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First Viewing Plot: An angel comes to Earth to help a preacher save his church and his family.

A '90s remake of The Bishop's Wife (which was part of last year's Christmas movie lineup), this festive movie from late director Penny Marshall is packed with heart and heartwarming messages, but suffers from an unnecessarily overlong running time. The surface details of The Preacher's Wife are undoubtedly lovely, as the cast is sensational and the cinematography is frequently beautiful, not to mention there's ample Christmas imagery to put you in the Christmas spirit. The songs, too, are certainly enjoyable, including some singing by the late great Whitney Houston. It's a worthwhile story which acknowledges the work done by the titular preacher, but emphasises the importance of putting family first and approaching the work with more sincerity. However, despite running at over two hours, I felt that the final transformation happened almost without the audience and should have received more development. This is rushed in order to get to the final 20 or so minutes in the church, with the climactic speech and musical numbers which are a bit much. Nevertheless, despite the movie's shortcomings, I enjoyed watching The Preacher's Wife and I'm glad to have another Christmas title crossed off my list.

First Viewing Plot: More animated stories featuring Mickey and the gang which are all about the spirit of Christmas and opening your heart.

With the success of Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas in 1999, it's unsurprising that a sequel followed a few years later. Another straight-to-video title, Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas actually presents each story with 3D animation as opposed to the more traditional hand-drawn Disney style. It does take some adjusting, and the animation is very primitive given that this is a made-for-video animated film from the early 2000s, but it still works - only just. The characters still carry their classic appearances and the voice cast remain rock-solid right down the line. The stories are similar to the first movie in the sense that they reinforce heartwarming messages about the meaning of the Christmas season and the importance of being fundamentally good to others. I didn't find the stories as funny or as touching in this sequel; the opening segment is a bit rocky, in particular. But it still has heart and I enjoyed the movie for the most part - plus, it's short and sweet.

First Viewing Plot: A horror film that depicts St. Nicholas as a murderous bishop who kidnaps and murders children when there is a full moon on December 5.

Saint is, I believe, the first time that Christmas traditions in the Netherlands have been explored and depicted in a feature film. And this occurs within the context of a gory horror movie, rather than a more traditional festive flick designed to get you in the Christmas spirit. I mean, not even the well-meaning Claus Family movies faithfully portrayed the Dutch festive season, instead relying on the Americanized depiction but filtered through a European lens. Anyway, Saint is a damn good horror movie in its own right; it's atmospheric and nicely executed, with strong special effects and gory kill scenes. The lore and mythology pertaining to Sinterklaas is extremely intriguing, making this a nice break from the normal festive horror movies featuring a killer wearing a Santa Claus outfit. The film is also short and sweet, coming in at a scant 86 minutes including credits. The scope is slightly restricted which is understandable as this isn't a major production, and it leaves you wanting to see more of this world and the demonic Sinterklaas who emerges for a killing spree whenever a full moon occurs on the night of December 5th. I can't say the character work is exactly strong, and the character of Goert is a bit of a cliché, but we aren't looking for a reinvention of the horror genre here. It won't put you in the Christmas spirit, but I enjoyed Saint and would gladly watch it again.

First Viewing Plot: Three heartwarming Christmas stories featuring your favourite Disney characters.

I wasn't aware that this one existed, and only found it while browsing for Christmas titles on Disney+. Running for scarcely an hour, and brought to life with the same spirited 2D animation that defines Disney titles of this era, Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas is a festive delight. Three short stories are presented here which involve iconic Disney characters, and each story has something worthwhile to say about the spirit of the holidays. I smiled throughout the majority of the runtime, and the stories are often touching without becoming overly cloying. It's surprising that this was designed as a straight-to-video title, as it has the gravitas and style of a big-screen animated feature, but I guess the short runtime precluded it from being sent to cinemas. (It's almost a shame they didn't add one more story to beef up the runtime - but, then again, a potential fourth story might have been below-par, so I'm happy with what we have.) Since there are three stories, pacing is not an issue and we move onto the next segment before a story is given the chance to become boring. I can definitely see myself rewatching Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas in future years.

First Viewing Plot: The troubled Vuillard family is no stranger to illness, grief, and banishment, but when their matriarch requires a bone-marrow transplant, the estranged clan reunites just in time for Christmas.

I believe that A Christmas Tale is officially the last "big hitter" Christmas movie that has been on my list for years and years. I believe it first came across my radar over 10 years ago, but I never got to it until now. Frankly, however, I expected something better. I wouldn't say that this is a bad movie per se, but it is an agonizingly long one at 2.5 hours - and it was a slog to get through. It's only intermittently involving, and I still sometimes struggled to keep tabs of the characters despite how much time we spend with them. It has a strong opening act before it gives over to utter monotony, though the actors do give it their all and it still looks lovely from an aesthetic standpoint. The Christmas setting is somewhat incidental as this is mainly a story about a sick matriarch bringing her family together, and it's easy to see why the marketing department played up the Christmas angle - to get more suckers like me to watch it. I checked my watch consistently while watching it, and I don't feel inclined to watch it again or add it to my annual rotation.

First Viewing Plot: On Christmas Eve, bitter old miser Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by spirits who aim to show him the error of his ways and repent for his wrongdoings.

I'm reasonably sure that the number of adaptations of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol number in the thousands by now, and yet we still manage to get a new film or television series adaptation every year or so. I had little-to-no-hope for 2022's Scrooge: A Christmas Carol, which is Netflix's new animated retelling of the oft-repeated story but is actually, surprisingly, presented as more of a remake of the 1970 musical Scrooge instead of another adaptation of the novella. To my surprise, I greatly enjoyed this one. Out of all the versions of A Christmas Carol that I've watched this December, this is my favourite so far. Chief among the movie's strengths is that it doesn't rely on the dry Old English dialogue from the novella, and doesn't repeat the same lines we've heard literally hundreds of times before. Therefore, it's more accessible and flows better than other film adaptations, while also making this a worthwhile version for children to watch. The visual style also deserves a mention, as the animation is truly gorgeous. It's not highly detailed and approaching photorealism like Robert Zemeckis's animated endeavours; rather, it's appropriately stylised, and the visual touches peppered throughout the movie ensure it's a consistently engaging viewing experience. The musical numbers which are interspersed throughout (which are from the 1970 film with Albert Finney) are high-energy and well-executed. It's easy to discern that the creative team were attempting to produce a Pixar-esque retelling of the story, complete with heart and emotion in addition to the colorful character designs. It can't reach the lofty heights of Pixar's best work, but it's an impressive achievement all-round nevertheless, even though it still doesn't necessarily feel essential considering how many times this story has been told. All things considered, however, I'm glad that Scrooge: A Christmas Carol was made and I'm glad I took the time to watch it. I seem to be in the minority with how much I enjoyed it, but that's okay.

First Viewing Plot: Fed up with being single on holidays, two strangers agree to be each other's platonic plus-ones all year long, only to catch real feelings along the way.

I am shocked at how much I enjoyed Holidate, especially considered the factors working against it. After all, the director was also responsible for Deck the Halls, and the screenwriter has nothing much of worth to her name. But, lo and behold, I laughed heartily and frequently from the beginning, and was enjoying it so much that I almost didn't want it to end. The secret weapon of this movie is Australian actor Luke Bracey, who's allowed to play a brash Australian; his bantering and one-liners are hilarious, and he's allowed to be masculine and confident which is a refreshing thing in the 2020s. Indeed, the script doesn't seek to humiliate or emasculate him, and he almost always comes out on top when bantering with Emma Roberts. Wow! Also helping is the R rating, which allows for colourful language and profanity - some of the sexually explicit dialogue made me laugh heartily, and is not the type of thing I normally expect to hear in a rom-com. The surface-level attributes of the production are strong, to boot; it looks slick and lovely in 4K HDR on Netflix, with vibrant visuals, and each season and event takes on a different look in terms of lighting and colour palette, which is something else I didn't expect from a rom-com like this. It is predictable and clichéd, of course, and the outcome of the story is not surprising in any way, but the movie is so much fun that it hardly matters. In this sense, it feels like a rom-com from the '90s or early 2000s, as opposed to something from 2020. All in all, I glad I gave this one a watch and I could see myself watching it again.

First Viewing Plot: After coming into the town of El Camino seeking a father he has never met, Eric is harassed by the local police, and ends up barricaded in a local liquor store with five other people on Christmas Eve.

Here we have another alternative Christmas movie, this time from the good folks at Netflix. The cast and the adult rating intrigued me enough to give this one a whirl - I mean, it was sure to have more edge than your typical Hallmark fare. El Camino Christmas was actually directed by the same guy who made the barely watchable Jingle Jangle for Netflix a few years later, and while this is a more enjoyable movie overall, it does have its pitfalls. The pacing is rocky, even for an 89-minute movie, and director David E. Talbert can't quite pull off the tricky tonal changes which were required for this one. There are laughs, but it gets deadly serious in the third act, and the finale is somewhat baffling. And from a moral standpoint, I didn't always side with the main character whose actions get people shot and nearly killed. (Spoilers: One character returns from the dead at the very end, which is something that feels jarring, as if it was added via reshoots at a later time.) Still, I had a good enough time watching the film and I don't regret spending my time on it. It's not a stinker but it's not a home run.

First Viewing Plot: On Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo discover a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.

Here's another eclectic addition to this December's diverse selection of festive titles; an animated Japanese movie set during the Christmas period. I found this while doing some cursory Googling to assemble this year's lineup, and I couldn't pass it up due to the glowing reviews and esteemed reputation; I mean, there are even cinema showings of this in my city this December. Gorgeously animated and frequently funny, Tokyo Godfathers is a highly impressive movie in its own right, not just as a Christmas film - it's a terrifically touching and human story, with the ending, in particular, hitting a raw nerve. There are a few plot contrivances and the storytelling isn't always involving, but these are minor flaws when the movie is otherwise this impressive and heartwarming. I grew to like the characters and I was invested in the story, which is the most important thing for this type of movie.

First Viewing Plot: At a Christmas party, Senior Detective Terry Seattle and guest stars Jason Bateman and Maya Rudolph work to find out who killed Santa.

I'm not familiar with the Netflix show Murderville which debuted this year, and I hadn't even heard of it prior to this Christmas special appearing on the service, but I decided to give this one a whirl anyway due to the cast. Plus, it's only 50 minutes long and it's free to watch on Netflix. Despite no familiarity with the show, I didn't feel like I missed anything and caught on pretty quickly. This feels like an extended SNL skit at times, particularly due to how improvised it feels, but with a bit more polish to the cinematography and production design. There are some funny scenes but there are also scenes which fall flat, plus the late introduction of Pete Davidson feels superfluous and didn't raise any laughter out of me. Nevertheless, this is short and enjoyable enough that I don't regret watching it, but I don't intend to revisit it and I probably won't watch the main show in a hurry.