As our winter break is coming around the corner and families are coming together, more and more people will begin to participate in the holiday festivities. But besides the shopping, gifts, decorating, and baking there is one vital aspect to fully get your cheer on: movies. For many Christmas is not just a holiday, it’s a whole mindset, and just by watching these classic heartfelt movies I assure you your spirit levels will rise exponentially and immerse you in the tradition of Christmas. This is why I have decided to compile a list of the ten most popular Christmas movies to date as well as some opinions on them. Keep in mind these are not placed in any specific order, they are just the ten that were selected to be placed on the Google form in order to gather everyone’s thoughts on them.

First up we have Elf. In my opinion, this is a great movie and one of my favorites. Most of us probably watched this when we were young and continued to select it during the holidays from there on out. Moreover, from the results of my form, I can accurately confirm that the praise of this movie continues, and might even be named a fan favorite. Many people explained their love for this movie by pointing out the “comedic moments” and how they are simply “classics” that everyone grew up watching, reminding them of Christmas. However, there was a more specific response noting the actor who stars as the Elf, Will Farrell. This responder says “I am a simple woman. A simple woman who LOVES WILL FERRELL. ELF IS A MASTERPIECE CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE.” I completely agree that Elf is a masterpiece and would never want to argue the other side of that!

Moving on to another classic, Home Alone. This movie is thrilling, hilarious, and super entertaining. Many people selected this Christmas favorite for its comedic aspect and one just thought it was “fire.” A more specific response I received explained that “Home Alone is a great movie of Kevin exacting his vengeance against the burglars that try to snatch his stuff while they think he’s home alone. Filled with a very enjoyable amount of comic action and pratfalls, 9/10.” I simply couldn’t put it better myself!

Next up we have Love Actually, which only ended up receiving reviews from 4 responders but luckily they all had great things to say about it! Starting off I think that most people can agree how cute and warm this movie is and it’s safe to say that it definitely gets me in the Christmas spirit. One response I specifically resonated with was “I like Love Actually because of how many intertwined perspectives it has eventually leading to good endings in some shape of form, creating a sense of optimism as we approach the holidays.” While there are about nine different storylines inside of this one movie, towards the end the theme is clear: holidays are best spent around the people who care about you. Overall I love the message of this movie and would recommend it to just about anyone.

Now there is The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. This is the perfect childhood Christmas movie filled with many twists and turns. Many people pointed this movie out by saying it makes “Christmas feel nostalgic” and that they look forward to watching it every year. One response just said, “A green guy who is suffering from a congenital heart birth defect gets healed through the spirit of Christmas and giving and learns through it.” An interesting yet valid summary to say the least.

There were some mixed reviews on the Polar Express. Some people loved it, explaining how it’s just a childhood classic, and one person pointed out they like it, “ for the memes and sick animation.” However, one person complained about the movie, saying, “I hate the Polar Express. It looks weird, it is weird, and it just reminds me of bad Christmas movies they play in school when it’s almost break.” This is an interesting take! I am always appreciative if I get to watch a movie during school, no matter the type but to each their own.

Next, we have The Holiday which is one of the best Christmas movies I have seen. It is a mix of a holiday-spirited rom-com and a very feel-good movie to watch. While there were no opinions from the form on this movie, I still chose to include it as a recommendation to anyone in search of a new Christmas movie to watch.

Along with many others, people said that The Nightmare Before Christmas was a classic that gave a sense of nostalgia but some feel that it shouldn’t have been on the list. “I dislike The Nightmare Before Christmas because it should really be a Halloween movie.” I don’t know to think about this one but overall there were not too many responses to this movie.

Then we have A Christmas Story, the first response on this survey I received was describing this movie as “overrated.” Despite this other people have responded by saying it is a classic and that they “watched on every Christmas” with their family. Others pointed out its humor and said it never gets old.

For this next one I only have two quotes and nothing else. I hope you enjoy!

“Die Hard is NOT a Christmas movie. Just because it takes place during christmas time does NOT mean that it is a movie of that genre. The plot has nothing to do with the traditional “christmas joy” that all of the other movies on this list have. How do terrorists and hostages play into the christmas spirit???!?!??! news flash THEY DONT. STOP CALLING DIE HARD A CHRISTMAS MOVIE”

And…

“die hard is absolutely a christmas movie and everyone who thinks otherwise is not academically gifted. It is about the joy of christmas and killing terrorists which really encapsulates american christmas for me. I could watch this movie one hundred times and i will.”

It seems to me like there is some strong controversy over this movie and I’m going to stay out of it!

Finally, A Christmas Carol. This movie is the definition of a classic Christmas movie and although there were limited responses about it I think that everyone needs to see this movie at least once.

Those are all the Christmas movies I have thus far. There were some more recommendations of movies that should’ve been included so I will list them and leave it up to you to decide if they are worth watching.

• Home Alone 2
• Die Hard 2
• National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (mentioned MANY times)