Podcast in a Pear Tree: Christmas Movie Reviews

We kick off this episode with an exciting run-in story you won't want to miss! Somehow we caught all of the Lifetime movies from the second full weekend of December, including Christmas in Alaska, Thank God: Christmas at Keller Ranch, Rodeo Christmas Romance, and Runaway Bride for Christmas. Yeah, there were two "ranch/raunchy" movies with plenty of inuendo. We couldn't bring ourselves to catch th...

We review Christmas movie premieres from the first weekend of December! We find ourselves once again in the genre of trying to fulfill dead Grandma's dying wish with Christmas at Mistletoe Manor (GAC), but also go to England yet again in new Hallmark tv show, 12 Dates 'Til Christmas. We had high hopes for She's Making a List (Hallmark) which fell flat, but we perk right back up with Lifetime Movie...

It's a mega Thanksgiving episode! So many movies, so little time. Plus Lifetime finally makes their movie debut. Let's see if you can guess our thoughts on Great American Christmas' A Christmas Spark, Jingle Bell Heist (Netflix), Grand Ole Opry Christmas (Hallmark) and our call for justice for Vivica A. Fox and Jackée Harry in The Christmas Campaign (Lifetime). We had some honorable mentions in th...

In this episode, we review movies that premiered during the pre-Thanksgiving weekend, including Hallmark's latest installment of the Holiday Touchdown with A Bills Love Story and catch up with the series Finding Mr. Christmas. We tried to do Christmas North of Nashville (GAC) but that didn't work, so we discuss getting ready for the mega Thanksgiving weekend premieres and close on Netflix's steamy...

We chat about several films across different networks like the insane product placement in Three Wisest Men (Hallmark), then jump over to a surprising verdict on Timeless Tidings of Joy (Great American Family), then dive into the (dys)functional Christmas family fantasy in Joy to the World (Disney+). We also touch on the Alicia Silverstone and Melissa Joan Hart team up in Merry Little Ex-Mas (Netf...

We're back for Season 5, and the Christmas movie season is strong upon us! Well, for Hallmark and Great American Family (Christmas) at least. We binge watched a ton to discuss all of this season's latest releases through the first full week of November.

It's our last episode for 2024, and we had a manageable list of movie debut options coming into the mid-weekend of December premieres that somehow had a different mix of movie tropes from cocktails to sustainable fashion. We review a Hanukkah-focused film on Hallmark (Hanukkah on the Rocks) and The Santa Class, Lifetime's offerings with The Holiday Junkie and Christmas on the Alpaca Farm, Get Him...

We kick-off our episode with a festive visit to the first ever Los Angeles Christmas Market in Downtown Los Angeles. But it's down to business as we tackle all sorts of tropes in the films that debuted the second week of December, including Sugarplummed and Leah's Perfect Gift from Hallmark, How to Fall in Love by Christmas and A Very Merry Beauty Salon from Lifetime, Nutcrackers on Hulu, and of c...

We finally review all the films from Thanksgiving Weekend, and there were definitely too many! We kick-off with the theater-released Amazon film, Red One. To keep the chaos somewhat manageable we go by network, starting with Hallmark (A 90s Christmas, Holiday Touchdown, Christmas Quest), Netflix (Our Little Secret), Lifetime (BeBe Winans' We Three Kings), and Great American Christmas/GAC (I Heard...

We've hit a solid B week for films. Plus, have you ever wondered what your desert island Christmas song would be? Well you'll be thinking about it as we discuss the premieres from films right before the Thanksgiving holiday, including Netflix's Christmas spicy film The Merry Gentlemen, the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce romance inspired Christmas film on Lifetime, Christmas in the Spotlight, and others...

We had some of the best movies of the season in this latest episode! One in particular was quite possibly our star of the season. Some films we cover this week: Confessions of a Christmas Letter (Hallmark), A Cozy Christmas Quilt (Great American Christmas), Jingle Bell Love (Roku) and some honorary mentions of Reason for the Season (Hallmark Mysteries), Hot Frosty (Netflix), Jingle Bell Run (Hallm...

We run into some gaslighting shenanigans while discussing our mediocre encounters and charming gems for this week. Some movies we cover this week: Netflix's Meet Me Next Christmas, Hulu's Christmas on the Ranch, Great American Christmas' Christmas Under the Northern Lights, Hallmark's Trivia at St. Nick's, and preview of Netflix's Hot Frosty.

In our rundown of the films from the beginning of the season from October (let's face it, mostly Hallmark), we find ourselves mentioning to a lot of random pop culture references. See if you catch all of them. Hints: Crashers, Lies, Sir a , the Teenage

Halloween is here, but the Christmas movie season is already upon us. Here's a bit of our take of what it's looking like so far in our season 4 opener. (Note: we recorded this before Lifetime's full line-up was released)

To commemorate the release of Twisters (2024), a follow-up to the beloved 90s movie Twister (1996), and a nod to Christmas in July, we thought we would review a randomly discovered holiday take, Christmas Twister. Good idea? Debatable.

We want to root for Lifetime with this film, but we're left torn between blatant overseen details with the cooking competition backdrop yet heartwarming family feels of a family reconnection. Tia Mowry is a key draw, if you can persevere through the oversights. Oh yeah, and there's kinda romance too.

Some big stars join in Amazon Prime's main flick for the Christmas season, including Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross. But it gets really wacky, and you better be ready for it. Seriously.

A prop hourglass brings some twisty time turns in this surprisingly entertaining film set in the historic Biltmore estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Things go meta on this film about a film that also has some Hallmark Christmas easter eggs for those paying attention.

Finally! A Christmas film that pays appropriate homage to its source material in many ways, aside from the possible incesty vibes. Tom joins us as our special guest to provide us with valuable UK perspective.

Whip out those nostalgic Party of Five vibes as we see the reunion of sister-brother duo of Lacey Chabert and Scott Wolf in this escape to Scotland production. Our special guest Kim did some homework on this one for us!

We take an extended (indefinite?) Christmas pitstop in Nova Scotia with familiar Hallmark faces, though different accents (if you remember The Royal Nanny). Special guest Chloe joins us as we discuss expected illogical moments and fun facts in this film.

We're back for season 3 and as expected, Hallmark is ahead of the game with six premieres before Halloween! That's just crazy. We breakdown our thoughts on hits, misses, and meh options so far.

We're back for some "Christmas in July" debut films, starting with a familiar storyline of an ordinary person falling in love with a royal in a make-believe country. That's pretty much what it is, nothing more and nothing less.

We're doing a deep dive with the works of a well known "Queen of Christmas" movie maven, Candace Cameron Bure. There was so much to discuss, we had to divide this episode into two parts! Part one covers her early beginnings prior to her rise to fame with Hallmark.

We share a little of our holiday travels, including visits to Hallmark's Enchant, and review some of our top and not so great films from the 2022 Christmas movie season.