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A Merry Single Christmas | 2022 Christmas Movies

December 31, 2022 Cassandra Morgan

For my final Christmas movie review of 2022, I headed over to the Roku Channel to check out A Merry Single Christmas. I can’t tell you how happy I am that this season is over.

Morgan (Chelsea Gilson) and Liam (Andrew Rogers) have been dating for five years. When he doesn’t propose on their anniversary, as she was expecting, Morgan breaks off the relationship. Sad and depressed, Morgan signs up to attend a Christmas Lonely Hearts Club retreat. Also sad and depressed, Liam signs up for the same retreat. They try to pretend that they don’t know each other but their feelings get the better of them.

It’s movies like this that make me dread the Christmas romcom movie season. The premise sounds like it could be a ton of fun. Morgan saying things like “I’m sorry but what is your name again?” or Liam ‘accidentally’ getting facts about her wrong. They could have had this sort of passive-aggressive flirtation going on. But no. The movie did not do that. Instead of something fun, the movie gave us the usual boring fare, complete with Juliet (Sarah Armstrong), the retreat’s organizer, kicking out any couples that dared to begin a relationship. This retreat is for singles and those singles are forbidden from falling in love with each other.

I wanted to end the 2022 season on a positive note but that isn’t happening. Don’t bother with A Merry Single Christmas. All it will do is make you wish it was a better movie.

In Christmas movies Tags Roku Channel, Roku, Christmas 2022, Christmas movie, A Merry Single Christmas, Chelsea Gilson, Andrew Rogers, Sarah Armstrong, Lexi Giovagnoli, Andrae Todd James Bicy, Abigail Esmena, Sydnee Grant, Maurice P. Kerry, Paul Kulis, Tim Shelburne, David Sollberger, LeJon Woods
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Something From Tiffany's | 2022 Christmas Movies

December 30, 2022 Cassandra Morgan

As much as I enjoy writing these reviews every year, I will be very happy when I post the last review. Alas, today is not that day. Today I’ll be taking a look at Something From Tiffany’s on Amazon Prime Video.

Rachel (Zoey Deutch) is a baker whose boyfriend, Gary (Ray Nicholson), was hit by a car after buying her Christmas/Hanukkah gift at Tiffany’s. Ethan (Kendrick Sampson) is a writer who also happened to be shopping at Tiffany’s and saw Gary’s accident. When Ethan went to help Gary, their Tiffany bags got mixed up. Ethan ended up giving his girlfriend, Vanessa (Shay Mitchell), a pair of diamond earrings that were intended for Rachel. Gary accidentally proposed to Rachel with the engagement ring that was intended for Vanessa. Not wanting to hurt Rachel’s feelings, Ethan tries to figure out a way to get the ring back without directly asking for it.

I’m a little torn on this movie. It wasn’t bad. It was even a promising premise. However, it was still rather bland and boring. Even when each of the couples has their inevitable argument, there isn’t any drama. While that is the real life ideal, it doesn’t make a great movie. You want the couple to be screaming or throwing things. Something that would make the fight worthwhile to watch. No one wants to watch two adults calmly discuss why their relationship isn’t working.

My other problem is that we don’t really see the relationship between Rachel and Ethan blossom. Sure, they walk around New York a bit together and they visit a park that Ethan claims no one knows about…but c’mon, Ethan, there are a ton of people there. Everyone knows about it. Oh, and they do have dinner together once. I didn’t see anything that would make me think they were falling in love.

Sadly, I’m going to say skip Something From Tiffany’s. It doesn’t have enough oomph to make it an interesting movie. This is something I would turn on if I was having trouble falling asleep. I would love to see this redone in a more dramatic way. Or even more comedic. For a rom-com, it’s barely rom with zero com.

In Christmas movies Tags Amazon, Amazon Prime, Christmas 2022, Christmas movie, Something From Tiffany's, Zoey Deutch, Kendrick Sampson, Ray Nicholson, Shay Mitchell, Leah Jeffries, Jojo T. Gibbs, Javicia Leslie
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A Not So Merry Christmas | 2022 Christmas Movies

December 29, 2022 Cassandra Morgan

A lot of the movies left on Netflix are foreign films, which I usually enjoy. Next up is the Mexican flick, A Not So Merry Christmas.

Chuy (Mauricio Ochmann) doesn’t like Christmas. Partially because his birthday is on Christmas Eve so it gets overlooked every year. But also because he sees his family as freeloaders. As he is out and about finishing his Christmas Eve chores, he meets his Christmas Fairy Godmother, who places a spell on him that makes him only remember Christmas Eve until he learns how to appreciate Christmas properly.

This movie has the same premise as the 2020 Brazilian movie, Just Another Christmas. A man who hates Christmas is doomed to only remember Christmas, even though he lives his regular life the rest of the year. However, Just Another Christmas was a lot more entertaining than A Not So Merry Christmas. Both are supposed to be comedies but the only funny thing about Not So Merry is the Fairy Godmother. And even she isn’t that funny.

A Not So Merry Christmas is a decent enough movie. But I would recommend watching Just Another Christmas instead. You’ll have a much better time.

In Christmas movies Tags Netflix, Christmas 2022, Christmas movie, Mexican movie, A Not So Merry Christmas, Mauricio Ochmann, Ana Brenda Contreras, Manu Nna, José Sefami, María Rojo
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Christmas Love | 2022 Christmas Movies

December 28, 2022 Cassandra Morgan

Christmas Love is a short film but I’m counting it in my Christmas movie list. It’s only about 30 minutes long, though I wish it was a little longer.

Sam (Abel Mutua) is a widowed single father struggling to raise his daughter while juggling his job. Can he figure out how to put his daughter first in his life?

I am so sad at how short Christmas Love is. We get the story of how Sam is struggling to fit everything into his schedule and how much he misses his late wife but we don’t get much of a resolution. He, once again, doesn’t show up on time for his daughter and he receives a message that Christ Was Love during her school play. However, we don’t get to see if he has really changed his ways or if she will always play second fiddle to his demanding job. It would have been nice to have another half hour to give us a better resolution to the problems or maybe show us Sam quitting his job in order to focus on his daughter more. Just something that shows us he has changed.

On one hand, I want to recommend this movie because it is another foreign film released by Netflix. On the other hand, it doesn’t have a real ending. That makes it difficult to recommend. Maybe turn it on in the background while you are doing something else. That way Netflix counts it as a view but you don’t waste your 30 minutes watching something unsatisfying.

In Christmas movies Tags Netflix, Christmas 2022, Christmas movie, Christmas Love, Abel Mutua, Grace Ekirapa, Robert Israel Burale
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I Believe In Santa | 2022 Christmas Movies

December 27, 2022 Cassandra Morgan

Now that I have finished all of the usual network Christmas movies, I’ll finish out the year with some from Netflix (and maybe other streaming channels) that I didn’t get to. I’m starting off with I Believe In Santa.

Lisa (Christina Moore) is a writer who hates Christmas. Tom (John Ducey) is a lawyer who loves Christmas so much that he still believes in Santa Claus. After five months of dating, Lisa just found out about Tom’s beliefs. Will they be able to find a way to compromise or is this the end of their relationship?

I want to start off with noting that this is definitely an allegory for Catholicism vs atheism. Yes, they do talk about religion in the movie but the only specific religion they mention is Muslim. Santa is definitely supposed to be a stand-in for big-g God.

With that in mind, I still found it to be a charming movie. There were the usual discussions about faith - how do you prove it if you can’t see it - but it didn’t come off as preachy, the way most faith movies do. I think it’s because there is no “Santa has a plan” type reasonings here. Instead, it’s basically “It’s real if you believe it is real.” Which is a much better reasoning for faith.

While I do think this I Believe In Santa is a movie worth watching, it isn’t the best movie out there. There are a ton of unnecessary montages and the production is a little lacking. But for a movie about religion, I thought it was well handled. And Lisa’s daughter, Ella (Violet McGraw), is a great reason to watch, if you still need one.

In Christmas movies Tags Netflix, Christmas 2022, Christmas movie, I Believe In Santa, Christina Moore, John Ducey, Violet McGraw, Sachin Bhatt, Lateefah Holder, Matthew Glave
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Christmas In Wolf Creek | 2022 Christmas Movies

December 26, 2022 Cassandra Morgan

Christmas In Wolf Creek is the last of the Hallmark/Lifetime/UPtv/Great American Family Christmas movies. And I’m not going to lie. I didn’t finish it. Let me tell you why.

Samantha (Nola Martin) and Austin (Tim Rozon) are trying to figure out how they can still be together. Samantha lives in Wolf Creek, where she rescues animals, while Austin is a rancher. He doesn’t want to move into town and she doesn’t want to live on the ranch. Can they come to an agreement?

As I said, I didn’t finish this one. This is a direct sequel from Love In Wolf Creek, which came out in either October or November 2022. Since I didn’t watch that one, I didn’t understand a lot of the references they made in the Christmas one. People kept talking about how Samantha and Austin fell in love rescuing a wolf and rescuing animals in the wild in what they do. Yet they argued through the entire first half of this movie, which is where I stopped watching.

If you watched Love In Wolf Creek, you might like Christmas In Wolf Creek. But if, like me, you didn’t watch the first one, you might not enjoy the second one either. Starting with a sequel instead of the original isn’t bad, unless the second movie makes so many references to the first that you get lost. It sucks.

In Christmas movies Tags UPTv, UPtv, Christmas 2022, Christmas movie, Christmas In Wolf Creek, Tim Rozon, Nola Martin, Art Hindle, Madeline Leon, Mary Long, Ish Morris, Bobby Daniels, Ava Augustin, Vijay Mehta, Ava Cheung
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The Snowball Effect | 2022 Christmas Movies

December 26, 2022 Cassandra Morgan

Once again, we have a movie about weather forecasters. This time it’s UPtv’s The Snowball Effect. Let’s check it out.

Tara (Anjali Khurana) and Sam (Landon Moss) are both weather forecasters at competing networks. When a position opens up at a larger network, both of them apply for it. However, as they are traveling to their interviews, they get stuck in the town of Mistletoe thanks to an incoming snowstorm. In order to continue their interview, they each must submit a weather report to the network. While researching more about the town, they find out that the town no longer celebrates Christmas. They decide to find a way to bring the Christmas spirit back to Mistletoe.

So much of this movie is based on two people doing things, mostly without permission, to try to get the mayor to say yes to Christmas. For example, Tara arranges a group of carolers to sing outside the mayor’s house for what seems like hours while Sam plans a Christmas party without any actual venue or food or anything. Somehow Sam’s plan comes together and, while Tara’s plan seems like a failure at first, it also works out. The magic of movies.

While this wasn’t a completely awful movie, I don’t think it was good enough to recommend. Cloudy With A Chance Of Christmas was a much better movie. Go watch that instead.

In Christmas movies Tags UPTv, UPtv, Christmas 2022, Christmas mo, The Snowball Effect, Anjali Khurana, Landon Moss, Russell Bradley Fenton, Samantha Rose Valletta, Leta Tavares, Dick McMahon, Jennifer Bubriski
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A Brush With Christmas | 2022 Christmas Movies

December 25, 2022 Cassandra Morgan

With A Brush With Christmas, we finish the Great American Family movies for the season. I wish that the channels would end their seasons with a really good movie. It doesn’t have to be their best but it would be nice if it was at least good.

Charlotte (Jillian Murray) is the head chef at her family’s restaurant. However, she really wants to be an artist. Disheartened by the lack of time she has for her art, Charlotte throws away an unfinished painting. Wyatt (Joseph Cannata), a visiting artist, finds the painting and submits it to the Christmas art festival. Charlotte is not happy when she sees her painting in the exhibit.

This was yet another boring movie. There were so many problems that weren’t actually problems. While Charlotte said she wanted to paint, she also said she was perfectly happy cooking. Granted, she had a lot of trouble cooking risotto but at no point did she actually seem unhappy. And Wyatt? I’m still not sure what his problem was. Why would someone take an unfinished painting and submit it to a festival? He didn’t claim the painting as his - he entered it as painted anonymously but submitted by him. That just seems weird and creepy to me.

Skip this one too. I’m not sure that I will keep Great American Family on the list in 2023. I’m going to go into more detail in my Christmas movie wrap up but let’s just say that, for the most part, these are not good movies.

In Christmas movies Tags Great American Family, Great American Christmas, Christmas 2022, Christmas movie, A Brush With Christmas, Jillian Murray, Joseph Cannata, Jan Skene, Farrah Aviva, Paul Essiembre, Michael Strickland
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Wrapped Up In Love | 2022 Christmas Movies

December 24, 2022 Cassandra Morgan

I am so close to the end of Christmas movie season. Wrapped Up In Love is the last of the Lifetime movies. I am happy to be done with this channel for now.

Ashley (Brittany Bristow) works at a local department store. When the owner talks about retiring, she is certain that she will be picked to take over. Much to her dismay, he has brought in his son, Ben (Olivier Renaud), who wants to use technology to advertise the store. But Ashley prefers classic, traditional ways. Will they be able to come to an agreement?

There wasn’t anything I liked about Wrapped Up In Love. Ashley was annoying in her refusal to use technology in any way and Ben was annoying in his refusal to do anything traditional. Despite that, Ashley is way more open to Ben’s ways than he is to hers. He wants to film a video of the store employees reading a store themed version of “Twas The Night Before Christmas”. She not only agrees to be in the video, she also agrees to freaking help him edit it. But he doesn’t help her with anything until the grand finale when the whole store needs to work together. I hate this relationship.

Please don’t watch this movie. It’s terrible. Go watch any other movie. It will make you much happier.

In Christmas movies Tags Lifetime, Christmas 2022, Christmas movie, Wrapped Up In Love, Brittany Bristow, Olivier Renaud, Tara Joshi, Matt Wells, Nancy Palk, Art Hindle, Jonathan Whittaker, Arcade Riley, Connie Wang, Christine Donato
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An Eclectic Christmas | 2022 Christmas Movies

December 24, 2022 Cassandra Morgan

An Eclectic Christmas isn’t just difficult to spell, it’s also difficult to enjoy. There are still two more UPtv Christmas movies to watch. I can’t wait until they are over.

Kim (Hannah Galway) is a fitness instructor living in Los Angeles. When her beloved Aunt Freida (Jill Frappier) passes away, Kim returns to her hometown to sell Freida’s antique shop. However, Freida has left instructions in her will that some of the shop’s items be distributed to certain townsfolk. With the help of her ex-boyfriend, Scott (Jeremy Walmsley), Kim must solve Freida’s riddles to complete her job.

There are a lot of problems with this movie. The big one is why Scott and Kim broke up. She wanted to move to Los Angeles and, even though they were engaged, he stayed in their small town because he didn’t want to hold her back? That just isn’t a reasonable excuse. If it was a sick relative or maybe a family business or something like that, it would make sense. But because he didn’t want to hold her back? Why would you even get engaged if that was how you felt?

Next up are Aunt Freida’s riddles. Most of them make zero sense and we don’t get a good explanation for the solution. And they are the bulk of the movie. We watch Kim and Scott randomly travel from place to place to deliver items and hear the recipient talk about their history with Freida. Also, they make it sound like Kim grew up in this town. After all, she was engaged to Scott. But then she seems to know little to nothing about the town’s traditions. Traditions that her aunt seemed to be very involved in. The plot holes are so big you could drive a truck through them.

I wouldn’t recommend watching An Eclectic Christmas. Galway and Walmsley aren’t terrible actors but they aren’t given anything good to work with. I would like to see them in a better written movie. This one just isn’t it.

In Christmas movies Tags UPTv, UPtv, Christmas 2022, Christmas movie, An Eclectic Christmas, Hannah Galway, Jeremy Walmsley, Jill Frappier, Nola Augustson, Daniel Kash, Dayle McLeod, Ellen Olivia, Kim Roberts, Jonathan Whittaker
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