Gays at christmas

Omnipresent Jonathan Bennett plays opposite Vincent Rodriguez III in two of them. This one caused me to take a long break from viewing these movies. Unexpectedly, he meets Heath Ramos, his mother’s employee. 

6. Treat Williams.

In retrospect, 2020-2022 is beginning to look like the lavender age of inane gay holiday movies.

As you can imagine, that makes for one awkward family holiday.

Carol

With six Oscar nominations, Carol is well worth a watch this Christmas.

Cate Blanchett stars as Carol, a married woman in the 1950s who risks it all to embark on a romance with a woman she meets in a department store. The story stays small and personal, Victor starts to see how much he’s been doing life alone, and how different it feels when friendship, family, and the possibility of love aren’t just ideas, but something he actually lets himself step into.

10.

Now he’s a workaholic from the big city who gets stuck watching his sister’s kids because of a snowstorm and she’s pregnant and going into labor or something. You’ll never guess who he ends up with. Wilde heads into the small-town winter vibe, Oliver takes over Wilde’s sunny L.A. place, and both of them stumble into unexpected connections in their “new” settings.

Back home, Wilde’s mom, Lola (Kyle Richards), is very involved and very opinionated, which adds to the chaos, but also keeps pushing Wilde to stop retreating from love.

Probably the best of the bunch, and not just for this monologue:

9) The Holiday Sitter (2022) – Hallmark+, Roku, Amazon Prime & others

Older stars playing the parents: NONE
Romantic chemistry? Not that I recall.

Another Hallmark movie with resident gay Jonathan Bennett.

What starts as a quick visit turns into something more when he’s pulled into a Christmas-themed treasure hunt Ms. Marley set up before she died, meant to reunite a tight group of old friends.

As the clues push everyone back through familiar places and half-forgotten memories, Austin reconnects with Everett, his childhood best friend, and the person he never really got over.

The search turns into a second chance, not just to honor Ms. Marley, but to figure out what Austin actually wants, and whether the life he built away from home is the one he’s supposed to keep choosing.

3. This time the brothers are competing on a reality show to create the best Christmas House. I guess. It’s an enjoyable movie but I don’t see these boys staying together.

One caveat: I wanted Kristen Stewart’s character to end up with Aubrey Plaza. There are two budding romances, with Frey’s real-life husband Kyle Dean Massey left to play his ex-boyfriend. This movie is a painful reminder that a film can be racially diverse, but it certainly isn’t class-wise. Let the nostalgia begin!

Fortunately, with so many different streaming services, you can now find some of these movies on multiple outlets, giving evidence that maybe they weren’t quite so disposable after all.

1) The Christmas Setup (2020) – Lifetime, Hulu, Sling TV

Older star playing a parent: Fran Drescher
Romantic chemistry?

Kudos to him for continuing to be cast in straight roles, but… do we then count this as a gay film?

As a reminder: The Hallmark Channel premiered 42 – FORTY-TWO – new Hallmark Christmas movies that season. They want to adopt kids – that’s their side plot.