Single And Ready To Jingle | 2022 Christmas Movies

Single And Ready To Jingle is not only an extraordinarily stupid title, it doesn’t even fit the premise of the movie. Sigh.

Emma (Natasha Wilson) is a senior vice president at a toy company. Her toy, KPop Panda, is the second most wanted toy for the holiday season. Frustrated with work and the holiday season, her assistant, Lucy (Merry Lou Proudfoot), books Emma a vacation to St. Thomas. However, Lucy accidentally booked Emma a flight to St. Thomas, Alaska instead of the tropical paradise. With a massive snowstorm incoming, Emma is stuck in Alaska until the weather clears enough to get a flight out.

If you read the title for this movie, you would think that it’s about a woman who is sad that she doesn’t have a relationship. But Emma’s feelings about being single are secondary to her feelings about not having the best toy of the season. I think this movie would be better with a toy-themed titled like The Unwanted Toy or The Misfit Toy or something. Sure, her toy wasn’t unwanted or a misfit but it would reference Emma’s singleness and he klutziness.

As for the movie itself, Single And Ready To Jingle is fine. Once again, there’s nothing stand out about it and there is nothing terrible about it. It just is. I suppose I was a little annoyed about how Emma kept harping on her toy being second best but…well…that’s the plot. It’s a dumb plot but it’s a plot.

Eh, this is one of those movies that you could turn on while you’re doing something else but I would probably say to skip it altogether. It needs a little something more to make it worth watching.

The Holiday Sitter | 2022 Christmas Movies

As we’re heading into the home stretch of Christmas movies, there are a few that I am looking forward to watching. The Holiday Sitter is one of those movies. Let’s see if it is as good as I hope.

Sam (Jonathan Bennett) gets called to babysit his niece and nephew when his sister, Kathleen (Chelsea Walker), and her husband, Nate (Matthew James Dowden), travel to Buffalo to pick up the newborn baby they are adopting. Unfortunately, Sam is terrible with kids. He hires their neighbor, Jason (George Krissa), to help him with…well, everything. Jason and the kids help change Sam’s viewpoint on family and life.

I loved The Holiday Sitter so much. Bennett, famously known as Aaron from Mean Girls, is such an amazing actor. While he does so well with the romantic drama parts, my favorite parts were when he was overemoting. The way his face contorts is hysterical. This is his third Christmas movie with Hallmark, The Christmas House and The Christmas House 2 being the first two. I love that Bennett has become the face of Hallmark’s gay Christmas movies. All three of those movies are wonderful and I can’t wait to see what comes next for him.

Not only should you watch The Holiday Sitter, you should watch it more than once. It may not be an annual movie to watch with the family but it definitely should be an annual romance movie you watch after you’ve put the kids to bed. It is just that good.

Santa's Got Style | 2022 Christmas Movies

Franco Lo Presti must really like modeling. In the beginning of the Christmas movie season, he was modeling suits in Well Suited For Christmas. Now he’s not only modeling suits but also being a store’s social media personality in Santa’s Got Style.

Madison (Kathryn Davis) is a department store executive tasked with finding the store’s next holiday promo. She decides to go with a hip, young, stylish Santa. Her best friend, Ethan (Franco Lo Presti), is unable to find her a model that fits her standards so he transforms into Rafe Hollyfield, his hot cousin. Things go awry when Madison wants Ethan and Rafe in two places at once. Will Ethan lose his best friend over this?

I thought this was actually a pretty clever movie. While we have seen the “one person pretending to be two” plot in other romcoms, I don’t think we’ve ever seen it in a Christmas movie. Though, if he was really able to get the Santa beard and wig on and off that fast, maybe he should be hired as a makeup artist instead!

For most of this season, UPtv has had fairly boring movies. Things that are perfectly fine to watch though you could easily find something better. Santa’s Got Style is one of those better movies. I think Lo Presti is quickly going to become one of Christmas’s leading men. He definitely has the charisma for it. Keep an eye out for him in the future!

Kirk Franklin's The Night Before Christmas | 2022 Christmas Movies

Last year was the first time I had ever heard of gospel singer Kirk Franklin. A Gospel Christmas was a fairly boring movie with some amazing music. This year we’re given The Night Before Christmas. Let’s see if it’s any better.

Journee (Naturi Naughton) and Nia (Lorea Turner) are a mother and daughter going through a difficult time. After the loss of their husband/father, they have had a tough time connecting with one another. When they get caught in a blizzard on Christmas Eve, they find sanctuary in a church. With the help of youth pastor Adam (Luke James) and the rest of the trapped congregation, maybe they can heal their relationship.

Much like last year’s movie, the music in The Night Before Christmas was amazing. Thankfully, this time around, the plot was better. Focusing on the troubled mother/daughter relationship separated the movie from the rest of the Christmas fare. Yes, there is a little bit of romance but it’s not the main plot of the story. And, to be honest, there aren’t a lot of movies that focus on a mother and teenage daughter. If a movie does feature a mother/daughter relationship, it’s almost always two adults.

I absolutely recommend watching this one. Last year I recommended watching for the music. This one I recommend for both the music and the plot. It’s just a great movie overall.

Delivery By Christmas | 2022 Christmas Movies

I haven’t watched too many foreign Christmas movies this year. Thankfully, Netflix gave us the Polish movie, Delivery By Christmas, to help open our minds and get us away from Hallmark and Lifetime for awhile.

Marysia (Monika Frajczyk) is a delivery person. When a coworker sabotages the packages she was to deliver before Christmas Eve, Marysia spends Christmas Eve with one of her customers, Krzysiek (Piotr Pacek), trying to correct all of the mistakes.

While Marysia is the main character of Delivery By Christmas, at the same time the movie isn’t about her. Each of the customers with misdelivered packages gets their story told. We see them open the wrong packages and try to figure out why they received such a thing. Then we see them work through various relationships, both good and bad, as a result. It is an interesting not quite ensemble movie.

Now, I watched it in the original Polish with English subtitles. For me, it makes foreign films feel a little closer to what the director intended. I know not everyone is able to watch subtitled movies. Based on the Polish language version, I think Delivery By Christmas is a good movie. I don’t think everyone will enjoy it since it is set up more like a drama so there are more interpersonal stories than things actually happening. But if you like that kind of thing, I think you might like it too.

The Gift Of Peace | 2022 Christmas Movies

Hallmark is kinda considered the gold standard of Christmas movies. As such, they generally try to market their movies to a wide variety of people. We don’t usually see heavily religious tones in their movies. That all changed with The Gift Of Peace.

Traci (Nikki Deloach) lost her husband to a brain tumor. She also lost her faith. As she prepares for her first solo Christmas art exhibit, she finds herself having a tough time emotionally. She joins a church grief group to try to find both comfort and inspiration for her artwork. Not only does she find both, she also finds a community of friends.

I don’t usually do well with super religious movies. I don’t like to be preached at. Maybe it’s because this movie was almost completely about grief and how to get through it but it didn’t feel preachy, even though it is a VERY Catholic movie. Or maybe it’s because they didn’t try to solve their issues through religion. Yes, they prayed a lot. Yes, they talk about God a lot. But not in a “God has a plan” sort of way. More like a “Let’s go look at this gorgeous sunrise because it makes me feel closer to God.” To me, those are two very distinct statements. “God has a plan” means you have no agency in your life. “Sunrises make me feel closer to God” means your spirituality is heightened. Maybe it’s not God but the feeling that your departed loved one is close.

Surprisingly, I’m going to put this in the Watch column. I’m not saying it’s Must See TV or anything but it does have a nice calm feeling to it. Nothing is rushed, no one is forcing relationships, everyone is allowed to do what they want on their own terms. While I would personally prefer to take out the religious aspect, I can understand how important it is to other people. The Gift Of Peace is a bit of a nice in-between movie. Religious without beating you over the head with it.

Christmas Class Reunion | 2022 Christmas Movies

Finally! We have a different premise for a movie! The big town girl isn’t just coming home for Christmas. She’s also coming home to plan the 15-year class reunion! I bet you didn’t expect that with a title like Christmas Class Reunion.

Elle (Aimee Teegarden) was the valedictorian and class president in high school. Fifteen years later, she is home for Christmas and to plan her class reunion. Despite a few catastrophic setbacks, Elle and class vice-president, Devin (Tanner Novlan) manage to put on the best class reunion ever.

I have to admit that it was nice to watch a movie that wasn’t completely about romance. Sure, Elle still kinda had a crush on the guy she liked back in high school and there’s a whole subplot about the troubles that the high school sweethearts are having now that they are in their 30s. But romance wasn’t the point of the movie. It was all about their interpersonal relationships, which was cool.

Is this the best movie ever? No. I’m not even sure it will crack the top 10 this year. However, it wasn’t nearly as boring as some of the other things I’ve watched this year. So, yeah, go ahead and watch Christmas Class Reunion. Maybe it will bring up a little high school nostalgia for you.

The Art Of Christmas | 2022 Christmas Movies

I have watched a lot of Christmas movies this year. I’m pretty sure that some of these movies weren’t originally written to be Christmas movies. They were written as romance movies (or terrible romcoms) and they stuffed some random Christmas references in to make it fit into the season. Yeah, The Art Of Christmas has little to do with Christmas.

Liv (Brigitte Kingsley) is about to have her first art exhibit. Unfortunately, a fire in the museum’s kitchen has ruined most of her works. In order to make enough money to pay her bills, she takes a job teaching art at a local elementary school. With the help of history teacher, Jake (Joe Towne), Liv finds the inspiration she needs to create more art for her next show.

So this movie was basically “what if two of the most awkward people in the world were shoved together for a relationship?” Jake frequently acts like he’s some sort of alien that doesn’t know how human relationships…even just friendships…work. And Liv hates herself so much that she keeps trying to be someone else. That’s definitely how to get inspired to make artwork that people want to buy.

Don’t watch The Art Of Christmas. It’s annoying. I’m actually getting very close to throwing out the whole Great American channel.

A Royal Christmas Match | 2022 Christmas Movies

As I think most people know, there are a lot of royal Christmas movies. There are so many tiny kingdoms with princes and princesses looking for love. Well, UPtv gave us another one in A Royal Christmas Match.

Princess Camille (Jordana Largy) of Morgana is traveling to the United States to try to set up an exchange program with her country’s university. If she fails, Morgana University will be forced to close. Rhett (Matthew MacCaull), a professor at PSU, is assigned to escort her around the American college. When Camille finds out that her father hired Ben to babysit her, she wonders what his true motive is.

I have to admit that the plot for A Royal Christmas Match is more interesting than most royal Christmas movies. Camille is set on saving Morgana University and she isn’t letting anything get in her way. When Rhett distracts her with Christmas events, she continually tells him that she wants to talk to the other professors at the college and that she really wants to set up the exchange program. She is one determined princess!

It’s also interesting that both Camille and her friend, Duchess Teodora (Ashley Alexander), have PhDs. They are in different subjects but it takes a lot of work to get a PhD. How in the world did a princess and a duchess have enough time away from their royal duties to attend college for that long? Morgana really is set up differently from every other country with a royal family.

Amazingly, A Royal Christmas Match was rather watchable. I don’t think UPtv gave us a lot of good content this year but this was one of them. Go forth and watch, good people.

A Recipe For Joy | 2022 Christmas Movies

I love when we get these mash-up movies where they want the romantic couple to be more…different. A Recipe For Joy is not just about cooking. Oh no, it’s also about producing a television show. But it does neither well.

Carly (Erin Agostino) is a food correspondent. When she is offered her own television show, she is sent to her hometown of Angel Heights to cover the reopening of the town’s diner, now run by Chicago chef Grant (Dillon Casey). The two butt heads about how the diner should operate. He wants things to be new and fancy, she wants to celebrate the history of the diner.

This movie was so boring. It didn’t get interesting until that big third act conflict when Grant saw a cut of Carly’s episode but it wasn’t her cut. And even that is such a typical conflict for a movie about a television show production. “My bosses wanted this to go in a different direction!” Everything else about A Recipe For Joy was just bland.

No, don’t watch this one. Unless you need something to help you fall asleep. It might be good for that.