🎄The latest Christmas Movie Reviews 2022... SEE HERE:

Thank you to everyone who recently sent in reviews for the latest NEW Christmas movie premieres!

By the way, please know your review can be of any new movie this year. I realize we can’t see all of the movies in one weekend, so if you have some thoughts on one of the new movies from a previous weekend (or longer), please feel free to share that, as well.

I have two requests…

1.) When you write your review, please share the movie title at the beginning of your comment. It makes it so much easier than trying to figure out which movie you are referring to.

2.) If you want credit for your review, please leave your name/nickname/initials, etc. If you don’t leave any sort of name, I will simply use Anonymous.

Most of you already do both of these things, and I truly appreciate you doing so.


Enjoy the latest Movie Reviews here:
 

🎄 Review: A Royal Christmas on Ice - Family-friendly? Yes - Keeper? No - I think after having so many "royal" Christmas movies lately, it is going to take a really special one for me to recommend it. And this isn't it. The main problem I had is the lead actress - maybe the script called for it, but she seemed so gloomy throughout the movie, especially at the beginning. Whenever she smiled - which was rarely - it seemed forced. (She's not even smiling in the poster.) And maybe that's why there didn't seem to be any chemistry between the leads. For me, not a fun movie at all! ~Mark 25


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🎄 Loved A Merry Christmas Wish! Loved Jill Wagner and Cameron Mathison together! Another movie with a fantastic message and so many Christmas carols as background music. I also loved the actress who played the sister. She added a nice element to the story. - Jennifer R

🎄 Watched A Merry Christmas Wish last night and was not disappointed. Loved the music for starters and acting was up to par as usual. Scenery was so much better than other movies so far. Only complaint was that it was very predictable. Storyline follows many that I have seen before. Would definitely be a keeper. ~JoCo

🎄 A Merry Christmas Wish – I enjoyed this movie so much I didn’t want it to end. Jill Wagner and Cameron Mathison are absolutely fantastic together. I only wish we could’ve seen more fun moments of Janie (Jill Wagner) and Dylan (Cameron Mathison) on the farm together. It was obvious that Jill and her character, Janie, were at home there. This movie is completely family-friendly and ideal for all ages. I also loved seeing the little girl, who was adorable, by the way, from When Hope Calls. This is one of those sweet, lighthearted movies I already know I’m going to enjoy watching over and over again! ~Net

🎄 A Merry Christmas Wish is family friendly about an NYC Advertising Executive returns to her hometown to her family farm but instead reconnects her childhood friend named Dylan & gets involved with organizing the yearly Woodland Falls Winter Wonderland, which takes place on the property. Dylan is staying at guest house next to Randall’s farmhouse. They manage to save farmhouse whose runs by Dylan. Dylan has a Sister named Nicole, their Mom named Esther, & Niece named Gracie. It tells the story of Janie. She returns to her hometown of Woodland Falls when her great-uncle passes away. He surprises Janie with a special gift: the family homestead, her childhood home. ~Anonymous


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🎄 Love at the Christmas Contest – This family-friendly movie was sweet and simple, fairly straight-forward. It was fun to see the different styles of Christmas trees designed for the contest, but none of them were truly spectacular, in my opinion. I didn’t feel a spark between the leads, so this movie was not a keeper for me, but it’s still a pleasant end-of-the-day watch. Children may even like it, too, since there is a young girl included throughout the story. ~Net


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🎄 Christmas Sweethearts is family friendly about when a woman named Ashley returns home to find her ex boyfriend named Grant is in relationship with Bella, she enlists her best friend named Liam to act as her fake boyfriend. Grant & Bella and Ashley & Liam get along at the lodge ~Anonymous


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🎄 Noel Next Door Firstly, I'm not sure I have a problem with a few of the issues other commenters have mentioned. The drug store meetcute with Noel holding a Tampon box was a bit too cringey, but that was it. It is family friendly, in my opinion. Other than that, I think that the chemistry is spot on. Noel's character might be a bit too flirty for my taste, but she is alright I guess. Couple things I'm not a fan of: - I'm not sure I liked it that Henry lied, but I guess that's very normal for kids his age. - Jeremy quickly opened a bottle of alcohol after the date was canceled But I do love these couple of things: - Henry apologizing to Jeremy and their whole conversation at his door - I adore all the classical music - Love that the main characters are not perfect. ~CH Mom


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🎄 "In Merry Measure" was such a good and heartwarming movie. I liked the idea of high school choir and all the preparations for the competition. Music was just great in this movie, all these Christmas songs. All the cast was so good. I liked the leading actors Brendan Penny and Patti Murin. By the way I didn't watch any movies with Patti Murin and was very impressed by her acting. She is so bright. All in all it was a really good movie and most importantly it was family-friendly. ~Oksanka



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🎄 The Royal Nanny is very interesting, and best of all, clean! Pretty good considering this is the 1st new Countdown to Christmas movie I've actually seen this year. -Maria

🎄 The Royal Nanny was family friendly, very cute, and a fun change from the usual Hallmark Christmas movie. I'm surprised it wasn't on Movies & Mysteries because it had a fun Aurora Teagarden vibe to it with the mystery of who was targeting the royal family. ~melnewlife

🎄 Review: The Royal Nanny - Family-friendly? Yes - Keeper - Undecided - Well, I give Hallmark points for originality on this one - a combination of a Christmas movie, a spy thriller, and a mystery! It made for a interesting storyline, and I admit I didn't know how this one was going to end. I thought the lead actress did a wonderful job in her role, and the supporting cast was enjoyable as well. Good for a one-time view, although I'm not sure it's a keeper for me - the romance is almost secondary to the spy plot, and that's not exactly what I'm looking for in a Hallmark Christmas movie! ~Mark 25

🎄 The Royal Nanny is family friendly about MI5 agent Claire Champion is working undercover nanny & she must resist the charms of Prince Collin while keeping the royal family: Princess Rose & Elle, and Prince Robert safe during Christmastime. Princess Rose’s Husband is a King. Prince Colin is a Prince of Pranks. Claire is trading with a guy & including Ms. Lansbury with an umbrella 🌂. ~Anonymous

🎄 A Royal Nanny is family friendly about Once Claire gets her unusual assignment in The Royal Nanny, she goes to work inside Kensington Palace. She gets a crash course in nannying from Ms. Lansbury who has spent the past three decades training the caretakers for the royal family. (REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS) Unfortunately, Clarie’s royal charges prove to be quite a handful. Both Princess Elle & Prince Robert are eager to send the new nanny packing. Claire relies on a combination of her spy skills and nanny training to get the kids in line and make the lives of everyone in the royal household better. At the same time, a spark grows between Claire & Prince Colin is the younger Brother of Princess Rose is the Mother of Claire’s charges & the heir to the throne. However, things get complicated when MI5 wrongly suspects a member of the royal family of plotting against the throne? Claire puts her career, as well as her life, on the line to protect both the royal family and the man she is falling in love with. ~Anonymous


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🎄 Love, Lights, Christmas - I went into this movie with some trepidation, but it turns out I really enjoyed it. It reminded me a little bit of A Christmas Movie Christmas, which also had a character playing a stuck-up actor. (In fact, I found it amusing that in both movies the stuck-up actor talks to a character named "Evie"!) I thought the chemistry here was right on, and the two leads looked like they were having a lot of fun. It had some humorous moments, which is always a plus for me. And what do you make of Kimberly's wink to the audience at the end of the movie? For me, I think she was just saying, "Well, what did you expect for an ending?" (Like I said, humorous.) This one's a keeper for me! ~Mark 25


🎄 LIGHT, CAMERA, CHRISTMAS Family friendly as far as i know. This movie was quite hilarious. I love Kimberly Sustad and how she is always so good in making her character appear so relatable. Brad Baxter's character was pretty hard to like in the beginning and I couldn't really picture them as a couple when he was being such a goofball. He did get a bit more vulnerable towards the middle of the movie although I'm still unsure I like how John Brotherton portrayed this character. The chemistry was alright, I personally felt more of a friend vibe. ~CH Mom


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🎄 Christmas at Golden Dragon is family friendly about Growing up, Romy & Rick spent the holidays working at their parents’ popular Chinese restaurant, the Golden Dragon. When Romy’s boyfriend named Blake invites her to spend the holidays with his family in Vermont, she is thrilled that her parents let her off the hook, so she can finally experience a “real Christmas.” Her Brother named Rick currently works for the restaurant fulltime while he figures out his future, but secretly harbors a passion for cooking. When Rick & Romy’s parents named Jim & Sue Chen & Vincent Cheng announce they will be closing the Golden Dragon for good just before the holidays, the siblings must each figure out what that means for their futures. Also impacted by the news are the landmark restaurant’s loyal patrons and staff: workaholic executive Veronica who longs to be a Mother; recent widow Jane who is planning her first Christmas without her husband; Nate is a single father trying to do the best by his Daughters named Jesse & Vivi during the holidays; and helpful delivery driver named Miguel who is hoping to secure a college scholarship. As each of them face the closure of the Golden Dragon, they discover what Christmas & family truly means to each of them. Romy & her Brother Rick gather some family friends to cook at Restaurant for Christmas & how they manage to pull it out for their parents to save Chinese restaurant. Rick asks Sadie to go prom with him at Golden Dragon Restaurant. Nate & Veronica’s Daughters named Jessa & Vivi make Christmas Muddy Buddies in the kitchen with their Dad named Nate. When Romy & Rick’s parents surprise them with news that they’ll be closing their decades-old Chinese Restaurant, the siblings soon find themselves reevaluating their futures? ~Anonymous


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🎄 "Our Italian Christmas Memories" -- One of Beau Bridges granddaughters is in a lesbian relationship with a baby on the way. ~Alicia


🎄 I was very disappointed that Our Italian Christmas Memories was not family friendly. The sister has a wife. 😔 ~Anonymous


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🎄 A Maple Valley Christmas is mostly family friendly ie there are no same sex relationships or people living together outside of marriage. However, I thought that divorce was treated a little too lightly. Erica said she didn't blame her dad for leaving because farm life isn't for everyone. As if a father leaving doesn't have a massive effect on children! Her own divorce was mentioned casually too. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like Hallmark has tried to portray divorce too flippantly lately while they used to at least show it as a devastating, painful tragedy. ~melnewlife


🎄 MAPLE VALLEY CHRISTMAS Family friendly, with the exception of how the divorce topic was handled, probably part of Hallmark's agenda of normalizing those. The plot is just completely overdone, but I think it is still worth watching with all the family conflicts. Andrew Walker is charming as always. Didn't have a good first impression with Erica's character, but she kinda grew on me as the movie progressed. I can totally relate to her type A personality. Aaron's relationship with his Dad was just heartbreaking and painful to watch. The odd prayer/saying grace in the end. Really, Hallmark? You can't even call it "saying grace", or let them say "Amen". Overall, I enjoyed it, but it wasn't a keeper for me. ~CH Mom


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🎄 The Christmas Retreat is family friendly about Workaholic Kim finally reaches her breaking point when her boyfriend named Stephen turns around & breaks up with her instead of proposing, so Kim’s Mom named Mary takes her away to a Christmas Retreat to reconnect with the spirit of the holiday. Little do they know – the owner named Rae Reynolds of the retreat has enlisted the help of her newly unemployed Brother named Mark, who seems to share a lot of Kim’s tendencies. But will they be able to see past the similarities neither one wants to admit to, and let the magic of the season connect them with something they couldn’t have planned for? ~Anonymous


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🎄 A Tiny Home Christmas is quite charming. -Maria


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🎄 "Reindeer Games Homecoming" -- not family-friendly. Within 10 minutes, there's a stereotypically gay coworker talking about his "husband." ~Alicia

🎄 Reindeer Games Homecoming is really funny, heartwarming, and is a good one to watch if you're looking for something to laugh at! Plus, there was a small scene from 'Twinkle all the Way' included at one point on a TV. There is of course 1 big downside (that I kind of suspected from seeing 1 of the trailers): Gay best friend who is also very dramatic. I still enjoyed this one neverthless, and I got through it all instead of turning it off early on because this looked so good from the trailers. -Maria


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Want more Christmas movie reviews?

You’ll find these movie reviews and more in the 2022 Christmas Movie Review Page – *HERE*!

On a personal note… we received snow on Saturday! It was sooo beautiful coming down; it really put me in the Christmas spirit. It melted on Sunday, but we are receiving more accumulation this week. By the way, Abigail recently commented that she received snow at her home, as well! Did any of you see, or are you expecting a snowfall, too? Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

I’m so thankful you stopped by *It's a Wonderful Movie* today!

Have a Joyous Day! Net