The Christmas Quest | 2024 Christmas Movies

The Christmas Questsounds like a movie that belongs on Hallmark Mystery. But since it stars Hallmark’s main leading lady, Lacey Chabert, it is on the main Hallmark channel. I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing.

Stefanie Baxter (Chabert) is an archeologist whose mother (Erin Cahill) spent most of Stefanie’s childhood searching for an Icelandic treasure. When Stefanie is approached by Victor (Derek Riddell) to help search for the treasure, she jumps on board. Unfortunately, she needs help from her ex-husband, Chase (Kristoffer Polaha), an expert in ancient Norse languages. Can they find the treasure before it ends up in the wrong hands?

I admit that I am a fan of the National Treasure-type movies. Give me some good puzzles (that I don’t have to solve myself) and a good adventure and I am happy. The Christmas Quest does bring in some Icelandic folklore, which was really cool to see. Unfortunately, that is the coolest thing in the movie. The puzzles didn’t seem particularly difficult if you know the folklore they are referencing (which most of the people in the movie seemed to know), the “bad guys” didn’t seem all that dangerous, and the end was a cop-out. This is, yet again, another movie that isn’t absolutely terrible but it isn’t particularly worth watching either. Maybe if you are a big fan of Lacey Chabert you’ll like it?

Rating: More Yule Lads, less of everything else

Christmas On Cherry Lane | 2023 Christmas Movies

I think that Hallmark Channel has a couple of movies featuring LGTBQ+ couples in lead roles. And I believe Christmas On Cherry Lane is the first of the season.

In 1973, 1999, and 2023, three very different couples are getting ready to celebrate Christmas in the same house on Cherry Lane.

I didn’t really want to give away the fact that they are all in the same house but the movie does tell you that pretty quickly. Not immediately but within the first 15 minutes or so.

Anyway, I really loved this movie a lot. Every little twist and turn had me smiling. This may actually be the first Hallmark Christmas movie that brought tears to my eyes. Christmas On Cherry Lane isn’t about finding love or wooing the girl. It’s about family and connections. How things that happen to us in our life can affect other people’s lives in the future that we may never even think about. Cherry Lane really is the sweetest Christmas movie I have ever seen. A must watch, especially if you can watch it with family.

Rating: Can I buy the house on Cherry Lane?

Christmas Bedtime Stories | 2022 Christmas Movies

I keep forgetting that Hallmark throws all of their military-themed Christmas movies on their Movies & Mysteries channel. While I don’t have a problem with characters being in the military or characters having family members in the military, these movies feel like they are fetishizing the military. It kinda makes my skin crawl. And, yes, that includes Christmas Bedtime Stories.

Danielle’s (Erin Cahill) Marine husband goes missing during a mission gone bad. His is the only body they did not find in the wreckage. Three years later, Danielle’s daughter, Audry (Alice Comer), starts asking about her father. As Danielle tells her bedtime stories about Colby (Charlie Weber), Danielle mysterious things occur that happen to be related to each story. Despite trying to move on with her new fiancé, Pierce (Steve Lund), Danielle can’t shake the feeling that Colby may not actually be dead.

Uggghhh. There are so many things I hate about this movie. Why did Audry not only wait three years to ask about her father but also wait until the literal day her mother gets engaged to another man? A man that both of them supposedly like a lot. Why does Danielle agree to marry Pierce anyway? She never seems to enjoy his company, much less love him. Why do all of the mysterious things keep happening? If this isn’t Colby’s ghost giving some sort of “remember me!” events, why would the universe be like “Yep, Colby’s alive. That is why this Christmas tree salesguy called his trees the same exact phrase Colby did! And yep, all bells everywhere now have red ribbons because Colby gave you one of those. Oh, and here’s a freak snowstorm because there was a snowstorm when you gave birth to your kid.” It’s all just so dumb.

I always feel bad giving negative reviews to movies that feature military members. It makes me sound like I hate the military and I don’t. What I hate are movies that go out of the way to make the military look like some angelic force that can do no wrong. If you don’t think that is what is happening here, wait until the end of the movie and tell me that final scene doesn’t look like some sort of holy ghost. The whole scene even has that hazy dreamlike filter on it. It drives me crazy. Sure, we can have Colby miraculously be the only survivor of a devastating disaster and show back up three years later. But don’t make it look like he’s been living it up at a tropical resort drinking margaritas the whole time. That’s messed up.

In my opinion, I don’t think you should watch Christmas Bedtime Stories. There isn’t anything good here. The acting is terrible, poor Pierce who does nothing wrong gets screwed over in every single scene, and the ending is simply unbelievable. I can suspend disbelief for most things. Not for that. I really hope that a better military-themed Christmas movie comes out later this year. I don’t think we’ve had a semi-decent one since 2020.

Every Time A Bell Rings | 2021 Christmas Movies

Every Time A Bell Rings was actually released back in November on Hallmark’s streaming service, Hallmark Now. I thought I was going to miss it since I’m not subscribed to the service but they decided to release it on their Movies & Mysteries channel too. I’m glad they did.

Three adopted sisters - Charlotte (Erin Cahill), Emily (Brittany Ishibashi) and Nora (Ali Liebert) - return home for Christmas after being separated for years. When they arrive, they find their late father has arranged one last Christmas scavenger hunt for them to complete. Will the search for the Christmas Bell reignite the strong bond between sisters?

I absolutely loved this movie. Granted, there were a few blemishes but nothing that took away from the loveliness of the plot. Watching the three sisters not only rekindle their bond but also figure out how they want to live was nice. Sure, the writers had to put in some sort of obstacle for each sister but none of them are terribly important to the core of the story. They could have easily left out each of the conflicts to focus solely on the scavenger hunt and it still would have been a good movie.

It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to actually recommend watching a movie. But this one should be on your list to watch. Especially if you have sisters.

A Timeless Christmas | 2020 Christmas Movies

Sometimes you fall in love with the boy next door. Sometimes you fall in love with a man 117 years older than you that happens to be your professional obsession. No biggie, right?

Ryan Paevey plays Charles Whitley, a 1903 businessman/inventor. As he tries to fix a clock he purchased for his fiancée, he accidentally time travels to 2020. Megan Turner (Erin Cahill) is a historian who is giving Christmas tours at the Whitley mansion when Charles arrives. It is up to Megan to teach him about the 21st century and try to get him back to his proper time.

This isn’t a new plot device. It is still a little weird. Charles isn’t a very nice man. While he is polite, he frequently talks down to people he thinks are lesser. He gets over that….eventually. It seems that the only reason people like him is because he is rich and somewhat famous. That is a terrible reason to like anyone.

I can see why people would like movies like this. The female lead gets to take care of the hapless male and teach him about the ways of their world. I find it creepy. Can you imagine having to explain almost everything to your significant other? He might be familiar with the concept of a car but definitely not a 2020 version. Television, cell phones, computers, the internet….air conditioners, refrigerators, radio (these things may have been invented in the late 1890s but they probably weren’t in most households in 1903)…even the food we eat is different. It would almost be like dating a child. Gross.

With that said, if you look beyond the ickyness of dating someone from another time period, A Timeless Christmas is kinda cute. I don’t know that I could recommend watching it. But you aren’t going to want to gouge your eyes out or anything. There are probably better time travel romance movies out there. They just aren’t Christmas themed.