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?

Mystery on Mistletoe Lane | 2023 Christmas Movies

Ooh. Mystery on Mistletoe Lane has mystery in the title. That means there has to be at least one mystery, right? Don’t let me down!

Heidi (Erica Cerra) and her children have moved to New Hollow for her new job as the director of the historical society. As they move into their new home, the children begin to find clues to a bigger mystery. What lies at the end of the little wooden reindeer?

This is another one of those love-hate movies. I really did enjoy the children’s plotline with the riddles and reindeer. However, Heidi’s plotline of trying to make the community be interested in the historical society? Big yawn. There really wasn’t anything interesting in it. I would have loved it if the movie revolved around the mystery, whether the children involved the adults or not. Or maybe they could have made Heidi’s job more important in the mystery. She was researching more about the house but it didn’t really mean much in the end. More mystery, less boring stuff.

Rating: If only there were more than eight reindeer….

Five More Minutes: Moments Like These | 2022 Christmas Movies

Last year, I reviewed Five More Minutes, a movie based on a song. This year, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries gave us Five More Minutes: Moments Like These. I think this might be a new series blossoming.

Kaitlyn (Ashley Williams) lost her husband four years ago. Now she is raising their son, Adam (Brady Droulis), by herself. She couldn’t bear to stay in Colorado without her husband so she moved the family to Los Angeles. However, Adam is not doing well emotionally. For the holidays, they go back to Colorado to prepare to sell the old house. Kaitlyn wishes to see her late husband, Brian (Lane Edwards), for five more minutes. Instead, Brian’s ghost does what he can to help Kaitlyn and Adam move on with their lives.

I didn’t like last year’s chapter of Five More Minutes. This year’s chapter is a little more realistic and a little more emotional. It isn’t quite as overboard as the previous one. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any pitfalls. Ten-year old Adam is a little too…good. He is constantly trying to figure out how to do more for charity. Which is a nice thing but I’m not sure that an emotionally traumatized ten-year old is going to throw themselves into charity work like that. It was more realistic when he was pulling away from his mother by playing video games. But that is probably the worst of the problems. Since it’s easily overlooked, it’s not a big deal.

Sure, you can go ahead and check this one out. I think splitting so much of the story between Kaitlyn and Adam was a bit of a mistake since it means that we don’t really get to focus on either. But it’s fine. It’s a Christmas movie, not high cinema.

The Christmas Doctor | 2020 Christmas Movies

Hallmark couldn’t possibly be happy with only one channel showing Christmas movies way too early. They had to have their second channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, get in the game. Everyone else probably already knew this but, man, how many movies can Hallmark really put out in one year? Well, the first movie of the year that I have watched from Hallmark Movies & Mysteries is The Christmas Doctor. Why can’t anyone give these movies good titles?

The Christmas Doctor focuses on Dr. Zoey Garner (Holly Robinson Peete), a traveling doctor who doesn’t stay in the same place long. She gets an assignment for Willow Brook, NY. The local doctor is having shoulder surgery and will be out for two weeks. But Dr. Zoey isn’t used to sticking around for that long.

Sadly, I don’t have a lot to say about The Christmas Doctor. It was a little boring but otherwise perfectly fine. There was this weird little backstory about Dr. Zoey being a former military doctor that didn’t really have a lot to do with the plot besides being the reason Dr. Ray chose her to substitute for him.

I think maybe the movie was so boring because there wasn’t any conflict. Zoey’s sister, Debra (Nicole Anthony) is upset that Zoey never spends Christmas with her. Luke (Adrian Holmes), the love interest, is upset when Zoey tells Dr. Ray (Fred Henderson) that she is leaving town when her gig is up. All of the conflicts are literally things that people knew about beforehand. Debra knows that her sister is a traveling doctor who fills in at various hospitals when needed. How can you really be upset about a doctor having to work on Christmas? And Luke? He knew that Zoey was only in town for 14 days. Why is he upset that she’s not ditching her career to stay in a tiny little town with someone she barely knows? All of this gets resolved, of course. That doesn’t make the fact that they are stupid conflicts any better.

So, I guess watch it if you have nothing else to do? Turn it on for some background noise? I’m not saying don’t watch it but I’m sure you have a better way to spend two hours.