All I Need For Christmas | 2024 Christmas Movies

The title for All I Need For Christmas reminds me of those Blake Shelton Time For Christmas movies. Thankfully, this is not in that series. So let’s see what it is.

Maggie (Mallory Jansen) is a singer/songwriter who is having trouble getting her career off the ground, blaming technology for making all music sound the same. After her touring gig has been cancelled, she returns to her family’s Christmas tree farm for the holiday. There she meets Archer (Dan Jeannotte), a man with family troubles whose tech company is about to launch two new apps for musicians. Maybe the two of them can help each other in more ways than they originally thought.

When I turned this movie on, I didn’t think I would like it. Boy, was I surprised. In these sort of movies, one of the main characters is usually kinda terrible and they get turned around by the others. On the contrary, both of these people are fairly nice. Sure, Maggie is a little mean to Archer at the beginning when she finds out he runs a tech company but she quickly learns that she was wrong and actually apologizes to him. TWICE! And Archer tries everything he can to stay a normal, even-keeled person, even when his sister, Piper (Emily Tennant), tries to push his buttons.

Despite All I Need For Christmas airing on the subpar Hallmark Mystery channel, I do recommend watching it. It has the perfect synergy between cheesy, saccharine, and conflict. I think this is one that almost anyone would enjoy.

Rating: Can I pet them pigs?

A Season For Family | 2023 Christmas Movies

Thanks to the commercials, I knew that A Season For Family was about adoption. But I didn’t know who was the adopted one and what that meant to the plot of the movie. In short, Hallmark commercials kinda suck.

Maddy (Stacey Farber) and her adopted son, Wesley (Benjamin Jacobson), come back to their hometown in Utah. While shopping for ski rentals, they meet Paul (Brendan Penny) and his adopted son, Cody (Azriel Dalman). Little did Maddy and Paul know that Wesley and Cody are actually brothers.

For once, the kids take center stage in a Hallmark movie. Sure, there is a little bit of romance between Maddy and Paul but that is secondary to the needs of Wesley and Cody. Granted, I think Paul makes way too big of a deal regarding telling Cody that he’s adopted and that Wesley is his brother. Especially since the boys get along so well. But I guess they had to pad the script somehow. In the end, this is a sweet movie for someone looking for more than just straight up romance.

Rating: No fighting from these brothers

We Need A Little Christmas | 2022 Christmas Movies

Wow. We have already reached the dead spouse/parent portion of our Christmas movies. I thought that maybe Hallmark would wait awhile before their aired their sad movies. I guess I was wrong.

Julie (Erica Durance) is a newly widowed mother to Gavin (Azriel Dalman). The two have moved into a new home and are trying to navigate the holiday season without their loved one. While at Christmas camp, Gavin meets their neighbor Irene (Lynn Whitfield). With Irene’s help, Gavin learns how to share his emotions and be supportive of his mother. Meanwhile, Julie is trying to keep her decorating company afloat. She takes on a new job redesigning a restaurant owned by Peter (Patrick Sabongui). He helps Julie open up and accept help during these difficult times.

We Need A Little Christmas is kinda on the depressing side of things. Julie lost her husband, Gavin lost his dad, and Irene will be spending Christmas alone because her military grandson can’t come make it home for the holiday. Almost everyone in the movie is just sad. Thankfully, Irene has a little insight on how to trudge through the sad times. Oh, did I forget to mention that her husband is also dead? Yeah, this movie has a lot of death in it. To be honest, Irene is probably the best character in the movie. Though she feels like she’s supposed to be some sort of guardian angel type and not an actual person. I kept waiting for there to be some sort of “magic” on her side that would bring everything together. There wasn’t but there felt like there should have been.

The problem with movies on the Hallmark Movies & Mystery channel is that none of them are bad. I mean, they aren’t good either. They are just boring. It would be easy to say “don’t watch this” if it’s bad. But when it’s boring, I don’t have a good excuse to tell you to not watch it. And WNALC is another movie that talks about Christmas but we don’t see a ton of Christmas happening. So, watch it if you have nothing else to do. Just be warned that nothing happens in the movie either. It’s a lot of talking with no follow through. Very dull.

Coyote Creek Christmas | 2021 Christmas Movies

Aaaaand we’re back to the “A simple conversation would have fixed all of this” trope. Why are adults in Hallmark movies so afraid to talk to each other?

Paige (Janel Parrish) is an event planner in Denver. Every year, her parents throw a big themed Christmas party at the inn they own. However, they decided to skip the party this year. Paige insists on planning it anyway. Then she finds out the real reason her parents were downplaying the holidays. They are thinking about selling the hotel to Dylan (Ryan Paevey) and his brother. Will Paige truly be happy returning to her job in the city?

I’ll start off with the good -Coyote Creek Christmas is pretty cute. Azriel Dalman as Dylan’s son, Noah is one of the better parts of the cast. He’s also the only one that gets a pass from having an actual serious conversation with anyone. Which is funny because he talks more like an adult than any of the actual adults. That is, if any of the adults even wanted to talk to each other.

Here’s a list of the conversations that should have happened but didn’t: Rick (Cameron Bancroft) and Linda (Linda Minard) should have asked their daughter if she wanted to take over the inn that has been in their family for generations. If she said she didn’t want to run the inn, then they should have told her they wanted to sell it. Quinn (Naomi King) should have come out and told Mia (Adriana Ravalli) that she liked her in the beginning instead of making awkward googly eyes at her. And maybe Dylan should have told Paige that he was there to evaluate the inn for purchase but it shouldn’t have been on him to tell her that her parents were selling it in the first place.

Sadly, I didn’t hate Coyote Creek. The characters were annoying but there was just enough in the plot to make it bearable. This is the type of movie you watch when there is nothing on television but you need something that doesn’t require a lot of brainpower. Snack on some peppermint fudge while you watch it. I think it will make it a little better.