It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
Not only is there good food and good company, but the Christmas period gives us an excuse to spend far too much time indoors and watch some of our favourite films.
While Christmas movies are almost an entire genre onto themselves, here are some of our favourite festive flicks to suit whatever mood you’re in.
Action – Die Hard
We might as well get this one out of the way first. Die Hard is arguably the greatest action film ever made. We know there’s not a massive amount of Christmas cheer on show, but Alan Rickman/Hans Gruber gives us one of the best lines ever said on camera.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CesIkS9a0bw
Sure you could watch something that’s sweet and cheerful throughout, but you just won’t get the same satisfaction from them as you will from watching Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman go head-to-head.
Christmas films don’t usually carry this much swearing, so enjoy it while it lasts.
Honourable mention: Die Hard 2
Kids – Home Alone
As far as your family-friendly options go, it’s hard to think of many better than Home Alone. While child abandonment doesn’t sound like the perfect premise to a feel-good Christmas treat, it somehow works.
From flying paint cans to molten-hot doorknobs, it’s basically Die Hard for kids as Kevin McAllister rigs his house to catch the Wet Bandits, John McClane-style.
Just try not to get too frustrated when your cousin asks why they Kevin’s parents don’t just call him on his mobile.
Honourable mention: Jingle All the Way
Oldie – It’s a Wonderful Life
If you haven’t seen It’s a Wonderful Life, we have one question for you – have you ever really celebrated Christmas? Showing up on the day and exchanging a few presents doesn’t count unless unless you’ve got the festive wisdom that only James Stewart can bestow.
There’s a reason this film has stuck around for almost 70 years – it’s the ultimate bloody Christmas film.
Sure it’s a little cheesy, but it was released in 1946. The only danger of watching It’s a Wonderful Life is that you’ll get hooked watching James Stewart films like Harvey and Rear Window all Christmas.
Honourable mention: Miracle on 34th Street
Comedy – Scrooged
Before there was A Very Murray Christmas, there was Scrooged. Made in 1988, Scrooged features a Bill Murray still at the peak of his powers living out a modern version of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.
For such a popular actor, it’s strange that Murray fans don’t talk more about Scrooged since it’s hard to think of a film that revolves more around Murray’s personality than this one.
Honourable mention: Elf
Musical – The Muppet Christmas Carol
The only thing better than a Bill Murray adaptation of a Charles Dickens classic is a Muppets’ adaptation of that same story.
Kermit, Gonzo and Miss Piggy relive the story of how Ebenezer Scrooge came to discover his Christmas cheer, and this film is sure to do the same for any festive naysayers in your life.
But if Jim Henson’s greatest creations aren’t enough to convince them to watch it, maybe the fact that it contains Michael bloody Caine as Scrooge will turn their head.
Honourable mention: The Nightmare Before Christmas
