Best Christmas movie

Christmas Vacation.

You may lock the thread now. The question is settled.

No doubt: Tim Burtons' "Nightmare before Christmas"!!!

Though, of course, it is not Christmas yet if Hans Gruber hasn't fallen down Nakatomi Tower.

1951 adaptation of Charles Dicken's 'A Christmas Carol', starring Alastair Sim.

Hands down the best Scrooge of all time!

And I like to watch cartoons about Shrek. Maybe not Christmas-themed, but Christmas is great for the whole family.

Scrooged. You cant tell me that it's not the best adaptation of A Christmas Carol (thought Muppets is a very close second). The ghosts are far and away the best of all the versions, plus I feel like it's made stronger by the Scrooge character being younger and able to reconcile with his love interest, and the change from miser to giver is more believable.

+1 to Scrooged. Great version, with solid humor plus some real emotion.

I also like the MST3K and Rifftrax holiday offerings, particularly The Star Wars Holiday Special, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, and the Rifftrax Christmas Shortstravaganza, because I'm a juvenile at heart and they make me laugh. (And this year I've been watching the Rifftrax Yule Log on Amazon Prime; like a regular yule log, but with a little TV and radio that offer riffing segments and songs. Plus, starting about half an hour from the end, there's a running joke about a moose...)

My vote's for Scrooged.

I agree Scrooged is brilliant. Carol Kane’s ghost/fairy travel by violent punch has to be one of the most inspired methods of transportation I’ve seen in fantasy. Overall, it’s just got the right balance of light and dark, and warm fuzzies in the end.

Also: Home Alone. Just a classic. ‘Nuff said.

And I have never gone a Christmas season without watching The Nutcracker - specifically the 1977 Mikhail Baryshnikov, American Ballet Theater version. The dancing in that one is just so beautiful, it’s just like a big hug for me every year.

Another for the 'Muppet Christmas Carol'. Especially the 'casting' and the special effects. And, even without, it stays true to the story.
On an non-Christmas Carol knock-off note, there's a lovely version of the 'A Child's Christmas in Wales', only shown here (Vancouver) on the Knowledge Network (local version of public television). If you can find it, it's a lovingly filmed version of an old-time family Christmas, with no particular plot, just a snapshot of a gentler time, with the actual words of the Dylan Thomas poem (live action).
FWIW, not religious, safe for the whole family, etc.

We watched Groundhog Day today, for the millionth time. It’s not explicitly a Christmas film, but it has the elements of one.

Introversion said:

We watched Groundhog Day today, for the millionth time. It’s not explicitly a Christmas film, but it has the elements of one.

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I can definitely see that. There's a message of personal redemption and discovering what truly matters, and a selfish man learning to connect with others.

1. A Muppet Christmas Carol

2. Scrooge (Alastair Sim)

3. Die Hard

There will not be a 4

Elf.

I never get sick of it!

'How the Grinch Stole Christmas', narrated by Boris Karloff!
Gives the meaning of a non-religious Christmas, that the decorations etc. are unimportant.
Accept no substitutes, especially that Jim Carrey version.

Movie: The Nightmare Before Christmas, for those of a certain generation.

TV Special: I'm partial to The Year Without a Santa Claus, though Rudolph delivers with the grandeur.

Lotsa great classics in this list.

I'll add a personal favorite Christmas-themed romcom (well, ok, not really a Christmas romcom, but plenty of rom and plenty of com, and a whole lot of Christmas partying going on): The Thin Man. Myrna Loy and William Powell always bring it for the holidays!

My favorite films are "Home Alone", but only the first 2 films with Macaulay Culkin. The next 3 are already so-so. Look at it once. I also like the movie "Exchange Vacation". My wife really likes this film, and I, in principle, too. Not a silly tearful melodrama, but there is really something in the film that is catchy.

I make sure to watch The Muppets Christmas Carol every year. It's been a habit of mine for at least 8 years.
It's A Wonderful Life gets a shoutout as my Dad's tradition is to watch it with the family (nearly) every year. This year we had to do a virtual viewing.

Scrooged and Home Alone are my objective top two.

My number three, though, is a lesser-known box-office flop that I simply adored as a kid. I think it holds up reasonably well as an adult, but apparently I'm alone in that (just looked it up on Rotten Tomatoes... just brutal) - "Santa Claus: The Movie."

Dudley Moore as an elf, John Lithgow as a villain, and OMG, the most amazing lollipops of all time; they not only look utterly delicious, but give people the ability to fly. I would have given ANYTHING for one of those lollipops when I was a kid. Heck, I still would.