Longest grudge buried
For those of us considering 2014 The nine lives of Christmas a Christmas classic, it's hard to look at actress Chelsea Hobbs and not see Blair, the model who got Marilee fired and Zachary's cat, Ambrose, lost outside. But after Hallmark Channel's Navigating Christmas in which Hobbs plays a successful, recently divorced mother who tries to make the holidays special for her teenage son with a stay at a lighthouse, we're finally ready.
Least predictable ending
By default this is Great American Family A Parisian Christmas Waltz: Not because Leo (a fully committed Matthew Morrison) and Emma's (Jen Lilley) dramatic number from "O Holy Night" didn't win the Christmas dance competition. But because the pendulum was not hung on the railing in the last scene of the film. You know they've thought about it! Second place: BET+'s Justice Sworn: Taken before Christmas because of the Christmas Day climax, a church balcony fight and a bomb (!).
Best replacement for the standard gingerbread house contest
Hallmark Channel A Merry Scottish Christmas really got into the spirit with the Morgan clan judging a distillery's annual Christmas whiskey competition. Almost reunited Party of Five co-stars Scott Wolf and Lacey Chabert were in the scenes where estranged siblings Lindsey and Brad were at odds, their bliss as the characters could entertain themselves and each other was the real reason to watch.
Most welcome cameo
Hallmark Channel is all about the unbilled performances this year, and A Merry Scottish Christmas had the most brutal one yet. Chabert's frequent dance partner Will Kemp appeared in a festive bar scene as her love interest's brother-in-law. Although Chabert's Lindsey could only waltz and tango (a nod to The Christmas Waltz And The dancing detective: a deadly tango), Thomas van Kemp showed her how to do the Highland Fling. If he hadn't been wearing anything under his kilt, those high kicks would have been very interesting on set.
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Best Canadian Actor in a Supporting Role
You see a lot of the same people in Hallmark movies year after year because casting Canadians while filming in Canada provides tax breaks. Erik Athavale is one of those familiar faces, but he deserves a special shout-out: In this week Holiday hotlinehe was the boss who was overly invested in Abby's love triangle, and earlier this month he played the sarcastic but wise reindeer rickshaw driver in The Sinterklaas summit. We see you, sir, and we appreciate you.
Most hilarious family scene
Who doesn't like a joke in a crowded car when someone has to go somewhere quickly to profess their love, à la Notting Hill? From Amazon Freevee EXmas took it a step further with the slo-mo rush of Graham's (Robbie Amell) eager family to get out the door and screech to a stop to put on their shoes before cramming into a two-door Datsun that wouldn't start. Almost as fun: Most of the family gets high on cookies accidentally made with THC butter and mom Jeannie (Kathryn Greenwood) makes a little snowman on her plate.
Joke is the least likely to become a Hallmark movie
We doubt we'll ever see anyone EXmas' Jeannie, wrap a gift like this for Aunt Mildred. 'She'll love it. She needs that," joked daughter Mindy (Veronika Slowikowska).
Best duo we didn't know we needed
Heather Graham and Brandy Norwood are a riot on Netflix Best. Christmas. Ever! While Graham's amateur sleuth Charlotte hopes to discover that the life of her old college friend Jackie (Norwood) is not as grand as it seems in her holiday newsletters. We suspected the twist with Jackie's son (didn't Charlotte ever ask Jackie why she skipped a newsletter that one time?), but we still couldn't explain to you how those ladies managed that solar-powered hot air balloon. Honorable Mention: Cher and Michael Bublé, whose duet "Home" was a poignant needle drop-in A Merry Scottish Christmas.
The best week ever!
Madison Skye Validum stars in both films Best. Christmas. Ever! and Disney+'s Running through the snow (our pick of the week, pictured). In the latter case, she's a bubbly spitfire who causes interference between Santa Claus (Lil Rel Howery) and her disbelieving father (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges). In the first case, she is a skeptical child genius who wants to prove that Santa Claus is not real. We are pleased that confidence in her character has been restored - and that the Best. Christmas. Ever! children were generally given real personalities - but shouldn't the whiz kid have wondered why only two reindeer led the sleigh dangling from that hot air balloon?
Sexiest Christmas sweater
We've seen a lot of shawl collar cardigans this holiday movie season, but... Navigating Christmas' Peter (Stephen Huszar) is our favorite so far. The quasi-Fair Isle print matched the film's seaside setting, stayed true to his Scrooge character (it's wintry, not Christmassy), and paired nicely with his denim shirt and blue eyes.
Sweetest moment
In Hallmark Movies & Mysteries' A world record Christmas Eric (the ever-tender Lucas Bryant) was a loving father to Charlie (Aias Dalman), his wife's son from a previous marriage. We got confused when Charlie, who is on the autism spectrum, finally showed Eric the seat he had reserved for his absent biological father: "You belong here," Charlie told him. 'You are my real father. You always have been." Ah!
Probably real snow
KEEP IT ALL! Did they actually film Lifetime's? Christmas plus one during a real storm? You could see up close the breath of stars Emily Alatalo and Corey Sevier and the snow collecting on their hats, coats and hair. The steps to this bench were messy enough to look like they had been legitimately shoveled. (If this was a fake storm, kudos to the snow coordinator. Yes, that's a real job title in holiday movies.)
Christmas movie guide 2023
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