Top 10 Christmas Movies Guaranteed to Get You in the Holiday Spirit

By Jill Krasny

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Faced with bankruptcy, George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) laments the day he was born. A guardian angel changes his mind.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Kris Kringle lands the ultimate day job at Macy's. With the help of a flatmate, he wins over his supervisor (Maureen O'Hara) and her skeptical toddler (Natalie Wood).

A Christmas Story (1983)
All nine-year-old Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) wants for Christmas is a Red Ryder BB Gun. Problem is, everyone thinks he'll shoot his eye out.

Home Alone (1990):
Eight-year-old Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) is thrilled to spend Christmas away from his family. That is, until two bumbling burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) crash the party.

Elf (2003)
Mayhem ensues when a lovable, but misguided, elf (Will Ferrell) tracks down his cranky father (James Caan) in New York.

Holiday Inn (1942)
Jim (Bing Crosby) flees the city to open a rustic inn with his pal (Fred Astaire). Plot (or lack of) aside, Crosby's "White Christmas" and Astaire's fancy footwork are dreamy.

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Pushy relatives, manic squirrels, and a very oversized tree-it could only be Christmas at the Griswolds.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Tim Burton's animated fantasy about what happens when Halloween usurps Christmas is a delightfully spooky treat.

The Santa Clause (1994)
Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) morphs from corporate Scrooge to Santa when he accidentally kills Saint Nick.

Scrooged (1988)
A conceited TV programmer (Bill Murray) learns the errors of his ways in the comedic spin on Dickens' novella.

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