This is my list. I will admit right up front that this list isn’t going to please everyone.
There’s no Macaulay Culkin in “Home Alone,” for one. No Chevy Chase from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” No gremlins from “Gremlins” either.
Feel free to disagree. That’s part of the fun for you and me both.
Also note that these are not my picks for best Christmas movies, though some also would be. This is a list to honor individual performances that make the rest of the movie succeed.
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Billy Bob Thornton as Willie and Tony Cox as Marcus in Terry Zwigoff’s “Bad Santa. ” (Photo courtesy of Tracy Bennett)
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Bruce Willis looking Christmas-y as John McClane in “Die Hard.” (File photo)
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In this 1975 photo of the cast of the television series “The Waltons” you’ll see actor Richard Thomas who played John-Boy at top center. Thomas, the other Walton children and Grandma Walton all also appeared in “The Homecoming: A Christmas Story,” the TV movie that preceded the popular series. (Associated Press file photo)
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Actor Boris Karloff in his later years when he gave voice to the Grinch in “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.” (Associated Press file photo)
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In this undated image provided by The WB from the animated cartoon “How The Grinch Stole Christmas,” the Grinch — who was voiced by actor Boris Karloff — pats the head of Cindy Lou. (Associated Press file photo/ Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved)
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Fred Astaire, left, and Bing Crosby, present Marjorie Reynolds with the Cinderella Girl of 1942 award in Hollywood. Astaire, Crosby and Reynolds all appeared together in “Holiday Inn,” the film that debuted the Christmas classic “White Christmas.” Also pictured is Mark Sandrich, center, who produced the film. (Associated Press file photo)
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Fred Astaire performs his firecracker dance number from the musical movie “Holiday Inn” in Hollywood on June 29, 1942. (Associated Press file photo)
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Hugh Grant as Will falls for Rachel Weisz as Rachel in “About A Boy.” (Photo by Laurie Sparham)
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Actress Natalie Wood meets Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle in a scene from the 1947 film “Miracle on 34th Street.” (Associated Press file photo/Fox Home Entertainment)
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Judy Garland as Esther Smith in “Meet Me In St. Louis,” where she debuted the holiday classic “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” (File photo)
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Vince Guaraldi is the jazz musician and pianist best known for composing music for animated adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip including “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” (File photo)
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Charlie Brown and the gang sing in “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” for which the soundtrack was composed and performed by Vince Guaraldi. (Photo © 1965 United Feature Syndicate Inc.)
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Actress Margaret Sullavan, second from left, with her husband actor Leland Howard, left, and actor Jimmy Stewart and Kay Aldridge arrive for the premiere of “Mrs. Miniver” at the Carthay Circle Theater in Hollywood on July 24, 1942. Sullavan and Stewart were costars in “The Shop Around The Corner.” (Associated Press file photo)
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Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey hugs his family in a scene from “It’s A Wonderful Life.” (Photo courtesy of Paramount Home Media)
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Will Ferrell, right, as Buddy, and Bob Newhart as Papa Elf in “Elf.” (File photo)
So let’s start the countdown. On the first day of Christmas, my TV gave to me …
12) Richard Thomas as John-Boy Walton, “The Homecoming: A Christmas Story”: This 1971 made-for-TV movie based on the fiction of Earl Hamner Jr. introduced viewers to the Waltons of Walton Mountain, with a wholesome remembrance of Depression-era life in rural Virginia. As the aspiring writer of the family, John-Boy centered the family and narrated the movie and “The Waltons” series that ran for nine seasons. Thomas had an earnest sincerity that worked well in the increasingly cynical decade of the ’70s.
Where to watch it: A harder one to find these days, but you can find the DVD on Amazon for $9.78.
11) Natalie Wood as Susan Walker, “Miracle on 34th Street”: Wood might not have as big a part of Maureen O’Hara, who plays her no-nonsense mother, or Edmund Gwenn, who plays Kris Kringle, her transformation from cynical child – mom raised her not to believe in fairy tales – to true believer is the emotional heart of the movie. For a child actor who was 9 when the movie was released in 1947, she’s talented as well as adorable.
Where to watch it: AMC will air it at 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6, and then 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 9. BBC America airs it at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 10. It is also available to rent, buy or stream on Amazon Prime, Disney+, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, and Vudu.
10) Hugh Grant as Will Freeman, “About A Boy”: This is the Christmas movie with Hugh Grant you should really be watching (not “Love Actually”). And yes, it’s as much of a Christmas movie as “Die Hard” or “Gremlins” or “Home Alone.” The movie is bookended by successive Christmases, and Grant’s character lives his idle, boozy and depressed life without working because of the royalties he gets from his late father’s Christmas hit single, “Santa’s Super Sleigh.” It’s also about growth and transformation — think about how Scrooge and other Christmas characters change in the spirit of the season — and Grant pulls it off without all the nervous tics and floppy hair tricks of much of his admittedly charming work before this 2002 adaptation of the Nick Hornby novel.
Where to watch it: You can catch it on Showtime this month and it is also available on Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime, Google Play, iTunes and Vudu.
9) Boris Karloff as Narrator and Grinch, “How The Grinch Stole Christmas!”: This 1966 animated film took the deep voice of the horror icon and used it to bring to life an animated monster of a different kind. As the narrator and voice of the Grinch, it’s Karloff who you hear through most of the film, and the man who played Frankenstein is absolutely delightful.
Where to watch it: NBC airs it on Tuesday, Dec. 3, but YouTube and Amazon Prime both have it to stream.
8) Bruce Willis as John McClane, “Die Hard”: Fine, “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie; you win. It’s really an action movie, or as Willis said during his 2018 Comedy Central Roast: “‘Die Hard’ is not a Christmas movie! It is a (bleepin’) Bruce Willis movie!” It does take place on Christmas Eve, and there’s a Christmas party going on when Willis as McClane arrives at Nakatomi Tower and soon finds himself having to save the day almost single-handedly. Which, of course, he does in classic action hero style, proving oh what fun it is to fight and wisecrack all the way.
Where to watch it: Find it on YouTube, Amazon Prime, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu and Crackle.
7) Vince Guaraldi as composer-performer, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” soundtrack: Yes, these are animated characters, and no Guaraldi doesn’t voice Charlie Brown. What he and his trio do, however, is perhaps just as much responsible for the continued success of this 1965 animated special as the writers and animators and voice actors alike. His soundtrack, a mix of original jazz numbers and covers of Christmas classics, is one of the great Christmas albums, and for that he gets this spot.
Where to watch it: It airs on ABC on Thursday, Dec. 6, and if you missed that you can find it to rent or buy on YouTube and Amazon Prime.
6) Judy Garland as Esther Smith, “Meet Me In St. Louis”: The 1944 film tells the story of a year in the life of the Smith family of St. Louis, but it’s solidly a Christmas movie thanks to Garland’s sterling performance of a new song written for the movie – “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” – that soon became a standard. Garland is great in all of the seasons shown in the movie, but it’s the tender performance of this Christmas song that takes her performance to its peak.
Where to watch it: You can actually find 75th anniversary screenings of this in select Regal theaters on Sunday, Dec. 8 and Wednesday, Dec. 11. It’s also on Amazon Prime, Vudu, Google Play, iTunes, and YouTube.
5) Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire as Jim Hardy and Ted Hanover, “Holiday Inn”: It’s … a tie? It’s hard to pick one of these two titans over the other in this 1942 film. Crosby debuted “White Christmas,” which Irving Berlin wrote for the picture and which won the Oscar for best song. And Astaire dances — with Crosby, with the women of the film, and in one stand-out scene as firecrackers exploded around his tap-dancing toes. Truly a showstopper.
Where to watch it: Amazon Prime, Vudu, Google Play, iTunes, and YouTube.
4) Billy Bob Thornton as Willie, “Bad Santa”: OK, Willie is not a great Christmas role model at first. He drinks, he steals, he mistreats his tiny sidekick Marcus, played by Tony Cox, for no good reason. But he grows over the course of the 2003 release, and while maybe it’s too rough for some viewers – there is a whole lot of foul language coming out from behind Willie as Santa’s beard – it’s often very funny, and touching sometimes, too.
Where to watch it: VH1 is showing it on Friday, Dec. 13. Otherwise, you’ve got It’s also on Amazon Prime, Vudu, Google Play, iTunes, and YouTube.
3) Margaret Sullavan, “The Shop Around The Corner”: This Ernst Lubitsch film from 1940 tells the story of two clerks at a Budapest leather goods shop who take an instant dislike to each other in person only to unknowingly fall in love with each other after they start to correspond anonymously with each. Jimmy Stewart plays Alfred Kralik, and while he’s quite good it’s Margaret Sullavan as Klara Novak who runs away with the film so powerful is her performance. A truly wonderful film for her and all of the cast.
Where to watch it: Amazon Prime, Vudu, Google Play, iTunes, and YouTube.
2) Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, “It’s A Wonderful Life”: Here’s where Stewart gets his spotlight on the list. As George Bailey, he’s in nearly every scene of the 1946 Frank Capra-directed movie, and it’s his earnest and passionate performance that makes you cry by the end of it when, after many difficulties and disappointments, he realizes that life is exactly as the title has it — wonderful.
Where to watch it: NBC will broadcast it at 8 p.m. on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve. A new 4K Ultra HD restored version is available on Blu-ray. And there’s the usual Amazon Prime, Vudu, Google Play, iTunes, and YouTube.
1) Will Ferrell as Buddy, “Elf”: I must admit I surprised myself with Ferrell as my top pick, having thought it would be Stewart when I started. But there is such commitment on the part of Ferrell to becoming Buddy, the adult man who was raised as an elf, and the ways in which that manifests in the movie are so wonderful and funny that I have to tip my little green elf hat to him and his performance.
Where to watch it: It’s playing multiple times this month on AMC including Sunday, Dec. 8, Tuesday, Dec. 10, and Wednesday, Dec. 11. And of course, it’s on Amazon Prime, Vudu, Google Play, iTunes, and YouTube.
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