Christmas Movies 2022

Last year (in 2021) I only watched a couple Christmas movies. The year before that, in 2020 ... I watched 29 Christmas movies! I really hadn't watched many (beyond the most traditional ones, "Elf" etc), but it was in 2019 that I dedicated December to Christmas movies, while I was working out at least. I watched 13 Christmas Movies in 2019. And this year, I did it again. After Thanksgiving was over, I started watching "Christmas Movies".  From new releases with big name actors, to the cheesy "Hallmark" classics. From Netflix to Amazon, to HBO and Hulu. My treadmill time and elliptical exercise were also an attempt to get into the holiday spirit.

I started off with the "bigger" movies, with mainstream actors, on the HBO and Netflix. Amazon had quite a few movies, but some of the "freevee" ones were slipping into my "recommended" list (free with ads ... I do NOT do ads). Hulu ended up having a lot of movies (Lifetime, Halmark) - sometimes they wouldn't show up on my "watching" (I watch in stops and starts, during several workouts) and I'd have to manually search them. I gave up on a couple movies on Amazon after subtitle issues (no captions coming up, and another with the timing off).

I started the day after Thanksgiving, and got in 25 Christmas movies ...

Here's a recap/review ...

• Spirited: I thought this was cute. The dancing was SO energetic! Fun to see some of these stars (Ryan Reynolds) sing and dance. Ended up turning it on upstairs on Christmas Day too, to make the family watch a little. "Good Afternoon!"  HBO.
• Harmony Holiday: This was pretty cute, gal/singer on the road, needing repairs, cute town/cute boy. I wasn't sure about the "class" of kids ... only five kids, but I did enjoy their number. I liked the main gal's voice, and the original Christmas song. HBO.
• A Christmas Story Christmas: I didn't grow up on the original "A Christmas Story" but it's legendary in my husband's family (seriously, my BIL has a "leg lamp" and hosts a party every year for the unveiling. He has a big pink bunny suit too). So this was a fun look at Ralphie in the future, as well as many of the other "kids" now grown. Too bad they couldn't get the original parents to play parts.  HBO.
• The Noel Diary: A new release, featuring the guy from "This Is Us" ... cute enough. Netflix.
  
• Christmas With You: The "famous singer relationship with regular person" story (like "Marry Me and "The Valet") ... it's been done several times, but I liked this. Freddie Printze Jr .. a lot older than whenever it was I saw him last. Netflix.
• Falling for Christmas: Another 2022 release getting a lot of buzz (not all good). Lindsey Lohan, filmed in Utah resorts (not that I'm that familiar with them, I'm not a snow/ski gal). It was the story done in "Overboard" and it was cute enough.
• Christmas Catch: This felt pretty low-budget, and a little (a lot?) silly. Female detective, falling for the suspect, trying to find a stolen diamond reindeer ... Netflix.
• Father Christmas Is Back: Some big names in this one. Released in 2021, but I'd never heard of it. Four sisters, a father who hasn't been around but now comes to Christmas with his new wife. Not great, but watchable, at least while multi-tasking. Netflix.
• Naughty or Nice: This was cute. The gal from "One Tree Hill". Santa's magic book listing naughty or nice activities from anyone. A bit of a moral to the story too. Amazon.
• Surviving Christmas: Silly, over-the-top, but I didn't mind it. Big names in it. Amazon. 
• Hollywood Christmas: A "Hallmark" type, even though it was on HBO. Cute enough, story about making Christmas movies ...
• Nothing Like the Holidays: A little older, 2008 release, more mainstream (although I hadn't heard of it). Several recognizable faces. About a family from Puerto Rico. Amazon.
  
• Your Christmas or Mine? This was perhaps a favorite. Taking place in England, so heavy accents. Cute "switch" story as they each end up with the other's family. Amazon.
• Mistletoe Mix-up: Pretty classic "Christmas Movie" story, silly, over-the-top. Amazon.
• A Christmas Movie Movie: Two sisters get transported into a "Christmas Movie" ... silly, but kind of cute. Hulu.
• The Enchanted Christmas Cake: Corny title ... but that was what the movie was about. It actually wasn't as bad as the title makes it sound! Hulu.
• The Holiday Fix-up: I remember both these leads from last year's Christmas movies. A successful home improvement star returns to her little home town to help rebuild, meeting up with her old flame. Main memories of this were the handmade mantle built ... it was awful! And the dress the gal was wearing at the end ... it was awful! I really wanted to pull it up and show Hubs and ask if it was just me or if he thought so too. Hulu.
• A Merry Christmas Wish: I didn't care for the female lead. The male lead was familiar from a soap opera, back in the day when I watched those. Successful city gal inherits a childhood farm and puts on one last Christmas party at her late, great-uncle's request. Hulu.
• Christmas on Repeat: A slight break from the traditional romance Christmas story, with a little paranormal, groundhog day type thing. Kindof cute. Hulu.
• Christmas at the Drive-In: The gal from "The Wonder Years" all grown up. This one really stretched credibility ... forcing the owner into good-faith effort and making a drive-in work rather than selling it? A perfect wrap-up at the end.  Hulu.
• Secretly Santa: Cute movie about two app developers (both with an app to help you find the perfect gift) forced to work together. They met at a "santa crawl" - a term I hadn't heard of before, but heard a couple of times during Christmas movies this year - in disguise, so they don't know who the "mystery santas" were, but reconnect (still incognito) in chat, before they finally figure out who it is. Hulu.
• Catering Christmas: Cute movie about a gal/caterer and the grandson of a wealthy client. Hulu.
• My Christmas Fiance: Cute American gal/student at a resort restaurant in Italy helps out her boss pretending to be his fiancée for the holidays. This really had nothing to do with Christmas (stretch to included it as a "Christmas movie") ... It started out strong, but then got super ridiculous with his family, the spurned love interest (who his family wants him with) and the "duchess" played by Denise Richards ... and WHY was that character included? What did she bring? She even gets on the cover, although isn't even listed on IMDB (which has a trailer for a completely different show). Just weird feeling with this show (although I liked the cooking aspect and the other chefs, even though it was silly).  Hulu.
• Merry Kiss Cam: This didn't have to be a "holiday" movie ... a stretch to have it a Christmas theme. Otherwise, it was actually quite cute. I liked several songs playing in the background of the movie, but most weren't recognized when I tried to Shazam them.
  
• Christmas Movie Magic: Turned out to be a cute movie. A reporter comes to a small town to a small town to write an article about a popular old movie, trying to find a unique angle. Romance between her and the grandson of the owner of the theater. A music number at the end had a weird lip-sync feel though. Hulu .
• Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special: This one wasn't downstairs during a workout, but upstairs on Christmas Day. My son turned it on (Disney). Corney, but kind of cute. Funny, with Kevin Bacon theme. 

I couldn't quite fit the Guardians Christmas cover into my collage, so I'll show it here, along with the two movies I watched last year, that didn't get their own post (as there were only two!)

 

 

 

General "Christmas Movie" thoughts from this year ...

• I got married shortly before I turned 22 ... very young. Most of the "romance" in Christmas movies (and more) now are featuring much older adults. Mid to late 30s, established in careers. Some even later, with kids (after a divorce or death).
  
• Mainstream movies definitely have a different feel than the ones for the Hallmark/Lifetime channel. I didn't play any "Christmas Movie Bingo" but just Google that to see some of the stereotypical repeated themes. I had to laugh that a few of these Christmas movies had "Christmas movie" themes.
  
• Hulu surprised me by having the most options (that I hadn't already seen). There were still tons I didn't get to. I do like that Amazon has a basic "rating" (the Amazon stars) and the IMDB rating (the two do not always coincide) - that would give me at least a general idea when picking my next picture, which ones might be worth a watch ... although I was pretty random, often just going with whatever popped up next or was showing as a similar selection.
  

Still so many Christmas movies unseen, but there are more Christmas seasons to come.