My Top 10 Holiday Movies

The holiday season always gets started so early whether it is at the retail stores – you see Christmas decorations on the shelves before Halloween has even taken place – or on the small screen with the Countdown to Christmas movies starting on the Hallmark Channel [and its sister network Hallmark Movies & Mysteries] right after Halloween.

For avid TV viewers, the multitude of holiday-themed movies are a mixed blessing. It is great to have so many movies to watch, but there are also SO many movies to watch. It can actually become a challenge to keep up with them all especially when you add in the holiday movies that also air on Lifetime, ION and UP TV.

With the big holiday season just behind us, I thought it would be fun to look at the holiday movies I enjoyed the most over the last couple of months. The selections, though, aren’t made based on ratings or on a complicated multi-tiered voting challenge forced upon our readers. I simply selected the top 10 holiday movies that I enjoyed watching the most, keeping in mind that I, sadly, don’t have access to all of the movies on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel.

Those top 10 holiday movies appear in no specific order below:

Christmas Getaway (Hallmark Channel) – The Last Ship co-stars Bridget Regan and Travis Van Winkle star as a travel writer and attorney-widower-dad who meet because of a Christmas cabin rental mix-up. Emory gets to experience and write about a traditional Christmas and find a romance she never knew was possible.

Snowed-Inn Christmas (Lifetime) – Online writers Jenna and Kevin are polar opposites, but when they end up stuck in Indiana because of a snowstorm – while attempting to get to Colorado for an assignment – they find an even better story in the small town of Santa Claus and a love they never expected. Stars were Bethany Joy Lenz from One Tree Hill and Andrew Walker from When Calls the Heart.

Coming Home for Christmas (Hallmark Channel) – Allie Richfield lands a job as house manager for the exquisite Ashford Estate owned by the extremely rich Marley family, which is being put up for sale. She brings much needed Christmas joy into the Marley family and finds a love she never expected. The Wonder Years alum Danica McKellar starred.

The Spruces and the Pines (ION) – It’s a Romeo- and Juliet-like romance taking place among two feuding New England Christmas Tree lot families. Against their families’ wills, Julie Pine and visiting-from-Texas, Rick Spruce, fall in love. But because of their budding relationship, secrets are revealed and old wounds are eventually healed.

Christmas in Evergreen (Hallmark Channel) – A special Christmas snow globe in the local café of the tiny town of Evergreen, Vermont brings together the town veterinarian and an out-of-town doctor, stranded in the area because of severe weather and other unusual circumstances, with his young daughter – as they attempt to get to Florida for the holiday – discover the magic of the completely sincere wishes made on it.

Christmas in Mississippi (Lifetime) – Photographer Holly Logan returns to her hometown of Gulfport, Mississippi for the holiday where she ends up helping with resurrecting the town’s holiday light show and rekindling her romance with her high school sweetheart. But when she gets an amazing job offer she cannot refuse, it complicates everything.

Miss Christmas (Hallmark Channel) – Holly Kuhn is known as Miss Christmas, the woman in charge of finding the perfect Christmas tree. When the perfect tree is destroyed, she’s got to find a replacement fast. Fortunately, she finds the perfect tree, but Sam McCary, the owner of the land [not to mention the tree], won’t let it be cut down because it holds deep meaning for him. Holly starts finding herself falling for Sam, and while she doesn’t get the tree, she does get an unexpected family.

With Love, Christmas (Hallmark Channel) – Melanie and Donovan work at the same advertising agency; and naturally she gets Donovan’s name for this year’s secret Santa. Donovan is not overly friendly nor is he really into Christmas. So what do you get the office Grinch for the holiday? Melanie goes covert in her efforts, discovering a totally different side of Donovan and a love worth holding onto.

Christmas Princess (UP TV) – This holiday-themed movie tells the true story of Donaly Marquez who, through a childhood of neglect and abuse, achieved her dream of becoming a rose bowl princess.

Christmas Connection (Hallmark Channel) – Flight attendant Sydney is tasked with looking after Leah, an unaccompanied minor, returning from a visit with her grandparents. After Leah is safely delivered to her father, Jonathan, Sydney finds a package Leah left behind and delivers it to Leah. Because she missed her connections for a holiday trip to Bali, Jonathan invites her to spend the holidays with them. The cast includes Brooke Burns and Tom Everett Scott

I also cannot conclude this holiday-themed piece without giving a special mention to 2017’s Doctor Who Christmas Special entitled “Twice Upon a Time” that paid homage to the very first Doctor – as portrayed by veteran actor David Bradley – and also gave us a glimpse of the new Doctor – the first time the Doctor has regenerated into the form of a woman – as portrayed by actress Jodie Whittaker.

What holiday movies did you enjoy watching most? Please share your thoughts in our comments section below.