Movie Review: 2025's 25 Movies of Christmas
I’m doing my (formerly) Catholic (presently) Filipino duty and getting in to the Christmas spirit, so I am logging all the movies I watch and a short blurb on what I thought.
Movie Count: 14/25
December 1st: The Holiday | 2006
Crying, screaming, throwing up. This gay girl was too emotionally invested in Jude Law’s insanely good acting experience. As a Cameron Diaz hater and disbeliever in the Jack Black connection with Kate Winslet, this still thoroughly won me over. It will be a holiday staple moving forward.December 2nd: Love Hard | 2021
New watch. I have liked a bit of Jimmy Yang’s standup, so I was cautiously optimistic about this one, and it turned out just fine. I will say it had a perfectly cheesy ending.December 3rd: Single All the Way | 2021
I have watched this one before and it’s a cute smooth ride the whole way through. It has some crazy talent for some reason, and my highlights are the two daughters conspiring for their Uncle and Jennifer Robertson’s commitment to the bit.December 4th: Falling for Christmas | 2022
This one didn’t hit the mark. As much as I love Lindsey Lohan - baddie redhead to baddie redhead - every time they built up the right tension, they didn’t stick the landing. The ending was actually okay, but I didn’t feel chemistry between the leads.
December 5th Home Alone | 1990
A Christmas classic. The only note I have is that the beginning gets harder and harder to watch each year. They really are awful to Kevin. Big yikes.
HolidateExcellent, excellent!! Great acting and fun characters. It toes the line between pick-me, but makes up or it by flipping that on its head by the end of the movie. It all came together. I don’t know if this counts as a Christmas movie, but I could stand to watch it again.
December 6th Happiest Season | 2020
I hate this movie. The ending was the only way to reconcile it, and they chose not to. I will not be watching this movie going forward. The only redeeming quality being the side-characters. Also, someone please give redemption to Jane, she’s perfect and her mistreatment rivals Kristen Stewart’s.
Rich people should not have good lives after becoming good people. They shouldn’t retain what they accumulated through hate after becoming good. Importantly, bad people don’t become good after a revelation and the choice to change. Change takes time. It takes pain. It takes relapses of selfishness. It has a cost.
She should’ve ran away with Aubrey Plaza. It’s a sin against the lesbian community that she didn’t.
December 7th My Secret Santa | 2025
The conceit is interesting, but doesn’t have a ton of depth. The man love interest is completely unconvincing as a son of a billionaire, but the woman love interest is excellent. She has a surprising amount of depth, and the duality of Santa-Mom made for a nice critique of motherhood and Christmas, not bad at all!
December 8th Best. Christmas. Ever! | 2023
I hate the woman lead. She pisses me off, is selfish and insecure. I surprisingly liked the kid dynamic, which was cool. The Santa twist at the end was excellent!
December 9th Jingle All the Way | 1996
This is much funnier movie than I remember! Yet, just as problematic as I remember lmao. I actually think the plot and pacing are really solid and they have quite a few good actors in it. I could def rewatch this every year.
December 11th Christmas Chronicles | 2018
A really good Christmas movie the whole way through. Kurt Russell has a gruff, but real take on Santa, and the humor is original and not overbearing. I was surprised the whole way through that I had a consistent chuckle. I did not like the Elves, they kind of freaked me out, but it’s a minor part of the movie. Just watched the music video scene, this movie fucking rocks!
Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas | 2019
This is an excellent movie. The characters are refreshing, the on-screen chemistry good, and and a sapphic romance!! Thought it is a side thing. The story is original and pacing is good. Easy recommend! I do hae the psychologist girl, which is simply emblematic of my hate for psychology as as discipline.
December 12th A Madea Christmas | 2013
This movie is so fucking funny and the plot is actually good, at least for a Christmas. I laughed so hard so many times!
December 14th Carol | 2015
Christ, this movie. Thank God the ending is what it is, otherwise it simply would be too painful to watch. In a way that is vastly different and superior to The Happiest Season. Carol is unfortunately too real. It’s too authentic, with pain and pleasure too believable. I don’t know why I watch this movie.
December 15th Holiday Rush | 2019
A really solid Christmas movie with a unique premise and tough themes. Where these movies typically lack depth, there is a story here. The ending is quite, quite cute! This is a good one.
December 16th Love the Coopers | 2015
The only thing I like about this movie is how much of a “verb” it is. Every shot has characters more or less moving. Otherwise, I hate it. The color grading feels like 2000s depression. I hate the voice-over. I hate the story lines. I don’t feel anything for any of the characters storylines. I don’t care if they get resolved. How this type of movie was made in 2015 behooves me. It actively pisses me off and I will never watch it again.
Wait, banger of a line “when I worked in a restaurant, I would give ugly people a free desert” hahahaha