By Alok Ganguly
Staff Writer
For years, the holiday season has entertained thousands of families with festive-themed movies. As with every year, several great classic movies are perfect for the season. Here are some suggestions to make sure that you spend your Christmas entertained with your family. These movies are the favorites of the Ghostwriter Staff ranking from 1-10.
10. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
In this classic black-and-white movie, an angel visits the businessman who is unhappy with life during the Christmas season. The angel then shows him what the world would have been like if he had never been born.
9. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
A man is claiming to to be Santa Claus. Everyone he knows thinks he is crazy, and the man is taken to court about this issue, fighting to claim his real title.
8. A Christmas Carol (1938)
A grumpy old man, Ebenezer Scrooge, is visited by three spirits throughout the night on Christmas Eve. The spirits then try to teach him about the Christmas Spirit, and leave him just in time for Christmas morning. This movie shows its viewers the true meaning of Christmas.
7. The Polar Express (2004)
A young boy wakes up on Christmas Eve to find a train outside, which is making a journey to find Santa Claus. The film chronicles his journey aboard the magical train headed for the North Pole.
6. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
The Griswold family is trying to have the perfect Christmas. However, through their attempts, they encounter several mishaps and setbacks, which only makes the movie more entertaining.
5. A Christmas Story (1983)
Ralph Parker, a young boy from Indiana, wants a B.B. gun from Santa for Christmas. Throughout the movie, he makes different cases to different adults, hoping to persuade them that buying him a B.B. gun wouldn’t be a bad idea.
4. Elf (2003)
Will Ferrell stars as an elf who is “normal sized” to humans, but is abnormally large to the other elves. After causing havoc at the North Pole, he is sent to the US to find his actual identity. Elf is a movie for all ages, and a good entertaining comedy for the holidays.
3. Home Alone (1990)
An eight-year old boy, Kevin McAllister, is accidentally left behind when his family flies to France for the holidays. During his time home alone, the house is being broken into by burglars. Kevin thwarts the burglars in several funny ways using household objects, creating lots of physical humor.
2. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
This is another great classic animated movie, and is a great film for all ages. This adventure follows Charlie Brown as he tries to find the true meaning of Christmas.
1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
The Grinch is a famed Christmas character, and the movie has been created and remade several times. Out of all these times, the staff felt as though the best adaptation of the Grinch is the original animated short from 1966. The title explains it all, an evil creature who hates Christmas, the Grinch, steals Christmas and never wants to give it back.
We have a few honorable mentions which weren’t able to make to make it onto the list, but are movies that we enjoy anyways.
1. Die Hard (1988)
This movie follows John McClane, a New York police officer going to a Christmas party in Los Angeles with his wife. When the party gets held up and robber by Hans Gruber and his goons, McClane takes matters into his own hands.
2. A Year Without Santa Claus (1974)
During this animated Christmas film, Santa Claus comes down with a cold and decides to take a break from Christmas. Two elves, Jingle Bells and Jangle Bells, decide to do St. Nick’s work for him.
