Where Can I Watch Christmas Films?
25 Days of Christmas: What Films to Watch This Festive Season and Where to Find Them
Image Source: Everett Collection
It's official: it is now socially acceptable to start watching Christmas movies, and we couldn't be happier. Whether you like romantic comedies, love animated films, or are partial to a bit of a scare, we've rounded up our top festive films to watch all throughout December — from ultimate classics to old favourites, there will be plenty to keep you occupied on those chilly nights! So grab a glass of mulled wine and a couple of mince pies, and get ready for the best movie marathon of the year.
Image Source: Everett Collection
The Holiday
What it's about: Unlucky in love and desperate for a break, London journalist Iris (Kate Winslet) and LA-based Amanda (Cameron Diaz) swap homes for Christmas. The idea is to avoid men, but as Iris strikes a chord with Hollywood composer Miles (Jack Black), her brother Graham (Jude Law) introduces Amanda to the charms of the Cotswolds.
Where to find it: You can buy it on Amazon or on the Sky Store.
Home Alone
What it's about: A young boy named Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) is accidentally left behind when his family takes off for a holiday in France over the Christmas season.
Where to find it: You can rent or buy it on Amazon or Google Play or buy it on the Sky Store.
Santa Claus: The Movie
What it's about: In ancient times, a man named Claus (David Huddleston), who delivers toys in his small village, fulfills his destiny to become Santa Claus after meeting an expert toy-making elf, Patch (Dudley Moore), in the North Pole. In the present day, Santa Claus has become overwhelmed by his workload, and the disgruntled Patch flees the workshop to New York City. There, Patch unknowingly threatens the fate of Christmas by taking a job at a failing toy company run by a scheming businessman (John Lithgow).
Where to find it: You can buy it on Google Play.
Arthur Christmas
What it's about: At Santa Claus's ultrasecret toy-making facility, Mr. Claus entrusts his son, Arthur, to carry out a superimportant Christmas mission.
Where to find it: On Netflix.
Polar Express
What it's about: A lad doesn't believe in Santa until a train conductor invites him on a journey to the North Pole.
Where to find it: On NOW TV or Sky Go.
Miracle on 34th Street
What it's about: Six-year-old Susan Walker (Mara Wilson) is skeptical of the Christmas myth surrounding Santa Claus, a trait she perhaps learned from her mother, Dorey (Elizabeth Perkins). When tasked with hiring the Santa who will pose with kids at Macy's, Dorey enlists a man with the curious name of Kris Kringle (Richard Attenborough) who claims to be Santa himself. His assertions are met with scoffs and threats of institutionalisation, but a young lawyer, along with Susan and Dorey, comes to his defence.
Where to find it: On Netflix.
Image Source: Everett Collection
It's a Wonderful Life
What it's about: An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would had been like if he never existed.
Where to find it: You can stream it on Amazon if you have an Amazon Prime subscription.
White Christmas
What it's about: Two army buddies (Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye) team up after the war and become a successful song-and-dance act. While on a skiing holiday, the pair stage a benefit to save an inn run by their old commander, who is beset by financial difficulties resulting from a lack of snow.
Where to find it: You can stream it on Amazon if you have an Amazon Prime subscription.
The Muppets Christmas Carol
What it's about: Michael Caine stars as Ebenezer Scrooge in this version of the classic Dickens tale about a stingy old man who learns to change his ways one lonely Christmas Eve. Kermit the Frog plays lowly Scrooge employee Bob Cratchit while Miss Piggy plays Bob's feisty wife, Emily.
Where to find it: Stream it on Disney Life or rent it on Amazon.
Scrooged
What it's about: A cold-hearted TV exec is about to discover the true meaning of Christmas in a wild spin on Dickens's A Christmas Carol.
Where to find it: Watch it on Netflix or stream it on Amazon if you have an Amazon Prime subscription.
Die Hard
What it's about: John McClane, officer of the NYPD, tries to save wife Holly Gennaro and several others, taken hostage by German terrorist Hans Gruber during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.
Where to find it: You can rent or buy it on Amazon or buy it on the Sky Store.
The Snowman
What it's about: Adapted from Raymond Briggs's bestselling book and nominated for an Oscar in 1982, it is the story of a boy whose snowman comes to life at midnight, and the two embark on a series of magical adventures.
Where to find it: You can rent or buy it on the Sky Store or buy it on Amazon.
Image Source: Everett Collection
The Grinch
What it's about: Jim Carrey goes green as Dr Seuss's fun-hating grouch. Only happy when he's grumpy, the Grinch lives in solitary splendour but finds himself dragged into the Christmas spirit by the cheerful, snub-nosed residents of the nearby town of Whoville.
Where to find it: On NOW TV or Sky Go.
Just Friends
What it's about: Years after high school, a once-portly nice guy (Ryan Reynolds) comes home for the holidays and reunites with a former crush he still has feelings for.
Where to find it: On Netflix.
The Family Stone
What it's about: Join the eccentric Stone family (Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Keaton, and Rachel McAdams) for a holiday gathering filled with unexpected surprises. Before the festivities are over, love affairs will unravel, new ones will form, outrageous secrets will be revealed, and the family will come together like never before.
Where to find it: You can rent or buy it on Amazon or on Google Play.
Elf
What it's about: Once upon a Christmas Eve, an orphan baby crawled into Santa's bag of gifts and was taken to the North Pole. Raised by Papa Elf (Bob Newhart), Buddy (Will Ferrell) comes to realise he doesn't fit in with the other elves. Determined to find a place where he belongs, Buddy searches for his real dad — in New York City!
Where to find it: You can stream it on Amazon if you have an Amazon Prime subscription.
Christmas With the Kranks
What it's about: Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis cause uproar in their Christmas-crazy suburb when they give the festivities a miss.
Where to find it: On NOW TV or Sky Go.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
What it's about: Harry Potter has spent the first 10 years of his life with his horrible aunt and uncle and bully of a cousin unaware that his parents were magical. Then he's invited to study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardly — and his life will change forever as he switches between two worlds.
Where to find it: You can rent or buy it on Amazon or buy it on the Sky Store.
Image Source: Everett Collection
Love Actually
What it's about: Set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, Love Actually follows the lives of eight very different couples in various loosely interrelated tales.
Where to find it: Available Dec. 14 on Netflix
The Nightmare Before Christmas
What it's about: Jack Skellington, Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, attempts to take over Christmas with disastrous results. It's a marvellously macabre animated musical from Tim Burton.
Where to find it: On NOW TV, Sky Go, or Disney Life.
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas
What it's about: Mickey and his friends tell three stories including "A Very Goofy Christmas" and "Mickey and Minnie's Gift of the Magi."
Where to find it: On Disney Life.
Four Christmases
What it's about: Brad (Vince Vaughn) learns how not to install a satellite dish, Kate (Reese Witherspoon) battles an army of naughty-list kids in an inflatable Christmas castle, and the two fill in for no-shows Mary and Joseph in a wacky holiday pageant. Can Brad and Kate's relationship survive Four Christmases?
Where to find it: You can stream it on Amazon if you have an Amazon Prime subscription.
Krampus
What it's about: A boy who has a bad Christmas ends up accidentally summoning a festive demon to his family home.
Where to find it: Available Dec. 25 on Netflix
Mariah Carey's Merriest Christmas
What it's about: Pop music superstar Mariah Carey hosts this all-star holiday celebration with special guests and a celebrity reading of The Night Before Christmas.
Where to find it: On Netflix.
A Very Murray Christmas
What it's about: Bill Murray rounds up an all-star cast for an evening of music, mischief, and barroom camaraderie in this irreverent twist on holiday variety shows.
Where to find it: On Netflix.
