Top Christmas Movies Of All Time

Christmas is the best time of the year, and Christmas movies are some of the best. The combination of holidays, family and loved ones makes for a perfect holiday viewing experience. Whether you're looking for nostalgia, comfort or even some laughs — we have the best Christmas movies of all time that will have you smiling from ear to ear.

Christmas is a time to give and celebrate, and it's better than having your family members eat popcorn, drink Christmas cocktails, and watch the best Christmas movies. After scouring through numerous sources to find the best Christmas movies of all time, we've compiled a list of five that will get you in the mood for Yuletide joy!

Jingle All the Way (1996)

Like the plastic toy that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad feud over in this barbed kiddie comedy, Jingle All the Way is a cynical product marketed to children. Workaholic father Howard absolutely must get a Turboman doll for his cherub-like son Jamie or Christmas will be a big bust. The plot spirals out from there, turning the potentially relatable parental anxiety about fulfilling a child's consumer needs into a madcap action-comedy with an occasionally wicked sense of humor. Panned by critics upon release, it's yet another Schwarzenegger oddity that will live forever in the form of GIFs and Ah-nold soundboards.

While You Were Sleeping (1995)

Sandra Bullock's performances in 1994's Speed and in 1995's While You Were Sleeping are the perfect examples of movie star range. In one, she's a put-upon everywoman thrust into an absurd, convoluted action movie scenario. In the other, she's a put-upon everywoman thrust into an absurd, convoluted romantic comedy scenario. She adapts to both. But only one of these films specifically, the one where Bullock's character pretends to be engaged to a man in a coma (Peter Gallagher) and then falls in love with his charming brother is also a stealth Christmas movie. What can't she do? Praise Sandra Bullock, bringer of holiday amnesia comedy cheer.

Ernest Saves Christmas (1988)

Turns out the only thing more threatening to Ernest P. Worrell's life than sticking two fingers into an electrical socket is the Kentucky fried nincompoop placing his entire hand into Santa's magic bag. This mandatory Christmas adventure finds Ernest and Mr. Claus on a mission to retrieve the powerful gift-giving knapsack. Part Miracle on 34th Street, part Dumb and Dumber, Ernest's naiveté makes him the perfect manchild for the holiday season.

The Ref (1994)

The married couple in this pitch-black comedy, played by Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis, could be the most unpleasant romantic pairing in any Christmas movie ever. They'll make you appreciate your own irritating relatives. When the two are taken hostage by a roguish thief (Denis Leary, hot off his 1993 No Cure for Cancer stand-up special), the film gets even more acerbic and nasty, culminating in a farcical dinner scene that will have you coming back for seconds. Just make sure to watch this one after the kids go to bed.

A Christmas Carol (1951)

This chilly Christmas Carol adaptation was released as Scrooge in the UK, and it's deserving of the title. As the black-hearted Alastair Sim is peak Ebenezer, naturally matching Charles Dickens' original description: "The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice." The beats are familiar, but few cower next to the Ghost of Christmas Present, or melt from calcified wretch into childlike giddiness when the sun rises on Christmas morning, quite like Sim, a Shakespearean thespian who takes the hopeful story as seriously as any of the Bard's tragedies.