Watching Christmas movies is a time-honored tradition in many families, and the variety of movies available for your holiday enjoyment seems to be increasing each year.
Here, we’ve compiled five of the most popular Christmas movies ever (although they’re just the tip of a large Christmas movie iceberg), along with five holiday-themed movies you might have forgotten about, but that are equally as enjoyable as the favorites.
So, go ahead and enjoy bingeing on some holiday film candy this year. There’s something for everyone!
Five All-Time Favorites
It’s a Wonderful Life – Few films define Christmas like Frank Capra’s 1946 fantasy starring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, who, on the verge of committing suicide, is visited by an angel who shows him the true importance of his life. Both the classic black and white and the more recent colorized versions are available.
A Christmas Story – This is the beloved story of 9-year-old Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley), who wants nothing more for Christmas than a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. It takes place during the Depression-era, and is a classic like none other. Some networks even play it on a 24-hour loop during the holiday season.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – There’s nothing quite like a Griswold family Christmas. This comedy is the stuff of movie gold, featuring Clark (Chevy Chase), Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo), Audrey (Juliette Lewis), and Rusty Griswold’s (Johnny Galecki) and their mishap-plagued family holiday get-together.
White Christmas – This 1954 musical favorite by Irving Berlin features Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye as entertainers who team up with two sisters (Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen) to help their former military commander save his Vermont lodge. It’s full of music and dancing and 50s-era slang that you might need to Google to understand.
A Christmas Carol – Still the finest adaptation of Charles Dickens’ legendary tale, this superb 1951 feature charts the familiar Christmas Eve ordeal of mean miser Ebenezer Scrooge (Alastair Sim), who’s visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. Many versions of this movie have been made, and all are wonderful. But, come on… Alastair Sim was the best Scrooge ever.
Five More Fun Holiday Movies to Watch
Love Actually – Released in 2003, this romantic comedy follows the intertwined stories of various characters in the build up to December 25, and has become a bona fide Christmas classic. The cast is a veritable who’s-who of British acting elite, including Kiera Knightley, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, the late, great Alan Rickman, and so many more. It’s an absolutely wonderful film.
Gremlins – Sure, they look cute and fuzzy at first, but don’t be fooled. There’s far more naughtiness than niceness in this 1984 horror comedy in which a cute, mystical Chinese creature known as a “mogwai” named Gizmo, when fed after midnight or touched by water, gives bubbling birth to monsters.
Emmet Otter’s Jug-Bank Christmas – Emmet and Ma Otter are very poor, but they are happy and talented singers. This otter family risks everything for the chance to win the cash prize of a talent contest for Christmas. Created by the magic of Jim Henson, this children’s classic was nominated for four Prime-Time Emmys.
The Ref – Caroline and Lloyd (Judy Davis and Kevin Spacey) are a married couple constantly at each other’s throats. Indeed, they are so obsessed with belittling each other that they never stop – not even at gunpoint. Such is the premise of the comedy, which shows what happens when this quarrelsome duo is taken hostage by Gus (Denis Leary), a thief on the run from the police.
Last Holiday – Georgia Byrd has always played it safe in her life, until she is mistakenly diagnosed with a terminal illness. She decides to take her savings and embark on a European vacation to meet her culinary inspiration, renowned Chef Didier (Gérard Depardieu). Queen Latifah shines all through this movie as the main character, and you can’t help but fall in love with Sean, played by LL Cool J.
