it's a good day ... It's a good day to dine

...in which I examine the limited possible storylines available to holiday movies.

Crazy for Christmas (2005) - "Shannon, a single mother, is forced to chauffeur a wealthy eccentric around town on Christmas Eve while he gives away cash to complete strangers. When a reporter pursues the story, a new romance blossoms."
source: Freevee (Prime)
IMDB: 6.3/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: 35%
my IMDB: 3/10 🤶🏻🤶🏻🤶🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻

notable quote: "Lighten up, dude—it's Christmas Eve."

MPAA rating: TV-PG

directed by: Eleanore Lindo

my notes: The "mom" Shannon talks to her kid like he's a dog. Everyone is angry and awful to each other.

Santa character = Howard Hesseman as Fred Nickells
overall: not  recommended

Christmas Mountain (1981) - "Mark Miller is down-on-his-luck cowboy Gabe Sweet who rides into the town of Lobos just before Christmas."

source: Tubi
IMDB: 6.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: N/A%
my IMDB: 7/10 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

notable quote: "You might say I'm a tenderfoot angel."

MPAA rating: G

directed by: Pierre De Moro

my notes: a quiet, tender story.

Santa = Slim Pickens
overall:  recommended

Christmas in the Clouds (2001) - "During the holidays at a ski resort in Utah run by a Native American tribe, the overworked manager and a widowed woman from the big city overcome mistaken identities and intrusive guests in their pursuit of romance."
source: Pluto
IMDB: 6.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 68% Audience: 64%
my IMDB: 7/10 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

notable quote: "'So, what Nation are you?'

    'I'm a mix: Blackfoot, Salish, Ute and Cree.'

    'Sounds like a law firm!'"

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: Kate Montgomery

my notes: this is a charming, gentle, funny, romantic movie.

Santa character = Grammy
overall:  recommended

Snowed in for Christmas {Christmas Au Pair} (2021) - "Kaley is unable to return home for the holidays when a snowstorm derails her plans. She is determined to teach the girls she watches as an Au Pair the magic of Christmas."

source: Tubi
IMDB: 6.1/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: N/A%
my IMDB: 1/10 🤶🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻

MPAA rating: NR

directed by: Jason Bourque

my notes: Caveat: I know no one who's been, nor employed, an au pair.

    There is no way that a personal employee could be this much of a bitch, nor any adult male so utterly clueless about basic tasks. This caricature is why women get the rep of "controlling."

    These kids are 8 and 10, not toddlers. They exhibit an unreal sense of needy and pathetically awkward (they're not allowed to run when playing? Still believing in Santa?!)

Santa character(s) = Kaley's parents

overall: not recommended

Trapped in Paradise (1994) - "Bill Firpo has managed to stay honest, but can't help but be dragged into things by his larcenous brothers, the clever Dave and the kleptomaniac Alvin. When the three find a bank so easy to rob that they can't resist, the only question is whether or not they can get out of town before the big snowstorm hits. While the three brothers run around town with their stolen loot, they are beseiged with the kindness of the townfolk that might just set them on the path of rightousness."
source: Tubi
I watched it because: I thought that a Christmas movie with recognizable cast members might be a change for the better
IMDB: 5.9/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 10% Audience: 42%
my IMDB: 1/10 - DNF

notable quote: "You guys are dumber than a box of hair."

MPAA rating: PG-13

directed by: George Gallo

my notes: Nicolas Cage made some good movies. This is not one of them.

overall: not  recommended

A Holiday for Love {Christmas in My Hometown} (1996) - "A man is sent to a small town to assess which of the workers in the local factory that supplies the town with jobs should get the boot when the downsizing begins. He gets sidetracked when he falls in love with a local - a good-looking single mom."
source: Tubi
I watched it because: after a rough patch, I decided to refine my Christmas movie viewing. The new goal is to shoot for more highly-rated films (on IMDB), preferably those with recognizable and higher-quality leads. (This genre is notorious for being a last-ditch effort by the B-list to get their names out again.)
IMDB: 6.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: 50%
my IMDB: 7/10 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

notable quote: "Make a fool of yourself."

MPAA rating: NR

directed by: Jerry London

my notes: And the Grinch's heart grew 3 sizes.... This is a new treatment of a familiar holiday story. I thought it was nicely freshened up. Antagonists meet under awkward circumstances but manage to redeem themselves in a natural and realistic way. Others get involved as needed to keep the process smoothed out.

Well worth seeing again

Santa character: the female lead's daughter Noelle (yes, I get it)

Scrooge character: the entire corporate group at the tractor company

Star Power: Melissa Gilbert, of Little House on the Prairie fame, and Tim Matheson - prehaps best known for his portrayal of Otter in Animal House.
overall:  recommended

 

Scrooge (1935) - "Ebenezer Scrooge is a mean old miser who wants nothing to do with Christmas. The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come visit Scrooge on Christmas Eve, taking him on a journey into the very spirit and magic of Christmas itself."
source: Tubi
I watched it because: I've seen several other versions, and wanted to try something new
IMDB: 6.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: 54%
my IMDB: 5/10 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

notable quote: "You are a man without pity, without remorse, who weighs everything in the scale of profit and loss."

MPAA rating: PG

directed by: Henry Edwards

my notes: decidedly less modern than any other version I've seen, this was a little hard to watch. Moviemaking has changed a lot since 1935. This one is more stark and cold, and a great deal more scary, than any others I've seen. Still and all, it's worth it if only for the comparison.
overall:  recommended

The Angel of Pennsylvania Avenue (1996) - "When an unemployed Detroit man is arrested for a crime he didn't commit, his three children are determined to get him out of jail in time for Christmas and they decide to enlist the help of 'the most powerful man in the world'—President Hoover. En route to the White House, they meet an array of colorful characters."

source: Tubi
I watched it because: it passed my criteria of a higher IMDB rating than most other Christmas movies + recognizable cast member
IMDB: 6.3/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: N/A%
my IMDB: 1/10 🤶🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻

notable quote: "You've got the makins' of a first rate hobo, boy!"

MPAA rating: TV-PG

directed by: Robert Ellis Miller

my notes: insultingly unbelievable from top to bottom. The lead actress, Diana Scarwid, keeps it from being 100% unwatchable.

Star Power: Robert Urich, who appears in roughly 1/10 of the movie

overall: not  recommended

 

 [the title quotation is from Christmas in the Clouds]