Tis The Season To Be Merry | 2021 Christmas Movies

I think my least favorite Christmas movie titles are ones using the main character’s name. Once in awhile there is a witty title with a character’s name in it, ‘Tis The Season To Be Merry is not one of them.

Merry (Rachael Leigh Cook) writes books giving romantic advice. In her recent book, she lies and says she is engaged. When her publisher, Sonia (Karen Malina White), gushes about how authentic Merry’s relationship is, Merry freaks out and runs away to her co-worker/friend Darlene’s (Amy Groening) family’s house in Vermont. Little did Merry know that Darlene’s brother, Adam (Travis Van Winkle), has returned from a 2-year trip to Guatemala. Can Merry figure out how to fix both her love life and her professional life?

There were pieces of Tis The Season that I thought were really cute. At the big Christmas tree auction, when Adam had Merry co-host with him and he would keep handing her cards when she had no idea to say. If there is one thing Cook is good at, it’s playing an awkward women who trips over her words. I’m glad Hallmark played into that strength.

In addition to the main Adam/Merry couple, there are two other couples introduced. I would have liked to have seen a little more of their interactions. We do see Sonia’s budding relationship with Joe (Paul Essimbre) but we really only see them when Merry happens to see them around town. It would have been nice to jump over to them to see how they were doing. There’s also a late romance between Joe’s son, James (Adam Hurtig), and Darlene. Even though they were childhood friends, we don’t see a lot of interaction between them until James confesses his feelings about Darlene to Merry. I would have liked to have seen more of James pining after Darlene instead of it appearing that James has a thing for Merry.

Tis The Season isn’t a terrible movie. It’s not boring, which is a step up from most movies, but it wasn’t particularly interesting either. If you watch it, watch it for the acting not for the story. Maybe one day Cook will get put into one of the really good Christmas movies. Until then, this will scratch the itch to see her on screen.

Under The Christmas Tree | 2021 Christmas Movies

Usually, when we get a Christmas movie with a gay main couple, that couple is male. Lifetime changes it up with Under The Christmas Tree. Women rule this time around.

Charlie (Tattiawna Jones) is a tree whisperer. With her partner, Rohan (Shawn Ahmed), she is looking for a Christmas tree for the state capital. She finds the perfect tree on property owned by Alma (Elise Bauman) and her parents. Can Charlie convince Alma to let her cut down the tree?

I was intrigued to see where Under The Christmas Tree was going to go. After all, it was written by the guy that wrote 2020’s The Christmas Setup, which was really good. Thankfully, this one wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t quite as good as Setup but it wasn’t boring. Instead of trying to force the two women together, they were allowed to have the “love at first sight” moment that so many straight movies have. The first time Alma sees Charlie, she stumbles over her words. Charlie is a little more confident so she gets the “you know you want to be with me” personality. It was really nice to see this change. Having to watch women be stereotypically female all the time in Christmas movies sucks. I liked seeing all of the women have very different personalities.

With that said, I wouldn’t say this is the best Christmas movie. It still has some very slow parts and the main tree conflict is stupid. They also keep trying to throw Ricki Lake into scenes for no real reason. I think they wanted to make sure they got their money’s worth casting her.

Despite the slow parts, it was a decent movie to watch. It didn’t fully capture my attention but I was able to pay more attention than I have in the other movies I’ve watched this month.

Christmas For Keeps | 2021 Christmas Movies

Now I remember why I stopped watching last year’s Christmas movies at the end of December. All of the channels start dredging the bottom of the barrel for their Christmas fare at the end of the season. They put on all of the good shows either Thanksgiving week or the beginning of December. The stuff that airs Christmas week is awful. Christmas For Keeps is no exception.

I’m not really sure why this is a Christmas movie. Here is the plot: A group of friends from high school get together after 10 years apart to celebrate their drama teacher that recently passed.

And that is it. The whole movie revolves around the stupid arguments they have and their attempts at figuring out what they want to do with their lives. Considering these people haven’t seen each other for ten years, they really should have gotten over most of this stuff. The only “argument” that is worth anything is Noah (Cardi Wong) vaguely arguing with his wife, Sarah (Ashley Newbrough), over her busy schedule as a medical resident and his want to start a cookie business instead of being a stay at home dad. And they don’t really argue about it! He is perfectly fine staying home with the kids. It isn’t until their friend, Mia (Marielle Scott), pushes Noah to sell his cookies that it becomes an issue. And, seriously, script writers - medical residents are busy people. Get off their asses for not having time to go to parties or socialize like other people.

Again, there is nothing interesting going on here. Go watch Seinfeld or Friends instead.

Toying With The Holidays | 2021 Christmas Movies

Sometimes I don’t understand how writers, or whoever is it that comes up with these titles, comes up with these titles! This one is called Toying With The Holidays but it has nothing to do with toys. It’s about trains! It should have been called On Track For The Holidays or something like that. Well, let’s get into it.

Danielle (Cindy Busby) brings her son, Paul (Callum Shoniker), back to her hometown for the holidays. When she gets there, she finds that the holiday train her recently deceased father kept was taken out of commission because it was too costly to repair. With the help of her high school classmate, Kevin (Chad Michael Murray), Danielle is determined to get the train running again for this holiday season.

Who read this script and thought it was a good idea to make? Absolutely nothing happens for the entire movie. Even in the last 15-30 minutes, when we get the big surprise reveal (is it really a surprise though?), still nothing happens! A bunch of people get on a miniature train then the leads kiss. We don’t get to see them take a grand train ride through a Christmas display or even a montage of anyone having fun. They’re just like “Yep, the train works now. Smoochy Smoochy.”

I seriously hate the boring movies more than the bad ones. At least with the bad ones, they make me feel something. I’ll hate a character or I’ll hate the way an actor reads his lines or I’ll hate the set design or something. The boring ones just make me want to turn my TV off and go do something else. Toying With The Holidays is completely forgettable and not worth a minute of your time.

Crashing Through The Snow | 2021 Christmas Movies

I swore that I was going to finish the 2021 Christmas movies. So I’m starting with Hallmark’s Crashing Through The Snow. Yes, it is a dumb title. But is the movie just as dumb?

Maggie (Amy Acker) and Jeff (Kristian Bruun) are divorced parents to two daughters. Jeff and his girlfriend, Kate (Brooke Nevin), are planning to take the girls to Kate’s family home in Colorado for Christmas. When Kate finds out that Maggie has never been away from the girls at Christmas, she invites Kate to come along with them. At the estate, Maggie’s brother, Sam (Warren Christie), makes a surprise visit. Kate begins to feel left out of her kids’ Christmas, thanks to all of Maggie’s Christmas plans, so Sam teams up with her to help her push her way back into the family dynamic.

Most of the time, the conflict in these family Christmas movies can be resolved with a simple conversation. That isn’t the problem in Crashing Through The Snow. Sure, they could talk a bit more but it can be extremely difficult to welcome a step parent into a kid’s life. And it can be even more difficult to watch your former partner replace you as the love in their life. The conversations that Maggie and Sam need to have are difficult and uncomfortable. Their lives would have been better if they were more open with each other in the beginning but it’s easy to understand why they weren’t. Everyone just wanted to make everyone else’s trip easier and less dramatic.

As with a lot of these types of movies, the problem is that none of the couples have any sort of chemistry. Like I have no idea what Jeff sees in Kate. It looks A LOT like he loves her because her family is mega rich. At the same time, I have no idea what Sam sees in Maggie. (Spoiler: they also fall in love.) Maggie’s big personality trait is that she is clumsy. (I think I might hate that part of the movie the most.) Sure, they spend some time together but it’s not a ton of time and they kinda butt heads a lot. Just because someone teaches you how to ice skate, that doesn’t mean you love them.

Overall, I didn’t find the movie too terrible. It is still on the boring side but I think, as my first step back into Christmas movies, this wasn’t the worst movie I could have picked.

Worst Christmas Movies of 2021

It is almost always easy to write the best list of Christmas movies in a given year. The best movies are few and far between. It’s the list of worst Christmas movies that is difficult to figure out. Are the movies actually bad or just so boring that it drives me insane? Well, here is my list of the worst Christmas movies of 2021.

10. Sister Swap: Christmas In The City
9. An Ice Wine Christmas
8. Match Made In Mistletoe
7. Welcome To The Christmas Family Reunion
6. Secretly Santa
5. Christmas By Chance
4. Baking Spirits Bright
3. Christmas CEO
2. Christmas…Again?!
1. Father Christmas Is Back

Notable mentions: Five More Minutes, Dancing Through The Snow, Blending Christmas

Best Christmas Movies of 2021

This holiday movie season feels like it was never going to end. I ended up watching 78 movies this season. While I wish I could have jammed in the 13 movies I missed, it was probably better for my mental health that I didn’t. With that said, here are my top 10 best Christmas movies of 2021.

10. Christmas Sail
9. Sister Swap: A Hometown Holiday
8. A Mrs. Miracle Christmas
7. Single All The Way
6. A Christmas Dance Reunion
5. One December Night
4. A Boy Called Christmas
3. The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls
2. The Claus Family
1. 8-Bit Christmas

Honorable mentions: David and the Elves, A Kiss Before Christmas, Robin Robin, My Christmas Family Tree

Mistletoe In Montana | 2021 Christmas Movies

Montana in December means you can go outside in a turtleneck and a shoulder-wrap sweater, right? The average temperature for Montana in December is in the mid-30s (Fahrenheit). That might be a little chilly for a light sweater.

Mark (Duane Henry) is a single father to two children. He brings them to Paradise Ranch, run by Merry (Melissa Joan Hart), for Christmas break. None of them expected this to be the best Christmas of all of their lives.

What to say about Mistletoe In Montana? It is pretty bad. Not so much for the story and the acting, although they aren’t great. But moreso for the absolute unbelievability of everything that happens. For those of you that are terrible at US geography, Montana is one of the northernmost states in the continental United States. It gets very cold there and it stays very cold for a long time. Thanks to Lifetime movie magic, there are few times that any of the characters are wearing non-cowboy hats or gloves. They could have easily placed this movie in a number of other states but they picked Montana. While the state is very pretty, all of these people would have had some sort of frostbite at some point.

But let’s overlook the fact that the writers didn’t even attempt to make any of the weather based in reality. Instead, let’s look at what a terrible businesswoman Merry is. She frequently has guests staying at the ranch for a “ranch experience.” She straight up allows Mark to do things that would hurt either himself or her horses. More than once he tries to mount a horse improperly. Once he even sprains an ankle! Her insurance rates must be through the roof. I get that Mark is supposed to be egotistical at first but it is her job as the ranch owner to put her foot down and not allow anyone to do anything that would cause injury.

As for the romance aspect? Merry and Mark make zero sense together. Jasper (Sam Marra), one of the ranch hands, literally falls head over heels in love with Mark’s nanny, Debbie (Harley Bronwyn), the minute he sees her. That would be fine if it was the main plot of the story but it barely makes a sub-plot. We only get a few scenes of them spending time together in order to make them a feasible couple. It’s almost like the writers forgot that these are supposed to be romantic Christmas movies.

I would say skip Mistletoe In Montana. There isn’t really anything good here, unless you want to look at horses. Though we don’t get to see a lot of the horses either. Just forget about it altogether.

Christmas By Chance | 2021 Christmas Movies

Big surprise! The leading lady of Christmas By Chance is named…..Chance. I’m not sure it can get more cringey than this.

Chance (Winny Clarke) owns a gift shop slated to close soon. She gets hired by William (Jacob Blair) to create the most romantic Christmas week for his girlfriend, Leyla (Celeste Desjardins), ending in a proposal. Will Chance be able to pull it off or will William’s proposal be ruined?

It is really sad that the worst part of Christmas By Chance is actually Chance. She is so painfully clueless about everything that I have no idea how she has been able to run a business for this long nor do I understand why anyone would hire her to plan anything. Despite the fact that she is fairly young (we don’t get age ranges on the characters), she knows nothing about the internet or social media. She literally relies on her young employee, Becky (Celine Tsai), to handle all of her online presence. That part is fine. Hiring someone to handle the online stuff while you handle your actual business is a normal thing. However, Chance doesn’t understand how to post things online and, when she is trying to research things that Leyla likes, she misunderstands all of Leyla’s social media posts. I know there are people that don’t spend a lot of time online but they still aren’t quite as clueless as Chance.

Unfortunately, since Chance is so unbearably annoying, the rest of the movie suffers. Characters like Becky, the social media guru, deserved way more screen time. She is adorable. Maybe she can get her own show where she teaches naive people about social media. The same goes for Ryan (Sharjil Rasool), William’s assistant. I know there is in insinuation that Becky and Ryan get together but I want a movie where the two of them go into business together teaching the old fogeys how to live their lives in the 2020s.

Needless to say, I don’t think you should watch Christmas By Chance. It was painful to watch. I wish there was a way I could unwatch it. Does anyone know a way?

The Enchanted Christmas Cake | 2021 Christmas Movies

My least favorite Christmas movies are the ones where everything could be solved if someone just asked a question. Why are people so averse to talking, especially to family members?

After her grandmother passed, Gwen (Erica Durance) took over her bakery. Unfortunately, the secret ingredient on her grandmother’s recipe for the Enchanted Christmas Cake was torn. As she struggles to figure out the missing piece, a celebrity chef comes to town to film a Christmas special. Gwen is pressured by the show’s producer, Gavin (Robin Dunne), to appear on the show to talk about the cake. Will Gwen be able to perfect her grandmother’s cake or will Christmas be ruined?

There are two big conflicts in The Enchanted Christmas Cake. One is figuring out the missing ingredient but the other is whether Gwen should give out the recipe once it’s completed. Both of these could have been solved if Gwen simply asked her grandfather. She seems to be pretty close to him so I have no idea why she never thought to ask him in the first place. If I was in her position, I would have immediately asked him if he knew what the ingredient was when I saw the rip on the recipe. If he didn’t know, my second question would have been if anyone else had the recipe. Of course, then the movie would have been over before it ever began.

Looking past the stupidity of the plot, the rest of the movie wasn’t too bad. Both Durance and Dunne are decent actors. Though I think the shining star here is Kyana Teresa as Gwen’s friend, Becky. She is a delight in every scene she is in.

The Enchanted Christmas Cake is worth watching if you can look over the gaping plot hole. Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be a ton of bakery-themed Christmas movies this year. So, if bakery movies are your thing, this may be your best bet for 2021.