A Welcome Home Christmas | 2020 Christmas Movies

Recently, I’ve complained about how military life has been shoehorned into a bunch of Christmas movies this year. There always seems to be a “My distant relative is in the military” or a random “I was a military brat” that has no bearing on the actual plot of the movie. A Welcome Home Christmas is different. And I’m happy about that.

Chloe (Jana Kramer) is an Army counselor that helps returning soldiers adapt to civilian life. Michael (Brandon Quinn) is one of her assignments. When she over-commits to volunteering for charities, she puts Michael in charge of Operation Santa Claus - a charity to give military children the best Christmas possible.

On one hand, the characters are actual military members. Chloe was in the Army before she became a counselor, Michael recently left active duty, Chloe’s sister is still in the Army. On the other hand, I’m not sure how realistic the Army is in this. I’m not familiar with Army life but they all seem to be civilians that occasionally wear uniforms. We literally never see Chloe’s sister in uniform but she claims that General O’Toole (Tim Reid) is her commanding officer. We don’t even see her ‘snap to attention’ or anything when he approaches the family. If you’re in a military family, could you please let me know if this is something that happens or is this Lifetime taking liberties?

A Welcome Home Christmas is one of those movies that isn’t good but it isn’t bad either. It isn’t particularly boring, like most of the Christmas fare thrust upon us. There is just something about it that makes it watchable. I’m not sure exactly what that is. Maybe it’s LondonRose Sellars as Savannah. She isn’t the main character but she is a darn good actress. I hope to see good things from her in the future.

Anyway, if you like Christmas movies or movies about the military or movies about charity, you might enjoy this one. It’s at least good enough for one sit-through.

The Christmas Bow | 2020 Christmas Movies

It’s a Christmas bow. A violin bow…not a bow you put on presents. Get it?

Kate (Lucia Micarelli) is a concert violinist. When she injures her hand shortly after auditioning for the philharmonic, she turns to her childhood friend, Patrick (Michael Rady), to help her get her hand back in shape for her Christmas performance.

We have another musician movie. And her family owns a music shop too! The difference between The Christmas Bow and the other Christmas musician movies this year is that Kate hasn’t lost her passion for her art. Instead, her art was taken from her. She is desperately trying to get her hand to function like it did before the accident but it’s taking longer than she would like. It does make a huge difference in the mood of the movie. We see her trying and failing and getting frustrated and I love that. The arts isn’t always passion and want. Sometimes you want to do something and you physically can’t and it sucks. I’m glad that there is finally a movie showing that side.

I quite liked that there are a lot of Asian actors cast in the major roles. We don’t see a lot of non-white actors in Christmas movies. Especially not as the starring characters. Also, Micarelli is actually a violinist and that helped bring a dose of reality.

Overall, the movie wasn’t amazing. Patrick’s character was unrealistic. While I understand that the movie wanted him to be indecisive about his Big Decision so we would want him to stay in town with Kate, he kinda came off more wishy-washy than just indecisive. It was a bit of a turn-off, to be honest. However, I would recommend watching it, if only for Micarelli’s violin performances. She may not be a wonderful actress but she is an amazing musician.

Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater | 2020 Christmas Movies

Just when you thought that Christmas movie titles couldn’t get any stupider, Hallmark throws this at us. Is there a longer title than Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater? I don’t think so.

Maggie (Ashley Williams) is a single mom who will spending Christmas alone. Until she accidentally injures Lucas (Niall Matter) and invites him to stay in her art studio until he heals.

Yes, Lucas is actually wearing an ugly Christmas sweater the first time Maggie meets him. Of course, that’s about as far as the title relating to the plot goes. The rest of the movie is about Maggie and Lucas volunteering at a holiday camp for children of military parents. And….that’s about it.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot to say about the movie. The acting is subpar. (My husband actually commented about the delivery of one of Williams’ lines: “She doesn’t sound like she believes that.” ) The story is dull. Everything is just bland. Though I suppose one positive point is that no one has a weird obsession with hot chocolate. They straight up say they drink coffee. (Yes, I’m getting tired of everyone raving about hot chocolate or cocoa.)

I would say to skip this one. Or turn it on in the background while you’re running the vacuum. Sadly, this is another movie not worth watching.

Candy Cane Christmas | 2020 Christmas Movies

Once again, Lifetime is letting me down. Can’t they at least come up with a good title? Or change the script to make the title a little more relevant? It’s getting ridiculous.

As a child, Phoebe (Beverley Mitchell) and her best friend, Laurie (Benedicte Belizaire), went to Candy Cane Lane - a Christmas light display put on by people in their neighborhood. This year, the neighbors have decided to skip the display. Disappointed, Phoebe tries to find new traditions to fill her Christmas season.

For the record, this movie has nothing to do with candy canes. I don’t even know why they named the light display Candy Cane Lane. From what I could tell, it was mostly a drive-through thing with Santa at the end. There wasn’t anything particularly special or magical that would make a child swear to visit every year for the rest of their life.

That brings us to Phoebe, who spends most of the movie whining about the loss of the display. When she agrees to try to find new things to fill her boring Christmas life, her big things are: a toy drive for foster children and teaching senior citizens how to make wreaths. Neither of those are really traditions, nor do they take up a ton of time. Then again, I’m not sure how much time she spent helping with the light display because we never see her working on it, only talking about how much she loves it. She talks a lot.

The love interest, Eric (Mark Ghanimé), isn’t any better. He says “I didn’t think about that” a lot. It’s like his entire personality revolves around him and his aunt. Anything beyond that doesn’t occur to him. Considering this guy is supposed to be a veterinarian, you would think that he would be a little more thoughtful of the people around him.

I tried really hard to like Candy Cane Christmas. I spent way too much time trying to figure out why characters were doing what they were doing. The payoff wasn’t worth it. Skip this movie. Go to a drive-through Christmas light display instead. Maybe that will give you some Christmas cheer. Because this won’t.

Cranberry Christmas | 2020 Christmas Movies

When I first read the title Cranberry Christmas, I thought it was going to be yet another movie about a baker. But this time she loves cranberry cookies! Well, I was wrong.

Dawn (Nikki DeLoach) and Gabe (Benjamin Ayres) own a lifestyle company called Cranberry Lane. While the company has always been run as a “husband and wife” company, their marriage is on the rocks. In order to keep their business and the town’s Christmas festival running, Dawn lies on national television about the state of their marriage. But when TV host Pamela (Marci T. House) brings the show to their small Maine town, the couple is forced to cancel their time apart and focus on their relationship.

I admit that I usually go into these movies expecting them to be boring at best. Cranberry Christmas, however, was a cute movie about problems that marriages can have when a couple is trying to grow a business. Dawn kept secrets from Gabe and Gabe kept secrets from Dawn, all in an attempt to not hurt the other or let the other have their dream. At the same time, Pamela is trying to pressure Dawn (even though she claims she’s not pressuring her) into making a major decision extremely quickly. These are things that felt real. More real than any holiday movie I have watched.

Should you watch it? Yes. Yes, you should. It probably won’t be an annual favorite but it is a 2020 Hallmark movie favorite. What more could we ask for this year?

One Royal Holiday | 2020 Christmas Movies

Do you like royal families? Does anyone like royal families? The people that write Christmas movies must think that people adore royalty. Why else would we have so many of royalty-related movies?

Anna (Laura Osnes) is a nurse in Boston. As she is getting ready to drive home for the holidays, she comes across a mother and son stranded due to an impending blizzard. She offers to let them stay at her family’s bed and breakfast in Connecticut. Only after they get to the B&B does she find out that they are the royal family of Galwick. Anna shows Queen Gabriella (Victoria Clark) and Prince James (Aaron Tveit) how they celebrate Christmas in her hometown.

Is there a way they could make these movies a little different? It’s always a foreign prince and a common American girl. The prince is cold and unwilling to change while the girl has to figure out how to warm his heart with Christmas spirit. The big difference here is that the royals fall in love with the little town and don’t want to return to their country. They have to return, of course, because the prince has to give an annual speech.

Of the prince-related Christmas movies I have watched, this one is pretty darn boring. You could watch the Netflix series A Christmas Prince…that wasn’t too bad. The Princess Switch is still royalty-related, even though it doesn’t have a prince. There’s just better Christmas movies featuring royalty, if you really need that royal fix. It’s OK to skip this one. You aren’t missing much.

A Crafty Christmas Romance | 2020 Christmas Movies

I used to think that Hallmark Channel had the worst Christmas romance movies. In the past, that was true. This year, however, it’s Lifetime that is letting me down.

Mandy (Nicola Posener) owns a hobby/craft shop. Inside an old book that someone put in their toy/book drive box, Mandy finds an old letter with a rare coin. With the help from a local contractor, Jonah (Brad Johnson), she sets out to return the items to their original owner.

I was quick to call Christmas with the Darlings the best movie of the season. Well, A Crafty Christmas Romance may be the worst. I guess it’s a good thing I watched them back-to-back. There are so many problems with this one that I’m not sure where to start….

The title of the movie has nothing to do with the plot. I think that this may not have been the original title of it. The movie’s IMDB page has a graphic calling it “Crafting Christmas,” which also has nothing to do with the plot. Sure, Mandy owns a shop where people can craft things and Mandy and Jonah craft an ugly sweater together but that is it. They don’t use the crafts to do anything to find the coin’s owner.

Talking about Mandy and Jonah, they are such boring people. They are dull, their romance is dull, even their jobs are dull. There’s not a drop of chemistry between them and this is another movie where they shoehorn the Big Kiss in with zero reason for it. Apparently Jonah wished that Mandy would fall in love with him after knowing her for a whole day. Maybe he should get to know the woman before asking her to be head over heels with him.

So, the whole premise of the movie is Mandy and Jonah searching for the author of this letter. Of course, no one has any information about it. The two of them spend the whole freaking movie reading old high school yearbooks in an attempt to maybe find someone with the same name as the author. Sounds fascinating, right? Wouldn’t you want to watch a movie of people reading books?

Please don’t watch A Crafty Christmas. I’m sorry if you’ve already sat through it. No one should be tortured like that.

Christmas with the Darlings | 2020 Christmas Movies

The movie is titled Christmas with the Darlings but the family’s name is actually Darlington. Did they rename the characters and forget to change the movie title? Or maybe they didn’t realize the family is Darlington and not Darling….

Jessica (Katrina Law) is the executive assistant for Charles Darlington (Steve Bacic), the CEO of the Darlington family company. With his brother Max (Carlo Marks), Charles has taken custody of his orphaned nieces (Islie Hirvonen and Madeline Hirvonen) and nephew (Anthony Bolognese). When Jessica learns that the children are to be sent to boarding school for Christmas, she offers to take care of the children at the Darlington mansion instead. Max, infamous for being irresponsible, steps up to help her.

Christmas with the Darlings is what The Christmas Aunt wanted to be. Jessica does various holiday activities with them but none of it feels cheesy or forced. Instead of making paper snowflakes, they decorate the trees outside the mansion with birdseed ornaments so the animals have something to eat. They drink a lot of hot chocolate, they work on a Christmas puzzle…it is wholesome holiday activities that all of them seem to thoroughly enjoy.

On top of that, the actors have great chemistry. Granted, the two sisters are actual sisters in real life. Beyond that, I could believe that Jessica actually wanted to spend time with the children and that she actually liked Max, even when he was being goofy. And I could feel Max’s frustration at being classified as the “irresponsible” brother when he was so much more than that.

it is still very early in the Christmas movie season but I think this may be it. This may be the best Hallmark Christmas movie this season. So, yes, go watch it. Watch it more than once if you like. Then maybe watch it again next year. I don’t think you will regret it.

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.

The Christmas Aunt | 2020 Christmas Movies

Seriously? Seriously?? Christmas movie plots have reached a new low.

The Christmas Aunt is about an aunt - Rebecca (Keshia Knight Pulliam) - returning home to Nashville in order to care for her niece, Maggie (Nyla Alleyne), and her nephew, Dan (Gabriel Jacob-Cross), for two weeks leading up to Christmas.

Yes, that is the entire plot. The kids aren’t orphaned or anything. Their parents just went on vacation to Africa. And their grandmother broke her leg so she’s not supposed to drive or stand for long periods of time. Yup.

Uuuugggh, this movie was so dumb. The plot was dumb, the conflict was dumb, the acting was dumb…

When I saw the title, I was hoping that this was some magical Christmas thing. Like the kids were having some sort of problem…it could even be the parents still going away on vacation…and a magical Mary Poppins type character came in and cheered everyone up. I guess making snowflakes out of paper and glitter or baking cookies could be cheerful. It would be a lot more fun if the magical auntie made the snowflakes dance in the air or the cookies decorate themselves or something.

Instead, we get Rebecca who can’t make up her mind whether she wants to date her childhood best friend, Drew (Jarod Joseph). One minute she’s holding hands with him and giggling at everything he says. The next minute she’s reaming him for something he did years ago. What the hell, girl? Make up your mind.

Then there’s her job. When she suddenly left Los Angeles to go take care of her family, she promised that she would work remotely. We see her working, like, twice? And she feels bad both times. They also agreed that Rebecca would fly home the day after Christmas. Then suddenly the client decides to fly to LA the day before and she’s expected to just drop everything? I know that there are tough bosses out there that don’t care about their employees’ families but this was a little much.

Don’t waste your time with The Christmas Aunt. Even the boring Christmas movies were better than this one.