Sweet Navidad | 2022 Christmas Movies

I don’t know a whole lot about the restaurant business or catering but I’m pretty sure I know more than the writers of Sweet Navidad. It’s not that I expect a reality show when I watch these movies. I do expect at least a little bit of realism though.

Carmen (Camila Banus) is a pastry chef at a Puerto Rican café. Despite not having any formal training, she nabs the pastry chef job at a holiday gala at a high class hotel. She gets paired with head chef Jax (Mark Hapka). In just six days, they have to create the perfect menu for the big event.

This bugs me a lot. Probably more than it should. The hotel owners, Victor (David Fumero) and Shirley (Autumn Federici), claim they have been holding this gala every year for a decade. Yet they didn’t start auditioning chefs for the positions until six days before the event. That isn’t how it works. Things like this take months to plan. Any chef worth his weight would have already been booked for holiday events by then. And then, Shirley tells Carmen and Jax that they have to have their grocery order into the vendor by the 22nd in order to have it for Christmas Day. Excuse me, what? That order would have to be in at minimum a week beforehand. Most likely more than that since there were supposed to be a lot of people there. (I don’t think we ever heard an actual headcount, though the room didn’t look that full during the event. They insinuated it was more than 50.)

In addition to the actual planning aspects being so far off base, Carmen and Jax then waste most of their six days visiting Carmen’s family or randomly going to a farmer’s market. We see them outside of the kitchen way more than we see them actually doing any work. Even though Carmen wasn’t formally trained, she would have to know how long it takes to bake the foods she’s making. Right? She has to be able to at least plan out timing. Right?

As much as it saddens me to say, I have to say skip this one. I love the focus on Puerto Rican culture and food but this was the wrong way to do it. Sweet Navidad would have been a better movie if they centered it around the café. Carmen works there as a pastry chef and she happens to meet Jax at an event and he’s all “Cakes are for baby bakers!” and she’s all “Well, try this!” I think the cooking part would have been a bit more realistic and then they could have had the couple interacting outside their respective kitchens without wasting time with an important deadline looming. If they are going to have a six day deadline, they can’t waste time dancing. Sorry.

Spirited | 2022 Christmas Movies

I have been really looking forward to the Ryan Reynolds/Will Ferrell movie Spirited ever since it was announced. When I heard it was a musical, it made me want to watch it even more. It was finally released on AppleTV and select theaters on November 18. Let’s go!

Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds) runs a company that specializes in running marketing campaigns based on hate and misinformation. When the Christmas spirits try to pick this year’s person for redemption, the Ghost of Christmas Present (Will Ferrell) wants to save Clint. However, Clint is considered unredeemable. Present manages to convince the others to try to save him in order to make the world a better place. Or did Present have a different, selfish reason to save Clint?

It is going to be so difficult to talk about Spirited because I don’t want to spoil anything. Yes, it is the plot of A Christmas Carol but there is a twist that makes it so much better. So instead of talking about the plot or the characters or the acting because they are all good, I’m going to talk about my favorite part - the music and dancing.

I’m not sure if I’ve said it before on the blog but I was a dancer when I was younger (and a bit as an adult but now I’m having difficulty finding good adult classes in my area) and my daughter was a competitive dancer in high school (and she still dances in college). So I can get a bit judgy when movies heavily feature dance. The dancing in Spirited is stunning. Emmy nominated Chloe Arnold, an absolutely amazing professional tap dancer, choreographed the dances and her sister, Maud, was one of the dancers. All of the dance scenes are just breath-taking. And they don’t even end when the movie does! There is an entirely extra performance that runs during the credits. While I understand why that song was cut (there was a better way to get the point across), the performance from both Will Ferrell and all of the dancers is spectacular. I want both a behind the scenes of the making of all of the routines and a downloadable video of every song’s performance in the movie. They are all…chef’s kiss.

Yes, definitely, go watch this movie. I hope that it is going to be released outside of AppleTV because I’m sure there are a lot of people that don’t subscribe to it. But, seriously, go sign up for the free trial just to watch Spirited. It is absolutely worth it.

Christmas With You | 2022 Christmas Movies

We’re heading back to Netflix to check out Christmas With You starring Freddie Prinze Jr and Aimee Garcia. Who can resist Freddie Prinze Jr? And I have loved Aimee Garcia since I first saw her on Lucifer. I will be disappointed if this is bad.

Angelina (Aimee Garcia) is a pop star who is being pushed out of the spotlight by a new up and coming singer, Cheri (Nicolette Stephanie Templier). Told by her record label that she has to come out with a new Christmas song in order to stay relevant, Angelina flees New York to the home of a fan, Cristina (Deja Monique Cruz), she saw on social media. She finds out that Cristina’s father, Miguel (Freddie Prinze Jr), is a music teacher who used to be in a band. Together, Angelina and Miguel write a new Christmas song, which is sure to top the charts.

Every year, we get a slew of Christmas movies dedicated to one profession. One year (I think maybe 2019?), everyone seemed to be bakers. Another year, we had a bunch of realtors leading our Christmas movies. This year, it seems to be singers. Particularly, aging women singers. Women who are being told that they are too old to be popular any more. While I love having movies about music, I hate having movies where women are being told they have to be “young and beautiful” to be worth something. It’s gross.

If we can look past the “you’re too old” trope, there are some good things in Christmas With You. As I’ve said, Prinze Jr and Garcia are a delight. Newcomer Cruz is adorable as 15 year old Cristina. I love how excited she gets for everything and watching her dance at her quinceañera is everything. I think I would watch a whole movie about Cristina and her aunts getting ready for the party. Oh, and Zenzi Williams as Angelina’s personal assistant, Monique? Chef’s kiss. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone been more tired of all the BS going on around her. Between Angelina’s whining and the record label’s antics, we’re lucky Monique didn’t slap someone silly.

In truth, I would say to watch it but carefully. Besides the aging stuff, there are some “I need to lose weight” things that happen here. Granted, we do end up seeing Angelina eat some real food but the first half-ish of the movie does contain weight comments. I would love to see a movie about a star that doesn’t have to do with her age or weight but, c’mon, that will never happen. This may be the best that we get.

Six Degrees Of Santa | 2022 Christmas Movies

Six Degrees Of Santa has a very cute gift giving premise in it. However, in real life, it would only work with a group of friends. The holiday spirit isn’t that strong between strangers.

Harper (Kathryn Davis) has created a program called Six Degrees of Santa. One person gives a gift to a second person, who enjoys the gift then passes it on to a third person. This continues until the gift has reached the sixth person, who gets to keep the gift. Tech businessman, Jason (Steve Lund), received a children’s book that was originally gifted by Harper. He makes it his mission to figure out who was his First Santa.

In the movie, strangers graciously hand the Santa present onto other people. I don’t believe that would actually happen. Either the person receiving the gift would never open it. (Honestly, who opens gifts left by strangers on park benches?) Or someone along the line wouldn’t pass on the gift. This situation only works when people are held accountable in some way.

As for the movie itself, it’s decent. It has the usual pitfalls - the conflict could easily be solved if everyone would just have a conversation about it. But the acting isn’t terrible. Davis and Lund have a bit of chemistry. Not enough to make the movie amazing but enough that it’s believable that they would get together. I do wish we got to see a little more of the gift giving aspect between other people, even if I do think it’s unrealistic. It would have been cute to see people in the background handing the Santa boxes off to other people.

Six Degrees Of Santa is one of those movies that is perfectly fine to watch. Maybe with a mug of cocoa and your phone nearby in case you get bored.

Christmas At The Golden Dragon | 2022 Christmas Movies

When I saw the title Christmas At The Golden Dragon on Hallmark’s Christmas movie list, I wasn’t sure what to think. Hallmark isn’t known for its diversity. I was a little worried about a movie about Asian people with a title like that. Thankfully, my worries were unfounded.

Jim (Vincent Cheng) and Sue (Sharon Crandall) Chen have run The Golden Dragon for as long as anyone can remember. Now that their children have grown, they have decided to close the restaurant to allow them to live their own lives instead of spending every Christmas working at the restaurant. Prompted by the news of the closure, their regular customers start to reexamine their own relationships and what they want from life.

Christmas At The Golden Dragon isn’t just one story. It’s five different stories that are all related. Not all of the stories are great but a couple of them are actually good. Romy (Kara Wang), the Chen’s daughter, has a great story about going home for Christmas with her boyfriend, Blake (Markian Tarasiuk). She imagines the Christmas that she sees in the movies with perfect caroling, a childhood bedroom that hasn’t changed in decades, and the family gathering around to open presents on Christmas morning. When she doesn’t get that, she starts to understand how her version of Christmas (working at the restaurant every year) effects the other people in her community. She really comes to appreciate the restaurant that she resented growing up.

While I don’t think every story in here is a home run, I do think The Golden Dragon is worth watching. At the very least, you will get to see how “helping your community” can have a different meaning from volunteer or charity work. Keep an eye on Miguel (Jason Fernandes). He is someone we should all strive to be.

Christmas Sweethearts | 2022 Christmas Movies

I think I get it now. The former CEO of Hallmark didn’t leave the channel because he thought “The Gays” were taking over. It was because people actually acted like they enjoyed being around each other. I think all of the movies I have watched on Great American Family, so far, have consisted of couples that didn’t even like being in the same room as each other. It explains a lot.

Ashley (Breanne Hill), a party planner living in Los Angeles, has come home for the holidays. When she finds out that her high school sweetheart, Grant (Tanner Novlan), is dating popular influencer Bella Vega (Masiela Lusha), she decides to pretend to date her friend and co-worker, Liam (Colton Little), in order to make him jealous. Things go awry when Ashley finally gets what she thought she wanted.

Sometimes the jealousy plotline works well. But it only works when all of the people involved like each other. There are some longing looks from Grant towards Ashley and we’re supposed to gather from the very beginning that Liam is in love with Ashley but it’s difficult to see either of the men actually wanting to date her. She comes off as very self-centered, especially since her entire plan is to break up a current couple. The only person I feel bad for in this movie is Bella. She didn’t do a single thing wrong except for maybe be a little on the dumb side.

My vote is to stay away from Christmas Sweethearts. I’m sure there will be another, better, jealousy Christmas movie this year. This one is just bad.

The Picture of Christmas | 2022 Christmas Movies

We are a little over halfway through November and The Picture Of Christmas is the 34th Christmas movie I have watched this season. At this point last year, I had only watched 17 movies. No wonder this year feels insane!

Ember (Chelsea Hobbs) is a graphic designer in New York. She returns to Willow Hill in order to sell her late grandmother’s Christmas tree farm. While there, she finds her old storybook illustrations, rekindling her love for illustrating instead of just graphic design.

There seem to be a lot of inherited farms in this year’s Christmas movies. I would love to know why the ladies are always so surprised to find out their grandparents hired people to help them on the farm. Since these grandparents all die, I assume they are older people. Do they really think one or two elderly people can run an entire farm by themselves? Even if a grandparent didn’t tell me about their hired help, I would assume there was some sort of hired help. Especially if the farm is an actual working farm with an actual working business like a Christmas tree farm!

The Picture Of Christmas is a fine movie. There is nothing particularly stand-out about it. Ember’s drawing are nice. Emily (Mila Jones), the daughter of love-interest Brandon (Giles Panton), is adorable. She’s probably the best part of the entire movie. Otherwise, everything is bland. Ember tells Brandon that she’s selling the farm and potential buys come to see the place. Brandon wants to buy the farm but doesn’t want to tell Ember. It’s the same stupid conflict that could be solved if everyone was just honest with each other.

If you have nothing else to watch on television, The Picture Of Christmas would be all right to turn on and tune out to. If you are looking for something engaging, you won’t find it here. I would say to watch it for Emily and ignore all of the adults. They are boring anyway.

Our Italian Christmas Memories | 2022 Christmas Movies

Our Italian Christmas Memories is the saddest Christmas movie I have ever watched. I tried to think of a way to make the movie end on a happy note and I couldn’t come up with anything that wouldn’t make it sadder. Let me explain.

Anna (Sarah Power) is an adjunct sociology professor. She has taught college classes all over the world. When she finally comes home for Christmas, she finds that her grandfather, Vincent (Beau Bridges) is suffering from dementia. As Anna spends more time with Vincent, she tries to slow his memory loss by trying to figure out her late grandmother’s pasta sauce recipe. She hopes that talking through the family history will help his mental state.

I’m not joking when I say this is the saddest Christmas movie I have ever seen. We watch Vincent’s memory slip from his grasp. He calls Anna by the wrong name, he frequently looks for his late wife, and he even gets lost going on his daily morning walk. While there are other family members, most of the movie is spent with Anna and Vincent. That means we get very little reprieve from the devastating effects dementia has on both the patient and his entire family. It sucks.

Is there something good in Our Italian Christmas Memories? Not really. Anna’s little brother, RJ (Jesse Irving), always feels inadequate even when he is being praised by everyone around him. Her little sister, Ella (Morgana Wyllie), is usually left handling the business of the family farm, which makes her resentful toward Anna as Anna is able to travel all over the world without a care about the family. They all do come back together at the end but the whole movie is about family trauma but on the light setting.

This is another movie where I don’t want to recommend it. It’s so depressing. But if this is something you feel you need to watch, it’s not terrible. Beau Bridges does a beautiful job playing a man who is losing the things that make him who he is. But if you think this is something that will do bad things to your mental health, please don’t watch it. It can be a lot for anyone, especially someone who has had a family member with dementia. Do what you need to do to keep yourself healthy.

Reindeer Games Homecoming | 2022 Christmas Movies

As I was poking around the web a bit, I found out that Sarah Drew voiced some of the characters in Daria, one of my favorite shows! I knew her from the early 2000s show, Everwood, and she has done a few other Christmas movies but I never knew about Daria. I think I might like her a bit more now.

MacKenzie (Sarah Drew) is a high school biology teacher and an EMT. After her firefighter father dies, she joins his former team to compete in the town’s big fundraiser - The Reindeer Games. This year, her high school crush, Chase (Justin Bruening), comes home from Hollywood to visit his pregnant sister. When he gets talked into joining a competing team, sparks begin to fly between the two.

I admit that I don’t always pay close attention to the opening credits of these Christmas movies. Most of the time the opening panning shots are awful and the credit font is either unreadable or ugly. But that means I completely missed the fact that Sarah Drew also wrote this movie. I don’t think that changes my opinion of it but it’s an interesting fact.

A lot of Christmas movies suffer from having nothing going on. Reindeer Games Homecoming has the opposite problem. There is a ton of stuff going on and some of the stuff gets kicked to side a bit. For example, Chase supposedly wants to nab this role in an action movie. But it only comes up as an excuse for something. He originally doesn’t want to join the team for the polar plunge because he’s afraid he’ll get sick and he really wants this movie role. The movie is filming in Prague so who knows what would happen if he gets into a relationship with MacKenzie. (Though, honestly, he thinks about that part the least.) Meanwhile, MacKenzie is still mourning her father while doing the morning crossword puzzle, teaching biology, moonlighting as an EMT, and also participating in the Reindeer Games. The movie wants us to believe that she loves crossword puzzles but we only see her doing two - one of which is a scavenger hunt at the end of the movie. I think Drew wanted to make the characters feel more three-dimensional but shoved too much in there for a 90-minute movie.

Despite the movie being chock full of nothing, it is still pretty fun to watch. The acting is decent and I really enjoyed watching Chase and MacKenzie complete in the Games. Go ahead and give it a watch. If nothing else, you’ll get to see Bruening jump into freezing cold water in his underwear. That is worth something, right?

The Royal Nanny | 2022 Christmas Movies

At this point in the Christmas movie season, I usually fast forward through all of the commercials and previews for upcoming movies. What that means is I know literally nothing about new movies before I watch them. I assumed that The Royal Nanny was about a nanny…for a royal family. I wasn’t wrong…

Claire (Rachel Skarsten) is an MI5 agent. When the royal family is threatened, she is tasked with going undercover as the children’s nanny in order to keep them safe.

Yep, that is the entire plot of the movie. And it is absolutely brilliant. There were a couple of cheesy lines, which is to be expected because it’s Hallmark, but otherwise I loved it. For the first time in a long time, I picked the wrong character as the secret bad guy. Granted, once I was proven wrong, I was pretty sure who it was but I was stunned that a Hallmark movie got me! These are supposed to be predictable, aren’t they?

Besides being surprised by the bad guy, The Royal Nanny had so many of the things I love in a movie. It had action, it had comedy, and it had a romance that wasn’t forced from the beginning. And speaking of the romance, the chemistry between Clair and Colin (Dan Jeannotte) was lovely. They were both guarded but became closer the more they realized they could trust each other. It took awhile to blossom and it was wonderful.

Do I think you should watch The Royal Nanny? Of course! Go watch it then come back here and tell me if you guessed the bad guy. I want to know if I was the only one that missed it. I bet I’m not!