A Big Fat Family Christmas (2022)

Rating: G

Genres: Family, Romance

Starring: Shannon Kook and Shannon Chan-Kent

Synopsis: Liv gets an assignment to photograph the Chang family's annual holiday party for a front-page story--nobody at work knows that they are her family. She wants to confide in new co-worker Henry but doesn't want to jeopardize her big break.

Review: While I enjoyed the movie and would gladly watch again, there were too many relationships and things going on. They didn’t get a chance to really focus on one.  I did enjoy the cultural aspects. 

Scoring: 3.5

A Biltmore Christmas (2023)

Rated: G

Genres: Fantasy, Romance

Starring: Bethany Joy Lenz and Kristoffer Polaha

Synopsis: It follows Lucy as she's hired to write the script for a remake of a holiday movie. She joins a tour of the grounds and when she knocks an hourglass over, she finds herself transported back in time to 1946.

Review: I love classic movies so seeing it as if we are there was a real treat for me. Unlike so many movies, I didn’t know what was going to happen. I wasn’t even sure how they’d manage a happy ending. No spoilers. This is a definite rewatch for me. 

Scoring: 4

The Bishop’s Wife (1947)

Rated: PG

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Religion, Romance

Starring: Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven

Synopsis: An angel in human form enters the life of a bishop in order to help him build a new cathedral and repair his fractured marriage.

Review:  A lovely story with an angel reminding everyone about the importance of the values Christmas represents. The actors make the movie truly special.  A heartwarming story for the whole family.

Scoring: 4

The B**** Who Stole Christmas (2021)

Rated: TV-14

Genres: Comedy

Starring: Ru Paul, Krista Rodriguez, and Andy Ridings

Synopsis: A workaholic big-city fashion journalist is sent to a Christmas obsessed town to dig up a story.

Review: This was painful to sit through. I’ve never seen Ru Paul’s Drag Race so I wasn’t familiar with the cast which may have made it slightly more entertaining. The puns and anti-Hallmark satire could have possibly been funny had the writing been better. 

Scoring: 1

Black Nativity (2013)

Rated: TV-14

Genres: Drama, Family, Musical

Starring: Forest Whitaker, Angela Basset, Mary J. Blige, Tyrese Gibson, Jennifer Hudson, Nas

Synopsis: A teen goes to New York to spend Christmas with his estranged relatives.

Review: What a remarkable and engaging movie.  I really loved it, especially the music.  The only downside is we see a lot of flawed people in pain but there’s a lack of story to explain why.  It’s still a great movie.

Scoring: 4

Blending Christmas (2021)

Rated: PG

Genres: Comedy, Family

Starring: Haylie Duff, Aaron O’Connell, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, Susan Olsen, Barry Wilson, Beth Broderick, and Greg Evigan

Synopsis: The holiday season is in full swing when Emma learns that the resort where she used to spend Christmases with her family is being redeveloped.

Review: The best part (and worst acting) in this movie is the multiple members of The Brady Bunch.  They lend a sense of joy and nostalgia for those like me who loved the show. The rest is a lighthearted romcom that doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s even a little bit of Christmas magic.

Scoring: 3

Blizzard (2003)

Rated:  G

Genres: Comedy, Family, Fantasy

Starring: Brenda Blethlyn, Whoopi Goldberg, Christopher Plummer, and Kevin Pollak

Synopsis: A young girl's aunt tells her the tale of a young ice skater and an enchanted reindeer.

Review:  I watch this every year. It’s magical and charming and appeals to all ages. It’s a story about true friendship, coping with loss, and dealing with change.  It moves fluidly through drama and fantasy.  It even has talking reindeer. 

Scoring: 4.5

A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas (2019)

Rated: G

Genres: Family, Romance

Starring: Benjamin Ayres and Rachel Leigh Cook

Synopsis: Hotel manager Willow returns to her stunning Virginia hometown to help her sister plan a Christmas wedding at the inn her family once owned. She must work with current owner and single dad David, who wants to let go of the past.

Review: I figured this would be a standard Christmas wedding movie.  I was wrong.  It shared the message of dealing with loss and how the past affects our present and future.  I loved the little girl and all the characters.  It’s got the typical feel and pace of a Hallmark movie but it threw a curve ball.  I wasn’t quite sure how it would end and once I thought I had I wasn’t sure how they’d get there.

Scoring: 3.5

Bob Hope Christmas Special (1968)

Rated: NR

Genre: Comedy

Starring: Bob Hope and Raquel Welch

Synopsis: Bob Hope entertains our troops at his annual USO tour of Southeast Asian military bases.

Review: This takes place during the Vietnam war.  It’s footage of Hope and friends performing for soldiers.  Most of his jokes are one-liners, which aren’t my favorite.  Many of the jokes are also relevant to that time and don’t make sense if you weren’t an adult at the time and I think they’re just not funny today.  Better left in the time capsule but if you’re a Hope fan this may be for you.

Scoring: 1

Bob’s Broken Sleigh (2015)

Rated: NR

Genres: Adventure, Animation, Fantasy

Starring: Cole Howard and Victor Garber

Synopsis: This Christmas movie a young magic-less elf named Bob, who finds himself on a wild sleigh ride after being ambushed by the evil puffin Fishface. Stranded in the middle of a magical forest, it's up to him and the friends he makes along the way to bring the sleigh back home in time for Christmas - if the puffins don't get it first!

Review:  I found this movie to be fairly boring.   I think it would be good for young children but it’s not enough for adults.  The story feels recycled and I couldn’t wait for it to end.

Scoring: 1

The Borrowed Christmas (2014)

Rated: NR

Genre: Family

Starring: Sherry Morris and Jeff Rose

Synopsis: John Dale has everything. Money, notoriety, the biggest house in town. But what he really wants, is a good, old fashion Christmas. With no family in town, John turns to the local "Rent-All" store and Anne Weston. Anne's store is struggling, and in an attempt to save the shop, she takes on this unusual order, from this unusual man. She goes about trying to fill the order, but ends up filling a need much greater.

Review: This is the definition of a B movie.  The acting, scenery, and some of the writing and poor.  This story, however, had the possibility of becoming a beautifully moving film.  If you can sit through the bad and try to focus on the story you may enjoy this.  I found it difficult to do.

Scoring: 2

The Boss Baby Christmas Bonus (2022)

Rated: TV-Y7

Genres: Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Starring: Jodi Benson and Alex Cazares

Synopsis: Christmas Eve takes a twisty turn when the Boss Baby accidentally swaps places with one of Santa's elves and gets stranded at the North Pole.

Review: I haven’t seen the Boss Baby movies, so this was my introduction to the character.  I found it to be very funny and a very unique story.  This would be good for families.

Scoring: 3

Boxing Day (2021)

Rated: NR

Genres: Comedy, Romance

Starring: Aml Ameen, Aja Naomi King, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock

Synopsis: Boxing Day follows Melvin, a British author living in America, who returns home to London for Christmas and to introduce his American fiancé to his eccentric British-Caribbean family.

Review: This movie gave me a headache. All the yelling and arguing and sorting who is who.  The way everyone was intertwined reminded me of soap operas. I’d love to say the acting, or anything, made up for it. It didn’t. 

Scoring: 1

A Boy Called Christmas (2021)

Rated: PG

Genres: Adventure, Drama, Family

Starring: Maggie Smith,

Synopsis: In this origin story of Father Christmas, an ordinary boy (with a loyal pet mouse and a reindeer at his side) sets out on an extraordinary adventure to find his father who is on a quest to discover the fabled village of Elfhelm.

Review:  This movie went back and forth between magical and dull.  There were scenes were the story lagged then it would grab me again.  It’s a unique version of how Santa Claus came to be.  I wouldn’t show it to very young children but other than that it’s a good family film.

Scoring: 3.5

Boyfriends Of Christmas Past (2021)

Rated: G

Genres: Comedy, Romance

Starring: Catherine Haena Kim, Raymond Ablack, and Karn Kalra

Synopsis: Leading up to Christmas, Lauren is visited by the ghosts of four ex-boyfriends.  She must learn to open her heart or risk losing her best friend, Nate.

Review: Yes, it’s a twist on the typical modern Christmas Carol but it feels like a fresh twist.  The main character isn’t a bad person needing to reform, it’s a person in pain who is making bad choices in her love life.  I could point out lots of flaws like the leads had no chemistry, the ghosts didn’t have enough time and impact, there needed to be more Christmas, and so on.  I think the most important thing is how it made me feel.  When it was over I wanted to watch again.  So, for all its faults, it struck the right chord with me.  I think people will love it or hate it.

Scoring: 4

Breakfast With Scot (2008)

Rated: PG

Genres: Drama, Family

Starring: Tom Cavanagh and Ben Shenkman

Synopsis: Gay partners become the caretakers of an orphaned boy.

Review: This movie is really special.  It handles difficult topics like drug overdoses, boys wearing makeup, accepting yourself, telling people you’re gay, and untraditional families with honesty but also with a lightness that makes it truly engaging.  It allows the characters to be the focus, not the topics.  The more the movie went along, the more I loved the characters and the story.  That being said, the only parts of it that are Christmas are the end and Scot singing Christmas songs throughout the movie.  It’s not about Christmas, it’s more about people.

Scoring: 5

Brer Rabbit’s Christmas Carol (1992)

Rated: NR

Genre: Animation

Starring: Ginny Tyler

Synopsis: When Brer Rabbit learns that Brer Fox is planning to evict Brer Bear from his cave on Christmas, he decides to teach the fox a lesson by getting the townspeople together to stage their own version of “A Christmas Carol.”

Review: This is another good introduction to the story of “A Christmas Carol” for young children.  It is a little bit different because there are no ghosts, just characters pretending to be ghosts.  It’s a bit corny and the accents of the characters was a little much.

Scoring: 2

Bringing Christmas Home (2023)

Rated: G

Genres: Drama, Family, Romance

Starring: Jill Wagner and Paul Greene

Synopsis: A professor of military history teams with an antique store owner to find the original owner of a historic WWII uniform and the love letters left in its pockets.

Review: While I figured the movie, being a Christmas movie, would have a happy ending, there were a few twists and turns that had me doubting how, and if, they’d get there.  This is one of those that has so many small details I think I’ll find something new to love each time I see it.  I enjoyed the mystery and all the relationships.

Scoring: 4

A Brush with Christmas (2022)

Rated: G

Genres: Family, Romance

Starring: Jillian Murray and Joseph Cannata

Synopsis:  Charlotte captures the local art scene also helping mother run the family restaurant. Charlotte throws out her painting, to the Christmas art festival. Wyatt seeing her discarded work tries to find the mysterious artist who stole his heart

Review: I felt like the emotions were quite superficial. The story needed a little oomph to go from pastel to vibrant. It had some sweet moment and is cute for a romance.  I just wish it was deeper. 

Scoring: 3

A Bulldog For Christmas (2013)

Rated: NR

Genres: Comedy, Family

Starring: Marylee Osborne

Synopsis: On Christmas Vacation a cynical college student is magically transformed into a bulldog until she learns the meaning of her family and the Christmas spirit.

Review: There are no words for how bad this movie is.  Amateurish, badly directed, and even worse acting make this excruciating to sit through.  The father was possibly the worst actor.  Please do yourself a favor and don’t even try this one.

Scoring: 1

Buster And Chauncey’s Silent Night (1998)

Rated: G

Genres: Animation, Comedy, Family, Musical

Starring: Phil Hartman, Jim Cummings, Tom Arnold, and Marie Osmond

Synopsis: Two 19th-century Austrian mice evade a voracious cat, aid a kidnapped orphan and help create a holiday classic. 

Review:  This is a movie I think kids will love. There’s a playfulness and special quality to their friendship. It’s also a movie that adults will be able to watch with their children but may not like for themselves. 

Scoring: 3

Buttons: A Christmas Tale (2018)

Rated: PG

Genres: Drama, Family, Fantasy, Musical

Starring: Roma Downey, Ioan Gruffudd, Paul Greene, Angela Lansbury, Katie McGrath, Robert Redford, Jane Seymour, Charles Shaughnessy, Abigail Spencer, Dick Van Dyke, and Kate Winslet

Synopsis: Two orphan girls have one wish: to find a home for Christmas.  With a little help from their guardian angels, they discover that miracles really can happen when you have the power to believe.

Review: Artistically this is truly magical which is fitting for a movie about angels.  It’s a really beautiful film.  The acting is amazing and the music is well done while not exactly catchy.  With a star-studded cast including Van Dyke and Lansbury, how could it go wrong.  The story of Annabelle was so beautifully done except for the father and aunt.  I wish the father wasn’t just lost at sea and he had a more concrete end and we saw the aunt get her consequences.  This would be great for families.

Scoring: 5 

By God’s Grace (2014)

Rated: NR

Genres: Drama, Family, Religion

Starring: Cameron Deane Stewart and Savannah McReynolds

Synopsis: In the tradition of a classic "A Christmas Carol," this film offers many lessons on the importance of giving and the cause and effect our choices have on others.

Review:  I like the messages of giving to others and how each of our actions affect others.  The family teaching their children the value of giving and being active in the children’s home is something we could all learn from.  I had trouble with the character of Chris being an adult and looking 14.  Much of the movie felt overacted and overly dramatic.  The story would have had more impact with some subtlety.  I also see the comparison to A Christmas Carol in his looking back at his life but that’s it.  It’s a good message but I found it difficult to sit through.

Scoring: 2.5