Christmas Island | 2023 Christmas Movies

When I first saw the commercials for Christmas Island, I thought it sounded very similar to the Broadway musical Come From Away. Except that the plane in Christmas Island was grounded by weather and not a terrorist attack.

Kate (Rachel Skarsten) is a pilot that has been hired by the wealthy Sharpe family to fly them to Switzerland for the holidays. Unfortunately, they run into a major blizzard and are forced to land on a small island in Canada called Christmas Island. Can Kate save her job (and Christmas)?

I have to admit that I enjoyed Christmas Island. But not for the romance. It was for the Sharpe family, especially the kids. I knew the movie was going to Save Christmas for them (it is Hallmark, after all) but I found myself really hoping their parents would come through for them. I would have liked a few more scenes or montages of the family spending more time together but it wasn’t needed to make the movie watchable.

At the end, this movie wanted us to pull for Kate and Oliver (Andrew Walker) to get together. But it didn’t make me actually care if they did. I think they would have been perfectly fine as friends. Alas, Hallmark does not make friends, only romantic partners.

Rating: Me and The Sky

A Christmas Frequency | 2023 Christmas Movies

We’re going to take a break from Hallmark and Great American Family for a moment and tune into Hulu for A Christmas Frequency. It stars Denise Richards so it can’t be completely awful, right?

Kenzie (Ansley Gordon) is the producer of the Breakfast With Brooke radio show. When the ratings start to fall because Brooke (Denise Richards) is depressed over her failed marriage, Kenzie decides to set Brooke up with blind dates on air. The audience will vote on which date they like best, making him Brooke’s date for the show’s live Christmas show. Things change when Ben (Jonathan Stoddard), a man that Kenzie is interested in dating herself, shows up on the list of potential blind dates. Is there any way to save the show and make everyone happy?

Overall, I thought this was a good movie. There were a few scenes that felt like they dragged but there weren’t many. Ansley Gordon was a delight as Kenzie and Jonathan Stoddard was charming. Sadly, Brooke spent a lot of the movie moping so we didn’t get to see a ton of range from Denise Richards. While this won’t be an annual movie by any means, it was a refreshing break from the usual stuff I watch during the Christmas season.

Rating: Turn the radio up

Christmas Keepsake | 2023 Christmas Movies

When I see movie descriptions saying an item was found or the characters are searching for something, I expect a little bit of mystery in the movie. Christmas Keepsake does not agree.

After the death of his wife, Tom (Daniel Lissing) and his daughter, Grace (Ellie Stewart), move to the United States. As Grace is playing in the backyard of their new house, she finds a buried time capsule. Together, they try to find the original owner of the time capsule to return it to them. Along the way, they meet Elizabeth (Jillian Murray), owner of the local bakery. Perhaps together, the three can find a way to have a happy Christmas again.

Great American Family is great at having boring films that don’t have anything to say. Tom and Grace are darling but they don’t seem to really care that their wife/mother has died. Usually, in movies like these, the kid tries to cling to all of the Christmas traditions that the missing parent participated in. Not here. Grace is all “Let’s so new stuff!” Which is admirable but strange nonetheless. Tom is at least trying to do things that Grace liked to do in Australia to try to make the move easier on her.

Then there is Elizabeth. She’s sad about something but we aren’t really sure what. Her dad died….but it was like a decade ago? (She literally said she was a small child when it happened.) I understand grieving a dead parent but there should be a point where you stop taking it out on everyone else.

Christmas Keepsake was really trying to make this a movie about two grieving people coming together. They did it in the stupidest way. They should have just focused on the time capsule and left everything else out. It would have been so much cooler to dig deeper into the items in the box.

Rating: Put me in a time capsule for the next 20 years

Everything Christmas | 2023 Christmas Movies

It is interesting that something called Everything Christmas is about a road trip rather than someone trying to stuff Christmas into every aspect of their life. But, as we all know, I don’t name these things. I just wish I did.

LJ (Cindy Busby) goes on a three-day road trip with her friend, Tori (Katherine Barrell). Their destination is a town where it is always Christmas but they have a special tree-decorating ceremony on Christmas Eve. On their way, they meet Zack (Corey Sevier) and Jason (Matt Wells). Will LJ forgo her Christmas promise to her late grandmother in favor for following her heart?

Hallmark is pretty good at movies that are just OK. Everything Christmas is one of those. I’m not quite sure how Corey Sevier became one of Hallmark’s leading men. Maybe because he has this goofy sort of good guy look? He’s kinda terrible at acting and he makes me cringe when he’s on the screen. Thankfully, he frequently gets paired up with women that can carry the movie for him. Cindy Busby isn’t amazing here but she more than makes up for everyone else. The best part of the movie is probably George Masswohl as Kris Kringle. I just wish there was a little more of him to go around.

Rating: Just some things Christmas

Mystery on Mistletoe Lane | 2023 Christmas Movies

Ooh. Mystery on Mistletoe Lane has mystery in the title. That means there has to be at least one mystery, right? Don’t let me down!

Heidi (Erica Cerra) and her children have moved to New Hollow for her new job as the director of the historical society. As they move into their new home, the children begin to find clues to a bigger mystery. What lies at the end of the little wooden reindeer?

This is another one of those love-hate movies. I really did enjoy the children’s plotline with the riddles and reindeer. However, Heidi’s plotline of trying to make the community be interested in the historical society? Big yawn. There really wasn’t anything interesting in it. I would have loved it if the movie revolved around the mystery, whether the children involved the adults or not. Or maybe they could have made Heidi’s job more important in the mystery. She was researching more about the house but it didn’t really mean much in the end. More mystery, less boring stuff.

Rating: If only there were more than eight reindeer….

Our Christmas Wedding | 2023 Christmas Movies

I understand that a lot of people think a Christmas wedding is the epitome of romance. Christmas weddings could be really nice. Our Christmas Wedding mucks it all up.

Nicole (Holly Deveaux) and Michael (Drew Seeley) got engaged at Thanksgiving. While looking at venues for next year, they find that Nicole’s perfect venue, where her parents got married, will be closing at Christmas. With the help of Nicole’s boss, Kim (Brigitte Kingsley), they try to plan a wedding in two weeks. But can their relationship survive the stress?

This is another case of “could have been a good movie but wasn’t.” While I, personally, think it’s stupid to try to plan an entire wedding in two weeks, I do know that it could be a really good movie plot. The problem here lies with Kim, Nicole’s boss. Instead of listening to what Nicole and Michael want for their wedding, she keeps insisting that her choices are correct. For example, Michael wants a wedding cake that isn’t boring vanilla. Kim convinces Nicole that vanilla is the best choice for a wedding cake because it won’t offend anyone. Kim also pushes Nicole to either be super late or cancel any date plans she makes with Michael with a “Oh, he’ll understand.” Then, professionally, Kim won’t let Nicole complete any of her work for this big presentation due “next week” then makes Nicole cancel another date with Michael to focus solely on the presentation when the client insists on moving it to “the next day.”

The worst part? Toward the end of the movie, Kim apologizes and both Nicole and Michael say it’s not her fault. WHAT?!?! It’s ENTIRELY her fault! If Kim didn’t insist on planning the wedding - if Kim was only Nicole’s boss - so many of the problems wouldn’t have happened. Planning a wedding is stressful enough. You don’t need someone trying to sabotage your relationship at the same time. Kim is pointless and I wish her character didn’t exist.

Rating: Elope instead

The Santa Summit | 2023 Christmas Movies

The Santa Summit is a bit like Cinderella thrown into Christmas season. Maybe masquerade parties are bad ideas…

Three teachers: Jordin (Hunter King), Ava (Amy Groening), and Stella (Stephanie Sy) decide to have some fun and maybe brighten their dreary love lives by attending this year’s Santa Summit. Since all of the participants wear Santa suits as they travel around town, Jordin has a difficult time reconnecting with the mysterious man she met at the first stop of the day. At the same time, Ava is trying to find her crush so she can confess her feelings and Stella needs to find her passion for life again. Will their Christmas dreams come true?

I wasn’t sure how I was going to like this movie at first. Stella seemed like such…well…a bitch, for a lack of a better term. She didn’t want to do anything besides go home and sleep. But the adorableness of Ava and Jordin kept me pushing through. In the end, this was a really fun jaunt that made me want to try to find a Santa Summit-esque event in my town. If only we could all have a Hallmark movie event like this in real life. It would be pretty darn awesome.

Rating: Getting down at the silent disco

A Dash of Christmas | 2023 Christmas Movies

Sometimes I wonder what writers are thinking of when they write these scripts. A Dash of Christmas is one of those times.

Megan (Laura Osnes) is a marketing executive who has recently lost her job. Luckily, another job prospect pops up but she needs to film a video of her baking in order to land it. Aaron (Christopher Russell), a local bakery owner, helps her learn how to bake so she can land her dream job.

So. Megan is in marketing. Why do these movies think that marketing people need to be able to do the thing they are trying to market? They don’t. They need to know how to get people to click on the link or get into the shop or read the article or whatever. They don’t have to actually DO the thing. This movie should have gone with Megan being sad because she lost her job so she takes a baking class to try to make herself feel better. In the class, she meets Aaron and they find out that, with her marketing skills, they can take his bakery to the next level and find love along the way. That is so much more interesting.

Rating: Leave the fruitcake alone

Never Been Chris'd | 2023 Christmas Movies

Never Been Chris’d is a different sort of Christmas romance movie. Let’s jump right into it…

Naomi (Janel Parrish) and Liz (Pascal Lamothe-Kipnes) have been best friends forever. When they come home for the holidays, they bump into their high school crush, Chris Silver (Tyler Hynes). Will reconnecting with him change their lives forever?

So, yes, this is a Christmas romance movie. However, Christmas (and Hanukkah!) play a very minor part. As a matter of fact, the romance itself plays a minor part as well. Instead, Never Been Chris’d is more about the friendship between Naomi and Liz and how they can grow as people without growing apart. Chris is more like a catalyst for them to speak up for themselves instead of being the end all life goal.

To be honest, the fact that female friendship takes precedence over romantic love makes me enjoy this movie a lot more than I normally would. I mean, both Naomi and Liz are kinda terrible characters. Somehow they are both extremely selfish yet not willing to stand up for themselves at the same time. But I am a big sucker for a movie where the women don’t really need the man to progress their lives. We could easily take Chris entirely out of the movie and very little would change. It is quite refreshing. Especially for Hallmark.

Rating: Best Friends Forever, no man needed

Flipping For Christmas | 2023 Christmas Movies

We are back in the real estate game with Hallmark’s Flipping For Christmas. Historically, real estate Christmas movies have not done very well. But this one also adds in house renovation. Will that make it better?

Abigail (Ashley Newbrough) is a realtor who agrees to help her sister, Claire (Natalie Lisinska), with a simple house flip. Little does she know that Claire’s husband wasn’t the only one to inherit said house. Handyman Bo (Marcus Rosner) wants to turn the house into a bed & breakfast. Who will win?

While there were some sweet moments between Abigail and Bo, there were also some weird ones. Shortly after they first meet and start working on the house together, Bo initiates a paint fight with Abigail. Maybe it’s just me but I don’t think I’m starting a flirty fight with someone I just met. A few days later, he does the same thing when they are looking for a Christmas tree. Abigail wasn’t really putting out the “Hey, I like you” vibes but Bo takes every opportunity to play-flirt with her. It felt odd to me.

After all that, I didn’t find the movie unwatchable. Maybe a little uncomfortable but it could have been worse.

Rating: Barely a flip but not a flop