The Best & Battiest Moments From This Past Weekend's Holiday Movies

Once again it's the season to be merry and watch every new holiday movie as it debuts! Each Monday, we'll take a look back at the previous weekend's premieres to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year with a new list of superlatives.

Broadway-bound waiters Alex and Violette (Jordan Litz and Ginna Claire Mason) performing "Who Knew It'd Be You This Christmas," the catchy tune from the holiday musical he'd just finished writing, was a perfect ending to Hallmark Channel's A Carol For Two. But the number we rewound (multiple times!) was their earlier duet of "The Christmas Song." Those harmonies from the real-life Wicked alums were smoother than a cup of marshmallow-free cocoa.

Bravo to the redheaded extra seated next to Alex's cousin, Brad (Gino Anania), for her reaction to the cad falling asleep during The Nutcracker. Brad's behavior in A Carol for Two was, in general, dreadful throughout his Cyrano-style courtship of Violette.

Watching Will Kemp as developer Henry in Hallmark Mystery's My Sweet Austrian Holiday — with an older righthand man and another occasion to don a tux — made us think that he should have his own franchise on the channel in which he stars as a Bruce Wayne-type billionaire who spends his time traveling the world and attending charity auctions that routinely end in robberies and murders. Perhaps the suspect in the first film flirted heavily with him at the soirée, so the Interpol agent in charge asks him to assist in the investigation (against her better judgment). He bumbles around a bit — Kemp is great at comedy — but proves useful. They partner again in the second movie, in a different country, and the will-they-or-won't-they tension resumes!

Having tables for two and a herd of lit deer on a tiny ice rink feels dangerous, whether skaters are as experienced as My Sweet Austrian Holiday's spinning chocolatier Charlotte (Brittany Bristow, who played a figure skater in 2018's excellent Christmas at the Palace) or as inexperienced as penguin Henry.

Are the balls too large for Charlotte's tree in My Sweet Austrian Holiday? We'd hate to think she's teaching first-time decorator Henry incorrect proportions.

After mom Kath (Caroline Rhea) had a fight with the daughter she was trying to fix up, then break up, in Hallmark Channel's Holiday Mismatch, fellow meddling mother Barbara (Beth Broderick) suggested Kath taste-test the cinnamon rolls she was perfecting for Christmas. "Carbs are the last thing that I need right now," Kath said, before immediately reconsidering. "Carbs are exactly what I need right now."

Why was there a white rat in the tree instead of a squirrel in Holiday Mismatch? Is that a new fear unlocked for people who purchase their tree from a city lot? (To be fair, it was funny when Jon McLaren's Shane grabbed a red cloth napkin for the catch and release and Caroline Rhea's Kath quipped, "It's not a bull.")

Do not assume someone is wearing an "ugly Christmas sweater," as Barbara did when she met the other members of the Christmas Committee in Holiday Mismatch. That person may believe their festive sweater is genuinely lovely.

Animal shelter owner Amber (Ash Tsai) couldn't escape her family and friend's interrogation about how attractive her new volunteer, Army veteran Caleb (Eric Guilmette), is even as they set up the nativity scene in Great American Family's Tails of Christmas.

It was hard not to get teary watching Tails of Christmas' closed-off Caleb admit to retriever Rex his fear of disappointing him and how much he'd miss him if anyone else adopted him first: "You're my buddy. What do you think? You wanna give this a shot? You and me? Yeah? OK, let's do this." Yay!

Hallmark Channel's Our Holiday Story understands it's more fun to watch people get together than stay together. So, couple Dave (Warren Christie) and Nell (Nikki DeLoach) recounted how they met 10 years prior — on a train doubling as Hartford, Conn.'s inaugural Ugly Sweater Convention. We refuse to believe they both eat fruitcake year-round, but having Dave pop out during a delay to buy her his favorite brand set the tone for this guy being an enthusiastic sweetheart. And him gushing about his teen daughter being "the coolest" when they bumped into each other next? Swoon!

Do we prefer Our Holiday Story's carpenter Dave in his myriad of flashback Henleys? Yes. But this sweater in present day also worked for us.