’s the best time of the year, it’s Countdown to Christmas time! For me, a person that is jaded about any holiday, for some reason I can find a way to drift away and believe in the Christmas spirit with these movies.
Yes, I know it’s October and I know that we still have to get through Halloween and Thanksgiving. But personally, I look to Countdown to Christmas as a season. Some people look forward to football season, basketball season and so forth. I look forward to this.
And it’s starting this week with the first movie, Checkin’ it Twice. The movie, Kim Matula and Kevin McGarry and premieres October 20th on The Hallmark Channel. The gist of the movie, “A journeyman hockey player falls for a real estate agent in a career crisis when he’s traded to her hometown and moves into the cottage in her hockey loving family’s backyard.”
Sounds like a perfect start to the best season. Let’s get prepared.
THE LONG DESCRIPTION
Real estate executive Ashley (Matula) and minor league hockey pro Scott (McGarry) bump into each other at the Trout Falls, Idaho, airport gift shop moments after they have broken up with their significant others. Unbeknownst to them, they accidentally pocket each other’s credit cards when making their purchases at the gift shop. Ashley is home to visit family after needing a break from her high-pressure real estate job in New York City, and Scott is newly arrived to play for the popular local Division III hockey team while keeping his dream alive of making it to the big leagues. They meet again when Ashley learns Scott will be staying in her family’s guest house. Sparks fly when they begin to spend time together and partake in Ashley’s family’s holiday traditions and the local town festivities. When Scott’s dream comes true and is called up to a Division II team, and Ashley has a shot at a high-profile real estate deal back in New York City, it seems they will part ways forever, but could their new dreams be with each other instead?
THE CAST
KIM MATULA (Ashley) – Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Matula booked her first acting role in the TV movie “Queen Sized” in 2008. She was then quickly snatched up by soap-opera “The Bold and The Beautiful” to play Hope Logan for over five years, earning her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination. Soon after making the difficult choice to leave the show in 2016, she booked a major role in the hit Lifetime drama series “UnREAL.” Following that, Matula starred as the female lead role in the Fox comedy series “LA to Vegas” produced by Steven Levitan and co-starred Dylan
McDermott.
In 2019, Matula shot the MGM film Fighting with My Family directed by Stephen Merchant opposite Florence Pugh, Vince Vaughn, Nick Frost and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Matula’s television credits include “True Lies,” “The Resident,” “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” “American Crime Story: Impeachment,” “Leverage: Redemption,” “9-1-1,” and “Ghosts of Christmas Always” on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
Instagram: @kimbpics
Twitter: @KimMatula
KEVIN MCGARRY (Scott) – Kevin McGarry currently stars as Nathan Grant in Hallmark Channel’s hit primetime original series, “When Calls the Heart.” He can also be seen in CBC’s “Heartland” as Mitch Cutty. Past credits include guest spots on Netflix’s “The Night Agent,” Poptv/CBC’s “Schitt’s Creek, “CBS’ “Ransom,” FX’s “Man Seeking Woman” with Jay Baruchel, Freeform’s “The Bold Type,” NBC’s “Taken,” Paramount Pictures’ xXx: Return of Xander Cage with Vin Diesel and Global’s series “Private Eyes” starring Jason Priestly.
McGarry also starred in the series “Open Heart” (YTV, Teennick, and ABC Spark) as Dr. Timothy “Hud” Hudson. Most recently, he was seen in the Hallmark Channel original movie “The Wedding Veil Expectations” and has previously starred in the network’s “My Grown-Up Christmas List,” “Feeling Butterflies,” “The Wedding Veil Legacy,” “The Wedding Veil,” and “A Very Corgi Christmas.” For Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, McGarry was in originals “Signed, Sealed, Delivered: From Paris with Love” and “A Song for Christmas.” On the big screen he appeared in Saw 7.
McGarry also has a strong theatre background with seasons at the renowned Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, as well as a season at the Charlottetown Festival. Other stage credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Complete Work of William Shakespeare and She Loves Me, to name a few.
Instagram: @kevin_mcgarry_w
Twitter: @kevin_mcGarry
THE PREVIEWS
THE PICS
