Opinion: The best holiday movies

Holidays are always such a fun time of the year, and one of the best parts of the holidays is Christmas (or other holiday-themed) movies. My absolute favorite five holiday movies are “Home Alone,” “Home Alone 2,” “The Polar Express,” “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” and “Elf.” The movies have gained renown as ‘movie classics’ and are respected by many. My only regret is that there is only so much time to spend watching Christmas movies.

“Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2” are both holiday classics. In case you have not seen these movies, you really should. The plot of the first movie follows Kevin after he has been left home alone while his family goes on a trip to Florida for Christmas. Kevin must maintain the house while trying to also protect it from a group of burglars.

“Home Alone 2” follows the same character Kevin, but this time he is lost in New York after getting on the wrong plane after losing his family in the airport. While lost in New York, he runs into the exact same burglars and he must stop them from robbing a big toy store in New York. After he stops them from robbing the toy store, he lures them to his uncle’s house where he injures the robbers. Both of these movies are comical and fun for the whole family to watch. They also are not necessarily about Christmas, so they can be watched by anyone without anyone taking offense.

“The Polar Express” is another one of my favorites. “The Polar Express” follows young children who are taken to the North Pole on a train in order to make them believe in Santa. On the way to the North Pole, they face a series of difficulties but get to the North Pole safely. The movie does have a joyful ending which makes me smile every time. The movie reminds me of how important it is to just believe innocently.

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” is a well-known classic. I love how Charlie Brown, a real downer, reacts to Christmas. His negativity is countered by other characters such as Lucy, Linus, Sally, and Snoopy. All these characters come together and make a Christmas play which goes terribly wrong after Charlie Brown picks a tree that is too tiny. At the end, they all reunite around the tree and sing “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”

“Elf” is another favorite of mine. “Elf” follows Buddy, a human raised by elves on his journey to New York to visit his family. Along his journey in New York, Buddy meets his family, a nice girl and even “the real Santa.” At the end of the movie, Buddy meets the real Santa from the North Pole. Buddy is a sympathetic character which offers a fun, heartwarming holiday movie.

I hope you enjoy these movies and if you don’t watch these movies, I hope you enjoy the movies you do watch.

Happy Holidays!