Podcast in a Pear Tree: Christmas Movie Reviews

We kick off this episode with an exciting run-in story you won't want to miss! Somehow we caught all of the Lifetime movies from the second full weekend of December, including Christmas in Alaska, Thank God: Christmas at Keller Ranch, Rodeo Christmas Romance, and Runaway Bride for Christmas. Yeah, there were two "ranch/raunchy" movies with plenty of inuendo. We couldn't bring ourselves to catch the latest GAC films, but we did enjoy Hallmark's offerings, Oy To The World, which included both Christmas and Hannukah traditions, and A Suite Holiday Romance, which we enjoyed a lot more along with back tracking to My Secret Santa (Netflix).

We review Christmas movie premieres from the first weekend of December! We find ourselves once again in the genre of trying to fulfill dead Grandma's dying wish with Christmas at Mistletoe Manor (GAC), but also go to England yet again in new Hallmark tv show, 12 Dates 'Til Christmas. We had high hopes for She's Making a List (Hallmark) which fell flat, but we perk right back up with Lifetime Movie Network's Do You Fear What I Fear as part of the "Slay Bells" series. Deck the Hallways (Hallmark) and Amazon Prime's Oh. What. Fun. were pretty good! (Dis)honorable mention to Hallmark's Single on the 25th and The Christmas Cup.

It's a mega Thanksgiving episode! So many movies, so little time. Plus Lifetime finally makes their movie debut. Let's see if you can guess our thoughts on Great American Christmas' A Christmas Spark, Jingle Bell Heist (Netflix), Grand Ole Opry Christmas (Hallmark) and our call for justice for Vivica A. Fox and Jackée Harry in The Christmas Campaign (Lifetime). We had some honorable mentions in there because there's just TOO much!

In this episode, we review movies that premiered during the pre-Thanksgiving weekend, including Hallmark's latest installment of the Holiday Touchdown with A Bills Love Story and catch up with the series Finding Mr. Christmas. We tried to do Christmas North of Nashville (GAC) but that didn't work, so we discuss getting ready for the mega Thanksgiving weekend premieres and close on Netflix's steamy Champagne Problems (well, we made it steamy).

We chat about several films across different networks like the insane product placement in Three Wisest Men (Hallmark), then jump over to a surprising verdict on Timeless Tidings of Joy (Great American Family), then dive into the (dys)functional Christmas family fantasy in Joy to the World (Disney+). We also touch on the Alicia Silverstone and Melissa Joan Hart team up in Merry Little Ex-Mas (Netflix) and Hallmark's other "tidings" movie with Tidings for the Season.

We're back for Season 5, and the Christmas movie season is strong upon us! Well, for Hallmark and Great American Family (Christmas) at least. We binge watched a ton to discuss all of this season's latest releases through the first full week of November.

It's our last episode for 2024, and we had a manageable list of movie debut options coming into the mid-weekend of December premieres that somehow had a different mix of movie tropes from cocktails to sustainable fashion. We review a Hanukkah-focused film on Hallmark (Hanukkah on the Rocks) and The Santa Class, Lifetime's offerings with The Holiday Junkie and Christmas on the Alpaca Farm, Get Him Back for Christmas on GAC, and a surprise new release find on Netflix. Before diving into the films, we also tackle Hallmark's reality show Finding Mr. Christmas.

We kick-off our episode with a festive visit to the first ever Los Angeles Christmas Market in Downtown Los Angeles. But it's down to business as we tackle all sorts of tropes in the films that debuted the second week of December, including Sugarplummed and Leah's Perfect Gift from Hallmark, How to Fall in Love by Christmas and A Very Merry Beauty Salon from Lifetime, Nutcrackers on Hulu, and of course, Once Upon a Christmas Gift (GAC).

We finally review all the films from Thanksgiving Weekend, and there were definitely too many! We kick-off with the theater-released Amazon film, Red One. To keep the chaos somewhat manageable we go by network, starting with Hallmark (A 90s Christmas, Holiday Touchdown, Christmas Quest), Netflix (Our Little Secret), Lifetime (BeBe Winans' We Three Kings), and Great American Christmas/GAC (I Heard the Bells, A Cinderella Christmas Ball, Home Sweet Christmas).

We've hit a solid B week for films. Plus, have you ever wondered what your desert island Christmas song would be? Well you'll be thinking about it as we discuss the premieres from films right before the Thanksgiving holiday, including Netflix's Christmas spicy film The Merry Gentlemen, the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce romance inspired Christmas film on Lifetime, Christmas in the Spotlight, and others like Sincerely, Truly Christmas (Lifetime), Three Wiser Men and a Boy (Hallmark), Little Women’s Christmas (Great American Christmas), and To Have and to Holiday (Hallmark).