Film Critics United

  The Christmas Quest (2024) - Hallmark Reviewed by L. Sue While watching the trailer for this movie, the hook for me was "Indiana Jones meets Hallmark Christmas movies." And how can we say no to that? Enter our intrepid archaeologist Stefanie Baxter, whose mother was also an explorer/adventurer. We see in flashback that Mom was obsessed with Icelandic Christmas folklore, specifically finding the Yule Lad Treasure. Mom missed many holidays, celebrations, and, we assume, family dinners with Stef in pursuit of this elusive prize. But in true Hallmark fashion, where we inevitably become our mothers or, at the very least, become what we hate the most, Stef too is a work-obsessed adventurer. At Christmas, she is offered the opportunity by the rich mogul Victor Grimes to finish what her mom had started and find the Yule Lad Treasure. Victor is willing to bankroll the entire expedition, but what really gets Stef on board is that he has the first clue: a manuscript that decodes eve...

  Make or Break Christmas (2024) - Lifetime The "Wrong" Crew is back! This time, matriarch Vivica A. Fox, her director of choice David DeCouteau, and a couple of the usual suspects, Gina Hirauizumi and Meredith Thomas, are at it again. If they could have gotten Jessica Morris and Jason Shane Scott on board, the whole team would be back together for this movie that SHOULD'VE been called "The Wrong Christmas Baker," but instead, it's named "Make or Bake Christmas." We'll take what we can get. Emma (Jasmine Avaliotis) is a charming kid working for this universe's version of Martha Stewart, Leslie Lake (Vivica A. Fox). That is if Martha Stewart were an overbearing, slave-driving, extremely demanding boss who might end up in federal prison somewhere. Oh... yeah.  Leslie has had her eye on the SugarBaker bakery for a while, but the owner Denise Sugarbaker (Jackée) refuses to sell. No problem, Leslie decides to send her assistant Emma undercover t...

Christmas On Call (2024) - Hallmark Reviewed by L. Sue Well, dear readers, it happens to the best of us. Based solely on the picture above (and no trailer), I assumed this movie would be about an Emergency Room Doctor and an EMT-and it is. However, the IMDB photo doesn’t prepare one for the fact that this is an ensemble cast, which means there is a lot of plot to get through in 90 minutes, tons of characters, and multiple couples to follow. I wasn’t prepared and that’s on me for not doing my homework and watching the trailer. Now, for the main couple: ER doc Hannah is new to Philly, working long hours. She has to work on Christmas, which she was somewhat okay with to keep herself busy and not think about being back home in Seattle with her dad. While I'm not sure, I think her mom is out of the picture. Into the ER comes EMT extraordinaire Wes, who is not only mentoring his new trainee Julia Sanchez but is also a veteran, a community advocate, and a qualified firefighter. Wes, being...

  Christmas in the Spotlight (2024) - Lifetime Oh, I see what they're doing here. Famous pop star dating a professional football player? You gotta get up pretty early in the morning to pull one over my eyes, brother. Though I must admit, someone making a movie about that Ciara/Russell Wilson romance took me by surprise. Say hello to Bowyn Sykes (Jessica Lord), the world's biggest pop star, on the set of her latest music video, which she is also directing. Dressed like a slutty elf, she sings a song about how she doesn't need a man or some nonsense along those lines. I must give Jessica Lord some credit here because this young lady has truly mastered the art of moving her body in interesting ways through the space allotted. Her manager, Mira (Jeannie Mai Jenkins), implores her to stop making songs about not needing a man because she's in a movie where the only reason for its existence is getting a man! Across the country somewhere, I really can't remember the cit...

  Hot Frosty (2024) - Netflix I must admit that this movie "Hot Frosty" wasn't on my list of movies to watch this year, despite the fact it stars the queen of these movies.  And make no mistake, the queen isn't Candace or Alicia or Tatiana or Danica or Tia nor Tamera—it's Lacey Chabert. Those other ladies are certainly in the queen's court, but they all must pay homage to the true queen. But then I started reading some things about this movie, kind of taking the internet by storm, this little holiday romance film. I mean, Ryan did a Pitch Meeting on this movie, and I even saw a post calling "Hot Frosty" the dumbest holiday movie ever! Well, those are some strong words, my friend, and now I have to watch this film for myself to see if it is, indeed, the dumbest holiday movie ever made. TLDR: It is not. Kathy (Chabert) wakes up one morning to a freezing cold house, steps over a broken stair, empties a bucket catching the drips from the ceiling, and hea...

The Christmas Charade (2024) - Hallmark Reviewed by L. Sue The trailer for this movie is Christmas meets the FBI, and if you know me, you know I love me some spycraft mixed in with Jingle Bells. Whitney, a school librarian who always plays it safe, is looking for a little adventure. She starts her day by watching a spy show before heading to work. Kudos to her for waking up early enough to enjoy some TV—making me feel a bit better about choosing sleep over morning exercise or watching movies. Whitney’s best friend convinces her to go on a blind date with "mark_loves_cats_1922," even personally vouching for him IRL. Despite some initial hesitation and even tossing the address into the trash, Whitney realizes she needs some excitement in her life and decides this date could be the perfect opportunity. She agrees to meet Mark at a restaurant—he’ll be the one wearing a green sweater. Plus, she’s slightly guilted into this as her parents want to set her up with some ophthalmolog...