FanFare

I'm trying to work my way through all the 2022 Hallmark Channel Christmas movies. Am I the only person who's bizarrely addicted to these things, and would anyone else be interested in discussing such?
posted by jenfullmoon on Dec 18, 2022 - 12 comments

Of the two Claus brothers, Fred (Vince Vaughn) is the troublemaker and polar opposite of his saintly sibling, Nicholas (Paul Giamatti). When Fred's criminal ways finally land him in big trouble, Nicholas bails him out and brings him to the North Pole to work off the debt by making toys. The headaches mount for St. Nick, who not only must deal with his troublemaking brother, but also an efficiency expert who has come to evaluate Santa's operation. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Dec 14, 2022 - 5 comments

When their plans for an exotic vacation fall apart, unmarried couple Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspoon) must spend Christmas Day trudging around to a quartet of family get-togethers. While Brad counts the hours till he can escape the onslaught of crazy relatives, Kate begins to wonder about her own choices and ponders whether her family members are so crazy after all [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Dec 14, 2022 - 3 comments

Workaholic Howard Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger) wants to make things up to his son, Jamie (Mannequin Skywalker), and wife, Liz (Rita Wilson). He promises to get Jamie the hottest toy of the season, Turbo-Man -- even though it's Christmas Eve and the toy is practically sold out. As Langston hunts down the elusive gift, he runs into mailman Myron (Sinbad), another father on the same quest. With the clock winding down, Langston's moral code is tested as he starts to learn the real meaning of Christmas. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Dec 14, 2022 - 14 comments

Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) is now all grown up and must deal with Christmas and all that comes with it... as a dad. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Dec 14, 2022 - 4 comments

[TRAILER] Jim (Bing Crosby) and Lila are members of a performing trio who plan to quit and run a country hotel. When Lila says she has fallen in love with the dancer in the act, Ted (Fred Astaire), Jim leaves town with a broken heart. After turning the inn into a holidays-only live entertainment venue, Jim winds up booking -- and falling for -- Linda (Marjorie Reynolds). But when Ted shows up at the place after being dumped by Lila, he too sets his sights on beautiful Linda. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Dec 12, 2022 - 12 comments

Ginny Grainger, a young mother, rediscovers the joy and beauty of Christmas, thanks to the unshakable faith of her six-year-old daughter, Abbie, and Gideon, Ginny's very own guardian angel. [more inside]
posted by kitten kaboodle on Nov 18, 2022 - 1 comment

A newly engaged, spoiled hotel heiress (Lindsay Lohan) gets into a skiing accident, suffers from total amnesia and finds herself in the care of a handsome, blue-collar lodge owner and his precocious daughter in the days leading up to Christmas. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Nov 18, 2022 - 13 comments

Luke Skywalker and Han Solo battle evil Imperial forces to help Chewbacca reach his imperiled family on the Wookiee planet - in time for Life Day, their most important day of the year! A variety show, powered by cocaine, disowned by George Lucas, and enshrined in our hearts forever. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Nov 17, 2022 - 26 comments

An orthodox Jewish blaxploitation hero (Adam Goldberg) saves Hanukkah from the clutches of Santa Claus' evil son (Andy Dick). [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Nov 17, 2022 - 5 comments

Martian ruler Kimar (Leonard Hicks) is upset that the children of Mars are lazy and under the influence of too much pop culture from Earth. They are obsessed with the planet's television programs and don't want to do much of anything. In an attempt to get the kids peppy again, Kimar orders the kidnapping of Santa Claus (John Call), hoping that the jolly old toymaker will know how to cheer the children up again. But two Earth children are also nabbed, and this complicates things for Kimar. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Nov 17, 2022 - 8 comments

Frequently cited as "The Worst Christmas Movie Ever Made." A boy is given a ring by an old witch, he uses the ring to bring upon a magic Christmas that grants him 3 wishes. He uses/abuses them for, among other things, god-like power, and to make Santa Claus his prisoner and slave. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Nov 17, 2022 - 1 comment

A young woman discovers that she is the focus of an evil Nazi experiment involving selective breeding and summoned elves, an attempt to create a race of supermen. She and two of her friends are trapped in a department store with an elf, and only the renegade loose-cannon Santa Claus (Dan Haggerty, aka Grizzly Adams), can save them. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Nov 17, 2022 - 3 comments

Merlin the magician helps Santa (José Elías Moreno) save children tempted by the devil to be naughty. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Nov 17, 2022 - 4 comments

Two Jesuit priests encounter persecution when they travel to Japan in the 17th century to spread Christianity and search for their mentor. Directed by Masahiro Shinoda (Pale Flower), this is the 1971 adaptation of the 1966 book of the same name by Shusaku Endo.
posted by fleacircus on Dec 15, 2021 - 0 comments

Set in suburban Chicago in the late 1980s, the story centers on ten-year-old Jake Doyle's (Winslow Fegley) herculean quest to get a Nintendo game system for Christmas. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Dec 7, 2021 - 3 comments

After Hudsucker Industries President Waring Hudsucker (Charles Durning) commits suicide, the senior executives -led by the seniorest of them, Sidney Mussburger (Paul Newman)- install naïve business school graduate Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins) as President in a play to drive the stock price down. Meanwhile, fast-talking reporter archetype Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) tries to figure out what’s going on.
posted by Going To Maine on Dec 21, 2017 - 29 comments

A small wooden box arrives on the doorstep of a married couple, who know that opening it will grant them a million dollars and kill someone they don't know.
posted by naju on Dec 19, 2016 - 21 comments

Richard Kelly is known for unusual films (Donnie Darko and especially Southland Tales, unquestionably one of my all time favorites). So even his touted attempt at a big "commercial" thriller, 2009's The Box, gets odd and confusing in a way that only he could manage. It was panned by critics and tanked at the box office, but it's pretty interesting and I think it's due for a reevaluation. This is our Strange Club off-kilter holiday pick of 2016. Post goes live Monday, Dec. 19.
posted by naju on Dec 15, 2016 - 0 comments