The Five: Essential Movies to Watch on Christmas

Congrats! You’ve survived the crowded shopping malls and ridiculous holiday traffic long enough to wake up on Christmas morning with an appetite for one helluva dinner alongside one or two (or three!) essential Christmas movies. But which ones do you watch? Here are five films I whole-heartedly recommend …

‘A Christmas Story’

My favorite Christmas movie of all time, you don’t need to go too far to watch A Christmas Story on Christmas because TBS airs the movie for 24 hours straight. The film is simple in its concept: it revolves around one boy and his quest to receive an air rifle from Santa for Christmas. However, between his neurotic family, loony friends, freaky schoolyard bullies and aggravated mall Santa, this is one movie everyone can relate to in one way or another.

‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’

Second on my list is this third installment in the Vacation franchise that follows the lovable (yet insane) Griswold family as they host Christmas – as well as a whole bunch of moronic family members – at their house. From chopping down a ridiculously tall tree to creating a neighborhood black-out with the most obnoxious Christmas light display, this film is always good for some much-needed belly laughs as you try to figure out which person in your family is the most like crazy cousin Eddie.

‘Die Hard’

While it doesn’t scream Christmas on paper, Die Hard is set during the holiday season and actually takes place while a bunch of office workers are having their annual holiday party. This is the perfect film for those action freaks who feel a bit too wimpy watching some lame, boring, heartfelt meaning-of-Christmas flick. They need a film that packs a punch … and a kick, and a machine gun and an assorted amount of explosions. Well, this is that film.

‘Bad Santa’

Billy Bob Thornton stars in this raunchy comedy about a drunken, foul-mouthed Santa who’s one half of a con-man team that robs malls during the Christmas season. However, problems arise when an inquisitive little kid gets in their way. This film is probably not best suited for the entire family (or maybe it is depending on how crazy your family is), but it’s definitely a little bit different and funky, and, like Die Hard, it’s for those folks who are tired of all the happy, uplifting, bubbly Christmas movies.

‘Gremlins’

So we’ve featured Christmas movies for the nostalgic, the family-oriented, the action buff and the foul-mouthed freak, but what about the folks who like to eat their Christmas dinner while some ugly, vicious monsters destroy a small town on the television behind them? Yup, this classic film about a bunch of freak-ish demon monsters is a must-see during the holiday season. If anything, it’ll give you a reason why not to snack on those leftovers after midnight …