The holiday season is here, and along with all the thrills and chills of all the festivities, there is truly nothing better than curling up by the fire and watching a good Christmas movie. 

But, with so many movies out there, what movies are the best to watch? Have no fear, because I’ve taken a sleigh ride through Christmas movies, and here are the top 3 movies to watch this season.

No. 3: Elf (2003)

Starting at my 3rd choice, the iconic movie, “Elf”, directed by Jon Favreau and starring Will Ferrell as the iconic Buddy the Elf. 

The movie is about a baby at an orphanage who accidentally crawls into Santa’s sack one Christmas Eve. He’s taken to the North Pole and raised as an elf by fellow elves. One day, he accidentally discovers he’s a human and sets out into the real world (New York City) to find his dad and build a relationship with him. The story follows him attempting to get close to his dad and family. 

The movie is full of moments that will make you laugh out loud as Buddy tries to figure out life in the human world. This film holds many iconic movie moments, such as Buddy eating spaghetti topped to the brim with sweets, or telling the mall Santa he sits on a “throne of lies.”

“Elf” is definitely a cheezy movie, and you have to like Will Ferrell’s style of humor to appreciate it. If you’re looking for a fun family movie to watch, “Elf” is a great choice. 

No. 2: Home Alone (1990)

Another classic family movie, “Home Alone,” is the second-best Christmas movie to turn on this season. 

This film is directed by Chris Columbus and stars Macaulay Culkin as the main character, Kevin McCallister. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern play the evil burglars, Harry Lyme and Marv Murchins. 

The movie follows the character Kevin McCallister after accidentally being left home alone when his entire family left for a holiday vacation. At first, Kevin views this as paradise, eating loads of junk food and using his free will to do whatever he wants to do to the house. But soon enough, he begins taking on household chores, such as doing laundry and grocery shopping. 

There’s also an issue–two burglars have plans to break into his home after discovering the family would be on holiday, not knowing that Kevin was left home accidentally. 

Every night Kevin sets up tricks to play the burglars into leaving his house alone, and ends up having to set up tons of clever traps to get rid of the enemies. 

Every time I find myself watching this movie, I always find myself heart-warmed by the end. 

If you’re looking for a simple holiday movie filled with tons of laugh-out-loud moments, “Home Alone” is the perfect movie for you. 

No. 1: Christmas Vacation (1989)

The top movie to watch during the holiday season is “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik. 

This movie is perfect for holiday cheer. The story follows Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) during the month of December while he hosts his family for Christmas. Griswold’s goal is to give his family a season of holiday cheer, but instead creates tons of chaos. Such as a sledding trip gone wrong, struggle with the Christmas lights, and his brother, Eddie (Randy Quaid) and his family showing up as a Chrsitmas surprise in their RV. 

This film has the most outrageous sense of humor, which is perfectly executed by the director. The things that happen in this film are things you’d never think of, but are so iconic and chaotic you can’t forget it. 

No matter the amount of times I’ve watched this film, I always find myself laughing. For me, it will never get old, making it the perfect holiday film to watch. 

And that is my sleigh ride across classic Christmas movies, and filled up on the best classics to watch this holiday season, and now you are ready to celebrate the holidays with Christmas spirit and good movies.