Movie Monday: My Top 5 Christmas Films

'Tis the season!  Time to break out some wintery movies!  I celebrate Christmas myself, and I have some favorite films that I try to watch every year.

In no particular order:

5. Home Alone

To some degree, Christmas films are all about nostalgia.  And as such, I'm not even going to try to pretend to be cool.  I've read many criticisms about Home Alone that I agree with, but it's still one of my favorites.  And honestly, I think a little boy is free to use however much force he wants to protect himself from burglars.  The thieves were free to stop the violence at any time by leaving the premises.

4. Die Hard

I got this one from my mom.  Die Hard is the movie she watches every Christmas to celebrate the season, so I got in the habit too. Sometimes we even watch the sequels, even though the second one is truly awful.  I do wish Alexander Godunov had more good acting parts after this film.  (Hey, I'm always a fan of the ballet dancers.)  At least Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman have done other nifty stuff.

3. The Nightmare Before Christmas

The music alone makes this one a classic.  I don't think Danny Elfman's ever topped his work for The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Harry Selick did an amazing job of directing.  The stop motion animation is beautiful, and many of the visuals are truly memorable.  Personally, I can never forget the trees, each marked with a different holiday symbol.  So simple, but such a great image.  Okay, and I remember more famous stuff too, like the crazy toys.

2. Love Actually

Love Actually started a terrible trend.  None of the holiday ensemble movies that have followed are any good.  But the first is quite cute and I love getting together with friends to drink cider, eat cookies, and watch Love Actually.  This movie and a dear former roommater are why I sometimes say "I hate Uncle Jaime!" when things go wrong, and you can never hate a movie that gives you such a useful phrase.  Don't resist the cheese - there's a heart inside!

1. Elf

Elf is a heartwarming comedy that's much better than it has any right to be, given it's your basic Will Ferrell movie plugged into Christmas.  But hey, I like Will Ferrell movies and it is cute, sweet, and in the spirit of the season.  Most importantly, it's hilarious.  I find it hard to believe that there's anyone who doesn't love Elf, but I suppose there's always someone without taste.  And it even has Peter Dinklage for you Game of Thrones fans.