Watching the Holiday Movies
It’s a dirty little not-so-secret: I enjoy a lot of the holiday/Christmas movies. I just do. There is a expectation of wishes coming true, and of good triumphing over its opposition, that makes for an enjoyable viewing experience. Of course, there are few movies that hit all the right bells all the way through. That doesn’t mean they aren’t worth watching, just that sometimes there are bumps in the one-horse-open-sleigh that you might have to endure.
This page is going to be the index of my blogs about these sorts of movies. I don’t think that what I write will be purely a review, or a critique, or even just a chat. The posts will likely have those elements and more. The goal isn’t so much to make this an academic exercise, but just to share some of my joys–and maybe a few disappointments–of the holiday fare.
Some of the movies are going to be classics that have played since we were children. Some will be the new stuff that shows up on cable networks like Hallmark and Lifetime. Many will fall somewhere in between. There are a lot of these sorts of movies out there. Unless you totally bah-humbug the entire season, I expect that many of you have more than a couple of these films in your want-to-watch list every year.
New Feature:
Bowing to several requests for the master list to have ratings, I’ve gone and done one better: not only does it have ratings, but all the columns are sortable (an iffy feature for mobile users depending on screen size). For now, I’m putting in the full list, but I may make it paged in the not-too-distant future as it’s starting to get long.
To ensure that movies in the list are in traditional alphabetical order (leading “A”, “An”, and “The” ignored for sorting purposes), I’ve had to resort to the inelegant solution of moving those words to the end of the title. If I come up with something that looks nicer, I’ll do that.
By default the list is with most recent reviews first.
| Title | Posted on (YYYY-MM-DD) | Overall Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Wish for Christmas, A link | 2016-10-29 | 3.25/5.0 |
| Christmas Land link | 2015-12-21 | 3.0/5.0 |
| On the Twelfth Day of Christmas link | 2015-12-13 | 3.75/5.0 |
| Just in Time for Christmas link | 2015-12-06 | 3.25/5.0 |
| Christmas Gift, The link | 2015-12-06 | 2.5/5.0 |
| Crown for Christmas link | 2015-11-28 | 4.25/5.0 |
| 12 Gifts of Christmas link | 2015-11-27 | 3.75/5.0 |
| Once Upon a Holiday link | 2015-11-26 | 2.75/5.0 |
| Northpole - Open For Christmas link | 2015-11-22 | 3.75/5.0 |
| Christmas Incorporated link | 2015-11-16 | 3.5/5.0 |
| I'm Not Ready For Christmas link | 2015-11-15 | 3.25/5.0 |
| Charming Christmas link | 2015-11-09 | 3.75/5.0 |
| Ice Sculpture Christmas link | 2015-11-08 | 3.0/5.0 |
| 'Tis the Season for Love link | 2015-11-01 | 3.5/5.0 |
| One Christmas Eve link | 2014-12-02 | 3.75/5.0 |
| Christmas Under Wraps link | 2014-11-30 | 3.25/5.0 |
| Royal Christmas, A link | 2014-11-24 | 3.5/5.0 |
| Christmas Shepherd, The link | 2014-11-24 | 3.0/5.0 |
| En Vogue Christmas, An link | 2014-11-23 | 3.5/5.0 |
| Angels and Ornaments link | 2014-11-17 | 4.25/5.0 |
| Northpole link | 2014-11-16 | 3.0/5.0 |
| Nine Lives of Christmas, The link | 2014-11-09 | 4.0/5.0 |
| One Starry Christmas link | 2014-11-02 | 3.25/5.0 |
| Finding Christmas link | 2013-12-16 | 3.0/5.0 |
| Snow Globe Christmas, A link | 2013-12-15 | 3.75/5.0 |
| Hats Off to Christmas! link | 2013-12-15 | 3.0/5.0 |
| Christmas Spirit, The link | 2013-12-02 | 3.75/5.0 |
| Dear Secret Santa link | 2013-12-01 | 3.75/5.0 |
| Let It Snow link | 2013-12-01 | 3.0/5.0 |
| Fir Crazy link | 2013-11-25 | 3.0/5.0 |
| Kristin's Christmas Past link | 2013-11-24 | 3.5/5.0 |
| Window Wonderland link | 2013-11-24 | 2.75/5.0 |
| Catch a Christmas Star link | 2013-11-18 | 2.5/5.0 |
| Twelve Trees of Christmas, The link | 2013-11-17 | 2.75/5.0 |
| Christmas Ornament, The link | 2013-11-17 | 3.25/5.0 |
| Very Merry Mix-Up, A link | 2013-11-11 | 3.0/5.0 |
| Snow Bride link | 2013-11-10 | 3.75/5.0 |
| Pete's Christmas link | 2013-11-09 | 3.0/5.0 |
| Thanksgiving House, The link | 2013-11-03 | 3.25/5.0 |
| Christmas With Holly link | 2012-12-12 | 3.75/5.0 |
| Matchmaker Santa link | 2012-12-10 | 3.5/5.0 |
| Help For the Holidays link | 2012-12-10 | 4.0/5.0 |
| Come Dance With Me link | 2012-12-09 | 3.25/5.0 |
| Christmas Heart, The link | 2012-12-03 | 2.75/5.0 |
| Love at the Christmas Table link | 2012-12-01 | 3.25/5.0 |
| Naughty or Nice link | 2012-11-25 | 3.5/5.0 |
| Love At the Thanksgiving Day Parade link | 2012-11-18 | 3.25/5.0 |
| Wishing Tree, The link | 2012-11-17 | 3.0/5.0 |
| Christmas Magic link | 2011-12-19 | 3.75/5.0 |
| Christmas Pageant, The link | 2011-12-12 | 4.25/5.0 |
| Annie Claus is Coming to Town link | 2011-12-10 | 2.5/5.0 |
| Princess For Christmas, A link | 2011-12-03 | 4.25/5.0 |
| Holiday Engagement, A link | 2011-11-27 | 3.0/5.0 |
| Dear Santa (2011) link | 2011-11-26 | 3.75/5.0 |
| Debbie Macomber's Trading Christmas link | 2011-11-26 | 3.25/5.0 |
| Silver Bells link | 2011-11-25 | 4.25/5.0 |
| Christmas Wedding Tail, A link | 2011-11-20 | 2.25/5.0 |
| Christmas Wish, A link | 2011-11-20 | 2.5/5.0 |
| Case For Christmas, The link | 2011-11-19 | 3.75/5.0 |
| Most Wonderful Time of the Year, The link | 2010-12-24 | 4.0/5.0 |
| Christmas Story, A link | 2010-12-16 | 5.0/5.0 |
| Three Wise Women link | 2010-12-15 | 3.5/5.0 |
| Old-Fashioned Christmas, An link | 2010-12-12 | 3.25/5.0 |
| Miracle on 34th Street (1947) link | 2010-12-12 | 4.75/5.0 |
| Farewell Mr. Kringle link | 2010-12-05 | 3.75/5.0 |
| Christmas Carol, A (1984) link | 2010-11-28 | 4.75/5.0 |
| Christmas Card, The link | 2010-11-28 | 3.75/5.0 |
| Crazy For Christmas link | 2010-11-27 | 4.25/5.0 |
A Little About the Ratings
As of November 2013, the distribution of rankings looks like this:
As you’d expect, more-or-less a bell curve. Generally speaking, it’ll be rare to see a 2 or below because: the cable nets don’t want to air bad movies; at times I’ll self-select out movies that I know going in that I’m not going to enjoy (life’s too short), but these are fewer than you might expect. Within the range of movies watched, you can see that most will be in the 3-3.75 range, and these I consider average holiday fare — neither “must see” nor “avoid it” but quite watchable. The variation is due largely on personal taste, quality of script or actor, and, if I’m being completely honest, my mood/level of fatigue. This isn’t to say that anything lower than a 3 is a don’t watch — there are several 2.75, for example, that are there simply because of one character I didn’t like or an ending that didn’t satisfy.
Something I try not to do (though I’m not perfect with it), is to second-guess myself. I prefer to see the movie then immediately review the movie. Often I don’t even know what it’s about aside from the title or it has a star I like. It’s all too easy to let multiple viewings skew your perception due to increased familiarity.
* Disclamer: I’m pro-Santa, pro-peace, pro-love, pro-happy, pro-understanding, and generally in favor of the fundamental message of these films.
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