A Godwink Christmas: Second Chance, First Love | 2020 Christmas Movies

While Hallmark tends to be on the Christian side of religion, we don’t usually see movies that directly reference God. Even during Christmas. This movie has figured out a way to do it without making it sound religious. Oh, and supposedly this is based on a true story.

Pat (Sam Page) is a single father moving home to Boise from Hawaii. While running errands his first day in town, he runs into his first love, Margie (Brooke D’Orsay). A series of coincidences (or Godwinks) keep bringing them back together.

Yes, in this movie, Pat’s mother, Lois (Michele Scarabelli), calls coincidences ‘Godwinks.’ Meaning that God is trying to nudge you in a certain direction. However, instead of just a “fancy meeting you here” type of coincidence, the writers made it so Margie is constantly losing jewelry and Pat always finds it. The first time, sure. After that, Margie needs to invest in some rubber stoppers for the backs of her earrings and she really should have the charm bracelet resized so it fits her. It’s not as cute as everyone else in the movie thinks it is.

Beyond that, SCFL is fine. I believe this is the second movie in a series of Godwink movies but I don’t think I saw the first. Since this is supposed to be based on a true story, there isn’t any real conflict. Pat has a problem finding a job but at no point does it seem dire. It sounds like he needs a job for the sole reason of making his sons, John (Rhys Slack) and PJ (Knox Hamilton), feel normal in Boise. (Which is a terrible reason for getting a job. Especially if it’s a job you aren’t going to like.) At one point Margie thinks that she might be losing her job but there’s no real reason for her to think she’s getting fired. She comes to the conclusion after people around her start making assumptions.

If you are into the “God has a plan for us” mindset, you’ll probably enjoy all of the A Godwink Christmas movies. It’s not my cup of tea so I would recommend skipping it if you’d rather stay out of the religious arena.

Feliz NaviDAD | 2020 Christmas Movie

Do you think Mario Lopez knows how to not be cheesy? I think cheesy-ness must be in his DNA or something.

David (Mario Lopez) is a high school principal who also delivers packages during the holiday season. Sophie (AnnaLynne McCord) is a musician visiting her father (Herb Mendelsohn), who happens to be one of David’s customers on his delivery route. David’s daughter, Noel (Paulina Chávez), sets David up on a dating app, where he matches with Sophie.

I guess I knew Feliz NaviDAD was going to be cheesy thanks to the stupid pun in the title. I don’t think I realized just how cheesy it was going to be. David acts like one of those parents who is trying way too hard to be the “cool parent.” And, supposedly, his teenage daughter thinks he’s cool. (Reality check: No one’s teenager thinks they are a cool parent. Every teenager ever is embarrassed of their parents.) So we end up with things like - David has a ‘secret handshake’ that he does with one of the students at his school; when he first meets Sophie, he basically tells her that she must think he’s hot in his delivery uniform; he makes comments on other customers’ holiday decorations. Just a bunch of very cringy things.

There, honestly, isn’t a whole lot to talk about in this movie. If you have seen a Mario Lopez movie, chances are you already know how this one is going to go. Unless you have a serious crush on Slater from Saved By The Bell, skip Feliz NaviDAD. You’ll thank me for it.

A Taste of Christmas | 2020 Christmas Movies

If all of the characters are jerks to each other, it’s OK for them to fall in love, right? Right?

Natalie (Anni Krueger) is a Jill of all Trades, doing a millions jobs at once. When she finds out that her cousin, Olivia (Nia Vardalos), has to cancel the opening of her new Italian restaurant because she is stuck in Italy, Natalie takes it upon herself to open the restaurant for Christmas. If she can only get chef Stefano (Gilles Marini) on board…

Well, that was definitely a movie. It’s established early on that Natalie can’t cook. Like to disastrous ends. She had to warm up some lasagna in the oven and burned it. (Setting off smoke alarms is a trend in the movie.) I’m not sure why she thought she could run a restaurant, much less do a first night opening. “I love my cousin” doesn’t really excuse taking over her business and spending her money (unless Natalie was spending her own money? Considering she was only doing small tasks for everyone, I’m not sure that she was making that much.) without her approval. That’s right - Olivia didn’t know that Natalie was doing all of this. She told Natalie that she was going to have to close the restaurant. Full stop. In my books, this makes Natalie kind of a jerk. Don’t screw with other people’s businesses. Especially if you don’t know what you are doing.

Then we move onto Stefano the chef. He told some poor lovesick teenager, Tyler (Andrew Brodeur), that love is logical and gave him a list of what he likes in a woman. Tyler was carrying this note around when the object of his affection, BeeBee (Emma Myers), finds it and calls HIM a jerk! No! Tyler was only looking to a grown-ass man for advice and that man sucks! On top of that, Stefano is just overly arrogant.

After that, it’s just back and forth jerky behavior between Natalie and Stefano. He shames her for burning the lasagna, she trashes his kitchen making Christmas cookies but doesn’t bother to clean up afterwards, he berates her in front of basically the whole town at the Christmas party for trashing his kitchen (she deserved the yelling but not in front of the people who are supposed to be their customers in a few days), she makes random decisions about the restaurant (will it open…won’t it open…) without talking to him first…the list really does keep going.

Don’t watch A Taste of Christmas. It’s apparent that no one actually likes each other, even though they have to kiss at the end. And it’s even a creepy kiss with the whole restaurant watching them and applauding. Only Olivia has the sense to ask “Why are we watching?!” Yes, Olivia. Why are we watching?

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Christmas on the Vine | 2020 Christmas Movies

This may have been the first movie to really make me think “You know you’d get fired for that if this was real life, right?” That probably isn’t a good thing…

Brooke (Julianna Guill) is a marketing executive tasked with helping a struggling family winery in her hometown. Tyler (Jon Cor) is the son of the winery owner, who will take over the business one day. Can they save the family business before the Christmas deadline?

Christmas on the Vine is one of those movies that annoys me. While Brooke does do some marketing for the winery, she spends most of her time waxing nostalgic for the Christmas traditions the town had when she was a child. Of course, those memories only exist in the movie to set up the big third act twist. She also spends a lot of time flirting with Tyler. Then when he actually acts on her advances, she turns him down. What the hell, girl. Figure out what you want.

Tyler isn’t much better. He spends a lot of the movie whining about how his family business is closing but when Brooke actually does her job and gives him ideas to bring in new customers or distributors, he shoots them down. His mother has to convince him to actually listen to Brooke.

Oh, and what would Brooke have gotten fired for? There’s a scene where the rival winery owner, Carla (Meredith Baxter), randomly shows up to try to get Tyler to sell her his winery. After Tyler and Brooke shoo her off, Brooke asks Tyler if he’s ready to fight for his business and throws a snowball at him. Who in the world would randomly throw a snowball at their client? Even if it’s supposed to be flirty (spoiler, it is), it’s very unprofessional.

Lifetime really is letting us down this year. I’ll have to try to make a list of terrible Lifetime movies versus terrible Hallmark movies for 2020. Christmas on the Vine definitely falls under terrible Lifetime movies. You might do better if you head over to the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel this year. They seem to be handing out all the good movies.

The Christmas House | 2020 Christmas Movies

There has been some controversy about an LGBTQ+ movie on Hallmark. I heard people complaining about a “gay couple on Hallmark!” forcing them to cancel their subscription to the channel but I didn’t know which movie it was. Well, this is it. This is the movie that broke Hallmark.

Mike (Robert Buckley) is an actor starring in a television show called “Handsome Lawyer.” When shooting wraps for the season, he is called home to help his parents, Phylis (Sharon Lawrence) and Bill (Treat Williams), bring back The Christmas House. With some help from his brother, Brandon (Jonathan Bennett), and Brandon’s husband, Jake (Brad Harder), Mike tries to get the house ready for all of the Christmas revelers to enjoy.

The Christmas House has a lot going on in it. (Here is Hallmark’s description of the movie since mine is kinda terrible.) There’s a house being sold, a relationship breaking up, a relationship starting, a baby possibly being adopted, a career that might be ending….like I said, a lot. However, it all works. People’s lives are hectic around the holidays and this movie reflects that.

As I said in the opening, this is a controversial movie. This is the first Christmas movie on the Hallmark Channel that focuses on a gay couple. Surprisingly, they are treated well. I was expecting Hallmark to come out with at least one character that was against their lifestyle. But no, Brandon and Jake are treated just like everyone else in the movie. I know, it’s almost like gay people are…..people. (insert shocked face here) Hallmark did good.

I really don’t want to give away too much about The Christmas House because, yes, you should watch this one. Watch it multiple times. And not just because it has gay characters. It is actually a good movie. I don’t usually want to add Hallmark movies to my “annual movie” list….this may be the exception.

The Angel Tree | 2020 Christmas Movies

While watching this movie, I found out that Hallmark paired with the USO this year. Maybe that is why there are so many military references in this year’s Christmas movies.

Every year in Pine River, a tree appears in the town square. Residents place their Christmas wishes on the tree. Like magic, an unknown person known only as Angel grants everyone’s wishes.

The Angel Tree is an adorable movie. The idea that a group of people get together secretly every year to make Christmas magic happen for their fellow townsfolk is a perfect Christmas movie plot.

Rebecca (Jill Wagner) grew up in Pine River and was devastated when her Angel Tree wish wasn’t granted. (I mean, her wish was to stop her parents from moving out of town…) As an adult, she decides to write an article about the Angel Tree and is pressured by her editor to find out who is granting all of the wishes. Matthew (Lucas Bryant) is her childhood best friend who still lives in the town. He makes it his mission to keep Rebecca from finding out Angel’s identity while also helping Angel grant wishes. As Rebecca and her daughter, Cassie (Cassidy Nugent), help Matthew and his nephew, Owen (Oscar Farrell), grant Angel Tree wishes, they find out how good it feels to make other people’s wishes come true.

This movie is practically perfect in every way. I already said I liked the plot. The acting is very good. Even Matthew’s stupid coffee puns add to the feel-good mood. Owen’s mom is a soldier deployed overseas but they actually fit it into the story. It doesn’t feel like it was jammed into the script just to have a character related to the military.

You should absolutely watch The Angel Tree. Even if you aren’t into Christmas movies, this is less about Christmas and more about giving back to your community. A great movie for pretty much anyone.

A Timeless Christmas | 2020 Christmas Movies

Sometimes you fall in love with the boy next door. Sometimes you fall in love with a man 117 years older than you that happens to be your professional obsession. No biggie, right?

Ryan Paevey plays Charles Whitley, a 1903 businessman/inventor. As he tries to fix a clock he purchased for his fiancée, he accidentally time travels to 2020. Megan Turner (Erin Cahill) is a historian who is giving Christmas tours at the Whitley mansion when Charles arrives. It is up to Megan to teach him about the 21st century and try to get him back to his proper time.

This isn’t a new plot device. It is still a little weird. Charles isn’t a very nice man. While he is polite, he frequently talks down to people he thinks are lesser. He gets over that….eventually. It seems that the only reason people like him is because he is rich and somewhat famous. That is a terrible reason to like anyone.

I can see why people would like movies like this. The female lead gets to take care of the hapless male and teach him about the ways of their world. I find it creepy. Can you imagine having to explain almost everything to your significant other? He might be familiar with the concept of a car but definitely not a 2020 version. Television, cell phones, computers, the internet….air conditioners, refrigerators, radio (these things may have been invented in the late 1890s but they probably weren’t in most households in 1903)…even the food we eat is different. It would almost be like dating a child. Gross.

With that said, if you look beyond the ickyness of dating someone from another time period, A Timeless Christmas is kinda cute. I don’t know that I could recommend watching it. But you aren’t going to want to gouge your eyes out or anything. There are probably better time travel romance movies out there. They just aren’t Christmas themed.

Christmas on Wheels | 2020 Christmas Movies

This movie takes place in Washington state and they are going to drive a convertible around with the top down on Christmas Eve? Wouldn’t that be kinda cold?

Ashley (Tiya Sircar) has a love for all things vintage. When she finds out that her uncle sold her mom’s vintage car - the one they used to deliver gifts in - she turns to her uncle’s attorney/antique appraiser, Duncan (Michael Xavier), for help.

I generally enjoy Tiya Sircar’s acting. She is adorable in pretty much everything. This isn’t an exception. Granted, Ashley’s obsession with everything vintage and antique is a little weird but I guess there are people out there that only want to buy vintage items. It is sweet that she says she only likes the antiques for their story and not only because they are old.

To be honest, the whole middle part of Christmas on Wheels could be cut out. (Is this a new trend for 2020?) There’s this…thing…about the town mayor changing the look of the Main Street decorations but we never really meet the mayor. We see her once during a charity auction, where she bids on an item, and that is it. No one talks to her to find out why she’s making the changes. Ashley just makes Duncan help her change the decorations back to the old ones in the middle of the night. It is weird.

And there’s a subplot about the car not running properly. It doesn’t start and no one can figure out why. It seems that the car has the ghost of Ashley’s mom so it only runs when Duncan is with her? Yeeeah. People in these movies are too invested in other people’s love lives.

Lifetime has given us yet another movie that is just OK. There isn’t anything particularly stand-out about it. If you like magical cars or if you also think Tiya Sircar is adorable, it’s a perfectly fine way to spend an evening.

Meet Me At Christmas | 2020 Christmas Movies

Meet Me at Christmas is such a frustrating movie. Get ready for a long-winded rant.

When they were freshmen in college, Joan (Catherine Bell) and Beau (Mark Deklin) spent one fun-filled, flirty day during a Christmas stay at a hotel. Years later, they reconnect when Joan’s son, Liam (Luke Bilyk), and Beau’s niece, Katie (Sage Kitchen), are about to get married at the same hotel.

I am so annoyed at this movie. There are so many times when the “conflict” could have been resolved but weren’t because they needed the movie to be longer than thirty minutes. We start off with Joan and Beau not introducing themselves when they originally met. They were doing this stupid flirty game of “I don’t give my name to people I’ve only known for six hours.” YES. They spent the entire day together and didn’t know each other’s names. We saw them compete in a snowman building contest and ride a ferris wheel together and they still refused to just tell the other person their name. WHO IS THAT STUPID.

Then…later that night, they were supposed to meet up at a big tree lighting ceremony. But, of course, they don’t know each other’s names still. Beau doesn’t show up and Joan ends up hanging out with her future husband and his friends. Now. Joan told this guy (I’m not sure they ever say the dad’s name….they keep referring to him as “your father”) that she was meeting someone else and he said she could wait with his group. No big deal. HOWEVER….

During the wedding planning, Liam asks Joan if she knew Beau before. Joan straight up lies to her son and says no. Because Joan didn’t want to ruin Liam’s story of how she met his father? (Oh, by the way, the dad is dead so he’s only ever spoken about in past tense.) Why would knowing that you met Beau and spent one whole day with him ruin anything? WHO IS THAT STUPID.

In addition to that, Beau tried multiple times to tell Joan why he didn’t show up to the tree lighting ceremony that night. But Joan wouldn’t let him. It isn’t until Katie’s dad (Beau’s younger brother) is giving his wedding speech, where he tells the story of how Beau saved him from getting run over by a car and they spent months in the hospital. If Joan had just let him talk earlier, this would have all been resolved.

WHY ARE THEY SO STUPID?

Absolutely do not watch Meet Me at Christmas. It is dumb and frustrating. I keep waiting for something to happen..for there to be a real reason that Joan was being stupid…but there wasn’t. Nothing happens. This movie wasted so much of my time. ARGH.

A Welcome Home Christmas | 2020 Christmas Movies

Recently, I’ve complained about how military life has been shoehorned into a bunch of Christmas movies this year. There always seems to be a “My distant relative is in the military” or a random “I was a military brat” that has no bearing on the actual plot of the movie. A Welcome Home Christmas is different. And I’m happy about that.

Chloe (Jana Kramer) is an Army counselor that helps returning soldiers adapt to civilian life. Michael (Brandon Quinn) is one of her assignments. When she over-commits to volunteering for charities, she puts Michael in charge of Operation Santa Claus - a charity to give military children the best Christmas possible.

On one hand, the characters are actual military members. Chloe was in the Army before she became a counselor, Michael recently left active duty, Chloe’s sister is still in the Army. On the other hand, I’m not sure how realistic the Army is in this. I’m not familiar with Army life but they all seem to be civilians that occasionally wear uniforms. We literally never see Chloe’s sister in uniform but she claims that General O’Toole (Tim Reid) is her commanding officer. We don’t even see her ‘snap to attention’ or anything when he approaches the family. If you’re in a military family, could you please let me know if this is something that happens or is this Lifetime taking liberties?

A Welcome Home Christmas is one of those movies that isn’t good but it isn’t bad either. It isn’t particularly boring, like most of the Christmas fare thrust upon us. There is just something about it that makes it watchable. I’m not sure exactly what that is. Maybe it’s LondonRose Sellars as Savannah. She isn’t the main character but she is a darn good actress. I hope to see good things from her in the future.

Anyway, if you like Christmas movies or movies about the military or movies about charity, you might enjoy this one. It’s at least good enough for one sit-through.