Christmas With A Kiss | 2023 Christmas Movies

Christmas With A Kiss is from Hallmark’s Mahogany line of movies. While I am not the target audience for the Mahogany line, sometimes they are my favorite movies of the season.

Mona (Mishael Morgan) is a social media influencer living in New York City. She comes home for Christmas to help her family run their annual Christmas Carnival. During the 10-day festival, she reconnects with her high school boyfriend, Fletcher (Jaime M. Callica), and meets Dez (Ronnie Rowe), a journalist writing an article about the Carnival.

I had some mixed feelings about this movie. On one hand, the romance was a nice, slow burn. I like when the romantic feelings take awhile to settle in because when they fall in love immediately, it is a little creepy. On the other hand, those of us that watch Hallmark romance movies know that Dez was set up as The One - either despite the fact that they didn’t get along or as a result of it, I’m not sure. And, to be honest, Dez kinda sucks. Sure, he had some nice “family guy” things going on but he also insulted everything that he didn’t agree with. He needed a good kick in the butt before getting into a relationship with anyone. Granted, Fletcher didn’t deserve to be with her either. I wish there was a third, better option for Mona.

Rating: Not as fun as a carnival

Inventing The Christmas Prince | 2022 Christmas Movies

Did Hallmark actually combine all of the things I love to see in a Christmas movie with Inventing The Christmas Prince? We have a main cast that is mostly people of color and a plot where the main couple’s romance isn’t the star attraction. We should be careful, right?

Shelby (Tamera Mowry-Housley) is a single parent working as a rocket engineer. Her boss, Evan (Ronnie Rowe Jr), isn’t exactly a “people person” and now his job is in jeopardy due to his employees quitting. When Shelby’s daughter, Grace (Isabel Birch), sees Evan, she thinks that he is the Christmas Prince, the main character in a story passed down through Shelby’s family. Can Shelby convince Evan to play the part and grant Grace her twelve wishes?

For the past couple of years, Mowry-Housley has been starring in some terrible Christmas movies. So, at best. I was fairly sure this was another movie heading into the “Meh” pile. Was I surprised when I found myself actually enjoying this one! Sure, they could have left the whole rocket engineer job out of the movie and only focused on Grace’s wishes but I think it gave Evan a little more reason to start acting like a real human being instead of a robot.

If I was to give Inventing The Christmas Prince any criticism, it would be with the conflicts. I know, I know. Most of the conflicts in these movies are dumb. However, the conflicts in this movie barely exist. We have Sherman (Brady Droulis), who is basically a kindergarten bully. And the issue of Grace’s wishes, though that is honestly resolved in like a dozen lines of dialog. Not really a conflict. It would have been nicer to see Shelby and Evan working together a bit more to get the wishes granted and maybe running into a few more snags. I think it would have given the movie a little more realism. But, as it stands, those are minor quibbles.

Yes, Inventing The Christmas Prince is worth watching. It probably won’t be your favorite movie of the season but it is a sweet family movie.

Maps and Mistletoe | 2021 Christmas Movies

Movies like Maps and Mistletoe make me think that there is no way real people have jobs like this. I know that cartographers exist. I mean, that is how we have actual maps. But they make the job feel very fake.

Cartographer Emilia (Humberly González) is tasked with making an interactive map of the North Pole for her company’s website. In order to make it more educational, her boss teams her up with world explorer, Drew (Ronnie Rowe). With her strict scheduling and his laid-back approach, will the two of them be able to get the map finished before Christmas?

I think I know why Maps and Mistletoes makes me think Emilia’s job is fake. When she’s making a map of New Zealand for her nephew, she is doing everything. The amazing artwork, the actual latitude and longitude of the map, the facts about each location. I don’t believe that one person could do all of that. At least not at the scale that she made the map. This whole project makes her seem a little too perfect. Well, except for the fact that she seems to know nothing about the North Pole.

As for Drew…I know that they are trying to make him seem like a fearless explorer. However, he’s doing dumb things for a small town. He’s laying in the middle of the street (I’m assuming without a spotter since people were calling the cops on him) and climbing buildings. I’m all for getting into weird positions in order to get the best photography shot but maybe you should figure out what you should and shouldn’t do in a small town. Or at least get yourself a spotter that can alert you when danger is nearby or if the police are coming. You know, basic safety stuff.

I don’t know that I would say Maps and Mistletoe is worth watching. Like most movies this year, there isn’t a lot of substance there. No one gets a big epiphany and the romantic leads have terrible chemistry. It is yet another “turn on for background noise” movie. I’m getting very tired of those.

Jingle Bell Bride | 2020 Christmas Movies

Christmas weddings aren’t a new thing, especially in movies. Jingle Bell Bride isn’t actually about a bride though. It’s about her wedding planner.

Jessica (Julie Gonzalo) is a wedding planner for a famous singer, Renee (Donna Benedicto), who is a bit of a Bridezilla. Two weeks before her wedding, Renee insists that Jessica find the rare jingle bell flower for her. The only place that currently has this flower is a remote town in Alaska. Can Jessica make it back to New York City before Renee’s wedding?

While Jingle Bell Bride has a very stupid premise, the movie itself isn’t that bad. I wish there was a different reason for Jessica to go to Alaska. The best parts of the movie were when Jessica was spending time with the townsfolk. Everything else felt crammed in, including the parts with her sister (Alison Araya) and niece (Pietra Castro). I think I would have liked it more if Jessica was simply visiting the town. She could still step in to help when the town’s festival ball loses their venue at the last minute but she wouldn’t be held back by her event planning boss.

They could also give the jingle bell flower more meaning. That way Matt (Ronnie Rowe) would have a reason to spend more time with Jessica. Sure, he spends time with her now but the reasons feel forced. He only spends time with her because she’s stuck staying at his family’s house since there is no hotel in town. I think I would have liked it more if Matt had a little more passion for the flowers that could have shown through.

If you have the ability to look past all of the stupid wedding planning parts in the movie (there aren’t that many really), then this is definitely worth a watch. And if you watched The Christmas Yule Blog, you’ll recognize Alison Araya as Caroline’s boss. It’s the circle of Christmas movies.