My Top 25 Favourite Christmas Films

Well... it's that time of year again, and what better way to spend the holidays then with friends and family, with a good dose of mulled wine or egg nog watching your favourite holiday film. We all have that favourite Christmas film we watch (and re-watch) year after year (I'm sure for most people that's Home Alone). Some we grew up with, some are just classic musts, and some which we just plain and simple, love.

I for instance always had a soft spot for the TV special Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which was aired every year on TV back in Canada when I was a kid. Another which I grew a new love for whilst living in London is Scrooged (Bill Murray!) and then there's just the absolute classic Christmas film, It's a Wonderful Life, a masterpiece.

But overall, there's always that one absolute Christmas favourite that everyone has, the film that fills you with joy, brings a smile to your face, brings people together and excites the crap outta you. Well, that film is... obviously DIE HARD! BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIE EVER! It even has the best HONEST trailer of all time for cryin' out loud!

Here are my overall 25 favourite Christmas films (in alphabetical order):

1. A Christmas Story (1983, Bob Clark)
2. Bad Santa (2003, Terry Zwigoff)
3. Batman Returns (1992, Tim Burton)
4. Bishop's Wife, The (1947, Henry Koster)
5. Comfort and Joy (1984, Bill Forsyth)
6. Die Hard (1988, John McTiernan)
7. Elf (2003, Jon Favreau)
8. Get Santa (2014, Christopher Smith)
9. Gremlins (1984, Joe Dante)
10. Holiday Affair (1949, Don Hartman)
11. Home Alone (1990, Chris Columbus)
12. It's a Wonderful Life (1946, Frank Capra)
13. Lethal Weapon (1987, Richard Donner)
14. Man Who Came to Dinner, The (1942, William Keighley)
15. Miracle on 34th Street (1947, George Seaton)
16. Night Before, The (2015, Jonathan Levine)
17. Nightmare Before Christmas, The (1993, Henry Selick)
18. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010, Jalmari Helander)
19. Ref, The (1994, Ted Demme)
20. Santa Clause, The (1994, John Pasquin)
21. Scrooge (1951, Brian Desmond Hurst) 
22. Scrooged (1988, Richard Donner)
23. Shop Around the Corner, The (1940, Ernst Lubitsch)
24. Tokyo Godfather (2003, Satoshi Kon)
25. Trading Places (1983, John Landis) 

TOP 5 CHRISTMAS SHORT SPECIALS:

1. Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964, Kizo Nagashima & Larry Roemer)
2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966, Chuck Jones & Ben Washam)
3. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965, Bill Melendez)
4. Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983, Burny Mattinson)
5. A Pink Christmas (1978, Bill Perez)