Here are 55 of our favourite Christmas movies from the past 75+ years. Now all you need are movie snacks (a.k.a Christmas cookies and festive drinks)!
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1. A Christmas Story
There’s a reason why TBS plays A Christmas Story for 24 hours straight every Christmas. This classic gave us the infamous leg lamp, Red Ryder BB guns, and most importantly taught us to never lick a frozen pole.
2. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Funny men Steve Martin and John Candy team up for a classic holiday tale gone awry. Released in 1987, this film features these two comedians at their best — two rivals trapped in the car on their way home for the holidays.
3. Love Actually
Just like Elf, this 2003 romantic comedy that follows the love stories of almost a dozen couples throughout the holiday season has quickly become part of the classic canon of Christmas movies.
4. A Charlie Brown Christmas
In this timeless cartoon, Charlie Brown seeks out the true meaning of Christmas with the help of his friends, dog, and one tiny Christmas tree.
5. Holiday Affair
Set in and around a New York department store during the holiday season, this romantic comedy was a box office failure when it came out in 1949 but has since become a Christmas classic after repeated airings on TCM over the years.
6. The Polar Express
The Polar Express (2004) features Tom Hanks in an animated adventure, based on the children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg. One little boy takes a magical train ride to the North Pole.
7. Four Christmases
Christmas has a way of bringing everyone together — even when you least expect it. In this modern Christmas movie, Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn play an unhappily married couple whose tropical holiday plans get derailed.
8. It’s a Wonderful Life
This 1946 Frank Capra film isn’t just one of the best Christmas movies of all time — it’s one of the best movies in general, considering it was nominated for six Academy Awards and it ranks number 11 on the American Film Institute’s original list of the 100 Greatest American Films Of All Time.
9. Home Alone
After Kevin McCallister’s family leaves him behind by accident while they go on Christmas vacation, the 8-year-old comes up with a brilliant — and hilarious — scheme to prevent burglars from robbing his house.
10. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Kevin McCallister’s family manages to leave him behind yet again and this time around he ends up in New York City where he manages to outwit the Wet Bandits one more time.
11. Eloise at Christmastime
The holiday season isn’t complete with Julie Andrews. She stars in Eloise at Christmastimeas the nanny of a spunky 6-year-old named Eloise, who has a mission to reunite two young lovers — while chasing them around the Big Apple.
12. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
When Kris Kringle goes on trial he’ll have you (and especially your kids) believing that Santa is real.
13. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Dreading going home to visit your family this year? Watching this Chevy Chase movie will make anything your family does this Christmas seem totally normal in comparison.
14. Elf
Even though this movie only came out in 2003, this tale of a human man raised as an elf making his way in New York City has quickly become a holiday classic.
15. The Great Rupert
This classic, released in 1950, brings together two struggling families and a friendly squirrel named Rupert. Let’s just say, the holiday gets rather interesting.
16. White Christmas
When a pair of army pals who become big time stars (Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye) team up with two sisters (Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen) there’s nothing that can stop them from saving their former general’s Vermont inn, except for a busybody receptionist and a snowless Christmas.
17. The Nightmare Before Christmas
Tim Burton blends Christmas and Halloween together in his 1993 stop-motion film in a way that’s both spooky and heartwarming all at the same time.
18. Babes in Toyland (1961)
Disney reinterpreted the classic Christmas tale about the residents of Toyland in Technicolor in this 1961 musical starring Annette Funicello.
19. Die Hard
Does your best friend/dad/significant other refuse to watch Love Actually with you? Then this action movie about an office Christmas party taken over by terrorists might just be the solution. Yippee-ki-yay!
20. Holiday Inn
This 1942 Irving Berlin musical starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire features a song for each holiday of the year but begins and ends with Christmas.
21. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)
While this 1966 TV short is just 26 minutes long, it would be a Christmas travesty to not include this classic on this list. (Plus, it’s good for little kids with short attention spans!)
22. The Santa Clause
When a divorced businessman accidentally kills Santa, he must take over the role in this 1994 movie starring Tim Allen.
23. The Muppet Christmas Carol
If you want to introduce your kids to the classic Christmas tale, start them with this musical featuring all their favourite Muppets like Kermit and Gonzo playing Dickens’s characters.
24. A Christmas Carol (1951)
There are too many film adaptations of Charles Dickens’s Christmas story to count, but this 1951 version (originally called Scrooge when it was first released) is considered to be the best version according to New York Times film critic A.O. Scott.
25. The Holiday
This romantic comedy about house-swappers finding love abroad will make you want to spend next Christmas in a charming English cottage (and make out with Jude Law).
26. Gremlins
After a boy breaks three important rules, a cute and fuzzy present spawns evil offspring that ruin Christmas Eve is this comic horror movie.
27. Arthur Christmas
When Santa’s son loses one little girl’s Christmas present, he teams up with his grandfather to make sure it gets there in time in this heartwarming animated film.
Related: 14 animated movies every parent needs to watch with their kids
28. Trading Places
This modernised version of Mark Twain’s The Prince and The Pauper set during the holidays stars Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy.
29. The Family Stone
This 2005 Christmas flick features an all-star cast that includes Sarah Jessica Parker, Luke Wilson, and Diane Keaton.
30. Joyeux Noel
You might not have heard of this French film about the Christmas truce during WWI, but it’s worth watching. It was even nominated for the best foreign language Academy Award in 2006.
31. The Bishop’s Wife
Cary Grant plays an angel in this 1947 movie that inspired the ’90s remake The Preacher’s Wife starring Denzel Washington and Whitney Houston.
32. 3 Godfathers
There aren’t many Christmas Westerns, but this 1948 John Wayne movie about the redemption of three outlaws helps fill that void.
33. Jingle All the Way
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad as dads competing to get their sons the most popular Christmas toy of the year, this 1996 movie is as silly — and fun — as it sounds.
34. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
While it isn’t exactly a heartwarming tale, this dark comedy does begin with Robert Downey Jr.’s character robbing a store to get the toy his kid wants the most for Christmas, so it totally counts as a holiday movie.
35. A Christmas Tale
Even if you haven’t heard of this 2008 French film before, this family drama set during Christmas starring Catherine Deneuve is worth adding to your must-watch list.
36. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
While this Rankin/Bass stop-motion animated film is technically just a TV special, it is such a classic it’s been aired every single year since it debuted in 1964.
37. It Happened On 5th Avenue
Set during the holidays in New York, this classic black-and-white film is about a homeless man who squats in a 5th Avenue mansion while the owners are wintering somewhere warmer.
38. Lethal Weapon
It’s easy to forget that “Lethal Weapon” takes place during Christmas, but considering it starts with “Jingle Bell Rock” and ends with “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” feel free to add this one to your December lineup if you’re an action movie fan.
39. Bad Santa
Leave this dark comedy for after the kids go to bed and you want a good laugh.
40. Remember the Night
When Barbara Stanwyck’s character in this 1940 rom-com gets arrested for shoplifting right before Christmas, it’s up to the D.A. played by Fred MacMurray to help her get out of jail.
41. Frosty the Snowman
This is another Rankin/Bass TV special from the ’60s that deserves its own place on this list.
42. Serendipity
Some might not consider this romantic comedy a holiday film, but considering the whole plot of the movie is set in motion over a Christmas shopping meet-cute we think it warrants a re-watch in December.
43. Batman Returns
It’s not the most obvious choice, but Tim Burton’s second Batman movie is, in fact, a Christmas movie. Set during the holidays in Gotham, this superhero flick features a Christmas tree lighting, a holiday party, and one giant present filled with confetti and nefarious criminals.
44. Babes in Toyland (1934)
While this version of Babes in Toyland has some of the same songs, it has a totally different plot starring Laurel and Hardy as two toymakers.
45. Christmas in Connecticut
Barbara Stanwyck stars in the 1945 romantic comedy about a writer who lies about her perfect (and fictitious) life in the country in her articles. She must figure out how to cover her tracks when her boss and a returning war hero invite themselves over for Christmas dinner.
46. Eyes Wide Shut
Though Stanley Kubrick’s last movie doesn’t exactly embody the Christmas spirit, it does take place during the Christmas season. If you want a good laugh, watch this recut trailer that reimagines the movie as a family-friendly Christmas flick.
47. Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
An excellent reimagining of the 1947 original starring Richard Attenborough as Kris Kringle.
48. Mixed Nuts
This 1994 Nora Ephron drama comedy stars Steve Martin as the director of a crisis hotline on Christmas Eve.
49. Meet Me in St. Louis
This movie takes places over the course of an entire year so it’s not entirely a holiday movie, but we couldn’t exclude the movie that gave us ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,’ could we?
50. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
The Grinch finally got a feature-length film in 2000 when Jim Carrey took the lead in this whimsical Christmas tale.
51. In Bruges
Christmas is mentioned only a few times in this movie, but if you’re not in the mood for a family flick or a rom-com, try this dark comedy set during the holiday season instead.
52. A Christmas Carol (1938)
One of the earlier (and better) full-length film adaptations of the Charles Dickens classic.
53. 8 Women
You’ve probably never heard of this movie, but imagine if Clue was set during Christmas in the French countryside and starred Catherine Deneuve. Sounds pretty great, non?
54. Scrooged
This modernised version of A Christmas Carol stars Bill Murray as a curmudgeonly TV executive who learns the true meaning of Christmas.
55. The Shop Around the Corner
The plot of this 1940 black and white Christmas film is pretty much the same as You’ve Got Mail — just swap emails for letters and Tom Hanks for Jimmy Stewart and there you have it.
From: Good Housekeeping US
PHOTO: iStock/valentinrussanov
