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HughesReviews: The Ten Best Christmas Movies of All-Time

| December 24th, 2019

This year I started watching holiday films on the day before Thanksgiving, opening with the wonderful Home for the Holidays and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. A month later, I’ve sat through just about every Christmas movie, TV special and Christmas sitcom episode there is to sit through. 68 in total. Before getting to my ten favorites, a few notes.

  • I can’t deal with It’s a Wonderful Life. It’s just so damn dreary. I know it’s beloved but not by me.
  • No, A Christmas Story is not on this list. And I recognize that will be an issue for many but this is my list and I legitimately dislike that movie.
  • Those stop motion pictures creep me out. Year Without Santa Claus, Rudolph…etc.
  • Can’t an argument be made that A Christmas Carol is the greatest book ever written? Look at how many brilliant interpretations of that novel have been created (two on this list alone).
  • Even the non-great films produce some beautiful scenes:
    • Mila Kunis and Christine Baranski in the church at the end of Bad Moms Christmas.
    • Seth Rogen tripping out at the sight of a crucified Jesus in The Night Before.
    • Nic Cage coming clean to the town in Trapped in Paradise.
    • Schwarzenegger rifling off the names of the reindeer in Jingle All the Way.
    • Tim Allen giving the cruise to his neighbors in Christmas with the Kranks.
    • John Lithgow’s scenery chewing in Santa Claus the Movie.
    • Danny Elfman’s great tunes in Nightmare Before Christmas.

The list, with clips and such instead of writing. All of these movies are known.


#10 Die Hard


#9 Bad Santa


#8 Home Alone


#7 Gremlins


#6 The Ref


#5 A Very Murray Christmas


#4 Scrooged


#3 National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation


#2 ELF


#1 The Muppet Christmas Carol

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