1. It’s A Wonderful Life
2. Frozen
3. While You Were Sleeping
4. A Christmas Prince
5. 12 Dates of Christmas

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)

This movie is a classic, for good reason. It tells the story of the life of George Bailey, a man living in the quiet town of  Bedford Falls. Growing up, he has big dreams of traveling the world and going to college, but those plans get derailed. Christmas Eve many years later, George Bailey is about to kill himself, so an Angel, Clarence, gets sent down to talk George out of it.

Somehow, I had gone my whole life without seeing this movie until now, and it’s honestly one of my biggest regrets. It’s such a good movie and George Bailey holds a special place in my heart. Unlike most Christmas movies,  this movie has some substance and an actual plot, which I appreciate. The lowest of lows brings you to highest of highs at the end of this movie, leaving me teary eyed. I’d have to call this my favorite Christmas movie because overall it’s just everything I think a Christmas movie should be: dramatic, funny, romance-filled, and it makes me believe in the magic of Christmas.

Frozen (2013)

Some people may say that this movie isn’t a Christmas movie. Those people are wrong. It’s, dare I say, the best movie of this decade. If you haven’t already seen it, it’s about Anna, princess of Arendelle, who goes to find her sister Elsa after she uses her ice magic to make an eternal winter. She enlists the help an ice harvester, his reindeer, and an enchanted snowman to help reverse the spell. Oh, and it’s a musical.

Reasons that this movie is a Christmas movie, in case you don’t believe me:

• Snow
• Reindeer
• Family stuff
• True love
• Pentatonix put “Let It Go” on their Christmas album

I’m proud to say that I can quote nearly this entire movie, and it never fails to put a smile on my face. Plus, the plot is different than every other Disney Princess movie and pokes fun at the typical love at first sight trope. I love how it shows that familial love can be just as strong, if not stronger, than romantic love.

While You Were Sleeping (1995)

This movie is more rom-com than Christmas movie (yes, yes that’s true of half of my movies), but it does happen at Christmastime. It stars Sandra Bullock as Lucy, a young lady who works at the train station who is secretly in love with one of the commuters. On Christmas day, he gets pushed into the tracks and Lucy jumps in to save his life. He goes into a coma and in the commotion, his family thinks she is his fiance. Of course, then she starts having feelings for his brother. Drama ensues.

Mid-90s romance movies just have something special about them. Add in Christmas trees and New Years parties and you get something magical. And this isn’t some terrible movie that I love for no reason, the people on Rotten Tomatoes agree with me.

A Christmas Prince (2017)

Some people (namely Aynsleigh) hate this movie, but I think it’s wonderfully terrible.  It’s about Amber, an American journalist, who is chosen to cover the kingdom of Aldovea. Christmas makes the one year anniversary of the King’s death, so the Prince must take the throne. The Prince is rumored to be a playboy and the public speculates that he may abdicate the throne. Amber poses as a royal tutor to get close to the royal family and write the article that make her career.

This movie is bad in a way that I only slightly want to groan. The dialogue isn’t outstanding, but isn’t bad enough that I actively notice it. The accents are decent as well, which is something I appreciate. (Bad accents are the reason that I don’t like Netflix’s The Princess Switch). It’s a step above normal Hallmark Christmas movies and gives me faith about the future of Netflix as a Christmas giant.

12 Dates of Christmas (2011)

This movie is the epitome of cheese, but that doesn’t make me like it any less. It follows Kate as she relives Christmas Eve 12 times. On the first night, she forgoes her blind date in an effort to get her ex-boyfriend back. This doesn’t go well and soon she’s stuck in a time loop, unsure of how to return back to her normal life.

I can’t explain why, but I’ve seen this movie more times than I can count. It’s an ABC Family movie, so the quality isn’t great, but it’s very heartwarming. It checks all of the typical cheesy Christmas movie boxes for me:

• Shopping for a christmas tree
• Baking
• A dog
• Becoming friends with an old man who gives you wisdom

Kate is a bit unlikeable in the beginning, but you soon find out the reasons for her faults and she grows up during the duration of the movie. The main romance is something I root for, but what I particularly love about this movie is all the side plot lines and romances that come in to play. They’re all adorable and the end of this movie leaves me feeling good. What more could I ask for?