A Few of My Favorite Things: Christmas Movies

There are a lot of things that make the Christmas season my favorite time of the year. Among them are the really good Christmas movies that we pull off of the shelf, dust off, and watch on our almost-vintage DVD player. I like my Christmas movie collection because I only spent money on movies I really enjoy. I'm missing a few from my favorites collection, but with several streaming services that offer holiday movies now, I don't feel the need to try to track down the stray DVDs I need to complete my collection.

There are probably as many opinions on what makes a Christmas movie great as there are Christmas movies made. I think that's what's fun about favorites. Everyone has ideas on what they like (and don't like) and are able to enjoy them.

Here are my Top 10 Favorite Christmas Movies. In the spirit of Ron Swanson, agree with them or don't. You're an adult capable of making your own decisions. (Deep down though, I do hope you agree with them).

Warning: There are spoilers in many of the write ups for these movies. If you haven't seen a movie and you don't want the plot ruined, stop reading, go watch the movie, then come back and agree with me on how great the movie was.

Honorable Mention (Movies I like but couldn't squeeze into my Top 10):

Christmas with the Kranks

Have you ever just wanted to skip the craziness and stress of Christmas? There have been times I thought that sounded like a nice idea. This movie, based off of the John Grisham book, Skipping Christmas, is a funny take on what that might look like if you tried to skip Christmas one year. Plus, I'm a sucker for any Christmas movie that has Tim Allen in it.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

A Charlie Brown Christmas isn't technically a movie as much as it is a tv special, but its yearly airing around Christmas time is a long-standing television tradition. Now that I'm a parent and watch this through a different filter, I can't say I love the way the other kids treat and speak to Charlie Brown throughout the special. I certainly wouldn't be ok with my kids talking to someone that way. However, I do love that Charles Shultz uses Charlie Brown's disastrous Christmas efforts, as well as Linus, to remind us of what Christmas is really all about.

My Top 10:

It's a Wonderful Life

I feel like many people can relate to George Bailey in this 1946 classic. George is a hardworking, caring man who loves his family and those around him. Life wasn't easy for him growing up and in his adult years, but he tried really hard to make the best of things. As we see as the movie unfolds, sometimes the difficulties of life can pile up all at once and cause us to question whether we've even made a difference or mattered. Thanks to an angel named Clarence, George gets a look at life in his town if hadn't been around. He's reminded that through all of the struggles he's endured along the way, he really has made a difference in the lives of others and that when we are at our lowest, there's always hope.

A Christmas Carol

There are many takes on main characters in movies who seemed to have lost their way, especially when it comes to Christmas. There have been several adaptations of this Charles Dickens classic. My personal favorite is The Muppet Christmas Carol, but I really loved all things Muppets from my childhood. Ebenezer Scrooge is probably the most famous character who lost his way only to go on a personal journey that helps him to see the world in a completely different way and make the choice to change for the better. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a good comeback story.

The Nativity Story

At least once a year, if not more often, it really is good to be reminded about how this whole Christmas thing began. God, in his great love, sent his Son to be born and live among us. This is where the name, Immanuel, comes from. It literally means, "God with us." What an amazing thing that the eternal God and Creator of all things "stepped out of heaven" to walk among us in our broken world. What's even more amazing is that this wasn't just some interesting social experiment for Him. He used His time on earth to point all of us back to God and sacrificed Himself once and for all so we could have our sins wiped away and have our broken relationship with God restored. This is what Linus wanted to remind us all of in A Charlie Brown Christmas and it's good to remember and thank God for this first Christmas story often.

The Grinch

There have been a small handful of adaptations of Dr. Suess's original story. My personal favorite is the 2018 version. As a parent, I like how it balanced the "bad and ugly" of the Grinch with some humor and fun. This film was created by Illumination which is the same studio that made the Despicable Me/Minion movies which I find absolutely hilarious. Also, as mentioned earlier, I like a good change-of-heart story, and the Grinch goes from hating all things Christmas to finding love, acceptance, and the satisfaction in putting others' needs before his own.

The Santa Clause

Growing up in the 80s and 90s, I absolutely loved the tv show Home Improvement. Tim Allen was a brilliant comedian and he helped create a show that I found hilarious and, at the same time, my parents were ok with me watching. Tim channels his inner-Toolman in this great family Christmas movie as Scott Calvin. Scott has the misfortune of accidentally becoming Santa Claus after his role in the previous Santa's demise. However, after a rocky year as the new Santa leading up to the next Christmas, Scott realizes the happiness he enjoys by bringing happiness to others and he embraces his new calling. Disney created 2 more Santa Clause movies after this one, and while I enjoy them as well, the original remains my favorite.

A Christmas Story

This might be one of the more recognizable Christmas movies in mainstream culture today. From the main character, Ralphie's, never-ending quest to get a Red Rider BB Gun for Christmas, to a Triple Dog Dare leading to a tongue stuck to a pole, to a Major Award, to pink bunny pajamas… There are so many great moments in this movie that are still at play in the form of gifs, memes, and parodies. This movie is about the Christmas experiences of a boy, his family, and navigating it all at Christmas time, and it's really funny too.

A Muppet Family Christmas

As I mentioned earlier, I loved the Muppets as a kid. I re-watched The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan on repeat until I wore out the VHS tapes we had them on. Like most kids in my generation, I also grew up on Sesame Street and the great characters from that show. Before I even knew what a crossover episode was I always wanted to see what would happen if the Muppets and Sesame Street crews ever hung out together. In 1987, Jim Henson finally gave us the moment I had been waiting for, and, to make it even better, he did it in the form of a Family Christmas Special. This special has humor, heart, Christmas carols, and all the great things I remember about the Muppets (and Sesame Street) that I loved as a kid. My family and I continue to watch this each Christmas.

Christmas Vacation

I'm not sure there's a more quotable Christmas movie out there. To this day, many of the lines from this movie live on, both in conversations and on the internet. After embarking on disastrous vacations across the U.S. and Europe, Clark Griswold tries to host his own special family Christmas get together. As with most things that Clark does, his heart is in the right place but he manages to get it all wrong. While Clark bungles his way through his dream Christmas vacation it's hard not to empathize with him through all of the awkward conversations with family, coworkers, and neighbors. He just wants to see the old fashioned family Christmas he's always dreamt about come to reality. This isn't a movie I watch with my kids, but it's one I try to find a way to enjoy each year.

Elf

This is definitely my favorite character that Will Farrell has played. Buddy the Elf is infinitely better than DeAngelo Vickers from Season 7 of The Office (don't get me started on that). Farrell's Buddy is goofy, wide-eyed innocent, generally happy, optimistic, and very funny. He might rival the character in our last movie's excitement for Christmas. Buddy loves Christmas and wants to bring Christmas cheer to everyone he meets. Unfortunately, the reunion he has with his birth father and family doesn't work out the way he hopes. In a moment that pays homage to George Bailey on a bridge over a river, Buddy gets the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the people he loves when he was convinced he didn't fit in anywhere. Plus, even after watching it every year, our family still laughs out loud at many moments in the movie.

Home Alone

From the moment I first saw this as a kid, I loved this movie. It feels very Christmas-y at its core. It has great Christmas music, takes place in my favorite city (Chicago), has lots of twists and turns, has slapstick comedy that my kids really love, has a cameo from a great comedian (John Candy), and has a great feel-good ending where all the characters (with maybe the exception of Buzz) learn a lesson about family and how much a family matters, even when they get on your nerves. If I were only allowed to watch one Christmas movie for the rest of my life, I think this is the one I would pick.

So there's my list. Pretty good, right? What are your Top 10 Christmas movies? Did any of mine make your list? Which ones of mine don't you like? Feel free to make your own list in the comments section.

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