Plot: Winnie Cooper (welcome back!) from The Wonder years and her best friend spend Christmas together for 30 years...until they realize they love each other.
Lovable old person: Leah Thompson as a spinster aunt and Luke from the Gilmore Girls, who has not aged well (sorry, Julie).
Overacting: 3/5, but it's done with a wink.
My guilt level: 3/5, mostly based on the title.
Handsomeness of male lead: 4/5. Where has this guy been? Best scene: An adorable dance sequence starting with the two leads and ending with the whole family.
Overall: 3/5. Some genuinely sweet, funny moments between the two leads make this one more memorable than your average.
Plot: A Jewish woman and a Catholic man (Joey Lawrence, woah) both need to find someone to pose as their boyfriend/girlfriend to protect themselves from their overbearing families for the holidays. Spoiler alert: they fall in love.
Lovable old person: Marlo Thomas as the Jewish mother.
Overacting: 2/5.
My guilt level: 2/5.
Handsomeness of male lead: 4/5. Joey Lawrence is cute but BITSY.
Most unbelievable moment: Of all the reasons they could've contrived to create a misunderstanding between the two leads, the best they could come up with is that she broke up with her former boyfriend instead of him breaking up with her? Even my generous holiday suspension of disbelief doubts that.
Overall: 2/5
Plot: Modern-day (e.g. skankier) Little Women try to restore their parents' dilapidated house while they're out of town so that their mother won't sell it.
Lovable old person: John Shea as a protector/guardian of sorts, whom I could not place until I IMDB-ed him. It's Lex Luther of Lois and Clark!
Overacting: 2/5.
My guilt level: 3/5. Four words: Teddie in a toga.
Handsomeness of male lead: Teddie: 5/5. Mr. Baher: 4/5
Most unbelievable moment: See below.
Overall: 3/5. This has the benefit of a literary masterwork to boost its plot, and has a cute ending despite the FAKEST SNOW I HAVE EVER SEEN DEPICTED ON SCREEN.
Matchmaker Santa
Plot: Party of Five's Lacey Chabert stars as an owner of her own bakery (cough) who goes to meet her hot-shot fiancee's family. One problem: her fiancee's a jerk who sends his hot best friend/lackey to bring her. Luckily, guys, THE REAL SANTA has taken time away from his duties to personally bring the two together.
Lovable old person: Florence Henderson (!) shows up as a motel owner, and John Ratzenberger (Cliff Clavin) makes an appearance as a small town mechanic/mayor (really).
Overacting: 3/5. I'm talking to you, Florence Henderson.
My guilt level: 4/5. Again, the title.
Handsomeness of male lead: 5/5. He's ADORABLE.
Most unbelievable moment: Of COURSE Florence Henderson needs help with the cookies! Wait, Lacey Chabert is a baker?? To the rescue!
Overall: 3/5. Sure it's dumb, but it's dumb fun. This is all I ask for in a holiday movie.
A Bride for Christmas
Plot: Not to be confused with Hitched for the Holidays, or last year's A Holiday Engagement, A Bride for Christmas is about a runaway bride/interior designer who's left three fiancees at the altar and swears off marriage...until a handsome client/dog owner named Aidan shows up to woo her. Too bad he made a bet with his cad coworker that he could get her to agree to marry him in four weeks.
Lovable old person: No one famous.
Overacting: 1/5. This is the best-acted of all the movies I watched this season.
My guilt level: 1/5.
Handsomeness of male lead: 6/5. Call the fire department, holy smokes this guy is HOT!!!
Best scene: A genuinely funny moment with a leaping dog as our heroine realizes she loves Aidan.
Overall: 5/5. What a pleasant surprise!! This is a keeper.
Come Dance with Me
Plot: In perhaps the most generically titled Christmas movie, which is saying a lot, Andrew McCarthy stars as a slick business man about to propose to his boss' daughter, but ends up falling for his dance instructor. Also: an unnecessary sub-plot about how he was involved in the deal that's going to shut down the dance studio.
Lovable old person: No one famous, unless you count Andrew McCarthy. There is no way to sugar coat this: He is 50, and he looks it. An extra floppy haircut and scenes of him lifting weights, playing racquetball, and (heaven help us) going clubbing with a woman 20 years his junior don't help matters.
Overacting: 3/5.
My guilt level: 3/5.
Handsomeness of male lead: 1/5. See above.
Most unbelievable scene: That the dance instructor would bring Andrew McCarthy's mother a love bird ornament that EXACTLY MATCHES one she has. What are the odds?
Overall: 1/5. Talk about downed expectations. On paper, the movie has everything I like (it's a dancing movie, for crying out loud!). But even my low barometer can't abide a movie this awful.
Christmas With Holly
Plot: Holly is an adorable little girl who hasn't spoken since her mother died. Her hot caretaker uncle, Sean Faris, takes her back to his home on an island with his two brothers. Everyone's a little skeptical about his taking her on - including the stereotypical Baroness Schroeder-type he's dating. That is, until a lonely toy-shop owner moves to the island. Will Holly speak? Will hot Sean Faris ditch the Baroness? I think you know the answers.
Lovable old person: None
Overacting: 1/5.
My guilt level: 0/5, because Hallmark Hall of Fame is the classiest breed of TV movie.
Handsomeness of male lead: 4/5. One-point deduction for his floppy hair.
Best scene: When hot Sean Faris tells Holly a bedtime story and finally gets this grief-stricken little girl to smile.
Overall: 4/5. Get the tissues out, folks. This is a very cute, well-done movie (i.e., you can tell they actually had a budget). And the little girl is just so adorable.
6 comments:
i love that i have most of these on my dvr to watch soon!
How did you find all of these gems? Thanks for the list, I love cheesy christmas movies and now I have some to check out!
I LOVE your annual review of these guilty pleasures! I don't know how I missed some of these, but I will find them. And can we talk about why The 12 Men of Christmas was not played this year? That is my favorite!
12 Men of Christmas is playing again on the 18th. Set your DVR!!
I also love this post. I have these and many others on my DVR and this handy guide will help me choose. I also watched Christmas Eve where Patrick Muldoon has a cameo . . . it's not bad.
I saw A Bride for Christmas and the one with Holly.... quality entertainment!Also...I do love The 12 Men of Christmas. Can we make this into an annual holiday watching event?
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