Holiday Mismatch | 2024 Christmas Movies

Hallmark has reunited Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick from the 1990s sitcom, Sabrina The Teenage Witch. They aren’t witches in Holiday Mismatch but they bicker almost as much.

Barbara (Broderick) has recently retired. She decides to volunteer to work on the town’s Holiday Committee to help plan festive events. There she meets Kath (Rhea), a long-standing member of the committee who isn’t quite as organized as Barbara. Meanwhile, each of them sets their adult child up on a date. When they realized that their kids are dating each other, the women decide to try to break the new couple up.

I love when Rhea and Broderick work together. They have such great comedic timing and they play off of each other so well that sometimes it’s difficult to believe aren’t rivals. Honestly, Holiday Mismatch should have been entirely about them. The romantic subplot was boring and unoriginal. If Hallmark really wanted to leave a romantic plot in, they should have made the kids dislike each other as much as their mothers did. It would have definitely been more interesting. As it is, get rid of the kids and leave the moms to form an unbreakable friendship. It doesn’t have to be all about romance, you know.

Rating: The kids ruin the fun, as usual.

Our Holiday Story | 2024 Christmas Movies

I don’t watch a lot of commercials for these Christmas movies. I really try to go in unspoiled. However, I ended up accidentally watching some of the commercials for Our Holiday Story because I was so confused. Is this really just someone telling a story? Yep. It is.

Chris (Gavin Langelo) is meeting his girlfriend, Joanna’s (Sydney Scotia), parents for the first time. When Joanna misses the train, Chris is forced to spend time alone with Nell (Nikki Deloach) and Dave (Warren Christie). He, of course, asks them how they met. Boy, do they have a story for him!

When this movie started, I didn’t think it was going to be good. Thankfully, I was wrong. Our Holiday Story is actually pretty adorable. There is a lot more to their story than just “We met on a train.” The small twists and near misses kept the story interesting. Not to mention the chemistry between Deloach and Christie. I almost wish they starred in every Christmas movie.

The only down side to the movie is Chris and Joanna’s story. It would have been better if there were a few more twists and turns to mirror Nell and Dave’s story. Instead, their story is a little more boring. But I’m glad it’s there as a reason to tell Nell and Dave’s. It would have been weird if this was just them telling their daughter about their past.

Rating: Yes, Dave! A summer festival (and movie) would be a lovely idea!

Tails of Christmas | 2024 Christmas Movies

Of all of the Christmas movies I have watched, the ones featuring dogs are the absolute worst. I’m not sure that Great American Family’s Tails Of Christmas will be any better.

Caleb (Eric Guilmette) is an Army veteran whose leg was injured in an accident. He meets animal shelter owner Amber (Ash Tsai) when she brings her dog to visit the soldiers in physical therapy. A year later, Caleb volunteers at Amber’s shelter to help her get more animals adopted.

Well, this movie follows the trend. It is terrible The script, the acting, the sets…the only thing that isn’t awful are the dogs. And, to be honest, there aren’t that many dogs in the movie.

I don’t understand why the acting is so bad here. I liked Tsai in last year’s Journey To Christmas. You would think she would be able to carry this movie. Sadly, it just doesn’t work. I really hoped for better.

Rating: Stay. Over there. Not here. Far over there.

A Carol For Two | 2024 Christmas Movies

Hallmark is sending us back to New York with A Carol For Two starring Jordan Litz and Ginna Claire Mason. Both of them have been involved in Wicked The Musical on Broadway. Litz is currently playing Fiyero and Mason previously played Glinda. They don’t have a lot of film credits - this is Litz’s first movie while Mason has starred in two earlier Hallmark Christmas movies (2022’s A Holiday Spectacular and 2023 A Heidelberg Holiday). I do know there is singing in this one so, with two Broadway stars, it should be good!

Violette (Mason) has moved to New York City to be in a Broadway play. Unfortunately, when she shows up for the audition, she finds that the play has been cancelled due to lack of funding. She turns to her aunt’s best friend, Hazel (Charlotte d’Amboise), who gives her a job as a singing waitress. Hazel gives the task of training Violette to Alex (Litz). She also tells them that they need to sing a duet at the restaurant’s Christmas show.

On top of this singing waitress who can’t get a job on Broadway plot, there’s a sub-plot about Violette dating Alex’s cousin, Brad (Gino Anania). But Brad is a terrible person so he gets Alex to tell him what to do and say. It’s basically Cyrano de Bergerac but less interesting. Brad sucks as a person and Alex should just tell him to get lost. He does nothing for the plot and it would have been a better movie without him.

Thankfully, Litz and Mason are pretty good here. There is a lot of singing, which they are both wonderful singers. To be honest, any of my problems with A Carol For Two lies with the writing. Violette doesn’t tell her father that the Broadway job fell through. She straight up lies to him through most of the movie. But there was no reason for her to lie to him. He supported her in everything she did. There was no pressure for her to be a big Broadway star. He let her follow her dreams. She said she didn’t tell him the truth because she didn’t want to let him down. I could understand that for a little while but once she started singing successfully at the restaurant, she could have come clean. Having a job in New York City where you are doing the thing you love, even if it’s part time or a side hustle, is success.

If you can pretend Brad doesn’t exist, which is very difficult to do since his storyline takes over for awhile, this movie is pretty watchable. Maybe just mute him every time he comes on screen.

Rating: More musical Christmas movies please!

My Sweet Austrian Holiday | 2024 Christmas Movies

I don’t think I understand how Hallmark chooses which movies are going on the main channel and which are going on the Mystery channel, which was rebranded from Movies & Mysteries. My Sweet Austrian Holiday is on the Mystery channel but there are no mysteries to be found.

Charlotte (Brittany Bristow) runs her family’s chocolate shop in Vienna. Unfortunately, the shop is in danger of closing because a real estate developer wants to buy the location. Little does Charlotte know that her new friend and love interest, Henry (Will Kemp), recently took over that same real estate company. Will Charlotte have to shut down her shop and return to the United States?

Ugh, this was such a terrible movie. Charlotte is a newbie chocolatier. Yet she never makes a single bad chocolate. Everyone raves about every piece that she makes. There are multiple times that she tries out a new recipe and not once does that recipe fail. I hate it.

On top of that, there is nothing interesting between Charlotte and Henry. She only complains and he doesn’t have anything to add at all. I think they may be the most boring couple I have ever seen. Well, until the end when the both magically know how to do a super choreographed waltz. Yeah, this movie is ridiculous. It isn’t worth your time.

Rating: 2020’s Christmas In Vienna is better

The 5-Year Christmas Party | 2024 Christmas Movies

My daughter and I are pretty big fans of Jordan Fisher. We’ve followed him since his Disney Channel days. When I heard that he was starring in a Hallmark Christmas movie this year, I was a little worried but hopeful that it would be good. Hallmark better not let me down.

Alice (Katie Findlay) and Max (Fisher) attended the same college in the theater program. While they end up going their separate ways after graduation, they somehow keep coming together every Christmas. As their relationship blossoms, the pair needs to decide whether they will prioritize their romance or focus on their professional dreams.

While The 5-Year Christmas Party started off rather slow, it picked up the pace a little when Alice and Max finally realized that they liked each other. Thankfully, the sheer charisma of Fisher and the adorable awkwardness of Findlay make the movie well worth watching. I’m honestly not sure it would have worked with anyone else as the leads.

As much as I want to tell you all about the wonderfulness of this movie, you really should just watch it. It’s difficult to articulate how cute they are together. This may just be my favorite movie for the season.

Rating: The only down side is that Fisher doesn’t sing…

Christmas Wreaths & Ribbons | 2024 Christmas Movies

Great American Family loves messing with their schedule. They’ll announce it in late August to early September then, when October rolls around, play the movies in any order but the one they announced. I hate it. That is why this review for Christmas Wreaths & Ribbons is so much later than it’s release date. I didn’t know they freaking released it.

Rebecca (Kristin Wollett) owns a business that makes wreaths. Of course, the Christmas season is her busiest time of year. So when she dislocated her elbow after slipping on ice, she was worried about her ability to complete her orders. Thankfully, her neighbor, Jason (Casey Elliott), offered to help in his free time. Will Jason be able to learn her wreath-building technique and save her business?

With a title like Christmas Wreaths & Ribbons, I didn’t expect this movie to be good. And I was correct. Every single character is absolutely obnoxious. Rebecca insists that everything, including sweeping the floor, be done exactly the way she does it. Jason doesn’t want anyone to be upset so he doesn’t really do anything. He just kinda goes with the flow. Even all of the member’s of Jason’s family suck. His mom won’t even think about using any other recipes than hers at the family bakery. His father wants the bakery to have tons of orders but not pay anyone overtime. His sister would love to use her peppermint pie recipe but won’t stand up for herself when her mom refuses. And his brother…cousin…I have no idea what his relation really is…he is the worst. He is so selfish that he gets mad when Jason helps Rebecca. There really wasn’t a bright light anywhere.

On top of that, nothing interesting happens in the movie. Both of the main characters own businesses and the only conflict that happens is Rebecca’s elbow. Well, that and the scene where she overhears the obnoxious brother/cousin talking bad about her and Jason mostly agreeing. But that is the usual conflict that would be solved if they just had a conversation. You need more than that to keep a movie interesting. There’s another movie coming up by this same writer. I hope it’s not this bad.

Rating: This should have been 30 minutes long.

The Christmas Charade | 2024 Christmas Movies

As usual with Hallmark movies, I have no idea what the title The Christmas Charade means. The channel has tried to cram commercials for it down my throat as I watch other movies but I immediately skip them. Is that going to bite me in the butt?

Josh (Corey Sevier) is an undercover FBI agent working on a string of recent heists. When he learns that the next target is a necklace called The Heart of Christmas, he immediately goes into action to prepare for the Christmas Eve charity ball that will feature the necklace. A female FBI agent was supposed to play his girlfriend but there was a mix-up and Whitney (Rachel Skarsten), a risk-averse elementary school librarian, is forced to team up with him instead.

I’ll admit that I am not the biggest fan of Corey Sevier. I find a lot of his roles to be cheesy or annoying. In this case, his character is already aloof and emotionally unavailable so there isn’t really much to screw up. On the other hand, Rachel Skarsten is pretty good at playing the weird nerdy girl. I would have liked to have seen a little more of rebellion against her parents that started in the beginning but that is on the writer not the actor. (While writing this review, I found out that the writer of the movie is married to Sevier, who also directed it. Things make a lot more sense now.)

The Christmas Charade is fine. The big heist is a little boring. Though I did not see the twist with the identity of the thief. I just wish there was a little more oopmh to the main characters. It definitely would have made it more interesting.

Rating: Maybe don’t jump off the roof.

A Vintage Christmas | 2024 Christmas Movies

Great American Family has really called us out with A Vintage Christmas. The “vintage” year they are talking about here? 1992. I graduated high school in 1994. It really takes some guts to call your core demographic old. It better be a damn good movie.

Tessa Findlay (Merritt Peterson) is the town historian of Oak Creek. Noah (Christopher Russell) is a real estate developer who is planning on tearing down the old post office to build a modern office complex. Knowing that the town is against the demolition of the landmark, Noah, with the help of Tessa, decides to grant the Christmas wishes he found in a mailbox from 1992.

So…this movie was very extremely boring. I found Tessa’s arguments about saving a dilapidated building annoying. I live in a small town with a lot of history. However, sometimes those historic buildings or landmarks aren’t taken care of and we are currently left with a building that is no longer safe to use. And, yes, people here are protesting when those landmarks are torn down but no one wants to spend the million dollars it would take to renovate it and make it safe again. This is the entire plot of A Vintage Christmas. Tessa wants to save a dangerous building simply for the memories. She even scoffs when Noah tries to offer a compromise. I hate it.

In addition, there’s nothing charming here. We don’t get to spend enough time with the townspeople to care about their childhood Christmas wishes coming true. Then there is no chemistry between Tessa and Noah. Even the secondary couple - Darla (Kate Jenkinson) and Greg (Joey Vieira) - are boring. Granted, they are more interesting than our main couple but still boring.

I wish the movie had something to keep my attention. Unfortunately, the most interesting thing I found was a movie poster in the background that had some of the crew member’s names listed. That was cute. I wish the rest of the movie was too.

Rating: Two people got good presents, the rest got junk.

Operation Nutcracker | 2024 Christmas Movies

Next up, we have Hallmark Channel’s Operation Nutcracker. On one hand, this sounds like a military movie to me. On the other hand, Hallmark usually puts those movies over on the Mysteries channel. Well, let’s find out what’s it’s all about.

Lottie (Ashley Newbrough) is an event planner who gets sent to Boston to interview for an elite Christmas Nutcracker-themed fundraising event. On the way, she literally runs into Tristan (Christopher Russell) and they come close to switching luggage. With the luggage crisis averted, they both head to Boston, where Lottie finds out that Tristan is the son of the woman running the fundraiser. He has brought an antique Nutcracker that they will auction at the event. Unfortunately, his luggage got mixed up with another passenger’s at the airport. Together, Lottie and Tristan try to find the luggage and the missing Nutcracker before the event begins.

While Operation Nutcracker was mostly a cute movie, it was a little annoying at how pessimistic Lottie was. OK, she claimed she was being a realist and Tristan was a little bit of an idealist but she could have been better about it. I would have loved to have seen her change over the course of the movie. There were a lot of ‘near misses’ with the other passenger that could have been used to bring Lottie around to the magic of the season. Instead, Lottie and Tristan don’t have any idea of how close they really are to their prize until the very end. Not very magical.

The same goes for Lottie and her dad. They have definitely grown apart and the movie wants them to reconnect but leaves no room for that to happen. Sure, they are both very busy but if Lottie really wanted to reconnect, she could have gone to his diner for lunch or dinner or whatever to maybe hang out with him during a break. Neither of them made any effort to include the other in their lives. In my opinion, that made their happy ending feel very hollow. Will they actually make time for each other or will they go back to their old ways?

To sum it up, it was a cute movie with some meh characters. I wouldn’t call them selfish but I wouldn’t call them particular caring either. Just meh.

Rating: They really could have gotten away with the fake if they tried harder.