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. 3842 8024
2 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? 3516 6614
3 Miracle on 34th Street
Uplifting without being cloying. It's no wonder that this movie is a much-beloved holiday chestnut. 3406 6992
4 A Charlie Brown Christmas
Charlie Brown sets out to find the true meaning of Christmas in this animated anti-commercialism classic. 2862 6504
5 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). 2782 7612
6 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
This sixties stop-motion-animation movie is impossibly cute, right down to Sam the Snowman. 2733 6195
7 A Christmas Carol
George C. Scott plays Scrooge in this classic made-for-TV version of the Charles Dickens holiday tale. 2391 6311
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. 2362 4154
9 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. 2214 7048
10 Holiday Inn
Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire celebrate a year's worth of holidays, against a steady flow of Irving Berlin tunes. 1970 6216
11 Frosty the Snowman
This holiday staple features one of the most memorably catchy Christmassy theme songs ever. 1559 4303
12 Home Alone
A game changer for the Christmas-movie category: it has action, like a zip line to the neighbors' house. 1355 6097
13 The Santa Clause
Tim Allen deconstructs Saint Nick -- and reconstructs his waistline -- as a hapless Santa in training. 1316 4560
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? 1288 4692
15 Elf
It may star Will Ferrell as a dim-witted elf, but the movie's payoff is old-fashioned, familiar, and welcome. 221 6055
16 The Muppet Christmas Carol
The Muppet adaptation of the classic story is fun, sweet, and definitely appropriate for the whole family. 169 2847
17 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. -64 3568
18 Scrooged
The Bill Murray renaissance began with his turn as ultimate crank Frank Cross. A Solid Gold Dancers cameo helps get the lesson across. -102 5648
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. -1899 5493
20 Bad Santa
Full of expletives and sexual innuendos, Bad Santa upends the feel-good tradition of holiday movies -- and it was about time. -3519 5741