Eight Gifts of Hanukkah | 2021 Christmas Movies

I think next year I might reclassify the “Christmas movie” reviews as “Holiday movie” reviews. There’s usually only one Hanukkah movie per year shoved in the middle of the pile of Christmas movies but I would love to branch out into movies about other holidays. If those movies exist, anyway. Give me some recommendations about not-Christmas movies!

Sara (Inbar Lavi) is an optometrist who is looking for love. Her long-term relationship ended four months ago and she’s about ready to get back into the dating pool. She has met two men that she is considering dating but on the first night of Hanukkah, an anonymous suitor leaves a present on her doorstep with promises of seven more gifts to come. Is the mysterious man her ex, one of the two men courting her, or someone she has overlooked since childhood?

Eight Gifts of Hanukkah was a sweet movie. Granted, I spent way too much time wondering where I knew Inbar Lavi from but that is my problem, not the movie’s. (The answer is Lucifer. She played Eve.) I found her to be a great leading lady. She has this ability to pull off wide-eyed innocence yet not make the character look childish. She is also very good at bringing that feeling of nostalgia when you look at a sentimental item. I’m not sure how she does is but she made me miss her grandmother and we only know the character from an old picture!

This movie isn’t for someone wanting to learn more about Hanukkah. Head over to the 2019 movie Mistletoe & Menorahs, also starring Jake Epstein (I swear he’s everywhere), for that. There also isn’t a ton of mystery in this movie. The audience can tell pretty quickly who the anonymous gift-giver is. However, the movie does have a certain sweetness to it, which I’m crediting entirely to Lavi.

To those people looking for something a little different from your typical Hallmark Christmas movie, Eight Gifts of Hanukkah is a nice breath of fresh air. I’m not sure this will make my favorite list this year but it is worth watching. Even if you only watch it to shake things up a little.

Christmas...Again?! | 2021 Christmas Movies

Disney’s Christmas…Again?! is basically a holiday version of Groundhog Day. Except with a worse script and a lot of overacting. That’s the Disney brand, right?

Rowena (Scarlett Estevez) is excited for all of her family’s Christmas traditions. She even made a list of her best memories. But when she wakes up on Christmas morning, she finds that her dad (Daniel Sunjata) brought his girlfriend, Diane (Beth Lacke), and her son, Louie (James McCracken). She still tries to fit in all of the Christmas traditions but fails. Devastated, she makes a wish to Santa to have Christmas again. But now she is still in an endless loop of Christmases.

Yes, this is a Disney movie. No, I’m not the target audience. Just because a movie is targeted at children, that doesn’t mean it has to be bad. This one is pretty terrible. My biggest problem is the extreme overacting. If this was taking place on a stage or any live venue, the overacting would have been fine. That is what actors need to do to make sure they are seen at the back of the audience. But this is a movie with cameras that get right up in the actors’ faces. There is no reason for them to overact this badly.

The plot is fine. It is seriously a Christmas version of Groundhog Day. Rowena does a lot of things off-camera, which can make some pieces of the story confusing. For example, she talks about a random woman in the mall was going to meet her boyfriend, who was going to propose to her but she gets hit with a snowball so the proposal doesn’t happen. Why would an 11-year old girl be talking to this random adult in the mall long enough to find out that much about her life? Even if Rowena didn’t talk to her, why did she follow the woman around to see everything happen?

Which is another gripe I have. Rowena seems to have this supernatural ability to remember everything. It’s never established that she has photographic memory but she recalls things like her uncle’s underwear color, her grandmother’s first love, and how much money her father has in his pocket after being told once and having to relive the entire day again to get to the point where the information is useful. She remembers details about the lives of complete strangers. It’s a lot for a young girl to remember after one conversation.

Stay way from Christmas…Again?! If you are looking for a good movie for kids, check out A Boy Called Christmas or The Claus Family (dubbed, of course). This one is definitely not worth your time.

Single All The Way | 2021 Christmas Movies

Single All The Way has been making a big splash around social media lately. It’s not the first Christmas movie with a gay romance as the main story but it is getting a lot of talk right now. With stars like Jennifer Coolidge, Kathy Najimy, and Barry Bostwick, I have high hopes.

Peter (Michael Urie) is always “the single one” at the family Christmas gathering. When he finds out that his current boyfriend, Tim (Steve Lund), is actually married to a woman and has children, he is understandably upset. He asks his roommate/best friend, Nick (Philemon Chambers), to go home with him to New Hampshire to pretend to be his boyfriend. Nick agrees to go with him…but not fake a romantic relationship. If Peter’s family has any say in the matter, it won’t be a fake relationship anyway.

I loved Single All The Way so much. Peter and Nick had the right amount of awkwardness when they each wanted their relationship to go further but were afraid to talk about it. James (Luke Macfarlane), the blind date that Peter’s mother Carole (Kathy Najimy) arranges for him, has the perfect amount of likeability that makes you want him to date Peter. While everyone is perfect in their roles, not every character is perfect. Aunt Sandy (Jennifer Coolidge) is completely oblivious to how blasphemous her Christmas pageant is. She brings the right amount of wackiness to the movie to keep it from being stale.

It is looking like Netflix is the place to be for Christmas movies. Definitely head over and watch Single All The Way. Then watch it again for the hilarious antics of Jennifer Coolidge. And one more time for Kathy Najimy’s mom-attempting-to-be-woke. They all deserve it.

A Christmas Village Romance | 2021 Christmas Movies

Of course, after I trash Lifetime movies, they actually release something cute. Let’s talk about A Christmas Village Romance.

Diana (Jeni Ross) writes historical romance books. For Christmas, she visits the pioneer village of Maple Creek, which is also the setting for her stories. When she arrives, she finds out that tourism is down. Without the revenue, the village may have to close. Diana rallies her fans to help save the village, though the new local blacksmith, Carter (Jake Epstein), isn’t sure her plan will work.

While I think this movie is adorable, the plot is like molasses. It takes forever for anything to happen. I actually fell asleep for a short bit and had to rewind to see what I missed. Amazingly, I didn’t miss much. I could have easily kept the movie running and I still would have understood what was going on.

On the plus side, Ross and Epstein have an interesting on-screen chemistry. Their characters spend a lot of time arguing but they never seem like they are actually fighting. They always seem like they are sort of play-fighting, which is a change of pace for Lifetime romance characters.

Sadly, there isn’t a lot for me to say about A Christmas Village Romance. It is cute so it’s not a complete waste of time to watch but, at the same time, it is so slow. I’m not sure who would be the target audience for it. Maybe people that read romance books? But there isn’t a lot of romance happening. I’d say turn it on. If it doesn’t satisfy you after a half hour, go find something else to do.

Match Made In Mistletoe | 2021 Christmas Movies

When movies change their titles, it makes it very difficult for me to look up the names of the actors in the cast. For example, Lifetime’s Match Made In Mistletoe was originally titled Christmas In Washington. I understand why the producers or whoever may want to change the title of a movie. It just makes my work a little more difficult.

Emily (Natalie Lisinska) is an interior designer tasked with decorating the Belmarian embassy for their annual Christmas charity ball. However, Magnus (Damon Runyan), the new ambassador, doesn’t want the embassy to be overly Christmassy. Will Emily’s holiday cheer melt Magnus’s frozen heart?

I have always given Hallmark movies a hard time. In reality, I think it’s Lifetime that has the awful Christmas movies. Hallmark has emotional cheese but Lifetime is just bad. I’m pretty sure it’s the Lifetime movies that break my brain.

Anyway, let’s talk about Match Made In Mistletoe. The acting is awful. Everyone in the embassy talks like stereotypical “rich people” or “high class” people. It’s annoying. Emily’s mom, Amanda (Kathleen Laskey), talks like a stereotypical mom. She’s either chastising everyone or it’s like she’s talking to a child who is up past their bedtime. And Emily? She has so little confidence in herself that you can feel it in everything she says or does. It’s difficult to listen to any of them talk.

On top of that, everyone makes a BIG GIANT deal out of everything. Did someone take a picture of Magnus and Emily together? Well, he’s definitely going to get fired for even talking to her. Don’t want the embassy to be overly decorated? Sorry, you can’t have one poinsettia plant in your office. And I still don’t know what Big Dan (John Cleland), the “bad guy,” has against Emily. He just hates her with his entire being for seemingly no reason.

Ugh. Whatever. Don’t watch Match Made In Mistletoe. I’m starting to think that maybe no one should watch any Lifetime movies ever.

Saying Yes To Christmas | 2021 Christmas Movies

We really need these Christmas movies to stop normalizing toxic work environments. I think the boss in Saying Yes To Christmas is the worst one so far. Let me tell you about it.

June (Erika Prevost) works for a publishing company as a junior editor. Her boss, Shannon (Sabrina Grdevich), wants her to go home for Christmas - only so she can try to convince a writer, Sally Wells (Catherine De Seve), to sign with them. While June is trying to focus on getting all of her work done, a childhood friend, Blake (Romaine Waite), accidentally wishes that June said yes to Christmas. As a result, June can only say yes to any Christmas offering put in front of her. Can she still nab that promotion at work while agreeing to all of these holiday events?

There are plenty of toxic work environments in real life. We don’t need to see them in all of our Christmas movies. In Saying Yes To Christmas, Shannon not only forces June to harass this poor writer into signing with them in the weeks leading up to Christmas, she also forces June to do the work of a personal assistant. June isn’t her personal assistant! June feels like she has to do things like handwriting Shannon’s Christmas cards in order to move up the corporate ladder. I understand that this is a very real thing in the real world. But this is supposed to be a fantasy world. Why does Shannon have to call June every day to make harsh demands? Why does she have to make any harsh demands? June’s conflict is already set up and it has nothing to do with her workload. June wants to put out more inclusive children’s books, which Shannon and the company are unwilling to do. THAT should be the focus.

Trying to look past the awful work environment, the rest of the movie is decent. For once, the plot isn’t overdone. Sure, this is a similar plot to Jim Carrey’s Liar Liar but the Christmas twist makes it interesting. June doesn’t have to say yes to everything. It’s only things related to Christmas. I do wish they made some of the requests a little more outrageous but that’s OK. It is the Lifetime channel, after all. We can’t get too crazy up in here.

I recommend watching this movie, if you are able to look past Shannon’s brash character. It would be nice if there was a way to mute one character in a television show. We could get rid of all the toxic characters in one fell swoop. So many Christmas movies would be so much better that way.

Miracle in Motor City | 2021 Christmas Movies

Describe a plot badly: A couple harasses an old man to work for them for free on Christmas Eve. I mean, that is the basic gist of Miracle in Motor City.

Amber (Tia Mowry-Hardrict) has taken over planning her church’s Christmas pageant. In order to make the pageant special, she promises that Smokey Robinson (himself) will perform. Except that Smokey doesn’t know about it. Amber teams up with her ex-boyfriend, Eddie (Mark Taylor), to convince Smokey to appear.

There are two sides to this movie: The creepy “Let’s call everyone who has ever known Smokey Robinson to get them to get him to come to the pageant.” Then there is the sweeter “Amber takes care of a foster child, Lily (Markeda McKay).” I really wish they focused more on the foster child situation than the Smokey Robinson stalking.

The writers could have done so much more with this story. Make the main story Lily coming to live with Amber and how Amber’s life has changed since she’s taken on caring for a child. Show Amber teaching Lily how to love Motown music as much as she does. Then, if you really need to have Smokey Robinson in your movie, have Smokey find out about this orphan girl learning how to love Motown so he shows up at the Christmas pageant and surprises everyone with his rendition of “Silent Night.” First, it’s a more intriguing story and the audience learns a bit about Motown. Second, it would put the “Miracle” in Miracle in Motor City. Because the story as it is has no miracles.

I don’t think this movie is worth watching. Even if you are a Smokey Robinson superfan, he’s not in the movie all that much. The best part of the movie really is Markeda McKay but I’m not sure she’s enough of a reason to sit through this whole thing.

Welcome To The Christmas Family Reunion | 2021 Christmas Movies

It’s called Welcome To The Christmas Family Reunion because their last name is Christmas. Get it? Sigh.

Amy (Michelle Argyris) is an event planner with a terrible boss. When he tries to steal her ideas for the holiday family reunion for an upcoming pop star, Tiffanie Christmas (Asia’h Epperson), Amy quite the company and decides to run the event on her own. As she works closely with Tiffanie’s cousin, Calvin (Alonzo B. Slater), to make sure that everyone in the family would be happy with the event, Amy finds herself falling in love with him. But can she really make everyone happy?

I wanted so much more for this movie. All of the characters felt like some sort of caricature of a rich black family. No one felt sincere. And the entire movie felt like it was a bunch of people just wanting to show off their wealth. The main conflict of the movie is where to have the family reunion. So Amy visits each person’s home so she can see why their house is the “perfect” place to host the party. But no one was showing the actual things you need for a party, like “My kitchen is big enough for the caterers to use as a home base as they serve the food.” or “My back yard can be arranged in a way that everyone can move around comfortably AND we can set up a dance floor!” Instead, it’s more like “Here is my giant koi pond” and “We keeps chickens in this huge coop.” I really don’t think your event planner wants to visit your chickens.

Sadly, I don’t think there is anything particularly redeeming about Welcome To The Christmas Family Reunion. It’s even too boring to just put on in the background. Skip this one. Go watch Merry Liddle Christmas Baby and the rest of the Liddle family movies instead. At least they feel like real people.

A Castle for Christmas | 2021 Christmas Movies

Ooh! Brooke Shields AND Cary Elwes? This should be a good one!

Sophie (Brooke Shields), a best-selling author, is having a bit of a slump. Her most recent romance story was severely disliked by her fan base. As a result, she goes to Scotland to visit the castle where her grandfather used to work. Duke Myles (Cary Elwes), who lives at the castle, needs to sell the castle in order to settle some debts his father left him. Sophie wants to buy the castle, much to the dismay of Myles.

I think Netflix did right when they cast Shields and Elwes in A Castle for Christmas. The two of them definitely have the acting chops to pull off their respective characters. And they aren’t the only ones. The rest of the cast are completely adorable. Especially the knitting group. I think I could watch an entire series based around Rhona (Eilidh Loan).

Sure, there are some sections of the movie that are a little cringe-worthy. The third act conflict seems to come out absolutely nowhere. I understand why the writers put it there - they needed Sophie and Myles to argue about something so they could have the big romantic reconciliation at the end. But it felt unnecessary and unwarranted.

Despite the few short-comings in the story, I do recommend watching A Castle for Christmas. it may not be an annual classic but it is one of the better movies that has been released this year. Also, there’s this really cute yet reckless dog….

An Unexpected Christmas | 2021 Christmas Movies

An Unexpected Christmas could describe almost any of the Christmas movies released by Hallmark or Lifetime, right? Something unexpected happens and then, bam!, it’s Christmas. It’s a dumb title. Let’s move on.

Jamie (Tyler Hynes) broke up with Emily (Bethany Joy Lenz) six months ago but he never told his family. The plan was to tell them after they had a nice Christmas together. But the family accidentally runs into Emily at the train station. It turns out that she is in town for a work assignment. Now Emily has to pretend that she is still dating Jamie in order to keep the peace.

While I dislike the title of the movie, An Unexpected Christmas was actually a decent flick. Unlike a lot of lead actors, Lenz and Hynes seem to enjoy being in the same room with each other. It makes their love/hate relationship easier to enjoy. A different set of actors could have royally screwed this up. I’m glad they didn’t.

There isn’t a lot that I didn’t like about the movie. Her job was a little annoying but I don’t think any of the Christmas movie script writers put a lot of thought into the jobs of the lead characters. They just want careers that absolutely INSIST that work be done on Christmas Eve or have projects that are so important their bosses call them literally every single day so they KNOW how important the project is and it NEEDS to be finished right now. Yes, there are jobs that have deadlines around Christmas but I don’t think any of them are quite as harsh as they are in the Hallmark/Lifetime movies.

So An Unexpected Christmas isn’t a must-see movie. But, if you are looking for something to waste some time on, it won’t make you hate yourself for watching it. There are some cute parts and there are some cringey parts. That is the life of a Hallmark movie.