Watching a Christmas Movie is one of the best ways to get into the festive spirit! If you’re looking to add a few new movies to your library this year, or even want to revisit some classics, take a look at the best Christmas movies of all time, as voted by North Shore Mums.
Whether you looking for funny Christmas movies, romantic Christmas movies or family Christmas movies you can all sit down and enjoy together, we have the ultimate list for you – by you! Check out these top Christmas movies and grab the popcorn for some fun December nights in.
1. Love Actually
Love Actually was overwhelming the most popular choice for a Christmas flick! Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London. There’s a few naughty scenes, so if you’re watching with kids, make sure you’re nearby to cover their eyes!
- Rated: M
- Released: 2003
- Stars: Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley
2. Home Alone
Sooooooo much fun. This is one of the best Christimas movies on Netflix, guaranteed to entertain everyone in the family! An eight-year-old troublemaker must protect his house from a pair of burglars when he is accidentally left home alone by his family during Christmas vacation.
- Rated: PG
- Released: 1990
- Stars: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern
3. Elf
After inadvertently wreaking havoc on the elf community due to his ungainly size, a man raised as an elf at the North Pole is sent to the U.S. in search of his true identity. This has to be one of the best family Christmas films.
- Rated: PG
- Released: 2003
- Stars: Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart
4. Bridget Jones’s Diary
At the start of the New Year, 32-year-old Bridget (Renée Zellweger) decides it’s time to take control of her life, and start keeping a diary. Now, the most provocative, erotic and hysterical book on her bedside table is the one she’s writing. With a taste for adventure, and an opinion on every subject – from exercise to men to food to sex and everything in between – she’s turning the page on a whole new life.
- Rated: M
- Released: 2001
- Stars: Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth
5. The Polar Express
When it comes to kids Christmas movies, it doesn’t get much better than this. On Christmas Eve, a young boy embarks on a magical adventure to the North Pole on the Polar Express, while learning about friendship, bravery, and the spirit of Christmas.
- Rated: G
- Released: 2004
- Stars: Tom Hanks, Robert Zemeckis
6. The Holiday
Two women troubled with guy-problems swap homes in each other’s countries, where they each meet a local guy and fall in love.
- Rated: PG
- Released: 2006
- Stars: Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Jack Black
7. Miracle On 34th Street
A lawyer and a little girl must prove that a man claiming to be Santa Claus is the real thing.
- Rated: PG
- Released: 1994
- Stars: Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott, Mara Wilson, Robert Prosky
8. How The Grinch Stole Christmas
On the outskirts of Whoville, there lives a green, revenge-seeking Grinch who plans on ruining the Christmas holiday for all of the citizens of the town. Grinch stole Christmas has to be one of those classics you can watch over and over again.
- Rated: PG
- Released: 2000
- Stars: Jim Carrey, Taylor Momsen, Kelley
9. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
The Griswold family’s plans for a big family Christmas predictably turn into a big disaster.
- Rated: PG
- Released: 1989
- Stars: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Juliette Lewis
10. Die Hard
New York City policeman John McClane (Bruce Willis) is visiting his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia) and two daughters on Christmas Eve. He joins her at a holiday party in the headquarters of the Japanese-owned business she works for. But the festivities are interrupted by a group of terrorists who take over the exclusive high-rise, and everyone in it. Very soon McClane realises that there’s no one to save the hostages, but him.
- Rated: PG
- Released: 1988
- Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia
11. The Muppet Christmas Carol
Scrooge, an old miser who dislikes Christmas, is visited by spirits who foretell his future and share secrets from his past and present, which helps change his view on life.
- Rated: G
- Released: 1992
- Stars: Michael Caine, Dave Goelz & Steve Whitmire
12. The Santa Clause (film series)
When a man inadvertently makes Santa fall off of his roof on Christmas Eve, he finds himself magically recruited to take his place.
- Rated: PG
- Released: 1992
- Stars: Tim Allen, Judge Reinhold & Wendy Crewson
13. Jingle All The Way
A father vows to get his son a Turbo Man action figure for Christmas. However, every store is sold out of them, and he must travel all over town and compete with everybody else in order to find one.
- Rated: PG
- Released: 1994
- Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad & Phil Hartman
14. It’s A Wonderful Life
An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
- Rated: PG
- Released: 1946
- Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed & Lionel Barrymore
15. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
The Griswold family’s plans for a big family Christmas predictably turn into a big disaster.
- Rated: PG
- Released: 1989
- Stars: Chevy Chase, Beverley D’Angelo & Juliette Lewis
16. Bad Santa
A miserable conman and his partner pose as Santa and his Little Helper to rob department stores on Christmas Eve. But they run into problems when the conman befriends a troubled kid.
- Rated: R
- Released: 2003
- Stars: Billy Bob Thorton, Bernie Mac & Lauren Graham
17. Serendipity
A couple search for each other years after the night they first met, fell in love, and separated, convinced that one day they’d end up together.
- Rated: PG
- Released: 2001
- Stars: John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale & Jeremy Piven
18. The Nightmare Before Christmas
Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home causes confusion.
- Rated: PG
- Released: 1993
- Stars: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon & Catherine O’Hara
19. Stick Man
Stick Man lives in the family tree with his Stick Lady Love and their stick children three, and he’s heading on an epic adventure across the seasons. Will he get back to his family in time for Christmas?
- Released: 2015
- Stars: Martin Freeman, Jennifer Saunders & Rob Brydon
20. Christmas with the Kranks
With their daughter, Blair, away, Luther and Nora Krank decide to skip Christmas all together until she decides to come home, causing an uproar when they have to celebrate it at the last minute.
- Rated: PG
- Released: 2004
- Stars: Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis & Dan Aykroyd
21. The Snowman
Scrooge, an old miser who dislikes Christmas, is visited by spirits who foretell his future and share secrets from his past and present, which helps change his view on life.
- Rated: G
- Released: 1982
- Stars: Peter Auty, David Bowie & Raymond Briggs
