Christmas Movies

I've seen "A Christmas Story" and "Elf" and the other well known Christmas standards. I've never really gotten into the Hallmark movies, or even the Netflix specials though.  This year, I really needed something to try and get me into the spirit of the season, and the TV series I was watching while working out wasn't really motivating me anyway. So I switched to Christmas movies. All watched while working out.  I haven't been spending as much time in the gym, so starting and finishing a movie in a day was a bit of a challenge, even with the majority of these being around 90min in length. If I didn't make it, I'd just finish the movie the next day. As I write my little reviews and thoughts about the shows I watched ... I'll just say this upfront (as it really applies to ALL of them). Pretty predictable and formulaic.  I've seen a lot of jokes about "Hallmark" Christmas movies, and while none of the ones I watched were actual Hallmark movies, many of the memes are spot on ;)

• Holiday in the Wild. 2019 (IMDB 6.1): A brand new Netflix original this year. Who doesn't love Rob Lowe. This didn't feel as much like a Christmas movie, as a movie that happened to take place during December. Still ... being the Scrooge I am, I often struggle watching "Christmas" stuff if it isn't the holiday season. This was cute, I liked it. 
• The Knight Before Christmas. 2019. (IMDB 5.5): Another new Netflix one. While it was cute, it was a bit silly. One I was glad I was working out with, not "just" watching (which I would have considered a waste of time). 
• The Christmas Chronicles. 2018 (IMDB 7.1): One of the Netflix movies from last year. This had some rave reviews ... while I liked it fine, it felt very childish. I guess this the only one I watched that wasn't a romance. 
• The Christmas Prince. 2017 (IMDB 5.7): This one is a couple years old, has a couple sequels, and seems to have its own little cult following. I figured I had better put it on the list just to see what the buzz was about. The main gal here will always be "Zombie"girl to me (iZombie) though. 
• The Christmas Prince; The Royal Wedding. 2018 (IMDB 5.2): I only thought the first movie was okay. This one was pushing the silliness factor for me. 
• The Christmas Prince; The Royal Baby. 2019 (IMDB 5.2): Honestly, I had to take a break between the last one and this one ... but came back and figured I'd finish the series. Too over the top for me. 
• A Cinderella Story; Christmas Wish. 2019 (IMDB 5.2): So I liked this one ;)  I liked the music in it and Shazammed several of the songs. I was not familiar with the lead actors, although I know they are known for their Disney/Marvel roles. The "Cinderella" update was silly but fun. 
• Christmas in the Heartland. 2017 (IMDB 6.0): Oy ... had to push to finish this one. I actually liked the two girls, and Bo Derek was lovely (if unlikable), but many of the other characters/actors? So bad. The storyline was pretty bad too. I watched this on Netflix, but saw it was on Amazon too. 
• Snowed Inn Christmas. 2017 (IMDB 7.3): This is what I think of when "Hallmark Movie" is mentioned (even though this isn't "Hallmark"). Boy/Girl, conflict, of course they fall in love. I recognized the leading lady from One Tree Hill (not that I watched that series, but my son did and I couldn't help but see some of it) and the main man sure reminded me of the "This is Us" Manny guy. 
• Christmas Pen Pals. 2018 (IMDB 7.0): Another "by the book" Christmas romance. Cute little April Kepner from Grey's Anatomy. I liked it. 
• Falling For Christmas. 2016 (IMDB 6.1): I had a little trouble even finding this one on IMDB, I guess there was a title change. It's still listed as "Snowcapped Christmas" there. Back in the day, I really liked "The Cutting Edge" movie, and this had touches of that.  And it had "Blair" from Facts of Life! I liked it. 
• A Gift Wrapped Christmas. 2015. (IMDB 7.2): This one was my favorite. The main gal was so cute and bubbly. I couldn't help but smile, she just radiated Christmas. I did NOT care for the main guy at the start. Not an active dislike, just an "ehh ... I know they are going to end up together and she's too cute for him" but by the end he had won me over too. Even the little boy was cute (I really struggled with the kid actors in some of these, sorry to say but they weren't very good).  This movie actually made me hit the gym again because I wanted to see what was going to happen ...
• All I Want For Christmas. 2013 (IMDB 5.3): And I should have stopped with the last movie, on a high note. This one ... I struggled to stay interested. No motivation to continue on, I even ended up pushing it a couple days and finally finishing after Christmas. Just "roll your eyes" silly. Bad acting. Bad storyline. Blah and bah humbug. 

I did sneak in a few non-Christmas movies (before I made the full "Christmas" commitment and found that even without the Hallmark channel, I had oodles to choose from), so for the "month" between Thanksgiving (because NO Christmas movies before Thanksgiving!) and Christmas, 13 Holiday movies, almost 1550 minutes of walking (or ellipticaling or I even hit the stationary bike a couple of times) while watching wasn't too bad. Maybe I'll try it again next year ...