We have a family Christmas tradition. Each year we gather to watch several movies throughout the holiday season. Although elements of our list have changed and grown as the years have flown by and our children have grown up, there are certain movies that remain (no matter how old we all get.)
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Here is our “Top 10” list (in no particular order).
1. A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Celebrate with Lucy, Linus, Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the whole gang as they learn the true meaning of Christmas in A Charlie Brown Christmas.
2. It’s A Wonderful Life
Actor, Jimmy Stewart, once said that this was his very favorite role and it’s easy to see why. It’s A Wonderful Life is my all time favorite movie and my boys all sit with me and watch it once a year.
3. A Christmas Story
Yes, a newer movie actually made my Top 10 list. This hilarious and heartwarming movie won our hearts when we first watched it several years ago. If you have boys, you’ll totally understand such classic lines as, “You’ll put your eye out” in response to a young lad’s request for a BB gun and the debacle of a line of boys daring one another to stick their tongues to a frozen pole. Great characters! If you’ve not seen it, get A Christmas Story.
4, 5 & 6: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town
Yes! I am a sucker for these decades old classics! It’s probably a product of my age. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer made his television debut just months after I was born in 1964! I grew up on these classics and have passed them along to my kids. Yes, even the grown kids watch them with us every year. This Christmas Special Edition from Amazon actually has three more holiday classics, Cricket on the Hearth, and Little Drummer Boy and it’s still priced at well under $20!
7. The Grinch (the new version)
My 11 year old got me hooked on this brand new adaptation of the classic movie. Generally, I’m not a fan of newer movies, but this one is an exception. It is absolutely delightful! Seriously! It’s perfect for every member of the family, both young and old. I loved The Grinch!
8. A Christmas Carol
There have been so many adaptations of this Dickens classic through the years – and we’ve seen most of them. It’s hard to pick a favorite. So, get more than one and compare them to find your family’s favorite. Whatever you choose, you just can’t go wrong with Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.
9. A Carol Christmas
No, I did not mistype that or list the same movie twice. A Carol Christmas is a rather new take off on the standard theme. In this case, “Scrooge” is a hardened, self-absorbed daytime talk show host named, “Carol”. When three Christmas ghosts visit her, she has a change of heart and direction. The ghost of Christmas present is played very playfully by William Shatner.
This is a movie that we never miss sharing together as a family every single year. In fact, I just watched it last week with my husband and two of my sons, even though we knew that when my oldest gets home from college tomorrow, we will all watch it together again – It’s that good!
10. Miracle on 34th Street
A hardened, busy executive with no time to believe in Santa learns to have a little faith in this classic movie. It’s just so heartwarming and Yes! I cry at the end every time. Santa sets out to prove that he is real and lives are changed in Miracle on 34th Street.
Your turn!
That was my Top 10 list. I could certainly have added more, but I limited myself to just ten. What are your favorites? What movies do you watch year after year at Christmas? I’d love to know! Maybe I’ll have to add them to my list! Let me know what titles you recommend in the comments.
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My husband and I have a tradition of watching Christmas with the Kranks on Christmas Eve while wrapping presents. (yes, we procrastinate)
I highly approve of last minute Christmas gift-wrapping sessions. I’ve done a few myself! This tradition is only rivaled by the year that all six of us got the flu right before Christmas. Around noon we were feeling somewhat better on Christmas day, while laying on couches and cots all in one room. Someone said, “Maybe we should open gifts.” Well, the plague had struck before my husband and I had wrapped the gifts. So, we went upstairs, grabbed six empty pillow cases (one for each family member) and presented the gifts to each person in their own, personal pillow case. It was memorable we still laugh about it to this day. Although at the time, it seemed a pretty tragic way to spend Christmas. We certainly had family togetherness that day though. (Not to mention binge watching Star Trek together, because it was the only thing any of us felt like doing).
I love the new Grinch! I have seen it (and I’m not kidding) 10 times this year. It is Charlotte and Ethan’s favorite so that’s why….. yet I find myself putting on when they are not even here. Lol. So agree with Charlie Brown too. Who doesn’t well up just a bit when Linus tells the real meaning of Christmas!
I agree. I adore it – and I’m pretty resistant to newer movies. But, this one was a pleasant surprise! Very family friendly and absolutely delightful!
One of my very top favorite Christmas movies of all time is “Scrooge.” It is a British adaptation and quite faithful to the story itself. Alastair Sim (famous in British stage and cinema) plays Ebenezer Scrooge, and this version impresses me the most because he shows true repentance and redemption at the end. Made in 1951 and, in my humble opinion, “simply the best!”
Thanks for the recommendation! We’ve seen that version and you’re right! It’s excellent!
I also discovered, quite by accident, another British Christmas movie on Youtube this past Christmas. It is called, “Beyond Christmas” and is quite delightful. Yes, by the way, I absolutely adore many things British (including many of their television programs and movies)!
Really??! I am unfamiliar with this! I will need to check it out!