Home Alone (1990)
Chances are you know this movie backwards, even if you've never seen it. Home Alone was a major hit at the time, leading child-star Macaulay Culkin to stardom, and somehow managed to stay in every Christmas movie list ever since. Maybe we’ll get tired of it someday, but not just yet.
The Polar Express (2004)
A Christmas classic if we ever saw one. Robert Zemeckis’ motion-capture extravaganza is filled to the brim with Christmas spirit, from the setting to the music, from the visuals to the characters. There are spectacular sightings all throughout the movie, more than enough to keep children and adults entertained with all its magic.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
If you can forgive the departure from Dr. Seuss intelligent original text, there is still some enjoyable moments in this movie - notably, Jim Carrey perfect representation of the Grinch in a tremendously effective makeup work. The actor jumps, ducks, runs, sits and throws his legs up with such ease that it seems like he is was born to play the character. It’s a shame the movie doesn’t make justice to the original story by replacing it mostly with silly humor and an obvious message, but it makes up for that with an energetic performance by Jim Carrey, owning the movie every time he’s onscreen.
Arthur Christmas (2011)
Taking everyone by surprise in 2011, this animation quickly rose to a young classic status. Beautifully well-written, funny and intelligent, while managing to be suitable for kids and adults alike, Arthur Christmas is our newest Christmas classic for the new ages.
Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)
You could easily take this 25 minute short for granted just because it’s Disney, but this version of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol is as emotional, dark and beautiful as it had to be, with every Disney character taking the right parts and beautifully retelling this already classic Christmas story.
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
It’s Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol once again, but this time with the Muppets in a feature length film starring Michael Caine. The recipe for success was already written, and they sure didn’t let it slide: The Muppets Christmas Carol manages to be clever and funny as most Muppets productions while following most of the original story very closely.
A Christmas Story (1983)
At first, this was considered to be just a sleeper movie, but after the tame initial reception during Thanksgiving in 1983, the movie found its audience as soon as Christmas came that same year. Now, every year since 1997, TNT and/or TBS runs a marathon of A Christmas Story for 24 hours during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. However tired you may be of this movie at this point, no one doubts it’s a Christmas classic for the ages.
Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
Some people still argue that this John Hughes produced remake is better than the original from 1947, and it’s not hard to see why. Miracle On 34th Street is a deliciously feel-good movie brimming with Christmas spirit from start to finish, as we follow the story of a little girl trying to prove ~in a court of law~ that Santa Claus is real. It’s light-hearted, enjoyable and incredibly inspiring.
Honorable Mention: Die Hard (1988)
Die Hard is not exactly the kind of movie to get you into Christmas spirit with the family (it’s too violent for kids), but the holiday backdrop to the movie’s intense action certainly gives it a special kind of charm, making it the perfect choice to spark that sensitive Christmas spirit in the hearts of action-loving and women - with guns and explosions, granted, but still, Christmas spirit nonetheless.
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