The Holiday. I love it--Christmas in California! We used to live in that same neighborhood. Good actors. Broken hearts at Christmastime, but still light and merry.
Christmas Vacation--we watch it every year.
Scrooge the musical
Little Women
The cartoon Grinch--really is the real Boris Karloff! My grandchildren watch it over and over.
A Christmas Story
Better off Dead--with John Cusack, 1985. Sort of a sleeper/cult movie. A comedy about teen angst, mixed with skiing and Christmas.
Seeing these movies together has created great memories for us, for example, the kids and I were snowed in and stranded in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. Avalanches had cut off the skiing, The one theater was showing "A Christmas Story." There was nothing else to do for three nights. We bought a deck of cards, a shovel, and some magazines at the drug store, and that was it--but we met some interesting people, built snowmen and igloos, got a little tree and some lights, made snow flakes and popcorn chains for it, in our motel room. My husband, the children's father, had abandoned us completely that year, but the kids and I created a bond that will last forever.
Christmas Vacation The Bishop's Wife The animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas Alastair Sim version of A Christmas Carol Home Alone Life of Brian-also my favorite Easter movie as well.
"The Muppet Christmas Carol" with Michael Cane as Scrooge is a very under-appreciated version. Great music, sets, adaptation of Dickens, and the integration of Muppet and human characters is superb.
For a good drama with spiritual issues sensitively, but not theologically, explored, go back to the old B&Ws: "The Bishop's Wife," with David Niven, Loretta Young, and an utterly delightful Cary Grant as a lightly comedic, ministering angel. Even the New Atheists would appreciate it. Some people regard "Bishop's Wife" as Niven's greatest performance.
I grew up in a crazy film family so every year I continue with my annual quest to make my family sick of all the holiday standards :) my absolute favs are 1. Christmas vacation, and Ernest Saves Christmas
Mr. Kruger's Christmas...no wait, that is both my least favorite Christmas movie, and my least favorite Jimmy Stewart movie. It does, however, remain my favorite piece of Mormon propaganda.
Favorite Christmas movie? I am going with either Die Hard or A Christmas Story, because they are both heartwarming tails of the power of people to reach through adversity, in order to find the true meaning of Christmas.
It's a Wonderful Life. Love it! I watch it every year with any kid I can coerce to join me. (Nobody likes black and white movies anymore, especially if there are no car chases or explosions).
"It's A Wonderful Life" An oldie but a goodie. Gotta love Donna Reed.
"A Child's Christmas in Wales" There is a television program of Denholm Eliot reading the Dylan Thomas classic. I used to read it to my children.
"Charlie Brown's Christmas" Great music, and Linus' recitation of part of the Christmas Story from Luke Chapter 2 of the KJV is among the best you'll ever hear.
Joyeux Noel from a French RM who 40 years ago to the day spent a glorious Christmas in a small village in Provence.
Our family watches White Christmas religiously each year, loving every minute of it, even though we know every line, every joke, every dance and song by heart. But there are many very painful things going on in the extended family right now, and so this time we skipped it - the light-hearted humor and silliness in much of the film didn't suit our mood.
I personally love a rather obscure Tracy/Hepburn movie called Desk Set. It isn't really about Christmas, but it does take place at the holidays, and there is an emotional theme to it that fits the season. It's one of my top five favorite movies of all time. I highly recommend it.
My other all-time favorite Christmas movie is the original Charlie Brown Christmas one. The scene where Linus stands on an empty stage and quietly recites a passage from the Bible, in order to remind Charlie and all the other children as to what Christmas is all about, gets me every time.
You can have It's A Wonderful Life. I've seen it once, and that was one time too many. I've never been able to figure out WHY I disliked it so much, but dislike it I did. Anyone else here feel the same?