Christmas Movie Reviews # 11

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – HOLIDAY MIRACLE

On the eve of Christmas, Rockford County Sheriff Rick Langston (Dean Cain) has lost his holiday spirit.
That isn’t helped when he catches a local man who had stolen the baby Jesus from a Nativity scene in order end up in a warm jail cell.
Later he finds a man at his home and Rick naturally assumes he has broken in even though he looks and acts a lot like Santa Claus.
But he arrests the jolly old man in the red suit anyway and places him in jail with the Nativity thief and then both he and Santa open the sheriff’s eyes to a few things.
Unexpectedly Sheriff Langston then meets a woman who has just moved to Rockford named Lucy Hart (Christine Lakin) and after meeting her and her daughter Alana (Sophie Bolen) he comes to realise that even when you feel that all is lost, love is all around you and that his life promises more than he could have hoped for and he had a renewed belief in the possibility of miracles.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS MIRACLE 2007

This film is based on a true story about an estranged couple who find themselves lost in the Idaho wilderness after in impromptu snowmobile outing.
It was just before Christmas and when the weather turns they are trapped in a blizzard and the snowfall is so great all the trails are hidden.
Lost and alone Suzanne and Jim Shemwell (Jami Gertz and Dylan Walsh) are forced to confront the reasons why they separated.
Meanwhile their family, when they are not looking for Suzanne and Jim, are looking inward at themselves and re-evaluate their lives and their relationships.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – HELP FOR CHRISTMAS

Although she loves Christmas, Christine (Summer Glau), who is an elf from Santa's village, wonders if there could be more to life than making toys at the North Pole.
So when Santa receives an emergency wish from a little boy in Los Angeles, he puts Christine on a special assignment in the real world and sends her to L.A. to help the VanCamp family.
Sara Vancamp (Eva LaRue) is a busy mom with absolutely no Christmas spirit and her husband Scott (Dan Gauthier), is little better.
So Christine is to look after the two Vancamp kids, Ally (Izabela Vidovic) and Will (Mason Cook) and give the whole family a Christmas wake-up call.
It is not altogether plain sailing and the question of whether Christine will fail her assignment and be sent back to the North Pole for good, or the VanCamps will come to their senses about the meaning of Christmas is unclear, but it’s fun watching the tale unfold.
The romantic interest is provided by Sara’s brother Dave Gabriel (John Brotherton) and Steve Larkin puts in a wonderful portrayal of Santa.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS AT CARTWRIGHT’S

A single mom, Nicky Talbot (Alicia Witt) is going from door to door to find a job and boost her finances but without success.
Then a friend tells her that a big store is hiring so she goes along and gets a holiday job at Cartwright’s department store but not as floor staff, she gets the job as Santa Claus in the grotto.
This was achieved when an angel, Harry Osbourne (Wallace Shawn) entered her life and brought about some positive changes, including the spark of a new romance.
She of course was unaware that he was an angel and she thought he was from corporate.
Her head elf in the grotto was Peg (Linda Kash) and she thought Nicky was wonderful in fact everyone loved Santa Nick, except the evil Fiona Aldrich (Gabrielle Miller) who was her boss.
Nicky’s daughter Becky (T.J. McGibbon) is cute without being precocious and the love interest is supplied very ably by department head Bill (Gabriel Hogan) and her landlady Mrs. Rositani is played by the excellent Jayne Eastwood.
This is a great film, believable yet magical and any Christmas film with an Angel in it gets my vote.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS ANGEL 2009

Ashley Matthews (Kari Hawker-Diaz) has been on her own all her life but she feels even more alone when it gets close to Christmas as she searches fruitlessly for a job and the endless Christmas cheer around her only rubs salt in the wounds as she scrimps and scrapes by to support herself and her dog, Dash.
However help is at hand from her neighbour, Nick Anderson (Bruce Davison), who knows exactly what to do to help and he offers her a job.
He asks her to be his assistant in what turns out to be a philanthropic endeavour, however there’s one catch she can't tell anyone that her new boss is a kind of Secret Santa, and she must help people anonymously.
Through her new job, Ashley meets Will (K.C. Clyde), a writer for a business magazine who uncovers what Ashley is doing, and more importantly, Nick's involvement in the acts of kindness.
As Ashley and Nick help people in need, she tries to protect Nick's secret, and her own heart, while Will must weigh the consequences of what might happen if he exposes them.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – SWITCHMAS

Ira J. Finkelstein (Elijah Nelson) is a Christmas obsessed Jewish boy.
He's seen every Christmas movie ever made and his dreams are filled with reindeer, sleigh rides and of course, snow.
The problem is, apart from the fact that Ira is Jewish is that at 11 years of age he feels that Christmas is passing him by and When Ira's hopes for a holiday vacation in Aspen are dashed, he hatches a plan to finally get the Christmas of his dreams.
When flying unaccompanied to visit his grandparents in sunny Florida, he swaps tickets with Mikey Amato (Justin Thomas Howell), another 11-year-old also flying unaccompanied on his way to Christmastown, WA.
But they not only trade airline tickets but places as well and Ira gets more than he bargained for when he experiences his first "White Christmas".
Elliott Gould and David DeLuise also star in this pleasant Christmas caper.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER - A HORSE TAIL

Michael Thompson (Patrick Muldoon) is an uptight city accountant who is struggling to raise his teenage daughter Chloe (Mandalynn Carlson) all on his own after his wife’s tragic death.
Being a single parent and having to work long hours Chloe doesn’t see as much of him as she would like which leads to her attention seeking behaviour, so when he gets a call from Cliff Harrison (Rick Herod) to help save their family stables before ruthless bankers shut them down, he wonders if the country life is just what he and Chloe need to start over.
However when Michael arrives to sort out a farm’s financial problems he finds that Cliff's daughter Samantha (Charisma Carpenter) is not as appreciative of his help as rest of the family (Sydney (Dominique Swain), Jackson (Jaren Lewison), and Ben (Billy Tilk)) are for his help.
But as they search for ways to save the family's legacy, Romance develops between the accountant and Samantha while the baddies in the story seem hell bent on acquiring the farms best horse called Holly which is prised by the family as it was Cliff’s deceased wife’s favourite.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A CHRISTMAS PUPPY

A cynical youth, Riley (Aaron Jaeger), whose mother Sarah (Maureen McCormick) is about to lose her job right before the holidays, is visited by a magical Christmas spirit called Hope (Vanessa Angel).
She gives him a task to help another family regain their Christmas spirit and by so doing get it back for himself.
Alexandra Paul, Jason Brooks and Mariah Buzolin star as the family in crisis but Janet Carroll steals the show as Grandmother Betty.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE GOOD WITCH'S GIFT

Almost as soon as Sheriff Jake Russell (Chris Potter) and Cassie Nightingale (Catherine Bell) decide to get married on Christmas Eve, complications arise in this Christmas serving of the Good Witch.
The first problem is the arrival in town of ex-con Leon Deeks (James McGowan) and Jake is instructed by the mayor to make him his top priority.
Jakes second complication is securing the wedding license as he can't find the documents proving Cassie’s existence in the world and then there is the difficulty of finding a wedding cake at the last minute.
However last but not least, Jake's kids are upset: Brandon (Matthew Knight) wants to spend time with his new girlfriend Jodi (Jordan Todosey), who is also the ex-cons daughter, and his sister Lori (Hannah Endicott-Douglas) manages to lose Cassie's heirloom wedding ring into the bargain.
Other than that its plain sailing.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – FINDING MRS CLAUS

Mrs. Claus (Mira Sorvino) is feeling neglected by her less than attentive husband (Will Sasso) and while she is consoling herself going through the latest mail delivery of Santa letters she finds one addressed to her.
The letter is from a girl called Hope (Aislyn Watson) so she goes to Las Vegas to help Hope with her Christmas wish which is to find love for her mother Noelle (Laura Vandervoort).
But Santa finds out she has gone and follows her to Sin City to make amends and puts Christmas at risk as a result when things don't go quite as he planned.
Andrew W. Walker provides the love interest as Barman Myles and Geoff Gustafson provides the laughs as Santa’s Elf companion, Calvin, who is more interested in gambling than finding Mrs Claus.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – ANYTHING BUT CHRISTMAS

In this romantic comedy John (Sergio Di Zio) loves Grace (Elaine Hendrix) and her 10-year-old son, Zachary (Sean Michael Kyer) and he wants to propose to her at Christmas however he hates Christmas or rather he has a phobia of Christmas due to his childhood experiences, in fact it’s so bad he can’t even say the word.
Grace on the other hand loves celebrating the Christmas season and so does Zachary, they also both love John, but do they love him enough.
As the tale unfolds, chaos with exes, misunderstandings, mad parents and in-laws all imperil John and Grace's relationship and the big question is, can they get it all sorted out in time for the holidays?