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  3. These are the top 20 Christmas movies ever

These are the top 20 Christmas movies ever

Chris Nashawaty ranks Yuletide faves for any movie fan's library; see where he places Elf and Love Actually, and what he crowns No. 1.

By Chris Nashawaty November 13, 2018 at 05:00 PM EST
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20. The Santa Clause (1994)

THE SANTA CLAUSE
Credit: Everett Collection

If the thought of seeing Tim Allen in a Santa suit makes you dream of sugarplums, this is the film for you. The Home Improvement star accidentally kills Santa and has to take his place. It's not It's a Wonderful Life, but it has its moments. Plus, there's Judge Reinhold!

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19. Gremlins (1984)

GREMLINS, Phoebe Cates, being attacked by the Gremlins, 1984.
Credit: Everett Collection

Not a Christmas movie, per se, but Joe Dante's mischievous monster-mash comedy is set during the holidays in a snowy Norman Rockwell-esque town. Plus, who didn't want a cuddly little pet like Gizmo waiting under their tree on Christmas morning? That is, assuming you didn't feed it after midnight...

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18. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)

MSDNALA EC040
Credit: Everett Collection

Okay, so it's not the best installment in the Griswold family saga. Still, Christmas Vacation is worth watching alone for Randy Quaid's Cousin Eddie and Chevy Chase's fumbling encounter with a buxom department store salesperson. ''I was just blousing...uh, browsing! It's a bit nipply out...I mean, nippy!''

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17. Scrooged (1988)

SCROOGED
Credit: Everett Collection

No one does "Bah, Humbug" better than Bill Murray's Frank Cross, a heartless TV exec in this dark-comedy retelling of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Yes, it's pretty much the same film as Groundhog Day (jerk becomes a better man on the eve of a national holiday). However, that doesn't stop it from being the perfect prickly antidote to Yuletide sap.

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16. Die Hard (1988)

DIE HARD, Bruce Willis, 1988, TM & Copyright (c) 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved."
Credit: Everett Collection

New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) heads to L.A. to see his wife (Bonnie Bedelia) and winds up attending the Christmas office party from hell, thanks to Alan Rickman's memorable Teutonic baddie Hans Gruber (who finds a one-man killing machine along with a lump of coal in his stocking!). Who needs ''Ho, ho, ho!'' when you can have ''Yippee ki-yay, motherf---er!''?

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15. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Image
Credit: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

An older man working as a Macy's department store Santa (Edmund Gwenn) claims to be Kris Kringle, and he convinces innocent kids—and even the most cynical adults—that he's the real deal. There's something undeniably sweet about this perennial classic, despite that, if it were made today, he'd be handcuffed and thrown in the slammer.

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14. White Christmas (1954)

WHITE CHRISTMAS, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Vera-Ellen, 1954
Credit: Everett Collection

Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney deck the halls in this Yuletide classic. Who cares if the movie's as syrupy as a Vermont maple? The Irving Berlin songs are timeless.

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13. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Credit: Disney

Tim Burton and Henry Selick may seem more of a natural fit for Halloween than Christmas, but the maestros of the macabre's stop-motion holiday fable is pure eye candy.

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12. Trading Places (1983)

TRADING PLACES, Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, 1983
Credit: Everett Collection

All right, so maybe this one's not technically a Christmas movie either. But the sight of a down-and-out Dan Aykroyd in a Santa suit eating a slab of salmon through his grungy cotton-candy beard fills us with the holiday spirit.

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11. Home Alone (1990)

HOME ALONE, Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, 1990. TM and Copyright (c) 20th Century Fox Film Corp. All r
Credit: Everett Collection

Writer John Hughes added heart to Thanksgiving with Planes, Trains and Automobiles. In Home Alone, he takes a less sentimental approach to the holidays with the tale of 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (the adorable Macaulay Culkin), who's left alone by his family only to face down—and outwit—a pair of bungling burglars. Let's be honest, you can enjoy this one any time of the year.

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10. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

000182981HR
Credit: Classic Media

This made-for-TV Rankin and Bass classic features Burl Ives as Sam the Snowman, telling the eternally sweet story of an outcast with a very shiny nose and an elf who wants to be a dentist. An annual must-see.

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9. The Year Without Santa Claus (1974)

THE YEAR WITHOUT A SANTA CLAUS, Heat Miser, 1974.
Credit: Everett Collection

Better known as ''the movie with Heat Miser.'' Santa (Mickey Rooney) has a cold and decides to take a year off from his Christmas duties. It's up to a pair of elves (Jingle Bells and Jangle Bells) to save the day. But first, they must get past Heat Miser and Snow Miser—the best Christmas baddies since the Grinch.

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8. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL, Miss Piggy, Michael Caine, Fozzie Bear, Kermit, Gonzo, 1992
Credit: Everett Collection

The Muppets and Jim Henson's workshop take on Dickens in this fur-and-felt adaptation of A Christmas Carol, with Kermit as Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy as Mrs. Cratchit, and Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge. Who do we petition to get this one aired on TV more often?

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7. Bad Santa (2003)

BAD SANTA, Billy Bob Thornton, 2003, (c) Dimension/courtesy Everett Collection
Credit: Everett Collection

Billy Bob Thornton spikes the egg nog in this bruise-black comedy about a disgusting, drunk department store Santa/con man who's out to rob stores on Christmas Eve with his little person elf sidekick, Marcus (Tony Cox). Here's one for parents looking for something to pop on after the kids are asleep.

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6. Love Actually (2003)

Love Actually (2003)HUGH GRANT and MARTINE McCUTCHEON
Credit: Peter Mountain/Universal Studios

A roundelay of lump-in-your-throat London love during the holiday season from the confectioners behind Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and Notting Hill (1999). You could fill a stocking with all of the terrific moments in the film. But none is better than when a group of kids brings down the house with their rendition of Mariah Carey's ''All I Want for Christmas Is You.''

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5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

TCDHOTH EC004
Credit: Everett Collection

Forget the overcaffeinated Jim Carrey version, Chuck Jones' animated made-for-TV take on the Dr. Seuss classic is the one you want to watch (over and over again). "The Grinch hated Christmas—the whole Christmas season. Now, please don't ask why; no one quite knows the reason. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. Or it could be that his head wasn't screwed on just right. But I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes too small."

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4. Elf (2003)

MCDELFF EC004
Credit: Everett Collection

The best Christmas flick of the century. Granted, the century hasn't been that long, but still. Will Ferrell is priceless as the oversized elf who ventures far away from the North Pole to search for his father. I have a niece who was so obsessed with this movie that, one December, she made me watch it three times in a row. I didn't mind a bit.

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3. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

CHARLIE BROWN AND LINUS DISCUSS THE FORLORN LITTLE CHRISTMAS TREE
Credit: ABC

Some holiday movies just make you feel good when they come on. They wrap you in a comforter of warm, cozy nostalgia. To me, and I'm guessing a lot of you, this is that movie. I could watch those Peanuts kids do their herky-jerky dance on an eternal loop and never get tired of it. Plus, if there was ever a movie that made you want to take home the saddest, leafless tree at the nursery, this is the one.

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2. A Christmas Story (1983)

Peter Billingsley In 'A Christmas Story'
Credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty Images

Okay, I know a lot of you who've gotten this far are going to be upset that this isn't No. 1. I love it, too, especially when Ralphie's (Peter Billingsley) pal gets triple-dog-dared into touching his tongue to a frozen metal flagpole. So, please, don't shoot my eye out with an official Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot range model air rifle!

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1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, Larry Simms, Jimmy Hawkins, James Stewart, Donna Reed, Karolyn Grimes
Credit: Everett Collection

I know; big shocker that this is No. 1, right? Well, sometimes movies are considered masterpieces for a reason, and this is one of those times. If you think Frank Capra's holiday staple is feel-good hooey, watch it again. It's funny, heartwarming, profound, and an annual reminder that the holidays are about more than presents, thanks to Jimmy Stewart's turn as George Bailey. If you don't have a sugarplum in your throat by the end credits, you need to come in from the cold.

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    1 of 20 20. The Santa Clause (1994)
    2 of 20 19. Gremlins (1984)
    3 of 20 18. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
    4 of 20 17. Scrooged (1988)
    5 of 20 16. Die Hard (1988)
    6 of 20 15. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
    7 of 20 14. White Christmas (1954)
    8 of 20 13. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
    9 of 20 12. Trading Places (1983)
    10 of 20 11. Home Alone (1990)
    11 of 20 10. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
    12 of 20 9. The Year Without Santa Claus (1974)
    13 of 20 8. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
    14 of 20 7. Bad Santa (2003)
    15 of 20 6. Love Actually (2003)
    16 of 20 5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
    17 of 20 4. Elf (2003)
    18 of 20 3. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
    19 of 20 2. A Christmas Story (1983)
    20 of 20 1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

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