Compiled by Camille Rasor | Arts & Life Editor
Christmastime is coming quickly, and the Lariat editors could not be more excited. Here are some of our favorite holiday movies that we hope you’ll enjoy this Christmas season.
It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) – Selected by Madalyn Watson | Editor-in-Chief
Starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, “It’s A Wonderful Life” is officially a holiday classic. This inspiring film starts on a sour note as George Bailey contemplates suicide. In an effort to earn his wings, a second-class angel shows Bailey the influence he had on other people in his life.
I remember last watching this one with my dad and stepmom last Christmas and being overwhelmed with emotion. “It’s A Wonderful Life” is a great one to watch around the fire, wearing matching pajamas and drinking hot chocolate with family.
White Christmas (1954) – Selected by Lauren Taylor | Copy Editor
I have watched this movie every Christmas for as long as I can remember, and each time I watch it is more magical than the last.
Nostalgia plays a role in my opinion I’m sure, but you can’t watch this beautifully crafted, whimsical film starring the angelic, unmatchable voice of Bing Crosby himself and not be transported back in time to the snowy northeast in the 1940s.
The trials the characters face are filled with humor, romance and entrancing dance numbers and songs. If you want to laugh, be moved and have the best two hours of your life, watch this film.
Die Hard (1988) – Selected by Matthew Soderberg | News Editor
A lot of people will argue that this classic action film isn’t a Christmas movie; they are wrong. John McClane (Bruce Willis) is on a mission to win his wife back as he attends her company Christmas party when it is upended by German terrorists. This is a movie about coming together and protecting your family, central ideas to any Christmas flick. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this movie, but every time it’s on it puts me in a Christmas kind of mood. Also, I’d just like to shout out Hans Gruber as one of the all-time villains.
A Christmas Prince (2017) – Selected by Camille Rasor | Arts & Life Editor
I’m a sucker for a good Hallmark-style Christmas movie, so when I was scrolling through Netflix a couple years ago looking for a simple, mindless Christmas movie to watch, I clicked on “A Christmas Prince” and settled into my bed.
I don’t know what it is about this movie that makes me love it more than most of the feel-good Christmas movies out there. Maybe it’s that the main protagonist is a journalist traveling to Europe to cover a story (which sounds like a dream), or maybe it’s that it somehow reminds me of the Princess Diaries movies. Now I’ve made it a tradition that once I’m finished with the semester each year, I settle down to snuggle with my cat and watch this movie and it’s sequels.
Black Christmas (1974) – Selected by Madalyn Watson | Editor-in-Chief
The Canadian 1974 horror film “Black Christmas” is the perfect choice when you want your holiday cheer served with a side of fear. Ignoring the recent remakes that spiraled from its success, some argue that it is the quintessential slasher flick. In fact, there’s a compelling argument for “Black Christmas” being the first film of its kind – predating the championed “Halloween” by four years.
“Black Christmas” follows a group of sorority sisters at the start of their winter break as well as the heavy breathing, perverted killer stalking them. While it’s not a feel-good or fantastical film in any way, it brings out a different side of the holidays.
More movies to check out this holiday season:
The Santa Clause (1994)
The Santa Clause 2 (2002)
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006)
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
The Grinch (2018)
Love Actually (2003)
Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (1970)
Holidate (2020)
Home Alone (1990)
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1982)
Klaus (2019)
Four Christmases (2008)
Elf (2003)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
Pete’s Christmas (2013)
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
Once Upon A Christmas (2000)
Gremlins (1984)
The Holiday (2006)
The Office: “Christmas Party” (Season 2, 2005)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Holiday in Handcuffs (2007)
