THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A ROYAL FAMILY HOLIDAY (2015)

 

The Royal family patriarch and matriarch, Leighton and Alfreda Royal (Richard Lawson and Debbi Morgan) feign a separation in an effort to lure their overly busy children home for Thanksgiving.

However, getting the children home turns out to be the easy part, as dramas, challenges, twists, turns, surprises, and the revelation of deep, dark family secrets threaten to extinguish, any hint of Christmas magic as old wounds are re-opened.

As the master plan to reunite the family leads to chaos and the ruse of the separation looks likely to become an actual break up.

Vivica A. Fox, Romeo Miller, Javon Anderson, Tichina Arnold, Ele Bardha, Lulu Dahl, Ricky Harris, Jonathan Holloway, Tequilla Whitfield, Chelsea Tavares and Eric M. Myrick make up a very competent cast in this entertaining holiday offering.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – LAST VERMONT CHRISTMAS (2018)

 

The Marvin sisters, Megan (Erin Cahill) Bethany (Rachel Rhodes-Devey) and Audrey (Catherine Corcoran) gather for what they discover is to be their last Christmas at their childhood home, after their parents, Daniel and Peggy (Jim O'Hare and Ann Osmond), inform them that they are selling up and moving to Florida.

The decision is not received with universal acceptance, in fact Audrey for example recruits neighbour Brandon (Alan Pontes) to sabotage the sale, but things are further complicated when the buyer turns out to be Megan’s high school sweetheart Nash (Justin Bruening).

A nice story well-acted by an accomplished ensemble, though for me Samarah Conley as Megan’s daughter Ivy, steals the show.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – LAST CHRISTMAS AT HOME (2018)

 

The Marvin sisters, Megan (Erin Cahill) Bethany (Rachel Rhodes-Devey) and Audrey (Catherine Corcoran) gather for what they discover is to be their last Christmas at their childhood home, after their parents, Daniel and Peggy (Jim O'Hare and Ann Osmond), inform them that they are selling up and moving to Florida.

The decision is not received with universal acceptance, in fact Audrey for example recruits neighbour Brandon (Alan Pontes) to sabotage the sale, but things are further complicated when the buyer turns out to be Megan’s high school sweetheart Nash (Justin Bruening).

A nice story well-acted by an accomplished ensemble, though for me Samarah Conley as Megan’s daughter Ivy, steals the show.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE CHRISTMAS EXPRESS (2017)

A world-weary journalist, Tom Langdon (Dermot Mulroney) takes a four-day trip on a train from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles for Christmas, hoping to get ideas for a book he's writing in memory of his late father.

He quickly gets to know the other passengers, in particular busy body Agnes (Joan Cusack) and film Director Max Powers (Danny Glover) who is travelling with his script writer Eleanor Carter (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) who just happens to be Tom’s old flame and as the story unfolds it's obvious to everyone aboard the Christmas Train that the two of them are still in love.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS RHAPSODY (1948)

Christmas Rhapsody is a great little short film from 1948, which tells the story of the lonely little fir tree which dwells in the shadows of mightier trees and longs to be as useful as his mighty neighbours.

It’s a nicely made film, in a contemporary American setting, with a pleasing voiceover, beautifully shot and deftly directed, with a traditional soundtrack of Christmas carols.

In the end the little tree gets his wish when he is cut down and taken to the forester’s cottage where it is trimmed on Christmas Eve by the forester’s family.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A ROYAL WINTER (2017)

Lawyer Maggie (Merritt Patterson) has an interview with a prestigious law firm arranged by her influential father, but she has a two week wait before she knows the result.

To escape the constant parental questioning and to give herself headspace to decide if the job is what she really wants, she flees the country for a last-minute European holiday with her best friend Sarah (Rhea Bailey) for some deep soul searching.

Maggie is only in the small Principality for one day when she has a chance meeting with a handsome local man, Adrian (Jack Donnelly) and a romance quickly develops.

However, things get complicated when she finds herself in the middle of a real-life fairy tale when she learns that Adrian is actually a Prince who is about to be crowned King, and under the circumstances his mother, Queen Beatrice (Samantha Bond) is against any kind of relationship between the heir to the throne and a tourist.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A BEAUTY AND THE BEAST CHRISTMAS (2019)

 

Ginger Holiday (Leah Pipes) is a vivacious social media influencer, media darling and the queen of Christmas, who posts about Christmas every day of the year, and has a huge number of followers.

However, in the run up to Christmas she damages the skin on her face and has to stay off her social media account and immediately starts losing followers which means she’s in danger of losing her sponsorship.

Her unscrupulous agent Derek (Rob Raco) sets up a fake engagement with bad boy Beau Bradley (Ryan Kelley) to win back her followers and safeguard her sponsors.

So will a fake holiday romance with a viral bad boy really save both their careers? or will it backfire so their relationship turns from fantasy to reality.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A BEAUTY & THE BEAST CHRISTMAS (2019)

 

Ginger Holiday (Leah Pipes) is a vivacious social media influencer, media darling and the queen of Christmas, who posts about Christmas every day of the year, and has a huge number of followers.

However, in the run up to Christmas she damages the skin on her face and has to stay off her social media account and immediately starts losing followers which means she’s in danger of losing her sponsorship.

Her unscrupulous agent Derek (Rob Raco) sets up a fake engagement with bad boy Beau Bradley (Ryan Kelley) to win back her followers and safeguard her sponsors.

So will a fake holiday romance with a viral bad boy really save both their careers? or will it backfire so their relationship turns from fantasy to reality.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A CHRISTMAS CRUISE (2017)

 

Aspiring novelist Pam Stevenson (Vivica A. Fox) must earn her living as a journalist for the New York Minute, which she finds very unfulfilling.

Things then appear to go from bad to worse when her boss Arlo Sands (Jason Cook) gives her an assignment to write a romantic Christmas inspired piece.

Dreading the task, she takes her best friend Becky (Jessica Morris) on a special Christmas-themed cruise ship, the Christmas Queen, which is taking its annual trip to Christmas Island.

Once on-board Pam soon crosses paths with cruise director Jake Rockwall (Kristoff St. John), and suddenly a romantic Christmas doesn’t seem so onerous.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE CHRISTMAS CABIN (2019)

 

The Christmas Cabin is a holiday romantic comedy, and a week before Christmas, big city workaholic Seth Walker (Chad Michael Collins) inherits some land and property, including a half share in the cabin in question.

Wanting to get things settled before the end of the year he sets off to survey the mountain property with a view to making an offer to buy out the co-owners.

Unfamiliar and unprepared for the terrain and the snow he stumbles upon the Cabin where he finds Sammi Whetly

(Peyton McDavitt) spending a cosy, quiet Christmas alone at her family's cabin.

At first Sammi is reluctant to let a stranger in but because of the freezing temperature she finally takes pity on him, but instantly regrets her decision when she finds out that he has a claim on half the property.

However when a blizzard traps them inside Sammi chooses to make the best of the situation and the ice begins to thaw between them and after a few days when the weather clears, they view each other in a very different light.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A GIFT FOR CHRISTMAS (2017)

 

A Gift for Christmas is Based on the book by Melissa Hill, in which handsome Aiden Harris (Peter Porte) visits one of Philadelphia's last old-fashioned bookstores and has an accident after leaving which leaves him in hospital with amnesia.

Darcy Archer (Ali Liebert), enthusiastic bookshop employee, with dreams of succeeding as proprietor when the current owner retires, feels responsible for the accident, so visits him regularly, looks after his dog and helps to identify him and the life he can’t remember.

The couple soon bond over a shared interest in books, dogs and almost everything else, but she discovers a ring in his apartment which suggests he has a fiancée living in a different state.

So, will she lose the man she is falling for and will the bookstore be sold to a soulless chain.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A GIFT TO REMEMBER (2017)

 

A Gift to Remember is Based on the book by Melissa Hill, in which handsome Aiden Harris (Peter Porte) visits one of Philadelphia's last old-fashioned bookstores and has an accident after leaving which leaves him in hospital with amnesia.

Darcy Archer (Ali Liebert), enthusiastic bookshop employee, with dreams of succeeding as proprietor when the current owner retires, feels responsible for the accident, so visits him regularly, looks after his dog and helps to identify him and the life he can’t remember.

The couple soon bond over a shared interest in books, dogs and almost everything else, but she discovers a ring in his apartment which suggests he has a fiancée living in a different state.

So, will she lose the man she is falling for and will the bookstore be sold to a soulless chain.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – HOME ALONE 3 (1997)

 

A stolen top-secret microchip is hidden in a Remote-Control Car in order to get it through customs, but due to a baggage mix-up at the airport, it ends up in the possession of cantankerous old woman, Mrs. Hess (Marian Seldes).

When she returns home to Chicago, she discovers she has the wrong bag, and having no use for a toy car, gives it to 8-year-old Alex Pruitt (Alex D. Linz), in payment for clearing the snow off her path.

However, the four high-tech international thieves, Petr Beaupre (Olek Krupa), Alice Ribbons (Rya Kihlstedt), Burton Jernigan (Lenny von Dohlen) and Earl Unger (David Thornton) want the chip back and manage to narrow their search to a small suburban street, and then decide to burglarize every house in the street until the find the car.

By that time Alex is confined to his house with chicken pox and sees the burglars going from one house to another, but the police don’t believe him, so he has to wait for them to get to his house and make sure he is prepared for their visit.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – BEVERLY HILLS CHRISTMAS

 

This is a good Christmas movie aimed at a family audience, with a wonderful message in which, with help from a guardian angel, a spoiled rich and very materialistic teenage girl learns that true value is found in assisting others and not in material possessions.

It has a great cast to tell the tale, Donna Spangler (Angelina Foxworth), Dean Cain (Archangel Gabriel), John Savage (Mr. Winters), Ravin Spangler (Ravin Foxworth), Brittan Taylor (Hannah), Simona Fusco (Yvonne), Cindy Marinangel (nurse), Brandon Russell (Jerry), Vincent De Paul (James Foxworth), Sue Wong appears as herself and of course the ridiculously adorable Jack Pomeranian steals the show as Bunny the dog.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – DIE HARD 2: DIE HARDER

 

After the terrifying events in LA, NYPD cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) is about to go through it all again as he goes on a Christmas vacation to meet his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) in Washington where he is at the airport meeting her off the LA flight.

But while he is waiting a team of terrorists, led by Col. Stuart (William Sadler) holds the entire airport hostage, while they plan to rescue a drug lord Esperanza (Franco Nero) from justice.

As part of that plan they have seized control of all the control systems affecting all aircraft, with no runway lights available, and no means to contact them all aircraft have to remain in the air, with fuel running low, so if McClane is going to save the day again he will need to be fast.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A ROCKPORT CHRISTMAS (1988)

 

As World War 2 rages on in Europe the Bundy family are making plans for a Christmas reunion in the small town of Rockport.

The matriarch Martha (Eva Marie Saint) cashes in all of her ration-stamps to purchase the best Christmas dinner she can with everyone expected round the table.

Rockport is a small town where everyone knows everyone else and the tough times bring them even closer.
But the one person no one wants to see at their door is the Western Union man, because most of the news he delivers are telegrams from the War Department, reporting the death of a loved one and sadly he makes his rounds far too often.
This is a wonderful Christmas movies with happiness and sadness in equal measure and some strong performances, Hal Holbrook as head of the family, Joseph, Courteney Cox as expectant daughter in law Nora, and the strongest of all Nancy Travis as young widow Leah.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS (1998)

 

Jake (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) is a college student experiencing difficulty in getting home for Christmas after being hazed by his friends.

While struggling to get home in time for Christmas, he learns to shed his selfish, self-centred attitudes and as he does he learns quite a lot about himself.

There are some genuinely funny moments, a lot of touching ones along the way as he discovers the true meaning of the holiday.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1999)

 

Patrick Stewart stars as miser Ebenezer Scrooge in this quality retelling of Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol”.

The classic tale in which he is taught the true meaning of Christmas by three Spirits who visit him, revealing to him the truth about his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current catalogue of cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways.

Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold, death or redemption.

The Spirits are played by Joel Grey (Past), Desmond Barrit (Present) and Tim Potter (Future)

The other key characters and portrayed by Bernard Lloyd (Marley), Laura Fraser (Belle), Richard E. Grant and Saskia Reeves (The Cratchit’s), Ben Tibber (Tiny Tim), Ian McNeice and Annette Badland (The Fezziwig’s), Dominic West (Fred) and Rosie Wiggins (Fran).

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS (2016)

 Jackie Foster (Mena Suvari), is a dynamic Assistant District Attorney and single mom to Gracie (Giselle Eisenberg) and is happy enough with her life, Jackie's estranged dad, Jack (James Brolin), a gruff retired police officer, is travelling around North America in his RV and having not seen his daughter for a decade, unexpectedly shows up at her door.

His surprise visit during Christmas brings mixed feeling for her, not so for the rest of the town, who are very happy to see him again and his granddaughter proves to be very fond of him and together they do all the festive stuff while Jackie and her Dad are forced to confront the source of old wounds as he attempts to win his daughter back.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – ON THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS

 

Con-woman Trish (Mary Stuart Masterson) and her niece/ward Patsy (Lauren Pratt) are caught in the act of trying to steal from a department store right before Christmas, by a “by-the-book” department store security guard, Bert (Mark Ruffalo).

With the holidays so close, Bert, a loyal store employee is assigned as the custodian of a pickpocketing duo, and reluctantly agrees to be responsible for the pair so that Patsy need not spend the holidays in social services. Obviously as it’s a Christmas movie so Romance ensues.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – MIRACLE OF THE HEART

 

Medical resident Nathan Andrews (Neil Patrick Harris), goes back home to his small town after he loses a teenager on the operating table. He joins his dad Jack (Hugh Thompson) and his mechanic's business and becomes a basketball coach to some young people, which is where he meets Charlie Bennett (Angus T. Jones) and Meghan Sullivan (Rebecca Gayheart). Nathan falls for Meghan but she thinks he’s a mechanic and he neglects to tell her that he’s a surgeon but then Charlie is taken ill, the truth comes out.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A HOLIDAY ROMANCE (1997)

 

Kathleen Russell (Roma Downey) is a hard-working single mother, who is saving to buy a house for herself and her daughter, Zoey (Sarah Rosen Fruitman). Whereas Sam Field (Eric McCormack) is a businessman who has to pretend he has a family in order to close a deal with the mysterious Javier Del Campo (Hector Elizondo).

Sam owns the company that Kathleen works for, and as her boss, manages to convince her to help him out by posing as his wife, for a price, which she thought would help her to buy the house.

But Del Campo is more than he seems, and it just might be Zoey who's making the real deal to get a new home for herself, her mother, and Sam.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – MUST BE SANTA

 

Petty criminal Floyd Court (Arnold Pinnock) accidentally gets selected to replace the old Santa (Gerard Parkes).

At the North Pole Natalie Fairlie (Deanna Milligan) is happy to run with the Santa that fate has selected but her colleague Tuttle (Dabney Coleman) is far from happy and does everything within his power to have his own candidate selected with humorous results.

This is a very heart-warming and entertaining family film so give it a watch if you get the opportunity.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – SILENT NIGHT (2002)

 

In the bitter winter of 1944 in the depths of the Ardennes Forest, a German Mother, Elisabeth Vincken (Linda Hamilton) and her son Fritz (Matthew Harbour) are seeking refuge in a remote cabin in the woods, which is unfortunately now right on the front line.

They had barely settled in when they are joined, against their will, by three American soldiers one of whom is wounded and then tensions rise when three German soldiers also arrive, Elisabeth successfully convinces the soldiers to put aside their differences for one evening so they can share a Christmas Eve dinner.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A WIND AT MY BACK CHRISTMAS

 

In the approach to Christmas 1938, a lot is happening in the lives of the Bailey and Sutton families in the town of New Bedford.

Grace Mainwaring and her mother - the Bailey family matriarch, May Bailey - are in Europe collecting the remains of Grace's husband, Van, who was killed in the war in Spain and Hub Bailey (Dylan Provencher) is in the seminary at the University of Toronto.

Back in New Bedford, Hub's mother, Honey Sutton (Laura Bruneau), is following in her son's footsteps and is also a University of Toronto student where she is taking courses by correspondence although she would rather take classes in person.

Honey's husband, Max (James Carroll), has to take over many of the household duties because of Honey's busy schedule, this in addition to his regular work as the school's principal and the town mayor which leaves no time for his passion, writing.

Even the Christmas pageant, which is being directed by May's daughter-in-law, Toppy Bailey (Robin Craig), so there is more than enough going on without intrigue and a jingoistic police presence.

But Christmas has the last word.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A PERFECT CHRISTMAS (2016)

 

Steve and Cynthia Faber (Dillon Casey and Susie Abromeit) are a newlywed couple celebrating their first Christmas together who inexplicably invite their families to join them for the holidays, but when Steve is laid off just before Christmas and Cynthia discovers that she's pregnant, they both keep their news secret in hopes that the celebration runs smoothly.

The film moves along at a lively pace aided by a good supporting cast and it’s a fun film that’s well worth a watch.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – MY ANGEL (2011)

 

Fifteen year old Eddie's mother (Janet Dibley) falls very ill after a serious car accident so Eddie (Joseph Phillips) and his brother Stewart (Angus Harrison) end up having to take care of themselves and one night when they have run out of food and the electricity has gone off, Eddie dreams that his mother asks him to find an angel's halo so that she can be saved.

Neither Brenda Blethyn as the Headmistress, Celia Imrie as the Librarian, Timothy Spall as Mr. Lambert or Mel Smith as Eddies Uncle Richard help him in his endeavour so will Eddie be able to save his mother in time for Christmas?

 

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER –HOLLYGROVE

 

Emotionally frigid, workaholic attorney Kate Jordan (Jen Lilley) reluctantly accepts an end-of-the-year assignment to get a reputedly haunted inn and has three weeks to get it appraised and sold by year's end.

When she gets there the uncooperative manager claims a spirit who lives there will not approve, but with Kate's possible promotion resting on accomplishing this task, she checks in and as a result she meets Daniel (Thomas Beaudoin) the resident ghost who she thinks looks suspiciously solid for a ghost.

Then he explains that for the past ninety-five years, he inexplicably returns to life each December during the twelve days of Christmas.

Kate has only one logical recourse left open to her for their mutual benefit, and that is to break the curse that binds him to the Inn, but she starts falling for the man who is almost a century her senior which was very much not in her plans, but then it is Christmas.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – HOLIDAY SPIN

 

Blake (Garrett Clayton) and his mother Roxy (Erika Eleniak) live in Charlotte, North Carolina where she owns a dance studio but he is looking forward to a career as a fighter.

However all that tragically ends on Thanksgiving Eve when there is a terrible car accident in which Roxy is killed and Blake is seriously injured.

When he is recovering, he finds Ruben (Ralph Macchio) at his bedside announcing he is his father and that he is taking him back to Miami, Blake objects but as he is only 17 he has no choice but to go with the man who abandoned him as a baby.

Ruben is a former ballroom dancer and owns a dance studio where he lives with his wife, Emily (Karen Olivo), and it’s there where Blake meets and falls in love with one of Reuben’s dancers, Pia (Allie Bertram).

The story revolves around the “Holiday Spin” which is a dance competition held every Christmas Eve with the couples dancing to Christmas carols and the grand prize of $50,000 goes to the dance studio that the dancers represent.

So there is a lot at stake for Blake and Pia as they go up against Rob (Benji Schwimmer) and Tezza (Julia Harnett).

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – MERRY KISSMAS

 

Unwinding her relationship from a controlling stage director/choreographer, Kayla (Karissa Lee Staples) happens to take an elevator ride with a lonely caterer called Dustin (Brant Daugherty).

Serendipitously the elevator stalls, and as often happens in a Christmas movie a spontaneous magical kiss follows, and that should have been that.

Unfortunately the choreographer Carlton (David O'Donnell) goes on a charm offensive to get Kayla back and Dustin withdraws from the scene. But Kayla is left confused as she now doesn’t know which man to love. Roxanne Hart and Doris Roberts also feature in this entertaining Christmas offering.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – 12 GIFTS OF CHRISTMAS

 

Anna Parisi (Katrina Law) is an aspiring artist who is looking for that big break but after getting the brush off from a snooty art museum manager and being unable to make ends meet she turns to her other talent which is personal shopping and plans to develop that into a side business over the upcoming holidays.

Marc Rehnquist (Aaron O'Connell) is an uptight workaholic advertising executive who is always on his mobile phone, he briefly met Anna at a bakery and later employs her to pick out Christmas gifts for his family and friends.

At first things are difficult as Anna gets a gift for a friend of his that was not on his list and he essentially sacks her, but he rethinks his decision when it turns out that his friend actually liked the gift and thought it was the best he had ever got him.

So he then gives her a free reign to get the kind of presents his friends like, rather than what he can afford.

Marc learns that Christmas giving has less to do with the amount of money spent and more to do with the importance of the gift, while Anna discovers she might find success as an artist in a way she never expected.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS CHILD

 Jack Davenport (William R. Moses) is a reporter who has been having a difficult time getting much joy out of his life.

Relations with his wife Meg (Megan Follows) and his job both fail to revive his spirits so while he is working on a story in Dallas, he comes across a photograph that gets his attention.

The photograph leads him to the Texas town of Clearwater, where he learns about the town's ornate nativity scene and confronts his past in the hope that it can lead him to a happier future.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – BEVERLY HILLS PUPPY

 

This is a good Christmas movie aimed at a family audience, with a wonderful message in which, with help from a guardian angel, a spoiled rich and very materialistic teenage girl learns that true value is found in assisting others and not in material possessions.

It has a great cast to tell the tale, Donna Spangler (Angelina Foxworth), Dean Cain (Archangel Gabriel), John Savage (Mr. Winters), Ravin Spangler (Ravin Foxworth), Brittan Taylor (Hannah), Simona Fusco (Yvonne), Cindy Marinangel (nurse), Brandon Russell (Jerry), Vincent De Paul (James Foxworth), Sue Wong appears as herself and of course the ridiculously adorable Jack Pomeranian steals the show as Bunny the dog.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – 29TH STREET

 

On Christmas Eve, Frankie Pesce Jr (Anthony LaPaglia) of Queens wins $6 million in New York State's first lottery.

But instead of joy, he's in a rage, breaking church windows and disturbing the peace after which he is arrested.

At the police station, he tells his story to Sgt Tartaglia (Robert Forster) beginning with his hazardous birth and all the ins and outs of life in the Pesce household, from his father (Danny Aiello) losing his trucking business to a Mafia wise guy, right up to the point he lost his job as a teamster.

But all in all it’s a fairly ordinary life for a New Yorker so why after winning $6 million, is Frankie so disconsolate?

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – PRANCER RETURNS

 

The teenage Holton brothers live with their divorced mother, Denise (Stacy Edwards), in a rural town.

Ryan (Robert Clark) is the older brother, who hates the rural life and makes no secret of the fact and wants to go and live with their father, in Chicago.

The shy young Charlie (Gavin Fink) doesn’t understand his attitude, he is happy there even though he gets victimised by the bigger school kids'.

One day on the way home from school he finds two reindeer, one is dead who he believes to be one of Santa's team called Prancer, the other one is younger and Charlie thinks he is his son and heir, also called Prancer which he tries to hide at home and Ryan helps him which brings the brothers closer along the way.

Charlie believes that his Prancer is “the” Prancer from the towns’ legend and will take off and join Santa on Christmas Eve.

Unfortunately when Prancer gets out he bites evil vice-principal James Klock (Michael O'Keefe) and he wants the danger to the public put down.

But a rescue operation is mounted and then Charlie runs away with his protégé to the woods,

His mother Denise is unable to cope, but thankfully her ex-boyfriend, handyman Tom Sullivan (John Corbett), comes to the youngster's rescue in this engaging family film.

Watch out for the wonderful Jack Palance as Old Man Richards.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – FIR CRAZY (2013)

 

Elise MacReynolds (Sarah Lancaster) is no fan of Christmas because as she grew up on a Christmas tree farm it meant every holiday was spent selling Christmas trees on a cold street corner.

But when she loses her job and her dad breaks his leg, Elise agrees to run the family tree stand for one last season.

Unfortunately for Elise, the family business that has always hosted the MacReynolds' Farm tree lot has been acquired by home decor conglomerate “Brook Glen”.

Elise gets off on the wrong foot with surly Brook Glen CEO Gary Dixon (Colin Mochrie) when she almost knocks him down while unloading a big tree.

Gary thinks the trees are horrible for business and sets in motion a plan to get rid of the lot, for good, however despite her battles with Gary, Elise finds herself catching the holiday spirit as she helps the good citizens of New York City to find their one perfect tree:

Everyone from a couple with their first on the way, a professional basketball team, and a young boy picking out his first tree.

Christmas also proves to be the season for romance when charming repeat customer Darren Foster (Eric Johnson) admits he's been buying trees simply in the hopes of talking to Elise.

 

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – MERRY MIX UP (2013)

 

Shop owner Alice Chapman (Alicia Witt) is a beautiful woman who recently became engaged to go-getter businessman Will Mitchum (Scott Gibson).

When she travels to meet her future in-laws for the first time before Christmas, she is very nervous because she is arriving ahead of her new fiancé.

Alice's trip becomes more stressful when her luggage is lost and her phone is damaged, and chaos ensues as she loses contact with Will.

But then she runs into, who she believes to be Will's brother, and starts the Christmas celebrations with the wrong family.

But is this just a silly Merry mix up, or is it the fates with a message for Alice.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – LAST CHANCE CHRISTMAS

 A smart, sassy, 34-year-old Kristin (Shiri Appleby), who is estranged from her family and alone on Christmas Eve goes to sleep alone on Christmas Eve and wakes up Christmas morning seventeen years into her past to relive the worst Christmas of her life.

So once she gets over the initial shock she realises she has an opportunity to change her imperfect past, so she styles herself as an older mentor to her younger self (Hannah Marks)

Paramount to these changes is mending the broken relationship with her mother (Elizabeth Mitchell), something that seems impossible.

But if she can’t fix her past then maybe she could do something about her less than perfect future.

The film has an altogether credible cast that makes this film well worth watching if for no other reason than that.

But the story is excellent and well-structured and although the main target audience of this family safe Christmas movie will be women past their teens, men should not be put off by that because it’s very good.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS TRUCE (2015)

 

In the bitter winter of 1944 in the depths of the Ardennes Forest, an American Army Captain John Myers (Craig Olejnik) and a Belgian girl named Alina (Ali Liebert) meet and fall in love during a brief 24-hour Christmas truce amid the Battle of the Bulge.

When the fighting resumes and they have to go their separate ways they promise to reunite on the first Christmas Eve after the end of World War II, providing they're both alive.

 

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – ONE CHRISTMAS

 

Based on an autobiographical short story by Truman Capote, this story is about Buddy (T.J. Lowther), an 8-year old boy who leaves Alabama in 1930 to go and live with his father (Henry Winkler) in New Orleans, and has a terrible time while he is there.
His father is a con man trying to raise money for his latest get rich quick scheme and prays on wealthy middle-aged women flattering his way into their cheque books and one of those frustrating his plans is matriarch Cornelia Beaumont (Katharine Hepburn) and as he faces one setback after another there is an uneasy relationship between father and son.

Henry Winkler puts in a fine dramatic performance, as he ranged from loving father, to con man, to angry and misunderstood outsider, Katharine Hepburn is a touch of class in her final performance and a brief appearance from Julie Harris is a glimmer of light.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE PRESENT (2015)

 

A journalist whose life was deeply impacted by a Secret Santa gift that she received when she was 10 years old sets out to discover who anonymously gave it to her, but ends up finding a lot more along the way.

The Christmas Gift is a story built around Megan (Rylan Lee), a beautiful 10-year old girl who received a gift through Secret Santa and not only is she impressed by the gift, she treasures it, because it came at a time in her life when she really needed it.

As time passes, she never forgets the gift, and she never forgets the face of the little boy whose photo was attached to the shoe box it was packed in.

After almost 10 years, Megan (Michelle Trachtenberg), who is now a journalist, makes it her mission to find out the location of the little boy who touched her heart so many years earlier.

When she decides to approach the editor with an idea for the perfect holiday story to find her “Secret Santa”, Megan’s life changes in a way she never expects after finding him.

This is the perfect uplifting holiday movie about giving, sharing, and finding love in the most unexpected places in this case with Wesley Hardin Johnson Jr (Sterling Sulieman) her Secret Santa.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS CAROL (2016)

 

Single parent Carol Montgomery (Anne Heche) lives with her son Bryan (Sean Michael Kyer) and is the undisputed Queen of Christmas and she organised every aspect of the holiday, but all that changed when another single parent Terry Evans (Dylan Neal) and his daughter Amelia (Farryn Van Humbeck) move to the town and he is a breath of fresh air and offers an alternative view of the plans and Carol and Terry battle for control of the Christmas holiday at the middle school that their children attend and learn a lesson about the true meaning of Christmas.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE WINTER STALLION

 

Sixteen year old Gwen Davies (Siân MacLean) adores the horses she and her grandfather have raised on the beautiful Welsh Mountains. However, when her grandfather dies without naming her as heir the farm passes to her uncle Alan (Daniel J. Travanti) who left Wales many years earlier and made a home in America and now must either sell the farm to a greedy land developer, or allow Gwen to keep the farm, opening the wounds of his tragic past in the process.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – ANGEL AT CHRISTMAS (2012)

 

Grade school student Olivia Mead (Izabela Vidovic) believes that the Christmas wishes read out in class by her classmates are beginning to come true.

She and her friend Lucas Conroy (Tyler Humphrey) believe it's the long-abandoned house next door to hers which she believes houses an angel that grants the wishes, as long as the wish is made while throwing a rock at it, but then Olivia meets a reclusive old woman living inside, Elsie Waybright (Della Reese), and together they begin reviewing the wishes left at the gate in a “wish box” placed there to stop people from damaging the property any further.

Olivia makes a wish for a new husband for her single mom (Teri Polo), and the landlord of the abandoned house (Kevin Sorbo) comes into their lives, but Olivia would rather her mom had the new substitute teacher (Rob Boltin) but she just had to let the Angel do her work..

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A HOLIDAY FOR LOVE (1996)

 

Executive Jacob (Jake) Peterson (Tim Matheson) is sent to a small town to assess which of the workers in the local tractor factory, on which the town relies on as the chief source of employment, should be laid off when the planned downsizing begins.

However he gets side tracked when he falls in love with a local single mom Emma Murphy (Melissa Gilbert) which her daughter Noelle (Michelle Trachtenberg) encourages.

But is there any future in their relationship if he does what he was sent to the town to do?

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1938)

 

Reginald Owen stars as miser Ebenezer Scrooge in this quality retelling of Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol”.

The classic tale in which he is taught the true meaning of Christmas by three Spirits who visit him, revealing to him the truth about his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current catalogue of cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways.

Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold, death or redemption.

The Spirits are played by Ann Rutherford (Past), Lionel Braham (Present) and D'Arcy Corrigan (Future)

The other key characters and portrayed by Leo G. Carroll (Marley), Lynne Carver (Bess), Gene Lockhart and Kathleen Lockhart (The Cratchit’s), Terry Kilburn (Tiny Tim), Forrester Harvey (Fezziwig), Barry MacKay (Fred) and Ira Stevens (Fan).

Bottom of Form

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – JINGLE BELLE

 

 

Glenn Barrow (Dean Cain) is a widower who lost his beloved wife in a car accident about a year ago and he and his three children, Elliot (Jet Jurgensmeyer), Phoebe (Meyrick Murphy) and Janey (Jamie Dudney) are doing okay, give or take some tearful memories.

But with Christmas approaching what the kids wanted most of all was a puppy and they see a the perfect one at an adoption event, where beautiful Kate Rivers (Hayley Duff) suggests that the family give Belle a permanent home but Glenn says no, at first, but he soon weakened.

However Glenn had just started dating gold digger Dani Downey (Kristy Swanson) who turns out to be allergic to dogs.

Glen is unsympathetic as the three kids were so happy with their pet, which was obviously helping to heal their hearts.

But, they all underestimate two faced Dani who isn’t going to allow a dog to come between her and the prize so she kidnaps Belle and dumps her at the pound.

When the kids discover Belle has been nabbed by the beautiful gold digger on Christmas Eve, the kids recruit their neighbourhood friends and set out on an adventurous rescue mission to save her.

And when Kate Rivers steps in to help Glenn when he discovers that the children have gone AWOL as well as the dog they find more than they were looking for.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – OPERATION CHRISTMAS

 

As her new romance blossoms, a single mother Olivia Young Roberts (Tricia Helfer) is dismayed when her boyfriend Scott McGuigan (Marc Blucas), a military sergeant, is deployed right before Christmas.

Determined to not let it ruin the holidays for her and her children they decide to give back to the struggling military families on his base and, as their efforts go viral, they are rewarded in ways they never imagined.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2016)

 

Single parent Carol Montgomery (Anne Heche) lives with her son Bryan (Sean Michael Kyer) and is the undisputed Queen of Christmas and she organised every aspect of the holiday, but all that changed when another single parent Terry Evans (Dylan Neal) and his daughter Amelia (Farryn Van Humbeck) move to the town and he is a breath of fresh air and offers an alternative view of the plans and Carol and Terry battle for control of the Christmas holiday at the middle school that their children attend and learn a lesson about the true meaning of Christmas.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE TREE THAT SAVED CHRISTMAS (2014)

 

Molly Logan (Lacey Chabert) and Lucas Bishop (Corey Sevier) were childhood friends and high school sweethearts in Danbury Falls, Vermont, where Molly's family founded the town two hundred years earlier, and with her immediately family still living on the same property, where her parents, Gordon and Betty Logan (Eric Keenleyside and Lini Evans), have continued the family business of operating a Christmas tree farm.

Since they were children, Molly knew she wanted to become a writer, a dream which her parents supported while Lucas knew he wanted to become a photographer, something his banker father, Elliot Bishop (James Kidnie) vehemently opposed him pursuing as a career, he believed only in careers like his own, and making money by any and all means.

When he would not follow her to New York, where they would have pursued their professional dreams together, Molly and Lucas broke up and had not seen each other since.

After getting an MBA, Lucas returned to Danbury Falls to work at the bank for his father.

Molly works at a publishing house, where she is treated more as a 24/7 PA by her recently widowed boss, Walter Dunlap (Jim Thorburn) at the expense of her writing career.

When Molly hears from her brother Ryan (Matthew Kevin Anderson) that the bank is foreclosing on a mortgage for the tree farm property they both head back to Danbury Falls to help their parents save the farm from being turned into a golf resort.

On her return, Molly runs into Lucas, who is heading the search for investors for the development proposal and then Christmas begins to work its magic.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE CHRISTMAS STALLION

 

Sixteen year old Gwen Davies (Siân MacLean) adores the horses she and her grandfather have raised on the beautiful Welsh Mountains. However, when her grandfather dies without naming her as heir the farm passes to her uncle Alan (Daniel J. Travanti) who left Wales many years earlier and made a home in America and now must either sell the farm to a greedy land developer, or allow Gwen to keep the farm, opening the wounds of his tragic past in the process.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS ANGEL (2012)

 Grade school student Olivia Mead (Izabela Vidovic) believes that the Christmas wishes read out in class by her classmates are beginning to come true.

She and her friend Lucas Conroy (Tyler Humphrey) believe it's the long-abandoned house next door to hers which she believes houses an angel that grants the wishes, as long as the wish is made while throwing a rock at it, but then Olivia meets a reclusive old woman living inside, Elsie Waybright (Della Reese), and together they begin reviewing the wishes left at the gate in a “wish box” placed there to stop people from damaging the property any further.

Olivia makes a wish for a new husband for her single mom (Teri Polo), and the landlord of the abandoned house (Kevin Sorbo) comes into their lives, but Olivia would rather her mom had the new substitute teacher (Rob Boltin) but she just had to let the Angel do her work.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS IN MY HOMETOWN

 

Executive Jacob (Jake) Peterson (Tim Matheson) is sent to a small town to assess which of the workers in the local tractor factory, on which the town relies on as the chief source of employment, should be laid off when the planned downsizing begins.

However he gets side tracked when he falls in love with a local single mom Emma Murphy (Melissa Gilbert) which her daughter Noelle (Michelle Trachtenberg) encourages.

But is there any future in their relationship if he does what he was sent to the town to do?

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – WINDOW WONDERLAND

 

Two Manhattan department store employees, Sloan Van Doren (Chyler Leigh) and Jake Dooley (Paul Campbell), both apply for the same job during the busy Christmas season.

Sloan is a driven young woman determined to become the next window dresser at McGuire's department store and to uphold a 95-year-old artistic holiday tradition, she is serious and professional, infact she's the polar opposite of the happy-go-lucky Jake, who also wants the job.

But when Mr. Fitch (Matty Finochio) the head of advertising and promotions fails to give the job to either of them, but offers them a compromise solution instead and proposes a challenge, a competition where each will create a series of seasonal storefront windows, twice a week until Christmas and the creator of whichever window display gets the most attention from passers-by will get the job.

As they go through their paces, with Jake's obvious talent grabbing the public's attention, a silent but mutual attraction develops between the pair, but progress was hampered by the contest and the presence of Kenneth Carlyle (Cameron Mathison), Sloan's blueblood boyfriend, who can't understand the importance Sloan is placing on this job.

However there were supporters of the efforts of the window dressers in the shape of McGuire's veteran window washer Mac (Terence Kelly) and brassy bathroom attendant Rita Dorentella (Naomi Judd) who also have eyes for each other but haven't done anything about it yet.

So love is in the air at McGuire's for Mac and Rita but how will the love triangle be resolved, and will it be before Christmas?

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1959)

 

Fredric March stars as miser Ebenezer Scrooge in this live TV retelling of Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol”.

The classic tale in which he is taught the true meaning of Christmas by three Spirits who visit him, revealing to him the truth about his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current catalogue of cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways.

Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold, death or redemption.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A HOLIDAY TO REMEMBER

 

Carolyn Giblin (Connie Selleca) is a therapist living in Los Angeles with her pre-teen daughter Jordy (Asia Vieira) and has just gone through an extremely painful divorce.

Carolyn is anxious to move on so she tells her daughter they are leaving LA and moving back to Mayville, North Carolina, her hometown and Jordy is less than thrilled.

When they arrive at Carolyn's grandma's old house they find it is in great need of many and varied repairs.

Being a small town Carolyn soon runs into an old flame, Clay Traynor (Randy Travis) whom she left at the alter a long time ago, but he's still angry about it, but his loving aunt, Miz Leona (Rue McClanahan) is delighted to see Carolyn and to meet Jordy which angers Clay further.

One night, on hearing noises, Carolyn discovers that a young homeless boy William (Kyle Fairlie) is living in her basement.

He won't reveal where he is from or who his parents are and Carolyn befriend the boy, much to the chagrin of the town's social worker Eve Stevens (Brenda Bazinet), who also happens to have her eye on Clay.

With a possible romantic triangle brewing, two energetic kids, a Christmas pageant, and more, what will happen next in Mayville?

This is an excellent holiday offering for fans of romantic comedy but it is that and far more.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE ENGAGEMENT CLAUSE (2016)

 

This is the story of two sisters, Carrie and Katie Tate (Jes Macallan and April Bowlby) who are as different as chalk and cheese.

Katie is away doing her own thing with no business brain or even any interest in commerce, while Carrie has been working hard for several years building the family business at the expense of a personal life.

But the bottom falls out of her world when Katie suddenly announces that she's getting married on Christmas Eve and all hell breaks loose in the Tate household.

And it’s all because there is some family chauvinistic contract which states that the new husband of whichever girl marries first gets control of the business.

So the race is on, will Carrie find a husband of her own in time to save the business she loves or will she reprioritise her life.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – WISHIN' AND HOPIN'

 

This film is based on the New York Times best-selling novel by award-winning author Wally Lamb and is a slice of vivid 1960s life, a wise-and-witty holiday tale that celebrates the “look how far we've come” philosophy.

It takes place in1964 in the small town of Three Rivers, where Felix Funicello (Wyatt Ralff) is a Catholic school fifth-grader at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Parochial School.

And his only claim to fame is his cousin Annette Funicello (Krysta Rodriguez), the famous Mouseketeer and teen movie queen.

But grammar and arithmetic move to the back burner this holiday season with the sudden arrivals of substitute teacher Madame Frechette (Molly Ringwald) and feisty Russian student Zhenya Kabakova (Siobhan Cohen) and Felix’s world is turned upside down in this witty and endearing Christmas offering.

Annabella Sciorra puts in a great performance as his ma and Meat Loaf is outrageous as Monsignor Muldoon which just adds to the overall quality.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – UNDERCOVER LOVER

 

Workaholic FBI agent Jake Cunningham (Shawn Christian) fears his case against investment fraudster Scott Shift (Cameron Bancroft) may not stick without the testimony of cocktail waitress Brandi O'Neill (Jami Gertz), who naively believed herself to be more then Scott's latest throwaway flirt. Then Jake is tricked by his “Ma”, Anne Cunningham (Tyne Daly) to spend Christmas with his “seriously ill” dad, Judge Joe Cunningham (Winston Rekert) and is ordered by his bosses to take Brandi into protective custody.

Jake didn’t regularly visit his family, so he passed off Brandi as his steady date and his mum is not impressed and there follows a humorous posh versus working class seasonal culture clash, but there is a dark side to the tale when Jakes dad discovers the true identity of his girlfriend and sympathizes with the Shift family and unwittingly informs the corrupt family lawyer of her location.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – LOVE ALWAYS, SANTA (2016)

 

Celia Banks (Marguerite Moreau) lost her husband on Christmas Day and never thought she’d fall in love again so she lived the three years following her loss making her entire world revolve around taking care of her daughter Lilly (Isadora Swann).

But Lilly writes a letter to Santa expressing just one wish and that was for her mom to be happy and to find love again.

A struggling writer Jake (Mike Faiola) makes extra money by answering “Dear Santa” letters and when he receives the letter from Lilly, he finds new inspiration and it signals the beginnings of a romance.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A PUPPY FOR CHRISTMAS

 

Noelle (Cindy Busby) has the perfect life with a successful job, a handsome boyfriend and the life of her dreams but after adopting a cute puppy, Noelle's world is turned upside down when her boyfriend breaks up with her and she and her puppy are facing Christmas alone.

Accepting an invitation to spend the holidays with her co-worker, Liam (Greyston Holt), she is surrounded by the Christmas cheer of a warm, happy family and sparks soon begin to fly between Noelle and her host as the warmth of the season ignites something between them.

But when Noelle’s estranged boyfriend Todd (Christopher Russell) tracks her down and proposes, in an attempt to win her back, Noelle must decide which life she wants, will it be the safe, successful world she knows, or an unpredictable future with the man who is quickly winning her heart?

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – MOONLIGHT AND MISTLETOE

 

Holly Crosby (Candace Cameron Bure) grew up in her father’s old-fashioned all-year Christmas village Santaville, and working as a mere elf on Christmas preparations all year round killed Holly's seasonal spirit so she moved out after feeling neglected following her mother’s death, to become a Boston toy firm's hardest-working sales executive.

But when Nick (Tom Arnold) has a bad fall, Holly returns to help out and finds Santaville outdated and near bankruptcy despite a lot of generous help, especially from shy Peter (Christopher Wiehl).

Holly tries everything to save it, but the solution appears like manna from heaven when a plan proposed by charming financial advisor Ben Richards (Matt Walton) but is it too good to be true.

 

 

 

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – SINGLE SANTA SEEKS MRS CLAUS

 

Nick junior (Steve Guttenberg) has always known that he needs to find a wife but he planned to let fate bring his wife to him, but those plans had to be altered because time was running out and he must replace his father as Santa Claus on December 26.

Ernest (Armin Shimerman), the right-hand man to several generations of Santa’s, generates a list of potential mates and Nick dutifully sets off to meet them, but fate may have a candidate for him after all when he meets Beth (Crystal Bernard).

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – FINDING FATHER CHRISTMAS (2016)

 

Christmas for Miranda (Erin Krakow) is a painful reminder of the family she never had.

Her mother died at Christmas when she was young, never revealing the identity of her father.

But, three days before Christmas, she unexpectedly received a clue as to his whereabouts that takes her to a beautiful New England town where she meets Ian (Niall Matter), a young man who helps with her search and love blossoms between them.

But when clues lead to her father's identity she faces a terrible decision, should she share the truth or keep the secret forever?

Whichever way Christmas promises to be life-changing for Miranda with a new chance at life and love.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A GOLDEN CHRISTMAS 2: THE SECOND TAIL

 

Lisa Haynes (Julie Gonzalo) has moved to Florida with three darling golden retriever pups and at once makes friends with the nice couple next door, Rod and Katherine Wright (Bruce Davison and Alley Mills) and their adult golden retriever.

The three become so close, in fact, that Lisa feels comfortable telling them how her love life is not running smoothly and her heart was broken long ago.

But old flames reunite, and sparks are reignited at Christmastime in Florida, but the man David (K.C.Clyde) is already engaged to Kelly Jansen (Kelly Stables) but love finds a way with the help of their dogs.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A DREAM FOR CHRISTMAS (1973)

 

In 1950 Los Angeles, the struggling Hoover Street Baptist Church calls Rev. Will Douglas (Hari Rhodes) of Arkansas to serve as its pastor, with his wife Sarah (Lynn Hamilton), his mother Bessie (Beah Richards), and his four children, he crosses the country just before Christmas in his late father's 1941 Ford woody wagon, which just barely makes the trip to a poor church in California where the congregation is drifting away and the church itself is scheduled for demolition.

Will there be a Christmas miracle?

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE CHRISTMAS STAR (1986)

 

Horace McNickle (Edward Asner) is a cynical two-time felon serving prison time for counterfeiting, but his counterfeit money is hidden somewhere in a department store.

On the week before Christmas, he escapes from prison dressed as Santa Claus and due to his uncanny resemblance to St. Nick as a result from his long white beard and heavyset features he very much looks the part.

When Horace hides out from the police in a nearby suburban neighbourhood he is befriended and helped by two local children who think he is the real Santa Claus and he takes advantage of their naivety to help him get his booty but he develops feelings for his two con victims and that make him slowly comprehend the true nature of Christmas.

Rene Auberjonois and Fred Gwynne also star in this gem of a Disney production.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – ANGEL IN THE FAMILY

 

Sarah (Tracey Needham) and her estranged sister Beth (Natasha Gregson Wagner) are reunited after their father Buddy (Ronny Cox) suffers a mild stroke.

Buddy, who's never accepted the loss of his wife Lorraine (Meredith Baxter), wants only one thing and that is to return home for Christmas.

With sweet memories of a life gone by, Sarah makes an impossible wish that her mother could be there too and by morning it is as if a winter prayer had been answered and bearing a message of hope, healing, and everlasting love, a miracle has arrived in the form of their mother Lorraine.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER –KEY TO MY HEART

 

Sean Tucker (Mark Lutz), who runs an advertising agency in New York City, and Owen Harrison (J.T. Hodges), a small-town handyman and musician, swap homes for the holidays. Mia (Cristina Rosato) works for Sean and is asked to help Owen get settled into his new apartment while Ryan Harrison (Tricia Helfer) meets Sean after Owen asks her to fix a broken heater, and then finds herself helping Sean find the charm of living in a small town.

Holiday romance ensues in the charming Christmas tale with misunderstandings soul-searching and secrets along the way. 

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS REUNION (1994)

 

A Christmas Reunion is a Christmas treasure of a film and is the tale of two parallel lives one of a grandfather and the other his grandson and what their generations had to go through which in the end may not be that different.

The middle generation has passed away and there's no connection, between paternal grandfather and grandson.
Both stories contain marriages which were contrary to the wishes of the families involved.

In the first the parents died in a car accident and in the other the father died in the war, and the mother when the child was born.
Edward Woodward stars as the Grandfather and James Coburn as Santa and an ensemble cast makes up the rest and the result is extraordinary.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS COMES HOME TO CANAAN

 

In the Texas town of Canaan, Daniel Burton (Billy Ray Cyrus) finds that his son Bobber (Liam James) needs extensive orthopaedic surgery and months of intensive physical therapy to recover as a result of being run down by a car.

Fortunately help is at hand in the form of Rodney Freeman (Matt Ward), the young black man who Daniel took into his home and raised as his own son, who has become a famous writer and he immediately offers to fly Daniel and Bobber to San Francisco and to pay for the surgery.

Once in San Francisco, Daniel meets and falls for Briony Adair (Gina Holden), a physical rehabilitation specialist who will be working toward Bobber's recovery but when the therapy progresses slowly, Bobber invites Briony to come home to Canaan to spend Christmas with the Burtons and continue his treatment.

Briony accepts the offer and is welcomed by the family all except Sarah (Emily Tennant), Daniel's daughter who distances herself because she doesn’t want to dishonour her late mother's memory.

But Daniel and Briony try to rise above it but a disastrous Christmas ensues and drives them apart.

So in the soul searching that follows, will Daniel find the strength to open his heart again and invite love back into his life or will he settle for the status quo.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – SANTA’S SECRET

 

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 – A CHRISTMAS HERO

Firefighter Jenny Jenkins (Anna Hutchison) falls in love with local star Tom Norris (Marcus Rosner) but his ex-wife and celebrity figure skating champion Mary Hamilton (Anita Brown) is asking him to choose between reconciling or going through an ugly custody battle, but she has an ulterior motive.

But Jenny’s natural warmth and kindness to the community starts to convince everybody that her love for Tom is real however Mary's fierceness is more powerful than anything Jenny has ever faced before so who will Tom choose in the end?

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – SANTA JR

 

Santa's son (Nick Stabile) tries to follow in his father's footsteps, and anxious to prove his worth, he decides to clamber down a few chimneys just prior to Christmas Eve.

Alas, his efforts coincide with a string of burglaries, and Nick is promptly arrested by cops Daryl Bedford (Judd Nelson) and Norm Potter (George Wallace).

So although he was delivering toys, he is arrested for trespassing and is placed under house arrest.

As Nick frets away the hours before Christmas, Bedford grows attached to Nick's court-appointed attorney, Susan Flynn (Lauren Holly) -- and inevitably, the real burglar strikes again.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – TRUMAN CAPOTE’S ONE CHRISTMAS

 

Based on an autobiographical short story by Truman Capote, this story is about Buddy (T.J. Lowther), an 8-year old boy who leaves Alabama in 1930 to go and live with his father (Henry Winkler) in New Orleans, and has a terrible time while he is there.
His father is a con man trying to raise money for his latest get rich quick scheme and prays on wealthy middle-aged women flattering his way into their cheque books and one of those frustrating his plans is matriarch Cornelia Beaumont (Katharine Hepburn) and as he faces one setback after another there is an uneasy relationship between father and son.

Henry Winkler puts in a fine dramatic performance, as he ranged from loving father, to con man, to angry and misunderstood outsider, Katharine Hepburn is a touch of class in her final performance and a brief appearance from Julie Harris is a glimmer of light.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2009)

 

Jim Carrey stars as miser Ebenezer Scrooge in this animated retelling of Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol”.

The classic tale in which he is taught the true meaning of Christmas by three Spirits who visit him, revealing to him the truth about his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current catalogue of cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways.

Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold, death or redemption.

The film also features the vocal talents of Steve Valentine, Daryl Sabara, Sage Ryan, Amber Gainey, Ryan Ochoa, Bobbi Page, Ron Bottitta, Sammi Hanratty, Julian Holloway, Gary Oldman, Colin firth, Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Molly C Quinn, Fay Masterson, Leslie Zemeckis, Paul Blackthorne, Michael Hyland, Kerry Hoyt, Julene Renee, Fionnula Flanagan, Raymond Ochoa, Callum Blue, Matthew Henderson, Aaron Ranke, Sonie Fortag, Aliane Baquerot, Seth Belliston, Troy Edward Bowles, Sam J Cahn, Kelly Connolly,

John R Corella, Kelly Crandall, Sheri Griffith, Beckie King, Keith Kuhl, Allison Leo, Tarah Paige, John Todd, Patrick Wetzel. Eva La Dare, Jacquelyn Dowsett and Suzanne C Robertson.

 

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A CHRISTMAS LOVE STORY (2012)

 

Family friends Sam Reed (Dustin Milligan) and Kat Patton (Danica McKellar) spend every Christmas Eve at the Children's Table from the age of three. Over the years they grew up together, sharing the highs and lows of young adulthood.

But at the age of thirty, Sam realizes that Kat is the one...but he's afraid that the past will get in the way.

A real gem of a Christmas movie and Danica McKellar is an absolute delight.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – MIRACLE AT CHRISTMAS: EBBIE'S STORY

 

Susan Lucci stars as ruthless business-woman and shopping store owner Elizabeth “Ebbie” Scrooge in this updated retelling of Dickens' “A Christmas Carol”.

The classic tale in which she is taught the true meaning of Christmas by three Spirits who visit her, has been brought into contemporary times.

It is refreshing in this version to have the main character of Ebbie played by a woman as indeed is her beleaguered employee Roberta 'Robbie' Cratchet played by the ever reliable Wendy Crewson.

The spirits are given some modern handling and the way Jake Marley communicates with God by cell-phone is very amusing and all in all it’s a very enjoyable adaptation.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE BATTLE OF ARDENNES

 

In the bitter winter of 1944 in the depths of the Ardennes Forest, an American Army Captain John Myers (Craig Olejnik) and a Belgian girl named Alina (Ali Liebert) meet and fall in love during a brief 24-hour Christmas truce amid the Battle of the Bulge.

When the fighting resumes and they have to go their separate ways they promise to reunite on the first Christmas Eve after the end of World War II, providing they're both alive.

 

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – LAST CHANCE HOLIDAY

 

A smart, sassy, 34-year-old Kristin (Shiri Appleby), who is estranged from her family and alone on Christmas Eve goes to sleep alone on Christmas Eve and wakes up Christmas morning seventeen years into her past to relive the worst Christmas of her life.

So once she gets over the initial shock she realises she has an opportunity to change her imperfect past, so she styles herself as an older mentor to her younger self (Hannah Marks)

Paramount to these changes is mending the broken relationship with her mother (Elizabeth Mitchell), something that seems impossible.

But if she can’t fix her past then maybe she could do something about her less than perfect future.

The film has an altogether credible cast that makes this film well worth watching if for no other reason than that.

But the story is excellent and well-structured and although the main target audience of this family safe Christmas movie will be women past their teens, men should not be put off by that because it’s very good.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS CONFESSIONS (2015)

 

Beth Baker (Sarah Lancaster) is an out-of-work actress trying to make it in New York on the stage in New York City, but after 10 years of not succeeding and without her friends around at Christmas she decides to take a break from her struggling actress profession to spend Christmas in her small and quaint hometown she escaped from 10 years earlier.

And on returning home she finds a place far different than the hamlet she left and the magic of the Christmas season soon starts to massage her bruised ego as she finds performing possibilities and even romance.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983)

It’s the 1940’s and Christmas is approaching and 9 year-old Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) wants only one thing for Christmas that year: a Red Ryder Range 200 Shot BB gun.

When he mentions it at the dinner table, his mother (Melinda Dillon) immediately reacts by telling that he'll put his eye out.

He does little better when he raises it with his father (Darren McGavin) or his teacher (Tedde Moore) but all the while he fantasizes about what it would be like to be “Red Ryder” and catch the bad guys.

When the big day arrives he gets lots of present under the tree including a lovely gift from his aunt that his mother very much approves of but will the BB gun be among them?

 

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – HUMBOLDT PARK

 

This seasonal drama is about the Puerto Rican Rodriguez family living in the area of Humboldt Park in west Chicago who face what may well be their last Christmas together.

The Rodriguez family is headed by jovial bodega owner Edy (Alfred Molina) whose recent secretive behaviour has convinced his hot-tempered wife Anna (Elizabeth Peña) that he is having an affair which prompts her to unceremoniously announce at the family dinner table that she wants a divorce.

This sets the tone for the whole film which goes on to reveal all the flaws and weaknesses in the lives of everyone around the table.

Freddy Rodríguez, Luis Guzmán, Jay Hernandez, John Leguizamo, Debra Messing, Vanessa Ferlito and Melonie Diaz make up the very able supporting cast in this enjoyable Christmas offering.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1951)

 

Alastair Sim stars as miser Ebenezer Scrooge in this quality retelling of Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol”.

The classic tale in which he is taught the true meaning of Christmas by three Spirits who visit him, revealing to him the truth about his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current catalogue of cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways.

Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold, death or redemption.

The Spirits are played by Michael Dolan (Past), Francis De Wolff (Present) and Czeslaw Konarski (Future)

The other key characters and portrayed by Michael Hordern (Marley), Eleanor Summerfield (Flora), Mervyn Johns and Hermione Baddeley (The Cratchit’s), Glyn Dearman (Tiny Tim), Roddy Hughes and Hattie Jacques (The Fezziwig’s), Brian Worth (Fred) and Carol Marsh (Fan).

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE NIGHT THEY SAVED CHRISTMAS

An oil company is exploring two Arctic sites for oil and they needed to blast through the bedrock at the first site and the shocks were so strong that they rocked Santa’s village.

Santa (Art Carney) realizes that any blasting at the second site will destroy his home so he enlists the aid of Claudia Baldwin (Jaclyn Smith), whose husband Michael (Paul Le Mat) works for the company, so that she and her children can convince her husband that the first site is where the oil that they are searching for is.

Along the way, Santa explains all his secrets about delivering presents all around the world.

June Lockhart stars as Mrs. Claus, Paul Williams as Ed the Elf and Mason Adams is the suborn old boss Sumner Murdock in this Christmas movie that is so bad its good. 

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – ONE CHRISTMAS EVE

 

Recently divorced mom Nell Blakemore (Anne Heche) attempts to make the first Christmas “without dad” perfect for her two kids' Alden (Griffin Kane) and Emma (Ali Skovbye).

But a series of mishaps threaten that desire in a funny, charming, warm hearted movie about a group of diverse people who form a family on a crazy “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” style Christmas Eve where everything that can go wrong, does.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE CHRISTMAS TREE (1966)

 

“The Christmas Tree” is A Children's Film Foundation Christmas-themed short film, in which a trio of kids Gary (William Burleigh), Jane (Kate Nicholls) and Sam (Anthony Honour) decide to embark on an epic odyssey to transport a large Christmas tree some 30 miles to a children's hospital in London and get into a variety of scrapes along the way.

It is filmed in black and white which adds to the atmosphere and is well photographed, there is plenty of humour to keep things moving along and the cast includes Brian Blessed and Geoffrey Whitehead as policemen. All in all a very enjoyable little film.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – CHRISTMAS ANGEL (2011)

 

Fifteen year old Eddie's mother (Janet Dibley) falls very ill after a serious car accident so Eddie (Joseph Phillips) and his brother Stewart (Angus Harrison) end up having to take care of themselves and one night when they have run out of food and the electricity has gone off, Eddie dreams that his mother asks him to find an angel's halo so that she can be saved.

Neither Brenda Blethyn as the Headmistress, Celia Imrie as the Librarian, Timothy Spall as Mr. Lambert or Mel Smith as Eddies Uncle Richard help him in his endeavour so will Eddie be able to save his mother in time for Christmas?

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS (2015)

 

Emotionally frigid, workaholic attorney Kate Jordan (Jen Lilley) reluctantly accepts an end-of-the-year assignment to get a reputedly haunted inn and has three weeks to get it appraised and sold by year's end.

When she gets there the uncooperative manager claims a spirit who lives there will not approve, but with Kate's possible promotion resting on accomplishing this task, she checks in and as a result she meets Daniel (Thomas Beaudoin) the resident ghost who she thinks looks suspiciously solid for a ghost.

Then he explains that for the past ninety-five years, he inexplicably returns to life each December during the twelve days of Christmas.

Kate has only one logical recourse left open to her for their mutual benefit, and that is to break the curse that binds him to the Inn, but she starts falling for the man who is almost a century her senior which was very much not in her plans, but then it is Christmas.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – BORROWED HEARTS

 

Kathleen Russell (Roma Downey) is a hard-working single mother, who is saving to buy a house for herself and her daughter, Zoey (Sarah Rosen Fruitman).

Whereas Sam Field (Eric McCormack) is a businessman who has to pretend he has a family in order to close a deal with the mysterious Javier Del Campo (Hector Elizondo).

Sam owns the company that Kathleen works for, and as her boss, manages to convince her to help him out by posing as his wife, for a price, which she thought would help her to buy the house.

But Del Campo is more than he seems, and it just might be Zoey who's making the real deal to get a new home for herself, her mother, and Sam.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – AN UNEXPECTED CHRISTMAS (2016)

 

Steve and Cynthia Faber (Dillon Casey and Susie Abromeit) are a newlywed couple celebrating their first Christmas together who inexplicably invite their families to join them for the holidays, but when Steve is laid off just before Christmas and Cynthia discovers that she's pregnant, they both keep their news secret in hopes that the celebration runs smoothly.

The film moves along at a lively pace aided by a good supporting cast and it’s a fun film that’s well worth a watch.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES EVER – ON THE 2ND DAY OF CHRISTMAS

 

Con-woman Trish (Mary Stuart Masterson) and her niece/ward Patsy (Lauren Pratt) are caught in the act of trying to steal from a department store right before Christmas, by a “by-the-book” department store security guard, Bert (Mark Ruffalo).

With the holidays so close, Bert, a loyal store employee is assigned as the custodian of a pickpocketing duo, and reluctantly agrees to be responsible for the pair so that Patsy need not spend the holidays in social services.

Obviously as it’s a Christmas movie so Romance ensues.