Bruno

With Christmas just a few days away, we’re all getting ready to wind down and enjoy a few days off of work. For many of us this will involve sitting in traffic on the way to the in-laws’ house; avoiding your responsibilities reading Christmas cracker jokes around the table, re-watching the Die Hard box set; or simply spending time with the kids, a bucket of popcorn, and the Christmas comedies you’ve spent the last 12 months waiting for excuse to watch. Well, the wait is almost over! If you’re ready to kick back and enjoy the Christmas season in style, here’s a list you can start working your way through. Some of these are for kids, some are most certainly not – either way this is the ultimate list of Christmas comedies to watch over the festive period this year.

Honourable Mention: Gremlins
While Gremlins is technically a comedy horror, it’s not your traditional feel-good Christmas comedy. However, If you’re looking for a dark comedy which revolves around consumerism and humanity’s ability to turn things as cute as Gizmo into something as horrific as Stripe, Gremlins is the Christmas comedy for you.

5. The Muppet Christmas Carol
The Muppet Christmas Carol is exactly what it says on the tin – a Dickensian classic re-enacted by The Muppets. Some of the Muppets play the actual characters from the book, (Kermit plays Bob Cratchit for example,) whereas some of the other Muppets play themselves as they weave in and out of the story. This is one of the funniest Christmas comedies of all time, taking the time-honoured tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and making it appeal to a new generation. If you’re looking for a Christmas movie to watch with the kids this year, The Muppet Christmas Carol is the way to go.

4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Jim Carrey is one of those actors that people either love or hate for the most part. Liar Liar and Ace Ventura, for example, will always divide a room. That being said, it is almost impossible to hate How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Carrey brings his usual erratic behaviour to the role in such an incredible way that you simply can’t grin while watching it. How the Grinch Stole Christmas is one of those Christmas comedies which will keep the kids entertained, the in-laws entertained and you in everyone’s good books – it’s a win-win scenario to be sure.

3. When Harry Met Sally
When Harry Met Sally isn’t just one of the best Christmas comedies of all time, it’s often regarded as one of the best comedies of all time, period. Christmas is only a single part of the movie, though it’s absolutely integral to the plot. Because of this, even though the film was originally released in mid-July, it has been welcomed into the hall of best Christmas comedies of all time. You may not want to watch this one with your kids, but When Harry Met Sally isn’t a comedy you want to pass up this festive season.

2. Just Friends
As if the world wasn’t already head over heels for Ryan Reynolds, he went and put on a fat suit and sung the song “I Swear” to the camera in the 2005 hit comedy Just Friends. As far as Christmas comedies go, Just Friends has almost all of the usual tropes – family feuds, a Christmas holiday gone wrong and a guy who likes a girl who doesn’t like him back so he becomes a successful but cold-hearted womaniser. That being said, the usual tropes work wonders for this film and rather than being formulaic and boring, Just Friends is a brilliant Christmas movie that the whole family can enjoy.

1. Love, Actually
Often voted the ultimate Christmas movie of all time, Love, Actually is one of those Christmas movies that is almost impossible to hate. The casting is amazing, the individual Christmas stories show a fantastic cross-section of British culture and the way the stories intertwine is nothing short of fantastic. Rather than being a simple feel-good movie, Love, Actually is a movie that shows life as it is, which makes you feel a range of emotions as it takes you through everything from the toughest topics to the most light-hearted, romantic moments. Love, Actually is well worth watching this year, whether you’ve seen it once or you’ve seen it every year since it came out.