My five favorite Christmas movies

When it’s not sports, it’s movies for me. That isn’t often, but often enough to warrant this post. That’s why the Oscars always fall at the perfect time, at the end of February, in between the Super Bowl and March Madness. With the holiday season in full force, here are my five favorite Christmas movies.

5. Scrooged (1988): Bill Murray could play a role in almost any spoof and it would be funny. No shot this movie makes my five with a different protagonist.

4. Home Alone (1990): You know a movie is good when there’s multiple sequels that all stink after that. There are some exceptions for sequels, and Home Alone 2 is good as well, but the whole point of a sequel is because of how good the first movie was. Joe Pesci is the perfect bad guy, Catherine O’Hara nails the freaked-out mom role and Macaulay Culkin is your ideal troublemaker. What’s not to like?

3. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946): I’m not as well-versed in retro films as I am with retro athletes, but if you’re making a Christmas movie list, it goes without saying that this belongs on there. I do enjoy a lot of Jimmy Stewart movies and this is one of those movies that you never hear anyone say anything bad about.

2. A Christmas Story (1983): I don’t care how many times TBS shows it on Christmas. It’s a Christmas classic no matter what. Full credit to Jean Shepherd for authoring the story and narrating the voice of adult Ralph Parker. When you can buy the leg lamp online, that’s when you know your film has made an impact.

1. A Christmas Carol (1984): This is the motion picture version of the Charles Dickens novel and do not let anyone tell you otherwise. George C. Scott played a lot of roles in his career, but this is the one I always think of first when his name comes up. My list is bookended with a parody of this story, and then the actual movie because if you can appreciate the story of Scrooge then you can enjoy both. Merry Christmas to all.