The List Hero's Favourite Christmas Films

1.    It's A Wonderful Life  (1946)

Produced and directed by Frank Capra, and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written byPhilip Van Doren Stern, the film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man whose imminent suicide on Christmas Eve brings about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers). Clarence shows George all the lives he has touched and the contributions he has made to his community.

2.    Home Alone  (1990)

About an 8-year old boy named Kevin who wakes up one day to discover he is the only one left in the family home (his family are en route to Paris for a family vacation). While his parents realize their mistake and scramble to get back to the US, a pair of thieves attempt to rob the family home and Kevin is forced to hold them back with a collection of homemade booby traps.

3.    Elf   (2003)

On Christmas Eve, a baby crawls into Santa Claus' (Ed Asner) sack at an orphanage. Santa unwittingly takes the baby back to the North Pole, where it is decided that Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) will raise him. The baby, named Buddy (Will Ferrell), is raised unaware that he is actually a human, until his enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause Papa Elf to tell him the truth. 

4.    The Nightmare Before Christmas  (1993)

A stop motion fantasy film directed byHenry Selick and produced/co-written by Tim Burton. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, a being from "Halloween Town" who opens a portal to "Christmas Town". 

5.  Batman Returns  (1992)

Set around Christmas time, Batman Returns is directed by Tim Burton, and is the sequel to Burton's Batman (1989), and features Michael Keaton reprising the title role, with Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.