The Ultimate Christmas Movie List
I had THE most fun putting together this post. Who doesn’t love Christmas movies, hot cocoa, and popcorn? It’s mid-December, so there’s no more putting it off: It’s time to truly get in the festive holiday mood that’s mandated every year — yes, even this year. And with everyone stuck at home this season, it’s safe to assume you’ll be turning to your streaming subscriptions and on-demand apps to fulfill your entertainment needs.
Want something festive to watch with your eggnog? A holiday romance while you decorate your tree? A music special while you fill out your shopping list? I am here to guide the way with a dozen holiday classics.
My hope in creating this list is two-fold: I hope that it makes me slow down to enjoy the holidays more this year, and also that it encourages you to stop what you’re doing to sit on the couch to laugh and enjoy a good holiday movie.
If I missed any movies, please let me know so I can add them to the list for next year! Enjoy!
A 2020 Christmas Movie Streaming Guide
The Holiday
Love Actually is a movie that follows 10 different stories starting 5 weeks before Christmas. And of course, this movie surrounds love around Christmas time.
Love Actually
Deck the halls is another funny movie. It features one family whose father named Steve is very serious about Christmas. But then another family moves in across the street and the father named Danny wants his house to be seen from space, which causes Steve and Danny to butt heads a little.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Do you dread having your in-laws visit for the holidays? Watching this Chevy Chase movie will make anything your family does at Christmas seem totally normal in comparison.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
In this timeless cartoon, Charlie Brown seeks out the true meaning of Christmas with the help of his friends, his dog and one tiny Christmas tree.
Home Alone
Next up is such a classic! Home alone is one of the first Christmas movies I want to watch every year. It follows a young boy named Kevin who was accidentally left Home Alone while his big family goes to Paris for Christmas and isn’t able to get back home because there aren’t any flights available. But when some thieves are planning on robbing his home Kevin decides to protect his family’s home from them. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen this movie, I’m still always laughing
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 and Red Ryder BB guns — and most importantly, it taught us to never lick a frozen pole.
The Family Stone
Chaos reigns when a son, intent on proposing to his uptight girlfriend, brings her home for Christmas and his entire family hates her, except for his off-beat brother, who is instantly smitten.
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.
Elf
This movie is the story of Buddy the elf. Buddy is actually human but when he was a baby at the orphanage he crawled into Santa’s sack and ended up in the North Pole and an elf there decided to raise him. Once buddy is older and working in the workshop, he doesn’t do as well as the other elves. He accidentally finds out that he’s actually human and sets of to New York to find his dad.
The Night Before
Once the kids go to bed, turn on this rated-R Christmas comedy about three best friends who are on the hunt for the ultimate holiday party — the “Nutcracker Ball”.
Miracle on 34th Street
This 1994 version of the classic film, starring Richard Attenborough as Kris Kringle, is an excellent reimagining of the 1947 original. One of the first Christmas movies I remember watching as a child, always a classic for me.
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
The movie Santa Claus Is Coming To Town is a stop motion movie that was released in 1970. It’s another version of how Santa Claus started. In this movie, it started when a family of toymakers found a baby and raised it themselves. When the boy grows older he decides to bring all the toys to children in a town too far for this family to go on their own. However, this boy runs into obstacles along the way.
Scrooged
This modernized version of A Christmas Carol stars Bill Murray as a curmudgeonly TV executive who learns the true meaning of Christmas.
Four Christmases
This movie is the story of Buddy the elf. Buddy is actually human but when he was a baby at the orphanage he crawled into Santa’s sack and ended up in the North Pole and an elf there decided to raise him. Once buddy is older and working in the workshop, he doesn’t do as well as the other elves. He accidentally finds out that he’s actually human and sets of to New York to find his dad.
The Family Man
An uptight, conservative businesswoman accompanies her boyfriend to his eccentric and outgoing family’s annual Christmas celebration and finds that she’s a fish out of water in their free-spirited way of life.
Die Hard
Even the biggest haters of Rom-Com can enjoy a Christmas movie when it includes Bruce Willis.
Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town
The movie Santa Claus Is Coming To Town is a stop motion movie that was released in 1970. It’s another version of how Santa Claus started. In this movie, it started when a family of toymakers found a baby and raised it themselves. When the boy grows older he decides to bring all the toys to children in a town too far for this family to go on their own. However, this boy runs into obstacles along the way.
Mixed Nuts
This 1994 Nora Ephron dramedy stars Steve Martin as the director of a crisis hotline on Christmas Eve.
While You Were Sleeping
Sandra Bullock charms in this one about a subway worker who saves a man’s life on Christmas Day, only to eventually fall in love with his brother.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Although this Rankin/Bass stop-motion animated film is technically just a TV special, it’s such a classic that it’s been aired every single year since it debuted in 1964. I owned it on DVD at one point, just love watching all of these films in the same era. The ornaments were a hit and sold out this year!
Babe’s in Toyland
Disney reinterpreted a classic Christmas tale in Technicolor with this 1961 musical starring Annette Funicello.
