The Christmas season is filled with tradition for many. Some people decorate their tree together, others bake something or other. For some, though, the most meaningful part of the holiday season is gathering around to watch a great movie. And no, we don’t mean A Minecraft Movie, Lilo & Stitch, or Superman (2025’s biggest grossing movies in the US).
Classic movies sometimes get a bad rap, in part because they’re old, and sensibilities were a little different when they were made. Even so, some of the best holiday movies ever made can most neatly be described as “classics,” and we’re recommending six of the very best for you to enjoy this holiday season.
We also have guides to the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
When she was great, there were few movie stars better than Judy Garland, and in Meet Me in St. Louis, her talents are on full display. The film focuses on four sisters living in St. Louis ahead of the 1904 World’s Fair.
The entire movie doesn’t take place at Christmas time, but the movie does feature a section during the holiday season that includes Garland singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, so that alone merits its inclusion here. As a whole, the film is a delightful, wistful look at the way your life can change over the course of a single year, anchored by Garland at her very best.
You can watch Meet Me in St. Louis on Fubo, YouTube TV and Tubi.
Jimmy Stewart pops up on this list twice, but that’s basically unavoidable. It’s a Wonderful Life was not a hit upon its release, but it is almost without a doubt the greatest Christmas movie ever made. The film tells the story of George Bailey, a small-town guy with big dreams who slowly finds that life will keep getting in the way of those dreams.
The whole thing culminates on Christmas Eve as George gets a chance to see what life would be like if he’d never been born, and comes to discover just how much he means to those around him, and just as importantly, how much they mean to him. It’s maybe the most life-affirming movie ever made.
You can watch It’s a Wonderful Life on Prime Video, Fubo, Hoopla and Plex.
The existence of Santa Claus is probably not something that should be decided by a court of law, but Miracle on 34th Street makes that scenario seem plausible. The film tells the story of a Macy’s Santa Claus who begins insisting that he really is the man he’s playing in the store.
As he wins over children and adults alike, he eventually has to prove who he is in court, with the very magic of Christmas on the line. Miracle on 34th Street is equal parts silly and delightful, and it’s endured for decades for a reason.
You can watch Miracle on 34th Street on Disney+, Prime Video, Hulu and Peacock.
Now, some of you might balk at the idea of classing Home Alone as a classic movie, but it’s 35 years old. There are multiple generations who have been born since its release, and eight-year-old Kevin McCallister’s (Macaulay Culkin) clever toppling of a couple of wannabe burglars still holds up today as an all-time favorite.
A touch unbelievable? Perhaps. Silly? No doubt. A whole lot of fun for all the family? You bet. And did you know, Joe Pesci really bit Macaulay Culkin’s finger during filming? Wild!
And if you love the first one, there are three more Home Alone movies in the series to complete your Christmas binge.
You can watch Home Alone on Disney+ and Hulu.
One of the most recycled stories ever told, The Shop Around the Corner has been translated in various mediums over the course of decades, but this film remains one of the most enduring versions. The film follows two employees (James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan) of a Budapest general store who can’t stand each other in person, but find themselves entranced by the letters they’re exchanging anonymously.
The joy of the movie is in the dramatic irony of knowing that these two bickering employees are meant for one another, and hoping that they realize it in time for the holiday season. You’ve probably seen its 1998 remake, You’ve Got Mail, but the original is far better and more romantic.
You can watch The Shop Around the Corner on HBO Max.
One of the great comedies of the 1980s is also a Christmas parable. The film tells the story of a high-powered financier (Dan Ackroyd) who is forced to trade places with a poor, down-on-his-luck man (Eddie Murphy) as part of a social experiment engineered by two wealthy brothers (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy).
Filled with jokes that still land and a great supporting turn by future Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis as a hooker with a heart of gold, the film is also a careful parable about who really pulls the strings in most people’s lives, and how unaccountable the wealthiest people in America are to basically anyone.
You can watch Trading Places on Paramount+.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.