Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 11/08/23

Your Great American Pure Flix’s Great American 2023 Christmas movie guide is here. In a year in which hopeful holiday stories are perhaps more yearned for than ever, the newly-merged company continues to unfurl its impressive 2023 slate of family-friendly fare. Here are some of the highlights of what’s available this month. Click on the titles to view the trailers.

I Can Only Imagine (streaming now for a limited time)
The box office hit tells the inspiring and unknown true story behind the beloved, chart-topping song from the popular Christian group MercyMe.

B&B Merry (streaming now)
Travel blogger Tracey ( Jen Lilley, Days of Our Lives) is invited by Graham Cooper (Jesse Hutch, Snowmance) to a Christmas getaway for the family’s small bed and breakfast which is facing tough competition from a hotel resort that has been stealing guests and threatening its survival.

Twas the Tex Before Christmas (streaming now)
An unexpected text message sent to the wrong number sets into motion a Christmas tradition. Merritt Patterson (Stepping into Love) and Trevor Donovan (A Harvest Homecoming) star.

Journey to Christmas (streaming now)
While on a charity press tour, a model (Ash Tsai) ends up stranded by the weather at the family home of the driver (Joey Heyworth) she hired to assist her for the week.

A Christmas…Present (streaming now)
Real-estate mom Maggie Larson (Candace Cameron Bure, Fuller House) takes her family to spend Christmas with her brother and his daughter – who both have different expectations for their holidays.

A Belgian Chocolate Christmas (streaming now)
There’s a case of mistaken identity when a photographer takes her friend’s place at a Belgian culinary school at Christmas and connects with the leading chocolatier.

Buttons: A Christmas Tale (streaming now)
Two guardian angels (Dick Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury) help a pair of  orphan girls whose only wish is to find a home for Christmas. The all-star one-time Fathom Event, narrated  by Robert Redford and Kate Winslet, also features Ioan Gruffurd (Fantastic Four), Robert Picardo (Star Trek: Voyager), John de Lancie (Star Trek), Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman) and Charles Shaughnessy (The Nanny).

Legacy Peak (streaming now)
Jason (Lucas Black, Birthright Outlaw), a man of faith, will need every bit of it when his plan to fly the two children of the widowed woman he plans to propose to at his would-be father-in-law’s rural home on Christmas goes awfully awry thanks to a very annoying flock of birds.

Veggie Tales: Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas (streaming now)
Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber are going all out to make it the best Christmas ever at the Spring Valley Mall. With music, decorations and a light show like no other, it’s an all-out spectacle to outshine the competition – but a little girl with a big heart changes everything when she shows them all what Christmas is really about.

Veggie Tales: It’s a Meaningful Life (streaming now)
A Veggie Tales take on It’s Wonderful Life.

Veggie Tales: The Star of Christmas (streaming now)
Set in 1880s London, Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber play jingle writers Cavis Appythart and Millward Phelps who set out to produce a musical titled The Princess and the Plumber that they plan to open on Christmas Eve. The pair soon find themselves in competition with the children at nearby St. Bart’s Church who are planning a Christmas play of their own, one based on The Nativity.

Veggie Tales: Christmas Sing-Along Songs (streaming now)
Special featuring songs from the VeggieTales episodes and the album A Very Veggie Christmas.

And coming…

A Brush with Christmas (begins streaming tomorrow, Nov. 9)
Wyatt (Joseph Cannata) tries to find the mysterious painter (Jillian Murray, An Unlikely Angel) whose work stole his heart at the local Christmas art festival.

Christmas Keepsake (begins streaming Nov. 10)
A father (Daniel Lissing, When Calls the Heart) bonds with his daughter and stumbles upon an unexpected romance while tracking down the original owner of a Christmas time capsule. Also starring Jillian Murray.

A Christmas Blessing (begins streaming Nov. 16)
Renowned TV star Mandy Gilmore (Lori Loughlin, When Calls the Heart) says goodbye to her hit culinary series A World of Food with plans to travel the globe dining in all 142 Michelin star restaurants. Before jetting to Paris, Mandy stops in Milwaukee with the deed to Angel’s Fare, her deceased Aunt Susie’s food pantry that was recently purchased by adjacent business owner Adam Carraway (JamesTupper). A simple transaction – or so it seems.

A Dash of Christmas (begins streaming Nov. 17)
To apply for her dream job at a foodie startup, an executive (Laura Osnes) must learn to bake. When she recruits a handsome baker to help her (Christopher Russell), she inadvertently ends up entered in a Christmas Bakeoff.

An Angelic Christmas (streaming Nov. 18)
The angel Celest (Karen Abercrombie, Eleanor’s Bench) enlists two sisters in her quest to earn her angel wings.

Destined at Christmas (streaming Nov. 22)
Kim (Shae Robins) and Theo (Casey Elliott) meet in the midst of Black Friday shopping madness and there’s a definite spark between them. When a power outage causes some panic at a store, the couple gets separated. With Christmas coming, there are plenty of distractions but neither Kim nor Theo can forget the other. Both yearn to find each other with only a little information to go on.

Destined 2: Christmas Once More (streaming Nov. 30)
In this sequel, Theo (Elliott) continues to miss connecting with his girlfriend Kim (Robins) as he attempts to propose at Christmas.

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.