Christmas Land

Jules Cooper is a successful New York businesswoman who seemingly has everything: a rapidly growing career in marketing and a handsome boyfriend named Mitchell. Jules soon learns her beloved late Grandmother Glinda has left her ‘Christmas Land,’ a magical Christmas-themed village and Christmas tree farm in the countryside. Much of Jules’s favorite childhood memories revolve around Christmas Land and the holiday’s her family spent there in her youth. Upon arriving in Christmas Land to claim the property, she meets handsome and charming Tucker Barnes, the lawyer handling the estate. Christmas Land has seen better days since Glinda’s tragic passing and Jules is forced to make many complicated decisions. Should she sell Christmas Land to real estate tycoon Mason Richards and get back to her busy city life? Or should she stay and bring Christmas Land back to its former glory? With decisions to be made in both life and love, this Christmas for Jules is sure to be both interesting...and magical.

Our Two Cents:
#EpicFail... not for the movie, but for US. We recorded this movie last Christmas and never got around to watching it. Big mistake! Huge! Seriously, this was such a good movie with a solid story line! ...Or maybe we were just blinded chemistry between the highly attractive Luke McFarlane and lovely Nikki Deloach. Doesn't matter. We MISTLETOTALLY think you should check this one out.

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★


Links:
IMDB  •  Official Site

Have you seen Christmas Land? Tell us what you thought of it!

The Spirit of Christmas

Attorney Kate Jordan is sent to broker the sale of Hollygrove Inn, but she is told that her appraiser has left because of a ghost. Sure enough, it's not long before she meets Daniel Forsythe...a man who mysteriously died 95 years ago. The two strike a deal if she can help him discover the truth behind his death and why he is cursed to return to the inn for Christmas each year, he will leave and allow Kate to finish her job. As they work together, Kate can t help but fall for this dashing Christmas spirit, and a romance develops that will alter the course of both their lives.

Our Two Cents:
A little more of a drama, but it doesn't take it's self too seriously. It still has some comedic moments. too Overall this was a pretty good movie. We like this one especially because it's a bit different from the typical Christmas movies.

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★

Links:
IMDB  •  Buy DVD on Amazon

Have you seen A Christmas Detour? Tell us what you thought of it!

A Christmas Melody

A Christmas Melody revolves around Kristin (Lacey Chabert), a beautiful, stylish divorcee who is a talented clothing designer and her young daughter. Kristin has just had to close her small Manhattan boutique to return to her Ohio home town and live in her parents’ former home. It’s an adjustment for Kristin and Emily – especially when she runs into her former high school rival Melissa (Mariah Carey). Melissa is president of the PTA and tries to make Kristen feel as unwelcome as possible. Kristen and Emily struggle to find their new normal with the help of the music teacher Danny (Brennan Elliott) and Kristin’s Aunt Sarah (Kathy Najimy), the local coffee shop owner. With a little holiday magic and music, Kristin and Emily find that home is where the heart is.

Our Two Cents:

This was one of those movies that we recorded last year but neither of us could bring ourselves to watch it because, well, frankly, Mariah Carey. We aren't fans. Compounded with our disappointment with the recent batch of Lacey Chabert Christmas movies, this movie was on the chopping block. A little insomnia on Thanksgiving Eve required a boring movie to induce sleep. Maybe it was sleep deprived delirium but, despite the lackluster chemistry between Kristin and Danny and the predictable story, Kristen's daughter Emily was too cute and she had a pretty good singing voice.  While it won't ever be on our list of favorites, we'd would watch it again. 

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★


Links:
IMDB  •  Official Site

Have you seen A Christmas Melody ? Tell us what you thought of it!

Dashing Through the Snow

Stranded at an airport at Christmastime, Ashley Harrison accepts a ride from Dash Sutherland, who has just rented the last car in town. As the pair heads north, their adventures include car trouble, adopting a puppy and being secretly tailed by federal agents, who believe Ashley is up to no good. With a hint of romance gradually filling the air will these two fall in love or will their journey bring about an unexpected road bump to romance? 

Our Two Cents:

Our 10 year old niece perfectly summed up one of our biggest problems with this one in three words: She was weird. 

We feel like the writers kind of stretched to make some things work in this one that could have easily worked out better with minor changes in the story. 

She used a brown scarf to try to bribe her way onto a flight. I get that it's pure angora wool, but it was brown. At least try to bribe the lady with a better color. Thankfully as the movie progresses she tones down a bit because her over the top enthusiasm and weirdness was a bit much.

The movie does have some cute moments. Enough to make up for the stuff that didn't work so well we think. Love the references to It Happened One Night. Great movie. The original source of many movie cliches especially including the stuck traveling with someone I hate and have to fake being married/in a relationship so we can share the last hotel room and get a good night sleep and then oops we fall in love for realsies bit.

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★


Links:
IMDB  •  Official Site

Have you seen Dashing Through the Snow? Tell us what you thought of it!

Last Chance for Christmas

When Prancer injures his hoof, Santa's stable hand John must find a fill in to ensure Christmas deliveries go off without a hitch. His mission gets complicated when he discovers that Frankie, the perfect substitute reindeer, belongs to a precocious 8-year-old girl and her mother Annie. As he races to get Frankie up to the North Pole, he realizes that he's actually falling in love with Annie and has to find a way to win her over and save Christmas at the same time.

Our Two Cents:

Usually movies with Santa and the North Pole and elves are… well, we don’t typically like them. Santa and Mrs. Claus usually get under our skin. There are exceptions to it, and this is definitely one of those exceptions. Mrs. Claus was sharp and sassy, and we kinda loved her! 

We like pretty much all of Hilarie Burton’s Christmas movies. The girl that plays her daughter was adorably precocious. And John’s awkwardness was pretty adorable too. Flowers and chocolates…

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★


Links:
IMDB  •  Official Site
 
Have you seen Last Chance for Christmas? Tell us what you thought of it!

Just In Time for Christmas

Lindsay has to make a tough decision: stay in her small hometown and marry longtime beau Jason, or accept a once-in-a-lifetime job teaching at an Ivy League college thousands of miles away. Fortunately, a magical messenger gives her a priceless Christmastime gift: Lindsay is instantly transported three years into the future, so she’ll be able to make the decision today that will be best for her future.

Our Two Cents:
It seemed like this one had a lot of hype last year leading up to the premiere, and sometimes that leads to high expectations and disappointment. But we felt it totally lived up to the hype. The basic concept of the plot is one of the main repeated plots in Made for TV Christmas Movie land, but for some reason, this made an old standard feel new and different.

There were two big cameo roles, Christopher Lloyd and William Shatner. The former was more delightful than the latter, though it might just be our reaction to the bizarre beard Captain Kirk donned.

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★



Links:
IMDB  •  Buy DVD on Amazon  •  Official Site

Have you seen Just In Time for Christmas? Tell us what you thought of it!

The Flight Before Christmas

Stephanie is excited to take the next step in her relationship and move in with her boyfriend, but is then crushed when he drops the bombshell that he wants to break up. Faced with spending the holidays heartbroken and homeless, she decides to fly home to Connecticut. On a red-eye the day before Christmas, Stephanie finds herself seated next to Michael, who is planning to propose to his college girlfriend. The two get off to a rocky start but things get even worse when the pilot announces that a huge, unexpected snowstorm is crossing the country. Their flight is diverted to a small town in Montana where Stephanie snags the last available room at the town’s bed and breakfast. Despite their differences, she offers to share the room with Michael and try their best to get along.

Our Two Cents:

First, we have to say love the casting of Mayim Bialik. She's not the typical leading lady, i.e. she's not a supermodel. She gets an unfair wrap in the Hollywood scene about being "unattractive". Truth be told this causes a little blood boiling because she's not unattractive, she is just an ordinary looking girl and there's nothing wrong with that. But that isn't the thing that we love about her casting. It's that it wasn't part of the story. She wasn't cast to play the unattractive girl that the hot guy gets to know and realizes there's a heart of gold inside. Her looks weren't an issue--as they shouldn't be. So this movie gets props for that.

When first writing this review, we were thinking the ending fell a little flat but in after writing, we thought, we haven't actually watched this in a while. After watching it again, we'll say that the ending is cute and understated in a good way. Two thumbs up.

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★


Links:
IMDB

Have you seen The Flight Before Christmas? Tell us what you thought of it!

The Christmas Gift

When ten-year-old Megan receives a Secret Santa gift, she is touched by its contents which end up having a huge impact on her life. Now a driven young journalist, Megan can’t shake her desire to thank the person who sent her that heartfelt gift over a decade ago. Determined to prove herself to her editor, she goes on the search for the perfect Christmas story, and in doing so, she finally discovers who her Secret Santa is. Inspired by a true story.

Our Two Cents:

We wanted to like this one. The premise sounded cute, the commercial looked good, but sadly we just found it a bit boring. Zzzzz. We might have “rested our eyes” a bit in the middle, and weren't really invested enough to go back and watch what we missed. 

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★


Links:
IMDB  •  Official Site

Have you seen The Christmas Gift? Tell us what you thought of it!

A Gift Wrapped Christmas

Personal shopper Gwen's newest client, Charlie, is a high-rolling, workaholic, single father. When Gwen meets his 8-year-old son, Owen, during a package drop, she is saddened to see just how little time Charlie spends with him. Determined to get Charlie to appreciate his family, Gwen makes it her Christmas mission to get him into the festive spirit. As she gets closer to Charlie and Owen, she also discovers what she wants for the holidays.

Our Two Cents:

We watched this the next day after the disappointment of 12 Gifts of Christmas. The plot summary sounded basically the same. Instantly we could tell it was FAR better than the other one. The movie was more funny, the leads had far more personality and were likable. It’s really the little things that the actors to do to either create a cardboard reading of a dull script, or a real person that you want to be friends with. We definitely wanted to be friends with Gwen.

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★


Links:
IMDB  •  Official Site

Have you seen A Gift Wrapped Christmas? Tell us what you thought of it!

A Christmas Detour

Two New York City-bound travelers find themselves inextricably linked when a snowstorm reroutes them to an airport hotel in Buffalo. Ever the eternal optimist and hopeless romantic, Paige desperately needs to find a way back home to meet her fiancee’s parents before her forthcoming wedding. And it’s somehow up to fellow passenger Dylan MacKenzie, who is permanently soured on romance following a recent heartbreak. Yet Dylan somehow rises to the occasion to become Paige’s chivalrous helpmate. The pair are joined on this misadventure by a married couple named Frank and Maxine trying to get to Connecticut. As their madcap journey ensues, our foursome will find plenty of surprises in store.

Our Two Cents:

We didn’t dislike this one, but did find it a bit mediocre. We were glad it wasn’t Candace Camerone Bure’s typical plot—a goal oriented work obsessed woman who gets sent to a small town and learns the true meaning of life (see Mistletoe & Moonlight, Let It Snow, Christmas Under Wraps, Finding Normal…). Fully predictable and full of your classic Christmas movie cliches, but, isn’t that the charm?

So… here’s our problem with it. The male lead had a weird personality. Weird might not be the right word, but it just didn't seem to all fit together. Half cynical, half happy-go-lucky, and has the same back story that all male leads seems to have—he got dumped in a big way. They could have had more cute moments in building the romance. It felt a bit forced at times. We might have liked Frank and Maxine's side story even more than Paige and Dylan's.

But that being said, it’s worth watching. Not the best, but CERTAINLY not the worst.

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★


Links:
IMDB  •  Buy DVD on Amazon  •  Official Site

Have you seen A Christmas Detour? Tell us what you thought of it!

Crown for Christmas

After getting fired from her job as a maid at a ritzy New York City hotel, Allie reluctantly accepts a temp gig as the governess to a young girl who is part of a powerful family in Europe that lives in an actual castle. After arriving, Allie learns the girl is named Princess Theodora and her father is Maximillian, the King of Winshire. The King informs Allie that the Princess has a tendency to terrorize authority figures, a predilection that has grown worse since her mother’s death. Yet governess and Princess wind up hitting it off while at the same time a spark forms between Allie and Max. However, Countess Celia is expecting to wed the King. Will Max take a stand for his feelings for Allie and make it truly a merry Christmas for all (or at least, most)?

Our Two Cents:

Classic tale of the governess and single dad falling in love with a Christmas twist. So far, this might be one of the best of the 2015 movies. Can't say that the, ahem, casting doesn't have anything to do with it. There's something about English men named Rupert. Look it up. They tend to be attractive.

Anyhoo, cute movie, great grand gesture at the end... Don't miss this one.

Side Note: We greatly appreciated the authentic English accents in this movie.

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★


Links:
IMDB  •  Buy DVD on Amazon  •  Official Site

 

Have you seen Crown for Christmas? Tell us what you thought of it! 

Once Upon a Holiday

All she wanted was one hour to see the art gallery, but since, as a princess, every minute is accounted for, Katie decided the only way to get a much needed a vacation from being royal was to sneak away. Now in the big city on her own, she meets Jack, a good Samaritan who catches some con men stealing her purse. Keeping her real identity a secret, Katie enjoys seeing what life is like as an ordinary person, and enjoys getting to know Jack too! But secrets can't stay secret forever, especially when the Royal Guard is hunting for you.

Our Two Cents:

A princess wants a day off so she runs away. This movie is kind of a hybrid of Roman Holiday and The Prince and Me. We’ve enjoyed Paul Campbell in his other movies, as he’s great at creating real characters. He did a good job in this too, but the story wasn't as strong as it could have been. It wasn’t bad, but could have been better.

There's a few places where they dropped the ball. She didn’t have that undefinable princess quality. She kind of just wasted the time she had away from the rigorous life of a princess. There are so many cool things to do and see in NYC. Especially at Christmas! Lastly, she never seemed to mourn (or care at all about) losing her mother's camera, and it sounded like it had a lot of sentimental value.

However, all of those are nitpicky critiques, because as a whole, it's a cute and enjoyable movie.

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★


Links:
IMDB  •  Official Site

Have you seen Once Upon a Holiday? Tell us what you thought of it!

Merry Matrimony

Brie, an advertising executive, lands her dream assignment organizing the perfect Christmas wedding for a fashion magazine. If she succeeds, she will make partner at her firm. The only catch is that she unknowingly has been paired up with a certain high powered fashion photographer who just happens to be her estranged ex-boyfriend.

Our Two Cents:

First time watching this, we had to stop it. We found her somewhat unlikable (especially on her date with Jared), and he seemed a bit dull. But then we each went back and finished it another time. Ironically, just after where we'd stopped it is where it starts getting better. Notwithstanding the slow start, the two characters bloom and hit their stride.

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★


Links:
IMDB  •  Buy DVD on Amazon  •  Official Site

Have you seen Merry Matrimony? Tell us what you thought of it!

Christmas Incorporated

Sometimes, life just seems to hand you exactly what you need – particularly at Christmastime. In this new yuletide tale, Riley is scraping bottom when she miraculously lands a job with a wealthy New York City entrepreneur. He’s a bad-boy socialite type who is poised to play Scrooge by closing one of his factories just before Christmas, which would devastate and entire town. It’s left to Riley to talk him out of it and turn him into a man of virtue rather than shame. But will a case of mistaken identity ruin the whole plan?

Our Two Cents:

Three times we tried to record this. Though the schedule said Christmas Incorporated, it played a different movie two times! But third time was the charm. And it was worth the wait. Great banter and chemistry between Riley and William.

The end was a little rushed and abrupt, but… we can forgive that. Overall, thumbs up!

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★


Links:
IMDB  •  Official Site

Have you seen Christmas Incorporated? Tell us what you thought of it! 

I'm Not Ready for Christmas

Holly lives in a world where lying has become common place for her. However, she finds after telling a few too many fibs and disappointing those around her that her life it about to change. Holly's niece, Anna, asks Santa Claus to make Holly incapable of telling a lie as her Christmas wish. What follows is a tale of how telling the truth changes Holly's life in ways she could never have anticipated before.

Our Two Cents:

Ok, here it goes. This one was a bit of a disappointment. I'll start with the most superficial complaint. I don't understand why it was called "I'm Not Ready for Christmas." It didn't have anything to do with the plot. Such a waste of a great title. They didn't really take as much advantage of the truth telling as they could have when it comes to creating comical situations (especially when you compare this movie to Liar Liar). The chemistry... there was none! I really didn't care about the love story at all. And lastly, everything seemed to work out too nicely for her in the end. Don't want to give spoilers, but it all wraps up in a big bow, drizzled with chocolate sauce and glittler and marshmallows and was a little too unrealistically perfect.

Now we can appreciate a guilty pleasure for what it is, there are lots of them on this blog (Eve's Christmas, anyone?), but we had a hard time with this one.

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★

Links:

IMDB  •  Official Site



Ice Scupture Christmas

After starting her first job at a country club restaurant, Callie – an aspiring chef – reconnects with her childhood friend David, whose wealthy family is a member of the club.  When David enters Callie into the club’s annual Christmas ice sculpting competition without her knowledge, she’s forced to go head-to-head with her boss, Chef Gloria. Even though ice sculpting is cold work, sparks are ignited between Callie and David as they prepare for the competition as a team. Callie’s passions for cooking and ice sculpting are met with romance and Christmas spirit as she works to create the perfect sculpture.

Our Two Cents:

We were a bit hot and cold with Ice Sculpture Christmas. After finishing it, we found that we ended up liking it more than we thought we were going to after the first 30 minutes. Still, it had the potential of being a lot better than it was. Callie started off being very giggly and happy go lucky. Towards the middle we start to see a bit more depth from her, but there wasn't quite enough realistic conflict to carry the story. But hey, at least she wasn't named Holly, Carol or Eve. Not good enough to be a favorite, and not bad enough to be a guilty pleasure. But we'll take it for what it is.

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★


Links:
IMDB  •  Buy DVD on Amazon  •  Official Site

Have you seen Ice Sculpture Christmas? Tell us what you thought of it!

12 Gifts of Christmas

When Anna, an unemployed painter, is unable to make ends meet, she is hired to become a personal Christmas shopper for Marc, an uptight corporate exec. As they work together, Marc learns that Christmas giving has less to do with the amount of money spent and more to do with the importance of the gift, while Anna discovers she might find success as an artist in a way she never expected.

Our Two Cents:

The plot sounded so cute. We had high hopes. It wasn’t really bad, but partway through we realized, we were plain bored. The characters didn't have much personality and sadly, not enough chemistry. Sorry, a hot guy isn’t enough to make the movie.

Ironically this year had another movie about a professional personal shopper helping soften a uptight corporate exec. Check out A Gift Wrapped Christmas. It was much better.

Ratings:
Storyline/Writing ★★★★★  •   Acting ★★★★★  •   Chemistry ★★★★★  •  Overall ★★★★★


Links:
IMDB  •   Official Site

 

Have you seen 12 Gifts of Christmas? Tell us what you thought about it!