Hallmark Christmas Movies
Did you know that there are 19 Hallmark Christmas movies? And that’s just for 2016 alone. This does not count the nine other times Lacey Chabert starred as the pivotal female lead role in past seasons. How is a DVR supposed to handle all of that holiday cheer?
Moreover, if you are from one of these small towns in the midwest whose townsfolk are obsessed with Christmas, please email me. I’d like to hear more about this phenomenon.
Some of you have already seen half of these movies. If I had to guess, I would assume that there are a few worthy of skipping. I asked my mother for direction, but she was no help. She told me not to bother with the one about the plucky girl who likes the power suit guy, but the sweet guy in her life turns out to be her true love and they figure all this out the days leading up to Christmas.
Right.
Below is the list of 2016 original Hallmark Christmas movies. Please give your honest opinion on both sides of the coin. I want to know which ones you loved and which ones you had playing in the background as white noise while you wrapped presents or decked the halls because they were woefully boring.
A Wish For Christmas
Starring Lacey Chabert and Paul Greene
Let me guess: Her newfound courage catches the eye of the guy she’s been crushing on at work? I wonder why she didn’t wish to be reunited with her fellow Party of Five family members?
The Mistletoe Promise
Starring Jaime King and Luke Macfarlane
It’s Lemon Breeland. I’m so there.
A Perfect Christmas
Starring Susie Abromeit, Dillon Casey and Erin Gray
This one feels a little cheesy to me. Am I right?
Every Christmas Has a Story
Starring Lori Loughlin, Colin Ferguso and Willie Aames
If I had a nickel for every time I fell on a handsome man after slipping on some ice…
Christmas Cookies
Stars Jill Wagner and Wes Brown
Traditionally, I never like the Christmas movies with a baking theme. However, Wes Brown was Dr. Judson Lyons on Hart of Dixie and I will follow that cast wherever it leads me. In an interesting twist, HE is the small town baker who doesn’t want to sell his business to a city girl. Furthermore, the name of the town is Cookie Jar. This one seems like a winner.
My Christmas Dream
Starring Danica McKellar, Deidre Hall and David Haydn-Jones
It’s Miracle on 34th Street with a strapping handy man saving the day instead of Santa Claus. The decorating part seems blah to me, but I may be persuaded to overlook that since Marlena and Winnie Cooper are teaming up.
A December Bride
Stars Daniel Lissing and Jessica Lowndes
My initial reaction was gagging and a severe eye roll. Tell me I’m wrong.
Broadcasting Christmas
Starring Melissa Joan Hart, Dean Cain, Cynthia Gibb, Jackée Harry and Richard Kline
Broadcasting Christmas has a ton of big stars and quite a bit of marketing behind it. I’ve actually heard of this one. It seems like Hallmark wants me to tune in. I don’t know if I want to. Help me decide.
Christmas in Homestead
Stars Taylor Cole and Michael Rady
Truth: I read this title as Christmas on the Homestead and fully expected a cowboy character. There isn’t one. Now my spirits are deflated, which makes me want to boycott the movie.
Christmas List
Stars Alicia Witt and Gabriel Hogan
I will always see her as the villain in Two Weeks Notice.
A Heavenly Christmas
From the Hallmark Hall of Fame
Starring Kristin Davis, Eric McCormack and Shirley MacLaine
What makes a Hallmark Christmas movie “Hall of Fame” worthy? Is it Shirley MacLaine? I don’t know if Kristin Davis’ ability to not age will fascinate me or annoy me while watching. It also looks sad, and I don’t do sad.
Journey Back to Christmas
Starring Candace Cameron Bure, Oliver Hudson and Tom Skerritt
Oliver Hudson and Candace Cameron in a reverse Back to the Future? Yes please.
A Dream of Christmas
Starring Nikki DeLoach and Andrew Walker
Huh. She’s married and irritated by this fact? Pass.
Looks Like Christmas
Starring Anne Heche and Dylan Neal
I’ll confess that I zoned out during the trailer. Not a good sign.
A Nutcracker Christmas
Starring Amy Acker, Sascha Radetsky and Sophia Lucia
No brainer. Dance, Christmas and the dude from Centerstage. This one will probably be saved forever on the old DVR.
Love You Like Christmas
Starring Brennan Elliott and Bonnie Somerville
I’ve seen a version of this movie 24 times. Someone please weigh in.
My Christmas Love
Starring Meredith Hagner, Bobby Campo and Gregory Harrison
Bless her baby heart. She has no idea which of the FOUR men are sending her love letters and Christmas gifts. I’ve been there, sister. The struggle is real.
I’m trusting that each of you reading this right now will weigh in on my movie-watching dilemma. Please give me guidance in the comment section. I understand some of these haven’t debuted yet, but we can consider this post an evergreen plethora of ongoing and updated information. Together we can do this!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this post and can’t wait for the comments. I watched The Mistletoe Promise and thought it was great. I’m a huge Richard Paul Evans fan, so I was very happy to see they brought one of his books to life. This one is a much see– just as his books are a must read.
I trust you Connie. It’s going on the list.
I’ve seen 4 of them already–Mistletoe Promise, My Christmas Dream, December Bride and Every Christmas Has a Story. They all have happy endings and are completely unrealistic, but they are Hallmark Movies and that is what is on in November and December. My favorite is A Royal Christmas starring none other than Lacey Chabert, but it is a few years old. December Bride is eye roll worthy and most of the others made me want to gag, but they are HALLMARK MOVIES and let’s face it, you don’t really have to think while you are watching them.
In breaking news, Lace and Grant broke up. And we are about a month away from Nick.
I don’t think I have it in me to do December Bride…
I’ve already seen A Wish for Christmas and The Mistletoe Promise. I liked both of them, but would pick Wish as my favorite of the two (I prefer Lacey Chabert to Jaime King), because I really did like the story of that one better. Maybe it’s just my own wish to be brave.
I have Broadcasting Christmas (love Superman!!) and Journey Back to Christmas on my DVR waiting to be watched. I’m looking forward to both of them.
Enjoy 🙂
Thank you Amy!!
I was looking forward to seeing a Christmas movie with Allison Sweeny.
And she didn’t make the cut. Maybe she’s on the mystery channel?
OOOOOO I got gooseys just thinking about these movies!! I saw “My Christmas Dreams” and I LOVED IT!! I love Winnie!! and the little boy in the movie is soooo sweet, the ending is predictable, but very sweet!!
I also saw “Christmas List” and I loved it!! Maybe I’m a bad reviewer for Hallmark Christmas movies, because I’m such a sap and a hopeless romantic!!
I did watch “The Holiday” for the millionth time!! I just love Jude Law in this movie!!
I L-O-V-E a happy ending and am also a hopeless romantic. Sounds like we would be BFF…
You missed “Love Always, Santa” which is the only new one I’ve seen & liked so far. At least until the cheesiest ending ever.
Oh I didn’t see that one!!
It’s Lemon Breeland. I’m so there. Yep, loved this comment! May have to tune in myself!
YES!!!
I watched 5 minutes of Christmas List and couldn’t handle Alicia Witt. Hard pass.
Good to know.
I feel the EXACT same way about Alicia Witt.
Yep, saw Alicia Witt and had no desire to see this one……don’t know why she rubs me the wrong way. Couldn’t stand her character on Nashville!
I’ve seen The Mistletoe Promise (liked it!), Christmas in Homestead (meh), Christmas List (decent), A Heavenly Christmas (loved!) and Journey Back to Christmas (HELLO OLIVER HUDSON!) I cannot wait for A Nutcracker Christmas! Nothing better ever happen to my DVR because I cannot lose this one. My favorites that are not new this year are On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, A Christmas Melody, A Very Merry Mix-Up, and 12 Gifts of Christmas. My daughter and I have an all-time favorite which is Matchmaker Santa. Yes, Lacey Chabert stars, but it also has Florence Henderson, John Ratzenberger and Thad Luckinbill, yes JT from The Young and the Restless! I love that there are movies that I can watch with my 12 year old daughter without worrying about what she is going to see!
Liz. This is the best comment ever. So much information!
So funny, my mom (after our 10th hour of watching Hallmark Christmas movies on Black Friday) asked where the heck all these towns are that worship Christmas, because we’ve never seen anything like that in real life!
I am obsessed with the Hallmark Christmas movies and will watch them all, no matter how cheesy they look. I’m still making my way through the ones on my DVR from before Thanksgiving (the day on which I deem it acceptable to start watching them) but here are my opinions on the ones I’ve watched:
A Wish for Christmas – I really liked this one, but in the interest of full disclosure, to me, Lacey Chabert can do no wrong in these movies. I swear she gets the best ones every year.
Mistletoe Promise – I’m sorry, I know you said you are excited for it because of the Heart of Dixie chick, but she had zero personality to me in this movie. He’s super cute, so I stuck with it, but not my favorite.
A Perfect Christmas – It was alright. Not one I’m dying to watch over and over, but I liked it well enough.
A December Bride – The girl in that movie is NOT the best actress, and I kind of disliked her character, but I fell in love with the guy. His character was so sweet and charming and made it worth it. And made me want to watch that When Calls the Heart Hallmark show because he’s on it.
Broadcasting Christmas – I was amped for this one because a.) Hello Superman (says my 12 year old self who used to LOVE Lois and Clark) and b.) parts of it were filmed here in my town. But aside from the fun brief glimpse of the local movie theater, I wasn’t thrilled. And actually I think I fell asleep during parts of it.
Christmas in Homestead – Eh, it was ok. I was intrigued to find out after some imdb research that the lead guy was born on the exact same day as me, but that’s about my only takeaway from it. Oh, and he was on UnREAL, but I didn’t recognize him because he has a beard in this movie.
Christmas List – Alicia Witt is probably my least favorite actress that keeps appearing in these Hallmark movies, so I was not excited about this one. It was a cute story line, and I liked the movie itself, but really wish it was a different lead. There was one scene where she tried to do an elf voice and it made me throw the remote and hide my face in the couch cushions.
And those are all the ones I’ve seen that have aired so far. From this year. I have seen EVERY Hallmark Christmas movie from at least the past three years. It’s a problem. I’m looking forward to the one with Brennan Elliott just because I love him. And that’s enough out of me!
WAY TO GO JESSICA! This is awesome.
I love, love, love Brennan Elliott!!!! <3
Well, I haven’t seen any of these, but I want to see the Nutcracker Christmas, because, hello, Sascha Radetsky!!! (Loved him in Center Stage, and wish I could have seen him perform in real life when he was with ABT!)
Whenever I think of Alicia Witt I also think of the part she played with Queen Latifah in “The Last Holiday.” Even though her voice can be a bit annoying, her character really works in that movie. It’s a totally cheesy Christmas / New Year movie that I can’t help watching every time it is on! (Secret guilty pleasure – my husband rolls his eyes whenever he sees me watching it. 😉 )
I’m so excited for the nutcracker movie. It’s going to be so good!
Loved the comment about Marlena and Winnie teaming up, hadn’t heard of that one, so I’m in! I have watched Journey back to Christmas… it’s cute (cheesy and totally unrealistic, but it’s good)… I watched Broadcasting Christmas and LOVED It… you will too! I started to watch the Christmas List, and it was so bad, I deleted it 30 minutes in…I couldn’t handle Alicia Witt’s horrible acting and the way she moved her mouth- it was painful to watch- ba-bye. I saw the last 20 minutes of Christmas Cookies… or whatever, need to go back and watch the entire movie… seemed cute! There’s one from last year, that is also great… called a Family for Xmas, with Lacey… about a reporter who wakes up as a suburban mom (sort of a spin on Christmas Carol) and I totally watched it again… super cute! 🙂 So glad you posted this… I have some Hallmark movies to DVR, now! 🙂
Good to know about Christmas List. Lacey is the bomb.
I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve seen 10 of these already! As expected, some are pretty bad (mediocre acting, way too predictable) but I keep watching them anyway. My favorites would have to be Every Christmas Has a Story (LOVE Colin Ferguson, and Lori Loughlin is pretty likable) and Heavenly Christmas (thought this would be too sappy but it was actually pretty good, mostly due to the leads).
A December Bride was better than I thought it would be. My very favorite is an old one, The Christmas Ornament. The characters seem like mature adults, unlike some others. I also like The 12 Gifts of Christmas and Let It Snow.
I watched Journey Back to Christmas and it is now tied for first place with Christmas With Holly as my favorite Hallmark Christmas movies. The plot is not the standard Hallmark tried and true plot. (Or should I say tired and true plot?)Journey Back to Christmas is different and interesting. I loved it.