18 Christmas Movies That Folks Believe Are Utterly And Absolutely Perfect
I want you to look to your left. Now look to the right. What do you see? Endless Christmas movies. (This is assuming you're currently scrolling through a streaming service.) But how to decide which ones are worth your time, and which are, and I do not say this lightly, the content equivalent of Krampus? Luckily for all of us, redditor u/_BeyondEverything_ recently asked the intrepid holiday-makers of AskReddit, "What's the best Christmas movie of all time?" Here are 18 of Reddit's suggestions.
Responses may have been edited for length and/or clarity.
1."The original How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966 animation). It's fun, charming, memorable, and it's done in 30 minutes. It's the best option for a yearly X-mas watch."
2."A Muppet Family Christmas. All the Muppets go to visit Fozzie's grandma for Christmas, the Sesame Street crew get lost in a snowstorm and end up there, and Kermit and his nephew go visit Fraggle Rock. Oh, and the Swedish chef wants to cook Big Bird as the Christmas turkey. Just my absolute favorite."
"This is my favorite Christmas movie of all time, and when I tell people, they always think I mean The Muppet Christmas Carol, and I have to explain that no, it’s a made-for-TV Christmas special that my parents recorded for me on VHS in the '80s. It absolutely delights me to see this as the top answer!"
3."Trading Places."
"In Italy, it's a tradition to watch it on Christmas Eve. I have been watching it since 1997, and every year at Christmas Eve, it's broadcasted on one of the biggest channels here."
4."Klaus."
"Agreed completely. Klaus is a masterpiece. The way the town becomes warmer and brighter as lonely and hurt people begin to connect and find happiness. It’s the only Christmas movie I can’t wait to watch multiple times each year."
"Yearly tradition now to watch Klaus while trying not to cry."
5."Scrooged. The blend of comedy and heartbreak, the pacing, the performances. Top tier."
6."A Charlie Brown Christmas."
"Yeah, honestly without the score it would have been a cute, funny little Christmas cartoon, but not the classic it is today."
7."Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970). With songs like 'The First Toymakers to the King,' 'No More Toymakers to the King,' 'Be Prepared to Pay,' aka 'If You Sit on My Lap Today,' and the greatest Christmas song of all time: 'Put One Foot in Front of the Other.'"
8."Home Alone (1 & 2)."
"I prefer Angels with Filthy Souls."
"The soundtrack alone makes them the best Christmas movies to me. They are genuinely amazing pieces of music, and some of them are part of my favorite Christmas songs ever. Songs like 'Christmas Star' sound like classic Christmas songs while they are in fact just made for this movie. John Williams is a genius."
9."The Muppet Christmas Carol."
"Genuinely, Michael Caine is the best portrayal of Scrooge on film. Captures the full depth of his character better than any other version of the story. It’s the best portrayal of an iconic character, in an iconic Christmas story. So I don’t care if most of the rest of the characters are felt puppets — this is the best Christmas movie."
10."It's a Wonderful Life."
"It’s as close to a perfect movie as there is. No wasted scene, dialogue. As you grow up, the different scenes that impact you most intensely change. And if I really sit and watch — and don’t just have it on in the background — it still brings me to tears. 'To my brother George. The richest man in town.'"
11."A Christmas Story."
"This is the only movie that I can think of that sums up what Christmas really means to kids: getting that perfect present. None of that heartwarming, all-you-need-is-love crap, just the materialism from the point-of-view of a kid."
12."Can’t believe this hasn’t been said already: White Christmas."
"This is it for me. If I don't watch a single other Christmas movie, fine, but I have to watch White Christmas. It's my dad's FAVORITE, and every time my sister and I would fight he'd start singing 'Sisters.'"
13."Die Hard!"
"Do I consider it a Christmas movie? No. Do I enjoy calling it a Christmas movie around others who insist it's not? Absolutely."
14."The Holiday."
"I LOVE that movie, and I never really thought about it, but yeah, I watch it about once a year in December."
15."Elf."
16."The Night Before (2015) with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen."
"This was one of those surprisingly great and immediately overlooked buddy comedies. Love the bit where they do 'Runaway' on the big piano."
17."Tokyo Godfathers."
"This was a life-altering film for me — glad to see it get a mention."
18.And finally: "Miracle on 34th St."
"Agreed. It captures the magic and spirit of Christmas and Santa Claus perfectly. Has to be the original though, not the remake."
Alright, it's time: Which favorites of yours are missing from this selection? Tell us about 'em in the comments!
Note: Responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
