I just can’t get enough of watching Holiday movies this time of the year. I love having a large selection, even if I don’t get around to watching all of them, I can choose what fits my mood. Not everyone likes every Christmas movie but that’s okay because there are so many to choose from!
The movies above are perfect for the family, especially if you have children ages 8-12 but even I myself enjoyed Chilly Christmas and Elf-Man. Sure there were some corny parts but I could tell a preteen child would find it funny and I was able to look past those moments as the rest of the movie was entertaining or touching enough. I did not watch The Dog Who Saved the Holidays but if you are a fan of the rest of the series, I’m sure your family would enjoy the latest one as well.
Chilly Christmas
In this movie, Bobby Cole and his dad and dog Chilly live in Sunshine Beach, California. Bobby’s dad is offered a job in New York City but Chilly is too rambunctious for a small apartment and Bobby is told they must find him a new home. Heartbroken, Bobby and his friends try to teach Chilly to be an indoor dog such as getting exercise using a treadmill and relieving himself in a toilet. Meanwhile a dog napper is trying to get Chilly.
Bobby’s dad is played by Thomas Howell (E.T., The Extra Terrestrial, The Outsiders) and the dog napper is Tom Arnold (True Lies, “Roseanne,” A Christmas Wedding Tail.) The Chilly training is quite funny, even the few parts that were a bit much for me. The children in the movie did a great job and it was nice to see different “types” of children than you usually see in a movie. A non-Caucasian or African-American boy and a tomboyish girl round out the character of Bobby. The three children aren’t all the best of friends from the start either but grow to get along. The actor playing the father could have been better. It just wasn’t as believable and it seemed like he was the brunt of the jokes too much. He became a comedy or movie extra more than a main character.
Overall though, it was a cute movie and once my children stop being scared of the littlest things, I will enjoy watching it with them.
Elf-Man
I must say I was apprehensive about this movie. It just seemed like it was going to be what I call “Stupid-Funny" which is something my husband enjoys but I don’t. However I ended up really enjoying this movie! Just like Chilly Christmas, there were a few spots that seemed over the top to me but I felt like a preteen would enjoy but the storyline was so great that it didn’t matter. Elf-Man actually wasn’t as much of a comedy as I thought it would be. The storyline was emotional and pulled you in. The humour came from the typical dumb bad guys that every movie seems to have.
The stars are dad Eric (Mackenzie Astin, The Facts of Life) and butcher Amy (Mirelly Taylor, LOST) plus the Elf (Wee Man) and the head robber (Jeffrey Coombs, Reanimator.)
I underestimated the movie and the lessons it left and I will be watching this movie with the rest of my family this year.
The Dog Who Saved The Holidays
I didn’t watch this one so I’ll leave you with a description.
“The fur-flying fun begins when the Bannister family, George (Gary Valentine, “King of Queens”), Belinda (Elisa Donovan, Clueless, “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch”) and their kids, Kara (Caitlin Carmichael, “iCarly,” “Dexter”) and Ben (Wyatt Griswold), jet off with their dog Zeus (voiced by Joey Lawrence, ABC Family’s “Melissa & Joey”) to celebrate the holidays at Aunt Barbara’s (Shelley Long, “Cheers”) stunning Malibu mansion. Aunt Barbara surprises them with a new puppy named Eve (voiced by Peyton List, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Something Borrowed) and the whole family is smitten except Zeus, who quickly learns the new pooch is not as innocent as she seems. Zeus decides to run away, but when he spots two familiar thieves, Ted (Dean Cain, “Lois & Clark” and The Dog Who Saved Christmas) and Stewey (Joey “CoCo” Diaz, The Longest Yard), breaking into the house, he knows it’s up to him and Eve to beat the bumbling burglars and save Christmas once and for all!”
So if the movies sound good to you, grab them this season and add to your holiday movie collection.
*Disclosure: I received the products mentioned above free of charge by the company or PR representative for evaluation purposes. No other compensation was provided. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.
"'Tis the Fifteenth Season"
The kids can draw and colour on it to their hearts content too. It is pretty big though so if you have a very small home, you might have problems. My 5 and 6 year old fit inside with room to move and my tall six year old can stand up in it. It’s designed for ages 3 and up. Although my 20 month old was very interested in it, I had to put it up somewhere he can’t get to it or he would just rip it apart and knock it over.
There are more than 60 gifts to choose from. If you are in Canada, you can see what’s available at 
Even the parts that seem familiar to me (the balls) are not. I don’t currently use balls on my tree but I did when I was a kid, until they all broke. Now a days you can get plastic balls that looks like glass and in all different shapes too. I don’t know if you can get the really big ones though anywhere except Miss Cayce’s Christmas Store. The big ones may look way too big at first but used properly, they add depth and colour.
