we made a list and checked it twice // my thesis // the ultimate christmas movie extravaganza

Introduction

I have great news. My roommate and I have been doing the incredibly difficult work of determining which Christmas movies are the best Christmas movies. So, I give to you: Sam and Emilia’s Ultimate Christmas Movie Extravaganza. After hours upon hours of movie-watching and much dedication and perseverance, we have curated the perfect holiday movie list. We have done the work for you. Now you can sit back and relax and watch our 20 favourites.

Methods

**Bias Statement**

This list has been created by two women, aged 24 and 26, with a high tolerance for Hallmark-quality movies and top-notch knowledge of research principles. In an effort to limit bias, all movies will be ranked 1-10 (10 being the highest) for Christmassyness and Overall Enjoyment, respectively. All official ratings were made in conference between Emilia Klassen (B. Sc.) and Sam Schulz (M.A.). If agreement could not be reached, an average of both authors' ratings was given.

Please note: for those of you with less Hallmark tolerance, or for those of you who are just here for a good time, a Hallmark Movie Drinking Game will be provided below (See Appendix I). This game can be played during any movie, but Hallmark is the most effective.

Results

So here we go: in no particular order, the must-watch Christmas movies as of 2019.

1. The Grinch (1947)

Christmas rating: 10/10

Enjoyment rating: 9/10

This is my dad's all-time favourite, so it has a special place in my heart. I could probably honestly quote the whole thing. It's so precious. Special shout out to the Grinch's emotional turning point. It might be the best part of any movie, ever. And the best part: this one is only 25 minutes, so there are absolutely no excuses not to watch it.

2. The Grinch (2004)

Christmas rating: 10/10

Enjoyment rating: 10/10

Jim Carey is everything. This whole movie is so freaking funny. And Where Are You Christmas is so so so pure.

3. The Polar Express

Christmas rating: 10/10

Enjoyment rating: 9/10

I get why people (Sam) don't like this movie, I really get it. It's creepy and weird and confusing and it leaves so many unanswered questions. But I respectfully have to say that you're all wrong (Sam), it's the best movie ever, because it's also heartwarming and wholesome and magical and imaginative and all about the Christmas spirit and it has an awesome soundtrack. Sam says she wouldn't put it on her list but I am the queen first author so I'm overruling her. That's how research works, duh.

By far the best part of this movie is the precious song and by far the worst is the freaky puppet scene, made worse by the creepy animation.

4. The Holiday

Christmas rating: 7/10

Enjoyment rating: 6/10

Cameron Diaz takes away every single point for enjoyment. But this movie is a classic, and nothing is more pure than Kate Winslet and Jack Black's love story and that one scene when Cameron Diaz and Jude Law are in the tent with his two perfectly adorable British children.

5. Love Actually

Christmas rating: 7/10

Enjoyment rating: 10/10

This one is in the top three! This movie is complicated and so real. It's charming, funny, heartbreaking, and honest. It leaves you feeling conflicted, but mostly in a good way. I'm surprised by how much I enjoy this movie every single year. Also, the airport shots. Nothing beats that.

6. It’s a Wonderful Life

Christmas rating: 4/10

Enjoyment rating: 10/10

We were surprised by the lack of Christmas for the first three quarters of this movie, considering its status as a Christmas classic. It's hilarious, though, and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

7. Elf

Christmas rating: 10/10

Enjoyment rating: 7.5/10

Sam and I are in disagreement regarding our feelings towards Will Ferrel. I think he's hilarious; Sam does not. But this movie is funny and precious, and Zooey Deschanel is my hero, so no matter how you feel about this kind of humour, it's a must-watch for the holiday season.

8. Charlie Brown Christmas

Christmas rating: 7/10

Enjoyment rating: 2/10

This is the most depressing Christmas classic! We're confused as to why this is so iconic?!? But it makes the list because of popular opinion. It's whatever. As a future giver of psychiatric help, Sam enjoyed taking pointers from Lucy, at least.

9. The Santa Clause

Christmas rating: 10/10

Enjoyment rating: 8/10

Cute and magical. We like Tim Allen!

10. The Santa Clause 2

Christmas rating: 10/10

Enjoyment rating: 7/10

Still here for Tim Allen!

11. The Santa Clause 3

Christmas rating: 10/10

Enjoyment rating: 5/10

We liked this one less overall - Jack Frost is a super annoying super villain. But you gotta watch all three, or you won't know how it ends!

12. Home Alone

Christmas rating: 4/10

Enjoyment rating: 7/10

This movie is adorable and wholesome. I'm a major non-fan of the 10 minutes of extreme violence and the spider. That's not what Christmas is about. But Christmas is about family, reconciliation, breaking prejudices, singing Christmas songs into a hairbrush, a bad-ass rendition of Carol of the Bells, and fighting crime, which is what's covered in the rest of the movie. Would highly recommend watching the movie alongside this article, in which a doctor diagnoses all of the injuries sustained by Harry and Marv.

13. Home Alone 2

Christmas rating: 5/10

Enjoyment rating: 8/10

We weren't going to watch this, because let's be real: there are like 8 Home Alone movies, right? Ain't nobody got time for that. But then, plot twist: the second most popular Christmas movie of the Toronto Raptors was Home Alone 2. What?!? So we watched it. It turns out they were right, it's better than the first one. I thought there was no way they'd be able to forget Kevin a second time without it being mad cheesy but they actually managed. It follows the plot of the first movie with some subtle nods to its predictability. And there's even a weird Donald Trump appearance, so that's fun.

14. Arthur Christmas

Christmas rating: 10/10

Enjoyment rating: 10/10

This is one of the top three! I've seen this once before, but it still struck me how clever the whole story is, and it's just so adorable and heart warming. This is exactly what you need around the holidays!

15. Four Christmases

Christmas rating: 8/10

Enjoyment rating: 8/10

Reese Witherspoon is excellent, and so is Vince Vaughan. There's really no losing when they star in a Christmas movie together. This is a classic chick flick - it's funny and charming and a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster, but - spoiler alert - they all live happily ever after.

16. Christmas with the Kranks

Christmas rating: 7/10

Enjoyment rating: 6.5/10

My favourite thing about this movie was that it cast both the mom from Freaky Friday and Shelby, the cheerleader villain from A Cinderella Story. This movie bothered us a bit because the main characters spent most of the movie being real Grinches. And who on earth would rather go on a tropical vacation than be home for a white Christmas? Get it together, Kranks.

16. Deck the Halls

Christmas rating: 7/10

Enjoyment rating: 7/10

I had never even heard of this movie, but it's not surprising that when Ferris Bueller is married to Charlotte from Sex in the City, it's gonna be a good time. This movie was funny and unexpected, if a little more focused on a Christmas decoration pissing contest than I'd have liked (and I'd have won, by the way).

17. Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean

Christmas rating: 8/10

Enjoyment rating: 9/10

This is just so classic. I think Mr. Bean's nativity scene is the funniest thing I've ever seen. And it's only 25 minutes!

18. Jingle all the Way

Christmas rating: 7/10

Enjoyment rating: 6/10

We disagreed about this one too. Sam and Justin enjoyed it quite a lot, but I thought it was cheesy. Arnold Schwartzenegger, a workaholic father, forgets to buy his kid the big superhero toy of the year. Then he follows a series of predictable misfortunes trying to obtain this toy on Christmas Eve. Whatever.

19. Jack Frost

Christmas rating: 6/10

Enjoyment rating: 8/10

We really enjoyed this one, but it was quite sad throughout the whole movie. We kept waiting for it to get less sad, and it just didn't. Curl up with a cup of hot cocoa and a box of kleenexes, though, because it was definitely worth the watch.

20. Miracle on 34th Street

Christmas rating: 10/10

Enjoyment rating: 9/10

This movie is extremely cute but we took a point off for how much of a buzzkill the cute little girl is for most of the movie. But the premise is hilarious. Putting the existence of Santa Claus on trial. Amazing. Also - we weren't aware that you could ask Santa for a house but we were taking notes for our adult lives.

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And the rest of the movies - the most telling part of a list is what's not on it! See Table 1 below for details. To sum up: we don't get the 80's. We don't recommend watching 80's movies. (Hopefully my future in-laws never see this. They might not forgive me). We do recommend watching 40's and 50's movies, but don't expect them to have more than one Christmas scene. We also recommend watching recent Christmas chick flicks to your heart's content, but not the same ones on repeat.

Table 1: Movies Excluded from the Ultimate Christmas Movie List

Honourable Mentions:

Here are some movies that didn't make the cut, but I wanted to tell you a bit about them anyway...

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Christmas rating: 8/10

Enjoyment rating: 5/10

Patriotism rating: 10/10

Eventfulness rating: 10/10

That's all, I just wanted to rate this one.

Happy Christmas (2014)

Christmas rating: 5/10

Enjoyment rating: 6/10

This was like watching a train wreck. It was all so confusing and strange and cringey but we couldn't look away. We're pretty sure it wasn't scripted, and the only predictable thing about the whole movie was Anna Kendrick's bad life choices.

One Magic Christmas (1985)

Christmas rating: 9/10

Enjoyment rating: 0/10

This started out so nice and innocent and then it quickly became the worst movie I've ever seen. One minute you're watching a Disney movie and the next somebody's getting shot and you're scarred for life. I may never recover.

Discussion

To recap, my overall top three would have to be White Christmas, Love Actually, and Arthur Christmas. I'd recommend moving those right up to the top of your priority list.

Limitations

I am happy to report that we have conducted perfect science for the first time in history. There are no limitations to report. Actually, maybe one: that I can't submit this study as my thesis.

Future Directions

In the future, scientists should focus their attention on expanding the scope of the movies included in the review. I would recommend specifically watching all of the Netflix and Disney Plus movies. My lab would be willing to pool the resources to do this in 2020.

Conclusions

In conclusion, through many hours of rigorous research, we have concluded that there are a total of 20 movies that are considered must-watches for the holidays. As you may know, replication studies are imperative to ensure the integrity of research. This means we need YOU to replicate our data and let us know if you come up with the same results. We thank you in advance for your huge sacrifice in the name of science.

Mix in a Hallmark movie or two (we’d recommend Merry and Bright and anything starring Gretchen Weiners). If that doesn't sound like your jam (or it really does), check out our Hallmark drinking game (see Appendix I below).

Appendix I: Hallmark's Countdown to Christmas Drinking Game

Namaste, and Merry Christmas