Lifestyle of a Fashionista

I wrote about cheesy Christmas movies on December 2nd and challenged myself to watch 25 cheesy movies by December 25th.

When I started the challenge, I was going only to watch 2022 movies. I had enough to choose from; according to Vulture, 153 new holiday movies were released this year from October to December. There Are 153 New Holiday Movies This Year. Every Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa film made for Lifetime, Hallmark, and more, organized by theme. “The grand total of original holiday films in 2022 is, by our count, a startling 153, appearing across 25 television networks and streaming services.” I’ve watched 12 of these movies in my challenge so far. 

I have not been able to keep up with my cheesy movie challenge. This week I was distracted by family activities and Emily in Paris season 3 release. I have watched 21 cheesy Christmas movies this year; a few were released before 2022, and I watched a couple before my challenge officially started.

I will watch a few more by Christmas, but I’m unsure if I will reach my goal.

I have posted ratings on Instagram for every movie I watched. Here is the full list with ratings:

I changed my rating system after I started watching this category of movies. There are too many tropes to list, but I settled on 35 that I’d seen in several movies.

1	Activity in the snow: sledding, snowman, snowball fight, or kiss
2	A Christmas tree in several rooms and/or over-the-top Christmas decor
3	Christmas-themed items: cookies, beverages, matching outfits, holiday sweater
4	A snowy town or city and/or a major snowstorm
5	Romantic activity: drive, meal together, stroll, ice skating, bike ride, slow dance
6	Tree trimming/tree lighting
7	animals are in the story: a cute dog that steals items or gets into trouble or horseback riding
8	character overcomes obstacles, gets a promotion, or has a successful moment
9	A party or gala (around Christmas)
10	Singing and/or caroling
11	drinking hot beverages
12	toast with friends or family
13	small town activity
14	Santa appears (any version of Santa)
15	Someone gets a makeover
16	a business is saved
17	Divorced/widowed character (finds love)
18	a Christmas wish is granted
19	montage of cute moments together (flashback or current)
20	a person relocates
21	Awkward almost kiss
22	hate turns to love, or mismatched characters fall in love, or they fight and makeup
23	Executive forced to relax or is mean and becomes a good person
24	Someone is sick/injured or is recovering from sickness/injury
25	quirk side character offers advice (family member, friend, or stranger)
26	grouchy character or character with an accent or speaking a foreign language
27	transportation issues or a scene is an airport or train station
28	Crying (over a lost loved one or failed romance)
29	a special gift is given
30	a character lies or has a secret
31	a person who gave up on love finds it
32	family drama or conflict that gets resolved or family members reunite
33	Activity by the fireplace
34	love triangle or old flames reunite
35	characters bump into each other or a character is clumsy and breaks things

Each trope was worth 5 points, and the movie could score 175 points. I also rated each move on a scale of 1 to 5 in watchability.

Summaries by streaming service or network

Netflix

Number of movies watched: 7 (Christmas with You, The Noel Diary, Falling for Christmas, A Castle for Christmas, I Believe in Santa, Holiday in the wild, and A Christmas Prince)

Quality of movies: good to excellent

Favorite: A tie between Falling for Christmas and A Castle for Christmas. I watched both movies with my family, which added to the watching fun. We played cheesy Christmas movie bingo while watching A Castle for Christmas. I created the board and tropes to fill in the squares using the above trope list. Everyone filled out their own board, and we had several bingos.

There are several versions of cheesy Christmas movie bingo available online. This was the best one I found: Hallmark Movie Bingo from The Kittchen.

My Least Favorite: I Believe in Santa

Prime Video

Number of movies watched: 2 (Something at Tiffany’s and Your Christmas or Mine?)

Quality of movies: Good to Excellent

I loved both movies; they had more comedic and cute moments than cheesy ones.

Hulu

Number of movies watched: 4 (Merry Kiss Cam, My Christmas Fiance, Christmas on Repeat, and Catering Christmas)

Quality of movies: Fair to Poor

Favorite: Merry Kiss Cam

My Least Favorite: My Christmas Fiance

Hallmark

Number of movies watched: 3 (The Most Colorful Time of the Year, A Big Fat Family Christmas, and The Holiday Sitter)

Quality of movies: Good

Favorite: Tie A Big Fat Family Christmas and The Holiday Sitter

My Least Favorite: None. Even the lowest-scored Hallmark movies weren’t too bad.

Lifetime

Number of movies watched: 3 (Cloudy with a Chance of Christmas, Single and Ready to Jingle, and Scentsational Christmas)

Quality of movies: Fair

All Lifetime movies earned 2 out of 5 Christmas trees; I don’t have any that I loved or hated. They were very cheesy and heavy on Christmas tropes and decorations.

HBO max

Number of movies watched: 1

Quality of movies: Good

A Hollywood Christmas was funny and cute, with a little cheesiness. Great outline of Christmas movie tropes.

Paramount+ (CBS movie)

Number of movies watched: 1

Quality of movies: Good

Must love Christmas was cheesy and cute.