Christmas in Toyland

Christmas in Toyland is a 2022 Hallmark Channel movie. This is an excellent crappy Christmas movie! It’s got everything you need but unlike most movies of this genre, the storyline wasn’t totally predictable and the characters weren’t either. It’s heart-warming and makes you smile all the way through. And unlike most of the romances introduced in these kinds of movies – I can imagine this one actually working out beyond New Years Eve.

A definite one to add to the list. It may even become a reoccurring watch for us!

Matt’s extra trimmings

One thing that truly had me on the edge of my seat was how Charlie would gesticulate with a coffee in her hands. I mean, I get it. She was passionate and had lots of emotion and I talk with my hands at times as well. But the threat of her java flying out of her takeaway coffee cup or her very lovely transparent mugs at home was real. Not a criticism at all, just something that really had me holding my breath.

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Vanessa Lengies

Jessie Hutch

Baking All The Way

Baking All The Way is 2022 Lifetime movie staring Cory Lee and Yannick Bisson, which we watched on Amazon Prime.

Baking all the way hits all the sweet spots of a Crappy Christmas Movie: plenty of cringe, sparkly lights, Christmas themed treats and the supporting cast are excellent. We were particularly excited to see Colin Mockery as the innkeeper, who punctuated the story with giggles.

This is a definite recommendation. While it is wonderfully predictable, it leaves you with warm and fuzzy feelings…and a major craving for gingerbread!

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Cory Lee

Yannick Bisson

Christmas Cookies

Christmas Cookies is a 2016 Hallmark movie.

This one hits all the markers for a crappy Christmas movie but quite obviously so. The random kid who sings and charms and tabogans is good but is (no offence to her) completely pointless. The romantic interest is not as handsome as he thinks he is and the big bad business guy is the ‘nice dad’ in a handful of other movies so isn’t very threatening.

Jill Wagner carries the movie; without her it would be awful and bland…like an un-iced cookie.

To make this movie less bland, Gavin should have been dumped in his first scene, Kelly should have come to town instantly and they shouldn’t have called the town ‘Cookie Jar’!

I’d pass this one over.

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Jill Wagner

The Sweetest Christmas

This is 2017 Hallmark movie.

This movie misses the mark a little. The acting is great – no significant cringes involved, the supporting cast are fantastic, the town is super cute and the synopsis sounds pretty passable for a crappy Christmas movie. However, there was a decided lack of pastry for this pastry chef…and a decided lack of baking in this movie actually. It had us screaming at the screen to stop following the old flame around and ‘get on with your gingerbread!’

It was the storyline or plot that let this movie down. For example, there’s no explanation as to where the fourth semi-finalist disappeared to and why the organisers weren’t pulled up for their obvious favouritism.

This one’s a meh from me, despite some truly excellent one liners, such as ‘but he’s the first man I dated that used a calendar!’ If you’ve run out of other movies to watch, give it a go and let us know if you agree, but I wouldn’t prioritise it.

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Matt’s Extra Trimmings

The synopsis for this film is what drew me in: “A struggling pastry chef needs to embrace the Christmas spirit or risk losing the contest…” They had me at pastry chef. I was revelling in the idea of all the wonderfull Christmassy baked goods that would dance like sugar plums across my screen. But, to my utter dismay, this pastry chef did very little pastry cheffing, which I found very disturbing.

A Joyous Christmas

A Joyous Christmas is a 2017 Hallmark movie.

This is a calm, snuggle under a blanket with a hot chocolate kind of a movie. It provides a good break from the endless romcom of crappy Christmas movies as the romance string of this plot is minor- not a motivator for the female lead.

It’s predictable, sweet, satisfying and has an appropriate character arch. The lead actor is lacking in a little emotional depth, which means there’s no tear-jerking moments but the quirky friend, supporting actors and love interest make up for it in smile-factor.
Spoiler alert: once again, the synopsis is misleading. The ‘near fatal accident’ is a big old disappointment – there’s no car rolling, flames or ‘rescuing’ (which is where my mind went… possibly forgetting the reality of this genre…).

This one is an okay way to spent 86 minutes. It won’t be a return viewing but you should add it to the list!

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Charming Christmas

Charming Christmas is a 2015 hallmark movie that can be found on Prime.

This is indeed a charming movie but Prime’s synopsis is misleading. Nick Clause is very engaging and carries the movie right up until the final awkward moment. There’s a sprinkling of magic, a scoop of cringe and a limited number of child actors who must have visited Santa every day for 2 weeks straight.

This is the definition of a crappy Christmas movie – it gives you a bit of the seasonal feels but makes you laugh at it’s silliness. I wouldn’t watch it again but it made me smile…well except for the misplaced and ugly blue candles.

If you are forced to stay home or are self-isolating put it to the middle of your list and you won’t be sorry.

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David Sutcliff

Miss Christmas

This is a 2017 Hallmark movie to add to your watchlist for sure. It’s lovely.

There is no cringe or bad acting or scary romances and even the kid actor is great! I was instantly taken in by the female lead who has a Yorkie and prioritised Christmas over dating – I can relate. The male lead acts and reacts wonderfully and everything about this movie is charming.

This movie made me feel all the feelings and boosted my Christmas spirit to a peaceful and beautiful place. It’s not a repeat watcher but make time for this one, it’s worth it.

Matt’s Extra Trimmings

Miss Christmas is a fantastic festive film that will lighten your heart and fill you up with cheer. With more poignant moments than I could shake a bough of holly at, I unexpectedly invested in the growing relationship between Holly and Sam. I was a little worried when the film started as I had spent the last few days searching for it on Amazon Prime when all I could remember was a single line from the synopsis ‘official Christmas tree finder’ (I mean, that sounds like a dream job!) I am pleased to say that it was worth all the searching and I was not let down one single bit.

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A Christmas Prince

A Christmas Prince is a 2017 Netflix original movie and somewhat of a cult classic. I have long wondered what all the fuss is about and so, on a night when Jen was out at her staff Christmas dinner, I put it on. (Note: Jen refuses to watch it)

The start is promising with a wonderful montage of New York at Christmas time, but then it goes slightly astray. The premise is sound enough: an upstart journalist travels to a generic European country to get the dish on the playboy prince. The acting is good, the production design is good and the castle is veritable Christmas Winter Wanderland. But it misses a little something for me, like a Christmas cracker with no joke inside. The most exciting part was when a wolf appeared on screan and our dog, a Yorkie, went mad trying to attack it. I never felt like Christmas was truly an element in the movie other than the time of year when the story was taking place.

If you like castles, royalty and Converse shoes, then this is the movie for you. Personally, I prefer my Christmas movies to be more small town and small scale (spoiler: there was not a single plaid shirt in the entire film!)

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Rose McIver

Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa

This is a significant upgrade of the first movie of the series. It’s still missing a little something but it’s much better! Again, there’s no bah humbug bad guy, which is refreshing and what sets these movies apart is that the protagonist isn’t the one who needs to develop their Christmas spirit but again, is about her sense of self and discovery.

This movie made me laugh a lot, cringe frequently and question again the actors ability to decorate a tree. To be honest, this task was made much more difficult by the moving baubles but apparently all they needed was the magic kid who can decorate it in seconds. They upgraded the choir, which was a relief too!

This one’s worth a watch; previous movie is not required to get what’s going on. There’s enough snow, twinkling lights and garlands to shake a stick out and the child actor is a gem!

Matt’s Extra Trimmings

Watching this movie was like watching a horror film…in a good way: hear me out. The best horror films require interaction and leave you yelling at the screen, “Don’t go in there” or “Don’t split up” and “Why would you investigate that noise by yourself!” Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa had me yelling things at the characters THROUGHOUT the entire film. “The key goes in the spoiler” or “Your business just needs to spoiler” and “Just listen to Nick!” I don’t hold it against the film at all, in fact, it endeered me to it that little bit extra.

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Christmas in Evergreen

Christmas in Evergreen is a 2017 Hallmark movie also available ion Channel 5 on the U.K.

This movie has everything – more sparkles and jiggle bells than you could shake a stick at. However it’s flat. Like a pancake. Like a pancake with no syrup or cinnamon.
It’s hard to say what makes this one a fail for me. The actors can’t decorate a tree and no one in Design fixed it before the close-up and they couldn’t afford child actors that can sing. The constant snowfall is lovely but it’s all really predictable! It’s quite nice that there isn’t a stereotypical bad guy and really the whole movie is about her self-discovery.

The town is gorgeous and I want to go there for Christmas as everyone is so nice. But there’s no internal sparkle, no tears in my eyes and most critically, it didn’t boost my Christmas spirit.

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