Christmas Comes Twice | 2020 Christmas Movies

Ugh, another time travel Christmas movie. When will writers realize that these stories are terrible?

Cheryl (Tamera Mowry-Housley) is an astrophysicist with a job reviewing grant proposals for the National Science Foundation. She isn’t particularly happy with her life as her job requires long hours and little science. When she comes home for the holidays, she rides a magical carousel at the Christmas Carnival that sends her back in time five years. Would she be happier if she made different life decisions?

I don’t understand why this movie was greenlit. When Cheryl goes back in time, it seems like she didn’t make bad decisions originally. She just didn’t want to say no to anyone. That job she dislikes? She knew what the job was. She agreed to it. Even when she had a second chance to turn down the job, she doesn’t tell the boss no. She tries to make herself sound like a terrible candidate so he won’t hire her. It’s perfectly fine to say no. Especially when it’s a job that you didn’t actually apply for.

The rest of the movie was Cheryl pushing her opinions onto everyone else. Her sister, Trish (Zarrin Darnell-Martin), wants to open a restaurant. Cheryl thinks it’s too risky and does everything in her power to talk her sister out of it. She has zero concern about what her sister actually wants.

Big surprise, she also doesn’t treat George (Michael Xavier), the romantic lead of the movie, very well either. She claims she’s competing with him but she isn’t doing it in a friendly manner. She spends a lot of time belittling him. And we’re supposed to believe that she loves this guy.

Christmas Comes Twice isn’t worth your time. This is another movie that I fell asleep watching. That is probably the best way to watch it. Turn it on for background noise and take a nap. You won’t miss anything.

The Christmas Setup | 2020 Christmas Movies

As I have said before, Christmas 2020 is the season of inclusivity. The Christmas House is the “movie that broke Hallmark” because it featured a gay couple. Well, Lifetime did them one better with The Christmas Setup where the main couple is gay.

Hugo (Ben Lewis) is a New York lawyer trying to make partner. When he comes home to Minnesota, he meets Patrick (Blake Lee), a former tech entrepreneur. With a little meddling from his mother, Kate (Fran Drescher), and his best friend, Madelyn (Ellen Wong), Hugo finds what is really important to him.

The Christmas Setup is the best movie that Lifetime has aired this season. It might possibly be the best movie on television this season. In most romance movies, we don’t see that awkward stage where the couple likes each other but doesn’t know if the other person likes them back. Amazingly, we get that here. We get scenes where Hugo groans about how nerdy he is after an interaction with Patrick or how dumb a hat looks on him. There are shy glances between the men as they try to discern where they stand with each other. It is so sweet.

All of the acting is wonderful. Fran Drescher is great as Hugo and Aiden’s (Chad Connell) mother. She’s meddles a little and over plans the Christmas events but it’s obvious that she does it because she loves her boys so much. Ben Lewis and Blake Lee are a real life couple, which brings a reality to their characters’ relationship that you don’t get in other movies. And Ellen Wong as Hugo’s best friend? Perfection.

You should absolutely go watch The Christmas Setup. This is actually a movie you may want to watch every year. It is so good!!

A Glenbrooke Christmas | 2020 Christmas Movies

As we’re closing in on the end of Christmas movie season, I begin to wonder if these Hallmark movies are making me go insane. I have watched more Christmas movies this year than I have in any previous year. And the movies seem to keep getting blander as I go on.

Jessica (Autumn Reeser) is an heiress who goes to her deceased mother’s hometown of Glenbrooke for the holidays. She literally runs into a fireman, Kyle (Antonio Cupo), who she falls in love with.

There’s a lot that doesn’t make sense in A Glenbrooke Christmas. Jessica is supposed to be a fairly famous heiress. Her face is on the cover of magazines. Yet she thinks she can hide by only using her first and middle names while she’s in town. She’s surprised when someone looks her up on Google and finds out who she is without using her last name. I’m surprised that no one recognizes her face without even knowing her name!

When Jessica first meets Kyle, he walks in front of her car then blames her for hitting him. And he doesn’t get less ridiculous as the movie goes on. He makes a fuss about how rich people are different from everyone else and he couldn’t possibly love a rich person. Then he gets mad when Jessica doesn’t tell him who she really is. He is the definition of gaslighting.

The big “problem” in the movie is that the church bell needs some electronic thing fixed so it can ring on Christmas. It will cost $10,000. Jessica doesn’t want to pay for it so she suggests a fundraiser to the locals. Ruthie (Latonya Williams), who runs the community center, turns down the idea because everyone in the town has already donated to their charities. One - how does she know that no one in town would donate and Two - this bell is made out to be the Most Important Thing in town. Why wouldn’t the townspeople donate towards fixing it? It’s all a little frustrating.

I’m also a little annoyed that this is on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel. While this does fall under the movie category, it definitely isn’t a mystery. I would like it a lot more if that channel stuck to the stories with actual mysteries to solve.

To be honest, A Glenbrooke Christmas isn’t worth your time. There are much better movies out there. Go watch one of those instead.

Inn Love By Christmas | 2020 Christmas Movies

This is the second real estate based Christmas movie this year. And both of them are from Lifetime. The Christmas Listing was about real estate agents fighting over who will sell an inn. Inn Love By Christmas is about two people fighting over who is going to buy an inn. If only they were the in the same universe….

Mandy (Jonna Walsh) works for a hotel that is looking to purchase an inn in her hometown. Lucas (Jesse Hutch), a friendly rival from high school, is also looking to purchase the inn. Who will win?

Inn Love By Christmas is another one of those movies that doesn’t clearly state what is going on. We know that Mandy works for a hotel in Miami. When we see her in the opening, the hotel looks awfully corporate but she claims later that it is a family-owned hotel. I don’t think she was supposed to be exaggerating but it seems like it. In addition, I don’t think they actually said what Lucas does. He talks about cooking and having a new plan for the restaurant at the inn but I don’t think he said anything about running a restaurant or anything. How is he even qualified to run an inn?

There is also this problem that Many and Lucas get along the entire time. The only “villain” in the movie is Ashley (Kelly Van der Burg), who I think was the mean girl in high school. And she is still just a mean girl. She says mean things at inappropriate times. Other than that, there are no consequences. It doesn’t seem to matter whether Mandy or Lucas buys the inn. Mandy isn’t going to lose her job or anything. Lucas only seems to want it so he can cook. It makes no sense.

I can’t possibly recommend watching this. While there isn’t anything particularly bad about it, there definitely isn’t anything good either. Movies should at least have a defined plot. A little depth never hurt anybody.

Love, Lights, Hanukkah! | 2020 Christmas Movies

When is a Christmas movie not a Christmas movie, when it’s a Hanukkah movie! Every year, we get one Hanukkah movie. Last year was Mistletoe & Menorahs. This year it’s Love, Lights, Hanukkah!

Christina (Mia Kirshner) was adopted as a baby. After her adoptive mother passes away, she takes a DNA test to find out her heritage. Not only does she find out that she is half Jewish, she also finds a close familial connection. When she is contacted by the connection, she finds her entire biological family.

A lot of times, the annual Hanukkah movie focuses solely on the religious aspects of the holiday. While Love, Lights does show us some of the traditions, it mostly focuses on the family as a whole. The movie isn’t about Hanukkah; it’s about a family welcoming in a new member. I love it.

Even the romance in the movie isn’t a typical Christmas movie romance. David (Ben Savage) doesn’t need Christina’s help and he doesn’t need to help her. They just spend some time together enjoying each other’s company.

Normally, I complain about how stupid the Big Conflict is in a movie. Love, Lights doesn’t really have a conflict. (There is a small one about David moving away for an undetermined amount of time to write a book but it is quickly resolved and unnecessary.) All of the dramatic tension comes from the fact that Christina doesn’t want to disrespect her adoptive mother’s memory by finding her biological mother and going from a family of two to a family of seven. Anyone from a large family would know that is more than enough tension for a movie.

I absolutely loved this movie. Mia Kirshner and Ben Savage are great actors. It’s almost like these roles were created for them specifically. All of the supporting cast are great as well. Everyone compliments each other perfectly. Please go watch Love, Lights, Hanukkah! so that Hallmark knows we need more of these types of movies.

The Santa Squad | 2020 Christmas Movies

A lot of Christmas movies have the word ‘Christmas’ somewhere in the title. I appreciate that this one goes with Santa instead. Though, apparently, it’s also known as Santa’s Squad. But it’s only one person. There’s no squad; there’s just one person.

Allie (Rebecca Dalton) is an unemployed teacher. Her friend, Tony (Chris Sandiford), shows her a job listing for The Santa Squad, hired Christmas helpers. Allie’s first Santa Squad assignment is the Church household, where a wealthy widower lives with his two daughters.

The Santa Squad was an adorable movie. It gave me a little bit of The Parent Trap or The Sound of Music (without the songs) type of vibe. There’s two daughters of a wealthy single man, an awful girlfriend who kinda hates the kids, and a new woman who befriends the children. OK, that last part isn’t very Parent Trap but it does have similar vibes.

I quite enjoyed the movie, for the most part. My only gripe is that Rose (Hattie Kragten), the older daughter, is given the ‘quirky trait’ of rattling off little known facts about animals or bugs. While that could be really cute, it fell a little flat for me. Some of the interjections fit into the scene well but some of them felt forced. It would have been nice if her facts fit the conversations better.

With that said, the rest of the movie was enjoyable. Gordon (Aaron Ashmore), the father of the family, and Allie had great chemistry together. Even Paniz Zade was pretty perfect as the stuck-up girlfriend Kimmee. Sometimes it can be difficult to find a good bad guy.

So, should you watch The Santa Squad? Yes! Lifetime has only had a handful of good movies this year. And this is one of them.

Christmas Ever After | 2020 Christmas Movies

One of the most interesting things this year is how inclusive the Christmas movies have been. The world no longer revolves around attractive thin white women. And I am here for it.

Izzi (Ali Stroker) is a romance novel writer with writer’s block. The leading man in her books has become unbelievably perfect. In order to reignite her spark of creativity, Izzi goes on her annual Christmas vacation to Silver Springs. She quickly finds out that her favorite lodge is under new management. The owner’s son, Matt (Daniel di Tomasso), has taken over and he is trying to change everything.

I first heard about Ali Stroker when she won the 2019 Tony Award for her performance in Broadway’s Oklahoma! Unfortunately, I did not get the change to see her perform on stage. However, she is a delight to watch on screen. Even though the script for Christmas Ever After isn’t great, Stroker does a great job with Izzi.

The plot of Christmas Ever After revolves around Izzi having a problem writing her holiday-themed romance novel. She finished the book in the beginning of the movie but her editor-friend, Mila (Kim Nelson), thinks that the leading man is too perfect. So Izzi has to rewrite the entire thing? It is the main conflict but we don’t get a lot of detail. We know that she’s behind deadline and she needs to have the book finished….at some point? But it never feels like Izzi is risking anything. She spends a lot of time at the Christmas events the town is running. There is very little time spent actually writing. It would have been nice if the stakes were a little higher. Maybe she could be seen writing at all of the events or maybe her contract with her publisher would be at risk if she didn’t get the book finished immediately. Mila says the book was supposed to be finished by the holiday season but the movie begins a few weeks before Christmas. Even if they used the first draft that Izzi submitted, there’s no way the publisher would have the books on shelves by Christmas.

Overall, the movie is pretty good. There are a few flaws but I think they could be overlooked pretty easily. Go ahead and give this a watch. If anything, Matt’s daughter, Kacey (Melia Charlotte Cressaty), is kinda adorable.

Time For Us To Come Home For Christmas | 2020 Christmas

Lacey Chabert is back for another 2020 Christmas movie. This time it’s a mystery over on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel.

A group of people are mysteriously invited to spend Christmas at a local inn. Sarah (Chabert) takes it upon herself to figure out who invited them and why.

I was really looking forward to Come Home. The mystery sounded interesting and I was intrigued about how these five strangers fit together. Then I fell asleep in the middle of it. Yes, I actually fell asleep.

I think the problem is that the story spends too much time on everyone’s individual stories. Instead of pulling them together to solve the Big Mystery, we’re busy with a father trying to win his daughter’s affection, a former couple rekindling their flame, a musician mourning his wife, and a woman mourning her mother. The writers could have had the group working together to solve the mystery so the father could impress his daughter with some rare knowledge, the former couple could be canoodling while finding clues, and the two people mourning could reminisce about their deceased family members. It would have been so much more interesting with the group together.

Also, Chabert isn’t a very good leading woman. In both movies this year, she spends a lot of time making sad eyes at the camera. It’s not attractive.

Should you watch it? Meh. Watch beginning and the last 30 minutes. Skip the rest. Or sleep through it. I did have a good nap while it was on.

Christmas She Wrote | 2020 Christmas Movies

Around the time Christmas She Wrote aired on Hallmark, Danica McKellar dropped some TikToks showing the behind-the-scenes magic of making a Hallmark Christmas movie. I don’t know if this changed what I thought about the movie but it definitely changed how I watched it!

Kaleigh (McKellar) is a romance columnist in New York. She goes home to Pineberry, CA when the newspaper’s new managers fire her. Realizing they made a mistake, the newspaper owner sends the new editor, Tripp (Dylan Neal), to Pineberry to hire her back.

Hallmark and Lifetime tend to rotate the same group of actors through all of their Christmas movies. Danica McKellar has done her fair share of these. (I gave up counting at six.) Thankfully, she is a delight as an actress. She makes even the worst script enjoyable to watch. Dylan Neal, on the other hand…not so much.

Normally, when we get a story about a writer, they are looking for a big scoop or they need to write their next big article. Having her get fired is a nice change of pace. The story can focus more on Kaleigh as a person instead of making her character solely about her job. Her job is important to her but it’s not the end of her life.

Tripp, meanwhile, isn’t as rounded of a character. He isn’t the type that is sighing and groaning about having to follow orders but he also isn’t particularly personable. I don’t quite understand why everyone in Pineberry likes him so much. The writers even throw in a past boyfriend to compete for Kaleigh’s heart but he is barely in the story so he’s not really competition.

Is it worth watching Christmas She Wrote? Absolutely. I think Danica McKellar’s bright star can outshine all of the problems in the movie. I look forward to seeing what Christmas movie she is in next year.

Forever Christmas | 2020 Christmas Movies

Forever Christmas is another one of those weird problematic movies. While Lifetime calls it Forever Christmas and has it listed as one of it’s 2020 Christmas movies, it was originally titled Mr 365 and it was filmed in 2018. Judging by the quality of the movie, this was definitely filmed in 2018. Considering there are problematic elements in it, I can see why they sat on it for so long.

Sophia (Chelsea Hobbs) is a reality TV producer looking for a subject for an extreme Christmas episode. Will (Christopher Russell) has the inside of his house decorated for Christmas every day of the year. (Due to an injunction from his crabby neighbor, Fred (Ken Camroux-Taylor), he can’t decorate the outside until after November 1.) When Sophia and Will begin dating, it throws a wrench into the production of the show.

This isn’t one of those ‘will-they-won’t-they’ movies. Sophia and Will start getting it on early in the movie. I know that this movies are rarely realistic but this is the least realistic thing I have ever seen in a Christmas movie. A professional TV producer wouldn’t start heavily making out with the subject of their show after the second meeting. This might be something that happens on long-term shows where the cast and crew spend a lot of time together. Instead, they start groping each other after the first day of shooting.

The only conflict in this movie is how the reality show is portraying Will. Will then blames Sophia for not being able to take total creative control over the project. You would think there would be some sort of “Damn The Man” type thought here but no. I guess the writers needed a reason for the couple to break up so they could have the big reconciliation at the end.

Please don’t watch Forever Christmas. It is overall bad. The only redeeming quality is Romeo the dog. And they don’t even show him all that much!