Top Ten Tuesday – My Ten Favorite Movies to Watch During the Holiday Season

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!

This week’s TTT topic is actually Holiday Reads (Books you love reading during the holiday season.).  I really did try to do this week’s topic, but I honestly couldn’t think of ten books that I like to read during the holiday season.  I’m not a big re-reader anyway so A Christmas Carol is the only book that really came to mind aside from children’s books, which I haven’t read since my son outgrew most of my favorites.  So yeah, I ended up going rogue this week because even though I’m not a big re-reader, it has always been a tradition in my family to watch lots of Christmas movies together every year and I have a list of perennial favorites.  The holidays just aren’t complete if we haven’t watched all of these.  Some are childhood favorites that I just can’t resist watching every year and some are newer favorites, basically movies that my son loves that have been incorporated into our yearly tradition.

 

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10 Favorite Movies to Watch During the Holiday Season

 

1. NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION

I’m sure there are some that find this movie tacky and appalling and completely inappropriate for Christmas, but I’m not one of them.  This is my all-time favorite Christmas movie.  I’ve watched it every year since it came out in 1989, practically have the entire movie memorized, and I still laugh at it just as much now as I did when I first watched it all those years ago.

 

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2. MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET

I enjoy the original version of this film too, but this one from 1994 starring Richard Attenborough, Mara Wilson, and Elizabeth Perkins is the one my family watches every year.  I’ve always loved the premise of this story, where a lawyer and a six-year old girl must prove that a man claiming to be Santa Claus is the real thing, and we all love Mara Wilson from Mrs. Doubtfire  and Matilda, so this film is a great fit for us.

 

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3. HOME ALONE

Like Christmas Vacation, Home Alone is a movie that I’ve watched every year since it first came out and it’s still just as funny now as it was the first time I saw it.  Both Home Alone and Home Alone 2 (mainly because of my obsession with NYC) are staples in my family’s holiday movie lineup.

 

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4. IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE

Now I have to confess that until I got married, I had never watched this film.  It’s my husband’s favorite though so he introduced me to it and we have watched it together every year since.  It truly is a classic.

 

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5. A CHRISTMAS STORY

Talk about your timeless classics.  It never gets old watching poor little Ralphie trying to convince everyone that a Red Ryder BB gun is the perfect Christmas gift for him.  “I triple dog dare you” to watch it!

 

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6. THE SANTA CLAUSE

This is another of my son’s favorites that has made it into our holiday viewing every year.  He loves all three of the movies, but the first one is my favorite.

 

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7. THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

This is yet another of my son’s favorites (He loves Jack Skellington and Oogie Boogie) and Tim Burton’s films always fascinate me anyway, so I’m game to watch it every year, especially because the animation is so impressive.

 

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8. A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Several versions of the classic Dickens tale get a lot of play in my house every year at Christmas.  I have a soft spot for Mickey’s Christmas Carol and the Disney version pictured above, but I also really like the version where Patrick Stewart plays Scrooge.

 

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9. CHILDHOOD FAVORITES

I know these aren’t actually movies, but it’s my list so whatever.  Anyway, I don’t know about you guys, but I still love to watch all of my old childhood favorites.  Charlie Brown and the Grinch are my favorites, but I also love Rudolph and Frosty.  Sometimes I’m the only one in my house who watches these, but they just give me such nostalgia which is a huge part of the holiday season for me.

 

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10. ALL THE HALLMARK CHANNEL MOVIES!

Yeah, this one is all me too and it’s a recent obsession going back just a couple of years.  I pretty much have the Hallmark Channel on in the background every day from Thanksgiving through New Year’s. My husband just rolls his eyes at me, but I love the warm fuzzy vibe that all of the Hallmark holiday films have.  Plus it’s fun when some of my favorite actors pop up in the occasional film.  So far this season I’ve seen Liz Mitchell from Lost, Elizabeth Henstridge from Marvel: Agents of SHIELD, and Lacy Chabert from Party of Five.

 

 

Question:  Do you have any favorite holiday films that you watch every year?

42 replies
  1. Jess @ Jessticulates
    Jess @ Jessticulates says:

    Great list! I’m much more likely to watch Christmas films than read Christmas books during the festive season, too – there’s something so comforting about a Christmas film I’ve watched a bazillion times before. I love The Nightmare Before Christmas and Disney’s A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey. 🙂 I also love Jim Carrey as The Grinch and The Muppets Christmas Carol is quite possibly my favourite Christmas film. I do love The Holiday as well, though, which is one my parents and I watch every year!

  2. Olivia Roach
    Olivia Roach says:

    Home Alone usually comes on every year at our house. My older sister watches The Grinch every year and we all join her, for the most part. I also tend to watch Happy Feet for the cold feels and A Muppet’s Christmas Carol which is one from my childhood. So many good Christmas films. I can’t believe I have never watched A Nightmare Before Christmas yet DD:

  3. Jen Ryland
    Jen Ryland says:

    I also don’t really have any favorite holiday books aside from the children’s stories. Love Home Alone though! And Charlie Brown Christmas!

  4. Angela
    Angela says:

    My husband loves watching the new holiday movies every year – we started watching them well before Thanksgiving this year!

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      LOL! I was able to restrain myself until Thanksgiving Day but they’ve been on my TV nonstop ever since and I even DVR’ed a few.

  5. Susan (Bloggin' 'bout Books)
    Susan (Bloggin' 'bout Books) says:

    I love holiday movies, so naturally, I have seen all of these a million times! It’s a Wonderful Life is my absolute favorite. My husband LOVES National Lampoon’s, but every time it’s on I cringe a little because it is totally inappropriate. Hilarious, but I always ask myself, “Why are we letting the kids watch this?” LOL. Another one we love is Christmas with the Kranks. Have you seen it? It’s great.

    Happy TTT!

  6. Emily @ Stuck in the Stacks
    Emily @ Stuck in the Stacks says:

    This is so funny – we also almost switched to holiday movies because holiday books are tough! We ended up doing characters we’d love to share a holiday meal with instead. All of these are such great picks. There’s something magical about a great holiday movie!

  7. Alison Flores
    Alison Flores says:

    Fun list! I’ve been watching a different Christmas movie with my daughter each day. We watched Mickey’s Christmas Carol this morning and yesterday we watched Home Alone. I watched Christmas Vacation with my hubs the other night.

  8. Nicci @ Sunny Buzzy Books
    Nicci @ Sunny Buzzy Books says:

    Yes! I LOVE a good cheesy Hallmark/Hallmark-style festive film! They’re awesome. (My husband rolls his eyes at me on this topic too.)

    The Nightmare Before Christmas is another favourite. I have a post written on this topic for the TTT festive freebie in a week or two’s time. 🙂

  9. Sam@wlabb
    Sam@wlabb says:

    I am not a big re-watcher, but I will stop and watch a bit each and every time A Christmas Story is on. I just love that movie. I saw the play too. I could say the same about It’s a Wonderful Life. Neither movie ever gets old for me

  10. Lily
    Lily says:

    Yes to NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION and Home Alone. I can watch those over and over again every Christmas.

  11. Dedra @ A Book Wanderer
    Dedra @ A Book Wanderer says:

    Christmas Vacation is one of our family’s favorite holiday movies too. We usually watch it more than once. 😉 I just saw a reshowing of Home Alone in a local theater, and that was a lot of fun. It’s definitely a favorite too. We also love Elf with Will Ferrell. And A Christmas Story was a childhood favorite! Great list!

    My TTT

  12. Kelly
    Kelly says:

    Honestly, it’s not Christmas without Clark Griswold. They’re so tacking and sexist and politically incorrect but I absolutely love that family of dorks. I love Elf as a more recent Christmas film but one of my favourites was always Santa Claus: The Movie with Dudley Moore. I re ember seeing it as a little poppet at around five or six when it was released and have loved it ever since. If you see it screening this Christmas, make sure to check it out!

  13. Jessica at Booked J
    Jessica at Booked J says:

    Yessss! So many great picks. Also, oh my gosh, I love that so many people do what I do during the holiday season Hallmark Channel is pretty much consistently on over here too. Love their holiday films. So cozy!

    • Suzanne
      Suzanne says:

      Cozy is the perfect word for it. I love having it on in the background while I’m doing other things, but I especially love getting into my PJs, grabbing a warm blanket, and settling in to watch a movie or two.

  14. verushka
    verushka says:

    It’s been a long time since I’ve watched a Christmas Movie, and I blame the incessant playing of Love Actually every Christmas for that. However, I will say, that right now, your list has reminded me of some wonderful older gems (and Last Christmas is a new one I want to check out. And also cry through)

  15. Dini @ dinipandareads
    Dini @ dinipandareads says:

    Ooh yes, some great Christmas movies on here! I have added a new Christmas animation to my list since the end of November and that’s Klaus. Watched it on Netflix and was so surprised by how much I loved it and have since watched it … too many times to count 😂 I’m now in the mood to watch Nightmare Before Christmas–it’s the best! Great list, Suzanne 🙂

  16. Brittany
    Brittany says:

    White Christmas is my favorite!!! And I have a confession … I am 28 and I haven’t seen any of the Home Alone movies (Don’t hate me!)

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