By Brody Beaupre
There are hundreds of thousands of movies, but a select few have been categorized to be watched every year in December: holiday movies. I have ranked my personal top five favorite holiday movies. If you don’t like spoilers, you might want to stop reading!
#5: The Polar Express – This movie is a go-to favorite and a staple to watch every year. This movie features a young boy who is failing to believe in Santa Clause, so he is picked up by the Polar Express train and after a visit to the North Pole his faith in Santa is reaffirmed overnight and he wakes up in bed the next morning to find presents waiting for him under the tree, along with a toy train.
#4: How the Grinch Stole Christmas – This is a live rendition of Dr. Seuss’s book, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. This movie features Jim Carrey as the Grinch, a vile creature who hates being happy because his heart was two sizes too small. Through the kindness of a little girl, and the Christmas spirit of the village, his heart grew to triple the size it was.
Making the top three is a somewhat controversial holiday movie, but I think it falls into the category: Die Hard – This is an action-packed movie where a cop from New Jersey saves hostages (including his wife) from terrorists trying to steal millions..all on Christmas Eve!. There is lots of cursing and blood, but that just adds to the excellence of this movie.
#2: Rocky IV – This movie is an emotional roller coaster and features one of the single greatest training montages ever. Rocky prepares to fight for personal pride as well as revenge and he is carrying the weight of the United States on his shoulders. After a long and bloody fight, which occurs on Christmas Day, Rocky pulls out the win in the ultimate fight against the Russian machine known as Drago.
And finally, the number one holiday movie of all time: Elf – This is one of those movies that can be watched year after year, while laughing at the same parts every time. After 15 years of watching this movie, I still love it just as much after seeing it for the first time. In my world, it’s the undisputable number one holiday movie ever.