Top 20 Christmas Movies
AMC Movie List

Top 20 Christmas Movies

Which of these Yuletide flicks tugs at your heartstrings -- or makes you laugh -- the hardest?

rank title points votes your vote
1 It's a Wonderful Life
Whether or not you have your own guardian angel hovering, the lesson here is that it's not money that makes you rich. 5387 12183
2 A Charlie Brown Christmas
Charlie Brown sets out to find the true meaning of Christmas in this animated anti-commercialism classic. 4524 9912
3 Miracle on 34th Street
Uplifting without being cloying. It's no wonder that this movie is a much-beloved holiday chestnut. 4334 10666
4 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
This sixties stop-motion-animation movie is impossibly cute, right down to Sam the Snowman. 4240 9368
5 White Christmas
The follow-up to Holiday Inn is once again full of Irving Berlin tunes, with Bing Crosby providing the vocals. What's not to love? 3940 10474
6 A Christmas Story
This comedy satisfies two sets of audiences: kids (Ralphie gets his BB gun) and parents (it does exactly what they warned him it would). 3939 11869
7 National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Decking the halls and other traditions are all colossal failures for the Griswold family -- riotous because it hits close to home. 3728 10720
8 How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Boris Karloff's dulcet baritone lends sinister charm to everyone's favorite Who hater in this short, sweet Christmas special. 3601 7413
9 A Christmas Carol
George C. Scott plays Scrooge in this classic made-for-TV version of the Charles Dickens holiday tale. 3373 9489
10 Home Alone
A game changer for the Christmas-movie category: it has action, like a zip line to the neighbors' house. 2851 9507
11 Frosty the Snowman
This holiday staple features one of the most memorably catchy Christmassy theme songs ever. 2518 6918
12 Holiday Inn
Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire celebrate a year's worth of holidays, against a steady flow of Irving Berlin tunes. 2366 9126
13 The Santa Clause
Tim Allen deconstructs Saint Nick -- and reconstructs his waistline -- as a hapless Santa in training. 1809 7527
14 Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
It's rather hard to say who's the real star of this funny live-action version: is it Jim Carrey or Dr. Seuss? 1694 7676
15 Elf
It may star Will Ferrell as a dim-witted elf, but the movie's payoff is old-fashioned, familiar, and welcome. 1684 9662
16 The Muppet Christmas Carol
The Muppet adaptation of the classic story is fun, sweet, and definitely appropriate for the whole family. 306 5324
17 Scrooged
The Bill Murray renaissance began with his turn as ultimate crank Frank Cross. A Solid Gold Dancers cameo helps get the lesson across. 231 8247
18 Christmas in Connecticut
A war hero has Christmas dinner with the Martha Stewart-esque Barbara Stanwyck (who actually can't cook) in this holiday farce. 57 5909
19 The Nightmare Before Christmas
Tim Burton and Henry Selick’s enchanting tale has all the familiar, er, bones of a holiday classic -- love, redemption, and Santa. -2329 8121
20 Bad Santa
Full of expletives and sexual innuendos, Bad Santa upends the feel-good tradition of holiday movies -- and it was about time. -4969 8729