Writing Around The Christmas Tree | 2021 Christmas Movies

I have made it to the end! Well, the end of the Lifetime 2021 Christmas movies at least. Writing Around The Christmas Tree is the last of the Lifetime (and Hallmark!) Christmas movies on my list. There are a few Netflix movies left, though I have to see if Netflix hasn’t removed them from the service. I will be so glad when this second Christmas is over.

Mikaela (Krystal Joy Brown) is a romance writer who is suffering from some writer’s block. She decides to reopen her late mother’s writers workshop at her father’s bed & breakfast. Somehow, non-fiction writer Levi (Curtis Hamilton) manages to snag an invite to the workshop. It seems that Levi wants to write a book about Mikaela’s mother. Will Levi use Mikaela for information or will something more come out of the workshop?

Jake Helgren wrote this movie, along with a number of other Christmas movies. I’m not sure if he’s a terrible writer overall or if it’s just his Christmas movies that suck. Though I noticed that he tends to direct the movies that he writes so maybe the problem is that he has no one to tell him his stuff is just not good.

For example, there are only a few tolerable characters in Writing and they are barely used. The amazing Dawnn Lewis plays Sharon, a cookbook writer who is having problems finishing her latest cookbook. However, we mostly only see Sharon interacting with Mikaela’s father, Irving (James Black). Then there are the two gay assistants, Keifer (Gavyn Michaels) and Mitchell (Max Emerson). They are mostly used to shove the plot along when Helgren can’t figure out how to make it organically move forward.

The worst character, though, is Olive (Meg Steedle). Olive writes musicals. But her personality is harsh and abrasive and she keeps throwing herself at Levi, even though it’s obvious he’s not interested. I cringed every time she appeared on screen.

I don’t know that I would say Writing Around The Christmas Tree is worth watching. After all, we don’t even get to hear the stories any of the characters write. We only hear a couple of poems. I really wanted to like it and I was sadly disappointed.

Hot Chocolate Holiday | 2021 Christmas Movies

I have watched nine Christmas movies this month. (Don’t worry, there are still a few more to go!) Most of them have been a chore to watch. For the first time, I’ve come across a movie that was new and interesting and, well, NOT BORING. Let me tell you about Hot Chocolate Holiday.

Colette (Aubrey Reynolds) owns a café that serves the best specialty hot chocolate in town. Her hot chocolate is so good that she is planning on making a powdered version to sell in stores so people can make it at home. Shortly before the holidays, Colette finds out that Marcus (Jonny Swenson) has opened a new dessert shop next door. Somehow, Marcus has the same exact hot chocolate recipe as Colette! This new competition not only threatens her shop but also her supermarket deal. How did he get her recipe?!

Hot Chocolate Holiday is one of the few Christmas movies where the romance barely exists…but in a good way. Instead of focusing on getting the other person to like them, both Colette and Marcus are focused on how to make their businesses better. The big conflicts come from two places, both business related - how does Marcus have the same exact hot chocolate recipe as Colette and can Marcus save his business after a catastrophic fire. I love that these are the conflicts. I don’t always love the way that Colette handles things but sometimes people get a little too heated when they are passionate about something.

The best part of having the romance take a back seat to other plot lines is that it doesn’t matter whether the leads have romantic chemistry. They work as friends and that is fine with me. I actually might have liked the movie more if there wasn’t a “I’m falling in love with you” moment. But I know that is not a popular opinion. Most people want the romance.

I would definitely recommend giving Hot Chocolate Holiday a chance. It’s probably the best of the cooking/business genre of Christmas movie.

Rebuilding A Dream Christmas | 2021 Christmas Movies

What happens when nothing happens? Rebuilding A Dream Christmas happens.

When real estate broker, Abbey (Meggan Kaiser), is forced to go back to her hometown to fix a broken window in her late grandmother’s house, she hires Josh (Zane Stephens) to do the work. Abbey gets more than she bargained for when she finds herself connecting with Josh’s son, Noah (Bryson JonSteele).

Oh, there are so many things wrong with this movie. I’m going to start off with: NOTHING HAPPENS. Abbey is told that, since her grandmother’s house is on the historic buildings list, the owner has to show up in person to fill out the permit for any outside work. This is the entire reason the movie happens. It’s not a real thing and it’s dumb. Of course, the permit process gets dragged out, which is why Abbey has to stay so long. So instead of doing anything else, Abbey basically just waits around doing nothing. There is one montage of her making some Christmas ornaments but it’s not as big a plotline as Lifetime wants you to think.

My next problem with the movie is the way it treats relationships. All of the relationships are extremely superficial. Abbey was raised by her grandmother but she doesn’t live in her grandmother’s house, she just covers up the furniture and lets the house sit there. Josh says all of the right words to be a caring single father but there is no emotion behind anything. Josh and Noah might as well be two strangers hanging out together. Even the big “nemesis,” aptly named Karen (Ashton Leigh), feels like she only wants a romance with Josh because someone somewhere told her she did. It’s annoying.

But I think my biggest problem with the movie is the character of Nick (Jon W Sparks). We are supposed to think he is Santa Claus. However, he is barely in the movie. I think the character was supposed to have a bigger role but it got cut way down. Nick does some Santa-ish things - collects the letters to Santa from the mailbox, goes caroling around town, gives some good-natured but cryptic advice - but we don’t see him doing anything that would make him anything more than the guy in town that happens to look like Santa. If you are going to have a Santa character, USE HIM.

Needless to say, don’t bother watching Rebuilding A Dream Christmas. Or Christmas Comes Home. Or My Christmas Wish. Yes, this movie was so terrible that it had to change names three times before it aired. That should tell you something.

It Takes A Christmas Village | 2021 Christmas Movies

Now I remember why Christmas movies drive me crazy every year. It’s rare to get both a good story and good acting. A lot of times we get decent acting with a terrible story. But, sometimes, we are given movies like It Takes A Christmas Village, which has a good story but it is ruined by terrible acting.

Alex (Brooke Nevin) is the mayor of a small town. When road construction threatens the local businesses, she decides to put together a Christmas market to help boost sales. The best location she can find is a closed mill owned by the town recluse, Darcy Hawkins (Corey Sevier). Can Alex convince Darcy to let her rent the space from him?

The mayor-saves-local-business isn’t a rare storyline in Christmas movies. Christmas Village somehow managed to make it feel fresh and new. Maybe it’s the interactions with the shop owners, maybe it’s that we get to see a little more of Alex actually planning the Christmas market, or maybe it’s just because the female lead is the mayor. It doesn’t much matter why it feels like a new story, it just does.

Unfortunately, where the movie falls apart is the acting. Corey Sevier, who also directs Christmas Village, has the charisma of a piece of cardboard. I have watched a couple of Christmas movies with him as the male lead (and the director!) and they have all been awful. While I haven’t seen as many of Nevin’s Christmas movies (most of hers were before I started the Great Christmas Movie Review project), I have seen some of her other works. She isn’t bad but she isn’t memorable either. I think she might have had a chance here if she wasn’t paired with Sevier.

Wait…wait. After a bit of serious Googling, I have found what the problem is. Corey Sevier is married to the scriptwriter, Kate Pragnell. That is how he keeps getting these terrible roles. Well, much like their other joint Christmas venture, Heart of the Holidays, don’t bother to watch this one. Christmas Village isn’t as bad but it’s definitely not worth your time.

Candy Cane Candidate | 2021 Christmas Movies

Jacky Lai from 2020’s A Sugar & Spice Holiday faces off with Christmas powerhouse Jake Epstein. Seriously, how does that guy have the time to film so many Christmas movies? Anyway, Candy Cane Candidate had a bit of genre change up going on. Get this…

Julia (Jacky Lai) lost her recent political campaign. To regain her emotional footing, she decides to go home for the holidays. She finds out that her old high school arch nemesis, Parker (Jake Epstein), is running for town mayor. UNOPPOSED! Julia thinks the town should have a choice so she decides to run against him. Will Julia win this time or will she lose again to Parker like she lost the class president election?

Surprisingly, there wasn’t a ton of romance in Candy Cane Candidate. Julia was pretty dead set on running her campaign and Parker wanted to make sure the town’s holiday traditions weren’t trampled all over. Sure, there were a few glances and some flirty moments but they didn’t make up the bulk of the movie. It felt like a bit of fresh air after all of the overt wooing in other movies.

If we want to talk about down sides, which don’t really need to do, I wish that Jacky would have done more about the ecological changes she wanted to make instead of just talking about them. The only thing she “did” was arrange a toy drive claiming that it was recycling plastic toys. It would have been nice to see her maybe making some phone calls to see what would be needed to fix the wonky lights at the high school. Even if she lost the election to Parker, she could have passed that information onto him to try to make it happen.

I do recommend watching Candy Cane Candidate. Even if you only watch it to see the Lai and Epstein Christmas Spectacular, you won’t regret it. They are both charismatic actors that I can’t wait to see more of in the future.

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.