Christmas movies are all about channelling the cosy feelings that make the holiday season so great. They can be traditional, quirky or absolutely nuts. These movies are all about the anxieties and joys that come with the festive season. Like Santa, we have made a list, and we are checking it twice, to see who has been naughty or nice in Abu Dhabi Night’s selection of the greatest Christmas movies ever.
Home Alone
Macaulay Culkin is left home alone at Christmas and has to outwit a pair of thieves in this kids Christmas film that can be enjoyed by all the family.
Jingle All the Way
So ridiculous that it shouldn’t be funny but is film about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s adventures trying to buy his son an action figure on Christmas Eve.
Miracle on 34th Street
Both the original and the Richard Attenborough remake of this sweet film about the trial of a man who claims he is the real Father Christmas are heart warming.
White Christmas
White Christmas
This 1954 movie pairs Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye with Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen in a bid to help save the lodge of their former military commander. And of course it features the iconic song.
Scrooged
Scrooged
Bill Murray stars in this updated version of A Christmas Carol as a callous TV executive who while trying to put on a live stage adaptation of the Dickens classic ends up living out a manic version of the story.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
This is the story of when the hapless Griswold family get together, ridiculous and sweet in equal measure.
_It's a Wonderful Life
This is the ultimate Christmas film by Frank Capra featuring Jimmy Stewart as the suicidal George Bailey who is visited by his guardian angel on Christmas Eve to look at what is really important in his life. We can guarantee that there will be tears.
GremlinsThis horror comedy film certainly highlights the naughty side of Christmas with its cutesy mogwai called Gizmo who cannot be fed or be splashed with water after midnight. And don’t even ask the girl next door what happened to her father at Christmas.
Elf
Will Ferrell plays a bumbling orphan who is adopted by Santa Claus and his little elves. The story follows him as he comes to New York to find his rather crabby biological father in this absurd yet sweet Christmas movie.
The Muppet Christmas Carol
While Jim Henson may have died during the making of this wacky film, it is a shining example of his genius with puppets as Kermit and co take on Dickens classic tale of Christmas ghostly visitations.
A Christmas Carol
This 1951 version of Charles Dickens tale of what happens to penny pinching Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve features a masterful performance from Alastair Sim.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Nightmare Before Christmas
This dark stop motion story by Tim Burton follows the travails of Jack Skellington as he travels from spooky Halloween Town to Christmas Town.
Bad Santa
Billy Bob Thornton’s twisted and delinquent take on Santa adds dark humour to the festive season in this pitch black comedy.