I wanted to include some movie reviews, recommendations, and general thoughts this year, since these are usually the biggest piece of my holiday cheer! I do love the holiday books, of course, but the movies are what REALLY gets me in the mood. I watch many of the same ones each year but always try to mix in some new favorites. In this little roundups, I’ll be sharing “reviews” of both new-to-me movies and repeat watch feels. They’ll be going in chronological order based on when I watched it this season!
Switched For Christmas
Number of watches: First time
Source: Hallmark original movie
Rating: Best Hallmark movie I’ve seen so far
Candace Cameron-Bure continues her reign as Hallmark Christmas Queen with her latest addition to the channel. I can say that I genuinely enjoyed this movie – not just enjoyed it for a Hallmark movie 😉 Sure it had some cheesy moments, but not nearly as many as usual. The premise is that twin sisters decide to switch places, a la The Parent Trap, around the holidays to prove that they could successfully plan the other person’s Christmas party (lol). Naturally, there’s some great romance, family moments, and growth for the characters. The sisters weren’t super close before their switch, so it was nice to see their relationship genuinely grow closer as the movie went on. I actually started to watch a different Hallmark movie that night and stopped it after a couple of minutes because I just needed some CBC instead. She’s easily my favorite Hallmark actress and watching other people feels weird at this point.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Number of watches: So many
Source: Owned digital copy
Rating: Amazing Christmas classic
I would be surprised if everyone didn’t agree with me here because COME ON, this movie is the best. It’s not my favorite Christmas movie (you know that’s The Santa Clause) but it’s definitely my second favorite. Chevy Chase may be a butthole in real life but this is so classic for him. I love all the National Lampoon movies because he is such a moron and I love it. I think this is my favorite of them though, just because it’s the most classic for me. ANYWAYS if for some reason you haven’t seen this movie, what exactly are you waiting for? I think I’ve probably watched it every year since I was old enough and allowed to watch it lol.
Elf
Number of watches: Between 5-10, counting bits and pieces
Source: On Demand
Rating: One of the best recent Christmas movies
In case you somehow aren’t aware, this is about a human who grows up as an elf in Santa’s workshop. He finally figures out he’s human and goes to NYC to find his birth father. I’m ashamed to admit that I definitely did not see this movie right away when it came out. It took a few years, but I HAVE watched it every year since then. Sometimes I just catch bits and pieces of it on the TV so I’m not sure how many times I’ve seen it all the way through. Either way, it’s a classic! I love Will Ferrell. I think out of all the Christmas movies, this is definitely the most quotable. The whole scene in the mailroom is too much. Chris fell asleep when we watched this year lol.
A Christmas Detour
Number of watches: First time
Source: Hallmark original movie
Rating: Cute and a little different, for a Hallmark movie!
CCB slays the Christmas film again. She plays an annoying bitch (seriously – can she ever start as a nice lady?) who is heading from LA to meet her fiancee’s family in New York. She ends up getting snowed in at the airport in Buffalo with another couple, Maxine and Frank, and a heartbroken guy named Dylan. Naturally, some sparks fly eventually. I liked that the story was a bit different than some of the other Hallmark movies I’ve watched this year. Being stranded and snowed in, then encountering a cute little Christmas town toward the end (well, that part is the same as other movies!) just felt different. Definitely some cute Christmas feels, especially when they’re roaming the little town. I always love books (and apparently) movies involving people being stranded/snowed in and falling in love.
A Christmas Story
Number of watches: Third time
Source: TNT On Demand
Rating: Christmas classic
Unlike most people in the universe, I only saw this movie for the first time when I was in college about 6 years ago. While it’s not necessarily a favorite or a “must see” each year for me, I really enjoy it when I do decide to put it on. Chris was in the mood to watch it this year so we decided to put it on a few nights before Christmas. Unfortunately there was an internet outage when we had about 20 minutes left so we had to finish another day. There are some extremely quotable parts of this movie and I can really see why so many people love it. I think if I had grown up watching it (my mom doesn’t like it and I don’t think my dad cares either way about it), I would love it even more. Seeing it so many years later and only hearing the quotes over the years made me feel apathetic about every watching it. I can say now that I’m glad I finally did, because it really is a funny Christmas classic.
Christmas Next Door
Number of watches: First time
Source: Hallmark original movie
Rating: Role-reversed, fluffy Hallmark film
I recorded this as soon as humanly possible when I saw Jesse Metcalfe was starring in it. He’s my favorite and is so unbelievably attractive. I like how the roles were flipped in this one. Usually the love interest is the Christmas fan in the small town, and the main character female heads into town as a Christmas-hating workaholic. In this movie, the girl loves Christmas and the guy next door is a Scrooge. I truly didn’t care how good this movie was as long as I could check out Jesse Metcalfe’s face, so I couldn’t lose here. I ended up genuinely enjoying it though, so that makes it even better. I’m excited to watch his Hallmark TV show too now that I know it exists. The kids were a bit cute/somewhat annoying, but not too bad. Definitely a good one!
You have some great suggestions. I love hallmark movies. I watch every hallmark movie. I just watched Switched for Christmas and I have to agree it was awesome. I love Candance Cameron Bure. She is the queen of Hallmark Christmas movies. If you haven’t seen Finding Santa with Jodi Sweeten that is also a winner this year.
I wish I gave myself time to watch that one!!
So many classics! I try to watch Elf, Christmas Vacation, and A Christmas Story every year (along with Polar Express and Charlie Brown Christmas). They never get old 🙂 I also really enjoyed Switched for Christmas as well. I LOVE Parent Trap (I should honestly rewatch that soon because it’s hilarious) so it really appealed to me. The ending is my favorite part, when everything has to be untangled but it ends up fine because it’s a Hallmark movie so of course everyone lives happily ever after!
Laura @BlueEyeBooks
Exactly! haha
I always try to watch favorites and mix in some new ones too! I watched The Sweetest Christmas this year (Lacey Chabert, the other Christmas Queen haha) which I enjoyed!! I’m not a big Hallmark fan but Switched at Christmas sounds really awesome! And I do love Christmas Vacation and Elf 🙂