A Christmas Carol (1951) – This one still stands as the best adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic with Alastair Sim giving an Ebenezer Scrooge with no cinematic equal. Being about how a cynic transforms into a better person, the story stands as one of the best kind of realist feel-good movies despite the fantastical elements that aid the hero.

The Recent Hits:

Catch Me If You Can (2002) – This is more of a caper but underneath is a story of a runaway whose closest encounters at Christmas time are his close-calls with his pursuer. It is a nice boot that the pursuer becomes like a parental figure for his young suspect and that builds to a movie that celebrates the hero’s brazenness over his criminal behavior.

Elf (2003) – Who thought the crazy comedian Will Ferrell could mold himself into an elf-like character? I certainly didn’t until I saw this movie that redirects Ferrell’s relentless antics into unassuming cheerfulness.

Love Actually (2003) – A movie that takes the feeling of being with the one you love for Christmas and multiplies it by eight. That builds to a joyous medley of heartfelt confessions of romantic feelings, unrequited or not, with a few disappointments along the way from seeing a few of them misguided or misdirected.

The Polar Express (2004) – Despite the unintentionally haunting look of motion-capture in general, Robert Zemeckis’ expanded cinematic telling of the children’s book survives the trappings and reinforces the need for children to behave well. It also perhaps presents Santa and his elves in a more organized fashion than any other film.

Love Affair (1994) – This movie is actually a remake of An Affair to Remember and, though not quite as good as the original, it stands on its own for the distinct ways it plays with destiny not only bringing these two lovers together but heartily approving of them. One is the lush cinematography that seems like a sneaky angel to unite these two lovers and the other is Katharine Hepburn, who plays the wise aunt through which the woman sees the true gentlemanly qualities of the man and truly loves rather than just likes him.