Top 5 Christmas Movies of 2018

Why not keep the lists coming, right? On Monday, I published my rankings of this year's Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Christmas movies. But the Hallmark channels weren't the only ones who put out Christmas movies this year, and my favorite movie of the season actually aired on Lifetime. So here are my Top 5 Christmas movies of 2018 ... and a couple honorable mentions at the bottom (just for fun). As I did with my Hallmark list, I'm including the blurbs from my Instagram stories, so you can see what I initially thought of the movies.

5. No Sleep 'Til Christmas ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2 (FreeForm)

This movie stars married couple Dave & Odette Annable, and it's easily the funniest movie of the season. To me, this felt like a rom-com you might see in the theater: a little edgier than Hallmark, great acting, and lots of humor. It's a great movie to watch if you're tired of Christmas movies—it doesn't have much Christmas spirit, and it could easily be set at any time of the year. My one complaint is that the kiss at the end is a bit disappointing ... but the punchline that follows is fantastic, so I could forgive the lackluster kiss.

4. Christmas at Grand Valley ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Hallmark Movies & Mysteries)

I rang in the New Year by watching this movie—I had to watch it just one more time before the season ended! (And actually, it airs one more time before Movies & Mysteries stops showing Christmas movies: Sunday at 6 p.m.) It's my second favorite romance story line of the season (my number one is my number one movie).

3. A Shoe Addict's Christmas ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Hallmark Channel)

I really loved this movie! Candace Cameron Bure was charming, but the real MVP was Jean Smart. She was fantastic! I enjoyed the romance, but this film was about so much more than finding romantic love—it was also about finding yourself and repairing relationships of all kinds.

2. A Godwink Christmas ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Hallmark Movies & Mysteries)

You can catch this one more time, too ... if you have a DVR or want to stay up late on Friday night: it airs at midnight Saturday! I think I've watched this three times now, but it may be four. I just love it so much! Kimberley Sustad (Paula) is such a believable actress, and Kathie Lee Gifford surprised me with her performance. She could be my aunt any day!

1. The Christmas Contract ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Lifetime)

When I heard there was going to be movie reuniting the One Tree Hill cast, I thought it would be either wonderful or a train wreck. Fortunately, it turned out to be wonderful! (The reunion special that aired after the movie was a train wreck, though.) Hilarie Burton and Robert Buckley have great chemistry (and they never appeared together on One Tree Hill, so it didn't feel like Peyton was cheating on Lucas with Clay), and the story—a fake relationship that turns real—was so fun! I absolutely adored this movie, and I would snap it up on DVD in a heartbeat.

Honorable Mention: The Princess Switch (Netflix) & Hometown Christmas (Lifetime)

The Princess Switch is a take on The Prince & the Pauper: Stacy, a baker, and Lady Margaret, a soon-to-be princess, decide to swap lives for a brief period when they bump into one another and realize they look like twins. Of course, they each fall in love, and hi-jinks ensue. It's not a perfect movie, but it certainly is a fun one!

Hometown Christmas was a surprise "like" for me. I didn't think the leads (Beverley Mitchell from 7th Heaven and Stephen Colletti from One Tree Hill) had a ton of chemistry, though I did enjoy their romance. And I loved the secondary romance between her dad and his mom. Also, this was Christmassy in the best way: it was all about wanting to put on a nativity program, and it contained the real Christmas story.

What was your favorite Christmas movie of 2018?