Home Alone  (1990)

Eight-year-old Kevin McCallister (played by Macaulay Culkin) acts out the night before a family trip, so his mom makes him sleep in the attic. They accidentally leave him as they are going to Paris, as other things are on their mind. He has to protect his house from burglars who think no one is home. Little do they know that silly Kevin is there to protect his house. He uses the wackiest ways to get them away and ends up saving the house and the burglars are arrested. Although it’s not super festive, it’s funny and a great choice for a family movie.

Elf (2003)

Buddy (played by Will Ferrell) was accidentally brought to the North Pole by Santa as a baby. He grew up around elves and Santa. When he is an adult, Santa tells him that he needs to go to New York in search of his birth father. When he arrives he enjoys the city having fun and thinking he’s an elf. He finds his father and half-brother and brings fun to everyone he meets and teaches them the meaning of Christmas. There are some crazy things that happen at the end, and it’s a fantastic choice for a movie this time of the year.

A Christmas Carol (2009)

In a great portrayal of the book, a man named Ebenezer Scrooge voiced by Jim Carrey is old, greedy, and selfish. He treats everyone with bitterness and is just a mean guy. He refuses to donate to charity and when told “Merry Christmas,” he says “Bah humbug.” He is met by his now-dead partner who is a ghost and is told that he was put in chains to wonder the world because of his bad attitude and being a bad guy. Scrooge is met by three ghosts and learns the meaning of Christmas and how to be nice to people. He changes how he treats people. It’s a fantastic movie with great themes.

The Santa Clause (1994)

Scott Calvin played by Tim Allen, has a son and a divorced wife. She and her new husband have told his kid that Santa isn’t real. On Christmas Eve, they hear a sound on top of their house and realize it’s Santa’s sleigh. Scott puts on Santa’s clothes and delivers presents. Then, he goes to the North Pole and the elves there tell him that he is now legally Santa. He wakes up in his own bed assuming it was a dream. Weird things start to happen to him like gaining a ton of weight every week and growing a stark white beard. He then goes through a lot of drama that you’ll have to see for yourself.

Polar Express (2004)

This is an animated movie directed by Tom Hanks and Robert Zemeckis, voiced by Tom Hanks, Eddie Deezen, and Nora Gaye. A boy that is very skeptical of Santa is woken up by the sounds of a train. He goes outside to see what is going on and it’s a random train that is going to the North Pole. He boards the train and meets a ton of new people and a ton of intense stuff happens. I would highly recommend this movie.