- The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Nightmare Before Christmas had a spot on the Halloween movies you should watch, and it deserves one here as well. Although we follow skeletons and other Halloween creatures, their journey throughout the story is learning the meaning of Christmas. This movie is fun, wacky, and unapologetically creative, all qualities of your quintessential Christmas movie. Plus, it has a song about ways to kill Santa Claus. What’s better than that, right?
- Die Hard
It is heavily debated on whether or not Die Hard should count as a Christmas movie, but in my humble opinion, I believe it should. It’s intense, it’s action-packed, and has a Christmas tree in the background of some scenes. It’s a perfect change of pace from all the other movies about Santa or elves or whatnot and should definitely be one of the top twelve movies you watch before Christmas.
- A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas is an absolute classic. That pathetic little tree. The decorated doghouse. It’s a fun little movie about our favorite blockhead and our war-torn dog. A bonus of this movie is that it’s only 30 minutes in runtime. It’s a great bitesize little movie to watch as you decorate your Christmas tree, do chores, or make Christmas cookies. Definitely needs a spot on your list.
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)
How The Grinch Stole Christmas is another 30-minute movie that is a quintessential part of the holidays. Although almost 60 years old, it still really holds up. Two remakes later, it still emerges triumphant as the best of the three in my opinion. Straight from Dr. Seuss’ library of works, it of course has a great message and way of conveying its morals. Great little movie definitely deserves a watch this December.
- A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a story that everybody knows. Almost 180 years old and by a world-renowned author, the story is a magnet for adaptations throughout the years. Plenty of shows or movies are structured as parodies or reinventions of the story with original characters in them in place of old. However, for me at least, I think the original story is the best version. The movie from 2009 is a great film adaptation of Dicken’s source material and encapsulates all the best and most noteworthy aspects from the original. It’s chilling and dark, but beautiful and very festive throughout. A Christmas Carol is a very good film, one that definitely needs to be watched this December.
7 and 6. Prep & Landing and Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice
The Prep and Landing shorts are some of my personal favorites. Every year for as long as I can remember, we’d put these on while decorating the Christmas tree, a tradition that we still continue to this very day. Both are only around 25 minutes and are a super fun and easy watch. Both shorts are filled with such heart and depth, it’s impossible not to find them incredibly fun and endearing. For such short movies too, they’re surprisingly deep and complex. Wayne is the main character, and he has a very solid and well-done arc. He grows as a person (or elf) throughout, and by the ending of the first one, he’s had such a beautiful character arc, all you can do is smile. The second one continues this too. A personal pet peeve of mine is when in sequels, the main characters regress, because their arcs were finished in the first one. They have to regress to a child, just to tell the same story over again. Iron Man 2 is a perfect example. But with Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice, I really think they stuck the landing with Wayne again. He still has a great arc, but his more self-assured and snarkier attitude is to combat his brother’s unwelcomed presence on a mission with him. It makes sense, and really feels like a great follow-up. Great movies, and I 100% recommend them.
- A Christmas Story
A Christmas Story is another classic that definitely deserves recognition. Just like Charlie Brown, this movie is littered with quotable lines and scenes. “You’ll shoot your eye out.” “Fragile.” Licking the lamppost. It’s a very funny classic with a ton of heart and great moments. If you’re looking for a movie to watch this December, I believe A Christmas Story is 100% worth your time, and deserves a spot on this top twelve.
4 and 3. Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
The Home Alone franchise has become so extensive now, all the newer movies feel devoid of any sort of charm or marvel. Home Alone 6, which came out in 2022, is the newest addition to the cannon, but none will ever hold a candle to the first two. Home Alone is a super sweet and heartfelt movie. It’s filled with charm, humor, and wacky hijinks that are so customary of Christmas movies today. The first one is great on its own. The traps are fun and original, and has some really sweet moments, like the one at the church. Great Christmas movie. The second one is good two. It’s essentially a rehash of the first one, but it takes place in New York City. I think it was unnecessary, but still a great addition that’s also unabashedly fun and sweet. Two very good movies that you should definitely watch.
- The Polar Express
I think I enjoy The Polar Express more than most people do. Whenever I think of Christmas, this movie is always what comes up. The animation is a little cursed in some areas, but everything else is very well done. The voice acting is great. The story is really fun and engaging. It’s a great Christmas movie, and very good movie in general too. I highly recommend you watch it this December.
- Elf
Elf might just be the best Christmas movie of all time. Will Arnett steals the show and puts all he has into such a ridiculous character. The jokes all land and are still apart of pop culture to this very day, almost twenty years later. “Smiling is my favorite.” The horrible spaghetti abomination. Buddy eating the gum. This movie also provides a really neat modern twist on Santa and the reindeer magic, that being the Christmas spirit being what fuels the sleigh. It may be a little basic for a #1 spot, but I do believe that it deserves the hype. Elf is a certified classic that is 100% deserving of all the hype. If there’s a Christmas movie to watch this year, there is a very solid case for Elf to be that one. Definitely recommend it.