Metacritic's film editor selects the ten best-reviewed holiday films in our database, and comes up with some perennial favorites ... and a few surprises.
| Title | Netflix | Year | Metascore | Users | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 | Christmas Tale, A | 2008 | 84 | 6.6 | |
| Catherine Deneuve is a dying matriarch who keeps things cheerful when her family visits for Christmas, that is until her least favorite child drops by to join the festivities. Maybe she just doesn't like having a Bond villain for a son. | ||||||
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2 | Christmas Story, A | 1983 | 77 | 9.2 | |
| Jack Nicholson came close to a run in with the Bumpuses's dogs but thankfully Darren McGavin won the role of the Old Man and helped a little family comedy become one of the most iconic Christmas movies this side of Bedford Falls. | ||||||
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3 | Nightmare Before Christmas, The | 1993 | 77 | 9.3 | |
| Job dissatisfaction leads to a Christmas crisis when Jack Skellington decides to change careers. Luckily The Pumpkin King returns to his senses (thanks to being shot out of the sky by the military) and all goes back to normal. | ||||||
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4 | Merry Christmas (Joyeux Noel) | 2006 | 70 | 8.7 | |
| Based on the true story of the Christmas cease fire during WWI, warring soldiers set down their weapons to break bread with each other on the holiest of nights. If that isn't true holiday spirit, I don't know what is. | ||||||
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5 | Die Hard | 1988 | 70 | 8.7 | |
| Nothing makes you feel more warm and fuzzy during the holidays than John McClane taking on terrorists in an action thriller that's almost as fun as opening presents. Hey, Yippee-ki-yay could become the new Ho-ho-ho. | ||||||
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6 | Bad Santa | 2003 | 70 | 7.2 | |
| For those of you who might feel a little burned out on holiday cheer, let Angelina's ex show you just how good he is at playing rotten. His secret? He reportedly maintained a jolly buzz during most of his scenes. | ||||||
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7 | La Bûche | 2000 | 66 | 4.0 | |
| This similarly-themed holiday film feels like a lighter version of Hannah and Her Sisters if those sisters were Parisian and had to deal with seasonal affective disorder during the "happiest" time of the year. | ||||||
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8 | Elf | 2003 | 64 | 8.2 | |
| Will Ferrell may be a gigantic star, but this new holiday classic has a tie to an old one in the form of a head elf played by Peter Billingsley--that's Ralphie to all you Christmas Story fans. | ||||||
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9 | Home Alone | 1990 | 63 | 9.0 | |
| This holiday comedy gave us another child icon of the Christmas season and, boy, does this kid know his way around a booby trap. No burglar is safe, including Joe Pesci. And when you aren't afraid of Pesci, you aren't afraid of anything. | ||||||
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10 | Santa Clause, The | 1994 | 57 | n/a | |
| When Santa expires on his watch, Tim Allen has no choice but to don the late saint's famous red frock and finish the poor guy's delivery rounds. Little does he know, he's just agreed to one heck of a contract. | ||||||
What did we miss?
What holiday movies top your list ... and which do you hope to never, ever see again? Let us know!
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