The Top Hallmark Christmas Movies of 2025

I’m busy writing the third novel in the Big Sky Lake series, so I didn’t dedicate myself to fully reviewing every Hallmark Christmas movie this year, but I did catch 18 of the 24. I mean, I was at least dedicated to watching them! Overall, the 2025 crop of movies was “meh” with plenty of background noise, middle of the road, forgettable movies and a few absolute stinkers that Hallmark should have buried.  

I highly recommend Christmas Baby (so sweet) and Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper (so funny), and to the remaining movies I say “Thank you for filling the void when I should have been writing.”

Below is my ranking of the Top Hallmark Christmas Movies of 2025

#1 Christmas Baby

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10
When a baby is unexpectantly given to Erin and Kelly just before Christmas, the married couple must confront their own feelings of motherhood and family while caring for the child and preparing themselves for an unknown future. This movie is by far the best Hallmark has to offer in 2025’s holiday season, and that’s not a statement on the quality of this year’s offerings. It’s a heartwarming, representative story of real love. Love between our leads, their family and of this child. I found myself feeling for these characters in ways I did not expect.

I was pleased this story didn’t follow the Hallmark formula. The two leads were women (thank you). The leads were already very much in love (plot twist). But by God, this was one heck of a love story, which saw these people fall more in love with each other and the baby.

Ali Liebert (Erin) and Katherine Barrell (Kelly) are deserving of praise for their work. Real acting—yes, I said it—on Hallmark Channel, no less. They were so good. I can’t recommend this movie enough. It’s sweet and wonderful.  Watch it with your parents and bring the tissues.

#2 Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10
My second favorite movie of the year is about as different from Christmas Baby as it can be. Weatherman Ted Cooper (Robert Buckley) has a habit of experiencing disasters over Christmas. He’s beloved, but goofy. He heads home for Christmas, gets injured, and meets long-lost love Hope (Kimberly Sustad). It’s a comedy that allows for some real character development. It’s not just “oh, we’re supposed to fall in love” but they have issues to work through, that aren’t just contrived and that’s great (to watch). Super funny. I hope we see this one back on repeats again next year.  

#3 Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10
Football and love. Haven’t we seen this before? Yes, but the Bills Mafia really brought it hard in this movie compared to the Chiefs version in 2024. The quest or objective of this story was weaker than a third-string kicker, but the production of the movie was great. Really liked seeing parts of Buffalo and not just Hallmarkian Canada.

#4 A Suite Holiday Romance

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10

There were probably three movies going on at once inside this hotel set, flashback, reconnection movie about children’s books, royalty, ghost writing, art (sort of) and butlers. It was fun, but man, there was a lot going on.

#5 Oy to the World!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10
Christmas and Hanukkah co-existing in peaceful harmony? A Christian church invites members of the neighboring synagogue to host joint holiday celebrations. The choir directors, childhood friends, fall in love and completely sing over the top of the kids in the final show. Still fun.   

#6 An Alpine Holiday

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10
Ashley Williams and her sister (in the movie), head to the Alps on a crazy journey that no grandmother would ever have actually designed to take place after she died. She definitely would have wanted to see the outcome. Gorgeous sets.

#7 Single on the 25th

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10
I’ll watch all the Lyndsey Fonseca movies you make, period. This was OK. Two single people, neighbors find that being single really sucks and decide to change that over one holiday season in Chicago (or wherever in Canada they filmed it).

#8 We Met in December

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10
Simply saying, “Hey, can I get your number?” would have made this movie about 15 seconds long. Alas, the whole movie hinges on the fact that they never exchanged numbers, despite being head over heels in love in one evening.

#9 She’s Making a List

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10
So, Santa outsourced the Naughty-or-Nice List making to a company based in California. And Lacey Chabert spends one season trying to figure out one girl’s designation. Absolutely no twists occur. This provided an odd dose of reality that imagines a world where Santa actually learns a lesson. OK, so one twist.

#10 Christmas Above the Clouds

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10
Scrooge meets airplane travel. Extra star provided for Tyler Hynes alone.

#11 A Newport Christmas

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10
I love a time travel story. And I don’t even mind a really, really bad green screen, but combined together you get this Christmas Star-inspired jumble that wastes a good idea and location with a middling story.

#12 A Keller Christmas Vacation

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10
More advertisement for a European river cruise than an actual holiday movie. Siblings all have issues and dad has a secret. Some people fall in love and take some photos.

#13 A Make or Break Holiday 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10
Don’t buy a house with someone you’re not engaged or married too. That’s the lesson here. Even if one of those people is Hunter King.

#14 Three Wisest Men

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10
We didn’t need this one. I applaud the effort at doing a trilogy, but I got nothing out of this one.

#15 Melt My Heart This Christmas

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10
Can we make glass-blowing a thing? No. The answer is no. In the big finale the live stream shows 20,000 live viewers or some crazy number watching to see if the Christmas Market gets some award. Yeah, I can suspend my belief for a Hallmark movie, but even this was a stretch. Maybe the glass-blowing artists loved it? Is that a big demographic?

#16 Christmas on Duty

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10
A road trip story with two rival military members, saving Christmas for their base. The basics of the story tell you that packages won’t be delivered because of the snow. The road’s closed! Weird that they had no issues with the roads in or out, and had time for snacks and watching a parade in another town. Huh?

#17 A Royal Montana Christmas

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 10
I’m a big Montana fan—please see my series Big Sky Lake—but this was a dud. Oh, and working on a ranch is actually hard. Who knew?!

#18 The Christmas Cup

⭐️⭐️/ 10
The worst of the year by a country mile. This movie is disrespectful of the US military like you couldn’t imagine. The storyline is absolutely ridiculous, and not in a funny, let’s go along with it kinda way. We know these movies are filmed in Canada, but if we’re supposed to believe that this is a military member in the US, you gotta hire some Americans, or at minimum some Canadians who don’t sound like they’re straight from the Yukon. Awful, awful. Not even worth a hate watch.

The rest of the pack

I couldn’t find the time to watch these movies, so there might be some awesome shows in here, but I can’t fairly rank them if I didn’t watch. Maybe next year! A Christmas Angel Match; Tidings For the Season; The Snow Must Go On; The More the Merrier; A Grand Ole Opry Christmas; Christmas at the Catnip Café

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Big Sky Lake - series

If you’re looking for something to occupy your time until the next Hallmark Christmas movie season starts again, I’d be honored if you would check out my latest book series, Big Sky Lake. Book one—Big Sky Lake and Book two—Fire Canyon are out now.

In Big Sky Lake you’ll find clean small town romance stories, a bit of drama and a happy romantic ending you can count on. If you enjoy Hallmark movies, you should love this series.

Buy it now on Amazon.

A full ranking of all 32 Hallmark Christmas movies of 2024

Yes, I watched them all! I’d recommend checking out the first six movies on the list for sure, then working your way down if you’re in the holiday spirit. I only watched #CountdownToChristmas movies on regular Hallmark—none of that Hallmark Movies and Mysteries stuff, so while the Hallmark movie machine cranked out more movies than I have ranked, these 32 aired on regular old Hallmark Channel.

Watching every movie was a joy to start the year, but the fun faded a bit as December rolled around and actual Christmas things were happening around me. But these movies made me laugh and cry (really). They made me want to keep watching and every once in a while I was surprised too. Overall, a great movies season. I’d love to see a second Sugarplummed movie, just putting that out into the world.

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Big Sky Lake
If you’re looking for something to occupy your time until the next Hallmark Christmas movie season starts again, I’d be honored if you would check out my latest book series, Big Sky Lake. My latest novel Fire Canyon releases Jan. 20, 2025 on Amazon. In Big Sky Lake you’ll find clean small town romance stories, a bit of drama and a happy romantic ending you can count on. Buy it now on Amazon.

The Top 4 Worst Hallmark Christmas movies of 2024

For every great Hallmark movie, we usually get two or three clunkers to throw us off the scent. These four janky movies are the reason people still question Hallmark’s movie making machine. Sometimes bad movies are fun to watch and poke fun at. But sometimes they suck two hours from your life that you will never get back. I present to you, the worst four Hallmark movies of 2024.  

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#4 Worst Movie: Deck The Walls

 If Homegoods and Nutella had a baby with Hallmark scrubbing into the operating room to deliver it, the result would be Deck The Walls. This meh movie centers around a home renovation for charity with a live reveal on Christmas Eve. Sorry guys, Santa Tell Me has questions about stealing their live reveal storyline.

I was pondering my decision to watch every 2024 Hallmark Countdown to Christmas movie from the opening scene of this stinker. And the crazy thing, is that I had this movie was one of my most anticipated of the year. Dang, I was wrong.

 Read my full review of Deck The Walls

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#3 Worst Movie: Christmas with the Singhs

This film uses the joining of two families over Christmas to rerun the Meet the Parents theme, while showcasing Indian celebrations of the holiday.

Ultimately dry and lifeless, this effort is not worth your time. I felt uncomfortable for our leads for having such annoying families who spoke in long, robotic and way-too-complete complete sentences.

 Read my full review of Christmas with the Singhs

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#2 Worst Movie: The Christmas Quest

At least Stefanie (Lacey Chabert) and Chase (Kristoffer Polaha) got a free trip to Iceland, right?

How can I say this in the most kind way possible? Well . . . I had no idea of most of the things people in this movie were saying. The Icelandic traditions, history and language obviously deserve proud representation, but the words were so jumbled that I really could not follow this movie. I did try reading the subtitles. No luck. Icelandic words are hard.

Read my full review of The Christmas Quest 

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#1 Worst Movie: Leah’s Perfect Gift

I don’t know what they have to smile about.

This is the absolute worst of the year. Leah’s Perfect Gift was also her nightmare. This movie made me uncomfortable in a way that few made-for-TV movies can. The storyline was borderline abusive to our dear Leah who took unrelenting verbal blows and slights from her prospective mother-in-law. Leah, dear Leah, run! Don’t walk. Run from this awful family and their terrible mother.

I feel as though it might be a challenge to make a movie worse than Leah’s Perfect Gift. There’s always next year.

Read my full review of Leah’s Perfect Gift

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Big Sky Lake
If you’re looking for something to occupy your time until the next Hallmark Christmas movie season starts again, I’d be honored if you would check out my latest book series, Big Sky Lake. My latest novel Fire Canyon releases Jan. 20, 2025 on Amazon. In Big Sky Lake you’ll find clean small town romance stories, a bit of drama and a happy romantic ending you can count on. Buy it now on Amazon.

The Top Six Hallmark Christmas movies of 2024

Hallmark gave us 32 Countdown to Christmas movies in 2024, and for some strange reason I felt compelled to watch them all! When these movies started hatching in mid-October, I was pumped, but as the season wore on and the duds piled up, my excitement waned. I imagine this is how each season goes, but never have I personally experienced every one of these beauties. With such variety, we definitely had some winners. So, lest you be made to watch them all as well, here are the Top Six Hallmark movies of 2024.

#1 Sugardplummed

Hallmark has done some new things this year that deserve applause, but nothing more so than this not-so-tongue-in-cheek movie about the rules of Hallmark movies. I actually laughed out loud–at the spot on rules and wild results–so many times that I lost count. Sugarplummed is well-crafted and sure to be a favorite of Hallmark movie aficionados.

Happily married mother of two, Emily (Maggie Lawson) wants a perfect Christmas, but things aren’t going according to her checklisted plan. Her family isn’t exactly onboard with her version of the holiday. They are busy and have more important things on their minds. Thankfully Emily makes a wish on a magical Christmas tree star, bringing Sugarplum (Janel Parrish) to life–straight out of a Hallmark-type movie franchise where everything is perfect and follows very defined Christmas movie rules.

Read my full review of Sugarplummed

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#2 Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story

There’s something about being a diehard sports fan that doesn’t always make sense to outsiders. Why do we care so much about that team? In the same way that those who adore Hallmark Christmas movies expect eye-rolls when they talk about their favorite cheesy holiday movies. Why do you care so much about the movies?

In this story, those worlds intersect in a way that no previous Hallmark movie has dared. Obviously the largest budgeted movie of the year, we get an inside look at the Chiefs non-sports staff and a few players, filmed on location in Kansas City. (No, not Canada for once.)

Read my full review of Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story

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#3 ‘Twas the Date Before Christmas

When Jessie (Amy Groening) learns that her family is planning to cancel her favorite traditions this year, she is devastated. Hoping to save the tradition, she tells her mom that she’s got someone special to bring to the festivities. The trouble is, she doesn’t. Using a dating app (who among us hasn’t) she finds a guy, Bryan (Robert Buckley), willing to spend his Christmas Eve taking part in the Chamberlain Family Christmas Olympics.

This movie doesn’t fall into the expected trappings of every “fake boyfriend” Christmas movie you’ve seen before. In fact, they play it pretty loose, which is refreshing and rather enjoyable. This was the first Hallmark movie out of the gate and it did not disappoint.

Read my full review of ‘Twas the Date Before Christmas

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#4 A 90s Christmas

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of time travel. More specifically going back in time and changing decisions you made. Or possibly correcting mistakes or enjoying moments that you know you’ll never get again. In A ‘90s Christmas we get to see that scenario play out for successful lawyer Lucy (Eva Bourne). Bring your tissues, at least for the end.

In present day, Lucy earns a long-sought after partner position at her law firm, but has no one to celebrate with. Luckily Grace (Katherine Barrell) a magical time-travel angel/old time uber driver, shows up to transport her back 25 years when she made some critical decisions that shaped her life.

Read my full review of A 90s Christmas

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#5 The Santa Class

The Santa Class is a movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously, which opens up the possibility for laughs in unexpected places. It’s a fun watch with the family and one I’d recommend you take. This one also includes what must be the best kiss of the year.

Kate (Kimberly Sustad) runs a Santa school, training the future santa’s of the mall world how to handle the demanding job of being the big guy and keeping the dream alive for young people. Kate’s school is an old campground. Dan (Benjamin Ayres) is the lead santa trainer at a rival santa school (why not), until he gets the boot and finds his way to Kate.

Read my full review of The Santa Class

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#6 Santa Tell Me

Olivia (Erin Krakow) gets her big break as a TV home designer for a holiday makeover on Christmas Eve, she’s stunned that the network hires Chris (Daniel Lissing) to oversee the TV and live reveal on Christmas Eve. Throw in a magic (and changing) letter from the real Santa that says her true love is named Nick and she has to find him by Christmas, well hijinks ensues.

This sounds a lot more complicated than it is. And to be honest, I had extremely low expectations for this one. The trailer and commercials were awful. But it surprised me and that goes a long way.

Read my full review of Santa Tell Me.

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Big Sky Lake
If you’re looking for something to occupy your time until the next Hallmark Christmas movie season starts again, I’d be honored if you would check out my latest book series, Big Sky Lake. My latest novel Fire Canyon releases Jan. 20, 2025 on Amazon. In Big Sky Lake you’ll find clean small town romance stories, a bit of drama and a happy romantic ending you can count on. Buy it now on Amazon.

The Santa Class brings laughs in unexpected places

8 stars. Really Good. Would Recommend it.

The Santa Class is a movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously, which opens up the possibility for laughs in unexpected places. It’s a fun watch with the family and one I’d recommend you take.

Kate (Kimberly Sustad) runs a Santa school, training the future santa’s of the mall world how to handle the demanding job of being the big guy and keeping the dream alive for young people. Kate’s school is an old campground. Dan (Benjamin Ayres) is the lead santa trainer at a rival santa school (why not), until he gets the boot and finds his way to Kate.

All of this is background to the real magic of the movie - when the real Santa shows up wandering the backroads near Kate’s school. He has no idea who he is, but they certainly do. They enroll him in the school in the hopes that it might help him recover his lost memories and, you guessed it, save Christmas.

The Santa Class goes heavy on the laughs, and save for a few scenes (party crashing), it hits the mark. In a world where the real Santa is in your class, anything is possible. The movie focuses on acceptance, too. The perfect Christmas and the perfect Santa don’t exist. All are welcome.

Sustand and Ayres complement each other well and their enemies-to-lovers romance is a welcome change of pace.

One weird note. We have no idea what the Christmas Cup is until the third act of the movie. So we really want to win it . . . but the audience doesn’t know what that made-up competition entails. A bit of a miss in the editing room I think.

It’s fun. I recommend you enroll in The Santa Class.

Cast Kudos: Paul Campbell as himself. The Hallmark actor really puts himself out there as himself, researching a role. He references his past rolls in many Christmas movies and is just plain funny.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Santa is real and he’s in your class.

Alternative Movie titles: Santa Bootcamp; Santa School is in Session; The forgetful Santa.

Movie Review: Following Yonder Star - if we must

5 stars. Nope Background noise only.

Hallmark does a good job of coding religious-focused movies with the Dayspring label, so you can stay away if you want to. Despite knowing this, I was taken out of the story with the awkward monologue prayers and discussions of God guiding the lead characters’ love choices. It seemed like it was painted on after or the additions were simply pandering to an audience that may have rather watched such films on Great American Family where one man and one woman still leaves room for the Holy Ghost routinely.

Abby (the great Brooke D’Orsay) is a famous actor, who goes to Vermont to flee a scandal brewing in LA. I’ll pause here to say this movie is a rather similar plot line to my 2023 novel, Big Sky Lake, where a similar inciting incident brings a famous actress back home to Montana, where she too finds love and helps direct a children’s play in a small town. I’m not saying it’s similar, but you could make that argument.

Anyhoo . . . Abby meets handsome inn owner Tom (John Brotherton) with a young daughter. Yep, this happens in Big Sky Lake, too. They speak to God . . . No, that doesn’t happen in my novel, so I guess that’s where we differ the most.

This small Vermont town is jammed packed with extras in every scene. As our actors walk down main street in one scene, you would be forgiven thinking they were navigating the Miracle Mile in Chicago with the amount of people packed around them. Regardless, the town looks beautiful and not the standard stand-in Canadian town. I’m not sure where they filmed it, but it looks unique.

The movie may have the season’s record for the most interrupted kiss attempts in one scene.

Our leads attempt their first smooch, but are interrupted by a nosy inn guest, a phone call and a child, all in about 25 seconds. We never see if they give it a go after we cut away. I imagine they would have, but maybe that kiss would be one too many for Dayspring.

Cast Kudos: Isla Verot as Lucy, the young daughter. She’s just about perfect in this role and actually carries a lot of the movie on her shoulders.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Despite being a Christmas play on Christmas vacation and constant mentions of Christ, I just didn’t feel the magic. It was all a bit too sincere. Where’s the fun of the season?

Alternative Movie Titles: A star comes to Vermont; Abby, Tom and the Holy Ghost find love.

Movie Review: Hanukkah on the rocks focuses on family and community

6 stars. Solid. Could be better.

When hard-working attorney Tory (Stacey Farber) loses her job, she is given the opportunity to reevaluate her priorities through a local bar, which she helps turn into Hanukkah On The Rocks for the eight days of Hanukkah. Hanging out with her along the way is Jay (Daren Kagasoff), a radiologist who is in Chicago for a few weeks to see his grandpa. The grandpa, Sam, is none other than Double Dare host Marc Summers. It was great to see him on screen.

The main element of this movie that works is family and community. We don’t have any zany parents or unrelatable family members trying to be funny. Just regular people who want the best for their family and friends.

The love story was a little paint-by-numbers for me. Honestly, Jay was a little stiff. Like he was too cool for school, or something like that. Our leads bond over going through the motions at work, but I never felt like we got anything else between them, except proximity to each other, which was light. Sam brings the emotional elements when discussing his wife.

When the sister is decorating cookies, she has every finger of her hands covered in blue frosting, like a glove of blue frosting. This is not how anyone in the history of the world has frosted cookies. Nobody has a butter knife to spread the stuff? It’s a joke that doesn’t land.

Writing your novel on two years of cocktail napkins is a dumb idea. So is typing it on an old-timey typewriter whilst inside a bar. For two years of effort, I would have expected a little more.

Measuring Christmas Magic: It’s a Hanukkah movie. No magical elements apparent.

Cast Kudos: Marc Summers as Grandpa Sam. He was really great in this on camera role. Looking through his profile, it seems like he’s been a busy executive producer for sometime, so it was nice to see him on screen again. He definitely steals some scenes and interrupts some kisses..

Alternative movie titles: No suggestions. This title fits perfectly.

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Big Sky Lake
If you’re looking for something to occupy your time until the next Hallmark Christmas movie season starts again, I’d be honored if you would check out my latest book series, Big Sky Lake. My latest novel Fire Canyon releases Jan. 20, 2025 on Amazon. In Big Sky Lake you’ll find clean small town romance stories, a bit of drama and a happy romantic ending you can count on. Buy it now on Amazon.

Movie Review: Leah’s Perfect Gift was also her absolute nightmare

2 stars. Unquestionably terrible

Leah’s Perfect Gift was also her nightmare. This movie made me uncomfortable in a way that few made-for-TV movies can. The storyline was borderline abusive to our dear Leah who took unrelenting verbal blows and slights from her prospective mother-in-law. Leah, dear Leah, run! Don’t walk. Run from this awful family and their terrible mother.

Leah (Emily Arlook), a fully-grown Jewish woman with a real career and undoubtedly many other prospects, is dating Graham (Evan Roderick), a Christmas-celebrating person (we don’t actually speak of his religion). Maybe not wanting to work at the bank is a religion? Graham invites Leah to his childhood home with his horror movie mom Barbara. Leah, despite living in New York City, is amazed by seeing what might be her first-ever Christmas decorations and trees. Apparently she’s never walked on any street in the winter in NYC.

Leah is game for going to Graham’s torture house because she thinks Christmas is cool, like in the movies. It does not go well, but it’s not for lack of trying by Leah. She’s great and would be a lovely addition to many families, but to join Graham’s family, she’ll have to deal with mom Barbara (Barbara Niven). Don’t you dare call her Barb, or there will be blood.

Barbara is a witch. She’s uptight, mean, cold, pretty dumb, uncaring, oblivious - with absolutely zero redeeming qualities to root for. She controls her children’s behavior, down to how they unwrap gifts. She’s a terrible cook, basically starves her family, schedules every moment of Christmas and is always dressed like she’s going to the country club to gossip with the other kept wives.

Leah should have called it quits on day two. There is absolutely no plot development between the first 70 minutes of this movie that could possibly justify the last 10 minutes. It’s insulting.

I took so many notes while watching this car wreck, but I feel defeated as a human and don’t want to give this movie any more of my time than it always has. So I’ll keep my many thoughts to myself.

Please don’t watch this movie. Run away, like Leah should have.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Barbara is a certified witch, so I guess that was magic.

Cast Kudos: Give me more Tricia (who isn’t even listed as cast on IMDB). She’s the friendly clerk at the Christmas/convenience store who sells snacks and doles out life advice. I want more of Tricia.

Alternative Titles: “Leah learns that Barbara will ruin her life and she dumps Graham” Is that too long?

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Big Sky Lake
If you’re looking for something to occupy your time until the next Hallmark Christmas movie season starts again, I’d be honored if you would check out my latest book series, Big Sky Lake. My latest novel Fire Canyon releases Jan. 20, 2025 on Amazon. In Big Sky Lake you’ll find clean small town romance stories, a bit of drama and a happy romantic ending you can count on. Buy it now on Amazon.

Movie Review: Private Princess Christmas- Light on love, heavy on fake accents and camo

5 stars: Nope. Background noise only.

It’s a tale as old as time. A princess fails to train her Christmas tree-sniffing goat properly and gets sent to an American bootcamp for entitled people in order to prove that one day she can become queen. I mean, gee-whiz, again?!

Let’s give Private Princess Christmas credit for the most ridiculous premise of the year, but not much else in this fish-out-of-water tale that is not royal in any way.

Wingravia’s Princess Violet (Ali Skovbye) is the only daughter of the queen who might inherit the throne in this make believe Eastern European country of glaringly fake British accents. According to the queen, she needs some work in order to get the promotion. The queen finds a 10-day military boot camp in the US, that should do the trick.

The camp is littered with a crypto bro, an arrogant football player, the daughter of a rich guy and some other people whose story’s just didn’t land. Ryan (Derek Klena) runs the camp after rejoining the Army (maybe?) or just teaching. It’s pretty loosey-goosey on the details and nobody is heading off to war after bootcamp.

As expected, our entitled princess tries to fake and cheat her way through the tests, but ends up revealing a heart of gold and some great American Sign Language skills.

We’re light on love, heavy on fake accents and camo.

Cast Kudos: Tanja Dixon-Warren, who played Squibby and was apparently the only other employee of this elite camp. She was believable in her role and deserved her own story! Justice for Squibby!

Measuring Christmas Magic: None. Zip.

Alternative Movie Titles: First, let’s discuss the title we got. Boo. No. Private Princess, sounds like a shy princess, not what I suspected they were going for–Private Benjamin. There was nearly no Christmas, so putting it in the title is a court marshall worthy infraction. Alternative titles: Princess Bootcamp Holiday; A royal salute Holiday; Bootcamp for Entitled People.

Movie Review: Sugarplummed - Delightful insight into the rules that make the movies we love

9 stars. Loved it. Will watch again.

Hallmark has done some new things this year that deserve applause, but nothing more so than this not-so-tongue-in-cheek movie about the rules of Hallmark movies. I actually laughed out loud–at the spot on rules and wild results–so many times that I lost count. Sugarplummed is well-crafted and sure to be a favorite of Hallmark movie aficionados.

Happily married mother of two, Emily (Maggie Lawson) wants a perfect Christmas, but things aren’t going according to her checklisted plan. Her family isn’t exactly onboard with her version of the holiday. They are busy and have more important things on their minds. Thankfully Emily makes a wish on a magical Christmas tree star, bringing Sugarplum (Janel Parrish) to life–straight out of a Hallmark-type movie franchise where everything is perfect and follows very defined Christmas movie rules.

The rules (and I won’t spoil them here) are the unique levity that seems like we’re breaking the fourth wall and getting an inside look into the Hallmark-movie production factory where our favorites are cranked out each season. The rules about big time jobs, Christmas tree farms, small towns, high school loves, contests and so many other things are spot on and familiar, but charming nonetheless.

Sugarplum’s use of the rules in the real world are a big hit, until they aren’t. And that’s where the lessons come from. This tale is really about lessons and learning to love what you have. Ironically, in a movie about Hallmark rules, there is no love story driving or dragging the action to conclusion. The movie is centered on Emily and her learning what it really means to have a perfect Christmas. She isn’t meeting a new fella. She’s married to Ben, who is just a hardworking husband who learns some lessons himself. It’s refreshing to see that you don’t need a 1+1 love story to tell a great Hallmark story. The family love was enough.

I think this just might be a Hallmark classic, because it didn’t follow the formula, but seemed familiar all the same. Simply a joy to watch and highly recommended.

Cast Kudos: Janel Parrish as Sugarplum. She’s a bit Mrs. Miracle, Mary Poppins and Buddy the Elf all rolled into one delightful package.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Oh, yeah. It was magic. Come for the snowglobe/ indoor snowball fight and stay for the ski lodge/condo story, or the jailbird songs.

Alternative movie titles: The Rules of Christmas Movies; Sugarplum saves Christmas; Sugarplum comes to Seattle.

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Big Sky Lake
If you’re looking for something to occupy your time until the next Hallmark Christmas movie season starts again, I’d be honored if you would check out my latest book series, Big Sky Lake. My latest novel Fire Canyon releases Jan. 20, 2025 on Amazon. In Big Sky Lake you’ll find clean small town romance stories, a bit of drama and a happy romantic ending you can count on. Buy it now on Amazon.

Movie Review: The Finnish Line - Dogs, action and love? Yes, please!

7 stars. Enjoyed it.

This is a really bad promotional image, considering the locations this movie was shot—Finland—and all the dogs that were in the movie. Seesh, try harder promotional team.

We get a few of these movies each year. Hallmark takes us to a foreign country and lets our American (er, often Canadian) leads learn the culture and traditions of the holidays. Often they require a slog of tasks, failing to bring any joy or life to the treasured past (see The Christmas Quest).

But I’m relieved to see how The Finnish Line took that formula and built a very watchable movie, with drama and believe it or not - a real action sequence!

Our lead is Anya (Kim Matula), a legacy dog sled racer returning to a holiday-themed race in Finland where her late father competed. She’s joined by bestie and race support teamster Elyse (Nichole Sakura). Our love interest is Cole (Beau Mirchoff), a journalist and former racer himself, who gives our lead someone to monologue to about her feelings.

I did not exactly buy the love story with Anya and Cole, as it seemed like winning the race and beating jerk-face Monty (Páll Sigþór Pálsson) was more interesting. The B love story with Elyse and Anya’s cousin Lavi (Benedikt Gröndal) was much cuter and genuine.

We got to see a few fun Finnish traditions, but it didn’t seem to slow down the action (again, see the dreadful The Christmas Quest). The dog sled action was great, although I’ve seen some dog sled folks before and none of them look like Kim Matula. Pretty well kept for the cold temps and dog hair.

Speaking of our lead. You’ll recognize her from the Ghosts of Christmas Always (a rare 9 stars for me, 2022). She was also in Checkin’ It Twice (6 stars, 2023), which again brought her to cold places. She’s great. Nichole Sakura may seem familiar too, for those who loved Superstore like I did. I’d love to see her get a Hallmark lead role.

Overall, a very watchable movie that tweaks the foreign country angle just enough to make it fresh.

Cast Kudos: Anya’s cousin Lavi (Benedikt Gröndal). Let’s bring that dude to the states and just let him be himself. Loved that guy.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Was this a Christmas movie . . . yeah, because we learned about Finnish traditions, but did it feel like Santa delivered presents on Christmas morning? No.

Alternative Movie Titles: The Paws of Christmas; Sledding through Finland; Finnish-ing My Father’s Race. To be fair, the original title was absolutely fine.

Movie Review: Christmas Quest - There is not enough ice to make this movie cool

3 stars. A waste. I’ll never get this time back

At least Stefanie (Lacey Chabert) and Chase (Kristoffer Polaha) got a free trip to Iceland, right?

How can I say this in the most kind way possible? Well . . . I had no idea of most of the things people in this movie were saying. The Icelandic traditions, history and language obviously deserve proud representation, but the words were so jumbled that I really could not follow this movie. I did try reading the subtitles. No luck. Icelandic words are hard.

This is like the preschool version of The da Vinci Code and Indiana Jones. I hope the movie made sense to someone, but it wasn’t me.I like these actors, but dang, this was a major disappointment.

And, who lit the candles in the old cave? Nonsense. Where did the electricity come from?

What if the treasure you seek is a bunch of old crap? Finish this movie and find out.

Cast Kudos: none

Measuring Christmas Magic: Nope. Zero.

Alternative Movie Titles: Iceland Deserves Better.

Movie Review: Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story - Hallmark’s bet pays off

8 stars. Really good. Would recommend.

Hallmark bet big on Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, and it paid off.

There’s something about being a diehard sports fan that doesn’t always make sense to outsiders. Why do we care so much about that team? In the same way that those who adore Hallmark Christmas movies expect eye-rolls when they talk about their favorite cheesy holiday movies. Why do you care so much about the movies?

In this story, those worlds intersect in a way that no previous Hallmark movie has dared. Obviously the largest budgeted movie of the year, we get an inside look at the Chiefs non-sports staff and a few players, filmed on location in Kansas City. (No, not Canada for once.)

Derrick (Tyler Hynes) works for the Chiefs and he’s new to town and surprisingly not engaged with the community despite the title of Director of Fan Engagement. Poor hiring choice? Hunter King plays Alana Higman, whose family (or her alone) is a contender for Fan of the Year.

You see, the Higman family has this magical vintage Chiefs hat that if worn on the right day, by the right people, is a boost to their favorite team. Some may call this superstition–Derrick–but not in front of the Higman clan! They definitely don’t appreciate the side-eye.

Derrick and Alana get to know each other very quickly. In fact, their handhold, then first kiss has to be a Hallmark speed record. The majority of the movie takes place with them as a couple while we learn of the magic hat.

Hunter King was great in Santa Summit last year, and proves her value again in Touchdown. Is she the new Queen of Christmas?

The real MVP of this film is the ensemble cast: Ed Bagley, Jr., Megyn Price and Diedrich Bader, who aren’t just side-pieces to push the story along, but have depth to offer themselves. Bagley in particular is wonderful. The man is in his late 70s and has never been so likeable and relatable as a grandfather.

There are several times (I counted three) in this movie that I got a lump in my throat and a little water in my eyes. Sure, I’m a sucker for emotion on screen, but there are multiple heartfelt stories, memories and gestures that warrant a genuine response. Most of these moments come from Bagley, not our leads in love.

Spoiler notes

• Gotta be a top contender for best movie of the year.

• Kudos to Hallmark and the NFL for making this happen.

• Donna Kelce and her one-liners were fun. Get me Travis and Taylor next time though.

• We get it, KC BBQ is all that!

• Dodge the loaf. Clever.

• People don’t usually get loaded on eggnog in these movies, but I guess if you’re a Chiefs fan it’s familiar tailgate territory.

• Stop singing in movies. This doesn’t happen in real life.

• Sponsoring a gingerbread building contest in a BBQ joint is odd.

• When Alana offers to let grandpa attend the fan event in her place I felt things.

• It really felt like the Chiefs wanted to make this movie great and it showed.

• When the hat is missing, there is a considerable amount of not looking happening.

• Stadium chairs . . . you’ll know when you see it. Love it. Tears.

• Santa (Abraham Benrubi, from ER) was creepy. And did some suspicious things. Did he steal the hat, only to give it back?!

Cast Kudos: Ed Bagley, Jr. by a 100 yard touchdown score.

Measuring Christmas magic: The hat was magic. Santa was real. Drinking nog on your lawn was nice, but the rest of the holiday cheer felt a little corporate. I’m surprised they didn’t visit the Hallmark HQ.

Alternative movie titles: Touchdown in KC; The Christmas Fan of the Year; Corporate Christmas and Sports, too; A Travis and Taylor Adjacent Christmas.

Movie Review: A ‘90s Christmas - come for the time travel, stay for the memories

8 stars. Really Good. Would recommend it

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of time travel. More specifically going back in time and changing decisions you made. Or possibly correcting mistakes or enjoying moments that you know you’ll never get again. I even wrote a short story about it called, The Day After You Die. In A ‘90s Christmas we get to see that scenario play out for successful lawyer Lucy (Eva Bourne).

In present day, Lucy earns a long-sought after partner position at her law firm, but has no one to celebrate with. Luckily Grace (Katherine Barrell), a magical time-travel angel/old time uber driver, shows up to transport her back 25 years when she made some critical decisions that shaped her life.

Of course, she returns to struggling with her decisions about boy-next-door Matt (Chandler Massey). Their relationship is the A storyline. But we’re treated to several others, too. I’ll point out just one. Sister Alexa (Alex Hook from The Way Home), is working through coming out to her mom. Lucy, of course, knows Alexa is gay and gives her great advice to help her deal with any struggles that will come her way in the future. This sort of side story isn’t one we see a lot on Hallmark and I really appreciate the inclusivity.

The 90s references are funny, but consist mostly of Lucy mentioning things from the present day that her 1990s family wouldn’t understand. Pinterest board, anyone? I would have liked to see more 90s cliches, but the Y2k and Windows 95 references were on point.

I chucked at how easily Lucy believed she time traveled. Lucy believed Grace’s story really fast. Ok, I guess I time traveled … moving on. Sure, we didn’t need to belabor the point, but a little bit of skepticism would be expected. Newspapers and familiar dogs did the trick though.

Let’s be real, every Hallmark Christmas movie ends with a kiss at the end, when the two people declare their love for eachother. We aren’t expecting to be surprised. Most of the time it’s not exactly earned. We just need that kiss to complete the story. But, dang it, this one was different. It takes you on a lifetime journey that feels real and emotional. Yeah, I got a little lump in my throat. This movie earned that kiss and that ending.

Props to Writer Ryan Peckinpaugh and Director Marni Banack for bringing that scene to us.

Finally, I’m concerned about Chandler Massey’s time travel/alternate reality experience. He was the understanding boyfriend in the wonderful Next Stop, Christmas. He watched someone time travel in that one, but didn’t get to himself. In fact, he had to wait around for a long time to find out if his girlfriend was full of baloney about time travel. And in A Tale of Two Christmases, he’s one corner of an alternate reality love triangle–ironically with Katherine Barrell again. So my question is this: when does Chandler get to time travel?! Or is he destined to observe, but never partake? How very sad indeed.

Cast Kudos: I have to go with Eva Bourne on this one. Super fun. To play herself at 44 and 19, and be modestly believable is commendable. Losing the glasses and gaining bangs helped things along.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Full magic. I mean, we time-traveled, right? This wasn’t a regular movie disguised as a Christmas movie either. It’s a solid Christmas story that could only really be told this way as a holiday tale.

Alternative Movie Titles: It should have been anything but ‘90s Christmas. The title made it seem as though the 90s was a much bigger part of the movie. How about these alternatives: Going back to Christmas; The Christmas Do Over; 19 at Christmas.

Movie Review: Deck the Walls - If Homegoods and Nutella had a baby

4 stars. Not Good. Sad Face.

If Homegoods and Nutella had a baby with Hallmark scrubbing into the operating room to deliver it, the result would be Deck The Walls. This meh movie centers around a home renovation for charity with a live reveal on Christmas Eve. Sorry guys, Santa Tell Me has questions about stealing their live reveal storyline.

I was pondering my decision to watch every 2024 Hallmark Countdown to Christmas movie from the opening scene of this stinker.

Rose (Ashley Greene) is a successful interior designer who swoops in to save her brother Sal (Danny Pellegrino) who can’t figure out how to do a charity renovation. Our leading man, Brysen (Wes Brown), works for Sal. And this is where I’m supposed to write that sparks fly between Rose and Brysen, but there were absolutely no sparks. Not even a misfire between these two, so when they kiss in the final moments, I wondered if the love story got cut entirely.

The Homegoods product placement is obscene, and then they go back again. And really, I’m OK with that. Product placement is fine in these movies, but then Nutella comes out of nowhere and takes over the second half of placement. Do that many people bake with Nutella? Dang it, now I have to find out!

Sal finds love too, with an evil boyhood rival turned modern day rival, Jake. I want Sal to find love, but I also want to punch Jake’s smug face.

Skip Deck the Walls.

Cast Kudos: Claybourne Elder who plays Jake. He’s great as a villain. Don’t turn good!

Measuring Christmas Magic: If we’re measuring the amount of decorations the Homegoods budget added, then we had a lot of magic. As for the plot, none.

Alternative movie titles: Deck me so I don’t have to watch this; A Homegoods Christmas; A creamy Nutella tale