A guide to this year’s holiday movies, from Dolly Parton’s musical to Kristen Stewart’s queer rom-com - The Washington Post

The holidays were never going to feel normal in a pandemic, and with health officials warning against travel, it seems one of the most responsible ways to spend them might be sitting on a couch with a warm drink in hand, munching on popcorn while watching some mindlessly comforting TV movies.

Big Christmas knows no bounds, and not even an airborne virus can stop Hallmark, Lifetime and Netflix from churning out dozens of movies this holiday season.

Parton wrote 14 songs for the film, which stars Baranski as a modern Scrooge who plans to sell her hometown’s land to a mall developer.

Speaking of Scrooges, this movie stars Emma Roberts as a woman who seems to hate everything, including spending the holidays with family members obsessed with finding her a partner.

She meets Luke Bracey’s character at the mall — one of the holiest places to spend Christmas, second only to churches — and they create a doomed arrangement to platonically spend holidays together from then on.

“The Christmas Chronicles 2”.

For Kurt Russell, the “Christmas Chronicles” movies, which star Darby Camp as a kid who helps Santa Claus save the day, are a family affair — stepson Oliver Hudson appeared in the first, while wife Goldie Hawn plays Mrs.

Aaron Tveit — the only actor to earn a Tony nomination for his lead performance in a musical this year — plays a prince staying at a Connecticut inn run by the family of a lovely young woman (Laura Osnes) who, of course, is unaware of his royal status.

This is the film to watch for Broadway fans, as it also stars Victoria Clark, Krystal Joy Brown and Tom McGowan.

“The Christmas House”.

Jonathan Bennett, who you may recognize as Aaron Samuels from “Mean Girls” even without his hair pushed back, stars opposite Brad Harder in Hallmark’s first holiday movie to feature a gay couple.

Candace Cameron Bure plays a bubbly publicist who teams up with a grumpy businessman (Warren Christie) to help a charity and, presumably, spread holiday cheer.

The Mowry sisters returned to households across the country when “Sister Sister” hit Netflix earlier this year, and Tamera Mowry-Housley is extending that presence into the holiday season.

This extremely ’90s movie stars Melissa Joan Hart as the host of a podcast about holiday romances who has tragically never experienced one of her own — that is, until she meets a local firefighter (Jason Priestley) before heading out on a book tour.

“The Christmas Setup”.

Christmas movies get the tiniest bit more diverse each year, and “The Christmas Setup” marks Lifetime’s first to center on a gay romance.

The film was co-written and directed by Clea DuVall and stars Dan Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”) as Stewart’s best friend