To give us all a sense of which NEW Christmas Movies are and which movies are NOT family-friendly, I am going to be updating this page with reviews and comments on every movie from *It's a Wonderful Movie* family members throughout Christmastime. Be sure to bookmark this page by adding it to your favorites and return for reviews added for each film. Hopefully this will help us all enjoy many of the wonderful Christmas movies airing this Holiday Season - and make our Christmas movie viewing experience a whole lot easier!
My personal reviews come from a Christian view point, and I appreciate those who visit here at *It's a Wonderful Movie* and share these same moral standards and traditional values with us. Thank you to those of you who have contributed a review, thus far, and if you haven't shared, yet, but you would like to, please see details at the end of this post.
🎄"Jingle Bell Bride - Cute movie, family friendly. Julie Gonzalo portrays wedding planner Jessica Perez, who has to travel to Alaska to get a unique, rare flower actually called Jingle Bells for an upcoming Christmas wedding of a celebrity. Jessica is used to being in control and getting the job done, but when circumstances beyond her control keep her grounded in Alaska - she may have to stop and smell the Jingle Bell flower! Jessica may also discover love in this journey. Typically, Julie Gonzalo is a bit more serious or reserved in her roles, but I enjoyed her energetic spirit in this movie." ~Net
🎄"I thought Jingle Bell Bride was quite cute. Loved the lead actor and actress (I also liked that she and her sister occasionally lapsed into a Spanish phrase here or there - it added a realistic depth to the characters)." ~~Jane
🎄"I’ve watched Jingle Bell Bride and it was cute. Julie Gonzalo and Ronnie Rowe Jr. had great chemistry together. I hope Ronnie will become a regular on Hallmark, he did a great job! Many of the side characters I’ve seen in other Hallmark movies." ~ Jennifer Rumberger
🎄"Overall enjoyed Jingle Bell Bride - it was a reasonably good start to Hallmark's Christmas schedule. I thought Julie Gonzales and Ronnie Rowe was a good casting, great chemistry between them. Don't know what the point of the hero's son was - he didn't have much on screen time and seemed superfluous. Hallmark really are going to have to pay some attention to the logistics though - the town had a population of 112 (yes one hundred and twelve) but the aerial shots of it suggested it was considerably larger. I can accept that the many people in the town were there for the Festival but apparently the Elementary School put on a pageant every Christmas - well with a population of 112 there couldn't have been more than a handful of pupils! It was a nice too that for once the characters didn't end up leaving the big city to settle on the small town." ~ Anonymous
🎄"Jingle Bell Bride: The preview did not engage me, but the movie did. I liked it -- both the Alaska theme and Julie Gonzalo and Ronnie Rowe. They were cute together." ~ Anonymous
Chateau Christmas - October 25, 2020 *Family Friendly
(Merritt Patterson and Luke Macfarlane)
🎄"Chateau Christmas was cute and family friendly. Loved the cozy location - I want to go stay there for Christmas and some skiing!! Merritt Patterson is such an adorable actress. I enjoyed the music theme of this one (just as I enjoyed the music theme from Christmas Tree Lane)." ~~Jane
🎄"The music in "Chateau Christmas" was a highlight for me, as someone who took piano lessons for many years. Merritt's character, Margo, plays the piano so beautifully throughout the movie, even though she has supposedly lost her connection to the music she is playing. After a bad review, Margo returns home to her family and meets up with past love, Jackson. She begins to find that love of music again - as they work together to put on a Christmas concert. Very family friendly, but it's a little slower paced and probably wouldn't entertain most children, unless they are in tune to music." ~ Net
🎄"Chateau Christmas: I don't know why. But I found this one a bit boring. Merritt is always good and so is Luke. I just didn't feel this one came together!" ~ Anonymous
One Royal Holiday - October 31, 2020 *Family Friendly
(Laura Osnes, Aaron Tveit and Krystal Joy Brown)
🎄"I watched One Royal Holiday and it was really good! Great music and actors!" ~ Anonymous
🎄"*So far* One Royal Holiday is my favorite Hallmark Channel movie. I'm tired of Royal movies. The Queen was a highlight of the movie. If this movie comes to DVD, I'm buying it." ~ Namegirl
🎄"One Royal Holiday was refreshing! How nice to see a royal family who is actually pleasant and sweet and not the typical, uppity and rude version. The queen was so delightful; I loved her adorable giggle. Laura Osnes completely stole the show with her warm, cheerful Christmas spirit; it was pure joy to hear her sing, even with a group of carolers. Family friendly and fun! I look forward to watching it again!" ~Net
🎄 "One Royal Holiday. Loved it! For the most part, I'm not a fan of all the Hallmark "Royal" movies; usually, my eyeballs are in jeopardy of getting stuck up in my head because I roll them so much during these movies. But, THIS Royal movie was, to me, just right. It got a little Hallmark silly/sappy at the very end, but that was easy to overlook. Nothing was too terribly "over-done" or "over-acted" (well.... as non-"over-done" as a movie about falling in love with a Royal prince of a make-believe country can be!! Hah!!). The setting was lovely and Christmas-cozy and I want to go live at that Connecticut inn!!! The entire cast was perfect. The carol-singing was beautiful; I love when they sing carols that give glory to Jesus instead of just secular carols (I like all Christmas carols, but I appreciate when movie directors don't exclude the true meaning of Christmas by just doing Frosty and O, Christmas Tree). Maybe I just happened to be in the right mood to watch this movie, but I'm thinking this is definitely a keeper for my dvr and possibly a purchase when it comes out on dvd. Family friendly." ~~Jane
🎄"I absolutely loved 'One Royal Holiday' and watched it by myself and then with the family. A keeper and I will purchase it if becomes available." ~ Kathy
🎄"One Royal Holiday: Laura Osnes is always lovely. It was good -- but compared to her movie last Christmas, I felt like this movie lacked depth. I wish the characters love story progressed more. Their intro however, was engaging and fun. Hope she keeps doing Hallmark movies!" ~ Anonymous
🎄"One Royal Holiday was going to be a favorite just based on the cast alone. Laura and Aaron are two of my favorite Broadway actors and seeing them together was wonderful. The movie was funny, sweet and I see plenty of room for sequels. One Royal Engagement, One Royal Wedding...." ~ Kay
🎄"One Royal Holiday I’m not normally a big fan of royal movies (except for “Princess for Christmas” and “Crown for Christmas”). There are some parts that were too cheesy for me but it was still cute." ~ CH Mom
🎄"So far this year, my favorite has been "One Royal Holiday." I hope they release it on DVD. That was such a great movie." ~ Marlena
🎄"One Royal Holiday Family-friendly. This movie was alright, nothing special. It ranks 20 out of the 23 new ones I’ve seen. It was enjoyable to watch but has already been deleted off my DVR. The chemistry between the leads was lacking and the story isn’t memorable. I love Laura Osnes but she was just TOO perfect in this movie, so much so that I just couldn’t like her (and she is so lovable and full of life that it made me sad that I didn’t like her un-realness!). I like a little “real” with all the “unreal” that is a girl falling in love with a prince. I get tired of all the glamorous actresses that look like their hair and make-up is always picture perfect. In short, while One Royal Holiday was clean, sweet, and had Christmas cheer, it really isn’t a keeper for me. Emphasis on me; this is my opinion and I do not want to offend anyone who absolutely loved this film!" ~ Rissa
On the 12th Date of Christmas - November 1, 2020 *Family Friendly
(Mallory Jansen and Tyler Hynes)
🎄"My two "must watch" picks from the weekend were "Cranberry Christmas" (because we don't get many movies about an already married couple and the story sounded good) and "On the 12th Date of Christmas" (because Tyler Hynes is my favorite Hallmark leading man and I'm pretty much guaranteed to enjoy whatever Hallmark movie he's in). I've only had a chance to watch those two so far but just wanted to say they're both family friendly and I loved them both for the same reasons they were my "must watch" picks! Tyler Hynes was fantastic in his role, as always, and I thought he was well matched with Mallory Jansen. I loved watching their characters fall in love, enjoyed their interactions with their respective families, and thought the scavenger hunt theme was fun. "Cranberry Christmas" is wonderful, and I highly recommend it if you're someone who enjoys the deeper, richer stories on HMM. Don't get me wrong--I enjoy the fluffy romantic fantasies too, but it was refreshing to see the more realistic picture that marriage takes work and it's worth the effort. Nikki DeLoach and Benjamin Ayres did a beautiful job portraying a couple working through a rough patch and growing closer together through it. The ending made me tear up." ~ Amy Lama
🎄"On the 12th Date of Christmas. Loved it! A light, fun movie with good Christmas "feels". I liked the scavenger hunt twist for this movie. Tyler Hynes is fast becoming one of my favorite actors; his facial expressions and the way he times the delivery of his lines is perfection. And he seems to work well with whatever actress Hallmark pairs him with; he and Mallory Jansen were a lot of fun together. This one is a keeper for my dvr and possibly a purchase of the dvd in the future. Family friendly." ~~Jane
🎄"Completely agree with Amy about "Cranberry Christmas" and "On the 12th Date of Christmas" -- both movies were "keepers" for me!" ~~Jane
🎄"Hynes' line delivery is great. I totally agree with you Anonymous, it's a keeper!" ~ Namegirl
🎄"On the 12th Date of Christmas: This was a cute movie. I love Tyler Hynes and Mallory Jansen was a nice surprise! She was a fresh face and the plot was engaging. It felt both upbeat and lively." ~ Anonymous
🎄"On the 12th date of Christmas- Tyler Hynes has quickly become a favorite in our family. He has good chemistry with his co stars and his line delivery has that something extra that makes a movie that much better. Mallory did a nice job, I had only seen her in villain roles before so it was a nice change. This will be a re-watch for sure." ~ Kay
🎄"On the 12th Date of Christmas I really like the unique story and the chemistry. I forgot how much I love Tyler Hines in hallmark movies and this certainly reminded me. This is my first time seeing Mallory in Hallmark but she was equally great too. When they were brainstorming for the scavenger hunt app ideas I felt really intrigued to see how it all will come together. So cute and will definitely watch it again!" ~ CH Mom
🎄"On the 12th Date of Christmas is such a clever
concept! Instead of our leading guy & girl going on a Scavenger Hunt, they
are the game creators - who are developing a special hunt for others to use
through an app. It's fascinating to watch them develop fresh ideas and test
them out along the way - taking them all over the city. Of course, each new
challenge brings the two closer together. I really enjoyed this family friendly
Christmas rom-com! It's always fun to see Tyler Hynes and Mallory Jansen is an
excellent addition to the Hallmark family." ~Net
Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater - November 7, 2020 *Family Friendly
(Ashley Williams and Niall Matter)
🎄"So far my favorite movies are One Royal Holiday and Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater." ~ Namegirl
🎄"Never Kiss A Man In A Christmas Sweater is the best Hallmark Channel movie I have seen this season. Watched twice already! Ashley Williams and Niall Matter are great together. Very sweet story too." ~ kitkat
🎄"Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater. How fun!! Love Ashley & Niall. Family friendly. This one is a keeper for my dvr and most likely a purchase of the dvd when it comes out." ~~Jane
🎄"Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater: I liked the plot for this one. I also look forward to Ashley Williams movies. This one did not disappoint. The tree scene gave me a laugh!" ~ Anonymous
Christmas With the Darlings - November 8, 2020 *NOT Family Friendly - includes sub-plot storyline with same sex couple
(Katrina Law and Carlo Marks)
🎄"I just started watching it tonight and thought it was so cute...and then there it was. So sad. I’m glad there have been a few that have been family friendly and very enjoyable but this was one I had to turn off." ~ J.F. Hale
🎄"Re: "Christmas with the Darlings" -- yes, according to a couple of other review sites, there is a subplot where the female lead tries to set up her female best friend with another woman. Yuck. So glad I popped in here to see your warning in time to delete the movie from my recorder. I wasn't aware that you'd gotten negative comments, but that makes me sad. Stay strong in your faith, and please keep letting us know which movies are truly family friendly. God bless!" ~ Anonymous
🎄 "I, too, am going to delete the movie from my dvr. I was looking forward to watching it." ~ Namegirl
🎄"I deleted Christmas with the Darlings from the dvr. And it's a shame because the commercials for this movie looked so cute. I wish Hallmark wasn't trying to be so "woke"!!" ~~Jane
🎄"Christmas with the Darlings -- I love both Katrina Law and Carlo Marks and did watch this movie, but I was surprised by the subplot with a same-sex couple. In all honesty, the sub-storyline did not match the rest of the movie. It felt like it was there just to be there, or trying to make it point. It did not connect. I loved the two leads together, they had so much chemistry, I hope they star in something else together! The children were great picks but coming from Australia, it would have made sense if they had Australian accents!" ~ Anonymous
Christmas in Vienna - November 14, 2020 *Family Friendly
(Sarah Drew and Brennan Elliott)
🎄"Christmas in Vienna. What a sweet movie. Loved the setting! There were moments where I felt like Sarah's character was too young for Brennan's diplomat character (it almost felt like she and her bff were just out of college and almost closer in age and life experience to his daughter than to him). But, overall, I thought Sarah did a good job of bringing maturity to her character and making the whole thing more believable. The movie got a bit Hallmark-silly at the end when they threw in a Sound of Music von Trapp Family singers kind of thing, which was sweet but hokey. Other than those two small quibbles I really liked this movie and it's a keeper for my dvr. Family friendly except for commercials. I suggest fast-forwarding through the commercials. There was an ad for movies on Showtime and these were movies I would not want young children to see the trailers for (including an up-close shot of a detailed kiss between a gay couple, and other violence and sexual situations -- basically previews of R rated movies -- NOT what I want to see during family Christmas movie night!!)." ~~Jane
🎄"Christmas In Vienna I had so looked forward to this but sadly it was a major disappointment. Brennan Elliott will always be remembered as Brian in All Of My Heart one of Hallmark's most heartwarming movies of all time. It was as if he was disinterested in the role, he seemed to be stiff and was far too staid. I checked the ages of the two actors and it turns out there is only 5 years difference but in appearance the hero nearly looked old enough to be the heroine's father! Sarah Drew came over well but I couldn't feel any chemistry between the two and the background was delightful but the plot was slow-moving and dull. While I know you have to make allowances with Hallmark the ending where the family get a slot at a prestigious concert in one of the most famous venues in the world "as a favour" at the last minute was just nonsensical. Sad, when I expected something special." ~ Anonymous
🎄"Vienna at Christmas is beautiful. Thats what I took from this movie." ~ Sue in Hollywood
A Timeless Christmas - November 15, 2020 *Family Friendly
(Ryan Paevey and Erin Cahill)
🎄"I didn't care for A Timeless Christmas. I just didn't buy it. Candace's was better to me." ~ Misty
🎄"A Timeless Christmas. I thought this one was okay, it was kind of sweet, but it really didn't win me over (not a keeper for my dvr). I love historical period dramas but my logical brain has a hard time wrapping itself around any kind of time travel story. I've liked Ryan and Erin in other movies, but don't think this was the best fit for either of them. Family friendly. ~~Jane
🎄"I LOVED A Timeless Christmas. Easily my favorite that I've seen so far. I'm a big fan of time travel stories and found this one to be a whole lot of fun and very sweet. I thought Ryan and Erin had great chemistry, and Ryan definitely fit the part of a dashing gentleman from 1903. I enjoyed every minute of the movie and didn't want it to end. I'll be watching it again." ~ Amy Lama
🎄"I watched Timeless Christmas this weekend and did enjoy it a lot. In so many movies I thought it was covid for not feeling a connection with the main characters and their feelings for each other, but in Timeless Christmas, Ryan Paevey and Erin Cahill had such a great connection on screen, I felt a connection to them so quickly, and that was filmed after covid, so the other movies I wasn't feeling the love must not have been due to covid. I want to see Erin & Ryan in more movies together. The movie was funny and witty, and I was so excited to see how it ended (I did not ever read the book)." ~ Sabrina
🎄Exactly! Ryan was perfect as the gentleman from the past. Great family friendly movie, with a fresh storyline. Great chemistry between him and Erin as well. ~ Savvy Girl
🎄"A Timeless Christmas - Ryan and Erin worked well together. A couple moments that didn't work but overall I liked it and will watch it again." ~ Kay
🎄"A Timeless Christmas. Thoroughly enjoyed this. Very difficult theme to tackle but I think they did this well overall despite a few obvious errors (well this is Hallmark and you do have to suspend some belief!) Ryan Paevey fitted into his role comfortably and he and Erin worked well together. My major disappointment was that some people saw fit to reveal the ending before the film aired (and surprisingly Ms Cahill was one of these). From the beginning I was intrigued to see how it would end and unfortunately knowing in advance did take a lot of enjoyment away although in retrospect there probably wasn't any other satisfactory finish. However, still one of the more enjoyable Christmas movies of 2020 to date." ~rubcale
🎄“A Timeless Christmas was quite intriguing, but it was one of those
movies that left me wanting more. I loved seeing the already handsome Ryan
Paevey dressed-up as the stylish Charles Whitley from 1903, with his old
fashioned ascot tie and long suit coat; it reminded me instantly of Mr. Darcy
from the Jane Austen movies. That was enough to draw my interest as the story
began, and then I was captivated with the mystery of how and why Charles
arrived from the past in to 2020. It was fascinating to watch as Charles
acclimated himself to the technology of 2020 and all of the changes in the
world since the early 1900's. In the end, when Charles made his decision
between the future and the past (I'm not saying here which way he chose), I
felt rather sorry for the people he left. The time travel genre can sometimes
be a tough story to sell. Some viewers like it a lot, and others, I've
discovered, don’t like it at all. Ryan Paevey and Erin Cahill, however, were
excellent together and overall, it was an engaging, original Hallmark movie for
those who love historic tales, with a modern twist. The story is family
friendly, one I would watch again... a timeless love story!” ~Net
🎄"A Timeless Christmas - It was a good story, but it wasn't the best of the season. I think Ryan Paevey helped the character he played." ~Denise
🎄 "I finally got to see "A Timeless Christmas" a week ago. I really enjoyed it a lot. I can tell when I really enjoy one of these Christmas movies. While watching this movie the time or is it "timeless" really sped by. It was an hour and a half into the movie and I couldn't believe I had gotten that far already. A lot of the time I am looking to see how much time to the movie is left but not with this movie. It was over and I never felt that sense of kind of wanting the time to go faster so the movie would be over. That is a real judge of a movie that I like or not. Funny how I used the term time in this response so many times in reference to a movie called "A Timeless Christmas". I guess this movie really did become timeless for me while watching." ~Jim
A Nashville Christmas Carol - November 21, 2020 *Family Friendly
(Jessy Schram, Wes Brown, Wynonna Judd, Sara Evans, RaeLynn, Kix Brooks and Kimberly Williams-Paisley)
🎄"A Nashville Christmas Carol was good. A little slow moving at first, but stay with it because it ends well, of course. Kix Brooks was great as The Ghost of Christmas Past "Pat". The only reason that I recognized him is that he was in Home By Spring (2018) on Hallmark Channel. Wynonna Judd was good as Jessy Schram's deceased mentor." ~ Namegirl
🎄"A Nashville Christmas Carol is a refreshing rendition of the classic Dickens tale. I liked the twist of no future spirit and that it didn't make Vivian totally rotten. The performances by everyone were excellent. Of course any movie with Jessy and Wes in it makes it perfect from the start. A wonderful new Christmas classic!" ~ Anonymous
🎄I liked Jessy Schram and Wes Brown together, but I felt there was something lacking. Kix Brooks was probably the best part for me, but I did not care of Kimberly Williams Paisley--way too over the top, especially with her "Sugah" ~ Anonymous
🎄"A Nashville Christmas Carol. Really liked it!! It's a keeper, I may even buy the dvd. Family friendly." ~~Jane
🎄"A Nashville Christmas Carol Family friendly. I enjoyed this one but it wasn’t my favorite. I love traditional country music and enjoyed seeing Wynona and Kix Brooks. I like both artists as well as Kimberly Williams-Paisley but if George Strait had been in it….I think it would be my new favorite movie!! Haha. If only. The music was fun and I felt like I was actually watching Country Christmas Live! While I love Jessy Schram (she was wonderful in her role) I didn’t love her and Wes Brown together. They were a solid pairing but didn’t really stand out for me. I enjoyed the take on A Christmas Carol; it was fun and felt fresh. I think my favorite Christmas Carol rendition is still A Shoe Addict’s Christmas though! *Mild spoilers: I’m glad there was no “Ghost of Christmas Future,” because as Marilyn (Wynona Judd) says, “you make your own future.” How right that is. Vivian (Jessy Schram), as someone else mentioned, wasn’t a bad person; she was actually a good person at heart who just needed a little help getting back on track. As the Ghost of Christmas Present said, Vivian’s lesson to learn wasn’t that she is a horrible person but that she is a wonderful person, which is a harder lesson to learn (and accept). I like this take on the story. Many of us don’t realize our worth and it is a hard lesson to learn to love ourselves. I’m glad that Vivian was shown this and realized who she is." ~ Rissa
*NOT Family Friendly - includes storyline with same sex coupleHeart of the Holidays - November 23, 2020 *Family Friendly
(Vanessa Lengies and Corey Sevier)
🎄"Watched Heart Of The Holidays last night and loved it! Another sweet movie that is family friendly. Loving hearts putting others before themselves! Corey Sevier is a favorite of mine. This is a good Thanksgiving movie!" ~kitkat
🎄"Heart of the Holidays- this was pretty generic but entertaining. Some fresh faces and the fact they didn't go full in love triangle helped make it fun to watch. I need a movie about Marina and the car mechanic (Jeremy). Also the pregnant lady (Tessa) was the best." ~Anonymous
🎄"Heart of the Holidays. I rather enjoyed this one. I liked all the actors, there wasn't anything too over-the-top or silly, just a nice little Christmas movie. Not sure if I'd buy the dvd, but I'll probably keep it on the dvr and re-watch at some point (so long as the dvr doesn't run out of space -- I've been taping way too many old Christmas movies and I'm running out of room for all the old and new -- I need more hours to actually watch all of these!!). Family friendly (and I think the commercials were okay, as well?)." ~~Jane
🎄"New here. Been watching a long time. As for Christmas movies 2020, the best had to be "Heart Of The Holidays ". Carry on." ~Do right
A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado *NOT FAMILY FRIENDLY - includes sub-plot storyline with same sex couple
Good Morning Christmas! - November 25, 2020 *Family Friendly
(Alison Sweeney and Marc Blucas)
🎄"I was looking forward to Good Morning Christmas because I know Marc and Alison are fantastic together, and it did not disappoint. Very cute, romantic, and festive. The characters' connection was palpable. I was grinning through the whole thing and rewatched the ending several times. Family friendly." ~ Amy Lama
🎄"First of all, just seeing Alison Sweeney and Marc Blucas together again was pure magic! These two just lit up the screen! Like many others, I loved them originally in “The Irresistible Blueberry Farm” and while this movie was different than that, I still enjoyed it very much. The energy both Alison and Marc brought to their characters was electrifying. Since the two had worked together before in real life, it was easier to see these two in these roles as old, rivaling colleagues. I loved how as time went by - they began to see each other in a whole new light. It was nice to watch as they went ice skating and decorated the Christmas tree – how their normally competitive natures began to dissolve into having feelings for one another. I very much enjoyed this lighthearted, family friendly movie – it’s one I look forward to watching over and over again! Good Morning, Christmas! is very good!" ~Net
🎄"I really, really liked "Good Morning, Christmas." Really cute, great story, couple had lots of charisma together and who wouldn't love to watch the "Bright and Mary!" show!" ~ Kathy
🎄"It was great! Alison and Marc still have that chemistry that was so evident in The Irresistible Blueberry Farm. One of the better movies this year. I hope they will do more movies together." ~ Joyce
🎄"Good Morning, Christmas is another great movie. Marc and Alison are still perfect together. Want this DVD! "Good Morning Christmas" will remain on my DVR until a DVD is available. This movie tied with "The Angel Tree" as my #1 movie for 2020. Watched this so many times! I love movies with romance and comedy. Marc Blucas should have been paired with Alison Sweeney in her mysteries. The two of them together have the "it" factor that is treasured on TV." ~kitkat
🎄"Good Morning Christmas I love the unique story and the cute banters. I’m not a big fan of a love triangle usually so that’s the only thing that make this not in my top list personally. Alison and Marc were both wonderful in this and truly what I expected them to be, just like in their previous movie “Irresistible Blueberry Farm”." ~CH Mom
🎄"Good Morning Christmas The Irresistible Blueberry Farm is one of my all-time favourite Hallmark movies and when I saw this I wondered if they could possibly re-capture the amazing chemistry between Alison and Marc. Wow - did they just - it was absolutely off the scale. The banter between the two leads was hilarious, the plot was surprisingly original and although there were many of the usual Christmas scenarios - gingerbread housemaking, ice skating etc they were done with a certain irreverence which was refreshing and placed a new slant on them. Good secondary cast too - I particularly liked Matthew Dowden who played the part of the Deputy Mayor - although he spent a good deal of time with Melissa there was never any hint of anything romantic between them. He has played secondary roles in a few Hallmark movies now and I'd really love to see him land a lead role. And as so often is not the case they had a great ending which left you with such a warm glow as regards the romance. I did have one beef though which actually upset me to some degree I personally don't like proposals which are made in public - I feel they are something intimate and private but that's my problem of course. However to deliberately set up a live TV performance of a very private moment without permission was totally invasive and beyond the pale. This aside one of the top Christmas movies this season." ~Anonymous
🎄"Good Morning Christmas. I really liked this cute movie. Good chemistry between the leads. Keeper. Family friendly." ~~Jane
Christmas by Starlight - November 26, 2020 *NOT Family Friendly - includes storyline with same sex couple
(Kimberley Sustad and Paul Campbell)
🎄"Started watching Christmas by Starlight this evening, but midway through was forced to turn it off and immediately delete it from my playlist. Christmas by Starlight unfortunately contained an LGBTQ subplot. I did not continue watching to completely prove my belief, for what I saw was implication enough, so for those who wish to be more certain, the particular scene to which I refer is approximately at the 50 minute mark. I was so very much looking forward to this movie as Kimberly Sustad was previously a favorite of mine, as was Paul Campbell, but two movies in which they star have contained LGBTQ themes therefore I will not continue to support them." ~ Anonymous
🎄"What is with Hallmark and the liberal manner and avenue that they are moving. The movie--Christmas in Starlight on Thanksgiving included a married same sex couple. I guess that is the manner that they are going because they want to be accept but if they do I think perhaps some of their long time viewer might just change the station." ~ Anonymous
🎄"Christmas by Starlight has a sub-plot with a same-sex coupe. This is not a family friendly movie. It is a shame considering the whole cast was good and Kimberley Sustad and Paul Campbell have been in a number of favorites." ~ Anonymous
🎄"Christmas by Starlight" is not family friendly. There is a same sex married couple in it. That came to the forefront about a third of the way into the movie. :-( I turned it off since it was upsetting. ~ Anonymous
Five Star Christmas - November 27, 2020 *Family Friendly - based on reviews
(Bethany Joy Lenz and Victor Webster)
🎄"5 Star Christmas – I LOVED LOVED LOVED this Christmas
Movie!!!!! I wasn’t sure I would be crazy about the Bethany Joy Lenz &
Victor Webster pairing, but they were cute together. There was so much to love
about this movie – the ensemble cast was truly A-MAY-ZING – from the siblings
to the grandparents, who were overly, yet perfectly dramatic! The story, first
of all, was more unique, which was quite refreshing. When the father springs it
on the family that he has turned their childhood home into a Bed & Breakfast – the Ralston
Inn – it’s so much fun to watch the entire family work together to try and
convince a reviewer, who they believe has not revealed her true identity, that
various family members are guests staying at the inn over the holidays. I loved all of the special family moments, a college girl trying to figure
out what to do next with her life – while she played the role of chef, a young
married couple trying to figure out their next adventure, and Bethany Joy Lenz’s
character, Lucy Ralston, was magnificent at trying to keep everything together!
I laughed so many times! This movie is family friendly, ideal for all ages! Loved
the singing at the end. I know I will definitely be watching this delightful Christmas movie over and over again!" ~Net
🎄"5 star Christmas was a wonderful departure from the usual plots. It really felt more of an ensemble script rather than a duet between leads. The film is very family friendly. They really purposed to make this a comedy and it shows. I laughed out loud more than once, and I'm a hard sell. The chemistry between the leads felt genuine as they are friends in real life. My only downside was there just isn't much room for the romance because all the cast gets a good amount of screen time. I would watch it again. Great film." ~ Marie B
🎄"Five Star Christmas should be fine for viewing by anyone." ~ Ashley
🎄"The worst (movie) was five star Christmas.i love bethany joy lens but it seemed all thrown together." ~ Anonymous
🎄"Five Star Christmas. This one was a lot of fun, I enjoyed it. Fantastic ensemble cast. I've not been the biggest fan of Bethany Joy Lenz, especially when she's over-acting (like she does in the very first scene of this movie); but when she finally settles into her role, she's very natural and realistic. I'm starting to really like her. This movie was kind of light on the romance, but I almost liked it better because of that -- less sappiness and more about family relationships. Not sure yet if I'd buy the dvd but this is definitely a keeper for the dvr. Family friendly." ~~Jane
🎄"Five Star
Christmas with Bethany Joy Lenz and Victor Webster was cute. The beginning was
somewhat confusing to me. Paula Shaw as the grandmother was so funny as the
Russian guest. The actors worked well together. I have to commend Mr. Webster
for "putting himself out there" and singing in one scene. He sang
Elvis' Blue, Blue Christmas with the help of Ms. Lenz." ~ Namegirl
🎄"Five Star Christmas was a another favorite over the last week. I really enjoyed the focus on the whole cast and the characters felt more fleshed out than usual. Bethany & Victor did a great job and I found myself laughing out loud more than once." ~ Kay
🎄"Five Star Christmas - I just love Bethany Joy Lenz. I wish there’s more chemistry but this movie was still cute to watch. I chuckled many times when they were pretending to be the guests of the inn. Loved the unique story." ~ CH Mom
Christmas Waltz - November 28, 2020 *Family Friendly - based on reviews
(Lacey Chabert and Will Kemp)
🎄Christmas Waltz was full of personality and family-friendly! Lots of fun moments coupled with a substantive plot. All the real dancing was delightful. I'll definitely watch again. Enjoy! ~Alicia
🎄"Christmas Waltz was lovely. I was not aware that Will Kemp was a dancer and he did a fantastic job, Lacey put in a lot of work and it really paid off in a magical routine to finish the move off. Some cute moments throughout(The street scene was a classic musical moment) Top 3 of the year so far." ~ Kay
🎄"Christmas Waltz This was just a lovely movie. Love the dances. I felt the ending needed a little work though. I wished for something more than ending it with the dance. I did love the story, and Lacey and Will had a great chemistry." ~CH Mom
🎄"Christmas Waltz. Loved it! Definite keeper. Will buy the dvd. This one was better than the "chocolate" movie they were in together. Loved that Will Kemp is actually a trained dancer and wasn't Hallmark-pretending. My only critique would be about the ending to the movie, it was a bit abrupt, I would've liked one more scene or an epilogue. Family friendly." ~~Jane
🎄"You could say that Lacey Chabert is now the Queen of Hallmark. We love Candace Cameron Bure as Aurora Teegarden but her recent Christmas movie was no more than average while Lacey came through with two superb ones. Christmas Waltz was wonderful (well - mostly, more later!) I would even say classy. The chemistry between Lacey and Will (Kemp) was brilliant and the banter fun to watch. To my untrained eye the dancing was top class and Lacey has to be commended on the commitment she put into learning the routines. Although this is classed as a Christmas movie and there was plenty of Christmas scenery it could really have aired at any time of the year. I particularly enjoyed Roman's noisy family party at Brighton Beach and the impromptu street dance on the way home will I think become one of Hallmark's classic moments - it was exhilarating and lit up the screen. What was particularly pleasing was the way yu could see the love between Avery and Roman progressing through each scene. Both of them excelled in the acting department - in the inevitable Hallmark breakup/ misunderstanding you could almost see they were hurting. We've now watched this 3 times and keep picking up on new nuances. Very impressed with the young boy dancer, in fact the whole cast put in excellent performances even Avery's ex! Although you do have to suspend belief that it could happen (well after all this IS Hallmark) the final waltz scene is amazing and then the one downside of the movie - astoundingly it was abruptly over as they take their bow. The movie itself, Lacey and Will and most importantly we the viewers deserved a proper ending - just a two or three minute epilogue could have given closure. Those three important little words (I Love You) were never spoken and the kiss Roman gave Avery at the finale of the performance could have been sheer relief that his whole business future looked to have been safeguarded. Instead of that warm-hearted feeling I was left quite angry and frustrated - in fact when just before they went on stage and Avery said that she was a different person from when she first came into the dance studio and Roman replied "yes you're a much better dancer" while obviously meant to be funny it came over as facetious and set the wrong tone. Normally I'm a voice in the wilderness crying out about many of the endings to Hallmark movies but this time I have read so many comments regarding this and even other reviewers here have commented about this. So ther we have it - kudos to Lacey Chabert and Will Kemp for a really wonderful movie which could have been the season's best (in fact it had the highest Hallmark viewing figure for the year) spoilt by a shoddy ending. Hallmark how could you?!" ~Anonymous
If I Only Had Christmas - November 29, 2020 *Family Friendly
(Candace Cameron Bure and Warren Christie)
🎄"I tried to get into If I Only Had Christmas. I thought it was boring. It came off very preachy and the romance was meh. I think Postables will like the movie, because the of the other characters gave that type of vibe. I am a bit surprised they didn't have the cast from that show do this movie." ~ Misty
🎄"If I Only Had Christmas This movie was super cute & I loved all the hints to Wizard of Oz. It was EXTREMELY predictable due to the connections to Wizard of Oz, but still pretty cute! What a perfect ending! With Darcy Gale & William Austin Darcy Gale - Dorothy Gale William Austin - The Wizard of Oz" ~ Anonymous
🎄"if I only had Christmas.candice said it was her fav movie.she should watch Christmas town, journey back to Christmas or even shoe addicts..suppose to be like wizard of oz I didn't see it,first ten mins was spinning,everything was said so fast." ~ Anonymous
🎄"If I Only Had Christmas. Kinda cute, but not a keeper for me. I love some of Candace's other Christmas movies (bought the dvd's), but this movie didn't "wow" me. My favorite part was her adorable house; least favorite part was her headbands - enough already with the huge honker headbands ALL the time (does she have a side business that sells these or something??). Family friendly." ~~Jane
🎄"If I Only Had Christmas This movie seems to have split viewers with outright rows going on on other sites. Now I have to admit that it wasn't a bad movie but it didn't have that Wow! factor we have come to expect from Ms Bure. I didn't really see the allusions to The Wizard Of Oz and I felt the romance was really low-key. Regular Hallmark viewers would have no problems in knowing what the big "twist" would be at the end. For a Christmas movie there really wasn't that much of anything Christmassy in it although that may be a bonus for some as we do tend get a surfeit of Christmas Tree Lightings, Gingerbread Houses, Christmas Cookie Baking and Ice Skating etc! Maybe I was just expecting too much from this. If I had to choose just one CCB movie to watch I would go the whole way back to Let It Snow - such a delight with a great leading man in Jesse Hutch, although I do like Warren Beattie. May very well watch it again at some stage but sadly not one of this year's better movies considering Hallmark would have regarded this as their flagship." ~ Anonymous
🎄"I watched If I only Had Christmas, and it wasn't terrible (that is sometimes the only compliment I can give things, that it wasn't terrible). But it also wasn't anything spectacular. My sisters and I watched Wizard of Oz so many times over the years growing up that I know almost the entire thing by heart. so some of the references like the flying monkeys comment just seemed annoying, cliché, and made me kind of mad. I mean just leave the wizard of oz alone. and while it was nice that "Darcy Gale" had all those friends that would come and she knew exactly when they would walk in the door, it got annoying too. And I did not at all feel the love with Darcy and "William" at all. I did like some of her friends but just wasn't into the wizard of oz theme, it also didn't feel to me like Darcy missed home at all like Dorothy did. Dorothy did everything so she could go home, so there really was no place like home, but for Darcy, I don't know. I am sad to say that the last good CCB Christmas movie was Switched for Christmas in 2017. And some of my favorite movies of all are hers like Let it Snow and Christmas under wraps (aka Garland). Wait, I take it back, I did like Christmas town although it is not one I watch over and over." ~ Sabrina
Christmas in Evergreen: Bells are Ringing (Movie #4) - December 5, 2020 *Family Friendly minus one exception - see in comments below!
(Holly Robinson Peete, Colin Lawrence, Rukiya Bernard, Antonio Cayonne and Barbara Niven)
🎄"I began watching Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing and it is not family friendly. A man mentions that his relationship with "Oliver" did not work out. It was clear the guy was not talking about a business relationship. He and Oliver were gay. I stopped watching and deleted it." ~ Anonymous
🎄"Watched Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing. I liked it, but there was a mention at the beginning of a man who refers to a relationship not working out with another man. It isn't said whether he means business or personal, but it was obvious to me he means personal. Nothing else is mentioned, that I caught, in the rest of the movie. Besides that, it is family friendly." ~ Anonymous
🎄"I believe it was the ex mayor who made the relationship comment and at the end of the movie you see him walking with his partner." ~ Anonymous
🎄"Sorry, but I really think these movies have run their course. Evergreen 4 was extremely weak probably because there were really no new characters introduced and imo dull. It was a struggle to watch it through to the end." ~Anonymous
Christmas She Wrote - December 6, 2020 *NOT Family Friendly - includes storyline with same sex couple
(Danica McKellar and Dylan Neal)
🎄"Based on the commercial promo for this movie, it does appear there will be a same sex relationship in the sub-plot of this Christmas movie; therefore, I will NOT be promoting this film." ~ Net
🎄"UPDATE: From information I've obtained from those who watched the movie, "Christmas She Wrote," the best friend in the movie is gay. I wanted to be certain you all were aware." ~ Net
🎄"Christmas She Wrote was not a good movie. I am so disappointed in Danica picking this movie. I thought the pacing was just so off and NO chemistry between the leads. Which is a must for me. Plus, that storyline with Andrew Francis was so lame, what was the point of even having him on? I guess to fill their PC quota." ~ Misty
🎄"Christmas She Wrote - Having been told by someone who had seen this that the same sex relationship was low key we decided to watch this as we had it recorded. It was low key and there was no physical contact but it was only a minor part of the overall plot so the question is why there was the need to include it at all? As for the movie it has to be the worst Hallmark Christmas one we have seen this season to date. I often have problems with Lifetime casting but Hallmark generally gets it right. This was unfortunately a total mismatch - there was little chemistry between the leads - Danica McKellar did her best but even she didn't seem to be in great form. As for Dylan Neal, we have enjoyed him in previous Hallmark outings but in this he almost seemed like a different person - he has changed his appearance somewhat but for some strange reason came over as wooden and lacking in character. Quite simply it was bad casting but then you wouldn't expect this from two stalwart Hallmark regulars. Overall it was a by the numbers Hallmark Christmas movie and incredibly badly scripted. Even the secondary characters didn't seem up to scratch - maybe they got their vibe from the leads? This was not my own idea but I read it in another review and realized that it was exactly on the head - Tripp (Neal) would have been a much better partner for the sister. Had they altered the ex-boyfriend's character a little and made him more outgoing he would have been the much better match and the script actually wouldn't even have needed much changing. I can only say that it had one Christmas vibe - it was a real turkey!! I wonder if Ms McKellar will look back at this and be sorry she took this role? Fortunately for Hallmark there have been a couple of Lifetime Christmas movies this year which have been even poorer." ~ Anonymous
Love, Lights, Hanukkah! - December 12, 2020 *Family Friendly - based on reviews
(Mia Kirshner, Ben Savage and Marilu Henner)
🎄"I loved Love, Lights, Hanukkah! It was the same kind of sentimental movie I love on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. It was just so special combining the celebration of both Hanukkah and Christmas. Christina didn't want to be alone after the death of her adoptive mother so she took a DNA test and found a loving new family that she was a part of. It was the same kind of movie as Holly and Ivy that I loved too-- that pulls on your heartstrings." ~Estra
🎄"The Hanukkah movie, that was one of the worst movies I have watched in a long time. The only bright spot was Mia Kirschner, I loved her in Kiss at Pine Lake, but the rest of the movie was TERRIBLE. Cory Matthews (all I can see is him as Cory in Boy Meets World) was a straight up STALKER in this movie. I mean he was everywhere. And no offense at all to Ben Savage, but he was plain cheesy. My biggest complaint, 1st off, I am pretty sure on a dna site, if someone was your sister, it wouldn't say a relative could be a cousin, it would say sister. You would share at the very least a quarter with your sister and I watch a lot of true crime, and they can tell if someone is a sister/brother or distant cousin. And then the I am your Mom thing...…….. Ok say I gave my kid up for adoption 40 years ago, and my daughter told me she put her dna in to find relatives, I would have immediately told her and the brother she may find a half sister. Marilu Henner was so happy and thrilled her daughter found a dna match relative and didn't have a care in the world, and then when they are at the table having a very cozy breakfast with a woman they literally met yesterday, all of a sudden Marilu is freaked out about this revelation. and then...…….she is so worried about Christina and how she feels, well what about the 2 kids sitting to your left that you have known all their lives and lied too? Don't you think you should be more worried about them? I admit I don't know much at all about Hanukkah, but they literally put most all of hanukkah in the 1st 20 mins of the movie, and if I hear Latka again, it will be too soon. I mean they even did the traditional make latka's with your daughter on day 4 of hanukkah. And did Christina and Cory Matthews fall in love in 8 days? He decided not to travel for a relationship of 8 days? and then the weird scene about how "sports" orientated the family was, all so "Aunt Christina" (the kids were calling her that on day 1) bought for the kids a basketball?? jerseys, and the 4 tickets to a game. wow, that was so out of the blue. This movie was terrible, a major waste of time, and makes me question watching a new hallmark movie ever again." ~ Sabrina
🎄"Just watched Love, Lights, Hanukkah! and WOW, it is by far my fave Hallmark movie this holiday season. Challah and Kugel and latkes! Everyone should try them." ~Anonymous
🎄"Love, Lights. Hanukkah Wow, what truth! The menorah is the symbol of Hanukkah. Its the miracle of light over darkness, good over evil. We might each be a single light but together we are a powerful voice. From Love, Lights, Hanukkah!" ~Anonymous
🎄"Love, Lights, Hanukkah Finally I got the holiday feels! I have 3 friends who found their bio-families in the last 2 years via 23 & me. This movie hits all the right notes." ~Anonymous
🎄"I watched Love, Lights, Hanukkah. I thought it was a pretty good movie. Again, the romance was just ok to me. However, the lead actress was a breath of fresh air with how the typical lead is in a movie. My fav Hanukkah movie is still Hitched for Holidays. That movie was so funny, great cast, great romance and chemistry!" Misty
🎄"Just to provide another perspective, I enjoyed LOVE, LIGHTS, HANUKKAH! as much as anything I've seen on the Hallmark Channel. I found it well-written (perhaps not surprising as the same writer did LOVE YOU LIKE CHRISTMAS, one of my favorite Hallmark Christmas movies) and the lead characters refreshingly unique, especially Ben Savage as David. I can see where people would find the unfolding of the situation too pat or perfect and that the situation raises questions, but...it's an uplifting 84-minute Hallmark movie, and within that context I liked the choices that were made. I'll be recommending it when I review it at my own blog this week. Sharing this in no way to be argumentative but simply illustrate that thoughtful people can see the same movie differently, and I'd encourage people to check out the movie and see what they think. This is a great opportunity to thank Net once more for being such a great resource on all things Hallmark. I frequently recommend your site! Merry Christmas! Best wishes," ~ Laura
🎄"Love Lights Hanukkah To borrow a phrase from other reviewers all I can say is that this wasn't terrible. Pleasant enough to watch but I just couldn't relate to the two lead actors or get involved in the story or romance and I felt the mother's reactions were all wrong. It's not often I favour Lifetime over Hallmark but there have been several Jewish themed movies over the past couple of years and by far the best of these was their Christmas 2019 offering Mistletoe And Menorahs." ~ Anonymous
🎄"Love, Lights, Hanukkah. I loved the “feel” of this movie. Warm, cozy traditions. Refreshing. Loved the food and restaurant angles. Loved the family – felt natural. There were sentimental parts where I teared up. But I didn’t love everything about this movie. I’m not crazy about the DNA angle (I’m against putting one’s DNA in the hands of an online company – I’ve had to do it for medical reasons, but I really wish I hadn’t). And the whole dna thing was a little too coincidental, “poof” she finds her mother??!? I almost quit watching, but I kept going and I’m glad I did. The movie grew on me and left me with warm fuzzies despite the contrivances in the plot. The romance in this one, to me, wasn’t the highlight – and that’s okay. The highlight was family and traditions and warmth and love. The actors were not the standard Hallmark, polished cookie-cutters, but rather a breath of fresh air. At first I thought this movie was not a keeper, but just a really nice one-time watch; but the warm feeling of this movie has stayed with me and, therefore, that makes it a keeper. Family friendly." ~~Jane
Christmas Comes Twice - December 13, 2020 (Tamera Mowry-Housley and Michael Xavier)
*Family Friendly - based on reviews
🎄"Christmas Comes Twice Love the “Stars and Snowflakes” song by Silva! Christmas Rock Candy is So Sweet And Delicious Miss Nelson said it!! Chemistry between you and George.... we need a Hallmark Movie Foods cookbook." ~Anonymous
🎄"Christmas Comes Twice was a fun movie! I have a feeling most will like A Timeless Christmas better, but for me, this is how to do time travel. Cheryl (Tamera's character) learned that no matter how much you try, you can't change the future. Just how you have to focus on now and 'seize the day' as her fav teacher who passed away. I think Cheryl got her 'closure' by being able to tell her mentor and inspiration how much she meant to her (Cheryl) and that George was willing to wait until Cheryl was ready. Touching. I really didn't care for the sister opening a restaurant story. It wasn't needed to me." Misty
🎄"Christmas Comes Twice. I quite liked this one. Not a keeper for the dvr, but a cute little Christmas movie good for a one time watch. I really liked the lead male actor, thought he did a great job; and also the actress that played Miss Nelson. I'm not a huge fan of time travel movies, but I liked this one better than 'A Timeless Christmas'. I perhaps liked this one better because the time travel was only a matter of five years during contemporary times instead of a hundred-plus years. (I just don't think Hallmark can truly pull off a well done historical period drama production in the space of ninety minutes. You need the BBC or A&E to do it well. Although, Hallmark does okay with something like 'When Calls the Heart', so long as they have plenty of time to produce it and only one time period is their focus instead of trying to jump back and forth through time travel.) Family friendly." ~~Jane
Christmas Carousel - December 19, 2020 (Rachel Boston and Neal Bledsoe) *Family Friendly - based on reviews
🎄"A Christmas Carousel" was every bit as delightful as I hoped it would be. I wanted to watch it again immediately! Neal Bledsoe was perfect as the prince, as I expected he would be. He put a lot of emotion into his performance and had me choked up more than once. I thought he and Rachel were well matched. It was completely family friendly as well. Definitely one for the keeper pile!" ~Amy Lama
🎄"A Christmas Carousel - Easily made my top 5. Neal Bledsoe brought a lot of depth to the Prince and quite possibly the best accent on Hallmark this season. Rachel Boston hasn't been a favorite of ours but she was just right in this one." ~ Kay
🎄"A Christmas Carousel. Oh, dear, I’m going to have to disagree with others on this site. This one is not a keeper for me. The best part was the first fifteen minutes but it then went downhill for me. I think the worst part had to be the absolutely ridiculous “royal” costumes - they looked like they ran out of money in the budget and had to use hand-me-down costumes from some high school theatre’s costume box. And I felt the writing/directing left something to be desired. If you love, love, love, love “royal” movies (and I do NOT), then maybe this is worth a watch for you. The lead actors are nice to look at (although I really wasn’t feeling any chemistry between them) and the carousel theme is kind of cute. But in the “royal” movie category, my opinion is that this year’s "One Royal Holiday" far, far outshone this one. Family friendly." ~~Jane
Cross Country Christmas - December 20, 2020 (Rachael Leigh Cook and Greyston Holt) *Family Friendly - based on reviews
🎄"Loved it! I laughed out loud in several places at some of Rachael Leigh Cook's lines. She is good with any male lead so far that I've seen. Re-watching it, I discovered Greyston Holt's character has a sense of humor. I missed a couple of his good retorts at my first viewing. He commented about the "500 count hay" as they were gathering hay in the cattle car for their beds. The writers were great." ~Namegirl
🎄"Cross Country Christmas: I didn’t expect to love this, but it was silly, cute, & jeez Rachael Leigh Cook carried the entire movie. She was super charming & funny. SHENANIGANS!" ~Anonymous
🎄"Cross Country Christmas - Rachel Leigh Cook plays sarcastic better than most. Jon Cor was reduced to a tiny side role which blew my mind after he starred with Lacey Chabert and Merritt Patterson in previous years. Greyston Holt lacks something for me as a lead. If you like the stranded road trip movies this one is for you." ~Kay
🎄"I watched it and it was pretty good, but not my favorite. The chemistry was just off to me. They seemed like just friends. I liked Dashing Through The Snow better." ~ Misty
🎄"Yes, indeed, there were some witty lines but there was too much "I know best" talk from the Lina character, which might have mellowed during her character arc. However, my watching came to a full stop when the nativity scene became a laughingstock and especially after the dog was declared a stand-in for baby Jesus." ~ Anonymous
🎄"Cross Country Christmas. I liked it. Parts of it stretched the believability factor. But, overall, it was a sweet, funny movie. The dialogue between the lead actor & actress was good and I enjoyed watching their trail of mishaps as they got to know each other better. As stated by others, the romance wasn't sizzling but I actually prefer to see couples grow their friendship and respect for each other before they lock lips and live happily ever after (and I'm thinking these two characters may have started the foundation for a good love relationship). Family friendly. As to the children's nativity play. It could've been handled better, but this scene did not bother me as much as it perhaps would/will bother others. It was a quick blip in the movie, not central to the story line. Maybe it should bother me more, but it didn't. It seemed like a homespun production where the kids do things like use the family cat as a stand-in for the shepherd's sheep or use one of their toys as a wise man's gift, and they didn't have a plastic baby doll available for the baby Jesus so they used the beloved family puppy. ??? I don't know. It wasn't a great scene, but I didn't feel they were specifically trying to make a laughingstock of the nativity (it was just a kid's play gone off the rails into chaos). Hollywood doesn't have a true grasp on what Christmas is all really about but, nevertheless, I didn't take offense. Now, if Hollywood meant to be offensive, that's another story! But I didn't read it that way. I take more offense when Hollywood throws a "Christian" pastor character into a story and they give some sort of new-age spiritual drivel counseling or words of "wisdom" to other characters in the movie that has absolutely no Biblical basis, or the Christian character comes off looking like a backwoods doofus." ~~Jane
🎄"Cross Country Christmas Interesting movie - there was nothing new in the basic plot but the various situations were usually amusing. I thought both the leads played their parts pretty well although to my mind Rachel Leigh Cook came over as being older than Greyston Holt and I have to agree with Misty on this, I didn't feel there was very much romance involved - it was more like best friends or brother and sister. Then at the end there was the awkward goodbye scene which suggested deeper feelings and the subsequent denouement which Hallmark so often doesn't get right but in this case did! - however it didn't tie in with the rest of the movie for me. It was interesting to see Jon Cor in a minor role - didn't recognize him at first - he has had his hair cut and looks completely different - but at least this should please the many who have complained about his appearance in the past! On the whole I did quite enjoy this movie even though the romantic element was missing." ~Anonymous
HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES
Christmas Tree Lane - October 24, 2020 *Family-Friendly
(Alicia Witt and Andrew Walker)
🎄"I found this movie to be every bit family-friendly in the classic Hallmark Christmas movie style. There was the warm familiarity of actors we love - Andrew Walker and Alicia Witt - and a nostalgic feel to the small town where the story centers. The music store owned by Alicia's character is one of the many delightful businesses that remain on Christmas Tree Lane, if they can find a way to save it! Very sweet, traditional Hallmark happy ending." ~ Net
🎄"Alicia & Andrew make a perfect duo in Christmas Tree Lane" ~ Anonymous
🎄"I agree! Andrew and Alicia were stellar together! I wasn't sure if I would like them but I did! Of course, Andrew Walker is one of those people that works with any co-star! Their chemistry was great and the relationship between the characters flowed so naturally it was a joy to watch!!" ~ Rissa
🎄"Andrew Walker was at his best in Christmas Tree Lane. I have seen most of Andrew's movies, but this is one of my favorites. Have watched twice already! Alicia is so talented!" ~ kitkat
🎄"I watched Christmas Tree Lane and thought it was a nice, cute movie despite the way, way, WAY overused storyline of the heroine rallying the whole town together to save main street or the Christmas pageant or the Christmas concert or whatever from the big mean developers (eye roll!!). The lead actor and actress are not big favorites with me (I know most everyone else on here seems to love them) but I thought they did a nice job in this movie and the whole ensemble cast was good. I loved the setting and thought the movie had a nice Christmas-y feel. Family friendly." ~~Jane
🎄"I watched last weeks Christmas Tree Lane--I was surprised that I liked Alicia and Andrew in the movie together, but once again I did not feel that they were in love or even cared about each other beyond friends. I cant feel love in these movies, I don't know. I believe he wanted to help her, and I believe they will be friends, but that is all I saw." ~ Sabrina
🎄Christmas Tree Lane I was unsure how the pairing of Alicia Witt and Andrew Walker might turn out but they combined well although to be honest I felt it was a case of them being comfortable with each other than any great love affair. It was a warm-hearted movie, family friendly with all the usual Hallmark attributes which was both its strength and weakness - personally it was too cliched. Alicia is a talented singer. Enjoyable to watch at the time but not one I would rush to re-watch and it doesn't compare to her offering last year - Our Christmas Love Song which put on regularly. ~ Anonymous
Deliver by Christmas - October 25, 2020
*Family Friendly
(Alvina August and Eion Bailey)
🎄"I really enjoyed Deliver by Christmas and Christmas Tree Lane." ~ Holley
🎄"Deliver by Christmas. I have mixed thoughts on this movie. Parts of it felt organic (? lack of better term?), or natural or refreshing with some realistic acting/directing, but then Hallmark couldn't resist throwing in some sappy, eye-roll kind of scenes (ugh). I really enjoyed the lead actors and, really, the whole cast ensemble was great. I kind of had a love/hate thing with the male lead actor - in some ways he was unique & refreshing, in other ways I felt like the directors couldn't decide if he was a soft-spoken, handsome, tech nerd or a rugged, outdoors, manly-man. Don't get me wrong, I really liked him, but I couldn't fully enjoy his character because my brain couldn't wrap itself around who he was. Nevertheless, I truly enjoyed the movie and would not mind watching again. Family friendly and lots of Christmas "feels"." ~~Jane
Cranberry Christmas - October 31, 2020 *Family Friendly
(Nikki DeLoach and Benjamin Ayres)
🎄"Cranberry Christmas" is a family-friendly, lovely movie with a deeper storyline like HMM is known for. I think the leads did a nice job of showing two married people holding on and working together through the difficulties that come with life and love." ~ Alicia
🎄"My two "must watch" picks from the weekend were "Cranberry Christmas" (because we don't get many movies about an already married couple and the story sounded good) and "On the 12th Date of Christmas" (because Tyler Hynes is my favorite Hallmark leading man and I'm pretty much guaranteed to enjoy whatever Hallmark movie he's in). I've only had a chance to watch those two so far but just wanted to say they're both family friendly and I loved them both for the same reasons they were my "must watch" picks! Tyler Hynes was fantastic in his role, as always, and I thought he was well matched with Mallory Jansen. I loved watching their characters fall in love, enjoyed their interactions with their respective families, and thought the scavenger hunt theme was fun. "Cranberry Christmas" is wonderful, and I highly recommend it if you're someone who enjoys the deeper, richer stories on HMM. Don't get me wrong--I enjoy the fluffy romantic fantasies too, but it was refreshing to see the more realistic picture that marriage takes work and it's worth the effort. Nikki DeLoach and Benjamin Ayres did a beautiful job portraying a couple working through a rough patch and growing closer together through it. The ending made me tear up." ~ Amy Lama
🎄"Cranberry Christmas--I liked it, but...….The Covid stuff is making these movies hard to watch. I did not believe those 2 loved each other at all. I am sure it is from covid, but I would think if you are on set with someone for 3 weeks you could hug, or come close to one another. I loved the festival stuff, the house was beautiful, the farm, but even at the end, they almost kissed and it was weird, cause I didn't feel love with them at all." ~ Sabrina
🎄"I loved the movie Cranberry Christmas. Nikki DeLoach and Benjamin Ayres were wonderful together. I hope to see them in other movies together." ~ Namegirl
🎄"Cranberry Christmas. LOVED it!! Totally agree with what Alicia said. Definitely a keeper for my dvr and will purchase whenever the dvd comes out." ~~Jane
🎄"What a diverse bunch we are. As I should have known these Christmas movies aren't turning out as I expected. I was so looking forward to Cranberry Christmas because the plot seemed like a change in direction for Hallmark but what a disappointment, in fact I'd have to say it was rather dull. Nikki DeLoach has become one of my favourite Hallmark actors and she tried her best but the weak link was Benjamin Ayres - whoever thought that the heavy designer stubble would be attractive? - he really needed some life injected into him. I just couldn't feel that spark between them except a really deep friendship. Not a patch on Ms DeLoach's recent Sweet Autumn Fall Harvest Movie. Not one for the re-watch pile." ~ Anonymous
🎄"Cranberry Christmas - Nikki DeLoach and Benjamin Ayre were great in this. I do like the separated couple story. I just don’t feel that it was believable enough that they were separated to begin with. They were too sweet to each other to be a separated couple😆. There was no sense of estrangement. It was still a sweet movie and the apology/ring scene when Benjamin Ayre got teary eyed was soooo beautiful. I love what grandma said, “Express what you’re thinking because he can’t read minds. Admit your shortcomings because they’re obvious anyway. Do the work because making your marriage last is the most beautiful, challenging, terrifying and worthwhile work you’ll ever do” ~ CH Mom
🎄"Cranberry Christmas – First, I agree with CH Mom, it was hard to believe, at times, that this married couple is separated. Sure, they have some communication problems, but it’s nothing a good sit down conversation shouldn’t be able to fix. I enjoyed the fact that they weren’t quick to truly separate, but they both wanted to hold on to their marriage, even when business stood strongly in their way and sometimes, it was the only thread that held them together. I liked how these two realized they had to fight for their marriage, and another bit of advice I liked from the grandmother was, “…there are no perfect marriages, just imperfect people that don’t give up on each other.” Overall, I enjoyed this family-friendly film and the message behind it." ~Net
Holly & Ivy - November 1, 2020 *Family Friendly - based on reviews
(Janel Parrish, Jeremy Jordan, and Marisol Nichols)
🎄"I loved Holly & Ivy. It reminded me of the Hallmark Hall of Fame films from the good old days. It was definitely family friendly and very sweet. I hope more of the coming premieres are like that one." ~ J.F. Hale
🎄Holly & Ivy was pretty good, but there was something missing. It was VERY rushed at the end and some things were just too over the top w/ what she could do. It was family friendly, but isn't something I would watch again. ~ Misty
🎄I agree, something was missing. ~ Kathy
🎄"I quite enjoyed this - pleasant enough but it seemed as if the romance was secondary to the story although I did like the lead actors. I agree with the others about the ending - most unsatisfactory but unfortunately that's a common problem with Hallmark for me." ~ Anonymous
🎄"Holly & Ivy. Cute movie. Great cast. Parts unbelievable. Rushed ending. Probably not a keeper for my dvr but definitely will watch again next year. Family friendly." ~~Jane
The Christmas Ring - November 7, 2020 *Family Friendly
(Nazneen Contractor and David Alpay)
🎄"I really liked The Christmas Ring. I liked the little mystery it had and cute romance." ~ Misty
🎄"The Christmas Ring. I liked it. The setting was Christmas-y. I liked the lead actor & actress. Family friendly. I'm not sure it's a keeper for the dvr, but I would definitely re-watch it sometime. (p.s. -- Most of the time I fast forward through the commercials, but I have to say I think the Hobby Lobby commercial that's being aired during a lot of these movies is so cute. Makes me want to ditch the local craft stores and drive the 45 minutes to the Hobby Lobby store nearest to me.)" ~~Jane
🎄"I would recommend The Christmas Ring and The Christmas Bow. Both are family friendly and have wonderful messages." ~ Misty
🎄The Christmas Ring I've read a large number of negative reviews of this film but have to say I'm in agreement with most of the Posters here. I thought it was a delightful movie with a great connection between the lead actors, a nice little mystery and of course while certain Christmas traditions had to be included it wasn't over cliched. There was a nice friendly feeling amomg the cast - one of my favourites so far this season. ~Anonymous
🎄"Loved this movie! The Christmas Ring has a little bit of everything - the mystery of a beautiful antique ring, a cool classic car, a possible budding romance, and of course, a small town filled with Christmas charm! I really enjoyed this family friendly rom-com and the sweet chemistry between Nazneen Contractor and David Alpay's characters. If you like a Christmas mystery, this is a must see!" ~Net
The Christmas Bow - November 8, 2020 *Family Friendly - based on reviews
(Lucia Micarelli and Michael Rady)
🎄"I loved The Christmas Bow! Well done movie and romance. The music was great too!" ~ Misty
🎄"I loved The Christmas Bow with Michael Rady and Lucia Micarelli. I'll watch any Hallmark movie Rady is in. Lucia was absolutely precious! I'll get the DVD if it comes out. Actually there are several others I want, not to mention others that haven't been aired yet. I usually don't cry at Hallmark movies but HM&M The Christmas Doctor made me cry in two places. I was a military spouse and my husband was an U.S Army Physician Assistant." ~ Namegirl
🎄"The Christmas Bow The ever reliable Michael Rady aided by Lucia Micaerelli has turned in another winner - really enjoyed this. I usually like there to be some dissention between the lead characters although in this case it was that both seemed to have their future career paths which weren't compatible firmly set. It made for a nice story. The secondary characters were good although there was one downside for me in the son of Rady's cousin. Children should be able to enjoy the best years of their life and I presume they were trying to be funny but I found it off putting that this youngster would have adult conversations and offer his uncle advice on his love life. That aside this and On The 12th Date Of Christmas are my two favourite Christmas movies so far. I'm still waiting for that blockbuster though - this just falls slightly short. Last year my favourite - Picture A Perfect Christmas - came early in the schedule and set-up the whole season." ~ Anonymous
🎄"The Christmas Bow. In my top five Christmas movies this season! Acting, directing, casting, production, set design .... perfection. Charming. Very natural. No eye-roll, silly, over-the-top stuff. None of the usual contrived nonsense or big misunderstandings. Completely believable, sweet, shy, natural romance; the relationship grows more naturally (and maturely) than the usual Hallmark fare. Amazing violin music that was actually played by the lead actress (wow!!). Loved the family’s music shop – very cozy. No tree lighting ceremony – yay! (I love them, but they’re sooooo overdone and often cheesy). Festive and warm and cozy Christmas feels, with a wonderful emphasis on family relationships. Obviously, I loved this movie and it’s a keeper for me! Will buy the dvd. Family friendly." ~~Jane
Meet Me at Christmas - November 14, 2020 *Family Friendly - based on reviews
Starring: Catherine Bell and Mark Deklin
🎄"Meet Me at Christmas The chemistry in the flashback and present-day scenes are simply wonderful. Oh my goodness. The twist about how Joan’s love story with her late husband ties into her sweet almost-romance with Beau 28 years ago is heartbreaking. I legit cried. Of course, like Joan points out, things happened as they should have. But still, these missed opportunities always break my heart. While the misunderstand seems mildly realistic, I put most of the fault on Joan. Why wouldn’t she just ask Beau if he indeed accepted an assignment in Alaska? Though as I write this, I realize it was self-sabotage. If she pushes Beau away, she will never have to tell her son, Liam, the truth about the night she met his dad. When Joan finally admits the truth to her mom and Liam overhears, I teared up again. Oh my gosh, and Beau’s brother wedding toast at the end essentially explaining why Beau didn’t show up to the tree lighting 28 years ago made me actually cry again. I realize now that this review is more of an account of when and how many times I cried watching this movie! Although you may easily guess part of the twist, this is the one time I don’t want to spoil any part of the story. I have now cried three times while watching Meet Me at Christmas." ~ Anonymous
🎄"Meet me at Christmas. I really liked this one. Loved the Snowfall Lodge setting - very cozy and Christmas-y. I appreciate movies with more experienced actors, Catherine Bell and Mark Deklin did a great job, as did the whole cast. Family friendly. Not sure if I would buy the dvd for this one but I'm going to keep on the dvr for a re-watch sometime." ~~Jane
🎄"I liked the movie as well. I thought the dress Joan wore for the wedding was gorgeous! I did find it a little slow at times, and the secondary characters just didn't shine enough for me to buy this movie." ~ Misty
The Christmas Doctor - November 15, 2020 *Family Friendly
(Holly Robinson Peete and Adrian Holmes)
🎄"The Christmas Doctor will make you cry 😠Grab your tissue" ~ Anonymous
🎄"I think the Christmas doctor has been the best new movie.it has a great storyline, the characters are all wonderful, and the actors have real chemistry. I will definitely save it to watch over again." ~ Anonymous
🎄"I really enjoyed The Christmas Doctor. It was very well done and funny too! Only storyline I didn't care for was Luke's daughter. Otherwise, I highly recommend watching it." ~ Misty
🎄"Heartwarming and beautiful, a realistic patriotic tribute. The Christmas Doctor is one of those movies that just pulls you right in from the start; you'll find yourself instantly falling in love with the whole community of Willowbrook and all of it's caring, fascinating characters- what a wonderful small town! Family friendly." ~ Net
🎄"Well so far I have been really disappointed in the new movies.if I had to pick one it would be Christmas Doctor.the storyline was great,the actors had amazing chemistry and it kept your attention the whole movie." ~ Anonymous
🎄"The Christmas Doctor Great main storyline, well-acted and good interaction between the actors and of course family friendly. I can't say that I didn't enjoy it but what keeps it from the top of my list is the age of the chief actors. I know it's my problem but I just don't like movies where the leads are "older" - hero was 45 with a grown-up daughter and heroine wasn't much younger. My limit would be late 30's limit (around 37) -that's just how I feel." ~ Anonymous
The Angel Tree - November 21, 2020 *Family Friendly
(Jill Wagner and Lucas Bryant)
🎄"The Angel Tree was all I hoped for and more! So perfect for now! Sure to be blessed with each viewing of this sweet movie. Can not stop smiling!" ~ kitkat
🎄"Definitely Family Friendly, The Angel Tree with Jill Wagner (Rebecca)and Lucas Bryant(Matthew) was great! It reminded me a couple of times of Pearl In Paradise. Goodness gracious they were great together! She is good with any male lead that I've seen so far. I'm just now warming up to Lucas Bryant. His charming character Matthew has some funny and bad coffee puns. The only thing I didn't care about the movie was the continuous reference to "Christmas magic". Only once did an Angel Tree "Gala" recipient call it as a "miracle". There was one scene where Rebecca and Matthew were walking arm-in-arm down a sidewalk conversing that, *if I recall correctly*, was shot in one take. That is great acting." ~ Namegirl
🎄"The Angel Tree was such a disappointment. I really looked forward to this movie because of the two leading actors from previous movies but not only was there no chemistry, the story line plodded along. They even seemed bored in character. Some of the actors "over acted" which made it seem fake. I fast forwarded through parts just to get to the end and get it over with. The leads have both been in several great movies; this was just not one of them. It was family friendly if you are looking for that. Several children in important roles in the movie." ~ Anonymous
🎄The Angel Tree. Cute, fun and Christmas-y, but not a keeper for me. Jill, Lucas and the two teen actors did a good job but, for some reason, this one just didn't wow me. Oh, well, on to the next one. Family friendly. ~~Jane
🎄"The Angel Tree - Jill Wagner and Lucas Bryant have been two of my favorites but this movie dragged. It was obvious who "Angel" was and I had to fight to stay awake. The premise was there but it needed more." ~ Kay
🎄"The Angel Tree - This was definitely my most favorite one this year. It had everything I wanted in a hallmark Christmas movie: romance, great chemistry, super cute banters, comedy (LOVE those coffee puns), a little mystery, family, amazing leading actor and actress, and a unique story. This movie had me chuckled and awww-ed so many times. The military story was a sweet bonus too. Lucas Bryant needs to be in more Hallmark movies! Definitely a keeper in the DVR go watch over and over." ~CH Mom
🎄"There is something so pure and inspiring about this delightful story of giving. Immediately you find yourself caught up in the mystery of who the unidentified "angel" could be - who delivers gifts and grants wishes to their community each Christmas, based on the wishes placed at the town's outdoor Angel Tree. I personally loved the connection Jill Wagner and Lucas Bryant shared, they easily flowed together on screen and appeared to be friends from long ago, just like their characters - Rebecca McBride and Matthew Anderson. I loved Matthew's coffee shop, and the fact that his nephew, Owen, helped him out there. It was also sweet that Owen was staying with his Uncle as his mother was serving in the military. Throughout the movie, it was clever how Matthew and Owen kept coming up with cute names for various coffee flavors, but best of all... it was most fun to watch Rebecca (Jill Wagner) try to figure out who Angel is - so she can write an important article. I loved the magic, mystery, and wonder of it all!" ~Net
A Godwink Christmas: First Loves, Second Chances - November 22, 2020 *Family Friendly
(Brooke D’Orsay and Sam Page)
🎄"The
third installment in the “A Godwink Christmas” series is again very family
friendly. The story does center, however, on the fact that the leading man, Pat
(Sam Page), is divorced. After losing his job he moves with his two sons from
their home in Hawaii – to his childhood home in Idaho with his Mother. I adored
her role in the movie and the way she lovingly cared for her son and grandsons –
continually spoiling them with special treats! (I'm fairly certain that was the role intended for Kathie Lee Gifford, but she couldn't work out filming with her schedule - due to the virus.) Through a series of events,
Godwinks!, Pat continuously bumps into his childhood sweetheart, Margie (Brooke
D’Orsay). Could there still be sparks there? Of course there are, but it feels
a bit awkward when Pat’s ex-wife arrives near the end of the movie and
encourages him in his relationship with Margie. Besides that, the story is overall
very sweet and fun. Both Brooke D’Orsay and Sam Page are most delightful; they
had wonderful chemistry together!" ~ Net
🎄"A Godwink Christmas: First Love Second Chances When I first saw Brooke D'Orsay and Sam Page paired for this movie I must say I wasn't sure it would be a good match. However in the event they really paired well together - they were so comfortable and warm in each other's company. The story line was pretty much as you would expect and yet it seemed quite fresh. What I found strange was the relationship between Margie and her boyfriend Scott. I know that until now they had only met online but the scenes between them seemed very uncomfortable - I don't even think they touched at all. What I found pleasing was there was a more satisfactory ending than Hallmark so often presents - the look on Margie and Sam's faces at the denoument was so full of love I almost teared up and the epilogue even if it was only a couple of minutes was perfect and left me with warm feelgood feeling. Definitely for the rewatch pile." ~ Anonymous
🎄"A Godwink Christmas: First Loves, Second Chances. I liked it, but didn’t love it. Didn’t really buy into the lead actor being a father. And the whole ex-wife thing was awkward. And speaking of awkward, Brooke’s “boyfriend” and their relationship was beyond strange. Parts of this movie were cute and parts just left me with a “huh?” kind of feeling. Not a keeper, but worth a one-time watch. Family friendly (other than the weird ex-wife thing that Net noted)." ~~Jane
USS Christmas - November 28, 2020*Family Friendly
(Jen Lilley and Trevor Donovan)
🎄"USS Christmas - Family Friendly. It was refreshing to have a movie that was so pro military and America. I thought both the leads did a great job and the story the girl is researching was sweet. I'm a sucker for a happy ending so I loved it!" ~ Anna
🎄"I just watched USS Christmas and this was another great movie on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. Finally, Christmas movies with a mystery and a good romance story. Both the leads had wonderful chemistry. Sometimes, Jen seems over the top to me, but somehow, Trey knows how to level that off and she shined. The secondary characters were all top notch and the writing was spot on. I really recommend this family friendly, romance with a great mystery. This year, I think HMM has had better movies than Hallmark!" ~ Misty
🎄"USS Christmas! WOW! I love Jen Lilley and Trevor Donovan but this one even surprised me with how much I loved it. It was sweet and thoughtful. So refreshing to see something a little different and definitely loved seeing the military families celebrated. The chemistry between the cast was the icing on the cake. USS Christmas and A Timeless Christmas are absolute tops for this season so far!" ~ J.F. Hale
🎄"Loved U.S.S. Christmas! Definitely want that DVD." ~ kitkat
🎄"USS Christmas. I really liked this one and it’s a keeper for me, but that’s partially because I’ve lived in the world of Naval aviators and enjoyed watching a movie based on that (even the unrealistic parts). I have a brother and a former fiancé that both flew FA-18 jets (what the lead actor flew); my brother actually kind of looks like Trevor Donovan (especially in his green flight suit). This movie wasn’t as great as some of my other favorites this year but I definitely liked it. Plus, I think Jen is adorable. And the little mystery was sweet. Family friendly." ~~Jane
🎄USS Christmas is the Top Gun of Hallmark movies! I just love the patriotic theme in USS Christmas and the way the movie beautifully honors our military. Since the setting of this film was at an actual aircraft carrier - the World War II-era aircraft carrier Yorktown, it was absolutely incredible on screen. The love story between Jen Lilley and Trevor Donovan's characters, reporter Maddie Johnson and Navy fighter pilot Lt. Billy Jenkins, is gradual and sweet; it was interesting to watch them both overcome issues from their past to discover love again. I highly recommend this family friendly Christmas movie! ~ Net
Time for Us to Come Home for Christmas - December 5, 2020 *Family Friendly - based on reviews
(Lacey Chabert and Stephen Huszar)
🎄"I thought the Come Home for Christmas one was very boring. No chemistry between the leads and the side stories not compelling to me." Misty
🎄"Time for Us to Come Home for Christmas. Keeper!! Will probably buy the dvd. Family friendly." ~~Jane
🎄"Time For Us To Come Home For Christmas We're slowly working our way through this year's Christmas movies and saved this one for Christmas night - proved to be a good choice. Absolutely loved it - Lacey Chabert and Stephen Huszar were a winning combination a la Jill Wagner and Wes Brown or Nikki Deloach and Michael Rady, they fit together so well. The main plot was quite intriguing although I did guess who had sent the invitations to the inn (the title was a big clue) - there were a number of sub-plots but unlike as in Write Before Christmas they did not detract from the main theme but were cleverly woven in giving Chabert and Huszar plenty of screen time. Every one of the secondary cast gave excellent performances too. Obviously being a Christmas movie certain dynamics had to be observed but these were refreshing and did not come over as cliched. If Lacey Chabert was brilliant then Stephen Huszar was sensational - I've always liked him in The Ruby Herring Mysteries ( Memo to Hallmark more of these PLEASE!) but he was a revelation here with all his subtle little face gestures. In the ending after Sarah had initially sais she was returning to Seattle the look of bland desolation on Ben's face was amazing then when she decided that he was an integral part of her future he closed and opened his eyes as if thanking God and the look of almost disbelief yet happiness was unbelievable. The tenderness with which he led Sarah back into the inn teared me right up. There was slightly more time given to the ending than normal for Hallmark but even so it did come over as slightly rushed and in fact not everything was resolved. There had been a couple of references that the inn had been struggling in the months prior to Christmas and there was nothing to suggest how this was going to change? Sarah herself didn't know what the future would hold but the inference was that she would take over her mother's law practice. This was in New York - could she work from the inn? There was a reference to being a train ride from Hartford so presumably it was somewhere in Connecticut so maybe this was possible. One quibble with Hallmark not just for this movie but right across the board - please treat your viewers with respect. It is perfectly obvious that most of the time they are drinking all this coffee and hot chocolate from empty cups! Now they wouldn't be expected to fill them with champagne but why not water? We've still a way to go to finish seeing all the Christmas movies but this is in the lead as our favourite to date ahead of the 12 Dates Of Christmas. A really lovely movie - in fact despite the number still to see we rewatched this on Sunday night! Were there Hallmark Oscars then this along with Chabert and Huszar would be firm favourites to win this year!" ~Anonymous
🎄"Stephen Huszar is so fantastic in Ruby Herring Mysteries with Taylor Cole and his other movies are good, but he and Lacey Chabert were not a good match in "Time For Us To Come Home For Christmas". At least, not for me." ~kitkat
A Little Christmas Charm - December 6, 2020
*Family Friendly - based on reviews
(Ashley Greene and Brendan Penny)
🎄 "I adored A Little Christmas Charm. Great story and the mystery was pretty good. I really enjoyed the characters and what they got to do was so fun! It's a Hallmark book too. But, I think it has a different title. Again the HM&M was better than Hallmark!" ~ Misty
🎄 "I loved it, because there wasn't a ton of side stories and you got to know and care for the characters. Plus, great chemistry with the leads." ~ Misty
🎄"I finally watched my DVRd A Little Christmas Charm on HHM. I want this movie when it released on DVD. Ashley Greene and Brendan Penny set out on a merry chase in this enjoyable movie. I liked the Christmas train where passengers had to dress in antique clothing. Also, if they get released on DVD I want The Christmas Bow, USS Christmas, Time For Us To Come Home For Christmas, The Christmas Doctor, The Angel Tree, maybe A Godwink Christmas: Second Chance, First Love. This year HMM has outdone themselves." ~ Namegirl
🎄"A Little Christmas Charm Overall like your other reviewers I thought this was a very enjoyable movie because of the amazing chemistry between Ashley Green and Brendan Penny, that is if you get past the first 20 minutes or so. I'm very surprised that no one else has mentioned this. Before discovering that there was a search for the owner of the charm bracelet Greg was basically stalking Holly - now it may have been intended to he humourous but this is not really a subject to joke about. Even my teenage daughters who were watching this thought it was a bit off. There were a couple of downsides to Greg's character and the "obligatory" Hallmark misunderstanding before the ending was pretty weak and handled badly by Holly but on the other hand the mystery was intriguing, the script was well written and there were some unusual situations which singled this out from other Christmas movies. Pity but with a different beginning this could have been this year's #1 Christmas movie" ~ Anonymous
🎄"A Little Christmas Charm. Cute story. Really liked the actors. Enjoyed the vintage store and all the jewelry shops. Loved the Christmas train from the 1930’s. Solving the mystery was a warm, cozy journey and such fun to watch unfold. A few things didn’t thrill me, like some weak plot lines and the “big misunderstanding”, which was contrived and silly. Also, the main character’s aversion to Christmas did not seem believable. Reviews in other places mentioned the main character being a creeper/stalker in the first part of this movie; I did not see that at all (I even went back and re-watched that section of the movie). I’m not sure if this is a keeper for me, but it’s definitely worth watching. Family friendly." ~~Jane
A Glenbrooke Christmas - December 12, 2020 *Family Friendly
(Autumn Reeser and Antonio Cupo)
🎄"I loved A Glenbrook Christmas. Autumn and Antonio still that that same chemistry and there were some very funny as well as serious moments. Family friendly, too. I feel HM/HMM movies this year are lacking, but this one hit a home run." ~ Savvy Girl
🎄"Antonio is drop dead gorgeous! I really enjoyed A Glenbrook Christmas. I liked how the church bells were incorporated and how it's a tradition of the town. I liked how they explained why Antonio's character was the person in charge about the bells. The art the children created were lovely. I liked how Autumn's character just didn't throw money and fix it herself. She got the whole town involved! Lovely movie, with two actors with chemistry and acting chops (a must for me)! Family friendly." ~Misty
🎄"A Glenbrooke Christmas - I was so happy to see Autumn and Antonio paired again since their last movie together (Love at Thanksgiving Parade) was one of my most favorite Hallmark movie of all time. This one was not quite that level but it was still cute and I still loved it." ~CH Mom
🎄"A Glenbrooke Christmas Enjoyable movie with good performances from Autumn and Antonio and a decent ending from Hallmark! It was pretty formulaic though and because there have been a number of really great movies on HMM this Christmas it suffers slightly by comparison. We probably would watch it again at some stage and it was nice to get through a family friendly movie." ~Anonymous
🎄"A Glenbrooke Christmas. I liked it. This one had sweet, gentle, warm Christmas “feels” but, overall, it was not a favorite for me (I think I liked Autumn Reeser’s “Christmas Under the Stars” better than this one). The lead actor didn’t wow me like he did others, to me he seemed a bit stiff or something; I don't think I've ever seen him before, I'd like to someday watch the Thanksgiving Parade movie since I've heard that movie was a better one for him and Autumn. I loved the senior actor who plays the manager of the cottage. The bells at the end were a bit lacklustre. Cute movie and I wouldn’t mind watching it again next year, but it just didn’t have that special zing that would make it a keeper for me. Family friendly." ~~Jane
🎄"What a special treat to see Autumn Reeser and Antonio Cupo paired together once again in this family friendly Christmas movie! There's just something truly special and wonderful about these two... they have all sorts of chemistry on screen. And... I'm not biased at all, since "Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade" just happens to be one of my all-time favorite Hallmark Christmas movies! (haha!) The small town Christmas setting was lovely in "A Glenbrooke Christmas," and I loved how everyone made Autumn's character feel appreciated and welcomed. It made me feel at home, too, and left me with a warm and cozy feeling." ~Net
Unlocking Christmas - December 13, 2020 *Family Friendly - based on reviews
Starring: Taylor Cole and Steve Lund
🎄"I loved Unlocking Christmas! Taylor and Steve's previous movie The Art of Us isn't one of my top favorites, but I'm going to have to give it another watch, because they were just perfect together in this! Everything about this movie hit all the right notes for me. Except for a somewhat rushed ending, I thought the flow and pacing of the movie was spot on. The chemistry was obvious, the banter was hilarious, and the mystery/adventure was intriguing, heartwarming, and so much fun. This is a serious contender for my favorite movie of this season. Family friendly." ~ Amy Lama
🎄"I totally agree with you, Amy. I didn't care for the Art of Us but this movie was definitely a keeper. Kevin (Lund) was all but giddy when opening the "No Peeking" envelopes. This a gem of a movie! I watched my recorded version last night to make sure it recorded well and again with my sister." ~Namegirl
🎄"After USS Christmas and A Little Christmas Charm, I was underwhelmed by Unlocking Christmas. However, I did love the activities they got to do and how the clues got them to interact with the community. The romance was just so meh to me." ~ Misty
🎄"Unlocking Christmas has a lovely message, but I agree, not much of a plot, and rushed. Completely G rated. This is actually the 5th Lund and Cole pairing, granted that I haven't seen all of them, and as usual, he outshines her. She just isn't a favorite of mine, and always seems a little disinterested in her various storylines." ~Ashley
🎄"Unlocking Christmas. Cute movie. It was fun to watch them work together to unlock the clues. Overall, it was a nice movie but nothing that really grabbed me. Worth a watch, but probably not a keeper for me. Family friendly." ~~Jane
🎄"Unlocking Christmas I thoroughly enjoyed this one - great beginning and ending and while I would admit that in between it was a bit slow at times and they missed many opportunities to further the romance I some how liked the gentle pace although it was pretty obvious who was behind the mystery letters! I know there are a fair number of people who don't seem to appreciate Taylor Cole but I think she and Steve Lund make a great pairing, superb chemistry and banter. Hallmark really don't promote Steve enough although I know he is very busy appearing in two TV series. One of my personal favourites." ~Anonymous
🎄"I
loved unlocking this Christmas mystery! The KEY to a great movie is a fun story
and a sweet romance and "Unlocking Christmas" had both! This family
friendly movie was such a joy to watch. I loved seeing Taylor Cole and Steve
Lund together again (since "The Art of Us") and watching them go on
this adventure - unraveling riddle clues. Everything about this movie is
enjoyable and cute, especially the chemistry between Taylor and Steve. And, I
loved his parents in this, too! Such a delightful watch - I highly recommend
Unlocking Christmas!" ~Net
Swept Up by Christmas - December 19, 2020 *Family Friendly - based on reviews
Starring: Lindy Booth and Justin Bruening
🎄"Swept Up by Christmas. I quite liked this one. A sweet, cozy, gentle Christmas movie that's a keeper for me. Loved the story line that had the lead actor running a business that hires and helps military veterans. Family friendly." ~~Jane
Project Christmas Wish - December 20, 2020 *Family Friendly - based on reviews
Starring: Amanda Schull and Travis Van Winkle
🎄"Project Christmas Wish- Another one that made my top 5. Well acted and heartfelt. Travis Van Winkle had some funny moments. Amanda Schull did a good job of playing the hurt while showing how strong she was standing up for herself and what she wanted. A little more understated than some but a nice change from the bubbly acting we usually get." ~Kay
🎄"Project Christmas Wish - So cute! Had me chuckled too many times. Love Amanda’s character. Love her chemistry with Travis and their cute banters. The story and conflict about opening your heart for new love were real and believable." ~CH Mom
🎄"Project Christmas Wish. Keeper. I felt the whole “wish” project thing was a bit silly or overdone (I liked the way The Angel Tree handled Christmas wishes better than this one). But, overall, I really liked this sweet, fun movie. Good dialogue and banter between the leads and some very convincing acting and good chemistry. Lots of Christmas warm fuzzies. Family friendly." ~~Jane
UPtv
A Very Country Christmas Homecoming - November 1, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄"A newlywed couple, Zane and Jeanette, face many challenges during their first Christmas together. When Jeanette's former father-n-law returns, the new couple has to adjust to becoming a family. Jeanette's daughter is most excited to have Zane in her life, but she also loves to hear any past stories of her deceased father. There is a bit of tension between the former father-n-law and the new husband, famous singer, Zane Gunther. The Grandfather is rightfully worried what exposing his Granddaughter to Zane's celebrity life will mean for her privacy and growing up. There is also a female pop star singer that is featured throughout the movie that is supposed to be somewhat annoying and over the top, but in the end, she is shown to have a good heart. In addition to that, it's sweet to see Zane and Jeanette and their daughter overcome many obstacles to enjoy their first Christmas, plus there's a touching military tribute. Family friendly." ~ Net
🎄"Okay, so I might already be changing my mind about UPtv since my last review. I usually feel like my middle-aged self is not part of their target audience, which seems to me to be tweens/teens/young adults. However, I really enjoyed A Very Country Christmas Homecoming. I think I liked the first Christmas movie in the series best, and I never saw the wedding movie, but this current movie is cute and family friendly. I really appreciate having Deana Carter as part of this cast, she adds substance to the movies. And the song that the little girl sang at the end of this was lovely, such a beautiful voice (I wonder if that was really the young actress singing?). Not sure yet if this is a keeper for my dvr, but I will definitely re-watch it." ~~Jane
A Ring for Christmas - November 8, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄"A Ring for Christmas. I think I'm just not a part of the UPtv demographic (I should know this by now!). I watched about a third to a half of this movie and then just gave up. It's sooooo predictable and sooooo "young" and unbelievable (and i'm soooo not young!:)). I think lots of folks will like this movie, especially teens and tweens, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Up to the point where I stopped watching, it was basically family friendly. However, they did show the young people drinking alcohol in a bar, so some people might want to be careful when watching with their younger kids; they didn't necessarily glorify the drinking but it was just accepted that that's what all young people do when they get together at Christmas -- and most of these young people looked like they were still in high school and should not be at a bar drinking." ~~Jane
🎄"A
Ring for Christmas. Okay, this movie is one of those movies where there is a
fake boyfriend. If you are okay with that – then proceed. Since her father’s
death Angie Moore has been good at one thing – spending money. To teach Angie a
lesson about responsibility, her mother cuts her off financially, so Angie
schemes with her high school crush to get married and receive her marriage
trust from her father’s will. Even though it’s kind of quirky and I personally didn’t like
the continued use of Oh My G— and the occasional casual drinking with friends,
I thought this movie was overall lighthearted and fun. Several times I found
myself literally laughing out loud. Sure, in the beginning Angie is self-centered
and money driven, but after coming back home for Christmas she begins to get a
new perspective on life. It’s sweet to see her help out at her local school
with her favorite childhood teacher; plus, the kids are all extra cute. And, it’s
nice to see her hang out with her old best friend, Gabe. Could there be sparks
there? This movie is family friendly; it will surely give you a feel good lighthearted
laugh – and warm your heart, too!" ~ Net
Mistletoe Magic - November 15, 2020 *Family Friendly - based on reviews
🎄"Stephen Huszar is great in Ruby Herring Mysteries. Watched Mistletoe Magic and loved this movie. It was Stephen at his best." ~kitkat
🎄"Mistletoe Magic. Cute movie. Parts of it were silly and odd, but I quite liked this movie, it was sweet (and how can you not like a movie with Stephen Huszar in it?!?). Probably wouldn't buy this one or keep it on my dvr, but would definitely watch it next year. Family friendly." ~~Jane
Dashing Home for Christmas - November 22, 2020*Family Friendly
🎄"I loved, "Dashing Home for Christmas" on UPtv. I really liked the couple, and the male lead especially. He reminded me of Christopher Reeve playing Superman, with his black glasses, great sense of humor, willingness to help anyone who needed him, and watching him fall in love was beyond precious!! One of my favorites this year!" ~ Kathy
🎄"Dashing Home
for Christmas. Well, that was really cute! Reminiscent of Planes, Trains & Automobiles
but with a romance and no Steve Martin or John Candy. The lead actor and
actress were perfect for their roles (he is just a young, cutie patootie, all
around nice guy). The "big conflict" that every story has to have was
a bit contrived, and the very end of the movie was a bit anti-climactic, but,
overall, it was a good movie. It would have been a "keeper" for my
dvr but I accidentally deleted it - oops. Family friendly." ~~Jane
Christmas on the Range - December 6, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄"I had the opportunity to screen "Christmas on the Range" last year for INSP films and promote the DVD. The movie is family friendly with a J.L. Family Ranch feel to it. There is one scene of caution for young viewers when a man is beat up and there is talk of terminal illness. Actress Erin Cahill stars in “Christmas on the Range” as Kendall Riley, devoted rancher’s daughter who is strong-willed and determined to expand her family farm. Even though it’s Christmastime, when you expect “Peace-on-earth, good will toward men…,” Kendall’s neighbor, Brick McCree (portrayed by A Martinez), will stop at nothing to sabotage Kendall and turn the Riley farm into financial ruin. I have a full review of this movie you can read - here. This Christmas adventure is filled with lots of action, adversity and triumph, secrets from the past, revenge, redemption, love and family." ~ Net
Christmas at Rosemont (2015) - December 19, 2020 *NOT Family Friendly
🎄Christmas at Rosemont - Oh
my! Where to begin! This movie is NOT Family Friendly. It’s NOT rated R by any
means, but there are some adult situations and dialogue you must be aware of. (Please
note: My review may contain a few spoilers.) Officially, the movie is rated
TV-14. First of all, a 19 year old pregnant teenage girl, Lisa, is on the run
from her much older boyfriend, who is twice her age and has molested and
manipulated her since she was 15 years old. She’s alone and obviously very
scared, traveling on a bus. When the bus cannot travel further due to weather, the riders are taken to a
local diner, and Lisa overhears a guy on his cell phone making travel plans. Brad is
not one of the bus riders, so he has his own car. Lisa stops him before he
leaves and asks Brad to take her with him, offering to split the cost of gas.
To make a long story a bit shorter, he agrees to take her but they run into a
terrible snow storm and the car wrecks in a ditch. They are fine and end up walking
to an old dilapidated inn, Rosemont. There, they are met with a shotgun and discover the owner, Josephine Sutton, a rough
around the edges older lady who has had her share of heartbreaks and Abe, her
friend and the place’s caretaker, although I loosely use the term caretaker because
Abe spends most of his time drinking. Since Lisa is expecting (near her due
date), she and Brad do not tell Josephine and Abe that they are not a couple,
so they put them in the same room and they actually, literally sleep in the
same bed. Nothing happens, except they giggle together about Josephine and Abe
and how they were met with a shotgun. Even though this movie is VERY CRAZY, at times, it’s
intriguing and entertaining to see how these four people stranded together in this awful snow storm
come together and bond over time. There’s definitely adult dialogue and a
little language throughout the movie. At a couple spots I could tell that UPtv
silenced out certain obscene words, which was nice. Lisa does give birth in the
movie, and we also learn of tragic events from Josephine’s past, which explains
why the inn no longer operates. The movie overall is very quirky, somewhat
sad, and yet, quite funny, too, at times. I found myself laughing so hard many
times. I won’t spoil the ending; however, it was happy, satisfying and full of
promise! Please note: I would NOT recommend this movie for family viewing." ~Net
LIFETIME
Christmas on Ice - October 23, 2020 *Family Friendly minus one exception - see in comments below!
🎄"So far, I've watched two Lifetime movies, Christmas on Ice and Christmas Unwrapped. I thought both were okay and kind of cute, but not keepers for my dvr. Viewers with traditional values might want to know about one small scene in Christmas on Ice. (Not a spoiler) The main character, Courtney, falls and hurts her knee while skating at night. Her male coworker helps carry her home and puts her on the sofa where she sleeps all night with her knee propped up. That same coworker has just recently started sort of dating her roommate/bff. The next scene shows her waking up the next day and that same guy coming down from upstairs, implying he spent the night with her roommate. The roommate is already up for the day. The directors could have (and should have) just skipped this little addition or they could have explained that he wanted to stay and keep an eye on her knee or some such thing. Instead they made a point of implying he spent the night with facial expressions and looks between characters that made it clear that he had spent the night. The whole scene was quick and not a huge part of the movie and the rest of movie was fine. I just wish they had left that scene out, it was completely unnecessary." ~~Jane
🎄"Christmas on
Ice is the typical rom-com movie where a business (in this case, the outdoor
ice rink) is going to be shut down IF they don't find some way to save it
first. Course, the lead couple, Courtney and Noah, are initially on opposite
sides. Sound familiar? Although, the story is somewhat cliché, it was still
entertaining and very sweet. Courtney’s a former figure skater and Noah’s a
former hockey player. She instructs children how to skate at this outdoor rink,
which she has a sentimental attachment to since her childhood. All of the ice
skating in the movie was fun to watch, including an ice dance performance of
young girls. Unfortunately, there is that unnecessary scene when Courtney wakes
up one morning on the couch and the guy dating her roommate suddenly appears
fully dressed coming down the stairs in their apartment. This scene is very
subtle - in that it's not exactly spelled out why he's there and one could draw
their own conclusions. Although, as adults we know, most children I'm guessing
probably wouldn't get it. I too wish they had left this out of the movie, as it
did nothing to further the main story. Other than that unfortunate moment, the
movie was extremely family friendly and delightful." ~ Net
🎄"Christmas On Ice was a fair enough start to Lifetime's Christmas programme. Nothing groundbreaking and it didn't go on the re-watch pile but pleasant enough. I agree with the previous comment about the way it highlighted the fact that the heroine's flatmate had her new boyfriend stay overnight - it meant nothing in the context of the movie and could just as easily been left out." ~ Anonymous
🎄"I am not sure if the Christmas on Ice was filmed before Covid, but there was a lot of feeling there, maybe cause there was a child, but I felt they cared for each other and I felt love. One iffy part for kids, but the roommates had a guy sleep over, well he was there in the AM. Other than that, it was very friendly and great, and the best one I have seen so far. although that movie had some really crazy lines, and the roommate who had just all of a sudden decided to make a book of kids pics on santa's lap got it published in hard cover with her pic and blurb on the back in like a week. she got it published from an idea in a weeks time." ~ Sabrina
Christmas Unwrapped - October 24, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄"So far, I've watched two Lifetime movies, Christmas on Ice and Christmas Unwrapped. I thought both were okay and kind of cute, but not keepers for my dvr." ~~Jane
🎄"Christmas Unwrapped – Ambitious reporter Charity Jones (Amber
Stevens West) is writing her first article for the Times Square Journal. She’s
been given the task of investigating a local charity called Never Stop
Believing, which is run by Erik Gallagher (Marco Grazzini), also known to many
as Erik Christmas because of all the good he does in the community - giving
back with gifts and holiday events for the town to enjoy – like ice skating in
the park and watching Christmas movies at the local theater. Charity is
immediately skeptical about Erik and his organization and how he’s able to fund
the purchase of all of the presents he gives out. Her co-worker and best friend
Tisha does some digging into Erik’s past. In reality, Erik grew up in the
foster system, so he has made it his life’s mission to give back to other
children, but that story isn’t good enough for Janet Cohen (Cheryl Ladd),
Charity’s boss. Just when Charity starts believing in and falling for Erik and
what he does to help others, secrets from the past are unwrapped and things get
complicated. Family friendly. It’s a rather sweet movie… not one I’d probably
watch over and over again, but definitely worth a watch, at least once." ~Net
Forever Christmas - October 25, 2020 *NOT Family Friendly - due to constant sexual innuendo
🎄"I just saw this. I don't really remember much, but that I didn't care for it." ~ Misty
🎄"I watched part of Forever Christmas and then skimmed forward to the end before deleting. I liked the lead actor and actress, but wasn't overly fond of this movie. It felt shallow and silly and did not give me a warm Christmas feeling. For anyone with traditional, Christian values and wanting to watch with their young teens/tweens, I would advise a bit of caution. Just like with books, some folks will consider this movie "clean", but I would say it's a rather tarnished or tawdry "clean". Too much innuendo. Physical touching, tingly feelings, kissing, etc. happen way too soon and too often in this movie. Multiple times in the movie there is a huge production of the lead actor changing his tee shirt and everyone ogling his "sexy", naked torso and abs in his low-slung jeans. One of the reality tv producers comments that the decorated house must be a "chick magnet [for the bachelor]....Which way to the sleigh bed?" Another producer says he "knows how to charm the pants off anyone". And while shooting a film scene in a room of his house that is decorated as underwater Christmas with mermaids and such, the sleaze ball producer waggles his eyebrows and asks the lead actor "Some people think mermaids are kind of sexy, does this room double as a fantasy suite for you sometimes?" Others may like this movie and not find it as lame and tawdry as I did, but it just wasn't my cup of tea." ~~Jane
🎄"Forever Christmas was not family friendly! It has a lot of innuendo and made reference to a same sex marriage. It wasn't well acted either. I couldn't finish it mostly because of all of the innuendo." ~ Holley
🎄"I would not suggest anyone watch Forever Christmas. I am in agreement with Anonymous's review for sure. It really surprised me and I was sensing how ungodly some of the scenes were." ~ Anonymous
🎄 "Forever Christmas I give a pass because of the context of the movie, due to the fact that the lead character was being manipulated in order to make him into a "Bachelor" type contestant. Overall, the character was a decent guy." ~Ashley
🎄"Forever
Christmas – Beware, this movie is sooooo bad. The dialogue is cringe-worthy, the
sexual innuendo is disgusting, as everyone above has said, and the way the women drool
over the lead guy, Will Saunders (Christopher Russell, “Love in the Forecast”),
is not only appalling, it’s shameful. Reality TV Producer, Sophia Worthy (Chelsea
Hobbs, “The Nine Lives of Christmas”) creates a show around the life of Will
Saunders, who celebrates Christmas – 365 days out of the year! Will is naïve enough
to trust Sophia and think the show is just about his house and decorations, but
Sophia’s boss, Paul Rivera, pieces together video clips that make Will look
really bad. Paul also makes comments about Will’s looks that are embarrassing
and awkward, he is obviously attracted to him, but we are made aware he is
already married - to a man. This is most definitely a movie to skip – NOT Family
Friendly whatsoever." ~Net
A Crafty Christmas Romance - October 30, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄"A Crafty Christmas Romance – I liked this one! I thought this movie was rather intriguing. There’s a bit of mystery in it – when Mandy, the owner of a Craft Store, discovers an old coin wrapped in a letter to Santa – inside an old edition of “A Christmas Carol,” signed by a little girl, named Judith. With only a little bit of information, Mandy sets out on a mission to find the woman who originally wrote the letter many years ago, to return the coin to her. Along the way, Mandy meets Jonah, who is doing renovation work at the local church, which is where the book was originally donated from. Jonah also becomes interested in finding the true owner of the coin; and perhaps, he is interested in Mandy, too! Overall, I enjoyed the mystery of this movie –discovering little clues here and there. It was very sweet, lighthearted, and family friendly. A Crafty Christmas Romance is a keeper for me!" ~Net
🎄"Lifetime's "A Crafty Christmas Romance" is a family-friendly movie. Although it's not one that makes my all-time favorites list, it is simple, sweet, and relaxing! ~ Alicia
🎄"For the most part, I agree with Alicia that "A Crafty Christmas Romance" was sweet, simple and family-friendly. And, likewise, it doesn't make my all-time favorite list. It had a cute setting...very Christmas-y; how much fun it must be to run a shop devoted to crafting, especially at Christmastime! Sweet premise for the story but I felt like it wasn't acted/written/directed all that well, it could have been sooo much better. To me, it kind of felt "thin" and it lacked the attention to detail that goes into better Hallmark movies. Parts of it seemed hokey or silly and almost too simplistic, but certainly good for a relaxing viewing with the family that will give you all the Christmas "feels". I could see maybe teens or young adults liking it better than my middle-aged self." ;) ~~Jane
🎄"I thought the Crafty Christmas one was BORING. Not enough of anything and that store didn't seem 'crafty' at all. I didn't watch it all of it." ~ Misty
🎄"I watched a few this weekend: Crafty Christmas Romance--this was so boring. I was thinking of the movie Gift of Miracles with Rachel Boston, and how the gifts tied together, but this movie, I fast forwarded to the end to see what happened, it was dull throughout." ~ Sabrina
🎄"Hey Sabrina - I totally agree with you on Crafty Christmas Romance. I liked the premise, but the story itself just plodded along. Also, I felt that the acting, especially from the male lead, left a lot to be desired. Not a keeper!" ~ Mark 25
🎄"A Crafty Christmas Romance Family friendly. Loved this movie! I may be the odd duck but I found this movie quite delightful! It isn’t my top favorite but it is definitely in the top 10 for this year (of the 23 I’ve seen thus far)! I already loved the male lead (Brad Johnson) and I also like the female lead (Nicola Posener) from prior movies and I wasn’t disappointed in either of their performances this time! Like others, I too love “Just Jasper” and Edward from Scents and Sensibility! This movie reminded me of Signed, Sealed, Delivered. She finds an old letter and together they try to find who it belongs to (except in this case it’s the letter writer they are looking for, not the addressee). The story is sweet and touching. What would the world be like if people actually cared about one another like they do in this story? She finds an old letter and does everything she can to return it (along with a very expensive coin) to the letter writer. And he helps her with just as much fervor; while his initial interest sparks from his attraction for her, he quickly gets caught up in the magic. I enjoyed the two leads together as well; they had good chemistry and their relationship flowed so naturally that it honestly felt real. I would like to see more of these two together (and separate). It was refreshing to see two single characters without significant others messing up the plot. (I’m sure I’m not the only one who is tired of the whole horrible boyfriend/girlfriend thing.) And there were no major attitude changes for either character – you know, the characters with the awful attitude that make you wonder how someone could ever fall in love with them! Both characters are genuinely nice, unattached people who meet each other and develop a friendship. It makes think that two people really can meet and fall in love (still waiting for that to happen, as you can see) without some grand beginning or horrible first impression. I would love to keep this heartfelt, fun movie and hope it come out on DVD!" Rissa
Candy Cane Christmas - October 31, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄"I loved that this story line felt rather fresh and new. There are lots of colorful Christmas lights and a lovely flower shop with beautiful poinsettias where two people meet when he has a flower emergency. After that, these two people keep running into each other in what appears to be a small town, so it's rather surprising they didn't already know one another. Sweet highlights: There are adorable pets at the Vet clinic, and the leading female played by Beverley Mitchell attempts to find ways to help out in the community with a toy drive and helping those at the Nursing Home with creating wreaths and decorating for Christmas. The ladies at the home are a lot of fun and the movie overall is very sweet and family friendly. ~ Net
🎄"Candy Cane Christmas--I am going to be honest here, I didn't feel the 2 leads together, and in fact, I kept feeling like the main male character was more interested in his male employee at the vet clinic than in Beverley Mitchell character. I am sure they didn't mean it that way, but it felt awkward, weird, and I am not sure if they meant it to be. I liked the whole premise of there not being a perfect Christmas, but the main character male just smiled a lot and made smiley faces, and this entire movie was just weird, all the way down to the blatantly obvious attempts at diversity. The only part I will say I liked a lot, was the retirement home and Beverley Mitchells character with them at the home." ~ Sabrina
🎄"Candy Cane Christmas was nice. Probably not a keeper on the dvr for me, but I liked it. The flower shop felt Christmas-y. I liked the lead actor and actress. I loved the relationship between the lead actor and his aunt; and that they showed vibrant seniors living in a retirement community instead of the usual seniors in a nursing home. Family friendly." ~~Jane
The Christmas Aunt - November 1, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄"The Christmas Aunt – First of all, I thought Keshia Knight Pulliam was extremely sweet in this role. I enjoyed this lighthearted movie, but I must say, it felt extremely familiar – the story seemed almost identical to Hallmark’s Christmas Wonderland, where the Aunt also comes home for Christmas to watch her niece and nephew while the parents are away. And guess what, she also falls for her old childhood friend, who happens to be a teacher at the local school, where her niece and nephew go. This movie may be rather predictable, but it has some nice moments that are delightful. Good for all ages… Family Friendly." ~Net
🎄"The Christmas Aunt. Meh. The lead actress is not a favorite for me; but I really liked the actress that played her mother, as well as the lead male actor. I suppose for a light Christmas-y feel the movie was okay, but too many parts of it felt contrived or "over-acted". I think others will like it, but it just wasn't a keeper for me. It was family friendly (except for maybe one small part where they made a point of spiking their milk with rum to have "adult" milk and cookies -- In my opinion, regular old milk and cookies does not need any additives; it's perfect as is!!)." ~~Jane
The Christmas Yule Blog - November 6, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄"The Christmas Yule Blog. At times, it was refreshingly quirky and unique; and yet, at other times, it went beyond quirky to somewhat odd. I liked the lead actor and actress. And, overall, even though it is not a keeper for my dvr, I rather liked this movie and wouldn't mind watching it again next year. It was family friendly." ~~Jane
🎄"My husband and I were watching, well had Lifetime on last night and saw the 1st almost hour of The Christmas Yule Blog, and.....IT WAS AWFUL. it was so disjointed, it had so many things happening in the 1st 20 mins such as riding an antique train to the town, seeing the adobe bed and breakfast, having no wifi so had to go to main characters house, which was in the part of this supposed quaint town that had houses so big and modern, there is no way only 2400 people lived in that town, 2400 people lived in that subdivision. Next was the town gathering where they wore south western sweaters, had a contest, then went to the adobe and decorated a HORRIBLE looking fake tree, and this was all in the 1st 20 mins I kid you not. it was like they decided to have all the cliché tv movie Christmas stuff, like no wifi, tree, town festivities, writer losing her passion and boss sending to New Mexico, they even had the main guy playing a song on the guitar that I think the kid said was "mom's song", I guess they may have waited til 31 mins in to address where "mom" was, but we turned it off. it really seems hallmark and Lifetime made movies simply just to say they have 30 or 41 new movies, and the Crafty Christmas Romance was bad, but this one, was SUPER BAD!!!!" ~ Sabrina
🎄"Sadly I have to agree with EVERYTHING she (Sabrina) says. It is THAT bad and hard to believe that there will be a worse Christmas movie this year. The male lead even looked older than the heroine's father would be and as so often the ending was indecisive. Unfortunately once we start watching a movie we will watch it to the end but this was one we wished we hadn't." ~ Anonymous
🎄"Christmas Yule Blog A family-friendly movie that, unfortunately, is not a keeper for me. I was hoping I’d love it because the previews looked good. There were moments I liked but overall it was rather stale. I do enjoy Sara Canning but she didn’t shine in this role. She and the male lead didn’t have much chemistry; I was “told” they loved each other and I knew they were “supposed” to be together but I just didn’t feel it, I couldn’t see much development between the two. However, romance aside, there were fun traditions that I enjoyed seeing. I’m curious to know if some of these are real traditions in New Mexico? I loved hearing the story behind the paper lanterns (luminous, I think?). The people lined the streets with the lanterns to light the way for the Holy Family. I love this beautiful tradition! I also liked seeing a movie without snow; it is nice to see places can be Christmas-filled without being a winter wonderland or freezing cold! I also liked the fun banter between the characters over different meanings. For example, when the female lead gets to the B&B she finds out there is no cell service or internet. The owner of the B&B says that it is a place to relax, think, recharge. The main character’s response is, “What good is recharging without a signal?” (She means yourself) Haha. Love the play on words! Overall, this movie wasn’t HORRIBLE but it was just rather EH for me." ~ Rissa
🎄"Christmas Yule Blog - I tried. I really tried. But I just
couldn’t get into this movie. Maybe someone else out there will like it, but it
just wasn’t for me. I fast-forwarded through to the end. Everything I saw was
family-friendly, but that’s all I know. On a bright note, I loved the cute,
clever title!" ~Net
A Welcome Home Christmas - November 7, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄"I want to salute Lifetime for creating such a beautiful patriotic movie that honors our service men and women, past and present, along with showing the reality of what it's like when they return home. This movie was very family friendly and enjoyable to watch - fun and inspirational for all ages! Jana Kramer and Brandon Quinn were absolutely adorable together! All around great, heartwarming military-themed movie!" ~ Net
🎄"A Welcome Home Christmas was great. The chemistry between the leads was a standout this years movies to me." ~ Misty
🎄"A Welcome Home Christmas. I quite enjoyed this one. It had a few Hallmark-silly moments but, overall, it was a sweet Christmas movie. And I always appreciate movies that honor those who serve in our military, along with their families. The lead actor and actress had good chemistry - I especially loved when they sang together. Not sure that this is a movie I would purchase(?), but I may keep it on my dvr, for now, and try to re-watch sometime in the future. Family friendly." ~~Jane
🎄"I liked A Welcome Home Christmas on Lifetime with Jana Kramer, Brandon Quinn & Charlene Tilton. Charlene Tilton was wonderful as the sometimes outrageous mother and pushy (in the best sense of the word) at the most awkward times." ~ Namegirl
A Very Charming Christmas Town - November 8, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄"A Very Charming Christmas Town – I immediately wanted to love this movie because I like the lead actress, Natalie Hall, but I just couldn’t get myself into this story. Natalie portrays lifestyle blogger, Aubrey Lang, who visits this “charming” little Christmas town of Solvang, with the intention of exposing why it’s not the merry little town they advertise, but actually, in her mind – it’s a tourist trap! The romance in the movie seemed a little too quick for me, and Aubrey’s disdain for this sweet Christmas town seems overly and passionately misguided. Of course, just as her Grinch-like feelings begin to dissolve (and her heart grows three sizes that day - just kidding), she makes a huge mistake that may cost her the friendships and potential relationship she thought she had built there. The movie is family friendly, but for me, it wasn’t as charming as I had hoped it would be." ~Net
🎄"A Very Charming Christmas Town. Meh. I think others will like this movie, it certainly had lots of Christmas-y stuff, but I suppose I just was not in the mood. I don't know if it was the acting or the writing, but I didn't buy into it; the whole thing was just overdone, unrealistic and too "precious" for me. I fast forwarded through the second half of it just so I could try and see if it was all family friendly (I think it was, but I'm not completely certain). This movie wasn't my cup of tea, but hopefully others will enjoy it. ~~Jane
🎄"A Very Charming Christmas Town has nothing noticeably objectionable to conservative viewers, it's just bland." ~ Ashley
🎄"I am one of those others who quite enjoyed this. It's possibly because I felt the lead actors had great chemistry between them and that's half the battle. So often I have problems with Lifetime's casting but they got this one right. Yes, it was unrealistic to some degree but then this is a Christmas movie and you expect a certain amount of this. I did buy into it and I would watch it again." ~ Anonymous
🎄"A Very Charming Christmas Town Family-friendly fun! I actually enjoyed this movie quite a bit. It is not one of my top picks (but it is definitely better than a LOT!). I liked the two leads (Natalie Hall and Jon Prescott) and the best friend couple was also adorable. I laughed at all the almost kiss scenes – poor kids just couldn’t catch a break. I loved the relationship between Aubrey (Natalie Hall) and Laurel (played by Kelley Jakle) – their friendship was sweet and they helped each other out. I also loved the relationship between Aubrey and her sister; when the sister receives radio silence for 3 days she flies out to see what is wrong (what a great sister!). Like Anonymous said, I may be the minority in my opinion of this movie but I too thought Lifetime did a good job pairing these two actors together. This year Lifetime seemed to hit the mark on their pairings (for the most part!). The secondary characters (besides those mentioned) weren’t stand-outs but they were minor parts that didn’t drag the story down. In short, I found this movie “charming” and fun." ~ Rissa
Christmas on the Vine - November 13, 2020*Family Friendly
🎄"Christmas on the Vine was another sort of "meh" movie for me. I guess it was visually pretty and cute and Christmas-y but it felt sort of fake or thin or unbelievable or missing something(?). It felt equivalent to reading a book that was missing a paragraph or sentence here and there... it just felt like it had holes in the plot or writing or acting. I'm sure others will like it, but it just isn't on my keeper or re-watch list. Basically, it was family friendly. I'm not completely averse to movies portraying some drinking of alcohol by adult characters, but the one thing I wasn't completely thrilled with in this movie was that they took the family chapel (on the grounds of the winery - built by an ancestor for his wedding) and they turned the chapel into a wine tasting bar; it was a lovely setting, and a building is just a building, but I would've preferred they did that to a barn or something other than a chapel. Just FYI, this is the second Lifetime movie that I've paid attention to some of the ads (usually I just fast forward through). For those interested in family-friendly viewing I would suggest you consider fast-forwarding through the commercials. In another movie (a rerun from last year) they had an ad specifically celebrating this year's Lifetime holiday movies and within that ad was a homosexual couple. In this particular movie there were a lot of alcohol commercials. A pharmaceutical ad for an HIV drug shows a gay couple kissing. And there was a divisive (in my opinion) ad that was basically a BLM ad masquerading as a Vaseline commercial." ~~Jane
Christmas on Wheels - November 14, 2020 *Family Friendly minus one exception - see in comments below!
🎄"Christmas on Wheels. This one was cute but not a "keeper", for me. I really liked the lead actor and actress and hope to see them in future movies. The whole premise for the story was nice, about a special car used to deliver gifts to those in need, but the plot delivery was just a bit thin and unbelievable for my logical brain (too many "eye-roll" moments for me). I did love one part in the movie where they played board games (fun!). The movie itself was family friendly EXCEPT they just couldn't help themselves and they had to make the Christmas tree farmer a gay man who says "My husband's up in the field right now". That's it, we don't ever see the husband or any intimacy, but these movie producers just can't help trying to numb us to values that go against traditional, Christian, family values. Also, NOT family friendly were some of the commercials. There were a couple of ads for movies on platforms like Showtime and these were movies I would not want young children to see the trailers for (including a very detailed kiss between a gay couple, violence and sexual situations -- basically previews of R rated movies -- NOT what I want to see during family Christmas movie night!!)." ~~Jane
The Christmas Edition - November 15, 2020*Family Friendly
🎄"The Christmas Edition. This one was kind of quirky & odd, and cute & sweet all rolled into one. Not a keeper for my dvr but not bad for a one-time viewing. I wish they would've had the lead actress sing more than one little snippet, she had a lovely voice. Family friendly (EXCEPT for ads). Once again, this one had non-family-friendly commercials. I suggest fast-forwarding through them. Ads for Showtime movies as well as an ad for a show called "Big Sky"(?) were NOT family friendly (creepy violence, sex scenes and gay couple kissing)." ~~Jane
A Taste of Christmas - November 20, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄"A Taste of Christmas. Very cute. Made me laugh. The lead actress is adorable and the lead actor is yummy; I live in a bubble so I've never heard of either one of them. The two teen actors were equally cute and realistic. This had some silly moments, like any other of these movies, but it was a cute, fluffy, warm, family-friendly Christmas movie. This one might be a keeper for my dvr, not sure if I'd buy the dvd. (Avoid the commercials, some are cute, some are not family friendly.)" ~~Jane
🎄"I thought A Taste of Christmas was very sweet. However, it's kinda awkward when two women (who are both heterosexual) are trying to do the French tradition of kissing on each cheek and they actually accidentally do a quick kiss. That was unexpected and both women are surprised. Otherwise, I recall it being very family friendly and lighthearted. I liked how she kept trying to figure out the Chef's secret ingredient." ~Net
🎄"It was past midnight on the 25th (of January) last night when I finished watching "A Taste of Christmas" from Lifetime, this past Christmas. I absolutely looooved this movie. Maybe it's because I am Italian but I laughed a lot. I laughed and I cried (although I usually shed a tear on most Christmas movies). Really enjoyed this movie." ~Jim
Feliz NaviDAD - November 21, 2020*Family Friendly
🎄"Feliz NaviDAD – It’s family friendly, but Mario Lopez’s
character seems rather stuck on himself – thinking every woman is essentially
checking him out. Mario plays David Morales- a High School Principal AND
Delivery Driver by day. This part of the story seems very unrealistic. In real
life both jobs would be very demanding, especially during the Christmas season.
I don’t think a school would want or allow their principal to have another
daytime job. Through his delivery work, David meets Sophie, who has returned
home to visit her father for Christmas and to help pack up and sell online some
of her mother’s things, which are some small vintage toys. (Yeah, I didn’t get
that either – apparently she had a large collection or something.) Anyway, David
and Sophie don’t hit it off, at first, but they both sign up separately on a
dating app, and surprise, they are matched up! The movie is fairly cheesy. Plus,
David goes on other dates with women, who, of course, are quite odd, including
a cameo by Melissa Joan Hart, whose character is into stones and New Age
things. Her role is portrayed as being a kooky character – so it’s not taken
seriously. The highlight of the movie is David’s daughter Noel, who is in a
bell choir. When they play the bells to a Christmas carol and the lights are
turned down and all you see is their white gloves – that is a beautiful moment.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t last long and they transition to an upbeat version
of Feliz NaviDAD. It’s fun, I suppose, but not traditional. This wasn’t a movie
I would re-watch, but it’s lighthearted and cheerful in the end." ~Net
🎄"Feliz NaviDAD. No, just no. This movie was the silliest, quirkiest, oddest mess I've seen yet. I tried to turn off my critical brain and just enjoy it as a crazy, out-there, over-the-top, but fun(??) kind of movie. But, nope, just couldn't do it. I had to quit at the two-thirds point (and I only made it that far because I was multi-tasking and didn't bother to turn it off earlier). I imagine there are people out there who will enjoy this movie (thankfully, God made us all different!), but I couldn't take any more of the silliness and bad acting. There were snippets of beautiful singing by the teenagers in this movie and I imagine the finale had a great musical concert, but I deleted the movie before thinking to fast forward to that part. What I did see was family friendly (avoid commercials, though)." ~~Jane
🎄"FELIZ NAVI-DAD is awful. Can’t imagine seeing anything worse than FRIENDSGIVING this season, but this one comes close. A Very Charming Christmas Town was awful too" ~ Anonymous
🎄"Feliz NaviDAD Without meaning to sound harsh this movie was a waste of time. Pretty mediocre acting with the leads going around with silly grins on their face the whole time. It was hard to keep invested in the story such as it was. And as for the ending, well we don't expect them to live in different cities and go to visit each other. If anyone hasn't seen this then my advice would be to avoid it." ~ Anonymous
Homemade Christmas - November 22, 2020*Family Friendly
🎄Homemade Christmas. Cute story idea, but I thought it was somewhat clumsily executed. I couldn't figure out if it was the acting or the writing that was kind of stilted or awkward ... maybe it was both? It was fun in places, okay for a one-time watch, but not a keeper for me. Family friendly (but skip the commercials). ~~Jane
Dear Christmas - November 27, 2020*Family Friendly
🎄"Adding one more from Lifetime--Dear Christmas. Loved it with Melissa Joan Hart and Jason Priestly." ~ Savvy Girl
🎄"Dear Christmas. Not a keeper for me, but not horrible either. I thought the acting in this was not so great. I watched the first half of the movie and then skimmed the remainder. Appeared to be family friendly." ~~Jane
Merry Liddle Christmas Wedding - November 28, 2020 🎄"Merry Liddle Christmas Wedding. It was okay, but I enjoyed last year's "Liddle" movie better. This one's not a keeper for me. Everyone in the cast was great. Family friendly (except maybe for more than usual alcohol drinking, as well as one impromptu dance number that the sisters did for their husbands/boyfriends -- it was a bit sexy?)." ~~Jane
People Presents: Once Upon a Main Street - November 29, 2020*Family Friendly
🎄"People Presents: Once Upon a Main Street. Cute and Christmas-y. Good for a one-time watch, but not a keeper for me. The lead actor is cute, but his acting is kinda stiff. Family friendly but skip the commercials (there are ads for The Christmas Setup which is definitely not family friendly)." ~~Jane
The Christmas Listing - November 30, 2020*Not completely Family Friendly - see reviews...
🎄"The Christmas Listing. Not a keeper for me, couldn't even make it all the way through (too many movies to watch and not enough time to spend on one I wasn't enjoying). The writing and the acting just weren't cutting it for me. Little things were unbelievable. But the thing that made me quit was a silly little thing, but it just got on my nerves.... they're decorating cookies around a big table in the cozy farmhouse kitchen and another character comes and joins the decorating fun and they make a big point of telling him to sanitize his hands with the huge jug of sanitizer sticking out like a sore thumb sitting on the green tablecloth in the middle of the Christmas cookie decorations. UGH!!! I'm so done with Hollywood-manipulated-Covid-fear!! I want a sweet, escapist, Christmas movie, NOT a health public service announcement. If they wanted to make a point, they would have been better served by just asking the character to wash up before joining the decorating fun (that would have been normal baking/cooking behavior). This was just a turn off for me, and my time is too valuable to waste on movies that aren't my cup of tea. Maybe (hopefully) other people won't be bothered by it and can just enjoy the movie. Family friendly for the first third of movie, not sure about the rest." ~~Jane
🎄"Christmas Listing was worth watching, but the dialogue was a little annoying for a family friendly movie. It was not necessary. Not to the degree of Forever Christmas, however." ~Ashley
Too Close for Christmas - December 4, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄 "I was a little disappointed with "Too Close for Christmas." I love both actors, but I thought the story was lacking." ~ Marlena
🎄 "I agree, Marlene. Huge CMM (Chad Michael Murray) fan ever since The Beach House, and although I did like him and Jessica together, you're right, very lacking storyline." ~ Savvy Girl
🎄 "I agree about Too Close for Ch. It was bad, but not so (bad) I would buy. What us funny is that the leads filmed another movie right after this one called The Tykoon's Kiss!" --- "Yikes! I will never post via phone again! LOL I meant that it was ok and not too bad. I wouldn't buy it and the stars are in another movie together called The Tykoon's Kiss." ~ Misty
🎄"jessica lowdes is hard to watch, they set the bar high with December bride, and Christmas at pemberly manor not so good. I did not feel the chemistry between the two, and I guess I expected another December bride story. Perhaps I need to watch pemberly manor again?" ~ Jason
🎄"Too Close for Christmas - this movie was honestly a little boring but average Christmas flick. Looked like CMM had let a kindergartener cut his hair but other that it was just fine for me Representation wise: this had so much potential. The white girl was adopted into a Black family. BUT YOU ONLY MEET HER SISTER! The cast is still 99% white also idk if I like the Sisters dating Brothers idea but the movie was cute! Sisters datiing Brothers meh if they’re part of family, What’s in the world are they thinking? “Too Close For Christmas” No montages pass It is pretty uneventful, if I am honest. Not good, not bad, just meeeh." ~ Anonymous
🎄"Too Close to Christmas Family friendly. I loved this movie! It was witty and fun and Chad Michael Murray and Jessica Lowndes had AMAZING chemistry! It is my third favorite movie so far (out of the 20 I’ve seen)! I laughed several times at the witty banter between the two characters. And it was a joy to watch their relationship develop from distain (at least on her part) to friendship to love. They “acclimated” and I loved it! I have loved Chad Michael Murray for years and he didn’t disappoint! Jesscia Lowdnes, I’ll be honest, I used to dislike (as an actress) but ever since Magical Christmas Ornaments and Christmas at Pemeberly Manor (both absolute favorites of mine!), she’s grown on me; so I was looking forward to seeing this movie and was not disappointed! Nothing felt forced between the characters and I could see genuine love and caring. I felt that the misunderstanding (that it seems every movie must have) was not blown completely out of proportion and was handled well. The chemistry between the leads was definitely there and I look forward to (hopefully) more movies with these two delightful actors! Overall, I loved this movie and would definitely buy it!" ~Rissa
🎄"Too Close for Christmas. Glad I finally watched this. Based on some of the initial reviews I deleted this movie; but then when Rissa left her review I decided I should watch it and make my own decision. I really liked it! Jessica Lowndes is beautiful and has a lovely singing voice (wish she would have had a singing part in this movie); I've never been a huge fan of her acting but I feel she's improving. There wasn't anything new or earth shattering about this movie, the plot and the secondary characters were nice but rather cookie-cutter. What I really enjoyed was the banter and the chemistry between Jessica and Chad, I felt they were, overall, a really good match. Family friendly." ~~Jane
🎄"I was surprised at the lukewarm reaction to Too Close For Christmas. I really liked it, thought it was one of the top 3 Lifetime Christmas movies and just missed my overall Top 10 Christmas 2020 list." ~Anonymous
Let’s Meet Again on Christmas Eve - December 5, 2020 *Family Friendly minus one exception - see in comments below!
🎄"Let's Meet Again on Christmas Eve. This one surprised me. I quite liked it. Maybe not a keeper(??), only because the dvr is getting full(!!), but I would watch it again next year. I was not a fan of the whole premise of "sort-of" breaking up for two years to find out if it's "true love", but somehow they made the movie work and win me over. The actors were all great and believable. The setting was nice. (There is an ornament that shows up at the end of the movie. Not gonna say what it is because that might be a spoiler - but I want one of those ornaments, I thought it was cute and I've never seen one before.) Basically family friendly, except... the lead actress works for a man and we get a vague hint early in the movie that he may be in a homosexual relationship. Later on, that is confirmed when it is mentioned that he is "happily married to his husband, David". That's it. We rarely see him and we never see David. But Hollywood just can't help themselves, I suppose they think if they sneak in just a hint of it this year and get us all used to it, than next year they can sneak in a little bit more, and so on and so on..." p.s. - So far, out of the Lifetime holiday movies, I think this movie and A Taste of Christmas have been my favorites. I wonder if that will hold up by the end of December?"
~~Jane
Christmas Ever After - December 6, 2020 *NOT Family Friendly - includes sub-plot storyline with same sex couple
🎄"Christmas Ever After. Um? Kind of cute. Kind of quirky/odd. Kind of fun. Kind of meh. The lead actress was cute and sometimes I liked her and thought she was refreshing and other times I thought she was just too quirky or over-acting; I've since found out she's a Broadway actress which explains some of the over-the-top line delivery (I think). The lead actor was cute and did a fairly nice job, as did the girl who played his daughter. This is another movie where they're pushing the envelope. I would say it's really not family friendly. In this movie there is a married lesbian couple with a child that are a somewhat integral part of the story (sister of the lead character). There's no physical intimacy shown, just blown kisses and "love you, babe" kind of stuff. Not a keeper for my dvr and not interested in watching next year. (p.s. -- I just read somewhere that they "kissed" through plexiglass for this movie because of covid fears. I imagine it is happening in other movies, as well. That explains some of the lackluster kissing scenes I've been seeing. Thinking back I can almost visualize the plexiglass in one of the movies I deleted.)" ~~Jane
The Santa Squad - December 7, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄"The Santa Squad – So much sweetness was packed into this movie, I think I smiled as I watched it – almost the whole time! Allie, a young unemployed woman, helps her friend out at the local senior center and discovers a job there through Santa Squad – and is hired to decorate the home of a rich widowed father and his two young daughters. The home and the family are in serious need of Christmas spirit and Allie brings just that with her special spark – by connecting first with the girls and potentially with the father, who already has a very uptight, snobby girlfriend. Along the way, Allie introduces the girls to her friends at the senior center and they all develop a special bond. Overall, this movie was lighthearted and delightful! Adding to the magic for our family was a beautiful snowfall out our window as we watched. The Santa Squad is an ideal, delightful Christmas movie for family viewing!" ~Net
🎄"The Santa Squad This was either a terrible remake of The Sound of Music, a terrible remake of The Parent Trap, or an incredible remake of The Nanny. It was cheesy, it felt as though it was trying to mix ideas from "The Nanny" and "The Parent Trap", and failed. However, it's cheesiness was also its saving grace, because the stereotypes were played on so well. So in the end, it was "so bad, it's good" I was admiring the giant white Christmas tree in this movie but then of course it's an example of the family's coldness and lack of Christmas spirit." ~ Anonymous
🎄"I liked the Santa Squad a lot, right up until the terribly contrived "drama" that has to happen in every movie. I thought it was the most ridiculous plot to give the leads a problem to overcome in any movie. It was such a stupid problem and a way over the top reaction from the male character. I did enjoy the movie outside of that, I rather enjoyed it a lot. I had very happy feels, loved the cast, the kids." ~Sabrina
🎄"I forgot to post any notes, but I also liked the Santa Squad. I was expecting a dud of a movie based on some other things I had read, but it turned out to be quite a cute movie. Two things I didn't like were the contrived big-conflict drama that Sabrina mentioned and I also was not impressed by the lead actor and thought he didn't fit the part very well (I didn't think he was a bad actor, I just didn't buy into him for this particular role). I thought all the other actors and actresses were great (loved the senior citizens and the little girls!). Just a fun, light, family-friendly movie. I had deleted Beaus of Holly off the dvr to make room for other things. I was a little hesitant when I did that since I like to try and watch everything, but, now, reading Net's review, I'm not sorry I deleted it. It's so helpful to have this blog!" ~~Jane
Inn Love by Christmas - December 11, 2020 *Family Friendly minus one exception - see in comments below!
🎄"The LIFETIME movie Inn Love for Christmas, was one of the better movies I have seen all year (I feel the best was Welcome Home Christmas, loved Jana Kramer and that movie was very well done). Inn Love stars Jessie Hutch and Jonna Walsh, both of who I love and LOVE together. Now I will say I was watching this and doing laundry but I didn't really see any inappropriate scenes. I guess the one thing was the Gram's "Boyfriend" was moving in with her, they weren't married. or getting married. The banter back and forth with Luke and Mands (love the nickname she had) was so fun and witty. We even got Jessie Hutch playing guitar and singing. This movie flowed very nicely and is my 2nd favorite movie of the season, #1 being a Welcome Home Christmas, both Lifetime movies." ~Sabrina
🎄"Inn Love by Christmas. Good movie. Good cast. One of the better Lifetime movies (probably still not as good as Hallmark M&M). Family friendly (except maybe the fact that two senior citizen lovebirds decide to "shack up")." ~~Jane
NOT FAMILY FRIENDLY
- main story includes same sex couple
A Sugar & Spice Holiday - December 13, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄"A Sugar & Spice Holiday. Really cute, sweet, funny in places. The main cast was great. I don't think it's going to be a keeper for me (the dvr is getting too full), but definitely worth a watch. Family friendly." ~~Jane
Lonestar Christmas - December 14, 2020 *Family Friendly - based on reviews
🎄"Lonestar Christmas. Mixed feelings on this one. On the plus side, there was actually a focus on the Real meaning of Christmas. They talked about the baby Jesus and we got a church service and prayer that wasn't complete Hollywood "spiritual" drivel. On the minus side, the writing (and sometimes the acting) was a bit lacklustre; and I, also, did not like the instalove and all the fakey lingering gazes. I almost quit watching but instead skimmed to the end while multitasking. Family friendly. Not a keeper for my dvr, but I think other people will like it better than I did." ~~Jane
🎄"I watched Lonestar Christmas and it was AWESOME. I appreciated that there was no snow, I live in Florida and we don't have snow so I enjoyed a movie not covered in fake snow. I loved Stephanie Bennett in a lead role, it was very family friendly, loved the kids. a very good movie. almost all of my favorite movies this year were on Lifetime." ~Sabrina
Christmas on the Menu - December 18, 2020
🎄"I really enjoyed Christmas on the Menu. It’s one of my favorites from this year." ~Anonymous
🎄"I watched Christmas on the Menu and it was......FANTASTIC!!!! I loved it so much. It was very family friendly. Kim Shaw is so wonderful, I mean I adore her after this movie. And I was so happy to get Cynthia Gibb as her mother, she is a fantastic actress and I wish Hallmark got her more. Maybe that would help their movies be better but I doubt it. It was just such a great movie, such sweet moments between mother and daughter, and daughter and her food critic. I mean this was the most natural chemistry I have seen in a long time. Katrina Norman plays Pepper, I think she is the editor of Tanner's critiques and who is Josie love interest, and she is a wonderful actress, she was on the movie Home By spring, I loved her then. This movie had so much I love in a movie, the 2 leads who have great chemistry and are not thrown together in a stupid way, wonderful family dynamic, and a woman who ends up being the odd woman out, and is a little mischievous, but not terrible. I really haven't loved a Lifetime movie like this, a premiere Lifetime movie since Snowed Inn, I think Christmas on the Menu will be my movie this year, the best I have watched, and a movie I want to watch over and over." ~Sabrina
🎄"I think I made a typo on my review of Christmas on the menu, when I was talking about the character Pepper, she is Tanner (Josie's love interest) editor. I think I put and she is Josie's love interest but she is NOT!!!! I was meaning she was Tanner's editor who is Josie love interest. No Same Sex stories in this movie." ~Sabrina
🎄"I agree with you, Sabrina. I was so happy to see Clayton James as a male lead. I DVRd it because I like him and Kim Shaw. I've only ever seen him act in WCTH as Kevin Townsend and this movie." ~Namegirl
🎄"Christmas on the Menu (Lifetime) This was sooo cute. I love the writing so much. I really enjoy Josie and Tanner’s conversation. It left me with a feeling of wanting “more” romance-wise in the end, but I still think it was wonderful. It was unexpected coming from Lifetime." ~CH Mom
🎄"Christmas on the Menu. To me, this one was just so-so. It was okay for a one time viewing, but there were things that just didn't quite fit. I like Kim Shaw and I'm hoping to see her more in future Christmas movies, but this one is just not a keeper for me. Family friendly." ~~Jane
A Christmas Exchange - December 19, 2020 NOT FAMILY FRIENDLY
🎄"A Christmas Exchange. Not a keeper. Cute idea but it's been done before and much better. I thought the lead actress was cute, but rest of cast was just so-so. The fake British accents were grating. And this is another movie where Hollywood was trying so hard to normalize homosexual relationships. A very integral part, throughout the entire movie, is a gay married couple who are adopting a baby. Definitely not family friendly." ~~Jane
🎄"Heads up: The Christmas Exchange has a LGBT couple as the best friends of the main characters. I know it's important to you not to promote this type of relationship/movies so I thought you would want to add it to the description. Blessings." ~ there is something heavenly
A Christmas Break - December 20, 2020 *Family Friendly - based on reviews
🎄"A Christmas Break. This one had a typical Christmas-movie plot, but I quite like it as a whole. The four or five main adult actors in this one were equally good. In some ways the lead actor and actress didn't seem to fit, but in other ways they were a refreshing change of pace as a couple. If I had more room on my dvr, this one might be a keeper, but it's definitely worth a re-watch next year. Family friendly." ~~Jane
Spotlight on Christmas - December 21, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄"Spotlight on Christmas. It was okay. I liked the lead actor and actress but there were too many parts of the movie that fell flat (and just felt kind "off") for me. It's not bad for a one time viewing, if you've run out of other Christmas movies to watch. Family friendly." ~~Jane
The Christmas High Note - December 22, 2020 🎄"The Christmas High Note. I have no idea how to review or rate this movie. Parts of the story and dialogue were very natural and authentic (refreshingly different from the typical Hallmark/Lifetime movie); and, yet, other parts made no sense. Parts were quirky in a crazy, delightfully-fun way (almost like a parody of Christmas movies); and, yet, other parts were so bizarrely odd that all I could do was shake my head. Some of the acting was really great; but at first I thought some of the acting was really bad until I realized it probably takes a good actor/actress to pull off some of the quirkiness of the characters and their scenes. There were times I wanted to hit the delete button on this movie and yet... I kept watching to the end. This is not a keeper movie for me, but I don't really regret watching it, it was a fun, sweet movie. I would recommend this movie only if you adjust your preconceived notions of what Christmas movies should be and go into it expecting a quirky parody. Family friendly." ~~Jane
Christmas at the Castle - December 23, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄"Christmas at the Castle. I love EVERYTHING Scottish....except for this movie. The lead actress is horrible, the accents are laughable, the writing is abysmal and makes no sense. I think this one might tie for worst movie with FelizNaviDAD. I can't say if it's family friendly because I couldn't make it all the way through the movie." ~~Jane
🎄"My recent watch of the new
movies was "Christmas at the Castle." Somehow I made it through to
the end. I was determined to see if it was family friendly or not. It was
wholesome (minus two uses of Oh My G--), but even being G rated didn't help. I
agree with your review, Jane, much of the movie didn't make sense. I thought the storyline seemed quite unbelievable and silly. No Royal family would allow a complete stranger to stay at their castle. The only
good things about the movie were the almost Cinderella looking ball gown the female
lead wore to the Christmas ball and the one maid was rather funny with her scheming ways. Other than
that, it was definitely not a keeper for me, either." ~Net
My Sweet Holiday - December 25, 2020 *Family Friendly
🎄"My Sweet Holiday is very Family Friendly. The movie follows
a familiar rom-com formula throughout it’s storyline… the lead girl,
Sadie, is dating Mr. ALL Wrong and decides to go home to her family for
Christmas. There, she is immediately welcomed and loved by her parents, and
then she learns they have sold the family business, a chocolate store, which
nearly breaks Sadie's heart. Previously, she had no intention of moving home, but
now that the business has sold, Sadie desires to have it back more and more. In
the meantime, her parents have given her the task of teaching the new owner, Alex, who just happens to be a single father, how to make the families secret chocolate
specialties which go back several generations. The story may be predictable,
but it is still very sweet. It also includes a nativity pageant with young children which is adorable. My Sweet Holiday is a simple, lighthearted Christmas movie for all ages." ~Net
ION
A Royal Christmas Engagement *Family Friendly
🎄"A Royal Christmas Engagement. Not a keeper. I couldn't even make it halfway through. That's partly just my personal taste because I don't think there are many movies that can pull off the royal-prince-goes-undercover thing. However, I absolutely loved Hallmark's version of a "royal" movie, One Royal Holiday, and will buy the dvd when it becomes available. But this particular ION movie was just not my cup of tea, I felt it was just lacking in several areas. For "royal" movie fans, it might be worth a watch(??), but not for me. The little bit I saw was family friendly." ~~Jane
Christmas Together *Family Friendly - with some Caution. See review below...
🎄"Christmas Together. This had potential with a cute story idea, but not a keeper for me. The lead actor was completely unbelievable as the father of an eleven-year-old daughter (he looked and acted way too young and too stiff and showed no fatherly affection). The lead actress was adorable and believable in her role, likewise with Vivica Fox and the young actress that played the daughter. Other actors were just so-so. The movie was cute in a lot of ways but there was a lack of attention to detail with some of the writing/directing/producing. Lots of potential for a cute movie but, overall, it didn't work for me. I suppose it was okay for a one-time viewing if there's nothing better to watch (and it was definitely better than the other ION Christmas movie so far this season). Sort of family friendly except... it's vaguely implied that lead actress was shacking-up with her former boyfriend (whom she breaks up with in this movie). And then, after just two weeks of knowing the lead actor and his daughter, the final scene implies that she's going to move out of his guest house and stay with him (wink wink) so that his parents can stay in the guest house for Christmas. Those implications taint the story, and they could have so easily been left out of the script." ~~Jane
*Family Friendly - with Caution on some dialogue. See review below...
🎄"Beaus of Holly - The movie starts out by introducing us to Holly, a greeting card writer who owns a small store and appears to be very intuitive when it comes to reading her customers’ emotions by helping them choose just the right card for every occasion. Holly, however, seems quite clueless when it comes to love. When she proposes marriage to her boyfriend, Phil, in a unique Christmas town, his response to take a little break from their relationship– takes Holly, who always likes to be in control, by complete surprise. There is a little dialogue here that is not family friendly – when Phil mentions he has not “hooked up“ with his ex-girlfriend. After Phil leaves, Holly is stuck in this beautiful Christmas town until the train returns. She offers her carriage ride tickets to the driver, Jake, by saying he could take his girlfriend, or his boyfriend, (you know they have to add that in, too, of course) but Jake convinces Holly to take the ride by herself and they spend the day together doing various activities she had planned to do with Phil. This movie was very slow and in my opinion, there was no chemistry between Holly or either guy. The girl who played Holly appears to be very sweet, but this movie just fell flat to me." ~Net
*Family Friendly - based on reviews
🎄"The Christmas Sitters on ION was cute and very family friendly!" ~Grace
🎄"The Christmas Sitters. Maybe a cute movie, maybe meh??? I couldn't make it all the way through this one but I think, perhaps, it was more a reflection of my mood than the movie. I watched about one third of the movie. Parts were kind of cute and parts were silly. I'm guessing, had I kept going I would have, overall, liked it as just a light and fluffy Christmas movie worth a one-time watch? Basically it was family friendly up to the point I stopped watching. They did make a point of focusing the camera for a very long time on the lead actor's buff, half-naked body when he gets up in the morning and walks around with nothing but pajama pants on; surprisingly (thankfully) the lead actress didn't bat an eyelash and totally ignored his ripped abs and muscles, there were no lingering, drooling, longing looks from her and I have to applaud the directors for getting this scene at least half right." ~~Jane
🎄"The Christmas Sitters The least said about this the better - a really terrible movie. Probably meant to be humourous but a grown man acting like a teenage kid was not in the least amusing, the actual children were unlikeable (the ten year old girl must have been at least 14), the characters suddenly went through a 180 degree turn in character halfway through and the ending was contrived. Oh dear!" ~Anonymous
Stay tuned...
I will be updating this post above, from time to time, as reviews from our wonderful *It's a Wonderful Movie" family & friends come in!
Thank you once again to EVERYONE above who has contributed, so far, into making this movie review post a success. If YOU want to share an opinion/review on any movie premiering this year, simply leave a response in comments anywhere on this site. Please don't include spoilers, if possible. Again, THANK YOU ALL! I truly look forward to hearing your take on the upcoming Christmas movies!
God Bless Us, Everyone! Net
