Hallmark For All Seasons

Well, we did it, everybody.  At times I had my doubts that I’d ever get through all the movies (and my Tivo watchlist says that while I did watch all of Hallmark’s, I have quite a few movies from the other networks that I still need to watch).

Last year when I created my rankings of the 2018 Christmas movies I had no idea that 2019 would be dedicated to reviewing and ranking every movie that Hallmark had to offer throughout the year.  But here we are, a year later – with a dedicated blog just for my commentary, some pretty awesome readers, and a LOT of movies that have become favorites.  RED MOVIE TITLES are links to the original reviews.

The Bottom Five

Much like last year, we’ll move from the least liked to the favorites.

40. A Cheerful Christmas – 48.8% 

Plot: Lauren and Colleen are personal ‘Christmas Coaches.’ This holiday season they land a royal client, the Anderson family, who has moved from England. When Lauren meets James he wants nothing to do with planning Christmas as he’s busy negotiating a big acquisition for his father’s company. But Lauren won’t be thwarted in helping this royal family embrace the true spirit of Christmas. Sparks start to fly but she faces competition in the form of an old childhood friend and business colleague of James.

My thoughts: This movie was so bad that it very nearly came in last place for the entire year.  This movie was an acquisition by Hallmark, and a BAD decision to acquire it. No less than 10 minutes in I declared it the worst of the year and it never got any better. Frankly, I’m shocked that it did not rank lower than the summer movie “Love in the Sun,” which I also hated.  I can only think that since I love Christmas so much I was more forgiving of the overall terribleness of the movie thanks in part to real snow and a lot of Christmas decor.

It galls me to think we lost two other Christmas movies on the schedule “Alice in Winterland” (or “Alice in Christmasland” depending on when you first found out about it), and “A New Year’s Resolution.”  “Alice” is now going to air during Winterfest 2020 and has been renamed “Love in Winterland,” and there’s no telling if “Resolution” will ever air (which makes me sad as it stars one of my faves, Michael Rady).  To think that those two movies were removed from the Christmas roster and replaced with “Cheerful” (which was anything but) is a travesty.

39. A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas – 50.7%

Plot: Willow returns to her Virginia hometown to help prepare for her sister’s wedding, only to discover that the inn that her family once owned is back on the market. Widower David owns the inn and lets Willow repurpose the inn’s barn into the location for her sister’s upcoming Christmas wedding.  Willow reignites her love for the old inn and discovers unexpected romance with David.

My thoughts: My takeaway from this movie is that it had no soul, and therefore I could not connect with it at all.  And that’s about all I can say about this one.

 

38. A Homecoming for the Holidays – 53.2%

Plot: Country singer Charlotte is home for the holidays and brother Ryan’s fellow ex-soldier Matt is in town. Writing her new album, Charlotte works with Matt to build a house for a friend in town.

My thoughts: This one was so forgettable that I had to look it up to remind myself of what movie it was.  Despite the extreme likeability of actress Laura Osnes, the fact is that the character of Matt was a stalker, and that should never receive high scores.

37. A Merry Christmas Match – 54.9%

Plot: Corey lives in a ski village where she works at her mother’s local antique shop and is the director of a local Christmas pageant in honor of her father. When eligible bachelor Ryder visits her store, sparks fly and she wonders if she should have left town to follow her dream of becoming a theater director.

My thoughts:  I had such high hopes for the very first movie of the season.  And while I liked Ashley Newbrough a lot in this movie, I had serious questions about the plot and there was a severe lack of chemistry between the main characters.  The result was some real fear that this season of movies may not be as good as I hoped.

36. Nostalgic Christmas – 55.6%

Plot: Anne is a successful toy buyer in New York City.  Ahead of the Christmas holidays, she returns to Maine to visit her father, who is retiring and shutting down his toy store. While visiting she meets Keith and together they get roped into helping with the various town holiday celebrations. Anne becomes torn about whether she should return to NYC, or stay in Maine to continue her family’s business, and pursue her budding romance with Keith.

My thoughts: There was so much about this movie that could have made it great.  It had two leading actors that I really like in Brooke D’Orsay and Trevor Donovan.  Unfortunately, despite being based on a book, this movie was just boring.

 

The Lower Middle of the Pack

While these movies weren’t terrible, they weren’t that great either.  I can only see two movies from this section being ones that I would actively choose to seek out and watch again: “Our Christmas Love Song” and “Write Before Christmas.”

35. A Family Christmas Gift – 56.9%

34. Cherished Memories: A Gift to Remember 2 – 58.5%

33. Christmas Town – 58.8%

Plot: Lauren leaves everything behind in Boston to embark on a new chapter in her life and career in another city. But an unforeseen detour to the charming town of Grandon Falls has her discover unexpected new chapters – of the heart and of family – helping her to embrace, once again, the magic of Christmas.

My Thoughts: Didn’t like this one much at all, given it was based upon a situation that could have cleared up the ENTIRE MOVIE in 10 minutes.  And let’s not even get me started on the Case of the Neglected Cat where Lauren doesn’t appear to provide food or litter for her cat during the entire movie.

32. Merry & Bright – 59.2%

31. A Christmas Love Story – 59.7%

Plot: Tony Award-winning Kristin Chenoweth stars as Katherine, a youth choir director who needs to write a big song for a Christmas Eve show. She is distracted from her task when a boy with a golden voice joins her choir, which comes as a surprise to his widowed father, Greg, portrayed by Scott Wolf.

My Thoughts: I should have loved this one.  Everyone else did, for some reason.  But for me it was predictable (I saw the “she’s his mom” story from the moment Greg said his son was a “gift” and not even a delightful Kristin Chenoweth could save this movie.

30. Christmas in Rome – 60.9%

29. When Calls the Heart Christmas movie – 62.1%

28. Christmas at the Plaza – 63.1%

Plot: With Christmas approaching in New York City, Jessica is hired to create an exhibition honoring the history of Christmas at The Plaza Hotel. There, she meets Nick, a handsome decorator who’s been commissioned to deck out the iconic landmark. When they’re paired together to prepare the exhibition, they wind up enjoying a host of holiday traditions together and find themselves falling for each other.

My Thoughts: While I did like some things about this movie, there were so many movies that were better than this one.  The lack of initial chemistry between the leads didn’t help its cause, nor did Nick overplaying his hand when Jessica clearly was still with her boyfriend.

27. A Christmas Miracle – 63.2%

26. Christmas On My Mind – 64.3%

25. Angel Falls: A Novel Holiday – 65.1%

24. It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas – 65.3%

23. Our Christmas Love Song – 65.5%

Plot: Melody, an increasingly successful country music singer, debuts a new song only to be accused plagiarism by her former musical mentor.  Escaping to her hometown in an attempt to figure out how to save her reputation, she shares the holiday with the family she hasn’t seen in a long time and reunites with an old flame and musical partner.

My Thoughts: This one places this high solely because of Brendan Hines, who was great in this movie.  He. Was. Fabulous.

22. Christmas Camp – 65.9%

Plot: Hoping to earn a promotion at the advertising firm where she works, Haley is sent by her boss to a Christmas Camp to help her figure out how to connect with her new client – a toy company – and create a winning Christmas ad campaign.  While at the camp, Haley connects with fellow campers, and especially the camp director’s son, Jeff. Will Haley figure out that the holidays shouldn’t just be a time to work?

My Thoughts: Some may recall that this movie actually came out during Christmas in July.  I’m still including it here since it’s a 2019 Christmas movie.  While the “romance” of this movie seemed rushed, I do like Campo and I thought Lily Anne Harrison was fine.  It just wasn’t a fabulous summer Christmas movie because it had many head-scratcher moments.

21. Write Before Christmas – 66.0%

The Upper Middle of the Pack

This is where we’re starting to get to the movies that I more actively liked, even if I didn’t love most of them.  I DO love #11, “Holiday for Heroes,” which slipped out of the Top 10 late in the game thanks to another movie slipping into the Top 10.  These are all movies I almost definitely would watch again – in fact, a couple of them I HAVE watched again already.

20. A Christmas Duet – 66.0%

19. Christmas in Montana – 66.2%

Plot: Before the holidays, Sara goes to Montana to help resistant Travis save his ranch. Can time on the ranch help restore her faith in Christmas in time for a miracle?

My Thoughts: I saw some grumbling online that this movie was boring.  I disagree wholeheartedly.  It was mature and thoughtful and took its time laying out the story.  Add in a stellar performance from Ava Preston as Sara’s teen daughter, and this movie was a winner for me.

18. Picture a Perfect Christmas – 66.4%

17. Christmas at Dollywood – 66.4%

16. Christmas Scavenger Hunt – 66.9%

15. Sense Sensibility & Snowmen – 67.4%

Plot:  The film centers on Christmas enthusiast party planners Ella and her sister, Marianne, who clash with their client, Edward, who is a not-so-jolly toy company CEO.

My Thoughts:  I thought Luke MacFarlane as Edward was just fine.  Jolly?  No.  But a decent guy, for sure.  And Erin Krakow, playing against her typical Hallmark type, was bubbly and fun in this one.  AND to have the delightful Kimberly Sustad as Marianne?  Heavenly casting!

14. A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love – 68.0%

13. Christmas at Graceland: Home for the Holidays – 68.6%

12. Time for You to Come Home for Christmas – 69.1%

11. Holiday for Heroes – 70.0%

Plot: After a year’s worth of letters exchanged between Audrey and soldier Matt, their worlds collide for the first time when Matt is sent home from deployment and sent to Audrey’s hometown to consider his career options going forward.  Friendship and romance bloom, but Matt has to decide: does he reenlist or take a job opportunity a few states away?  And what will this mean to his new friendship with Audrey?

My Thoughts:  Loved it.  Loved it.  Loved it.  The only reason it’s not in Top 10 was that Kristoffer Polaha trumps almost EVERYONE in the Hallmark universe.  Melissa Claire Egan was DELIGHTFUL and I immediately became a fan of hers thanks to this movie.  Blucas is all charm and didn’t miss a beat.  This movie also benefited from a fabulous set of secondary characters and a boatload of chemistry.  REMEMBER WHEN MATT DIDN’T KISS AUDREY???  Ugh.  I died.

My Christmas-y Good Top Ten

These last ten movies are movies that I will watch repeatedly.  In fact, I’ve already watched #9, #8, and #7 a few times.  I bought #2 on DVD when I saw it at my local Walmart a few weeks ago. I have #7, #6, #4, #3 and #1 permanently saved on my Tivo.  This is a strong Top 10, although “Christmas Under the Stars” could easily be swapped out with “Holiday for Heroes” depending on my mood.

10. Christmas Under the Stars – 71.4%

Plot: When Nick, a career-focused investment banker, is fired from his high-powered firm at Christmastime, he takes a job at a Christmas tree lot owned by Clem, a warmhearted widower. There, he meets Julie, an astronomy teacher who’s always looked to the stars for hope. As the Christmas spirit washes over him — and he begins falling for Julie — the once self-centered Nick discovers the joy of helping others.

My Thoughts: It’s a rare Hallmark movie that focuses on the male character just as much as a female, and the net effect is that I came away really appreciating the story of this movie, as well as the acting.  I’ve never thought of Jesse Metcalfe as a terribly strong actor but working with Autumn Reeser AND Clarke Peters raised his game tremendously.  I really liked this movie a lot.

9. Double Holiday – 71.6%

Plot: Career-minded Rebecca’s plans for Hanukkah don’t go as expected when a promotion opportunity comes up at work. When the company CEO asks Rebecca and her insufferable office mate, Chris – also her main competitor for the promotion – to plan the company’s Christmas party, she realizes they must overcome their opposing styles in order to succeed. Forced to work together on the party, Chris learns more about Rebecca and embraces her family’s Hanukkah traditions, while she also begins to see him in a new light. Although feelings slowly develop between the two, the ongoing competition over the promotion threatens to undermine it all.

My Thoughts: Everyone who visits this site knows how much I like Polaha.  He’s my #1 Hallstar of all time!  And while last year his Christmas movie became my favorite of the season, this year he got beat out by a few others but still made a GREAT holiday movie.  He and Carly Pope were fun together, and the growing friendship in this movie was wonderful to see.  I just re-watched this one again last night.  Love it.

8. The Mistletoe Secret – 71.7%

Plot: Aria convinces a famous travel writer to do a feature story on her hometown, Midway, Utah.  In the meantime, another writer comes to town and Aria finds her heart torn between the charismatic Sterling Masters and Alex, who is actually the real talent behind ‘Masters of Travel,’ and the man who has genuinely fallen for her.

My Thoughts: The main reason this one ranks so high?  Tyler Hynes’ comedic timing and amazing chemistry with Christopher Russell.  Hynes was PERFECT in this movie, in every way.  His character’s frustration with his best friend Sterling was palpable and hilarious.  And he even managed to elevate Pickler’s performance to boot.  I re-watched this one a few days ago and it still made me laugh.  It’s not often that Hallmark gets comedy right, but in this one, they surely did.

7. The Christmas Club – 72.6%

Plot: Two busy strangers, Olivia and Edward meet when they help an elderly woman find her lost Christmas savings. Thanks to fate and Christmas magic, they also find something they were both missing: true love.

My Thoughts:  When I initially finished watching this movie I thought for sure it would end up in my permanent Top 5 for the 2019 Christmas movies.  It ended up slipping a couple spots, but in my heart, it may still be a Top 5 movie.  Mitchell and Mathison are perfect together, and the story was a really good example of a well done “walk and talk” movie.  Sure, there were a couple moments where things went awry (writing down the phone number on a piece of paper instead of just typing it directly into the cellphones that get carried around the whole movie), but for the most part this was a charming, sweet movie that I’ll watch year after year.

6. Check Inn to Christmas – 74.1%

Plot: When Julia returns to her hometown to spend the holidays at her family’s inn (while waiting to find out about a promotion at her law firm), she finds an old-standing family feud with nearby innkeeper’s family still going strong.  Despite this, a romance arises between Julia and Ryan, the son of the competing inn’s owner.

My Thoughts: Wes Brown finally got the co-star he deserved, and the result was a fun movie with very likable leads and a fun, romantic movie.

5. Christmas in Evergreen: Tidings of Joy – 75.1%

Plot: As the town searches for a rumored Christmas Time Capsule, a skeptical writer named Katie (Lawson) arrives in Evergreen to get the story on the town’s “too-good-to-be-true” Christmas-fever.  Along the way she meets many of the townspeople we’ve grown to love, as well as Ben, a writer turned town librarian.  As Katie searches to find out who she is as a writer, she also searches to find out if her attraction to Ben is one worth pursuing.

My Thoughts: This one benefited from being an Evergreen movie AND benefited from having two previous Evergreen leading ladies pop up in a few scenes.  And yes, the leads in this movie were pretty darn awesome as well.  Paul Greene never disappoints and Maggie Lawson was a worthy addition to the Evergreen family.  This is the movie during which I FINALLY scored not one, but multiple bingos because of the plethora of tropes that abounded in this movie.  Ignore the plot holes, and just enjoy this movie.  That’s what I did.

4. Holiday Date – 75.9%

Plot: Dumped right before Christmas, Brooke enlists the help of actor Joel to play the role of her boyfriend for the holidays. Brooke had described her ex-boyfriend as “Mr. Christmas” to her family and worries about keeping up the ruse when she discovers Joel is Jewish. When her family eventually finds out his background, they happily incorporate his Hanukkah traditions into their plans. Christmas and Hanukkah are celebrated side by side as they all learn more about the other’s holiday. But when their relationship ruse comes to light, the two have some explaining to do as well as figure out if they’re ready to admit their true feelings.

My Thoughts:  Pure. Chaotic. Fun.  Sure this movie went overboard (and just a little bit goofy) with the introduction of some Hanukkah customs to viewers, but I don’t care!  Matt Cohen was charming as all get out, and Brittany Bristow was finally the lead in a Hallmark movie!  Not only that, but the movie featured a STELLAR supporting cast.  I just really loved how over the top this movie was.

3. Holiday Hearts – 79.3%

Plot: When a mutual friend unexpectedly goes into the hospital around the holidays, former daters Peyton and Ben are forced together to help care for the friend’s daughter.  At the same time, Peyton is planning the big Christmas Eve gala at her parents’ Inn, while Ben, a physician, is contemplating a job relocation to Honduras.  As Peyton and Ben reconnect, what is to become of their growing feelings once the holiday is over?

My Thoughts: Two of my favorite Hallstars shared the screen and this movie did not disappoint.  Sure there was no reason the girl’s dad had to be in the hospital multiple days for knee surgery, but I don’t care!  Williams and Campbell were ready and able to take care of the girl, and I was there for it.  A personal bonus for me was meeting AND being able to snag a brief interview with Ashley Williams to boot.  She’s a doll and I thought the movie was great.

2. Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses – 84.9%

Plot: Just weeks before Christmas, Abbey is hired to decorate the family estate of her friend Caroline Sinclair and her businessman son, Nick. Juggling family responsibilities and the project (which must be completed in time for a large fundraising gala on Christmas Eve), Abbey must break down the wall between her and Nick, all while keeping the holiday spirit alive.

My Thoughts: Folks, I loved this movie.  It was the 2nd one to premiere back in October and I remember immediately wanting to watch it again when it ended.  I loved every second of this movie.  It is such a standard plot (event planner plans big party for rich guy), but goodness, it was great.  I thought the kid that played her son was great, the guy that played her dad was great, and the chemistry between Matt Davis and Jill Wagner was great.  “GREAT” pretty much sums up this movie for me.

1. Two Turtle Doves – 86.8%

Plot: Dr. Sharon Hayes, grieving after the loss of her grandmother earlier in the year, begins her holiday searching for a beloved family heirloom left to her by her grandmother. When she unexpectedly discovers an adorable little girl and her disheartened father Sam, a man dealing with his own grief during the holidays, they both realize that they just might help each other process and move forward into happiness.

My Thoughts:  Y’all, this is the movie that won the ENTIRE YEAR for me.  I cannot speak highly enough about this movie.  I cried when I watched it, I cried when I talked about it, and I cried when I accidentally deleted it off my Tivo (I may have also teared up when it finally re-aired and allowed me to re-Tivo it).  Absolutely everything about this movie is perfect.  DeLoach and Rady are sublime, the script is nearly flawless, and this one scored HIGH on the feels for me.

When I met Nikki DeLoach at the Christmas Con back in November I got emotional as I relayed how much this movie affected me when I watched it.  This one came dangerously close to become my ultimate number one but fell just short of beating “All of My Heart” for the top spot.  But only just.  The raw score was actually higher, but the weighted score brought it back down to be just .6% short.  When people ask me to recommend my favorite Hallmark movie, this is the one I’ll recommend.  I have nothing bad to say about it.  And I will mouth fight anyone that does.

Another Ranking To Check Out

If you want to check out a slightly different Top 10 list, consider looking at the one I created based solely on the most popular posts on this website.

Time to Share Your Lists!

How do my rankings line up with yours?  Did I rank anything lower than you would have?  Give more credit to something I should not have?  Comment below with your own opinions on this year’s batch of Hallmark Christmas movies!