We Wish You A Married Christmas | 2022 Christmas Movies

The Hallmark Channel dominates the beginning of the Christmas movie season. I’m not sure if that is good or bad. Anyway, the second movie they give us this year is We Wish You A Married Christmas. It’s a little weird to get a married couple story this early in the season but, hey, what do I know.

Becca (Marisol Nichols) and Robby (Kristoffer Polaha) are a married couple having difficulty connecting with each other. Their marriage coach suggests a vacation to Gracious, Vermont. Thanks to a few setbacks, they end up having to stay longer than they planned. Will that help or hurt their marriage?

WWYAMC started out extremely boring and confusing. It was difficult for me to tell if these two were married and having problems or if they were just business partners. Honestly, it was worse when I figured out they were married. They have the most boring marriage problems. Instead of actually fighting over anything, they just ignore each other. Yes, that is their problem. They don’t “see” each other. And while that is a real life problem actual married couples have, it makes for very boring television.

Annoyingly, the movie doesn’t actually pick up until it’s almost over. Even when Becca and Robby were spending time together, it was still boring. Picking up items for the bed and breakfast they are staying at, shopping at the Christmas market, watching the shortest parade in the world…the most interesting thing they did was bartend at the employee Christmas party at the bed and breakfast. Even that was done as a montage. It would have been much more interesting if they had reconnected a little earlier. We could have seen a much happier couple giving romantic advice to the new couple - either the two townspeople that get together or the new couple sent by the marriage coach. Like a wink to the camera sort of thing.

If you really want to watch a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie, WWYAMC isn’t terrible. It’s just boring. So maybe pop it on while you clean the house or cook dinner or some other household task. It’s not worth your complete attention but maybe your half attention.

Noel Next Door | 2022 Christmas Movies

The 2022 Christmas movie season has started! We’re starting the season with Hallmark Channel’s Noel Next Door. And, yes, of course the title is a pun on the main character’s name.

Noelle (Natalie Hall) is a divorced single mom to Henry (Callum Shoniker). While waitressing at a local diner, she meets Jeremy (Corey Sevier), a stroke survivor. The two hit it off but little does Noelle know that Jeremy is the neighbor that has been terrorizing the neighborhood with his anti-Christmas ways. Will they be able to reconcile their differences?

I’m not sure if it’s because this is the first Christmas movie of the season or if it was actually good but I quite enjoyed Noel Next Door. Usually, I find all of Corey Sevier’s characters unbearably annoying. This time around, he manages to somehow combine the “annoyed at life” and “charming leading man” types somewhat smoothly. I think my only complaint for him is that he is a little inconsistent with his character physicality. I know that not all stroke survivors have the same issues afterward. He just needs to decide when his limbs will and won’t work for him.

As for Natalie Hall, I think most of the time she chooses terrible scripts. She is frequently cast as a cardboard cutout of a woman that has zero personality. In Noel Next Door, her character has a little more depth to her. It nice to see the change since I don’t think Hall is a bad actress. She just makes bad decisions when it comes to Christmas movies.

While I think that Noel Next Door is a very watchable movie, it isn’t particularly groundbreaking. We still have the “one person hates Christmas, the other person will fix that” trope. But it isn’t the main point of the movie and I think that is what makes it better. The movie focuses more on the relationships than it does the holiday. That is almost always a win in my book.

1000 Miles From Christmas | 2021 Christmas Movies

I‘ve done it! 1000 Miles From Christmas is the last 2021 Christmas movie on my list! It has taken forever to do it but I have watched 91 Christmas movies. That is such an exhausting number. And I bet there will be more movies this year. I’m scared.

Raúl (Tamar Novas) is an auditor that hates Christmas. This year, he has planned a vacation to Cuba to get away from the Christmas festivities. Instead, his boss sends him to a small town to audit the local nougat factory. Will he ruin Christmas for the town or can they bring the Christmas spirit to him?

This was such a lovely movie. Even though it revolved around the town putting on the largest nativity play in the world and there were a lot of Christmas flashbacks for Raúl, it never felt like the Christmas season was being forced onto us. Christmas just happened to be the time of year and I love that.

I also liked that there were actual reasons for Raúl to hate Christmas. Thanks to the flashbacks, we got to see all of the traumatic things that happened to him during Christmas over his lifetime. If I was him, I would hate Christmas too.

If you don’t mind foreign films, 1000 Miles From Christmas is absolutely worth watching. It has romance, it has friendship, it has an evil backstabbing character, and it has the best parts of Christmas. I can’t think of a single thing that I didn’t like about the movie. It really might be my favorite Christmas movie of the season. And I am so happy that this was the last movie I watched. It leaves me hopeful for the 2022 Christmas movie season.

Grumpy Christmas | 2021 Christmas Movies

As I’m wrapping up the last few Christmas movies from 2021, there are a few foreign films left to watch. Grumpy Christmas (also known as Una Navidad No Tan Padre) is the first of two Spanish movies on my list.

Servando (Héctor Bonilla) is spending Christmas at the beach with his family. His son, Fran (Benny Ibarra); his wife, Alma (Jacqueline Bracamontes); and the ragtag group of people they live with are spending the holidays at the house of Alma’s aunt, Alicia (Angélica María). The old man believes they should celebrate Christmas one way but Alicia doesn’t want him telling her what to do in her house. Meanwhile, Fran and Alma are arguing over Fran’s tendency to overwork and ignore his family. Can this Christmas be saved?

I have seen quite a few people complaining about Grumpy Christmas. Perhaps they were expecting something more “American” with slapstick gags and laugh tracks. Instead, what we get are two old people so set in their ways that they go out of their way to try to annoy the other. At least that is what we think we get. In reality, the elders are afraid of dying and wasting what precious time they have left. I’m glad there is no slapstick.

While the movie mostly focuses on Servando and Alicia, we do have two other couples having trouble. There’s Fran and Alma, who thankfully are actually doing couples therapy in order to attempt to work on their relationship. Unfortunately, the therapy isn’t helping them much. On the other hand, we have Gala (Renata Notni) and Renato (Juan Pablo de Santiago) who are secretly sleeping together. Renato professes his love to Gala, which she rejects since living in the communal house makes them “family.” Of course, all of this is resolved by the end.

I found Grumpy Christmas to be a nice change of pace from all of the other Christmas movies I’ve sat through. Even though I’m sure it’s not the norm, a lot of the foreign language Christmas movies on Netflix do revolve more around family dynamics than will-they-won’t-they scenarios. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good romance movie. But most Christmas romance movies aren’t good. This was a nice palate cleanser.

A California Christmas: City Lights | 2021 Christmas Movies

I have been both looking forward to and dreading A California Christmas: City Lights. If you will remember, 2020 gave us the most depressing Christmas romance movie ever - A California Christmas. Well, the Swickards are back to give us another dose of….whatever this is.

A year has passed since Callie (Lauren Swickard) and Joseph (Josh Swickard) starting dating. Joseph’s mother has decided to leave the family business, meaning it’s up to Joseph to officially take over. He takes Callie with him to San Francisco so they can save the company.

This series is so utterly confusing. I didn’t mention it in the review of the 2020 movie but a majority of it revolved around death. Callie’s mom was dying of cancer, her father and her then-fiancé died in a car accident…it was just a mess of sad emotions. This time around, things are a bit happier. Callie’s vineyard is doing well and they seem to be selling quite a bit of wine. Her sister, Hannah (Natalia Mann), also seems to be doing well, though we don’t see a ton of her. In short, the Petaluma section of the movie is kinda OK. It’s the San Francisco portion that is a train wreck.

Joseph is surrounded by all of his super-rich friends and family, who don’t really care about Callie. Callie straight up forgets about her sister entirely while she’s gone. Victoria (Laura James), who is Joseph’s ex and I guess is supposed to be taking care of the business, is all over the place. I think she’s supposed to come off as a conniving ex that wants to get back together with Joseph but she just doesn’t. She randomly appears in scenes to throw around a few snarky words then leaves. It’s frustrating.

While I didn’t want to label the first movie as bad, this one does take the terribleness a step further. None of the characters really make rational decisions about anything. Important things happen off-camera, making some of the conflicts very confusing. And I think Lauren Swickard (who wrote this movie) might think Callie is stupid or incompetent. I’m not sure.

Well, if you actually liked the original A California Christmas, you might find some sort of enjoyment out of City Lights. Personally, I recommend staying away. This movie hints at an upcoming third one. Let’s hope that one doesn’t happen. I don’t need to see these two as parents.

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.