As we are in full swing into the holiday season, we would like to honor the 12 days of Christmas with a movie marathon checklist to get you into the spirit of festivities before the big day! This is not a ranking. Rather, this is a daily guide to every movie you should watch in the 12 days leading up to Christmas. Each entry is curated to ease you into your movie marathon if you haven’t started yet, and we try to cover all the bases for whatever mood suits you that day. We hope you enjoy following this guide as much as we did making it. Happy Holidays to you all, and Happy New Year!
1.The Nightmare Before Christmas
Released: October 29, 1993
Rotten Tomatoes: 95% (Critics), 92% (Audience)
The perfect bridge between Halloween and Christmas, the beloved tale of the Pumpkin King Jack Skellington, Halloweentown’s favorite skeleton, and his quest to bring the Christmas spirit to his horrifying fellow citizens. The team of Henry Selick and Tim Burton created an iconic world with this movie with characters that have stood the test of time. Burton and Selick’s images and world-building have become part of Christmas culture for everyone who feels just a little different. We highly recommend this movie as a great transition from the spooky to the warm feelings of the season.
2.Bad Santa
Released: November 26, 2003
Rotten Tomatoes: 78% (Critics), 76% (Audience)
If you want an edgier Christmas story to add to your rotation, look no further than Bad Santa. Billy Bob Thornton plays a very crass and rude mall Santa named Willie with his “elf,” Marcus, who uses this cover to rob malls during the Christmas season. Most of their plans go awry due to Willie’s excessive drinking problems, and this year may be the year they finally get their comeuppance. Willie must also deal with the fact that a child he encounters thinks he is the real-deal Santa, and who wants to disappoint a child on Christmas? Thornton is at his deplorable best in this film, joined by other comedic greats such as John Ritter in his last movie performance before his untimely passing and the late great Bernie Mac.
3.The Santa Clause
Released: November 11, 1994
Rotten Tomatoes: 73% (Critics), 66% (Audience)
Tim Allen would still go down in history if he was simply known for Tim The Toolman Taylor from Home Improvement, but nobody expected him to give the world one of the best portrayals of Santa Claus in cinema. When divorcee father Scott Calvin is kept in charge of his only son on Christmas Eve, a series of events leads to Scott unintentionally taking on the mantle of Santa Claus after the original Santa slips and falls off Scott’s roof. Scott puts Santa’s coat on, which, unbeknownst to him, seals his fate as the new Santa Claus. This movie is sort of like Cronenberg’s The Fly but with Christmas cheer, as Scott physically morphs into Jolly Old Saint Nick.
4.The Night Before
This vastly underrated gem should be on everyone’s holiday watch list. Arguably, it is one of the funniest Christmas movies ever made, with an incredible amount of heart to go with your mushy holiday feels. Orphaned on Christmas, a down-on-his-luck waiter, Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and his two friends, Isaac (Seth Rogen) and Chris (Anthony Mackie), make a yearly tradition of hanging out and partying every Christmas Eve so Ethan won’t feel alone. One year, Ethan comes up with three tickets to the super-exclusive party, The Nutcracker Ball. As the trio grows older, more responsibilities arise, and this year may be the very last year of their yearly holiday bender. So they decide to go out with a bang and attend this party, which seems like a pretty straightforward plan. Or so they think.
5.Scrooged
Released: November 23, 1988
Rotten Tomatoes: 71% (Critics), 71% (Audience)
There are a plethora of "A Christmas Carol" adaptions to choose from, but Scrooged has Bill Murray in the starring role, which is a recipe for greatness. Murray plays Frank Cross, a cynical and cruel TV executive obsessed with getting his TV production of "A Christmas Carol" off the ground. Not finding the irony in his actions, Frank treats his actors and staff like garbage and is deadset on getting the production on air no matter who he steps on to get the job done. Frank is visited by the Ghost of his former mentor and warned that if he does not change his ways, his soul will be doomed for all eternity. You get exactly what you signed up for with this movie, with Bill Murray in the Scrooge role, which leads to the hilarity you expect from this comedic legend.
6.National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Released: December 1, 1989
Rotten Tomatoes: 71% (Critics), 86% (Audience)
No Christmas is complete without a visit with the Griswold family. Chevy Chase gives us a performance of a lifetime as family patriarch Clark Griswold, who only wants to give his family the perfect Christmas. As any National Lampoon film will show you, not everything goes as planned, and Clark has his hands full this holiday season. Whether it be excessive decorating which leads to a city blackout, overbearing relatives, or a Christmas bonus that ends up being a subscription to a Jelly Of The Month club. Clark and family’s Christmas ends up delving into pure chaos but in a very heartwarming way that has kept this movie a surefire classic of the season.
7.Jingle All The Way
Released: November 16, 1996
Rotten Tomatoes: 20% (Critics), 41% (Audience)
No movie captures the stress of buying a child the most sought-after gift of the year better than Jingle All The Way. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Howard Langston, a workaholic who constantly lets his job come before his family and has a bad habit of letting his son, Jamie, down. Wanting to make up for his neglectful behavior, Howard promises to get his son the number one toy of the season: a Turbo Man! Much like Tickle Me Elmo’s or Furbys before it, Howard finds the toy is impossible to come by as we witness his insane attempts to get a Turbo Man just in time for Christmas. Joining Schwarzenegger are comedic legends Sinbad and the late Phil Hartman, who only adds to Howard's holiday headache.
8.Miracle On 34th Street
Released: May 2, 1947
Rotten Tomatoes: 96% (Critics), 87% (Audience)
This movie will make you a believer in Santa Claus. When a seemingly mild-mannered old man named Kris Kringle (naturally) fills in as Santa in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, he gives such a convincing performance that he is hired as Santa for their flagship store. What makes this man different than past Santa’s is he claims to be the real deal. Kringle befriends the daughter of the Macy’s event director who has raised his daughter to be a realist and not believe in fairy tales such as Santa Claus. Kringle’s claims cause alarm in the community, and Kringle is deemed insane and committed to an institution. What follows is the legal battle of the century to prove that the man is indeed the real Santa Claus. This movie will hit you right in the heart and instill your childhood sense of wonder.
9.How The Grinch Stole Christmas
Released: November 17, 2000
Rotten Tomatoes: 49% (Critics), 58% (Audience)
There are a few versions of the classic Dr. Seuss tale about a green monster that attempts to steal an entire holiday. 2018’s The Grinch was decent, the original cartoon starring Boris Karloff is amazing but maybe too short, but the 2000 film How The Grinch Stole Christmas starring Jim Carrey checks all the boxes necessary for a surefire, feature-length Christmas classic. Carrey is at his best as the titular Grinch who loathes all things happy and joyful. When Christmas comes once again in the small town of Whoville, the Grinch enacts a plan to steal the joy that the Who’s look forward to every year. What makes this movie special are the stellar performances, the incredible practical sets, and the fantastic music that all tie this into a delightful package. Not to mention, we also get some backstory as to why the Grinch is the way he is, which only adds to the long-cherished lore of everyone’s favorite green menace.
10.Elf
Released: November 7, 2003
Rotten Tomatoes: 86% (Critics), 79% (Audience)
Elf is genuinely a movie that everyone of all ages can thoroughly enjoy. It has jokes for children and adults alike, and the storytelling is marvelous, on par with most Christmas tales such as Rudolph or The Night Before Christmas. When Buddy the Elf discovers that the elves of the North Pole adopted him, he sets out on a journey to see his biological father and rescue him from Santa’s naughty list. What ensues is one of the best fish-out-of-water stories mixed in with a plethora of holiday cheer. Will Ferrell delivers a performance of a lifetime as Buddy The Elf and portrays a hysterical innocence that fills you not just with laughter but with warm feelings, too. All Buddy wants is to know where he comes from and learn about his true family, but what he quickly realizes is not everyone is so jolly outside the bounds of the North Pole.
11.Home Alone
Released: November 16, 1990
Rotten Tomatoes: 66% (Critics), 80% (Audience)
No hardened criminal can truly anticipate the wit and craftiness of an 8-year-old. Through a series of unfortunate coincidences, a young Kevin McCallister is left behind as his family flies to France for the Christmas holiday. Thinking he “wished” his family away after a series of disputes, Kevin suddenly has the house all to himself and the freedom to do whatever he wants. Unfortunately, Kevin’s fantasies collide with reality as a pair of serial burglars, The Wet Bandits, target his house as their next stop on their holiday crime spree. As the man of the house, Kevin enacts a plan to stop The Wet Bandits before they can ruin the holidays. This movie is overflowing with Christmas cheer, and the emphasis on the love of your family instills cherished memories of your own personal holiday past.
12.The Muppet Christmas Carol
Released: December 11, 1992
Rotten Tomatoes: 77% (Critics), 86% (Audience)
One of the best adaptations of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” Henson Studios brings us the Christmas movie of a lifetime. Michael Caine delivers a surprisingly powerful performance as Ebenezer Scrooge, supported by everyone’s favorite Muppets, such as Kermit as Bob Cratchit or Gonzo as Dickens himself. When the old miser Scrooge is visited by his long-deceased business partners, The Marley Brothers, he is warned that he will be visited by three spirits, and if he doesn’t change his ways, his soul will be doomed. This movie has an incredible amount of humor and heart expected in all Muppets films and of course, it always hits right when the human characters give it their all along their Muppet costars and Caine pulls through in every way. A great capper to your Christmas movie marathon which will instill the perfect mood for Christmas day.