The Christmas Waltz (2020)

Rated: G

Genres: Drama, Family, Romance

Starring: Lacey Chabert and Will Kemp

Synopsis: A woman makes an unexpected connection with her dance instructor after her storybook Christmas wedding is canceled.

Review: While not really about Christmas and having little to no mention of it, it is a lovely story about breaking out of life’s and personal expectations and becoming yourself. If you like ballroom dancing there’s lots of that for you, too. It’s mostly a romance. And a lovely one. 

Scoring: 3

Christmas Wander (2017)

Rated: G

Genres: Drama, Family, Religion

Starring: Vanessa Simoes and Jody Mitchell

Synopsis: Amelia is forced to interact with her father, Fred who abandoned her as a child and now has Alzheimer's.

Review: The beginning was really slow and the acting was subpar.  By the end, I was interested and liking the story.  It just shouldn’t take that long to get sucked into a story.  It also doesn’t feature Christmas other than ending on Christmas.  It’s okay but it’s hard to sit through the beginning to appreciate the end.

Scoring: 2

A Christmas Wedding Date (2012)

Rated: PG

Genres: Comedy, Romance

Starring: Marla Sokoloff, Chris Carmack, Catherine Hicks, George Wendt, Vanessa Evigan, and David Deluise

Synopsis: After being fired, Rebecca goes back to her old home town to attend her friend's wedding on Christmas Eve and visit her mother. But when she tries to return home she finds she must relive Christmas Eve over and over until she gets it right.

Review:  Another movie based on Groundhog Day. It’s interesting  to see Rebecca learn about what’s important and find happiness but some of the repeated activities get tiresome.  

Scoring: 3

Christmas Wedding Planner (2017)

Rated: PG

Genres: Comedy, Romance

Starring: Jocelyn Hudon, Stephen Huszar, Kelly Rutherford, and Joey Fatone

Synopsis: Wedding planner, Kelsey Wilson, is about to have her big break: planning her beloved cousin's lavish and exclusive wedding. Everything is going smoothly until Connor McClane, a devilishly handsome private investigator, shows up and turns Kelsey's world upside-down. Hired by a secret source, Connor quickly disrupts the upcoming nuptials. 

Review:  I really enjoyed it. It’s a true romantic comedy. It’s not really about planning a wedding, rather it’s about the people and the situations. I laughed, I was moved, and I was engrossed in the story.  They even managed a surprise at the end. I loved it muchly (you’ll get that if you watch it.)

Scoring: 4

Christmas Wedding Runaway (2019)

Rated: G

Genres: Comedy, Family, Romance

Starring: Candice Mausner, Harmon Walsh, Joseph Cannata , Sarah Mitich, and

Synopsis: Maggie Mason, a runaway bride, dos some soul-searching when she’s trapped in a snowed-in cabin with her grandmother and an old flame at Christmas.

Review: It’s a little cheesy and the story is a little superficial at points.  That being said, I love the relationship between the sisters.  Nana alone is worth watching the movie.  It’s light and subtley romantic but it’s fun.

Scoring: 3

The Christmas Wife (1988)

Rated: NR

Genre: Drama

Starring: Jason Robards and Julie Harris

Synopsis: A widower not wanting to face his first Christmas alone responds to an ad for "social introductions".

Review:  This isn’t a feel-good love story. It addresses loss, grieving, and life. It’s definitely not for children. If you’re up for a drama you’ll like it. 

Scoring: 3

A Christmas Winter Song (2019)

Rated: PG

Genres: Drama, Family, Musical

Starring: Ashanti and Stan Shaw

Synopsis: Clio, a Christmas shop owner, forms a special musical bond with Fred, a former jazz singer. Having just lost her own father, Clio help Fred reconnect with his own daughter and grandchildren, just in time for the town’s annual Christmas pageant. 

Review: What a special movie. The relationship between Fred and Clio is so beautiful. They help each other heal and move on. The music adds to the charm of the film. Very moving. 

Scoring: 4

A Christmas Wish (2019)

Rated: PG

Genres: Comedy, Family, Romance

Starring: Hilario Burton, Tyler Hilton, and Pam Grier

Synopsis: Maddie slips in a wish for her sister Faith to experience true love for the first time. Next day Faith meets seemingly perfect Andrew, but is he really the one for her?

Review: Silly and charming, this movie has lots of Christmas magic. The characters are sweet and funny and some of the wish predicaments made me actually laugh out loud. The children and their love of art was icing on the cake. 

Scoring: 4

A Christmas Wish (2021)

Rated: NR

Genres: Family

Starring: Noree Victoria, Nadia Simms, Blue Kimble, and Javon Johnson

Synopsis: A single mother asks for a miracle for her and her daughter during Christmas.

Review: In the beginning, the ex-husband was basically verbally abuse to the ex-wife. He refused to pay child support and was attacking her for asking for it. By the end they’re all back together as a happy family. I don’t think there was enough done to get from the accusations and abuse to happily ever after.  Still cute enough to watch. 

Scoring: 3

A Christmas Wish in Hudson (2022)

Rated: G

Genres: Family, Romance

Starring: Alex Rinehart and Rib Hollis

Synopsis: Lori really needs a break for Christmas. When she sees Patrick Jacobs, a widowed firefighter from Hudson, Wisconsin on a reality cooking show, she feels a strong attraction and decides to take a shot at love, but she's not the only one.

Review: This is a typical romcom movie but it has a special feel to it. It’s so sweet and has lots of Christmas. It seems like a movie you could watch over and over again and love it more each time. 

Scoring: 3.5

Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses (2019)

Rated: G

Genres: Family, Romance

Starring: Jill Wagner, Matthew Davis and Donna Mills

Synopsis: Weeks before Christmas, Abbey is hired to decorate the estate of businessman Nick. But to do her job well, she must figure out how to break down the wall between her and Nick, all while keeping the holiday spirit alive.

Review: This movie has all the pieces of a wonderful romance.  It has a love triangle, an adorable child, a single mom, and making life choices.  It’s sweet with a good ending.  If you like romance, this is for you.

Scoring: 3.5

Christmas With A Capital C (2011)

Rated: NR

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Family

Starring: Ted McGinley and Daniel Baldwin

Synopsis: An attorney returns to his small home town in Alaska and quickly rocks the boat by getting an injunction against the nativity display tradition and attacking Christmas.

Review:  Another examination of Christian vs secular Christmas but it wasn't done well. The constant fighting and back and forth makes it awful to watch and it’s way too preachy. 

Scoring: 1

Christmas With A Crown (2021)

Rated: PG

Genres: Family, Romance

Starring: Lisa Durupt, Marcus Rosner, and Teryl Rothery

Synopsis: When a successful woman returns to her hometown to revive her family's Christmas festival, she meets a dashing stranger who's volunteered to help organize the event. Sparks begin to fly between them, but little does she know that he's really a prince in disguise, longing to find the true spirit of the holidays

Review: The movie was quite boring. Halfway through I still didn’t care about what was happening. I adore Teryl Rothery but she didn’t pull of being queen. The whole movie was about planning a festival but there was very little Christmas. 

Scoring: 2

Christmas With A Prince (2018)

Rated: G

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Starring: Kaitlyn Leeb and Nick Hounslow

Synopsis: A busy doctor reluctantly agrees to allow an injured prince to convalescence secretly in her pediatric ward. 

Review:  This is not a movie about Christmas.  Rather, it’s one that takes place at Christmas. However, it’s darling. The children are precious and have so much personality. The love story almost seems secondary to the story of the children. 

Scoring: 3.5

Christmas With A Prince: Becoming Royal (2019)

Rated: PG

Genres: Drama, Romance

Starring:  Kaitlynn Leeb, Nick Hounslow, and Charles Shaughnessy

Synopsis: Dr, Tasha is off to St. Savarre to spend Christmas with Prince Alex.  He proposes and they immediately being making plans.  Princess Miranda, unhappy about the news, concocts a plan to halt the nuptials.

Review: As with the first movie, Christmas is merely the time of year it’s taking place.  There are no Christmas traditions.  Unlike the first movie, it isn’t filled with adorable children.  The love story picks up where the first movie left off but this would work as a stand-alone.  It’s a decent story but it felt a little superficial.  The evilness of Miranda felt the most real.  Still, if you like a simple and easy romance, you’ll like it.

Scoring: 3.5

Christmas With A Prince: A Royal Baby (2021)

Rated: G

Genres: Drama, Romance

Starring: Princess Tasha insists on accompanying her husband, Prince Alec, on his royal tour even though she’s pregnant.  When complications arise, they must figure out how to handle the situation.

Synopsis: Things get complicated for the expecting Prince Alexander and Dr. Tasha when a Royal State Visit is planned abroad, passing through her hometown.  The couple must struggle with defying tradition and delivering, literally, on expectations.

Review: This is the third movie in the series and being the third I expected it to not look so low budget. The only real Christmas is when they say it’s the first Christmas for the babies.  The plot has so many holes. A woman who went to a boarding school for the upper class in Europe doesn’t know what spoon to use or what to wear?  A woman who gets the best medical care in two countries doesn’t know she’s having twins?  And so on. It’s a cute movie but could’ve been better.  By itself it has failings but as a finale to the trilogy, it's great.

Scoring: 3.5

Christmas With A View (2018)

Rated: PG

Genres: Drama, Romance

Starring: Kaitlyn Leeb, Scott Cavalheiro, Patrick Duffy, and Vivica A. Fox

Synopsis: Secret aspirations between a failed restaurateur and a celebrity chef threaten their blossoming Christmas romance.

Review:  A little syrupy with more than a few slow moments but overall, it’s a nice story. The leads have good chemistry and acted well together. 

Scoring: 3

Christmas With My Ex (2022)

Rated: NR

Genres: Drama, Family

Starring: Denise Boutte and Travis Cure

Synopsis: Christmas chaos unfolds when a woman is forced to spend the holidays with her family and her ex.

Review: While this takes place at Christmas, there’s very little Christmas or Christmas spirit. It’s mostly dysfunctional family drama. I did like the part of the story involving homelessness and shelters. Overall, it was just too much. 

Scoring: 2

Christmas With the Carters (2022)

Rated: TV-MA

Genres: Comedy, Family

Starring: Bryan G. Thompson, Sophie Knolton, Leslie Holmes-Dupree

Synopsis: When a family heirloom that is the key to celebrating Christmas is stolen, the family must do anything and everything to steal it back from a psycho-Santa fanatic.

Review: It seemed like it was trying so hard to be funny, but I wasn’t amused.  It was boring and a little, or a lot, over the top.  The acting was also subpar.  Skip it.

Scoring: 1

Christmas With the Chosen: The Messengers (2021)

Rated: NR

Genres: Musical, Religion

Starring: Austin Reed Alleman

Synopsis: Artists perform new and classic Christmas songs from the set of "The Chosen."

Review:  This is beautifully done.  Alternating between music and religious discussion.  The music is performed with a background that has a Nativity feel.

Scoring: 3

Christmas With The Darlings (2020)

Rated: G

Genres: Family, Romance

Starring: Katrina Law, Carlo Marks, and Steve Bacic

Synopsis: A woman helps a charming man look after his orphaned nieces and nephew during the holidays.

Review: Darling is the perfect word for this movie. The children and grownups are so perfectly written and acted. The story has so many layers. There are lots of Christmas traditions.  I especially enjoyed them decorating the outdoor trees including ornaments that were edible for the animals.  The puzzle is a perfect symbol for their experiences. You can’t help but root for their happiness. This will be an annual must see for us

Scoring: 5

Christmas With The Karountzoses (2015)

Rated: NR

Genres: Comedy, Family

Starring: Robert Krantz

Synopsis: On Christmas Eve Michael Karountzos finds out he didn't get his anticipated promotion and must now deal with fourteen Greek relatives at his dinner table.

Review:  It felt like this movie was trying too hard to recapture the magic of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” while failing.  There were comedic moments, dramatic moments (like Michael reading a letter to his younger self), and religious moments, none of which worked cohesively together.  It wasn’t enjoyable.  Had it chosen a genre and stuck with it; it may have been successful.

Scoring: 1.5

Christmas With The King Family (1967)

Rated: NR

Genres: Family, Musical

Synopsis: The King Sisters are back with their family to celebrate their favorite holiday.  The family shares some of their favorite Christmas songs.  This includes many touching moments, including sister Alyce dedicating “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” to her son away in the army, who then surprises her on the show.

Review: I had never heard of the King Sisters.  I don’t know why.  They’re delightful.  It’s upbeat and charming with classic and familiar Christmas songs.  I really enjoyed it.

Scoring: 3

Christmas With You (2022)

Rated: PG

Genres: Family, Romance

Starring: Aimee Garcia and Freddie Prinze, Jr. 

Synopsis: Follows a pop star who's got a career burnout and escapes to a small town where she finds not only inspiration but a shot of love.

Review: This was a sweet love story with the daughter and grandmother playing roles that brought a little levity to a story that could’ve been too heavy. We see some Hispanic traditions.  There’s Christmas spirit alongside the romance. 

Scoring: 3.5

A Christmas Without Snow (1980)

Rated: NR

Genres: Drama, Musical

Starring: Michael Learned, John Houseman, and James Cromwell

Synopsis: A divorced woman moves to San Francisco from Omaha after her divorce. Leaving her young son with his grandmother while trying to build her life again, she joins the choir of a local church. A tough, curmudgeonly, perfectionist choirmaster, is hired and attempts to whip the choir into shape for a Christmas concert. The choir group overcomes issues including ageism, racism, teen angst, small group divas, middle-aged relationships, single parenthood, the plight of struggling low income churches, and replacing the old with the new.

Review:  While I found the movie to be quite slow, I’m glad I stuck with it. The story, shown in 1980, still rings true today. There are so many situations that make the movie relatable.

Scoring: 3

A Christmas Witness (2021)

Rated: PG

Genres: Comedy, Romance

Starring: Arielle Kebbel and Colin Egglesfield

Synopsis: Federal marshal Jessie must keep mob informant and lady’s man, Dean, safe until he testifies the day after Christmas, but the scorned mob boss’ wife, a case of mistaken identity, an overly amorous mayor, a pugnacious hit man, and a hide-out town bubbling over with holiday cheer derail the mission.

Review: I love Arielle Kebbel but even she couldn’t save this movie. It’s just bad. Most of the characters are more like caricatures, and absurd ones. The story is stupid. Even the romance doesn’t work. 

Scoring: 1

Christmas Wonderland (2018)

Rated: G

Genres: Family, Romance

Starring: Emily Osment and Ryan Rottman

Synopsis: Heidi, an artist, left her small town to make it in New York but became a gallery curator. When she goes home to care for her niece and nephew, she must work with her ex to plan the high school dance. Then Heidi must decide which life to choose. 

Review:  An endearing story that has all the emotions of a Hallmark movie but a story that is fresh. The actors and scenery are wonderful. I truly enjoyed it. 

Scoring: 4

Christmas Yule Blog (2020)

Rated: PG

Genre: Romance

Starring: Sara Canning, Zak Santiago, and Heather Hawthorn Doyle

Synopsis: A social media travel writer is sent to Carte De Amor to cover a century-old Christmas parade.

Review: I really enjoyed seeing Christmas traditions and celebrations that aren’t traditional.  My favorite was the ugly Christmas shawl instead of sweater.  The romance and story were okay but it was missing some spice to keep it interesting.

Scoring: 3