Best Christmas films for the holidays

Love The Coopers: The Cooper clan, all four generations of them, gather for their traditional Christmas Eve celebration. But when a series of unlikely events, and a few unexpected visitors, turn their evening upside down, the Coopers rediscover their family bonds and remember what Christmas is really about.

Love Actually: Richard Curtis’ selection box rom-com weaves its way through the lives of eight couples, all preparing for Christmas in very different ways. With a cracking cast, including Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant and Kiera Knightley, you’ll laugh, cry, and get those warm fuzzy feelings that only a true Christmas classic can deliver.

Home Alone: Is it really Christmas until you’ve watched Home Alone? When mischief-maker Kevin is accidentally left alone at home while his family head to Paris for Christmas, he somehow finds himself in the middle of a robbery plot. In between trying out aftershave and scaring the pizza guy, Kevin brilliantly booby traps his entire house and outsmarts the dim-witted ‘Sticky Bandits’, single-handedly saving Christmas.

It’s a Wonderful Life: Based on the short story “The Greatest Gift”, this Yuletide classic makes for compulsory viewing every December. George Bailey, who has put his dreams on hold in order to help the ones he loves, gets an intervention from his guardian angel, who shows Bailey how he has touched the lives of everyone he meets.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas: “Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “means a little bit more.”

Jim Carrey creepily stars as Dr. Seuss’ Grinch, who conspires to steal the Christmas gifts from the residents of Whoville, only to have his heart stolen by one of its tiny residents.

Miracle on 34th Street: Whether you plump for the original 1947, black-and-white version, or the remake starring Mara Wilson, you’ll never look at your department store Santa the same way again. When a harmless old man, claiming to be the actual Santa Claus, is deemed insane and locked away, a young lawyer decides to defend him by setting out to prove that he is, in fact, the real Saint Nick.

Elf: Buddy, who has spent his entire life working in Santa’s workshop in the North Pole, discovers that he is not, in fact, an elf, but a human. He sets out for New York City to find his biological father, where his contagious Christmas cheer wreaks havoc, and eventually brings together, everyone he meets. Hilarious and heartwarming.

The Polar Express: Based on the beloved children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg,

The Polar Express is the animated film that follows the journey of a doubting boy looking for the true spirit of Christmas. When the boy finds himself on a magical train destined for Santa’s home in the North Pole, he discovers that magic never fades for those who choose to believe.

The Santa Clause: Tim Allen stars in this nineties Christmas classic as a divorced father who can’t seem to get things right for his son. That is, until he accidentally knocks Santa off his roof and finds himself forced to fill in for Father Christmas.

Scrooged: In yet another twist on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Bill Murray stars as Frank Cross, a selfish, jaded T.V. executive who doesn’t appreciate the spirit of Christmas. All of that changes, of course, when Cross is visited by the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future.