Show Me Christmas 2020: Hallmark Movie Viewing Summary

Hello, all!

Last year, I did multiple posts reviewing the movies as I watched. This year I added “watch as many Hallmark Christmas movies as possible and create a template to review them on Instagram” to my Winter Bucket List so I haven’t written any blog posts. Now that I am done watching Christmas movies in general, I thought I’d share my summaries and favorites, both Hallmark and otherwise.

Ready for this year’s Show Me Christmas post? Let’s go!

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Instagram Story Templates

The templates I created for myself ultimately caused confusion for people and could have been a little clearer. My idea for these was to have one template for the brand new 2020 Hallmark movies and then one for all other movies (aka older Hallmark and non-Hallmark regardless of when they were released). Also, my pet peeve tracker was to intentionally note whether the first kiss was right at the end and it faded right into the credits–it drives me nuts when it just wraps up with nothing resolved other than “hey, I love you, let’s kiss, okay the end!” If I do this again next year I will try to come up with an easier to understand system, probably one for Hallmark and one for Other, which is how these templates read anyways.

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How I Watched

I watched the other non-Hallmark movies on dvds I owned, or on Netflix/Prime/Disney+

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Totals

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Reviews

I saved all my reviews in an Instagram highlights reel called 🎄🎥2020. Feel free to go to @katderm on IG and find them there for more details! But here are my ratings in order, out of 5 stars:

Hallmark Ratings

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Five Star Christmas (2020)
• Project Christmas Wish (2020)
• Christmas Tree Lane (2020)
• Christmas by Starlight (2020)
• A Timeless Christmas (2020)
• A Nashville Christmas Carol (2020)
• Christmas on Wheels (2020)
• The Angel Tree (2020)
• Christmas Town (2019)
• Two Turtle Doves (2019)
• Snowed-Inn Christmas (2017)
• Naughty or Nice (2012)

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

• Holly & Ivy (2020)
• Christmas in Evergreen: Bells are Ringing (2020)
• A Little Christmas Charm (2020)
• A Godwink Christmas: Second Chance, First Love (2020)
• Entertaining Christmas (2018)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

• The Christmas House (2020)
• Chateau Christmas (2020)
• Heart of the Holidays (2020)
• On the 12th Date of Christmas (2020)
• Christmas Waltz (2020)
• Picture Perfect Christmas (2019)
• Christmas in Rome (2019)
• A Christmas Love Story (2019)
• The Christmas Cottage (2017)

⭐⭐⭐.5

• One Royal Holiday (2020)
• Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater (2020)
• Christmas in Vienna (2020)
• Christmas Under the Stars (2019)
• A Homecoming for the Holidays (2019)
• Christmas Camp (2018)
• I’ll Be Home for Christmas (2016)

⭐⭐⭐

• The Christmas Bow (2020)
• Good Morning, Christmas (2020)
• The Christmas Doctor (2020)
• Meet Me at Christmas (2020)
• Christmas She Wrote (2020)
• Christmas Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses (2019)
• Christmas On My Mind (2019)
• Reunited at Christmas (2018)
• Royal New Year’s Eve (2017)
• Broadcasting Christmas (2016)

⭐⭐.5

• Christmas with the Darlings (2020)
• Jingle Bell Bride (2020)
• A Christmas Carousel (2020)
• A Glenbrooke Christmas (2020)
• Our Christmas Love Song (2019)
• Christmas Homecoming (2017)
• A December Bride (2016)
• Tis the Season for Love (2015)

⭐⭐

• The Christmas Ring (2020)
• A Christmas Tree Grows in Colarado (2020)
• In Love by Christmas (2020)
• Christmas Comes Twice (2020)
• Christmas in Montana (2019)
• Holiday for Heroes (2019)
• The Spirit of Christmas (2015)

⭐.5

• Time to Come Home for Christmas (2020)
• Lights, Love, Hanukkah! (2020)
• Hope at Christmas (2018)
• Hitched for the Holidays (2012)

⭐

• USS Christmas (2020)
• Candy Cane Christmas (2020)
• A Cheerful Chistmas (2019)
• Lucky Christmas (2012)

0 Stars AKA I didn’t even finish it

• Starring Christmas (2020)

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Other Movie Ratings

• White Christmas (1954) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• The Holiday (2006) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Elf (2003) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• The Santa Clause (1994) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• The Grinch (2018) ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
• Happiest Season (2020) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• The Nutcracker Prince (1990) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• The Princess Switch: Switched Again (2020) ⭐⭐⭐
• Holidate (2020) ⭐⭐⭐

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Hallmark Favorites

In general, you get what you expect with Hallmark and they are what they are: formulaic but heart warming quickly made moments of holiday entertainment. That said, I did have some favorites that were better than the rest! I also felt that my star rating was very much based on how I was feeling at the time of watching, because typing out the scores made me realize I would rate some differently now that I’ve had a little time or because I’ve seen all of them and can compare to each other. There are definitely some I would rate higher, and others lower. Regardless, here are my top faves of this year’s releases not necessarily in order of preference, but kind of:

• Five Star Christmas
• Project Christmas Wish
• Christmas by Starlight
• Christmas Tree Lane
• The Christmas House
• Holly & Ivy

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Conclusion

I watched so many Christmas movies in November that I felt myself hitting a wall in December and having to slow down. If I do this next year, I think I will focus just on the new Hallmark releases and rewatching my favorites versus as many as possible.

If you watch any of these, let me know if you feel strongly about my assessments! You can also check out a former classmate’s blog where she and her husband watched all the new Hallmark movies and rated them (I got the idea for the IG template from her). She is over at Five Starred Life and we did not always enjoy the same movies so if you want a second opinion that’s a good place to start. Enjoy!

-Katie