Movie Review: A ‘90s Christmas - come for the time travel, stay for the memories

8 stars. Really Good. Would recommend it

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of time travel. More specifically going back in time and changing decisions you made. Or possibly correcting mistakes or enjoying moments that you know you’ll never get again. I even wrote a short story about it called, The Day After You Die. In A ‘90s Christmas we get to see that scenario play out for successful lawyer Lucy (Eva Bourne).

In present day, Lucy earns a long-sought after partner position at her law firm, but has no one to celebrate with. Luckily Grace (Katherine Barrell), a magical time-travel angel/old time uber driver, shows up to transport her back 25 years when she made some critical decisions that shaped her life.

Of course, she returns to struggling with her decisions about boy-next-door Matt (Chandler Massey). Their relationship is the A storyline. But we’re treated to several others, too. I’ll point out just one. Sister Alexa (Alex Hook from The Way Home), is working through coming out to her mom. Lucy, of course, knows Alexa is gay and gives her great advice to help her deal with any struggles that will come her way in the future. This sort of side story isn’t one we see a lot on Hallmark and I really appreciate the inclusivity.

The 90s references are funny, but consist mostly of Lucy mentioning things from the present day that her 1990s family wouldn’t understand. Pinterest board, anyone? I would have liked to see more 90s cliches, but the Y2k and Windows 95 references were on point.

I chucked at how easily Lucy believed she time traveled. Lucy believed Grace’s story really fast. Ok, I guess I time traveled … moving on. Sure, we didn’t need to belabor the point, but a little bit of skepticism would be expected. Newspapers and familiar dogs did the trick though.

Let’s be real, every Hallmark Christmas movie ends with a kiss at the end, when the two people declare their love for eachother. We aren’t expecting to be surprised. Most of the time it’s not exactly earned. We just need that kiss to complete the story. But, dang it, this one was different. It takes you on a lifetime journey that feels real and emotional. Yeah, I got a little lump in my throat. This movie earned that kiss and that ending.

Props to Writer Ryan Peckinpaugh and Director Marni Banack for bringing that scene to us.

Finally, I’m concerned about Chandler Massey’s time travel/alternate reality experience. He was the understanding boyfriend in the wonderful Next Stop, Christmas. He watched someone time travel in that one, but didn’t get to himself. In fact, he had to wait around for a long time to find out if his girlfriend was full of baloney about time travel. And in A Tale of Two Christmases, he’s one corner of an alternate reality love triangle–ironically with Katherine Barrell again. So my question is this: when does Chandler get to time travel?! Or is he destined to observe, but never partake? How very sad indeed.

Cast Kudos: I have to go with Eva Bourne on this one. Super fun. To play herself at 44 and 19, and be modestly believable is commendable. Losing the glasses and gaining bangs helped things along.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Full magic. I mean, we time-traveled, right? This wasn’t a regular movie disguised as a Christmas movie either. It’s a solid Christmas story that could only really be told this way as a holiday tale.

Alternative Movie Titles: It should have been anything but ‘90s Christmas. The title made it seem as though the 90s was a much bigger part of the movie. How about these alternatives: Going back to Christmas; The Christmas Do Over; 19 at Christmas.

Movie Review: Believe in Christmas, but verify everything first

7 Stars. Enjoyed it.

Just ignore the dude in the middle. This promotional image from Hallmark is not great.

I stopped watching Westworld on HBO at the end of season two, when it became clear that I could not tell what was real and what was fake. I mean, are you a robot or a human? It just became too much. While I very much enjoyed Believe in Christmas, the questioning of reality at the end of the film gave me uncomfortable flashbacks to those sketchy Westworld episodes. I had hoped for a more wholesome feeling when the credits roll.

This is a very enjoyable movie, and only mild spoilers ahead.

Best friends Bea (Meghan Ory) and Emilia (Lindura) take a trip to Christmasland, a town where you can experience the best of Christmas, like you’re in a holiday movie. This sounds awesome to Emilia, but not Bea, who reluctantly agrees to go, but promises to be a skeptic.

When they arrive at the North Pole Inn, both are immediately introduced to potential love interests. Ethan (John Reardon) pairs up with his wife in real life Bea, while Porter (Kevin Hanchard) has the hots for Emilia.

A photo of my TV . . . note the Mahone Bay Dental sign on the right. Looks like a nice town! Don’t forget to floss!

Ethan takes Bea on every Christmas themed activity possible. Sledding, eggnog, cocoa, pastries, puppies, snowmen, isolated cabins, fireplaces, baking, slow walks through town–all the things. But is Ethan really interested, or is he playing a part for the sake of Christmasland? Porter’s actions are also questioned, because he is just too good to be true.

This film felt like it was a few years old, coming from the old Hallmark formula of a small town where miracles happen and I appreciated that return to it’s roots. I bought into the premise, even if I didn’t like the “actors” in town, which are revealed at the end.

They filmed this movie, not in Christmas town, but rather Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. While taking a carriage ride through town, you can clearly see a sign for Mahone Bay Dental in the background. Yes, I Google Mapped it. What’s even funnier, is when one of the guests at the bake-off gets called out as being from Mahone Bay. They even comment that he took the bus there. That’s good stuff.

Notes for days

• I want to go to Christmasland for the full Christmas movie experience.

• I want to stay at the North Pole Inn.

• They never really dig into the foster kid story enough to make it matter

• Christmasland has been around for 15 years. Seems like it would be a bigger affair.

• The Mayor asks, “Have you found the spirit of Christmas?” How about you mind your own business robot!

• Quote, “Just go with it, don’t look for the wizard behind it.” This is where the Westworld foreshadowing got me.

• Does anyone want an eggnog flight? No. Definitely, no.

• The red pickup truck fits the genre, but it’s less than 10 years old, not vintage (really stretching it here).

• It’s surprisingly difficult to be lactose intolerant in Christmasland

• Being challenged to a bake-off was way too easy. Winning as a ruse is wrong.

• They just hand out candied apples on the street. How are they accounting for this cost?!

• Fake snowmen are cheesy. And you need three pieces to be a complete snowman! They do it with two, and this is just wrong.

• That flour fight - whoa. That was violent. Followed by a kiss interrupted by granny Christmas… I really feel like granny did not need to butt into this scene.

• Winter allergies? Yeah, good one.

• For 5 years I’ve been looking for an ornament that happened to be in the hallway in plain view of anyone with the worst vision possible…

• Grinch Handler should be a job in every Hallmark movie.

Cast Kudos: I loved Meghan Ory in the Secret Gift of Christmas. She’s got this radiant smile that makes it hard to see her as a suspicious Christmas Grinch. One little smile, and you see joy and happiness just beaming out of her. Maybe she was extra happy for working on a movie with her husband. In any case, she’s a joy.

Measuring Christmas magic: Off the charts. So much magic, but it might be contrived to make it happen for guests, so that’s suspicious.

Alternative Movie titles: Believe in Christmas is really a bad title. Really bad. Nobody said they didn’t believe in Christmas! Bea has no love for the holiday, but she’s not really a non-believer. I could buy “believe” as in, “is it real?” But taking that title away from any other Santa-related movie is pretty dumb. So some other options: Christmasland (obviously); The Grinch Handler; Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Movie Experience.

Movie Review: Deck the Walls - If Homegoods and Nutella had a baby

4 stars. Not Good. Sad Face.

If Homegoods and Nutella had a baby with Hallmark scrubbing into the operating room to deliver it, the result would be Deck The Walls. This meh movie centers around a home renovation for charity with a live reveal on Christmas Eve. Sorry guys, Santa Tell Me has questions about stealing their live reveal storyline.

I was pondering my decision to watch every 2024 Hallmark Countdown to Christmas movie from the opening scene of this stinker.

Rose (Ashley Greene) is a successful interior designer who swoops in to save her brother Sal (Danny Pellegrino) who can’t figure out how to do a charity renovation. Our leading man, Brysen (Wes Brown), works for Sal. And this is where I’m supposed to write that sparks fly between Rose and Brysen, but there were absolutely no sparks. Not even a misfire between these two, so when they kiss in the final moments, I wondered if the love story got cut entirely.

The Homegoods product placement is obscene, and then they go back again. And really, I’m OK with that. Product placement is fine in these movies, but then Nutella comes out of nowhere and takes over the second half of placement. Do that many people bake with Nutella? Dang it, now I have to find out!

Sal finds love too, with an evil boyhood rival turned modern day rival, Jake. I want Sal to find love, but I also want to punch Jake’s smug face.

Skip Deck the Walls.

Cast Kudos: Claybourne Elder who plays Jake. He’s great as a villain. Don’t turn good!

Measuring Christmas Magic: If we’re measuring the amount of decorations the Homegoods budget added, then we had a lot of magic. As for the plot, none.

Alternative movie titles: Deck me so I don’t have to watch this; A Homegoods Christmas; A creamy Nutella tale

Movie Review: Debbie Macomber's Joyful Mrs. Miracle - a triple espresso of joy

6 stars. Solid. Could be better.

It’s Thanksgiving weekend, and you may have heard from friends or family at your feast (when inevitably discussing your Hallmark habit) that all Hallmark movies have the same plot, so why bother! Well, do they all have an advice-dealing, perpetually smiling, ever-perky, angel-like character like Mrs. Miracle? I think not.

She’s a unique one. Except for the other movies or novels she has appeared in, but I digress.

DMJMM (movies with titles this long should have an acronym), is an evenly paced drama about three siblings deciding the fate of their grandmother’s company and estate. They’re going to screw it up, so an angel . . . sorry, Mrs. Miracle appears at just the right time to guide them through the final stages of estate planning and life advice.

This is a wonderful character created for novels by Debbie Macomber. She has appeared in several other movies - and even played by Everybody Loves Raymond icon Doris Roberts. In DMJMM, she’s played to perfection by Rachel Boston. Her happiness isn’t over the top or sappy, but rather a spark that guides the decisions of people in need of help. Think Mary Poppins without the singing.

Our love story is between Charlotte (Pascal Lamothe-Kipnes) and Austin (Tanner Novlan), who both have real dreams and wishes and need to work it out.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Yeah, in bunches. Mrs Miracle is all Christmas magic.

Cast Kudos: Rachel Boston as our title character. But also a nod to Logan Carriere, who plays young Cody. He’s got a bright future.

Alternative movie titles: Anything shorter than the current title of DMJMM; Mrs. Miracle and the Battle for the Board Seat. OK, that’s longer, but also more accurate.

Movie Review: To have and to Holiday - I’m with Pastor Mark on this one

6 stars. Solid. Could be better.

When deciding to propose marriage, doing so as a grand gesture, with no forethought is not a good sign for things to come. Sure, let’s call it romantic, but we can also call it being swept up in the moment with no plan. To Have and to Holiday doesn’t address this significant flaw, but rather focuses on the rightfully annoyed and suspicious father of the proposed bride.

Maybe because I’m a father of daughters I had a hard time not cheering nearly every decision our unapproving father made. Obviously, we’re supposed to not like him. Sorry. He’s my dude.

Our lead is Celeste (Madeleine Arthur), who gets a quick proposal–before the first commercial break–from Jason (Robert Bazzicchi). For historical reasons, they need to get married in less than three weeks. Yikes. Celeste’s dad Mark (Eric Close) is a pastor and plans to officiate the wedding. Turns out Pastor Mark runs every couple he marries through a Marriage Bootcamp and he does not hold back on our fledgling couple.

Side note: Every engaged couple might benefit from some type of bootcamp. Test those relationships before untangling them becomes too painful and difficult. It’s not to teach them how to be married, but rather to see the other person as they will be for your relationship, not just until you say “I do” and you’re stuck with them. It’s worth exploring, young people.

Pastor Mark says, “If it turns out they’re not right for each other, I won’t marry them.” Hmm, it seems like the couple should be the one deciding if it’s right, after going through the bootcamp, not a third-party, deciding on their behalf. But Pastor Mark is a pretty opinionated fella.

To have and to Holiday is not a great deal of fun, but it’s a mildly realistic scenario that rarely gets explored in these Christmas movies. We see one kiss and the credits roll. This movie looks at what happens next and I appreciate that. It’s worth a watch.

Cast Kudos: Eric Close as Pastor Mark. Be strong dad.

Measuring Christmas Magic: No magic, but it’s a Christmas movie.

Alternative titles: Christmas Bootcamp; Wedding Bells Bootcamp; Pastor Mark’s Bootcamp for Christmas.

Movie Review: Three Wisermen and a boy - slightly wiser, but not by much

7 stars. Enjoyed it.

Five-ish years have passed since we last had the Brenner brother’s making us laugh in Three Wisemen and a Baby. Now, the baby is a kindergarten boy starring in his school’s play, which serves as the linchpin of this sequel that bests its predecessor, but not by leaps and bounds.

I’m a sucker for Paul Campbell movies, because I expect each to be as good as the 2021 film he wrote, An Unexpected Christmas, which is one of my favorites. Christmas by Starlight in 2020 was solid as well. Campbell wrote this one too, again with Kimberley Sustad.

Tyler Hynes is our bad boy gamer, Taylor. Andrew W. Walker is our dad, Luke. Campbell plays Stephan, our neurotic author/therapist.

I’m comfortable giving this movie a passing grade, but mostly for the writing and acting, not plot or emotional drive. It’s not funny enough to be a comedy, but not serious enough to be dramatic. I like seeing this family together, even if it all seems a little unnecessary.

We don’t have a single love story, but rather a family tale with multiple threads. Mom has a new man. Taylor is smitten with his female clone, Caroline. Paul struggles to commit to his long-time girlfriend. Luke, continues to learn about being a parent.

One lasting storyline that I would just love to see in other movies is the royalty free, no trademark play, The Grump. Don’t call it the Grinch, because they didn’t pay for those rights. It’s the Grump, in Grumptown, complete with songs and rhymes. Pretty clever.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Paint by numbers magic, but it’s certainly a Christmas movie.

Cast Kudos: Kimberley Sustad, in an on the nose cameo, discussing how difficult it is to do two shows one year after the last. Hmm, what exactly are we hinting at Kimberley?

Alternative Movie titles: The Brenner boys are back; Grumptown the Musical.

Movie Review: Awesomest Christmas Ever - Three movies fighting inside one

5 stars. Nope Background Noise Only

There are at least three movies fighting for attention inside Awesomest Christmas Ever. Which makes for an uneven viewing experience. Should I laugh or be sad while experiencing extreme divorce anxiety, as I hope for the best for our characters? I’m still not entirely sure.

The first movie is a heartbreaking drama about a family going through divorce. It’s emotional and raw. I did not like living in that head space. It was strangely real, yet not entertaining. We know we’re supposed to hope these two stay together, but I found myself wondering if that was really for the best for either of them or the kiddo.

The second movie is a coming of age tale about a 10-year-old kid who has good friends. The friends make mildly complex plans to fool the clueless adults around them. There’s some pre-teen love thrown in, too.

The third movie is about a talking Christmas tree. I guess this is the fantasy option. No one else can hear the sultry-voiced tree except our 10-year-old lead. There’s something weird going on with this tree, who shakes nearly imperceptibly when the voiceover comes on. Either we needed more tree or way less tree. I can’t decide which.

Add each of these tales together and we get our previously mentioned uneven viewing experience.

It’s unfair to compare this low-to-no budget flick to Hollywood releases. It’s a hurriclean task to write, direct, film, edit–and maybe, I think–wear a clown nose too. Matthew Wilson does that, and despite its flaws, the movie made me feel things and actually wonder how it was going to conclude.

I watched this film with my 7-year-old son. He was excited we got a special sneak preview of a real movie. The full “mommy and daddy are getting a divorce” scene was a little much for him, as was the almost-sex scene. And on that note . . . no married couple has ever had sex to calm themselves from getting belittled by one of their nosy parents. It was weird, and if the divorce talk didn’t scar Ollie, then being under the bed might.

Our cast. Kudos to Ellison Pipe, Gus Wilder Howell and Izzy Richter. They had a ton of work to do on this movie and did a great job. Sonya Davis as the mom was good too, I just wish we saw her a bit happier. We saw it at the end for a moment. Charles Shaphren, who was only in like two scenes as grandpa, had some pretty good timing too.

Notes

-This was technically a Christmas movie, just ask the tree, but it could have cut the holiday stuff and been a summer movie and had the same impact. This wasn’t an awesome Christmas by any standard.

-The movie was filmed in Washington. Props to the Evergreen state, where I live.

-Two funny lines: “Hey mom, you know who you should hang out with? Dad!” And, “She texts me everyday - don’t get vaccinated!”

-The Lindsey Lohan movie references were a funny bit, even if they didn’t quite get the movies straight.

-I wanted to punch dad in the face for disrespecting mom (being on his phone) while she decorated the tree. Dude, you don’t deserve them.

Available on Prime Video and Youtube.

Movie Review: Christmas on Call: Multiple storylines bring us a joyful glimpse of Philadelphia

8 stars. Really Good. Would recommend it.

Hallmark, we need to talk. Are we making real movies now? Ones with multiple, complex storylines that develop characters and aren’t focused entirely on being cheesy? It seems that way! Christmas on Call gives us several storylines from the City of Brotherly Love that dip into real movie territory. It’s a recommended movie.

Hannah (Sara Canning) is an ER doctor, which would seem really impressive until we meet her love interest Wes. Wes (Ser’Darius Blain) is an EMT, but also a veteran, volunteer at everything, singer, former firefighter, and all around good guy. Hannah is in her first year in a new city–Philadelphia–and a little homesick. Wes spends December apparently never sleeping, and showing Hannah what the city is all about.

You might remember Canning from Holiday Road (7 stars) or Wes from the Jimanji movies. These are legit actors, who turn in great performances.

We also follow Sanjay (Erik Athavle) and Danielle (Reena Jolly) as police officers who dated once. Despite all the crime in Philly (come on guys) they spend their patrol refereeing a neighborly dispute over lawn ornaments. Athavle is one of my favorites from Santa Summit - and he rocks a great stache in this one.

The cast in this movie is huge, but it’s easy to keep track of. We get a father/daughter story (twice), a college-hopeful kid story, an EMT finding her way, an asthmatic patient who is going through a rough time, and a nurse whose daughter is in the military overseas.

You also can’t miss Donna Kelce, yes Travis’ mom and Taylor Swift’s bestie, serving cheese stakes. I love that they actually call her Donna and she’s wearing a Jason Kelcee Eagles jersey.

One note I’m sending into the world. Stop making Christmas karaoke a thing. It’s not a thing and bad singers aren’t fun.

Funny line: In one scene Hannah tells her dad, over the phone “I met someone” and she describes him a bit. And dad replies inquisitively and very loudly, “He?!” Like maybe the last person she met wasn’t a “he.” It was super awkward. I’m here for it, but the lead couple being two women seems like a million miles from where Hallmark plays. Prove me wrong, Gold Crown!! Prove me wrong.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Absolutely. Lots of establishing shots of Philadelphia, and scenes that are dripping in Christmas lights and joy.

Cast Kudos: Ser’Darius Blain as Wes. This guy does everything!

Alternative titles: Christmas and Cheesesteaks; Philadelphia Christmas; Philadelphia Med, Fire and PD for the holidays.

Movie Review: Confessions of a Christmas Letter - A Hallmark movie with a real villain!

6 stars. Enjoyed it.

Due to the advent of social media, the tradition of writing a family Christmas newsletter has become old-fashioned, but not in the town of Holly Hills, where the best Christmas letters are honored on the wall of fame at the post office.

Settie (Angela Kinsey) struggles with writing her family newsletter each year while trying to compete with her neighbor, the villainess Sue (Colleen Wheeler). Sue is a straight villain through this entire movie which is a rare thing for a Hallmark movie. Typically at the end of the movie, the villain’s icy heart is melted, but nope, she’s a straight up baddie.

Settie hires an author named Juan (Alec Santos) to write her Christmas letter, offering him a two week stay in Connecticut at their house and the chance to interact with the family throughout the holiday holiday season. Juan, suffering from writer’s block, accepts, and gets a chance to learn the wacky family and meet their single daughter Lily (Lillian Doucet).

The first 15 minutes of this movie was simply awful. It felt like we were dropped into a scenario that we didn’t understand and I actually had to rewind and start over to make sure I didn’t miss an explanation, but the movie surprised me and got better over time. When the movie concluded I felt some actual emotions towards the outcome as Settie reads from the aforementioned Christmas letter.

The love story was definitely the B storyline, taking a backseat to the family learning to love their intricate quirks and battling the evil woman next door. Dang Sue!

Funny scene: There’s a scene where grandma carries a tray of fully engulfed cinnamon rolls to the dining room table and serves them like they were not on fire seconds ago. That takes guts.

Measuring Christmas magic: Yes, we had Christmas magic and the sets were decorated very well for the holiday. Although I would question the safety of having fully lit garlands covering the kitchen cupboards, and every headboard in the house.

Cast kudos: Juan for the win.

Alternate movie titles: This is tough because Confessions of a Christmas Letter is actually probably the best title of any Hallmark movie so far this year. So I’ll give one option: The Christmas Letter Wall of Fame.

Movie Review: Christmas with the Singhs - dry and lifeless

3 stars. A waste. I’ll never get this time back

This film uses the joining of two families over Christmas to rerun the Meet the Parents theme, while showcasing Indian celebrations of the holiday.

Ultimately dry and lifeless, this effort is not worth your time. I felt uncomfortable for our leads for having such annoying families who spoke in long, robotic and way-too-complete complete sentences.

One bright side, our leads. They could have carried the movie alone, had they not been busy playing caricatures of “regular white guy” and “modern Indian woman.”

Change the channel on the Singhs.

Measuring Christmas magic: no magic, but good representation of Indian culture.

Cast Kudos: I’d like to see Anuja Joshi (Asha) given another lead role, but with less responsibility than representing the entirety of her culture.

Alternative titles: Christmas engagement clash; Blending Culture Christmas

Movie Review: Jingle Bell Run -- Much like a half marathon, I did not want to finish this

Four stars: Not good. Sad face.

Despite featuring new era Hallmark royalty, this Amazing Race style ripoff fails to capture any semblance of Christmas magic and manages to force a relationship upon us–and the lead characters–that no one wants.

Much like a half marathon that seemed like a good idea when I signed up, I had no interest in finishing the race or this movie. Alas, I trudged through every beautiful, but unremarkable scene.

You know from the beginning that this movie has a bigger budget than a normal Hallmark movie based on the graphics, superior lighting and multiple locations (all though they all look a little like basic Canada). So my hopes were high, but it did not last more than five minutes into the movie.

Our lead, Ashley Williams, is an elementary school teacher whose only personality trait is that she likes to teach kids how to read. Andrew Walker is a shell of a former athlete who doesn’t know what to do after retiring from hockey. They both end up participating in a holiday themed game show where they race across the US (not Canada) to answer one question and complete one simple task at each place before magically moving onto the next city for another paint by numbers game show scene. They usually have time to sit by a fire too, and help you nod off.

The driving force behind this movie is the contest they are participating in, but as you would expect, the ”will they or won’t they” theme is needlessly thrust upon us. These two don’t need partners to have fulfilling lives. Honestly, they seem pretty good single. Why mess up a good thing?

From the promotions, I expected this movie to be funny, like the Santa Summit, or Haul out the Holly, but it fails at every turn. Pass on this one.

Questions I still have:

• Why is the movie called Jingle Bell Run, when the show is The Great Holiday Dash? And they never once say “Jingle Bell Run.” Trademark issue? Major issue here.

• Why are there never any cameras filming them doing anything? There is a hot hockey guy painting a picture from scratch? Nope. No camera guy caught that for the show! It’s small, but the Amazing Race producers must have been choking on their eggnog.

Measuring Christmas Magic: none, despite being focused on a game show that features only holiday traditions.

Cast kudos: none. Don’t watch this movie.

Alternative movie titles: The Great Holiday Dash (duh); Forced to Be on a Game Show; finally—Help my friend signed me up for this and I never met the producers until day 1 of filming (ok, that one may be too long, yet no less accurate.)

Movie Review :Santa Tell Me: A fast-paced holiday romp

8 stars. Really good. Would Recommend it.

Olivia (Erin Krakow) gets her big break as a TV home designer for a holiday makeover on Christmas Eve, she’s stunned that the network hires Chris (Daniel Lissing) to oversee the TV and live reveal on Christmas Eve. Throw in a magic (and changing) letter from the real Santa that says her true love is named Nick and she has to find him by Christmas, well hijinks ensues.

This sounds a lot more complicated than it is. And to be honest, I had extremely low expectations for this one. The trailer and commercials were awful. Having a lead interested in three Nicks (and a Chris) is not my thing, but they play it cool and funny. Olivia proceeds to give different Nicks a concussion, black eye and for good measure, poison another one. The Nicks woo Olivia hard, and all seem nice, yet she’s not all in, despite spending all of her free time on dates during the biggest moment of her career. Yes, she just might have a better connection with another fella—the aforementioned Chris (if that is your real name).

Despite my best efforts to not like this movie, they turned me. It was good. While it did seem like they crunched three or four different holiday themes into one movie, somehow it works, and I had more fun that I could have anticipated in this fast-paced movie. Yes, fast-paced . . . a Hallmark movie. What is the world coming to?

Goofy notes

• Stop trying to make Seattle snowy. It ain’t a thing.

• The train in the final scene is leaving for Spokane, Washington. Hello, my hometown.

• Three weeks to fix a house is the least believable thing in this movie. They film Hallmark movies in the summer so they can be ready by winter. Seriously?

• Dating three or four people at the same time is never a good idea.

• If the Nicks do get their own dating show, I would watch that.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Yes, a magic letter from Santa is key. Plus taking a horse drawn carriage across Seattle in less than nine minutes on Christmas Eve is some kind of traffic magic.

Cast Kudos: Nick A (Benjamin Ayres). Who actually seems believable as a pediatric neurosurgeon.

Alternative Titles: So Many Nicks for Christmas; In the Nick of Time; Olivia Dates so many Nicks.

Originally aired on Hallmark on Nov. 9, watched Nov. 10.

Movie Review: Trivia at St. Nicks—All the wrong answers

Five stars: Nope. Background noise only

When students go home for Christmas break at a university in Vermont, those sad souls left behind (or just live there), participate in a 45-year tradition of Christmas trivia at Nick’s Bar. Celeste (Tammin Sursok) is obsessed with winning the trivia tournament, but is thrown when her ringer bails and she’s stuck with Max, a football coach (Brant Daugherty) as their sixth and required member of the trivia team.

Trivia is fun, but this movie was absurd and not in a funny, laugh at yourself way. There are some funny one-liners, but it’s certainly not enough to carry the contrived story line that somehow tries to be funny and sincere, but fails at both.

One liners
-I’m a football coach, not a wheel magician!” When he can’t change a tire.

-“If you’d like, I’d be happy to share my syllabus…” Professor, keep your pants on. Really a dick joke?

-After asking a nun to be on the trivia team, the nun replies, “I will pray for you. Hard.” Wow, the nun thinks you’re silly.

-“Belay! You gotta Belay!” Best rock-climbing advice ever.

Goofy notes

• A whole week of trivia nights is a bit much, even for die hard trivia buffs.

• This movie was filmed on location in Connecticut. Why was it placed in Vermont?

• Shouting your trivia answers in a crowded bar is a great way to lose to other people who can hear you.

• Everyone drinks different colorful holiday beverages – no one has any ice.

• The Stan trophy had to be worth at least $7, but no more.

• And who was Stan in the photo? They show him like an inside joke. Help us out.

• When they eat cookies, the sound department didn’t add the ever-present crunch, like every other Hallmark movie. This is the right decision.

Measuring Christmas Magic: None, except the super meta final trivia category – Hallmark Christmas movies! Nice work there.

Cast Kudos: Brian McCarthy who plays Nick the Quiz Master. Nick dons a different holiday outfit each night, which helps show the different events, and is a nice running joke. Give Nick a movie.

Alternative Titles: The Greatest Trivia Tournament Ever; Trivia for the Lonely; Just go home for the Christmas holiday.

Aired on Hallmark on Nov 8, watched Nov. 9.

Movie Review: Holiday Mismatch, where moms are the real focus

7 stars. Enjoyed it.

Recent retiree Barbara (Beth Broderick) joins the town’s Christmas Committee to keep herself busy, but immediately clashes with Kath (Caroline Rhea). Barbara is stiff, on time and a wiz in a spreadsheet. Kath is a free spirit, and a bit nutty, but also full of Christmas joy. They both just so happen to have young, single children. The moms use an app for parents to match their kids (terrifying). Yes, the kids match on the app and quickly in real life.

This movie really focuses on two relationships, but in a unique way. In a shared A/B story, the mom’s relationship from enemies to friends, and the kid’s story from “fake dating” to actually dating take nearly equal screen time.

The chemistry between Beth Broderick and Caroline Rhea is wonderful, obviously from their years of working together as aunts on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. They couldn’t have found better actors to take on these roles. Very authentic ribbing and timing.

Our romantic leads are Shane (Jon McLaren) and Lauren (Maxine Denis). They are great together and could have held the full focus of the story with more material.

My major nitpick is the fake dating. After Shane and Lauren go on a real date together, they decide to flip the script and fake date to get their parents to stop setting them up with people (which we never see happen by the way). There is no logical (or Christmas Magical) reason to make this decision. Just date, you hot people! That’s the way to go. The parents would have stopped meddling if you were really dating, and you definitely liked each other, so do that.

It’s refreshing to see Lauren working hard as a co-owner of her architecture firm and trying to get a project done. So often in Hallmark, we’d see her trying to get a promotion from a male CEO, or ice queen boss over Christmas. They also give a realistic reason why the building work needs to get done by the end of the year—building code changes on Jan. 1. I don’t know if it exactly works like that, but I applaud the effort.

Goofy notes

• Only one “witch” reference in the whole movie. I expected more.

• “Tying a dead plant to a car” is an interesting way to describe taking a Christmas Tree home.

• I need more of the Christmas rat. This seemed so whacky, and it worked because Shane was really all of us in that situation.

• Shane’s theater has a full kitchen behind the seating area, and they don’t shut off the lights during a performance. Hmm, I wonder why they are struggling.

• When you do karaoke for “Jingle Bells” you probably don’t need to stare quite so intently at the words on the screen.

• Trolly caroling isn’t a thing. Is it? Let’s get in a wooden bench trolly and hold fake sheet music and sing so nobody else can hear us.

• Why are we always Christmas caroling? Singing did not need to happen this much.

Cast kudos: This is a slam dunk-- Beth Broderick and Caroline Rhea.

Alternative titles: Full Sabotage Christmas; Meddling Moms Christmas; UnMatched for Christmas

Originally aired on Hallmark Nov. 3; watch Nov. 7.