Nothing will get you in the Christmas spirit faster than watching a great holiday movie. Almost everyone had a holiday movie they loved growing up. Sometimes, you discover that those movies remain as great as you always thought they were. Other times, though, you discover that the best Christmas movies are not the same as the ones you might have grown up on.
Christmas movies can sometimes be kind of cheesy, but fear not, we’ve compiled a list of funny, occasionally dark, totally classic Christmas movies that, yes, sometimes also offer the occasional bit of sweetness. Don’t worry, though, none of them get too saccharine.
From sipping on candy-themed cocktails to carving a delicious honey-baked ham, every family has its own holiday traditions they never skip. For many, that involves putting on a Christmas classic after the dishes are washed and the leftovers are put away. Here are the best Christmas movies to put on your radar, when the time comes:
A Christmas Story (1983)
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
Scrooged (1988)
Elf (2003)
Home Alone (1990)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)
White Christmas (1954)
Bad Santa (2003)
Trading Places (1983)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Love Actually (2003)
The Holdovers (2023)
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