This Christmas, you may be thinking of the best films to make the festive nights more enchanting.
Whether it’s a tear-jerking Christmas story or a few laughs at Santa, this holiday the Kingston Courier hit the streets to ask local people which holiday themed movies make their yuletide a distinctly better one.
1- Elf
It´s officially Kingston’s favorite Christmas film: Will Ferrell’s performance as Buddy, a man who was raised by elves and has come back to the Big Apple to meet his straight-laced father was the most requested film on this list.
Watch for: The biggest laugh.
2- It´s a Wonderful Life
After his father dies, George Bailey gives up his entire future to run the local bank in the town where he grew up. He decides to sacrifice his bright future to protect his family’s future. A series of blunders (and a greedy man called Mr Potter) cause his business to fall apart.
The classic film starring James Stewart as a man with nothing more to lose shows that with a little help from people who care (and an angel called Clarence), every Christmas can be truly magical.
After many votes (especially from mothers) this came second on the list of the most loved Christmas movies of all time.
Bring out the tissues, people!
Watch for: Finding out the true meaning of Christmas.
3- The Nightmare Before Christmas
Tim Burton’s Halloween-Christmas crossover is a favorite for people who love both holidays and can’t help going for a crossover film.
In Halloween Town, all is not right with Jack Skellington. He is tired of making Halloween the scariest night of the year, and finds himself looking for a new project. By capturing Santa Claus (Sandy Claws) he thinks that he can take over the festive cheer during the yuletide festivities. As you can imagine, everything goes horribly wrong. Will no one get any good presents this Christmas?
Watch for: Sing-along value (and some excellent stop-shot animation).
4- A Charlie Brown Christmas
Charlie Brown is in charge of one thing this Christmas: to get the gang a nice Christmas tree. Unfortunately, Charlie ends up with what looks like a sad twig.
Will Christmas be a sad and droopy affair?
Watch for: Kids with big vocabularies, Snoopy and a truly classic Christmas.
5- Home Alone
Some classics never die. Although this (now classic) Christmas film is only at number five, many of us will probably be watching it this holiday season.
Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) is the most unloved child of all time: his whole family go off on holiday and forget him at home. Coincidentally, thieves decide to break into the house on Christmas Eve, thinking that the house is empty. Booby traps and a lot of mess make this film extremely entertaining.
Watch for: Elaborate traps and tips on how to protect your home from invaders with toys and other household items.
6- Die Hard
If you are looking for a more unconventional Christmas, this film is the perfect choice.
Jack walks into his wife’s Christmas party, not knowing that a gang of international terrorists will choose that day to hold them to ransom. He then decides to take things into his own hands, with explosive consequences.
Watch for: Bashing the idea of Christmas to a pulp.
7- Home Alone 2
What, they forgot him again? This sequel to Home Alone proved that people couldn’t get enough of an adorable kid making grown-ups look silly.
Watch for: Seeing some more good Macaulay Culkin moments.
8- Love Actually
About a dozen stars in one movie normally spells out disaster. Love Actually is the sole exception to this rule. The stories of several people in London leading completely different lives at Christmas is both adorable and, well, very English.
Watch for: Hugh Grant’s dancing.
9- The Muppet Christmas Carol
This is the classic Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, told Muppet Style. Ebeneezer Scrooge is held accountable for his selfish ways at Christmas, with the interventions of the ghosts of Christmas present, past and future.
Watch for: Catchy tunes and a different kind of A Christmas Carol.
10- How The Grinch Stole Christmas
It’s the one Christmas character that we all love to hate. Whether you are watching the original animated version or this Ron Howard remake, the story is a classic. A green furry creature tries single-handedly to steal Christmas and is forced to question his actions because of the influence of the kind people of Whoville.
Watch for: An adorable dog, a funny story and some infectuous Whovian singing.
Have we missed any of your favorites? Share them with us @CourierKingston
Main image courtesy of United Feature Syndicate
