9 Festive Movies to Watch Over the Holiday Break (That Aren't It's a Wonderful Life)

By Isabel Jones
Updated: Dec 25, 2017 @ 3:01 pm
Columbia Pictures, Warner Home Video, Walt Disnery Pictures

It’s the most wonderful time of the year ... for cuddling up with a movie, and if you’re not game to watch It’s a Wonderful Life or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for the 86th time, that doesn't mean you need to miss out on the fun.

The films below will scratch that holiday itch without re-treading ancient territory.

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1 of 10

Love Actually

Universal Pictures

If you're not into romantic A-list ensemble dramedies, do you even feel joy? Love Actually is festive sap at its finest, sure to put you in the cheeriest of moods. Plus, the movie has psychic powers... 

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2 of 10

Bridget Jones's Diary

Miramax

I refuse to believe that Bridget Jones's Diary is not a holiday movie. It has all the makings of a great one: a love triangle, British accents, a make-out scene set in the snow... 

3 of 10

Elf

Warner Home Video

It's not Christmas until you've seen Will Ferrell hit the mall. 

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4 of 10

A Muppet Christmas Carol

Walt Disney Pictures

This delightful retelling of the Christmas classic is, in my opinion, woefully underrated. If the phrase "starring Miss Piggy" comes into play, I'm there. 

5 of 10

Call Me by Your Name

Frenesy Film Company

While on the surface, CMBYN may seem like a coming-of-age tale about a boy in Italy navigating an affair with an older man during the summer of 1983, at its core, it's really a Hanukkah movie—Twitter seems to think so, at least. Hanukkah movies are hard to come by, so we'll take it.

6 of 10

Die Hard

Twentieth Century Fox

In case your lazy holiday season has you craving an action flick (and/or Bruce Willis). 

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7 of 10

The Holiday

Columbia Pictures

This idyllic romcom about two women who house swap over Christmas after crushing breakups provides the perfect holiday-themed reprieve from reality. If only life were as simple as the film's characters lead us to believe. 

8 of 10

You've Got Mail

Warner Brothers

What's more festive than two Internet strangers (and competing book store owners!) falling in love via email? Drawing a blank.

9 of 10

The Night Before

Columbia Pictures

This is probably the funniest Christmastime comedy ever—laugh out loud level funny—and also perhaps the most underrated. 

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