The Holiday Movie Challenge

The turkey is almost gone. All the side dishes have been nearly wiped clean, leaving nothing more than a tiny plate of scraps to go around. Most of your family is either looking over the black Friday ads in preparation for their upcoming shopping spree while the rest of them are either sleeping or resting on the couch, looking for something to watch on television.

This is when our Holiday Movie Challenge kicks in.

Beginning the night before Thanksgiving, we challenge you to start watching one of our holiday films, one per day, until Christmas. Each film has been hand picked to be the movie for the listed day for one specific reason, to prepare you for the holidays slowly, and building up to the ultimate Christmas Day movie to watch with the entire family.

It has taken us a while to organize the films but when you see a movie listed to be watched on a specific day, you should go ahead and do so or you just might not get the real joy of this entire project.

So grab a box of popcorn, gather the family around the television, and get those streaming services paid through the year to make sure you do not miss a chance at enjoying any one of these movies. If you do not have any streaming services, or might not own any of these classic holiday films, you should not panic. There is a wonderful tool called the internet and it is not too difficult to find any one of these films somewhere to rent, buy, or stream. So get moving and start watching some holiday movies!

11/24 : Planes,Trains, and Automobiles

  • IMDB Rating: 7.6
  • Year: 1987
  • Genre: Screwball Buddy Comedy
  • Starring: Steve Martin, John Candy

11/25 : Home for the Holidays

  • IMDB Rating: 6.6
  • Year: 1995
  • Genre: Comedy Drama
  • Starring: Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr, Anne Bancroft, Dylan McDermott, Geraldine Chaplin, Steve Guttenberg, Claire Danes

11/26 : Love Actually

  • IMDB Rating: 7.7
  • Year: 2003
  • Genre: Romantic-Comedy
  • Starring: Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightly, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Laura Linney, Martine McCutcheon, Bill Nighy, Rowan Atkinson

11/27 : The Nightmare Before Christmas

  • IMDB Rating: 8.0
  • Year: 1993
  • Genre: Musical Dark Fantasy
  • Starring: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, William Hickey, Ken Page

11/28 : The Family Stone

  • IMDB Rating: 6.7
  • Year: 2005
  • Genre: Comedy Drama
  • Starring: Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson, Rachel McAdams, Luke Wilson, Dermot Mulroney, Claire Danes, Sarah Jessica Parker

11/29 : Trading Places

  • IMDB Rating: 7.5
  • Year: 1983
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Starring: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche

11/30 : The Family Man

  • IMDB Rating: 6.7
  • Year: 2000
  • Genre: Romantic Comedy
  • Starring: Nicholas Cage, Tea Leoni, Jeremy Piven, Don Cheadle Saul Rubinek

12/1 : Jack Frost

  • IMDB Rating: 5.3
  • Year: 1998
  • Genre: Fantasy Comedy Drama
  • Starring: Michael Keaton, Kelly Preston, Mark Addy, Joseph Cross

12/2 : Klaus

  • IMDB Rating: 8.2
  • Year: 2019
  • Genre: Animated
  • Starring: Jason Schwartzman, J.K, Simmons, Rashida Jones, Will Sasso

12/3 : Lethal Weapon

  • IMDB Rating: 5.3
  • Year: 1987
  • Genre: Buddy Cop Action
  • Starring: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey

12/4 : Jingle All the Way

  • IMDB Rating: 5.5
  • Year: 1996
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson, Jake Lloyd, Curtis Armstrong, Jim Belushi

12/5 : The Polar Express

  • IMDB Rating: 6.6
  • Year: 2004
  • Genre: 3D Musical Fantasy
  • Starring: Tom Hanks, Daryl Sabara, Nona Gaye, Jimmy Bennet, Eddie Deezen, Chris Coppola, Michael Jeter

12/6 : Batman Returns

  • IMDB Rating: 7.0
  • Year: 1992
  • Genre: Superhero Action
  • Starring: Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, Michael Murphy

12/7 : Mixed Nuts

  • IMDB Rating: 5.4
  • Year: 1994
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Starring: Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Robert Klein, Anthony LaPaglia, Juliette Lewis, Rob Reiner, Adam Sandler, Rita Wilson

12/8 : Bad Santa

  • IMDB Rating: 7.1
  • Year: 2003
  • Genre: Black Comedy Crime
  • Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Lauren Graham, Brett Kelly, Lauren Tom, John Ritter, Bernie Mac

12/9 : Gremlins

  • IMDB Rating: 7.2
  • Year: 1984
  • Genre: Comedy Horror
  • Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday, Frances Lee McCain

12/10 : Frosty the Snowman

  • IMDB Rating: 7.4
  • Year: 1969
  • Genre: Animated TV Christmas Special
  • Starring: Billy De Wolfe, Jackie Vernon, Paul Frees, June Foray

12/11 : The Night Before

  • IMDB Rating: 6.4
  • Year: 2015
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie, Lizzy Caplan, Jillian Bell, Mindy Kaling, Michael Shannon

12/12 : Home Alone

  • IMDB Rating: 7.5
  • Year: 1990
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Starring: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O’Hara, John Heard

12/13 : Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

  • IMDB Rating: 6.6
  • Year: 1992
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Starring: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O’Hara, John Heard

12/14 : Miracle on 34th Street

  • IMDB Rating: 6.4
  • Year: 1994
  • Genre: Christmas Fantasy
  • Starring: Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott, J.T. Walsh, James Remar, Mara Wilson, Robert Prosky

12/15 : Christmas Vacation

  • IMDB Rating: 7.6
  • Year: 1989
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid

12/16 : Die Hard

  • IMDB Rating: 8.2
  • Year: 1988
  • Genre: Action
  • Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov, Bonnie Bedelia

12/17 : The Santa Clause

  • IMDB Rating: 6.4
  • Year: 1994
  • Genre: Fantasy Family Comedy
  • Starring: Tim Allen, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, Eric Lloyd, Larry Brandenburg, David Krumholtz

12/18 : A Charlie Brown Christmas

  • IMDB Rating: 8.4
  • Year: 1965
  • Genre: Animated TV Christmas Special
  • Starring: Peter Robbins, Chris Shea, Tracy Stratford, Kathy Steinberg

12/19 : How the Grinch Stole Christmas

  • IMDB Rating: 6.1
  • Year: 2000
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Starring: Jim Carrey, Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Baranski, Bill Irwin, Molly Shannon

12/20 : Elf

  • IMDB Rating: 6.9
  • Year: 2003
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Starring: Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburger, Daniel Tay, Ed Asner, Bob Newhart, Peter Dinklage

12/21 : Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

  • IMDB Rating: 8.1
  • Year: 1964
  • Genre: Animated TV Christmas Special
  • Starring: Burl Ives

12/22 : The Muppet Christmas Carol

  • IMDB Rating: 7.7
  • Year: 1992
  • Genre: Musical Fantasy Comedy Drama
  • Starring: Michael Caine, Kermit, Miss Piggy, The Great Gonzo, Rizzo the rat, Fozzie Bear, David Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz

12/23 : A Christmas Story

  • IMDB Rating: 8.0
  • Year: 1983
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Starring: Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Peter Billingsley

12/24 : Santa Claus: The Movie

  • IMDB Rating: 6.1
  • Year: 1985
  • Genre: Fantasy Family
  • Starring: Dudley Moore, John Lithgow, David Huddleston, Judy Cornwell, Burgess Meredith

12/25 : It’s a Wonderful Life

  • IMDB Rating: 8.6
  • Year: 1946
  • Genre: Fantasy Comedy Drama
  • Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Trvers