Top Five Christmas Movies

I admit it, I’m a sucker for the holiday season. I am one of those jerks playing Christmas music in October and squealing with delight when Target and Costco put out their holiday decorations before Halloween. I love everything about the season: lights, trees, decorations, Starbucks Peppermint Lattes, Bailey’s in some hot cocoa and even snow.

But one of my personal favorite parts of the season is snuggling in with a good holiday movie. I have already spent a ton of time this year bedazzling stockings and addressing cards, and these films are the best to have playing in the background during these mindless tasks. Now, as has been previous stated around here, I’m a bit of a nerd, so these movies may be a bit off for some of you Christmas purists. But for me, it’s not really Christmastime until I’ve watched each and every one.

Home Alone
Every kid of my generation remembers watching this movie and thinking Macaulay Culkin was the coolest kid on the planet. We all cheered as those idiot robbers got smacked in the face with a paint can or iron, and all wished we could camp out in our parents’ bed with a gallon of ice cream and late night television.

While You Were Sleeping
I know, I know…this one is pretty bad. But I had this movie on VHS and watched it so much I had to buy a new one. I thought Sandra Bullock’s character was adorable (Random Sidenote: Her character’s name in the movie is Lucy) and asked for approximately one million beige sweaters for Christmas that year. Note to self, pale, blond, 14-year-olds do not look good in beige sweaters. Bonus points for a dreamy Bill Pullman. (Yes, I just said that.)

The Grinch/Charlie Brown Christmas Double Feature
These cartoon features are a total must see at my house, and have been for years, even before we had kids. Now, I should point out, I’m talking about the original Grinch, not the crappy live action version they made a few years back. Charlie Brown is always awesome, not only because of the snarky Lucy (who we love around here), but the fact that in the last few weeks, my son has become a real life Linus, carrying his blanky everywhere he goes. Halloween costumes for 2012, anyone?!

Elf
C’mon, you gotta love Elf! “I LOVE SMILING, SMILING’S MY FAVORITE!” Also, I will watch anything with Zooey Dechanel, so help me god.

Love Actually
This is by far my FAVORITE holiday movie of all time. I watch it every year, sometimes more than once, and every time I find myself smiling. They keep trying to recreate this movie in the U.S. (New Years Eve, Valentine’s Day) and it’s never even close to as good as the original. My favorite storyline is a three way tie between the prime minister/girl in the amazing red coat, the little boy/girl with the incredible voice, and Mr. Darcy/the Portugese cleaning lady. So good.

Happy watching!