3 Underrated 90s Christmas Movies

​Back on my high school blog, I was the movie blogger. One of my friends was the book reviewer, the other made music recommendations, but film was my beat. I’ve always been a lover of movies, the good, the bad and the cheesy, which is why I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the charm of cheesy 90s Christmas rom-coms. 

I know people love Hallmark movies; they pump out 50 every Christmas season and folks gobble them up left and right. And I’m not saying there aren’t some gems coming out nowadays, but I do think overconsumption and our obsession with more more more and what’s next what’s next what’s next???? has had a deleterious effect on the Made for TV film genre in the last few years. These movies are SO similar and SO picture perfect that they’ve lost a lot of the cleverness and character that movies in the same genre used to have back in the 2000s and 90s. 

I’ve been on a kick the last couple weeks of super underrated, nobody’s-ever-heard-of-them-except-maybe-your-grandma 90s Hallmark-esque Christmas movies, and y’all, I’ve been having a BLAST. These movies are low-budget, sure, but they’re not low effort. And yes they’re full of tropes—just one bed, stuck in the snow together on Christmas, enemies to lovers, fake romance—but they’re not just regurgitations with whisper thin scripts. They’re genuinely creative, well acted, and funny. 

Let me tell you about three 90s Christmas movies you’ve probably never heard about that you’ve GOT to watch this year (and I’ll tell you where to watch them for free!) 

1. A Christmas Romance (1994)

Extremely basic title aside, (it really should have been called “The Christmas Stranger”!) this cozy film will have you giggling and kicking your feet at all the sweet moments. Grumpy corporate bigwig Brian is assigned to deliver the news of foreclosure to recently laid off Julie when he ends up stuck on her small ranch over Christmas due to a blizzard. By the time the snow has melted, so has Brian’s heart. 

Actors of Note: Olivia Newton John 

Highlights: The male lead’s smile, cute children, baby lamb!!! 

Where to Watch: Kanopy, YouTube

2. Borrowed Hearts (1997)

In an effort to secure a big company merger with a CEO with “traditional values”, businessman Sam hires one of his factory employees, Kathleen, and her precocious daughter Zoey to pose as his family. Butting heads soon gives way to real feelings of familial warmth — but will Mr. Del Campo see right through their ruse? 

Actors of Note: Eric McCormack (Perception, Travelers), Hector Elizondo (Yep, Joe from Princess Diaries!) 

Highlights: Adorable child, Kathleen’s 90s fits, Eric McCormack’s luscious hair, and that fireplace sceneeee. Also, does Hector Elizondo play basically the same character in every movie? Yes. Does he kill it as that character in every movie? Also yes. 

Where to Watch: YouTube

3. On the Second Day of Christmas (1997) 

Bert, a retail security guard with a chip on his shoulder is tasked with keeping Trish and Patsy, an aunt and niece pickpocketing duo, under his supervision over Christmas until the courts open back up. Reluctant to spend his holiday with criminals, Trish and Patsy worm their way into Bert’s heart. 

Actors of Note: Little baby Mark Ruffalo lookin REAL cute, Mary Stewart Masterson, who has somewhat recently become one of my absolute fave actresses

Highlights: I would say this is the funniest movie on the list. Both Ruffalo and Masterson have great comedic timing. This one also has a really cute kid! 

Where to Watch: YouTube 

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I think something that all three of these movies have in common that contributes greatly to their enjoyment is the presence of children as central characters! I could write a whole essay about how kids make stories of all kinds more interesting, but we’ll save that post for another day. 

Also, it’s worth noting that all three of the movies above could be described with this same tag line: Financially unstable yet upbeat woman in custody of adorable child(ren) butts heads with grumpy brunette man in a position of power, but forced proximity over the Christmas holiday paves the way to romance! 

Bonus movie, that I can’t include above because a) it’s not a 90s movie (2003) and b) it’s a tad less family friendly: 

Undercover Lover (2003) (Also apparenrly released under the title “Undercover Christmas)

Free spirited (read, trashy) cocktail waitress Brandi agrees to testify against her fraud-scheming boyfriend, but requires the protection of the FBI. Jake, the agent assigned to her case, gets called home for the holidays under the deception that his dad had a heart attack. With Brandi in tow, holiday hijinks ensue—as does romance. 

Actors of Note: Tyne Daly (LOVE HER), Jami Gertz 

Highlights: Jami Gertz is so perfect in this role, and Shawn Christian (Jake) has an impeccable smolder 

Where to Watch: YouTube 

Happy watching!! 

Christmas Spirit Filled Sunday

​If I’m honest, I haven’t had a truly restful Sabbath in many months and it’s beginning to wear on me. That’s definitely something I want to assess and address in the New Year. I think back to times in my life when I was really intentional with keeping my Sundays extremely rest oriented, and they were, no surprise, the better years of my life! 

That being said, it’s still true that even busy Sundays can be good. And today was definitely a good (and busy) Sunday! It started out with me doing prep work at home for next week’s church Christmas play. Remind me again why I agreed to be in charge?? I’m kidding, as it’s actually been a blast, it’s just also been another strain on my packed schedule and I wish I felt a little bit more prepared. 

At church, I practiced with the kids during service, and then again at an after church practice on stage for the first time. I felt like it went really well! Better than I was expecting, if I’m honest. I was anticipating a lot of wiggling coming from the peanut gallery for those kids who were waiting their turn on stage. But I’m telling you, those kids stayed extremely still and quiet until just the last few minutes, and there was very little silliness overall. I was so proud of them! They also just seem to be enjoying the play in general, which is really gratifying! I remember being in many a church play that felt lame or overdone or hard to connect with. I think the kids really get a kick out of the heist storyline. It warms my heart that something I wrote is being genuinely appreciated by a bunch of children! Hopefully the material connects with parents and audience members as well next week. NEXT WEEK. EGADS!! We can do it! 

After play practice, my friend G and I went to a Christmas concert at a local private school, Mercersburg Academy. I’d been before, and remembered it being really moving, and it was again. The academy has this unbelievably beautiful chapel with incredible architecture and stained glass, and the concert features an orchestra ensemble and a full choir. So magical! It really got me into the Christmas spirit, and not the superficial kind. It really sounded like heaven in there. At one point, the sun shone through a window up on the balcony and beamed directly onto my face and my face alone, which at first was comical, and then quite annoying and a little embarrassing, and then felt kind of providential. I mean this was the brightest light I think I’ve ever seen, like the sun being magnified through a magnifying glass x1000, directly onto my face!! That feels a little Biblical doesn’t it? A little Numbers 6:24-26-esque, am I right? I don’t know exactly what to take from that experience, but it was an interesting reminder of God’s overwhelming power and majesty. I think I’ll be reflecting on it (no pun intended) for some time to come. 

After the concert, I headed back to G’a place and we watched one of our more recent favorite Christmas movies together, “Silver Skates”. If you haven’t seen this one, it’s a must. It’s really a perfect movie in so many ways—just amazing storytelling, setting and costumes that are a feast for the eyes, and this overarching feeling of timelessness. A total classic. It’s on Netflix and came out in the US in 2020. It’s based on a book of the same title by Mary Mapes Dodge. One of these days I’ll need to give it a read! Although I’m almost certain this is one of those instances where the movie is better than the book, because I don’t know how anything could top that movie. 

I drove home feeling very Christmassy and happy, and the Christmas lights I passed along the way only added to the warm and fuzzy feelings! 

Blessings, 

Dakota V 

Hello World! And by world, I basically just mean myself...

Typing on this Blogspot interface feels totally surreal. Like I'm back in 10th grade, giving my two cents on the original blog I kept with two friends. Honestly, it was thoughts of that blog that inspired the creation of this one. I remember rushing home from school and immediately logging on to my parents old Acer computer to rant my thoughts on whatever the hot topic was, or give my honest (and very opinionated) review of whatever movie I'd watched the night before. It was therapeutic and it was so much fun, a creative outlet that felt simple and low pressure (because next to nobody was actually reading it!) 

Eventually I think we all started putting too much pressure on ourselves to blog regularly even once life started to change and get hectic with college, etc. and ultimately it was time to hang up the ole blog. But now, the nostalgia of it all has me feeling like, as I near my 30's, I'd love to pick up the phone and chat into the void again! I hate social media because I don't want everyone in my life to know my business. But I love the idea of a blog because I feel like it's so obscure that at most, three old ladies might stumble upon it, have a read, and then move along. It's kind of a relic of the old, fun internet in a way. 

So, who knows how often I'll post, I can promise to be extremely irregular and unreliable. But when I do post, I plan to share about life out in the country living with my Pop, being an aunty and neighbor to my two year old nephew, working as a children's library associate at a downtown library branch, and my loves of writing, reading, movies, cooking, crafting, and having opinions. 

Blessings, 

Dakota V