Merry Liddle Christmas Baby | 2021 Christmas Movies

In 2019, we had a Merry Liddle Christmas. Last year, we had a Merry Liddle Christmas Wedding. This year, we’re having a Merry Liddle Christmas Baby. This is a very active Christmas family!

Jacquie (Kelly Rowland) and Tyler (Thomas Cadrot) got married, had their honeymoon, and bought a new house. Now they are expecting a baby! The rest of the Liddle family is back to celebrate the soon-to-be new member of the family and, of course, Christmas. Nothing can go wrong this time, right?

The first movie in the series was terrible. Somehow, they managed to make the characters more likeable and turn everything around for the second movie. Thankfully, they keep the family love going for the third installment. As usual, the carefully laid plans all get messed up but the family comes together to fix the problems. I’m glad they ditched the bratty kids and selfish sisters. The Liddle family is better when they are looking out for each other instead of themselves.

If you enjoyed Merry Liddle Christmas Wedding, you will enjoy Merry Liddle Christmas Baby. I’m glad that this series with an almost entirely black cast has found its footing. There is a setup for a fourth movie and I’m actually looking forward to it. As long as they don’t go back to the first movie, I will gladly continue to watch the series.

Time For Them To Come Home For Christmas | 2021 Christmas Movies

Apparently, Time For Them To Come Home For Christmas is the FOURTH movie in this series! They already did Time For Me, Time For You, and Time For Us. I guess the next few years will have Time For Him and Time For Her before they run out of pronouns.

Paul (Brendan Penny) is a nurse at a hospital in Maine. Shortly before Christmas, a woman (Jessy Schram) is almost hit by a car. When she wakes up, they find that she can’t remember anything about her life. Paul, who is planning on driving to Columbia, South Carolina, to visit family, agrees to take Jane Doe with him in the hopes that her memory will return when she meets up with…someone…at the Christmas Tree lighting.

I don’t understand the appeal of Jessy Schram. She was in last year’s dud, A Nashville Christmas Carol, and she isn’t any better in this year’s Christmas movie. While she is a beautiful woman, her acting is wooden and I’m not sure she has control over her facial movements. Looking over her IMDb listing, she does have recurring roles in some big television series. That means that she does have acting talent in there somewhere. Maybe she wasn’t meant for Hallmark Christmas movies. Not everyone can achieve the right amount of cheesiness without overshooting into awfulness.

The story begins on a good note. She has amnesia and they are trying to figure out who she is. The only clue they have is a newspaper clipping about a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony with a man’s name written on the back. So she decides to just take off to South Carolina, which is about an 18-hour drive with no stops. And the police sheriff (Lochlyn Munro) lets her go? Even if she’s traveling with a nurse, it’s a terrible idea. Especially since they have no idea who she would be meeting there. Once they leave the hospital, everything falls apart.

Much like last year’s installment, this one isn’t particularly worth watching. I’ll actually reiterate my suggestion from last year: “Watch beginning and the last 30 minutes. Skip the rest.”

A Boy Called Christmas | 2021 Christmas Movies

A Boy Called Christmas has intrigued me since it was announced that Netflix was releasing it. With some pretty big names attached to it, I knew this movie would either be amazing or awful. Which is it?

Three children - Andrea (Isabella O’Sullivan), Patrick (Eden Lawrence), and Moppet (Ayomide Garrick) - complain because their Aunt Ruth (Maggie Smith) is coming to watch them while their father (Joel Fry) goes to work. Little did they know that Aunt Ruth tells the best stories. Tonight’s story is about a boy named Nikolas (Henry Lawfull) and his adventures in the Far North.

Man, I want Maggie Smith to tell me bedtime stories. How awesome would that be?

Anyway, A Boy Called Christmas was such a good movie. Sure, it’s a Santa Claus/Christmas origin story, which is nothing new. However, the casting people made all the right decisions. From the aforementioned Maggie Smith (who will never be a terrible actor) down to Steven Fry as the voice for Mika the mouse. Every person is absolutely perfect for their role.

If I wanted to compare this movie to anything, I would compare it to The Princess Bride. They both begin as an older family member telling stories to the younger generation. They both have sections where you think the main character is going to fail at their mission. Yet, at the end, they both triumph and make their respective worlds better. There is no big romance story in A Boy Called Christmas. Nikolas is wide-eyed and open-hearted. He doesn’t even wish ill on the people that want to hurt him. Where The Princess Bride wants to kill the antagonist, A Boy Called Christmas wants to win them over with love and kindness.

This is definitely a movie that everyone should watch. I can easily see this becoming a new Christmas classic. Or at least a movie that you show to your children every year, until they are too old for the story of Santa. But even then they will secretly want to watch it. It is just that good.

Making Spirits Bright | 2021 Christmas Movies

What if Romeo & Juliet took place in modern times? And what if, during the Christmas season, the feuding families decorated houses? That is pretty much the plot of Making Spirits Bright.

The Ryan family and the Scotto family used to decorate houses for Christmas together. When Bill (Garry Chalk), and Frank (John Cassini) started fighting, the business broke up. Now their children, Grace (Taylor Cole) and Tony (Carlo Marks), are trying to get them back together in order to beat a new decorating company in the annual neighborhood competition.

At first, I thought I already watched this movie. It seemed very familiar. It wasn’t until I realized that the male lead character’s name is Tony and his sister is Maria that it clicked. Making Spirits Bright is basically Romeo & Juliet. (Tony and Maria are the lead characters in West Side Story, which is a musical version of Romeo & Juliet.) Since this is a Christmas movie, no one dies but Tony’s father, Frank, does fall off a ladder.

I actually kinda liked this one. Sure, there are a few scenes that could have been shortened or cut completely and we didn’t really need the parallel story of Grace and her friend/business partner, Sarah (Sarah Surh). But, otherwise, it was quite charming. I would have liked to have seen a little more of the Christmas displays but I think that is just me.

Is this something everyone would enjoy? I don’t think so. There are a few parts where the movie does begin to drag and it’s easy to lose interest. But if you like the feuding family storyline and want to see it with a Christmas twist, Making Spirits Bright isn’t a total waste of time.

Reba McEntire's Christmas in Tune | 2021 Christmas Movies

“The Queen of Country,” Reba McEntire, now has her very own Christmas movie! There will be singing, of course. And the singing will most likely be decent, of course. This is Reba, after all! But what about the movie itself? Will that be any good? Let’s take a look.

Georgia (Reba McEntire) and Joe (John Schneider) Winter used to be a couple. They also used to be a top country duo. Years after their breakup, the couple reunites to perform at a Christmas charity concert at the request of their daughter, Belle (Candice King). Will there be more than just music in the air?

Considering the stars of Christmas in Tune, I wasn’t overly concerned about the acting in the movie. Both Reba McEntire and John Schneider have had long acting careers. If the movie was going to flop, the blame would be placed solely on the writers’ shoulders.

Thankfully, the writing is not terrible. It’s actually pretty sweet in the love/hate type of way. Both Georgia and Joe love each other deeply but they also both let their pride get in the way. It isn’t until they have to spend time together that they realize how they feel about each other. There aren’t very many of these “established couple fell out of love” Christmas movies but I find they tend to be better than the “strangers falling in love” movies.

Unless you absolutely despise country music, you will like Christmas in Tune. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of country music but I enjoyed all of the songs here. Give it a try. At worst, you’ll walk away with a smile on your face.

Elves | 2021 Christmas Movies

Elves (or Nisser) is a Danish series being billed as “Christmas horror.” We’ve seen what Danish horror series were like back in October. Is a Christmas horror series better? let’s find out.

Josefine (Sonja Steen), or Jose, is a teenager about to spend Christmas on a remote island with her family. On the way to their vacation house, Jose’s father, Mads (Peder Thomas Pedersen), hits something with the car. Unable to find an injured animal or anything wrong with the car and instructed by some locals to stay far away from the nearby fence, the family heads on to the house. However, Jose can’t shake the feeling that they hit something. She heads back to the fence to find the animal. What she finds is something the family has never seen before.

This is as much of a “Christmas” story as Die Hard. They both take place during Christmas but neither are really about Christmas. The family chops down a Christmas tree, angering the head of the locals - Karen (Ann Eleonora Jørgensen); they make some homemade Christmas decorations; they talk about Christmas presents. That is the totality of the Christmas spirit here. The elves in the title aren’t even Christmas elves. They are forest elves.

With that said, it’s not a terrible story. It is only six 30ish-minute episodes. My husband and I binged the whole series in one night and I found it difficult to not binge the series. I wanted to find out what would happen next. It is a very interesting take on the elf mythology. Instead of being adorable woodland creatures, they are terrifying carnivores wanting sacrifices to keep from killing the local people.

My main problem with the series is Jose, herself. She is seriously dumb, even for a teenager. Every time she is told not to do something, she does it. Not once does she listen to a single adult, even when she is trying to escape the danger. The girl is almost killed and she still tries to keep a baby elf as a pet. We get to see why Jose doesn’t listen to adults and why she thinks she can do whatever she wants: She is literally the entire reason everyone on the island is in danger. When Karen straight up tells her this, Jose’s mother, Charlotte (Lila Nobel), tells her that it’s not her fault. NO, CHARLOTTE. THIS IS HER FAULT. ENTIRELY HER FAULT. If she had listened, just once, no one would be in this situation. It would have been nice if the writers could have driven the plot along without making Jose as willful as she is. Or even if she had realized what she had done and tried to resolve it. But she doesn’t.

Elves is set up to have a second season. I’m not sure if one is on the way but the set up is there. So should you watch it? If you are into slow-burn horror movies, you might like this. Just be warned that you might be rooting for Josefine to die.

The Nine Kittens of Christmas | 2021 Christmas Movies

In 2014, the Hallmark Channel showed The Nine Lives of Christmas. Here it is 2021 and we’re getting a sequel - The Nine Kittens of Christmas. Do you think we’ll get another movie in 2028?

Zachary (Brandon Routh) is a captain at the fire station in Bend, Oregon. A box containing nine kittens was left on the doorstep of the fire station. Thankfully, his veterinarian ex-girlfriend, Marilee (Kimberley Sustad), is back from Miami for the holidays. Together, they need to find appropriate homes for all nine kittens.

No, I didn’t watch the original 2014 movie. I’m sure that means there are inside jokes and references that I missed. Ah well. That is what they get for waiting seven years for a sequel.

While most of the movie was fine, the cat thing was a little annoying. Both Zachary and Marilee let their cats, Ambrose and Duchess, respectively, make decisions in their lives. That is weird. It would have been fine if they just held their cats a lot (which they do) or talk to their cats (which they do) but the movie seriously wants us to believe the cats were tossing cell phones around or answering phone calls. It’s a bit much. Not to mention that they had homes for almost all of the kittens pretty quickly. A side character had to back out of adopting three kittens in order to make the movie last longer. I get that the movie is about cats but the writers didn’t have to shove it down our throats.

I guess if you really, really like cats, you’ll enjoy The Nine Kittens of Christmas. For the rest of us, it’s fairly skippable. There isn’t a lot that goes on that doesn’t involve cats. Put it on in the background and peek in every few minutes to aww over the cute kittens. That is about what the movie is worth.

8-Bit Christmas | 2021 Christmas Movies

It’s time for HBO Max to throw themselves into the Christmas movie ring with 8-Bit Christmas. Can HBO even compete with the Hallmark, Lifetime, and Netflix Christmas juggernauts?

Annie (Sophia Reid-Gantzert) wants a cell phone for Christmas. Her father, Jake (Neil Patrick Harris), decides to regale her with the story of how he received his beloved Nintendo Entertainment System in the late 1980s. The story doesn’t go quite the way Annie thinks it will.

I have seen people comparing this movie to A Christmas Story or Jingle All The Way. I can see the similarities that people are noticing but they aren’t really good comparisons. A Christmas Story is entirely told in flashback, like 8-Bit Christmas, but we never see Ralphie as an adult and it’s also a series of smaller stories within the big story of Ralphie trying to get a Red Ranger BB gun for Christmas. Jingle All The Way is the story of a father trying to get his kid the hot toy of the season. The parents in 8-Bit Christmas refuse to buy Jake the Nintendo he so desperately wants. Sure, both the Nintendo and the Turbo-Man action figure were “hot” toys for their respective eras but that is the only real comparison there.

Personally, I really enjoyed 8-Bit Christmas. Maybe it’s the nostalgia factor - I did grow up in the 80s so this story pretty much hits me in my childhood. But it was also just fun. Winslow Fegley as young Jake is so emotive. It’s difficult to not feel disappointed when he’s disappointed or smile when he’s having fun with his friends. And he’s not the only one. All of the kid actors were really good. The only one I had difficulty connecting with was Jake’s younger sister, Lizzy (Bellaluna Resnick), which I think was intentional since Jake is the storyteller.

I don’t know that I would watch 8-Bit Christmas every year but I think I will show it to my daughter. It is some good family entertainment. Just keep in mind that it won’t end the way you think it will!

Baking Spirits Bright | 20201 Christmas Movies

A movie about how awesome fruitcake is. We’re really going there? OK, Lifetime. You’re the one that said it.

Varma Fruitcakes is a family-owned company that makes fruitcake. When her parents hire an outside marketing company for their holiday marketing, Mira (Rekha Sharma) is concerned that it will make the company look bad. Will her traditional values be reflected in Brady’s (Dion Johnstone) marketing campaign or will the company go bankrupt?

Let’s start with the truth here. Fruitcake is disgusting. No amount of marketing will make anyone under the age of 60 want to buy it. Your company should really branch out into other baked items.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about Baking Spirits Bright. I hate this movie a lot. And the reason I hate this movie is Mira. This entire movie is based on Mira not wanting to do anything to update the family company. She wants everything to stay just like it was when she was a young child. I’m sorry but, if you want your company to succeed, you have to change with the times. You can’t grow if you want to stay exactly the same.

I’m also annoyed at the two marketing campaigns we are shown. Brady gives us a retro campaign. Fine. He gave into Mira’s irrational fears and came up with a fairly cute campaign. However, we also see a social media campaign from Brady’s junior co-worker, Finn (Riun Garner). This campaign seems solely based on giving some sample products to YouTubers and letting them do whatever they want. That isn’t how a social media campaign works. Companies give the influencers an idea of what they are looking for and the company vets the videos before they go live. No one is sitting there chewing on their fingernails as they watch the videos to see what is said. And why in the world would Finn pick a “Dare channel” to market the product? That is the only influencer we see in the campaign. It was a very stupid decision.

There is seriously nothing redeeming about Baking Spirits Bright. Stay far away from this one. I’m sure there will be plenty of baking-related movies to take its place. This one, and its fruitcake, belong in the trash.

A Kiss Before Christmas | 2021 Christmas Movies

A Kiss Before Christmas has a sort of It’s A Wonderful Life feel to it. But is it good enough to become a new Christmas classic?

Like most people, Ethan (James Denton) wishes he had more money. Life would be perfect if he didn’t have to worry about paying for a new radiator for the car or college for kids, right? When Santa (John B. Lowe) grants him a Christmas wish, Ethan gets to see what his life would have been if he had made a different decision in the past. Realizing his mistake, can Ethan figure out how to get his wife Joyce (Teri Hatcher) and kids back?

Finally! An actual good movie on the Hallmark Channel! And I’m going to chalk it up to the talented cast they managed to get together. James Denton is heart-breaking as Ethan - a man who wants to give his family everything they deserve but he has trouble balancing his attempts to climb the corporate ladder with a satisfying, loving home life. Teri Hatcher tugs at your heart strings at Joyce - who tries to convince her husband that the family needs him to be present more than they need to be wealthy. And Rod Wilson, as the evil corporate businessman Sean, makes you hate every fiber of his being. If these were lesser actors, the script could have easily come off as cheesy or overly mushy.

I honestly don’t want to give too much away here. Though, to be honest, this isn’t a movie with a lot of twists and turns in the plots. You should be able to predict what will happen. But it’s not the uniqueness of the plot that makes it good. It’s the way it was brought to life.

So, yes, go watch A Kiss Before Christmas. I’m not convinced it will be a new annual classic but it definitely is worth watching a couple of times.