The Royal Nanny | 2022 Christmas Movies

At this point in the Christmas movie season, I usually fast forward through all of the commercials and previews for upcoming movies. What that means is I know literally nothing about new movies before I watch them. I assumed that The Royal Nanny was about a nanny…for a royal family. I wasn’t wrong…

Claire (Rachel Skarsten) is an MI5 agent. When the royal family is threatened, she is tasked with going undercover as the children’s nanny in order to keep them safe.

Yep, that is the entire plot of the movie. And it is absolutely brilliant. There were a couple of cheesy lines, which is to be expected because it’s Hallmark, but otherwise I loved it. For the first time in a long time, I picked the wrong character as the secret bad guy. Granted, once I was proven wrong, I was pretty sure who it was but I was stunned that a Hallmark movie got me! These are supposed to be predictable, aren’t they?

Besides being surprised by the bad guy, The Royal Nanny had so many of the things I love in a movie. It had action, it had comedy, and it had a romance that wasn’t forced from the beginning. And speaking of the romance, the chemistry between Clair and Colin (Dan Jeannotte) was lovely. They were both guarded but became closer the more they realized they could trust each other. It took awhile to blossom and it was wonderful.

Do I think you should watch The Royal Nanny? Of course! Go watch it then come back here and tell me if you guessed the bad guy. I want to know if I was the only one that missed it. I bet I’m not!

A Merry Christmas Wish | 2022 Christmas Movies

I know I harp on the stupid titles that some of these Christmas movies have. And I know that there is a limit to what they could name them. After all, all of the movies need to have something holiday related in the title, right? With a title like A Merry Christmas Wish, you would think it had something to do with wishes in some way. Nope. There is no wishing here. This should have been called A Merry Christmas Inheritance or Winter Wonderland Down On The Farm or something like that. This title gets a -100 out of 100 from me.

Janie (Jill Wagner) is a New York marketing executive. Recently, her great-uncle passed, leaving her the family farm and a letter. In the letter, he asks her to hold the farm’s Winter Wonderland festival one last time before selling the property. With the help of her childhood friend, Dylan (Cameron Mathison), she not only holds the festival but falls back in love with the farm and the town.

For once, I don’t know what to say about a movie. Usually there’s something I can was nice or was terrible but this one just was. As a matter of fact, the only memorable scene in this entire movie was a kid saying the cookies she made sucked and the face Janie made when she bit into one. Indeed, the cookies did suck. So they had to have a whole new scene where they were making completely different cookies. I guess that makes it two memorable scenes…

You can watch A Merry Christmas Wish if you really want to but be warned that you already know what will happen. This movie is extremely predictable and boring. Even the big conflicts in it are boring. If the writers had made any of the side characters at least a little unlikeable, that would have made it slightly more interesting. But nope, everyone is just fine. I kinda hate it.

A Tiny Home Christmas | 2022 Christmas Movies

A Tiny Home Christmas is probably the first Christmas movie title that confused me. Is this about people that live in tiny homes celebrating Christmas? That seems weird. It did get me interested in the movie, which is the point of a title, right?

Blair (Rebecca Dalton) and Mason (Christopher Seivright) were not only co-hosts of a hit design show, they were also dating. When her father’s construction company started to fail, Blair quit the show and went home to help the family business. One of Blair’s ideas is to build a community of small homes for the town’s houseless citizens. Mason, who has come back to town to sell his house, accidentally walks in on Blair’s pitch to the state’s Secretary of Housing. Now they will need to work together to try to make this project come to life.

Surprisingly, I found A Tiny Home Christmas very endearing. As I think we all know by now, I enjoy movies where the romance doesn’t steer the entire plot. And that is what happens here. Blair’s passion to get this project going - both to help her father’s business and to get people into houses - is so sweet. Her annoyance with Mason does sour it a little but you can kinda see where she’s coming from . Even though that all could have been solved with a simple conversation. But we know how these movies go.

If I was to complain about anything in the movie, there is one tiny thing that bothered me. There was a hint that there was some sort of romance or at least flirting between Blair and Scott, one of her father’s employees. Mason even shows a bit of jealousy toward him. Yet it goes nowhere. I’m pretty sure there isn’t even a conversation about how they are just friends or that he works for her father or anything like that. It felt a bit misleading.

Other than that, I really liked A Tiny Home Christmas. I think this might be a movie that you could actually watch and enjoy. Even the montages were interesting!

The Dog Days Of Christmas | 2022 Christmas Movies

Generally speaking, Christmas movies with dogs are terrible. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a good dog-centric Christmas movie. At least not one on Hallmark or Lifetime. But I’m willing to give The Dog Days Of Christmas a chance.

After three years away, Annie (Georgia Flood) is an aid worker who has finally come home for the holidays. Unwilling to simply relax, she volunteers to foster three dogs. With the help of her high school debate team nemesis, Dylan (Ezekiel Simat), who also happens to be the town veterinarian, Annie works her non-profit magic to save the local animal shelter.

While it sounds like this would be a promising plot for a movie, there is so little that actually happens. Instead of showing us things, the movie likes to tell us things. There are a few small scenes where people are interacting with the dogs but a lot of the scenes are montages of Annie interviewing people to adopt the dogs or Annie handing out flyers at a dog park. (Here’s a hint, Annie. The people at dog parks already have dogs. That isn’t an ideal place to look for people to adopt dogs.) It would have been nice to have a little more interaction with the dogs since the movie is named after them.

As for the people, none of the people in this movie have any chemistry together. You would think they were all cast yesterday and just met the day of filming. I think they needed a few happy hours or something to get to know each other before pretending that they’ve all known each other for years. Because it definitely does not come through in the movie.

The Dog Days Of Summer isn’t the worst dog-related Christmas movie I have seen. Even taking out the dogs, it’s not a good movie. I would say to stay away from this one. There’s much better movies out there. And if you really want a dog movie, don’t watch a Christmas one. You are bound to be disappointed.

In Merry Measure | 2022 Christmas Movies

We now have Hallmark’s second movie about a singer. All Saints Christmas aired on November 6 and In Merry Measure aired on November 11. You would think that, when making their annual schedule, the network would try to put a bit more time between movies with a similar premise.

Darcy (Patti Murin) is an aging pop star. Dropped by her label, she is trying her best to get signed by a new label. She decides to come home to Dayton, OH to spend Christmas with her sister, Gretchen (Jennifer Robertson), and her niece, Megan (Cassidy Reichman). Megan dreams of singing with her high school glee club, The Herald Angels. When she doesn’t make the cut, Darcy steps in to help boost Megan’s confidence and maybe make the Angels a bit better as well.

I was surprised when I found myself actually enjoying In Merry Measure. Instead of focusing on the romance between Darcy and music teacher Adam (Brendan Penny), the movie actually focused a bit more on the kids and their singing. Granted, I was a little disappointed that the only black girl in the choir, Sasha played by Pendo Muema, was relegated to only beat boxing. The other characters of color were all male. It would have been nice to see a few more non-white ladies in the choir. Though, to be honest, we didn’t spend a lot of time with the rest of the choir. The movie only focused on five or six kids. The rest were only panned by while they sang. There could have been more people of color in the choir and I didn’t notice due to the lack of time spent on them.

In addition to focusing on the kids, the movie also prioritized the relationship between Darcy and Gretchen more than Darcy and Adam. There are a couple of references that Gretchen’s husband passed away about six months prior to the movie but we never really see Gretchen crying over it. She is sad when they are hanging stockings and she notes that she hasn’t been crying every day since Darcy arrived but I think the movie may have been a little stronger if there was just one scene of Gretchen breaking down a little. She doesn’t need to be completely unable to live or anything. Just maybe slightly more emotional with Darcy there to really support her.

In Merry Measure is definitely a movie you should watch. Jennifer Robertson is always a joy to watch and Patti Murin is delightful alongside her. You might even walk away humming a few of the songs. Especially Sugar Rush.

The Christmas Retreat | 2022 Christmas Movies

This is the fourth movie I’ve watched on UPtv. I’m already getting very tired of their UPlifting Christmas Movies tagline. The other channels don’t tell me their tagline nearly as often. I’m also tired of the Gilmore Girls marathon commercial. I can’t wait until those stop.

Workaholic Kim (Rhiannon Fish) was expecting her boyfriend, Steven (Jonathan Hawley Purvis), to propose. He broke up with her instead. Her mother, Mary (Lynn Whyte), convinces her to go on a week-long Christmas retreat to relax and reconnect. At the retreat, Kim meets Mark (Clayton James), a newly unemployed executive who happens to be the brother of the retreat’s owner. Will they be able to find what they really want out of life?

The Christmas Retreat was going so well. The romance between Kim and Mark was progressing well until all of a sudden Steven shows up. That is probably my one biggest complaint about romance movies. A woman will be having the time of her life without her current or former partner but the minute that person shows up, they forget everything and go running back to them. Kim knew that she didn’t love Steven any more. She knew that she was so much happier without him. So why in the world would she run off with him when he randomly shows up at the door? She doesn’t even say “Well, I still have some stuff to do here so I can’t leave with you right now.” Women are not carpets to be walked all over.

Does this mean I don’t think you should watch this particular movie? No. It is pretty cute in a lot of ways. There’s a sort of advent calendar type of thing that counts down the days of the week-long retreat that also tells us how the retreat is broken up into different sections. It was cute and seasonal. Kim and Mark do have pretty good chemistry, which is maybe why I was so pissed off when she went off with Steven. If I was using a give star rating system, this one would probably be a three. Good enough to watch but kind of annoying at the same time.

Christmas On Mistletoe Lake | 2022 Christmas Movies

It is now time for our second Corey Sevier Christmas movie of the season. First we had Noel Next Door, where he played a grumpy composer. Now we have Christmas On Mistletoe Lake, where he plays a grumpy boat owner. OK, I’m not really sure what his character does for money in this movie. Let’s just get into it.

Reilly (Genelle Williams) is an interior designer heading to Mistletoe Lake for Christmas. The local bed and breakfast is completely booked so she ends up staying on a boat owned by Ray (Corey Sevier), who she met in the town general store. Over the next few days, Reilly falls in love with the town and with Ray. But will the financial troubles of both ruin what she has fallen in love with?

This movie is so weirdly written. Parts of it are really sweet but there are lines that no one would ever actually say that. In the beginning, Emma (Hattie Kragten), Ray’s teenage daughter, within minutes of meeting Reilly says to her “Why aren’t you celebrating Christmas with your boyfriend or husband or whatever?” Who says that? Definitely not a teenager. And there are a few other places like that throughout the movie. It sucked me right out of any enjoyment I was having.

Another thing I disliked about the movie is the conflict. Ray is selling his boat to Louis (Robin Dunne), who happens to be one of Reilly’s former clients. While Ray wants to keep the boat as is, Louis wants to hire Reilly to change absolutely everything. Instead of telling Ray about it, Reilly keeps the information to herself. Of course, this mean Ray gets pissed off at her. A better conflict would have been if Reilly told Ray the situation and the two of them teamed up against Louis. Reilly and Ray had already kissed at this point so we weren’t waiting for the will-they-won’t-they. Having the main couple team up against the bad guy would have made Christmas on Mistletoe Lake such a cool and different movie. But, no, we got the usual boring trope.

On one hand, I want to recommend Mistletoe Lake. Genelle Williams is an amazing actress. My husband and I loved her in Warehouse 13 back in the late 2000s/early 2010s. However, this is not a great movie. Maybe watch it if you have nothing else to do. But don’t plan an entire night around watching it.

Falling For Christmas | 2022 Christmas Movies

There was a lot of press this year about Lindsay Lohan’s new Christmas movie. I think this is supposed to be her big comeback movie? I’m not sure. But since it’s a Christmas movie, of course I tuned it to watch Netflix’s Falling For Christmas.

Sierra Belmont (Lindsay Lohan) is an heiress to hotel magnate, Beauregard Belmont (Jack Wagner). Wanting to do something to separate herself from her father, Sierra turns to her boyfriend, Tad (George Young), to help her become a popular influencer. The couple heads up a snow-covered mountain near the Belmont Ski Resort in order to take some pictures for social media. When Tad proposes, both of them fall off the mountain. Sierra ends up with amnesia from a minor concussion while Tad is lost in the wilderness. Jake Russell (Chord Overstreet), who runs the bed and breakfast next door to the Belmont resort, finds Sierra and takes care of her until they can figure out who she is.

Fifteen minutes into the movie, I thought “is this movie making fun of Paris Hilton? It feels like it’s making fun of Paris Hilton.” About a half hour later, I realized “Oh. this is just a remake of Overboard with a Christmas theme slapped on top.” It’s a movie about a rich lady who get amnesia and stays with a poor guy, helping out and doing chores badly, until someone figures out who she is. The only real difference between the two movies is the poor guy knew who the rich lady was in Overboard and he elected to take advantage of her amnesia. Oh, and this takes place on a snowy mountain instead of a yacht.

So now that we know this is basically a remake, is it a good one? It’s not bad. Lohan’s acting is better than it has been in a long time. I had a difficult time looking past Overstreet as the leading man (I kept thinking “Man, they cast Sam from Glee as Lindsay Lohan’s love interest? Isn’t she a lot older than him?”) so I can’t tell if there was no chemistry between them or it was just my inability to see him as another character. Otherwise, Young is kinda perfect as spoiled rich man Tad. He may have been my favorite character, even though he is terrible.

If you haven’t watched Falling For Christmas yet, go ahead and do it now. it may be a remake but, to be honest, the original movie is very problematic. This version keeps it family friendly and avoids all of those issues. And, to be honest, it’s better than a lot of the other Christmas movies we’ve been given so far. I wonder if a Lindsay Lohan movie is going to make my top movie list this year.

The Claus Family 2 | 2022 Christmas Movies

Last year, I found one of my favorite Christmas movies ever, The Claus Family. This year, Netflix gave us The Claus Family 2. Can the sequel live up to the original?

Jules (Mo Bakker) and his grandfather, Noël (Jan Decleir), are preparing to deliver presents again. This time, Jules is an official Santa Claus. When he finds a letter to Santa from a girl named Marie (Jasmina Fall) asking Santa to bring her divorced parents back together again, Jules does everything in his power to make it happen. Noël, however, is against Santa doing anything but delivering presents. Can Jules make Marie’s wish come true or is his grandfather right?

If you will recall, last year I said the bad part of the movie was the cookie factory that Suzanne (Bracha van Doesburgh), Jules’ mother, worked at. Well, this year, she quit the factory and opened her own cookie shop. Her plotline still doesn’t matter in the slightest to the movie but it was interesting to see her actually move forward professionally. The cookie shop doesn’t take up a big portion of the runtime of The Claus Family 2 so I won’t count it as a bad part this time around. I’ll count it as a bad part turned good.

The Claus Family 2 is one of those movies that you will either love or hate. The entire plot revolves around trying to get Marie’s parents, Tine (Lauren Müller) and Steven (Everon Jackson Hooi), back together. Of course, what this means is that Jules and his grandfather bicker through most of the movie. Personally, I found this version of “willful teenager vs elder” endearing. Jules was right and he knew he was right and he stood up for himself. He doesn’t know why his grandfather is so against love but he refuses to let the old man’s reluctance get in his way.

Also, the elves are delightful. If you don’t love them and all of their hijinks, then you don’t have a heart.

Is this something everyone will love? Absolutely not. It is not a fast paced movie so a lot of people are probably going to find it slow and boring. However, in a world of Hallmark Christmas romance movies, The Claus Family is a refreshing breather. I would love to see more of these movies in the future. Especially if they can bring the rest of Jules’ family into the Santa gang. Give them something more to do than be background characters. Let them be an actual family that can share in the love of Christmas.

Well Suited For Christmas | 2022 Christmas Movies

When I saw the title Well Suited For Christmas, I wasn’t expecting much. I thought “Ugh, this is such a cheesy title. This is going to be an awful movie that I regret watching.” Well, I was wrong.

Rachel Rocca (Mercedes de la Zerda) is an up and coming fashion designer in New York. She gets invited to participate in a tuxedo design competition for a Christmas charity gala. The model that she gets assigned in Brett Stone (Franco Lo Presti), one of the city’s most eligible bachelors. Even though they butt heads on what his suit should look like, they find themselves falling in love the more they find out about each other.

Well Suited For Christmas was, amazingly, a wonderfully heartfelt movie. The romance between Rachel and Brett blooms organically, unlike most Christmas movies where the lead couple feels forced together for no reason. These two start out arguing but as they spend more time together, find they actually like each other. It was so refreshing to watch.

II also thought it was lovely that Rachel’s parents were always present. All of the scenes they were in were a lot more lively with them around. Also, it was nice to have a Bolivian family at the center of the movie. As we all know, a majority of Christmas movies focus on white people. Usually American white people. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a domestic Christmas film that featured a South American family. I love it and I want more of it.

While I want to sing all of the praises for Well Suited For Christmas, I don’t want to give too much away. I definitely think this is a movie you should watch on your own. It has the right mix of Christmas and romance and I want all of the new Christmas movies to follow its lead. We need more Christmas movies like this.