Sugarplummed | 2024 Christmas Movies

I am going to call it now - unless something magical happens in the (approximately) 20 movies left to watch this season, Sugarplummed will, in fact, be my number one movie this year. When I heard the title, I thought it was dumb. When I heard the plot, I thought it was dumb. Man, I couldn’t be more wrong.

Emily (Maggie Lawson) wants to give her family the perfect Christmas. But, every year, something goes wrong. As she prepares for Christmas this year, she finds a star ornament that promises a Christmas wish. Exhausted and irritated, she wishes that she could fulfill her list that would make Christmas picture-perfect like the Sugarplum Christmas movies. Much to her surprise, Sugarplum (Janel Parrish), herself, appears to make all of Emily’s Christmas wishes come true.

Like I said, I really did think this movie was going to be stupid. I should know Hallmark better. Sometimes they don’t mind poking a little fun at themselves. And that is exactly what they do here. Instead of having a variety of movies that all seem the same, they fake Hallmark channel in the movie just uses the same character, Sugarplum, in the lead of all of their movies. So Sugarplum has saved small town businesses, dated secret princes, and even brought the Christmas spirit to the humbugs. And Parrish was perfectly cast as the princess of Christmas.

At the same time, Lawson has perfected playing the “imperfect woman.” You can’t help but believe that she is trying her very best even when the results are the absolute worst. Pairing Lawson with Parrish was probably the best decision a casting director ever made.

And, of course, there has to be a conflict, right? The movie can’t keep going up, up, up. There are actually two problems that need to be solved and neither of them felt forced. The writer/director of Sugarplummed, Ryan Landels, has written some stinkers (I’m looking at you, Jem & The Holograms movie) but his Christmas movies aren’t too bad. Maybe this is your lane, dude.

Rating: I want more movies with Sugarplum…like the Mrs. Miracle movies!

Once Upon A Christmas Wish | 2024 Christmas Movies

Don’t let anyone tell you that Great American Family doesn’t love nepotism. Many of the actors in Once Upon A Christmas Wish are from the same family. And the only other child with lines in the movie is related to the writer/director. This was a bad decision.

Brian Ortega (Mario Lopez) is the mayor of Long Grove. As he prepares the town for Christmas, he finds his 4th grade letter to Santa, complete with wish list. Surprisingly, the items on his wish list begin to come true. When his former classmate, Nina (Courtney Lopez), coming back to town, his wish list really can be complete.

In case you didn’t know, Mario and Courtney Lopez are married. Their son, Dominic, plays Joey, a writer for the school newspaper. And the director’s daughter plays Hannah, a girl at Joey’s school who made a box to gather letters for Santa. To be honest, none of that works. Even though their actors have been married for over a decade, Brian and Nina barely seem to like each other. They only hang out and talk because they haven’t seen each other in a long time. You wouldn’t think they are boring but they are.

Also, this movie is a musical. It’s not marketed as a musical but it is. Normally, I love musicals. But Mario’s dancing in this is so wooden that, every time he is given choreography, I am immediately taken out of the movie. Courtney, meanwhile, gets all of the singing that isn’t delegated to a children’s choir. She’s a decent enough singer but the song she sings over and over is bad. I will give her credit that she is a better dancer than Mario. But that isn’t saying much.

Rating: Santa wasted his powers on this wish list

Private Princess Christmas | 2024 Christmas Movies

Hallmark has given us another royal Christmas movie but Private Princess Christmas has a bit of a twist to it. It sounds interesting. But is it actually interesting?

Violet (Ali Skovbye) is the princess of Wingravia. She loves all of the perks of being a princess but hates all of the responsibilities. After disappointing her mother, the Queen (Erica Durance), one too many times, Violet gets sent to a boot camp that specializes in turning spoiled brats into leaders.

While Private Princess Christmas did have a fresh plotline (at least for Christmas movies), I don’t think it was executed very well. First off, Ryan (Derek Klena), the soldier in charge of the boot camp, is way too easy on the cadets. Boot camp is supposed to be difficult. That is why it’s boot camp. And we’re talking about a boot camp for spoiled brats. Why would you give into anything they wanted? Instead of being strict and following the rules exactly, Ryan gave in and let them basically do whatever they wanted. Even when they broke the rules of their given tasks, there was no consequence. What was the point of sending anyone there?

Second, the entire reason that Violet was acting out and the Queen (who never actually gets a name) is so distant with her daughter is because the King passed away earlier in the year. So both of them are grieving and ignoring each other. They don’t need boot camp, they need therapy!

There was so much potential for this movie. There are plenty of fish-out-of-water movies where someone gets sent to boot camp to become a better person and those are witty and funny and enjoyable. This was none of those. And I actually wanted to like this one.

Rating: Is there a rank lower than private?

A Dance In The Snow | 2024 Christmas Movies

So let me get this right - The Christmas Quest, a movie about an actual mystery, is on the main Hallmark Channel while A Dance In The Snow, a movie about an autistic girl and her mother, is on Hallmark Mystery. Make it make sense, Hallmark!

Jenny (Vanessa Burghardt) is an autistic high school senior. Her mother, Melanie (Erica Cerra), does everything she can to make Jenny’s life easier, including opening a center for autistic people. When the school’s winter dance rolls around, Jenny doesn’t want to go due to a bad experience the previous year. As a surprise for Jenny, Melanie, with some help from Jenny’s literature teacher Daniel (Mark Ghanimé), decides to join the dance planning committee in order to make the dance more accessible for everyone. Meanwhile, Jenny and her friends decide to plan their own winter dance as a surprise for Melanie. Love begins to bloom for both women but, thanks to the secrecy, their relationship falters a little.

This was a pretty sweet movie. It was nice to see an autistic actor (Burghardt) playing an autistic character. Usually the directors give some lame excuse about how difficult it is to find someone or work with them. A Dance In The Snow proves those excuses wrong.

With that said, I don’t know that this movie is for everyone. The plot does move pretty slowly and there isn’t a ton of action happening. However, it really is a nice break from the insanity that is the traditional Hallmark Christmas movie.

Rating: There’s no Christmas but there is snow

The Christmas Quest | 2024 Christmas Movies

The Christmas Questsounds like a movie that belongs on Hallmark Mystery. But since it stars Hallmark’s main leading lady, Lacey Chabert, it is on the main Hallmark channel. I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing.

Stefanie Baxter (Chabert) is an archeologist whose mother (Erin Cahill) spent most of Stefanie’s childhood searching for an Icelandic treasure. When Stefanie is approached by Victor (Derek Riddell) to help search for the treasure, she jumps on board. Unfortunately, she needs help from her ex-husband, Chase (Kristoffer Polaha), an expert in ancient Norse languages. Can they find the treasure before it ends up in the wrong hands?

I admit that I am a fan of the National Treasure-type movies. Give me some good puzzles (that I don’t have to solve myself) and a good adventure and I am happy. The Christmas Quest does bring in some Icelandic folklore, which was really cool to see. Unfortunately, that is the coolest thing in the movie. The puzzles didn’t seem particularly difficult if you know the folklore they are referencing (which most of the people in the movie seemed to know), the “bad guys” didn’t seem all that dangerous, and the end was a cop-out. This is, yet again, another movie that isn’t absolutely terrible but it isn’t particularly worth watching either. Maybe if you are a big fan of Lacey Chabert you’ll like it?

Rating: More Yule Lads, less of everything else

Make Or Bake Christmas | 2024 Christmas Movies

Ooh. I don’t think we’ve had any baking Christmas movies this year, have we? Make Or Bake Christmasshould fix that! Right?

Emma (Jasmine Aivaliotis) works for Leslie (Vivica A. Fox), a lifestyle business mogul. When she hears about up-and-coming family bakery Sugar Bakers, run by Denise Sugarbaker (Jackée Harry), Leslie sends Emma to go undercover as a seasonal employee to convince the family to sell the business.

Man, this movie isn’t about baking. It’s about corporate espionage. Well, on the bright side, it was a fairly interesting movie. I think my favorite part is when all of the employees went out for karaoke night and they all sang like normal people. They didn’t make anyone an outstanding singer. It gave the movie a touch of normalcy.

The worst part really was how awful Leslie was to Emma. We all know terrible corporate bosses. We don’t really need them in our Christmas movies. And we didn’t really get a “come to the light” moment for her. She seemed less awful at the end but we don’t know that she isn’t still a horrible boss to everyone else.

Overall, it’s not a terrible movie. I have seen worse. But I don’t think I would watch it a second time.

Rating: Come for the cookies, stay for the karaoke

The Finnish Line | 2024 Christmas Movies

Frequently, Christmas movies that heavily feature dogs are the worst Christmas movies out there. I’m not sure why. It can’t possibly be the fault of the dogs, right? Well, Hallmark is giving us another dog Christmas movie with The Finnish Line. Cross your paws that this will be better.

Anya (Kim Matula) learned dog sled racing from her father. After he passed, she decides to participate in the 40th annual Joulurauha race in Finland. When her lead dog gets injured in the qualifying race, she borrows a dog from dog-sled-racer-turned-reporter Cole (Beau Mirchoff). As if that isn’t bad enough, she also has to face her father’s racing rival, Monty (Páll Sigþór Pálsson). Will she be able to pull through and win the race or will she bring shame to her family?

So this movie isn’t really about the dogs. The dogs are there and they do take up some of the scenes but they aren’t really the focus. While I wished the movie was about the dogs more, I suppose it is a good thing it’s not because this movie wasn’t half bad. Sure, they completely botched the rules of dog sled racing (the racers don’t leave all at once…they are staggered starts and the winner is determined by time) but unless you are into dog sled racing, you wouldn’t know any different. Having them start at the same time heightens the stakes between Anya and Monty.

And while the romance between Anya and Cole is fine, I think the romance between Anya’s friend, Elyse (Nichole Sakura), and Anya’s cousin, Lavi (Benedikt Karl Gröndal), was much more interesting. They actually had a real conflict that stood in the way of their relationship. And I’m glad that it was secondary in the plot so we could really focus on Anya’s personal journey.

Rating: Can I pet that dog?

Home Sweet Christmas | 2024 Christmas Movies

Home Sweet Christmas is the second Candace Cameron Bure movie on Great American Family this year. I honestly didn’t realize this movie was on the schedule. When I referenced a second Cameron Bure movie this year, I was talking about Let It Snow, a Hallmark movie from 2013 that GAF somehow got their hands on. I’m not going to watch that one. But I will watch Home Sweet Christmas.

Sophie (Cameron Bure) is an acquisitions and mergers lawyer living in the big city. When her great uncle passes away, he leaves her a majority stake in Marlow Maple Meadows, a sugar maple farm. With only a few days before Christmas and a big merger, she must go back to the small town to decide what to do with the farm. Reliving her childhood memories with her old friend, Sam (Cameron Mathison), Sophie realizes that maybe she’s not ready to sell the farm after all.

Ugh. This is yet another boring movie. Her job is boring, his job is more boring, even the big montage of them fixing up the house is boring. I thought that maybe we would get a little intrigue when they realize that great uncle Henry had a mystery love when he was younger but, no, they left it for too late it the movie so that mystery is solved almost immediately. Home Sweet Christmas is another movie that doesn’t really have a point. They put two people together, tell us they are in love (or will fall in love), and that is it. There has to be more to a movie than just falling in love. But at least this movie had a dog?

Rating: Sell the whole thing and go away

Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story | 2024 Christmas Movies

I swear that Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story was marketed as a Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce movie. It’s not. Maybe I misunderstood because Donna Kelce is in it and it’s, obviously, very about the Kansas City Chiefs. I feel bamboozled.

Alana (Hunter King) and her family are big fans of the Kansas City Chiefs football team. They even own a shop that sells Chiefs merchandise. This year, they are finalists for the Fan of the Year award. Derrick (Tyler Hynes) is a member of the fan engagement team for the Chiefs. He gets assigned to meet the family to judge whether they should win the coveted title.

Sadly, I got very bored during this movie. King and Hynes never really seemed to connect with each other. Ed Begley Jr. as Alana’s grandfather felt very old, which made me sad. (As a side note, Richard Riehle plays Alana’s other grandfather. He is approximately the same age as Begley Jr. but doesn’t feel anywhere near as ancient.) They kept dropping Donna Kelce in to say random unnecessary lines. There just wasn’t anything fun or interesting here. I suppose maybe if you are a Chiefs fan since they showed Andy Reid and some retired players. But I’m not sure that was enough to save this.

Rating: Tackled at the 5 yard line

Believe In Christmas | 2024 Christmas Movies

It is quite possible that with Believe In , Hallmark has given us a Christmas romance movie with an entirely new plot. There are no business owners losing their shops or people trying to decorate/refurbish a house…there isn’t even an evil businessman trying to buy all of the shops on Main Street so he can build a giant mall. This may be something…gasp…new.

Beatrice (Meghan Ory) and Emilia (Lindura) are best friends. Beatrice dislikes Christmas and loves black coffee whereas Em adores Christmas and loves all things sweet. When Em wins two tickets to Christmasland in a contest, of course she has to bring her best friend with her. Who else would she spend Christmas with?

Yes, the plot of this is pretty basic. What the plot description leaves out is that Christmasland is a place where the townspeople become Christmas movie trope characters to give the tourists a “Christmas movie experience.” For example, the woman in the bakery who wins the Christmas baking contest every year gets beaten by the newbie in town and huffs about it a little bit…that is all fake. And that is what makes Believe In Christmas so interesting. We (and Bea) don’t know what is real and what is fake. There is a question around every turn and I think that is what makes this movie so great. Every time we, the audience, groan about something being cheesy, is it because it is cheesy or are the townspeople playing it cheesy because that is how it would be in the movie. I love it.

I only have one complaint about this movie: Em gets paired up with Porter (Kevin Hanchard), who looks like he is old enough to be her father. I don’t think we ever get actual ages for the characters but Hanchard is 50 years old and I can’t find any information about how old Lindura is. I can say that he looks like he’s in his 40s and she looks like she’s in her 20s. It may be great skin but it also may be super creepy. Thankfully, this is the one low point to a movie I otherwise enjoyed thoroughly.

Rating: I want to go to Christmasland and play pretend.