Our Holiday Story | 2024 Christmas Movies

I don’t watch a lot of commercials for these Christmas movies. I really try to go in unspoiled. However, I ended up accidentally watching some of the commercials for Our Holiday Story because I was so confused. Is this really just someone telling a story? Yep. It is.

Chris (Gavin Langelo) is meeting his girlfriend, Joanna’s (Sydney Scotia), parents for the first time. When Joanna misses the train, Chris is forced to spend time alone with Nell (Nikki Deloach) and Dave (Warren Christie). He, of course, asks them how they met. Boy, do they have a story for him!

When this movie started, I didn’t think it was going to be good. Thankfully, I was wrong. Our Holiday Story is actually pretty adorable. There is a lot more to their story than just “We met on a train.” The small twists and near misses kept the story interesting. Not to mention the chemistry between Deloach and Christie. I almost wish they starred in every Christmas movie.

The only down side to the movie is Chris and Joanna’s story. It would have been better if there were a few more twists and turns to mirror Nell and Dave’s story. Instead, their story is a little more boring. But I’m glad it’s there as a reason to tell Nell and Dave’s. It would have been weird if this was just them telling their daughter about their past.

Rating: Yes, Dave! A summer festival (and movie) would be a lovely idea!

Holiday Road | 2023 Christmas Movies

Because this film is titled Holiday Road, I had no choice but to sing the Lindsey Buckingham song “Holiday Road” every time I said the title. Thanks a lot, National Lampoon’s Vacation. This will be the season of the “Holiday Road” song.

Nine strangers get stranded at an airport due to bad weather. Since all of them are trying to get to Denver, they decide to rent a van and share driving responsibilities instead.

I don’t think there are a lot of road movies that I like. They either end up boring or too over the top. This one had just the right amount of roadtrip fun and wacky hijinks. I wasn’t particularly fond of Dana (Sara Canning) always chiding Clay (Warren Christie) for not taking risks and always being safe. Not everyone is cut out to randomly drive across the country during a snowstorm with people they literally don’t know. And she keeps that attitude up the entire trip. When the van (inevitably) breaks down, instead of being upset like the others, she does the “Well, now we can participate in the local town celebration!” thing. I understand looking on the bright side of things. Sometimes it’s annoying though.

Rating: I’ll drive the night shift

Crashing Through The Snow | 2021 Christmas Movies

I swore that I was going to finish the 2021 Christmas movies. So I’m starting with Hallmark’s Crashing Through The Snow. Yes, it is a dumb title. But is the movie just as dumb?

Maggie (Amy Acker) and Jeff (Kristian Bruun) are divorced parents to two daughters. Jeff and his girlfriend, Kate (Brooke Nevin), are planning to take the girls to Kate’s family home in Colorado for Christmas. When Kate finds out that Maggie has never been away from the girls at Christmas, she invites Kate to come along with them. At the estate, Maggie’s brother, Sam (Warren Christie), makes a surprise visit. Kate begins to feel left out of her kids’ Christmas, thanks to all of Maggie’s Christmas plans, so Sam teams up with her to help her push her way back into the family dynamic.

Most of the time, the conflict in these family Christmas movies can be resolved with a simple conversation. That isn’t the problem in Crashing Through The Snow. Sure, they could talk a bit more but it can be extremely difficult to welcome a step parent into a kid’s life. And it can be even more difficult to watch your former partner replace you as the love in their life. The conversations that Maggie and Sam need to have are difficult and uncomfortable. Their lives would have been better if they were more open with each other in the beginning but it’s easy to understand why they weren’t. Everyone just wanted to make everyone else’s trip easier and less dramatic.

As with a lot of these types of movies, the problem is that none of the couples have any sort of chemistry. Like I have no idea what Jeff sees in Kate. It looks A LOT like he loves her because her family is mega rich. At the same time, I have no idea what Sam sees in Maggie. (Spoiler: they also fall in love.) Maggie’s big personality trait is that she is clumsy. (I think I might hate that part of the movie the most.) Sure, they spend some time together but it’s not a ton of time and they kinda butt heads a lot. Just because someone teaches you how to ice skate, that doesn’t mean you love them.

Overall, I didn’t find the movie too terrible. It is still on the boring side but I think, as my first step back into Christmas movies, this wasn’t the worst movie I could have picked.

If I Only Had Christmas | 2020 Christmas Movies

Let me get this right, Hallmark. You took The Wizard of Oz and made it a Christmas romance movie? And everyone was OK with that?

Darcy Gale (Candace Cameron Bure) is a Kansas City publicist. In order to sign on an important client, she volunteers to work pro bono for the company’s charity in the northeast. With her help Vice President Glenn Goodman (Warren Christie) and his team find what they are missing to make their donation drive a success.

I wish I was joking when I said this movie is The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy, I mean DARCY, has a dog named Bobo that she, unfortunately, doesn’t take with her. At the charity, she works with three employees - Jackie (Jordana Largy), Bridget (Lucia Walters), and Riley (Robert Markus) - who are the Scarecrow, Tin Man (well, Tin Woman), and Cowardly Lion. Glenn isn’t really named Glenn. (Spoiler: He’s the Wizard.) There is even a scene where Darcy is gifted a pair of sparkly red heels.

It’s difficult to talk about whether this is a good movie. I mean, the acting is fine, if not a little over the top for the side characters. The plot…it’s literally The Wizard of Oz so you can’t really go wrong there. It’s a tried and true classic. But it is a weird pairing.

I suppose you could give it a try yourself. There isn’t anything particularly bad about it. And, hey, Alison Araya is in this too. That makes THREE Christmas movies she was in this year!