I watched something like 86 Christmas movies this year. There are another 4 movies that I haven’t watched yet. That means there were ninety Christmas movies released between Hallmark, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, Lifetime, Hulu, and Netflix. That is absolutely bonkers, isn’t it? So here are my top 10 Christmas movies released in 2020.

Honorary Mention: Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker - Since this isn’t really a Christmas movie, I didn’t want to put it in the top 10. However, it is definitely worth watching.

10. Spotlight on Christmas - A very cute actress-comes-home story
9. The Angel Tree - How to give back to your community without making it about yourself
8. Merry Liddle Christmas Wedding - When the sequel is better than the original
7. Cranberry Christmas - Proof that marriage is work and sometimes people don’t really want what they think they want
6. Love, Lights & Hanukkah! - Family is family, even if you’ve never met them before and they were raised in a different religion
5. Just Another Christmas - Foreign Christmas films can be better than American Christmas films
4. The Christmas Setup - The best movie from Lifetime, where the main couple is gay
3. The Christmas House - The movie with the gay secondary couple that broke Hallmark
2. Jingle Jangle - A Christmas musical extravaganza
1. Holly & Ivy - The best movie from Hallmark that shows a community stepping up to care for two children

There you have it. My top 10 Christmas movies of 2020. Let me know if you loved or hated any of the movies on my list. Keep an eye out later this week for my 10 worst list. I’m sure everyone is looking forward to it.

When is a Christmas movie not a Christmas movie, when it’s a Hanukkah movie! Every year, we get one Hanukkah movie. Last year was Mistletoe & Menorahs. This year it’s Love, Lights, Hanukkah!

Christina (Mia Kirshner) was adopted as a baby. After her adoptive mother passes away, she takes a DNA test to find out her heritage. Not only does she find out that she is half Jewish, she also finds a close familial connection. When she is contacted by the connection, she finds her entire biological family.

A lot of times, the annual Hanukkah movie focuses solely on the religious aspects of the holiday. While Love, Lights does show us some of the traditions, it mostly focuses on the family as a whole. The movie isn’t about Hanukkah; it’s about a family welcoming in a new member. I love it.

Even the romance in the movie isn’t a typical Christmas movie romance. David (Ben Savage) doesn’t need Christina’s help and he doesn’t need to help her. They just spend some time together enjoying each other’s company.

Normally, I complain about how stupid the Big Conflict is in a movie. Love, Lights doesn’t really have a conflict. (There is a small one about David moving away for an undetermined amount of time to write a book but it is quickly resolved and unnecessary.) All of the dramatic tension comes from the fact that Christina doesn’t want to disrespect her adoptive mother’s memory by finding her biological mother and going from a family of two to a family of seven. Anyone from a large family would know that is more than enough tension for a movie.

I absolutely loved this movie. Mia Kirshner and Ben Savage are great actors. It’s almost like these roles were created for them specifically. All of the supporting cast are great as well. Everyone compliments each other perfectly. Please go watch Love, Lights, Hanukkah! so that Hallmark knows we need more of these types of movies.