1. ‘Jingle All The Way’ 

It’s officially November. I’m skipping Thanksgiving and going immediately into Christmas. The first movie I’m watching to get me in the spirit is “Jingle All The Way.” This is hands-down my favorite Christmas movie. It’s a 1996 holiday comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Howard Langston, a mattress salesman, and Sinbad as Myron Larabee, a postal worker. The two fathers go head to head in a Christmas shopping rivalry as they fight to get the sold-out Turbo Man action figure for their sons. I love this movie’s nostalgia, capturing the Christmas-shopping frenzy before the digital age brought us online shopping. 

2. ‘The Polar Express’ 

“The Polar Express” has to be my second favorite Christmas movie. I adored this movie growing up. I watched it repeatedly every December and had it on DVD. My mother shared with me recently that she hates this movie, and I think about how I probably tortured her back then replaying it constantly. It is an animated film that follows a passenger train named the Polar Express. The train stops at the house of a young boy who is skeptical of Santa Claus. He’s told that they’re on their way to the North Pole. He reluctantly gets on the train and the rest is history.

3. ‘Holidate’ 

Unlike the previous two films, “Holidate” is more modern. It premiered on Netflix in October 2020, but it quickly got added to my Christmas movie rotation. “Holidate” is a romantic comedy that takes a different approach. It stars Emma Roberts as Sloane Benson, a single woman who hates the holidays, because of her family nagging her about finding a boyfriend. Her aunt introduces her to a new concept, a “Holidate,” someone you only date on major holidays. It is super cute and captures the reality of what most young people face when going home for the holidays without a significant other.

4. ‘Almost Christmas’ 

This movie is so slept on. It is a classic Black Christmas film, with an all-star cast. I never hear people talking about it during the holiday season. Everyone always mentions “This Christmas,” another classic Black Christmas film, but “Almost Christmas” is just as good, if not better. In the film, Walton Meyer (Danny Glover) has one wish, and that’s for his family to get along. The family meets for the first Christmas without their mother and Meyer’s wife. It’s a comedy that captures the essence of the holiday drama in a dysfunctional family. I love this movie so much that in the era of streaming, I bought it on DVD.

5. ‘The Best Man Holiday’ 

I couldn’t make a favorite Christmas movie list without mentioning “The Best Man Holiday.” It is a sequel to “The Best Man,” a dramedy written by Malcolm D. Lee. I love how for the sequel they went with a holiday route. It’s a staple in my household every December. We watch it several times throughout the season, laughing and crying every time. It follows the original cast of college friends once they reunite after 15 years for Christmas. Despite it being over a decade since they last saw each other, they reunite old romances and rivalries.