As soon as Thanksgiving is over, there is nothing I want to do more than curl up on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate and watch one of my favorite holiday movies. With that being said, one of the biggest issues I face is that there are so many amazing holiday movies that it’s sometimes a little hard to choose, so I narrowed it down to the top 10 that I personally recommend. These are in no particular order because I genuinely recommend all of them. 

1. The Nightmare Before Christmas–  This movie is one of my favorites because of its visuals and aesthetics. It is made from stop-motion animation and the color palette is immaculate. The feeling that I get from watching this movie is almost unmatchable.  The story follows Jack Skellington, Halloweentown’s pumpkin king, who gets bored performing the same routine of scaring people in the “real world.” He accidentally stumbles on Christmastown and plots to bring Christmas under his control by kidnapping Santa Claus and taking over the role. This movie is genuinely so fun and I like that it’s a little bit different from the typical holiday movie that you might see. 
2. Miracle on 34th Street–  This movie for me is a classic holiday movie. I love watching old movies because I feel like they have a different type of feeling and dedication to them compared to some of the newer movies. I also feel like they tend to carve their own path and don’t follow a super strict stereotype. In the film, an old man named Kris Kringle fills in for Santa in Macy’s annual Thanksgiving Day parade. He is such a hit that he soon appears regularly at the chain’s main store in midtown Manhattan. When Kringle surprises customers and employees alike by claiming that he really is Santa Claus, it leads to a court case to determine his mental health and, more importantly, his authenticity.
3. Home Alone– This movie holds so many nostalgic memories for me that I have to watch it almost every year. This movie brings joy and happiness to almost everyone I know because it is such a funny yet relatable and heartwarming classic. In the movie, 8-year-old Kevin McCallister acts out the night before a family trip to Paris, so his mother makes him sleep in the attic. After the McCallisters mistakenly leave for the airport without Kevin, he awakens to an empty house and assumes his wish to have no family has come true. But his excitement sours when he realizes that two con men plan to rob the McCallister residence and that he alone must protect the family home.
4. Elf- I didn’t see this movie until embarrassingly recently, but I have come to love it. It’s genuinely such a hilarious yet comforting movie that really gets me into the holiday spirit. The basic plot is that Buddy the elf was accidentally sent to the North Pole as a baby and raised among Santa’s elves. Unable to shake the feeling that he doesn’t fit in with the elves, Buddy travels to New York in search of his real father and it happens to be Walter Hobbs, a pessimistic businessman. After a DNA test proves this, Walter reluctantly attempts to start a relationship with Buddy, which ends chaotically.
5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas/The Grinch– While these are two separate movies, they both pretty much follow the same plot, and I think that they are both worth watching.  How the Grinch Stole Christmas is an older movie but arguably a classic that everyone should see.  The new Grinch movie, which is animated, a lot of people did not love but I personally thought it was a really cool updated take on the story and I thought the soundtrack by Tyler The Creator was really good.  This movie follows the Grinch, who lives in the Christmas-obsessed town of Whoville, and he launches a plan to ruin it by stealing all holiday-related items and gifts.

I really hope that these recommendations can help get you into the holiday spirit. I know that during this stressful time as high school students, we all need a little bit of a break. A YLHS student, Sophia Soliman (11) said, “Elf is my favorite holiday movie…I quote it year-round and I just love it, it’s super sentimental and I watch it every year.”