A Christmas Less Traveled | 2024 Christmas Movies

A Christmas Less Traveled is the first of the Candace Cameron Bure movies that are airing this year. I’m pretty positive that the second movie is a Hallmark movie that Great American Family somehow got the rights to….but that is for later discussion. Let’s see if this one is any good.

Desi (Bure) owns The Dine And Dash diner, which has fallen on hard times. In order to get out of debt, Desi puts her late father’s truck up for sale. Before she can sell it, she finds a cassette tape from her father leading her on a road trip through his past. Accompanying her is Grayson (Eric Johnson), a stranger who has been following Desi for a mysterious reason.

I really think I’m going to cut the Great American Family movies out of the schedule next year. Like almost all of the others, Less Traveled is boring. Desi meets up with her father’s old friends and tries to connect with them on a personal level but it felt so…impersonal. There were no connections with anyone. Even the whole love story with Grayson felt forced and unnatural.

Most years, I can count on Bure to give me a bland movie preaching the will of God that at least has decent acting. This time around, all that is left is “God’s plan.” I feel bad for the conservatives that left Hallmark for this drivel. They could have had much better movies.

Rating: Skip the road trip

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever | 2024 Christmas Movies

Thanks to my birthday and the US Thanksgiving holiday being in the same week this year, I have the whole week off from work. So I decided to spend yesterday at the movies watching The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I did not know this was based on a 1972 book nor did I know there was a 1983 television movie. To be honest, I didn’t know a whole lot about the movie other than it was about a Christmas pageant and it starred Pete Holmes and Judy Greer.

The six Herdman kids - Imogene (Beatrice Schneider), Ralph (Mason D. Nelligan), Claude (Matthew Lamb), Leroy (Ewan Wood), Ollie (Essek Moore), and Gladys (Kynlee Heiman) - terrorize the neighborhood. They steal, they set fires, they smoke, they bully the other kids, and much, much worse. Sadly, their parents are nowhere to be found. Hearing that they can get free snacks at church, they show up for Sunday school on the day Grace Bradley (Judy Greer), the new director of the church Christmas pageant, is handing out roles. Imogene demands she play Mary while the rest of her siblings get the other main roles. The entire town of Emmanuel is sure that this will be the worst Christmas pageant in the history of the church.

First off, yes, this is a heavily Christian movie. They go into detail about the story of Jesus’ birth and the Herdman kids all ask great questions that most Christian movies do not answer. I’m not sure that the trailers properly prepared me for just how Christian this movie is. While that is fine for me, it may not be fine for everyone.

Next up, I’ve seen some reviews saying the kid actors in this are terrible. I didn’t think they were that bad. As a matter of fact, Schneider as Imogene had me crying toward the end of the movie. I almost never cry at movies - especially Christmas movies - and I didn’t expect to cry at this one. Imogene, as a character, didn’t really need a super dramatic actress. She needed someone who could play tough yet very occasionally show a vulnerable side. And I think Schneider pulled that off.

Is this a perfect movie? No. While the movie does end on a happy-ish note, I expected the Hollywood happy ending. We did not get that and I think the movie may have been worse as a result. I also would have loved to have seen Beth (Molly Belle Wright), who is the one telling this entire story, try to actually be friends with Imogene when they started to connect. Maybe this is more of a criticism of their particular church. Those adults were the absolutely terrible kinds of Christians that hate people not like themselves and don’t reach out to those in need. They all knew these kids were unsupervised and not one of them attempted anything to make it better. I was hoping that Beth would befriend Imogene and the Bradley family would sort of take the Hardmans in as honorary family members to show them what family is. But nah, they got the play, that is all they needed.

I can see this movie becoming a sort of classic like A Christmas Story but I’m not sure it really deserves it. If you are looking for a decent “reason for the season” type of movie, this should whet your whistle. But if you are looking for a feel good comedy, it will probably let you down. Do with that what you will.

Rating: Come for Imogene, stay for Gladys.

Christmas With The Singhs | 2024 Christmas Movies

I originally thought Christmas With The Singhs was going to be a wacky “white guy learns about other cultures” movie. Kinda like what we had with Mistletoe & Menorahs back in 2019. Alas, it is not that type of movie. There was such potential and they wasted it.

Asha (Anuja Joshi) and Jake (Benjamin Hollingsworth) reconnected after graduating high school 18 years ago. After dating for a year, Jake proposes…without getting her father’s permission first. As they spend their first Christmas as an engaged couple together, can they meld their Christmas traditions together or will this tear them apart?

This really would have been a great way to highlight the differences between an Indian family Christmas and a white American family Christmas. Instead, what we get is Asha’s father, Samuel (Manoj Sood), rudely demanding that the couple do absolutely everything his family does while ignoring everything Jake’s family does. While I haven’t experienced it myself, I have heard that Asian families are rather strict about things. But this is insane. Thankfully, Asha’s mother, Nirmila (Nimet Kanji), is more understanding but that is probably because her family gave up their Hindu religion to join Samuel’s Catholic religion. She understands the sacrifice they made and how difficult it was to combine their families. Samuel is too set in his ways (or maybe selfish) to think about what would make his daughter happy.

I want to say the movie itself isn’t terrible. The acting and the script are pretty good. But it is really difficult to look past the fact that it is mostly Samuel stomping around whining about Asha ignoring her family when the couple spends most of their time WITH her family and actually ignoring his family. It all comes together in the end, of course. And I would love to maybe see a sequel where they truly highlight the things that each family does to make the season special to them. This just wasn’t it.

Rating: Samuel reading a story to children was really THE most important part of their tradition?

A Reason For The Season | 2024 Christmas Movies

Now we’re heading back over to Hallmark Mystery with A Reason For The Season. Is it a mystery? Not really. But I’ve now resigned myself to the knowledge that this is the channel Hallmark uses for all of the non-traditional romance movies. Which is fine.

Thirty-five years ago, Elizabeth Lane (Taylor Reid in the flashback, Sarah-Jane Redmond in the present time) suddenly gave birth to her daughter, Evie (Taylor Cole), in a small town diner with the help of six strangers. Now, realizing that her adult daughter doesn’t appreciate the wealth she has built, Elizabeth sends Evie back to that small town to find the six strangers and grant their Christmas wishes. With the help of Kyle (Kevin McGarry), the only lawyer in town, Evie sets her sights on completing her mother’s challenge.

This is one of those movies that could have gone very wrong. We get a lot of “spoiled rich girl goes good” type of Christmas movies. And a lot of them are bad. Thankfully, I didn’t think A Reason For The Season was that bad. It’s a Hallmark movie so of course there is some terrible dialog and a handful of cheesy acting. But I thought that the actors got the message across well enough.

I suppose, if I had to find something bad with the movie, I would say that it was a little unbelievable that someone with access to THAT much money wouldn’t have gotten a credit card or driver’s license in their fake name instead of pretending they keep forgetting their stuff all over the place. It wouldn’t have been that difficult for Evie to get everything she needed to make herself successful. Especially if she was just giving away $1,000 diamond tennis bracelets. But, to be honest, this is a small nitpick. It was a little annoying that she had to keep hiding her real name but it didn’t ruin the movie. In the end, it was still decent.

Rating: Can I get my Christmas wish granted too?

Hot Frosty | 2024 Christmas Movies

I think someone at Netflix hired some Gen Zs to run their Christmas movie slate this year. You can’t tell me that a Gen Xer or Millennial came up with Hot Frosty. And there are two more Netflix movies coming up with additional weird plots. We are in for some craziness this Christmas.

After losing her husband to cancer, Kathy’s (Lacey Chabert) life began to fall apart. She manages to keep her diner going but her house is in major need of repairs. And she can’t even think of dating again. Thrift store owners Mel (Sherry Miller) and Theo (Dan Lett) give Kathy the red scarf that led them to fall in love with each other. Disbelieving in the magic charm, Kathy puts the scarf on a muscular snowman entered in the town’s snow sculpture competition. That night, the snowman, Jack (Dustin Milligan), comes to life, bringing more than just muscles to the town.

There are people out there that did not like this movie. I am not one of them. And to say I’m skeptical about Christmas movies is an understatement. Sure, Hot Frosty has a ridiculous plot but so do many of the best Christmas movies. As a matter of fact, I think this movie had similar vibes to Elf, which is one of the most popular Christmas movies out there. It probably won’t make it to the same cult movie status that Elf has but I don’t think it should be written off as terrible either.

I think maybe my only complaint about this movie is that they were given comedic heavy hitters in Craig Robinson and Joe Lo Truglio and they are both severely underused. Robinson’s cop character is supposed to be one of those “so serious about their job it’s funny” and Lo Truglio is supposed to be his dim-witted deputy. However, neither of them are playing it straight. It’s not funny if the actors are playing it funny. Sadly, the funniest part they get is the song they sing over the ending credits, which is a callback to the song they sing in the cop car. I would have loved to see them play both of the roles more seriously. They would have stolen the movie.

Despite that minor setback, I do recommend watching it. Keep an eye out for a couple of Mean Girls references!

Rating: How much does snowman home repair cost?

Tis The Season To Be Irish | 2024 Christmas Movies

Every year, we get a slate of movies where the female lead (almost never the male lead) goes on a grand Christmas adventure in another country. Frequently, it’s Scotland or Austria, specifically Vienna. Now Hallmark takes us to Ireland with ‘Tis The Season To Be Irish. I hope they don’t turn the Irish characters into some sort of weird leprechaun stereotype or something.

Rose (Fiona Gubelmann) has just purchased a very cheap house in Ireland with plans to renovate and resell it. When she arrives, she finds the house is actually a dilapidated cottage. Sean (Eoin Macken), who sold the cottage to Rose, is also the town historian that she has to get approval from for any repairs. Deciding the cottage requires too much work, Rose decides to make it look nicer in order to sell it to someone else. But will she fall in love with the quaint Irish town nearby?

This is yet another movie that is just OK. Rose is supposedly a very experienced house flipper, yet she does zero research on the Ireland house before demanding the seller, who she does not know, brush off a current offer in order to sell the house to her. Neither of those traits make her likeable in the beginning. Then we’re supposed to feel bad for her when we see the state of the cottage? I think not. Also, I have no idea how she fixed the cottage so quickly. There was a giant list of major repairs needed yet she got them all done before Christmas. Maybe that was her real fairy wish.

As for the rest of the movie, Sean is fairly bland for a leading man. He spent a lot of time complaining about things and, at one point, even rejected a kiss from Rose. I’m not really sure why we were supposed to be rooting for him. Rose had more chemistry with the lamb that kept following her around town. It makes me a little sad because I wanted to enjoy a nice Irish trip. But all we got was some pretty scenery and boring characters.

Rating: My fairy wish is to be anywhere else.

Christmas Under The Northern Lights | 2024 Christmas Movies

When I saw that Great American Family was airing a movie titled Christmas Under The Northern Lights, I wondered if there was more to it than just being about the northern lights. Well, the answer is “not really.” I’m still in November and Great American Family movies are already boring me to death. This may be the last year I watch GAF movies.

Erin (Jill Wagner) needs inspiration for her next book. Her father, Doug (Bruce Boxleitner), suggests they go visit his hometown of Aurora. He has to sell his parents’ house and maybe the Aurora Borealis will give Erin the inspiration she needs.

Yep, this movie is all about Erin chasing the northern lights across a small town with tour guide Trevor (Jesse Hutch). Sure, he takes her on some adventures but there are also adventures that she won’t do and, honestly, this movie is so freaking boring. Instead of a “will they or won’t they” romance story, we get a “will they or won’t they” see the northern lights story. It’s not a good conflict, the CGI for the lights wasn’t all that good, and the story progressed at a snail’s pace. I know that GAF tends to put a lot of their bad movies in November. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted December to arrive so much.

Rating: I felt it in my gut that this would be bad.

Santa Tell Me | 2024 Christmas Movies

I was a little weirded out when Santa Tell Me began with actual children talking about finding their true love. If they were teenagers making a silly Christmas wish, that would be one thing. But the movie jumps TWENTY FIVE years after this scene. So we’re talking about a kid around 7 years old asking Santa for the name of their true love. I find it creepy.

Olivia (Erin Krakow) is an interior designer about to embark on a live televised Christmas special where she redesigns an entire house for the holiday season. Her boss brings in TV show host Chris (Daniel Lissing) to help her. Chris decides to change all of the previous plans so they can redecorate Olivia’s childhood home, which happens to be up for sale. As they work, Olivia finds her old letter to Santa, setting off a number of magical letters from Santa trying to lead Olivia to her true love.

If we leave the children out of the equation, this is a really cute premise for a movie. Olivia is told her true love’s name is Nick so she dates a bunch of guys named Nick. Of course, none of them were the right guy but it does make the movie a little more fun. The twist at the end was predictable but it was also cute. My favorite scene was the very last scene of the movie. It was perfect.

I think my only real complaint about the movie is that the interior designer part was absolutely unnecessary. They were on a rather strict deadline and supposedly they didn’t have the budget for a big staff yet we don’t really see Olivia working. Just going on dates. It make it feel a little unrealistic. But I guess realism isn’t what we look for in Hallmark movies.

Rating: Can they come decorate my house?

Red One | 2024 Christmas Movies

Recently released in theaters, Red One has Dwayne Johnson teaming up with Chris Evans to rescue Santa Claus. The trailers seem pretty cute. Will the movie live up to them?

After a mall trip to Philadelphia to meet some children, Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons), code name Red One, gets kidnapped by a mysterious group of people. It’s up to Santa’s head of security, Callum Drift (Johnson), and Jack O’Malley (Evans), a thief with the ability to track anyone anywhere, to rescue him before Christmas can be ruined.

My husband was (loudly) listening to some podcasters talking about the movie this morning. I tried not to listen but I did hear one of the women say she wasn’t impressed by the movie and she wasn’t sure who the target audience was. I think this woman has never met people before because my family found Red One quite enjoyable. There was comedy, there was action, there was some sad moments, and there were some heartwarming moments. Everything you love to see in a family-friendly movie.

While I try not to compare theatrically released movies to Hallmark/Great American Family/Lifetime movies, Red One was originally supposed to be an Amazon Prime release. Taking that into consideration, this very well may be my favorite movie of the year. The cable networks will have a difficult time beating this one.

Rating: J.K. Simmons should be Santa Claus in every movie

Meet Me Next Christmas | 2024 Christmas Movies

Netflix has suckered me into watching yet another Pentatonix Christmas movie. They aren’t the main characters of Meet Me Next Christmas but they are a very large part of the plot. Like, unavoidably large part of the plot.

Layla (Christina Milian) gets stuck in an airport on Christmas Eve, forcing her to miss the annual Pentatonix concert in New York City that she attends with her boyfriend. As she waits in the airport lounge, she meets two men - Teddy (Devale Ellis), who gives her some culinary advice, and James (Kofi Siriboe), who connects with Layla deeply after a long conversation. However, since Layla is currently in a relationship, they decide to not pursue this connection further. Instead, James makes Layla promise that, if her relationship should fail in the next year, she will meet him at the next Christmas Eve Pentatonix concert to see if there is more between them. A year later, Layla has broken up with her boyfriend but the tickets to the Pentatonix concert are sold out and she didn’t have a ticket. She unknowingly hires Teddy, now working as a concierge, to help her obtain the elusive concert ticket in order to make her dreams come true.

Let me start this off by saying I don’t hate Pentatonix. I used to listen to them in the 2010s but then they started feeling over marketed. Their faces and music was just everywhere. So having a whole movie dedicated to the group and their music makes me have those over marketed feelings again. And this movie feels even more so. There are so many times a character says “Oh my god! You love Pentatonix too!” or “Who doesn’t know Pentatonix?!” or “Hey, listen to this Pentatonix song!” If I drank a shot of alcohol every time the group name was spoken, I would have been way over the limit in the first half hour of the movie. It, honestly, was a little grating.

The sad thing is that the rest of the movie is really cute. I love the way Layla and Teddy were running around the city trying to find tickets. There were scammers and scalpers and even a weird couple that just wanted them to run an errand for them in exchange for a ticket. Unfortunately, all of the cute things were cut with kinda annoying scenes of Pentatonix in their hotel suite following the pair on social media. We really didn’t need their commentary on what was going on. I, honestly, would have liked the movie better if there was a little less backstage Pentatonix and a little more of Layla/Teddy running around New York City. NYC is an amazing backdrop for a movie and there is so much you could do with it. Instead, we’re interrupted with random harmonies in the middle of a conversation. Thanks, I hate it.

Rating: Can they go to a different concert next year?