By: Zachary Pottle, Contributing Writer
We’ve all walked into Walmart the day after Halloween and said to ourselves, “What’s with all the Christmas decorations?” It’s become an all too common sight for the Thanksgiving-lovers; yet, for many,
Christmas can’t come soon enough. Who can blame them anyway?
Even though we’re still over a month away from Santa’s annual breaking and entering, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is already shooting up Rolling Stones top 100. So what better time to grab a nice (or naughty) cup of eggnog, dust off the fireplace, and snuggle up with your sugar plum fairy to watch a classic Christmas movie?
Hold your horses, or in this case reindeer, because before we dive into this list of movies, it is important to note how this list was made. Just what exactly makes a movie a “Christmas” movie?
More importantly, what makes one a classic? After all, we don’t want to watch that same old Hallmark romance movie that comes out every year where a seemingly overworked businesswoman finds herself in a small little Christmas-loving town where she finds the love of her life. No offense to any of you Hallmark lovers, but those are not up for contention.
That said, there are many things to consider when compiling a list of the best Christmas movies of all time. Everybody seems to have their favorite, whether it be based purely on personal preference or an age-old family tradition, creating a list of the “best” is never an easy task.
Things like box office scores, critic ratings, and its overall timelessness are all needed to compile a truly unbiased list of the top ten best Christmas movies of all time.
By using only one of the previous factors, it is possible to overlook a top ten worthy movie. For example, How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), while netting over $260 million, the second-highest of any domestic Christmas movie, averages only a 50 percent rating by critics; those being Rotten Tomatoes, IMBD, Roger Ebert to be exact.
- Bad Santa (2003)
Arguably one of the most quotable Christmas movies out there, although that may be for all the wrong reasons…
- Die Hard (1998)
Yeah, you read that
correctly, now deal with it. Since its release in 1988,
Die Hard has always been the most contested movie in the Christmas canon. Why is it on this list?
- Nightmare before Christmas (1993)
Long debated between Halloween movie or Christmas celebration, this 1993 Tim Burton and Henry Selick animated classic is often overlooked for its truly inspiring Christmas message…
- A Christmas Carol (1951)
Without a doubt, the most well known and well-executed adaptation of Charles Dickens’ original tale of Ebenezer Scrooge.
- National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
Very seldom does a movie’s third installment do better than the first or second. For Chevy Chase’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, that is not the case…
- Elf (2003)
We all knew it would be on the list. Will Ferrel’s hilarious Christmas classic, Elf, was a hit from the very start…
- Home Alone (1990)
What more can be said about director Chris Columbus’ and writer John Hughes 1990 hit?
- Miracle On 34th Street (1947)
Regarded as not only one of the best Christmas movies of all time, but also one of the best films to come out of the 1940s…
- A Christmas Story (1983)
A very lurid leg lamp, tounges stuck to an icy cold flagpole, the not-so-safe Red Ryder BB Gun… There’s a reason why it has been remade numerous times and is on a 24/7 loop Christmas day on TBS…
- It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
It is very safe to say that without a doubt, It’s A Wonderful Life, even after nearly 75 years is regarded bby many as one of America’s greatest films ever made.
