OK, so I’m putting this out in December because it’s going to take a while and dedicated amounts of your time for you to properly view all of the movies on this list. I myself sit down with a calendar and make a rough outline of those movies I am going to watch and when. And some time slots that never change: Christmas Eve is Polar Express. Christmas Day is a reviewing of the Muppets Christmas because only one viewing is just not enough! I’ll watch them with my full attention to them or have them on the background while decorating or baking cookies. While you don’t have to get quite as neurotic as I do with the Christmas movie marathon, I do encourage starting early.

Disclaimer

There are some popular movies, such as The Nightmare Before Christmas or Die Hard, that I will not incorporate into my list. There are also some movies you’ll watch during this season merely because someone you love likes it, like my sister’s affinity for Love Actually. And, finally, you may not like all of The Santa Clauses and want to skip a sequel. All of that is fine. Make the list and the marathon your own. There’s no rulebook here, and I’ll only slightly judge you if I see you post that the Harry Potter movies are part of your marathon!

The list

Without further ado, I give to you, my Christmas Movie Marathon list:

• Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer 
• Frosty the Snowman
• Little Women
• Family Stone
• Love the Coopers (this is a recent addition after viewing last year, we’ll see if it continues to make the cut)
• Love Actually 
• The Holiday
• Four Christmases
• A Christmas Story
• Home Alone
• The Santa Clause 1, 2 and 3
• Miracle on 34th Street (I’m not sure which version I prefer, but this is a my-mom-likes-it-and-so-it’s-on-the-list movie.)
• Meet Me in St. Louis
• Elf
• The Muppet Christmas Carol 
• Disney’s A Christmas Carol 
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
• The Polar Express

Don’t Go Broke

I own these in a variety of formats. Some I have owned on VHS for so long and am slowly migrating to DVD because I can then watch them at my own house as opposed to my mother’s (where there is a combo DVD/VHS player). But, you don’t have to go out and buy all of them. Freeform’s 25 Days of Christmas will show a bulk of them, you can rent them from the library, borrow them from friends (or better yet invite them over for a viewing and some Christmas cookies) and use streaming services. (Netflix currently has The Grinch!) Personally, I cruise the discount bins at Target and Walmart looking to flush out my Christmas movie collection.

‘Tis the Season

Not only do these movies get you into the spirit of Christmas and evoke memories of Christmas past, they give you an opportunity to make new memories. Never will I ever forget when my baby sister needed instructions on how to insert a VHS into the player and was then astonished at the notion of “rewind.”

Apart from cozying up with a good book, this is an outstanding way to spend the holiday season, in my honest opinion. (Don’t forget about the cookies.)