There’s no better way to spend your holidays off by cozying up on a couch and watching Christmas movies, and your streaming services have you covered this year.
We searched through HBO Max to find the true needles in the vast haystack of holiday titles, both movies and TV shows, to give you the guide you need to settle in and soak in the yuletide glee.
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HBO Max has a nice combo of modern favorites and beloved classics, plus some lesser-appreciated films that give you a nice alternative if you’re sick of the usual suspects.
We’ll share the full list of their best holiday options, but if we had to pick a handful of favorites:
A Christmas Story (1983): Yes, it runs tirelessly on cable this season, and we know every single line on cue (”You’ll shoot your eye out!), but I triple-dog-dare you to give us a purer, more nostalgic holiday film experience than what Ralphie, his old man, the leg lamp, the Bumpus dogs, Ovaltine and the Red Ryder BB gun. Without this movie, we’d never know nothing says “Merry Christmas” like a can of simonize.
Elf (2003): The most recent consensus Christmas classic? Will Ferrell plays Buddy, a man raised as an elf who travels from the North Pole to New York to meet his biological father who doesn’t know he exists. What is your favorite color?
Lethal Weapon (1987): Like “Die Hard,” this takes place during the holiday season, so we’re counting it. Any excuse to include the late great Richard Donner’s action classic starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as cops Riggs and Murtaugh, respectively.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989): The first two “Vacation” entries gave us little reason to think Clark Griswold wouldn’t totally flip during the holidays, which he does in spades here, chopping down his own enormous tree, getting stuck in a freezing attic, chugging eggnog after bad news and fumbling through a reluctant flirtation with a department store lingerie clerk.
The Shop Around the Corner (1940): Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand each other, without realizing that they are falling in love through the post as each other’s anonymous pen pal in Ernst Lubitsch’s sweet film starring Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart.
Christmas movies on HBO:
Batman Returns
Black Christmas
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
A Christmas Story
A Christmas Story 2
Dear Christmas
Deck the Halls
Elf
Elmo Saves Christmas
Eyes Wide Shut
Four Christmases
Fred Claus
Friday After Next
Gremlins
Harry Potter
Holiday Affair
It Happened on Fifth Avenue
Jack Frost
Lethal Weapon
Meet Me in St. Louis
Miracle on 34th Street (both versions)
My Gift: A Christmas Special from Carrie Underwood
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas
The Polar Express
The Shop Around the Corner
Christmas Episodes from these TV shows:
12 Dates of Christmas
Adam Ruins Everything
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
The Big Bang Theory
The Boondocks
A Different World
Doctor Who
Family Matters
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Friends
Ghosts
Gossip Girl
Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper
Looney Tunes
The Middle
The Nanny
The O.C.
Rick and Morty
Robot Chicken
South Park
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
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