--- title: Richard Corliss on the Best Holiday Movies and TV | TIME description: TIME's Richard Corliss comes down the chimney with the top 10 best holiday movies and TV shows canonical: https://time.com/video/v7XJGFE7/ og:title: Richard Corliss on the Best Holiday Movies and TV og:description: TIME's Richard Corliss comes down the chimney with the top 10 best holiday movies and TV shows og:url: https://time.com/video/v7XJGFE7/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/v7XJGFE7/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Richard Corliss on the Best Holiday Movies and TV twitter:description: TIME's Richard Corliss comes down the chimney with the top 10 best holiday movies and TV shows twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/v7XJGFE7/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Richard Corliss on the Best Holiday Movies and TV > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Richard Corliss on the Best Holiday Movies and TV [Watch (HLS stream): Richard Corliss on the Best Holiday Movies and TV](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/v7XJGFE7.m3u8) (8:08)  _Published 2008-12-21. TIME's Richard Corliss comes down the chimney with the top 10 best holiday movies and TV shows_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:04 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [TIME's Favorite Movie Kisses](/video/bl2FyODa/) ### TIME's Favorite Movie Kisses [TIME's Favorite Political Movies](/video/XDJ9vmLw/) ### TIME's Favorite Political Movies [TIME's Favorite Chinese Movies](/video/bvnXzN7d/) ### TIME's Favorite Chinese Movies --- ## Transcript >> Are you all merried up? Is there too much Christmas in your lives? If that's the case, this video won't help you because it's the best of the Christmas movies and TV shows that we dread, we love, and we watch every December. Meet Me in St. Louis, 1944. This sentimental favorite follows the Smith Family through several holidays, but the one everyone remembers this Christmas when Judy Garland sings " Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas to a nearly- suicidal Margaret O'Brien. >> Make the yule- tide gay. Next year all our troubles will be miles away-- >> I'm not a praying man, but if you're up there and you can hear me, show me the way. >> It's a Wonderful Life, 1946, and it's a terrible shame that this wonderful Frank Capra movie has become obligatory viewing for restless family members on Christmas eve. Keep your depressive uncle away from the TV when this is on, because it's a fable where everything goes wrong for a very decent guy, Jimmy Stewart and then when he's ready to kill himself, they get worse. Only divine intervention can save him. Still at all, this is one of the greats. >> And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet. For auld lang syne! >> Scrooge also known as a Christmas Carol, 1951. >> An ant is what it is and a grasshopper is what it is and Christmas, sir, is a humbug. Good day. >> Why the long face Alastair Sim? Because the great Scott's comic actor is playing Dickens' favorite miser Ebenezer Scrooge in the finest version of a Christmas Carol. >> Why he wanted me? >> Sim is convincing and delightful both as the cranky skin flint and as the giddy Samaritan who's seen the light. Thanks to a few ghosts. >> Can you forgive a pig- headed old fool for having no eyes to see with, no ears to hear with, all these years? The Grinch hated Christmas, the whole Christmas season. >> Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 1966. Some Scrooges are called Grinches. In the Jack Jones TV Classic from Ted Geisel's story, the Grinches are mean one stealing the toys and the adorable cherubs are fluvial. I'm not spoiling the ending to say he has a change of heart. In fact, it grows to normal size. Yours was well too. >> And then, the true meaning of Christmas came through and the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches, plus two! >> A Christmas Story, 1983, Jean Shepherd was the great radio raconteur and this movie does justice to his memory of a childhood back home in Indiana when all he wanted for Christmas was a Red Ryder Carbine- Action Air Rifle. >> No, you'll shoot your eye out. >> Oh no! It was a classic, mother BB- gun block. " You'll shoot your eye out !" >> As funny as it is sentimental, the movie is about speaking up for what you desire. Recommended for lovers of the first and second amendments. >> Oh, it was beautiful. I can hardly wait to try it out. >> Gremlins, 1984. And ante, It's a Wonderful Life. This is horror comedy by an adorable little creature gizmo who when you get him with multiplies into very different kinds of creatures. [ unk ] were small. Bedford Falls kind of town and just create a kind of mischief that kids do when they run wild on Christmas after having gotten into the eggnog. None your kids of course. Some people's kids. >> I've made my family disappear. >> Home Alone, 1990. Little Kevin McCallister is a bit of a gremlin too. When he gets left behind by his huge family, the house is his. He gets to do every mischievous thing he ever wanna do. Sleep late, eat too much, and try after- shave lotion. Because he's played by Macaulay Culkin in his brief, but brilliant face as a child actor, Kevin is a very winning character no more so than when he outwits too with less bulglars. This is my house. I have to defend. Edward Scissorhands, 1990. For a few years there, Director Tim Burton was a one man Christmas machine. He produced the animated film " The Nightmare Before Christmas ." He directed " Batman Returns" which has its own peculiar Christmas theme. And a masterpiece " Edward Scissorhands ," the first of the six movies with Johnny Depp. >> That was the single most thrilling experience of my whole life. >> Edward is a boy with a lovely disposition and very sharp digits, which he sues to beautify suburban gardens and hairstyles. The movie itself is sweet and sad and sheer genius. >> Hell, 2003. This could have been a horror movie. On Christmas Eve, a child is kidnapped by an invader in a red suit. Raised by Elf, he grows tall. Will Ferrell tall. >> Best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear. >> I'm not singing. >> The best of Ferrell's comedies and one of the finest Christmas parables of the last 30 years. Elf has smarts and heart. State of the end, it will slay you. >> Santa Claus is coming to town. >> Faithful friends who are dear to us. Gather near to us once more. >> Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics South Park, 1999. The third season of South Park included this Christmas special hosted by Mr. Hankey, the talking toy and featuring seasonal songs. Most of them written by Trey Parker. The episodes makes spiky fun of holiday shows with a dance with the sentiment truth to the season. It's what yours truly Richard Corliss and all us at TIME wish you. >> And have yourself a merry little Christmas night. Time to go Mr. Hankey. 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