I'm posting this for
Tracy/OHBelle and
TK/tksbaskets (when she gets back from DLR), as they are the two who have been ranking the 2014 Hallmark Christmas movies along with me. My rankings are now as follows:
The Gems
1.
Nine Lives of Christmas (Still holding strong at #1!!)
2.
Angels and Ornaments (This remains #2 only because I didn't expect the surprise in the movie and I had to grab for the tissues a couple of times.)
3.
Christmas at Cartwright's (Alicia Witt comes through for Hallmark! She is very charming and likeable. This could/should have easily been the
Mr. Miracle movie instead of the actual
Mr. Miracle movie.)
4.
The Christmas Shepherd (This comes in very, very close behind
Christmas at Cartwright's, and can also switch places with
A Royal Christmas, depending on my mood.)
5.
A Royal Christmas (A very close runner-up and sometimes alternate to
The Christmas Shepherd.)
The "Not Great, But Not Terrible" Movies...
6.
Christmas Under Wraps (I love Candace Cameron Bure, but
Let it Snow was way better than this one. This was just so-so -- not great; not bad)
7.
A Cookie Cutter Christmas (meh...)
8.
One Starry Christmas (Really, it wasn't horrible, but I didn't like it and have no need to see it again. The only thing that puts it at #8 is that there were three movies I actually liked
less than
One Starry Christmas!
)
9.
Northpole (It has some nice effects and sparkly scenes, but all the hype and promotion killed it for me. If it hadn't been advertised as heavily I probably would have liked it more.)
The "I Want to Run Screaming Into the Night to Get Far, Far Away From Them" movies
10.
Mr. Miracle confused3This movie was like nails on a chalkboard for me. It was a bad job of casting all around, I think -- probably not the fault of the actors themselves, but the fault of the actual casting folks. Rob Morrow of
Northern Exposure was not right for the role. The only things that put it one spot above the last spot on my list are that there was a beautiful dog in it, and the woman who wrote the
Mr. Miracle book -- Debbie Macomber -- is responsible for two of my favorite Hallmark movies,
Trading Christmas and
Mrs. Miracle!
Mr. Miracle is no
Mrs. Miracle -- that's for sure!)
11.
One Christmas Eve (Sigh.
The only redeeming thing about this annoying mess was the adorable puppy. Otherwise, it was ridiculous. It was a Hall of Fame movie, so it had a different vibe about it.)
There are only two brand new Hallmark Christmas movies left (next weekend) --
The Best Christmas Party Ever and
The Christmas Parade. I call them the "beauty block" of movies, as each of the lead actresses appears to be exceptionally striking. Thank goodness there will be several more showings of
Snow Bride,
Let it Snow,
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,
The Christmas Ornament,
Mrs. Miracle,
Trading Christmas,
Finding Christmas,
Window Wonderland,
Naughty or Nice,
A Bride for Christmas,
Farewell, Mr. Kringle and
A Very Merry Mix-Up before the year ends -- to erase the memories of
Mr. Miracle and
One Christmas Eve from my mind.