Happy November 15th! Made-for-TV holiday movie season has been in full-swing for almost a month now, and I’m not sad about it. So far, most of this year’s crop has been standard: predictable plots, sweet moments, fake snow, all the twinkle lights. But there have been a few stand-outs, and there are SO many more movies coming out over the next four weeks that show a lot of promise. No five-tree movies yet, but I’m hopeful!
Here are the movies I’ve seen so far! I haven’t had a chance to review all of them yet, but I stand by my ratings. For now. And some of the 5-tree movies I watched last year are streaming on Netflix now, so there are plenty of options to choose from.
Welcome to Happy’s 2024 Holiday Movie Guide!
Review coming soon! TL;DR – I loved it.
One of the things that I appreciate most in a movie is quick wit and banter, and Katie Findlay is a master at delivering that. The 5-Year Christmas Party tells the story of two theatre rivals who become friends at the end of their college careers. They’re intensely attracted to each other but choose to focus on their careers instead, rarely communicating over the next few years – except during the holidays, when they both work for his sister’s catering company. It’s funny and sweet, and just quirky enough. The leads have great chemistry, which is always a plus in a rom-com, but they also become really good friends who believe in and support each others’ dreams and ambitions, and that (to me) is compelling. (The 5-Year Christmas Party originally aired October 27, 2024 on the Hallmark Channel.)
This movie had almost everything I want in a feel-good Christmas movie that takes place in NYC. Hallmark (and a bajillion other networks) usually get the “artist-looking-for-a-big-break-in-New-York-City” trope entirely wrong; their apartments are almost always lovely, and way out of a price range that the characters could actually afford. So bravo to the people who owned authentic NYC-artist-reality for this film and gave the lead actors tiny apartments with extremely awkward sleeping arrangements. This alone would have been enough for me. BUT! They also nailed the “restaurant that feels like family,” and the music in this movie is great – which is unsurprising, as the movie stars Ginna Claire Mason as Violette (she played Glinda in Wicked on Broadway), and Jordan Litz as Alex (he is currently playing Fiyero in Wicked). Storyline: Violette and Alex are Broadway hopefuls, waiting on tables as they wait on their big break. (A Carol For Two originally aired on November 1, 2024 on the Hallmark Channel.)
Review coming soon!
Review coming soon!
Review coming soon!
Review coming soon!
Meet Me Next Christmas is exactly what you’d expect from a Christmas movie featuring a hunt for Pentatonix tickets – a very long advertisement for Pentatonix, but also for spending Christmas in New York. Christina Milian delivers a fantastic performance, and Tymika Tafari absolutely nails the best friend role. The music is, of course, great, and the supporting cast is diverse and funny. I thought at the beginning that this was basically going to be a remake of Serendipity (just with better music), but the plot twists took the movie in a different direction. This movie is charming, if a bit silly at times. (And I really did appreciate that Pentatonix was making fun of themselves.) If you’re looking for a nice holiday rom-com, this is a good pick. (Meet Me Next Christmas dropped November 6, 2024 on Netflix.)
This movie was much funnier than I expected; the “party crasher” trope (not a frequent flyer on Hallmark to date) took a bit of an unexpected spin into injury law – which is definitely a new one for Hallmark. Chris McNally and Lyndsy Fonseca were both utterly charming, and the secondary plot was a lot of fun (a best friend wondering about their purpose in the middle of the holidays while falling in love and crashing several parties and portaying multiple personas was a good playground for that). I also really appreciated the way this story portrays the camaraderie of friendship and the realities of family dynamics. I’m not sure I’d watch it again, but I wasn’t sorry I saw it. (Holiday Crashers originally aired October 19, 2024 on the Hallmark Channel.)
This movie made for a really solid start to Hallmark’s 2024 Holiday Movie line-up. Robert Buckley (who plays Bryan, the almost-CEO of a development company) brought all of his usual charm and charisma to a very funny plot. I do love a good fake relationship trope, but a blind date to a zany family gathering that comes complete with a Christmas Olympics took it to a whole new level. There is a bit of a sad undercurrent to the storyline: Jessie (played by Amy Groening) is working through some very real grief about the death of her fiancé. It’s well-done, and the plot line does allow for some very sweet moments between Jessie and her mom as well as Jessie and Bryan – but it felt like one complication too many. (Bryan’s company was responsible for evicting Jessie’s sister-in-law’s shop from a strip mall. Of course, they were.) Still, there are some really fun characters, some very tasteful Christmas decor (just enough, not too much), and some super-funny moments. If you want a (mostly) feel-good movie to get you in the holiday spirit, this one is worth a watch. (‘Twas the Date Before Christmas originally aired October 18, 2024 on the Hallmark Channel.)
Review coming soon! (Falling Like Snowflakes originally aired June 29, 2024 on the Hallmark Channel.)
Review coming soon!
Review coming soon! In the meantime, here’s a quote that stood out to me from this movie: “We’re all just passing through history, and you don’t want to miss it.”
Review coming soon!
Review coming soon!
Review coming soon!
Review coming soon! (Operation Nutcracker began streaming July 1, 2024 on Hallmark +.)
Review coming soon!
I wasn’t really sure what to think about this movie. I love Carlo Marks, and I really do think he did a great job (I’d go out with his character in a heartbeat) – but he didn’t have a lot to work with. The basic premise of Scouting For Christmas is that a very busy mom with a daughter in a scouting organization partners with the owner of a local bakery to cater the scouts’ annual Christmas party. The one interesting twist is that her ex-husband comes home unexpectedly, and it turns out she adopted his daughter but has full-time custody; that’s an unusual storyline, and I liked it. Also, the mom’s best friend Sarah (played by Marci T. House) is the kind of friend we all need, and I adored her. (Scouting for Christmas originally aired October 20, 2024 on the Hallmark Channel.)
This was one of Hallmark’s Christmas in July movies, and (sadly) not one of their best. The storyline is a bit tired: Joy, a retired champion skier, returns home to help her mom save their family’s brewery/pub, and meets Zac, a salesman for a competitor’s investor. Their friendship grows over their love of beer and during the course of several ski lessons (because Zac is, of course, a disaster on the slopes). There’s some great music in this movie, and I will give it points for a slightly clever café name (the Over Easy Café has an egg for the “o”) and some okay romantic charm – but the number of over-reactions to misunderstandings and the sheer awfulness of a petty ex-boyfriend really detract from the overall experience. If you like beer and/or skiing, go ahead and give it a go – after all, it’s one of the few Hallmark movies in which someone orders a beer by actual name and type – but if you don’t catch this one, the only thing you’re really missing out on is a very supportive bartender with great taste in ugly Christmas sweaters. (A Very Vermont Christmas originally aired July 20, 2024 on the Hallmark Channel.)
This movie was fine; Casey Elliott was utterly charming, as was the Christmas decor. If you’re looking for a standard, feel-good, Christian-faith-forward (but-not-obnoxiously-so) movie, this is probably it. Next-door neighbors Rebecca and Jason discover they’ve misjudged each other when Rebecca takes a fall on some ice and Jason steps in to help out. It’s cute, it’s kind, and (since Jason owns a bakery) it totally made me want bread. (Christmas Wreaths & Ribbons originally aired October 12, 2024 on Great American Family.)
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