Check Out These Favorite Christmas Movies

During the holidays, it is important to take time for family.

Some of the best memories are made at home, and holiday movies provide the perfect chance to gather together to share classics that give you that warm, fuzzy feeling. With a bundle of holiday movies to choose from, options are endless. It can be tough to find movies everyone from Grandma to Little Timmy will enjoy, but these classics provide that perfect balance of entertainment for adults and magic for children.

Some of my favorites include "It’s a Wonderful Life," a movie I didn’t even see until my husband and I were dating more than a decade ago. Now the movie keeps bringing me back each Christmas with its message and great storytelling. And children will always remember the iconic line, “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.”

Another favorite is "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Year after year, we keep rooting for Charlie Brown, and it never grows old. This was the first prime-time special based on the Peanuts comic strip and debuted in 1965. As a child, I remember anxiously waiting for the night when A Charlie Brown Christmas would air, but now, On Demand and DVRs make it easy to watch the classic when it fits into your schedule. Check out Ridgedale Library to check out the DVD as well. 

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is the perfect mix of naughty and nice as the cranky old Grinch learns about the holiday spirit. Based on a Dr. Seuss book, the story follows Grinch as he tries to destroy the Whos’ Christmas. Compare the original animated version from 1966 to the live-action movie from 2000 featuring Jim Carrey and then take a vote to see which your family prefers.

Every boy secretly longs for a BB gun, and adults will enjoy the look back at Christmas during that long-ago decade, the 1980s, in "A Christmas Story." One scene that has always stuck with me is Ralphie’s younger brother floundering in a snowdrift, looking like a balloon from the Macy’s Parade. For anyone experiencing those cold Midwest winters, that scene might be all too familiar.

The magic of Christmas is reborn every year in "Polar Express." Children are fascinated with trains, as are many adults, and we long to fly along tracks in a magical train bound for the North Pole. The film was nominated for an Oscar and features Tom Hanks. Like "It’s a Wonderful Life," a bell brings us back to the magic of Christmas.

You can check out holiday movies at local Redboxes.

With your movie list made, get that popcorn popping and keep the cocoa close at hand.

Which Christmas movie do you watch every year?