Ranking the popular "Christmas Tradition" movies
There's nothing better than sitting down to a good movie and letting your tummy work away on that food baby. Here are our pick of the best Christmas movies to binge this holiday season. Tell us your favourite by ranking the list!
Father Christmas
Raymond Briggs' 1982 animated movie is a wordless, beautifully illustrated classic that only the stone-hearted will not cry over. It is a story of friendship and love, and utterly Christmassy, but the end is heart-wrenching. The author's Father Christmas, however, features the same detailed drawing, but is hilarious. It tells the story of what Jolly Old St Nick gets up to on the 364 days that he's not delivering gifts.
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The Muppets Christmas Carol
#12.0The Muppet Christmas Carol is a winter classic - if you haven't seen this puppet version of the Charles Dickens story, then you haven't REALLY experienced the tale - or Christmas. The story is almost the same as the original, with a miserly Scrooge hating on the festive cheer, and the three ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come arriving to change his mind - but there are a few good old Muppet twists. Who doesn't love Miss Piggy's turn as Mrs Cratchit?!
It's a Wonderful Life
#22.7We can all relate to George Bailey, who thinks his life is so terrible that he contemplates suicide. Christmas, more than any other time of year, reminds us that there are always people who will be there to care for, love and appreciate us, even when it seems like all hope is lost.
Miracle on the 34th Street
#33.3Santa has to convince everyone that he really is Santa. This is a classic and always challenges our inner child to ask, but what if he really IS real...
Father Christmas
#44.3Raymond Briggs' 1982 animated movie is a wordless, beautifully illustrated classic that only the stone-hearted will not cry over. It is a story of friendship and love, and utterly Christmassy, but the end is heart-wrenching. The author's Father Christmas, however, features the same detailed drawing, but is hilarious. It tells the story of what Jolly Old St Nick gets up to on the 364 days that he's not delivering gifts.
Gremlins
#55.7Scary, yet also weirdly comforting and familiar at this time of year, Gremlins is a family fantasy film gone wild. A boy is given a cute and furry creature called Gizmo, with the strict instructions not to feed it after midnight. Obviously things go wrong, and you have the killer reptilian Gremlins on the rampage.
Love Actually
#66.0You've got drama, romantic love, family love, epic "rich boy falls in love with poor girl" love, one-sided love, lots of snow ... and an amaaazing cameo by Rowan Atkinson as the best salesperson to have ever existed.
The Holiday
#77.0Two girls having guy problems swap lives in this light-hearted rom com. With the all-star cast of Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black and Jude Law, it was bound to be a sucess. Just like Christmas is the perfect time to stop and forget about reality, this film offers the perfect escape from real life.
The Nightmare before Christmas
#88.0Okay, so this is technically not a Christmas film, but we'd argue it's not just for Halloween either. Who can resist Tim Burton's CLASSIC about the Pumpkin King's wish to share a little of all the joy that Christmas can bring?
Home Alone
#99.0Because it's fun to see all the fun and, on reflection, downright dangerous pranks Kevin McCallister pulls on Marv and Harry. And if nothing else, it's worth it for the part where he tells the pizza delivery man to "keep the change, ya filthy animal".
Elf
#1010.3After inadvertently wreaking havoc on the elf community due to his ungainly size, a man raised as an elf at the North Pole is sent to the U.S. in search of his true identity.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
#1111.3Repelled by the commercialism he sees around him, Charlie Brown tries to find the true meaning of Christmas.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
#1212.3The Griswold family's plans for a big family Christmas predictably turn into a big disaster.
Bad Santa
#1313.3A miserable conman and his partner pose as Santa and his Little Helper to rob department stores on Christmas Eve. But they run into problems when the conman befriends a troubled kid, and the security boss discovers the plot.
A Christmas Story
#1414.3In the 1940s, a young boy named Ralphie attempts to convince his parents, his teacher, and Santa that a Red Ryder B.B. gun really is the perfect Christmas gift.
Scrooged
#1515.3A selfish, cynical T.V. executive is haunted by three spirits bearing lessons on Christmas Eve.
Scrooge
#1616.3Scrooge, the ultimate Victorian miser, hasn't a good word for Christmas, though his impoverished clerk Cratchit and nephew Fred are full of holiday spirit. But in the night, Scrooge is visited by spirits of another color.
The Grinch
#1717.0The Grinch and his loyal dog, Max, live a solitary existence inside a cave on Mount Crumpet. His main source of aggravation comes during Christmastime when his neighbors in Whoville celebrate the holidays with a bang. When the Whos decide to make Christmas bigger and brighter, the disgruntled Grinch realizes there is one way to gain peace and quiet. With help from Max, the green grump hatches a scheme to pose as Santa Claus, steal Christmas and silence the Whos' holiday cheer once and for all.
White Christmas
#1817.3A successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general.
Holiday Affair
#1918.3A young widow is romanced by a sales clerk whom she inadvertently got fired.
How the Grinch stole Christmas
#2019.3On the outskirts of Whoville, there lives a green, revenge-seeking Grinch who plans on ruining the Christmas holiday for all of the citizens of the town.
Holiday Inn
#2120.3At an inn which is only open on holidays, a crooner and a hoofer vie for the affections of a beautiful up-and-coming performer.
Arthur Christmas
#2221.3Santa's clumsy son Arthur sets out on a mission with St. Nick's father to give out a present they misplaced to a young girl in less than 2 hours.
Meet me in St. Louis
#2322.3In the year leading up to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, the four Smith daughters learn lessons of life and love, even as they prepare for a reluctant move to New York.
The Shop around the corner
#2423.3Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand each other, without realizing that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
#2524.3A man must struggle to travel home for Thanksgiving with an obnoxious slob of a shower curtain ring salesman as his only companion.
The Polar Express
#2625.3On Christmas Eve, a young boy embarks on a magical adventure to the North Pole on the Polar Express, while learning about friendship, bravery, and the spirit of Christmas.
Eloise at Christmastime
#2726.3A 6-year-old girl tries to reunite a young woman with a former boyfriend before she marries another.
Babes in Toyland
#2827.3A young girl wakes up in the realm of Toyland, where she teams up with her family and friends to overthrow the evil villain named, Barnaby.
Die Hard
#2928.3John McClane, officer of the NYPD, tries to save his wife Holly Gennaro and several others that were taken hostage by German terrorist Hans Gruber during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.
A Christmas Carol
#3029.3An animated retelling of Charles Dickens' classic novel about a Victorian-era miser taken on a journey of self-redemption, courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions.
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
#3130.3A misfit reindeer and his friends look for a place that will accept them.
Serendipity
#3231.3A couple search for each other years after the night they first met, fell in love, and separated, convinced that one day they'd end up together.
It Happened On 5th Avenue
#3332.3A homeless New Yorker moves into a mansion and along the way he gathers friends to live in the house with him. Before he knows it, he is living with the actual home owners.
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