Christmas movie review: 2011 wrap-up

It's time to wrap up another season of holiday movie reviews. Besides totaling 100 reviews, this year I watched 21, a record for my six years of reviewing. I think you can thank a really bad cold I got the weekend before Christmas that kept me on the couch for three days straight. I probably watched half of the movies that weekend. I actually have about 15 more still saved on my DVR but I guess they'll have to wait until next year. Or maybe this summer I can do a Christmas in July special edition. I also think I should get started earlier next year and I can probably fit more in. Anyway, as you can see, it's quite the mix of ratings for this year's crop; there were quite a number of good ones.


A
Debbie Macomber's Trading Christmas
12 Dates of Christmas
Debbie Macomber's Call Me Mrs. Miracle
A Christmas Kiss
Christmas Magic

A-
12 Wishes of Christmas
Annie Claus is Coming to Town
A Holiday Engagement

B+
Desperately Seeking Santa
Lucky Christmas
The Christmas Pageant

B
Three Wise Women
The Case for Christmas
A Christmas Wish
A Nanny for Christmas

B-
The Heart of Christmas
Battle of the Bulbs

C
A Christmas Wedding Tail
Christmas Mail

C-
Christmas with a Capital C

D
The Perfect Gift

Christmas movie review: Christmas Magic

My final Christmas movie of the year was Christmas Magic. I actually was going to stop with the last one since it's been about ten days since Christmas and, as much as I like Christmas movies, once Christmas is over I'm not usually in the mood to watch them. Regardless, I counted up all the Christmas movie reviews I've done since 2006 and realized I was on number 99. Well, I couldn't leave it at that so welcome to Christmas movie review 100! I cannot believe I've reviewed so many (or that there are even that many to review).

Anyway, I have about 15 still on DVR so I wanted to end the season on a high note and I sure did. Christmas Magic was really good, one of the best I watched this year. Again, not an original story because this tells the story of workaholic Carrie, who gets in a car accident in the beginning of the movie, and then finds herself an angel assigned to help someone still on Earth before she can get into heaven. She has a couple weeks to help a guy, Scott, who runs a small, struggling restaurant in New York City. Not only does she easily help him update his menu and promote his business, but she helps him with babysitting (he's a widower with an 8-year-old girl) and getting over his hatred of Christmas. She knows she's headed to heaven on Christmas Eve so she tries to not get too attached, but of course she starts to fall for him. Meanwhile, she has an angel guide who gives her advice whenever she needs it. I don't necessarily want to spoil it because I definitely recommend watching this but everything works out happily ever after of course, since after all the title of the film is "Christmas Magic." I have no idea who the actors are (Lindy Booth plays Carrie but I've never heard of her before) but they did a good job and took a possibly predictable story of an angel trying to get her wings and made it very watchable and enjoyable.

Rating: A

Christmas movie review: The Christmas Pageant

The Christmas Pageant debuted on Hallmark Channel this year, although I noticed on its Web site, it does not say it's a Hallmark Channel Original Movie so I guess someone else made it. Interesting. This one stars Melissa Gilbert as a bitchy, demanding Broadway theater director who gets fired again... but before she's unemployed for too long, her agent gets her a job directing a Christmas pageant in some small upstate town. Because she needs the money and no one from Broadway is going to come running in the immediate future, she takes the job and experiences culture shock. Not only does she have to adjust to small town living, but she has to adjust to a Christmas pageant that has been put on in exactly the same manner for decades. The actors do not want her to change anything. Only one little girl is particularly welcoming to her and it turns out that the little girl is the daughter of an ex-boyfriend who now lives in this small town and actually recommended her for the pageant job. Melissa's character and this ex-boyfriend reconnect; she becomes a much nicer person; the townfolk open up to her unique way of doing things; and everyone has a great Christmas. It's one of those stories about a stingy, cranky person who becomes a better person and finds love thanks to the Christmas spirit. It was pretty cute.

Rating: B+

Christmas movie review: A Holiday Engagement

Hallmark Channel Original Movie A Holiday Engagement stars Bonnie Summerville, who I've liked since she was on Friends, so I was kind of excited to watch this. The plot isn't entirely original - woman hires actor to play fiance when she has to go home for the holidays - but it's a great plot for a romantic comedy and this was well-done and enjoyable. In this film, our main character has an overbearing and judgmental mother and when she originally plans to bring her fiance home for the holidays, she really does have a fiance but then he breaks up with her days before she's ready to leave so instead of telling this to her mom (who already thinks she's making up the fiance), she decides to find a new, fake fiance. Over the next several days, naturally, the fiance-for-hire and Bonnie start to get to know each other and start to develop some feelings. Of course. And everyone in her family seems to really like fake fiance. I'm sure it will come as no surprise that there is a happy ending. I'm rating this as an A- basically because the titular holiday is actually Thanksgiving, not Christmas, and because I was a little skeptical about how quickly the romance happened. I mean, it's one thing when someone falls in love quickly but she really should have still been really hung up on the fiance who dumped her. No one gets over someone AND finds someone new so quickly. Still enjoyable, though.

Rating: A-

Christmas movie review: A Christmas Kiss

A Christmas Kiss aired on ION this year and I enjoyed it. The main character is sort of a scared girl not living her own life but working for this bitchy woman as her assistant and being treated like crap. One night her friends, who work as costumers for a theater company, dress her all up like an angel with a ton of glitter and makeup and she gets stuck in an elevator with a cute guy and they end up sharing a kiss... but no words. She's kind of smitten but then soon finds out that he is her boss's boyfriend. And he doesn't recognize her at all. As she and her boss are assigned to decorate the boyfriend's house for Christmas (he's a very wealthy benefactor), the boss kicks even more into bitch mode because she wants him to propose at this big Christmas party. When she has an accident and hurts her face, she disappears lest he see her as less than perfect and our main character has to take on full decorating responsibilities and of course, this means spending more time with the boyfriend. Which means, she really starts falling for him. But does he start falling for her or is he duped by his bitchy girlfriend? It's not necessarily a unique story but it was a cute romantic comedy and the main character (played by Laura Breckinridge, who could be Shannen Doherty's little sister) was adorable and you couldn't help but root for her. Overall, a sweet film.

Rating: A

Christmas movie review: Christmas Mail

Christmas Mail is apparently also sometimes called We've Got Christmas Mail and I did not enjoy it that much. The main action takes place at a post office when a male mail carrier with custody of his niece is asked to keep an eye on a new post office hire who is supposed to answer all letters to Santa. The mail guy's boss thinks she's a plant from the home office, sent to watch over his branch. Of course, as he "watches" her, they start to fall for each other because this is a Christmas romantic comedy. There's a little more to the story, but quite honestly, I was very bored. The problems were: 1.) no one in this movie could really act and 2.) the lead characters had no chemistry and 3.) they made it seem like this letter writer had some sort of magical powers or maybe was related to Santa but if that was the case, then tell us!! They just seemed to think it would be cute to be vague while I found it added to the boringness. Yuck.

Rating: C

Christmas movie review: A Nanny for Christmas

A Nanny for Christmas stars Emmanuelle Vaugier, Dean Cain, Richard Ruccolo, and Cynthia Gibb, although Dean Cain is barely in it at all so that was a bit of a disappointment. Basically, Emmanuelle is at a PR firm and makes a major mistake when presenting a campaign to Dean and loses her job. A friend gets her an interview with Cynthia Gibb, who misunderstands and thinks she's interviewing someone to be her nanny. Emmnanuelle doesn't say anything because she'd rather have any job than have to go to Ohio for the holidays (the horror!) and thinks by getting close to Cynthia, she might someday hire her. Uh huh. Well, of course Cynthia is a total bitch and restrictive mom but Emmanuelle is good with the kids and they start to have fun finally. Meanwhile, Emmanuelle meets one of Cynthia's coworkers and when she's vague and says she "works for Cynthia," he assumes she works for the company and not as Cynthia's nanny so there is another big misunderstanding that you know isn't going to end well once he finds out the truth because of course they start to fall for each other. Overall, it was very predictable in Three's Company-misunderstanding kind of way when you kind of roll your eyes and wonder why she doesn't just SPEAK UP!!!! And it wasn't very Christmas-y either, other than the events took place around Christmas. So it was average. And in Christmas movie reviews, an average means B-ish.

Rating: B

Christmas movie review: Lucky Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

Lucky Christmas is yet another Hallmark Channel original movie that debuted this year. It stars Elizabeth Berkley as Holly, a struggling single mom who dreams of opening her own restaurant one day and who always buys a lottery ticket with the same numbers - which she does indeed buy at the outset of the movie. As she goes to a bar to have a drink with a friend, she accidentally drops her keys in the parking lot and these two guys who are also struggling find the keys and steal the car. Well, really it's just one guy - the other guy is super drunk and has no idea what happened until the next morning and he demands the car gets returned, until they see on the news that the car that they stole had a winning lottery ticket in it. That sort of changes things. They decide the one guy (the one who hadn't stolen the car) would use his charming personality to sort of scope out the situation and get to know Holly before deciding exactly what to do. Of course, before he knows it, he's falling for Holly and she's falling for him and yet they have this big thing hanging over their heads so you know it isn't going to end well when she founds out. To make matters worse, he decides to mail the lottery ticket back anonymously but it gets lost... and it has to be cashed in by Christmas Eve. So there's a lot of drama and a lot of predictability but it was pretty cute. I actually thought the two lead characters had some chemistry and I know Elizabeth Berkley gets a rap as a bad actress thanks to Showgirls, but I think she was fine. I'm debating between giving this an A- or a B+ but I think I'll go with the lower score just because it was very, very predictable. You could see every twist coming. Still, not bad at all.

Rating: B+

Christmas movie review: Annie Claus Is Coming to Town

Annie Claus is Coming to Town is yet another Hallmark Channel Original Movie. It tells the story of Annie, Santa's daughter, who comes to Los Angeles on a sort of rumspringa, you know, how Amish teenagers get a period of time to leave home and experience life before deciding if they want to dedicate the rest of their lives to an Amish lifestyle. Well, in this case, Annie is heading to L.A. to experience life outside the North Pole before deciding if she wants to take over Santa's business. Of course, should she decide to stay in L.A., then some lucky assistant of Santa's will take over instead. So, preying on her romantic daydreams of finding 'the one,' the sneaky assistant hires some good-looking actor to woo her so she falls in love and doesn't come back to the North Pole. Meanwhile, she is drawn to a small toy shop that is in serious need of some sprucing up and is conveniently owned by a very cute guy, played by Sam Page. Of course, the drama plays out and everyone lives happily ever after.

I enjoyed this movie primarily because it was an original story. And, I have had a fondness for Sam Page since he was on All My Children years ago. But, I found the lead actress a little grating and the villains just a little too over-the-top so I downgraded the score a bit.

Rating: A-

Christmas movie review: Debbie Macomber's Call Me Mrs. Miracle

Debbie Macomber's Call Me Mrs. Miracle is a Hallmark Channel original from 2010 and is sort of a sequel to 2009's Debbie Macomber's Mrs. Miracle, which I reviewed back then, because it also features the same Doris Roberts character of Mrs. Merkle, aka Mrs. Miracle, who steps in to manipulate people in a magical way to make their lives better.

This year, Mrs. Merkle gets a job in a toy section of a department store run by the store owner's son. The son has to sell out the toy department but has made the potential mistake of not carrying the "it" toy of the year. She helps him over the course of the movie. Meanwhile, a young boy (who wants that "it" toy) is being cared for by his aunt because his father is serving overseas in the military and when they visit the toy section, their paths cross Mrs. Merkle's, as well as the guy running the toy section. And so starts the delightful meddling from Mrs. Merkle, leading to (surprise!) a romance between the boy's aunt and the toy department guy. Along the way, she also helps the little boy, the department store's owner, that owner's relationship with his son, a co-worker... you get the idea.

Overall, it was a very cute film, a similar theme to the first Mrs. Miracle movie and well-acted and enjoyable. And a welcome break from the run of not-very-good Christmas movies that I've watched lately.

Rating: A

Christmas movie review: Christmas with a Capital C

The next movie I watched was called Christmas with a Capital C. It aired on GMC (Gospel Music Channel) so yes, it was religious. Ted McGinley stars as a politician (I can't remember if he's a mayor or city councilman) in a small town in Alaska when someone from the town's past (played by Daniel Baldwin) who moved on to a big city comes back right before the holidays and starts injecting some open-mindedness into the small town. He gets the city up in arms about putting up the nativity scene so, in return, the Christian townsfolk start a crusade for "Christmas," reminding everyone that it starts with a capital 'C' for Christ. Because, you know, tolerance for others' beliefs is unimportant. Apparently, the whole idea for this movie came out of some comic's stand-up act about how ridiculous it is that people substitute "holidays" for "Christmas" nowadays and that comic plays Ted McGinley's brother and he is BEYOND annoying in the film. I didn't even realize who he was until the credits started rolling and then it all became clear. So, I wasn't a fan of this Fox News drivel. The only saving grace in the whole film (and the reason it didn't get the all-time low of D) is Ted McGinley, who I have a fondness for. But a C rating for a Christmas movie is bad.

Rating: C-

Christmas movie review: Battle of the Bulbs

Battle of the Bulbs is another Hallmark Channel Original Movie. I think it debuted last year and stars Daniel Stern, of Home Alone fame. So, in Daniel's character's neighborhood, there is some big contest for the house that is decorated the best for Christmas and Daniel and his family wants to win badly. All is going well until new neighbors move into the neighborhood and instantly put up an amazing lights display. Things only get worse when Daniel and his wife go to meet the neighbors and the husband turns out to be a nemesis from Daniel's childhood. And the war begins, with each trying to outdo the other with the holiday lights. Meanwhile, they have children about the same age who start to date but find it difficult among the warring. Ultimately, the war escalates until the two stubborn men finally come to realize the true meaning of Christmas. It's a little over-the-top and predictable but it's not awful. The pacing of the film is a little lacking, in that the war builds and builds and builds and then is resolved in literally the last 5 minutes.

Rating: B-

Christmas movie review: A Christmas Wedding Tail

A Christmas Wedding Tail aired as a Hallmark Channel Original Movie this year and tells the story of a romance between two people who meet through their dogs. The dogs narrate the action for the audience. It's kind of cute but overall, it was way predictable and the dog narration was kind of annoying and the story was only slightly about Christmas, in that the events took place around Christmas. I think it was an attempt to satisfy both children with the talking dogs and adults with the romance, but neither really worked.

Rating: C

Christmas movie review: The Perfect Gift

The Perfect Gift aired on GMC and I was not a fan of it. It doesn't have any big stars , honestly, the acting was subpar. The little girl wasn't too bad, though. The story is about how a homeless drifter named Jes comes to a town and changes the lives of a few people, namely a somewhat bratty little girl and a minister. Jes is a carpenter and helps with the nativity scene in front of the church where the minister preaches. But his nativity scene - which is not new but only improved - starts a wave of dissent from among the public (including inexplicably the head minister at the church) until eventually everything is resolved and everyone opens their hearts thanks to homeless guy Jes. The whole story is basically a bible parable and it wasn't the least bit subtle so on top of the poor acting, the story was pretty preachy. Now, I'm all about people learning lessons but this one was just too blatant and religiousy.

Rating: D

Christmas movie review: 12 Dates of Christmas

Not to be confused with the very similar-sounding 12 Wishes of Christmas, this one debuted on ABC Family this year. And, I enjoyed 12 Dates of Christmas, which follows the formula of something like Groundhog Day, where the main character, played by Amy Smart, keeps waking up and reliving the same day over and over again. Here, Amy's character starts off trying to win back her ex-boyfriend but agreeing to a blind date with Mark-Paul Gosselaar's character. The first time she meets him she is pretty rude to him and then gets hit with the news that the ex-boyfriend is getting married. Eventually, she comes to realize that things are truly over with the ex-boyfriend, actually encouraging the ex to propose and then spending more and more time with Mark-Paul on their blind date. And then they all live happily ever after. The reason for the day reliving is never really explained but it has a sense of magic in it (which I love!) and leads to the main character making some life decisions and coming to an awareness of how things should be. It's sweet, well-acted, and a good story.

Rating: A

Christmas movie review: A Christmas Wish

A Christmas Wish is another Hallmark Channel Original Movie and stars Kristy Swanson (the original Buffy) as Martha, an abandoned mother of three desperately looking for a job and someplace to live. She manages to get a job at a diner and a room at a motel but it doesn't stop the struggling because there's always money needed for something, whether it's the babysitter or the damage to the room caused by the children. On top of the monetary woes, Martha's oldest child is actually not hers but is the offspring of the husband who abandoned the family and is incredibly bitter. And a stutterer. Thanks to the friendliness of the people in the town, though, Martha starts to get back on her feet a little and even fall in love with a good guy.

This movie was all right... a little boring and predictable. A good message of a town helping those in need. The stutterer kid was pretty annoying, though, and Kristy isn't the world's best actress. It's a pretty average Christmas movie.

Rating: B

Christmas movie review: The Case for Christmas

The Case for Christmas stars Dean Cain, who if I'm not mistaken films one Christmas movie every year (at least it feels like it!), and is a Hallmark Channel Original Movie. Dean plays Michael, a single father/widower/attorney who takes a case representing Santa, who is being sued by some major corporate mean guy who wants to replace Santa with some new fairy toy. The mean guy is contending that Santa has ruined lives. Michael is a new attorney and seems to think that the case is going to be a tough win but the real Santa shows up and not only helps Michael win the case but also helps his family, which consists of his daughter and a really good female friend who is secretly in love with Michael. It's an okay movie. I found his daughter a little annoying and I found Santa's elf annoying so that lowered the grade slightly. And, it's funny how many characters in Christmas movies feature widows/widowers who learn to love again around Christmastime.

Rating: B

Christmas movie review: 12 Wishes of Christmas

12 Wishes of Christmas aired on ION this year and it stars Elisa Donovan as a woman who visits a life coach after she gets fired and the life coach gives her 12 wishes to find herself. When Elisa's character makes a wish through the wish website, the world shakes and her wish instantly comes true. Of course, as is expected, she blows a lot of her early wishes with material things like a new pair of shoes and a new car. Once she starts granting wishes to help her friends and boyfriend, she finds out that the wishes can have unexpected consequences. For instance, she wishes that her boyfriend gets his book published, thinking that once that happens he'll be ready to settle down with her. However, what ends up happening is that he starts having an affair with his book agent. Oops. And she tries to help her friend at work (well ex-work because remember she was fired) and gets someone fired who desperately needed her health insurance and then instead of her friend getting promoted, she herself gets her job back. It's a big mess but no worries, everything ends well and everyone lives happily ever after.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie because of it's magical qualities and also the lesson of learning that there are consequences for your actions.

Rating: A-

Christmas movie review: Debbie Macomber's Trading Christmas

Debbie Macomber's Trading Christmas debuted on Hallmark Channel this winter, the third year in a row that Hallmark made a movie from a Debbie Macomber book. This one stars Faith Ford, Tom Cavanagh and Gil Bellows and is similar to the movie The Holiday that hit big screens a few years ago with Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz. Here, Tom Cavanagh and Faith Ford find a home swapping web site and switch homes for the holidays. Tom's character is an author and needs some peace and quiet to finish his book and Faith's character finds herself alone for Christmas, with her daughter deciding not to come home from college so she decides to head to Boston to surprise her daughter. Once Tom & Faith are settled into their new temporary homes, things don't quite work out as expected. It turns out Faith's daughter went off to Phoenix with her boyfriend so Faith is alone again, except now she's away from home. Luckily for her, she meets Tom's brother, played by Gil Bellows, and a romance is started. Meanwhile, Tom ends up with an unexpected houseguest when Faith's friend decides to make a surprise visit for the holidays, not knowing that Faith has flown to Boston, and cannot find anywhere else to stay. And, a romance is started. It's a cute story and well-acted and I enjoyed it.

Rating: A

Christmas movie review: Three Wise Women

Three Wise Women airs on Hallmark Channel and is sort of a twist on "A Christmas Carol" where the ghosts of Christmas past and Christmas future change the present. This time, instead of ghosts we have an angel who, in order to help someone, enlists her younger self and her older self to change her current self. It's kind of a cute idea but a lot of the details were a little confusing to me. The younger self (at age 19) shuts herself off from love supposedly when she catches both her dad and her boyfriend cheating on the same day. And the older self seems to be a lonely career-minded woman. However, the present day woman is about to get married and make a major breakthrough in her career. She's got a little bit of an attitude but I'm not so convinced that she needs saving. That's the major problem I have. This woman is not a Scrooge-like character from what we see. And she clearly hasn't shut her life off to love since she's engaged to be married! Regardless, the younger self goes to work as her assistant and starts to change her life, by reintroducing her to an old friend who always had a crush on her and canceling some work obligations. In the end, everything turns out great and a merry Christmas is had by all. I'd say this is about average for a Christmas movie.

Rating: B