It’s December and that means 2016 is FINALLY coming to an end (seriously, 2016, what on earth?). But before we shove 2016 out the door, the festive season comes beckoning upon us. The holidays can be a stressful time for many and sometimes this takes away the kick of what a great time it really is.
Luckily, I know a way to temporarily get rid of the bad feelings (and guilt from holiday shopping). And it’s by watching tons of Christmas flicks. Don’t know where to start? Fret not. I’ve got you covered with 15 Christmas themed movies – making this your ultimate Christmas couch potato guide:
1. Love Actually (2003) – The ultimate British rom-com’ from the early 2000s easily tops our list. Tying multiple love stories together, counting down to Christmas, it features most of rom-com royalty in the British film industry (Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Bill Nighy). What’s more, it features quite possibly the best cover of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” of all time. Love it or hate it, you can’t deny Love Actually‘s holiday charm.
2. Home Alone (1990) – What’s a couch potato holiday without replaying this classic from 1990? Macaulay Culkin plays an 8 year old who gets left behind to defend his home from burglars when his family accidentally leaves him behind and jets off to France without him. Besides giving you a flashback of life without cellphones (ah, the good old days), this movie is pure fun and focuses on the importance of family during the holidays.
3. Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) – Not the cartoon, but the live-action film featuring Jim Carrey and a very young Taylor Momsen. This is one of those holiday movies that you just have to watch every year. It’s a story everyone has come to love – The Grinch is just misunderstood, he doesn’t really hate Christmas. People just suck sometimes. End of story. And the movie makeup on Jim Carrey as The Grinch is #costumemakeupgoals.
4. Elf (2003) – Ahhh, what’s Christmas without a rerun of Elf, amirite? Will Ferrell stars as Buddy, an oversized elf who never seems to fit in at the North Pole – because he’s actually a human. In Jon Favreau’s modern Christmas comedy, Buddy heads to New York City to find his biological father and tries to make his way in the regular world. It doesn’t go so well because, well, his lived his whole life as an elf. This movie also stars Zooey Deschanel and a pre Game of Thrones Peter Dinklage.
5. Joyeux Noël (2005) – History buffs, this one’s for you. Based on the real story of the 1914 Christmas Eve truce between British, French, and German troops, Joyeux Noël tells of a wave of holiday spirit that led soldiers to drop their weapons for the night with a backdrop of World War 1. This movie is especially heartwarming and inspiring, considering the heated political climate globally.
6. The Best Man Holiday (2013) – There ain’t a better movie for plenty of eye-candy, solid performances and tears. The Best Man Holiday is about a group of friends at a reunion to celebrate Christmas together with all the side-dishes you need – food, drama, football and tragedy. The cast includes Terrence Howards, Regina Hall and Taye Diggs. The Best Man Holiday is a sequel to 1999’s The Best Man but tbh, this sequel is way better.
7. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) – The director of The Nightmare Before Christmas insists that it’s a Halloween movie – that’s not enough to stop us from watching this during Christmas. I mean, even Pumpkin King Jack Skellington believes that comfort and joy could be found in Christmastown and wanted to share the festivities that Sandy Claws brings to the little ghouls. Dark but, still Christmas. Also the soundtrack is bomb.
8. While You Were Sleeping (1995) – This ’90s favourite features Sandra Bullock as a hopeless romantic of a ticket-collector who fakes an engagement to an unconscious man and gets to know his family and eventually falls in love with the man’s brother, played by Bill Pullman. The movie is set during the Christmas season so it totally counts.
9. A Very Murray Christmas (2015) – This feel-good Netflix original assembles an A-list crowd to help Murray beat the Christmas blues. The cast list includes George Clooney, Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones and Maya Rudolph for a holiday sing-along.
10. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) – Maureen O’Hara stars as an over-worked single mother raising her daughter, Susan (Natalie Wood), to be a believer of facts, not fantasies. That all changes when they meet a departmental store Santa Claus who might just be the real deal. Edmund Gwenn sets the bar very high in his role as Kris Kringle, even winning an Oscar for his work. The film is pure Christmas magic from start to finish with an endearing reminder of the holiday spirit.
11. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) – I’m a huge Charlie Brown fan because he’s such an unlucky little kid (same) and it’s super hard to not love him. This holiday special is thought-provoking and heartwarming as it’s have you wondering if Christmas really is over-commercialised and misunderstood. You’ll also be wondering why a children’s cartoon pushes on such heavy life lessons (Why are you like this at 8, Charlie Brown?). But all’s well in the end when everyone gets together to help Charlie fix his little tree and sing a song together.
12. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) – Though the Muppet Show reboots aimed at adults fizzled out faster than ever, the Muppet movies are definitely something for the ages. In its first ever movie, The Mupper Christmas Carol was made after creator Jim Henson’s death, and that backstory makes the film even more heartwarming. Gonzo the Great (as Charles Dickens) narrates the story of Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Caine), who is shown the error of his ways by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Adding to the magic are Kermit and Miss Piggy as Mr. and Mrs. Cratchit, and Statler and Waldorf as Jacob Marley. Yep, two Jacob Marleys.
13. Die Hard (1998) – John McClane is an NYPD cop, played by Bruce Willis. And he’s just trying to get to a work party on Christmas Eve. However, he ends up fighting machine-gun-toting terrorists (led by the late Alan Rickman), walking barefoot over broken glass and crawling through vents to save hostages and, maybe, reconcile with his estranged wife. Watch this crowd-pleasing action film with bae for movie night, he’ll definitely enjoy it.
14. Mean Girls (2004) – So not technically a Christmas movie per se but Tina Fey’s hilarious 2004 comedy brought us so many memorable lines and funny moments. ‘Tis the season when you can’t receive a candy cane and not say to yourself, “You go, Glen Coco!” or see someone else get one and say, “And non for Gretchen Wieners.” Cady and The Plastics’ also performed the legendary and scandalous rendition of “Jingle Bell Rock.”
15. A Christmas Carol (1951) – Based on Charles Dickens’ 1843 tale, the 1951 version (and the first adaptation on film) sets the standard up high for other contenders that came after Alistair Sim’s incomparable representation of the Christmas-hating Ebenezer Scrooge. Sim’s subtle and believeable performance as a man on the road to redemption will have you engrossed throughout the film. Just try not to cry when Tiny Tim says “God bless us, one and all.”
