Holiday Movie Recommendations From Thanksgiving Through New Year's Eve

The holiday season is a time of family, food, friends, and gifts (I ran out of f-words…).  To quote my idiot brother, “the best part of the holidays is watching movies and holding hands under the covers.”  That never happens; he’s simply ridiculous and borderline insane.  However, he does make an excellent point—holidays are a great time for getting together and watching movies—or being alone and watching movies, whatever floats your boat. 

Holiday movies span age demographics and genres.  There are so many good, bad, and terrible ones to sort through, so I decided to make a list of recommendations, one for each day from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve.  I consulted my friends about what movies to include/exclude, and came up with a pretty wide variety, like a mixed tape of holiday films.  I have not seen all of these movies <yet>, so if there is one that you think is awful, I will deny ever seeing it/blame it on one of my friends—whether it’s true or not.

When you’re looking for an escape from your obnoxious mother-in-law or creepy uncle, hunker down with your Netflix and check out these suggested titles and know that someone else out there is feeling your pain and crying over It’s a Wonderful Life (and their horrible relatives) with you.  Warning: not all of these are appropriate for children and/or the elderly with pacemakers.

Thanksgiving, November 25^th:

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)

November 26^th: ThanksKilling (2009)

November 27^th: Home for the Holidays (1995)

November 28^th:  Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)

November 29^th: Dutch (1991)

November 30^th: Nobody’s Fool (1994)

December 1^st: 8 Crazy Nights (2002)

December 2^nd: Holiday Inn (1942)

December 3^rd: A Rugrats Chanukah (2004)—Available in the Rugrats: Holiday Collection on Netflix

December 4^th: Family Stone (2005)

December 5^th: Shalom Sesame (1987)

December 6^th: Die Hard (1988)

December 7^th: South Park: Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo (2001)

December 8^th: The Nutcracker (1993)

December 9^th: The Hebrew Hammer (2003)

December 10^th:  The Muppets Christmas Carol (1992)

December 11^th:  The Preacher’s Wife (1996)

December 12^th:  Frosty the Snowman (1969)

December 13^th:  Miracle on 34^th Street (1947)

December 14^th:  The Santa Clause (1994)

December 15^th:  Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

December 16^th:  Love Actually (2003)

December 17^th:  Elf (2003)

December 18^th:  Scrooged (1988)

December 19^th:  A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

December 20^th:  How The Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)

December 21^st:  Santa Claus:  The Movie (1985)

December 22^nd:  It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

December 23^rd:  Home Alone (1990)

December 24^th:  National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

Christmas, December 25^th:  A Christmas Story (1983)

December 26^th:  Gremlins (1984)

December 27^th:  Bad Santa (2003)

December 28^th:  The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

December 29^th:  Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)

December 30^th:  Happy New Year Charlie Brown!  (1986)

December 31^st:   When Harry Met Sally… (1989)