As the Christmas season briskly approaches, fanatics of the festive holiday prepare for a thrilling time period filled with candy canes and Christmas movies. While a plethora of holiday movies exist, several definitely rank higher than others in terms of quality, comedy and festivity. Furthermore, a handful of films simply stand as classic Christmas movies that one could certainly not experience a winter without watching. 

“How the Grinch Stole Christmas”

This award-winning film serves as an annual classic for families across the world, as it exhibits the perfect image of what Christmas should look like. Director Ron Howard brings Dr. Seuss’ well-known children’s story to life in this live-action movie, starring Jim Carrey playing the lonely green Grinch who seeks to spoil Christmas for the joyous people of Whoville. The Grinch despises all aspects of Whoville and loathes Christmas to an extreme degree. Six-year-old Cindy Lou Who, played by Taylor Momsen, feels that residents in Whoville gradually lost the true meaning of Christmas by putting too much emphasis on the presents and celebrations, and not enough on connections with loved ones. Cindy Lou aimed to build one with the Grinch, and his perspective on Christmas completely changed. Not only does “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” display impressive morals, but the accurate makeup, special effects and comedic gestures all contribute to the immense popularity of the movie. 

“Usually Christmas in our family starts around November or so because we’re really excited about Christmas. The Grinch movie is about family in a way and it’s just about loving and accepting yourself. It has many underlying meanings and gives a lot of homey feeling to it rather than a lot of Christmas movies,” senior Kaylie Paneda said. 

“Home Alone”

While not as unrealistic and magical as “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, “Home Alone” stands as a Christmas family favorite. This unpredictable, action-filled film takes place in Chicago when eight-year-old Kevin McCalister, played by Macaulay Caulkin, must fend for himself when his family accidentally boards a flight to Paris without him. Known as the troublemaker and youngest sibling in the McCallister household, his family inevitably worries for him and pushes for a flight back to America to rescue him. However, with Christmas around the corner, this does not seem like a possibility. Little do they know, Kevin held the ability to defend the house and himself when two burglars attempted to break into the family’s house. Individuals tend to gravitate toward this movie due to its spontaneous and fast-paced nature of it; it easily ranks high on a plethora of people’s lists.

“I love “Home Alone” because it mixes Christmas and comedy and there is more than one movie because there are sequels. It always comes on for 25 Days of Christmas on Freeform so we always sit down and watch. It’s honestly been a comfort movie of mine since I was younger,” senior Isaiah Burgess said.

 “Elf”

Buddy the elf never seizes to hold a special place in people’s hearts with his charming personality and contagious Christmas spirit. Elf, starring Will Ferrell, tells the story of a human raised as an elf at the North Pole who transports to New York to meet his biological father. Because he only knows a life filled with spaghetti and syrup, the real world throws Buddy challenges and obstacles that he must learn to adapt to. Constantly up to shenanigans, Buddy aims to spread the word about Christmas and meets his true love in the process. One cannot miss with this fun, light-hearted Christmas movie, as it highlights the magic of Christmas.