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Lately, it seems like every holiday season Lifetime, Hallmark and a dozen other cable channels crank out a new stocking-full of quickie Christmas movies. But how many of these will we still be watching a decade or two from now? Check out this definitive watchlist of 12 yuletide classics (one for each of the 12 days of Christmas, naturally). Some are naughty. Most are nice. All are timeless gifts that keep giving.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Any list of classic Christmas movies has to begin with Frank Capra’s lovely “what if” heartwarmer, on TV every year for a reason. Thanks to Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey (in his greatest role ever, which is really saying something) and the luminous Donna Reed, it’s the rare feel-good masterpiece on the surface that reveals more and more profound existential layers with each watch. If you aren’t reaching for a Kleenex after (spoiler!) George survives a film-noir nightmare and angel Clarence gets his wings, check for a pulse.
Where to stream: Prime Video
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
This may be the closest thing that Gen X has to its own It's a Wonderful Life, even though its annual viewers today include those who first saw in on Dec. 9, 1965. Feeling blue about the commercialism of the holidays, Charlie Brown becomes the director of the Peanuts gang's Christmas play, and he has his hands full with his temperamental cast of pint-sized divas who would rather get jiggy with it dancing on stage than act. Meanwhile, everybody's favorite put-upon cue ball, Charlie, searches for the perfect tree and tries to rein in his pals while searching for the deeper meaning of Christmas.
Where to stream: Apple TV+
Home Alone (1990)
This adorably antic kiddie fantasy made a mint at the box office and turned 10-year-old Macaulay Culkin into one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. And guess what, it holds up perfectly three decades later. Culkin’s precocious Kevin McAllister is forgotten by his vacationing family and turns his abandonment into a childhood fantasy of no-rules freedom and giddy Looney Tunes mayhem as a pair of bumbling burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) try to break into his home on Christmas Eve.
Where to stream: Disney+
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
When this holiday installment in the Griswold family misadventures franchise came out, I was less than impressed (especially when compared to the brilliant original 1983 Vacation). But after about 10 watches, I can cop to the fact that Christmas Vacation seems to get funnier and funnier with every new holiday season. Chevy Chase’s passive-aggressive paterfamilias is the perfect Grinch with a soft chewy center, and John Hughes’ script is like a spiked cup of eggnog.
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