Since I am about to spend the day doing nothing but drinking hot cider with rum and watching the subgenre of "holiday film" I figured I'd rerun our last year's list of movies everyone:
a. want to see over the holidays
b. ALWAYS see over the holidays
or
c. are sick of seeing over the holidays.
ready? (or not, here they still come, an unstoppable snowball of seasonal cinema)

My personal 2 favorites are:

1. "National Lampoons Christmas Vacation
I love Chevy Chase so much I actually OWN the whole "Nation Lampoon's Box Set": The Original Vacation, Las Vegas Vacation and Christmas Vacation which is that perfectly insane movie that captures the spirit of both trying too hard for the holidays and really, not giving too much of a damn. It is also perfect to be both drunk on eggnog/mulled wine/spiked hot chocolate during, as it only gets funnier the more altered your state of mind is. Every time I hear "The Griswold Family Christmas Tree" i want to die.

2. Love Actually
I also own this. Now, Love Actually is that rare Christmas Movie that is actually entertaining to watch ALL YEAR ROUND. In fact, whenever I am on the brink of losing faith in humanity I watch Love Actually. (I will refrain from saying how often that is). I also end up in a discussion about what my favorite story in it is at least once every Christmas so here goes:
a. Bill Nighy in the "Christmas is all around" top of the pops sequence is one of my favorite movie characters ever
b. Obviously, every girl you know totally falls for the whole Keira Knightly opening the door to the dude with the boom box and signs of love (what can I say, John Cusack scarred us for life in "Say Anything")
but in fact, all the stories are aces, well, aside from the whole Laura Linney/Brother/No hooking up with Rodrigo Santoro bit but then...no one's perfect.
The soundtrack also manages to be both sickeningly sweet and somehow, NOT ANNOYING.

OTHER FAVORITES INCLUDE

3. A Nightmare Before Christmas.
I also own this (are we noticing a pattern here?). Tim Burton at his best. Seriously. They should just reissue this in movie theaters every year so that a new generation of kids could witness the magic on the big screen.

4. Home Alone (first one)
I also own this. (obviously, I need help) and we all love it so much that Courtney had to HAD TO be Kevin McAllister for our girls on film Halloween Special. This Movie is both all your childhood Christmas fantasies come true and all your childhood Christmas nightmares realized. Plus, seeing Joe Pesci terrorized is always entertaining.

5. Scrooged
Bill Murray. 80s. Christmas. What else do you really need in life?

6. Elf
but only, really the beginning. The beginning of that movie is genius. Once he gets to New York, I can take it or leave it, but when there are explaining the life at North Pole to us, I am all pointy ears and paying attention like its the first time I see Ed Asner in tights. Ever.

7. A Charlie Brown Christmas
Charles Schulz is as close to God as it get this season.

And of course...."Its a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Story" and "Muppet Christmas Carol" but you can read about those here (not that there is anything MORE to be said about them)

However

I did decide to throw in a selection of Christmas movies that maybe get overlooked because they are not so Holiday-y in spirit.
So here are some of your alternatives:

Now, While "A Christmas Story" is everyone's favorite ("triple dog dare!") did you know that Bob Clark, who directed it is also the man responsible for the scariest Christmas movie of all time:

The Black Christmas
(at this point I will just quote Cesar's note from his "scariest movies post")

Here’s one piece of advice for you, friends: never, ever, under any circumstances pick up the phone when you are home alone and nobody is around to come to your immediate aid. You will regret it as did the victims in this amazingly tense and chilling 70’s classic. By the way, don’t even think about touching the remake, it’s a bucketful of B-movie shit!

also:

GO
Sarah Polley, Katie Holmes prior to Scientology, Scott Wolf and Jay Mohr, raves gone horribly wrong, Vegas trips gone horribly wrong, drug deals gone horribly wrong, Christmas supermarket shifts gone horribly wrong, and all directed by Doug Liman somewhere in between his "Swingers" and his "Bourne" phases. Isn't this what Holidays are all about?

Eyes Wide Shut
Now that Kubrick's maligned Tom Cruise/Nicole Kidman Christmas seasonal is out on DVD and uncut you can experience some real seasonal kink (that will hopefully be somewhat hot this time around too). Amen to that. Baby did a bad bad think.

"Bad Santa"
You know, for once, Billy Bob makes his gruesomely unappealing testosterone from hell behaviour work to his advantage. I wanted to hate this and yet, I sort of loved it. Plus you know, as "Elf" will tell you, little people in Elf costumes are the one holiday joke that somehow does not get old. And that no one thinks is wrong.

Gremlins
Oh come on, admit it, when was the last time you saw Joe Dante's classic about fuzzy, furry things that become more evil than all the wicked witches of West on crack? Don't you want to just run off and rent it now? And you should

and finally

Batman Returns
Tim Burton hit his stride with the Batman Franchise with this one (and then handed it over to Joel Schumacher to ruin) but the unique combo of gothic humor, Danny DeVito as an abandoned orphan gone all wrong, Michelle Pheiffer as the ultimate holiday party date and so much pixie dust snow you KNOW something must be going horribly wrong in the city of Gotham makes this one of my all time favorites to watch ad nauseum.

So there it is, now go on an tell me how I forgot Tim Allen in "Santa Claus", how I should have mentioned "Chronicles OF Narnia" and "Polar Express" and "Miracle on 34rth street" and maybe even "Grinch", go on....do it.